REEL CRITICS

* EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reel Critics column features movie critiques written

by community members serving on our panel.

‘Anywhere but Here’ is good place to be

“Anywhere but Here” is about an individual unhappy with herself and her

lot in life. Given choices, she really would rather be anywhere but here

than to continue living in a nowhere Wisconsin town surrounded by family

and friends content to stay where they have always lived.

Susan Sarandon’s Adele is an amalgam of every weird and loving mother you

can imagine. She’s selfish, determined, unreasonable, loving and

undeterred. Looking for that better life, she pools her limited resources

to buy a car for the escape. Not a Ford or a Chevy, but a gold Mercedes.

Destination: not just California, but Beverly Hills.

Adele has a traveling companion, her daughter Ann (Natalie Portman). Ann

did not want to leave Wisconsin. Her persona is one of good sense and

stability, but her sullen demeanor lets you know this trip is not going

to resemble a day at Disneyland.

A shocking confrontation evolves in which mom stops the car and kicks

daughter out in the middle of the desert and speeds away.

Adele is a chameleon or a poor man’s Auntie Mame, but she finds a

teaching job. They move a lot but always in good neighborhoods. She makes

some poor choices and neglects items like the electric bill.

Sarandon and Portman are a really good fit. Each grows strong as they

fight for individual independence, and you root for each of them.

“Anywhere but Here” is a good place to be. The viewer will come away with

a keener understanding of the human condition.

* ELAINE ENGLAND, 65, lives in Newport Beach and owns a gift-basket

business she operates out of her home.

Film sends muddled message of Joan of Arc

Luc Besson’s “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc” stars Milla

Jovovich (“Dazed and Confused,” “Return to the Blue Lagoon”) and is the

pair’s second effort after 1997’s “The Fifth Element.”

Like the latter, “The Messenger” is beautifully photographed and benefits

from elegant art direction. And like “The Fifth Element,” this films

suffers from a weak screenplay and muddled acting.

The film tells the story of young Joan, the French hero and future saint,

who believes she was told in a series of visions by God to lead the

French army to victory against the occupying English army.

In leading the French to a major victory over the English at Orleans, she

enables Charles VII (John Malkovich) to be crowned King of France. While

the film is credibly cast, with supporting actors led by Dustin Hoffman

as Joan’s conscience and Faye Dunaway as Yolande of Aragon, Jovovich has

the burden to carry the film but unfortunately is unable to accomplish

the daunting task of showing the many facets of Joan’s life. Jovovich

alternates between over-the-top exuberance and hushed tones.

Besson, working from a script he coauthored with Andrew Birkin, attempts

to take a revisionist look at Joan’s life. Was she a mystic, prophetess,

warrior-princess, or simply a delusional woman who violated church laws

and was therefore burned as a heretic?

Besson and Birkin attempt to demonstrate the complexities of Joan’s life

and her myth, but their point of view simply becomes muddled and dull.

The total film time is approximately two and a half hours, which doesn’t

really help when the film gets away from its strong point of beautifully

choreographed battle scenes, photographed by Thierry Arbogast. Besson

seems to have confused the belief that an “epic” must approach three

hours in length.

The only spoken scenes that convey any real gravity or purpose are the

ecclesiastical courtroom scenes which were actually taken from surviving

trial transcripts. Unfortunately, Besson should have noticed that the

scenes he and Birkin drafted did not approach the drama and clarity of

these passages acted out more than 500 years ago.

If you really must see a film on the life of Joan of Arc, rent 1928’s “La

Passion de Jeanne d’ Arc” by Carl Dreyer and starring Maria Falconetti.

This French silent on Joan’s imprisonment and subsequent trial will

clearly demonstrate what great filmmaking is about.

* ROB OROZCO, 30, is an attorney who lives in Newport Beach with his wife

and two cats.