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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exotic, Atmospheric, and Sometimes Nihilistic Thriller, November 2, 2003
Jimmy (Matt Dillon) sold disaster insurance in New York until a federal investigation made it clear that his company was engaging in fraud, selling insurance with no intention of paying on claims. Jimmy knows where his boss, Marvin, can be found, and he travels to Cambodia to track him down. Marvin (James Caan) is laying low and working on his next business venture, trying to entice a powerful and corrupt Cambodian general to invest in a resort complex. A business associate of Marvin's, Kaspar (Stellan Skarsgard), may or may not be trying to help Jimmy, but is becoming increasingly anxious about getting his share of the loot from the insurance scam. The situation goes from uneasy to harrowing when the constant scheming and backstabbing of these Western con men becomes intertwined with the lawlessness of a post-war Cambodia. And it begins to look as if no one will come to a good end.If my description of this film's plot seems incoherent, it is because the story's complexity and sinuousness make it difficult to recount. "City of Ghosts" was co-written and directed by actor Matt Dillon, who also plays the lead role in the film. Dillon's inexperience at both writing and directing show in this film. He has chosen an especially complex piece of material to direct. Plus, he has co-written it with Barry Gifford, which makes it difficult to see flaws in the writing and correct them in his on-screen interpretation. The film is littered with cliched characters: Down-and-out Westerners hanging on in Southeast Asia, one a cripple, one a burly bartender (Gerard Depardieu), and a couple of junkies. A humble and loyal local man, Sok (Kem Sereyvuth), who aids our protagonist and provides the moral to our story. Jimmy, a man who thinks that he cannot be redeemed but seems to really want to be anyway. And there is a love interest (Natascha McElhone), whose sole purpose in the story is Jimmy's said redemption. "City of Ghosts" is heavy on atmosphere and convolution, but light on substance...usually. It has flashes of depth. The film's emotional climax is more of an anti-climax. That may actually be realistic, but it doesn't fare well on film. I'm giving this movie 4 stars because, in spite of its faults, it is very successful at certain things: The supporting performances of Stellan Skarsgard and James Caan are excellent. We see very little of "Marvin", but Caan embodies this man who has been driven by self-aggrandizement his whole life and who is perpetually one scam ahead of his many enemies. Caan only needs one scene to give us an understanding of Marvin's entire self-image. And I have to conclude that Stellan Skarsgard can play any character to perfection. "Kaspar" has a confused and confusing criminal disposition. He is desperate and unstable. He doesn't seem realistic. But Skarsgard lends him a palpable presence anyway. Jim Denault's cinematography is beautiful. Cambodia is picturesque, but I was most impressed and perplexed by Denault's masterful methods of dealing with the apparent lack of good light in many of the film's scenes. The most striking feature of "City of Ghosts" is its ability to generate the near-constant uneasiness that one feels when submersed in a culture very different from one's own: The feeling of slight panic that comes with realizing that the basic assumptions and value systems that underlie your understanding of the universe at home may not apply here. This is, of course, intensified when things start to go wrong. I've never seen a film that conveyed this emotion so authentically and consistently. So I'm recommending "City of Ghosts" for its excellent supporting performances, its cinematography, and its "uneasiness". Producing discomfort turns out to be a good thing in this case. Narratively, the film is flawed. If you're looking for a good story, this probably isn't it. But if you're willing to pick out the gems from among the clichés and misjudgments, I think "City of Ghosts" is worth the time. If Matt Dillon can retain the strengths of this film and learn from its faults, he has a future as a director. The DVD: Bonus features include a theatrical trailer and audio commentary by Matt Dillon and Barry Gifford, who is the film's co-writer. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French. The audio commentary isn't bad, but the commentary I would have been most interested in in this case is the cinematographer's. It's unfortunate that he doesn't appear at all in the extras.
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