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The devil appears on Pastor Sandow's doorstep, then moves into his house, because this Pastor has a past. | score C- |
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| Cast Gaél Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Pell James, Paul Dano Director James Marsh Screenwriter Milo Addica Country USA / UK Rating / Running Time MA / 105 minutes Australian Release 2006 Official Site (c) moviereview
2005
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
A lot is asked of us
by documentarian-turned-filmmaker James Marsh. He’s working with writer Milo
Addica (Monsters Ball) in this devil-on-your-doorstep
morality tale. The story is a tough one to swallow, and even tougher to follow
dramatically. William Hurt is Pastor Sandow whose family is challenged by the unannounced
arrival of his bastard son, Elvis (Gael Garcia Berneal). He strikes up an
illicit affair with the preacher’s daughter until confronted by her brother
Paul. Things go awry, Paul goes missing and Elvis moves into the family home; all
the better to continue a seduction of his half-sister while moral ambiguity
flies thick and tragedies pile up. The family responds as Christians might –
pray and fast as this handsome devil tests their beliefs. The King presents some interesting dilemmas in a would-be Cain and Able styled exposé. Unfortunately, Marsh chooses the middle ground time and again, resisting any opportunity to take his film anywhere certain. He fails to give Elvis back story or motivation, rendering his actions implausible at best, though more often simply ridiculous. Despite the intensity of events that befalls the family, and Elvis to some degree, their emotional responses are as checked and mannered as politicians on the nightly news. That’s despite the attentive work of Berneal, Paul Dano as the upright son or Pell James as the corrupted daughter. Likewise Marsh’s staid vision gains neither the stylised atmospherics it requires, or the intensity of doco-drama to which it occasionally aspires. Without any credible indication toward the kind of film this is or wants to be, Marsh reduces The King to a pointless, unpalatable exercise in nihilism. // COLIN FRASER |