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Directed by: Roger Michell Starring: Daniel Craig, Samantha Morton, Rhys Ifans This is a strange film about a couple who are having a picnic, when out of nowhere, a hot-air balloon comes skidding across the field, with some random kid stuck inside. Immediately, our protagonist, Joe, springs into action (along with 5 or so other random folks) to chase after the balloon and provide ballast for it. The men all grab on, but a mysterious gust of wind lifts everybody up. 4 of the men jump off at the last second and THUD to the ground safely, but the last man holds on to the balloon as it goes higher and higher, until he fatigues and dies a gruesome death. This other character, Jed, and Joe decide they should find the dude's corpse and alert the authorities and what not. They have this really weird bonding session that involves them praying together. From this point on, Jed becomes a horrible stalker to Joe. It should be pointed out that Joe is a professor at Oxford who's thesis is that love is just a biological entity and is not real. Obviously, they play off this on his relationship to the max. Here's some spoilers, don't read if you don't want to know the twists: You are supposed to think that Jed is stalking Joe's wife, but it turns out that he is stalking Joe, because he fell in love with him at the accident and what not. It's really bizarre seeing Rhys Ifans go all googly over Daniel Craig, but he's a weird guy and it works pretty well. Joe's breakdown is also very well done, as he torments himself about whether or not he could have saved the man's life at the balloon incident. It drives him mad, and the Daniel Craig is great at depicting it. Samantha Morton is pretty much the same as she is in most her movies, soft, bulbous, caring, but a little distant. I gave it 3.5/5, though it would have done better with slightly better pacing. RATING: 3.5 PROS: Good acting, creepy, interesting subject CONS: bit long at parts ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://imdb.com/title/tt0375735/
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Nov 8, 2004 23:41
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 09:10 |
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I'd agree with you that the plot needed to be tightened a little. I enjoyed watching Joe go through some form of post traumatic stress disorder. It seemed as though the smallest things would send him into a distant place, that whether or not he can accept it belongs to Jed as well. There was some very subtle use of sound, the crunching of birthday dinner was aurally identically to the sound of the unfortuanate man (who had fallen)body crunching under gravity. Daniel Craig was excellent in conveying the shock of unreality such traumatic expeirences can bring on. I thought the score was very good in this film as well. It evoked a sense of reason being completely distraught. At least that'w how I interpreted it. I would recommend seeing it.
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Nov 24, 2004 21:42
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