The Fall

I'd heard about this movie on the now defunct Ebert and Roeper. It was the follow-up to director Tarsem Singh's "The Cell", a neat, little thriller with J-Lo as a psychiatrist who could enter other people's minds. The movie was pretty memorable for the weird dream-like visuals and a fabulous horse vivisection that regularly makes grossest scene lists. "The Fall" sounded like a similar thing: bright, weird imagery with a different plot-coating. And, it pretty much was!

Lee Pace stars as Roy, an injured stuntman trying to end it all over a failed love and a possible lifetime of paralysis. Unwittingly in on his scheme is Alexandria (Cantinca Untaru), a five-year-old with a broken arm who is enamored of the increasingly epic tale Roy tells her about a masked bandit and his companions on a quest for revenge. Though the hospital scenes are pretty solid, it's scenes with Roy's story that really show off Singh's imagniation. Location shooting for this monster must have been a bitch! Each part of the story takes part in elaborate desert and Mediterranean cities with bright colors out of the wazoo. Blood is RED. The city is BLUE. The princess's gown is PINK. If you love fantastic imagery, these scenes will definitely pique your interest. But I know plenty of people who hate bright, crazy shit like that so be prepared to vomit if you are one of them.

I don't remember Charles Darwin wearing such a bright fur coat.

 So you've got an epic fantasy story book-ended by an increasingly depressing real-life for our characters. It's very "Wizard of Oz", down to many characters from the hospital taking roles in Roy's story which would have been way cooler if I actually remembered who most of those characters were. There's an old man who can take out his teeth but he's so made up in the story I didn't actually know it was him until the end. There's the ice guy. There's Roy's stuntman friend who is in only one real-life scene. There's another guy who had some backstory in the real world that I utterly missed so I never knew he was supposed to be anyone other than Charles Darwin, the flamboyantly dressed naturalist.  Other moments get the story's real-world reflection right.  There's a cute bit where Alexandria's father plays the part of the bandit until Roy realizes that his inclusion isn't entertaining her so Roy has to swap himself in instead.  Also, as Roy becomes more depressed, the tone of the story he tells changes and becomes a lot more violent (I really wondered where the R-rating came in until about the halfway point).  Regardless, much of what should have been kinda cute fell a little flat for me.

In fact, despite the BIG production numbers and EPIC sets and EXTRODINARILY BRIGHT costumes, the movie is often very cold. Many of the real-world characters often act as if they're delivering story-bits on command instead of organically which doubly yanks you out of the movie. Frankly, a lot of Roy's story, which should serve as a bolder reflection of real emotions comes off as pretty...emotionless. I spent the majority of this movie seeing a lot of style with very little substance, never being fully drawn in to either of the worlds Singh created. Which would make this movie very OK.

BUT

There were a lot of little touches that carried me through. The only real emotions came from the two leads.  Cantinca was adorable; perhaps I've gotten soft in my recent fatherhood, but every line from her seemed real and struck a chord with me. In one scene, as Roy passes out from a possible morphine overdose, Alexandria lamely taps his shoulders, playfully calling out that it's not time for bed before giving him a kiss goodnight.  There are enough scenes in which Singh plays Alexandria's innocence with the audience's expectations to give the film a pulse.  Also, as Roy's story became increasingly darker to suit his deepening depression, her pleas for him to stop hurt me to watch. Lee Pace again proves himself a criminally underrated talent. I don't think I've seen many actors pull off depressed so well. He's angry, sad, frustrated but can still switch on normal when he has to. That guy deserves more work! Combined with the great craftsmanship of the film itself, the best monkey death scene ever, and an ending that left a sweet aftertaste, I decided to dub this a GOOD movie.

At least watch it for the monkey death scene. Tarsem Singh pulls out a hell of a performance from that little guy.

This is not the monkey death scene.  If this picture excited you, you might not be able to handle the real thing.