We watched only about half of "Solaris" before deciding that it wasn't worth going on. It had a pretty cool sci-fi premise and starred the ever-yummy George Clooney, but it was disjointed and slow and ultimately not interesting enough to stay up for. I got a glimpse of George's tush before tuning out, though, so that was worth something.
I regret to confess that I also didn't finish watching "The Merchant of Venice," and it's for a really unfortunate reason: I couldn't understand a lot of the dialogue, particular from Jeremy Irons! I've watched plenty of Shakespeare and can pretty easily slip into that mode of careful listening, but this almost seemed like a sound quality problem. If there had been subtitles, I surely would have continued watching. Although, to be frank, Al Pacino wasn't ringing true as Shylock for me.
At this point there's surely a new reader who came to verbatim because a friend said, "Oh, you would like this blog—Karen does a lot of movie reviews!" And this person is now saying, "But, does she ever watch a movie in its entirety? Anyone can watch half of a bunch of movies!" And to this I reply with the following:
If you're feeling kind of pissed off at the world and want someone at whom to direct your anger, rent "Overnight." This is a fascinating documentary about Troy Duffy, a Boston bartender who briefly has a glimpse of the big time. His screenplay for "The Boondock Saints" was picked up by Miramax, who also showed interest in his band, the Brood. Duffy starts off as a total asshole, and his brush with fame and wealth only intensify it. He treats his brothers and friends like dirt and is just about the most self-impressed, self-absorbed, arrogant bastard you can imagine. You can't help but cheer when he fails, as he ultimately must. (For the record, I felt certain I'd seen "The Boondock Saints," but now I don't think so. Nor will I.)
The antidote to that kind of bad joss is "Kolya," a lovely little Czech movie about Louka, a cellist and confirmed bachelor, played by Sean Connery lookalike Zdenek Sverák (who also wrote the screenplay—and his son Jan Sverák directed). The plot is a well-worn one: Louka finds himself thrust into the position of primary caregiver to a little boy. Initially he has no interest in Kolya, but of course he comes to love him and to feel his life enriched by him. What makes this movie different from all the others like it are (1) solid acting all around, (2) the subtle way the story is allowed to unfold, and (3) the setting. You see, Louka is Czech and Kolya is Russian, and this is 1988, so their relationship is by definition a complicated one. We get to see what it was like to live in Prague before, during, and after the Cold War. Don't miss this beautiful film.
Boondock Saints is worth watching. It's not great. It's exactly what it seems to be--a poor man's Reservoir Dogs--but it's entertaining.
It's not dull at all. It's fun.
And it's a great bookend to "Overnight".
Posted by: ricky | June 21, 2007 at 09:08 PM