Shooting Elizabeth

I found the film delightfully funny. I fell in love with Goldblum's style and felt that other roles (e.g. the Fly, the horrible Jurassic Park and the farcical Independence day, and one really bad film whose name I don't recall) never quite matched this one for allowing him to showcase his humor. (the fact that he could even give a whisper of that style to the Fly--a movie tragic enough to provide a difficult medium for any humor--is much to his credit as a naturally funny person). I highly recommend it.

Jeff Goldblum in the role he was born to play: Howard Pigeon. Scheming to escape from his unhappy marriage and talking animatedly to himself, Goldblum's delivery of stuttering gesticulation is perfect, eerily resonant of Mamet's use of repetition and rhythmic logic. Pigeon is blissfully unaware of his impending doom as he plots and seethes. Mimi Rodgers is brilliant as his wife and foil Elizabeth Pigeon. The film is strangely set in Spain, with much of it shot along the Spanish coast and in the mountains. Well much of the film follows the finest abusurdist traditions, the ending brings a surprising amount of emotional weight. Worth seeing for Goldblum's performance alone (a strange idea indeed).

Howard Pigeon (Jeff Goldblum) dreams of a dream girl and it's not his wife Elizabeth Pigeon (Mimi Rogers). They have an unhappy marriage. He has a fantasy of shooting his wife. They are redoing their honeymoon. He buys a gun to do a perfect murder. Instead, she disappears and he becomes the prime suspect.

Writer/director Baz Taylor seems to have mostly been a TV guy who made a few theatrical movies. This is really only for Jeff Goldblum fans as he does his thing in Spain. It is a lot of himming and hawing acting. It's fine for his fans. Mimi Rogers is not always pleasant, but she is the only one in this movie able to face Goldblum mano a mano. There are no other interesting characters or actors. Maybe they had a fun time in Spain.

Shooting Elizabeth is a black comedy that unfortunately isn't very funny and not that dark. Goldblum plays the same hypochondriacal character he does in every movie, Mimi Rogers is passable, and the detective is a lame attempt at an Inspector Clouseau. Apart from that, its fine!

Tired of 13 difficult years with his wife Elizabeth, water company executive Howard Pigeon plans her murder on their second honeymoon. However on the day he has planned the deed she disappears leaving him a Dear John note. However the police suspect that he has killed her and begin to put together enough evidence for a trial.

A silly plot is set out – but it's done with energy and that saves it. The first half is Howard plotting and the second half is him trapped in a web. The ending is a bit too tidy but it's quite sweet – bare in mind you'll have stopped looking for realism by the final scene. The thing that put me off is that it's set in Spain but it isn't used well at all – it feels like a cheap UK movie with the mix of accents and cheapish sets etc.

What saves the movie is Jeff Goldblum – although he only saves it if you like his brand of nervous Jewish tick stuff, you know, like he does in every film. He is funny and he is right out there in terms of overplaying every part of his character. Without him this would not be worth watching. Rogers isn't any good – and isn't in it too much and the mainly Spainish cast are not very funny either. Only a cameo by the great Burt Kwouk takes the eye of Goldblum.

Overall this is silly and feels cheap but Goldblum is great (unless you hate him) and he makes it worth watching.