Dear God, There's A Lady In My Water!
I also saw Nacho Libre which will be a quick review so they're both in one post...
Nacho Libre is very hit and miss. Many gags fall flat on their face, indeed there are what feel like long sections without any gags at all. But then at other times I found myself laughing out loud, even if most of the belly laughs come from Jack Black doing a silly "Mechico" accent. What can I say? My comedic needs are small. Black plays Ignatio, a put upon helper at a monastery that houses orphans. Ignatio dreams of becoming a wrestler and creates his alter ego Nacho. Along with his partner Esqueleto (a very funny Hector Jimenez) they form a tag team and begin to take on a variety of oddball pairings, with varying degrees of comedic success, on their quest to become as famous as the greatest wrestler of them all, Ramses. Nacho Libre has emerged in what feels like a real dry spell in terms of comedy and as a result is very welcome. It will hardly go down as one of the great comedies but there is just enough to keep the viewer laughing and Nacho's big heart and good intentions will keep everyone onside. At times Black's mugging becomes grating, performing"silly" songs he wrote in a "silly" voice making "silly" faces as he does. He's such a big silly! But at others his gift for comedy lifts the film. Jared Hess ( director of Napoleon Dynamite) creates the appropriate chaotic tone and a good supporting cast ensure Nacho Libre will have you leaving the cinema smiling.
A quick little bit of backdrop is required next. When I first read about Lady in the Water, a bedtime story about a lonely janitor who finds a water nymph in his pool, alarm bells really started to go off. Particularly given that this was M Night Shyamalan's next film I thought that the guy was becoming a victim of his own ideas and unfortunately believing the early hype that surrounded him. Early trailers did nothing do change my mind and the reviews have been at best mixed. It was therefore really only out of a love of watching Paul Giamatti that I went to see the film, even though I was desperately trying to keep my mind open as I went in. And I'm very glad I did. Lady in the Water is that rare thing, a film that surprises you in a good way. Now I'm going to qualify that immediately. Lady in the Water is a film that many people will not just hate but I'd say, really detest. Its talk of narfs, madame narfs, scrunts and a whole host of creatures that won't be found in any dictionary I'm aware of will be an immediate barrier for some. Its optimism will be deemed calculated and mercenary, the fact that everyone in the story simply accepts what's happening on faith and there are no "I can't believe this is true" scenes will be called unrealistic. But the clue is in the "bedtime story" tag. Accept what it is, go with the story and you may find yourself imersed in a very unique film, one that is mercifully devoid of a last minute twist, one that is beautifully shot by DP Christopher Doyle and one that boasts a fantastic central performance by Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heep. Heep is janitor of The Cove apartment block who finds himself living in a real bedtime story as Story (Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of Happy Days actor and some time director Ron Howard), a creature we are told will bring optimism and hope to mankind, appears in his swimming pool to connect with one of the building's tennants. Other people we are told have important roles in sending Story back to her world, unharmed by the scrunt that is after her. Scrunts are dog like creatures with grass for fur that makes them all but invisible when, well, when they're hiding in grass... See? Already I'm sure many of you are clicking that big X in the corner of the screen and wondering why you've given this review so much time when you could have been watching Dirty Debra's webcam.
The film is far from perfect. The building is populated by a variety of characters that aren't really characters you see, they're archetypes from stories, and each of these people will have a role to play in the film. This story within a story idea, the fact that the story we are watching is a commentary on the nature of story telling itself and the people populating it are storytelling devices works with mixed success. Shyamalan often confuses stereotype for archetype, the group of stoners for example, the traditional, conservative Korean Mother. Worse still is Bob Balaban's film critic who seems to have no other purpose in the film other than to be a way for Shyamalan to voice his dislike of film critics. It's clunky, irritating and apparantly forgetful of the fantastic reviews Shyamalan has enjoyed for much of his career. If people hated The Village Night, maybe that's because it was shite? And not because we "didn't get it?" Worst of all is Shyamalan's insistence of casting himself in roles of increasing importance. The narf is here to connect with a man whose writing will change the world. Oh Night no...oh you haven't...oh God you have... Yes the weirdly expressionless mug of the auteur/wanker takes centre stage this time in a dreadfully ego massaging piece of stunt casting that for me seriously undermined what is one of the film's many great ideas, that something you do now will have huge impact in years to come, you just don't know it yet.
Lady in the Water is a very brave film in that, rarely has someone set themselves up for such a fall as M Night Hitchberg does here. The critical backlash, which has begun in earnest, will I am sure, convince filmgoers to stay away in their droves. But this is annoying because I am equally sure that if a first time director had made this, the reviews would be very positive, telling us this is a director with imagination, visual flair, willing to take a chance and do something different. Shyamalan is all those things and crucially he is one of very few directors working in mainstream Hollywood with near total creative autonomy working on original material. Yes he has his influences that he wears on his sleeve, no his films aren't perfect, and yes the man has ego problems and issues of self importance. But in a time when studios are apparently only willing to greenlight comic book adaptations, sequels, remakes, TV adaptations or, as a last resort if there's nothing left to plunder, book adaptations, someone like Shyamalan is very important. I will stand up and say I hated The Village as much as anyone. Boring, plodding, unbelieveable, dreadful dialogue. But that twist held the kernal of something interesting for a different film. The Sixth Sense is a wonderful film, Unbreakable is let down by a weak ending but for me it's a very good film, Signs blows it completely by the end but for the most part is creepy, scary and alot of fun. The man has good ideas, puts interesting spins on old stories and themes and in the end is a good storyteller. And let's not forget his films make money. Even his considered disappointments The Village and Unbreakable made $256 million and $248 million worldwide respectively on mid range budgets. There's many a $100+ million budgeted Poseidon or Van Helsing that would kill for those returns. This film hasn't done particularly well Stateside and after the critical drubbing he received for The Village I hope he won't feel compelled to tread safer ground for his next film. Sixth Sense 2 or something
But a film must of course be judged on its own terms. As I said Lady in the Water is not for everyone certainly but if you want something a little different, a little unusual, something that takes a leap of faith, then I would recomend it. The heart of the film is Giamatti. His tender, believeable, charasmatic performance anchors the film and sells every potentially laughable moment, in a way a lesser actor could not. Great cinematography, a nice score by regular Shyamalan contributor James Newton Howard, a good pace and in the end, a good story built on a great central idea make Lady in the Water a surprisingly enjoyable film.
If you're in the mood that is.
Damn that Shyamalan. Nothing's ever simple.
Nacho Libre is very hit and miss. Many gags fall flat on their face, indeed there are what feel like long sections without any gags at all. But then at other times I found myself laughing out loud, even if most of the belly laughs come from Jack Black doing a silly "Mechico" accent. What can I say? My comedic needs are small. Black plays Ignatio, a put upon helper at a monastery that houses orphans. Ignatio dreams of becoming a wrestler and creates his alter ego Nacho. Along with his partner Esqueleto (a very funny Hector Jimenez) they form a tag team and begin to take on a variety of oddball pairings, with varying degrees of comedic success, on their quest to become as famous as the greatest wrestler of them all, Ramses. Nacho Libre has emerged in what feels like a real dry spell in terms of comedy and as a result is very welcome. It will hardly go down as one of the great comedies but there is just enough to keep the viewer laughing and Nacho's big heart and good intentions will keep everyone onside. At times Black's mugging becomes grating, performing"silly" songs he wrote in a "silly" voice making "silly" faces as he does. He's such a big silly! But at others his gift for comedy lifts the film. Jared Hess ( director of Napoleon Dynamite) creates the appropriate chaotic tone and a good supporting cast ensure Nacho Libre will have you leaving the cinema smiling.
A quick little bit of backdrop is required next. When I first read about Lady in the Water, a bedtime story about a lonely janitor who finds a water nymph in his pool, alarm bells really started to go off. Particularly given that this was M Night Shyamalan's next film I thought that the guy was becoming a victim of his own ideas and unfortunately believing the early hype that surrounded him. Early trailers did nothing do change my mind and the reviews have been at best mixed. It was therefore really only out of a love of watching Paul Giamatti that I went to see the film, even though I was desperately trying to keep my mind open as I went in. And I'm very glad I did. Lady in the Water is that rare thing, a film that surprises you in a good way. Now I'm going to qualify that immediately. Lady in the Water is a film that many people will not just hate but I'd say, really detest. Its talk of narfs, madame narfs, scrunts and a whole host of creatures that won't be found in any dictionary I'm aware of will be an immediate barrier for some. Its optimism will be deemed calculated and mercenary, the fact that everyone in the story simply accepts what's happening on faith and there are no "I can't believe this is true" scenes will be called unrealistic. But the clue is in the "bedtime story" tag. Accept what it is, go with the story and you may find yourself imersed in a very unique film, one that is mercifully devoid of a last minute twist, one that is beautifully shot by DP Christopher Doyle and one that boasts a fantastic central performance by Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heep. Heep is janitor of The Cove apartment block who finds himself living in a real bedtime story as Story (Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of Happy Days actor and some time director Ron Howard), a creature we are told will bring optimism and hope to mankind, appears in his swimming pool to connect with one of the building's tennants. Other people we are told have important roles in sending Story back to her world, unharmed by the scrunt that is after her. Scrunts are dog like creatures with grass for fur that makes them all but invisible when, well, when they're hiding in grass... See? Already I'm sure many of you are clicking that big X in the corner of the screen and wondering why you've given this review so much time when you could have been watching Dirty Debra's webcam.
The film is far from perfect. The building is populated by a variety of characters that aren't really characters you see, they're archetypes from stories, and each of these people will have a role to play in the film. This story within a story idea, the fact that the story we are watching is a commentary on the nature of story telling itself and the people populating it are storytelling devices works with mixed success. Shyamalan often confuses stereotype for archetype, the group of stoners for example, the traditional, conservative Korean Mother. Worse still is Bob Balaban's film critic who seems to have no other purpose in the film other than to be a way for Shyamalan to voice his dislike of film critics. It's clunky, irritating and apparantly forgetful of the fantastic reviews Shyamalan has enjoyed for much of his career. If people hated The Village Night, maybe that's because it was shite? And not because we "didn't get it?" Worst of all is Shyamalan's insistence of casting himself in roles of increasing importance. The narf is here to connect with a man whose writing will change the world. Oh Night no...oh you haven't...oh God you have... Yes the weirdly expressionless mug of the auteur/wanker takes centre stage this time in a dreadfully ego massaging piece of stunt casting that for me seriously undermined what is one of the film's many great ideas, that something you do now will have huge impact in years to come, you just don't know it yet.
Lady in the Water is a very brave film in that, rarely has someone set themselves up for such a fall as M Night Hitchberg does here. The critical backlash, which has begun in earnest, will I am sure, convince filmgoers to stay away in their droves. But this is annoying because I am equally sure that if a first time director had made this, the reviews would be very positive, telling us this is a director with imagination, visual flair, willing to take a chance and do something different. Shyamalan is all those things and crucially he is one of very few directors working in mainstream Hollywood with near total creative autonomy working on original material. Yes he has his influences that he wears on his sleeve, no his films aren't perfect, and yes the man has ego problems and issues of self importance. But in a time when studios are apparently only willing to greenlight comic book adaptations, sequels, remakes, TV adaptations or, as a last resort if there's nothing left to plunder, book adaptations, someone like Shyamalan is very important. I will stand up and say I hated The Village as much as anyone. Boring, plodding, unbelieveable, dreadful dialogue. But that twist held the kernal of something interesting for a different film. The Sixth Sense is a wonderful film, Unbreakable is let down by a weak ending but for me it's a very good film, Signs blows it completely by the end but for the most part is creepy, scary and alot of fun. The man has good ideas, puts interesting spins on old stories and themes and in the end is a good storyteller. And let's not forget his films make money. Even his considered disappointments The Village and Unbreakable made $256 million and $248 million worldwide respectively on mid range budgets. There's many a $100+ million budgeted Poseidon or Van Helsing that would kill for those returns. This film hasn't done particularly well Stateside and after the critical drubbing he received for The Village I hope he won't feel compelled to tread safer ground for his next film. Sixth Sense 2 or something
But a film must of course be judged on its own terms. As I said Lady in the Water is not for everyone certainly but if you want something a little different, a little unusual, something that takes a leap of faith, then I would recomend it. The heart of the film is Giamatti. His tender, believeable, charasmatic performance anchors the film and sells every potentially laughable moment, in a way a lesser actor could not. Great cinematography, a nice score by regular Shyamalan contributor James Newton Howard, a good pace and in the end, a good story built on a great central idea make Lady in the Water a surprisingly enjoyable film.
If you're in the mood that is.
Damn that Shyamalan. Nothing's ever simple.
posted by Garreth at 10:08 am
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