Johnny Depp’s only film as director met with such a
lackluster response that Depp resolutely stuck to acting thereafter, but it’s
good enough that I wouldn’t mind seeing what else he could do as a filmmaker. It’s lack of popularity is almost entirely
due, I assume, to its sober theme and style and not its quality. Dirt poor and struggling to feed his family
who live in a shanty-town with mostly other native Americans, Raphael (Depp)
looks up work in a nearby city and is directed to a mysterious, wealthy old man
in a wheelchair (Marlon Brando), who has a disturbing proposition for Raphael. He will give him $50,000 in exchange for dying
in a snuff film. It seems that the one
thing the man wants to experience before he dies is to torture and kill a
man. Raphael has to decide whether he’s
brave enough to make such a sacrifice as it will provide for his family for the
rest of their lives. Whether he was
propped up by his crew or not, Depp's direction is surprisingly even, devoid of
the flamboyance of the directors he was so famous for working for; (Tim Burton,
John Waters, Oliver Stone, Terry Gilliam).
It's also admirable that Depp, though playing the lead, seems committed to
not turning his film into a mere succession of Oscar-clip moments the way most
actor-directors do. The direction is subtle
enough that Depp's celebrity does not overtake the film, and yet strong enough
to keep it solid and tight.
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