From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Sep 11 11:21:45 2001 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!howland.erols.net!cyclone2.usenetserver.com!usenetserver.com!feed.textport.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Shannon Patrick Sullivan Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Possible Worlds (2000) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 18:51:32 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 29371 X-Language: en X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 2/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #29371 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 53 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:27539 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2929 POSSIBLE WORLDS (2000) / ** Directed by Robert Lepage. Screenplay by Lepage and John Mighton. Starring Tom McCamus, Tilda Swinton, Sean McCann. Running time: 93 minutes. Rated PG by the MFCB. Reviewed on October 28th, 2001. By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN Synopsis: Two police officers investigate the murder of George Barber (McCamus), whose brain has been stolen. Meanwhile, George apparently lives on in a number of "possible worlds", where George is the same man but others are vastly different, including his perpetual lover, Joyce (Swinton). What is the nature of George's possible worlds, and how do these relate to his apparent murder? Review: "Possible Worlds" is an interesting but ultimately unsuccessful exploration of the concept of "parallel universes". Profound questions are raised, but are sadly tangled in a weak, unsatisfying story. As the only constant in each of the "worlds", George should be a strong focal character, an anchor for the audience. Unfortunately, he is a virtual spectre, gliding through the movie with little trace of personality. The same cannot be said of Joyce, in any of her incarnations, a role to which Swinton brings strength and evenness. But each Joyce is so prickly and abrasive that it is difficult to relate to her; consequently, the audience is left without anyone to care for. And while there is a wonderfully ethereal aura pervading "Possible Worlds", Lepage is unable to find a balance in this. The result is that the film frequently feels too slow, even boring. Attempts to spice things up by injecting comical scenes with the police officers are failures too, because the contrast is too jarring, and the humour feeble. And while it is understandable that Mighton leaves unanswered the questions he raises, it is less acceptable that entire plot points go unanswered -- what, for example, was the significance of a man found drowned in a room with no water? And this pales in comparison with the film's farcical ending, which is right out of a Hollywood B-movie. Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | Shannon Patrick Sullivan | shannon@mun.ca | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 29371 X-Language: en X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 2/4