'Knight of Cups': Director Terrence Malick's movies have become increasingly somnolent
There was a time when I looked forward to Terrence Malick鈥檚 movies, infrequent as they are, because, for all his infuriating artiness, he has a way of seeing that鈥檚 unlike any other director鈥檚. At his best, in films like 鈥淏adlands鈥� and snatches of some of his others, he evokes a trancelike lyricism. But his films, starting especially with 鈥淭he Tree of Life鈥� and the unfortunate 鈥淭o the Wonder,鈥� have become increasingly somnolent 鈥� privatized meditations about life and death and the meaning of it all.聽
鈥淜night of Cups鈥� isn鈥檛 quite as fancy-flimsy as 鈥淭o the Wonder,鈥� which, as I remember it, consisted mostly of Ben Affleck gazing dazedly at wave formations, but it鈥檚 close enough. 海角大神 Bale plays a Hollywood screenwriter, at least that鈥檚 what he thinks he is, who endures a life of swank movie-colony parties and babes flinging themselves at him (among those playing the 鈥渂abes鈥�: Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, and Freida Pinto) while, on the soundtrack, we hear his (or somebody鈥檚) voice-over bemoaning the sad state of existence. Audiences may beg to differ with him: If you鈥檙e going to suffer, there are worse ways than being pursued by someone who looks like Freida.
Malick鈥檚 movie, with its recurring passages of Edvard Grieg and others on the music track, may seem high-toned, but he鈥檚 pushing the same old clich茅 about the soullessness of the material life versus the spirituality of a life lived apart from such corruptions. Since Bale鈥檚 character doesn鈥檛 exhibit any inner spiritual life to begin with, his disillusion here rings false.聽
I used to think it was a good thing that Malick made movies like no one else鈥檚. Maybe he should try being a bit more derivative next time. Grade: C (Rated R for some nudity, sexuality, and language.)
