The Situation
The Situation **
Directed by Philip Haas
Written by Wendell Steavenson
Starring:
Connie Nielson as Anna Molyneux
Damian Lewis as Dan Murphy
Mido Hamaba as Zaid
Omar Berdouni as Bashar
Nasser Memarzia as Rafeeq
106 Minutes(This Film Is Not Rated-Profanity, Violence, Sex)
-----------------------------
Given one of the most unappealing titles in the history of film. "The Situation" continues the trend that is becoming popular-the war story in the barren locations, with characters that have no sense of humor, with a camera that looks as if it was done by a man with the shakes. Movies like "Syriana," and "Babel" seem to enjoy these methods, only "Babel" to a lesser degree. "The Situation" is a more indie copy of films like these, and it is neither enjoyable nor profound. I was more bored by this experience than floored. To easily begin, I can't tell what kind of story "The Situation" wanted to be, because it drifts from love story to war story with such an amount of force that I felt like I was being jabbed in the face.
"The Situation" followed Anna Molyneux, played by the beautiful Danish actress Connie Nielson who could be reading the phone book and I wouldn't stop staring at her. She is a American journalist who is not always in the spotlight, and has decided to take a trip to Iraq for her next piece. Her photographer for the piece is Zaid, a local who she seems to find herself somehow attracted to. The feeling is mutual. However, Anna is currently involved with Dan Murphy, a CIA operative. While doing her investigation, Anna ends up feeling to be the cause of the assassination of Rafeeq, her source on everything that is going on. Zaid agrees to help her figure out why and by whom Rafeeq was killed by, while at the same time trying to avoid the violence and danger that is everywhere in Iraq.
There are a few stories going on here, and none of them are quite developed well at all. Namely the love triangle element. Considering that it is the central story, it seemed as if it wasn't touched upon at all. I didn't see anything close in the relationship between Anna and Dan to justify her being upset about her attraction to Zaid. In fact, Anna and Dan are barely even on the screen together, and when they talk on the phone together they speak in the most urgent voices that it is like they are just co-workers. And then with Anna and Zaid, their attraction was so forced that I didn't care at all. Aw look, there's Anna meeting Zaid's family, or them driving together. Am I really supposed to find some kind of relationship between the two? And then we jump quickly to the war portion, and a gun fight in the middle of the desert seems to come out of nowhere. I think the problem with "The Situation" is the script. It is confused with what kind of story it wants to be and it results in under written characters and situations. And then it is just plain dull. I couldn't stop checking my watch to see how much time was left. I also think that perhaps Wendell Steavenson, the writer who I learned actually went to Iraq, was trying to use his experience there to tell a groundbreaking and profound story, but then threw in that horrible love story to ruin it.
The look and direction of "The Situation' is nothing to write home about either. Philip Haas does get a decent performance from Nielson, but it isn't her fault that she has to read the wooden dialogue, and Damien Lewis is underused and is resorted to just yelling a lot, with a very serious look on his face. He looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. The visuals are of indie caliber, shot on location with hand held cameras. I am getting a bit tired of the stark visual look, especially in these war stories. They are all visual carbon copies of one another that I can't even differ between them all, even though the awful score is something that could make me tell the difference. You know that the budget must be cheap if even the musical score is god-awful. "The Situation" is a failed attempt at something that I'm just getting tired of. It is a mess of a script about a messy situation-a situation neither enjoyable nor interesting.
Directed by Philip Haas
Written by Wendell Steavenson
Starring:
Connie Nielson as Anna Molyneux
Damian Lewis as Dan Murphy
Mido Hamaba as Zaid
Omar Berdouni as Bashar
Nasser Memarzia as Rafeeq
106 Minutes(This Film Is Not Rated-Profanity, Violence, Sex)
-----------------------------
Given one of the most unappealing titles in the history of film. "The Situation" continues the trend that is becoming popular-the war story in the barren locations, with characters that have no sense of humor, with a camera that looks as if it was done by a man with the shakes. Movies like "Syriana," and "Babel" seem to enjoy these methods, only "Babel" to a lesser degree. "The Situation" is a more indie copy of films like these, and it is neither enjoyable nor profound. I was more bored by this experience than floored. To easily begin, I can't tell what kind of story "The Situation" wanted to be, because it drifts from love story to war story with such an amount of force that I felt like I was being jabbed in the face.
"The Situation" followed Anna Molyneux, played by the beautiful Danish actress Connie Nielson who could be reading the phone book and I wouldn't stop staring at her. She is a American journalist who is not always in the spotlight, and has decided to take a trip to Iraq for her next piece. Her photographer for the piece is Zaid, a local who she seems to find herself somehow attracted to. The feeling is mutual. However, Anna is currently involved with Dan Murphy, a CIA operative. While doing her investigation, Anna ends up feeling to be the cause of the assassination of Rafeeq, her source on everything that is going on. Zaid agrees to help her figure out why and by whom Rafeeq was killed by, while at the same time trying to avoid the violence and danger that is everywhere in Iraq.
There are a few stories going on here, and none of them are quite developed well at all. Namely the love triangle element. Considering that it is the central story, it seemed as if it wasn't touched upon at all. I didn't see anything close in the relationship between Anna and Dan to justify her being upset about her attraction to Zaid. In fact, Anna and Dan are barely even on the screen together, and when they talk on the phone together they speak in the most urgent voices that it is like they are just co-workers. And then with Anna and Zaid, their attraction was so forced that I didn't care at all. Aw look, there's Anna meeting Zaid's family, or them driving together. Am I really supposed to find some kind of relationship between the two? And then we jump quickly to the war portion, and a gun fight in the middle of the desert seems to come out of nowhere. I think the problem with "The Situation" is the script. It is confused with what kind of story it wants to be and it results in under written characters and situations. And then it is just plain dull. I couldn't stop checking my watch to see how much time was left. I also think that perhaps Wendell Steavenson, the writer who I learned actually went to Iraq, was trying to use his experience there to tell a groundbreaking and profound story, but then threw in that horrible love story to ruin it.
The look and direction of "The Situation' is nothing to write home about either. Philip Haas does get a decent performance from Nielson, but it isn't her fault that she has to read the wooden dialogue, and Damien Lewis is underused and is resorted to just yelling a lot, with a very serious look on his face. He looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. The visuals are of indie caliber, shot on location with hand held cameras. I am getting a bit tired of the stark visual look, especially in these war stories. They are all visual carbon copies of one another that I can't even differ between them all, even though the awful score is something that could make me tell the difference. You know that the budget must be cheap if even the musical score is god-awful. "The Situation" is a failed attempt at something that I'm just getting tired of. It is a mess of a script about a messy situation-a situation neither enjoyable nor interesting.
posted by Eric at
10:45 PM
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