If Jacques Rivette's Joan The Maid movies are steeped in reality then Luc Besson's The Messenger is the fever filled fantasy of Joan of Arc's delusion. A beautiful movie to look at with it's sweeping wide shots and it adoring camera gaze at Milla Jovovich. The problem lies squarely on the shoulders of Jovovich however as she chooses to play Joan as a disturbed hysteric rather than a visionary in control of her self belief real or not. She screams, yells, shakes and throws tantrums that make it hard to believe that any seasoned soldiers of the 15th century would have followed such an obviously disturbed woman into battle. This derails our belief in what is going on. Jovovich is much better in the quieter moments especially in the last half hour. A visual feast and even an entertaining watch. Wish Milla would have toned down her performance though.
