The King

The reviews I read prior to seeing "The King" seemed to fault Gael Garcia Bernal's performance for not being "dark" enough. In most portrayals of this sort, the main character is supposed to chill the viewer to the bone by abruptly revealing his true evil self.

That's not how Gael Garcia Bernal plays the protagonist, Elvis Valderez, a young man with an angelic face who has just finished his duty in the Navy. Elvis never reveals any hidden monster. There's no traumatic moment that takes a good man and pushes him over the abyss into madness. The truth is we've been seeing his true nature throughout the movie but were too mesmerized by his handsome features to believe he could be anything but a sweet, lovable guy.

This movie doesn't offer us expansive scenic vistas like "The Motorcycle Diaries", nor Quentin Tarantino-type hyper violence like "Amores Perros". What it does offer is another great movie performance, a unique character that will stay in our memories.

Gael Garcia Bernal is currently my favorite actor, a fact that works against him every time I see one of his movies, because no one should be able to live up to my inflated expectations. I think Johnny Depp and Brendan Frasier are two of the best actors in movies today, but both of them have appeared in at least one movie I didn't care for. So far, Gael Garcia Bernal has surpassed all my expectations.

This is a nasty piece of work. It's also an impressive piece of work, a sour and cynical dark comedy of a twisted kind of Americana by the young British director James Marsh, making his feature film debut. Elvis, (Gael Garcia Bernal), gets out of the navy and heads off in search of his daddy, the man who sired him and then abandoned him. Daddy, once a sinner, has now reformed and is a preacher with his own church. Bit by bit Elvis worms his way into the family circle, taking no prisoners on the way.

There are moments of shocking, unexpected violence and you are always left with a nasty taste in the mouth but at the same time, you are never quite sure which way the film is going to turn. In some respects it's a bit like Pasolini's "Theorem" but when I spoke to the director at the Dublin Film Festival he said he had never seen "Theorem", (but surely he must have known what it was about?), but did admit to being influenced in part by Dennis Potter's "Brimstone and Treacle".

It's a deeply unpleasant little picture but it is very well directed, (it feels unpolished, unfinished, rough around the edges which is just as it should be), and both Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt as his preacher father are superb. Bernal is like some beautiful, rotten fallen angel. Is he seeking redemption or total damnation? Hurt, too long in the doldrums, is on a run at the moment. With this, and Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" under his belt, he is very much back on form. See it certainly, but don't expect to be entertained.

Probably one of the most F**KED up movies I have ever seen!!! None the less it is a gripping emotional film with a strong message about finding what is really important in your life, and treasuring it.

The persona of the entire church community made me chuckle, because it reminded me so much of my own church community. Secrets hidden within every corner of the church and everyone willing to cast the first stone at a sinner.

I really enjoyed the movie, but when I was walking out of the theater I was depressed more than any other movie has ever depressed me. Bernal gives a stunning performance that just seems to twist your stomach into knots.

THE KING (2006) **1/2 Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Pell James, Laura Harring, Paul Dano. Disturbing and dark morality tale about a young man (Garcia Bernal continuing to be his generation's Brando) coming into the lives of a pastor (Hurt in one his best roles of his career) and his family, claiming to be his long-lost son and attempting to fulfill his birthright with deadly results. Novice filmmaker James Marsh (who co-wrote the screenplay with Milo Addica) gets the message across in a decidedly clumsy and hard-to-swallow histrionics yet the talented cast outshines the film's downward spiral of despair. James, best known as the only female who treated Bill Murray with civility in "Broken Flowers", proves to be a young talent to watch suggesting a latter day Diane Lane.

Not for the first time, I thank the British Cable/Satellite channels for making available an excellent film that that I would not have noticed at the cinema over here, in fact I don't believe it gained any significant cinema distribution at all. This is another example of the 'small' US movie (modest budget, even more modest marketing, no A-list stars) that is as good as anything produced anywhere in the world. A young fellow leaves the US navy and seeks out his father, who he's never met. He tracks Dad down to find that he's become a pastor in a born-again Christian church and now has a family of his own. I'll not reveal anything of what follows but will say that what develops is unexpected, shocking and totally gripping. OK, you get a sense that it will all end in tears but this is genuinely powerful stuff. Gael García Bernal is excellent (another Martin Sheen?) as is the rest of the cast. William Hurt, his glamorous male lead days behind him, demonstrates once again that he is an actor of real quality and ability – long may he continue to play similar cameo roles. I mentioned Bernals similarity to the young Martin Sheen previously. The King has some comparisons to 'Badlands' which blew me away all those years ago and I believe that this is as good a film. You need a slightly strong stomach but this is a powerful film for adults and I recommend it highly.