Talking To The Screen
It's The Rage :1999
Guns. Everyone in America has an opinion about guns. Gun control is a mainstay of every partisan political debate. The Menendez Brothers. Amy Fisher. Columbine. Amadou Diallo. Our headlines are splattered with guns and their simple atrocious effects.
With so much emotional and factual material to work from, it?s no wonder that a film was made revolving around handguns. ?It?s the Rage? opens with Joan Allen waking just before hearing three gun shots. She goes downstairs to see her husband, Jeff Daniels, standing over his business partner of eleven years. As the story of Helen and Warren Harding (apparently the writer didn?t notice or care that he named this character after a president) continues, the action explores tangents and characters only to reveal more guns and ultimately, more shootings. This is a Robert Altman style ensemble film. Each character?s story is necessarily or incidentally related to the lives of each other character. In ?It?s the Rage?, this storytelling device is used fairly well. Each plotline is cohesive and well developed. The problem, however, is this; this film was meant to be a dark-comedy with a message about handguns. There is no comedy. There is no message. Whatever other intentions the filmmakers had for this movie have been subsumed by the stylized nature of the telling of the story.
Fortunately, while the message is lost, the individual stories hold water as do their connections to one another. This is a result of the spectacular cast. The dialogue is fair, but the execution is top notch. Joan Allen (?The Contender?, ?The Ice Storm?) has become one of my favorite actresses over the past few years. Jeff Daniels tends to take terribly mediocre roles (?Arachnophobia?, ?Speed?, ?Dumb and Dumber?) but puts on a convincing thespian act as the violent, desperate, jealous husband. Gary Sinise, I am convinced, will emerge as one of the next elder statesmen of acting over the next twenty years. Here as ever, his performance as the eccentric computer genius is pristine. David Schwimmer is surprising, he strikes me as a Keanu who can act a little. Filling out the rest of the clip is Anna Paquin (?The Piano?,?X-Men?), Giovani Ribisi (?Boiler Room?, ?Saving Private Ryan?), Robert Forster (?Jackie Brown?), Andre Braugher (?Homicide(TV)?, Josh Brolin (?The Goonies?).
Handguns are certainly the pivot point for this film. (Or ?wampeter for this karas? for all you Vonnegut fans.) However, the filmmakers, director James Stern or others, failed to make any statement. Guns are used exquisitely as symbols through the film, symbols of rage, of male sexuality, of power. Unfortunately, no emotional weight is given to them, no morality is presented. This obvious void makes the film much less powerful. The vehicle is established, and then never driven home. All the accommodations are in place for a solid stance on guns to be taken, and yet, nothing. Frequently, this kind of half-assed treatment of a sensitive subject comes out of major studios, so no one gets offended, and no one gets protested. But ?It?s the Rage? was a film festival release. It was allowed to say something. And still, no.
?It?s the Rage? is a good story, well told, well acted. As a ?message picture? it fails. As a ?dark-comedy? it fails. If you like Joan Allen and Gary Sinise, this film is a great showcase for their talents.
With so much emotional and factual material to work from, it?s no wonder that a film was made revolving around handguns. ?It?s the Rage? opens with Joan Allen waking just before hearing three gun shots. She goes downstairs to see her husband, Jeff Daniels, standing over his business partner of eleven years. As the story of Helen and Warren Harding (apparently the writer didn?t notice or care that he named this character after a president) continues, the action explores tangents and characters only to reveal more guns and ultimately, more shootings. This is a Robert Altman style ensemble film. Each character?s story is necessarily or incidentally related to the lives of each other character. In ?It?s the Rage?, this storytelling device is used fairly well. Each plotline is cohesive and well developed. The problem, however, is this; this film was meant to be a dark-comedy with a message about handguns. There is no comedy. There is no message. Whatever other intentions the filmmakers had for this movie have been subsumed by the stylized nature of the telling of the story.
Fortunately, while the message is lost, the individual stories hold water as do their connections to one another. This is a result of the spectacular cast. The dialogue is fair, but the execution is top notch. Joan Allen (?The Contender?, ?The Ice Storm?) has become one of my favorite actresses over the past few years. Jeff Daniels tends to take terribly mediocre roles (?Arachnophobia?, ?Speed?, ?Dumb and Dumber?) but puts on a convincing thespian act as the violent, desperate, jealous husband. Gary Sinise, I am convinced, will emerge as one of the next elder statesmen of acting over the next twenty years. Here as ever, his performance as the eccentric computer genius is pristine. David Schwimmer is surprising, he strikes me as a Keanu who can act a little. Filling out the rest of the clip is Anna Paquin (?The Piano?,?X-Men?), Giovani Ribisi (?Boiler Room?, ?Saving Private Ryan?), Robert Forster (?Jackie Brown?), Andre Braugher (?Homicide(TV)?, Josh Brolin (?The Goonies?).
Handguns are certainly the pivot point for this film. (Or ?wampeter for this karas? for all you Vonnegut fans.) However, the filmmakers, director James Stern or others, failed to make any statement. Guns are used exquisitely as symbols through the film, symbols of rage, of male sexuality, of power. Unfortunately, no emotional weight is given to them, no morality is presented. This obvious void makes the film much less powerful. The vehicle is established, and then never driven home. All the accommodations are in place for a solid stance on guns to be taken, and yet, nothing. Frequently, this kind of half-assed treatment of a sensitive subject comes out of major studios, so no one gets offended, and no one gets protested. But ?It?s the Rage? was a film festival release. It was allowed to say something. And still, no.
?It?s the Rage? is a good story, well told, well acted. As a ?message picture? it fails. As a ?dark-comedy? it fails. If you like Joan Allen and Gary Sinise, this film is a great showcase for their talents.