It was an annoyingly hard decision as to what to vote for this film. Really, in all fairness, I think IMDb should make an exception with this film and allow each person two votes. One for the modern day story with Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Liz Hurley and Josh Lucas, and an entirely independent vote for the original mystery in the 1800's centered around Sarah Polley's character. Since there is no exception though, I found myself having to split it down the middle and give it a 5. Frustrating indeed given the excellent work of Polley.
The 'story' centers around a couple (Penn and McCormack) whose marriage is troubled and who decide to leave their kid at home for the weekend while they use a photographic assignment that McCormack has as a chance to hook up with her brother-in-law, Lucas and his new girlfriend, Hurley. This part of the film is nothing less than discombobulated from the get go. And really, given the lack of any really stake behind it all, it's less than boring, it's just downright annoying. Elizabeth Hurley as Adaline seems to think that it's enough to wear itsy-bitsy tiny white bikinis and suck on a lollipop to show her oral skills. Penn as McCormack's husband, spends the majority of his time either looking at Hurley, smoking, or looking at Hurley while he smokes. McCormack as Jean tries to give her character whatever depth one can in the middle of a masturbatory set of acting sequences but still manages to fail, and surprisingly, at least for me, only Josh Lucas as Penn's younger brother comes across without making you want to put a fly swatter to the screen. In fact, this side of the plot is so self-absorbed that one wonders why it was even included, besides from the fact that it was in the novel, thus making it necessary to be put down on film (what a waste).
All of that being said, the real 'mystery' in this story lies in why after viewing all the footage, Bigelow didn't just decide to put politics aside and focus only on telling the events of the double killing in the late 1800's on Shoal Island. Because that is where the story came to life, the characters became compelling and the actors morphed into all too human people that were worth the watch. Sarah Polley. One could stop there without adding a word. Polley's performance as Maren Hontredt, a young Norwegian woman bought to this far away land far from her family and married to a much older man, is not only compelling but mature beyond her years. It is Polley who not only brings her own character to life but also seems to bring the everyday life of the island itself and it's history and it's lonely location to reality vs. film reality. As I watched this film, I would increasingly be waiting for the 'modern' day bunch to finish spouting off their lines so that I could get back to Maren and the other interesting and diverse characters that comprised the REAL story. The actual mystery of Shoal Island is well worth the watch. The details of daily life and the characters that occupied it are wonderful to watch. Their chores, the way they interacted as a society, the hardships that were normal for that time period in such a location - all of these things were like a wonderful education of the past and seemed quite authentic to the untrained eye.
All in all, I believe if Miss Bigelow had just gone with a murder mystery in the 1800's with the extremely talented Sarah Polley delivering the performance she did, this movie would have really been something. As it is, it is mired in so much babble and imperfection that would be hard to recommend this film to anyone besides from die hard Polley fans. Too bad.
The 'story' centers around a couple (Penn and McCormack) whose marriage is troubled and who decide to leave their kid at home for the weekend while they use a photographic assignment that McCormack has as a chance to hook up with her brother-in-law, Lucas and his new girlfriend, Hurley. This part of the film is nothing less than discombobulated from the get go. And really, given the lack of any really stake behind it all, it's less than boring, it's just downright annoying. Elizabeth Hurley as Adaline seems to think that it's enough to wear itsy-bitsy tiny white bikinis and suck on a lollipop to show her oral skills. Penn as McCormack's husband, spends the majority of his time either looking at Hurley, smoking, or looking at Hurley while he smokes. McCormack as Jean tries to give her character whatever depth one can in the middle of a masturbatory set of acting sequences but still manages to fail, and surprisingly, at least for me, only Josh Lucas as Penn's younger brother comes across without making you want to put a fly swatter to the screen. In fact, this side of the plot is so self-absorbed that one wonders why it was even included, besides from the fact that it was in the novel, thus making it necessary to be put down on film (what a waste).
All of that being said, the real 'mystery' in this story lies in why after viewing all the footage, Bigelow didn't just decide to put politics aside and focus only on telling the events of the double killing in the late 1800's on Shoal Island. Because that is where the story came to life, the characters became compelling and the actors morphed into all too human people that were worth the watch. Sarah Polley. One could stop there without adding a word. Polley's performance as Maren Hontredt, a young Norwegian woman bought to this far away land far from her family and married to a much older man, is not only compelling but mature beyond her years. It is Polley who not only brings her own character to life but also seems to bring the everyday life of the island itself and it's history and it's lonely location to reality vs. film reality. As I watched this film, I would increasingly be waiting for the 'modern' day bunch to finish spouting off their lines so that I could get back to Maren and the other interesting and diverse characters that comprised the REAL story. The actual mystery of Shoal Island is well worth the watch. The details of daily life and the characters that occupied it are wonderful to watch. Their chores, the way they interacted as a society, the hardships that were normal for that time period in such a location - all of these things were like a wonderful education of the past and seemed quite authentic to the untrained eye.
All in all, I believe if Miss Bigelow had just gone with a murder mystery in the 1800's with the extremely talented Sarah Polley delivering the performance she did, this movie would have really been something. As it is, it is mired in so much babble and imperfection that would be hard to recommend this film to anyone besides from die hard Polley fans. Too bad.