James Agee once wrote that casting in the movies was more about finding the right people as opposed to harvesting the most talent. It's a critical philosophy that I have often found to be true. Ideally, I suppose that theory could apply to the decision to cast mixed martial artist Gina Carano in the new espionage thriller "Haywire." The role demanded a martial artist. Miss Carano is an extraordinary martial artist, as she vividly demonstrates here. Throughout the movie, she scales treacherous obstacles, kicks through doors, propels herself off walls, and beats the living tar out of six people. Guess who performed her stunts! She is also physically suited for the part: comely and attractive, but not a gushy heartthrob. Unfortunately, she is not much of an actress. Not enough to make me care about her character as a human being, which, despite what the basic premise of the movie would suggest, is part of the whole idea.
I suppose James Agee's theory that you don't need a Paul Newman or a Meryl Streep to make a good casting choice applies somewhat to this film. However, as the protagonist, Miss Carano lacks the personality necessary to get an audience involved. The entire movie follows her character (a spy working for a branch-off from the government run by Michael Douglas) from Europe to the Americas, trying to unravel a double-cross, and in order for this to work, the filmmaker and the actress need to manufacture a way to get the audience to empathize on some level. As written by Lem Dobbs, the character is shaped to produce sympathy. Miss Carano is not supposed to be a mere fighting machine; she is supposed to have some heart and a deep bond with her father (Bill Paxton). We are also meant to have some empathy and try to figure out along with her why somebody had double-crossed her. So even though Miss Carano did spend most of the movie doing what she was hired for – demonstrating her exceptional skills at martial arts – I found it incredibly hard to care what became of her. As a result, the mystery, clever as it is, meant little to me by the end.
Another dubious casting choice was Channing Tatum as a fellow spy and one-night lover to the protagonist. Once again, he fails to impress me. Michael Douglas, as you'd expect, is reliably good, given his little screen time. I do appreciate the willingness of a star like him to play third-fiddle to lesser-known people. Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderas are also effective in their small, personality-restricted parts.
"Haywire" was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who made the best movie of last year, "Contagion." Dissatisfied as I am with his new project, I'm not shelling him out too much blame, as his beautiful style, consciously artsy photography, and natural flow of images are the saving grace of the movie. His only big lapse is a shootout midway through the picture, when he hefts the camera up on a crane, giving us an extreme wide shot in which tires are popped, somebody is shot, and a car is riddled with machine gunfire. I appreciate his willingness to try something new with a typical action movie sequence as far as photography and misc en scene are concerned, but the results in this one particular shot seem trivialized. He does better when he photographs the physical fighting, including a great shot where Miss Carano and Michael Fassbender (as a man hired to kill her) throw themselves over a couch during a brawl and the camera tilts down from overhead to follow them as they careen to the floor. Mr. Soderbergh is one of the most interesting of contemporary directors and even though "Haywire" is a misfire, I really hope this guy reconsiders his plans of early retirement. I don't think the world can afford to lose him when people like Michael Bay are still running amok.
I suppose James Agee's theory that you don't need a Paul Newman or a Meryl Streep to make a good casting choice applies somewhat to this film. However, as the protagonist, Miss Carano lacks the personality necessary to get an audience involved. The entire movie follows her character (a spy working for a branch-off from the government run by Michael Douglas) from Europe to the Americas, trying to unravel a double-cross, and in order for this to work, the filmmaker and the actress need to manufacture a way to get the audience to empathize on some level. As written by Lem Dobbs, the character is shaped to produce sympathy. Miss Carano is not supposed to be a mere fighting machine; she is supposed to have some heart and a deep bond with her father (Bill Paxton). We are also meant to have some empathy and try to figure out along with her why somebody had double-crossed her. So even though Miss Carano did spend most of the movie doing what she was hired for – demonstrating her exceptional skills at martial arts – I found it incredibly hard to care what became of her. As a result, the mystery, clever as it is, meant little to me by the end.
Another dubious casting choice was Channing Tatum as a fellow spy and one-night lover to the protagonist. Once again, he fails to impress me. Michael Douglas, as you'd expect, is reliably good, given his little screen time. I do appreciate the willingness of a star like him to play third-fiddle to lesser-known people. Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderas are also effective in their small, personality-restricted parts.
"Haywire" was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who made the best movie of last year, "Contagion." Dissatisfied as I am with his new project, I'm not shelling him out too much blame, as his beautiful style, consciously artsy photography, and natural flow of images are the saving grace of the movie. His only big lapse is a shootout midway through the picture, when he hefts the camera up on a crane, giving us an extreme wide shot in which tires are popped, somebody is shot, and a car is riddled with machine gunfire. I appreciate his willingness to try something new with a typical action movie sequence as far as photography and misc en scene are concerned, but the results in this one particular shot seem trivialized. He does better when he photographs the physical fighting, including a great shot where Miss Carano and Michael Fassbender (as a man hired to kill her) throw themselves over a couch during a brawl and the camera tilts down from overhead to follow them as they careen to the floor. Mr. Soderbergh is one of the most interesting of contemporary directors and even though "Haywire" is a misfire, I really hope this guy reconsiders his plans of early retirement. I don't think the world can afford to lose him when people like Michael Bay are still running amok.