Fait Accompli

Fait Accompli or (Voodoo Dawn) depending on where you live in the world, is a much under valued dark thriller starring an excellent cast for 1998. Michael Madsen, Balthazar Getty, James Russo and the ever excellent Rosanna Arquette star in a brooding, dark and mysterious thriller that in its better moments recalls Alan Parkers 1987 classic 'Angel Heart'. Madsen has a natural charisma that holds the attention whenever he's on screen, and Getty's intensity coupled with Arquette's quirkiness makes for an intoxicating viewing set amongst the swampy voodoo driven plot. Worth seeking out on DVD.

"Voodoo Dawn" is a not-too-thrilling thriller. Michael Madsen stars as Frank, who is let out of prison after a curse is set upon him. He wants to reclaim his status as a bar owner. But the voodoo curse won't let him... As you can see, the plot is minimal, and as the movie progresses, it gets even smaller.

Madsen and Arquette try, but can't get anything out of this except a paycheck. James Russo plays a washed up hick. If that the character or him in real life, I couldn't tell. Madsen has been in better Direct-to-Video productions like "Supreme Sanction" or "Executive Target". Rosanna Arquette is one of the better Arquettes, but she needs to pick out better material. I like all the actors involved, But I wish they put their efforts into something more worthwhile next time.

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As previous comments have noted, this has hints that it could have been a serious, superior thriller, what with the talented cast and some quite good writing in-the-small. But the story lines never really cohere and it finally makes no real impact.

This film is the first directorial effort of Andrzej Sekula, an excellent cinematographer (AMERICAN PSYCHO, OLEANNA, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS), but it is difficult to determine what his aim might be in this instance. The viewer is greeted by an indecipherable script, marred by a surfeit of sub-plots. There are fine players in the cast: Rosanna Arquette, Michael Madsen, James Russo; these all require aggressive direction, which is lacking (Russo's performance is particularly embarrassing). Sekula works behind the camera, and virtually each scene features creativity and interesting lighting, all of a piece with his other work. It would seem, however, that his skills are best applied as a contributor to other directors' (Mamet, Tarantino) achievements. This work is an expression of nothing.

To quote the esteemed Mr Maltin: "A ridiculous movie - I give it a two". As his CV testifies, Sekula is clearly a cinematographer of great talent, so it's not surprising that his directorial debut looks pretty cool - lighting, composition, framing etc are distinctive and impressive, some very cool locations that are well shot. In purely visually terms this could be considered a useful showreel for a DOP whose skills have made him the lensman of choice for a number of iconic films. But visual style is the ONLY thing happening here. Although it looks great, I have to agree with my fellow reviewers - everything else about this movie is a horrible, shambolic, incoherent mess, and it's sad to see a group of fine, photogenic actors being utterly wasted on a pile of pointless, rambling, vacuous, pretentious crap that does nothing and goes nowhere. This movie's alternative title, "Voodoo Dawn", is sadly apt - you *will* think you have been cursed by voodoo if you sit down to watch it, and tomorrow's dawn is probably the only memorable thing you will take away from it ... once you awaken, hours later, after having fallen asleep on the couch in the middle of this aimless, foetid fever-dream of a movie. I give it a 2 only because it looks cool. If you are foolish enough to view it, I strongly suggest that you get some friends together, get REALLY wasted, put on some Ry Cooder or Dr John, turn the sound down and make up your own story and dialogue, cos even that is going to be WAY more entertaining than the actual content of this overstuffed swamp turkey.