Front page	From the Event Guide archive! This article refers to an event which took place on, or until, 03 March 2006 Film Reviews CAPOTE  Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr, Chris Cooper, Bruce Greenwood and Bob Balaban. Directed by Bennett Miller. Although the use of its subject’s name as title might suggest otherwise, this excellent film is not to be confused with a conventional biopic. It is, rather, a snapshot of a seminal moment in an artist’s life, the moment that galvanises his talent and transforms it into something extraordinary. It is also a study of the lengths an artist will go to achieve that glorious work, and the friends and associates who are burnt in the process.  The artist in question is, of course, Truman Capote. We meet him in the rosy blush of success; gin soaked and adored, sycophants trailing behind his bespoke finery. He is a latter-day dandy, a fop acutely aware of his perceived eccentricity, and the celebrity it affords him. While fishing around for a theme for his latest New Yorker article, he stumbles upon a newspaper column detailing the brutal, and apparently random, slaying of an entire family in Holboken, Kansas. The chilling, motiveless crime strikes the writer as fertile ground worth investigating, and he travels to the town, under the auspices of his editor (Bob Balaban), with fellow writer and close friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), acting as his personal assistant. However, it is not until he claps eyes upon Perry Smith, one of the two men arrested for the multiple murders, that the project really comes to life. He announces plans to write a non-fiction novel, the first of its kind, which will delve into every sordid facet of the event.  Through numerous interviews (conducted on the spurious pretext that they will aid in his release) with this rough hewn, yet oddly tender man, while he awaits the inevitable on death row, Capote creates for himself, and for his future audience, a protagonist around which to drape his narrative – Perry Smith’s life story, up to and including the acts that will eventually lead to his hanging, form the backbone of the resultant novel, ‘In Cold Blood.’ In many ways the writer falls in love with his subject, a complication, as he is being less than truthful with him. As a conclusion, Smith’s death is just too dramatically satisfying to ignore, Capote the writer knows this, and he becomes tortured by his selfish inability to prevent it.  Contemporary biopics often suffer from the lead’s decision to ape their subject’s every tic and nuance to wearying effect; examples of such over-praised mimicry are legion. Although technically flawless, these high-wire performances are lacking the creative spark of truly great acting. Philip Seymour Hoffman avoids this pitfall with a deeply immersed, subtle and heartfelt take on the writer’s dilemma. He captures the man’s fey vulnerability, his braggadocio and, crucially, his crippling self-doubt. But he is playing a character, not imitating a man.  ‘Capote’ is a high quality piece, forcefully directed by Bennet Miller who recreates the time and place beautifully. This is a thoughtful, sombre picture with much to say on the knotty relationship between artist and subject. – David O Mahony  ‘Capote’ opens at the Irish Film Institute, on Dublin’s Eustace Street, on Friday 24th February. www.sonyclassics.com/capote / www.irishfilm.ie  GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK  Starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Frank Langella, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Ray Wise, Jeff Daniels. Directed by George Clooney. Arthur Miller's seminal play 'The Crucible' (most recently filmed with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder) used the 17th century Salem witch trials as a parable echoing the (then uncomfortably topical) Congressional investigations of the 1950s, led by senator Joe McCarthy. More than fifty years on, George Clooney's second film, 'Good Night, And Good Luck', is set in this turbulent era, charting the conflict between the powerful McCarthy and the reporters of CBS' 'See It Now' programme - specifically host Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn).  The film is book-ended by a black-tie ceremony honouring Murrow, whose acceptance speech quickly proves that he is not a man to mince words, let alone his principles. After launching into a blistering attack on the misuse of the media (Strathairn's tightly-controlled delivery of moral outrage is one of the film's chief highlights) the action cuts back several years, when that same passion for fair-mindedness leads him to air a story about a young soldier's unfair dismissal on unproved charges of communist association.  Such a decision sets the first advance in an unavoidable collision with Senator McCarthy, and the inevitable conflict between paranoia, fear and the need for free speech. This does not sound particularly original, but Clooney (and co-writer/actor Grant Heslov) have wrought a tight little gem of a film, particularly with their use of documentary footage.  The gorgeous black and white photography and tight use of locations (apart from newsreel footage, the action – mostly set in the CBS newsroom and TV studio – never steps outside) maintains an elegant balance between Stathairn’s Murrow and his subjects – all of whom are seen on footage taken more than fifty years ago.  Murrow’s message about media misuse is even more relevant today, so it’s no surprise that Clooney - Hollywood’s latest liberal whipping boy – was so drawn to it. And considering how many long, long films there are (for every ‘King Kong’ there’s a ‘Memoirs Of A Geisha’), it’s a whole-hearted blessing to say that ‘Good Night, And Good Luck’ is a taut ninety minutes that is well-written, well-acted and very well directed. Recommended. - Jamie Hannigan  'Good Night, And Good Luck' is released nationwide on February 17th February, cert PG. www.goodnightandgoodluck.com  LADY VENGEANCE  Starring Yeong-ae Lee, Su-hee Go and Min-sik Choi. Directed by Park Chan-Wook. Korean director Park Chan-Wook concludes his ruminations on the theme of revenge with what is the gentlest film in a trilogy that began messily with 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance,' and continued manically with 'Oldboy.' Indeed, so operatically over-the-top was that previous film, so gutsy and innovative, that the meditative, sombre pace of this concluding chapter comes as something of a shock. This is not to imply that 'Lady Vengeance' is a tame picture – it isn't – but neither does it open with a man being dangled over a high building by his necktie to the tune of screeching classical music (viewers of a nervous disposition will no doubt be pleased to learn that be-tentacled sea-creatures also remain unmasticated). The retribution is not immediate, but the unhurried pace does nothing to lessen its impact when it arrives.  We are first introduced to our heroine as she is released from prison, having served thirteen years for, we come to learn, a crime she did not commit, a crime of a particularly heinous nature, the murder of a young boy. What follows, as Lee, now a celebrity, reintegrates herself into society, is an intricately structured series of flashbacks detailing the friendships she made whilst incarcerated and the circumstances that led her to being so. The key word here is intricate; the plot folds, origami like, back and forward upon itself in a manner that I initially found quite confusing, but once accustomed to its rhythms the story becomes compulsive as the true scope of her plan is revealed.  There is much here to recommend, the vivid production design being a standout and the performances too being of a high standard. But I failed to connect in a fundamental way with this film, and I don't think this was due to its less frenetic tone. The elliptical editing, although nicely achieved, served to distance me from the Lady's plight. Worth a watch, but a whimper compared to the roar of the first two installments. - David O Mahony  'Lady Vengeance' runs at the Irish Film Institute, on Dublin's Eustace Street, from Friday 17th February. www.tartanfilmsusa.com / www.irishfilm.ie  LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN  Starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, Michael Rubenfeld.  Director: Paul McGuigan. Honestly, I don’t really get the whole snappy, Guy Ritchie-style crime caper and a pressurised deadline isn’t allowing me much time to get my head around them either. So I guess I must be deficient in the tools of irony and pop-culture savvy that seem to be an essential requirement to enjoy a movie as self-consciously clever and smug as ‘Lucky Number Slevin’  After a confusing opening section, where we are introduced to mysterious hit-man Goodkat (Willis), the focus soon switches to Slevin (Hartnett) who seems way too chilled out, despite being on an incredible run of bad luck. Slevin has come to stay with his friend Nick in New York but is mistaken for his friend by crime lord The Boss (Freeman) whom Nick owes money. Slevin doesn’t seem too bewildered by any of this and agrees to assassinate the son of rival kingpin The Rabbi (Kingsley) in lieu of repaying the debt. But Nick also owes money to the Rabbi and after another case of mistaken identity, Slevin finds himself having to cover for his friend again. In between, Slevin finds time to romance Nick’s winsome, nosey neighbour Lindsey (Liu) before all the plot strands come together in a staggeringly predictable denouement.  The fact that the movie boasts such a strong cast is an indication either that the principle players saw something more in the material than I did or that some heavy-handed landlord is bearing down on Hollywood’s top brass to make their rent payments. Director McGuigan (Gangster Number One) has fashioned a narrative that is structurally and tonally all over the place. The abundance of flashbacks from different characters’ points of view are not needed to explain the finale’s obvious twists and revelations plus the sudden swerve into seriousness does not gel with what went before.  Of the cast, the best work, strangely enough, comes from Hartnett and Liu, who have enough charm and likeability to keep us interested. Willis phones in his performance while Freeman, who made such a startling movie debut as a villain in ‘Street Smart’, doesn’t entirely convince here. Kingsley, sporting a wonky Yiddish accent, doesn’t so much chew the scenery as devour entire sets. In the end, ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ does have an odd charm about it but really, it’s as daft as a brush. - Declan Cashin.  ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ opens nationwide on Friday 24th February. Certificate tba. No official website found.  AEON FLUX  Starring Charlise Theron, Francis McDormand, Sophie Econido, Johnny Lee Miller and Marton Csokas. Directed by Karen Kusama. Following in the footsteps of Halle Berry (‘Die Another Day’), Jennifer Connolly (‘Hulk’) and Nicholas Cage (‘The Rock’), Charlise Theron is succeeding her Oscar glory with a bid for action hero stardom. ‘Aeon Flux’ had all of the ingredients of a hit movie; bankable star, fashionable sci-fi themes, gun-toting babes (yes, plural) and elaborate special effects, but so far critics have hated it and audiences have stayed away in droves. Sure, ‘Aeon Flux’ is not what it could have been, and it pales in comparison to its animated source material. But it’s a far cry from the disaster that I was expecting and a damn sight better than recent genre hits like ‘Fantastic 4’ and The Matrix sequels. However, the sense of deja vu in ‘Aeon Flux’ is almost fatal.  The story involves (yawn) an utopian, sheltered future society that’s actually (get this) dystopian! You see, a disease has wiped out most of the earth’s population, so the rest of mankind are forced to live in a self-contained city, while Mother Nature reigns supreme outside those tall walls. Everything seems okay (no litter, little crime, stylishly dressed citizens) but every now and then people just disappear, presumably wiped out by the mysterious government. Aeon Flux (Theron) is the top assassin for an underground terrorist organization (the good kind) intent on overthrowing the government. The fate of mankind rests on her well-defined shoulders.  Does this sound familiar? Aeon Flux is a mix of many sci-fi texts and films, including (among others and in descending order) ‘1984’, ‘The Matrix’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Brave New World’, ‘Demolition Man’, ‘Existenz’ and a dash of ‘Serenity’. (Incidentally, the opening scene of last year’s ‘Serenity’ is as good a variation of the Evil Empire theme as I’ve seen.) Another problem stems from the film’s feminist stance. Theron looks amazing in her cling-on suit (and weird nightclothes) and those intense, feline eyes lend the film a gravitas that it doesn’t deserve. But there never seems to be that sense of boys-own adventure, even when negotiating an obstacle course, or taking out a dumb henchman. Even the most sensitive male action stars betray a certain sense of boyish or sadistic fun in the expensive sandpit of a film set.  But, despite its problems, there’s enough in ‘Aeon Flux’ to just about maintain interest. Theron works well, and looks marvellous. Indeed, her icy good looks, and cool diction are reminiscent of a young Michelle Pfeiffer. And there are some really neat flourishes, like the remote-control ball bearings, the liquid monitors and especially the Cronenberg-style organic traps like the literal blades of grass. There’s also a super fight scene between Flux and a henchwoman. The story is fine: it’s formulaic, but with a little more intelligence than you would expect.  Lenient film critics, sci-fi fanatics and teenage boys will enjoy ‘Aeon Flux, others may not have such a good time. Proceed with caution. – Joe Griffin  ‘Aeon Flux’ opens nationwide on Friday 17th February, certified 15A. www.aeonflux.com  THE FOG  Starring Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, DeRay Davis and Selma Blair. Directed by Rupert Wainwright. ‘The Fog,’ not this garbage, but John Carpenter’s original from 1980, is a film I have great affection for. As a boy, I cheerfully dedicated myself to the horror genre, seeing scant validity in movies where characters remained in one piece by the end credits. Why waste valuable hours on fusty dramatics when the possibility of freeze-framing through beheadings and eviscerations was freely available? To do otherwise made no sense; it was slice-and-dice or nothing. Such slavering loyalty to splatter resulted in my being witness to some truly ghastly films, bargain-basement trash unworthy of mention, but it also meant stumbling upon one or two which I still regard as classics of the genre, that original version of ‘The Fog’ being one of them. Other offerings in the Carpenter canon inevitably presented themselves to me, including his two masterpieces ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Thing,’ films that undoubtedly eclipse the modest achievements of the former. That said, however flawed its third act may be, his version of ‘The Fog’ boasts a stunning opening segment, a montage of subtly creepy happenings that beautifully sets the tone for what is to come.  But now it is the latest victim of Hollywood’s current frenzy for remakes. The lo-fi shockers of the seventies horror elite are being ‘re-imagined’ as contemporary production-line pap, multiplex fodder that betrays not one ounce of wit or imagination, to say nothing of the maker’s apparent ignorance of the genre’s dynamics. This is a film that feels as though it were conjured by a committee; the cast are all considerably younger and more attractive (to appeal to the all consuming teenage demographic), the tone, like the story is all over the place, veering widely from knockabout comedy to romance, the precious few fright sequences are utterly botched, directed with the all the skill of a drunken artichoke whose not really fussed about tension or continuity.  In fact, this film really doesn’t bother its arse trying to scare us at all, as it is content to meander about, feebly tossing in plot curve-balls, all of which serve only to muddy the waters of what ought to be a simple revenge story. The original set-up - whereby ghostly, fog-shrouded lepers (here replaced by blandly unthreatening CG versions) demand bloody retribution from an island community for a grievous wrong done to them by its forefathers - is now saddled with a preposterous love story angle. That’s right, the chief spook wants to get his misty old mitts on a particularly fetching filly, the girlfriend of Tom ‘Superman’ Welling as it happens. With his red jocks and cape in storage, poor Tom can only gnash his lantern jaw as the poorly rendered CGI fog encircles his mot. – David O Mahony  ‘The Fog’ opens nationwide on Friday 24th February, certified 15A. www.escapethefog.com  CASANOVA  Starring Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin and Omid Djalili. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Lasse Hallstrom, a director about whom the term ‘hack’ can be liberally applied, has, for many years now, being occupying himself with bland, prestige pictures of the likes of ‘The Shipping News’ and ‘The Cider House Rules.’ It seems as though the early promise sho  wn by ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,’ his first American production, has been shelved in favour of large paychecks. Indeed, a more cynical person than myself might suggest that he is, in this present incarnation, nothing more than a puppet in the hands of Oscar-hungry financial backers. Whatever the case, he has done himself no favours with ‘Casanova,’ comfortably his most terrible film, and one which will, I suspect, be occupying an elevated position on many end of year ‘worst of’ lists (as, I might add, will ‘The Fog,’ also reviewed in these pages).  It is, perhaps, a little too easy to read Heath Ledger’s decision to play the infamous lover of women as a cynical attempt to reclaim his masculinity after his turn as a stoic gay cowboy in the stunning ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ but in truth it represents another bad decision in a career littered with bad decisions. That the young Aussie can act is without question – Ang Lee’s film gave definitive proof of this – whether he has a nose for a good role is another matter.  What a cloyingly awful confection ‘Casanova’ is; a great big fluffy meringue of horror, it is akin to drowning in candyfloss, or slitting one’s throat with a particularly yucksome Valentine’s Day card. What little plot there is consists of numerous mistaken identities in the tradition of a French farce or Shakespeare comedy, but nowhere near as funny. There is an awful lot of running about Venetian locations, falling in and out of gondolas and so forth, the soundtrack’s hysterical strings underscoring frissons that just aren’t there.  As for the performances, Jeremy Irons is unspeakable, Sienna Miller forgettable and Ledger merely OK. Oliver Platt is the sole member of this sorry troupe who hits the right note of campy humour. Avoid at all costs. – David O Mahony   ‘Casanova’ opens nationwide on February 17th February, certified 12A. www.casanova.movies.go.com