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Latauro is stunned by Crowe's performance in A GOOD YEAR...
SPOILER ALERT !!
The worst performance ever by an A-list actor? Latauro reviews A GOOD YEAR
Okay, so the first five minutes are pretty promising. Freddie Highmore and Albert Finney are both really good, the dialogue is mostly good, and the scene works quite well at setting up these characters and the world they live in.
Unfortunately, it's pretty much downhill from the moment we see Russell Crowe's face. Oh, I'd love to make a joke here about how it's all because of him and his face, but I'm sorry to say it's not a joke at all. Russell Crowe systematically destroys any chance this film may have had of being good by giving the worst leading performance by an A list actor that I can remember seeing.
It give me no joy to write this. I don't have any great love for Rusty, but I don't have any great hatred for him, and despite writing for the internet, I don't get a kick out of tearing people to shreds.
I'm reminded of two quotes I'm going to completely and utterly get wrong. The first misquote is from Robert Altman, who said something along the lines of "98% of your film is casting". The second misquote is from Theodore Sturgeon, who said "98% of everything is crap". Oh, Ridley Scott, how could you not see this? How could you not see that casting Russell Crowe as a thoroughly English gentleman who enjoys the finer things in life whilst working at the very top of trades and commodities and so on, doing multi-billion dollar deals from his high rise.
Russ just can't pull it off. And it's not the accent. I mean, he can't do the accent (it's English, for Christ's sake, it's the bloody vanilla of accents!), but it's not that. There's no character here. There's one written here, a moderately interesting -- if cliched -- character, but that's destroyed by Crowe's inconsistencies. There's no through-line here, no overall person. There's the scene where he's supposed to play uppercrust English, so he does so in the most obvious way possible. Then there's the scene where he's suddenly a man of the land. Then he has a couple too many drinks and is suddenly the town souse. Normally, these would be different aspects of the same character, but Crowe plays them as if there's one way to play drunk, one way to play a man of the land, one way to play refined, and all he's doing is flipping channels.
I'd be interested to know what the film would be like if Crowe hadn't ruined it. I suspect it would have remained a boring, cliche-ridden tale of a man who must be reminded of the real things in life, and learns a lot about blah blah blah. If there's one thing LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE taught us this year, it's that having a cliched premise isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you need to know what to do with it to make it fresh. In its defense, A GOOD YEAR tries a few things, but they don't work out that well. The incest plotline is all well and good, but it feels like a screenwriter acknowledging a plotline from a book for the sake of the fans. I don't have access to the net as I write this, so I have no idea whether it's based on a book or not, but I'm positive it was, based purely on this story element.
Cultural stereotypes are a staple of the film. The fat French grump who cares only for his grapes and his little dog. The French waiters with no manners. The boorish couple from the US that wants ranch dressing on everything and demands that people speak American to them. All the proper English elites who stutter when talking to women and act in every conversation as if their pinky finger is up in the air. French waiters may be rude and American tourists may be wankers, but if you have to show it to us for the fiftieth time, you need to find a fresh angle. This feels like you've loaded up the Stereotype Template in Final Draft and haven't bothered to change a word.
Once we finally reached the ending (which, by the way, has the most random and non-sequitorial tag before the end credits begin, leaving my mouth on the floor from the incredulity of its existence), I found myself pondering the title. It was half right: it did feel like I was in there for a frigging year.
Peace out,
Latauro
AICNDownunder@hotmail.com
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Good performance on Crowe's part or not.
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It looks terrible. And Latauro's the man.
I didn't post in the last one, but I'm gutted the Glass House is being cancelled. -
are making a double pile of poopy. Good. When this fails, Crowe and Scott can make something with fighting and grunting and dying and all that stuff they do best.
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The wierd "music" trailor sort of had me guessing this was going to be bad.
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The ad's looked awful. Simple as that. Give me Borat or The Descent anyday.
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...who just never got Crowe's reputation as a great actor. He was perfectly cast in LA Confidential, for sure. And he was perfectly cast in Gladiator. But he didn't wow me in The Insider (looked like a guy in a lot of makeup, frankly, and spent most of his time mumbling...I kept wondering when he was going to straighten up, toss off the glasses and kick someone's ass) and there was more of the mumbling in A Beuatiful Mind (a movie which, imho, would've benefited greatly from a good ass-kicking scene). I enjoyed him in Cinderella Man, but it hardly seemed like a test of his acting abilities (as Stewart said at the Oscars, hats off to the make-up folks on that picture for making Crowe look like a guy who gets into a lot of fights). He's one of the most overrated actors working today. It was just a matter of time before that showed through.
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Honestly, the trailer bored me to tears. But forever a Ridley fan, I will see this come its DVD debut.
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A Good Year opened a few weeks ago here in the UK, didn't realise it hadn't opened in the States yet. It's Scott's worst movie by a mile and Crowe is awful in it. Great photography but just seems like an excuse for Scott and Crowe to have a nice time in the sunny vineyards. Stop wasting your time with this crap Ridley and get a proper 1492 DVD put together for christ's sake!!!!
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I just re-read that. I'm presuming I intended to write an actual end to that sentence, but I can't for the life of me think of what it is. Fill in your own ending for interactive fun.
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I've always thought that. A very limited actor that if utilised correctly can be highly effective (as in the two choices you mention and I have to say Master and Commander...to a point...) but really his work in this is ridiculous. And jeez, I remember when a Ridley Scott film was a 'must-see'....shame his 'John Ford of sci-fi' ambitions kind of dwindled.
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Nov 08, 2006 6:22:43 PM CST
Given the trailer I have complete faith in this review
by industrykiller!
the last time Scott tried directing quirky drama, Matchstick Men, I'm pretty sure I had to stab myself in the arm with my keys to keep myself awake. I even said to a friend that Crowe looks weak in the film and I'm typically a pretty big fan.
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Maybe that's why Crowe has stopped working in H'wood to 'spend more time with his kids'...
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There are alot of Aussies in LA and many of them come off as the stereotype of unjustifiably arrogant and loud drunks. It's something about being a stranger in a strange land that just empowers people in the most annoying way. We roll our eyes at tourists in America just like they do anywhere else.
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Too bad he now has this apparent spot on his record
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Regardless of Crowe's performance abilities, I will never go out of my way to see this film. Its all there in the trailer: rich white guy with the world in his palm wakes up from the rat race and realizes there are finer goals in life...like inheriting a multi-million dollar vineyard. Fuck off already. I couldn't give a rat's ass about the so-called problems of this poor little rich boy. Try living my life, you cunt, with three kids and a wife to feed, and a mortgage to pay, all on a single income. Take your shit assed vineyard and stuff it up your asshole. Just sayin'
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Childe, in terms of range nothing he's done since 'going Hollywood' has been anywhere near as adventurous as Romper Stomper and The Sum of Us. Neo-nazi skinhead to Gay? Too bad people in the States are mostly oblivious to 'foreign' films. It's really annoying that the general idea of someone's 'career' starts with their first American flick. I do agree that he's not exactly stretching himself lately though. Unlike most though I thought Matchstick Men was great.
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Great film, but not really because of Crowe. He's good in it, but the filmaking itself is the "star." But then what the hell do I know. I thought Crowe was brilliant in The Insider and A Beautiful Mind, but his performance was just so-so in Gladiator. I think that's pretty much opposite to what I've read around here. Of course, there's no better performance from Crowe, or Denzel for that matter, than "Virtuosity" (j/k)
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Another film that looks wonderful, however it's boring with a cliched story. I don't think crowe is that bad though, sure his accent is rubbish but he's still very watchable. Agree about the ending, it's a completely random scene that gives you the impression massive amounts of a character's part have been cut out.
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98% of statistics are misquoted?
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seriously Industrykiller, you didn't like it? I don't know anyone who didn't. I think it's among Scott's best films. Kingdom of Heaven was his biggest disappointment. I must admit not getting past the 45min mark though. But yes, just based on the trailer I knew I wouldn't be seeing this. When's the next BladeRunner Cut come out?
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Anyone? I'm not going to see this...
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the happy singing peasants." I thought that kind of crap went out with the first Bush. Never liked it then either. Doesn't seem to have improved with age.
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well, that explains why it's rarely any good when imitated. :)
I always thought of the Australian accent as being pretty vanilla - the "plainest" of the lot. And I don't mean the ocker -how ya goin mait?- type accent, but your typical city-based Australian (like myself) doesn't pronounce words with a nasally or throaty sound (like some stereo-typical American accents), or use the defined vowel sounds of the British.
But then I have an Australian accent, so I probably can't hear it as well as I can the American or British. What does it sound like to them I wonder? -
The premise of the film is such an incredible cliche in current fiction, let alone film (ie, cold-fish American/Englishman goes to France and becomes human through intercession of "real" people and values, etc.) that I'm sure no actor could breathe life into it. That said, I'll bet Hugh Jackman or Hugh Grant could have done a better job with it. Crowe left his light touch back in Australia years ago.
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don't knock it before you try it.
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...to stay home and watch Aussie comic giants Tony Martin, Shaun Micallef and Frank Woodley tear it up on THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE, rather than go to the premiere of a remarkably uninteresting Ridley Scott slumming job. It's almost as if Crowe picked it specifically to win his (never particularly massive) female fanbase back. It must also be said -- and people may declare a fatwa of sorts on me here, but it's what I believe -- I believe Ridley Scott struggles when he's given a script that doesn't involve guns, ghoulish creatures (as opposed to ghoulish caricatures) or opportunities for innovative visuals. The evidence is out there: MATCHSTICK MEN, 1492, WHITE SQUALL, HANNIBAL-- wait, that one did have guns. Ah. Anyhoo, based on the last 5 years, give me Tony Scott anyday: DOMINO, MAN ON FIRE, that cool ass BMW short with James Brown & Gary Oldman.,.
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Love her! She is totally my girl crush. And did Abbie Cornish have a significant role?
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I didn't think the original theatrical release was much chop, but the new version is INFINITELY better. Bloom actually has a character arc and reason for his actions, and Eva Green doesn't just go batshit crazy for no apparent reason anymore. Great stuff. I reckon people do give Gladiator too much flak though. Scott never said it was an absolutely accurate historical drama. Just because no-one's overtly tongue in cheek (except maybe for Reed but then again that's just him) people seem to think it's not a popcorn flick. Weird. IMHO.
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In Master & Commander he totally nailed Jack Aubrey. English was spoke, contradictions were assimilated, much joy was had. But he was playing off Paul Bettany, which can't hurt.
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Stage musical down the local RSL. Something came up and I didn't go but now I wish I had. Woulda given me an internal little chuckle I'm sure. Tryin' to sing way back then! There's a music video of him floating around from the eighties with like glitter and makeup on. God I wish I could remember the name of that one. I think he even had a 'stage' name! Ahhhh Rusty. I was however at this press conference thing for the footy he did last year where he was chewing this journo out when from where I stood it just seemed like the poor guy had to call out the question 'cause the place was so crowded he was stuck behind a cameraman! He also almost ran me over one time in his bloody 4x4 Porsche on the Fox lot. I shoulda yelled out "You sucked in The Blues Bros.!" Ahhh Rusty!
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Take Tony Scott, please, keep him. At least Ridley *has* made a decent film. Tony FLASH - HANDCRANK - JUMPCUT - OVEREXPOSE Scott bores me to tears.
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Marion is beautiful as ever but largely wasted in this. Abbie Cornish is where the incest bit mentioned comes in - she'd be about sixth on a list of main characters I would think. However, these two lovely ladies don't necessarily make it worth watching. Hunt internet pictures of them for an hour instead.
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I'll readily admit being completely unfamiliar with Crowe's pre-Hollywood film work (not so much a case of my ignoring foreign films as my not finding him compelling enough in his U.S. roles to seek out his stuff from before he became a blip on my radar). But the movies you mention are from a while back, now. Is it possible he had promise and simply decided not to develop/test his bounds further? Plenty of actors do that and wind up typecasting themselves. In his Hollywood work, Crowe hasn't demonstrated much of a range beyond the deeply flawed iron man (I'd argue even his Insider and Beautiful Mind turns were riffs on this theme). I'd love to see him go gay again in a movie (like Kilmer's recent turn in Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang) or even go comedic/totally against type (like Vin in Find Me Guilty).
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This Good Year movie looks really dreadful! There's no way it can possibly paint a more loving picture of rural European life and values than Borat. And doesn't Diane Lane usually get first crack at these types of roles?
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Think I'll wait a year or so for this and see it on Sky Movies for free rather than going to see it/renting it...that said, A Good Year looks like the kind of unremarkable film that'll be quickly forgotten once Gangster comes around in a year or so. I feel a little more enthusiastic about Scott shooting a gangster thriller with Crowe as a badass cop with flares than a Peter Mayle adaptation...
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His name was Russell Le Roq
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you just made my day. That was when he was still in New Zealand, wasn't it? Russ Le Roq eh? What a fuckin' dag (even if he was spot-on for M&C)!!
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...guest lecturered a course I took at U of K and he was very emphatic, contrary to the 80/20 rule, "90% of everything is crap".
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How it sucks to be rich and heartless, and you have to learn true values from a hot 24-year-old Eva-Green-looking girl with enormous tits and a full-body tan. Oh, and you also have to have an entire 30-acre vineyard to really get the point.
I'm reminded of a quote from Steven Soderbergh--"So many movies nowadays look like they were directed from the back of a limo." This takes the cake. -
How it sucks to be rich and heartless, and you have to learn true values from a hot 24-year-old Eva-Green-looking girl with enormous tits and a full-body tan. Oh, and you also have to have an entire 30-acre vineyard to really get the point.
I'm reminded of a quote from Steven Soderbergh--"So many movies nowadays look like they were directed from the back of a limo." This takes the cake. -
How it sucks to be rich and heartless, and you have to learn true values from a hot 24-year-old Eva-Green-looking girl with enormous tits and a full-body tan. Oh, and you also have to have an entire 30-acre vineyard to really get the point.
I'm reminded of a quote from Steven Soderbergh--"So many movies nowadays look like they were directed from the back of a limo." This takes the cake.
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