I'm in a tricky spot in reviewing "Franklyn", the sophomore effort from writer/director Gerald McMorrow. Not because of conflicting opinions, but because I'm not sure where to place this film: despite having played at various film festivals, it has yet to find a US distributor, even for direct-to-DVD release (which it doesn't deserve). I guess I can label it a 2009 film...for now.
Well, back to the important stuff: the movie itself. The biggest such a film faces is certainly in its marketing. Though the trailers seem to advertise it as "V For Vendetta" with a parallel universe angle thrown in, this is far from being a philosophical action picture. Astonishingly fits into the category of drama better than sci-fi, action, or thriller. Weaving four different-but-separate stories together, the lives of Emilia (Eva Green), Milo (Sam Riley), David Esser (Bernard Hill), and Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillipe). Though the first three are in our world, battling with everything from crushing breakups to suicidal tendencies, Preest is in an alternate realty, ruled (somewhat tongue-in-cheekly) by religious fervor. It isn't so much about what you believe, but rather that you believe at all. Faiths are set up to follow just about everything, only because it will give them a steady place in society (the best one? Seventh Day Manicurists). However, there are some that are a bit more facsist-like, and its one of these that Mr. Preest is hunting down. In particular, the cult's leader, who kidnapped a little girl and may or may not have killed her. Of course, standing in Preest's way are his lack of any faith at all, which constantly puts him at odds with the current ruling religion. How the four separate stories tie together is the film's strength. Editing is strong, and manages to keep one interested, even as it jumped between four different (and not always clear) stories. Production values are great, particularly in the parallel world, and the score provides a nice atmosphere. Performances, however, are where some of the cracks show, for various reasons. Green, Riley, and Hill are all quite good, but their characters could have benefitted from a longer movie, one that gave each one (well, at least Green and Riley) more depth to work with. Said depth would have given greater impact to the finale, which is best not talked about. On the other hand, we have Phillipe's performance. Here the fault lies more with the actor than with the writer. Though Preest is apropriately filled with cold determination, there are times when Phillipe's line reading veers more toward laziness. Story-wise, McMorrow deserves praise for trying something so different, but there are times when his influences feel a bit too obvious ("V for Vendetta"'s religious domination, "Watchmen"'s Rorscach character). Perhaps the best thing to come out of the movie is the tremendous potential it hints at. All of the ideas, both fresh and derivative came from one brain, and not a team of screenwriters, and that same writer made sure to direct his vision to ensure he had the best control over it. He knows how to get solid work from (most of) his actors. He just needs to balance his ambition with his execution. Here's hoping that he can do it.
Grade: B
