Two of the most beautiful women in the world
falling in love with Hartnett and Lillard?
Alright... I will suspend my disbelief for now.
Paul
McGuigan's "Wicker Park" is one of the most
pleasant surprises of the year. This film could
so easily have been a routine romantic thriller
taken straight out of the Hollywood
screenwriter's handbook. But this little gem
sidesteps that pitfall by focusing on the
intricacies of each character's motivations and
emotions. Despite an extremely twisty timeline
and a plot that may not pass the plausibility
test, "Wicker Park" deals with real people and
real emotions. You will actually care about
these characters, and that is something you
can't say with most movies in this genre.
I am hesitant to detail the plot for two
reasons. First of all, I do not want to give
anything away. This film should be seen without
any forehand knowledge. Secondly, I am not sure
that I have fully grasped the complexity of the
spaghetti timeline enough to recount it. I may
have to see the film a half dozen times before
it all crystallizes in my brain.
Basically, this film is a romantic triangle.
Wait... Maybe it is a quadrangle. Come to think
of it... It just may be a quintangle. Is that
even a word?
Thankfully, I would also classify the film as a
romantic drama rather than a romantic thriller,
as some people may glean from the trailer.
"Wicker Park" is really more of a multiple
thread love story.
The film starts off in the middle and works its
way forward, interrupted occasionally by
flashback scenes. The film is essentially a
puzzle that only starts to fully unveil itself
deep into the film. Various "Rashomon"-like
perspectives are used to decipher the same
scenes from various character's points of view.
It is a very effective tool. Perspective can be
very deceiving sometimes!
Matthew (Hartnett) is a young business man two
years removed from a relationship with the love
of his life, Lisa (Kruger). He is now engaged to
a girl named Rebecca (Pare) and is about to fly
to China for an important business deal. His
best friend Luke (Lillard) has just started
dating Alex (Byrne), a stage actress.
Here is where it gets a little tricky. Matthew
thinks he sees his long lost love, Lisa, in a
restaurant the day before he is to go to China.
Still consumed by her seemingly mysterious
decision to dump him two year earlier, he is
determined to track her down. He is still
desperately in love with her despite his recent
engagement to Rebecca.
So instead of going to China, he decides to
follow the clues to various locations in an
effort to find Lisa. Meanwhile, Luke is having
issues with Alex. She never seems focused on
him. Through flashbacks, we also see that Alex
and Lisa are also best friends and neighbors.
I will stop detailing the plot right there. But
as you can see... this story is far from over.
The film markets itself as a thriller, but it is
so much more than that. This film really deals
with the concepts of 'love at first sight' and
'obsessive love'. The characters are not just
painted as crazy or wild or stupid or simply
good or bad. They are three dimensional and
thoughtful people who are trying to figure out a
dreadfully messy situation.
The acting is uniformly great in this film. And
my regular readers will know that I have not
been kind to Josh Hartnett or Matthew Lillard in
the past. This is a breakout role for both.
Hartnett gets past his emotional blockage and is
able to provide us with a lovesick man desperate
to do the right thing and fix the mistakes and
misunderstandings of his past. Lillard gets past
his tendency to overact in virtually every role.
Here, he manages to create a character who is
simultaneously cocky and insecure. He is able to
convey a truly sympathetic personality as we
watch him drift toward an inevitable realization
that everything is not what it seems.
Two real revelations in this film are Rose Byrne
and Diane Kruger, who also starred together in
the Summer action hit "Troy". I thought Byrne,
as Brad Pitt's love interest, was the best thing
in that movie. Kruger was good as Helen of Troy
despite some poorly written lines. However, in
"Wicker Park" both of these beautiful women
convincingly prove that they have the talent to
match their gorgeous exteriors.
Diane Kruger has the slightly easier role as
Lisa. Some might say that it is simply a 'cute
girlfriend' role. I think she imbued many deeper
layers to Lisa that may get overlooked. The
character is elegant and intelligent, passionate
and romantic. Kruger is also able to paint her
as emotionally fragile, as if she has dealt with
pain in her past. And considering the
astonishingly complex timeline, her ability to
keep the right tones and emotions in the right
scenes is very impressive. It is a very good
performance.
The best performance in the film is Rose
Byrne's. Her role as Alex is extraordinarily
tricky. Without me giving too much away, I will
say that she is able to deliver a sympathetic,
insecure and desperate character to the audience
while maintaining an air of strength and
confidence to her in-story friends and lovers.
It is very much a dual role. There is subtlety
and nuance in every tear, smile and glance of
the eyes. There is no wasted motion. This is
brilliant acting. And like Kruger, having the
correct tones and emotions at all times must
have been very awkward considering the structure
of the plot. Rose Byrne gives a touching
performance that may not become fully clear
until the final few scenes of the film. This is
one of the ten best performances of 2004.
McGuigan's direction is rather skilled. Although
the timeline is mind-bogglingly complex, we
always seem to know where we are and what we are
watching. He does a great job of keeping the
audience involved.
The score/soundtrack is also worthy of note. The
moods of the film's various chapters are well
accompanied throughout. This may be a soundtrack
to add to the collection.
All in all, with superior acting, a script that
never overdoes it and a confident direction,
"Wicker Park" transcends its routine genre and
evolves into a complex human drama that evokes
palpable emotions, tension and honest drama (Not
the fake movie drama you are used to). I really
loved the ways in which this gem of a film
surprised me. It is one of the best ever
examples in its genre and will flirt with the
outskirts of my year end top ten list.
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
"Wicker
Park" is a somewhat enjoyable, but incredibly
convoluted and histrionic film that serves as a
pseudo thriller, love triangle, suspenseful and
obsessive tale starring Josh Hartnett, Rose
Byrne, Matthew Lillard and Diane Kruger.
A solid
but convoluted script, good performances, a
great score/soundtrack and excellent atmosphere
help to elevate what could have been a very
average film into a strong one.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
