Spring Break
Haggis 'soapbox' a failure
BRIAN HUGHES
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Out & About
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Writer-director Paul Haggis has an alter ego well known to University students - the Tate preacher.
The two have some striking similarities.
Haggis seems always to be standing on a soapbox, delivering a message shaped by an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
Verdict: More tainted Oscar bait from HaggisUnlike the lunatic at Tate, Haggis explores subjects worthy of cinematic portrayal, but his ideas are as polished as that of a student fresh from a screenwriting seminar.
In his Academy Award-winning "Crash," Haggis duped audiences with a sanctimonious examination of racial tension that played like an extended guilt trip, relying on character stereotypes to push a message of tolerance.
His latest film, "In the Valley of Elah," chronicles the dehumanization of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
While this is certainly a story worth telling, Haggis resorts to old habits by creating a story that revolves around a set message rather than telling a story from which a message permeates.
We are introduced to a warhawk father (Tommy Lee Jones) who attempts to track down his son gone MIA upon returning from Iraq. Authorities find the boy's body scattered throughout a field under military jurisdiction.
Jones dons his best MacGyver skills and ascertains the military is hiding something sinister. Teaming up with Charlize Theron, who once again does her best to hide any shred of beauty (apparently good-looking people can't act), he sets off to find his son's killer.
They discover the truth in an interrogation scene that makes all soldiers look like humanless drones and could easily be mistaken as parody. Think Leslie Nielsen playing a soldier.
The investigation is nothing more than a McGuffin, with each character a pawn in Haggis' anti-war diatribe.
Without Jones, the effort would be a complete failure. He has an innate ability to appear both stoic and vulnerable, specifically in a scene where he tells his wife (Susan Sarandon) their son is dead - one of the few moments that evoke genuine emotion.
Just when you think Haggis can't spoon feed the audience anymore, he delivers the cheesiest ending sequence in recent memory to signal America's distress in Iraq.
Unless you're Miss Teen South Carolina, you'll see through this transparent film and quickly tire of Haggis' rant.
And like the Tate preacher, you'll wish he would just shut up.
The two have some striking similarities.
Haggis seems always to be standing on a soapbox, delivering a message shaped by an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Grade: C -Verdict: More tainted Oscar bait from Haggis
In his Academy Award-winning "Crash," Haggis duped audiences with a sanctimonious examination of racial tension that played like an extended guilt trip, relying on character stereotypes to push a message of tolerance.
His latest film, "In the Valley of Elah," chronicles the dehumanization of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
While this is certainly a story worth telling, Haggis resorts to old habits by creating a story that revolves around a set message rather than telling a story from which a message permeates.
We are introduced to a warhawk father (Tommy Lee Jones) who attempts to track down his son gone MIA upon returning from Iraq. Authorities find the boy's body scattered throughout a field under military jurisdiction.
Jones dons his best MacGyver skills and ascertains the military is hiding something sinister. Teaming up with Charlize Theron, who once again does her best to hide any shred of beauty (apparently good-looking people can't act), he sets off to find his son's killer.
They discover the truth in an interrogation scene that makes all soldiers look like humanless drones and could easily be mistaken as parody. Think Leslie Nielsen playing a soldier.
The investigation is nothing more than a McGuffin, with each character a pawn in Haggis' anti-war diatribe.
Without Jones, the effort would be a complete failure. He has an innate ability to appear both stoic and vulnerable, specifically in a scene where he tells his wife (Susan Sarandon) their son is dead - one of the few moments that evoke genuine emotion.
Just when you think Haggis can't spoon feed the audience anymore, he delivers the cheesiest ending sequence in recent memory to signal America's distress in Iraq.
Unless you're Miss Teen South Carolina, you'll see through this transparent film and quickly tire of Haggis' rant.
And like the Tate preacher, you'll wish he would just shut up.
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