The Missing Gold Miner

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2007)

Set aside whether you find this story engaging or otherwise useful in a human sense. I didn't.
In such a case, what I fall back on is wondering whether it tells me anything interesting about storytelling. Its often that case that a bad story has a good metastory. And this is a natural because what viewers do is discover worlds through hints the filmmaker allows you to discover, some of them spoofed. That's what a spy does, and the most interesting spy is always the first spy of that type. That's why this story was thought to have value.
But in order to exploit this intrinsic narrative fold, you need to place yourself 9as a filmmaker) at some oblique angle so that you can lever out the oyster. Alas, the filmmaker in this case is an actor, once intense, now merely famous. I've written many times about how rare it is for an actor to be able to make a whole film, or even understand the mechanics outside of acting.
The art of acting is wonderfully complex, risky and rewarding to experience. But it has a different set of concerns. Its the water, and the filmmaker needs to worry about the river, its shape, banks and rapids. You need to set yourself in some dry place with shovels. You need to pan for gold. You need to fly as well as swim.
This is a river as seen from inside. There's little here. Oh, and the history is not right, I am sure, and equally sure that the truth is far more interesting.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.