Leading European distributor Global Screen, part of Telepool, has secured further international sales of high-end drama “Davos 1917” at MipTV. New acquisitions of the six-part thriller include Sbs Australia, Tvp in Poland and Big Tree Entertainment in India and the subcontinent.
“Davos 1917,” which launched at the end of last year on Srf in Switzerland and Ard in Germany, has already been bought by a strong lineup of premium international broadcasters and streamers across North America, Europe and Asia.
Inspired by real events that occurred in the early days of the European secret services, “Davos 1917” boasts a stellar cast headed by Dominique Devenport (“Sisi”), David Kross (“The Reader”), Jeanette Hain (“Never Look Away”), Max Herbrechter (“Rauhnächte”), Sunnyi Melles (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Stipe Erceg (“Vienna Blood”).
The show is set in 1917 as World War I is ravaging Europe. By contrast, Switzerland seems like an oasis of peace. But behind the scenes of neutral Switzerland,...
“Davos 1917,” which launched at the end of last year on Srf in Switzerland and Ard in Germany, has already been bought by a strong lineup of premium international broadcasters and streamers across North America, Europe and Asia.
Inspired by real events that occurred in the early days of the European secret services, “Davos 1917” boasts a stellar cast headed by Dominique Devenport (“Sisi”), David Kross (“The Reader”), Jeanette Hain (“Never Look Away”), Max Herbrechter (“Rauhnächte”), Sunnyi Melles (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Stipe Erceg (“Vienna Blood”).
The show is set in 1917 as World War I is ravaging Europe. By contrast, Switzerland seems like an oasis of peace. But behind the scenes of neutral Switzerland,...
- 4/10/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Filming has started in Western Australia on the new Ben C. Lucas science fiction thriller, Other Life,.
The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and Tj Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.
This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an Aacta Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.
Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O.Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.
OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has...
The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and Tj Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.
This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an Aacta Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.
Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O.Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.
OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has...
- 8/23/2015
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
Anna Maria Zündel and Magdalena Prosteder have joined as production executives as the company steps up development, production and acquisition activities.
The new arrivals will work closely with Twentieth Century Fox Germany MD Vincent de la Tour and marketing manager Germar Tetzlaff.
“Anna and Magdalena will be instrumental in continuing to build-out our local operations in Germany,” said Fox International Production president Sanford Panitch.
“Vincent de la Tour has done a superb job in both managing and distributing our local films in Germany, and this expanded production team brings additional strength to the already excellent local team.”
Zündel (pictured, at left) previously worked as an independent producer and prior to that was junior producer for Network Movie Film – Und Fernsehproduktion and worked as a development coordinator for Action Concept film & Stuntproducktion.
Prosteder (pictured, at right) worked as an assistant producer at the Neue Schönhauser Filmproduction.
“Local productions are a very vital part of our market and I’m...
The new arrivals will work closely with Twentieth Century Fox Germany MD Vincent de la Tour and marketing manager Germar Tetzlaff.
“Anna and Magdalena will be instrumental in continuing to build-out our local operations in Germany,” said Fox International Production president Sanford Panitch.
“Vincent de la Tour has done a superb job in both managing and distributing our local films in Germany, and this expanded production team brings additional strength to the already excellent local team.”
Zündel (pictured, at left) previously worked as an independent producer and prior to that was junior producer for Network Movie Film – Und Fernsehproduktion and worked as a development coordinator for Action Concept film & Stuntproducktion.
Prosteder (pictured, at right) worked as an assistant producer at the Neue Schönhauser Filmproduction.
“Local productions are a very vital part of our market and I’m...
- 1/7/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Fox International Productions has announced the latest project in its burgeoning remakes roster, taking rights to the Argentine social satire from FilmSharks Int’l.
Buena Vida Delivery follows the exploits of a manipulative beautiful woman who gets her family to live rent-free in the homes of her boyfriends.
FilmSharks Int’l head Guido Rud licensed rights to the original in more than 35 territories
Fip vp of production Anna Kokourina spotted the original. Vice-president head of production Marco Mehlitz in Germany and head of production Cristina Fanato in Brazil will oversee the projects in their territories.
“Guido Rud has a talent for finding local films that can conceptually appeal to international audiences,” said Kokourina. “Buena Vida Delivery is a delightful story with universal appeal. I am looking forward to working on the remakes with my Fip colleagues.”
“We connected a lot with Fox’s enthusiasm as they really understood the high concept inside the original picture, which could be...
Buena Vida Delivery follows the exploits of a manipulative beautiful woman who gets her family to live rent-free in the homes of her boyfriends.
FilmSharks Int’l head Guido Rud licensed rights to the original in more than 35 territories
Fip vp of production Anna Kokourina spotted the original. Vice-president head of production Marco Mehlitz in Germany and head of production Cristina Fanato in Brazil will oversee the projects in their territories.
“Guido Rud has a talent for finding local films that can conceptually appeal to international audiences,” said Kokourina. “Buena Vida Delivery is a delightful story with universal appeal. I am looking forward to working on the remakes with my Fip colleagues.”
“We connected a lot with Fox’s enthusiasm as they really understood the high concept inside the original picture, which could be...
- 6/18/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jack Huston and Brit Marling have signed to star in Posthumous, an edgy dramatic comedy directed by Lulu Wang. Huston, best known as the half-masked assassin in Boardwalk Empire, plays a struggling artist whose artwork skyrockets in value when he is mistakenly thought to have killed himself. The artist decides to keep up the charade by pretending to be his own brother, but the entire plan is put in jeopardy when he befriends an enthusiastic reporter (Marling) who begins to show him the real value of life and art. Wang also wrote the film. The producers are Bernadette Bürgi, Marco Mehlitz Cole Payne, Darryn Welch, Skady Lis and Janet Yang. Both actors have momentum. Huston stars in David Chase’s directorial debut Not Fade Away, he just wrapped the Bille August-directed Night Train To Lisbon with Jeremy Irons, and he plays Jack Kerouac in the John Krokidas-directed Kill Your Darlings.
- 10/17/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Marco Mehlitz has joined Fox International Productions Germany as Head of Development and Production and will report directly to Sanford Panitch, President of Fox International Productions (Fip) in Los Angeles. Mehlitz’s new role will see him working closely with Managing Director, Fox Germany, Vincent de La Tour, and Senior Product Manager Local Productions and Acquisitions, Germar Tetzlaff in the development and production of German language movies. “Marco’s experience in both local German production and international coproduction will be a great asset for us”, said Panitch. De La Tour added: “In Marco Mehlitz we are delighted to have found an experienced personality of the film industry who will drive the production of local Fox projects forward.” Mehlitz, who grew up in Berlin and the USA, has over 15 years’ experience as a producer and co-producer of German and international films. He recently co-produced David Cronenberg’s film A Dangerous Method...
- 5/23/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
This Is All Verbatim From Screen 2/12/12 Focus On Cathy And Her Adventures
:Exclusive: Larry Charles’s $30m comedy starring Jim Carrey set to shoot this summer across Europe, Foresight’s hot Berlin continues
Larry Charles-Jim Carrey comedy Pierre Pierre has been given a new lease of life by Mark Damon’s Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision and Lago Films, with Foresight boarding international sales pre-market and already closing deals in Russia (West), Benelux (Dfw), Scandinavia (Mis. Label), Eastern Europe (Revolutionary Releasing), Hong Kong (Deltamac), Middle East (Shooting Stars), Thailand (M Pictures), Latin America (Imagem and Gussi), Portugal (Lusomundo), Israel (United Kingdom) and Iceland (Myndform).
UK and other deal-makers are swarming. Berlin-based producer Marco Mehlitz of Lago Film (A Dangerous Method) recently came on board and closed a deal for German rights with Warner Bros. The pan-European shoot is set for summer 2012, with most of the production taking place in Germany.
Pierre Pierre centres on a self-indulgent French nihilist (Carrey) who steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in the hope of selling it so he can finally move out of his parents house.
Producers are Jason Blumenthal and Todd Black of Escape Artists, Matthew Rhodes and Cathy Schulman of Mandalay Vision and Mehlitz of Lago. Rhodes is in town touting the comedy. Steve Tisch and David Bloomfield of Escape Artists and Damon are executive producers.
The oft-reincarnated comedy from writers Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton was once budgeted at $20m, but now stands at $30m due to the strong supporting cast who are now in talks. “The supporting characters are real-sink-your-teeth-into roles for both European and Us actors,” Rhodes told Screen. Mandalay was brought the film by Escape Artists last summer.
Fox, who initially acquired the spec script for $1 million but moved off soon after director Jason Reitman dropped out, are still said to be “excited” by the project and could come on board Us rights later down the line.
Foresight also handles market buzzers 2 Guns and Rule #1.
:Exclusive: Larry Charles’s $30m comedy starring Jim Carrey set to shoot this summer across Europe, Foresight’s hot Berlin continues
Larry Charles-Jim Carrey comedy Pierre Pierre has been given a new lease of life by Mark Damon’s Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision and Lago Films, with Foresight boarding international sales pre-market and already closing deals in Russia (West), Benelux (Dfw), Scandinavia (Mis. Label), Eastern Europe (Revolutionary Releasing), Hong Kong (Deltamac), Middle East (Shooting Stars), Thailand (M Pictures), Latin America (Imagem and Gussi), Portugal (Lusomundo), Israel (United Kingdom) and Iceland (Myndform).
UK and other deal-makers are swarming. Berlin-based producer Marco Mehlitz of Lago Film (A Dangerous Method) recently came on board and closed a deal for German rights with Warner Bros. The pan-European shoot is set for summer 2012, with most of the production taking place in Germany.
Pierre Pierre centres on a self-indulgent French nihilist (Carrey) who steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in the hope of selling it so he can finally move out of his parents house.
Producers are Jason Blumenthal and Todd Black of Escape Artists, Matthew Rhodes and Cathy Schulman of Mandalay Vision and Mehlitz of Lago. Rhodes is in town touting the comedy. Steve Tisch and David Bloomfield of Escape Artists and Damon are executive producers.
The oft-reincarnated comedy from writers Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton was once budgeted at $20m, but now stands at $30m due to the strong supporting cast who are now in talks. “The supporting characters are real-sink-your-teeth-into roles for both European and Us actors,” Rhodes told Screen. Mandalay was brought the film by Escape Artists last summer.
Fox, who initially acquired the spec script for $1 million but moved off soon after director Jason Reitman dropped out, are still said to be “excited” by the project and could come on board Us rights later down the line.
Foresight also handles market buzzers 2 Guns and Rule #1.
- 3/24/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Viggo Mortensen (Sigmund Freud), Michael Fassbender (Carl Jung), A Dangerous Method Monsieur Lazhar Tops Genie Awards Meilleur Film / Best Motion Picture A Dangerous Method – Martin Katz, Marco Mehlitz, Jeremy Thomas CAFÉ De Flore – Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, Jean-Marc Vallée * Monsieur Lazhar – Luc Déry, Kim McCraw Starbuck – André Rouleau The Whistleblower – Christina Piovesan, Celine Rattray Meilleure RÉALISATION / Achievement In Direction David Cronenberg – A Dangerous Method Steven Silver – The Bang Bang Club Jean-marc VALLÉE – Café de Flore * Philippe Falardeau – Monsieur Lazhar Larysa Kondracki – The Whistleblower Meilleures Images / Achievement In Cinematography Miroslaw Baszak, C.S.C. – The Bang Bang Club Pierre Cottereau – Café de Flore Jon Joffin – Daydream Nation * Jean-FRANÇOIS Lord – Snow & Ashes Ronald Plante – Monsieur Lazhar Meilleur Montage / Achievement In Editing Jean-FRANÇOIS Bergeron – The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom Michael Czarnecki – In Darkness Patrick Demers – Jaloux * STÉPHANE Lafleur – Monsieur Lazhar Ronald Sanders, C.C.E. A.C.E. – A Dangerous Method...
- 3/9/2012
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Larry Charles’s $30 million comedy "Pierre Pierre" starring Jim Carrey has announced it will begin shooting this Summer in Europe, primarily in Germany reports Screen Daily.
Carrey plays a self-indulgent French nihilist who steals the Mona Lisa in the hope of selling it off so he can finally move out of his parents house. Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton penned the script.
Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision and Lago Films have all come onboard the project and have already closed pre-sale deals in numerous countries. The inclusion of a strong supporting cast now in talks has seen the film's budget jump by 50%.
Marco Mehlitz, Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black, Matthew Rhodes and Cathy Schulman will all produce.
Carrey plays a self-indulgent French nihilist who steals the Mona Lisa in the hope of selling it off so he can finally move out of his parents house. Edwin Cannistraci and Frederick Seton penned the script.
Foresight Unlimited, Mandalay Vision and Lago Films have all come onboard the project and have already closed pre-sale deals in numerous countries. The inclusion of a strong supporting cast now in talks has seen the film's budget jump by 50%.
Marco Mehlitz, Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black, Matthew Rhodes and Cathy Schulman will all produce.
- 2/13/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Annette Benning is set to star in Gillian Armstrong’s "The Great", an irreverent comedy inspired by the life of 18th century Russian empress Catherine The Great for Macgowan Films and Lago Films reports Screen Daily.
The most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, Catherine II ruled during the second half of the 18th century and revitalised the country into one of the great powers of Europe. Much like with Elizabeth I in the UK, Catherine's reign is often considered the Golden Age of the Russian Empire and the Russian nobility.
Marian Macgowan and Marco Mehlitz are producing from a script by Tony McNamara. Shooting kicks off in September.
The most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, Catherine II ruled during the second half of the 18th century and revitalised the country into one of the great powers of Europe. Much like with Elizabeth I in the UK, Catherine's reign is often considered the Golden Age of the Russian Empire and the Russian nobility.
Marian Macgowan and Marco Mehlitz are producing from a script by Tony McNamara. Shooting kicks off in September.
- 2/10/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
David Cronenberg.s (Eastern Promises, A History Of Violence, The Fly) new movie, A Dangerous Method will be released by the end of the year according to the film’s production company, Recorded Picture Company. Starring Keira Knightley (London Boulevard, Never Let Me Go), Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre, Inglourious Basterds) and Viggo Mortensen (The Road, Eastern Promises), this hotly anticipated drama, written by Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), represents the third collaboration between Oscar winning producer Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) and director David Cronenberg.
A Dangerous Method is among 40 films listed by indieWIRE as hotly anticipated to screen at Cannes this year.
With a few weeks remaining until the announcement of the Cannes Film Festival lineup on April 14th, speculation is intensifying. After what many a deemed a relatively lackluster lineup last year due to many would-be entries not being finished in time, this year looks like...
A Dangerous Method is among 40 films listed by indieWIRE as hotly anticipated to screen at Cannes this year.
With a few weeks remaining until the announcement of the Cannes Film Festival lineup on April 14th, speculation is intensifying. After what many a deemed a relatively lackluster lineup last year due to many would-be entries not being finished in time, this year looks like...
- 3/26/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Screened at the AFI Fest
The accidental murderer Tom Ripley, that dear American boy who so loves Europe and the good life, returns once more in "Ripley Under Ground", a tongue-in-cheek thriller crossed with a delicious black comedy. Barry Pepper slips into the role with beguiling ease. One loses the exuberant innocence of Matt Damon but gains the enthusiastic, more practiced amorality of a natural-born con man.
Director Roger Spottiswoode claims that Patricia Highsmith, the novelist who created Ripley in a series of novels, felt that previous movie versions missed the humor of her character and the droll wit of her dark plots. If so, then the late author certainly would have appreciated this take by Spottiswoode and writers Donald Westlake and W. Blake Herron. For "Ripley Under Ground" is a full-blown comedy with well-timed entrances and wicked playfulness.
With the right marketing to emphasize the wit and naughtiness, the film should attract a college crowd and urban sophisticates.
Highsmith's 1970 novel, the second in the series, has been updated to contemporary London and the world of art with the homosexual subtext completely removed. The story contains many credibility-stretching accidents so that criminality comes through force of circumstances, not premeditation. The movie finds Ripley taking a stab at the one profession that would truly suit him -- acting -- as a student in a London academy.
Alas, his art doesn't pay the landlady, and his fake credentials and college transcripts have caught up with him. As a distraction, if nothing else, he accompanies pals to a major gallery opening featuring the works of a friend, the crazed and drunken Derwatt (Douglas Henshall). These pals include Derwatt's sultry lover Cynthia (Claire Forlani), who's beginning to wonder whether Derwatt isn't too crazy, and fellow painter Bernard (Ian Hart), insanely jealous over his friend's success and relationship with Cynthia, his ex.
A purse lying in a car attracts Tom's attention. Once he gets in, his attention is diverted by the sleeping beauty in the back seat, a young and beautiful French student named Heloise (Jacinda Barrett). She has a boyfriend, but Tom manages to dispose of him in quick order.
The opening is such a smash that Derwatt makes a drunken proposal to Cynthia. She looks at him in horror and says no. Enraged, Derwatt jumps into his sports car and roars off into the night. Gallery owner Jeff Constant (Alan Cumming) follows with Tom, Cynthia, Bernard and Heloise (who has gone back to sleep) to "protect my investment."
Too late. Derwatt crashes his car, and the world has one less mad-genuis artist. Devastated, Jeff moans that he can't sell a single painting by an unknown dead painter. Tom gets the brilliant idea of deep-freezing Derwatt's body for a few days so the paintings can sell.
When the conspirators discover that Derwatt's studio contains a trove of unfinished paintings, they prevail upon the unstable Bernard to finish the paintings for further sales. Cynthia's suddenly reawakened romantic interest in Bernard seals the deal. Meanwhile, Tom follows Heloise to France, where he is delighted to discover that she is an heiress living in a country chateau that makes Fountainbleu look humble.
Everything goes swell until wealthy American art collector Murchison (Willem Dafoe) shows up and declares his Derwatt a forgery. Soon enough, Murchison goes missing -- really and truly, his death at Tom's hands is accidental -- so Scotland Yard detective Webster (Tom Wilkinson) comes calling.
The script bristles with wit, and Spottiswoode keeps things moving, rushing by every plot hole to keep us focused on his roguish characters. The movie's greatest enjoyment comes from watching the gradual evolution of Heloise from beguiling flirt to ambiguous heiress to Tom's absolute soulmate. Apparently, she absorbed a lot while asleep.
There is much funny business with the movie's two corpses as they get buried, dug up and hidden again. Cinematographer Paul Sarossy and designer Ben Scott make no bones about ogling the swank gallery, posh restaurants, trendy London, glittery Paris and that lovely chateau. Jeff Danna's score, while reminiscent of Gabriel Yared's propulsive, jazz-influenced music in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", is flecked with its own comic commentary.
The actors push characters to extremes without ever sacrificing complete credibility. Pepper is never more innocent looking then when committing a crime. Cumming hasn't a scruple in his body, while Forlani has a body that knows no scruples. Hart is a study in slow-motion disintegration. Wilkinson depicts the frustration of a sharp detective who finds himself outmaneuvered by a con man. But Barrett's naughty French heiress nearly steals the show.
RIPLEY UNDER GROUND
Lions Gate International presents a Cinerenta production
Credits:
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Screenwriters: W. Blake Herron, Donald Westlake
Based on the novel by: Patricia Highsmith
Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Stephen Ujlaki
Executive producer: Steve Christian, David Barron, Eberhard Kayser
Director of photography: Paul Sarossy
Production designer: Ben Scott
Music: Jeff Danna
Costumes: Caroline Harris
Editor: Michel Arcand
Cast:
Tom Ripley: Barry Pepper
Heloise: Jacinda Barrett
Webster: Tom Wilkinson
Jeff: Alan Cumming
Cynthia: Claire Forlani
Bernard: Ian Hart
Murchison: Willem Dafoe
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
The accidental murderer Tom Ripley, that dear American boy who so loves Europe and the good life, returns once more in "Ripley Under Ground", a tongue-in-cheek thriller crossed with a delicious black comedy. Barry Pepper slips into the role with beguiling ease. One loses the exuberant innocence of Matt Damon but gains the enthusiastic, more practiced amorality of a natural-born con man.
Director Roger Spottiswoode claims that Patricia Highsmith, the novelist who created Ripley in a series of novels, felt that previous movie versions missed the humor of her character and the droll wit of her dark plots. If so, then the late author certainly would have appreciated this take by Spottiswoode and writers Donald Westlake and W. Blake Herron. For "Ripley Under Ground" is a full-blown comedy with well-timed entrances and wicked playfulness.
With the right marketing to emphasize the wit and naughtiness, the film should attract a college crowd and urban sophisticates.
Highsmith's 1970 novel, the second in the series, has been updated to contemporary London and the world of art with the homosexual subtext completely removed. The story contains many credibility-stretching accidents so that criminality comes through force of circumstances, not premeditation. The movie finds Ripley taking a stab at the one profession that would truly suit him -- acting -- as a student in a London academy.
Alas, his art doesn't pay the landlady, and his fake credentials and college transcripts have caught up with him. As a distraction, if nothing else, he accompanies pals to a major gallery opening featuring the works of a friend, the crazed and drunken Derwatt (Douglas Henshall). These pals include Derwatt's sultry lover Cynthia (Claire Forlani), who's beginning to wonder whether Derwatt isn't too crazy, and fellow painter Bernard (Ian Hart), insanely jealous over his friend's success and relationship with Cynthia, his ex.
A purse lying in a car attracts Tom's attention. Once he gets in, his attention is diverted by the sleeping beauty in the back seat, a young and beautiful French student named Heloise (Jacinda Barrett). She has a boyfriend, but Tom manages to dispose of him in quick order.
The opening is such a smash that Derwatt makes a drunken proposal to Cynthia. She looks at him in horror and says no. Enraged, Derwatt jumps into his sports car and roars off into the night. Gallery owner Jeff Constant (Alan Cumming) follows with Tom, Cynthia, Bernard and Heloise (who has gone back to sleep) to "protect my investment."
Too late. Derwatt crashes his car, and the world has one less mad-genuis artist. Devastated, Jeff moans that he can't sell a single painting by an unknown dead painter. Tom gets the brilliant idea of deep-freezing Derwatt's body for a few days so the paintings can sell.
When the conspirators discover that Derwatt's studio contains a trove of unfinished paintings, they prevail upon the unstable Bernard to finish the paintings for further sales. Cynthia's suddenly reawakened romantic interest in Bernard seals the deal. Meanwhile, Tom follows Heloise to France, where he is delighted to discover that she is an heiress living in a country chateau that makes Fountainbleu look humble.
Everything goes swell until wealthy American art collector Murchison (Willem Dafoe) shows up and declares his Derwatt a forgery. Soon enough, Murchison goes missing -- really and truly, his death at Tom's hands is accidental -- so Scotland Yard detective Webster (Tom Wilkinson) comes calling.
The script bristles with wit, and Spottiswoode keeps things moving, rushing by every plot hole to keep us focused on his roguish characters. The movie's greatest enjoyment comes from watching the gradual evolution of Heloise from beguiling flirt to ambiguous heiress to Tom's absolute soulmate. Apparently, she absorbed a lot while asleep.
There is much funny business with the movie's two corpses as they get buried, dug up and hidden again. Cinematographer Paul Sarossy and designer Ben Scott make no bones about ogling the swank gallery, posh restaurants, trendy London, glittery Paris and that lovely chateau. Jeff Danna's score, while reminiscent of Gabriel Yared's propulsive, jazz-influenced music in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", is flecked with its own comic commentary.
The actors push characters to extremes without ever sacrificing complete credibility. Pepper is never more innocent looking then when committing a crime. Cumming hasn't a scruple in his body, while Forlani has a body that knows no scruples. Hart is a study in slow-motion disintegration. Wilkinson depicts the frustration of a sharp detective who finds himself outmaneuvered by a con man. But Barrett's naughty French heiress nearly steals the show.
RIPLEY UNDER GROUND
Lions Gate International presents a Cinerenta production
Credits:
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Screenwriters: W. Blake Herron, Donald Westlake
Based on the novel by: Patricia Highsmith
Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Stephen Ujlaki
Executive producer: Steve Christian, David Barron, Eberhard Kayser
Director of photography: Paul Sarossy
Production designer: Ben Scott
Music: Jeff Danna
Costumes: Caroline Harris
Editor: Michel Arcand
Cast:
Tom Ripley: Barry Pepper
Heloise: Jacinda Barrett
Webster: Tom Wilkinson
Jeff: Alan Cumming
Cynthia: Claire Forlani
Bernard: Ian Hart
Murchison: Willem Dafoe
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
- 11/8/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As monster movies go, "The Cave" is discouragingly routine with the exception of one thing: These monsters live in a cave. Not just any cave, mind you, but an ancient Romanian cave. Which means a sealed-off ecosystem that contains miles of rivers, rapids, a waterfall, huge caverns, a sulfuric thermal bath, an ice cave, archeological remains and, yes, malevolent invertebrate animals. This bad-news theme park makes you tolerate, for a while at least, a dull script by Michael Steinberg and Tegan West that runs through artificial character conflicts and contrived melodrama. Meanwhile, the monsters, when they finally appear, look like something H.R. Giger designed for "Alien" -- then rejected.
Generally speaking, however, audiences don't go to movies to look at sets. So the film's appeal, limited mostly to young males, will be fleeting. Boxoffice looks mediocre at best.
Stories that send characters -- and audiences -- into uncharted territory usually supply a vital reason for such exploration. A prologue set during the Cold War and a present-day sequence rush a group of adventurers into this cave beneath a 13th century abbey without a compelling justification for doing so. There's no pot of gold or Holy Grail or great scientific discovery lurking within. A Romanian scientist simply summons a group of top divers and cave explorers to head into a cave to see if anyone survives.
Leading the team are the mercurial Jack (Cole Hauser) and his easygoing brother Tyler (Eddie Cibrian). A woman named Charlie (Piper Perabo) adds a touch of glamour, and Top Buchanan (Morris Chestnut) makes a steady right-hand man. Biologist Dr. Kathryn Jennings (Lena Headey) joins her Romanian colleague Dr. Nicolai (Marcel Iures) to take care of the science, Alex Kim Daniel Dae Kim) is the photog, and Strode (Kieran Darcy-Smith) supplies tech support.
A cave-in blocks the party from their entry route, and for some reason, despite this being a well-funded exposition, they won't be "missed for 12 days." As they move into the cave seeking a way out, something attacks and kills a team member. Dr. Kathryn peers at cave specimens through her microscope and detects weird organism and parasites. Then something takes a bite out of Jack, and the infection seems to trigger paranoid hallucinations.
Jack insists that everyone take a ride down the rapids, which dumps them into a huge underground pond. It is at this point someone screams, "There's something in the water!" Actually, these creatures swim in water, fly through air and gallop along the ground and ceiling. There are silly, all-purpose monsters that pick off the cast one by one, leaving you to place bets on who will survive.
Characters are poorly established, so when conflicts arise they do so out of thin air. Attacks are preceded by a weird clicking noise, but most of the tension derives from Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek's musical score, which huff and puffs and thunders and whines.
Australian commercial director Bruce Hunt, making his feature debut, keeps the camera close and the action furious so you can't always be certain where characters are or what is happening. The film requires athleticism rather than acting from performers. Underwater photography and production design, much taking place at the Media Pro studios complex in Bucharest, is thoroughly professional though wasted on such a lame effort.
THE CAVE
Screen Gems
Lakeshore Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Bruce Hunt
Screenwriters: Michael Steinberg & Tegan West
Producers: Tom Rosenberg
Gary Lucchesi, Andrew Mason, Richard Wright, Michael Ohoven
Executive producers: Marco Mehlitz, Neil Bluhm, Judd Malkin
Director of photography: Ross Emery
Production designer: Pier Luigi Basile
Music: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek
Co-producer: Robert Bernacchi, James McQuaide
Costumes: Wendy Partridge
Editor: Brian Berdan
Cast:
Jack: Cole Hauser
Top Buchanan: Morris Chestnut
Tyler: Eddie Cibrian
Briggs: Rick Ravanello
Dr. Nicolai: Marcel Iures: Strode: Kieran Darcy-Smith
Kim: Daniel Dae Kim
Katherine: Lena Headey
Charlie: Piper Perabo
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 96 minutes...
Generally speaking, however, audiences don't go to movies to look at sets. So the film's appeal, limited mostly to young males, will be fleeting. Boxoffice looks mediocre at best.
Stories that send characters -- and audiences -- into uncharted territory usually supply a vital reason for such exploration. A prologue set during the Cold War and a present-day sequence rush a group of adventurers into this cave beneath a 13th century abbey without a compelling justification for doing so. There's no pot of gold or Holy Grail or great scientific discovery lurking within. A Romanian scientist simply summons a group of top divers and cave explorers to head into a cave to see if anyone survives.
Leading the team are the mercurial Jack (Cole Hauser) and his easygoing brother Tyler (Eddie Cibrian). A woman named Charlie (Piper Perabo) adds a touch of glamour, and Top Buchanan (Morris Chestnut) makes a steady right-hand man. Biologist Dr. Kathryn Jennings (Lena Headey) joins her Romanian colleague Dr. Nicolai (Marcel Iures) to take care of the science, Alex Kim Daniel Dae Kim) is the photog, and Strode (Kieran Darcy-Smith) supplies tech support.
A cave-in blocks the party from their entry route, and for some reason, despite this being a well-funded exposition, they won't be "missed for 12 days." As they move into the cave seeking a way out, something attacks and kills a team member. Dr. Kathryn peers at cave specimens through her microscope and detects weird organism and parasites. Then something takes a bite out of Jack, and the infection seems to trigger paranoid hallucinations.
Jack insists that everyone take a ride down the rapids, which dumps them into a huge underground pond. It is at this point someone screams, "There's something in the water!" Actually, these creatures swim in water, fly through air and gallop along the ground and ceiling. There are silly, all-purpose monsters that pick off the cast one by one, leaving you to place bets on who will survive.
Characters are poorly established, so when conflicts arise they do so out of thin air. Attacks are preceded by a weird clicking noise, but most of the tension derives from Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek's musical score, which huff and puffs and thunders and whines.
Australian commercial director Bruce Hunt, making his feature debut, keeps the camera close and the action furious so you can't always be certain where characters are or what is happening. The film requires athleticism rather than acting from performers. Underwater photography and production design, much taking place at the Media Pro studios complex in Bucharest, is thoroughly professional though wasted on such a lame effort.
THE CAVE
Screen Gems
Lakeshore Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Bruce Hunt
Screenwriters: Michael Steinberg & Tegan West
Producers: Tom Rosenberg
Gary Lucchesi, Andrew Mason, Richard Wright, Michael Ohoven
Executive producers: Marco Mehlitz, Neil Bluhm, Judd Malkin
Director of photography: Ross Emery
Production designer: Pier Luigi Basile
Music: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek
Co-producer: Robert Bernacchi, James McQuaide
Costumes: Wendy Partridge
Editor: Brian Berdan
Cast:
Jack: Cole Hauser
Top Buchanan: Morris Chestnut
Tyler: Eddie Cibrian
Briggs: Rick Ravanello
Dr. Nicolai: Marcel Iures: Strode: Kieran Darcy-Smith
Kim: Daniel Dae Kim
Katherine: Lena Headey
Charlie: Piper Perabo
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 96 minutes...
She's a New York model hoping to launch an acting career; he's a sensitive New York singer-songwriter looking to snag that elusive record deal. They both come to Los Angeles in search of their dreams and, in, the process end up finding each other.
That's the gist of Undiscovered, an entirely dispensable, soapy caricature of a love story that comes complete with a jukebox full of music industry cliches plus Ashlee Simpson's big feature film debut.
Unleashed by Lions Gate at a time of year when its target teen female audience is going to be preoccupied with back-to-school shopping, the film will unlikely be more than a blip on the boxoffice charts but is bound to pop up on an MTV or VH1 movie night, where it really belonged in the first place.
For his feature directorial debut, Irish video director Meiert Avis, whose body of work includes a number of defining U2 videos, including the Grammy-winning Where the Streets Have No Name, returns to that clip's L.A. setting, albeit one where, thanks to John Galt's script, characters have Spelling-ready names like Brier Tucket and Luke Falcon.
The former, played by Pell James, is the fresh-scrubbed aspiring actress, and the latter, played by Steven Strait, is the hunky, brooding musician who shares an apartment with a bulldog who rides a wicked skateboard (played by Tyson the Skateboarding Bulldog).
It's meaningful glances at first sight for Brier and Luke, but there are the inevitable complications. Brier is theoretically still involved with Mick (Stephen Moyer), a philandering British rocker with an appetite for twin groupies, and she has promised her brassy surrogate mom of an agent (Carrie Fisher) not to make the same mistake again.
Also, in a bid to generate a little career buzz for Luke, Brier and her new best friend, Clea (a subdued, unadorned Simpson), enlist the help of Josie (Shannyn Sossamon), a paparazzi magnet of a Brazilian model, and the resulting media attention doesn't go unnoticed by Garrett Schweck (Fisher Stevens), an obnoxious record producer who signs Luke to his label.
In an attempt to keep it real, the production takes advantage of such locales as the Mint and the Troubadour, but though the location scouts have come up with something more welcome than the usual stock shots of the Hollywood sign, the scripting lends it all the gritty authenticity of a temporary tattoo.
Throughout it all, the young actors emote meaningfully, while the older actors, including Peter Weller as a legendary impresario who dispenses Bob Evans-worthy nuggets of wisdom from behind his sunglasses, appear to have been left to their own, character-driven devices.
Now if you could have spent the entire 90 minutes just hanging with that skateboarding bulldog, you would have got yourself a movie.
Undiscovered
Lions Gate
Credits: Director: Meiert Avis
Screenwriter: John Galt
Producers: Michael Burns, Bic Tran, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven
Executive producers: Joe Simpson, Michael Paseornek
Eberhard Kayser, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Harley Tannenbaum, Jordan Schur
Director of photography: Danny Hiele
Production designer: Philip Duffin
Editor: David Codron
Costume designer: Jen Rade
Cast:
Brier Tucket: Pell James
Luke Falcon: Steven Strait
Euan Falcon: Kip Pardue
Carrie: Carrie Fisher
Clea: Ashlee Simpson
Josie: Shannyn Sossamon
Mick Benson: Stephen Moyer
Garret Schweck: Fisher Stevens
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 97 minutes...
That's the gist of Undiscovered, an entirely dispensable, soapy caricature of a love story that comes complete with a jukebox full of music industry cliches plus Ashlee Simpson's big feature film debut.
Unleashed by Lions Gate at a time of year when its target teen female audience is going to be preoccupied with back-to-school shopping, the film will unlikely be more than a blip on the boxoffice charts but is bound to pop up on an MTV or VH1 movie night, where it really belonged in the first place.
For his feature directorial debut, Irish video director Meiert Avis, whose body of work includes a number of defining U2 videos, including the Grammy-winning Where the Streets Have No Name, returns to that clip's L.A. setting, albeit one where, thanks to John Galt's script, characters have Spelling-ready names like Brier Tucket and Luke Falcon.
The former, played by Pell James, is the fresh-scrubbed aspiring actress, and the latter, played by Steven Strait, is the hunky, brooding musician who shares an apartment with a bulldog who rides a wicked skateboard (played by Tyson the Skateboarding Bulldog).
It's meaningful glances at first sight for Brier and Luke, but there are the inevitable complications. Brier is theoretically still involved with Mick (Stephen Moyer), a philandering British rocker with an appetite for twin groupies, and she has promised her brassy surrogate mom of an agent (Carrie Fisher) not to make the same mistake again.
Also, in a bid to generate a little career buzz for Luke, Brier and her new best friend, Clea (a subdued, unadorned Simpson), enlist the help of Josie (Shannyn Sossamon), a paparazzi magnet of a Brazilian model, and the resulting media attention doesn't go unnoticed by Garrett Schweck (Fisher Stevens), an obnoxious record producer who signs Luke to his label.
In an attempt to keep it real, the production takes advantage of such locales as the Mint and the Troubadour, but though the location scouts have come up with something more welcome than the usual stock shots of the Hollywood sign, the scripting lends it all the gritty authenticity of a temporary tattoo.
Throughout it all, the young actors emote meaningfully, while the older actors, including Peter Weller as a legendary impresario who dispenses Bob Evans-worthy nuggets of wisdom from behind his sunglasses, appear to have been left to their own, character-driven devices.
Now if you could have spent the entire 90 minutes just hanging with that skateboarding bulldog, you would have got yourself a movie.
Undiscovered
Lions Gate
Credits: Director: Meiert Avis
Screenwriter: John Galt
Producers: Michael Burns, Bic Tran, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven
Executive producers: Joe Simpson, Michael Paseornek
Eberhard Kayser, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Harley Tannenbaum, Jordan Schur
Director of photography: Danny Hiele
Production designer: Philip Duffin
Editor: David Codron
Costume designer: Jen Rade
Cast:
Brier Tucket: Pell James
Luke Falcon: Steven Strait
Euan Falcon: Kip Pardue
Carrie: Carrie Fisher
Clea: Ashlee Simpson
Josie: Shannyn Sossamon
Mick Benson: Stephen Moyer
Garret Schweck: Fisher Stevens
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 97 minutes...
Screened
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- No re-edits can save "The Final Cut" from its own preposterousness and lack of genuine thrills. This muddled and uninteresting sci-fi'er from first-time feature writer-director Omar Naim puts Robin Williams through a robotic performance and leaves Mira Sorvino understandably confused as to who or what she is supposed to play. The payoff to all the high-tech shenanigans is so weak as to hardly be worth the effort. Boxoffice prospects do not look good for Lions Gate, which will release the film this year.
In his recent films, Williams clearly wants to move away from manic comedy. In "Insomnia" and "One Hour Photo", he garnered solid critical notices by playing damaged, anal-retentive personalities with dark secrets. Here he dishes up more of the same to diminishing results. These quiet, mousy men all have the same blank face, physical rigidity and overly precise pattern of speech.
This one is called Alan Hackman, well named because he is a man who hacks up the lives of the dead. Specifically, he is a "cutter," who edits memory implants of deceased wealthy clients down to a bowdlerized version of their lives to be screened at memorial services.
Now stop for a minute and examine this premise. Who in his right mind would want anyone to look at every personal moment of his life? Furthermore, why wouldn't it take a cutter a lifetime to view another person's lifetime? Presumably, one could fast-forward through hours of sleep.
Anyway, Alan has a peculiar talent: He can calmly view the memories of really sleazy people, editing out the bad stuff and finding a few moments of redemption to make the devil look like an archangel. Sorvino's Delila is his reluctant girlfriend, and you can't blame her for such reluctance. Who would want to date a guy who essentially looks at pornography all day?
Alan's latest big-shot dead guy, a lawyer for the company that employs him, catches the attention of Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), the head of a political action group radically opposed to this technology as an invasion of privacy. Assuming that the man's life contains some dirt about the company, Fletcher wants this "footage" at all costs. Then, as Alan rummages through the guy's memory, he suddenly spots someone who relates to his own deep, dark secret -- Alan's guilt over the death of a childhood playmate who, it turns out, may not have died after all.
Meanwhile, Alan halfheartedly tries to rekindle his romance with Delila. Which brings up Alan's other dirty little secret: He began dating her only after seeing Delila in her dead boyfriend's memory.
None of these subplots yields any exciting developments. Fletcher and his henchman lurk in the margins of the movie, poised to turn it into a thriller, but Naim can't seem to work up much interest in the cloak-and-dagger aspect to his story. Given the lack of security around Alan's apartment where he works, the bad guys could probably waltz right in and steal the memory chip anyway.
But if Naim wants to make a science fiction movie that emphasizes character, he fails here too. To attribute everything a man has become to a single incident in his youth is simplistic and flawed. Even then, that incident doesn't fully explain why he is a cutter or why he can't make a go of any romantic relationships.
The Alan/Delila story line is a nonstarter. The chemistry between the two actors could not be worse. Furthermore, Naim can't make a case why they should ever be together.
After that, there are scarcely any characters in the movie that matter. The people at Alan's job, the wife and daughter of his late client, even his childhood friend seen in flashback are simply dress extras in his life.
The world established by designer James Chinlund and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto is dark and gloomy but hardly futuristic. It appears to be present day, only interior decorators are into minimalism in a big way. Brian Tyler's score works hard to build suspense where little, if any, exists.
THE FINAL CUT
Lions Gate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment in association with Cinerenta presents an Industry Entertainment production in association with Cinetheta
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Omar Naim
Producer: Nick Wechsler
Executive producers: Nancy Paloian-Brezniker, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Marc Butan, Michael Burns, Michael Paseornek, Guymon Casady
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: James Chinlund
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Monique Prudhomme
Editors: Dede Allen, Robert Brakey
Cast:
Alan Hackman: Robin Williams
Delila: Mira Sorvino
Fletcher: Jim Caviezel
Thelma: Mimi Kuzyk
Hasan: Thom Bishops
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- No re-edits can save "The Final Cut" from its own preposterousness and lack of genuine thrills. This muddled and uninteresting sci-fi'er from first-time feature writer-director Omar Naim puts Robin Williams through a robotic performance and leaves Mira Sorvino understandably confused as to who or what she is supposed to play. The payoff to all the high-tech shenanigans is so weak as to hardly be worth the effort. Boxoffice prospects do not look good for Lions Gate, which will release the film this year.
In his recent films, Williams clearly wants to move away from manic comedy. In "Insomnia" and "One Hour Photo", he garnered solid critical notices by playing damaged, anal-retentive personalities with dark secrets. Here he dishes up more of the same to diminishing results. These quiet, mousy men all have the same blank face, physical rigidity and overly precise pattern of speech.
This one is called Alan Hackman, well named because he is a man who hacks up the lives of the dead. Specifically, he is a "cutter," who edits memory implants of deceased wealthy clients down to a bowdlerized version of their lives to be screened at memorial services.
Now stop for a minute and examine this premise. Who in his right mind would want anyone to look at every personal moment of his life? Furthermore, why wouldn't it take a cutter a lifetime to view another person's lifetime? Presumably, one could fast-forward through hours of sleep.
Anyway, Alan has a peculiar talent: He can calmly view the memories of really sleazy people, editing out the bad stuff and finding a few moments of redemption to make the devil look like an archangel. Sorvino's Delila is his reluctant girlfriend, and you can't blame her for such reluctance. Who would want to date a guy who essentially looks at pornography all day?
Alan's latest big-shot dead guy, a lawyer for the company that employs him, catches the attention of Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), the head of a political action group radically opposed to this technology as an invasion of privacy. Assuming that the man's life contains some dirt about the company, Fletcher wants this "footage" at all costs. Then, as Alan rummages through the guy's memory, he suddenly spots someone who relates to his own deep, dark secret -- Alan's guilt over the death of a childhood playmate who, it turns out, may not have died after all.
Meanwhile, Alan halfheartedly tries to rekindle his romance with Delila. Which brings up Alan's other dirty little secret: He began dating her only after seeing Delila in her dead boyfriend's memory.
None of these subplots yields any exciting developments. Fletcher and his henchman lurk in the margins of the movie, poised to turn it into a thriller, but Naim can't seem to work up much interest in the cloak-and-dagger aspect to his story. Given the lack of security around Alan's apartment where he works, the bad guys could probably waltz right in and steal the memory chip anyway.
But if Naim wants to make a science fiction movie that emphasizes character, he fails here too. To attribute everything a man has become to a single incident in his youth is simplistic and flawed. Even then, that incident doesn't fully explain why he is a cutter or why he can't make a go of any romantic relationships.
The Alan/Delila story line is a nonstarter. The chemistry between the two actors could not be worse. Furthermore, Naim can't make a case why they should ever be together.
After that, there are scarcely any characters in the movie that matter. The people at Alan's job, the wife and daughter of his late client, even his childhood friend seen in flashback are simply dress extras in his life.
The world established by designer James Chinlund and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto is dark and gloomy but hardly futuristic. It appears to be present day, only interior decorators are into minimalism in a big way. Brian Tyler's score works hard to build suspense where little, if any, exists.
THE FINAL CUT
Lions Gate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment in association with Cinerenta presents an Industry Entertainment production in association with Cinetheta
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Omar Naim
Producer: Nick Wechsler
Executive producers: Nancy Paloian-Brezniker, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Marc Butan, Michael Burns, Michael Paseornek, Guymon Casady
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: James Chinlund
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Monique Prudhomme
Editors: Dede Allen, Robert Brakey
Cast:
Alan Hackman: Robin Williams
Delila: Mira Sorvino
Fletcher: Jim Caviezel
Thelma: Mimi Kuzyk
Hasan: Thom Bishops
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Screened
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- No re-edits can save "The Final Cut" from its own preposterousness and lack of genuine thrills. This muddled and uninteresting sci-fi'er from first-time feature writer-director Omar Naim puts Robin Williams through a robotic performance and leaves Mira Sorvino understandably confused as to who or what she is supposed to play. The payoff to all the high-tech shenanigans is so weak as to hardly be worth the effort. Boxoffice prospects do not look good for Lions Gate, which will release the film this year.
In his recent films, Williams clearly wants to move away from manic comedy. In "Insomnia" and "One Hour Photo", he garnered solid critical notices by playing damaged, anal-retentive personalities with dark secrets. Here he dishes up more of the same to diminishing results. These quiet, mousy men all have the same blank face, physical rigidity and overly precise pattern of speech.
This one is called Alan Hackman, well named because he is a man who hacks up the lives of the dead. Specifically, he is a "cutter," who edits memory implants of deceased wealthy clients down to a bowdlerized version of their lives to be screened at memorial services.
Now stop for a minute and examine this premise. Who in his right mind would want anyone to look at every personal moment of his life? Furthermore, why wouldn't it take a cutter a lifetime to view another person's lifetime? Presumably, one could fast-forward through hours of sleep.
Anyway, Alan has a peculiar talent: He can calmly view the memories of really sleazy people, editing out the bad stuff and finding a few moments of redemption to make the devil look like an archangel. Sorvino's Delila is his reluctant girlfriend, and you can't blame her for such reluctance. Who would want to date a guy who essentially looks at pornography all day?
Alan's latest big-shot dead guy, a lawyer for the company that employs him, catches the attention of Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), the head of a political action group radically opposed to this technology as an invasion of privacy. Assuming that the man's life contains some dirt about the company, Fletcher wants this "footage" at all costs. Then, as Alan rummages through the guy's memory, he suddenly spots someone who relates to his own deep, dark secret -- Alan's guilt over the death of a childhood playmate who, it turns out, may not have died after all.
Meanwhile, Alan halfheartedly tries to rekindle his romance with Delila. Which brings up Alan's other dirty little secret: He began dating her only after seeing Delila in her dead boyfriend's memory.
None of these subplots yields any exciting developments. Fletcher and his henchman lurk in the margins of the movie, poised to turn it into a thriller, but Naim can't seem to work up much interest in the cloak-and-dagger aspect to his story. Given the lack of security around Alan's apartment where he works, the bad guys could probably waltz right in and steal the memory chip anyway.
But if Naim wants to make a science fiction movie that emphasizes character, he fails here too. To attribute everything a man has become to a single incident in his youth is simplistic and flawed. Even then, that incident doesn't fully explain why he is a cutter or why he can't make a go of any romantic relationships.
The Alan/Delila story line is a nonstarter. The chemistry between the two actors could not be worse. Furthermore, Naim can't make a case why they should ever be together.
After that, there are scarcely any characters in the movie that matter. The people at Alan's job, the wife and daughter of his late client, even his childhood friend seen in flashback are simply dress extras in his life.
The world established by designer James Chinlund and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto is dark and gloomy but hardly futuristic. It appears to be present day, only interior decorators are into minimalism in a big way. Brian Tyler's score works hard to build suspense where little, if any, exists.
THE FINAL CUT
Lions Gate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment in association with Cinerenta presents an Industry Entertainment production in association with Cinetheta
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Omar Naim
Producer: Nick Wechsler
Executive producers: Nancy Paloian-Brezniker, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Marc Butan, Michael Burns, Michael Paseornek, Guymon Casady
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: James Chinlund
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Monique Prudhomme
Editors: Dede Allen, Robert Brakey
Cast:
Alan Hackman: Robin Williams
Delila: Mira Sorvino
Fletcher: Jim Caviezel
Thelma: Mimi Kuzyk
Hasan: Thom Bishops
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- No re-edits can save "The Final Cut" from its own preposterousness and lack of genuine thrills. This muddled and uninteresting sci-fi'er from first-time feature writer-director Omar Naim puts Robin Williams through a robotic performance and leaves Mira Sorvino understandably confused as to who or what she is supposed to play. The payoff to all the high-tech shenanigans is so weak as to hardly be worth the effort. Boxoffice prospects do not look good for Lions Gate, which will release the film this year.
In his recent films, Williams clearly wants to move away from manic comedy. In "Insomnia" and "One Hour Photo", he garnered solid critical notices by playing damaged, anal-retentive personalities with dark secrets. Here he dishes up more of the same to diminishing results. These quiet, mousy men all have the same blank face, physical rigidity and overly precise pattern of speech.
This one is called Alan Hackman, well named because he is a man who hacks up the lives of the dead. Specifically, he is a "cutter," who edits memory implants of deceased wealthy clients down to a bowdlerized version of their lives to be screened at memorial services.
Now stop for a minute and examine this premise. Who in his right mind would want anyone to look at every personal moment of his life? Furthermore, why wouldn't it take a cutter a lifetime to view another person's lifetime? Presumably, one could fast-forward through hours of sleep.
Anyway, Alan has a peculiar talent: He can calmly view the memories of really sleazy people, editing out the bad stuff and finding a few moments of redemption to make the devil look like an archangel. Sorvino's Delila is his reluctant girlfriend, and you can't blame her for such reluctance. Who would want to date a guy who essentially looks at pornography all day?
Alan's latest big-shot dead guy, a lawyer for the company that employs him, catches the attention of Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), the head of a political action group radically opposed to this technology as an invasion of privacy. Assuming that the man's life contains some dirt about the company, Fletcher wants this "footage" at all costs. Then, as Alan rummages through the guy's memory, he suddenly spots someone who relates to his own deep, dark secret -- Alan's guilt over the death of a childhood playmate who, it turns out, may not have died after all.
Meanwhile, Alan halfheartedly tries to rekindle his romance with Delila. Which brings up Alan's other dirty little secret: He began dating her only after seeing Delila in her dead boyfriend's memory.
None of these subplots yields any exciting developments. Fletcher and his henchman lurk in the margins of the movie, poised to turn it into a thriller, but Naim can't seem to work up much interest in the cloak-and-dagger aspect to his story. Given the lack of security around Alan's apartment where he works, the bad guys could probably waltz right in and steal the memory chip anyway.
But if Naim wants to make a science fiction movie that emphasizes character, he fails here too. To attribute everything a man has become to a single incident in his youth is simplistic and flawed. Even then, that incident doesn't fully explain why he is a cutter or why he can't make a go of any romantic relationships.
The Alan/Delila story line is a nonstarter. The chemistry between the two actors could not be worse. Furthermore, Naim can't make a case why they should ever be together.
After that, there are scarcely any characters in the movie that matter. The people at Alan's job, the wife and daughter of his late client, even his childhood friend seen in flashback are simply dress extras in his life.
The world established by designer James Chinlund and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto is dark and gloomy but hardly futuristic. It appears to be present day, only interior decorators are into minimalism in a big way. Brian Tyler's score works hard to build suspense where little, if any, exists.
THE FINAL CUT
Lions Gate Films
Lions Gate Entertainment in association with Cinerenta presents an Industry Entertainment production in association with Cinetheta
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Omar Naim
Producer: Nick Wechsler
Executive producers: Nancy Paloian-Brezniker, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, Marc Butan, Michael Burns, Michael Paseornek, Guymon Casady
Director of photography: Tak Fujimoto
Production designer: James Chinlund
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Monique Prudhomme
Editors: Dede Allen, Robert Brakey
Cast:
Alan Hackman: Robin Williams
Delila: Mira Sorvino
Fletcher: Jim Caviezel
Thelma: Mimi Kuzyk
Hasan: Thom Bishops
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/13/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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