Review of Disgrace (2008) by Adrian B — 24 Sep 2011

I didn't read the book this movie was based on, but my husband did. He was appalled that John Malkovich was cast as the lead role, because in the book, apparently, the man is supposed to be a sort of Byronic type, and charming and attractive despite (or because of?) his lothario tendencies. Instead, we have Malkovich, who comes across as creepy and pathetic, not to mention physically repulsive. Also, he displays the emotional depth of a puddle. He comes across as a cipher in all his movies -- and not because Deep Things are going on inside him, but because he seems, at heart, to be a robot. Or an alien. Something with completely absent or frozen solid emotions. If this character is supposed to be seething with inner passion or desire or inner SOMETHING, Malkovich was not cast well, then. He is a pedophilic pod person. Not a tortured soul.

That aside, this is chock full of depressing and horrible things, and I fail to see the point. The characters are all pretty much unsympathetic and unlikeable, esp. the main characters. I hated them both by the end. I do not see what connection his relationship with the student has with the tragic events that befall his daughter, except that the first caused him to be living with her. If we are supposed to draw a connection between his behavior (acting on impulse) and the behavior of the monsters who attacked the daughter (are they acting on impulse, too?), I think the comparison is faulty at best, if not downright offensive and repugnant.

I don't know what this movie was trying to communicate, but I didn't much care for what I saw. Perhaps the book was better? they usually are. Or perhaps the book was just as depressing, pointless, and ultimately self-indulgent as the movie. I say: SKIP this one.