Bluesy and Trap Review

The FLicks

THE DEVIL'S OWN
Directed by Alan J. Pakula, screenplay by David Aaron Cohen & Vincent Patrick and Kevin Jarre, story by Kevin Jarre, starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Ruben Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitchell Ryan, Natascha McElhone, Paul Ronan, Simon Jones

Bluesy: There’s just one question that’s really been plaguing me since I saw THE DEVIL’S OWN. What sort of accent was Brad Pitt DOING? I mean, I know it was supposed to be an Irish accent, but this was about as authentic as a Lucky Charms commercial. My old boyfriend from Kerry would’ve been tossing used Guinness bottles at the screen, if he were watching (and if he was, just remember, honey, it’s only a movie).

Trap: Hey! That’s not fair – I wanted to be the one to make fun of his accent! Not, of course, that his accent is the only inconsistency in this film, a dour, uninvolving thriller about an IRA gunman (Pitt) on the run who finds sanctuary in the household of an Irish-American New York cop (Ford). Ford doesn’t realize that his houseguest is a wanted terrorist who’s in town to broker a shipment of Stinger missiles for his comrades back home, but instead thinks he’s just another immigrant looking for a fresh start. At first he warms to the young man, beginning to think of him as the son he never had, but then the arms deal goes sour and Pitt’s past begins to catch up with him, bringing the violence into Ford’s all-American home.

This was evidently a troubled production whose script was re-written several times while the film was being shot, which helps explain a lot of the story’s ungainliness, but even so it’s a mess. Alan J. Pakula made three of the most accomplished thrillers of the seventies, KLUTE, THE PARALLAX VIEW, and ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, films where even the most ordinary scenes seemed drenched in menace and where you were constantly aware of the great, shadowy conspiracies swirling around their protagonists. I never got that here – to give one instance, a subplot about a British secret service agent who’s on Pitt’s trail is brought up, dropped for a large stretch of the film, brought briefly again to no effect, then dropped again forever. It just lurched from one depressingly pointless scene to the next. At least you got to ogle the two heroes – I just had to sit there thinking about how unpleasant the weather looked.

Bluesy: Even my ever-ogling eye was getting bloodshot sitting through this one, Trap. It’s really a shame because Harrison Ford is one of my all-time favorite movie hunks, but this time I felt as sorry for him as the time I sat through REGARDING HENRY. Somebody should tell the studios that Harrison Ford is no wimp. The actor who dazzled us with characters like Hans Solo, Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan, is now playing a cop who’s afraid to fire a gun. I was cringing And after Brad Pitt’s spunky performances in THELMA & LOUISE, 12 MONKEYS and SEVEN, he’s now playing some droll, dare I say "dull," mumbling anti-hero? What were these talented, normally charismatic leading men thinking when they read this script? Or is this one of those films that read well and somehow just fell flat once it hit the screen? I don’t know the whole backstage story, but I do know that they should’ve saved some energy for making this film. Everyone involved seems to be in sore need of some caffeine, as I did about 20 minutes into the film. Very dissappointing.

Trap: I’m glad you brought up Han Solo, Bluesy. One of the pleasures of the recent STAR WARS re-releases is being reminded just how charming and funny Ford is capable of being. Lately, however, in films like this, PATRIOT GAMES, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, all he does is play the grim-faced avenger. It seems like he’s barely cracked a smile in years. I mean, the guy’s one of the biggest stars in Hollywood – you’d think he’d lighten up a bit.

Bluesy: Now, now… we don’t want to suggest Harrison take the Jim Carrey route. But you’re right, even in such dismal roles as Linus in SABRINA, poor Harrison never gets to smile anymore. And he has a nice smile, from what I remember. Yet, I still say if he’s NOT going to smile, at least give the man something to DO. Nobody really does anything in THE DEVIL’S OWN. Oh sure, there’s your requisite chase scenes, a few bombings, some shootings and bloodshed… but everything seems so distant, so unsuspenseful. It’s hard to imagine with a topic this current and emotionally charged that this film could be so incredibly boring.