Dangerous Legends of Dysfunctionality

Rating: 3/10 (11 July 2004)

I found it really surprising what is presented as 'romance' here: A dysfunctional marriage/family (just look at the reasons why they married and why they separated) producing Tristan, the 'hero' of the movie. But he isn't a real man to start with. His very, very boyish or childish behavior doesn't stop during the whole of the movie, even after he's gone on his oh-so-important hunting/self-discovery trip. He seems to completely lack maturity and (consequently) the key to manhood. The woman waits for him which makes one wonder if she has got some problems, too. Indeed in the beginning of the movie Tristan's mother gives us some clues, saying that the girl has lost her parents and is 'fragile' (I think that's the word she used). The real tragedy here is that nobody realises what's the problem or tells Tristan to stop and to grow up. The problems arising because of his dysfunctional personality lead to him causing death and disaster and ultimately being isolated and dying alone.
'Pretty Boy' Brad Pitt indeed seems to be the ideal choice for Tristan, since he didn't need to use his limited acting abilities for this part, anyway. I think he suffers from the same problem as the character does. The only good scene he does is when he broods over the girl playing Tennis at the beginning of the movie. The other actors are decent to very good (I especially liked Karina Lombard, a great and underrated actress) but ultimately they are wasted on this movie (as is the good photography and direction and the score). It's surprising that on the one hand the scriptwriters (and/or the writer of the novel) presented the personality problems so well but on the other hand make those persons (especially Tristan) heroes. They obviously didn't know what they were doing.