Reviews

These set of endearingly dark tales piece together to form a highly enjoyable feature chronicling life on the frontier in post-civil war America.

Many of the common hallmarks of writer/directors the Cohen brothers works are clearly evident throughout the picture...Quirky dark humour, old school violence, bleak interludes and stunning cinematography with a Wild West backdrop. Each of the stories within the anthology make for intriguing viewing, without relating to each other or providing an overall consistency to the picture on a whole. But this unevenness doesn't detract from the solidity of the artefact with the commonality of period and setting binding everything together coherently.

The opening three tales of the anthology set an intriguingly quirky tone. Goofy gunslinging, failed bank robbery's, public executions and travelling freak shows all themes concluding in an unhappy manner. There is a sense that this feature is to be a throwing together of less than serious 'off-cuts' of ideas which the Cohen's needed to release from their extensive vault of inspiration.

The two extracts of the anthology that follow change the dynamic of the picture in a tremendously positive way, adding weight to the preceding fragments. Tom Waits excellently portrays a vagabond camping out in a utopian green valley, who decides to seek for gold beneath the surrounding soils. This tale is immense visually, with glorious warm tones and paradisiacal scenery. Despite its potentially sad and violent conclusion, this story leaves a heightened sense of warmth to the feeling of the picture.

The next vignette follows the movements of an unprosperous young woman, played by Zoe Kazan, travelling the prairie on a wagon train to seek a new life in a new town. Her life unravels with the beautiful landscapes culminating in her untimely demise. This brilliantly compressed section of emotion and violence on the frontier has the foundations for a feature length picture of its own. The anthology draws to its end with a less memorable but intriguing dark tale, following the stage coach journey of six characters with underlying secrets, and sinister motives.

The structure of this film will never make this a classic of the ages, but nevertheless this is a brilliantly entertaining feature with glorious visuals, and sound score, superb character portrayals and a finely balanced level of pleasure and pain.

This conspiracy drama is the shocking true account of a chemical company's coverup of its polluting of public water sources, and the damaging health implications inflicted on its victims.

Mark Ruffalo convincingly plays the reluctant corporate lawyer approached to uncover the corruption, with the case taking over his existence for a number of years until its conclusion. Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman supply the very credible support, in gritty but relatively minor roles for their reputations.

Director Todd Haynes is a dab hand at creating a picture with stunning visual credentials and Dark Waters is no different. The beautiful cold blues and yellow tones applied to the lens filter provide a real murky atmosphere in fitting with the story. Dark Waters leaves no stone unturned in its attention to detail with the plot, as paperwork after paperwork archives are sifted through and more and more evidence emerges in the quest for the truth. This prolonging of thread lines actually proves somewhat of a negative aspect of the film in certain regards as things burn far too slowly in places. The apparent lack of a prominent sound score is also amiss, with a feel of intensity and urgency lacking from the piece as a whole. As a powerful drama based on such profoundly shocking occurrence this production is highly credible. The movie cannot be faulted for its gloriously bleak visuals and flawless character portrayals. Whether or not the movies duration could've been shortened to its advantage is a question worth pondering. The spectacle does tend to drag at times leaving an overall sense of disappointment that Haynes' stunning visual account isn't quite as impactful as the severity of the scandal.

The account of a troubled play-write, who's professional and personal life is severely hampered by hypochondria and paranoia. PSH brilliantly portrays the main protagonist, who's new production takes on an autobiographical form which spirals out of proportion and cohesion. Director C.Kaufman creates a highly imaginative dream-like study of 'the big picture' of human emotions which undoubtedly contains elements of his own life reflected within the story.

As a piece of artistic cinema, this movie has genius credentials. The fine production values, magnificent score, sprinklings of bleak humour, and clever elusions to the meaning of existence are acted out superbly by a tremendous cast. As a piece of enjoyable viewing, this movie falters. For all the ethereal intrigue and suitable eccentricity, the plot ultimately unravels into a confusing muddle. You can't help but feel that this movie was a collaborator short of guiding director Kaufman's wild idea into a monumental triumph, rather than an absurd ego trip that lost its way. 6/10