Innocents (2000)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I've never written review before but this film has stuck with me for the past four days and I had to write about it. I apologize in advance at my amateurish prose.I was watching Showtime late the other week and this film called ÒDark SummerÓ came on. At first I was like, This is really weird. But every time I was about to change the channel something new happened on the screen. First, the women were incredibly portrayed. I work in a hospital and I recognized all the symptoms of the underlying stress and depression. I immediately felt that the actors and I guess the director really did their research. Frank Langella who portrayed the father for too short a time (I always loved him), reminded me of a patient I had lost last year, a terrible man who treated his children terribly, just like the character Mr. Langella portrayed.I think the thing that struck me the most about the film was that it took me on an emotional roller coaster ride and constantly surprised me.I told you I am terrible at this and I have read some of the other reviews on this site and I think those people just didn't get it and were mean spirited. I loved this movie because I find that I can't get it out of my head. The performances were absolutely terrific. Connie Nielsen and Mia Kirshner as the two sisters were unbelievable to watch and literally travel with. Anne Archer gave an Oscar worthy performance and Jean Hughes Anglade whom I had never heard of before was absolutely wonderful to watch. After seeing his performance I looked up his name on this site and I want to see more films that he has done.To the people who did not like this film, I just think this movie just reminded you of things you did not like in yourself. I may not know much about movie making but it seemed to me that these actors and the director put a lot of effort into making a film that is not Hollywood fare and not an arty movie that is trying to be more than it is. ÒDark SummerÓ is a great ride (literally) and a very well put together film and I recommend it to everyone who wants something out of the ordinary that is very, very satisfying film.

This has been compared to Hitchcock but I'm not sure why. It isn't that Hitch didn't make a lot of road movies. He made a lot of them, beginning with "The Thirty-Nine Steps." But there was always a gimmick, something towards which the protagonists were heading, and the reason was clear even if the particular MacGuffin was not. This road movie has no goal, not even character development. We get the picture of character in the first few minutes: one peaceful Frenchman and two crazy sisters, an innocent and two broads. (That's meant to be a play on words. See Mark Twain.) The sisters remain pretty much the same throughout. The French musician realizes what's up but feels some vague sense of loyalty (or something) towards these women that keeps him from turning them over. He has the best line in the movie -- "You Americans, and your guns!" The film runs from one episode to the next without adding much to what we already know. Hitch's movies were filled with episodes and set pieces too, but they added up to more than the sum of their parts. The cameos here are interesting but don't change the nature of the film. The cellist and the Gold Dust Twins run into all kinds of creepy characters -- two pick-up artists in a cowboy saloon; a retired judge with a penchant for peeping (naughty!); the pick-up artists redux, this time as rapists/gunmen; the mother, a nice quick portrait by Amy Archer made more impressive by horrible makeup and compulsive use of the f word. What's there isn't badly handled. There's a nice Dakota thunderstorm. When the two gunmen get blasted, one gets it in long shot, with a distant strobe flash and puff of smoke bluish in the headlights. The acting is okay too. The Frogs have this ability to take an actor and make him inhabit a part to such an extent that we forget that he never seems a promising lead -- this guy here, Jean Reno, others. Ordinary faces in extraordinary circumstances. In its structure, if it resembles Hitchcock at all, it's late, kind of tired Hitchcock. "The Birds" maybe, without the Oedipal underpinnings, the incest theme notwithstanding.

Dark Summer is a Hitchcock type thriller with solid performances from a good cast. Gregory Marquette has directed a complex and stylish film here with enough sex, murder, music, and substance to appeal to a broad audience, but there is also a dark texture to the film for fans of action thrillers like Fatal Attraction, Gone in 60 seconds. Jean Hugh Anglade leads a great cast as Huxley, a sympathetic musician who gets tangled in a web of mayhem and murder. Connie Neilsen (Gladiator, Mission to Mars) and Mia Kirshner are sisters who go with Huxley on a life changing trip. Frank Langella appears as their father, and Anne Archer steals the whole film in the final reel as their alcoholic, worn out mother. Keith David delivers as the detective with a resounding, "something goes wrong" and Robert Culp ends up on the wrong side of a shotgun as a sex crazed retired judge. The film is well shot and has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. The story itself is fairly simple. Marquette has used his cast to get the most out of the script and the bland but beautiful Midwest setting. The textures and the subleties make this film worthwhile.Fans of classical music will love the use of the cello throughout the film. The cello ends up in the middle of everything with Connie Neilsen, naked crawling across the floor towards it in one scene and a bar full of dancers reveling around it in another. Hitchcock is the all time master of directing thrillers because the pacing and tempo were always excellent. This is an early effort for an up and coming director who did get good work from the cast. To be fair, the pacing in this film changes speed a couple of times. Most of the time, the action rolls along at a good pace but some of the travel scenes and musical performances seem to slow down the film. It usually recovers though with a surprise or revelation that moves along the increasingly tough thriller. Choices plague Huxley as the film ends with decisions and tough consequences. Marquette has crafted a good, watchable film here and is likely to get more chances as a storyteller. This could make a good Saturday nite date movie for a couple eager for a film that will leave them with lots to talk about after the film ends. Did they get what they deserve ? Did they get away with it ? Watch and find out.

Gerard, a French cellist, is driving across America when he sees cops investigating what looks like a car accident or a crime scene by the side of the road. He's so distracted that he runs off the highway and crashes into a field.At the hospital, he meets Megan, a beautiful nurse. She's very distracting, too, and invites him to dinner at her house.This guy never learns.Megan lives with her equally beautiful younger sister, Dominique, who's infantile and seductive, and their dying father. Dad dies a few hours later and is buried apparently the next day.Nothing like a funeral to stir the libido. That night, Gerard and Megan make love and a nude Gerard plays his cello in the dark.The next morning, the mind-gaming sisters play a trick on Gerard, who gets a bloody nose in the process, but when they invite themselves on his road trip, he doesn't flee in terror, as any sensible person would.About halfway through the movie, we're trying to decide what's more ridiculous: the over-the-top emoting over deep, dark family secrets; Dominique's personality; the cello-and-fiddle jam session at a country-western bar; Gerard's big, dumb puppy-dog eyes; or the fact that we're still watching.This movie is like a car wreck or a murder scene. It's dreadful, but you simply can't take your eyes off it.