Havoc (**)
review by Jon
Waterman
Have you ever wondered what would happen when rich, upscale
suburbanite teenagers who act like gang-bangers actually meet
up with the people they’re trying to emulate? If the
answer is yes, then boy do I sorta have the movie for you!
Allison is the girlfriend of her preppy high school’s
gang leader. All of her friends are in the gang, too. They
spend their days constantly looking for a new and bigger rush.
On one outing, they drive out to East LA to score some drugs,
when the situation turns ugly. They make it out alive, but
it throws them all into a massive downward spiral.
The film starts out with some kid in their high school making
a documentary about these kids from the Palisades and the gang
they formed there. He seems to pop in and out of the movie
whenever the filmmakers feel we need a little more insight
into Allison’s character. It accomplishes that goal,
but it’s a strange way to get to the bottom of what the
person is all about. And because these scenes are turned on
and off like a switch, you just sort of end up forgetting about
the movie kid until he shows up again. It makes you realize
that the movie should be dealing with the other stuff instead.
But the other stuff isn’t all that great either. The
movie really just doesn’t make sense. You have this girl
who is able to intelligently discuss and analyze her homework
assignments at a level that supercedes most teenagers, yet
she’s completely ignorant to the potential consequences
of what she’s about to do in her social life. Let’s
go be friends with the gang leader that threatened to kill
me last night. Let’s follow him to a party. Let’s
commit to joining his gang even though he hasn’t told
us what we have to do to get in. It’ll all be okay, because
nothing bad could ever happen in my world. After all, I’m
a princess.
Yeah. The lead role is played by “Ella Enchanted” herself – Anne
Hathaway. Now, I haven’t seen any of her work prior to
this, but I can only this performance is much stronger than “The
Princess Diaries.” If her goal is to be seen as a serious
actress, I think she proved her point. And I’m not just
saying that because she shows her boobs, either. She actually
gives a wide-ranging performance that shows her character’s
double (and sometimes triple) lives with nuance. The rest of
the cast is good, too. The only real sore spot is Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
whose gangsta act is uncomfortably over the top and embarrassing.
As a white guy, I’m offended.
The film is oddly intriguing, but I’m not exactly sure
why. Nothing about it screams great. In fact, it gives me yet
another exhibit for my case stating that “Traffic” was
a just a fluke for writer Stephen Gaghan (“Abandon,” “The
Alamo”). Barbara Kopple’s (“Harlan County,
U.S.A.”) direction is functional, but hardly outstanding
or worth getting into detail. Add to that an ending that works
as a gigantic cop out right when the film begins to have some
interesting potential, and you get a movie that’s passable
at best.
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