The War Zone (1999, Tim Roth)

"you've got some of Dad's lovejuice on your chin, brother."

My first review on my first blog; well, well, well. It's an unfortunate circumstance that it can't be for a film that absolutely blew me away or a film that's long been a strong favorite of mine. No, instead it's dedicated to a film that simply left me thinking "Meh; predictable and not particularly convincing incest story that was supposed to disturb me but instead almost put me to sleep."

Tim Roth, more notably known for his acting than his directing (which he's only attempted once, with this film) does a fairly good job with the material, but this hand cannot save this film from being mundane and obvious.

The main problem that I had with The War Zone was that in order to feel repelled, to feel absolutely disgusted by part of the story, that of incest & child abuse, I need to feel like the actors, none of whom are actually related, are really a family. Unfortunately, none of the actors involved were capable of pulling this off; in one of the most pivotal scenes all I could think to myself was not "oh, this is sick and repulsive" but instead "oh, ok, that's Ray Winstone pretending to have sex with some actress who is pretending to be his daughter."

The performances, for the most part, were top notch (which I know seems to contradict my previous statement that they didn't seem like a family; well, they didn't but the individual performances were admirable) save for the son, Tom; the actor was so unbearably bad that I found myself frustrated with his inability to make the character seem like something more than someone who goes from point A to point B. The idea of non-acting, as is most prevalent in the work of Bresson, is a spectacle to behold when done by the right model in the hands of a capable director. I understand he's depressed and feels alienated, but I don't care. I could not sympathize with him or even objectively observe him with any kind of compassion.

All in all, not a horrible film, but pretty forgettable and, worst of all, obvious.

GRADE: C -