LEVITY (Ed Solomon, 2003)

Reviewed: April 5th, 2003

[Beware of immediate spoilers.]

"Ridiculously pat redemption story," proclaims 'net critic baaab, except it's decidedly not pat since Billy Bob's character fails to redeem himself. Levity is portentous (though thankfully not portentous enough to be pretentious), lame, unmemorable, earnest and obvious in some respects, but charges of overall tidiness don't stick to this ultimately unsure film. Like the ending of A Beautiful Mind -- an enjoyable Oscar movie whose throat hoards of I'm-so-high-brow-I-automatically-shit-on-anything-that-makes-me-feel-remotely-good types quickly took to slashing before bothering to like, ya know, think about it -- the ending of Levity suggests that although Billy Bob may have achieved a level of serenity he's still gonna be haunted by his crimes for the rest of his life. Admittedly I went into this film prepared for the worst, only attending because nothing's gonna keep me away from a movie containing a Cinema's Finest Actors triptych (in addition to BB, there's Morgan Freeman and Holly Hunter, plus a solid, volatile Kirsten Dunst thrown in as bonus). I also knew, at the very least, I'd be kept busy by some eye candy from the masterly Roger Deakins (who's shot all of the Coen Bros' films) behind the lens (he doesn't disappoint: swashes of neon meet cold, blue-gray skies; dusk meets snow; the burning luminance of street lamps dwarf characters; shadows crisscross everything and portions of the frame are blacked out). Sadly the triptych's a wash, though: Hunter continues her five year plan to only take small, uninteresting, supporting roles; Morgan "I'd never given a bad performance until Dreamcatcher a few weeks ago" Freeman continues his baffling fall from grace by delivering his second ineffective performance (let's hope he can put this appalling half of the year behind him with the upcoming God Almighty [I'm not holding my breath] and The Big Bounce [I can't wait]). Freeman inexplicably decided he better play his part doing his Dirty Harry impersonation so every time he speaks you're left wondering, 'Dude, just who the heck are you trying to convince with that I'm Mr. Gruff act? You're Morgan freakin' Freeman! Use your natural voice! When you play parts straightforward you wield far more authority than any faux-Eastwood fucker ever could.' As for Billy Bob, let's play What Does This Remind You Of: Levity's the story of a taciturn murderer released from jail, hesitantly trying to find a reason for existing in a world and a life that marched right on without 'em. And suffice to say that despite the character telling us via voiceover "redemption isn't possible" for him, he still decides to strike up a relationship with the guy-he-murdered's sister. [pause] That's right folks, it's Ed Crane meets Hank Grotowski (dude who BB plays in Monster's Ball)! While obviously Billy Bob knows this man inside out and he's incapable of delivering a false note, it's still a disappointment to see one of our best performers spinning his actorly wheels, retracing the same old footsteps. As for the groan-inducing 'when is he gonna tell her so she can just like flip out and get this like flipping out shit over with:' as uninteresting as this story strand is... it concluded better and less duh than I expected. (How's that for a pull quote?) Which is more than I can say for the Freeman strand. And the Dunst strand, which never makes much sense (the oddly out of place aggression Billy Bob demonstrates towards her viz. her relatively innocuous lifestyle of ::gasp:: drinking and partying late {"you're a waste of space!" he growls} hints at a richer characterization that's, of course, never pursued in any capacity by the script, lest Billy Bob be anything less than Super Likeable Killer Dude Who Wants To Lead A Good Life Now). Like the man said, really just a camera work and acting showcase or perhaps a new release rental for a down-and-out, rainy Sunday night.

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