BEFORE: The second of four Ewan McGregor films, Ewan carries over from "Velvet Goldmine". I've got quite a large collection of signed 8x10 photos of Star Wars actors, but I don't have Mr. McGregor's. I should probably rectify that ASAP.
THE PLOT: A janitor in L.A. takes his boss' daughter hostage after being fired and replaced by a robot. Two "angels" who are in charge of human relationships on earth offer some unsolicited help to bring this unlikely couple together.
AFTER: Yeah, this is a weird one. Part of me just doesn't know what to say, or what to do with this one. It takes some processing - I can't even think of a film to compare it to, maybe "Nurse Betty" or "Joe Under the Volcano"? "Heaven Can Wait"? Once in a while you just find a film that doesn't follow any of the usual rules, or perhaps tries to make up a few new ones - and sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't.
I could think of it as vaguely Hitchcock-like, what with the couple on the run, working together and slowly falling in love with each other despite their differences and semi-hatred for each other. But that could just be due to the fact that I watched all those early Hitchcock films not too long ago. Anyway, I think comparing this plot to Hitchcock would be giving it too much credit.
This was made by Danny Boyle, who also directed "Trainspotting", another film that tried to break all the rules and just be random, but he also directed "Slumdog Millionaire", which had a lot of flashbacks, but was also put together in a very particular order to demonstrate a point. So, where does this one fit on that scale? Closer to "Trainspotting", I'm afraid - maybe Boyle learned how to organize a storyline as his career progressed.
What am I supposed to make of the "angels" in this film? They work among the humans, first as collection agents, then as bounty hunters tracking down a kidnapper, then they sort of become ruthless kidnappers themselves - are angels supposed to act this way? I'm assuming everything they do is to bring the male + female leads together, but is this really the best way to do this? Plus, if it's so difficult to bring them together, and so many things have to go right (wrong?) for this to happen, how can anyone say that they're meant for each other?
Everything about this plot is so confusing - what, exactly, is accomplished in the big picture by bringing these two people together? Will they someday have a child that will save the world, or cure some disease? And why is this relationship so important, when there's been such a run lately (or so it's mentioned) of relationships falling apart? Why couldn't the angels save THOSE relationships - and if they couldn't, are they good at their jobs, or not? Can an angel be fired, or disciplined by their boss?
On top of that, do the ends justify the means? Is kidnapping someone (or pretending to) OK if it brings about an acceptable result? What about shooting someone (which happens quite a bit in this film)? Are the angels really sure that shooting this person at this time has an ultimately positive result, or are they just "winging it"? So many questions, and so few answers. And if angels control who falls in love with each other, what does that say about destiny vs. free will? Or am I over-thinking things again?
The ending is weirdest of all - both lead characters talk to each other (but face the audience) and have a discussion about the meaning of love and fate. This is followed by a stop-motion animated sequence of them blasting off in a car like it's a rocket, flying to Scotland and entering a castle. Was this always the intended way to wrap up this story, or was this animation an add-on to cover up a different live-action ending that didn't test well? Were the male and female leads not available at the same time to film this ending, and therefore were they filmed separately stating their beliefs about the meaning of it all?
Also starring Cameron Diaz (last seen in "Bad Teacher"), Delroy Lindo (last seen in "The Hard Way"), Holly Hunter (last seen in "Once Around"), Ian Holm (last seen in "Another Woman"), Dan Hedaya (last seen in "The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave"), Stanley Tucci (last seen in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), Tony Shalhoub (last seen in "Searching for Bobby Fischer"), Maury Chaykin (last seen in "The Mask of Zorro"), Ian McNeice, with a cameo from Timothy Olyphant (last heard in "Rango").
RATING: 3 out of 10 karaoke songs
No comments:
Post a Comment