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Review: SIN CITY / Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (2005)

July 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Sin City (2005)
Directed by: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and “Guest Director” Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, etc.
Running Time: 126 min.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Once again a Hollywood adaptation of a comic book looks great and goes nowhere. The long-awaited big screen version of Frank Miller’s Sin City presents a visually dazzling flipbook netherworld that should please only a comic book mentality.

Miller was soured on Hollywood after his experience writing the two RoboCop sequels and refused to relinquish the rights to any of his comic books. Rodriguez, a big fan of Miller’s work, filmed an “audition” scene between Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton, later used in the finished product. He presented Miller with the footage and told him, “If you like this, this will be the opening to the movie. If not, you’ll have your own short film to show your friends.”

Rodriguez deemed the comic book’s visual style so influential he insisted Miller receive a co-director credit. The Director’s Guild of America refused and Rodriguez politely ceased to belong saying, “It was easier for me to quietly resign before shooting because otherwise I’d be forced to make compromises I was unwilling to make or set a precedent that might hurt the guild later on.” This brave move cost Rodriguez a gig on Paramount’s upcoming John Carter of Mars.

Why a ‘Guest Director’ credit? In addition to pointlessly referencing episodic seventies television credits, Tarantino expressed interest in experimenting with HD cameras, a Rodriguez pet. In exchange for one dollar, Rodriguez agreed to compose the soundtrack to Kill Bill Vol. 2. With another exchange of Washington’s, Tarantino returned the favor. Frankly, they both overpaid. Long a film-over-digital proponent, when asked about his experience, Tarantino merely replied, “Mission Accomplished.” (Tarantino directed the overlong Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia homage between Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro.)

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HOSTAGE / Florent Emilio Siri (2005)

February 28th, 2005 by Scott Marks

Bruce Willis in HOSTAGE

Hostage (2005)

Directed by: Florent Emilio Siri

Written by: Robert Crais, Doug Richardson

Cast: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett, Michelle Horn, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Marshall Allman, Serena Scott Thomas, Rumer Willis, Kim Coates, Robert Knepper, Tina Lifford, Ransford Doherty, Marjean Holden, Michael D. Roberts

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

If only this film lived up to the standard set by its noirish opening credits. The duo-tone design, with cast and crew names embossed on buildings, resembled the opening of Panic Room.

The filmmakers didn’t stop there. Hostage is another film about three thugs terrorizing a family in an abode with duct space airy enough to sublet.

What could Bruce Willis possibly have seen in this cornball rehash to make it his comeback after a two-year absence? Acting as co-producer, did he really believe this formulaic mall fodder would mark a return to his action-hero heyday?

This time around, Willis plays a ten year SWAT veteran forced to take a less stressful position after a bad judgment call proves fatal. One year, and an above-the-neck shave later finds him anchoring a patrol car as the chief of police in a small California town.

Two clever touches: before the story kicks in, three thugs first encounter Willis at a stop sign. Without checking his rearview, the driver chucks a defective CD out the window. Directly behind them Officer Willis decides to ignore the litterbug and hang a left. It was a rare moment of subtlety not to be repeated.

Next, a CD containing mob info is hidden in the DVD case of the Ernst Lubitsch version of Heaven Can Wait. (Ironically, it’s has yet to be released on DVD.) Later on, the audience smiles as a character searching for the disc removes a copy of the Warren Beatty/Buck Henry remake from the shelf.

Pretty much everything else in the film is old hat. Willis’ wife and child are held hostage, psycho turns against psycho, while clichés and special effects form a narrative logjam. The imitation Bernard Herrmann score soon resembles imitation John Addison. Kevin Pollack lucked out by getting to play dead for two-thirds of the film. Unless it has zero competition opening weekend, this one is going to die hard at the box office.

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