The Cry of the Owl

Director: Jamie Thraves

Screenplay: Jamie Thraves

Based on the Novel by: Patricia Highsmith

Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Malte Grunert, Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Sereny, Sytze Van Der Laan

Starring: Paddy Considine, Julia Stiles, Gord Rand, James Gilbert, Caroline Dhavernas

Year: 2009

Country: UK/Canada/Germany/France

BBFC Certification: 15

Duration: 100 min

I had my doubts about this one, the warning signs from the shoddy Attack on Leningrad were all there – a well known and respectable cast yet no nationwide cinema release and little word of mouth. I thought I'd give this one a chance though as I'm a big Paddy Considine fan and I've always had a lot of time for Julia Stiles, despite a few 'fluffy' roles here and there (Save the Last Dance is not my sort of thing). After giving the film a spin I can see why it didn't have a massive release, it's quite weak in places (I'll go into that later) but overall it's an interesting and diverting film that deserves a little more attention than it's currently getting.

Based on a Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name, The Cry of the Owl centres around Robert (Paddy Considine), a peculiar man in the process of getting divorced, who spends his nights secretly watching Jenny (Julia Stiles), a stranger to him who he observes living out a happy domestic life. When Jenny catches him in the act however, rather than ringing the police, she listens to his story and lets him into her life. From here on in, things take a turn for the worse and Robert is dragged through a nightmarish string of events that threaten to bring his own questioned sanity to breaking point.

As I mentioned at the start of this review, the film is far from perfect, but rather than lay into it straight away I should bring up what I liked about it. The main factor that kept me interested was the story itself. It's very intriguing and has a Kafkaesque structure to it which makes it quite unsettling in places. I really felt for the protagonist, while at the same time wasn't sure quite how harmless he was, which kept me hooked through most of the running time. That said, when a large twist takes the film in a different direction towards the end it did start to get a little silly, mainly because the 'villains' that become apparent didn't have enough motivation for their actions. The final moments almost made up for this though, ending the film on a bleak and sombre tone which helped it make more of a lasting impression on me.

Unfortunately other aspects of the film are harder to recommend. Considine, an actor who I have a lot of respect for after performances as strong as that in Dead Man's Shoes, is quite disappointing here. He's playing an American and pulls off an accent that sounds authentic, but seems to nullify his delivery to a degree. He's not bad, he's just a bit flat in a role that should have been more interesting. The same can be said for much of the film, which feels quite flat a lot of the time. I think a big reason for this is the dialogue. The script is fairly tight in terms of plotting, but whenever anyone speaks it just comes out stilted and unconvincing. Scenes between Robert and his office buddy in particular are cringe-worthy and totally unnatural. It's all very blunt too, with a lot of the lines spelling things out that would be better off lying under the surface.

These are big stumbling blocks in what could have been a very good film. Director Jamie Thraves has only got one other feature under his belt, so maybe it can be put down to experience, but he's got a handful of music videos in his portfolio, including the excellent 'Just' video for Radiohead, so I'm surprised the film wasn't better than it is. As I said in my opening paragraph though, this is a film that is worth watching, it's just got some crucial flaws that unfortunately have kept it from getting greater exposure.

5/10

Serpico

Year: 1973
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writers: Waldo Salt & Norman Wexler
Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolf, Jack Kehoe & Biff McGuire

Serpico is a police thriller from the early seventies made in the wake of the success of films like Dirty Harry and The French Connection made just two years earlier. These two films subverted the style of cop films of the past where the lines were clear between good and evil, and the real violence and depravity was generally glossed over. Serpico shares some of the rawness and gritty style of those two classics, but the protagonist is a vastly different character.

Serpico is based on the true story of Frank Serpico, a New York City cop who was an integral part in fighting police corruption in the 60's and early 70's, with his work leading to the creation of the Knapp Commission, a groundbreaking and widely publicised investigation. In the film he is portrayed as an outcast from his peers due to his hippy-like appearance and refusal to take bribes however small (at one point he frowns upon a free sandwich!). The film opens dramatically with the character struggling to stay alive in the back of a policecar after having been shot in the face. From then on the film goes back to the start of his career as a policeman and carries on from there, as he gradually realises how deep greed and corruption burrows into the policeforce. With little support from anyone, he hopelessly continues to fight for what he believes in, despite shunning his fellow officers and troubling the top brass.

Directed by the great Sidney Lumet, who made two personal favourites of mine, 12 Angry Men and Network as well as the brilliant Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico is a solid film that often impresses but fails to make as big an impact as these classics, and also falls short of the other great 70's thrillers mentioned at the start of this review. Al Pacino takes the lead in an early role settled in-between the behemoths of The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, and he's the best reason to watch the film. He delivers a powerhouse performance, especially considering his relative inexperience at the time (it was only his fourth feature). He turns what could have been a 'goodie-two-shoes' hero character into a flawed and believable man with an extremely heavy burden to carry. Yes, he lets out several of his trademark angry outbursts, but this was produced well before they became cliched.

I think one of the problems I had with the film was that it felt a bit dated. Not in terms of the fashions or filmmaking techniques, but in the subject matter. So many films and TV programmes have tackled police corruption since this was made and some have done it better. I think the main one for me is actually The Wire, which really explores every avenue, leaving no stone left unturned, with dozens of stories meticulously entwined. OK so it's totally unfair to compare the two seen as The Wire was produced 30 years later and had about 60 extra hours of viewing time to play with, but I can't deny it's a major factor in lessening the impact Serpico had on me.

Also, the film did feel a little sluggish at times. The opening sequence is brilliant, exploding onto the screen with rhythmically tense excitement, but after that the film slows down somewhat and never quite gains the momentum that drew us in at the start. It's certainly not boring by any means, but I think that first scene just sets a standard that isn't quite reached anywhere else in the film.

On the whole, it's still very good though. The warts-and-all approach to the character is refreshing for a true story, Al Pacino as I mentioned before is electrifying to watch, and there are some powerful scenes. It just didn't hit home like it should have done, and struggled to engage me as much as other classics of the genre.

7/10