| The Luzhin Defence |
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| 1/2 |
| Rating: Mixed Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics Running Length: 1 hour, 48 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 U.S. Release Date: April 27th, 2001 (limited), many successive weeks later in different areas. Genre: Drama, Sports, Chess, Romance Director: Marleen Gorris Cast: John Turturro, Emily Watson, Stuart Wilson, Christopher Thompson, and Geraldine James. |
| picture above from www.spe.sony.com/classics/luzhin/index.html |
| Plot: A world class chess player (John Turturro) is addicted to the game. It has devoured his life, and left him socially disabled. He suffers from painful flashbacks of important moments in his childhood. To make matters worse he is getting terribly nervous over the world championships he is playing. However, when an attractive woman (Emily Watson) meets him at the games he realizes he can look past his addiction and as more for life. Although the situation becomes even more difficult when the chess master's old mentor returns to haunt him. The mentor had previously abandoned him, and hopes to hinder him, and later harass him. |
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| Critique: The Luzhin Defence is a well intentioned, early on engaging, but ultimately unfurfilling film. On the surface the film is well made, the cinematography and score are fine. The acting is solid, and for the most part the characters are well rounded. Although they are moderately well rounded, the characters still suffer from being too cold and unemotional, thus leaving the audience lost. Additionally, there is a lot of information missing, even with all the artsy flashbacks. When you get deep down though there isn't much there to 'Defence.' There are not enough interesting plots, or universal topics. Yet, the film has some solid strengths. For the first hour the film is compelling, and one is able to surrender to the attractive backgrounds, and art decorations. Past the hour mark however, it becomes clear the film is not bold enough, and cannot sustain the audience's care for the characters as effectively due to its distance. The most dangerous flaw of the film however is the painfully pretentious final third of the script. It is not only unrealistic and cold, but it wastes the moral to the film. The idea that one can survive his or her own addictions and enjoy life is destroyed by the director, screenwriter's misguided ambitions. Even though it was based on a book, which contains an ending to which I have no idea about, the screenwriter still could have changed the ending. Also, the director could have not made the film in the first place! It's a shame that the film falls flat on itself. It had enough gutsy ideas to get it almost all the way there. The fact that the film could not contain its own weight is confusing because it wasn't very heavy or risky. It's hard at first to notice this due to the stellar acting. The whole supporting cast is very good, but John Turturro steals the show (as was his job in this starring role). He captures the audience's sympathy with his quirky mannerisms, and thought provoking plights. We never get to see Turturro's character emerge fully though, he is muffled by the film maker's pretensions. The Luzhine Defence has some good points in it, but it gets confused. It doesn't leave a good taste in one's mouth, and muffles what could have been an interesting finish. It falls prey to the common problem of wanting to be dark and mysterious. Marleen Gorris, the director, is sincere in her efforts, but in the end she took the easy way out. review by supernothingman |