kevino-4

Top notch production that is sabotaged only by weaknesses in the original story and by Reeves, who is a generally woeful actor in any movie not named "The Matrix". Oldham does fine in scenes opposing him but Ryder, who is supposed to be a weaker character, seems unreal because who could be more of a schlump than Keanu? It is a travesty that he played this part and I assume it was a studio requirement to get the movie made. Otherwise, the pace, cinematography and acting are first rate. As I said the story is not first rate, owing to the predictability of (nearly) any horror finale. Still, the ending is accomplished better than most of the genre. Sadie Frost gives a fabulous performance that, along with Oldham and Hopkins, holds the film together. Well worth seeing if only as a fine example of movie craftsmanship, but there is plenty of eye candy of all kinds, too.

Books can be tough to film unless they are straightforward stories, as "The Godfather" or "Lonesome Dove". "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", besides being written in a gorgeous, simple, lyrical style, has an inner faucet of irony that drips nearly all the way through. We are looking into a world that we are allowed to feel above, but that we are gradually drawn into by the sufferings and humanity of the characters, till quiet thunder explodes in perhaps the most memorable closing lines in American Literature. That would not be easy to film. The first question a director must ask, narrative or no narrative?. To add narrative allows that overview that is irony but can detract from reality of the scenes reducing their emotional impact. To go without forces a more linear stream that loses that overview and is tricky, requiring balance and intuition to arrive at the ending with impact. I'm afraid the director lacked either quality, or was so intimidated by the star laden cast that she bowed to their wishes. At any rate the movie isn't much short of travesty, telling neither a fathomable story or creating a mythic quality that might have replaced it. It is splashy, disjointed, and incoherent. If you haven't read the book please don't judge it by this movie. "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" is one of the finest works in the language. The movie, for all its good intentions, fails in just about every way of expressing what the book is about.