there's a wonderful hazy new york quality to the whole film. Jane Campion uses long takes, sparse dialogue, and minimal performances from her actors. and Dion Beebe's beautiful cinematography (aided by a stunning transfer on the dvd) also helps ground the picture up.
it's not Sea of Love; it's more of a drama than a straight up thriller. it won't keep you on the edge of your seats. and it's not Body of Evidence either because the sexual drama parts of it are more grounded in reality than anything having to do with softcore porn. so a plus to Jane Campion for that.
it has to be said, though, that once you get to the end, there's a crappy conclusion waiting for you. it seems to come out of an entirely different movie, as if the ending to another script got mixed up with their script on their way to work one morning.
there's also one unnecessary character thrown into the mix to fuck you up as to the identity of the killer, but that's beside the point. as i said, it's not really a thriller. it's more of a character study on desire.
ooh, i gotta mention my boy Mark once again who does a bang-up job. this was the first time i'd seen him outside of You Can Count on Me and i didn't know how he'd fare as a non-loser. well, he's simply amazing. somehow managing to make a new york cop character look and feel interesting without sacrificing any integrity and without playing the charm card like most actors would do. i can't wait to see more of his films.
Posted by Anonymous | 12:14 PM
