I sought this film after seeing its title on a list of the year's ten best picture. I don't remember who made the list but I feel sorry that they didnt' get to see better pictures that year. Not that this one is bad, except you'd have to have seen only a handful of pictures if you would chose to include it in the annual top-ten. Inferior yet somewhat comparable to In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008), Bounty is a crime comedy dealing with dramatic subject matter whose loose script fails to bring balance to the equation; in other words, you get more laughs than emotions. The story of a slacker Dubliner (Cillian Murphy) on the run with his father (Jim Broadbent) and best friend (Jodie Whittaker) because the latter killed a henchman that was about to break his legs in the name of an unpaid loan is arguably uninspired, the weight of the picture meant to rest on the performances of its impresssive cast. In addition to those already mentioned, the casting of Liam Cunningham and Brandan Gleeson as the titular Perrier greatly adds to the film's appreciation, Gleeson's friendly yet threatening portrayal not getting enough screen time, in my opinion. Murphy and Broadbent were also convincing as the quarelling father-and-son team, Broadbent's tough-guy flakiness responsible for much of the film's best moments. However, the film does contain an element that often frustrates me in movies: the voice-over. I find it justifiable when its presence offers introspective insights into various characters, as it does in The Thin Red Line (1998) or other Terrence Malick films, or when it serves to explain contextual information crucial to the film's understanding, such as in Rounders (John Dahl, 1998). In Bounty, however, the voice-over, although thankfully kept to a minimum, brings nothing to light that can't be picked up by either the visuals or the dialogue. Furthermore, the film keeps the source of the omniscient voice (Gabriel Byrne) secret until the end, the discovery of which is rather disappointing.
No comments:
Post a Comment