JakeStevens Blog

I'd say it's mostly the languid pace that began to kill this film for me, because the performances are all top notch. Even the story is well written, with my only gripe being *POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Fatima's story line, which takes place in the past, but for dramatic tension, this is not revealed until the denoument, which as I just stated in my review of "The Usual Suspects" manipulative and contrived (Suspects NOT falling into that category, fortunately). I genuinely felt annoyed that everything up to that point had been told to mislead me and make me feel more emotion at the end. There are also a number of plot holes (who DID make that phone call?) which, in my opinion, are hard to ignore. Hmph. I guess I expected more from Tsotsi's director. And now I hear he's doing the "Wolverine" movie...Hollywood. Another one bites the dust, as they say.

There are two reasons I completely disliked this film: the TERRIBLE cinematography (can we say "rack focus", anyone?) and the IMPLAUSIBLE actions of the characters. Let me elaborate: it is shot like episodic television, which makes sense since Frank Darabont seemed to use most of the crew he worked with on "The Shield", but for God's sake...this is a feature film! Some of the shots weren't even in focus...at all! Seriously? 18 million dollar budget and all they can come up with is this? Sad. Then we've got the character's actions themselves. Whereas the natural instinct of self-preservation would kick in to a "real" person caught in this situation (like running for your life when scary shit starts attacking you), these people seem to have little of that instinct. Instead, they seem compelled to stand and stare, scream a little, and get killed. Not only that, but SOMEONE in this small hick town ought to know that INSECTS ARE ATTRACTED TO LIGHTS. The minute that moth-creature hit the window, the lights would be off. All of 'em. At least in MY world they would be. Here, they want to shine MORE lights to get a better look at them, again, standing and staring. Didn't these people see Jurassic Park? Turn the effing lights off! And don't get me started about the ending. Don't worry - I won't spoil anything for you...but you'll be pissed off at, once again, the characters inabilities to preserve themselves. Implausible. Inane. Waste of time.

Director Mark Palansky obviously would cite Tim Burton as an influence, and that's not a bad thing. I'd rate this film as "if you loved Big Fish, you'll probably love this film, too". The script is severely underdeveloped, and the film would probably be subpar were it not for the FANTASTIC performances by all the actors involved. Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice?), Richard E. Grant, Peter Dinklage and James McAvoy pull in some amazing performances (considering what they had to work with), but it's Christina Ricci who truly shines. Even with the badly applied prosthetic nose, she charms with such a natural beauty that it's hard to believe all of the blue blood suiters who run away screaming couldn't JUST see underneath that nose to the wonderful person she is. Ricci's acting has definitely improved over the years, and she needs to sink her teeth into something worthy of her talent and beauty. A cute movie for the whole family...and Ricci and McAvoy fans. Even with it's major flaws, I couldn't help but be charmed.