This Week's PCR Movie Review |
"The Fountain"
Movie review by: Movies are rated 0 to 4 stars
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The streak is over. After giving reviews of three and a half stars or better to ten of the last eleven films (sorry "Jackass 2), you were probably thinking that I've never seen a film I didn't like. Wrong. What hurts is that it's a film I've been looking forward to for a long time.
"The Fountain" is the story of Tomas, a conquistador. No, sorry. It's the story of brilliant doctor Tommy Creo. No, sorry again. It's the tale of futuristic Tom. I think. Anyway, they are all played by Hugh Jackman. Tomas has his queen, Isabel. Tommy his wife, Izzy. And poor futuristic Tom, he's stuck with a tree for a partner. Tomas leads his men against the Mayans, hoping to discover the tree of life. Tommy is looking for a cure for what Henry Gibson called in "Kentucky Fried Movie," 'the nations number one killer'...death itself. And Tom. I have no idea, though Jackman bears a striking resemblance to Kwai Chang Caine from "Kung Fu." Does any of this make sense? It didn't for me either and I WATCHED the darn thing.
I am such a huge fan of director Aronofsky's last film, "Requiem for a Dream," that to say this film disappoints is an understatement. While beautiful to look at, the images are, at best, distracting. The story, as I've noted, is confusing. Did present day Tommy go back to the days of the inquisition or has Tomas suddenly decided to show up a thousand years after he died? And what's with the tree? If there is anything to recommend here it is the performances. Weisz does a lot with the little material she has to work with and it's always a pleasure to see Ellen Burstyn on screen. Jackman carries the emotional load of the film, and his performance is wasted here. The classic example of an actor being better then his material.
"Let's end this," Tomas exclaims at the film's beginning. Too bad it takes another ninety five minutes to get the deed done. On a scale of zero to four stars, I give "The Fountain"
This week's movie review of "The Fountain" is ©2006 by Michael A. Smith. All graphics this page are creations of Nolan B. Canova, ©2006, all rights reserved. All contents of "Nolan's Pop Culture Review" are ©2006 by Nolan B. Canova.