Wild Orchid

Tags

1980's, Assumpta Serna, Bruce Greenwood, Carré Otis, Erotic Drama, Jacqueline Bisset, Mickey Rourke, Wild Orchid, Zalman King

Film Title

Wild Orchid

Director

Zalman King

Starring

• Carré Otis as Emily Reed
• Mickey Rourke as James Wheeler
• Jacqueline Bisset as Claudia Dennis
• Assumpta Serna as Hanna
• Bruce Greenwood as Jerome

It doesn’t capture the attention in the guilty pleasure way that Two Moon Junction did, but Wild Orchid is still an erotic film from Zalman King, although hamstrung by attempts to give depth to what is frankly a ludicrous story that needed no attempts to be serious.

Emily Reed is a young and impressionable lawyer who gets a job at a prestigious law firm. Her first assignment is to travel to Rio de Janeiro to finalize the purchase of a hotel. She works under the guidance of the quick-witted and decisive Claudia Dennis, who is a lot more experienced than the novice Emily and knows exactly how to do business. Arriving in Rio, the two set about looking over the run down hotel, that could have a promising future if they manage to save a deal that hangs in the balance. A disgruntled Claudia must go to Argentina for a few days to consult the hotel’s manager who was unaware of them coming, so proceedings are put on Emily, including attending a date with a wealthy man by the name of Frank Wheeler. The self-made millionaire is a strange man who asks personal questions to Emily and hints at a depraved mind. He further introduces her to a world of sexual decadence and carnal pleasure, which disturbs the virginal Emily. The other strange thing is that while Wheeler’s surroundings are sexual, he himself is cold and does not like to be touched even as naive Emily makes plans to get closer; instead getting his kicks from manipulating Emily into strange scenarios that get more exotic as time goes on. Emily finds herself becoming ever more bewitched by the cold and mysterious Wheeler, and can’t quite choose whether to be repulsed or aroused by the world he introduces her too, where he pulls the strings. Add to the fact that Claudia has been infatuated with him for a long time and has in many ways pushed Emily onto him to see if he rebukes her as he had done to her, and events are going to get heavy.

Zalman King with all his directing prowess does fashion a sweltering climate of sexual interaction and carnal desire that knows how to catch the eye. It’s a shame that he also attempts to conjure up some seriousness as Wild Orchid is really about the heat and sensual games being played against the backdrop of steamy Brazil. That isn’t to say that his direction is bad( far from it if truth be told) yet some parts could have done with a fixer upper and just a general sense of wild abandon to suit the story. The atmosphere is there and that’s what people want from a film like this, on that score it delivers. So I can’t for the life of me fathom why anyone on the production or writing team tried to give Wild Orchid any complexity( a movie such as Wild Orchid should really be anything but serious). All attempts at it are really lost and drag the film out for longer than needed. Also, the script is littered with corny lines and the whole exploration of Emily’s awakening does feel a bit slow, which is detriment to Wild Orchid. What people expect and want from movies like this is a sensual emanation of overripe sex and in that department Wild Orchid is very adept. Bodies are shown laced in sweat as a couple makes animalistic love under water, masks are adorned for a voyeuristic ball and Emily is initiated into a strange but tantalizing world that she never knew there was. A heady carnival score that dabbles with sexy percussion and brass lifts some languor in Wild Orchid and at least suits the erotic atmosphere of it.

Carré Otis, while being very beautiful and someone the camera loves, is unfortunately very stilted in her performance as the naive novice Emily. With stunning bright eyes, tousled hair and full lips, Otis is gorgeous and it is easy to see why she was cast in the part of the sexually unaware Emily. It must be said that she does nail the fragile innocence of the part, but her line delivery is problematically bland and needed more expression for it to be at least interesting and lift the weakness of the script. I think if another actress played the part it may have had a bit more about it instead of making the character into something of a blank cypher. Mickey Rourke fares a lot better as the manipulative, sleazy and intriguing Wheeler, who casts a spell on both women present. The role isn’t much of a stretch but Rourke plays it well nonetheless. The most fun seems to be had from Jacqueline Bisset as the silver-tongued and wild Claudia. Bisset brings energy and vigor to her and when she isn’t on screen the movie lags quite a bit. Assumpta Serna and Bruce Greenwood have roles that amount to cameos as two people caught in Wheeler’s web of sexual games.

Filled with taut flesh in various erotic positions, sensuous ambiance and the beautiful locations of Rio, Wild Orchid gets by on these three things, yet suffers from corny dialogue and not surrendering to the sheer implausibility of the story that could have made it at least a very guilty pleasure of sex. It’s safe for me to say that Wild Orchid left me with decidedly mixed feelings.

Below

Tags

2000's, Below, Bruce Greenwood, David Twohy, Dexter Fletcher, Holt McCallany, Horror, Jason Flemyng, Matthew Davis, Olivia Williams, Scott Foley, Supernatural Horror, Zach Galifianakis

Film Title

Below

Director

David Twohy

Starring

• Bruce Greenwood as Lieutenant Brice
• Matthew Davis as Ensign Douglas Odell
• Olivia Williams as Claire Paige
• Holt McCallany as Lieutenant Paul Loomis
• Scott Foley as Lieutenant Steven Coors
• Zach Galifianakis as Wally
• Jason Flemyng as Stumbo
• Dexter Fletcher as Kingsley

Although it offers nothing really new to the supernatural horror genre, Below is a tense and claustrophobic film that at least makes an impact due to atmosphere and cast and doesn’t promise to be anything bigger than it is.

It is August 1943, during World War II. The US Tiger Shark is a Navy submarine on patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship gets orders to rescue any possible survivors from a sunken British ship. The crew rescue three survivors, two injured men and a female medical doctor named Claire Paige. Her arrival makes the crew uneasy due to the belief that a woman on board is bad luck and the fact that they haven’t seen a women for so long. The officer in charge Lieutenant Brice calms the situation the best he can, but then spots a German warship which they flee from by going underwater. Once underwater is when strange events begin to unfold. In the close and confined space, secrets that link to the mysterious Brice and his right hand man Loomis lurk. The opinionated and far from submissive Claire becomes the one most curious as to what transpired before her arrival. Yet there is another bigger set of problems that begin to come into fruition as seemingly supernatural events begin to take hold, including visions people can’t deny. Soon enough, the ship is haunted by an unseen force. With paranoia rising and the submarine depleted from attack, who will make it out alive? What is plaguing the ship with all these chilling events and why? And is the ship really haunted or is there something more foul at play within the submarine?

Director David Twohy displays confident enough direction that induces chills and a claustrophobic impact as the ship becomes littered with death and deception. He could have gone a bit deeper into some aspects, but this is a minor thing as he shows flair for the material and creates many spine-tingling moments of horror. A dark visual style of muted blues is excellent at crafting the underwater atmosphere and sense of no escape in Below as the ship continues to move down and the horror begins to awaken. One main flaw with Below would have to be the script. While it is far from shambolic, it could have benefited from a fixer upper in terms of some character development. Some of the characters, mainly in the supporting category seem to appear and disappear without any real explanation. The supporting characters that are defined are very good, but the ones that aren’t just don’t cut it. At least the main set of characters are decent enough in their own ways. There is a nice sound design to Below that highlights the fact that the crew may not be alone on the ship and a superb score brims with claustrophobic tension and sudden jolts of terror.

Despite the often repetitive and B-movie style dialogue found within Below, the cast contributes great work that makes the characters more interesting than they could have been. Bruce Greenwood is suitably mysterious as the man in charge, who clearly isn’t cut out for the job yet listens to no one. He gives the role a slimy aura that is unmistakable. Matthew Davis plays the role of the curious and suspicious Odell, who knows something is going on but seems to be admonished when he tries to unearth it. As the sole woman in the film, Olivia Williams makes a mark as the no-nonsense nurse who won’t be spoken down to just because of her gender. In the hands of another actress the part would be nothing much, but in the capable hands of Williams, it gets a lot of credibility. The muscled authority and strength of Holt McCallany is on show in his performance as the right hand man to the acting officer. Some good support comes courtesy of Scott Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher as other members of the crew and a wounded survivor respectably.

Below is not the best supernatural horror out there nor does it pretend to be, instead it is a very chilling and atmospheric movie that makes great use of the setting and tensions that begin to build.

Double Jeopardy

Tags

1990's, Annabeth Gish, Ashley Judd, Bruce Beresford, Bruce Greenwood, Double Jeopardy, Thriller, Tommy Lee Jones

Film Title

Double Jeopardy

Director

Bruce Beresford

Starring

• Ashley Judd as Libby Parsons
• Tommy Lee Jones as Travis Lehman
• Bruce Greenwood as Nick Parsons/Jonathan Devereaux
• Annabeth Gish as Angie Green

If there was ever a film that was by the numbers and completely preposterous in the thriller genre, Double Jeopardy would probably take the title hands down. Filled with plot holes and too much time having to suspend belief, the only real saving grace of the film is Ashley Judd’s excellent performance that elevates it to at least being watchable.

Libby Parsons and her husband Nick are rich residents of Whidbey Island, Washington with their young son Matty. One weekend, Nick takes Libby sailing on a yacht he is borrowing from a friend. All seems tranquil until Libby wakes up covered in blood and with no sign of her husband. Once she gets to land, she is accused of murdering her husband and subsequently tried for this crime that she didn’t commit. Libby asks her best friend Angie to adopt her young son as she knows she will be imprisoned for a long time. At first out-of-place within the prison setting, the devastated Libby soon learns to survive. It is then that she inquires about  her son having had no contact with him for weeks. Just as the last minutes of her call run out, she hears her son exclaim “Daddy”. Reeling from this, she realises that her husband is very much alive and faked his death, thereby putting her in the frame for his ‘murder’. Filled with rage, she begins to toughen up some more whilst in prison. She is given a valuable piece of information by a fellow inmate, according to a constitution in law known as Double Jeopardy, Libby can’t be tried for the same crime twice. Which means if she were to track Nick down and kill them, there is nothing the law could do about it. Libby is then released on parole after six years in prison . Until the constraints of gruff Parole Officer Travis Lehman, Libby searches for the whereabouts of her traitorous husband. Tracking him to Colorado, she skips town and goes after him with revenge in mind. Sure enough, Lehman is on her tail as her search leads her to New Orleans. Nothing else in the world matters in the world to Libby except getting her son back and exacting revenge on her slimy spouse for the pain he has put her through.

Now I must say that Bruce Beresford is a very talented director and he does manage to capture some thrilling sequences here, but not even this can bring clarity or memorability to this jumbled mess of a movie. Most of the problem with Double Jeopardy lies with the questionable script and pacing. The script throws in moments that are just to ludicrous to accept, such as Libby committing crimes once out of prison and leaving a trail of evidence in her wake for Lehman to follow her, rather than nimbly keeping a low profile in her search for her husband. The pace is almost non-existent with scenes just bleeding into the next with no passage of time or structure to back them up. Some of the legalities of the film are hard to understand and while some are addressed, they seem to be discarded with no explanation whatsoever. The music score to be fair to it adds at least a layer of mystery and suspense despite being somewhat clichéd.

What can’t be faulted in Double Jeopardy is the performance of Ashley Judd as the wronged Libby. She radiates rage and tough determination after learning of betrayal at the hands of her husband. Some of the actions her character takes are questionable, but Judd rises above these flaws to make Libby a character to sympathize with. Judd is clearly the most interesting thing on display within Double Jeopardy and certainly one of the few things to keep to it being watchable. Tommy Lee Jones, though overshadowed by Ashley Judd and underwritten, at least gives his part a little depth behind the angry exterior. For the brief time that he is on the screen, Bruce Greenwood gives us oily and sleazy charm as the traitorous Nick. I just felt that he could have featured more in the story and that way his character could have been memorable. The same goes for Annabeth Gish as Libby duplicitous friend, her character could have been interesting if the movie had taken the time to expand on the depth of her deception towards Libby.

Save for an impressive performance from Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy is a muddled and forgettable thriller that had potential that wasn’t expanded upon.