Van Helsing
REVIEWED 05/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Fuelled by an undying oath that has remained unquenched through nine generations, the regal family of Transylvania's Princess Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale) has fearlessly battled to vanquish that dark and storm swept land of its most loathsome pestilences. Waging war against the beast of the woods, a Werewolf that roams those ancient cobblestone streets under each full moon in search of human prey. And, against the creatures of the heavy night skies, Vampires, who mercilessly pluck innocent lives from the town's simple homes in an unending thirst for blood. All unleashed upon these relentlessly victimized villagers by none other than Count Vladislaus Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). Anna and her heroic brother, Prince Velkan (Will Kemp), are the last of their lineage, defying death at every turn in their vigilant struggle to destroy these demonic terrors. Unbeknown to them, they are matched only by one other. A lone shadow. Dispatched throughout Europe by an enigmatic Order of the Holy See to lay waste to such treacherously Godless evil as the hulking psychopath Mister Hyde (voiced by Robbie Coltrane). Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) can't remember how long he's worked as the Left Hand of God for those secretive Papal monks, armed with his razor-sharp wits and the finest of death-dealing weaponry, tirelessly fulfilling their bidding by hunting and fighting and killing those monsters - both human and inhuman - that have been deemed a threat to humanity. As a brooding dusk grips the Autumn of 1887, Van Helsing is sent across the perilous ocean and into the snow peaked Carpathian Mountains on a mission to kill Dracula and his murderous legion. The simple peasant folk he's come to save are highly suspicious of such dangerous-looking strangers; having chased the insane Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Samuel West) - and his hideous abomination cobbled from a patch worked of cadavers (Shuler Hensley) - from his accursed castle to their fiery doom a year earlier. Much to the chagrin of that half-century old Count. However, joining forces with Princess Valerious against their common foes, Gabriel and the unsure but useful Friar Carl (David Wenham) soon learn of Vladislaus' horrifying scheme to hatch hundreds of thousands of his hungry undead children upon an unwitting world, and must race against time to stop him - and save themselves.

It's fairly clear throughout this rollicking two hour and twelve minute thriller that writer/director Stephen Sommers - the guy who both scripted and helmed 'The Mummy' (1999) and 'The Mummy Returns' (2001) - is a huge movie monster fan. The meticulous reenactment of actor Colin Clive's memorably iconic mad scientist scenes lifted shot for shot from Boris Karloff's 'Frankenstein' (1931) as the opener here is your first clue. And then, ever so slightly, the momentum begins to dwindle as the players launch into new lines of dialogue and this flick's true plot unfolds. Yes, 'Van Helsing' is an incredibly explosive action-packed extravaganza for the eyeballs, stuffed to the bursting point with reams of heavily CGI-enhanced and completely digitized visuals charging at full velocity across the screen from every direction. However, while the 'wampires and verevoolf' are tormenting and biting and fighting and, well, biting people, a few apparently unimportant details seem to be missing throughout. Subtle things, such as developing captivating characters who do more than grimace trite quips and look great in weathered black leather. Intangibles, like building an intelligible story that a paying audience can follow along with - if not tap into enough to live vicariously through. Sommers has set aside those foolish annoyances for the most part, resulting in a violently flashy costumed cartoon adventure populated by little more than video arcade game avatars following a fairly convoluted series of pre-programmed moves. More than once, I expected to see a blinking red 'Insert 2 Tokens' sign superimpose itself on Kate Beckinsale's teeth-clenched pseudo Baltic accent-snarling face. They might have been about the only completely understandable words coming from her face, come to think of it. Unlike 'Underworld' (2003), her performance here is silly and uninteresting. And, unlike the vaguely similar 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' (2003), this feature fails to give you any reasons to care what happens to the majority of those revamped beasties or the ridiculously super powered hamburger trying to thwart them. Hensley's version of the Frankenstein Monster is pretty well the only bright spot, remaining true enough to Mary Shelley's 1818 prose while surrounded by a cast of human-sized finger puppets.

Check out this one as an enjoyably entertaining temporary frontal lobotomy, but you're still better off reading the originals or renting the Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney Jr. classics if you're looking for a worthwhile creature yarn that's far less disappointing.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

The Village
REVIEWED 08/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Famed Philadelphian writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's fairly dark and unsettling tale opens during the funeral of a seven year-old boy in what we're told is a secluded 1897 Pennsylvanian town nestled within a clearing of this twelve hundred acre forested valley. The Village elders, led by visibly haunted Edward Walker (William Hurt), soon ensure that their serine self-reliant life quickly returns to normal, until the son of one of their own - bright young Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) - disregards continual warnings not to breach their settlement's banner-marked border and steps into the woods to find the patch of berries that he knows his simpleton friend Noah Percy (Adrien Brody) has been to before. The berries possess the bad colour, red, that attracts 'Those We Don't Speak Of' from the shadows of the gnarled surrounding trees. Terrifying creatures that the villagers all know a pact was made with long ago, in order for them to exist unharmed and in peace. Lucius wants to pass through the woods and bring back medicines from the towns that might help Noah, but it's Edward's blind daughter Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) who must brave the journey and face her fear of the intimidating red-hooded meat eaters that fables say have lived there for ages.

Well, this sixth offering from Shyamalan is certainly a better offering than his loping cinematic disaster 'Signs' (2002) was, but that's primarily because these players - which include Sigourney Weaver and Judy Greer - pull in some very impressive performances throughout that keep you reasonably interested. The underlying story between Hurt and Weaver is truly wonderful in its mature unspoken yearning, with Phoenix and newcomer Howard doing an intensely beautiful job as diametric opposites drawn to each other in their blossoming love. These scenes are absolutely fascinating. However, because you're pretty well psyched by the way this picture has been promoted as a horror movie focusing on the siege of those nasty big pointy-toothed monsters, 'The Village' becomes a dragged out futile exercise long before this director's trademark plot twist snaps your head sideways. That expectation gets in the way of enjoying the first two thirds, frankly. Sure, the entire premise of what's actually happening is definitely a clever one that's obviously true to the spirit of some of the more superior 'The Twilight Zone' or 'The Outer Limits' classic television episodes. The main problem here is the overtly slow pacing that tries to build a sense of impending doom yet merely serves to exasperate your impatience and subsequent disappointment with costume designer Ann Roth's Muppet-like spiky snarling creations. The fairly unimaginative efforts of cinematographer Roger Deakins and film editor Christopher Tellefsen don't help matters either, particularly once the secrets are revealed and you're basically left waiting again, bored and quietly pining for the sweet release of this snooze fest's closing credits.

Check it out as a rental for some of the impressive non-scary scenes of high drama from this capable cast, but steer clear if you're hoping to be continually shocked out of your skin.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

Vanity Fair
REVIEWED 09/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Based on 19th Century English satirist William Makepeace Thackeray's (1811-1863) classic novel, first published in 1848 and since spawning several cinematic and small screen adaptations (including at least three silent movies, beginning with the 1911 release featuring John Bunny (1863-1915), reportedly American Cinema's first major comedian), award-winning director Mira Nair ('Salaam Bombay!' (1988), 'Monsoon Wedding' (2001)) delivers this exquisitely lush Period melodrama about precocious orphan turned voracious social climber Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon, 'Legally Blonde' (2001), 'Sweet Home Alabama' (2002)) and her rich yet naive former schoolmate Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai, 'I Capture the Castle' (2003), 'Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights' (2004)) enduring the fickle upheaval of widespread class uncertainty during the latter days of the Napoleonic War that eventually ended with The Battle of Waterloo, on June 18, 1815.

Frankly, Witherspoon is absolutely phenomenal here, heading this incredibly capable all-star ensemble cast that includes James Purefoy ('A Knight's Tale' (2001), 'Resident Evil' (2002)) as Becky's swaggering love Rawdon Crawley, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ('Bend It Like Beckham' (2002)), Rhys Ifans ('Notting Hill' (1999), 'The Replacements' (2000)), Dame Eileen Atkins ('The Hours' (2002), 'Cold Mountain' (2003)), and Bob Hoskins ('Mona Lisa' (1986), 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' (1988)), with Gabriel Byrne ('Miller's Crossing' (1990), 'The Man in the Iron Mask' (1998)) playing the deliciously manipulative Marquess of Steyne. Witherspoon and Purefoy are electrifying together, and Ifans truly brings an excruciatingly empathetic depth to his part as lovelorn martyr William Dobbin. Part 'A Tale of Two Cities' (1935), part 'Gone with the Wind' (1939), 'Vanity Fair' is an incredibly masterful eyeball-popping epic of staggering proportions as Sharp systematically insinuates herself into higher and higher levels of England's aristocracy through careful lies and sheer charisma, while continually being sidelined by the prevailing times and her sordid past, relentlessly dragging you on a fabulous roller coaster ride that unfortunately does slightly suffer from Matthew Faulk's, Julian Fellowes' and Mark Skeet's erratically slow-paced screenplay during key moments at times. However, the performances throughout are simply superb and undoubtedly deserves its two hour and seventeen minute runtime. As much as I'm lousy at predicting Oscar nominations and winners, this one's definitely on my Hollywood's Top Ten list of 2004. Not only for the truckloads of diabolical intrigue and tumultuous scandals, yearning romance and unrequited love that all simmer to the boiling point on the big screen, but specifically because I was completely blown away by the incredible diversity of previously untapped talent that Witherspoon conjures up for this hugely meaty leading role. One that not only demands heaps of dramatic stamina, but has her character dancing and singing in centre stage. Absolutely incredible.

Sure, there are a couple of moments where the alas woe is me, wrist on forehead in frail repose scenes are lathered on fairly thick and do stall the momentum for a contemporary audience, but they're minor bumps on this incredibly enjoyable turbulent cinematic extravaganza that's absolutely well worth the price of admission. Awesome.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

Vera Drake
REVIEWED 11/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

With Britain still rebuilding in the wake of World War II, ever-cheery domestic and loving mother of two Mrs. Vera Rose Drake (Imelda Staunton; 'Shakespeare in Love' (1998), 'I'll Be There' (2003)) is a welcome face to her working class housebound neighbours she frequently drops in on to briefly chat with over a warm cup of tea. Joyce, her rather material sister-in-law, thinks she's little more than a simpleton busy body. However, unbeknown to her auto mechanic husband of twenty-seven years Stan (Philip Davis; 'Alien³' (1992), 'Nicholas Nickleby' (2002)), Vera has a secret. Just as easily as she habitually puts the kettle on for a welcome cuppa, Drake will also warm up some hot water for her easily-made concoction of grated alkaline soap and liquid disinfectant brought along in her plain floral-patterned bag in order to, as she puts it, "help young girls out". Vera is an abortionist. Regularly sent by her fairly unscrupulous friend Lillian 'Lilly' Clarke (Ruth Sheen; 'High Hopes' (1988), 'Vanity Fair' (2004)) to commit this then-grievous crime punishable under the Offense Against the Person Act of 1861, as an unpaid service to those who can't afford the luxury of inconspicuously visiting an expensive private clinic legally referred by a high-priced London psychiatrist. All seems well, until the mother of one young woman who Vera has charitably helped ends up calling for an ambulance to save her daughter's life as a result of her forced miscarriage, and the ensuing police investigation leads back to the Drake's comfortably cramped fourth story flat.

By all rights, this potentially powerful, reality-based 2004 Venice Film Festival Award winning drama from acclaimed writer/director Mike Leigh ('Secrets & Lies' (1996), 'Topsy-Turvy' (1999)) should be an incredibly captivating accounting of this one woman's deeds and her subsequently unjust incarceration. Unfortunately, the over-all pacing and curiously lazy style of editor Jim Clark makes sitting through this dismal hundred and twenty-five minute screening overwhelmingly excruciating for the most part. Sure, Staunton and cast do pull in some fairly good performances here, with Eddie Marsan easily stealing the spotlight as comedically dour wallflower Reg. And, the seamless attention to post-war details and dialogue is absolutely incredible here. However, this film is so irrevocably burdened by perpetually dull scenes where nothing of any real interest happens that, by the time the cops come knocking, a paying audience is given little reason to avoid slumping back to sleep 'til the closing credits. Yes, I do realize that Leigh was attempting to capture this relatively slower and simpler time as part of its entire atmosphere, but he could have easily fleshed out the stories of these supporting characters to keep the momentum going at a far more acceptable rate for contemporary ticket holders. With Drake's haberdasher son Sid's (Daniel Mays) black-market nylon sideline, and the vaguely-followed subplot featuring recently raped debutante Susan Wells (Sally Hawkins; 'All or Nothing' (2002), 'Layer Cake' (2004)), the opportunities to present a richly insightful look at that era were obviously available. As it stands, 'Vera Drake' becomes an exhausting screening rife with disappointment and surprisingly wasted talent, that clicks out as little more than a weepy pastiche floundering around without much in the way of a cohesive script or purpose. Considering the subject matter, that's a tragic shame.

Steer clear of this aggravatingly slow-paced character study that could have easily been a far more satisfying offering in more capable hands. Yawn.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

Veer Zaara
REVIEWED 11/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

A mere two weeks before Zaara Hayat Khan (Preity Zinta; 'Kal Ho Naa Ho' (2003)) was due to be married, she still wasn't ready for elaborate henna patterns adorning her delicate hands or the near-regal pomp of ceremony ushering in her arranged marriage and the timely union of two powerful families. So, when the deathbed wishes of her beloved grandmother Bebe sent Zaara on an unsanctioned journey from her respected politician father's plush Pakistani mansion to Bebe's small town in neighbouring India, her bright and carefree demeanor and stunning beauty instantly aroused the romantic interests of air force helicopter pilot Veer Pratap Singh (Shahrukh Khan; 'Baazigar' (1993), 'Main Hoon Na' (2004)) during a daring cliff side rescue. Inspiring him to accompany her on that long trek, acquaint her with his homeland and stop for a stay in his parents Chaudhari Sumer Singh's (Amitabh Bachchan; 'Pyar Ki Kahani' (1971), 'Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na' (2004)) and Maati Singh's (Hema Malini; 'Seeta Aur Geeta' (1972), 'Baghban' (2003)) village, before escorting Miss Khan throughout the remainder of her travels. Until the moment came too soon for these two quietly love-struck souls to go their separate ways. That was twenty-two years ago. An eternity for Veer, far beyond having spent that time bleakly rotting away in silence in a dimly-lit jail cell as Prisoner #786. A man wrongfully incarcerated. Enter Pakistan's hungry young Human Rights Commission lawyer Saamiya Siddiqui (Rani Mukherjee; 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1998), 'Chalte Chalte' (2003)), bound and determined to help this broken and forgotten man in her first court case, eventually forcing her to investigate his story and unearth a terrible secret that Veer still fears must never be revealed.

Frankly, this slightly overlong three-hour and fifteen-minute love story exists primarily as a delightful chance for a paying audience to see Bollywood powerhouses Bachchan and Khan on the same big screen together. It's almost a shame that the unwavering structure of mainstream Indian Cinema doesn't just let these two incredible talents more fully develop these onscreen characters, without it insisting they burst into heavily choreographed song and dance numbers that sidetrack their dramatic efforts. However, such is the way it is for now. In fact, most of this cast pulls in wonderfully eclectic performances throughout for the most part. Zinta, Mukherjee, Malini, and Kiron Kher (as Zaara's ever-overbearing mother Mariam) all shine as distinctively compelling women in their own right. Mainly through sheer force of presence. Amazing. Unfortunately, director Yash Chopra's award-winning son Aditya's screenplay feels a lot like a somewhat gritty yet sketchy and backwards retelling of the far superior 'Chalte Chalte' - disappointingly floundering in silly special effects and Ritesh Soni's indecisive editing, capped off by Manoj Bajpai's wasteful one-dimensional heavy during the first two thirds - before Mukherjee's role uneasily takes centre stage in and out of the court room to tie up the remaining loose ends left untold by Khan's heart wrenching flashbacks. The script is probably the weakest and most aggravating aspect of 'Veer Zaara' over-all, since it also feels lazily cobbled together as a series of apparent afterthought segues and overtly purple prose quickly slammed between each longing gaze and musical interlude here. It's a shame, really. The actors are the bright points that keep you interested, but none of them are given anything new to work with in this story - except for a vague attempt at politicizing gender roles at odds with contemporary modern life. As though the last forty years still haven't sunk in yet. C'mon guys.

Sure, this feature does have its moments of pure entertainment and wonderful attention to such mores as honour and sacrifice, but they're brief and sadly sporadic, making this one more a second choice rental until a decidedly well-crafted cinematic project can capably do justice to thoroughly combining the naturally electric exuberance of Khan and Bachchan for fans and international moviegoers.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

A Very Long Engagement
REVIEWED 12/04, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Not long after seeing the First World War finish sending 1,357,800 of France's soldiers to their death, including the 50,756 reported killed at the Battle of the Somme against the Germans, twenty year-old Breton orphan and polio survivor Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tautou; 'Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain' (2001), 'Dirty Pretty Things' (2002)) still clings to hope. Against all odds, she's certain that her childhood sweetheart and beloved fiancé Langonnet Maneche (Gaspard Ulliel; 'Embrassez qui vous voudrez' (2002), 'Les Égarés' (2003)) met with a far better fate than most who were conscripted and assigned to the Somme, despite him being Court Marshaled with four other men for self-mutilation by gunfire in January 1917, and cruelly forced from that beleageured regiment's filth infested front line Trench #108 - morbidly nicknamed Bingo Crepuscule - and into that scorched battleground's No Man's Land to be shot or blown to bits by the enemy. If Maneche was dead, she would know in her heart of hearts that he was dead. To her, the unanswered truth meant that he's still alive. At worst, in hiding "with a German girl with big boobs," she quips. Pieces of what really happened first came to Donnay from visiting frail and infirmed Lieutenant Esperanza (Jean-Pierre Becker; 'Les Fugitifs' (1986)) that bitter year of Nineteen Hundred and Twenty. She stoically listened to the wartime stories of those five condemned men. She received a rusted tin case from the old man that contained what was left of their muddy belongings, and saw that faded sepia photograph of them under guard. Her love - just five months shy of turning twenty years old - caught in that picture. Dirty and frozen in calm duress. Her strength renewed, she hires Parisian Private Detective Germain 'Peerless' Pire (Joseph 'Ticky' Holgado (1944-2004); 'Une époque formidable...' (1991), 'Gazon maudit' (1995)) to help her follow what slowly turns out to be a labyrinthine trail of vague and scattered clues towards uncovering the truth about where Langonnet is... dead or alive.

Wow. This tremendously entertaining and thoroughly intriguing masterpiece based on award-winning screenwriter and prolific French novelist Jean-Baptiste 'Sébastien Japrisot' Rossis' (1931-2003) three hundred and twenty-seven page 1993 book truly is an absolute triumph. Yes, co-writer/director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ('Alien: Resurrection' (1997), 'Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain' (2001)) does heavily rely on a lot of character specific anecdotal snapshots and a quirky manner of sleuthing similarly seen in 'Amélie' throughout here. However, that's where the comparisons end. 'Un long dimanche de fiançailles' (this film's actual title) is really about the residual consequences of imperfect people making individually desperate choices during the worst war the world had ever seen to that point, and how these two young lovers have been sidelined and swept up in that without choice. Sure, some of the background does feel slightly shady and contrived. However, the brutal terror of trench warfare, chemical weaponry, poor medical facilities and remnants of the Fokker Scourge are all meticulously featured in this beautifully visualize picture in sometimes horrifying detail, as Tautou soaks up the screen while collecting more clues about Trench #108 from various sources and vantage points. That same, fairly brief yet daring story is wonderfully retold several times throughout, as further information reveals itself to this self-made sleuth, and the plot thickens by the moment. If that wasn't enough, it's then richly layered by each of the delightful supporting characters - including Marion Cotillard's ('Big Fish' (2003), 'Jeux d'enfants' (2003)) deliciously vengeful Tina Lombardi, and Jodie Foster's ('The Accused' (1988), 'Contact' (1997)) compelling Elodie Gordes - and their secrets that this brightly empathetic star crosses paths with along the way. Marvelous performances. Visually stunning. Truly romantic.

Do yourself a huge favour and definitely check out this completely enjoyable and memorably satisfying, hundred and thirty-four minute subtitled mature epic on the big screen if you get the chance. It's so good that I'll probably go see this one again.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

V for Vendetta
REVIEWED 03/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Obviously embellishing upon recognizable themes famously published in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948) and Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera (1911), the Wachowski Brothers' screenplay for this big screen adaptation of Brit comic book writer Alan Moore's and illustrator David Lloyd's acclaimed shadowy vigilante clad in a Guy Fawkes mask stars Hugo Weaving ('The Matrix' (1999), 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)) in the title role as V, plotting to destroy England's House of Parliament - much like Roman Catholic conspirator Fawkes' (1570-1606) historic assassination attempt against King James I in response to tougher pro-Anglican laws - to spur that near future, post plague country into overthrowing the totalitarian regime of its reclusive Chancellor Adam Sutler (John Hurt; 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1984), 'The Skeleton Key' (2005)), while British Television Network intern Evey (pronounced "E.V.") Hammond (Natalie Portman; 'Heat' (1995), 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' (2005)) and London's Chief Inspector Eric Finch (Stephen Rea; 'The Crying Game' (1992), 'Breakfast on Pluto' (2005)) are systematically affected by the horrifying truths that have fuelled V's suicidal, twenty-year mission to unleash revolutionary-style anarchy. It was tough going into this one without harbouring a twinge of uneasiness less than a year after the very real terrorist bombings in London. Apparently, Moore distanced himself from this hundred and thirty-four minute Sci-Fi thriller (only Lloyd is credited as creator, in the closing titles) but, while much of the original story does seem to have been altered or omitted, 'V for Vendetta' is still an intelligently rich and delightfully entertaining flick for the most part. The artfully morose source was first printed in part in the now defunct UK anthology Warrior, from 1982-1985, before being picked up by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in the mid-Nineties. As for the movie, it's definitely of this decade, openly drawing from what seems to be a prevailing public skepticism regarding what might be considered the dubious credibility of actual governments and the news media, to the point where this fantasy does feel as though it wants to be a thinly veiled political statement against current Western leadership and policies in much the same way that 'Good Night and Good Luck' (2005) and the 'Star Wars' prequels could be interpreted as.

Conspiracy theories aside, 'V for Vendetta' primarily remains true to being a live action comic book that provides this proven cast with oftentimes intriguingly complex characters to portray. Portman is incredible throughout, and it's a pure joy watching Evey's slow metamorphosis from a frightened mouse who's suffocated by ignorance into becoming a courageous woman bound to a purpose far greater than herself. And, it's a mystery how Weaving manages to effortlessly breathe such an acute range of emotions into this man whose face you never fully see - I initially thought that grinning Fawkes mask he wears looked cumbersome and silly - but, you can't help but completely empathize with his character's brittle single mindedness as the picture unfolds and his schemes are irreversibly set in motion. There are also a couple of great scenes featuring Stephen Fry ('Wilde' (1997), 'Le Divorce' (2003)) as Hammond's helpful friend and popular TV celebrity Gordon Deitrich that are worth the price of admission alone. Awesome. Sure, this feature does have its flaws. Most notably, the dates mentioned seem fairly muddled, with V at one point alluding to this story taking place four hundred years after Fawkes' gunpowder treason in 1605, setting these events in quite a different version of 2005, and yet somebody else cites one of her past experiences as having happened in 2015. As well, debuting director James McTeigue doesn't quite get a strong handle on the sleuthing sub plot involving Finch's attempts to build a case that leads through a quagmire of subverted, Third Reich-like files towards unearthing the terrible truth and eventually finding V. Plus, the ending is surprisingly hokey. That said, hardly any of those and other slight missives overwhelmingly sabotage the final result, because you're almost immediately dragged into this hauntingly familiar dystopian world and kept thoroughly satisfied by the majority of what happens to this stylishly charismatic and vengeance riddled phantom who's mainly seen through the eyes of his unwitting protegé Evey. Good stuff.

This over-all superior effort is absolutely well worth checking out at the biggest screen that you can find, for a wild ride through the slightly twisted mind of a decidedly flamboyant gadfly that will likely stay with you long after the closing credits.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY

Volver
REVIEWED 01/07, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

The voice coming from the trunk of Sole's (Lola Dueñas; 'Talk to Her' (2002), 'The Sea Inside' (2004)) car sounded familiar, but it couldn't be the voice of her mother Irene (Carmen Maura; '¡Ay, Carmela!' (1990), 'Valentín' (2002)) calling out because everyone knew that Irene had died years ago, in this slightly disjointed yet enjoyably weird subtitled Spanish drama from writer/director Pedro Almodóvar ('Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' (1990), 'Bad Education' (2004)), where Irene's other daughter Raimunda (Penélope Cruz; 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' (2001), 'Sahara' (2005)) has problems of her own with trying to conceal her rather scandalously killed husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre; 'Días de fútbol' (2003), 'Azuloscurocasinegro' (2006)) while running the neighbouring restaurant without the owner knowing or selling it out from under her.

Well, one thing that can be said for Cruz is that she looks absolutely radiant in this starring role, easily grabbing the attention of a paying audience in every scene. It's also fairly clear that this primarily female cast that also includes Yohana Cobo ('El séptimo día' (2004), 'Fin de curso' (2005)) as the family's teenager Paula, and Blanca Portillo ('El color de las nubes' (1997), 'Goya's Ghosts' (2006)) giving an astounding performance as their cancer stricken friend Augustina, thoroughly enjoyed creating this hundred and twenty-minute feature as an ensemble. Sure, cinematographer José Luis Alcaine's lens instantly falls in love with Cruz here, but the strength of Almodóvar's screenplay is that all of the characters have interesting roles to play in what eventually materializes. From the humour tinged subplot of Irene possibly being a ghost coming back from the dead to do right by her estranged daughters - only to end up pretending to be Sole's home-based beauty care assistant as a deaf and mute Russian immigrant - to the ultimately bizarre relationship that Raimunda has with Paula seeming like something out of a Daytime Soap, 'Volver' is a freshly intriguing fusion of oftentimes quirky ideas played straight for the most part, making it a joy. Yes, there's a copious amount of tragedy that tends to overshadow the entire production, but that aspect actually involves a mystery about this family that you can either ignore or enjoy trying to figure out as this film clicks along. Frankly, I found the ending to be somewhat annoying because the big secret that's revealed seemed unnecessarily contrived. However, this point doesn't detract from the over-all film as presented. What does detract is in how some of Alcaine's specifically voyeuristic camera angles of Cruz's, uh, voluptuousness don't really seem to have a reason for being included - except to gawk at her like an adolescent savoring a brassiere flyer. It's silly, and lends nothing to the story. My favourite scenes include those featuring Raimundo's curmudgeonly adorable Aunt, as well as those of Portillo's character aching to know and share the truth about her own mother before her illness takes over.

It's not nearly as much of a must-see flick as the hype seems to want you to believe, but 'Volver' is an enjoyable balance of soft weird humour and strong performances well worth renting.

home: http://www.moviequips.ca | index: http://www.moviequips.ca/#QUIPSOGRAPHY