Great Film: Killing Me Softly
Future Camp Classic
I rented and watched KILLING ME SOFTLY on DVD and giggled throughout
the movie. It's so unintentionally funny, and silly and stupid and
pointless, that I'm sure people in the near future will look back at
this as camp. The film stars Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes.
Heather's character goes though a number of things or does things that
are totally divorced from logic. She marries a man she hardly knows and
the rest of the film is spent on her trying to know her husband's
suspicious past. (If Heather's character had tried to get to know him
first before marrying him there wouldn't have been a movie). Heather's
role is funny and oddly endearing at the same time. She tries so hard
but the whole thing is so silly that her efforts are all for naught. In
EVERY scene, Heather is seen with her big doe-like eyes, dropping her
clothes at any given moment, looking totally befuddled. The scene when
the reporter faxes her the strange messages at her office, which is
supposed to be filled with apprehension, is very funny. As is the scene
when Heather pretends to be a reporter from The Guardian. Or the scene
when Joseph ties her down on the kitchen table, which is simply
priceless. Heather, bound to the table, doesn't look terrified or
stressed, she looks bored and annoyed. The entire scene is truly out of
this world. After seeing it, I wondered "What was that all about?" If
your new husband ties you up on the kitchen table and starts going
crazy, well, there's a good chance that the marriage won't last long.
As for Joseph Fiennes, well, he looks, hmm, weird. I think the director
was intimidated by Joseph. It seems the director didn't know how to
film him at all. And because of this, his character/performance is WAY
over-the-top.
The story (or lack thereof) is so obvious, the moment the "villain"
appears on screen I knew it. The revelation of the villain's motives
made me laugh out loud. It's supposed to be shocking and twisted but it
had me in hysterics. Add to this the fact that the director literally
took the meaning of title and applied this to the film's script/action,
and everything about this film ends up looking truly silly. Everything
is treated just so softly (like when Heather is tied to the table).
Imagine a S&M movie directed with the soft touch of a bunny rabbit.
Many scenes look like they were rushed (the mountain climbing scenes).
In one scene, you can see Fiennes looking straight at the camera for a
split second. The direction is not really good. The look of the film is
sometimes interesting. Some scenes where cool but the whole ultra-hip
look of the film will positively date it in a matter of years. The
office where Heather works looks like a place where the Teletubies
would feel at home. Everything about KILLING ME SOFTLY is hilarious.
It's pure camp.
Cast
- Adam played by Joseph Fiennes
- Senior Police Officer played by Ian Hart
- Alice played by Heather Graham
- Deborah played by Natascha Mcelhone
- Klaus played by Ulrich Thomsen
- Jake played by Jason Hughes
- Mrs. Blanchard played by Kika Markham
