First of all, "Journey To The End Of The Night" has nothing to do with the 1934 novel of the same title by Louis Ferdinand Celine. If the script writers borrowed Celine's title for some allusive reason, it escapes me.
The movie is an unremarkable and predictable crime thriller/family drama. The dimly-lit and grainy cinematography--set in the seamy red-light district of Sao Paulo, Brazil--is nothing special; and the sentimental sound track, weak plot, and un-inspired dialogue contribute nothing original to the genre.
The roles are thankless, and the actors in them give about the performances you'd expect from their B-class status. The worst by far is Brendan Frazer. He makes a fine Dudley Do-Right; but his performance as a ruthless crime lieutenant is laughable. Frazer's baby face, squeaky voice, and limited range couldn't convey threat, malice, or even the weak psychological conflict the script calls for--even on his best days. The other performers are just about as bad.
However, there is one astonishing exception to all this lack-luster ness; and that is the performance of rap artist Mos Def, who plays a Nigerian dishwasher turned drug courier (when the real courier--a genuine tough guy--drops dead while having sex with a transsexual prostitute.) Mos Def's character, Wemba, is a retiring young man, a meek, short-statured student with only the most modest of aspirations in life. When we first meet him, his drug-dealing boss asks him about his background. Mos Def replies laconically; but his dropped words, half-finished sentences, and subtle facial gestures convey his melancholy character and difficult and disappointed past to us at once. It's a beautiful morsel of acting.
Wemba takes on the job partly out of need, but mainly out of loyalty to his boss. While the written role of Wemba is hardly Shakespearian, Mos Def is brilliant in what he does with it. And while one could barely give a damn what happens to the rest of these flat and unappealing characters, Mos Def creates for his unenthusiastic but diligent courier a vivid, likable, three-dimensional figure--a simple soul who, when push comes to shove, shows unexpected courage—not because he has anything to back it up, but just because he is good guy--the sort of person who naturally does the right thing. He is not smart, or capable, or strong. And when he politely sticks to his guns (figuratively speaking, he is practically the only person in the film--other than the blind soothsayer and his dog--whose isn't popping a cap into someone at some point) and defies the people who threaten him, you know that he certainly won't be rescuing his own behind.
Fortunately, (for Wemba, if not for the movie) the writers have thrown a bit of magic and fate (predictable as always) into the story mix here. And it is only that little bit of luck that leaves Wemba as last man standing in this otherwise silly little drug-dealing bloodbath.
I know nothing of rap music, or Mos Def's career as a performer. But, if this part is any indication of his thespian potential, I'd say that boy can act!
The movie is an unremarkable and predictable crime thriller/family drama. The dimly-lit and grainy cinematography--set in the seamy red-light district of Sao Paulo, Brazil--is nothing special; and the sentimental sound track, weak plot, and un-inspired dialogue contribute nothing original to the genre.
The roles are thankless, and the actors in them give about the performances you'd expect from their B-class status. The worst by far is Brendan Frazer. He makes a fine Dudley Do-Right; but his performance as a ruthless crime lieutenant is laughable. Frazer's baby face, squeaky voice, and limited range couldn't convey threat, malice, or even the weak psychological conflict the script calls for--even on his best days. The other performers are just about as bad.
However, there is one astonishing exception to all this lack-luster ness; and that is the performance of rap artist Mos Def, who plays a Nigerian dishwasher turned drug courier (when the real courier--a genuine tough guy--drops dead while having sex with a transsexual prostitute.) Mos Def's character, Wemba, is a retiring young man, a meek, short-statured student with only the most modest of aspirations in life. When we first meet him, his drug-dealing boss asks him about his background. Mos Def replies laconically; but his dropped words, half-finished sentences, and subtle facial gestures convey his melancholy character and difficult and disappointed past to us at once. It's a beautiful morsel of acting.
Wemba takes on the job partly out of need, but mainly out of loyalty to his boss. While the written role of Wemba is hardly Shakespearian, Mos Def is brilliant in what he does with it. And while one could barely give a damn what happens to the rest of these flat and unappealing characters, Mos Def creates for his unenthusiastic but diligent courier a vivid, likable, three-dimensional figure--a simple soul who, when push comes to shove, shows unexpected courage—not because he has anything to back it up, but just because he is good guy--the sort of person who naturally does the right thing. He is not smart, or capable, or strong. And when he politely sticks to his guns (figuratively speaking, he is practically the only person in the film--other than the blind soothsayer and his dog--whose isn't popping a cap into someone at some point) and defies the people who threaten him, you know that he certainly won't be rescuing his own behind.
Fortunately, (for Wemba, if not for the movie) the writers have thrown a bit of magic and fate (predictable as always) into the story mix here. And it is only that little bit of luck that leaves Wemba as last man standing in this otherwise silly little drug-dealing bloodbath.
I know nothing of rap music, or Mos Def's career as a performer. But, if this part is any indication of his thespian potential, I'd say that boy can act!