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SA'S REVIEW | BLACKSMITH'S REVIEW | BISHOP'S REVIEW SA to the Movies: Truth Takes Time I must say that I’ve read quite some scripts in my days here, but I can’t remember reading one about marital problems, which is a huge topic nowadays. Now, maybe my memory is failing me, but even if there have been scripts about this then they can’t have been really great ones because I would remember those. Redwood, who I personally know from his action flicks, tried to make a film on this very current subject. With a cast of critically acclaimed actors as Steve Buscemi and Naomi Watts and with Robert Redford as the director, this could finally be a memorable movie about a topic almost everyone, at one time or another, has to deal with either directly or indirectly. [Clip]
Victoria and Mark, played by Naomi Watts and Steve Buscemi, are a married couple who, at first sight, love each other dearly. But when Victoria goes to a museum with her friend Sissy, a role by Tilda Swinton, she meets the romantic Steven Welleck, played by heartthrob Pierce Brosnan. Steven and Victoria start talking, Steven uses a bit of his charm, and one thing leads to another. They start having an affair- now there’s a surprise! - but Victoria’s husband Mark finds out. Their marriage, naturally, goes down hill from there. [Clip]
When reviewing this kind of film I have to keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, is it well written? I can easily say that it is. The film reads very smooth, the action lines are short but catch the essence of the actions so that you can read on without any interferences. The dialogue is smooth and pretty well done. Though the dialogue doesn’t stand out and is particularly good, it’s good enough to keep a natural flow going. The writing, as said, is pretty good. Then comes the other side: the story and the characters. And that’s where the movie falls short. The story and characters, in this case, should be believable. And I couldn’t buy it. The story just wasn’t believable enough for me. The way Steven picks up Victoria is ridiculous in my eyes. Two grown people and then they do that?! And she falls for it!?! I know that love at first sight brings the teenager in you back to the surface, but this was more pre-school than high-school. And then we have Sissy, played by Tilda Swinton. She seems to have walked straight out of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She has two faces. Then she is fairly nice, and then she’s a bitch. Then she is that best friend thing you see in romantic comedies, and then she turns into the monster of Loch Ness. Why she was both Mark and Victoria’s friend is beyond me, since they should both have dumped her. There was no consistency in her character whatsoever. Something we, thank goodness, did see with Mark. A character that, I thought, was well-developed. Steven Welleck, on the other hand, was like a cardboard figure. A bit underdeveloped. Something that was dramatically underdeveloped was the relationship between Mark and Victoria. You don’t really get a good image of their relationship, and if you don’t get that then you can’t possibly know the reasons why she cheats on him. You should get a sense of their relationship and then you should be able to think of a reason why they aren’t happily married. Now they just aren’t. But it isn’t shown why, which is a pity. A few more scenes between them would’ve suited this film just fine. I also thought that, for a drama, it was a bit too much of a romantic comedy at times. Listed as a pure drama, this film couldn’t really find the right balance. It was not a drama, but not a comedy either. It felt like Redwood was betting on two horses but it kind of fell right in the middle. But the movie read smoothly, read very quickly, and didn’t really bore me despite the fact that not much really happens. That can be attributed to Redwoods fast, no nonsense style of writing. His writing was fairly good- although an edit wouldn’t have hurt the script- but the story and characters is where it falls short. With better material I’m sure Redwood could produce a better film, since I like his style. I’m sure that, with better material, Redwood’s next film will be receiving a better score. Score: 60 out of 100 BLACKSMITH Reviews TRUTH TAKES TIME CS Wood’s new movie “Truth Takes Time” is quite a different movie than HTG audiences are used to. The cerebral drama is a troubled look at a marriage that falls apart for no other reason than simple curiosity. The story is a complex situation where the central conflict lies under several layers of subtext. This kind of writing is some of the hardest to master, but when it clicks, the tension really works. “Truth Takes Time” has several of these moments, but in the end, the movie crumbles under its own weight. The story begins with Victoria (Naomi Watts) and her husband Mark (an interesting casting choice in Steve Buscemi) seemingly happy in their marriage until Victoria meets a handsome stranger named Steven (Pierce Brosnan) who immediately attempts to seduce her. She ends up having a one-night stand with him, but Mark knows exactly what’s going on the entire time. The story then focuses on the aftermath and documents their marriage as it completely falls apart. The setup to “Truth Takes Time” is similar in theme to “Unfaithful”, the Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie from a few years back. It takes a look at adultery from non-dramatic perspective. Usually in movies, there is a reason why affairs happen. Either a spouse is mean, or they’re cheating themselves. But as in “Unfaithful”, “Truth Takes Time” presents a happily married couple with no apparent cracks in the relationship, where the wife embarks on an affair for seemingly no other reason than boredom. Mark is a very passive husband who avoids conflict whenever possible, but he has to react when the affair is shoved right in front of his eyes. In fact, Steven and another character named Sissy both push Mark to react in anger, but he only responds with indifference. This is where “Truth” takes some wrong turns. After the affair there are extended dialogue scenes between Victoria and Mark that go on seemingly for hours with no real resolution or plot advancement. As a character study, it’s interesting for a while, but we are still no closer to understanding why Victoria had the affair. The relationship between Steven and Victoria seems to rely on his charm, persuasion, a physical attraction and that’s about it. Most women wouldn’t fall for this, especially at the cost of a stable marriage. The movie leaps over Steven’s courting of Victoria and it damages any kind of sympathy we might feel for her in the aftermath of the affair. I was rooting for Mark to kick her out into the street the whole time. Her apologies fall on deaf ears and ends up being more like begging, making her somewhat pathetic. Since she is the main character, this is not a good situation to be in. There is a thread of realism though. In most affairs, the ones that cheated don’t seem to understand why their mates won’t forgive them and take them back. Victoria is no different and while it does hold truth, in the movie it makes her look even worse. Mark’s passive stance is interesting for a while, but I wanted a sense of his anger building slowly until he just couldn’t take it anymore. No better example is a scene where Steven confronts Mark and even proposes to Victoria in front of him. This should have sent him over the edge, but instead, Mark is strangely cold and even-headed. I didn’t want to see him driven to murder like in “Unfaithful”, but I would have liked to see him go off the deep end and show his emotions. By the time he finally does, it’s too late in the story to have any real impact. I was happy when Mark and Victoria got a divorce wanted the movie to end that way. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I’m of the firm belief that no one should have to remain with a spouse, knowing that they’ve slept with another person during the marriage. It’s something one could never forget and in my eyes, trust could never be fully rebuilt. But then the ending of the movie just completely collapsed under itself and turned a dark character drama into a sappy romance. It made the entire journey seem meaningless. CS Wood’s writing has always impressed me. Back in FM, I always thought he had one of the best chances to succeed in real-life screenwriting. His concepts are engaging and he has a good understanding of character. But while “Truth Takes Time” brings up some good observations about marriage relationships, it never quite tells the truth about the realities. 65/100 BISHOP Reviews TRUTH TAKES TIME "Truth Takes Time" comes from the script-machine known as CS Wood. After reading this emotional, heartfelt, and in the end, overpoweringly sacrine-sweet work, I have one chief complaint: the title should have been "Truth Takes Too Much Time." Or perhaps, "Truth Took Too Much of My Time." Let's start with the basics. Victoria (Naomi Watts, who, let's face it, is smarter than the character she plays) is married to Steve Buscemi (used better than in that ass-factory movie, Near and Dear). They love each other, despite the fact one's hot and the other is a bug-eyed weirdo. Then James Bond/Sexy British Guy/Whatever Pierce Brosnan comes along, pursues her with the tact and subtlety of a serial rapist, all whilst an annoyingly-named "Sissy" sits around and supports people (IE, blames the man for everything). There, now you know the story. More spoilers ahead, watch out. There were things I liked. Some of the scenes with Victoria and Mark were touching. You could tell they cared about each other... you just didn't know why (in Mark's case, anyway). Anytime these two were together, you could feel a real energy about them. I liked that a lot. However, when Sissy and Mark had a conversation, the movie slowed down to a CRAWL. Think of the Library Level in Halo. Double it. Then imagine Rueben Studdard running the New York Marathon. Yes, this was that slow. It was as if Father Time bought a hooker, and was nailing her on his waterbed, and his hourglass fell over on the side, and the sands slipped back and forth. Slightly better were the scenes between Victoria and Steven-although I had to completely suspend my disbelief. A woman would have to have down's syndrome to find anything this man said "enticing". Which brings me to the dialogue. Good in some places. Fantastically good in some places. Oscar-worthy in some places. Other places... horrific. Nobody would talk that way. Most people don't use big words multiple times in a single sentence (with the exception of Marcotte). Most people don't speak in paragraphs unless they are giving a speech, or acting in a play. "Monologues" are for storytelling, not expressing emotion. At least, that's my take. Also, the ending. The divorce, sad ending... that was good. Very good. Heartbreaking, effecting, and realistic. With the divorce ending, I could give this film a passing grade. INTERCEPTION! This games going into extra innings. And guess what, pilgrims? We all lose! That's right. We get this realistic treatment of divorce in America, with a side-order of atrocious over-sappy conclusion. Oh! They pretend they just met again! Everything's okay! WHAT? What about the horrible side effects of repression? What about Mark going batshit with a butcher knife ten years down the road? Is this "happy?" Some people deserve to get divorced... and some people have to pay for the things they do. You can't give us a semi-realistic picture of divorce in America and then dress it up with unicorns and rainbows. You just can't. 39/100
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