| Self-indulgent and somewhat horrifying |
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| written by ThoseMoes |
July 1, 2005 - 4:52 PM PDT |
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2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| I really high had hopes for this movie. It's an old throwback to WWII, with code hackers, espionage and even some gay sex! What's not to love? I don't know how he managed it, but he took a great idea and created something so boring and ridiculous it's almost painful to watch. Or maybe that's giving it too much credit. The lighting and cinematography is nice. Technically he seemed to know what he's doing, but the story and acting were AWFUL and BORING. I was suckered in my the seemingly interesting subject matter, but God Damn - this was awful. |
| Pretentious, amateurish, pseudo-intellectual |
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| written by GGoodsell |
May 1, 2005 - 12:15 PM PDT |
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3 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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The DVD is essential to understanding this feature film at hand. Click on the live documentary of the film's premiere at Sundance, and you see the director nattily dressed in 1940's gear addressing a surly audience who have just seen TREASURE ISLAND. One wiseacre asks him what the movie is all about, to which the auteur replies, "You know, most people I know ask me that question BEFORE they see my movie!" Scattered laughter and applause.
Scattered laughter and applause will not greet many people who pop this film into their entertainment systems. Indeed, one wonders how many victims lie in wait who rent this sight unseen, expecting Robert Louis Stevenson's classic of pirates and derring-do. This film, as it stands involves two counter-intelligence agents trying to break a code in the waning days of World War II. The corpse of an effeminate young man provides a catalyst for homosexual fantasies in the more butch one, as the Jimmy Stewart manqué maintains several relationships with four or more women.
The director explains that the film was the result of his confronting his homosexuality and his treatment of women, which confirms that the project is self-indulgent, therapeutic crap. Far worse than it sounds, not even semi-explicit sex can save it. TREASURE ISLAND is no treasure, the bitterest pill audiences have had to swallow since Todd Haynes' POISON (1991). Oy!
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