SubscribeFinally, they agree in Venice: boos
More good news and bad news out of Venice. First the good news: Variety and the Hollywood Reporter agree on "Sleuth" and "Lust, Caution." Now the bad news: reviews are bad news.
"Lust, Caution"
Variety: "Too much caution and too little lust squeeze much of the dramatic juice out of Ang Lee's 'Lust, Caution,' a 2½-hour period drama that's a long haul for relatively few returns. Adapted from a short story by the late Eileen Chang, tale of a patriotic student — who's willing bait in a plot to assassinate a high-up Chinese collaborator in Japanese-held WWII Shanghai — is an immaculately played but largely bloodless melodrama which takes an hour-and-a-half to even start revving up its motor." READ MORE
Hollywood Reporter: "But getting to those episodes, which are of dubious merit, means enduring 156 tedious minutes watching a group of not very interesting young Chinese people learn how to fight the occupying Japanese during WWII. Needlessly long and filled with albeit beautifully staged and filmed sequences where not very much happens, the film is unlikely to capture the word of mouth buzz required to overcome the handicap of its rating." READ MORE
"Sleuth"
Variety: Stage and "Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1972 film adaptation have been morphed into a bizarrely contorted facsimile by screenwriter Harold Pinter and helmer Kenneth Branagh.READ MORE
Hollywood Reporter: "Kenneth Branagh's new version of the crime caper 'Sleuth' looks smashing and it features several great lines by screenwriter Harold Pinter. But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude Law, it loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film." READ MORE
(Photo: Focus Features)
