Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. This one just showed up in my mailbox on DVD, so I’ll take a look at it this week. I’m curious because I dig Geoffrey Wright, even if I think he’s a director who hasn’t lived up to his full potential, and also because I’m curious to get a look at Sam Worthington, who has been cast as the lead in James Cameron’s AVATAR, a fact that is splashed in huge letters across the front of the DVD. So how is it, MiraJeff?
Greetings AICN, MiraJeff here with a look at Macbeth, the Aussie adaptation of one of the Bard's finest works from Romper Stomper director Geoffrey Wright. While the film retains Shakespeare's original language, the action has moved to a contemporary setting in which Macbeth is a loyal soldier in Duncan's crime syndicate. A moody opening introduces us to three young witches cavorting amongst the tombstones in a cemetery as gray as the sky above it. Nary a word is spoken through the first ten minutes as Macbeth and his fellow henchmen take out a rival Asian organization in a rousing sequence featuring the bad-ass music audible in the film's trailer, which is what got me so psyched to see this film in the first place. Unfortunately, that initial excitement gives way to an unsurprising sense of disappointment because from there, the film begins a downward spiral similar to the one Macbeth falls victim to. One of the major problems (albeit one the film has no control over) is that modern Shakespeare adaptations have fared particularly well over the last decade, raising our collective expectations for this sort of material. Whether its "Ten Things I Hate About You" or the 2001 TV movie "Othello," which starred the remarkably gifted Eamonn Walker and Christopher Eccleston, it's safe to say the Bard's bar has been raised. More to the point, this very story has already birthed an inspired adaptation in Richard Shepard's dark comedy "Scotland, PA," which relocated Macbeth to the 1970s fast-food business. Wright's version of "Macbeth" does not have that fresh sense of originality. As scripted by Wright and Victoria Hill, who co-stars as Lady Macbeth, the film follows a familiar formula adopted by modern Shakespeare adaptations, and what must have seemed like a promising idea on the page does not necessarily translate as well onscreen. The finished product isn't as as polished as say, Baz Luhrman's 'Romeo and Juliet,' nor is it as developed and thematically rich as Tim Blake Nelson's severely underrated 'O.' It also lacks the benefit of having a cast of truly talented performers able to do the text justice, as was the case with Ethan Hawke, Liev Schreiber, Bill Murray and Sam Shepard in Michael Almereyda's flawed but impressive 'Hamlet.' But despite the fact that 'Macbeth' isn't a very good film, it's far from a bad one. The premise of Macbeth as a gangster may not take full advantage of its potential but it is nonetheless interesting and entertaining to watch. As the film's co-writer-director, Wright is strong on visuals but weak on character development, and as a result, we aren't given much meat to chew on regarding Macbeth's inner turmoil or Lady Macbeth's sinister machinations. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely an arc to his character, it's just a bit hard to follow and become engrossed by. Macbeth was never a literary hero in the way Othello was but then again, he wasn't really his own worst enemy either, and I guess I feel like this incarnation of Macbeth is too easily depicted as a fuck-up, a victim of his own vices, be they sex, drugs or violence. This might stem from the fact that rather than sinister and cunning, Lady Macbeth is played like a shrill loon by Hill, whose portrayal suffers from the often incurable malady of over-the-top-itis. She's no doubt gorgeous, but how many gorgeous (and talented) screenwriters do you know? It's just surprising that as the film's co-writer, she still chose to interpret the character as she does. And as the film's co-writer, and taking into consideration Speaking of the performances, soon-to-be-household-name Sam Worthington (star of James Cameron's upcoming Avatar) does a fine job as the brooding Macbeth but rarely takes it to the next level in penetrating the character's skin and finding its emotional core. Too many of his lines are rushed or mumbled as Macbeth stumbles through a sort of rock star-haze. The most impressive work comes courtesy of Lachy Hulme as Macduff. Looking like an Aussie amalgam of Sean Penn and Anthony LaPaglia, Hulme delivers a quiet intensity that made me sit up, take notice, and make me understand how he could've gotten so far in the Joker casting process. Two other sequences stand out, and one for all the wrong reasons. There is a chilling scene involving the murder of Macduff's family, that actually stunned me, not in its brutality, but it's overall demeanor. It's filmed with the same sense of efficiency employed by the two triggermen, one of whom looks freakily like Judd Apatow. The second sequence is the "climactic" ending, which was practically laughable in its execution. It's shot in slow-motion and carries on that way for about five minutes too long, overstaying its welcome and branding itself as a truly baffling decision by an otherwise well-directed movie. In good conscience, I can't recommend Macbeth, but for hardcore Shakespeare fans, it could be worth shelling out to see. Worthington is certainly a star on the rise and it wouldn't surprise me to see Hulme make the jump overseas. I'll give Wright credit for this; in such a crowded movie season, there is nothing else like Macbeth in theaters, so if the summer blockbusters are wearing you out, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to head to your local indie theater and give this one a shot. Just don't say I didn't warn ya. This film will not be for everyone. You guys might wanna rent Romper Stomper, featuring a magnetic Russell Crowe as a neo-Nazi, to see what kind of mayhem Wright is really capable of. That'll do it for me, folks. I'l be back next week with reviews of Rocket Science, King of California, The Nines and yes, another Russell Crowe flick, 3:10 to Yuma. Wanna talk movies? Shoot me an email: mirajeff@aol.com. I've been MIA on the AICN account, sorry gang, workin' on it. 'Til next time, this is MiraJeff signing off...
