| WHEN WILL I BE LOVED |
 2004 - USADirector: James Toback - Reviewed by Vickie
Despite my high hopes for the film, or perhaps because of them, I was largely disappointed by this disjointed, aimless and overly wordy drama (comedy?) from writer-director James Toback. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Toback fan, but I was intrigued by the premise of having Neve Campbell take on a decidedly grown-up role as a pseudo-femme fatale who one-ups the men in her life. It sounded like it could be really interesting, and like it might give Campbell a chance to stretch as an actress. In reality, what I got was a meandering movie that features, among other things, LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of walking. Campbell stars as Vera, the daughter of wealthy parents, who lives in a superbly gigantic loft where she lounges, paints, listens to classical music and, one assumes, plots her plots. (Vera also spends the first twenty-odd minutes of the film walking. I'm not kidding. Twenty minutes. I started timing it around minute sixteen. That's a lot when the movie is only 81 minutes long!) Vera's boyfriend (is he?) is motor-mouth Ford (Frederick Weller), who never, ever stops talking. He just yammers on and on and on and on in this annoyingly rapid, grating way. About a minute into any one of his extended scenes of endless blathering I just wanted him to STOP. TALKING. ALREADY. He's a small-time hustler who's always gunning for the next big, money-making idea. He cheats on Vera.but that's okay, because she's got affairs of her own. Things come to a head when Ford decides to play wannabe pimp, and loans Vera out to an Italian media magnate known as "The Count" (Dominic Chianese) for a night of... whatever. The price tag? A cool $100,000. Needless to say, Vera isn't exactly thrilled with the idea, and that sets up the remainder of the action. But what's not clear, at ALL, is why Vera is the way she is. Who is she? What's her M.O.? Why does she keep Ford around? Why does she flirt with, literally, every man she meets on the street? Why does she have a female lover? And, ultimately, I asked myself, why do I even care? Clearly no one else does. When Will I Be Loved seems to have been made with a very specific audience in mind: James Toback. It's like we're watching his fantasies come to life onscreen. Neve Campbell naked and taking the world's longest shower! Twice in 81 minutes! Neve Campbell having sex with a really old man! Neve Campbell toying with the idea of sex with a CHARACTER PLAYED BY JAMES TOBACK! Even the love scene between Campbell and the actress playing her mysterious girlfriend (is she?) is like something out of a G-rated soft-core movie: the duo are having sex against a giant window in broad daylight (soft-core), but are doing it behind a curtain so that the audience sees next to nothing (G-rated). The film seems like it was cut together by someone with ADD. The scenes change at a moment's notice, without rhyme or reason, so that the transitions are jarring and distracting. The soundtrack features some great songs, but the music is so overwhelming at times that it comes off as cheesy and a bit much. And why is Mike Tyson in this movie? Seriously, why? Just so James Toback can tell people, "I had Mike Tyson in my movie!"? Ditto Lori Singer (Lori Singer, people?!), who appears for a completely useless chat (as herself) with Vera in a park. Again, pointless and distracting. Neither appearance does a single thing to advance the plot or shed light on the characters, so why have them there???? I will say, however, that Neve Campbell does some good work here, despite the shortcomings of the film. She does get to stretch as an actress and she proves she can handle more mature material. I just wish the material she was handling was of a better calibre than this stinky bit of cinema. |
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When will I love When Will I Be Loved? Not anytime soon,
unfortunately.
