Two Thrillers from Alliance
Dorian Gray (February 22/11)
Based on the book by Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray follows the title character (Ben Barnes) as he arrives in London after his grandfather dies and almost immediately befriends a number of upper-crust locals - including a talented painter (Ben Chaplin's Basil) and a sardonic society type (Colin Firth's Henry). Dorian subsequently loses his naiveté as he spends more and more time with the debauched Henry, and the film primarily details Dorian's fall from grace and his apparent inability to age - with the latter triggered by, of course, the painting that starts to take on all his flaws. The inherently flawed nature of Dorian Gray's premise is exacerbated by Toby Finlay's eye-rollingly simplistic screenplay, with the central character's absurd transformation from a wide-eyed innocent into an epically sleazy figure - which seems to occur overnight - standing as the tip of the iceberg in terms of the movie's problems. Barnes' adept yet absolutely charmless performance doesn't help matters, certainly, as the actor is simply unable to infuse his character with qualities designed to garner the viewer's interest - which, as a result, ensures that one's efforts at working up any sympathy for Dorian's progressively horrifying circumstances fall completely and utterly flat. The inclusion of an interminably meandering midsection cements Dorian Gray's place as a misfire of nigh epic proportions, although, to be fair, the film does stand as a slight improvement over Wilde's irrelevant and stunningly dull novel.
out of
The Mechanic (February 5/11)
A substantial improvement over its impossibly dull predecessor, The Mechanic follows professional assassin Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) as he reluctantly kills his beloved mentor (Donald Sutherland's Harry) and subsequently, in an effort at atoning for the murder, takes on the man's adult son (Ben Foster's Steve) as his apprentice. It's an admittedly thin premise that's initially employed to less-than-enthralling effect, as the movie, which kicks off with an exciting assassination, boasts a repetitive and uneventful midsection that ultimately proves a test to the viewer's patience (ie one can't help but wish the filmmakers would just get on with it already). The ensuing atmosphere of benign watchability is due almost entirely to the efforts of the film's two stars, with Statham's stiff-lipped yet compelling performance matched by Foster's comparatively over-the-top turn as Arthur's moody protégé The movie's transformation from passable thriller to exciting actioner, then, is triggered by Steve's first job, as the sequence effectively paves the way for a violent and propulsive final half hour that boasts one surprisingly gripping set piece after another. (It is, as a result, fairly easy to overlook Simon West's annoyingly modern visual choices, with the director's use of shaky camerawork and rapid-fire editing as needless as one might've expected.) The end result is a better-than-average action flick that fits comfortably within Statham's impressively mindless filmography, although it's clear that the movie would've benefited from another couple of passes through the editing bay.
