Friday, February 26, 2010

Six Shooters Out

Well, it's nearing now, the end of my Jesus Year, and it appears I will survive after all (although this breakout of snow is definitely one last snigger if the higher power intimated in the label of the year is in fact said to exist). But I digress, with parentheticals, etc.

I've been in for the most part today, save for the foray to pick up some chinese, nursing wounds and exhaustion from the week prior. So what did I do today? Watched this:


Watch Six Shooter in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com



Now, I'm not sure how much you know about the film. The director/writer: Martin McDonagh, of In Bruges fame, among others. Now, I was 50/50 on that film as well, what with the film's ham-handed usage of midgets for personal redemption, and Ralph Fiennes essentially doing a knockoff of Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast. And frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about this one, either.

Watch it, come back.

Are you done? Well, the parts seemed genuine enough, although the boy annoyed the hell out of me. And frankly I don't know how earned his role was. Also, the ending, while a nice bout of understatement, ultimately rubbed me the wrong way in that it undercut something that seemed like a genuine attempt at reaching something deeper, but instead lapsed into something of a punchline.

Now, I'm not going to say that McDonagh doesn't have potential, and he probably could make himself a very decent legacy if he stays with it (stupid comment, I understand), but his voice seems to have a certain sense of immaturity and inconfidence in the way that he finishes his products. This one: I would have liked to see a rewrite of the child. He was the only unbelievable aspect. Also, the cow story, for all its gloriousness, was essentially a tack on and unnecessary, and ultimately tipped the film.

There's a voice here, most assuredly, but (and here's the context of the post) I'm not going to spend $60+ of my hard-earned dough to see a production from this writer, as uneven as they seem to be. Oh yeah, the production, currently on Broadway: A Behanding in Spokane. Sounds titillating, but I suspect yet again he will not have control of his material.

Now, talk amongst yourselves. I should sleep. I'm not dead yet.