dazzerse13

An interesting failure of a film, this probably has more to recommend it than many TV movies. The story has bride Virginia Williams jilted at the altar by her feckless fiancé Edward Finlay. Her mother, divorced and hard-nosed editor of a gossip mag Shelley Long, persuades her that they should use the pre-booked honeymoon to indulge in mummy-daughter time. But mum has her own agenda - the idyllic island resort is owned by a reclusive ex-astronaut (Jack Scalia)and mum needs a front-page exclusive... So far, so predictable. Romance? Reconciliation? Retching at saccharine overdose? Well, yes to an extent. Except that there's an essential intelligence here. Although the characters are broad-brush stereotypes, they're not simple TV-movie grotesques. Perhaps its her age, but Long eschews the physical slapstick that's been one of her trademarks and does a credible job as a mother keeping a hesitant grasp on her own emotional history (although she's less great at suggesting a gossip mag editor who's red in tooth and claw). From time to time, Long holds back on the emoting and you can actually see a character weighing up the pros and cons of her actions. She's matched by Williams, who isn't given a lot to do except express the various shades of 'perky'. However, Williams can play a nuance with impressive deftness. As with Long, there's emotional intelligence at work here - and the two of them make the script go further than you'd think it could. And finally, there's the storyline. Oh gosh yes, it's predictable. But it sidesteps the temptation to tie up the ending in pretty pink bows and ribbons. It accepts that romance is a means to happiness - it's not an end in itself: TV-movie sugar doesn't rot the teeth out of your head by the time final credits run. The faults in this movie are evident - it wouldn't stretch the intelligence of a two-year-old - but once you see its strengths, there's enough to recommend it on a wet afternoon.

It's unusual a film will have as many good ideas as this and so many striking ideas and images and still not be a success. Perhaps it's because there are simply too many striking visuals and set-pieces - other directors would have built whole films around just one or two of the concepts contained here - for one film to cope with all of them. Essentially, the story is of a burglar (Lester) who breaks into a house of an old woman (Murphy) in New York and she tells him the story of American cowboys (Fiennes and Wenham) in the Ottoman Empire in Macedonia and their tangled fraternal love/hatred when confronted with a beautiful woman. It's a story that dips in and out of narrative timelines. Sometimes it's New York and sometimes it's the Old west and sometimes it's old Macedonia - and sometimes it's bits of all of them. And sometimes it's just fantasy. Reality, illusion, truth and cinematic deception are all part of the mix. Director Machevski is not here to give the viewer an easy ride. He is an intelligent man and he expects intelligence of his viewers. However, in return he offers some beautiful images that pay homage to spaghetti westerns while adding a sly twist of knowing humour. It's violent, but there's a blackly funny element to it that's closer to life than the comic-book stock-in-trade of such directors as Tarantino (and rightly so, Macedonians have seen more real-life warfare than most Hollywood filmmakers).And despite this, it's a movie that's life-affirming (not in the easy way - you really have to like life to have it affirmed here). The performances are variable. Wenham and Fiennes have both done better in the past and you have to hope they'll do better in the future. But in Lester and Murphy, there are two actors who are in full command of the camera. There's not an emotion you'll feel that they haven't carefully worked to create. Simply beautiful work. With a greater distribution, this is would have built a considerable cult following. Not easy-going, pop-corn-chomping stuff, but highly recommended.