jdjen

I can't believe it! 281 user comments and only one of you got it right (or at least half-right). Bill Bridger (from Canada?) wrote that "Far from Heaven" is so bad it nearly qualifies as camp. Wrong, but right! It was not bad at all. Do people honestly believe Todd Haynes ("Poison", "Velvet Goldmine") capable of a melodramatic period-piece? Indeed, I would think it highly unlikely for him to be involved with any so-called "straight" film (excuse the pun). "Far from Heaven" was hilariously campy, if not gloriously so. The script, the lighting, the scenery, even the costumes were deliciously overwrought and perverse. Moore, Quaid, et al were made to deliver not just lines, but slogans; cliches; bromides. If John Waters is the Master of Merry Campiness, then Haynes is definitely the Dark Lord. How could you not laugh at nearly every scene! Users here and elsewhere seem more affected by issues concerning the era portrayed. Pro-50's people vs. the anti-50's people (Who cares?). Pro-Gay vs. Anti-Gay (Gimme a break!). Housewives vs. Feminists (uggh). And not just regular folks. As far as I can tell, none of the critics got it either. The best some of them could do was applaud "Far from..." as a homage to melodramas. Trust me, this director does not do homages. Call me sick or twisted, but I'm sure I'm right. Todd Haynes must be rolling on the linoleum with laughter at what he hath overwrought.

I love "Untamed," but not in the same way as previous commentators. It is arguably the dumb-funniest piece of Hollywood formulaic crap every produced. Basically, Henry King remade "Gone With The Wind," set it in South Africa using standard Western gimmicks. Christ, they must have raided "Gunfight at OK Corral's" wardrobe, and cocked every cowboy hat on one side. But the joke's on them because it is such overwrought camp that I can't stop laughing. It's great! I especially love the way Susan Hayward keeps dumping, picking up, and re-dumping every sap who comes along. Plus, this chick's got to be the luckiest woman on the face of the earth. Nevermind the nasty image of her swindling starving natives by trading her worthless junk for their precious metals. Who else but a "Wild Irish Rose" stumbles upon a diamond the size of a goose-egg? And when the money runs out (no one knows why), she intrepidly sets off with her brood to mine for more gems, murderous claim-jumpers notwithstanding. Tyrone Power used this film as a practice session for "The Sun Also Rises." He's limp throughout. Richard Egan, however, is hilarious as Hayward's ubiquitous dumpee. He defends her against attacking Zulus. She dumps him. He offers to marry her. She dumps him. He plows her fields, plants her crops and builds her house. She not only dumps him again, but amputates his leg! In the end, Egan turns outlaw, still carrying a torch for Hayward. It is here that Rita Morena, the long-suffering half-breed wench, delivers the coup de grace: "...WHAT'S LEFT OF HIM IS MINE!"