NIGHTWATCH 1998
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1998 Timothy Voon
7 :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( - walked out
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Patricia Arquette, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Lauren Graham, Brad Dourif, John C. Reilly, Alix Koromzay Director: Ole Bornedal Producer: Michael Obel Screenplay: Ole Bornedal and Steven Soderbergh based on Bornedal's NATTEVAGTEN
>From the opening bloodletting scene, to the moment I walked out (something I've never done before), there was a lingering feeling of nausea - brought on by the sickening nature of this sordid movie. The feel of dead bodies, morgues, necrophilia and lingering smell of formalin-pickled anatomy parts, left a bitter taste - not your average cup of tea. I hated anatomy and medical school left me with bad memories of a stale, dark museum – resulting in a low tolerance for this sort of movie. Feeling run down from a hard days work (equals - not in mood for psychopathic killer on mad sexual rampage, killing prostitutes), was probably another reason why I left early.
I laughed at KISS THE GIRLS, I shrugged my shoulders with indifference to I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, and ignored most of the grotesqueness of the SCREAMS, but I could not tolerate NIGHT WATCH. It crossed that unseen barrier of acceptability. There were two others who made an earlier departure than I, so clearly I was not alone in how I felt.
>From what I did watch (about half the movie), the story revolves around a night watch man (Ewan McGregor) who works part time at a morgue, in order to supplement his income whilst studying. His best friend (Josh Brolin) starts to show psychopathic tendencies early on. He keeps going on about reaching ‘highs' – and I don't mean drugs. Sex ‘doesn't do it for him', neither do prostitutes, he is unexcited with fighting, leaving him with a void that needs to be filled. When he asks his best friend (McGregor) to sleep with his girlfriend, so he can get turned on – warning bells startedto ring. In this trend, it is hinted that the psychotic bastard only gets a rush when he's murdering prostitutes. One can only imagine what he does with the body after! This movie is like Jeffrey Dharma revisited and is best avoided all together. It exploits the darker side of human nature, a territory that is best left in the unexplored realm of hell.
The only regrets I have is, watching talents like Patricia Arquette and Ewan McGregor wasted on such poor material. After, A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, Ewan McGregor has only himself to blame for choosing bad roles. Hopefully, his upcoming performance as the young Obe-Wan Kenobe, in George Lucas' STAR WARS pre-quels will be a redeeming feature - ‘May the force be with you Ewan.'
Timothy Voon
e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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