A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
A film review by Roy Muller
Copyright 1995 Roy Muller
Starring: (among others) Keanu Reeves
Last Saturday some friends and I went to A WALK IN THE CLOUDS. I had seen the making of the film, seen interviews with both actors and director, gee, it looked kinda sweet. I, being a mega-fan of schmaltz, firmly believed that this film would become one of my favourites. Gee, I was wrong.
The vaseline of the lens is something I've seen millions of times before. I even like it. Seen Mr Jones? Same idea, different actors. It worked. This was a little less, shall I say, successful. Mr Director (sue me for not remembering his name although I can picture him in my mind, remembering ROMANCING THE STONE, of course) shot landscapes that looked like bad paintings. In fact, they were the kind of scenes that even painters wouldn't dare paint for fear of being called "Kitsch." The actors, in this filmy light, and in front of these falsetto scenes (or so they looked) resembled a fairytale drawing on a bad day.
Keanu, at his usual acting peak (as much acting as that of a dead prawn), was gorgeous. I mean, I'll give him that. Every time he smiled my knees turned to Jello. He smiled a lot in this film so Mr Director obviously knew which Keanu-talents to make use of. The woman was lovely. My sympathy was with her about her pregnancy and no daddy, but hey, she couldn't wait to jump Keanu. Now, I know I said he's gorgeous, but let's practice a little restraint okay. At that point my sympathy began to change.
Although I have to say that they made Keanu's character into this "Mr Good Guy" type which really irritates me. Men like that must have something wrong with them. No human being can be all "let's all get together and save the world." His flashbacks of the war consisted of differently angled shots of the same scene. An orphanage and poor, "Mr Good Guy" was an orphan. Hey, I'm beginning to make the connection. Give me a break.
Some of the scenes were somewhat old, like Keanu falling on top of the poor lass on the train. A serious case of deja vu. Of course, the last scene really did it for me. The whole family howling like a pack of dogs in a Walt Disney cartoon, the father pleading with his daughter to teach him to love and Keanu, "my hero," going to wrench up the root on the burning plantation.
If you're looking for something even slightly interesting, moderately entertaining, a bit enjoyable, this is not that film.
Yours faithfully,
Toni.
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