With nebbishy demeanor, wilted physique and close-set eyes, Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in the HARRY POTTER films) comes on screen singing high tenor in a Barbershop Quartet, then wandering thru the pub, collecting tips in a straw hat. Think you couldn’t get more masochist than that? Think again! Melling’s about to be picked up (well, picked out) for special service by leather-clad biker Alexander Skarsgård (even at 50, the guy Adonis was modeled after). Naturally, it’s an arrangement, with Melling chosen as submissive (sexually & domestically), to Skarsgård’s laconic dominator. An instant kinky cult item (rating-wise, a hard ‘R’), co-writer/director Harry Lighton’s film quickly lost whatever buzz-worthy qualities it seemed to possess. Pop Psychology contents settling down to half-full in packaging & delivery. Third-act reverses particularly obvious, not to say dog-eared, leaving us with way too much time to think about the relationship’s far-fetched gestation. Lighton not helping his case by filming & lighting Melling as if he were screen testing to play Renfield in a new Dracula film. One of those films where you had to have been there in the opening weekend for the buzz to trick you.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Not strictly comparable (to put it mildly), but Harold Pinter’s THE SERVANT/’63 (Joseph Losey’s 1963 film with Dirk Bogarde and James Fox) works its way thru some similar, creepy ideas on submissive/dominate bad behavior.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: In our never-ending quest to find cooking faux pas in film, check out Melling at a party with many of Skarsgård’s biker pals, scouring a ridged cast-iron pan with dish soap. The one thing he deserves to be punished for, and no one says ‘boo.’
No comments:
Post a Comment