Writer director Frank A Cappello followed up CONSTANTINE with a bizarre, twisted little film called HE WAS A QUIET MAN. I'm not entirely sure why this didn't get more play but it's a brilliant, slippery little movie. Combining black humour, social satire and elements of noir, HE WAS A QUIET MAN is a truly original and ever so slightly fucked up flick.
The movie opens with a uglied up Christian Slater as the office nerd, Bob, seething with hate in his cubicle. He dreams of unleashing a shooting frenzy on the superficial slimeballs he works with, but - and here's the genius twist - he's beaten to it by a fellow violent geek. In the heat of the moment, Bob stops the mass-murderer killing office babe Vanessa, so becoming the hero of the hour. Suddenly, he's feted by his colleagues and strikes up an unlikely romance with the surprisingly spiky Vanessa. The question is, how far will Bob allow himself to buy into this new life, and how far can he repress his old hatred?
Christian Slater is both sinister and believable as the geek but it's Elisha Cuthbert who is a scene-stealer as the pretty Vanessa. She completely subverts the image of the sweet, dumb blonde. And the movie itself is a wry commentary on fairy-tale happy endings and other delusions.
Definitely one to seek out on DVD.
HE WAS A QUIET MAN opened in the US and UK last Christmas and opened in Italy earlier this year. It is available on DVD.
The movie opens with a uglied up Christian Slater as the office nerd, Bob, seething with hate in his cubicle. He dreams of unleashing a shooting frenzy on the superficial slimeballs he works with, but - and here's the genius twist - he's beaten to it by a fellow violent geek. In the heat of the moment, Bob stops the mass-murderer killing office babe Vanessa, so becoming the hero of the hour. Suddenly, he's feted by his colleagues and strikes up an unlikely romance with the surprisingly spiky Vanessa. The question is, how far will Bob allow himself to buy into this new life, and how far can he repress his old hatred?
Christian Slater is both sinister and believable as the geek but it's Elisha Cuthbert who is a scene-stealer as the pretty Vanessa. She completely subverts the image of the sweet, dumb blonde. And the movie itself is a wry commentary on fairy-tale happy endings and other delusions.
Definitely one to seek out on DVD.
HE WAS A QUIET MAN opened in the US and UK last Christmas and opened in Italy earlier this year. It is available on DVD.
Hey - just saw this, got to me one of my films of the year... maybe even all time... Slater was awesome, Cuthbert amazing and the whole thing came over like Fight Club pt2.0
ReplyDeletevery very cool, will be buying this for pals for Christmas!
cheers
Matt