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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2001 - 9 Dazzling special effects can't save Pearl Harbour SCREENING ROOM By John Foote PEARL HARBOUR Directed by Michael Bay Now on DVD/Nideo (*) Released in May of this year, as one of Disney-Touchstone's major summer blockbusters, Pearl Harbour made a for- tune at the box office, which is a surprise because it really is not a very good film. Bay is best known for his action thrillers usually loaded with visual effects and no apparent plot, films like Armageddon (1998) in which oil riggers are sent into space to save the world from an incoming meteor. Part way through Pearl Harbour | longed for Armageddon (the movie) because at least he was trying to tell a story before he got to the effects. Pearl Harbour is one of the worst films of the year in a year loaded to the brim with bad movies. At nearly three hours in length, one would think the director would have the sense to tell at least something that faintly resembled a story before the actual attack. Not so. The film is a little like watching John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), a failed western directed by the Duke that suffered from having no screenplay in place leading to the fight that ends the film. Bay has the same problem here, and worse, he directs his actors to portray cardboard characters as opposed to real people. Thrown into the mix is a goofy love tri- angle that screams out, "I am in the wrong movie" every time the lovers get close to one another. It does not help that Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsdale have not a shred of talent among them and are horribly upstaged by the real actors in the film, who appear not near enough. : The film of course deals with the attack on Pearl Harbour on Dec. 7, 1941, an act that drew the United States and eventually Canada into the Second World War. The filmmakers seemed to have aimed the film at an audience who have never heard of Pearl Harbour, let alone the Second World War. There is little sense of history in the film and if you believe what happens here, Japan attacked the U.S. because the Americans had cut off their oil supply and the Japanese were down to 18 months of supplies. They must have felt by attacking the U.S. that ban would be lifted. Japanese viewers will no doubt be furious at the portrait of their culture and people because they are reduced to one- note villains, always shouting and high fiving one another. The American story (if you can call it that) focuses on Rafe (Affleck) and Danny (Hartnett), two close friends from Tennessee who enter the army and fall in love with the same nurse.There is not a single moment in the film when you believe these people are in love with one another, which, HELLO! is the key to any love story. The reason Casablanca (1943) and Titanic (1997) worked was because we believed in the love the characters had for one another. Without that emotion, how can a love story possi- bly work? The actual bombing of Pearl Harbour is a dazzling bit of special effects and sound editing, but at one point I clearly remember thinking | had seen it before. I had, in all of Bay's films. This guy likes to blow things up in his movies so Pearl Harbour must have been a wet dream for him. There are shots that follow the bombs right down to their destina- tion, stunning shots of carnage, but none of it containing heart. We do care what happens to the people in the film because they are not characters to us, just speaking bodies that move the plot along. Certainly they could have come up some semblance .of a story surrounding this historical event, perhaps the darkest in American history. After seeing the opening and closing sequences of Saving Private Ryan (1998), I am sure | have seen the greatest battle sequences ever put on film. Here, we have nearly 40 minutes of explosions, screaming, death and fire... a little goes a long way. Jon Voight looks embarrassed as Roosevelt, as if he signed up for a pay- cheque then realized, "My God, what have I done?" The sad part of that is the audience is equally embarrassed with him for being caught up in this horrible piece of clap- trap. This should have been a moving film, like From Here to Eternity (1953) instead of the noisy piece of junk it is.- In exploiting the attack, the filmmak- ers nearly dishonour the memory of the men and women who died there and that is simply shameful. THE ROXY... Took my daughter to Uxbridge on Sunday evening to catch the evening screening of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Man | love that the- atre. I see most films in a screening room on Yonge street or at the marvelous Uptown Theatre in Toronto so it's nice now and then to get out and into another theatre. : The Roxy is an independently owned theatre and the best such | have been in. The picture is focused and clear, the sound perfect, the seats cozy, the the- atres are clean and the popcorn fresh and hot. Best of all the audience there knew when to be quiet and watch the film. Video has really done a number on manners in movie theatres; it drives me nuts to hear conversations going on while the film is unspooling. How terrific that we in this area have such a fine place to go to the movies. To the credit of the owners, they do their best to grab first- run films on opening day, which being an independent is not an easy task. They also have a wonderful Art Movie Club in which they screen prestige films once a month. . Bravo to the folks at the Roxy, you are doing a terrific job! A sincere "THANKYOU" from all of us, to all of you who visited & played OAKRIDGE in 2001! (0 ViNTQ RYT o Xf SI Co TW IN ST NUL SIN =F V1 2 Wo 4 3 XoXo) | Alissa H. Holly P. Brad H. Jill S. Carolyn F. Jim R. Chris M. John P. Christine W. Josh K. Darrell M. Juli S. Deanna V. Kevin P. Derrick R. Lea H. Doug H. Leslie N. Gord B. Matt A. Hannah McL. Mike M. 9059858390 Mike A. Mike WV. Paul. B. Remy P. Richard T. Bob C. Bob E. Ron S. Rube WV. Ryan T. Sean C-R. Js WALA Lo 1} {oF 1 [Qe f= {W ele] 00 The course is now closed, Steve M. Trevor P. Warren M. Sandy M. Zach R. Ken E. Chris M. Kate K. Dawn V. Ryan H. Julie M. Matthew S. Christa L. Jacqueline T. Dan P. Scott E. Paul C. Andrea N. Beata S. Branko D. but will re-open in April 2002. ...and don't forget the opening of... UDoanreven's Glen in March 2002. Gail T B. Brandie B. Danny P. Yvonne E. Malcolm L. Ryan D. Stephanie A. Karine H. VALLE PAL PA i _---a es 0