The Woof

I am a fan of Tim Burton. His new film, Sleepy Hollow, is another in a line of quirky, and eerie, worlds that this director is fond of creating.

Using equally quirky and talented actors, Johnny Depp, and Christina Ricci, he creates another beautifully dark, yet rich textured landscape upon which to tell his tale.

Though not adhering to the tale by Washington Irivng strictly, he uses the elements from that story to weave a more dark and sinister story of our famous "Headless Horseman". Depp plays Icabod Crane, and Ricci plays the love interest, Katrina Van Tassle.

I thought that Burton smartly created a very moody and very effective canvas on which to paint. The story, or the actors aren't necessarily the stars here. What you "see" on screen is the star. No house seems to have a right angle, no sunlight seems to ever shine, in the town you feel dread, outside of town, it looks like a painting. Rich texture and some neatly made computer graphics create quite a world.

If you are a fan of Burton, see the movie, it is worth it. If you are not, I still think it is worth a look. You might be surprised by what you see.

One thing about this movie....the battle scenes are awesome. They are done so effectively that you feel like you are there screaming with the rest of them as you charge against the enemy. Part of this is the Director, Luc Besson's magic of vision, but most of it can be attributed to the explosion of emotion that comes from Mila Jovovich, who plays the lead.

With these two forces it produces a very emotional film that takes us to a place we have seldom seen in popular movie releases in the past few years.

This is the oft told story of Joan of Arc and her life during a very turbulent time and how she led the French to defeating the English when a woman of this time would never have done such a thing.

My only one detraction is some of the structure. Namely the movie races along for 2 hours, then it stops cold. This is when she has been captured and now faces death, and this is where Dustin Hoffman comes in to the act portraying her Conscience. I don't have anything wrong with Hoffman's performance, but it is notable that this is when the the whole movie screeches to a halt and that is what I remember feeling at the time.

Somehow, since Besson uses many instances of flashbacks through her eyes, I would have been happier perhaps, if he had taken some moments to let Hoffman's character infect her soul in more instances throughout the movie. I find it a bit hard to believe that this woman who so struggles with her every being and emotion doesn't have her conscience there constantly making her doubt what is driving her in the first place. Especially since her conscience takes such an active role in the final 30 minutes.

That aside, I haven't felt this much intensity rise to the level it does from a character in a movie the way Jovovich's performance has evoked me. She is so taken in with her character that you find yourself engrossed and going through every feeling she gives off on screen. It's as if you could feel how much her heart was racing, as her eyes bulge out of their sockets when she screams for support from her army. Or even when she sprouts tears from being so burdened with all that she is carrying, they seem to flow with no way for her to stop them. It was something.

If you get a chance, this is well worth a look.

This film was a new direction for Natalie Portman. A much more adult role, though she comes to it from the traces of a child in the movie itself. Ann,(Portman) and Susan Sarandon, who plays her newly divorced mother, Adele, travel from a small town in the middle of nowhere to Beverly Hills. There these tortured souls try to come to terms with their new life and their new relationship as Portman's character grows up. Unknowingly at first to Adele, she grows up and becomes a better mother for it.

Ann sees her mother telling her she wants to be an actress, or so she thinks. Adele uses that crutch every time there are problems in their lives. We see their struggle as mother and daughter come to terms between themselves and with being alone, having left their old lives behind.

The acting is top notch from both of them. They seemingly become mother and daughter before your eyes. You can almost feel there is a bond there beyond the actual movie.

Though this movie really doesn't take us to any new ground in these types of films, the fact that the acting is well done, and the story isn't too flawed, let's me recommend it.

I will say however, it will probably go away soon, I don't believe it can have the staying power needed for a huge Christmas season of movies starting in a week or so. See it now before this happens if you like either of these actresses.