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Psychotic Reactions

-- John Shea

24 June, 2003

I caught Hollywood Homicide today and I have to say, the negative reviews are unwarranted. Now don't misunderstand me, it isn't a great film. It's merely a fairly good film but it doesn't deserve the abuse being heaped on it. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is though. The score. In the early parts of the movie I just couldn't settle into it. Something was off. It didn't seem to be Ford or Hartnett. They seemed reasonably confident in their characters. It didn't seem to be the editing or directing. Finally, in a scene where Ford is questioning a big time record producer, it hit me. The scene was playing fairly serious. The suit was giving us some nice background on the music business that was adding texture to the film. But the scene just lies there like a dead fish because the score playing underneath the dialogue is a goofy little bit that suggests comedy. Only the very last part of the scene is actually meant to be funny but this music chortles away happily underneath, quietly telling us that this is funny stuff when in fact it's not. That mismatch of music and tone throws off a lot of scenes and gives the viewer mixed signals on how to react. Yes the movie is funny but the humor is a side effect of the characters interaction. It isn't the focus of the story but the music tries to tell us otherwise. Look at a movie like Lethal Weapon. It treads a similar line between comedy and drama. But in that film, the sax accompaniment always knows how to play it to augment the scene. Hollywood Homicide's score is clueless and it throws off most of the movie. I bet that if the movie was re-released with an all new score, it would get a much better reaction.

Prior to that movie was the S.W.A.T. trailer and it gave me hope. I absolutely hated the script I read but that didn't lead me to automatically assume that the movie would be a turkey. At the time I said, "It is entirely possible that the efforts of Farrell, Jackson and Johnson will generate an entertaining film. The script is so loose that really anything is possible. The quality of the final product all comes down to those three gentlemen." Based on the trailer I saw, I would guess that the script was rewritten at least one more time. I would also guess that the director and his stars have turned in work that fills in the script's deficiences rather significantly. I admit this was only two minutes of highly edited footage but it gave me hope. You can find a link to the trailer further down in this column.

News

The Bourne Supremacy: British director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) is close to signing to take the director's chair on this sequel to last year's The Bourne Identity. Tony Gilroy will write the script, adapting it from the second novel in Robert Ludlum's series. He also wrote the script for the first film. Matt Damon will return in the starring role of Jason Bourne. He is a man searching for his identity while being pursued by spies. This film has to do with a Chinese politician Bourne supposedly killed. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Shrek 2: If you take a child to see the new animated Sinbad or just buy a kid's ticket for it, you will receive a CD with a read along story called Shrek and Fiona's Honeymoon Storybook, narrated by John Cleese. The story is meant as a bridge between Shrek and the upcoming sequel. The story follows Fiona and Shrek on their honeymoon, which is interupted when the ghost of Lord Farquaad. Shrek, Donkey and Dragon must then go rescue her. How cute.

While talking to USA Today about this, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg lets slip some details on Shrek 2. "Shrek 2 is about coming to terms with the fact that everything that happened in the first Shrek was a gigantic mistake," he says. "Shrek was not meant to rescue Fiona. Her true love was meant to be Prince Charming. There was a whole plan of what was going to happen to Fiona, her future and her kingdom, and Shrek has made a fine mess of all of it." He then discusses the plot a bit. "It begins with an invitation from Fiona's mom and dad, who, you recall, locked her away in a castle to await Prince Charming's kiss," he says.

Fiona's parents are voiced by Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian and John Cleese as King Harold. Also joing the lineup are Jennifer Saunders (Absolutey Fabulous) as the Fairy Godmother, Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding) as Prince Charming and Antonio Banderas (Spy Kids) as Puss 'n Boots. Says Katzenberg, "He and Donkey become rivals and, ultimately, buddies."

Tomb Raider 2: You may not find the new Tomb Raider sequel at your local Regal theater this summer. According to AdAge, the theater chain will not play the movie in 47 of its theaters due to a dispute over lobby stand displays. Paramount is sending out displays that feature Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, seated in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. This is part of a contest where people can win the SUV. Regal wants no part of if however, insisting that if movie studios make deals with third party advertisers for the use of advertising in their lobbies, they want a cut of the action. Daimler-Chrysler responded by cancelling an ad buy on Regal's Digital Content Network, a 20 minute advertising feature preceding the films they show. Regal will still show the movie in most of their theaters, simply without the offending lobby display. Paramount is actually responsible for pulling the movie from the 47 theaters because their contract with Daimler-Chrysler required a minimum number of displays in theaters. So the studio booked the film with rival theaters who would accept the display.

Isn't it nice when the fight over money spills over like this? I find it occasionally refreshing to see the raw greed displayed fairly publicly. Otherwise I might actually forget that movies like Tomb Raider are meant more as money vacuums than entertainment.

Pirates of the Caribbean: I'm still not sure what to think of this project but knowing that it makes the suits at Disney a bit uncomfortable is certainly reassuring. Anytime you start a movie project by basing it on a theme park ride, crappiness seems sure to follow. And yet I've started to have hopes about this film. The LA Times has a great article on the development of the film. The project was offered to producer Jerry Bruckheimer who actually turned up his nose at it, calling it too tame. Bruckheimer was interested though so he called in screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, of Shrek fame, to rewrite the script. Disney was originally determined to get a PG rating but that quickly went out the door. Bruckheimer promised them it wouldn't get an R but never promised PG, leaving that most marketable of ratings, the PG-13. He then hired director Gore Verbinski, now hot due to The Ring. Finally he went hard after Johnny Depp for the lead role. To Bruckheimer, Depp was "an edgy actor who will kind of counter the Disney Country Bears soft quality and tell an audience that an adult and teenager can go see this and have a good time with it."

Depp immediately patterned the character after legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. "I was reading about the 18th century pirates and thought they were kind of like rock stars. So, when I thought, 'Who is the greatest rock 'n' roll star of all time?' it was Keith," says Depp.

So basically, Bruckheimer and Depp went out of their way to make the folks at Disney uncomfortable. I have a feeling the end result may be pretty good. I also believe that if Disney went with its first instinct, we'd be seeing a bomb hitting the theaters this summer.

The Brown Bunny: Famous largely for one of the worst screenings in Cannes Film Festival history, Vincent Gallo's indie film also has received a fair amount of notoriety for a scene late in the film in which co-star Chloe Sevigny engages in graphic oral sex on Gallo. Sevigny spoke with IFCRant magazine about the film. "He's having a fantasy about me, and I perform the deed on him," she says. "I'm afraid people are going to get the wrong idea about it. It's very tender and it's not gratuitous. He's a great actor and a great filmmaker, I knew it would be well done. I've known him since I was 17...we were intimate when I was younger a little bit, so I feel so comfortable with him. I could trust him 100 percent."

Everyone can now go back to watching Gallo and Ebert exchange insults.

Posters

Trailers

S.W.A.T.:

Windows Media: Lo-Res   Hi-Res
RealVideo: Lo-Res   Hi-Res

Reviews

Hulk (positive/some spoilers)
The Italian Job (positive/some spoilers)
Hollywood Homicide (negative/some spoilers)
National Treasure (script review)

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