The Stone Merchant
1/4
Starring: Jordi Molla, Jane March, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham
Rated R for Violence, Language and Some Sexuality
"The Stone Merchant" is a catalog of filmmaking errors. It's poorly paced, lacks any kind of atmosphere, relies on characters being unreasonably stupid in order to move the plot along, and has little focus. In fact, the only thing that the movie does right is hire actors who can act (although there's little they can do to salvage this movie).
After a terrorist bombing cost him his lower legs, Alceo (Molla) is convinced that there's an Islamic terrorist around every corner. His wife Leda (March) is sympathetic, but it's getting old. After she survives a terrorist attack herself, they go on vacation into Turkey. Their car breaks down, and they are rescued by a man named Shahid (Abraham). Shahid introduces them to a merchant (Keitel) who sells rare stones, and he is instantly smitten with Leda.
It isn't enough for this movie to be boring (which it is) and stupid (which it also is), but it's also offensive. It's one thing to have a character be paranoid about Islamic fundamentalism; many movies have used our fears of this to great effect ("Rendition," "The Kingdom," just to name two), but this aspect of the film is ineptly handled. As played out by the movie, director Renzo Martinelli seems to perpetuate the xenophobic thought that all Muslims are terrorists.
The actors do what they can, but they're stuck in a silly story with paper thin characters. To be honest, it's a miracle that they're able to do anything with what they're given. The dialogue isn't just flat, it's embarrassing. Half the time, it seems like it was dubbed.
Director Renzon Martinelli has absolutely no idea what he's doing behind a camera, and since he also wrote the screenplay, he's not a good writer either. The man knows nothing about pacing, which is key for a thriller (one minute Leda is wary of The Merchant, but after a few seconds of dialogue she's confessing her love to him...really?). Second, The Merchant's pursuit of Leda isn't romantic...it's creepy. No intelligent person would do anything but get a restraining order against this guy. And the end features some criminals who don't have a single brain cell between them.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised with how bad this movie turned out to be. I saw it for six bucks at a grocery store, and with Harvey Keitel's name on the top of it, that's a bad sign. You'd think I'd learn...
Starring: Jordi Molla, Jane March, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham
Rated R for Violence, Language and Some Sexuality
"The Stone Merchant" is a catalog of filmmaking errors. It's poorly paced, lacks any kind of atmosphere, relies on characters being unreasonably stupid in order to move the plot along, and has little focus. In fact, the only thing that the movie does right is hire actors who can act (although there's little they can do to salvage this movie).
After a terrorist bombing cost him his lower legs, Alceo (Molla) is convinced that there's an Islamic terrorist around every corner. His wife Leda (March) is sympathetic, but it's getting old. After she survives a terrorist attack herself, they go on vacation into Turkey. Their car breaks down, and they are rescued by a man named Shahid (Abraham). Shahid introduces them to a merchant (Keitel) who sells rare stones, and he is instantly smitten with Leda.
It isn't enough for this movie to be boring (which it is) and stupid (which it also is), but it's also offensive. It's one thing to have a character be paranoid about Islamic fundamentalism; many movies have used our fears of this to great effect ("Rendition," "The Kingdom," just to name two), but this aspect of the film is ineptly handled. As played out by the movie, director Renzo Martinelli seems to perpetuate the xenophobic thought that all Muslims are terrorists.
The actors do what they can, but they're stuck in a silly story with paper thin characters. To be honest, it's a miracle that they're able to do anything with what they're given. The dialogue isn't just flat, it's embarrassing. Half the time, it seems like it was dubbed.
Director Renzon Martinelli has absolutely no idea what he's doing behind a camera, and since he also wrote the screenplay, he's not a good writer either. The man knows nothing about pacing, which is key for a thriller (one minute Leda is wary of The Merchant, but after a few seconds of dialogue she's confessing her love to him...really?). Second, The Merchant's pursuit of Leda isn't romantic...it's creepy. No intelligent person would do anything but get a restraining order against this guy. And the end features some criminals who don't have a single brain cell between them.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised with how bad this movie turned out to be. I saw it for six bucks at a grocery store, and with Harvey Keitel's name on the top of it, that's a bad sign. You'd think I'd learn...
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