2022 - June
The Wrath of God (2022) 2.5/4
Too Many Thieves (1966) 2/4
Too Many Thieves (1966) 2/4
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- DirectorAbner BibermanStarsPeter FalkBritt EklandJoanna BarnesWhen some priceless Macedonian treasures are swiped, lawyer Falk arrives to get to the bottom of things. He spends a good deal of time dodging more bad guys than in the average film, but that is because this is just two episodes of his "Trials of O'Brien" television show edited together and dumped quickly into the theaters. Plenty of dead bodies pile up along the way, with little excitement en route.24-06-2022
Three years before he would don Lt. Columbo's rumpled raincoat, Peter Falk starred as a wise-cracking, showboating, perennially broke attorney in the short-lived CBS series "The Trials of O'Brien". The critics loved it but the audiences didn't and the meagre ratings killed not only its chances for a second season but also, apparently, for a DVD release. The show has been MIA for half a century and has amassed something of a cult status among "Columbo" fans.
The few episodes that are available for viewing to a cunning TV archaeologist portray the show as a witty but not altogether original crime dramedy in which the rumpled and hilariously neurotic lawyer Daniel O'Brien finds himself involved with a variety of faces-you-wouldn't-like-to-meet-in-the-dark of the New York underworld. What was unusual about "The Trials of O'Brien" was that only about half the episode's runtime would be dedicated to the crime plot. The rest would revolve around O'Brien's messy private life complicated by a greedy ex-wife he is still madly in love with, a cynical secretary, and a penchant for gambling that lands him in increasingly farcical situations such as the one in which he wins a boxer in a craps game only to discover he is only good as a fall guy.
This mixture of comedy and crime plots is what sets "The Trials of O'Brien" apart from its more po-faced and worthy contemporaries such as "The Defenders" or the eternal "Perry Mason". It obviously didn't work at the time but to a modern sensibility, "O'Brien" is the more interesting and current show.
After the final episode aired, the show's only two-parter entitled "The Greatest Game" was re-edited and released theatrically abroad as "Too Many Thieves". At the time, this was not an unusual move as is evidenced by several movies made up of episodes of such shows as "The Saint" or "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". What is unusual is that a flop such as "The Trials of O'Brien" would get the movie treatment, especially seeing how the show itself, a talky, urban drama, does not leap out at one as being particularly cinematic.
The movie, more easily accessible than the series, is a poor representation of what "The Trials of O'Brien" was like. I suspect that the two-parter it originates from was written with a movie in mind and that it was jazzed up accordingly. Thus O'Brien in the movie does not deal with boxers, hoodlums, thieves, or bar owners like in the show. His client is the Macedonian government and based on their portrayal here, I doubt the filmmakers had any idea Macedonia was a real country. A priceless emblem has been stolen from their national museum and they have reason to believe the thieves are hiding it in New York.
O'Brien's job - locate the thieves and negotiate the sale of the emblem back to the Macedonians. What everyone assures O'Brien will be an easy job (yeah, right!) becomes awfully complicated when he is contacted by three separate persons claiming to have the item and when they start getting killed off, seemingly at the hands of a dangerous monosyllabic hitman (David Carradine), O'Brien finds himself not only the police's prime suspect but also running for his life.
With its garish colour scheme and ludicrous caper plot, "Too Many Thieves" resembles more an episode of "The Saint" than "The Trials of O'Brien". Perhaps the producers thought that would attract a wider audience but in retrospect, it is a real shame because the only reason for watching this film is to see what the obscure Peter Falk vehicle was like.
On its own, "Too Many Thieves" has few notable qualities. There is of course the charismatic and humourous lead turn from Peter Falk and some strong supporting turns from the colourful guest cast but otherwise, this copy-and-paste movie is too talky and stilted betraying its televisual origins. The plot is disappointingly simple and straightforward with a final twist which will surprise no one and the few attempts at humour frequently fall flat. No, "The Greatest Game" was not one of the best episodes of "The Trials of O'Brien" and "Too Many Thieves" is a pale example of the otherwise witty and fast-paced show.
2/4 - DirectorSebastián SchindelStarsMónica AntonópulosMacarena AchagaJuan MinujínLuciana, a young woman immersed in a circle of mysterious deaths of relatives and the growing suspicion that the person responsible is an enigmatic writer, her former boss.24-06-2022
I vividly remember the fantastic premise of Guillermo Martinez's novel "The Slow Death of Luciana B." in which a young woman blames the unfortunate deaths of her family members on a mysterious, secluded writer. What a brilliant idea to centre a mystery novel around the human need to concoct a villain who is to blame for all our misfortunes. I don't remember much else about the novel except that it was a slim volume that more hinted at its psychological underpinnings than dwelled on them. Someone like Umberto Eco would have had a field day with such a format-bashing story (somewhat reminiscent of his own "Foucault's Pendulum") but Martinez seemed content to merely scratch the surface.
Now comes the film adaptation, retitled more alluringly "The Wrath of God". The central premise is the same and it gripped me just as much as it did on the page. Our lead is the poor Luciana (Macarena Achaga) who has endured a series of misfortunes that constitute anyone's definition of hell. Her happy family, which consisted of three siblings and their jolly, loving parents, has dwindled to just her and her younger sister. Everyone else is either dead or severely incapacitated.
How does a human being deal with such a series of events? I often think that most of the misfortune of the world is down to our brains' need to find patterns in the most illogical sequences. Some find God, some go insane looking, and others find a villain fit to take on such massive blame. Luciana finds her villain in the form of Kloster (Diego Peretti), a reclusive bestselling novelist whom she used to work for. As chance would have it, her family's streak of bad luck began just after she left his employ and after she accused him of sexual harassment.
Now, a decade after, Luciana has been reduced from an intelligent and promising young woman into a ranting, paranoid wreck. As a last-ditch attempt at saving her sister's life, she pleads with a down-and-out journalist Rey (Juan Minujín) to publish her story.
The format is clever. A three-person mystery except we're not quite sure who's who. Is Luciana the victim or the aggressor? Is Kloster a villain or a target of undeserved hatred? And is Rey the right detective to make that distinction seeing how he himself blames Kloster for his own failed novelistic career?
As long as the film keeps the lines blurred, it is a fascinating experience. Almost a philosophical exercise. But as the third act draws nearer and the film begins hinting at a definite answer to the central mystery, its allure begins to fade because the only sensible and psychologically interesting conclusion to this story is one in which there are no protagonists and antagonists, just a series of coincidences, and that just doesn't work for a commercially-minded thriller.
It doesn't help, I suppose, that the well-adapted script by Pablo Del Teso is executed in a rather pedestrian manner. The direction by Sebastián Schindel is not bad by any means. He keeps things moving at a pretty pace and occasionally even exhibits some visual stylishness. However, much like the rest of "The Wrath of God", his work never goes beyond what is strictly required. He merely translates the written material to the screen without ever truly interpreting it or imbuing the film with the right kind of atmosphere. The result is adequate but distinctly televisual.
The performances are similarly decent but never exceptional. Macarena Achaga and Juan Minujín do what is required of them but are never striking enough for me to truly care about them. This is one of those movies in which concepts count more than characters. Diego Peretti makes the most impact as the feebly sinister Kloster but even he fails to give his character enough dimension or emotion for us to believe he is truly a living person.
I enjoyed "The Wrath of God". It is a more intelligent thriller than it seems at first or that you'd expect from a low-budget Netflix import. And yet it could have been so much better. There is such potential for a truly philosophical thriller in Martinez's novel, a potential yet untapped by either the writer or the makers of this film adaptation.
2.5/4