Product: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Region 2) (1999)
Rating: 2.0
Get Duguay's epic instead.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Luc Besson, 1999)As the final credits rolled, I found myself asking one thing many times: what in the world was (fill in the actor, director, etc.) thinking? Besson, who gave us such amusing and occasionally brilliant fare as Leon and Nikita, went way off the deep end. Milla Jovovich, who worked so well with Besson in The Fifth Element, delivers every line as if she's being forced to overact. John Malkovich is about as French as a quesadilla. Etc. One wonders why this got a big-screen release and Christian Duguay's incredibly superior three-hour Joan of Arc, release the same year, got relegated to TV miniseries status.Mother always said that if you can't say anything good, then shut up. So I'll just say that if you're looking for a modern retelling of the tale of St. Joan, Duguay's version is available on DVD. Rent it. Forget this exists. * (only because Dustin Hoffman actually gives a halfway decent performance; too bad he's only got about ten minutes of screen time.)