Review: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Reviews

Review: Never Let Me Go

A portrait of passivity

By BRETT MICHEL | September 24, 2010

2.0 Stars

Logan sure was on to something when he made his run in Michael Anderson's kitschy 1976 sci-fi classic. When you're condemned to death for reasons beyond your control, flight seems the way to go.

So it's puzzling to find that the three boarding-school graduates — Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) — in Mark Romanek's dreamily photographed, oddly muted new movie are so accepting of their fates as organ "donors."

Kazuo Ishiguro likely explored their passivity in the novel (unread by me) on which this work of alternate history is based, but Alex Garland's screenplay never addresses the issue. What with the wealth of narration he's provided for Kathy, a "carer" for Ruth and Tommy until it's time for them to "donate," you wonder why he himself couldn't have donated more care to the inner lives of characters who remain dramatically lifeless.

Related: Review: Brothers, Review: Armored, Review: Irene in Time, More

Review: Brothers
Operation Enduring Freedom seems to have replaced Vietnam as Hollywood's go-to military quagmire from which to dredge gut-wrenching meditations on the psychological carnage of war.
Review: Armored
In view of its credentials, Armored should be a lay-up.
Review: Irene in Time
Luckless in love, Irene (Tanna Frederick) wants to "find a guy like my daddy." Her father, she says (over and over and over), "was really magical." Truth be told, her absent dad doesn't seem like that great a guy.
Review: The Slammin' Salmon
Here's how the shit version of Waiting likely came to be: the Broken Lizard boys (David Heffernan directs) thought the concept of a boxing-champ-turned-Miami-restaurateur was funny, and they wrote and shot a major motion picture without bothering to design a plot.
Review: Sherlock Holmes
In its own way an ideal holiday blockbuster for the moderately educated, the new light-footed overhaul of Sherlock Holmes is three parts self-satisfied mixer to one part hard storytelling, and if anything, the film's popular trailers should have deterred you from expecting strong drink.
Review: A Single Man
Christopher Isherwood published his novel about a middle-aged homosexual grieving for a lost lover, the frank depiction of gay desire scandalized some readers.
Review: It's Complicated
It's complicated, and so are my feelings about Nancy Meyer's predictable and overlong boomer-bait rom-com.
Review: The Young Victoria
Who knew Queen Victoria was such a babe?
Review: Mystery Team
Indie comedy has it tough in the marketplace, so though it's no fun to pan the first feature by the Derrick Comedy troupe, neither was it fun to watch Mystery Team .
Review: Legion
What are angel wings made of? Why, bulletproof titanium with razor-sharp tips to slice open the entrails of sinners.
Review: Tooth Fairy
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dons a pink tutu and wings as Derek, a hockey player who's earned the nickname "The Tooth Fairy" for his knack for knocking out opposing players' bicuspids on the ice.
Less

Topics: Reviews , Movies, Movie Reviews, Kazuo Ishiguro, More

| More

3 Comments / Add Comment

Anonymous

Makes me sad that so many reviewers have missed the point of this story. Despite a general consensus that this movie was beautifully filmed and superbly acted, I've read so many reviewers bemoaning the unwillingness of the characters to run away. It's as if we've been so saturated with various iterations of the Logans Run type plots that we believe it's a universal truth that 'when you're condemned to death for reasons beyond your control, flight seems the way to go'. I don't agree with that statement, I think human beings react in a variety of ways to certain situations and this story chooses to tell the tale of people who didn't 'run' in a conventional sense but confronted their fate head on. These characters have been raised without a sense of their own worth, they feel that they were raised for a singular purpose which makes them special and they have little experience with the outside world (perhaps they feel fear and don't want to live in a world that views them so suspiciously). While the majority of similar distopian movies don't follow this path, in the real world, there are many examples of people passively accepting the life that's given to them. That's what makes this movie so special.

Posted: September 22 2010 at 9:51 AM

Report

Anonymous

I've read the book and Kazuo Ishiguro doesn't go into a detailed explanation as to why these characters passively accept their fate (which is one of the reasons why the book stays with readers for so long). It's 'oddly muted' because the adaptation is trying to project the spirit of the novel onto film. Obviously if you can't accept an alternative to the Logans Run story, then this story won't work for you. If you on the other hand can accept a non-formulaic approach to sci-fi then perhaps you should check this out.

Posted: September 22 2010 at 12:40 PM

Report

Anonymous

yes, in listening to discussions with the Director on NPR, he is indeed trying to capture what Ishiguro himself was exploring in the novel (which is very subtle in its own way) ...the fact that many, if not most, people do stay in situations that aren't necessarily "good" and that most people don't run away... They don't leave the soul-destroying job, they don't leave the empty/destructive marriage, but hang in there out of fear, complacency, or the uncertainty of what 'running away' would bring. I think it's fascinating because I think this is a large predicament for individuals in the western world, in particular, who are taught that individual needs trump larger, social needs, and yet are often unable to put their own needs first and thus live in a state of conflict. In other societies/cultures, this conflict is not the case. In Japan, for instance, submission to authority as a place of honor extends deep into the Japanese conscience....much in contrast to our more "american" ideas about the place of the individual.

Posted: September 30 2010 at 12:28 PM

Report

Add Comment

HTML Prohibited

Friends' Activity

Popular

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

THE LEPAGE FILES
Confidential administration dossiers show Governor Paul LePage crafted significant portions of his regulatory reform agenda by literally copying and pasting passages from the memos his staff received from corporate lobbyists and their clients, turning swaths of it into little more than a set of giveaways to favored companies.

NIKKI SIXX FACES HIS DOPPELGANGERS
Nikki Sixx remains a live wire when onstage with LA dirtbags Mötley Crüe.

THE BIG HURT: BIEBER SILENCES YOUTH, KINGS OF LEON SELL OUT
I hadn't originally planned a press-release review for this week, but some PR blasts require immediate attention.

THE GAME OF THRONES AUTHOR VISITS HIS REALM
The immense appeal of George R. R. Martin's storytelling relies, in part, on the innate thrill of the mechanics of power.

ALLSTON DIY FEST IS A COLLECTIVE AFFAIR
"There's no need to confirm with us," said Allston resident Clay Adamczyk, a member of the group that has collectively organized the fest. "You don't need to be pre-approved. As long as you are free of any corporate relations, you can do your own thing."

RUDY HYPOLITE BRINGS PUSH BACK HOME
I asked Hypolite what it was like to film a train wreck in real-time, and about his opportunity to screen Push for the home team at this week's Roxbury International Film Festival.

MURDOCH & SON
In little more than two weeks, Murdoch's News International (NI) division, the maker and breaker of British prime ministers, has been humbled, and — by extension — its US-based parent, News Corporation, humiliated.

AN ASPIRING CHEF SEARCHES FOR HER LOST SENSE OF SMELL
Six years ago, while jogging in Brookline, aspiring chef Molly Birnbaum was struck by an oncoming Ford. The impact broke her pelvis and shattered her skull. But worst of all, it mangled her olfactory nerves, destroying Birnbaum's sense of smell and her ability to taste all but the most overpowering of flavors.