Jude Law plays Will, the owner of a flourishing landscape architecture firm that has recently relocated to the heart of London’s King’s Cross.
Shacked up with his beautiful Swedish missus (Wright Penn) in a luxurious apartment things appear to be pretty much perfect for Will, until a series of break ins begin occurring at his offices.
With the cops unable to shed any light on the robberies, our man decides to do a bit of amateur police work and soon discovers that a 15 year old Bosnian refugee (Gavron) – skilled in the daredevil art of free running – is responsible.
But rather than reporting his discovery to the police, Will follows the light fingered sod back to his house where he meets boy’s mother, Amira (Binoche), and begins a relationship that will change their lives forever.
They say:
Empire: “Admirable intentions aside, Minghella’s gloomy picture of London’s schizophrenic heart feels more movie than life.
Total Film: “Law and Minghella’s third pairing lacks the ambition of The Talented Mr Ripley but compensates with intelligence and a dry, pithy wit.”
Channel 4: “Minghella's ambitious tale of clashing cultures is compromised by his leading man's shallow performance.”
We say:
After 15 years away Anthony Minghella returns to English soil for the first time since Truly Madly Deeply (which is also the last time he directed one of his own original screenplays), although his London bears little resemblance to the city we know.
Despite being described as “a crack village full of Somalians walking around with machetes”, Minghella’s King’s Cross - packed with beautiful offices and even more beautiful people – comes straight out of an Ideal Homes catalogue, instantly destroying any sense of realism the director is striving for.
And Minghella’s decision to cast the recognisable faces of Binoche and Law (their third actor/ director collaboration after Cold Mountain and The Talented Mr Ripley – both of which earned Law Oscar nods) in the main roles further undermines his struggle to highlight the differences between the privileged elite and immigrant underclass in our capital.
It's also unfortunate for the director that during filming last year life imitated art when Law was caught cheating on his girlfriend Sienna Miller. It is difficult not to watch the movie now without remembering this, and feeling any sympathy for Law’s philandering character is virtually impossible.
However, Minghella’s cerebral script does raise some interesting questions about commitment, immigration and cultural diversity, and Martin “The Office” Freeman provides some nice comic touches as Will’s despairing partner.
Intermittently provocative, but heavy going for the most part, fans of Minghella’s earlier successes are likely to feel robbed.
CAST
Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Ray Winstone,
Martin Freeman, Vera Farmiga, Rafi Gavron
DIRECTOR
Anthony Minghella
TIME
120 mins
POSTED...
Thu 9 Nov 2006 at 6:33pm
