Bring It On Home

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2006)

"Zardoz anyone?" Sounds more like the stuff of keyboard vengeance that an honest review. I'll go ahead and take a step past the 2-cent quip. Is this film easy to understand? No. Is it easy to plot? No. Is a film of this individuality made often? No. Was I caught with a senior citizen's ticket by an usher? Yes. There have been others in cinematic history whose strangeness surpasses conventional standards and commands us to either accept its difference as enlightenment or refuse it as pretentious hogwash. 2001 has been mentioned so far in comparison but I might offer a more recent film like Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys, which is not easily decipherable but like The Fountain asks the viewer to do some mental exercise and not just be bleached over with the predictability of moving from point A to point B.
Firstly, hats off to Brian Emerich and his crew. The sound design was amazing. Muted city noise toppled by the snow crunching footsteps of Jackman amplify how alone the character is in his quest while being surrounded by so many. From the sounds of intergalactic breakfast cooking in his cosmic conveyance, to the hairs whispering back in response to the sound of Hugh's voice summon the sense of beguiling sound that so rarely tantalizes a film audience. The score composed by Clint Mansell was mostly complimentary which I didn't find it as plodding as others have stated. If placed, I would have to say it sounded somewhere in the realm of Japanese-existentialist-keyboard-ponder-fest to music found in film classics such as Heat (night scenes of De Niro riding in his camaro) and Uncle Buck (listen to the scene sequence directly after Buck scares Bug with a 12 inch drill bit).
Trippy visual effects like kicking out the stars will send the most skeptical cerebrally enhanced big gulp drinker into gooey awe. Golden showers (it's a sci-fi thing, sorry) raining down and morning light brought in through the castle walls to illuminate Rachel Weiz are just a few of the optical morsels to take in.
The interweaving of time works fairly well, offering the circadian dimensions of time as plausible reality. Though I had trouble understanding the end fully or how Weiz's character became a tree in a bubble but I settled my thought's bones around it. It is just flat out confusing to know the origins of the future role Jackman plays. Where does he come from? Has he been traveling since present day? This part is so esoteric; I'm willing to bet when asked this question the witchiest of Mayan witch doctors would hop the 1st thing smoking back to Central America.
The whole concept of drifting through space working towards one seemingly ridiculous goal is futile but isn't that what so many of us do with our lives? The whole idea of eternal life wasn't in the main character's head until the Queen (Weiz) put it there. The roles for Hugh must have been exceedingly exhausting. He is (in many scenes) on the cusp of breaking down and in others his voice exudes the total frailty of an emotionally ruptured soul. His character was born to fulfill his loyalty (duties to Spain in the face of cultural cancer) and love is plainly a mission millions carry out and strives to protect everyday on our planet. Maybe I just can't see the harm in a kid walking out of the theater saying, "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a tai chi astronaut."
If we're accepting that God is at the helm regarding the film's universe, then the fact that present day Hugh is a brain surgeon and she has a tumor is totally plausible. If God is the great designer and time is circular, why wouldn't he just update the repeated lives we all live? He can't stop humans from advancing mentally but if he's in charge of time spent doesn't he write the fate of our eternal tickets? Hugh's character rails against all physical laws beset upon us. Religious or not I think its safe to say we can all agree that death is the inevitable equalizer.
This film is unique and because it does contain some grey area in its storyline, it makes for a highly debatable piece of work. Aside from that this film is definitely worth going to the theater for to obtain the overwhelming sensation you cant get on DVD.