Movie #32

The King




Well, let me just say that this movie left me disturbed, horrified, upset, hungry, and with a general sense of ickiness that I can’t quite shake. This is a must-see for any Gael Garcia fans, but be warned that you must be in a macabre mood first. I was extremely tense throughout the whole experience – this is one of those films where you keep thinking to yourself, “Oh no, oh please no… oh no…. oh no, don’t let this happen…” etc. And although a lot of it seemed unmotivated and implausible, well, that happens to be how most people in this country operate anyway. I’d also recommend this film to anyone interested in tragedies in general, or the role of religion in our society in particular. And for anyone who thought that William Hurt was too hammy in A History of Violence (you know who you are), this movie will totally redeem him in your eyes. His performance was incredibly nuanced and moving (especially in contrast to Gael’s character, who was really quite inscrutable).

That’s not to say that Gael did a bad job. Far from it… he nailed the Mexican-American accent, and does a great job as always. It’s not his fault that his character isn’t very fleshed-out (in fact, it’s pretty integral to the character). Anyway, suffice it to say that he was incredibly hot… practically heroin for my eyeballs. Oh, and I was hungry because there was a lot of food in this movie, and instead of letting it sit on the table while shooting in order to avoid continuity errors, the actors actually ate it.