PARK CITY, Utah -- Montana is known as the Big Sky state but, unfortunately, "Montana" will be known as a low-horizon film. It's a crime thriller of the hard-boiled variety, but, in execution and narrative, it's all runny yolk. Starring Kyra Sedgwick as a grizzled and grouchy mob lieutenant, "Montana" is all bluster and snarl, a generic muddle of pulp noir and shallow storytelling.
Receiving its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, "Montana" has been touted as an action film, helmed by a female director. If one considers drilling fat guys at point-blank range "action," then, indeed, this murky movie fits that bill. About the only "action" we recall in this heap is a guy falling out of a car trunk. Oh, lo, there are a couple fight scenes, which one could duplicate with two lessons at the local tae kwon do parlor. There's also some high-level cinematography, namely a batch of helicopter shots of big office buildings below. While these shots from on high add nothing to the film in terms of theme (it doesn't seem to have one), the shots of rooftops do greatly help the narration, serving as transitional cohesion between scenes that don't seem to be logically connected.
Basically, "Montana" has more of a situation than a plot: Claire Sedgwick) and her partner Nick (Stanley Tucci) toil for a crime organization and generally receive high marks around employee evaluation time -- they get to live and shoot more people, etc. However, their outfit has recently experienced a severe cash-flow problem -- somebody has stolen a big bank of their loot -- and Claire and Nick are made to feel the heat. Why, we're not quite sure. In any event, everybody's angry and everybody's ugly and everybody's stupid, which does not always make for interesting viewing. Unfortunately, director Jennifer Leitzes does not have a Tarantino flair for sliding in some odd '70s music to make the killings interesting, nor do the screenwriters (Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber) have any facility for off-the-wall verbalizations. So, we're left with a series of humdrum pluggings: These gut-shootings are typically preceded by grunting and snarling and then, for symmetry, followed up by more grunting and snarling. Such is the intricacy and sophistication of the scenario.
While there's a lot of bloodletting, there's not much coursing through the veins of the lead characters. As far as getting to what makes them tick, we're left with the fact that they tend to wear black. To her credit, Sedgwick's brassy performance seems fitted to the character, but her overall demeanor and physicality, particularly in her tough-girl scenes, are less than overwhelming.
A bag of unmarked bills to Stanley Tucci, though, for his natty performance. Tucci's idiosyncratic flourishes and strange garnishes are the few bright lights in this dim shoot-em-up. Praise also to John Ritter for his serpentine performance as an avaricious author who seems to favor the same suit of clothes. Technical contributions generally fit the bill. Praise to production designer Daniel Ross for the appropriately grungy look. Cliff Eidelman's score, with its strummy, contra-cadence plucks, is interesting and seems to be saying something -- perhaps it was written for another movie.
MONTANA
Producers: Sean Cooley, Zane W. Levitt,
Mark Yellen
Director: Jennifer Leitzes
Screenwriters: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber
Executive producer: Cindy Cowan
Director of photography: Ken Kelsch
Production designer: Daniel Ross
Editor: Norman Buckley
Music: Cliff Eidelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire: Kyra Sedgwick
Nick: Stanley Tucci
Kitty: Robin Tunney
Duncan: Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Boss: Robbie Coltrane
Dr. Wexler: John Ritter
Running time -- 96 minutes...
Receiving its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, "Montana" has been touted as an action film, helmed by a female director. If one considers drilling fat guys at point-blank range "action," then, indeed, this murky movie fits that bill. About the only "action" we recall in this heap is a guy falling out of a car trunk. Oh, lo, there are a couple fight scenes, which one could duplicate with two lessons at the local tae kwon do parlor. There's also some high-level cinematography, namely a batch of helicopter shots of big office buildings below. While these shots from on high add nothing to the film in terms of theme (it doesn't seem to have one), the shots of rooftops do greatly help the narration, serving as transitional cohesion between scenes that don't seem to be logically connected.
Basically, "Montana" has more of a situation than a plot: Claire Sedgwick) and her partner Nick (Stanley Tucci) toil for a crime organization and generally receive high marks around employee evaluation time -- they get to live and shoot more people, etc. However, their outfit has recently experienced a severe cash-flow problem -- somebody has stolen a big bank of their loot -- and Claire and Nick are made to feel the heat. Why, we're not quite sure. In any event, everybody's angry and everybody's ugly and everybody's stupid, which does not always make for interesting viewing. Unfortunately, director Jennifer Leitzes does not have a Tarantino flair for sliding in some odd '70s music to make the killings interesting, nor do the screenwriters (Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber) have any facility for off-the-wall verbalizations. So, we're left with a series of humdrum pluggings: These gut-shootings are typically preceded by grunting and snarling and then, for symmetry, followed up by more grunting and snarling. Such is the intricacy and sophistication of the scenario.
While there's a lot of bloodletting, there's not much coursing through the veins of the lead characters. As far as getting to what makes them tick, we're left with the fact that they tend to wear black. To her credit, Sedgwick's brassy performance seems fitted to the character, but her overall demeanor and physicality, particularly in her tough-girl scenes, are less than overwhelming.
A bag of unmarked bills to Stanley Tucci, though, for his natty performance. Tucci's idiosyncratic flourishes and strange garnishes are the few bright lights in this dim shoot-em-up. Praise also to John Ritter for his serpentine performance as an avaricious author who seems to favor the same suit of clothes. Technical contributions generally fit the bill. Praise to production designer Daniel Ross for the appropriately grungy look. Cliff Eidelman's score, with its strummy, contra-cadence plucks, is interesting and seems to be saying something -- perhaps it was written for another movie.
MONTANA
Producers: Sean Cooley, Zane W. Levitt,
Mark Yellen
Director: Jennifer Leitzes
Screenwriters: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber
Executive producer: Cindy Cowan
Director of photography: Ken Kelsch
Production designer: Daniel Ross
Editor: Norman Buckley
Music: Cliff Eidelman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire: Kyra Sedgwick
Nick: Stanley Tucci
Kitty: Robin Tunney
Duncan: Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Boss: Robbie Coltrane
Dr. Wexler: John Ritter
Running time -- 96 minutes...
- 1/21/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.