mickey dripping

I watched this movie on DVD late at night and I was chilled. It is difficult to watch. There is horror. There is violence which is more inferred than glorified. The victims are children. So are the perpetrators.

Like all good horror movies the script moves slowly but inexorably away from a world of normality to one when people stop to act rationally. And for that reason the story made me squeamish. I kept thinking when will the scriptwriter provide the twist to return the world back to what it really is. I also thought back to the events of my own childhood. I was a child in the era in which the film is set.

As kids, we got into some scrapes. We had lots of time to have fun and we arranged our own activities. We did bad things from time to time and yes, we were occasionally cruel. Weaker and vulnerable kids did get picked on. It was easier to hide your own weaknesses by allowing the misfit to be bullied than to end up being the victim. But we always had limits. We were good kids searching for the boundaries of acceptable behavior. In group mode the ones who overdid the anti- social behavior were eventually shunned or rebuked by others in the "gang". We never went too far. In this story, however, the kids sense of justice and understanding of what is acceptable is distorted by the mother, Ruth, who is excellently portrayed in the film, who is bitter, twisted, evil and vicious. Her distorted mind and actions encourage to her sons when she should be the person to keep them in check.

It was interesting to reflect on the group mentality among children. I think I will have to re- read Lord of the Flies.

Oh gosh. How boring; how slow. This film has too many characters, hence the plot is hard to fathom. I sat waiting for something to happen. Anything to lift the pace above the turgid dirge which surrounded everything.. No suspense. No mystery. No laughter. No joy.

I must take issue with those reviewers who praised Zoey Deschanel and her acting abilities. I disagree that she performed well. This lady cannot act. She delivers lines as if she is reading them. Her tone is a monotonous drawl. Her timing is awful. She consistently speaks as soon as the other actor finishes. The idea that she can come up with such pithy and witty comments without pausing to reflect on the statements made by others is not credible. And what a terrible whiny accent she has. She could learn a lot from the other lead female actor, Amelia Warner, who puts feeling, sincerity and intelligence into the role of Shelley.

I watched it till the end but it totally failed to hold my attention or win my interest.

This was not a bad effort to put together a moral tale on drug trafficking. The movie focuses on the mules - in this case it is two impoverished kids from Columbia whose desperation to start a new life in America leads them into the clutches of the traffickers. The film is low budget and contains few surprises in its story line. However it requires little concentration and is typical rainy Sunday afternoon TV fare.

What makes it fun to watch is the stunning Madeleine Stowe. She is supremely gorgeous and is totally convincing with her Latin accent and her portrayal of her character.

A creditable mention for David Carradine. Less wooden than usual he oozes evil.

Curious title!