Sorted
**
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre)
Released in the UK by Metrodome on October 6, 2000; certificate 18; 99 minutes;
country of origin UK; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Alex Jovy; produced by
Fabrizio Chiesa, Mark Crowov.
Written by Nick Villiers; from a story by Alex Jovy.
Photographed by Mike Southon; edited by Justin
Haish.
CAST.....
Jonathan Rhys..... Carl
Sienna Guillory..... Sunny
Fay Masterson..... Tiffany
Tim Curry..... Damian Kemp
Jason Donovan..... Martin
Tim Vincent..... Justin
"Sorted" uses that reliable old
thriller structure of a hero's investigation into a death leading him through
a dark, sinister underworld; it's been used in character studies like "Get
Carter" (1971) right through to great comedies like "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)
and trash like "Cruising" (1980). The striking early scenes, full of quiet
dialogue and moody spacious shots, evoke the ambience of French drama --
the leads, Jonathan Rhys and Sienna Guillory, have quiet, intense conversations
that allow the material to transcend its well-trodden ground. If we ignore
the overbearing music score, we see terrific acting. It's a pity that as
the story moves on, comic-book villains emerge along with distracting side
gags, our involvement in the drama is undermined and the movie
self-destructs.
I really wanted to like this film. It's the
directorial debut of a charming young man named Alex Jovy, whose efforts
to raise a budget, get through shooting and find a distributor were chronicled
on the recent Channel 4 programme "Movie Virgins". It was inspiring to watch
a no-name film fan make persevering phone calls to production companies,
network at film festivals, chatter with executives at parties and actually
get somewhere with it. I'm happy for him, even if the result isn't up to
much.
The story: Carl (Jonathan Rhys) is a Scunthorpe
lawyer who travels to London after the death of his uncommunicative brother
Justin (Tim Vincent), to take care of belongings and straighten out affairs.
He meets up with Justin's girlfriend Sunny (Sienna Guillory), finds that
she's every bit as mystified as to who the man really was, and then dives
into his circle of friends -- business contacts, drinking partners and drug
dealers from the capital city's rave scene. Something funny has been going
on in the dance music clubs they frequent. What?
Inevitably Carl makes friends in this world, gets
in deep water with the villains who did away with his brother, and ends up
head-to-head with them in an action climax. I was prepared to go along with
this predictable story because Carl is an engaging character, and the strange
style of the opening passages intrigued me. But the movie announces it isn't
gonna be any good the moment it introduces its ridiculous villain, played
by Tim Curry as a cackling, bellowing, bearded scoundrel who sits in a satanic
lair covered in candles and seems to be missing a cat to stroke. His lines
are all snatches of pretentious Olde English twaddle: "Haha!" he clamours
upon meeting Sunny. "Who is this fair maiden? This merry inclination accords
not!"
There is further stupidity. Embarrassing and
irrelevant eruptions of humour come up, such as a scene where Carl has to
go to a customs office, and in the background we see a guy complain about
a wrongful body cavity search. And the plot hinges on the completely implausible
premise that Curry would have all the details of his drug business on a CD-Rom
word file which also contains his address.
Too bad. "Sorted" contains a lot of good stuff.
Jovy, a former DJ, knows what a central part of the rave scene drugs are,
gives us a lot of convincing club scenes, and at one point employs a witty
use of special effects, strobe lighting and circling cameras to convey the
feeling of being on Ecstacy. Many of the performers are impressive too, playing
such wild figures that they abandon restraint and image preservation, go
for broke, and truly become their characters. Witness Jason Donovan as a
transvestite. Yep, Jason Donovan.
Will Alex Jovy turn out to be a good filmmaker?
I dunno. "Sorted" proves him to be good with actors, and he stages some difficult
scenes with proficiency, but what kind of talented person would preside over
such disastrous misconceptions as the Curry character? Maybe he'd be a skilful
director-for-hire, handling better screenplays than his own. Now he's got
his foot in the door, we'll see.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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