At Least it was Pretty

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2002)

I really did enjoy watching this film, but i would be hesitant to reccomend it to an unsuspecting audience. The plot was incredibely banal, a golden hearted hooker meets lovelorn poet story. Which will triumph in the end "True Love" or "Love of Money"? The suspense might actually get to you, if weren't for the exceedingly effected acting style of the two main characters. Not to say that all the acting is awful, John Leguizamo and Jim Broadbent were fantastic in their supporting roles, as were most of the other minor characters. Once i stopped paying attention to the plot and the lovers, however, i really enjoyed the film. In addition to Baz Luhrman's eclectic genius, Something must be said for the absolute neon brilliance of Catherine Martin, the production designer (who also did such a fantastic job with Baz's other films, Romeo+Juliet and Strictly Ballroom)as well as the cinematographer Donald McAlpine. The world they created was absolutely beautiful to watch. Everything visually was stunning to the utmost degree. However, while the gaudy decadence of the set and frantic editing pace appealed to me, it may overwhelm some audience members. As a rule of thumb, if you don't like fast paced jumpy editing sequences (think MTV or Baz's other big hit Romeo+Juliet), you proboly won't enjoy the visual effects of this film. As a musical i couldn't decide if this made the cut. Certainely the opening brothel number was fast-paced and exciting, but the majority of the rest of the songs were all sappy love song clips which i thought fell a bit flat. I just didn't feel the excitment of that opening song was ever recaptured throughout the rest of the film.