Aaron Eckhart Film Festival Part II
Aug. 3rd, 2008 01:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meddowI've been at it again with my latest hobby.
Suspect Zero (2004, dr. E Elias Merhige)
Assets: Ben Kingsley (surprisingly)
Warnings: A complete lack of sharks.
The biggest complaint I have about this movie is that it isn't bad. I hoped it would be, and all signs were pointing to is being so. Well, one sign – Ben Kingsley's in it. Great actor, but dude's got terrible taste in roles. He hasn't been in a decent movie since Gandhi.
Anyway, if the movie was bad I could have fun mocking it mercilessly. Unfortunately it's not bad. It's not good either, it's just alright.
Basically, it's an FBI hunt down a serial killer story, reminiscent of the late nineties Se7en wannabes. You have three stables of the genre: obsessive detective with issues (Eckhart), female detective with seemingly no personality or purpose beyond UST and a past with male detective (Carrie-Ann Moss) and crazy guy (Kingsley). There are a couple of a twists – firstly the serial killer is only killing other serial killers, and crazy dude can 'remote-see' i.e. he gets psychic visions of crime scenes, and obsessive detective can too. But the twists aren't enough to take it beyond 'meh' territory and there's no real whodunit aspect to it, you know already.
The thing that endears the movie is the fangirl aspect. Eckhart's the lead character and does the being driven slowly nuts thing, making it a role slightly similar to that of Harvey Dent, except Dent's a far more fleshed out character. Wonderfully, he gets roughed up a bit towards the end, which is always nice to see.
Film Rating: 2 ½
Fangirl Rating: 4
Possession (2002, dr. Neil LaBute)
Assests: Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle (Lizzie!)
Warnings: None
The plot is basiscally two literature scholars (Eckart and Gwyneth Paltrow) fall in love while discovering together of the romance of two Victorian poets (Northam and Ehle), so it's a history mystery romance.
The whole mystery plot is far too Da Vinci Code for my liking, particularly the final revelation (which flatmate watching with me guessed about half an hour in). Yes, I know The Da Vinci Code is younger than both this movie and the book it's based upon, but The Da Vinci Code taints all with its very special brand of awfulness. Plus, it's full of holes.
But the mystery is secondary to the romances, which are both a bit cold. The two scholars spend far too much talking about their potential relationship and how they're both going to mess it up and not enough time acting upon their feelings. This is, in my experience, incredibly true to life, but I don't watch movies for a realistic take on romance. Jeremy Northam is hot, but if you want to watch a brilliant corseted romance in with Jennifer Ehle, I suggest sticking to Pride and Prejudice. Neither of the couples have great chemistry.
Tom Hollander steals both scenes he's in, playing a solicitor and acting as one of the movies few comedic foils. This movie could have done with just a little more comedy to make up for the failed romance.
In conclusion, it's an alright movie to watch. The idea for two parallel romances occurring in different times has so much potential that never comes out on screen. I have a feeling that the book is much better than the movie.
As for the fangirl factor, Aaron Eckhart is adorable throughout and there's even a lake jumping scene, although his character's romantic sulking which starts about mid way through the movie gets on my nerves. There is an important distinction that all filmmaker should know of: Angsting alone about failed relations = sexy. Moaning constantly about failed relationship to object of his affection = annoying.
Film Rating: 3½
Fangirl Rating: 4
Coming up: The Black Dahlia and Neverwas
Suspect Zero (2004, dr. E Elias Merhige)
Assets: Ben Kingsley (surprisingly)
Warnings: A complete lack of sharks.
The biggest complaint I have about this movie is that it isn't bad. I hoped it would be, and all signs were pointing to is being so. Well, one sign – Ben Kingsley's in it. Great actor, but dude's got terrible taste in roles. He hasn't been in a decent movie since Gandhi.
Anyway, if the movie was bad I could have fun mocking it mercilessly. Unfortunately it's not bad. It's not good either, it's just alright.
Basically, it's an FBI hunt down a serial killer story, reminiscent of the late nineties Se7en wannabes. You have three stables of the genre: obsessive detective with issues (Eckhart), female detective with seemingly no personality or purpose beyond UST and a past with male detective (Carrie-Ann Moss) and crazy guy (Kingsley). There are a couple of a twists – firstly the serial killer is only killing other serial killers, and crazy dude can 'remote-see' i.e. he gets psychic visions of crime scenes, and obsessive detective can too. But the twists aren't enough to take it beyond 'meh' territory and there's no real whodunit aspect to it, you know already.
The thing that endears the movie is the fangirl aspect. Eckhart's the lead character and does the being driven slowly nuts thing, making it a role slightly similar to that of Harvey Dent, except Dent's a far more fleshed out character. Wonderfully, he gets roughed up a bit towards the end, which is always nice to see.
Film Rating: 2 ½
Fangirl Rating: 4
Possession (2002, dr. Neil LaBute)
Assests: Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle (Lizzie!)
Warnings: None
The plot is basiscally two literature scholars (Eckart and Gwyneth Paltrow) fall in love while discovering together of the romance of two Victorian poets (Northam and Ehle), so it's a history mystery romance.
The whole mystery plot is far too Da Vinci Code for my liking, particularly the final revelation (which flatmate watching with me guessed about half an hour in). Yes, I know The Da Vinci Code is younger than both this movie and the book it's based upon, but The Da Vinci Code taints all with its very special brand of awfulness. Plus, it's full of holes.
But the mystery is secondary to the romances, which are both a bit cold. The two scholars spend far too much talking about their potential relationship and how they're both going to mess it up and not enough time acting upon their feelings. This is, in my experience, incredibly true to life, but I don't watch movies for a realistic take on romance. Jeremy Northam is hot, but if you want to watch a brilliant corseted romance in with Jennifer Ehle, I suggest sticking to Pride and Prejudice. Neither of the couples have great chemistry.
Tom Hollander steals both scenes he's in, playing a solicitor and acting as one of the movies few comedic foils. This movie could have done with just a little more comedy to make up for the failed romance.
In conclusion, it's an alright movie to watch. The idea for two parallel romances occurring in different times has so much potential that never comes out on screen. I have a feeling that the book is much better than the movie.
As for the fangirl factor, Aaron Eckhart is adorable throughout and there's even a lake jumping scene, although his character's romantic sulking which starts about mid way through the movie gets on my nerves. There is an important distinction that all filmmaker should know of: Angsting alone about failed relations = sexy. Moaning constantly about failed relationship to object of his affection = annoying.
Film Rating: 3½
Fangirl Rating: 4
Coming up: The Black Dahlia and Neverwas
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