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The Earl (2008)
Director: Jim Sikora
Movie review
From Time Out Chicago
Whatever else it may have done on the Chicago stage, Brett Neveu’s late-night play reportedly offered the spectacle of some serious live violence. It’s rare to see a play where the characters have at each other with crowbars, and rarer still to see one that gives them less of a reason to do so. The premise is simple: Three brothers, separated for a time, gather in an abandoned factory for a game they’ve always played, which involves nothing more or less than taking turns beating the shit out of the other two. On this particular evening, Rick (Schine) has invited along his crusty boss (Goldring), providing grist for a feeble Dirty Harry parody and holding aloft the prospect of mutual growth.
The immediacy of the stage might have saved The Earl, which would clearly benefit from shock laughter. (Indeed, this is the original cast, whose delivery often seems timed for audience guffaws.) On screen, however, the four-men-in-a-warehouse routine has already been whacked to death. If Reservoir Dogs grounded itself in vivid characters and dialogue, The Earl remains willfully obscure. Denuded to a Pinteresque idiom—the men speak in code, referring to acts of violence by numbers (“You’re going to regret using your ‘one’ ”)—the scenario becomes both precious and pointless. Chicago filmmaker Sikora also subscribes to the fallacy that aggressive cutting distracts from the staginess, but the opposite is true. The net effect is to bludgeon the viewer with artifice while never settling on a point of view.
Author: Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out Chicago Issue 162: April 3–9, 2008
User reviews of this film
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- Daryl Jon Bark said...
- Posted on Jan 27 2009 15:38 I love it when people ask me what i think, but idon´t have time for all that. I will tell you that Jim is a Genius, and if he had only a portion of the money theese Hollywood fucks get paid he would be creating films that would make Dennis Hopper wet his pants. One more thing, most film critics haven´t got a fucking clue, even if they do like his fims.
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- Tom Logan said...
- Posted on Apr 12 2008 16:41 This one is going to get past the critics. At worst it is cotton candy on Versailles china. I'm not saying it is cotton candy. I think there is more to it than one may realize. When the reviewer (Mr. Kenigsberg) states THE EARL remains willfully obscure he is confusing obscurity with subtlety. The problem is that the filmmaker delivers with such strong aesthetics that he took the film way too seriously. He probably thought he was going to get Chateau Brion. This film apparently was based on a late night cult play. It is COMPLETE tongue in cheek. The music score is the best I have heard in quite some time. I would defintely recommend. Hey even if it is cotton candy when was the last time you had cotton candy delivered on Versailles china?
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- Gustavo Lira said...
- Posted on Apr 10 2008 22:45 The substance, or lack thereof, of reunion conversation between the siblings reminded me of my family/sibling get-togethers, minus the blood and violence. No more therapy for me. The Earl gave me an appreciate of my siblings I did not have before. Will work on more substantive conversation with my siblings at the next get-together. Thanks!
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- Steve Brown said...
- Posted on Apr 05 2008 02:02 I don't think I have ever disagreed with a film citic more in my life. First of all the sound track is superlative. And I realized half way tthough the film it is a "nightmare". My fiancee whispred in my ear at the end that you might have to be be a film student to really appreciate what is going on. The sound track ALONE IS A REASON TO SEE THIS FILM!! The film has none of the the pauses in regard to gaffaws the review refers to. It is all rather organic and purely circumstantial making it really humorous. Now I'm not a professional film critic but I'm still thinking about this film. I would defintely check it out. I will be going back to see it again on Monday!!!!j
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Cast & crew
Director: Jim Sikora
Cast: Steve Schine, John Moran, Noah Simon, Danny Goldring full cast
Rated: NR
Duration: 72 mins
US Release: Apr 4 2008
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