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Review:
 In
the history of the World, no traitor is as beloved as Pocahontas.
Her saving of Captain John Smith in 1607 is considered to be one
of the most romantic events in American history. In the age before
the PC movement ruined the teaching of history, this was right up
there with George Washington and the cherry tree as one of the
main points of the kindergarten curriculum, why even Disney made a
musical about it!
When something is done as a Disney musical, you can't really treat
the subject with the respect it deserves, and Terrence Malick,
who's back with his once-a-decade epic, has tried, What he's got
is not all that different from the cartoon, which is, if you think
about it, rather scary.
It's 1607, and Captain Christopher Newport(Christopher Plummer)
has just landed his fleet in what would become Jamestown. This is
a beautiful area even now, and Malick makes the best of it. This
is about trees and rivers as much as it is about people..one of
whom, John Smith(Colin Farrel), is in the brig, where as soon as
they land, is scheduled to be strung up for some unknown crime.
But as they're putting the noose around his neck, Newport relents,
and we begin with Smith's internal monologue.
Meanwhile, the “Naturals” as they were called back then, are in a
quandary what to do. Great Chief Powhatan(August Schellenberg) and
his chief warrior Opechancanough(Wes Studi) take it all under
advisement as the former's daughter Pocahontas(Q'Orianka Kilcher)
dances through the cornfields and begins her own internal
monologue.
There's first contact, the Colonists begin to fall out with each
other as Newport takes most of the fleet back to England. Smith
and some of his men go up to find the Natural's village. The GREAT
HISTORICAL INCIDENT we all learned in Kindergarten takes place in
a flash, and soon John and Pokey are diddling in the tall grass as
John learns the language and the culture. A Harlequin Romance™ if
there ever was one.
Smith is taken back to Jamestown with instructions to inform his
people to get their asses out of Virginia as soon as spring
arrives. When he gets there, Jamestown is a wreck, and Smith is
put in charge. The politics of Jamestown is shown as unrelenting
horror. But none of the colonists are really given much of a
personality. Pokey visits and commits her act of treason by
telling the colonists of the upcoming attack and when her
relatives find out, she's exiled, and eventually winds up in
Jamestown. Then Newport comes back with the new fleet and Smith is
called back home to lead an expedition to find the northwest
passage, and all of a sudden John Rolfe (Christian Bale) arrives
and starts up with his own internal monologue. We know that
there's going to be a new romance with Pokey…um…Rebecca [she's
been baptized].
While this is going on, we're unusually detached. Yeah the scenery
is amazing. The cinematography is some of the best of the year.
But there's no real drama here, despite the fact that the material
is very dramatic. I almost fell asleep a couple of times, and
that's clear danger sign.
This is boring in parts. It's long, and despite Bale, Kilcher and
Ferrell's excellent performances, this thing is a bit of a dog.
Don't waste the bucks.
Eric Lurio
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