Dir. Fernando Meirelles
A-
Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) is a John Le
CarrÈ hero through and through. The British diplomat (and
part-time gardener) is soft-spoken and self-effacing to a
fault. One day, a bold young woman, Tessa (Rachel Weisz),
enters his life. “You’re scary,” he admits, pleasure
mixed with awe. She convinces him to let her accompany him
to Kenya. She’s interested in his work and wants to help.
They marry. She becomes pregnant. Then it all starts to fall
apart. Tessa, he discovers, is up to something. She’s been
going behind his back, using his connections in England and
Africa to investigate some kind of drug-related conspiracy.
She’s also been cheating on him. Then she turns up dead.
This is revealed minutes into the film, which will continue
to move back and forth through time. With skill and
sensitivity, Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”) proceeds
to track Justin’s increasingly dangerous mission to solve
Tessa’s murder. If Danny Huston’s British accent is a
little shaky, it’s a minor flaw in a film so adept in
every other way. Oscar nominations for Fiennes and Weisz are
assured, while the supporting cast shines just as brightly
in one of the year’s most intelligent and moving films.—Kathleen
C Fennessy
Dir: Terry Gilliam C |
 |
Disappearing maidens and a sinister forest
of walking trees are at the heart of Terry Gilliam’s
latest film, “The Brothers Grimm.” Gilliam’s dark
humor and brilliant art direction is still visible, but
little of the storytelling magic found in films like “Brazil”
or “The Fisher King” remains. Seven years after “The
Man Who Killed Don Quixote” died in production it seems as
though Gilliam has lost much of what made his work unique.
While reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful
fairytale anthology “Into The Woods,” “The Brothers
Grimm” is a far less competent handling of similar
material. The film does have its share of frightening and
beautiful moments: the enchanting but cursed Mirror Queen
high in her moldering tower, the image of a floating
Ophelia-like beauty and a young girl swallowed whole by a
web-spinning horse, but overall this film is a tremendous
disappointment.—David Jeffers