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Yaddo 42
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« on: November 23, 2004, 09:55:14 PM » |
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Just watched this French/British/Mexican coproduction "based freely" on the French Western comic strip "Blueberry". No idea how it did overseas but has gone straight to video in the USA.
Mike Blueberry is a Cajun who was sent west to live with his uncle as a teenager but after an event that wrecks his life (and form a key part of the plot) he winds up living with some nearby Indians for several years. Years later he's the marshal of a town on the edge of the Indian territory. Several new arrivals in town are looking for a mysterious mountain in the territory to find an even more mysterious treasure. Gunfights, peyote taking, and brooding dialogue follows.
I only know the Blueberry comic by reputation and its connection of the artist Mobius, so I have no clue how faithful the film is. But the film starts out promising and never goes very far. The peyote taking seems to be an excuse for long sequences of CGI head trips and nightmares, which weigh down the film. They can be neat to look at, but add little to the film. Great location shooting and camera work that's worth a look however.
A large cast of familiar names: Vincent Cassel, Juilette Lewis (she has a full frontal nudity shot in the film, for those who are fans), Geoffrey Lewis (playing dad to Juilette, have they ever been together in a film before?), Michael Madsen (in "Kill Bill" mode, you could almost think this character was an ancestor to Bill and Bud somehow), Djimon Hounsou (who has little to do), Ernest Borgnine (giving the same performance he's been giving since about 1974, wish he'd retire), Eddie Izzard (as a Prussian geologist, but with that accent I think I know who could play Klaus Kinski in a film now), and Colm Meaney.
Worth a rental or if it turns up in the bargain bin, but mostly just to look at.
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