Change Your Image
FrkPaul
Reviews
Protagonist (2007)
Fince Concept, Flawed Selections
I thought about making the title of this review "One of the ain't' like the other one". The subjects of the interviews in this film are a terrorist who turned some of his co-conspirators in, a bank robber that tried to kill his father, a repressed homosexual who made a living convincing other people that they too can be straight, and....a guy that took some Kung Fu Lessons. And his first teacher was a jerk. I'm serious. That's his story. He was a bit of a nerd, so he got into martial arts and he wound up studying with a really intense guy that was...less than dependable? Prone to errant behavior? That's about as dramatic as it gets with him.
I gave this movie a 5 out of 10 because 2 out of the 4 subjects were interesting. The other two were not. The Kung Fu student probably didn't give them much to work with. But the gay televangelist might have been compelling if his story were not so predictable. But it is.
She should have found two more subjects to make a better movie. The production values were good and the narrative conceit of Greek tragedy told through puppets had great potential. But the impact of the movie is blunted by the inevitable reaction of "Why was the kung fu guy included in this?"