DESPERATE REMEDIES
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 5.0
Date Released: 7/1/94 Running Length: 1:33 Rated: R (Nudity, sexual situations, violence)
Starring: Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Kevin Smith, Lisa Chappell,
Cliff Curtis, Michael Hurst
Directors: Stewart Main and Peter Wells
Producer: James Wallace
Screenplay: Stewart Main and Peter Wells
Cinematography: Leon Narby
Music: Peter Scholes
Released by Miramax Films
About thirty minutes into DESPERATE REMEDIES, I finally asked myself the question: "What am I watching?" Defying categorization, this movie is just plain weird, and unlike anything else currently playing in theaters. DESPERATE REMEDIES is a grand melodrama that's completely aware of its over-the-top tendencies (in fact, it revels in them). The production is pervaded by an ongoing sense of surrealism, and seems unconcerned about whether anyone believes what's going on or not.
For the record, there is a story, and it's a fairly delightful blend of double-dealing and backstabbing. One wonders what this might have been like had it been filmed straight, without the production elements interfering with the general enjoyment of the movie. The closest thing I can come up with is DANGEROUS LIAISONS.
Fresh off a boat on the coast of a 19th Century arm of the British empire, Lawrence Hayes (Kevin Smith) finds his services requested by the cool-but-beautiful Dorothea Brook (Jennifer Ward-Lealand). Dorothea needs someone to marry her sister Rose to keep the girl away from her opium-supplying boyfriend Fraser (Cliff Curtis). In return for Lawrence's agreement to become Rose's husband, Dorothea is willing to grant him title to a substantial piece of property. The deal is sealed, but Lawrence has ulterior motives--he wants Dorothea, and intends to take any opportunity to get close to her. However, while Dorothea is as attracted to Lawrence as he is to her, she will not give up her lover Anne (Lisa Chappell), and is engaged to marry the local bigwig politician William Poyser (Michael Hurst). How all these various relationships get untangled, then re-tangled again, is the subject of DESPERATE REMEDIES.
Essentially, this is an arty Harlequin Romance--with the twist that it never takes itself seriously. Or, rather, it takes itself so seriously that it's plain that the directors are having fun with the material. Unfortunately, their amusement comes at the audience's expense. DESPERATE REMEDIES is not a particularly engaging motion picture. With its vividly-colorful settings and operatic score, this movie has difficulty curbing its excesses, and this overblown, self- conscious approach distances the audience.
That's not to say that there aren't some clever moments. Particularly memorable are instances where a comment about removing Fraser is accompanied by scissors snipping a thread, and where time running out is emphasized by the ticking of a watch. In general, however, all the perks in DESPERATE REMEDIES are visual or gimmicky in nature. When it comes to the story, this movie is more than a little flat.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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