Drama and Schwarzenegger going together like peanut
butter and jelly?
Recent history has made Arnold Schwarzenegger into
something of an easy target for the media savvy; one that I have admittedly
taken shots at unabashedly for years.
Letting go of the hypocrisy behind his political
career or the drama of his marital relations, the level of arrogance he has
regularly displayed in his efforts to take back his movie star status without
ever coming to terms with the fact that he wasn’t a particularly good actor to
begin with has never ceased to rub me the wrong way.
I would never deny adoring a plethora of his films
both good and bad but the man is a relic of a bygone era of Hollywood and the
more he tries to desperately relive that era, the more embarrassed I begin to
feel for him. Therefore imagine my exasperation to discover his attempts to be
taken seriously as an actor in a dramatic role featured in a zombie film. Then
imagine my surprise to discover the film was actually mildly entertaining.
Finally, imagine the feeling of shock mustered within the pit of my stomach
upon realizing that his acting ability actually plays a hand in making it work.
"Maggie" tells the heavyhanded story of Schwarzenegger's efforts to protect and comfort his titular daughter (played by Abigail Breslin) after her infection with a zombie-esque plague greatly impacting humanity and drawing the attention of local and national authorities.
Similarly to the increasingly popular modern takes on the zombie mythos, "Maggie" is a drama placing emphasis on its human element above all else. The central characters all struggle to come to terms with Maggie's impending submission to zombification similarly to how family and friends struggle with acceptance of a loved one's approaching demise via long term illness.
Unlike better pieces of modern day zombie fiction however, the film is unfortunately a tad slow to deliver on the emotional payoff.
The first half of this movie is painfully slow. Things more or less pick up right in the middle of her "medical treatment," providing no context for who the characters are and less reason to get attached, leaving the performances to feel adequate but weightless. Schwarzenegger suffers worst in these early scenes, coming off as stiff and confused when stripped of his ability to utilize his physicality and no direction to aim his charisma.
Upon the end of the film's first 45 minutes or so, things seemed to more or less arrive at the natural conclusion of allowing a man famous purely for his physicality perform in a role requiring dramatic acting. That's when things take a sharp turn for the better.
As if the director himself were trying to pull the
rug out from under the audience, the slow burn of the film instantly begins to
pay off as Schwarzenegger and Breslin are finally allowed a few moments of
tenderness as opposed to the dour looks they’d give off in the distance during
the film’s first half. While Breslin proves to be as good as she always has
been, Schwarzenegger finally gets to truly strut his stuff and I couldn’t be more
pleasantly surprised. His heavy accent and phonetic pronunciations aside, the
conviction he showed in his willingness to defy both authorities and even his
own loved ones in a vain effort to preserve his daughter’s life is legitimately
moving.
The surprising strength behind his performance and
the bond between him and Breslin culminate in a surprisingly effective
conclusion that tugged at my heartstrings a bit harder than I would have ever
expected.
For all of “Maggie’s” pacing issues, the heart that reveals itself
beneath its rocky exterior carries it a long way.
3 Shatners
Bottom Line: Alright Governator, political issues aside, you've earned a clean slate with me. Don't blow it on "The Last Stand 2."
No comments:
Post a Comment