timking Reviews

Traffic (2000)

Fine Film but Potential Was So Much Greater

[7/10 · 9 March 2001]

Traffic is really a very fine film, inventively written and filmed and with a truly great performance from Benecio Del Toro. The camera work is particularly impressive, going well beyond simple presentation and adding much to the tone and story of the film. And unlike some, I have no problems with the pacing, feeling that it unfolds and refolds itself in a reasonable and compelling manner. But some elements simply didn't work with the rest of this otherwise credible film. For example, nothing in Catherine Zeta-Jones's initial performance in the film prepares you for the monumental change her character must go through later, and when that change does occur, it is simply not acceptable. Zeta-Jones can't pull off the change, and Soderbergh doesn't help her at all. Another issue is casting. Several major film "stars" fill relatively minor roles and they do so to the point of distraction. Albert Finney, Dennis Quaid and Selma Hayek all take secondary roles that should compliment the leads but instead they are out in front of the scenery, pulling focus. And Douglas's big highlight at the end -- when he walks away from the press podium - simply doesn't ring true. It is a manufactured moment that doesn't fit the character or the plot and it really weakens what should have a much stronger ending. Nonetheless, the film is well worth seeing, but it could have been a classic.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Sensational subject matter masking a true romance

[24 February 2000]

This is a very powerful, and in many ways very disturbing, film that ultimately lingers with me not for its sensational subject matter but for its tragic and rewarding love story. Here we have two troubled strangers, both horribly at odds with their surroundings, finding each other, falling in love despite the many factors against them, and finally becoming the victims of the perception of their love. Like many others, I was tremendously impressed by the performance of Hilary Swank but I think the glue that holds the film together and gives it amazing hope and humanity is Chloe Sevigny. She takes a role that could have easily fallen apart in a lesser actress's hands and gives it complexity and depth that goes well beyond the script. To watch her is a breathtaking journey. Watch the way she uses her face in this movie – this is an actress of remarkable expressiveness and skill! Overall, it is a very fine film that merits any serious moviegoer's rapt attention.