In what is surely the richest weekend of the year for discerning British cinemagoers since the glut of Oscar contenders in January, both Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” hit UK screens today.
You could be forgiven for not knowing that, though. While Almodovar’s film has enjoyed a prominent marketing campaign here in London, that Warholesque poster shot of Penelope Cruz ubiquitous on buses, tube tunnels and phone boxes (I can see one right now from my living-room window), “The Hurt Locker” has, sadly, been an all-but-invisible presence.
The local broadsheets are doing their best to raise the film’s fortunes, however, as Bigelow’s film continues to slay the critical community on either side of the pond. In a fairly rare trifecta, The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, The Independent’s Anthony Quinn and The Times’s Kevin Maher all afford the film 5-star reviews.
It’s pretty much the same collection of gushing compliments you read in the US reviews, so no need to repeat, though I did enjoy this pithy slapdown to the film’s Iraq-themed predecessors from Bradshaw:
Debating the purpose and origins of the conflict is not the point. Yet, for my money, Bigelow says more about the agony and tragedy of war than all those earnest, well-meaning movies that sound as if they’ve been co-scripted by Josh and Toby from The West Wing.
The critics aren’t quite as high on “Broken Embraces” as they are on “The Hurt Locker,” but the reviews are very warm nonetheless. Maher and Bradshaw both delight in the film’s visual splendor and the postmodern fun and games of its multiple cinema references, while lauding Cruz for offering, respectively, a “knockout central turn” and a “camp mirage of Hollywood loveliness.” Meanwhile, another fan of the film, The Telegraph’s Tim Robey, wonders “when it was exactly that Penelope Cruz became one of our best actresses.” (I echo both his endorsement and his astonishment.)
It is left to Quinn, then, to rain on the parade slightly by expressing much the same mild disappointment, and many of the same specific reservations, that I offered in my own review last month. He writes:
There is much to admire in the silky editing and kaleidoscopic narrative of this movie-inflected melodrama, though having set up its plot beautifully in the first hour the film somehow muffs the resolution of its multiple intrigues … Almodóvar shares with Alfred Hitchcock a natural obsession with movies and loves to quote them, which is fine as far as it goes; but the complexity of its plotting is not answered by a comparable sophistication of feeling.
Still, after a slightly rough debut back in March, and an improved (if still mixed) reception at Cannes, the film seems to be rehabilitating its critical reputation nicely — though it’s clear it’s not going to be a consensus darling along the lines of, say, “Talk to Her.”
If the frequently cranky Brits are this accommodating, I have a feeling it could play well across the pond when it opens in the prime awards-bait territory of November. It remains to be seen whether Spain selects this as their foreign-language Oscar entry — they have a bit of an on-off relationship with Almodovar in that regard.
I still think a nomination for Cruz, for such an image-oriented role and performance, will be an uphill struggle, however good she is. (And make no mistake, she’s very, very good.) On the other hand, if DP Rodrigo Prieto and composer Alberto Iglesias don’t enter the thick of awards conversation, something is horribly wrong in Hollywood. Here’s hoping.
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8 responses to “Brits fall for ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Broken Embraces’”
Sadly, that everybody seems to be forgetting Lluis Homar, who gives a wonderful and heartwarming performance as Penelopes lover in “Broken Embraces”. Of course he won´t grab a best actor-nominee, but that´s not because of being not good enough – he is excellent – but because he is little known and the people´s attention is focused on Penelope Cruz.
Who could blame the people, she´s a femme fatale-sensation!
By the way, “Broken Embraces” is a movie that has to be seen several times, very tricky!
That’s the thing… I didn’t find it that tricky at all. I found all the pieces slotted together just a bit too easily in the denouement, and without enough dramatic consequence. But that’s me.
I work as a manager at a Vue in Bristol and we’ve got (deservedly) The Hurt Locker in our biggest screen! Was pretty happy when the programming came in. The 2:40 performance now is about a third full which isn’t too shabby for a non-kids film especially as we’re very much a family site. Funny People’s in a mid size screen with about 4 people in it, shame as although there were some odd editing choices, it’s a really good film with Bana and Sandler both putting in great work. About half of our staff walked out of the staff screening half way through which is a little bit upsetting. Naturally they all turned up for Final Destination which is so bad, which confuses me… The others are so much fun. That coincidetally is in our large 3D screen and our second largest 2D screen.
On a separate tangent all the standees for the October release of Shutter Island came in today… Someone dropped the ball there… Still put it up anyway though. Also (500) Days of Summer is in our biggest screen next week, bigger than District 9. Why Searchlight didn’t do a similar push in the states I don’t know. Could have had an opening higher than it’s domestic gross so far!!
Just watched The Hurt Locker finally. Excellent piece of filmmaking, Anthony Mackie giving an unbelievable performance.
What with Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 and Funny People also out this weekend it’s a great time to be going to the cinema.
Shame that The Final Destination will be the most successful.
Guy, on an unrelated note, did you see “The Damned United”? I didn’t think you were enthusiastic about seeing it, but I heard that it’s coming to Toronto. I heard it got good reviews in the UK, and being a bit of a Michael Sheen fan, I was wondering if it was worth seeking out.
About the other famous Cannes film besides The White Ribbon and Broken Embraces, I’ve read that A Prophet has opened in France to spectacular reviews. It has now become the most acclaimed film of the year pushing Up to second place in France.
Liz: It’s quite good, though for me it suffered from the same beige television trappings as, say, “The Queen.” If you’re a Sheen fan, it’s definitely worth checking out … he’s more interesting here than in any of his other Peter Morgan projects.