|
|
Y'know, this mystifies me. BELOW is supposed to be opening in a
couple of weeks. Obviously, Miramax would like critics to talk about
it when it opens, since they're screening it now. So why is it that
when I talk to people about this film, no one has seen a poster or a
trailer or a single commercial of any kind?
I've heard rumblings about discontent between director David Twohy
and Bob Weinstein, but I don't know any specifics, and even if that's
true... even if they don't see eye to eye... what would make a studio
completely abandon a film? Even IMPOSTOR got better treatment than
this during its obligatory dumping in the marketplace last Christmas.
Is BELOW some sort of disaster that Dimension is trying to simply
forget so they can move on?
In a word... no.
BELOW is an enjoyable, well-directed ghost story set on a submarine
during WWII. Matt Davis, Bruce Greenwood, Olivia Williams, Holt
McCallany, Scott Foley, Jason Flemyng, and Dexter Fletcher all do
good solid work in the film as the crew that finds itself under
extreme and unexpected pressure after picking up a few survivors off
a hospital boat that was sunk by Germans. The script, by Lucas
Sussman & Darren Aronofsky, with rewrites by Twohy, is smart and
manages to offer up real visceral scares without ever once becoming
just another dumb horror film. Instead, stakes are set high right at
the start, and we're gradually drawn into the mystery that seems to
make all the men of the U.S.S. TIGER SHARK so increasingly frightened
as events play out in a space that's tight both physically and
psychologically.
What I liked most about the film was the way it's written so you can
argue at the end about what really happened. Is this a supernatural
story? Or is it a story of guilt and what happens when men do what
they think is right, only to be eaten alive by the gradual
realization that it's wrong? All of the more bizarre occurences could
be written off to the mental effects of a lack of oxygen as they stay
submerged too long and hydrogen begins to fill the boat. The script
only reveals the backstory of things in small bits and pieces, and it
works as a result. The film opens with survivors floating on the
ocean and the TIGER SHARK being ordered to go pick them up. There's
no setup where we meet the crew under manufactured circumstances. We
just get directly into the film, something that is rapidly becoming a
trademark of Twohy's. There's nothing as immediately eye-popping as
the spaceship crash that opened PITCH BLACK with a bang, but visual
effects supervisor Peter Chiang has made sure that when Twohy needs
to come up with something memorable, he does.
In fact, I'd say one of Twohy's trademarks is the elegance and sheer
taste in composition that he brings to his material. I'm not the
biggest fan of THE ARRIVAL (mainly because I don't picture many radio
technicians snorting blow off the crack of a hooker's ass, meaning
Charlie Sheen seemed a wee bit miscast to me), but that opening scene
is a stunner. And if you asked me to make a list of the ten things
I'm proudest of from my time here at AICN, the theatrical release of
PITCH BLACK would be very near the top of that list. When Harry and I
first saw the film, Interscope hated it and USA wasn't sure what to
do with it, and we only saw it because a publicist on another
unrelated film felt passionately that the movie was getting boned. He
set up that screening for us, and after it cleaned our clocks, we
started making arrangements for it to play at Butt-Numb-A-Thon's
inaugural outing. Eventually, USA committed to a full theatrical
release for the film, and it went on to become their highest-grossing
theatrical release. This was a film that was sitting on a shelf when
we saw it, before we started getting excited about it, and it's only
because USA actually listened and got wise that they were eventually
rewarded.
I wish I could offer BELOW the same sort of support, but it appears
to be too late. As a result, all I can do is tell you, the potential
audience, that you're being screwed out of a good time in the theater
here. As Warner Bros. pumps money into GHOST SHIP and DreamWorks does
their deep-pocketed best to saturate the world with RING ads, do
yourself the favor. Search for BELOW. Keep your eyes peeled. And if
it plays near you, give it a shot. You'll be rewarded with a smart,
knowing genre film that was made with real wit and respect.
Oh, if only it were being released the same way...Below Articles
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS
September 25, 2002
SO WHY IS MIRAMAX SCUTTLING THE BOAT?!