Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
This one’s had a long, slow road to theater screens. The development alone took something like 300 years... or a decade... depending on how much hyperbole you like with your news. A number of movie stars were attached at one point or another, and now, finally, Clive Owen and Angelina Jolie have starred in the film with Martin Campbell at the helm. So how did they do? Let’s see what new spy Gandolfino has to say...
Saw Beyond Borders with Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen last night ,and went in the theatre knowing next to nothing about it – we were told it was an epic love story set in the world of global relief efforts, and I have to say I was moved and surprised. The heart of this film is a story of tragic romance, not what I expected from director Martin “Mask of Zorro” Campbell. Halfway through the films I was hooked. Here’s my review:
PLOT: Comfortable, bourgeois wife Sarah (Angelina), deeply inspired by Doctor Nick’s (Clive) renegade and sometimes hamfisted efforts to end world hunger in Africa, dedicates herself to global relief, meeting Nick in Ethiopia and Cambodia, and eventually rescuing him in Chechnya. All the while, Sarah is torn between her stuffy English husband and family, her deep passion for Nick, and her efforts as a global relief worker (and her wardrobe – she is a star after all!)
Cinematography: Excellent composition and capture of light, the film is full of brilliant burnished desert brown hues, Cambodian greens and blues, and grey and white sepia tones of snow covered Chechnya.
Clive Owen: Clive fulfills the promise he showed in Croupier and Gosford Park – he smoulders with the usual Owen intensity, but really captures the tormented intensity of Nick.
Angelina Jolie: I think this is her best part since Girl Interrupted, or arguably Gia. She really seems suited to this kind of emotionally conflicted, complex character, and I think she does justice to a difficult part. She even wears an eye-popping mélange of 80’s and 90’s (film leapfrogs several times over fifteen years) hairstyles and clothes with surprising grace.
Editing: Needs some work, it felt a little too long in the beginning, but once the Nick and Sarah’s romance comes into focus, the pace quickened and the story engaged me.
Overall: This movie has resonance, heart and genuine adult message, something that 99% of all Hollywood movies will never have. While there were some peripheral plot points that need to be cleared up, including a shadowy CIA character (I was told this screen is still very much a work-in-progress), the heart of the story is about emotion, romance, and saving the world, and is a refreshing change from the usual cartoon violence and lowbrow humor of most movies out today (especially this past summer. Ugh!)
-Gandalfino
Very interesting. A lot of people have pinned the hopes of future James Bond films (post-Brosnan, who may not be going anywhere for a while based on early response to DIE ANOTHER DAY) on Clive Owens, so it’s going to be important to see how people respond to him as a lead. He’s got charisma, no doubt about it. And this is the film that led to what Angelina Jolie has described as a personal awakening. For her, this and the travel involved in the TOMB RAIDER films has been transformative.
Let’s see if the film can have the same impact for viewers when it hits next year.
"Moriarty" out.
