MOVIE OF THE WEEK (1/15/10) THE BOOK OF ELI
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon
WRITER: Gary Whitta
DIRECTOR: Albert and Allen Hughes, a.k.a. The Hughes Brothers
WEB SITE: http://thebookofeli.warnerbros.com/
THE PLOT: Picture the world as you know it now ... Now, picture the world 30 years after a catastrophic war of Biblical proportions where the sun has literally scorched the Earth and all that's left is complete and utter destruction. It's full on Mad Max style living here, or, to quote the great rhyme scholars EPMD, "Total chaos / no, mass confusion."
Walking - literally - across the country is a solitary man, Eli (Washington). Seeking only peace, food and precious, precious water, Eli also a possession near and dear to him. No, it's not his first generation iPod (sorry - even Microsoft's Zune can't get any respect in the future), it's his book (hence the title). As he walks, heading as he simply says "west," Eli is aware just special his book is.
Unfortunately for Eli, his travels lead him into a town run full of thieves, rapists and murderers all working under the orchestration of a puppet master named Carnegie (Oldman). Carnegie - who is never too far away from his "wife" (Beals) and her daughter Solara (Kunis). Carnegie is an avid reader, but not just because he enjoys intellectual pursuits. No, he is in pursuit of a greater prize: A certain book ... That may just so happen to be in Eli's possession.
Eli, however, is not one to easily give up his prized possession ... And what ensues is a journey that redefines the term "blind faith" ...
THE TAKE: Let me clear this up right now: If you are a skeptic, non-religious or a flat-out atheist, The Book of Eli may be as laughable to you as Soul Plane was to ... Wait a minute, that movie wasn't funny to anyone. Well, let's just say if you have issues with faith, the underlying themes of this movie - faith, no sin going unpunished, the righteous triumphing over the wicked, faith in a "savior," the power of words, you see where I'm going with this - may be problematic for you in some capacity. (Of course, when Eli talks about his book in relation to the war, you might get a kick out of that - and the violence.
The potential for the film to serve as fodder for religious debate aside, The Book of Eli works as a movie for a couple of simple reasons: [1] Good acting and [2] Good direction courtesy of Albert and Allen Hughes.
When he wants to (I'm sorry - I saw the movie Next, yuck!) - Washington can really put together a solid performance. It is Oldman, however, who nearly steals the show as the diabolically charming (yet diabolical still) Carnegie. For those who have gotten used to Oldman as the tirelessly working police commissioner in Christopher Nolan's Batman reboot, this role will snap you out of it as the actor shows he may be a character actor, but his acting has a lot of character in it. (Get it?) He makes the familiar style movie fun - for while Eli breaks no new ground in terms of hero and villain movies, apocalypse movies or man on an epic quest movies, it does deliver an entertaining drama with a good intermixing of action, humor and dramatic moments that are not predictable or over the top. Kunis does a decent job for her part in playing the lead female role (saying more would spoil too much); she still, however, is in need of a movie that will allow her to do more than play a supporting role (and please don't mention that terrible American Psycho sequel ... Everyone makes mistakes.)
But back to Eli.
The Hughes' brothers well-paced scene movement, stark yet realistic visuals (after 2012 and I Am Legend, it's really hard to have both anymore) and effective pacing to tell a story and Eli makes for an intellectually interesting start to the 2010 movie season.
If nothing else, it might be the first hyper-violent movie religious leaders don't have too much of a beef with.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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