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flick pick |
Gods
and Monsters 1998
Directed by: Bill Condon
Written by: Christopher Bram (novel), Bill Condon
Starring: Ian McKellan, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave
Language: English
Look for it at the video store under: drama
Watch it when you’re in the mood for something: artsy-fartsy,
serious
The verdict:
/ 5 the rating system
explained
|
Plot synopsis
It’s the 1950s and James
Whale (McKellan), the flamboyant Hollywood director most famous for his
Frankenstein movies, is well past his glory days. A recent stroke has
left his mind confused, as memories from his past – war-time horrors,
boys he’s loved, happy Hollywood days -- push themselves to the
surface and mingle with his somewhat pathetic present. Old and ailing
though he may be, however, he’s still a lascivious ogler of pretty
young boys. When handsome stud-boy gardener Clay Boone (Fraser) catches
his fancy, Whale initiates a friendship by inviting Boone to pose for a
painting. Whale likes Boone’s youth, his strength, his sweet naïveté
-- and perhaps, even enjoys the element of danger that comes from not
knowing when or if this straight boy is going to turn violent, should
Whale push the sexual intimations too far. Boone does feel more than a
bit uncomfortable, but at the same time, Whale seems to fill a void in
his fatherless, poverty-stricken life. Ultimately, he can’t help but
be lured in by Whale’s elegant wit, his lavish attention, and his
wonderful stories of Hollywood’s decadent past.
Review I
went into this movie expecting to be bored by what was sure to be a
slow-moving, sentimental relationship flick – and instead ended up
finding a subtle, at times surreally beautiful, drama that I absolutely
adored. The relationships between Whale and Boone, and between Whale and
his hyper-protective housekeeper Hanna, are both complex, moving, and
completely believable, and you can’t help but be riveted by the
amazing performances delivered by Ian McKellan (as Whale), Lynn Redgrave
(as Hanna), and yes, even Brendan Fraser. Who would have guessed that
Encino Man would be able to hold his own against an actor of McKellan’s
quality? Though he does essentially play just a big dumb beautiful guy,
perhaps not too far of a stretch, he brings a real sense of depth to the
character – Boone is touchingly, humanly real, as he struggles to
reconcile his homophobia with the fact that he enjoys his strange
friendship with Whale. There’s a little bit of god and monster in each
of its characters – the gay guy’s no saint, the homophobic straight
guy’s hardly evil – and its precisely this refusal to make any big,
simplistic statements on life and death, love or friendship or sex, good
or evil, that makes this movie great watching.
—
reviewed by
Y. Sun
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