Acorn

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Arts and Leisure

Media Credit: hollywoops.be Following an explosion, a beheaded Statue of Liberty still stands as NYC burns in the background.

Producer J.J. Abrams' long-anticipated "Cloverfield" is essentially a creature feature for the 9/11 generation. Indeed, some of the imagery presented in the film is so evocative of the events of that day almost seven years ago, that it flirts with tastelessness.

Why exploit sights such as buildings collapsing in billowing clouds of smoke and flame to serve no greater purpose than that of a gimmicky monster movie? But Abrams and his fledgling director Matt Reeves keep such potentially fatal impulses in check, focusing on the humans at the center of the chaos and deftly negotiate the boundary between crafting an entertaining allegory and smugly prodding an open wound in the American consciousness.

"Cloverfield" frustrates to no end those who require handy explanations and tidy resolutions. Screenwriter Drew Goddard makes no attempt to explain the origin of the monster decimating the Lower East Side, and the human protagonists are so thinly sketched as to be little more than attractive ciphers. Indeed, the first 20 minutes of the film are likely to have monster enthusiasts scratching their heads and wondering when the big bad creature is going to arrive and tear all the trust-fund hipsters and Urban Outfitters catalog refugees limb from limb.

The plot breaks down like this: So Rob (Michael Stahl-David) likes Beth (Odette Yustman). No, he like-likes her. I mean, this is totally secret and nobody's supposed to know, but a month ago, they finally did it! And now he's moving to Japan. But he really wants to tell her he loves her before he goes. Honest to blog!

All facetiousness aside, that's an accurate representation of the tone set by the opening of this movie. To Goddard's credit, however, he allows his oblivious 20-somethings to be oblivious 20-somethings, and they come off like real people.

Lizzy Caplan stands out as Marlena, the friend who doesn't really know why she's at Rob's going-away party. The actors are pretty, well-cast and effective, if largely unremarkable.

When they suddenly find themselves caught between the U.S. Military and an unnamed rampaging beast, the absurdity of their situation feels appropriate. And the script's convention of periodically presenting Rob and Beth's flashbacks to an idyllic afternoon at Coney Island as remnants of a now-erased tape is clever and poignant.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools