Younger versions of some of today's great actors show that yes, they were always good. Stand-out performances by John Turturro and Tim Robbins who carry the film from start to finish. Unfortunately it builds from the opening moments to an inevitable confrontation that turns into a complete cop out in my opinion, a great something could have happened here but instead nothing. Maybe the director was to afraid to go down the road I was hopping for, but the again I've heard others say it's some kind of Shakespearian metaphor. If that's the case it goes way over my head, and I still think my way is better. I am reminded of a documentary I recently watched, 10 Questions for the Dali Lama, the interviewer asked the Dali Lama about the non-violent resistant approach that he and his Tibetan followers have taken on, a view and method also taken up by Gandhi in India during the British occupation and Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. He asked, at what point does violence have two equate violence, like during the Holocaust and World War II, does that mean the Allied forces did the wrong thing by stopping the Nazis, should we have just held non-violent protests and staged boycotts and sit-ins instead. Of course even the Dali Lama who I respect immensely dodged the question, he answered with something about in self-defense only. It feels as if the director of Five Corners doesn't want to have to answer that question either. Him and the Dali Lama, I'd say he's got good company. Those who have not seen Five Corners don't see the relevance of all this and I apologize for going so far off track, once you have seen the film you will hopefully see the reason. There is also a side story going on that I was sure must play into the main storyline but never does and that's a disappointment to both stories, because I feel they would be better for it. I've also read plenty of complaints about the DVD quality, who cares, wow we're spoiled by living in the Blue-Ray generation. Over all a well-acted film that if nothing else touches on some real interesting issues, and touching on real issues is more then most movies do.
Review of Five Corners
