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Review by Jack Foley |
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FEW films have arrived on UK screens off the back of such a critical mauling
as Killing Me Softly, yet acclaimed Chinese director Kaige Chen's Hollywood
debut seems already to be a strong contender for one of the worst movies of
the year.
Based upon the equally-acclaimed best-selling novel from journalist couple
Nicci Gerrard and Sean French (released under the author's name, Nicci French),
the movie stars Heather Graham as a conservative woman who abandons her secure
existence for the chance for some hot sex with Joseph Fiennes' mysterious
mountaineer and a relationship which, ultimately, threatens her very existence.
But whereas French's novel has been described by many as an erotic and suspense-filled
psychological thriller, which poses the question of whether Fiennes' hero
is, in fact, a cold-blooded killer, the movie becomes lost amid an avalanche
of laughable sex scenes, ridiculous scenarios and clumsy acting; all of which
create an amusing but instantly forgettable experience.
So what went wrong? Chen, in particular, seems a highly unlikely contender
for the worst movie of the year honour, given that he took on the project
off the back of work such as Farewell My Concubine and The Emperor and the
Assassin.
Part of the problem lies in the movie's translation from page to screen, as
several of the supporting characters have been removed, while the ending has
been changed completely - now resembling something that Scooby Doo would have
been proud of solving.
The film also attempts to cram too much plot into too small a time-frame,
accounting for some huge lapses in logic and some truly unbelievable scenarios
(Fiennes proposes to Graham, for example, just after beating a would-be mugger
to a pulp inside a phone box).
So while much is made of the torrid sex scenes - and, believe me, there are
plenty of them (!) - Chen seems less interested in finding out what really
makes the characters tick, thus leaving audiences baffled as to why Graham
would possibly risk everything just to be with Fiennes possible killer, albeit
with a trim physique.
That the pair click over one exchanged glance at a pedestrian crossing also
raised several sniggers at the advanced screening - for it is hardly the criteria
for some serious clothes-ripping only minutes later!
Burdened
with such unworkable plot points, the stars themselves frequently look lost;
with Graham especially unsympathetic as the ditsy heroine with no clothes
on who allows herself to become Fiennes' sex toy (she is tied to a table,
stripped in the snow and trussed up with silk ribbons for a spot of asphyxiation
bondage, but still comes back for more!).
Fiennes cuts a suitably sinister would-be psycho but does little to suggest
the ambiguity contained within the novel's version of the character, while
the likes of Natasha McElhone, as Fiennes overprotective sister, are simply
too caricatured to be believable.
On the plus side, Chen's direction is constantly bright and creative, making
good use of some London locations and the mountaineering sequences, while
proceedings seldom become boring, if only because they amuse so much.
But given that this was supposed to be an intense, disturbing and erotic character
study from a proven director, it is tremendously disappointing to be able
to class it with Britney Spears' Crossroads
as one of the year's unlikeliest comedies - albeit with the added bonus of
seeing the former Miss Felicity Shagwell, umm, shagging well!
