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if you ever feel silly about painting the same stuff over and over again pls remember that Monet spent all of the money he's made (by the time he was in his 40s he's made enough money to retire) to build a garden exactly to his liking and then proceeded to paint it over and over again until he died at 86

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A famous movie actor (Peter O'Toole) claims that he has written a book. As result, a real author, not a very well known writer, vengefully kills him but then dies as a result of an accident. Next, they both find themselves in after-life, where souls of all famous people are gathered.

Review Under Cut

This move is so weird. I'm in love with it. You can find the full version on Youtube and I recommend you do.

Essentially, this movie explores the fact that everybody dies twice--once when they're body dies and again when they're forgotten. For normal, every-day people, these deaths happen simultaneously, but for the ones who enjoy particular fame, they get to hang out at a sort of Club Med, a hotel on an island where all their needs/demands are met.

First off, I love the island, since people can be famous for all kinds of reasons and the people involved might not be somebody you want to spend an eternity with. Colin's character, Brian Smith, befriends Dr. Erika Frisch when he arrives who gives him the lay of the land and observes that there's no love there, just narcissism and boredom. When boredom finally forces a group of them to try to talk to each other, they are incapable of finding a conversation topic that is not about themselves.

Brian Smith and Peter O'Toole's Cesar Valentin are given rooms next to each other because Brian is only famous for killing Valentin. Unfortunately, the plot summary gives away WHY Brian murdered him, but the movie actually does a very good job of slowly revealing his motive, keeping it a secret until Valentin finally discovers just who this Brian Smith is, and when he makes that discovery, he understands immediately what the man's motive was.

One of the other inhabitants is Bianca, a beautiful French woman who interests them both and who they both develop a relationship with. She is desperate for somebody to show an interest in HER and HER LIFE, which is perfectly impossible on the Island of Raging Narcissists, but Brian actually gets the closest before she becomes frustrated with the fact that he doesn't have any answers for her--she doesn't know who she is, why she's there, she has complete amnesia and thinks she's in a hospital for treatment instead of a dead ("nonsense" she says).

Peter O'Toole is so so so good, as always, and Colin could have easily been overwhelmed--other actors are--but he's not. He and O'Toole have a wonderful chemistry, they play off each other well, and when friendship/affection begins to form between them, it's believable and well-earned by the movie.

It's a very interesting movie--this is not a pleasant vision of the afterlife. There are small touches of horror and a sort of disquiet throughout. This is not where famous people go to be rewarded. This is wear the Lindburgh child cries without comfort on the stairs, where people who lose their fame are dragged away screaming and crying, where former Nazis are welcomed, and where people who never wanted their fame are essentially held as prisoners. It asks, what kind of person wants to be famous? What kind of person wants to stay famous? Why is it more devastating to lose that notoriety than it is to lose a life?

Movie Review 8/10--This is a movie that allows the characters and their relationships to develop. It raises questions about the nature of fame and infamy but is never heavy-handed about the answers. The performances are great, and it's overall very effective.

Colin Beauty 10/10--He looks so good in this movie. There is a bit of mystery about who he is and what he's all about for the first half, and yet, there's never a lack of sympathy. There seem to be reasons to like this guy even before we know why he is a murderer, and once that is revealed and his relationship with both Bianca and Valentin are fleshed out, there are even more reasons to root for him. He is the only one on that island capable of love which is nicely at odds with the reason why he's there.

Colin has said in interviews that he likes the juxtaposition of unexpected things, and that may be what ultimately attracted him to this script. Brian Smith, infamous for murder, is capable of a redemptive level of love.

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John Russo

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Colin Firth wearing casual clothes.

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I would rather five people knew my work and thought it was good work than five million knew me and were indifferent.

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Colin Firth as Henry Dashwood

What a Girl Wants (2003) dir. Dennie Gordon

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