Movie Review: Things Behind the Sun (2001)

Things Behind the Sun (2001)

Directed by Allison Anders 

Written by Allison Anders 

Starring Kim Dickens, Gabriel Mann 

Release Date January 24th, 2001 

Published June 26th, 2001 

There is no more damaging crime in the world than rape. A victim of rape in most cases will deal with that trauma the rest of their lives. How do I know anything about this? I have two female friends who were victims of date rape; raped by men they knew and thought they could trust. The pain on their faces when the subject of intimacy comes up lets me know more than I could ever express about the horrible trauma of rape. That same kind of pain is brought home in a very deep and profound way in Allison Anders' Showtime television project Things Behind The Sun.

Things Behind the Sun is the story of an up and coming rock star named Sherry (Kim Dickens), who at the age of 12 was raped. She can't remember the details of the rape such as where it happened or who did it. Gabriel Mann is Owen, a rock journalist who is sent to interview Sherry but also has a secret that is key to what happened to her on the day she was raped. Owen was there when it happened, in fact he was an unwilling participant in the rape, forced by his own brother, played by Eric Stoltz, to rape the girl with whom he had just begun a tentative relationship. At first Sherry doesn't know who Owen is, she is locked in an alcoholic haze induced by the years of torment following her attack. But once Sherry finds out who Owen is the film gains it's momentum, and becomes an emotional rollercoaster.

Things Behind The Sun was directed and written by well-known indie hauteur Allison Anders and is said to be based on some of her own personal experiences. This is probably why the film feels so real it was almost too painful to watch. Anders is one the most brave and beautiful filmmakers I have ever seen and proves that film is not just entertainment at times, it can also be art.

The performances by Gabriel Mann and especially Kim Dickens are deeply affecting and emotional. It's surprising because neither had previously shown much promise. Especially Mann, whose resume includes Josie & the Pussycats and the Freddie Prinze Jr. movie Summer Catch. Each actor is aided greatly by a brilliant supporting cast including Don Cheadle (Candidate for best actor on the planet in my opinion), as Sherry's much abused manager and boyfriend/attempted savior, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz and Elizabeth Pena in small but pivotal roles.

Things Behind The Sun is the first film in a long time that was able to pierce my ironic armor and go straight to my heart with it's beautifully written story, moving performances and lovely soundtrack provided in part by Sonic Youth. I am not ashamed to admit this film made me cry more than once though admittedly I'm closer to the subject matter than some. I feel it may have that effect on anyone who sees it. In retrospect Things Behind The Sun may have been the best film of 2001, I urge everyone to see it

Movie Review The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale (2003) 

Directed by Alan Parker 

Written by Charles Randolph 

Starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann 

Release Date February 21st, 2003 

Published February 20th, 2003 

It seems that in all of my reviews of Kevin Spacey's movies I end up asking, “What has happened to Kevin Spacey?”

I always begin by recalling how brilliant he was in Seven, The Usual Suspects and his star making turn in American Beauty. It is because I WAS such a big fan of Spacey that I long to remember why I was a fan. Spacey's last four films have done a lot to make me forget how great Spacey once was. The Shipping News, K-Pax, Pay It Forward, and Ordinary Decent Criminal are all terrible films that don't meet the standards of Spacey's previous work and are really not even in the ballpark with his best performances.

I still believe Spacey can turn it around with one great role. His last four films and his previous brilliant works represent two extremes which leads us to our point, to which extreme does his new film The Life Of David Gale go? Well with early Oscar buzz quickly shifting to a scramble by producers to get it out of the way of the competitive December market, the buzz wasn't good. Sadly, the film lives up to the bad buzz.

As the title character, Professor David Gale, Spacey is the head of the philosophy department at a Texas college and the lead spokesman for Deathwatch, an anti-death penalty lobbying group. However, when we first meet Professor he is behind bars and awaiting a lethal injection on Texas's death row. David Gale was convicted of the murder of a fellow death penalty activist, Constance Halloway (Laura Linney). Her nude and battered body was found on her kitchen floor with a bag over her head and her hands handcuffed behind her back. Every piece of evidence points at Professor Gale, his fingerprints were found on the bag and his semen was found in the victim.

Gale still maintains his innocence and agrees to an interview with a New York journalist just four days before his execution. The journalist is Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) and it's unclear why Gale chose her. She has never written about the death penalty and has only a vague knowledge of his case, which has made national headlines simply based on the irony of a death penalty activist on death row. In fact, it is that very irony that fuels Gale's paranoid defense that a conspiracy has landed him on death row. 

In flashback, Gale details his relationship with Constance, which he claims was that of good friends and nothing more. Gale talks about his wife leaving him and taking his son to live in Spain. He openly discusses his drinking problem and finally the affair that sent his life into a tailspin. After a student offers to do anything to raise her grade, the good professor tells the student to study harder. That student is expelled for her bad grades. After that same student shows up at a party Gale attended, Gale is seduced and later accused of rape. The former student's revenge on Professor Gale is to accuse him of rape, she soon after dropped the charges but the stigma of the charges cost Gale his job. As Gale is explaining his story to Bitsey, a mystery is unfolding involving a shady cowboy (Matt Craven) and a videotape that may prove Gale's innocence.

To tell you anymore would spoil the film’s supposedly shocking twists. Director Allan Parker's ham handed direction tips off the twists well ahead of time but you should be disgusted by this film’s lunkheadedness on your own. The film is supposed to be a message picture about how horrible the death penalty is but the film hammers it's message home in such a way that the audience couldn't care less if Gale gets the needle or not. 

Surrounding the anti death penalty screed, is a mystery plot so convoluted as to murder credibility. The film’s mystery relies on the journalist being such a dope that her magazine would actually pay a half million dollars to get the interview with Gale, when he should be begging for interviews to prove his innocence instead of charging exorbitant amounts of money. The Life of David Gale flies in the face of credibility and saddles it's wonderful stars with a plot so heavy handed and ridiculous that they really had no chance of recovering.

So there is a ray of hope for Spacey fans. At least this one wasn't entirely his fault.