Elwood-38 Reviews

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

Mila delivers in spite of film

[6/10 · 15 November 1999]

There a a few strengths to this film that are overshadowed by many weaknesses. For one, Mila Jovovich gives an excellent performance. She portrays a manic, self possessed and self righteous woman acting out the will of a higher power she nonetheless makes Joan an interesting character to watch and empathize with. Luc Besson delivers with his excellent cinematics and camera work. Between his direction and Mila's performance this is a truly beautiful film.

However, the dialogue for nearly everyone except for Mila and Dustin Hoffman is very flat. At times the dialogue is full of modern anachronisms that are very distracting and cheapen the whole ambiance of the film. It seemed as if the film was trying to be hip while portraying an important historic drama. There are too many examples of this to quote here, but suffice it to say that poor dialogue ruined an otherwise good film.

See the Messenger for Mila, see it for good direction in film, but be prepared to groan when the talking starts.

6 out of 10.

Stigmata (1999)

A thought provoking film

[7/10 · 14 September 1999]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to view this film. I've always enjoyed movies with a theological spin and this one didn't disappoint. The acting was solid and the story works well. I'm sure many fundamental Christians and Catholics will find the movie offensive. They shouldn't, the final message is simple and beautiful. If anything, this movie attacks everything that is wrong with modern religion without getting preachy in the process. It should be praised by the faithful, not condemned.

The one drawback was the directing. Energetic with many well shot and interesting closeups, it was unfortunately overdone in many parts. The end result was the sense that I had just watched a two hour music video. In small doses the directors style would have been a strength, but when carried on throughout the film it simply becomes self indulgent. Because of this flaw, I can only give Stigmata a 7 out of 10.