Hi people,
There were a couple of posts about this film, what seems like years ago.
Anyway, I paid my fiver this evening, and found myself walking out after
about an hour. This a chap who has NEVER walked out of a cinema before the
end of a film, and believe me I've seen some mangy celluloid dogs in my time
(principal exhibits would include Sliver, Pret A Porter, Even Cowgirls Get
The Blues, one of the Police Academy sequels, and a French film about an
elevator that killed people). With the time honoured caveat of IMHO, this is
what I thought... [reading it back, oh dear! It's un peu over the top, but
hey, so's the wretched movie]
There's a song on Catatonia's new album called Is Everybody Here On Drugs? -
and that's what I had to ask about this film. It's like being hit over the
head with a Jeff Koons catalogue while being force-fed speed. The sets are
so garish that I got a headache; the acting is hammy beyond belief; the
dialogue is variously overcooked and bathetic; the cartoonish sound effects
are baffling (whooshing sounds when people turn their heads!); the relentless
speed of the editing make the average pop video look like a televised debate
in the House of Lords; the camera work screams "look at me! Look at me!" - as
does Nicole Kidman's performance.
And as to the much discussed anachronistic use of rock songs, for me it
failed at virtually level. The songs were repeated ad nauseam (I could put
up with Elton John's Your Song once, but three times?? And I was less than
halfway through the film!), and the set pieces would have Busby Berkley
spinning in his grave. Michael J Fox doing Johnny B Goode in Back to the
Future said it so much better.
I loved Baz Luhrman's first two films (Strictly Ballroom and Romeo & Juliet);
I simply couldn't bear to sit and watch this to the end, especially as we are
told at the start what happens at the end!
Still, it's an extraordinary film, and made with undoubted chutzpah, so maybe
others will react in the opposite way to me. I'd be fascinated to know,
honestly.
With thumbs in the downward position...
Azeem
