Movie Review Enigma

Enigma (2001) 

Directed by Michael Apted

Written by Tom Stoppard

Starring Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy Northam, Saffron Burrows, Tom Hollander

Release Date April 19th, 2002 

Published October 8th 2002 

A little more than two years ago, the film U-571 caused a small controversy when it portrayed an American sub crew as the first Allied soldiers to capture a German code-breaking machine. It was not the Americans but rather a British sub that captured the first Enigma machine. And Enigma shows that it was the British who first cracked (and then cracked again) the German’s supposedly unbreakable codes.

At Bletchley Park, a converted British farm, a group of Britain’s top mathematicians are holed up combing through jumbled numbers and letters, attempting to uncover German troop movements. As we join the story we meet Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott), possibly Britain’s top code breaker. Jericho was the first to break Germany’s Shark code—the code used by German U-boats. Jericho is returning to Bletchley Park after recovering from a nervous breakdown that his colleagues believed was work induced; however, we come to realize that it was caused by a failed romance with a mysterious blonde named Claire (Saffron Burrows).

It is Tom’s goal to return to Bletchley Park and win Claire back, but upon his arrival, he finds Claire has gone missing and the code he had spent so much time cracking is now useless. As Tom is distracted by his search for Claire he must also deal with once again cracking this uncrackable code. In his search for Claire, Tom enlists the help of Claire’s best friend,

Hestor (Kate Winslet). Tom and Hestor quickly discover that Claire’s disappearance and Jericho’s unbreakable code may be related. Jeremy Northam plays a lawman named Wigram who suspects that one of the Bletchley Park mathematicians may be a German spy and because of Jericho’s strange behavior he is at the top of Wigram’s list.

The code breaking in the film is quite complicated, to the point of being entirely confusing to anyone not well versed in mathematics. It was so confusing that a layman would not understand it; however, to dumb it down would be a disservice to the history of Bletchley Park.  

While the difficulty of that portion of the story makes Enigma difficult to follow at times, the actors, (notably Dougray Scott) do an excellent job ofkeeping the audience engaged. The scenes involving Scott and Northam are something out of classic Hitchcock as these two intelligent men match wits searching for a missing femme fatale and a spy who may or may not be the one in the same.

Had director Michael Apted indulged more of the Hitchcockian elements of Enigma, the film may have been far more entertaining. As it is, Enigma comes off more as a scholarly historical piece and less of an entertaining mystery. Still Enigma is a well-crafted piece worth a look for. It is shining a light on history that is too often colored by Hollywood. 

Movie Review Possession

Possession (2002) 

Directed by Neil Labute 

Written by David Henry Hwang, Laura Jones, Neil Labute 

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhardt, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Headey 

Release date August 16th, 2002 

Published August 16th, 2002 

As something of a writer myself, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to make a film about writing. In Possession, writer/director Neil Labute (with help from Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart) nearly pulls it off. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how interesting watching people conduct research about great writers can be.

Eckhart is an American historian named Roland Mitchell, working and living in Britain. In the midst of researching a poet named Randolf Henry Ash, played in flashback by Jeremy Northam, he comes across a letter that has gone unseen for over a hundred years. Rather than turning it over to his superiors, Roland keeps it until he can verify its authenticity. This leads him to a fellow researcher named Maud Bailey (Paltrow), who is an expert in all things Ash. 

The letter is quite complicated, as it is not addressed to his wife (as most of Ash's work is), but rather, to a mystery woman. For historians, this is an earth-shattering discovery. Ash's fidelity and love for his wife is part of his legend. The mystery woman is a fellow writer named Christabel La Motte (Jennifer Ehle). Her history is notable for her open homosexuality and what was thought to be a fitful relationship with her maid. The deeper the research the more interesting the revelation. I won't spoil the film's many turns.

The story is interesting and well plotted but the romance between Eckhart and Paltrow never quite sparks. The two just don't have the chemistry it takes to make the film burn with the passion Labute is obviously looking for; the kind of passion that would inspire such great romantic writing. In the film's parallel story of Ash and Christabel, there is great passion. Northam and Ehle do burn up the screen and their writing is vivid and lovely.

Unfortunately that isn't enough for me to fully recommend Possession. This certainly isn't a bad film but the lack of chemistry between the two leads undoes most of the strong narrative. For fans of Paltrow, Possession may be a worthy rental.

Movie Review The Invasion

The Invasion (2007) 

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel 

Written by David Kajganich 

Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jeffrey Wright

Release Date August 17th, 2007

Published August 16th, 2007 

The latest incarnation of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, that legendary cold war parable based on the novel by Jack Finney, is one those mythically troubled Hollywood productions. Not quite the historic Hollywood disaster of Bonfire of the Vanities or Ishtar, but with more than a little in common with the recent disastrous Exorcist prequel(s), The Invasion was once directed by an up and coming director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, before being almost entirely reshot by V For Vendetta helmer James McTiegue, with guidance from his producing partners Lana and Lilly Wachowski, The Invasion is a bizarre hybrid of failed ideas and pieces that just don't fit. 

Now, this compromised, reshot version of Hirschbiegel's take on the Body Snatchers legend is finally on the big screen and the result is, as predicted, an utter disaster. The Invasion is a nonsense movie comprised of half baked political ideas and lame, over the top action set pieces. The last time Nicole Kidman starred in a big budget remake the result was the dreary, nonsensical recreation of The Stepford Wives. Working on that highly troubled production should have taught the Oscar winner a lesson yet here she is in The Invasion starring as psychiatrist Carol Bennell. This mother of one son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), is a dedicated mother and doctor

Dad, Tucker (Jeremy Northam) is a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and when the space shuttle Patriot crashes leaving debris spread across several states he is surprised to be called to the scene. It seems the ship is coated in some sort of alien ooze. When Tucker is accidentally cut by a piece of debris he is soon changed and an alien virus is set loose on the planet. Beginning as what many feel is a flu epidemic, Tucker uses his position at the CDC and his access to the President of the United States, to spread the alien virus and his first target is his son.

It will soon be up to mom and her scientist boyfriend Ben (Daniel Craig) and another scientist, Dr. Galleon (Jeffrey Wright) to discover the virus, uncover the conspiracy and stay uninfected long enough to discover a cure. There are germs of many ideas in The Invasion and a good deal of high minded ambition as well. Unfortunately, not even two talented directors, Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) or pinch hitter James McTiegue (V For Vendetta), and a script overhaul by the Matrix team can seem to wrangle these ideas or ambitions into a cohesive story.

It's clear that the makers of The Invasion desperately wanted the film to be relevant, even political. However, lacking any idea of what metaphor it wants to represent or political philosophy it supports, The Invasion flails in many different directions with no real target to aim at. Allusions are made to the genocide in Darfur, the roiling conflict between Israel and Palestine, and to the war in Iraq but the film doesn't really have a discernible opinion about any of these issues. Rather, each is used as an unsettling plot point in a truly confusing final act that will have some wondering if the aliens are really the bad guys. Yes, the film is so bad, you may just root for the destruction of humanity.

Even through the morass of a thoroughly confused plot, the talented cast of The Invasion manages to make the movie rather gripping. Nicole Kidman is an actress of tremendous strength and fortitude and she sells the tension of the alien invasion extraordinarily well. Though she is a little too convincing as an icy, emotionless, zombie, Ms. Kidman's tenacity and the well calibrated action of The Invasion do manage, from time to time, to move you to the edge of your seat.

Is this really the film that Daniel Craig meant to follow up James Bond with? Not really, actually he was given the role of 007 during shooting of The Invasion. It was only after he completed work on Casino Royale that Craig was called back to reshoot scenes for The Invasion that would hold the film until after Casino Royale. A bummer for Craig who I'm sure wishes he could have had a stronger follow up for Bond than playing second fiddle in a tragic sci fi misfire like The Invasion.

On a more disturbing note, whose awful idea was it to bring the alien virus to earth on a crashing NASA space shuttle? A crash that is not merely reminiscent of the 2003 crash of the space shuttle Columbia but so obviously modeled on the details of that tragedy that a lawsuit would not be out of the question. The crash in The Invasion is spread predominantly over Texas with debris that spread over several southern states. This was the near exact fate of Columbia.

Shame on the producers of The Invasion and the studio for including something of such poor taste and utter disregard for the brave men and women of Columbia and their families. They deserve far better than to have their tragedy be a plot device in some B-movie sci fi schlock-fest. Will we ever see director Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut of The Invasion? Maybe, maybe not. No one expected to see Paul Schrader's Exorcist prequel or Ridley Scott's Blade Runner but both are now widely available. Hirschbiegel's version no doubt still exists somewhere and will likely be sought after by many a curious sci fi fan due to how uproariously terrible the reshoots clearly are.

Let us keep in mind however, that there is nothing in what is left of The Invasion that holds much promise for a better version to exist in the shadows. The whole misguided enterprise looks more simply like a case of a movie in search of an idea that never really found one. Covering the holes and the cracks with skillful car chases and  well staged gunplay, the Wachowski's and director James McTiegue likely did all that they could with the materials on hand.

Don't hold out too much hope sci fi fans. Let's try and put this Invasion behind us.