Strange bedfellows.
Yesterday I watched District 13 in which all the actors in it are comedians and it is not a comedy. It is a Jackie Chan martial arts film with at least a hint of a theme, and quite fun. The opening chase scene is worth the price of admission, with this great gymnast, David Belle, scrambling over balconies, shooting himself through transoms and leaping off of buildings for what look to be leg-shattering distances. It is year 2010 in Bario or Banlieue 13, a ghetto by any name, the dark side of Paris, where all the druggies and dealers now live behind an immense wall. (Hmmm. Sounds familiar, huh?) The esteemable politicians of the city have a solution for the problems of the ghetto--a nuclear bomb. Twist: when Belle, who is in jail, is taken out, to aid the police--or is that really what they want from him?
Eye of the Beholder was given only one star, which was about right. In fact, I would not even mention that movie, except that I think it failed not because it did not do enough, but because it left so little to the imagination. The plot is flimsy--but not elusive enough to be intriguing or interesting. So how did I come to watch it? I saw right away that it was extremely dark and unlikely to have a happy ending. But Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd were both making such earnest work of their roles that I went along for the ride. Maybe I should just admit that I like Ashley Judd and went along for the ride because she had the main role. Ewan McGregor was suitably creepy. The cast also included Genvieve Bujold, k.d. Lang, and Jason Priestly. (I did not notice Jason Priestly, so I guess he was deep into his role, whatever it was.)
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