There Be Dragons: movie review
Few films about the Spanish Civil War have been any good 鈥� 鈥淧an鈥檚 Labyrinth鈥� being the big exception. (I鈥檝e often wondered why nobody has ever made a movie drawn from George Orwell鈥檚 鈥淗omage to Catalonia鈥�?)
Roland Joff茅鈥檚 鈥淭here Be Dragons鈥� is a stiff-jointed slog featuring the dual-track story of real-life Roman Catholic saint Josemar铆a Escriv谩 (Charlie Cox), the founder of Opus Dei, and Manolo Torres (Wes Bentley), a fictional character who is portrayed as Josemar铆a鈥檚 childhood friend and eventual enemy and spiritual antithesis.
The flashback sequences sometimes come across like 鈥� 鈥楩or Whom the Bell Tolls鈥� for Dummies.鈥� The modern-day scenes, featuring Manolo鈥檚 estranged son Robert (Dougray Scott), who is visiting Spain to research a book about Josemar铆a, lack even the kitsch of the war sequences, which boast a beautiful Hungarian revolutionary (Olga Kurylenko) whose flaring nostrils are a testament to her passion for the poor. Grade: C- (Rated PG-13 for violence and combat sequences, some language, and thematic elements.)
