Film
Reviews
ROMANCE; DRAMA BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (15) 135min O...
Scripted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx's acclaimed short story. Ang Lee's intimate epic B/‘erbacA Mountain poignantly charts a furtiye relationship between two ranch hands over the course of several decades. Less a gay Western than a universally resonant love story that unfolds in the American West. it (35). begins in the summer of 1963 in the highlands of Wyoming. There Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaali and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledgeri meet while tending sheep up on a mountain. One cold. alcohol-fuelled night. they share a tent and some unexpected physical intimacy. ‘You know I ain't gueer." mumbles the tight—tipped Ennis the next day. 'Me nerther.‘ replies the more extrovert Jack. Come the end of the season the pair separate and head then respectiye ways. but the depth of
(Tom Dawsoni
(12A) 96min u
WAR DRAMA JARHEAD (15) 123min .00
There’s a post-modern quality to the way in which the Sam American Beauty Mendes-directed Jarhead deliberately references previous American war films. The boot-camp dehumanisation echoes Full Metal Jacket, while the recruits settle down to watch a tape of The Deer Hunter (which turns out to be a home-made porn flick), and cheer and whoop at the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ sequence from Apocalypse Now. But unlike its many predecessors, this is a combat film which is purposefully devoid of thrilling set pieces and heroic actions, and which calls into question our appetite for images of violence.
In adapting ex-marine sniper Anthony Swofford’s autobiographical account of front-line duties in Operation Desert Storm, Mendes sticks tight to his Camus-reading anti-hero (an impressively bulked-up Jake Gyllenhaal) and provides a grunt-eye’s version of
40 THE LIST :'~
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their mutual feelings can't be ignored. The crux of the film's tragedy is that in a Violently homophobic rural culture. the likes of Jack and Ennis don’t have the option of 'coming out' and openly living together as a couple. It's not only their lives that are ruined by this dominant culture of sexual and emotional repression. but also those of their wives (played Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams) and children. Cineinatographer Rodrigo Prieto is equally at home shooting in the wide- open spaces of the Wyoming outdoors as in the cluttered interiors. which constrict his protagonists. with Lee intelligently using sound to heighten the thematic contrast between the freedom of the natural world and the shackles of domesticity. In a strong cast an introverted Ledger is truly outstanding. imbuing his profoundly inarticulate. rage-fuelled charactm with an aching humanity.
I General release from In (5 Jan. See feature. page M. and inten/iew. page
ROMAN l ic com ev JUST FRIENDS
A concept movie with a Christmas backdrop. Just Friends turns on the notion that .vomen have a habit of putting men in the 'friendship /one'. In other \.-.'ords. they will only ever be best buddies. It's an assumption that's not without its merits. and you might hope that Roger Kumble's comedy could explore the idea in a more
intelligent way than it actually does but then that's rather like Wishing Santa Will leave a Porsche til i in your garage.
Ryan Van l/i/i/(ler: Party I (arson Reynolds ~— a sort of younger. smugger version of Chevy Chase ~ plays I A record executive Chris Brandei. who Winds up back home in New Jersey on Christmas Eve. There. he tries to bed his old high school chum. Jamie Palamino (Amy Sinarti. a girl who firmly placed him in the friendship /one' when they were teenagers. Despite some decent support notably. Anna Farris' hyperactive singer - the enjoyable segments. such as Brander's feisty relationship with his brat of a younger brother. never quite see us through the mawkish moments. Much like a Christmas stocking. it's a mixed bag - but one it might be better to d:sco‘.'er on DVD. (James Mottrami I General r‘e/e.'ise from I n (5 Jan.
events, a strategy criticised by American reviewers for failing to offer a wider political perspective on the Gulf war. What’s interesting about Jarhead is how it concentrates on the boredom and frustration of soldiers stationed for months in the Saudi Arabian desert. In temperatures of 112 degrees they drill and rehydrate relentlessly, practising exercises in their chemical protection suits. Deprived of female company, they take refuge in masturbation and in trading vehemently misogynistic insults.
If Jarhead never quite gets under the skin of its stock characters (Jamie Foxx’s tough-as-nails sergeant, Chris Cooper’s gung-ho commanding officer), Roger Deakins’ bleached-out cinematography comes into its own once war begins: charred corpses line the road to Basra, burning oil wells provide nightmarish illumination, the rain turns black and an atmosphere of surreal dislocation is powerfully evoked. No wonder Swofford’s retrospective voiceover observes that: ‘We are still in the desert.’ (Tom Dawson)
I General release from In 153’ Jan. See feature, page H.
CRIML DRAMA MATCH POINT (12A) 124mm 00
Creatively revived by no fewer than two muses — Scarlett Johansson and the city of London -- Woody Allen is. according to most critics. back on top form. But he isn't. At all. By swapping Manhattan for London. comedy for drama and )a// for opera. he's created a film that. despite wonderful cineniatography. is ovenvhelmingly turgid and pretentious.
Much in life. ponders the film's tennis-pro hero. Chris (Jonathan Rhys— Meyersl depends on which side of the not your metaphorical ball falls. Chris luck is on the good side. seeing as he's torn between marriage to millionaires daughter Chloe (Emily Mortimer) and a passionate affair with skint actress Nola (Johanssoni.
The clunking dialogue (‘did anyone ever tell you — you have sensuous lips?‘ Chris asks Nola. indicating the real reason Johansson so inspires Allen) and scenes of picture»;)ostcard London are bad enough. but Match Point becomes truly execrable when Allen crowbars in a double murder. This may owe a lot to Dostoevsky but. apart from the fact that the killer reads Crime and l~)(;nislirnent. his actions aren't foresharlowed and. like the film as a whole. feel forced and unconvincing. New balls please.
(Ian Wintertoni
I General re/e.’ise from Fri (5 Jan. See Big Picture, page I l.
()ltIMl DRAMA RUNNING SCARED (18) 121 min .0
Wayne Kramer follows his cult hit The Coo/er with something completely different — a pulp gangster film that's heavy on style and brutal Violence. Joey (.‘ia/eIIe (Paul Walker) lands his mob in trouble when nine year-old ()leg (Cameron Bright. last seen in Bill/ii steals a gun that was used to murder a cop and uses it to shoot his overbearing stepfather. What follows is a preposterous sequence of chases. sordid comic-book characters and gilt wrenching yiolence as Joey tries to get the gun before the cops do. It's all heaVily influenced by Soderbergh (particularly lr.'ii‘f/(,‘i and Mann (particularly (Ioli’.'itei.'1/". yet the best