This movie is the definition of barking mad. It shouldn’t exist as it’s so nonsensical and daft but somehow it is here with us, a remnant from a bygone era. It’s hilarious in moments and would not be made today. There would be picket lines outside Cineworld.
The cinematic travails of Tom Ripley have given us the quite barking The American Friend (1977), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and the little-seen Ripley’s Game (2002) – a multifarious holy trilogy of sorts linked by the amoral antihero. I have not seen Purple Noon (1960), nor the Barry Pepper number. And what the fuck happened to that actor? He was on the cusp but now operating in the AWOL stakes.
And this TV first, it’s exceptional, a throwback continental thriller with vistas galore. Ripley epitomises the self-effacing weasel; you need to watch out for these creeps for they lurk in the shadows.
It’s a 5/5 from me and I couldn’t find a flaw in it.
So unusual for a crime thriller, we have a protagonist as nonthreatening as it comes operating on the sidelines of the mob. Nonthreatening until you really see how clever and kind of sinister he is, he reminded me of Tom Hardy in The Drop (2014).
Exquisitely crafted, intense, this is a good old-fashioned crime drama which goes beyond the situation piece it could have been as it never leaves the one location for its duration. A movie with no faffing around. And there are some brutal scenes.
It was difficult to compare this movie to another, such was the singularity of it. But the works of Éric Rohmer come to mind with their mood, pacing, and thematic concerns.
It’s a joy to watch and never dull despite the monotony of the subject matter, all held together by a quite exceptional leading performance and the unpredictability of events. You do wonder, knowing it’s based loosely on a true story, if this bloke is going to end up going crackers.
Mel is good in everything, a top actor and a sublime filmmaker. Our British Bulldog extraordinaire Ray Winstone also rocks up as an enigmatic spy/assassin with existential predilections, and he gives the type of performance that makes you wish the movie would segue into it all being about him.
However, Danny Huston features, and he is terrible as always. He saunters like C-3PO and has the diction of a constipated android. He almost ruins the movie, as he does most movies he features in.
I found this such a painful experience and I’ll be brief about why.
It was overstuffed with inconsequential ritual, gormless staring from every character in it, needless detail, and shots and pacing so ponderous I kept kicking the chair in front of me (it was empty).
The Fremen were so boring it felt like a really honking Ryanair flight when you’re stuck on the tarmac for 45 mins. It went on and on with these goons and I was sick to death of them. What else? It’s wholly unmemorable in its dialogue. Not a single line staying with you, the chat consists of characters telling the audience what is happening.
The pros:
The spectacle is great, the effects sublime. The Harkonnen are at least interesting, their strange society and brutal ways. But they barely feature. Apparently, folk chatting in a desert is more deserved of our attention.
It’s okay if all over the place with a jarringly inconsistent tone – too violent but not violent enough, it’s half a kids’ movie, half Lethal Weapon, which doesn’t work. Maybe they should have just stuck with the one genre or infused it with more magic, the escapism of the movie theatre and all that.
Spot the cameo helps pass the two-hour running time, and it has its moments when you think it could be relaxing into a movie that goes somewhere. But it doesn’t.
It’s stupid. But it’s not stupid-stupid. At least you get two Arnies for the price of one in this hit-and-miss deconstruction of action cinema.
What a load of shite this was, but it’s another ‘must see’ movie off my bucket list.
The premise is ludicrous, as is almost everything that takes place. And it’s pure cringe, from him taking a streetwalker into a fantasy hotel, the wincing reactions of the staff and the guests, the squirming montage of her on Rodeo Drive trying on the outfits to ‘Pretty Woman’ (how clever), to the tedious board meetings.
And the bloke who played George Costanza from Seinfeld is in it and he is rubbish.
A boring prologue that goes on and on. Just cut to the chase, eh. I almost turned it off. But I didn’t.
The ‘fun’ begins at the hotel, and thank fuck for Rowan Atkinson. He’s Basil Fawlty surrounded by hideous cauldron experts. You’ve got the quite brilliant effects work and the director rolling with the lunacy of the premise.
And Bruno makes this movie. “Well, I’m not too keen on being a mouse.” – Bruno.
Wanderings and ... wonderings. 