The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005)

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Jem · #1 Post by **Jem** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:35 pm

The Proposition

Director: John Hillcoat
Writer: Nick Cave
Cast: Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, John Hurt, David Wenham, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson, David Gulpilil.

Synopsis:
Late in the nineteenth century, newly appointed lawman Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) does everything in his power to protect his dainty wife Martha (Emily Watson) from the wicked frontier culture surrounding their village. When he captures Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his psychologically unsound younger brother, Mikey (Richard Wilson) - Irish outlaws whose family is linked to atrocities in the region - Stanley makes Charlie a proposition: bring his psychotic, poetry-spewing older brother Arthur (Danny Huston) to justice and Mikey will live. This "deal" plays out in a violent maelstrom that consumes everything in it's path.

Trailer:
http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2005/ ... railer.php

Reviews:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/re ... 1001096921
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928 ... Id=31&cs=1

Doctor Sunshine · #2 Post by **Doctor Sunshine** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:49 pm

There was a lot of great stuff at the TIFF but this was far and above my favourite.

Jem · #3 Post by **Jem** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:19 pm

Sony site:
http://www.sonypictures.com.au/movies/t ... index.html

Jem · #4 Post by **Jem** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:44 am

Opening in the US, finally!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000596 ... oposition/

Antoine Doinel · #5 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Fri May 05, 2006 7:43 am

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independe ... oposition/

Nice poster too. I'm really looking forward to this, I've heard nothing but great things.

Fletch F. Fletch · #6 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Fri May 05, 2006 9:02 am

J. Hoberman's review: http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0618,h ... 82,20.html

leo goldsmith · #7 Post by **leo goldsmith** » Fri May 05, 2006 11:37 am

Here's a little capsule by yours truly (meaning me) for those interested.

It's definitely atmospheric and well-made, with lots of true grit and filth, but it's not amazing. It's still very highly recommended, but it ultimately feels a little slight. It's funny that this type of movie could easily be a half-hour longer, while a more bloated, less substantial film like MI:3 should probably be a half-hour shorter.

rs98762001 · #8 Post by **rs98762001** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:37 pm

Nice review. But a "career-high" performance from Winstone? Wow. That's some stiff competition there.

leo goldsmith · #9 Post by **leo goldsmith** » Fri May 05, 2006 2:13 pm

If nothing else (and there's plenty else), he's the reason to see the film.

Joe Buck · #10 Post by **Joe Buck** » Fri May 05, 2006 3:14 pm

Kurt Russell? I'm there.

He made me cry in Vanilla Sky. He totally stole the show. =D>

Gordon · #11 Post by **Gordon** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:27 am

I was greatly impressed by this film. It has an earthy atmosphere and traditional style and narrative force that I had thought had vanished from 'action' filmmaking, but Nick Cave, John Hillcoat and cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice) created something special here and, as has been noted, the performances are uniformly strong, but Winstone excells himself in a role that let's him express his full range.

Definitely well worth seeing.

Doctor Sunshine · #12 Post by **Doctor Sunshine** » Sat May 06, 2006 12:52 pm

What everyone's trying to say is it's cool. It's a cool movie. Lee Marvin cool.

hearthesilence · #13 Post by **hearthesilence** » Mon May 08, 2006 1:24 am

This may be the ONLY summer flick I'll appreciate a year from now.

Monsieur Verdoux · #14 Post by **Monsieur Verdoux** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:17 pm

When I sat down in the cinema to watch this, I had a few regrets at first, I just thought I had just got a bit over excited about it. Just because it was different to everything else i was about to see. ...

However, I found the film great from the outset and worth the wait... the look of the film was great, acting wonderful, and greaty put together. My fav film this year at the moment...

denti alligator · #15 Post by **denti alligator** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:23 pm

I was disappointed. Not by the direction or acting, but by the script, which I thought was lousy. And hey, I'm a Nick Cave fan! I even liked his novel. But this was not very good. Lots of trite exchanges- some very belabored humor. And it takes itself too seriously (well, that's Cave for you). There was only one memorable line in the whole film ("Are we misanthropes?" "Hell no, we're a family!").

Monsieur Verdoux · #16 Post by **Monsieur Verdoux** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:59 pm

denti alligator wrote:I was disappointed. Not by the direction or acting, but by the script, which I thought was lousy. And hey, I'm a Nick Cave fan! I even liked his novel. But this was not very good. Lots of trite exchanges- some very belabored humor. And it takes itself too seriously (well, that's Cave for you). There was only one memorable line in the whole film ("Are we misanthropes?" "Hell no, we're a family!").

See, I think this is the problem with the script and the actors, the actors some how, out shown the script far more... why? well probably because you've got people like Winstone to really make the script sound better than it really is. Look at 'All in the Game'; not a very good story, rather poor script throughout; but what really highlighted it was Winstone, why? Because (most of the time) he can make something out of something more than it is. It can be said (to some extent) with John Hurt also....

leo goldsmith · #17 Post by **leo goldsmith** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:56 pm

denti alligator wrote:("Are we misanthropes?" "Hell no, we're a family!").

Ha, I actually thought that was the only really trite line of dialogue in the whole film, albeit delivered with some panache by Mr. Huston. But the line is completely unsubstantiated by any story-time with Huston and his supposed "family."

denti alligator wrote:some very belabored humor

There was humor in this film?!

Doctor Sunshine · #18 Post by **Doctor Sunshine** » Tue May 16, 2006 11:14 pm

The dialog's a little spotty at times, namely when Cave gets in the mood to wax poetic, but only very seldomly. It's a compelling, fun story and paints a grim, unflinching, realistic vision of the Old East. My only other criticism being the Guy Pierce character was a bit too goody-goody to be a believable ex-bandit. But one can hardly let such trifles spoil such a rare film going experience. Visually, it's as accomplished and stylish as a Road to Perdition-type movie but lived in and still alive, it sounds at least that good. Plus it reinvents or reinvigorates the Western with that matter-of-fact graphic violence, and the characters portraying stoicism as self-preservations rather than heroic bravado and just a general unromanticness and antimelodrama that actually rings true. I supposed Deadwood and Dead Man touched on this kind of take on the genre first but, still, this is the coolest movie in a decade.

pemmican · #19 Post by **pemmican** » Sun May 28, 2006 12:49 am

Afraid I agree with the detractors above. Some nice moods, a tensely quiet quality to the way the dialogue was delivered, effective use of music, some striking landscapes: but though the performances were sometimes interesting, the characters and dialogue never were, and the ideas of the film were few, simple, and didn't really get my mind a-twitter. Maybe if Mr. Ebert hadn't blathered about BLOOD MERIDIAN in his review, my expectations wouldn't have been so high; McCarthy's rich language and the eloquence of his villain, Judge Holden, make Cave's script look like B-movie baby formula. I was bored and disappointed, waiting for the film to really get INTERESTING, and it never did.

If you've not seen the film, try to enter it with VERY LOW expectations and you might salvage something from the experience...

A.

Grimfarrow · #20 Post by **Grimfarrow** » Sun May 28, 2006 12:52 am

I saw only about 1/2 of the film due to other engagements, but Bruce LaBruce, whom I went to see the film with, really liked it (I think it was his favourite film at TIFF last year). I think I'll have to catch it again.

ben d banana · #21 Post by **ben d banana** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:51 pm

pemmican wrote:If you've not seen the film, try to enter it with VERY LOW expectations and you might salvage something from the experience...

Agreed. This is the film I would expect from Cave's name on the credits, not the magic others are apparently experiencing.

Jean-Luc Garbo · #22 Post by **Jean-Luc Garbo** » Mon May 29, 2006 3:34 pm

Bruce LaBruce? I'm jealous. What did he enjoy about the movie?

Grimfarrow · #23 Post by **Grimfarrow** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:21 am

I forgot exactly...he was gasping a lot during the film though

He thinks the acting is superb, but that's all I recall.

Bruce has really smart taste in film BTW. As a juror in Turin, awarded TROPICAL MALADY for best film. He's also a big fan of classic Hollywood oldies (you can read is autobiography to know that though - very hilarious read!). Great guy, and surprisingly less wild than I thought he'd be - haha.

Michael · #24 Post by **Michael** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:31 am

Oh, I LOVE Bruce LaBruce! http://www.brucelabruce.com/

Antoine Doinel · #25 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:57 pm

I finally saw this tonight, and before I get to the actual film, I have to say that visually, this is one of the most beautiful I've seen in a while. Though Benoît Delhomme had the Australian outback to work with, even the interior shots were gorgeous. Great set design as well.

As for the film, I really enjoyed it. That said, I think it's very much due to the cast who are uniformly superb and elevate what it is an admittedly extremely familiar story. But it's a testament to the actors that even the completely predictable final twenty minutes had my stomach churning. Ray Winstone was great, but I thought Danny Huston was incredible.

I'm not sure what the beef is with the dialogue. It was neither amazing nor terrible, but fit very well with the overall mood of the film. Also, the "We're not misanthropes, we're a family" line isn't supposed to taken seriously - it was a joke, and I thought it was a very funny one.