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milla and sarah I can't say that I've ever read the Thomas Hardy novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, but apparently that story was used as the basis for the film The Claim. That doesn't really matter though because the novel had nothing to do with me renting the movie. The reason that I wanted to see it was because Milla Jovovich and Sarah Polley played two of the lead characters in it. Both of them usually do a good job on the screen in less than ordinary roles and I was hoping for the same this time around. Now having seen it, their combined presence wasn't strong enough to save the story for me. Besides the casting potential, I also liked the director of the movie and saw that as another reason to have high hopes. Michael Winterbottom's film version of another Hardy novel Jude with Christopher Eccleston and the lovely Kate Winslet is a dark and engaging movie that I love and own. Sadly where Jude worked for me on a number of levels, there was something missing in The Claim and I'm not sure what that might have been. For me most of the characters seemed off in some way or another. I understood that a man had sold his wife and baby daughter and then they returned to him years later, but that wasn't enough to keep me watching. About the only reason that I made it to the end was in the hope that it was going to get better somehow, but it never did. Other reviews that I read commented on the subtle psychological aspects of the story, but I could barely keep my eyes open. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and seeing what happened to them wasn't important to me. I guess if I want to restore my respect for Winterbottom and his work, I should watch Jude again or even better I should have another viewing of Wonderland, if I want to see something subtle yet interesting. Despite the other glowing reviews that I have read, The Claim seemed choppy to me and maybe as someone else speculated that was the result of bad editing. I'll probably never know the answer. |