Reviews

Frankly I was more frightened by this stinker's total lack of substance than I was by anything going on in the story. The acting was laughingly amateurish and the dialog at times made me wonder if the actors had gone mute. These idiots had me so frustrated by their mindless behavior that I found myself rooting for the sicko from the Outback. "Hey pal, throw an extra shrimp on the bar-bie and while you're at it hurry up and kill off one more of these annoying people before I lose it!" I don't know who this Toby Hooper-wannabe filmmaker is, but whoever likened this s**t to the horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" must have been confusing it with "TCM-III 3-D." This is set in the Australian Outback were three dumb youngsters fall prey to a local wacko who lulls them into his isolated camp under the guise of helping fix their broker car. I won't waste any more space describing this joke of a plot or the pathetic direction, but suffice it to say writer/director Greg McLean shouldn't quit his day job. I have half a mind to write a nasty letter to the Australian Tourist Bureau: not to complain about the weird psychos running amok in the Outback, but how films like this get green-lighted! The only thing I'm grateful for is I didn't waste the money seeing this at the multiplex.

From the "straight to video" file, this lame stinker starts off with a somewhat promising set-up, but manages to slowly grind to a halt in no time at all. The amateurish screenplay and direction left this viewer wondering how do half-baked films like this ever get green-lighted? I won't bother trying to list all the holes in the plot, some of which were big enough to drive a Mack truck through, or all the moments where I felt like yelling at the screen "are you kidding me," as the story kept turning corners toward Crazytown. And I won't waste space trying to tie together all the lose threads of the plot, which made the story's resolution almost laughable. Suffice it to say that you're better off spending the 103 minutes organizing your sock drawer than watching this silly wanna-be "thriller." How sad to see a film squander talented folks like Gena Rowlands and Kiefer Sutherland in roles that might as well be cameo appearances. What a waste of their time and mine!

This was a big disappoint. Given its respectable showing at the Sundance Film Festival, I certainly expected a whole lot more than what this film delivered. The end result was so painfully frustrating and unsatisfying that I really can't recommend it. I won't even try to summarize the storyline since its evolution and resolution were so incredibly muddled. For those with M.I.T. graduate degrees in engineering or physics, this film will undoubtedly really turn you on with all its heavy techno babble. If you don't have a pocket protector or carry a slide rule wherever you go, than you'll likely find yourself looking at your watch wondering when the film's plot is going to get off the ground. The ideas presented by writer/director Shane Carruth's screenplay are certainly intriguing. The paradoxes of time travel as postulated by Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity should certainly make for a fascinating story. And while his editing and manipulative use of the film's time line were initially interesting, the overall delivery and conclusion of these elements ends up being so painfully weak and fraught with lose ends that the viewer is left with far too many unanswered questions. The two biggest questions for me were why and how. Why did I invest 77 minutes of my life with this unbearably confusing film and how do I get them back? I discovered a good clue to this film's many weaknesses in its closing credits. Not only did Mr. Carruth write and direct this turkey, but he also produced, edited, cast, wrote its original score, served as sound and production designer, co-cinematographer, and played its lead character! That must have been one tight, tiny budget. Clearly another set of eyes was needed to pull this jumbled mess together. I would have recommended a few film school graduates and fewer engineering students.

Writer-director C. Jay Cox delivers a moving, bittersweet and autobiographical tale about the clash of cultures in America between extreme religious conservatives and the gay community they revile. The story revolves around a group of four young Mormon missionaries who move into a Los Angeles apartment in order to spread the word of God. Their next-door neighbor is Christian (Wes Ramsey), a young, sexually aggressive gay waiter who makes a bet with his coworkers than he can entice one of these uptight guys into the sack. When Aaron, skillfully played by Steve Sandvoss, finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to the forbidden fruit that is Christian's sex appeal, he is forced to confront his own unexplored sexuality and the possibility that he may be gay. When circumstances conspire to place him in Christian's bedroom he stops short of committing "an unclean" act and angrily turns the emotional tables on Christian by forcing him to consider how shallow and meaningless is his sexually carefree lifestyle. Christian's frustration at his failure to get Aaron to act upon his obvious impulses quickly turns into deep reflection, which ultimately leads him to realize how his interest in Aaron has grown from a mere wager into a yearning for something much deeper than sex – a loving relationship. But when Aaron's roommates discover his secret he is abruptly whisked away to his Idaho parents' home where he is promptly excommunicated from his church for his unspeakable sins and placed in a "treatment" facility in order to cure him of his ailment. Love struck Christian's depressed turns to sorrow when, after finally tracking down Aaron's home phone number, Aaron's mother angrily condemns him for his abominations which she claims caused her son to slash his wrists. Mary Kay Place delivers a brief but compelling performance as Aaron's homophobic mother and Jacqueline Bisset is equally appealing as Christian's restaurateur boss who, by chance, tearfully meets and is comforted by Aaron one day after leaving her doctor's office with bad news.

This small Indie film manages to shine much needed light on the intolerant attitudes of the Mormon Church, but without becoming overly political or heavy-handed. Wes Ramsey's wonderful performance engenders the film's tone with a fun energetic quality that keeps the seriousness of its topic very personal and real yet without being flippant. The themes of forbidden love, attraction to what we can't have, and self-examination of certain aspects of gay life in America are all set against the backdrop of the harsh realities frequented upon the gay community: familial and societal estrangement and the problem of gay suicide resulting from feelings of hopelessness. The film provides a heart-warming and hopeful resolution, which will hopefully compel the more intolerant, closed-minded among us to take a look in the mirror.

British `dark comedy' was possibly as its zenith with this rich Peter O'Toole offering by director Peter Medak. O'Toole is Jack Gurney, the youngest and `somewhat eccentric' heir to the House of Gurney. He suddenly finds himself being forced by his late father's will into taking up his role in British society - assuming the family seat in the House of Lords. The biggest problem is not that the late Earl of Gurney has just accidentally hung himself wearing a cocked hat and a ballet skirt, or that Jack has just released himself from `hospital' where the doctors were treating his `nerves.' No the biggest problem is that, on a good day, the new 14th Earl of Gurney thinks he's Jesus Christ and, on a bad day, he thinks he's Jack the Ripper!

And if that mix of the macabre doesn't make you chuckle, try this unexpected twist. At several poignant moments throughout the film, the cast will suddenly break from straight-faced dialogue into a full-blown, song and dance numbers, some of which would make Busby Berkley proud. In one case, the tune of `Connect 'dem Bones' is ushered up to punctuate a scene with O'Toole lecturing the local gentry about the need for capital punishment. Herein lies one of the big reasons why this film is so off-the-wall and refreshingly funny.

For my money, this is one of the most original, thought-provoking and honest critiques of the British class system ever to be put on film. O'Toole is simply mesmerizing as he juggles Jack's multiple personalities, the funniest of which is Christ or, as he prefers it, `J.C.' It's hysterical to watch the cumulative effect of J.C.'s `touched' outlook on the members in his stuffy, conspiring family who are out to get Jack committed permanently.

A true `Must See Film' for anyone who enjoys a juicy, sardonic, intelligent black comedy, especially when the topic focuses on the silly pomposity of the British upper classes.