Hey folks, Harry here... Here's a bit of a downer about BLACKHAWK DOWN and ALI.... The Cowardly Lion now speaks...
Dude,
In the last couple of days I've gotten to check out two movies, both of which I was burning to see.
The first was BLACK HAWK DOWN, the new one from Ridley Scott. Just so you know where I'm coming from, I loved GLADIATOR and hated HANNIBAL. I'm disappointed to tell you that it's two strikes in a row for Ridley; this doesn't cut it at all.
The movie tells the story of the ill-fated American involvement in Somalia in the early 90's, focussing in particular on a raid designed to capture two henchmen of the warlord Mohammed Faidid. Although the targets were apprehended, teh raid went very wrong indeed, and 19 soldiers lost their lives. It's a great subject for a film, particularly relevant in the light of September 11th, when the debate between isolationism versus intervention is raging again.
But sadly this is not a movie that makes you think. Or feel. Or care. The main problem is the vast number of characters it attempts to introduce us to, and make us care about. But teh script is not nearly good enough to delineate them clearly, and by the time the actionnn begins, about twenty minutes in, we've met what feels like an entire army, but we know nothing about them. You long for an individual characteristic, even a physical one, just to help you identify who is who. Ewen Bremner, the brilliant Scottish actor, has a big nose. Ewen Magregor has a disastrous failure of a fake accent. Tom Sizemore has a gut. Jason Isaacs is bald. And Eric Bana is very very cool. For these reasons the above five stand out, but that's about it.
And there's Josh Hartnett, of course. Who I'm sure is a lovely guy, but here he delivers an almost carbon copy of his drippy droopy sappy performance in the excruciating PEARL HARBOUR. Only this time it's even less appropriate since his character is meant to be a natural leader of men. This guy wouldn't last five minutes in training, let alone be given a command.
Anyway like I said, 20 minutes in the war starts, and it doesn't stop for the next hour and a half. The film makers will boast proudly of its unrelenting nature, but they're wrong, and wrongheaded. They should have relented, let us breathe, let the film breathe. It's just a barrage, an assault, and after a while you get sick of it. The movie is loud enough, but even louder was the sound of seats banging as more and more people went outside for a leak, or a cigarette, or just a break. Some of them didn't come back.
There's other problems. The Somalians are reduced to ciphers, offensively referred to as "skinnies" before being massacred in enormous numbers. I'm sure this abuse is an accurate representation of how the soldiers did and do talk, but the excellent THREE KINGS showed how it's possible to deal with this issue. But there are no moments here like the conversation between Spike Jonze and Ice Cube. In fact there are no conversations at all. Just shouting, shouting, and more shouting. In Macgregor's case, with a crap accent.
At the end Ridley Scott came onstage with Jerry Bruckheimer and a couple of the actors. He said the film was 95% finished, just a bit of sound mixing to do (maybe they want to make it even louder). He dealt gracelessly with a member of the audience who took offence at the depiction of the Somalians, and generally managed to annoy those left in audience that didn't hate him already. Jerry Bruckheimer then announced disingenuously that the release date of the film had been brought forward not because of September 11th, but to qualify for Oscar consideration. And behind him a pig flew through the air.
ALI
So last night I was even more looking forwaard to ALI, wanting it to banish the bad vibes and bruises on my butt. Unfortunately - and this really grives me - it only added to them. Harry, plain and simple, this is not a good movie. I've no idea how they can have got it so wrong. I love Michael Mann films. MANHUNTER, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT, THE INSIDER, how many other directors have CV's that hot? They're all dynamite. But this is a major misfire.
It's not Will's fault. He's obviously done the training, done the reseach, and he gives it his all. As do the other actors, particularly an unrecognisable Jon Voight and the stunning Nona Gaye. But the script is dire, and the style of shooting completely at odds with the subject matter. It's filmed as if it were a dream, the camera either very close (almost up Will's latex nose a couple of times) or right across the rom. And the dialogue overlaps constantly, fighting with the soundtrack, which frequently renders it inaudible. The superb Jamie Foxx suffers in particular, you can barely hear a line he says. Occasionally and randomly we go into Ali's head, hearing his thoughts, but this device is ineffectively used, and paradoxically only serves to remind us that this portrayal of the man is only skin-deep.
Every dramatic moment in this extraordinary life is fudged, even teh plot is obscured. And unforgivably, the boxing scenes ain't that great either. Nothing, nothing on RAGING BULL. Even ROCKY was better (the first couple anyway). The decision not to have a commentator during the fights is a palpable error - my girlfriend kept having to ask me, is he winning now? Why's he on the ropes? An expert's voice could have explained the amazing strategy that was Rope-A-Dope, and heightened our excitement at watching it pay off.
As it is, we view the movie with a feeling of flatness; ultimately, and unbelievably, with boredom. It's so downbeat, this wonderful story about one of the great men of the last century is told with such pedestrian lack of flair you start to wonder if it's a deliberate decision on the part of the makers. There is more charisma, more laughs, more atmosphere in 5 minutes of WHEN WE WERE KINGS than in all 2 and a half hours here. So so disappointing.
Two bummers then. That God LOTR is coming soon.
Call me the Cowardly Lion.
