Stone MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 Content: -4

Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich. Crime drama. Written by Angus MacLachlan. Directed by John Curran.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a correctional officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path.


PREVIEW REVIEW: Though well-acted, this physiological drama is slow-paced and depressing. What’s more, the film’s message is so vague, it’s difficult to reason why anyone would subject oneself to the cruelty and profanity that comprises most of the screen time. (Read the content.)

The film starts out with the morose DeNiro character threatening to throw their child out the two-story window if his wife leaves him. She doesn’t leave, but rather stays with this dead-inside man (not sure why she married him to begin with, but that’s just one of the questions never answered). So we have a silent husband, a sad wife, both alcoholics, and then the intro of Norton’s character, a channeling of Robert Mitchum’s satanic ex-con in the original Cape Fear, and the beautiful, but extremely manipulative wife of the convict, who seduces DeNiro in order to get her husband free.

DeNiro’s character seems to be going through a quiet meltdown, his temper flairing with obscenities and profanities to emphasis his anger. Throughout the film we see this man and his wife attending church, she trying to get something out of it, while he is merely walking through ritualistic motions. We see a person caught up in the ritual of religion, yet never truly finding a relationship with Christ. The film fails to present any positive example of Christianity. Sadly, the one time he approaches his pastor with questions about faith, even the minister seems unable to bring comfort or a sense of spirituality to the moment. We’re left with the message that Christianity as a faith has no reality.

Is there a profound message that escaped me? Perhaps. I can tell you this: it was a film that grieved my spirit. Perhaps that sadness springs from two hours of viewing lost people. Maybe it’s having to sit through another DeNiro film. Great actor, no question. But even in his comedies, his character is a dark figure. Ed Norton seems to be going in the same professional direction.

DVD Alternative: The Apostle (1997). This perceptive drama, written, directed and starring Robert Duvall, never condescends, nor is it antagonistic toward people of faith while telling its story of a good but imperfect man’s redemption. PG-13. I found nothing offensive for exploitive purposes. The implied adultery, its one violent scene, the reverend's faulty nature, and a couple of mild expletives serve to further the story rather than shock us or malign the ministry.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Overture Films