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FEVER PITCH
And the previous two film versions of his novels, "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy," showcased the author's flair for delivering despicable heroes who are, in the end, a little more nuanced and a little more lovable than they first appeared. From the snobby record store owner John Cusack played in "High Fidelity" to the self-absorbed, independently wealthy louse Hugh Grant played in "About A Boy," Hornby's characters are typified by their inability to appreciate their all-too-perfect life, and the all-too-perfect girlfriends in those lives. And "Fever Pitch," Hornby's novel about an obsessed British soccer (rather, football) fan whose infatuation with the game compromises his relationships with women, seemed to provide an ideal plot for an intelligent, funny Hollywood romantic comedy. Sadly, the film version is by far the most disappointing adaptation of one of Hornby's novels to date. Directed by the Farrelly Brothers, and starring Jimmy Fallon as a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, the movie is a tepid and lifeless take on love, obsession and price of fandom. The two overriding problems with "Fever Pitch" are its bland screenplay and its disappointing male lead. Fallon, fresh off the abysmal "Taxi" and his lengthy run on SNL, has the acting ability of the bastard son of Jerry Seinfeld. Like Seinfeld, who was notorious for smirking during episodes of his TV show, Fallon looks like he's trying to squash an impending laugh throughout most of the film. While that shortcoming didn't hurt him during his time as an anchor on SNL's faux newscast, or during the two-minute sketches he did on the show, it's not a pleasant quality for an actor who's expected to carry an 80-minute film. And Fallon, cute as he is, has all the charisma of a snail. Even more frustrating than Fallon's irksome presence is the Farrelly's writing and direction. With Bobby behind the camera and Peter having penned the screenplay, "Fever Pitch" feels like a low-brow comedy that's been drained of its idiotic humor. Although the brothers try to insert the occasional gastronomic punch line - Fallon's kindhearted schoolteacher shows up for his first date with love interest Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) only to find she's suffering from food poisoning, so the brothers insert a few vomit-inspired gags - there's little in the way of actual comedy propelling the movie forward. Left without random handicapped people to mock (though Fallon has a mute student he weirdly interacts with) or an oddball premise, the Farrelly's prove they have no idea what to do with characters and a storyline that require actual development in this film. Though "Fever Pitch" is saved from being a total turkey by its winning plotline, the film is much more bland and disappointing than it should have been. While it was a stroke of genius to convert the hero from a beleaguered British football fan into the most pathetic sports fanatic of all, a Red Sox fan - and to luck into having the Red Sox play their most dramatic season in years as a backdrop - the Farrelly's never manage to humanize their characters or their situation. It's ultimately a
shame that Hornby's book couldn't have fallen into the hands of a more
capable screenwriter and director, with a more charismatic lead, because
it certainly had the potential to be so much more.
SIN CITY
After the Director's Guild refused to allow the author, who is not a union member, the title, Rodriguez boldly dropped out of the organization.
Now the film bears the appropriate moniker: "Frank Miller's Sin City." That Rodriguez went to great lengths to ensure Miller's name was front and center is evident in every frame of the director's dazzling pulp masterpiece, which brings the comic book to life frame by beautiful frame. Rodriguez has said that it was his desire to literally replicate the author's work cel for cel, and there is no question that he has done that here. Filmed using a never-before-seen visual palette - the film isn't so much black and white as it is an interplay of whites and grays, a cross between a grainy black-and-white '50s noir and a colorless comic book - "Sin City" is a feast for the eyes that brings comic book movies to new heights. After numerous directors have put their stamp on the artistic possibilities of film versions of comic books and graphic novels, Rodriguez manages to bring the genre into a class all its own with "Sin City." In an ironic way "Sin City" recalls one of the first effective and artful comic-book-to-film achievements: "Dick Tracy." Like Warren Beatty's 1990 eye-popping, larger-than-life film, where cartoon characters were brought to life in a world at once embedded in the pulp fantasies and look of comic books but also part of a more realistic cinematic world, a look which the director achieved largely through the use of elaborate sets and costumes defined by their bright colors, Robert Rodriguez brings his grimy characters to life through the use of digital wizardry.
Filmed against a
series of blue screens, Rodriguez gives "Sin City" a look that both
recalls its source material and brings it into a world of its own.
Highlighting the comical, brutal over-the-top nature of Miller's stories -
which revolve around a rag-tag group of down-on-their-luck heroes who
fight the evil forces that are in the titular urban underworld - "Sin
City" is a wonderful comic book noir that melds the past and future of
Hollywood filmmaking. In the first, Mickey Rourke stars as a thug-like denizen of Sin City (a shortened name for the urban landscape's full moniker, Basin City) who goes on a wild rampage to hunt down the person who murdered a prostitute he fell for named Goldy. His search brings him head to head with a deranged, cannibalistic teenager (played by Elijah Wood) who devours prostitutes on the outskirts of the city. In the second installment, Clive Owen plays a well-meaning vigilante who becomes the unwitting ally to a gang of vengeful prostitutes who, after killing an undercover cop (Benicio Del Torro), must engage in a bloody war with the law. In the final installment, Bruce Willis personifies a character that is a clear extension of the gritty boxer he played in "Pulp Fiction." (Quentin Tarantino, who has worked with Rodriguez on a number of films, actually has an honorary credit.) As a valiant cop who saves a little girl from a rampaging child molester and murderer (Nick Stahl), Willis is framed and convicted of the crime because of deep-seated corruption within the force. After serving a lengthy prison sentence, he's released from jail in order to save his young victim (who has matured into the voluptuous Jessica Alba) from her original attacker: A yellow, castrated monstrosity who stinks of garbage and continues to kill and torture little girls. Filled as it is with extreme violence - beheadings, castrations and run-of-the-mill beatings abound - "Sin City" is Rodriguez's first film to showcase his penchant for cartoonish violence in an appropriate and satisfying way. In an odd way, "Sin City" almost conceals much of its stomach-turning gore, because of its unique visual quality. The scenarios look real, but not enough to make you turn away instead of merely wince. Most rewardingly, "Sin City" tells its sordid tale of corruption, lawlessness and redemption - the arch villains are all politicians, powerful religious figures or cops, while the heroes are misfits who kill in the name of a perceived higher good - in a way that befittingly casts it as a noir for the 21st century.
A dazzling visual
achievement, Rodriguez's film will keep you transfixed on its striking,
beautiful look with every frame.
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