Review of Quest for Fire (1981) by Alex R — 24 Mar 2004

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) **1/2.

Ever notice how hack directors sometimes feel that they must do penance to the filmmaking god by going out and making a small movie? Phillip Noyce is one of those hacks... and Rabbit-Proof Fence is one of those movies. Noyce is not completely devoid of talent: his 'The Quiet American' is actually a rather good film (and apparently a fluke). Unfortunately, years of making explosive spy thrillers and movies with Sharon Stone have apparently rendered Noyce incapable of any sort of subtlety. This story of three Aboriginal children who are taken away from their family by the government and escape back home is so truncated and telegraphed that it almost makes you yearn for those Disney movies where a child (usually accompanied by his trusty animal) must make the trek back home. They are tracked by Mr. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the administrator of the aboriginal relocation policies, who wants to get rid of half-breed aboriginals. The story at the film's core is a good one; there'S certainly a good film to be made from these racist practices. However, Branagh's Neville is an over-the-top Aryan caricature (Branagh's second most-often typecast role, after the Shakespearian fop) and Noyce's direction has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. We never get the feeling that the kids even find this hard; the film simply takes us from one pointless encounter to another. Not to mention that Noyce seems awfully fond of the POV shot and riddles the film with them. The cinematography is wonderful (and so is the Peter Gabriel score) but the film itself is hardly as engrossing or dramatic as it wishes it was.

Me, Myself and Irene (2000) ***.

I went from loving this ("Best Jim Carrey movie ever!") to hating it ("Worst Jim Carrey movie ever!") to being completely neutral. I don't know exactly what prompted both of the above reactions, because as far as both Carrey and the Farrellys go, Me, Myself and Irene is completely and utterly average. Carrey is Charlie Baileygates, a mild-mannered Rhode Island cop who has been repressing his feelings of anger ever since his wife left him for an African-American midget limo driver (Tony Cox), leaving him with three black children whom he continues to believe are his. Then, taken over the edge, Charlie flips out and out comes Hank Evans, an amalgalm of all the feelings Charlie has never let out. Things get even more complicated when Charlie is assigned to escort a young woman named Irene (Renée Zellwegger) and gets embroiled in all of her life's troubles... and obviously falling in love with her... both Charlie and Hank, who battle it out for her love. It's relatively crude humor the entire way through (this being the Farrellys, it's no shock) but it also has heart (hell, this being the Farrellys, it's no shock either). There are pretty much as many jokes that fail as there are jokes that hit the bullseye, but it's always a pleasure to watch Carrey go ballistic in a performance that reminds one of Steve Martin's brilliant turn in All of Me. Carrey's not as good (both characters are essentially Jim Carrey on different settings), but he's still a riot. Props also to Renée Zellwegger (at her loveliest in this and Nurse Betty), who holds her own against Carrey (something that's harder than it sounds).

Quest for Fire (1981) ***.

Jean-Jacques Annaud's semi-epic prehistoric man saga Quest for Fire is certainly something we see little of: a gritty, realistic film that tackles the topic of prehistoric men with more seriousness than, say, the Ringo Starr comedy Caveman. It follows three tribesmen (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi) who go on a cross-country search to find fire; they eventually meet up with a creepy naked cannibal (Rae Dawn Chong, of all people) who may or may not hold the secret to fire. It's certainly a very interesting take on the subject; it depicts them as animalistic (which is what they were, really) and instinctive... but it makes questionable assumptions, especially regarding sexuality. I honestly doubt that cavemen who go on instinct and primal urges the entire course of the movie are suddenly going to give each other blowjobs and fall in love (not to mention being so fixated on penises). I don't doubt that cavemen had sex; I do doubt, however, that they were such raging nymphos. Not to mention that the cavemen get kind of annoying after a while; by the third time they had a laughing fit because one of them had gotten a rock on the head, I was kinda wondering where all this was going. It seems more suited to a short subject film... or perhaps a segment in a movie about history... or something. The performances are decent, and the film certainly gets props for showing it as it is (or, at the very least, how they assume it is). Plus, it's gotta set a record for the most scenes of prehistoric buttlove in a film.

Clerks (1994) ****.

A cult classic among Generation X, Kevin Smith's debut film is typical of many debut films: low-budget, low-key, uneven acting, filled with a desire to cram way too much stuff into one film... but it's so damn funny and well-written that it has more lasting power than, say, Aronofsky's Pi. The film follows a day in the life of Dante, a 22-year-old guy who works as a clerk in a convenience store. Called in on his off-day, Dante must face the usual array of customers, as well as choose between his girlfriend and his ex, visit the wake of a dead friend, play a hockey game and deal with the constant annoyance of his friend Randal, who spends more time goofing off with Dante than working at the next-door video store. It's black-and-white, very low-budget, forcing the film to rely on its script and dialogue... but what a script it is! I've always entertained the notion that Smith is a much better writer than he is a director, and Clerks is probably the best example of this. The script does tend to want to cram too much in (a tendency that first-time directors often have; they may never direct again, so this is their one chance to get this great idea in a movie) which leads to scenes like Silent Bob's cousin Olaf (which, while hilarious, is totally and utterly pointless). The acting is a bit uneven, but considering that most actors made their debut in this film and barely worked after, it's still a decent job. I'm not a huge fan of Smith, but this is undeniably entertaining stuff.

The Magdalene Sisters (2003) **1/2.

Disappointed in this one, actually. I heard so much about how brutal and uncompromising it was that it was actually quite disappointing to see that the movie is basically an American prison movie transposed to an Irish convent. It reminds me a bit of Rabbit-Proof Fence in the sense that it's a bleak, harrowing story that's worth telling, but then unfolds like... well, this one kinda plays like Papillon, to be honest. Three young women are taken from their home for promiscuous behavior (one of them has a child, the other is raped by her cousin, the last one does excessive flirting) and sent to live with the Magdalene sisters, who whip the girls, make them wash clothes constantly, ridicule their bodies, etc. Now, this is a horrible, horrible practice... but the film plays more like Girl, Interrupted than anything. Get in, find out how horrible it is, moan and cry and bitch, devise a plan to escape, get caught, devise another plan, etc. There are scenes of great emotional power here... but it all feels way, way too much like a movie. I never really felt the pain; instead I was thinking of what the cast would look like if it was American (Kirsten Dunst as Rose, Scarlett Johanssen as Margaret, Angelina Jolie/Christina Ricci as Bernadette, with someone like Kathy Bates or Susan Sarandon as the head nurse and Sean Astin as that guy that keeps coming in for various reasons). It's just an arthouse movie for the masses; the kind of movie mildly intelligent housewives go out and see and then cry at the end of, when in fact it's exactly the same damn thing as a prison escape movie.