John Curran’s latest film is thrust onto DVD next week and benefits from some fine performances from its main cast to lift it from the rather ordinary premise we find ourselves with.
Stone has Robert De Niro’s parole officer nearing a welcome retirement when convicted arsonist “Stone” Creeson sits down opposite him seeking, but not expecting, parole. Their initial conversation is a game of coarse oneupmanship and prejudicial sparring with no resolution, but the tone is set for these two men and the two very different worlds they inhabit to collide.
Enter Stone’s wife, played Milla Jovovich, who will stop at nothing to secure his release on parole. As she preys on De Niro’s character she is revealed as the rotten heart of this film, turning the screws and switching allegiances with a strange agenda all of her own.
When you describe the film like that it looks rubbish, but the truth is that the performances, particularly from Jovovich, help Curran’s film achieve more than its mediocre premise suggests.
Jovovich’s act is seductive and terrifyingly random, and she is better in this than I’ve seen her in a long time. Breaking against the tough exterior of De Niro’s weathered career man she drives the film along and I was compelled to see where her actions would take us.
Through crude manipulation and one cruel lesson in sexual politics later and the tower comes crumbling down. De Niro’s stoic, righteous white-collar existence is taken apart piece by piece by people we were led to believe would have trouble pulling on a pair of socks. While jealousy and frustration play their part in his downfall it is far more interesting to see how the film reveals that De Niro’s parole officer was seemingly always on this path, and how easily he falls, and how fragile his deep rooted convictions truly are.
Norton is compelling as always, though his thick accent and broad brushstrokes are troubling at the first instance but eventually settle down and the small details he peppers his characters with become evident and his errant, childish nature falls away, revealing a psychosexual bully as cunning as De Niro’s character is distrustful. It’s a powerful match and Curran’s film is enjoyable, if unoriginal.
[Rating:2.5/5]
