This weekend's new releases -- "The Fountain," "Deja vu" and "For Your Consideration" -- comprise something of a thematic hat trick: Time and space, time travel and time heals all wounds.
For some people, the fact that a movie gets booed and cheered at the same screening might actually pique their interest. And truth be told, Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" is interesting. It's not a truly awful work, and there are those who will find it artful and fascinating. I didn't like it. But I do think it offers some highlights in its philosophical meandering.
The film has earned mixed reactions (both angry and rapturous) at film festivals in Toronto and Venice. To that I write: good show. I admire the thematic concepts in "The Fountain," but ultimately, it collapses under the weight of its metaphysical yearnings.
The movie is about the human quest for immortality, which is fun to argue about in a coffeehouse, but not too much fun to watch on the big screen. Besides, if there really were a "fountain of youth" in Central America (or as noted in the film, a "tree of life") then why the heck aren't we swamped with Guatemalans? Oh right, nobody's found it. But come on, Guatemala is not that big a country and there are an awful lot of banana farmers. Oh well, it's nice to dream.
Aronofsky has written and directed "The Fountain" and he's got a message for you: Death is to be embraced, not feared, because it's part of the process of rebirth. I like his previous features, "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream," but I can't fully declare for this one. Ideas are tough to tackle in movies because you need either whip-smart dialogue or stunning visuals, and here we get neither.
The film covers three eras and it stars Hugh Jackman in three versions of one man. Early on, he's a Spanish conquistador (Tomas) searching for the tree sap that offers eternal life to whoever can drink it.
Next, he's a contemporary man (Thomas) married to a woman (Rachel Weisz) who has a terminal brain tumor. Turns out she's writing a book that is actually the story about the 16-century explorer. Thomas refuses to accept that his wife will die, and since he's a medical researcher, he works on monkeys to find a cure.
Then Jackman is a space traveler sometime in the 2500s (Tom Creo) and he's journeying within a bubble carrying a piece of dead tree bark with him.
OK, buy the premise, buy the movie. But really, what's going on here? Is the entire story line nothing more than a novel-in-progress popping out of Weisz's character's brain, albeit a badly ravaged brain at that? Or are the goings-on nothing more than the figment of Tomas, Thomas or Tom's obviously very fertile imagination?
"The Fountain" is a niche film and I hope it finds its niche. There is an audience for this kind of fantasy. Visually, the movie looks good, although the space-travel thing is a tad too light-show-at-a-rock-concert. Jackman proves he is one of our most relaxed and interesting actors. And Aronofsky definitely gets credit for trying.
Denzel Washington plays an ATF agent who seems to be able to find the clues to events that others miss. That's a good opening for a clever adventure tale, but not this one. "Deja Vu" begins with an explosion aboard a New Orleans ferryboat that kills more than 500 people. It's a stunning and harrowing sequence.
The solution to the dastardly deed may lie in the fact that the United States government has a top-secret program that allows it to spy on anyone it deems dangerous. And the spying can be done anywhere under any conditions. This is due to some incredible advanced satellite technology and flawless thermal imaging. This kind of control might be an effective device in this era of heightened tensions. But does Washington's character, once he starts opening doors, believe that this ability to watch over the planet belongs in the hands of a federal agency like Homeland Security?
Political expediency and personal liberty collide in "Deja Vu." Basically, was the explosion a test of the government's new-found power? Hey, I'm not telling.
As best as I can figure it out, American scientists have discovered a hole in the time/space continuum that allows them to look back exactly 102 hours. Yes, it's that precise, which allows you to giggle if you want. Naturally, the ferry explosion is rehashed. The moviemakers really do want you to believe that the science of limited time travel is possible, because without you believing it's so, the entire plot goes up in, well ... goes up like the ferryboat.
The film isn't quite as adept as I'm making it seem. In other words, it's got big problems. The ending is ludicrous. After two-plus hours of Washington playing his same old disbelieving nice guy with an edge, you want a lot more than a lecture about wormholes and parallel universes. And you want more than duplicate car chases. Bruckheimer has already visited this paranoia about the government in "Enemy of the State." He's starting to repeat himself. Oh wait, maybe, you know, he's going back in time.
Hack, brilliantly played by Catherine O'Hara (who deserves real Oscar attention for her acting) suddenly becomes obsessed with the possibilities of giving that acceptance speech.
"Home for Purim" is a movie-within-a-movie in "For Your Consideration," a delicious comedy about Hollywood. It's from the writing team of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and is directed by Guest with his glorious company of players you've grown to love in "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show," and "A Mighty Wind."
In other words, "For Your Consideration" is a spoof and it really is a golden delight. You've got smarmy agents, egomaniacal screen stars, clueless writers and directors, silly film critics, moronic producers and TV entertainment-show hosts who give new meaning to the word buffoonery.
Usually Guest and his repertory company work in faux-documentary style, but this time the movie unreels as a fictional work that skewers pomposity and profits. It's like "The Player," but with a lot more laughs.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | November 28 2006 |