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Sand
and Blood TROY. Warner Bros. Pictures, A Radiant Production. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Brendan Gleeson, Peter O'Toole. Cinematography by Roger Pratt, music by James Homer. Rated R. 165 minutes.
Hollywood's historic sword-and-sandal epic genre gathers no fresh momentum in director Wolfgang Petersen's lukewarm production of David Benioff's (The 25th Hour) acutely imperfect script. Inspired by Homer's The Iliad, the 1200 B.C. story straddles a line between history and myth with Brad Pitt portraying the Greek god-like Achilles, the world's greatest mercenary, interested only in immortality via securing his name in history. Paris, prince of Troy (Orlando Bloom), steals Helen, Queen of Sparta (Diane Kruger), away from Spartan King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) during a peace negotiation, and incites the Trojan War in which Achilles is called upon to lead Greece's soldiers. Brad Pitt's impressive mano y mano battle scenes are exquisitely executed, but don't resonate with thematic license due to lacking subtext in his beefcake characterization of Achilles. The story's inherent romance and lust are mere set dressings to the impotent spectacle of tame battles and repetitive dialogue. Troy delivers the price of admission in its first battle between dueling warriors. Achilles and an enormous gladiator, who looks strong enough to kill Achilles by just pinching him, face off in front of their respective armies for a decisive fight. When Achilles takes a running start at his gigantic opponent, we soon discover the trick of his trade. With a magnificent side-twisting leap Achilles plants his sword deep in his enemy's shoulder blade killing him in a single stroke of well-rehearsed combat precision (created by stunt coordinator Simon Crane). But this singular moment encompasses all that we will learn about Brad Pitt's egotistic character throughout the movie. This Achilles is a solitary specialist in combat who has refined the art of sword-and-shield battle to allow him a rarefied brand of exemption from civilian concerns. At heart, Achilles is an conceited anarchist. There's no love loss between Achilles and the Mycenaean King Agamemnon (Brian Cox — Hidden Agenda), and their strained relationship does more to inflame the movie than does the doomed love affair between Paris and Helen. Orlando Bloom stands out as Troy's greatest casting liability. However much Paris is a naïve dog with a loud bark and no ability to bite, Bloom reduces the role to an effete boy/man disguising his subordinate sexuality and lacking combat skills with a bluster that is tedious to endure. Bloom brings no depth or surprise to a primary role that brims with possibilities. In fairness, Bloom gets little support from Diane Kruger's limply sexual Helen. Again the filmmakers forfeit an opportunity to cast an actor capable of bringing layers of behavior and physical attraction to a principal role. For the face that "launched a thousand ships" Troy needed an exotic and knowing beauty like Eva Green (The Dreamers) to command Helen's insurgent comeliness. Still, Troy has moments of spectacle that, however reminiscent of the Hollywood epics that your parents adored, capture your imagination. The most notable being the fabled Trojan horse that enables the Greeks to invade Troy at the climax of the story. Petersen's Trojan horse is a ramshackle affair made of ragged pieces of dried wood that you might pay a removal service to transport away. But the strange object's curiosity factor is tangible, and the moment when Greek soldiers begin crawling out of the monstrosity in the dead of night rings with the mythic proportions of the story. Ironically, it's Peter O'Toole's brief performance as Troy's King Priam that imbues the movie with its most dramatically powerful apex. O'Toole, who knows the epic form far better than most from his memorable work in Lawrence of Arabia and The Last Emperor, steals the movie when King Priam goes to Achilles to beg than he be allowed to bury his son's body. The pathos of the scene is hair-raising and gives a potent glimpse at the overall dramatic potential of the story. Troy is not be the summer blockbuster that audiences have hoped for, but if you go expecting to be bored for most of the movie then you'll be rewarded with a few fleeting moments of pure dramatic magic.
Bloodstains across Eugene: Punk documentary by local filmmaker Henry Weintraub. Latenite Bijou. Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban: Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In this, the third film based on the series by J.K. Rowling, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), now teenagers, return for their third year at Hogwarts. There, they are forced to face their darkest fears as they confront an escaped prisoner, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who poses a great threat to Harry. The three friends must also contend with the Dementors, who are sent to protect them from Black. PG. Cinemark. Cinema World. Jersey Girl: Written and directed by Kevin Smith, film's about a music publicist (Ben Affleck) trying to balance work and fatherhood as a single parent. Also stars Jennifer Lopes, George Carlin, Liv Tyler, Jason Biggs. Raquel Castro is his independent daughter. PG-13. Movies12. Johnson Family Vacation: Cedric the Entertainer takes his family on a cross-country trek to the annual family reunion, and boy, do things go wrong. Comedy also stars Vanessa Williams, Bow Wow, Solange Knowles. PG-13. Movies 12. Man on Fire: Denzel Washington as a security guard for a child who is kidnapped on his watch. He will have revenge. R. Movies 12. Pulp Fiction: The often-imitated 1994 Quentin Tarentino followup to Reservoir Dogs stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman, with Amanda Plummer, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames and Harvey Keitel in three violent stories of crime, lust and greed. A fabulous look at the everyday life of the criminal community, with terrific performances by Travolta and Jackson as the duo who pull all the stories together. Oscar for Tarantino's screenplay. R. Latenite Bijou. Whole Ten Yards, The: Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Natsha Henstridge star in this comedy sequel. Willis is a retired hitman living the life of a happy homemaker until Mafioso mayhem ensues. PG-13. Movies 12. Young Adam: Written and directed by David Mackenzie, this film focuses on the crisis of Joe (Ewan McGregor), a young drifter who finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-eart Les (Peter Mullan) and his enigmatic wife Ella (Tilda Swinton). One afternoon Hoe and Les happen upon the corpse of a young woman floating in the water and the questions begin. Accident? Suicide? Murder? As police investigate, it becomes clear that Joe knows more than he wants to admit. Meanwhile, Joe and Elle embark on a passionate affair. NC-17. Bijou. Films open the Friday following EW publication date unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
CONTINUING: Cheaper by the Dozen: Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt play the parents of 12 children, including Piper Perabo, Hilary Duff and Tom Welling. Directed by Shawn Levy. PG. Movies 12. Cold Mountain: Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Charles Frazier's Civil War best-seller stars Jude Law as a wounded Southern soldier who walks 1000 miles to get home. Nicole Kidman is his pre-war sweetheart, and Renee Zellweger teaches her to farm and survive. Very highest recommendations. Academy Award to Rene Zellwegger. Nominations: Jude Law, actor; cinematography; original score; two original songs; film editing. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Day After Tomorrow, The: Directed by Roland Emmerich, starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward. A climatologist (Quaid) tries to figure out a way to save the world from abrupt global warming. He must get to his son (Gyllenhaal) in New York, which is being taken over by a new ice age. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Highly acclaimed film directed by Michel Gondry from screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation). Stars Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, with Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst. Carrey discovers Winslet had memories of their relationship erased. Now he wants to do the same. Or does he? The best new film of '04. Very highest recommendations. R. Cinema World. Online archives. Fifty First Dates: Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in a romance with a catch: she has no short-term memory recall, so she forgets him every night. Also stars Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd. Directed by Peter Segal. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Hidalgo: Based on autobiography of distance rider Frank T. Hopkins, played by Viggo Mortensen, this epic action-adventure takes place during a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert in 1890. PG-13. Movies 12. Mean Girls: Lindsay Lohan plays a high-school student raised by zoologist parents in the African bush, who falls for a popular girl's ex-boyfriend. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Passion of Christ, The (2004): Mel Gibson film opens amid charges (denied) of anti-Semitism. A..O. Scott of The New York Times writes, "'The Passion of the Christ' is so relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours that this film seems to arise less from love than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in uplifting it." Others call the graphic torture unwatchable. R. Movies 12. Prince and Me, The: Stars Julia Stiles, Luke Mably. She's a pre-med student. He's the Crown Prince of Denmark. Also stars James Fox and Miranda Richardson. PG. Movies 12. Raising Helen: Directed by Garry Marshall, starring Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack. After her sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident, a young woman (Hudson) becomes the guardian of their three children. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. See review this issue. Shrek 2: Mike Myers returns as Shrek, Cameron Diaz is his new wife, Princess Fiona, and Eddie Murphy's his sidekick, Donkey. Now the newlyweds face Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) and King Harold (John Cleese). Fairy godmother (Jennifer Saunders), Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and the ferocious Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Opens Wed. 5/19. Cinemark. Cinema World. Soul Plane: Directed by Jessy Terrero, starring Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Method Man, Snoop Dogg, Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson. Things get raucous aboard the maiden flight of a black-owned airline, thanks to some last-minute passenger additions. R. Cinemark. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring: The exquisitely beautiful and very human drama Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And Spring, starring director Kim Ki-duk, is entirely set on and around a tree-lined lake where a tiny Buddhist monastery floats on a raft amidst a breathtaking landscape. Bijou. Online archives. Starsky & Hutch: Ben Stiller is uptight Starsky, while Owen Wilson is laid back Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in this remake of TV's undercover crime-fighters. With Vince Vaughn, Snoop Dogg, Juliette Lewis. PG-13. Movies 12. Troy: Wofgang Petersen directs the ancient Greek tale of the great warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt) and the lovers Paris (Orlando), Prince of Troy, and Helen (Diane Kruger), Queen of Sparta, whose passion starts a war that destroys a civilization. When Paris steals Helen from her husband, King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) of Sparta, and takes her to the walled city of Troy, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox) move against King Priam of Troy (Peter O'Toole) and Prince Hector (Eric Bana). R. Cinemark. See review this issue. Van Helsing: Monster killer Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) teams up with Kate Beckinsale in Transylvania to bring down Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh). PG-13. Cinemark. Walking Tall: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returns home after military career to find his hometown overrun with crime, drugs and violence. He's elected sheriff to shut down his former rival's criminal biz. Directed by Kevin Bray. PG-13. Movies 12. What the Bleep Do We Know? Through interviews with cutting-edge scientists and spiritual teachers, a brand new way of thinking about consciousness, intentionality and the ability to make a difference in the world emerges. But it begins with Amanda (Marlee Matlin). Highly recommended. NR. Bijou. Online archives.
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RELEASES ON VIDEO Along Came Polly: Ben Stiller plays Reuben, a hapless husband whose bride dumps him. Then he meets up with a childhood friend, Polly (Jennifer Aniston). Also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin. John Hamburg directs. PG-13. City of God: Rio de Janeiros is home to one of the most notorious slums in the world, called City of God. Based on the true story of a young man from the 'hood whose photographs may be his only way out. Directed by Fernando Meirelles, this acclaimed, unflinchingly brutal film stars Matheus Nachtergaele. Not for the faint-hearted. Stars primarily unknown first-time actors. Highly recommended if you can handle violence. 2003 Academy Award noms: director, adapted screenplay, cinematography and film editing. R. Field of Dreams (1989): Uplifting mythic fantasy based on W.P. Kinsella's novel Shoeless Joe. An Iowa corn farmer heeds a mysterious voice that instructs, "If you build it, he will come," and cuts a baseball diamond in his corn field. Soon the field is inhabited by the spirit of Joe Jackson and others who were disgraced in the notorious 1919 "Black Sox" baseball scandal. Directed by Phil Alden Robinson; stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan and James Earl Jones. Mystic River:Clint Eastwood directs Brian Helgeland's adaptation, based on Dennis Lehane's dramatic tragedy. Stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. Very highest recommendations. 2003 Academy Awards for Penn and Robbins; nominations for picture, supporting actress Marcia Gay Harden; director Eastwood; adapted screenplay, Helgeland. R. Online archives. Reality Bites (1994): Ben Stiller directs and stars in the story of a clever college grad (Winona Ryder) trying to climb the job ladder at a TV station. Ethan Hawke is the starving poet and Stiller the industry honcho who vie for her affections. PG-13. Next Week: Black Hawk Down, Nip/Tuck, The Station Agent, Touching the Void, The Wedding Banquet.
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