TYPICAL 40'S SCREENPLAY
Added 11/20/2009
The story goes that previews of High Noon showed it to be just another Western which would make a go of it only on Gary Coopers indelible character. Then they got themselves a score and made it a classic film. Well, City of Ghosts is a distance away from classic status but, still and all, it is one very entertaining film. Sure, I didn't always know who was who and what they were doing; but, the pacing, the music and the great Thai setting, unified the film so that little obstructions such as not knowing just what was happening and why, were just part of the show. To the director and co-author, Matt Dillon deserves a good deal of credit. The actor, Matt Dillon, supported by a fine, almost unmannered performance by James Caan, lead a cast of mixed nationality unified by talent, to produce a gratifying outcome. Of course, if ambiguity of plot and oddity of many characters are not to your taste, this is not for you.
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Highly atmospheric but somewhat meandering
Added 10/11/2009
Matt Dillon's directorial debut is one of those films whose strengths are also its weaknesses. It's atmospheric with a fairly vivid sense of place - the parts of Cambodia that need a paint job, where Dillon's insurance fraudster has come to collect his cut of a Ponzi scheme that's just been blown away by a hurricane - and the human flotsam and jetsam that wind up there (many played by local residents rather than professional actors). At times the atmosphere is almost like a modern-day Joseph Conrad tale rather than the David Lynch films co-writer Barry Gifford is perhaps better known for. But this takes precedence over the plot, the concise plotting of the early scenes giving way to local colour and eccentrics as his boss, James Caan, and fellow conman Stellan Skarsgard, fall foul of some very bad people who also have Dillon in their sights. Despite starting out like one of those south of the border Robert Mitchum RKO thrillers of the 40s and 50s, there's a determinedly 70s indie vibe reminiscent more of Bogdanovich's Saint Jack rather than Cassevettes, albeit with a better budget, but while it constantly holds the interest it doesn't really grip. Instead the attraction is more like slumming it in a bad neighborhood with all sense of personal threat removed.
Still, Gerard Depardieu is great fun as a bar/hotel owner playing Jacques Dutronc songs or trying to persuade his pet python to seek out and eat a pilfering monkey ("Here Olly-ver! Olly-ver! The monkee! Monkee!"), the relationship with Kem Sereyvuth's cyclo driver is nicely developed and refreshingly non-patronising, it's nice to see Bo Hopkins again even in a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo and it's probably your only chance to see Caan dancing in a sarong or drunkenly singing karaoke in Khmer.
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A journey to hell!
Added 9/7/2009
This film is a real journey to an unknown world. An assurance-executive is inquired by the federal authorities due the fact the Assurance Enterprise has not responded to their clients after a tragedy.
There's a shadow of doubt about fraud and so he by his own, will undertake a journey to contact Marvin (his employer but tied to him for other reason) that eventually will lead him to Bangkok( Thailand) and then Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Once he arrives a set of unfortunate will happen him until he finds the awful truth behind. A sinister web of corruption that involves a retired General will take place.
Matt Dillon made an auspicious directrial debut with this tense drama, hovered of tension and crude realism. The cast was formidable. Depardieu is terrific like the owner of a nasty hotel (The Beiville) and James Caan as Marvin conform a team hard to improve.
Don't miss it.
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very impressive!!!
Added 11/29/2008
Matt Dillon directed this film... his first. Very impressive! The choices across the board are perfect, and the score by Tyler Bates... well done. I too cannot figure out how I missed this!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Matt Dillon in over his head
Added 8/4/2008
Matt Dillon wrote, directed and acted in this sort of pulp fiction tale about a con artist feeling guilty about bilking victims of a Hurricane Katrina-like mess. The cutting is a little too quick and the muddled plot is hard to follow for most of the movie. The soundtrack gets annoying with its endless southeast Asian whining sounds. James Caan is interesting, as usual. Maybe if Dillon had not tried to do too much, this film would have come out better. As it stands, it's worth a watch, I guess. But you won't remember it a day or two later. Also, the title makes no sense. I still don't see how it applies to the movie.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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TYPICAL 40'S SCREENPLAY
Added 11/20/2009
The story goes that previews of High Noon showed it to be just another Western which would make a go of it only on Gary Coopers indelible character. Then they got themselves a score and made it a classic film. Well, City of Ghosts is a distance away from classic status but, still and all, it is one very entertaining film. Sure, I didn't always know who was who and what they were doing; but, the pacing, the music and the great Thai setting, unified the film so that little obstructions such as not knowing just what was happening and why, were just part of the show. To the director and co-author, Matt Dillon deserves a good deal of credit. The actor, Matt Dillon, supported by a fine, almost unmannered performance by James Caan, lead a cast of mixed nationality unified by talent, to produce a gratifying outcome. Of course, if ambiguity of plot and oddity of many characters are not to your taste, this is not for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Highly atmospheric but somewhat meandering
Added 10/11/2009
Matt Dillon's directorial debut is one of those films whose strengths are also its weaknesses. It's atmospheric with a fairly vivid sense of place - the parts of Cambodia that need a paint job, where Dillon's insurance fraudster has come to collect his cut of a Ponzi scheme that's just been blown away by a hurricane - and the human flotsam and jetsam that wind up there (many played by local residents rather than professional actors). At times the atmosphere is almost like a modern-day Joseph Conrad tale rather than the David Lynch films co-writer Barry Gifford is perhaps better known for. But this takes precedence over the plot, the concise plotting of the early scenes giving way to local colour and eccentrics as his boss, James Caan, and fellow conman Stellan Skarsgard, fall foul of some very bad people who also have Dillon in their sights. Despite starting out like one of those south of the border Robert Mitchum RKO thrillers of the 40s and 50s, there's a determinedly 70s indie vibe reminiscent more of Bogdanovich's Saint Jack rather than Cassevettes, albeit with a better budget, but while it constantly holds the interest it doesn't really grip. Instead the attraction is more like slumming it in a bad neighborhood with all sense of personal threat removed.
Still, Gerard Depardieu is great fun as a bar/hotel owner playing Jacques Dutronc songs or trying to persuade his pet python to seek out and eat a pilfering monkey ("Here Olly-ver! Olly-ver! The monkee! Monkee!"), the relationship with Kem Sereyvuth's cyclo driver is nicely developed and refreshingly non-patronising, it's nice to see Bo Hopkins again even in a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo and it's probably your only chance to see Caan dancing in a sarong or drunkenly singing karaoke in Khmer.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A journey to hell!
Added 9/7/2009
This film is a real journey to an unknown world. An assurance-executive is inquired by the federal authorities due the fact the Assurance Enterprise has not responded to their clients after a tragedy.
There's a shadow of doubt about fraud and so he by his own, will undertake a journey to contact Marvin (his employer but tied to him for other reason) that eventually will lead him to Bangkok( Thailand) and then Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Once he arrives a set of unfortunate will happen him until he finds the awful truth behind. A sinister web of corruption that involves a retired General will take place.
Matt Dillon made an auspicious directrial debut with this tense drama, hovered of tension and crude realism. The cast was formidable. Depardieu is terrific like the owner of a nasty hotel (The Beiville) and James Caan as Marvin conform a team hard to improve.
Don't miss it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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