NoFace for Film

In an ongoing effort to forward information and knowledge to the masses, and taking into consideration the constraints of time and personal opinion, I give you Condensed Analysis; A handful of films reviewed in brief (more brief than a normal review) and presented all at once.

The films discussed in Condensed Analysis are not necessarily all bad or all good, but have a certain commonality that is easily distinguishable but not necessarily worth the real estate of an entire review.

For volume 1, I present: Harsh Times, Color of the Cross, Until Death, and Deja Vu. These films are typified by their steadfast determination to miss the mark. Try as they did to be edgy, different, and arouse emotion, the attempt fell short or just didn’t work at all.

All Reviews by: Matt H.

Title: Harsh Times
Year: 2005
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Christin Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria
Rated: R

NoFace for Film rating: 3 out of 7

Writer/Director David Ayer has had a relatively short career to date with several successful films in his wake, as a writer (U-571, The Fast and the Furious, Training Day, Dark Blue, S.W.A.T.). Harsh Times marks his debut as a director and as has been proven time and time again, good writers do not necessarily make good directors (watch Blade Trinity for a sobering example).

Christin Bale plays Jim Luther Davis, an honorably discharged Ranger struggling to adjust to civilian life and the turmoil he creates trying to enter law enforcement, all the while occupying himself with the destructive vices that led him astray in the past.

The performances are very decent and the plot is well scripted (by David Ayer himself), but the writer’s direction flattens everything out. His style is a weak derivation of Tony Scott and ends up being a distraction. The characters, though dynamic, are a bit too despicable and are frequently difficult to watch.

It is not a bad movie at all, just a trying movie. David Ayer writes the cop drama very well and hopefully he will find his own vision for his next project. Until then check out a few decent cop (or cop-type) films: Training Day, Running Scared, Narc, and L.A. Confidential.

Title: Color of the Cross
Year: 2006
Director: Jean-Claude La Marre
Starring: Jean-Claude La Marre, Johann John Jean, Jacinto Tarras Riddick, Ananda Lewis
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 2 out of 7

The story of Jesus Christ has been told by Hollywood a hundred different times, in a hundred different ways, no two telling the same story in whole and all being mired in controversy. Now, Color of the Cross joins this illustrious fraternity and shows that it has more in common with its predecessors than is expected.

In this retelling, the story begins just before the last supper and concludes with the crucifixion. In between, it is the standard Jesus related activity: sneaking around the hills outside town, setting right the misguided tidings of his disciples, looking pious, quoting various nuggets of wisdom. The main difference, and the source of controversy with this version, is that Jesus is depicted as a black man and that his persecution and murder were racially motivated.

Though the point of the film is obvious and made without question, the manner of its telling is a hair below sub-par at best. The acting is extraordinarily not good, the scenery was apparently an afterthought, the dialog and direction are sluggish, and the actors appear to be wearing Halloween costumes. The only good things about this film are the idea behind it and the DVD cover art; the two things that cannot save a bad film.

Title: Until Death
Year: 2007
Director: Simon Fellows
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephen Rea, Selina Giles
Rated: R

NoFace for Film rating: 1 out of 7

Like you, I am waiting with bated breath for the triumphant and phoenix-like rebirth of Jean-Claude Van Damme. For the past decade JCVD has been absent from our beloved silver screen and American cinema has suffered because of it. Seriously. No joke. I have had many a moment of hopeful anticipation at the sighting of a new JCVD film at my local video rental haunt dashed when upon watching the film, the idea of his rising from the ashes draws further and further away. Unfortunately, with Until Death, nothing has changed.

The film’s first fatal flaw (forgive the alliteration) is that the description on the reverse of the DVD case repeatedly refers to JCVD’s character as Anthony Lowe, when the character’s name is Anthony Stowe. The second and ultimate fatal flaw is that the film is a stunning and frightening amalgam of Mel Gibson’s Payback and Harrison Ford’s Regarding Henry. Confused? Well, actually watching the film is no help. Trust me. Please.

The plot in inconsequential, to the point where the actors and the director don’t really care what happens, so why should you. If you haven’t figured it out by now, this film is just plain wrong. To be fair (barely) I can see why JCVD wanted to do this film, and he does stretch his boundaries a bit, but alas, it is all for naught. Here’s hoping for the future, for all our sakes’.

Title: Deja Vu
Year: 2006
Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Adam Goldberg, Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Bruce Greenwood
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 4 out of 7

Of all the films reviewed in this edition of Condensed Analysis, Deja Vu is the unrivaled champion. The blinding glow from Deja Vu’s brilliance can only be seen as a pinprick of light by the other films. Hold your applause though, there’s more to this fairy tale. Despite the kudos, this film is far from great.

Denzel Washington plays ATF agent Doug Carlin assigned to investigate a terrorist bombing in New Orleans when some forensic inconsistencies lead him to FBI agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) and a unique surveillance unit that utilizes a spacefold anomaly to view events 4 days and 6 hours in the past, which is then used to exhaustion to solve the case (whew). That being said, this is not a sci-fi film.

Director Tony Scott’s fast and visceral visual style makes for great watching…usually. With Deja Vu, he seemed to have missed the mark a tad. There are moments where the plot’s pace matches the hectic vision of the film but in general there exists a notion of mismatch. At its heart, Deja Vu is a murder-mystery-thriller with a touch of science fiction thrown in for flavor, almost an afterthought. Such science heavy subjects as time travel and/or time alteration as a secondary plot device in large scope films is perilous at best and always disappointing (see also Richard Donner’s Timeline).

Misconceptions aside, the film is entertaining and that’s all anyone can ask for, really. But, the subject matter suffers from Tony Scott’s hard-edged style, or is it the other way ’round? Anyway, it’s worth a gander but the script would have been better suited for Tony’s brother Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner).

Good Luck.