Release Date: August 3, 2001
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Antonio Banderas, Joan Pringle, Allison Mackie, Thomas Jane
Directed by: Michael Cristofer
Written by: Michael Cristofer
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
MPAA Rating: R (strong sexual content, nudity, some violence)
Many movies have been made about love conquering all, and Michael Cristofer's Original Sin is no exception to this romantically generic theme. Based on the Cornell Woolrich novel Waltz into Darkness, already brought the big screen once by the late Francois Truffaut as Mississipi Mermaid in 1969, Original Sin seems to adopt new character identities that are comparable to the ones seen in the Baz Luhrmann musical Moulin Rouge. For instance, there's the unattainable woman, the man committed to taming her wild ways, and the antagonist standing in the way of their love; but while the characters are more three-dimensional and believable in this film, it lacks the creativity and depth movies of this kind should have.
For example, Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider)'s character, Julia Russell, is the saving grace of Cristofer's story -- she keeps the film's momentum going with her performance as a mysterious, conniving temptress. Her role as a temptress subsequently anchors the plot, which revolves around the idea that pleasure is sinful and deception is necessary to maintain the picture-perfect romance between the two main characters.
The story isn't so strong. It begins with Antonio Banderas (Spy Kids)'s character, Luis Vargas, leaving to meet a woman sent from America to become his wife and the mother of his children. With a photograph of her in his hand, he searches desperately for a woman somewhat resembling the picture, seemingly to no avail. And as he begins to feel jilted, Julia approaches him and insists she's the woman whom he's arranged to marry -- the first of many lies that make up the tangled web of deception throughout the remainder of the movie.
Very few actors could have made this movie as intriguing and mildly entertaining as it ended up being as Jolie and Banderas did. The chemistry between the two was quickly apparent in their very believable, very erotic love scene. And individually, Banderas's performance as an obsessive, lovesick husband compliments Jolie's deceitful and seductive turn. But while the many flaws that each character possesses also contributes to their depth and dimension, the continuous cycle of deception promulgated by Julia becomes tedious and unimaginative.
Subsequently, the stars' acting wasn't enough to fully compensate for director Cristofer's second-rate writing. In particular, the film's finale seems to clash with the tone set during the bulk of the movie, and although the conclusion of the film wraps everything up into a neat little package, it doesn't quite fit. Rather than focusing his energies on creating an interesting story line, though, Cristofer relied on fancy editing, slow motion sequences, and 360-degree shots. This camerawork might've been used sparingly to stress dramatic scenes, but Cristofer's prolific use of these techniques actually became visually annoying.
It's difficult to understand why Jolie and Banderas accepted roles in Original Sin. It's possible that Jolie accepted because she'd acted under Cristofer's direction in the past.(HBO's "Gia," for which she won an Emmy), and perhaps Banderas then accepted the role after hearing he would have nude love scenes with Jolie. Which would explain the generally uninspiring quality of the film that was subsequently produced. Original Sin delivers definite eroticism but doesn't live up to its genre as a thriller -- these sins are hardly forgivable.
all contents © 2001 Ed Malinowski