Ya know... First Geoffrey Rush plays (for all intents and purposes) Vincent Price in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL... now, he plays a role... right up Price's alley.... The Marquis de Sade. Personally, with that casting and about that character... I'm at the theater, no matter what, but wait! There's good news... Apparently there is quite a bit more... Check it out for yourself...

Harry,

I finally got to be part of focus group for a movie Monday night in Marin, California, spitting distance from Lucas' ranch. The movie was Quills. This is the story of the Marquis de Sade and his tenure at a mental hospital under the supervision of Abbe the priest trying to silence him.

The movie was quite disturbing and pushed the "envelope" in a directions I wouldn't have imagined for a historical period type movie. The movie follows the Marquis attempts to continue his writing and publishing even though he is placed in an insane hospital. He is aided by a Chamber Maid, who sneaks his material to the outside world. Abbe, the priest, is the curator of the hospital and is a sensitive sole who gives great leniency to the Marquis. Both men have romantic feelings toward the Chamber Maid. Abbe is not aware that the material is escaping the walls of the hospital.

One of the books makes it to Napoleon and he finds it repulsive and orders a doctor to supervise the Marquis. From here the movie leaves its playful tone and spirals to a dark and disturbing tone. The more and more the doctor and Abbe attempt to silence the Marquis, each men fall deeper into demise. The ending is a roller coaster of highs and lows. Each high is a suitable ending but the movie kept continuing and there would be a lull in activity before the next climax. Every time we expected the ending to come soon but there would be more sequences. Some audience members even walked out. The movie ran 2 hours but it seemed like 3 hours.

My friends and I stayed beyond to answer questions. The editors were there and seemed to be most interested on the ending, which most people thought was acceptable to inadequate.

The Marquis de Sade was played by Geoffrey Rush and he did an excellent job. The first hour of the movie is filled with comical conversations between him, Abbe, the Chamber Maid, and other inmates. I have never been a big Geoffrey Rush fan, but after this I am a believer. Abbe is played by Joaquin Phoenix. I would have liked to seen a slightly older actor portray this character. At times he just wasn't believable, especially in the key emotional scenes. Kate Winslet plays the chamber maid, Madeleine . While she was enjoyable to watch and turned in good performance, she didn't come off as a suitable chamber maid. She was too clean and prissy. Finally Michael Caine plays the doctor. The audience loves to hate him in this role. He is bad to the bone, although in key scenes he seemed to not deliver the emotional punch you hoped for.

I would recommend this movie on Geoffrey Rush's performance alone.

You can call me the Shaggy Duck