Date watched: 6/20/11
Film: Anamorph
Director: Henry Miller
I love Willem Dafoe. So starting with that, this film was a huge disappointment. My strongest recent memory of this actor is in Antichrist. He was brilliant, but restrained in that film. It brought to mind the scene where Gregory Peck cried in On The Beach (The only video I can find is with crappy music...watch this movie). Holding back being human, trying hard to play the role set by his career.
I was looking forward to seeing more recent Defoe. This, I think, was the low point of his current career. This is when he goes from playing his face set in stone, to him putting his soul out there. You have to wait for his next film though, he still has a touch of Green Goblin in this one.
To begin with, his haircut... What the hell? The obvious aside, the writer seems to think he is far more clever than us. This film is an insult to the intelligent filmgoer. You are presented with three or four main characters, tossed a cup or two of foreshadowing. You are asked to let it sink in and wait...
And wait... AND wait...
Were there positives? Yes, of course. Defoe (even with the bowl haircut) blows the hell out of the lines given him. Seriously, most of the budget must have been spent on getting him to sign on. His casting in this role was swatting a fly with a Buick.
The ASC was obsessed with throwing his weight around. Positives: The murder scenes were shot beautifully. Negatives: The SOB takes you out of the movie every flashback to show he knows how to shoot a directional lens flare.
The script is straight from Donald Kaufman after attending a seminar on screenwriting. The film is basted with foreshadowing, but none of it pays off. There are telegraphed twists, antique dealers that know every detail of the case. It really gets ridiculous. There is one point where the lead detective "analyses" a scene by using a victim's blood to paint a picture... for a LONG time... in front of two dozen of the NYPD. I started to give up then.
And the end... the end... This is the finest adaptation I have seen of a human hand extending it's middle finger and thrusting it forcefully into the bridge of your nose and laughing that I have seen in a long while. All I can say is that I shouted a reciprocal response to the screen as the credits rolled.
Rating: 5.4/10 (+2 Defoe vs. crappy crime flicks)
Reminds me of (vaguely):
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