BERLIN -- "Goodbye Banfana" is yet another movie about the revolution against South Africa's brutal apartheid regime told from a white man's point of view. This time it is Nelson Mandela's warden, during much of the activist's 27 years in prison, who receives the star treatment in Bille August's film. At the very least, one would expect this white protagonist to bear witness to a change in thinking among many whites about a new South Africa. Even here, though, those key scenes are missing in a script August wrote with Greg Latter.
This French/German/Belgian/Italian/South African co-production will benefit from a continuing worldwide fascination with Mandela's story, even if he is only a supporting player here. Since the sincere but dramatically flaccid story doesn't pack much punch, theatrical engagements will be short.
Dennis Haysbert does manage to capture the dignity and steadfastness Mandela exhibited during his long ordeal. But he can only hint at the charisma and savvy that would change a white man's closed mind. Meanwhile, Joseph Fiennes as warden James Gregory is perhaps too smart for the fairly uneducated man he plays: He seems too sharp to be saying and doing many of the things he does.
Gregory's only ambition is to be an excellent prison warden, move up in the system and support a wife, Gloria (Diane Kruger), whose need for material goods and status knows no bounds.
He arrives with his wife and two children at the notorious Robben Island prison in 1968, where one quirk stands him in good stead. Growing up on a lonely farm where his only playmate was a black boy, Gregory became fluent in the Xhosa language. So a security czar assigns him to guard Mandela and his comrades so Gregory can be "a window into their soul -- if they have a soul."
The movie is pretty heavy-handed in the early going with all the whites spouting racist doggerel. Mrs. Gregory even gets to affirm that the separation of whites from blacks is "God's way."
But in the first half of the movie Mandela himself is little more than a rumor. From Gregory's brief encounters with him, remarkably, he starts to change his mind about apartheid. How does this happen? What does he see, or what Nelson tell him, that he doesn't already know about the racist white regime? That blacks are mistreated everywhere but especially in prison? That the government's labeling of all black activists as "communist" is pure cynical spin?
Mandela does tell him to go read the African National Congress' Freedom Charter, a document few whites have read since it is banned literature. But would that document really be such an eye-opener, especially since the ANC had by then abandoned its non-violent ways?
The film never gets to the heart of what it should be about -- the turning of a man's heart and mind. Instead, much time is taken up with petty jealousies and feuds within the white colony of penal authorities and their wives. And Mrs. Gregory is always good for a harangue to her husband about not jeopardizing the family's security by doing anything "foolish."
When a small kindness toward Mrs. Mandela (Faith Ndukwana) by Gregory gets blown out of proportion and his family's life becomes untenable on the island, he demands a transfer. Soon enough, Mandela also is transferred away from the island for fear he may be assassinated. Gregory is ordered to again act as his warden, a job that increasingly looks like that of a valet.
The second half of the movie brings the two men into more contact, yet nothing significant ever happens between them. Perhaps nothing ever did. Gregory, a man with some compassion after all, simply came to his senses when he saw that Nelson Mandela was no mad terrorist. Whatever the case, there is little here to justify a two-hour movie, even with some forced intrigue about threats to Gregory's children and a family tragedy that mirrors one of Mandela's own.
Production values are sharp as August crew makes good use of Robben Island and other actual locations where the story took place. But sentimentality and even sometimes triviality undermine this bizarre buddy film.
Goodbye Bafana
An X Filme Creative Pool in association with Arsam International/Banana Films with Future Films/Marmont Film Production/Film Afrika
Credits:
Director: Bille August
Writers: Greg Latter, Bille August
Producers: Jean-Luc van Damme, Ilann Girard, Andro Steinborn
Executive producers: Kami Naghdi, Michael Dounaev, Jimmy de Brabant, Kwesi Dickson
Director of photography: Robert Fraisse
Production designer: Tom Hannam
Music: Dario Marianelli, Johnny Clegg
Costume designer: Diana Cilliers
Editor: Herve Schneid
Cast:
James Gregory: Joseph Fiennes
Nelson Mandela: Dennis Haysbert
Gloria Gregory: Diane Kruger
Brent: Shiloh Henderson, Tyron Keogh
Natasha: Megan Smith, Jessica Manuel
Winnie Mandela: Faith Ndukwana
Zindzi Mandela: Terry Pheto
No MPAA rating, running time 119 minutes.
This French/German/Belgian/Italian/South African co-production will benefit from a continuing worldwide fascination with Mandela's story, even if he is only a supporting player here. Since the sincere but dramatically flaccid story doesn't pack much punch, theatrical engagements will be short.
Dennis Haysbert does manage to capture the dignity and steadfastness Mandela exhibited during his long ordeal. But he can only hint at the charisma and savvy that would change a white man's closed mind. Meanwhile, Joseph Fiennes as warden James Gregory is perhaps too smart for the fairly uneducated man he plays: He seems too sharp to be saying and doing many of the things he does.
Gregory's only ambition is to be an excellent prison warden, move up in the system and support a wife, Gloria (Diane Kruger), whose need for material goods and status knows no bounds.
He arrives with his wife and two children at the notorious Robben Island prison in 1968, where one quirk stands him in good stead. Growing up on a lonely farm where his only playmate was a black boy, Gregory became fluent in the Xhosa language. So a security czar assigns him to guard Mandela and his comrades so Gregory can be "a window into their soul -- if they have a soul."
The movie is pretty heavy-handed in the early going with all the whites spouting racist doggerel. Mrs. Gregory even gets to affirm that the separation of whites from blacks is "God's way."
But in the first half of the movie Mandela himself is little more than a rumor. From Gregory's brief encounters with him, remarkably, he starts to change his mind about apartheid. How does this happen? What does he see, or what Nelson tell him, that he doesn't already know about the racist white regime? That blacks are mistreated everywhere but especially in prison? That the government's labeling of all black activists as "communist" is pure cynical spin?
Mandela does tell him to go read the African National Congress' Freedom Charter, a document few whites have read since it is banned literature. But would that document really be such an eye-opener, especially since the ANC had by then abandoned its non-violent ways?
The film never gets to the heart of what it should be about -- the turning of a man's heart and mind. Instead, much time is taken up with petty jealousies and feuds within the white colony of penal authorities and their wives. And Mrs. Gregory is always good for a harangue to her husband about not jeopardizing the family's security by doing anything "foolish."
When a small kindness toward Mrs. Mandela (Faith Ndukwana) by Gregory gets blown out of proportion and his family's life becomes untenable on the island, he demands a transfer. Soon enough, Mandela also is transferred away from the island for fear he may be assassinated. Gregory is ordered to again act as his warden, a job that increasingly looks like that of a valet.
The second half of the movie brings the two men into more contact, yet nothing significant ever happens between them. Perhaps nothing ever did. Gregory, a man with some compassion after all, simply came to his senses when he saw that Nelson Mandela was no mad terrorist. Whatever the case, there is little here to justify a two-hour movie, even with some forced intrigue about threats to Gregory's children and a family tragedy that mirrors one of Mandela's own.
Production values are sharp as August crew makes good use of Robben Island and other actual locations where the story took place. But sentimentality and even sometimes triviality undermine this bizarre buddy film.
Goodbye Bafana
An X Filme Creative Pool in association with Arsam International/Banana Films with Future Films/Marmont Film Production/Film Afrika
Credits:
Director: Bille August
Writers: Greg Latter, Bille August
Producers: Jean-Luc van Damme, Ilann Girard, Andro Steinborn
Executive producers: Kami Naghdi, Michael Dounaev, Jimmy de Brabant, Kwesi Dickson
Director of photography: Robert Fraisse
Production designer: Tom Hannam
Music: Dario Marianelli, Johnny Clegg
Costume designer: Diana Cilliers
Editor: Herve Schneid
Cast:
James Gregory: Joseph Fiennes
Nelson Mandela: Dennis Haysbert
Gloria Gregory: Diane Kruger
Brent: Shiloh Henderson, Tyron Keogh
Natasha: Megan Smith, Jessica Manuel
Winnie Mandela: Faith Ndukwana
Zindzi Mandela: Terry Pheto
No MPAA rating, running time 119 minutes.
- 2/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the festival screening of "Delirious".PARK CITY -- "Delirious" is not the first film to lampoon the absurdity of and obsession with celebrity culture, but writer/director Tom DiCillo's smart, funny and ultimately over-the-top spoof is more often than not, spot on. His latest effort would have been more satisfying if it had the subtlety and restraint of "Living in Oblivion", whose sly sophistication helped make Dicillo a cult hero to indie filmmakers.
Given that DiCillo has a loyal following and that a solid, well-written comedy is a hot commodity, "Delirious" should have strong art house potential and appeal to a young, hip audience.
DiCillo wrote the lead for Steve Buscemi, at his pale and haggard best here. He plays Les, a sour, frustrated paparazzi, who lives in a dump of an apartment in New York. Into his life waltzes Toby (Michael Pitt), a homeless aspiring actor, whom Les tutors in the tricks of his trade and allows to crash at his pad, which is decorated by sorry examples of taxidermy mounted on the peeling walls.
Les takes himself way too seriously -- more self-appointed philosopher than photographer -- and is bereft of self-knowledge. This set-up works best when it's played for laughs with Pitt as straight man. The film falters when the budding friendship turns melodramatic and comes in for some amateur psychological analysis. Buscemi is forced to overact in a shrill role that requires him to carp and harangue far too often. It's grating and soon the pair sounds like a bickering married couple.
Toby begins an unlikely romance with a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears wannabe, K'harma (Alison Lohman), a talent-free girlish sexpot who is famous for being famous. When not singing and dancing in her underwear in a music video, she sits in her hotel wearing that underwear and shades. DiCillo has a lot of fun with this character and the romance -- Elvis Costello shows up as one of K'harma's party guests -- and Toby is showered in rose petals as he stands outside her hotel. Then he's compelled to hug the doorman. When Les finds out about the affair, he reacts like a jilted lover.
With obvious relish, DiCillo sends up dueling publicists, sycophants of all stripes including the fawning, entertainment press and those bottom feeders, the paparazzi. The reality show that stars a homeless serial killer, where Toby gets his big break, is priceless.
Frank G. DeMarco's edgy cinematography conjures the grungy urban wilderness of NYC as well as the glitzy fantasy world of the rich and famous. Teresa Mastropierro's production design nails the squalor of lower class city life and the sterile luxury of the newly moneyed.
DiCillo and his composer, Anton Sanko, make terrific use of music to drive and cut between scenes. The score rocks the movie.
DELIRIOUS
Peace Arch Films Ltd, Peace Arch Entertainment Group
Credits:
Director: Tom DiCillo
Writer: Tom DiCillo
Producer: Bob Salerno
Executive producer: Mark Balsam, Jimmy de Brabant, Michael Dounaev, John Flock, Gary Howsam, Jennifer Levine, Kami Nagudi, Barry Zemel, Lewin Webb
Director of photography: Frank G. DeMarco
Production designer: Teresa Mastropierro
Music: Anton Sanko
Co-producer: Kristi Lake, Jamie H. Zelermyer
Costume designer: Victoria Farrell
Editor: Paul Zucker
Cast:
Les: Steve Buscemi
Toby: Michael Pitt
Kharma: Alison Lohman
Manager: Gina Gershon
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Given that DiCillo has a loyal following and that a solid, well-written comedy is a hot commodity, "Delirious" should have strong art house potential and appeal to a young, hip audience.
DiCillo wrote the lead for Steve Buscemi, at his pale and haggard best here. He plays Les, a sour, frustrated paparazzi, who lives in a dump of an apartment in New York. Into his life waltzes Toby (Michael Pitt), a homeless aspiring actor, whom Les tutors in the tricks of his trade and allows to crash at his pad, which is decorated by sorry examples of taxidermy mounted on the peeling walls.
Les takes himself way too seriously -- more self-appointed philosopher than photographer -- and is bereft of self-knowledge. This set-up works best when it's played for laughs with Pitt as straight man. The film falters when the budding friendship turns melodramatic and comes in for some amateur psychological analysis. Buscemi is forced to overact in a shrill role that requires him to carp and harangue far too often. It's grating and soon the pair sounds like a bickering married couple.
Toby begins an unlikely romance with a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears wannabe, K'harma (Alison Lohman), a talent-free girlish sexpot who is famous for being famous. When not singing and dancing in her underwear in a music video, she sits in her hotel wearing that underwear and shades. DiCillo has a lot of fun with this character and the romance -- Elvis Costello shows up as one of K'harma's party guests -- and Toby is showered in rose petals as he stands outside her hotel. Then he's compelled to hug the doorman. When Les finds out about the affair, he reacts like a jilted lover.
With obvious relish, DiCillo sends up dueling publicists, sycophants of all stripes including the fawning, entertainment press and those bottom feeders, the paparazzi. The reality show that stars a homeless serial killer, where Toby gets his big break, is priceless.
Frank G. DeMarco's edgy cinematography conjures the grungy urban wilderness of NYC as well as the glitzy fantasy world of the rich and famous. Teresa Mastropierro's production design nails the squalor of lower class city life and the sterile luxury of the newly moneyed.
DiCillo and his composer, Anton Sanko, make terrific use of music to drive and cut between scenes. The score rocks the movie.
DELIRIOUS
Peace Arch Films Ltd, Peace Arch Entertainment Group
Credits:
Director: Tom DiCillo
Writer: Tom DiCillo
Producer: Bob Salerno
Executive producer: Mark Balsam, Jimmy de Brabant, Michael Dounaev, John Flock, Gary Howsam, Jennifer Levine, Kami Nagudi, Barry Zemel, Lewin Webb
Director of photography: Frank G. DeMarco
Production designer: Teresa Mastropierro
Music: Anton Sanko
Co-producer: Kristi Lake, Jamie H. Zelermyer
Costume designer: Victoria Farrell
Editor: Paul Zucker
Cast:
Les: Steve Buscemi
Toby: Michael Pitt
Kharma: Alison Lohman
Manager: Gina Gershon
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- Delirious is not the first film to lampoon the absurdity of and obsession with celebrity culture, but writer/director Tom DiCillo's smart, funny and ultimately over-the-top spoof is more often than not, spot on. His latest effort would have been more satisfying if it had the subtlety and restraint of Living in Oblivion, whose sly sophistication helped make Dicillo a cult hero to indie filmmakers.
Given that DiCillo has a loyal following and that a solid, well-written comedy is a hot commodity, Delirious should have strong art house potential and appeal to a young, hip audience.
DiCillo wrote the lead for Steve Buscemi, at his pale and haggard best here. He plays Les, a sour, frustrated paparazzi, who lives in a dump of an apartment in New York. Into his life waltzes Toby (Michael Pitt), a homeless aspiring actor, whom Les tutors in the tricks of his trade and allows to crash at his pad, which is decorated by sorry examples of taxidermy mounted on the peeling walls.
Les takes himself way too seriously -- more self-appointed philosopher than photographer -- and is bereft of self-knowledge. This set-up works best when it's played for laughs with Pitt as straight man. The film falters when the budding friendship turns melodramatic and comes in for some amateur psychological analysis. Buscemi is forced to overact in a shrill role that requires him to carp and harangue far too often. It's grating and soon the pair sounds like a bickering married couple.
Toby begins an unlikely romance with a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears wannabe, K'harma (Alison Lohman), a talent-free girlish sexpot who is famous for being famous. When not singing and dancing in her underwear in a music video, she sits in her hotel wearing that underwear and shades. DiCillo has a lot of fun with this character and the romance -- Elvis Costello shows up as one of K'harma's party guests -- and Toby is showered in rose petals as he stands outside her hotel. Then he's compelled to hug the doorman. When Les finds out about the affair, he reacts like a jilted lover.
With obvious relish, DiCillo sends up dueling publicists, sycophants of all stripes including the fawning, entertainment press and those bottom feeders, the paparazzi. The reality show that stars a homeless serial killer, where Toby gets his big break, is priceless.
Frank G. DeMarco's edgy cinematography conjures the grungy urban wilderness of NYC as well as the glitzy fantasy world of the rich and famous. Teresa Mastropierro's production design nails the squalor of lower class city life and the sterile luxury of the newly moneyed.
DiCillo and his composer, Anton Sanko, make terrific use of music to drive and cut between scenes. The score rocks the movie.
Delirious
Peace Arch Films Ltd, Peace Arch Entertainment Group
Credits: Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo; Producer: Bob Salerno; Executive producer: Mark Balsam, Jimmy de Brabant, Michael Dounaev, John Flock, Gary Howsam, Jennifer Levine, Kami Nagudi, Barry Zemel, Lewin Webb; Director of photography: Frank G. DeMarco Production designer: Teresa Mastropierro; Music: Anton Sanko; Co-producer: Kristi Lake, Jamie H. Zelermyer; Costume designer: Victoria Farrell; Editor: Paul Zucker;
Cast: Les: Steve Buscemi; Toby: Michael Pitt; Kharma: Alison Lohman; Manager: Gina Gershon.
No MPAA rating; running time: 102 minutes.
Given that DiCillo has a loyal following and that a solid, well-written comedy is a hot commodity, Delirious should have strong art house potential and appeal to a young, hip audience.
DiCillo wrote the lead for Steve Buscemi, at his pale and haggard best here. He plays Les, a sour, frustrated paparazzi, who lives in a dump of an apartment in New York. Into his life waltzes Toby (Michael Pitt), a homeless aspiring actor, whom Les tutors in the tricks of his trade and allows to crash at his pad, which is decorated by sorry examples of taxidermy mounted on the peeling walls.
Les takes himself way too seriously -- more self-appointed philosopher than photographer -- and is bereft of self-knowledge. This set-up works best when it's played for laughs with Pitt as straight man. The film falters when the budding friendship turns melodramatic and comes in for some amateur psychological analysis. Buscemi is forced to overact in a shrill role that requires him to carp and harangue far too often. It's grating and soon the pair sounds like a bickering married couple.
Toby begins an unlikely romance with a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears wannabe, K'harma (Alison Lohman), a talent-free girlish sexpot who is famous for being famous. When not singing and dancing in her underwear in a music video, she sits in her hotel wearing that underwear and shades. DiCillo has a lot of fun with this character and the romance -- Elvis Costello shows up as one of K'harma's party guests -- and Toby is showered in rose petals as he stands outside her hotel. Then he's compelled to hug the doorman. When Les finds out about the affair, he reacts like a jilted lover.
With obvious relish, DiCillo sends up dueling publicists, sycophants of all stripes including the fawning, entertainment press and those bottom feeders, the paparazzi. The reality show that stars a homeless serial killer, where Toby gets his big break, is priceless.
Frank G. DeMarco's edgy cinematography conjures the grungy urban wilderness of NYC as well as the glitzy fantasy world of the rich and famous. Teresa Mastropierro's production design nails the squalor of lower class city life and the sterile luxury of the newly moneyed.
DiCillo and his composer, Anton Sanko, make terrific use of music to drive and cut between scenes. The score rocks the movie.
Delirious
Peace Arch Films Ltd, Peace Arch Entertainment Group
Credits: Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo; Producer: Bob Salerno; Executive producer: Mark Balsam, Jimmy de Brabant, Michael Dounaev, John Flock, Gary Howsam, Jennifer Levine, Kami Nagudi, Barry Zemel, Lewin Webb; Director of photography: Frank G. DeMarco Production designer: Teresa Mastropierro; Music: Anton Sanko; Co-producer: Kristi Lake, Jamie H. Zelermyer; Costume designer: Victoria Farrell; Editor: Paul Zucker;
Cast: Les: Steve Buscemi; Toby: Michael Pitt; Kharma: Alison Lohman; Manager: Gina Gershon.
No MPAA rating; running time: 102 minutes.
- 1/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Luxembourg-based movie production and financing banner Thema Prods. said Wednesday that it has appointed former entertainment lawyer Kami Naghdi as managing director of a new London start-up operation and announced plans to open a studio facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. Naghdi also will be head of worldwide business development for the company, which comprises producers Michael Dounaev and Jimmy de Brabant. Dounaev and de Brabant have executive produced seven features since founding Thema in 2003, including Woody Allen's Match Point and the Helen Hunt starrer A Good Woman.
- 1/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- The bon mots fly fast and furious in A Good Woman, which transplants Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan to a new place and time.
But while screenwriter Howard Himelstein and director Mike Barker have done a workable job of drawing the Wilde social satire out of the drawing room, the film never quite manages to travel at the same buoyant velocity as the acerbic wit.
The tone trouble and problematic casting (more about that later) prevent the adaptation from being considered truly Oscar-worthy -- that's referring both to the statuette and Mr. Wilde -- though the delicious dialogue and opulent backdrops still make for a reasonably pleasant viewing experience.
Reverting to Wilde's original title for his play, A Good Woman has been moved up to the 1930s and relocated to the decidedly airier Amalfi coast in Italy.
Several of the characters, meanwhile, now have become Americans.
That would include Robert (Mark Umbers) and Meg (Scarlett Johansson) Windermere, a young newlywed couple in good standing who have left New York's sticky summer behind for some sensible vacationing on the Italian Riviera.
Having the same idea is Mrs. Stella Erlynne (Helen Hunt), a woman of a certain age with a certain reputation to match, who has seemingly exhausted her supply of the wealthy, married New York men who served as her meal ticket.
It doesn't take long before the penniless vamp appears to have landed Robert as her latest conquest, and their frequent sightings together have set the tongues of the sunbathing aristocracy a-flapping.
Meg's discovery that Robert has been issuing a number of checks to Mrs. Erlynne would seem to confirm those rampant rumors, and she receives little solace in the enamored attention paid to her by eligible Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore).
Of course, things, as it turns out, aren't quite as they appear.
Director Barker (1999's Best Laid Plans), along with cinematographer Ben Seresin, production designer Ben Scott and costume designer John Bloomfield, get the look and feel of the picture up to Merchant Ivory snuff, but there's a prevailing wistfulness hanging over the entire enterprise that has the effect of signaling that weightier third-act twist earlier than necessary.
As for the cast, while Johansson seems to have a natural affinity for period dress, Hunt fares less successfully in the role of the calculating seductress.
She effectively conveys Mrs. Erlynne's vulnerability and pain later on, but Hunt never seems entirely comfortable in her character's skin when she's required to play the shameless vamp with a knack for insinuating herself into the beds and checkbook registers of men who should know better.
As her quite willing next victim, the very wealthy but lonely Tuppy (Tom Wilkinson) nails the required tragicomic pitch with a great deal of self-effacing charm.
A Good Woman
Beyond Films
Credits:
Director: Mike Barker
Screenwriter: Howard Himelstein
Based on the play Lady Windermere's Fan by: Oscar Wilde
Producers: Alan Greenspan, Jonathan English, Steven Siebert, Howard Himelstein
Executive producers: John Evangelides, Mikael Borglund, Hilary Davis, Jimmy De Brabant, Michael Dounaev, Liam Badger, Duncan Hopper, Rupert Preston
Director of photography: Ben Seresin
Production designer: Ben Scott
Editor: Neil Farrell
Costume designer: John Bloomfield
Music: Richard G. Mitchell
Cast:
Mrs. Erlynne: Helen Hunt
Meg Windermere: Scarlett Johansson
Tuppy: Tom Wilkinson
Lord Darlington: Stephen Campbell Moore
Robert Windermere: Mark Umbers
Contessa Lucchino: Milena Vukotic
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
But while screenwriter Howard Himelstein and director Mike Barker have done a workable job of drawing the Wilde social satire out of the drawing room, the film never quite manages to travel at the same buoyant velocity as the acerbic wit.
The tone trouble and problematic casting (more about that later) prevent the adaptation from being considered truly Oscar-worthy -- that's referring both to the statuette and Mr. Wilde -- though the delicious dialogue and opulent backdrops still make for a reasonably pleasant viewing experience.
Reverting to Wilde's original title for his play, A Good Woman has been moved up to the 1930s and relocated to the decidedly airier Amalfi coast in Italy.
Several of the characters, meanwhile, now have become Americans.
That would include Robert (Mark Umbers) and Meg (Scarlett Johansson) Windermere, a young newlywed couple in good standing who have left New York's sticky summer behind for some sensible vacationing on the Italian Riviera.
Having the same idea is Mrs. Stella Erlynne (Helen Hunt), a woman of a certain age with a certain reputation to match, who has seemingly exhausted her supply of the wealthy, married New York men who served as her meal ticket.
It doesn't take long before the penniless vamp appears to have landed Robert as her latest conquest, and their frequent sightings together have set the tongues of the sunbathing aristocracy a-flapping.
Meg's discovery that Robert has been issuing a number of checks to Mrs. Erlynne would seem to confirm those rampant rumors, and she receives little solace in the enamored attention paid to her by eligible Lord Darlington (Stephen Campbell Moore).
Of course, things, as it turns out, aren't quite as they appear.
Director Barker (1999's Best Laid Plans), along with cinematographer Ben Seresin, production designer Ben Scott and costume designer John Bloomfield, get the look and feel of the picture up to Merchant Ivory snuff, but there's a prevailing wistfulness hanging over the entire enterprise that has the effect of signaling that weightier third-act twist earlier than necessary.
As for the cast, while Johansson seems to have a natural affinity for period dress, Hunt fares less successfully in the role of the calculating seductress.
She effectively conveys Mrs. Erlynne's vulnerability and pain later on, but Hunt never seems entirely comfortable in her character's skin when she's required to play the shameless vamp with a knack for insinuating herself into the beds and checkbook registers of men who should know better.
As her quite willing next victim, the very wealthy but lonely Tuppy (Tom Wilkinson) nails the required tragicomic pitch with a great deal of self-effacing charm.
A Good Woman
Beyond Films
Credits:
Director: Mike Barker
Screenwriter: Howard Himelstein
Based on the play Lady Windermere's Fan by: Oscar Wilde
Producers: Alan Greenspan, Jonathan English, Steven Siebert, Howard Himelstein
Executive producers: John Evangelides, Mikael Borglund, Hilary Davis, Jimmy De Brabant, Michael Dounaev, Liam Badger, Duncan Hopper, Rupert Preston
Director of photography: Ben Seresin
Production designer: Ben Scott
Editor: Neil Farrell
Costume designer: John Bloomfield
Music: Richard G. Mitchell
Cast:
Mrs. Erlynne: Helen Hunt
Meg Windermere: Scarlett Johansson
Tuppy: Tom Wilkinson
Lord Darlington: Stephen Campbell Moore
Robert Windermere: Mark Umbers
Contessa Lucchino: Milena Vukotic
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 93 minutes...
- 9/27/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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