mwold

Nearly pointless but artistic exercise in bad filmmaking. Little character development, little plot, little dialog, and little suspense make for a boring movie. Though some of the ideas behind the story hold much potential, and some of the visuals are quite stunning in a freshmen experimental kind of way, the execution is amateurish and artistically over indulgent. Additionally, as incoherent as the plot is, it's also highly unrealistic (not in a good way) and fairly stupid. What's worse, you know how clever and arty the director thought he was being when he orchestrated this mess, even having the audacity to use 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' in one scene. Totally pretentious, totally ridiculous. Not recommended.

I'm nearly 100% sure that these were submissions for the first film that didn't make the cut. 'Memories' by acclaimed director Jee-Woon is oddly both totally predictable and yet full of interesting ideas that never come to fruition. This however is by far the most palatable of the bunch with some nice artistic touches here and there. The second feature 'The Wheel' is truly an exercise in tedium. Made on the cheap and a non-existent hackneyed plot, the word "unbearable" springs to mind. The last feature 'Going Home' starts out with promise but quickly fizzles out. What little story there is is ridiculous and paper thin. Above all, there is absolutely nothing extreme about these movies aside from a minute or two of totally out-of-place gore that seems to have been edited into 'Memories' though the scene serves no purpose, and the chills are virtually non-existent. It would be an enormous challenge to find much to recommend here.

There's a reason that this film didn't get a wide release in America. On the upside the film is well shot offering gorgeous locales, a wonderful old-fashioned premise, and a line-up of terrific talent. On the downside, the film never lives up to it's potential. The story has certainly been seen before; a young American couple in a foreign land get tangled in a very nasty web of intrigue and danger. The extremely talented though limited Emily Mortimer, and Woody Harrelson are wildly miscast as the couple in dire straights. Their characters are wholly irritating and not remotely believable. Asking an audience to imagine these two as a couple is asking a lot. However, the ever-consistent Ben Kingsley is unsurprisingly effective hamming it up as the Russian heavy, as are the young Kate Mara and the always interesting Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega. Fortunately, when the film focuses on the action, there's plenty of fun to be had and the thrills fly fast and furiously. The last quarter of the films builds momentum nicely and wraps everything up in an exciting climax that certainly makes up for

holes in logic and a laundry list of other flaws. Keep your expectations to a minimum, grab a bag of popcorn, and enjoy a pretty fun ride. Grade: C+