In the vast tapestry of Oscar history, specific years define instants of talents converging to produce a constellation of extraordinary performances. 1993 was one such epoch when the best supporting actor lineup at the 66th Academy Awards ceremony showcased an assembly of unparalleled depth. The roster included Leonardo DiCaprio for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” Ralph Fiennes for “Schindler’s List,” John Malkovich for “In the Line of Fire,” Pete Postlethwaite for “In the Name of the Father,” and ultimate victor, Tommy Lee Jones for “The Fugitive.”
Looking back on the 30th anniversary of Warner Bros’ taut thriller, “The Fugitive” from director Andrew Davis, Variety reflects on how Jones’ win anchored one of the single best Oscar lineups of all time.
Each nominated actor found themselves in unique career positions and created unforgettable characters that have left indelible marks in cinema. Any of them could have won the category and would stand tall...
Looking back on the 30th anniversary of Warner Bros’ taut thriller, “The Fugitive” from director Andrew Davis, Variety reflects on how Jones’ win anchored one of the single best Oscar lineups of all time.
Each nominated actor found themselves in unique career positions and created unforgettable characters that have left indelible marks in cinema. Any of them could have won the category and would stand tall...
- 8/6/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood has always loved tales of redemption -- the poor, downtrodden or otherwise disenfranchised finding their true value with the help of an inspirational mentor. Sometimes the formula works. Unfortunately in "Gridiron Gang", Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is about as inspirational as a yawn.
A true story, based on an award-winning documentary, about Inner City kids in juvenile detention who come together to forge a winning football team, is great material, but the film never catches fire. With rabid interest in the new football season and a major marketing blitz by Sony, the film could score a few early touchdowns in its first weekend but should tail off quickly after that.
Johnson plays Sean Porter, a dedicated probation officer at Camp Kilpatrick, the last stop for teenage gang members and violent offenders before the state locks them up with adults.
Frustrated by the frequency with which the kids return to the camp after being released, he imagines that by creating a football team he can instill discipline and a sense of self-worth in his charges. In other words, he's a man on a mission, and he's got plenty of work to do.
First, he must get the institution to go along with his plan. That means convincing reluctant camp director Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and his assistant Dexter (Kevin Dunn) that it can work, and then finding other high school coaches willing to compete against convicted felons.
Then he has to put the team together. These kids, most of them from the Los Angles area, and many from rival gangs, already live in an environment of distrust and hatred.
His main reclamation project is Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker), a surly youth who killed his mother's boyfriend after losing his cousin in a drive-by shooting. Then there's his gang nemesis Kelvin (David Thomas), the angry Samoan Junior Palaita (Setu Taase), the team's water boy and mascot Bug (Brandon Mychal Smith) and the white but-not-too-trashy Kenny Bates (Trever O'Brien). In this sanitized version of street life, none of them are really bad kids, they just made bad choices.
Porter peppers them with uplifting messages about grit and determination and not being losers anymore. And -- surprise, surprise -- after numerous hardships and disappointments, the Mustangs, as they are called, become a self-respecting team that wins enough games to make it to the regional championship.
Director Phil Joanou, making his first feature in seven years, does a nice job giving the film a gritty, lived-in quality (much of the picture was shot at the real Camp Kilpatrick in the Santa Monica Mountains), and the football sequences, coached by Alan Graf, look and sound like The Real Thing. But screenwriter Jeff Maguire hasn't given them enough to work with.
The characters all have back stories -- Porter's mother is dying and he hates his father; Weathers is trying to go straight and win back his girlfriend; Junior longs to be reunited with his 2-year-old -- but not the depth to make them seem like anything more than types.
At an unbelievable 126 minutes, the film is bloated with story; too many things happen, mostly setbacks, to allow the movie to gather any momentum and soar, as this kind of picture must do to succeed. But Johnson is the real problem because the film is built around him. He is the latest in a long line of muscular hunks who don't so much emote as deliver lines. But in fairness, it is not easy to sell dialogue like, "accept this challenge and I promise you, you'll be winners."
Lensing by Jeff Cutter, production design by Floyd Albee, editing by Joel Negron and other tech credits are good enough to draw you into the film; unfortunately, there's nothing to keep you there.
GRIDIRON GANG
Sony Pictures
Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Original Film production
Credits:
Director: Phil Joanou
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Shane Stanley, Ryan Kavanaugh, Lynwood
Spinks
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Lee Stanley
Director of photography: Jeff Cutter
Production designer: Floyd Albee
Music: Trevor Rabin
Co-producer: Amanda Cohen
Costume designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor: Joel Negron. Cast: Coach Sean Porter: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Malcolm Moore: Xzibit
Ted Dexter: Kevin Dunn
Paul Higa: Leon Rippy
Willie Weathers: Jade Yorker
Kenny Bates: Trever O'Brien
Bug: Brandon Mychal Smith
Leon Hayes: Mo
Kelvin Owens: David Thomas
Junior Palaita: Setu Taase
Donald Madlock: James Earl III
Jamal Evans: Jamal Mixon
Danyelle Rollins: Jurnee Smollett
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 126 minutes...
A true story, based on an award-winning documentary, about Inner City kids in juvenile detention who come together to forge a winning football team, is great material, but the film never catches fire. With rabid interest in the new football season and a major marketing blitz by Sony, the film could score a few early touchdowns in its first weekend but should tail off quickly after that.
Johnson plays Sean Porter, a dedicated probation officer at Camp Kilpatrick, the last stop for teenage gang members and violent offenders before the state locks them up with adults.
Frustrated by the frequency with which the kids return to the camp after being released, he imagines that by creating a football team he can instill discipline and a sense of self-worth in his charges. In other words, he's a man on a mission, and he's got plenty of work to do.
First, he must get the institution to go along with his plan. That means convincing reluctant camp director Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and his assistant Dexter (Kevin Dunn) that it can work, and then finding other high school coaches willing to compete against convicted felons.
Then he has to put the team together. These kids, most of them from the Los Angles area, and many from rival gangs, already live in an environment of distrust and hatred.
His main reclamation project is Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker), a surly youth who killed his mother's boyfriend after losing his cousin in a drive-by shooting. Then there's his gang nemesis Kelvin (David Thomas), the angry Samoan Junior Palaita (Setu Taase), the team's water boy and mascot Bug (Brandon Mychal Smith) and the white but-not-too-trashy Kenny Bates (Trever O'Brien). In this sanitized version of street life, none of them are really bad kids, they just made bad choices.
Porter peppers them with uplifting messages about grit and determination and not being losers anymore. And -- surprise, surprise -- after numerous hardships and disappointments, the Mustangs, as they are called, become a self-respecting team that wins enough games to make it to the regional championship.
Director Phil Joanou, making his first feature in seven years, does a nice job giving the film a gritty, lived-in quality (much of the picture was shot at the real Camp Kilpatrick in the Santa Monica Mountains), and the football sequences, coached by Alan Graf, look and sound like The Real Thing. But screenwriter Jeff Maguire hasn't given them enough to work with.
The characters all have back stories -- Porter's mother is dying and he hates his father; Weathers is trying to go straight and win back his girlfriend; Junior longs to be reunited with his 2-year-old -- but not the depth to make them seem like anything more than types.
At an unbelievable 126 minutes, the film is bloated with story; too many things happen, mostly setbacks, to allow the movie to gather any momentum and soar, as this kind of picture must do to succeed. But Johnson is the real problem because the film is built around him. He is the latest in a long line of muscular hunks who don't so much emote as deliver lines. But in fairness, it is not easy to sell dialogue like, "accept this challenge and I promise you, you'll be winners."
Lensing by Jeff Cutter, production design by Floyd Albee, editing by Joel Negron and other tech credits are good enough to draw you into the film; unfortunately, there's nothing to keep you there.
GRIDIRON GANG
Sony Pictures
Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Original Film production
Credits:
Director: Phil Joanou
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Shane Stanley, Ryan Kavanaugh, Lynwood
Spinks
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Lee Stanley
Director of photography: Jeff Cutter
Production designer: Floyd Albee
Music: Trevor Rabin
Co-producer: Amanda Cohen
Costume designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor: Joel Negron. Cast: Coach Sean Porter: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Malcolm Moore: Xzibit
Ted Dexter: Kevin Dunn
Paul Higa: Leon Rippy
Willie Weathers: Jade Yorker
Kenny Bates: Trever O'Brien
Bug: Brandon Mychal Smith
Leon Hayes: Mo
Kelvin Owens: David Thomas
Junior Palaita: Setu Taase
Donald Madlock: James Earl III
Jamal Evans: Jamal Mixon
Danyelle Rollins: Jurnee Smollett
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 126 minutes...
- 9/16/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hollywood has always loved tales of redemption -- the poor, downtrodden or otherwise disenfranchised finding their true value with the help of an inspirational mentor. Sometimes the formula works. Unfortunately in Gridiron Gang, Dwayne The Rock Johnson is about as inspirational as a yawn.
A true story, based on an award-winning documentary, about inner city kids in juvenile detention who come together to forge a winning football team, is great material, but the film never catches fire. With rabid interest in the new football season and a major marketing blitz by Sony, the film could score a few early touchdowns in its first weekend but should tail off quickly after that.
Johnson plays Sean Porter, a dedicated probation officer at Camp Kilpatrick, the last stop for teenage gang members and violent offenders before the state locks them up with adults.
Frustrated by the frequency with which the kids return to the camp after being released, he imagines that by creating a football team he can instill discipline and a sense of self-worth in his charges. In other words, he's a man on a mission, and he's got plenty of work to do.
First, he must get the institution to go along with his plan. That means convincing reluctant camp director Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and his assistant Dexter (Kevin Dunn) that it can work, and then finding other high school coaches willing to compete against convicted felons.
Then he has to put the team together. These kids, most of them from the Los Angles area, and many from rival gangs, already live in an environment of distrust and hatred.
His main reclamation project is Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker), a surly youth who killed his mother's boyfriend after losing his cousin in a drive-by shooting. Then there's his gang nemesis Kelvin (David Thomas), the angry Samoan Junior Palaita (Setu Taase), the team's water boy and mascot Bug (Brandon Mychal Smith) and the white but-not-too-trashy Kenny Bates (Trever O'Brien). In this sanitized version of street life, none of them are really bad kids, they just made bad choices.
Porter peppers them with uplifting messages about grit and determination and not being losers anymore. And -- surprise, surprise -- after numerous hardships and disappointments, the Mustangs, as they are called, become a self-respecting team that wins enough games to make it to the regional championship.
Director Phil Joanou, making his first feature in seven years, does a nice job giving the film a gritty, lived-in quality (much of the picture was shot at the real Camp Kilpatrick in the Santa Monica Mountains), and the football sequences, coached by Alan Graf, look and sound like The Real Thing. But screenwriter Jeff Maguire hasn't given them enough to work with.
The characters all have back stories -- Porter's mother is dying and he hates his father; Weathers is trying to go straight and win back his girlfriend; Junior longs to be reunited with his 2-year-old -- but not the depth to make them seem like anything more than types.
At an unbelievable 126 minutes, the film is bloated with story; too many things happen, mostly setbacks, to allow the movie to gather any momentum and soar, as this kind of picture must do to succeed. But Johnson is the real problem because the film is built around him. He is the latest in a long line of muscular hunks who don't so much emote as deliver lines. But in fairness, it is not easy to sell dialogue like, "accept this challenge and I promise you, you'll be winners."
Lensing by Jeff Cutter, production design by Floyd Albee, editing by Joel Negron and other tech credits are good enough to draw you into the film; unfortunately, there's nothing to keep you there.
GRIDIRON GANG
Sony Pictures
Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Original Film production
Credits:
Director: Phil Joanou
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Shane Stanley, Ryan Kavanaugh, Lynwood
Spinks
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Lee Stanley
Director of photography: Jeff Cutter
Production designer: Floyd Albee
Music: Trevor Rabin
Co-producer: Amanda Cohen
Costume designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor: Joel Negron. Cast: Coach Sean Porter: Dwayne The Rock Johnson
Malcolm Moore: Xzibit
Ted Dexter: Kevin Dunn
Paul Higa: Leon Rippy
Willie Weathers: Jade Yorker
Kenny Bates: Trever O'Brien
Bug: Brandon Mychal Smith
Leon Hayes: Mo
Kelvin Owens: David Thomas
Junior Palaita: Setu Taase
Donald Madlock: James Earl III
Jamal Evans: Jamal Mixon
Danyelle Rollins: Jurnee Smollett
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 126 minutes...
A true story, based on an award-winning documentary, about inner city kids in juvenile detention who come together to forge a winning football team, is great material, but the film never catches fire. With rabid interest in the new football season and a major marketing blitz by Sony, the film could score a few early touchdowns in its first weekend but should tail off quickly after that.
Johnson plays Sean Porter, a dedicated probation officer at Camp Kilpatrick, the last stop for teenage gang members and violent offenders before the state locks them up with adults.
Frustrated by the frequency with which the kids return to the camp after being released, he imagines that by creating a football team he can instill discipline and a sense of self-worth in his charges. In other words, he's a man on a mission, and he's got plenty of work to do.
First, he must get the institution to go along with his plan. That means convincing reluctant camp director Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and his assistant Dexter (Kevin Dunn) that it can work, and then finding other high school coaches willing to compete against convicted felons.
Then he has to put the team together. These kids, most of them from the Los Angles area, and many from rival gangs, already live in an environment of distrust and hatred.
His main reclamation project is Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker), a surly youth who killed his mother's boyfriend after losing his cousin in a drive-by shooting. Then there's his gang nemesis Kelvin (David Thomas), the angry Samoan Junior Palaita (Setu Taase), the team's water boy and mascot Bug (Brandon Mychal Smith) and the white but-not-too-trashy Kenny Bates (Trever O'Brien). In this sanitized version of street life, none of them are really bad kids, they just made bad choices.
Porter peppers them with uplifting messages about grit and determination and not being losers anymore. And -- surprise, surprise -- after numerous hardships and disappointments, the Mustangs, as they are called, become a self-respecting team that wins enough games to make it to the regional championship.
Director Phil Joanou, making his first feature in seven years, does a nice job giving the film a gritty, lived-in quality (much of the picture was shot at the real Camp Kilpatrick in the Santa Monica Mountains), and the football sequences, coached by Alan Graf, look and sound like The Real Thing. But screenwriter Jeff Maguire hasn't given them enough to work with.
The characters all have back stories -- Porter's mother is dying and he hates his father; Weathers is trying to go straight and win back his girlfriend; Junior longs to be reunited with his 2-year-old -- but not the depth to make them seem like anything more than types.
At an unbelievable 126 minutes, the film is bloated with story; too many things happen, mostly setbacks, to allow the movie to gather any momentum and soar, as this kind of picture must do to succeed. But Johnson is the real problem because the film is built around him. He is the latest in a long line of muscular hunks who don't so much emote as deliver lines. But in fairness, it is not easy to sell dialogue like, "accept this challenge and I promise you, you'll be winners."
Lensing by Jeff Cutter, production design by Floyd Albee, editing by Joel Negron and other tech credits are good enough to draw you into the film; unfortunately, there's nothing to keep you there.
GRIDIRON GANG
Sony Pictures
Columbia Pictures presents in association with Relativity Media an Original Film production
Credits:
Director: Phil Joanou
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire
Executive producers: Michael Rachmil, Shane Stanley, Ryan Kavanaugh, Lynwood
Spinks
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Lee Stanley
Director of photography: Jeff Cutter
Production designer: Floyd Albee
Music: Trevor Rabin
Co-producer: Amanda Cohen
Costume designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor: Joel Negron. Cast: Coach Sean Porter: Dwayne The Rock Johnson
Malcolm Moore: Xzibit
Ted Dexter: Kevin Dunn
Paul Higa: Leon Rippy
Willie Weathers: Jade Yorker
Kenny Bates: Trever O'Brien
Bug: Brandon Mychal Smith
Leon Hayes: Mo
Kelvin Owens: David Thomas
Junior Palaita: Setu Taase
Donald Madlock: James Earl III
Jamal Evans: Jamal Mixon
Danyelle Rollins: Jurnee Smollett
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 126 minutes...
- 9/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Xzibit is in final negotiations to join Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Columbia Pictures' upcoming drama Gridiron Gang. Xzibit will play Malcolm, assistant coach of the team in the film, which was inspired by a 1993 documentary and follows a probation officer (Johnson) who forms a football team of juvenile inmates. The players overcome huge obstacles, gain self-esteem and discipline and, in one season, go from brawling beginners to contenders for the division title. Jeff Maguire wrote the screenplay. Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Film banner together with the documentary makers Lee Stanley and Shane Stanley. Phil Joanou is directing. Filming is scheduled to begin at the end of May at Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention facility in the Santa Monica Mountains. Xzibit will next be seen in XXX: State of the Union and Derailed. His past credits include 8 Mile and The Chronicles of Riddick. Xzibit is repped by CAA.
- 4/14/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has signed on to star in Gridiron Gang. The Columbia Pictures project is based on a true story about a group of teenagers at a juvenile detention center who gain confidence and self-respect when their counselor puts them on a football team. Jeff Maguire is writing the script. The story was made into a documentary in 1993, which was directed by Lee Stanley, who will produce with Original Film. Matt Tolmach will oversee along with Rachel O'Connor for the studio. Amanda Cohen is overseeing development for Original. The film will be shot in Camp Kilpatrick, the Los Angeles County Probation Department facility where the story takes place. Johnson most recently appeared in Walking Tall. Maguire's credits include Timeline and In the Line of Fire. Johnson and Maguire are repped by UTA.
Opens
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Time machines certainly aren't what they used to be. The one in "Timeline" conveys our bumbling heroes into a medieval world, where they change history with nearly every hiccup and someone actually agonizes over killing a man who has in fact been dead for 650 years. "Timeline" is a glorious so-bad-it's-good entertainment that, whatever audiences' initial reaction is in its theatrical run, should prove a hit in home entertainment. This is definitely a movie to which you want to talk back or, even better, supply alternative dialogue.
While it may be surprising that such a corny/fun movie would come from tentpole director Richard Donner working from a novel by Michael Crichton, who usually nails the scientific-fiction stuff, one is grateful for such an unpretentious diversion prior to all the solemn and sometimes downright gloomy holiday films. "Timeline" is harmless fun with a game cast in the grand tradition of '50s B movies that don't seem to realize how funny their dialogue is. ("We'll be back before you know it!" says one cheerful soul as he steps into a time machine ready to blast him back to the 14th century.)
The story goes like this: Once upon a time -- so to speak -- a team of student archeologists are happily digging in the ruins of La Roque Castle in France's Dordogne Valley under the direction of chummy Professor Johnston (Billy Connolly). The fortress is the site of a famous battle between the French and English in 1357. This crew includes the professor's son Chris (Paul Walker), who digs fellow student Kate (Frances O'Connor), which is where his interest in digging ends; enthusiastic assistant professor Andre (Gerard Butler); the passionate Stern (Ethan Embry);
and a quiet Frenchman named Francois (Rossif Sutherland).
Only something is not right. The professor is disturbed by the prescient suggestions coming from the dig's sponsor, an ominous corporation in New Mexico. Determined to get to the bottom of the corporation's unusual interest in this dig, the professor jets off to headquarters and isn't heard from again. Then the students unearth a chamber sealed for 600 years only to discover a plea for help dated April 2, 1357, from ... Professor Johnston.
Demanding an explanation from the ominous corporation, the students also are flown to New Mexico, where the top scientist (David Thewlis) fesses up: A while ago, in an attempt to devise a machine to transmit 3-D objects through space much as one would send a fax, his scientists inadvertently discovered a "wormhole" in space that leads directly to La Roque Castle in 1357. When the professor learned of this, he insisted that they "fax" him back in time to have a look around. He never returned.
So his students immediately form a 21st century rescue party to go fetch the professor. The group, accompanied by a couple of henchmen from the ominous corporation, make up some strange rules such as no modern weaponry, which would have really come in handy. Each wears an amulet of some sort around his neck that, when you rub it, whisks you back to present day. The ominous scientists tell the rescue party they can only last six hours in the past.
Once deposited in 1357, they make a botch of nearly everything. Two in the party are immediately killed by marauding English troops. Others get themselves captured, and one henchman, who rubs his amulet as arrows pierce his body, whisks himself back to 2003. Only he cheated by bring a grenade with him. It blows up, damaging the time machine and thus stranding the rest of the crew in 1357.
Meanwhile, the contempo crew finds themselves caught up in the siege of Castle La Roque. No worries, chimes one optimist, they can lick these medieval knights because they have "600 years of knowledge" on the warriors. A moment later, one student picks up a rock to attack a knight. So much for 600 years of knowledge.
For some reason, the time travelers decide that the French are the good guys and the English the bad, thereby blowing any chance of "Timeline" getting a White House screening. Yet every strategy proves disastrous. Worse, they keep tampering with history. Andre, for instance, falls in love with Lady Claire (Anna Friel) and is determined to save her from her fate despite the fact that her death will lead to a French victory. Meanwhile, Professor Johnston promises to give to the English forces "Greek fire" -- whatever that is -- to tip the battle in their favor.
Donner paces the action briskly and seems unaware or simply unperturbed by the campy dialogue supplied by Crichton's adapters -- writers Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi. Similarly, the actors tear into these thin roles with a passion worthy of Shakespeare. Walker is stiff and earnest as befits a '50s matinee hero, while O'Connor and Friel smile sweetly but prove their mettle when action is afoot. Michael Sheen has fun with the haughty English lord. Lambert Wilson is his fire-breathing French adversary.
The film's technical credits look very cost-conscious but get the job done nicely. The best things in the movie are Caleb Deschanel's colorful, atmospheric cinematography and the film's portrait of how a medieval army lays siege to an enemy fortress.
TIMELINE
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures, Mutual Film Co. and Cobalt Media Group present
A Donners Co./Artists Production Group production
Credits:
Director: Richard Donner
Screenwriters: Jeff Maguire, George Nolfi
Based on the novel by: Michael Crichton
Producers: Lauren Shuler Donner, Jim Van Wyck, Richard Donner
Executive producers: Michael Ovitz, Gary Levinsohn, Don Grander
Director of photography: Caleb Deschanel
Production designer: Daniel T. Dorrance
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Jenny Beavan
Editor: Richard Marks
Cast:
Chris: Paul Walker
Kate: Frances O'Connor
Andre Marek: Gerard Butler
Professor Johnston: Billy Connolly
Robert Doniger: David Thewlis
Lady Claire: Anna Friel
Frank Gordon: Neal McDonough
Steven Kramer: Matt Craven
Stern: Ethan Embry
Running time -- 116 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13...
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Time machines certainly aren't what they used to be. The one in "Timeline" conveys our bumbling heroes into a medieval world, where they change history with nearly every hiccup and someone actually agonizes over killing a man who has in fact been dead for 650 years. "Timeline" is a glorious so-bad-it's-good entertainment that, whatever audiences' initial reaction is in its theatrical run, should prove a hit in home entertainment. This is definitely a movie to which you want to talk back or, even better, supply alternative dialogue.
While it may be surprising that such a corny/fun movie would come from tentpole director Richard Donner working from a novel by Michael Crichton, who usually nails the scientific-fiction stuff, one is grateful for such an unpretentious diversion prior to all the solemn and sometimes downright gloomy holiday films. "Timeline" is harmless fun with a game cast in the grand tradition of '50s B movies that don't seem to realize how funny their dialogue is. ("We'll be back before you know it!" says one cheerful soul as he steps into a time machine ready to blast him back to the 14th century.)
The story goes like this: Once upon a time -- so to speak -- a team of student archeologists are happily digging in the ruins of La Roque Castle in France's Dordogne Valley under the direction of chummy Professor Johnston (Billy Connolly). The fortress is the site of a famous battle between the French and English in 1357. This crew includes the professor's son Chris (Paul Walker), who digs fellow student Kate (Frances O'Connor), which is where his interest in digging ends; enthusiastic assistant professor Andre (Gerard Butler); the passionate Stern (Ethan Embry);
and a quiet Frenchman named Francois (Rossif Sutherland).
Only something is not right. The professor is disturbed by the prescient suggestions coming from the dig's sponsor, an ominous corporation in New Mexico. Determined to get to the bottom of the corporation's unusual interest in this dig, the professor jets off to headquarters and isn't heard from again. Then the students unearth a chamber sealed for 600 years only to discover a plea for help dated April 2, 1357, from ... Professor Johnston.
Demanding an explanation from the ominous corporation, the students also are flown to New Mexico, where the top scientist (David Thewlis) fesses up: A while ago, in an attempt to devise a machine to transmit 3-D objects through space much as one would send a fax, his scientists inadvertently discovered a "wormhole" in space that leads directly to La Roque Castle in 1357. When the professor learned of this, he insisted that they "fax" him back in time to have a look around. He never returned.
So his students immediately form a 21st century rescue party to go fetch the professor. The group, accompanied by a couple of henchmen from the ominous corporation, make up some strange rules such as no modern weaponry, which would have really come in handy. Each wears an amulet of some sort around his neck that, when you rub it, whisks you back to present day. The ominous scientists tell the rescue party they can only last six hours in the past.
Once deposited in 1357, they make a botch of nearly everything. Two in the party are immediately killed by marauding English troops. Others get themselves captured, and one henchman, who rubs his amulet as arrows pierce his body, whisks himself back to 2003. Only he cheated by bring a grenade with him. It blows up, damaging the time machine and thus stranding the rest of the crew in 1357.
Meanwhile, the contempo crew finds themselves caught up in the siege of Castle La Roque. No worries, chimes one optimist, they can lick these medieval knights because they have "600 years of knowledge" on the warriors. A moment later, one student picks up a rock to attack a knight. So much for 600 years of knowledge.
For some reason, the time travelers decide that the French are the good guys and the English the bad, thereby blowing any chance of "Timeline" getting a White House screening. Yet every strategy proves disastrous. Worse, they keep tampering with history. Andre, for instance, falls in love with Lady Claire (Anna Friel) and is determined to save her from her fate despite the fact that her death will lead to a French victory. Meanwhile, Professor Johnston promises to give to the English forces "Greek fire" -- whatever that is -- to tip the battle in their favor.
Donner paces the action briskly and seems unaware or simply unperturbed by the campy dialogue supplied by Crichton's adapters -- writers Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi. Similarly, the actors tear into these thin roles with a passion worthy of Shakespeare. Walker is stiff and earnest as befits a '50s matinee hero, while O'Connor and Friel smile sweetly but prove their mettle when action is afoot. Michael Sheen has fun with the haughty English lord. Lambert Wilson is his fire-breathing French adversary.
The film's technical credits look very cost-conscious but get the job done nicely. The best things in the movie are Caleb Deschanel's colorful, atmospheric cinematography and the film's portrait of how a medieval army lays siege to an enemy fortress.
TIMELINE
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures, Mutual Film Co. and Cobalt Media Group present
A Donners Co./Artists Production Group production
Credits:
Director: Richard Donner
Screenwriters: Jeff Maguire, George Nolfi
Based on the novel by: Michael Crichton
Producers: Lauren Shuler Donner, Jim Van Wyck, Richard Donner
Executive producers: Michael Ovitz, Gary Levinsohn, Don Grander
Director of photography: Caleb Deschanel
Production designer: Daniel T. Dorrance
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Jenny Beavan
Editor: Richard Marks
Cast:
Chris: Paul Walker
Kate: Frances O'Connor
Andre Marek: Gerard Butler
Professor Johnston: Billy Connolly
Robert Doniger: David Thewlis
Lady Claire: Anna Friel
Frank Gordon: Neal McDonough
Steven Kramer: Matt Craven
Stern: Ethan Embry
Running time -- 116 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13...
- 12/8/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.