Hey folks, Harry here with a not so great first look at THE 51ST STATE starring Sam "the man" Jackson. Now first off, you need to know this is a film scheduled to come out... OCTOBER 11th, 2001!!! Which is forever from now... meaning this was an EXTREMELY EARLY CUT if not the very first cut of the film. Now sure it isn't an effects film, so it doesn't look as rough as say something like MUMMY 2 the other night, but dramas and non-effects films can be rough in COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAYS... Director Ronny Yu used this screening to get exactly this sort of feedback... what isn't working, how can it work, what do we need to do between now and release? Well... with that just know... the film Bleach saw tonight will not be the same as when you sit down Next October to see this film. Enjoy this early early proto-film look...
The 51st state.
I just got back from an audience test screening of a new Mace Windu film called "The 51st State". It took place in Toronto at a downtown theatre.
Before I get into the film itself I should inform you of how I came to be in attendance. I was at the movies on Saturday night when my friend pointed out a lady with a clipboard who was giving out passes to "some film". I went up and she gave me a list of films and asked me which ones
I had seen. The list included Snatch, Rush Hour, The Matrix, Shaft, Rules of Engagement, and a few others. I said yes to enough of them so she asked me my age. I told her I was 29 and she replied that they already had enough people in my age group and the group after that, would I mind being 35? I really believe the whole audience testing concept is a flaming disaster on wheels so I had no moral qualms about screwing it up, in fact I believe this just helps make the point. The pass only said that it was a new film staring Samuel Jackson and Robert Carlyle. It took less than 50 seconds on the IMDB to figure out what film it was.
Jackson plays Elmo McElroy a trained pharmacologist who in the very first scene, on the day of his graduation from drug maker U gets busted with a joint and loses his ability to ever practice. It was cool to see Mr. Jackson in a big 70's 'fro. Flash forward 30 years and Elmo is now the master drug maker for an L.A. kingpin named the lizard, played by Meatloaf. It is at this point that the film jumps off the pier, and although it made a valiant attempt to keep it's head above water I let you know now that by the end it sinks all the way to the bottom.
Meatloaf is horrid, his character talks about himself in the 3rd person all the damn time, I guess that was in place of actually developing a character for him, that along with a big scar on his face. Although he does not spend that much time on screen, he is the catalyst for much of the movies events.
Elmo decides to go out on his own but to free himself of the Lizard he decides to eliminate him as well as the Lizard's Syndicate when they are all having a "meeting" (don't worry that's not a spoiler it‚s just the set-up, it happens in the first 10 minutes). Unfortunately the one survivor of Elmo's double cross is the Lizard himself who calls out a hit on Elmo, who is now wearing a kilt and wears it for the duration of the film, using a hitwoman who is now known as Dakota.
Our introduction to Dakota, played by Emily Mortimer, is a pretty cool sniper hit that she pulls off at a church. She comes off as a pretty strong character a real femme fatale. What I like about her is she is the no holds barred best gun wielder in the film and yet she manages to stay a "good guy" as far as good guys go in a crime caper film. Usually I find Hollywood won't tolerate a strong woman unless she gets hers in the end. After a while I felt bad for Dakota because it seemed like she got lost on her way to a good film.
She, like Elmo is under Lizard's thumb (she owes him money) and would like a way out, but unlike Elmo she can't find one (although why she hadn't just shot him years ago, I don't know) so when Lizard figures out Elmo has gone to Liverpool, England, she has to follow. Conveniently, it turns out that's where she is originally from and she is dreading a return especially because of one Felix DaSouza played by Robert Carlyle.
Felix is just an all around mob lackey whose job is to pick up Elmo at the airport and get him to the big drug deal. What drug deal you ask? Apparently Elmo has invented the next super drug. I does everything every other drug does and more, and to make it really appealing to drug dealers everywhere is that all the ingredients are off the shelf chemicals it just a matter of the right formula, but of course the only place to find the formula is in Sam Jackson's weaved head. The only reason Felix is on this Job is to get some Football tickets for the Liverpool vs. Manchester game. Unfortunately everything goes to shit because on the way to the airport he stops to taunt some Manchester fans. The drug deal ends up having to be reworked which puts Elmo in a hotel room with his Liverpool connection and puts Dakota in a sniper position across the street, from which point she spots Felix in the room with him and here comes the way to unbelievably convenient connection . . .
Spoiler warning
Felix is her Ex-boyfriend, whom she still has a soft spot for, nonetheless she has to get Elmo and that means killing anyone who gets in the way. At this point a lot of people start dying. There is an attempt to find comedy in the gore but most of the time it's just gore.
At this point Felix and Elmo take off together in search of some way for Elmo to get his money for the formula and get clear, Felix tags along for a percentage and the bodies start to stack around them as Dakota and a crooked cop (he is so text book he's barely worth mentioning) try to catch up with the duo.
Everything comes together in the "big finale" which didn't feel that big, at the Liverpool vs. Manchester game.
One person who I have not mentioned yet and who deserves kudos is Rhys Ifans who does manage to entertain as yet another drug dealer, but the most enjoyable one by far.
The film's final scene takes place in front of a Scottish castle and all I could say when I say that was a simple "What the fuck was that?" This film is plagued, from the attempt to make a running gag out of Jackson's Kilt (and the size of what's under it) to the occasional attempts at stylish editing which seem to appear at random once and a while and then disappear, this feels like a film made by committee to fit a genre. There was also this odd sensation that the film could never decide how silly it did or did not want to be.
My biggest problem with this film is it that there is a collection of cool scenes, cool ideas, and some cool characters, but none of it comes together in any way and they throw a few turns at us that are really hard to buy into it. When the film started I had some hope but by the end all I can say is that there is no way I can recommend it.
By the way it's called "the 51st State" in refrence to England being looked upon as the 51st state by Americans, which suprised the heck out of me and the rest of the Canadian audience I saw this film with, because we all though that was the unappreciated nickname that we were saddled with.
-Bleach
