movie review - heavenly creatures

so at this point peter jackson can't be mentioned without also mentioning "the lord of the rings". so to get it out of the way, i think the lord of the rings movies are okay. some great filmmaking is on display but i can't really get into the stories and characters. that being said, jackson made this movie seven years before taking on tolkein and directly after his three mega-gory horror flicks. it also marks the acting debut of kate winslet. all of this you may already know.

after the first fifteen minutes, i wasn't too impressed with this movie. i thought to myself "am i crazy or is the acting not good?" by the end though, i was completely involved. the acting is stylized and took me a while to get used to, but once i did i was able to relish the performances, particularly clive merrison as winslet's dad. the relationship between the two girls is completely believable, as is the cause for concern among the parents.

peter jackson's camera direction is at peak form here. he films the story as if it was "lord of the rings" with lots of cranes and swooping camerawork. used on this story it is much more interesting and perfectly appropriate to the perspective of the characters. to these girls, these events are epic. the final shot is haunting as well.

also, jackson does a much better job of incorporating an imaginary world into the real life events than another kate winslet film, "finding neverland". marc foster proved himself inept at showing what an imagination is like, and while jackson doesn't hit it out of the park, he gets much closer.

all told, the film has its moments of brilliance but also some that don't quite hit. more than worth seeing if, like me before today, you haven't already. makes me more excited for jackson's adaptation of "the lovely bones" more than "king kong".

heavenly creatures - b