Movie reviews: Byzantium
Directed by Neil Jordan from Moira Buffini’s play, the story opens by offering us Clara and Eleanor’s contrasting approach to gaining access to the life-giving blood: where Clara is seductive and brutal, Eleanor only reluctantly drains the life of an old man after he gives her permission to do so. The women move on to a English seaside town, and soon Clara is persuading the hapless Noel (Daniel Mays) to convert his recently deceased mother’s boarding house (the name of which gives the film its title) into a brothel. Meanwhile, Eleanor befriends Frank (Caleb Landry Jones), a young man who will sacrifice his life to understand the mystery she represents. Neil Jordan has ventured into such territory before, of course, with The Company of Wolves (1982), and Interview With the Vampire (1994), and Byzantium is a vividly realised film in which Jordan successfully blends the dark fairytale elements into a prosaic modern landscape. Arterton in particular is in marvellous form as the brash, chippy hooker who will survive by any means necessary in this viciously patriarchal world. The historical aspect of the tale is marred by stilted dialogue and too much reliance on exposition, whereas the contemporary story has far more interesting things to say about social isolation, addiction, and the desperate human need for affection at any cost. More than just another vampire flick, Byzantium offers plenty of food for thought, even if it lacks real bite.
Robert De Niro heads an impressive ensemble cast in The Big Wedding (15A), playing ageing lothario Don, whose adopted son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) is marrying Missy (Amanda Seyfried). Problems arise when Alejandro’s birth mother, a devout Catholic, arrives for the nuptials, and Don has to pretend he is still married to his long-divorced wife Ellie (Diane Keaton) — much to the chagrin of current lover, Bebe (Susan Sarandon). That’s only one of the romantic entanglements to be teased out over the course of the movie — Katherine Heigl and Topher Grace are also embroiled in their own relationship issues — which is adapted by writer-director Justin Zackham from the French comedy Mon frère se marie (2006). The sight of De Niro playing yet another amiable buffoon is not one to inspire confidence, but he’s likeable enough here as he struggles to come up to the mark as husband, lover and father. His performance sets the tone for a gently paced mix of slapstick and the comedy of embarrassment, with Keaton, Sarandon and Heigl getting the best lines. Robin Williams’ cod-Catholic priest routine might have been subversive and/or funny about half a century ago, but his turn is a rare bum note in an undemanding farce.
