Customer Reviews

Uncovered

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

UNCOVERED is a ten year old film, popular in its co-producing countries of the UK and Spain, and is finally available here for those who want to see 'early Kate Bekinsale'. The story weaves around an art restorer (Bekinsale) who finds bizarre clues in the underpainting of an old Flemish master painting that is being prepared for sale by a once rich/now destitute family. The art restorer has been raised by a fey gentleman who turns out to be part the current family requesting the restoration. As she carefully uncovers the surface of the painting and has it xrayed, she finds clues to a mystery of a murder, a murder that slowly is recreated around her. This is a good little mystery whose solution is tightly pigmented in a rather beautiful painting and a game of chess, which is the centerpiece of the painting. The cast, including Kate Bekinsale, is good if a bit campy: John Wood, Sinead Cusack, Paudge Behan, Art Malik, James Villiers, Michael Gough. But the real star of the film is the beauty of Barcelona, Spain - the setting for the story. Gaudi is everywhere! The lighting is gorgeous and the cinematography excellent. There are things with which one can quibble, not the least the techniques used by the art restoration advisors, but the one major fault with this film is the sound track. The music is abominable and the ambient sound is so loud that it sounds like a home movie instead of a professional production: you have to strain to hear the dialogue over the street sounds outside the rooms. Still in all, this is an entertaining movie, worth a watch.

This an entertaining although significantly contrived story that has a certain winning charm to it. The primary selling point is Kate Beckinsale, and this movie is a must for all Kate fans out there (you know who you are!).

The plot centers around a murder mystery that originates from a (previously hidden) inscription on a painting that is hundreds of years old. There is one scene that stands out above all others, where Kate is gazing at the painting. NOT ONLY does she look fantastic topless, but there is also a nice bit of symbolism in how the removal of her clothes = the uncovering of the inscription & offers a "revealation" of sorts.

This deciphering of a mystery that is the center of the film, and that scene is the "heart" of the movie. While some may feel it was an excuse for gratuitous nudity, I really think it had some symbolic relevance. But, that's just me.

When you boil it down, this film will attract people who are fans of one or more of the following three things: Kate Beckinsale, chess and murder mysteries. People who are into art & art history might perchance be attracted to this film as well. Those who enjoy it may also want to check out KNIGHT MOVES starring Christopher Lambert.

So far as I can tell, this little-known British/Spanish production had never been shown or otherwise made available in the United States prior to the release of this DVD. I first saw it on an imported videotape with Portugese subtitles. More than likely, it is being released in the U.S. now to capitalize on Kate Beckinsale's increasingly high profile. Its most noteworthy feature is the appearance of its comely star nude in no less than three scenes, her only such exposure to date.

Viewers whose main interest is seeing Ms. Beckinsale "uncovered" will not be disappointed. However, the movie itself is not so bad either. Although a little rough by Hollywood standards, it offers a decent murder mystery with an interesting twist. Beckinsale plays Julia, a rising star in the world of art restoration. An aristocratic family commissions her to work on a Renaissance painting that has been in their possession for over 500 years. It depicts two men playing chess while a woman watches in the background. Julia quickly discovers that the painting has been altered and contains clues to the murder of one of the chess players. As soon as Julia grows curious about this 500 year-old crime, someone begins killing people close to her. She can only conclude that solving the ancient mystery will provide the key to her present-day horrors.

While Julia continues to coax hidden details from the painting, she enlists the aid of a truly unique character. She hires Domenec (Paudge Behan), a sort of "chess bum," to work out the details of the game in the painting -- the moves that brought the pieces to where they are and the likely outcome of the game. The bohemian Domenick makes his living hustling high-stakes chess games (huh?). His surfer-with-a-brain appearance and lifestyle provide both a foil and an eventual romantic allure for the uptight Julia. From there, it becomes a race between this unlikely duo and the killer. They must solve the mystery before more people, including Julia herself, are murdered.

A surprisingly good mystery with strong performances by the entire cast. This features Kate B. before the fake boobs and the fake attitude and she is delightful-possibly her best performance as an actress. Some have complained that the murder mystery is a bit contrived and of course it is--almost all murder mysteries are a bit contrived, but the intertwining of the old mystery with the new mystery is very well done. It's also a joy to see a movie which recognizes the existence of the game of chess.

One sour note is the first few minutes of the sound track which is an unbelievably wretched piece of music. Feel free to turn the sound off until there is dialogue. If you choose not to, don't say I didn't warn you.

Three and a half Stars, so I upgraded to Four Stars! "Uncovered" is murder mystery movie that is quite unusual. Unusual in that it covers a centuries old murder, all emanating from a silent source of clues, and the twists and turns keep coming from beginning to end. Beckingsale, an art restorer, finds herself in the unwitting and unwilling role of detective as well, presumably to drive up the cost of a painting that Beckinsale is restoring. I love the technique she uses to fend off unwanted male attention: a real effective technique! And watch for when she doesn't use it! LOL.

While the cast gives very good performances, this is the young Kate Beckinsale's movie to win or lose because she is in virtually every scene of substance: she is a FABULOUS actress! Sporting a fetchingly short boyish haircut, soulful eyes, and pouty lips that Angelina Jolie would love to have, she is the prototypical marvel of a young, pretty, totally compelling British actress. Oh, and there are some fascinating views of Barcelona. The story line gets somewhat muddled near the end, but who cares, watching the rangy Beckinsale eating up this movie is quite mesmerizing in and of itself. There is some tasteful moderate partial nudity and much profanity, but it's 'closed-captioned' so TV Guardian can filter the language. Great cinematography and excellent music. Well worth a look!! Three and a half Stars!!

I can't believe I bought this movie as an experiment and it turned out to be so good! This is Kate Beckinsale back in her early twenties. She's an art restorer who stumbles across a mystery in the past that rides in to her future.
There is much whimsy in this story. The characters almost seem like cartoons at first, but you soon find that this is their charm. The mystery is interesting and keeps you guessing. I thought I had the ending figured out, but I was happily wrong.
The other major component of the storyline is the majesty of Barcelona. Barcelona's beauty is gallant and yet subtle. The wonderful architecture will wow you, the simple but stylish city streets and the simple but romantic people give this film a rich texture that will no doubt make you want to make Spain your next vacation spot.
If this same film had been set in New York, it would have fallen dull. This could easily have fallen in to clique'. But instead it had a different adventure to give. The music is fun and transforms some of the more serious moments in to a blended feel of satisfaction. 'What you're doing is serious, but don't forget you're having fun.' Is the feeling I got from the score.

I really enjoyed this film. It is not a deep mystery nor a passionate love affair and the dialog isn't Shakespeare, but that being said, you can sit and relax with this story. Most of the people are likable and you'll feel like you're among friends. Give it a try. It's one of those forgotten art gems that we're privileged to now see many years later on DVD.

It's also neet to see how Kate had progressed in her career. I just wish she would stop smoking.

The reason I gave this DVD 3 stars instead of 2 is because of Kate Beckinsale and Barcelona. She is what keeps this weakly written murder mystery from turning into the kind of movie where the audience gets up to leave halfway thru after they've figured out "the butler did it" before the actors have. She's totally unbelieveable in the role of an art restorer, blowing cigarette smoke and sneezing all over a supposedly priceless work of art. Instead, Beckinsale comes across as a 19-yr-old art student fiddling around with a 500-yr-old treasure...albeit she is a very attractive one, with or without her clothes on. I also found it interesting that she has a different outfit on in just about every scene, except for the ones where she's wearing virtually nothing. Anyway, the shots of Kate and the city of Barcelona are what kept my interest. A word of advice, keep the sound off while watching this movie because the music is horrible.

"Uncovered" is a lot like its lead actress, Kate Beckinsdale, sort of light and easy on the eyes. The story is loosely based on Arturo Perez-Reverte's book "The Flanders Panel" and centers around a 16th century Dutch painting, "The Chess Game," that Beckinsdale's character is restoring so it can be sold at auction. When she uncovers a secret inscription, "Who killed the knight?" hidden under a layer of paint, she starts researching the painting to find out what it all means. But as she works, she becomes more than a little distracted by the growing pile of corpses of people associated with the painting, and a young gypsy chess expert enlisted to help with part of the puzzel.

It all goes down relatively quickly and easily, sort of like the whipped cream on the pastry Beckinsdale and the gypsy chess expert share during a sloppy kiss on the street after their first night together, and about as dangerous. Barcelona, the city where the film is set, also comes off really well -- picturesque old streets, and some architectural treasure by Gaudi around every corner. The oddest thing though is that, to judge by the film, all the inhabitants of Barcelona are actually English -- one hears almost no Spanish or Catalan in the entire film. Fans of Perez-Reverte, looking for a decent adaptation of one of his fine books, are going to be disappointed, though perhaps less so than with the disasterous "Ninth Gate" that was made from the novel "The Dumas Club."

In "Uncovered", Kate Beckinsale plays a woman living in Barcelona Spain restoring a very valuable 500 year old painting of two men playing chess and a woman watching them. She discovers an inscription on a layer of paint underneath the top layer that translates to "who killed the knight". The painting's owner tells her the story of an ancestor being murdered and he may be the knight in question. She discovers the mystery centers on the game of chess being played in the painting and enlists the help of a young chess genius to deconstruct the game and predict upcoming moves. As she investigates the mystery however, people around her begin to die.

"Uncovered" is a trite mystery. It's enjoyable to watch to an extent, but it has a very annoying soundtrack and the acting isn't particularly good, even Beckinsale in an obviously early role for her (and her haircut is awful). There is no real suspense to anything that happens. The chess game in the picture being at the center of the mystery was interesting as was comparing the moves to what happened 500 years ago and what was happening now, but the movie as a whole never grabs you completely. The tone is a little too light and airy for a murder mystery.

This movie was made in the mid 1990s in Spain, it was directed by Jim McBride, based on a novel by Perez Reverte, and it stars a young Kate Beckinsale. Sounds promising? The movie's not. Basically, the plot has Beckinsale (with a boyish short hair cut) playing an art student in Barcelona, who finds that a flemish painting holds clues to some murder, or something. The whole thing is very dull, full with ridiculous situations and characters. The only thing to recommend for it is a couple of nude scenes by the young Kete (one in particular, with Kate topless for many seconds looking at a painting and sporting a grannie's panties is particularly memorable).