City of Ghosts

Plot synopsis:
Jimmy (played by Matt Dillon) is a conman who's been working for a fake insurance company in New York City that is being investigated by the FBI after it cannot pay claims that have poured in after a hurricane. Discovering that his mentor and the mastermind of the scheme, Marvin (James Caan), has skipped the country and gone to Thailand, Jimmy boards a plane with the intention of trying to collect his money.
Once in Bangkok, Jimmy meets Joseph Kaspar (Skarsgård), a partner in the scheme who's living with his Thai katoey companion Rocky (Kyoza). Joseph informs Jimmy that Marvin has moved on to Cambodia, where he's planning an even greater scam. So Jimmy sneaks across the border and makes his way to Phnom Penh.
He checks into a seedy hotel run by a Frenchman named Emile (Gérard Depardieu) and has his passport stolen by another traveller. Later Jimmy has his sunglasses stolen by a macaque monkey.
Needing to travel around, he hires a cyclo driver named Sok (Kem Sereyvuth), who becomes the only person Jimmy can trust. He also meets an NGO worker named Sophie (Natascha McElhone) and dabbles in romance with her while attending a rave party at an ancient temple.
Eventually, Marvin turns up, but the scam he's trying to get together – involving corrupt Cambodian government officials, high-ranking military and the Russian mafia – turns out to be more risky and dangerous than anyone ever imagined, taking Jimmy on a surrealistic odyssey.

Tags: violence, intrigue, murder, flashback

Review:
We get a sense of the sadness and tragic history of the country, its current condition, and the wonderful warmth of its people (as portrayed by Sok, the cyclo driver, who is absolutely authentic).Some reviewers have complained that Cambodia is portrayed too negatively in this film.
We also see that the crimes of Harry Lime have become institutionalized and common today, not only in the third world (Generals spend tax and aid money building luxurious casinos, while Phnom Penh still looks like a war zone after twenty-five years of peace), but in the United States ("City of Ghosts" opens with massive insurance fraud perpetrated in the U.S. by Marvin).There is more depth to "City of Ghosts" than first meets the eye.
Matt Dillon makes his directorial debut with "City of Ghosts", the moody tale of Jimmy Cremmins, a con man seeking redemption in Cambodia.
Dillon's was the first film to be shot in Cambodia since the 1960s, and the unfamiliar setting contributes much to the movie's allure.
"City of Ghosts" has a remarkable look and feel that lend it resonance and lead one to anticipate Dillon's further outings as a director.The actors fit nicely into their roles and deliver strong performances.
Sereyvuth Kem, a real-life Cambodian cyclo driver, leaves a lasting impression as Jimmy's loyal friend Sok. The film's soundtrack- a heady international collection of pop music mixed with Tyler Bates' evocative score - adds another layer to the already-rich atmosphere.
Exotic, but you wouldn't want to live there, at least the parts shown in this film!Although showing a lot of dingy city scenes, the Cambodian scenery was fascinating.
There are so many bizarre characters in here, nobody that you can really trust, that it keeps you on edge.Another odd thing about this film: it's quite a mixture of international actors: Dillon and James Caan, both from the United States; Natasha Melhone from Great Britain, Gerald Depardieu from France, Stellan Skarggard from Sweden and Kem Sereyvuth from Cambodia.
The latter is the only truly nice person in the whole movie, playing Dillon's faithful guide, "Sok."The movie, which plays like a film noir, gets a bit ugly at the end but is well worth your time..
If all City of Ghosts was was a travelogue of postwar Cambodia it would be an accomplishment, but it is in its own way a well built film noir in a very unusual, very appropriate setting.
Matt Dillon's directorial debut is a film noir of intrigue and sentiments - "Both Sides Now" in a Cambodian setting, with strong cast: Caan, Depardieu, Skarsgård.
"City of Ghosts" works like a film noir suspense thriller, Dillon and co-writer Barry Gifford also layered human drama into the mix.
No wonder I felt some (Twin Peaks-like) Lynch atmosphere when Caan and Skarsgård were at some remote location - kinda eerie and sinister with the camera approach suggesting foreboding elements a-lurking.I like the film right from the start - intrigue is established in the prologue: the TV news, the simple and brief office scenes - within minutes we are given the backdrop to the story yet to unfold.
"City of Ghosts" must be a rewarding experience for him to shoot on location at Cambodia and Thailand, besides Canada and New York.Bravo to Matt Dillon's persistence (6 years) in realizing this first film.
After watching, though, I thought the comments were a little harsh.Criticism's included under developed characters, thin plot, unexplained actions, and a poor performance by Matt Dillon.
Set in Cambodia a generation after a bloody revolution and civil war, this film follows the adventures of a smalltime crook, Jimmy, who is tracking down an older man responsible for an insurance scam and who has absconded with the money.
He arrives in a country full of gangsters and opportunist thieves - not knowing who to trust, he is robbed and beaten up as often as any hero of a film noir movie.Modern Cambodia is depicted as a hell on Earth - with the exception of a rickshaw driver, Suk, the locals are shown as violent and untrustworthy.
The love interest seems tacked on - and a reason for having a female character - but gives Jimmy an incentive to abandon his life of crime and go straight.An interesting film, worth a look..
The Cambodian setting really amounts to another character in the film, and it's obvious that Matt Dillon has a real love of the country and the people.
The film moves at a somewhat slow pace, giving the story and characters lots of time to develop.
Having traveled in the third world I have to say that the movie captures perfectly the atmosphere of a place that is so far away that it could exist in another space and time as well as all the strange characters that tend to inhabit places like these.
May be the movie does not do a good enough job of explaining things to those who have never visited a place with a different like Cambodia  but I don't think it has to.
Part of the problem with the script may come from the fact that Dillon attempted to pack so much material into it - simultaneously making the protagonist a fully realized and sympathetic character and causing some important plot points such as those illustrating the developing romance between Dillon and McElhone to appear as little more than distracting loose threads.Dillon and Caan have been working together since Dillon was nine years old.
After one of these schemes goes bad, Dillon flees the US to try to find Caan in P'Nom Phen, Cambodia, where most of the story takes place.
Matt's role character is the, "wrong place wrong time sort of guy" (What a great line!) likable and looking for an out and a release from the 6 lifetimes of bad Karma.
This feature film (his first as a director), which he co-wrote and stars in, is extremely atmospheric and has an intriguingly twisty plot, vivid characters, terrific editing (one nighttime scene, in which a minor character is unexpectedly stabbed, is especially effective), and a nice adult, amoral point of view.
Even Roger Ebert said the plot is not nearly as attention grabbing as the impressive setting, cinematography and mood."Cityu of Ghosts" is reportedly the first major motion picture to be shot in Cambodia since the 1960s, and Dillon & his filmmaking crew didn't skimp on finding the best settings.
The locations can best be summed up by a line from the film when James Caan, who is occupying the ex-governor's estate, says "What do you think?" To which someone answers, "Could use a coat of paint" and Caan fires back, "The entire country could use a coat of paint." In other words, the locations are full of majesty and grandeur but with a raw, unkempt appearance that only add to the charm.Some of my favorite scenes were at the tavern and hotel of innkeeper Emile (Gerard Depardieu), again reminding me of Bogart's "Rick's" in Casablanca.
Matt Dillon directs and co-writes and as such manages to create many worthwhile scenes with the help of some heavyweight friends such as Gérard Depardieu and James Caan and Natascha McElhone.
I loved the film as much for its flaws as its strengths and it still haunts me like a good ghost should.If you've never visited Phnom Penh (or a similar city) then it may be a bit hard to fathom.
The first thing my girlfriend said after watching this Dillon directed film was "wow, I feel like I've been to Cambodia!" City of Ghosts is packed with atmosphere.
For someone who started his career as a teenage pretty-boy actor, Dillon has taken a lot of chances over the years, playing some unsympathetic characters in offbeat movies.
Finally, this movie is shot on Location in Both Bangkok Thailand and Cambodia making for an incredibly Original film experience for North American audiences.
I have never liked Gerard Depardieu in a single thing he has done but he SHINES and is without a doubt Fantastic here as a Disgruntled Hotel Operator in Phnom Pen. Of all of the movies I have seen in the Past 12 years, this was the Single Most Original and Matt Dillon has, weather anyone likes it or not, created a social masterpiece with a message that is so relevant in today's world it needs to be required viewing for people all over the world !!!
Don't be put off by the IMDb score (currently 5.9), take a look at the reviews and you'll see that a lot of viewers loved it.While it is a far from perfect movie, and I can see why the majority of people wouldn't really enjoy it, it does contain atmospheric qualities rarely found in modern films.
The performances are excellent and Matt Dillon can take pride in the fact that while the City of Ghosts was never a mainstream hit, he has made a movie that offers something others don't..
It stars Matt Dillon, James Caan and Stellan Skaarsgard and is shot almost entirely in Cambodia.
As a matter of fact, it has a lot of great qualities, but somehow still doesn't capture the viewer in the way you would want it to.Aside from a sadly two-dimensional and useless Natasha McElhone love-interest character, the rest of the characters in the film are well-developed and well-played.
In Dillon's haste to get the plot rolling, he and his screen writing partner, Barry Gifford neglected to get us to care about or like the main character of Jimmy.
But Jimmy gets more than he bargained for when - against a backdrop of raw, dangerous beauty and ever-shifting loyalties - Marvin draws him into a web of deceit and murder from which there may be no way out!" according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Matt Dillon promisingly joins the multi-tasking actor ranks, as the director, star, and co-writer of "City of Ghosts".
Mr. Dillon and photographer Jim Denault make Cambodia look darkly beautiful, with the film's soundtrack music helping to set the mood.Father figuring James Caan (as Marvin), cool blonde Natascha McElhone (as Sophie), and baby wielding Gérard Depardieu (as Emile) try to keep up with Kem Sereyvuth (as Sok) and the local crowd.
Dillon plays with a neat neo-noir style that harkens back (in a good way) to Carol Reed's "Third Man" (post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia this time instead of post-WWII Vienna).
The only real interesting character in the film was the belligerent bartender, played by Gerard Depardieu.The movie becomes somewhat complex, but they give you few hints to sort out the facts as you go along, and you get the feeling that everyone is lying to everyone else, which simply gets annoying.
I would have liked to see this drive Matt Dillon's character as crazy as it did me, but instead he keeps it pretty monotone throughout the entire film, never showing any extreme emotion despite the extreme situations he finds himself in.
Loving movies like I do, this was the one of the best of all possible worlds in which to see this movie - it didn't help."City of Ghosts" is Matt Dillion's first shot at directing and writing a film and it shows.
Matt Dillon may be a good director, and he definitely is an excellent actor, but he shouldn't try to be both at once.
This might have worked except for the fact that the film is so long winded that it is easy to forget your question by the time the answer arrives.The plot is basically that of a New York insurance broker who flies to Cambodia to escape a scandal that is rocking North America.
In Cambodia, Dillon's character, Jimmy, tries to find his former business partner, and insinuated father portrayed by James Caan.
There's a vague love interest (the ever beautiful Natasha McElhone, always terrific), a jovial innkeeper (Gerard Depardieu) and other wayward souls who flit in and out of the proceedings, all amidst this authentic South Pacific setting (Dillon filmed on location in Cambodia, which does wonders for atmosphere).
He knows his way around, understands his low life customers, who to deal with, which palms to grease and more importantly - when.Other main characters comprise the not -quite-good guy around whom the story is built, the successful con man who might have gone in for one con too many, the corrupt general, the bar girls (boys) and of course, the decent clean western girl visiting old temples and naively treading her delicate way through the mud and filth.Cambodia is shown as a near derelict run down ruin of a place, crumbling buildings, dirt roads, rubbish strewn everywhere, although there are some glimpses of lovely homes and attractive gardens.
As one of the characters in this monsoon thriller said, "the whole country could use a coat of paint." Matt Dillon is the insurance executive caught up in a scandal that he needs to rectify, maybe, if he can locate the company chief executive, the mysterious and shifty Marvin.
Honestly I never really thought of Matt Dillon as much more than a pretty boy actor until City of Ghosts.
The problem with a film peopled with characters you don't care for is that it leaves you feeling like you've spent two hours in the company of...
Perhaps Matt Dillon should have removed himself from acting duties in the film in order to concentrate on developing a story worth telling..
A typical Hollywood product with good technicals and art but poor humanistics and character depth, Dillon's "City of Ghosts" does appear to try to avoid cheap sex and violence while embracing the beauty of Cambodia.
I think Matt Damon should stay in front of the camera - he has little talent for direction.Matt Dillon plays Jimmy, who is associated with Marvin (James Caan) - the pair are scam artists.
Jimmy is tired of the life and wants out, though he doesn't care about his cut from the insurance deal.I think the idea was Dillon would play this world-weary criminal who tries to save his mentor and instead falls in love with a beautiful idealist, but the film is too muddled in its presentation to make that story work.
And Jimmy's conversion to the honest life just seems flat.Matt Dillon does a pretty good job of acting, even if he's stuck with his own writing.
Mat Dillon's first attempt at directing a film is the City of Ghosts, a movie about Jimmy, a con man who's out to get his hefty share of an insurance scam in Cambodia, unaware of the dangers he is about to face.Dillon doesn't fail to capture the beauty and culture of Cambodia, the film making is masterful.
CITY OF GHOSTS (2003) *** Matt Dillon, James Caan, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Gerard Depardieu, Kem Sereyvuth, Rose Byrne, Shawn Andrews, Chalee Sankhavesa, Christopher Curry, Kyoza.
Dillon uses great economy in his lean yet focused direction and is helped immeasurably by an eclectic cast (especially Depardieu as a blustery French expat barkeep and a waxy, weaselly turn by Skarsgard as Caan's partner in chicanery).The story comes across as a Graham Greene novel for the poor man yet it has its own charm of the unexpected menace lurking about like its humid locales..
This was more eye candy for me than Natascha McElhone's perfunctory all-weather-resistant love interest for Matt Dillon.Dillon does get knocked around enough to make this look on the surface like a film noir, but I really think it is a meditation on karma.
Caan's character ends up telling this a little too explicitly, but the film did an admirable job of showing it.Not on par with Duvall's "The Apostle" (a must see), but I'd like to see Dillon find another county or concept he falls in love with and makes a film of.
after watching the movie, i really had the impression that matt dillon just terribly wanted to make a movie in cambodia cause he was somehow fascinated with the place (who wouldn´t be?) and then just scrambled a story together, taking obvious bits and pieces from here and there, including the completely superfluous love interest part just cause that´s what movies do not because it made sense for the story.there´s some reflection going on here about the role of foreigners in a country like cambodia, which i think is a worthy and extremely interesting subject.
Gerard Depardieu, Natasha McElhone, James Caan, and Matt himself are good, but not at their best.
However, if you're looking for mind-bending intrigue.well, maybe this isn't it either.Matt Dillon's first attempt at directing a movie isn't going to win him any awards; even with James Caan in a starring role.
The acting is passable on a few occasions, and the atmosphere created by the on-location filming, using local actors, gives one a very realistic feel for the culture and people who live in Cambodia.
He knows a guy named Melvin is behind this scam, which he's tied into somehow himself, and he skips the country to go to Thailand where he meets sweaty, nervous Casper (Stellan Skarsgård) in Bangkok, who tells him Melvin (James Caan, Dillon's real dad in the story) is in Cambodia.
Story is about an American named Jimmy Cremming (Matt Dillon) who's involved in an insurance scam and after the FBI tells him not to leave the country...he does.
When asked why he would get involved with something like that Jimmy reveals that Marvin is in fact his father.This is Matt Dillon's feature film debut as a director and he also wrote the script which is the part of the film that really needed more work.
The cinematography is good as you would expect when films are made in exotic locations but the camera also captures real moments and people in the streets that establishes an authentic mood for where this story is taking place.
There was never any attempt to have interesting interactions between James Caan and Matt Dillon's characters.
I like the actors when I see them in other movies, they are all talented, but they aren't asked to do anything especially difficult in terms of character development or moving along the story.