Mini Reviews (July 2008)

The Happening, Dark Ride, Fool's Gold, Dark Beauty, Timeline

The Happening (July 15/08)

Undoubtedly M. Night Shyamalan's weakest thriller to date, The Happening has been infused with a broad, almost campy sensibility that virtually negates the strength of the film's genuinely disturbing moments. There are consequently very few elements within the proceedings that provoke the kind of visceral reaction that Shyamalan is undoubtedly aiming for, as the director's usual tropes ultimately don't come off nearly as well as they have in the past (ie the protagonist is subjected to a personal problem that's neatly wrapped up by the time the credits roll). The storyline - which follows several characters (including Mark Wahlberg's Elliot and Zooey Deschanel's Alma) as they attempt to survive during an environmental crisis - moves at an appropriately brisk pace, though it does become increasingly difficult to look past the pervading lack of tension within the film's more overtly scary sequences. Shyamalan's far-from-subtle modus operandi surely plays a significant role in The Happening's downfall, with the overwrought and flat-out laughable dialogue exacerbated by performances that are almost uniformly ineffective (something that's particularly true of Wahlberg's egregiously earnest and downright incompetent efforts at stepping into the shoes of an everyman). And while there are admittedly a handful of eerie interludes sprinkled throughout - ie the fate of John Leguizamo's character - The Happening remains a misguided effort that bears few similarities to such prior Shyamalan successes as Signs and The Village.

out of

Dark Ride (July 27/08)

Competently made yet awfully dull, Dark Ride follows a group of college students - including Jamie-Lynn Sigler's Cathy and Patrick Renna's Bill - as they arrive at a desolate haunted-house attraction for a night of partying and debauchery. Their fun-loving exploits come to a swift end once it becomes clear that they're not alone within the ride, as the demented killer who grew up within the expansive structure has returned home to brutally dispatch the unwanted intruders. There's little doubt that the exceedingly familiar manner with which Dark Ride unfolds plays a significant role in its downfall, as the film often seems to have been fashioned directly from a slasher-movie template - complete with two recently-broken-up characters looking to mend their fractured relationship and a masked maniac on the loose after a brutal escape from the loony bin. And while the movie is actually fine for what it is, the lack of creative kills (with one notable exception) and the interchangeable central characters inevitably ensures that the whole thing comes off as a tough slog indeed. That the protagonists are separated and forced to stumble about in the darkness during the movie's incredibly repetitive third act only exacerbates Dark Ride's various problems, and - while the movie is certainly a cut above the majority of low-budget brethren - it's impossible to envision all but the most undiscerning horror fan finding much here worth embracing.

As fluffy and mindless as its promotional materials may have indicated, Fool's Gold is an entertaining yet entirely forgettable caper comedy revolving around feuding couple Benjamin (Matthew McConaughey) and Tess' (Kate Hudson) efforts at locating a centuries-old buried treasure. Director Andy Tennant - working from a screenplay co-written with John Claflin and Daniel Zelman - has infused Fool's Gold with an appropriately light-hearted sensibility that's certainly matched by the two stars, as McConaughey offers up a variation on his now-patented shirtless, aw-shucks good-guy persona. There's little doubt, however, that the film's incredibly mild success can be attributed primarily to the efforts of an enjoyably quirky supporting cast that includes Donald Sutherland, Kevin Hart, and Ray Winstone (!), with the latter effortlessly stealing every one of his scant few scenes. It's only as the filmmakers dwell on the increasingly complicated mystery behind the treasure that one's interest starts to wane, as - in addition to being, admittedly, kind of dull - such scenes feel as though they've been included only to pad out an already-overlong running time. Still, Fool's Gold is ultimately just the sort of easy-on-the-eyes diversion that one does inexplicably crave from time to time.

Salacious enough to ensure that boredom never entirely sets in, Dark Beauty is a typically predictable and entirely silly made-for-TV thriller that admittedly does boast a better-than-expected performance from star Alicia Coppola. The actress stars as Melanie Dempsey, a photojournalist whose friendship with Randall Batinkoff's Danny is threatened after he begins dating a mysterious figure named Olivia (Elizabeth Berkley). For reasons never made entirely clear, Melanie becomes suspicious of Olivia almost immediately and subsequently launches into a full-scale (yet relatively surreptitious) investigation into the woman's life. Melanie's dogged efforts at exposing Olivia's dark side ultimately results in an increasingly repetitive structure, with the majority of Dark Beauty's running time devoted to a relentless series of sequences in which Melanie pokes around offices and questions Olivia's former associates. The degree to which screenwriter Riley Weston goes out of her way to paint Danny as a blundering idiot probably doesn't help matters, as the character absurdly accuses Melanie of jealousy even after being presented with some pretty conclusive evidence that Olivia's up to no good. Berkley's smarmy work - coupled with an ingratiating turn from Coppola - effectively ensures that Dark Beauty is far from the bottom of the barrel as far as movies of this ilk go, yet it's impossible to shake the feeling that there's just got to be a better way to spend two hours of one's life.

Timeline (July 28/08)

Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, Timeline follows several archealogical students - Paul Walker's Chris, Frances O'Connor's Kate, Gerard Butler's Andre, and Rossif Sutherland's Francois - as they're forced to travel back through time in an attempt to save their stranded professor (Billy Connolly). Though Richard Donner tries his hardest to infuse the proceedings with a larger-than-life, downright epic sensibility, the filmmaker's efforts are consistently undermined by a sporadically absurd screenplay (by Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi) and a pair of almost disastrously ineffective lead performances. In terms of the latter, Walker and particularly O'Connor prove to be absolutely and utterly unable to convincingly step into the shoes of their respective characters, which ultimately makes it impossible to work up anything even resembling a rooting interest in their continued survival. It consequently goes without saying that the film suffers considerably when it's focused solely on their exploits, although - on the flipside - there's little doubt that Butler's expectedly strong work does provide Timeline with an all-too-welcome respite from an otherwise pervadingly mediocre atmosphere (this is despite a thoroughly misguided sequence in which his character hits on a local minutes after arriving in the past). The movie's overwhelmingly uninvolving modus operandi - which is certainly surprising, given the strength of the source material - ensures that one has mentally checked out by the time the expansive climactic battle rolls around, and it's inevitably clear that the whole thing ranks as one of the least effective Crichton adaptations to date.