Good intentions and nice production values aside, "Frontline" is an awkwardly rendered war psycho-drama sabotaged by unfocused direction, a nonsensical script and uneven performances.
Screened at the Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival, this "Thin Red Line"-esque take on World War I will unlikely make it to the theatrical front line, finding itself dispatched directly to the video battlefield.
Jason London ("Dazed and Confused") plays Robert, a soldier, deserter and coward who runs smack dab over enemy lines, unwittingly presenting himself as a gift to the Germans.
Robert nevertheless attempts a getaway when his captors come across a downed German biplane and its seriously wounded pilot, Ludwig Haig (Lenny Von Dohlen), who happens to be a revered flying ace.
While Robert's escape bid proves futile, he strikes an odd friendship with Haig, as well as with mysterious and beautiful Catherine (Rya Kihlstedt), which raises the ire of crazed Capt. Wolfgang Mueller (John Savage), himself smitten with the unreciprocating French woman.
When it appears she likes Robert better, the jealous captain flies into a rage, stabs the American and takes Catherine and a small band of disillusioned soldiers deep into a thicket, which symbolizes an increasingly surreal journey into the heart of darkness.
Robert survives and goes after Catherine and company, as various hallucinatory images pop up along the way.
With its obvious thematic nods to "Apocalypse Now", "Frontline" wants to be more than your average war picture, but the harder it tries to reach for meaning in a world where meaning has been turned on its ear, the more ludicrous it becomes.
Director Quinton Peeples has a talent for artful composition, but it's at the expense of effective storytelling and basic character interaction.
Speaking of characters, the film offers a generous selection of really bad German accents that at least distract from the shaky performances, led by Savage's clenched grimaces.
On the encouraging side, "Frontline" looks and sounds a lot bigger than its budget with some fine, vivid camera work from Keith Smith, resourceful period touches from production designer Wendy Samuels and a rich, multilayered score by Lawrence Shragge.
FRONTLINE
Showcase Entertainment
in association with Arthur Chang/Kingman Films
Director: Quinton Peeples
Producer: Arthur Chang
Screenwriters: Joseph Bitonti & Francesco Lucente
Executive producer: Peter Rosten
Director of photography: Keith Smith
Production designer: Wendy Samuels
Editors: Danny Spahire and Ila Von Hasperg-Abelson
Music: Lawrence Shragge
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ludwig Haig: Lenny Von Dohlen
Capt. Wolfgang Mueller: John Savage
Robert: Jason London
Catherine: Rya Kihlstedt
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Screened at the Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival, this "Thin Red Line"-esque take on World War I will unlikely make it to the theatrical front line, finding itself dispatched directly to the video battlefield.
Jason London ("Dazed and Confused") plays Robert, a soldier, deserter and coward who runs smack dab over enemy lines, unwittingly presenting himself as a gift to the Germans.
Robert nevertheless attempts a getaway when his captors come across a downed German biplane and its seriously wounded pilot, Ludwig Haig (Lenny Von Dohlen), who happens to be a revered flying ace.
While Robert's escape bid proves futile, he strikes an odd friendship with Haig, as well as with mysterious and beautiful Catherine (Rya Kihlstedt), which raises the ire of crazed Capt. Wolfgang Mueller (John Savage), himself smitten with the unreciprocating French woman.
When it appears she likes Robert better, the jealous captain flies into a rage, stabs the American and takes Catherine and a small band of disillusioned soldiers deep into a thicket, which symbolizes an increasingly surreal journey into the heart of darkness.
Robert survives and goes after Catherine and company, as various hallucinatory images pop up along the way.
With its obvious thematic nods to "Apocalypse Now", "Frontline" wants to be more than your average war picture, but the harder it tries to reach for meaning in a world where meaning has been turned on its ear, the more ludicrous it becomes.
Director Quinton Peeples has a talent for artful composition, but it's at the expense of effective storytelling and basic character interaction.
Speaking of characters, the film offers a generous selection of really bad German accents that at least distract from the shaky performances, led by Savage's clenched grimaces.
On the encouraging side, "Frontline" looks and sounds a lot bigger than its budget with some fine, vivid camera work from Keith Smith, resourceful period touches from production designer Wendy Samuels and a rich, multilayered score by Lawrence Shragge.
FRONTLINE
Showcase Entertainment
in association with Arthur Chang/Kingman Films
Director: Quinton Peeples
Producer: Arthur Chang
Screenwriters: Joseph Bitonti & Francesco Lucente
Executive producer: Peter Rosten
Director of photography: Keith Smith
Production designer: Wendy Samuels
Editors: Danny Spahire and Ila Von Hasperg-Abelson
Music: Lawrence Shragge
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ludwig Haig: Lenny Von Dohlen
Capt. Wolfgang Mueller: John Savage
Robert: Jason London
Catherine: Rya Kihlstedt
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/22/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Walt Whitman, on the 100th anniversary of his death, is celebrated in Hemdale's "Beautiful Dreamers, '' a vibrant, if somewhat dewey account of the free-spirited poet's encounter with one of his era's most repressive, anti-human establishments -- the medical profession.
While certain to stimulate the countercultural juices of the aging '60s flower children who embraced Whitman's writings during that cataclysmic period, "Beautiful Dreamers'' will likely find its most hospitable venue as a PBS special or a cablecast.
This 1880s-set dramatic distillation of Walt Whitman's poetry and way of life -- the celebration of one's emotions over rational thought processes -- centers around his friendship with Dr. Maurice Bucke (Colm Feore), the superintendent of the London Asylum for the Insane in London, Ontario, whose opposition to the accepted medical practices of the day -- electroshock, corporal punishment, physical constraints -- attracted Whitman's support. Whitman himself had a brother who was a "loon'' and his playful, loving treatment of his sibling, Dr. Bucke observed, transcended the "scientific'' medical dogma of the day.
While the conflict over medical practices is the film's dramatic focus, screenwriter-director John Kent Harrison sagely uses it as a wellspring for a wider look at Whitman, the man and his works. In movie terms, "Beautiful Dreamers'' is a fish-out-of-water story as the unpretentious Whitman, with his atheistic views and free-love philosophy, is plocked down amid the stolid pillars of proper society: the clergy, the media, the medical profession, the women who tea -- there's not a lot of sympathy for the bearded free-thinker in proper London society. Except Accept in their deepest hearts.
Unfortunately, "Beautiful Dreamers'' wafts off into the soppy, hot-air reaches of traditional movie-ending uplift. Yet, until that forced ascendance, it's a plucky and true tug at the heartstrings. Credit Rip Torn with his crusty, kind countenance as Whitman for much of the film's subtle strength and credit Harrison for his supple blend of the film's outstanding technical contributors: cinematographer Francois Protat's rich, luminous photography and composer Lawrence Shragge's reedy, full score respectfully convey the work and ascendant spirit of Whitman.
BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS
Hemdale
A Michael Maclear Production
Produced by Stairway Films Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada
Producers Michael Maclear, Martin Walters
Screenwriter-director John Kent Harrison
Executive producer Stephen J. Roth
Executive producer for the NFB Colin Neale
Co-producer Sally Bochner
Costume designer Ruth Secord
Music Lawrence Shragge
Editor Ron Wisman
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Dr. Maurice Bucke Colm Feore
Walt Whitman Rip Torn
Jessie Bucke Wendel Meldrum
Mollie Jessop Sheila McCarthy
Rev. Haines Colin Fox
Dr. Lett David Gardner
Leonard Tom McCamus
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
While certain to stimulate the countercultural juices of the aging '60s flower children who embraced Whitman's writings during that cataclysmic period, "Beautiful Dreamers'' will likely find its most hospitable venue as a PBS special or a cablecast.
This 1880s-set dramatic distillation of Walt Whitman's poetry and way of life -- the celebration of one's emotions over rational thought processes -- centers around his friendship with Dr. Maurice Bucke (Colm Feore), the superintendent of the London Asylum for the Insane in London, Ontario, whose opposition to the accepted medical practices of the day -- electroshock, corporal punishment, physical constraints -- attracted Whitman's support. Whitman himself had a brother who was a "loon'' and his playful, loving treatment of his sibling, Dr. Bucke observed, transcended the "scientific'' medical dogma of the day.
While the conflict over medical practices is the film's dramatic focus, screenwriter-director John Kent Harrison sagely uses it as a wellspring for a wider look at Whitman, the man and his works. In movie terms, "Beautiful Dreamers'' is a fish-out-of-water story as the unpretentious Whitman, with his atheistic views and free-love philosophy, is plocked down amid the stolid pillars of proper society: the clergy, the media, the medical profession, the women who tea -- there's not a lot of sympathy for the bearded free-thinker in proper London society. Except Accept in their deepest hearts.
Unfortunately, "Beautiful Dreamers'' wafts off into the soppy, hot-air reaches of traditional movie-ending uplift. Yet, until that forced ascendance, it's a plucky and true tug at the heartstrings. Credit Rip Torn with his crusty, kind countenance as Whitman for much of the film's subtle strength and credit Harrison for his supple blend of the film's outstanding technical contributors: cinematographer Francois Protat's rich, luminous photography and composer Lawrence Shragge's reedy, full score respectfully convey the work and ascendant spirit of Whitman.
BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS
Hemdale
A Michael Maclear Production
Produced by Stairway Films Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada
Producers Michael Maclear, Martin Walters
Screenwriter-director John Kent Harrison
Executive producer Stephen J. Roth
Executive producer for the NFB Colin Neale
Co-producer Sally Bochner
Costume designer Ruth Secord
Music Lawrence Shragge
Editor Ron Wisman
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Dr. Maurice Bucke Colm Feore
Walt Whitman Rip Torn
Jessie Bucke Wendel Meldrum
Mollie Jessop Sheila McCarthy
Rev. Haines Colin Fox
Dr. Lett David Gardner
Leonard Tom McCamus
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
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