Plot
In a small town in Wales, Betty (Brenda Blethyn) is married to philandering town councillor Hugh Rhys-Jones (Robert Pugh) and has to care for his obnoxious and demanding mother. When the latter chokes to death on a bowl of breakfast bran, she comes into contact with local funeral director Boris Plotz (Alfred Molina) who has cherished a secret passion for her since childhood. In the meantime, rival funeral director, eccentric American Frank Featherbed (Walken) and his Igor like assistant (Lee Evans) seek to drum up business with cut-rate novelty funerals. Boris and Betty develop an elaborate plot to run away together which involves faking Betty's death. Much mayhem ensues in the realization of this scheme and Rhys-Jones and his mistress (Naomi Watts) finally get their comeuppance and Featherbed's dreams of empire are realized.
Commentary
In keeping with the name of Walken's character, this is featherweight entertainment, of the mildly amusing but instantly forgettable kind. The performances are all good and the central concepts are worthwhile, the scenery picturesque, but the overall effect is ultimately rather contrived and tedious. Walken's performance is polished and entertaining, but the strictures of the role don't allow for anything more than that.
To tell the truth, the novelty of all these minor roles as lovable or amusing eccentric we have seen Walken in of late is beginning to wear rather thin. This particular film, although reasonably inoffensive and certainly better than many, is symptomatic of a more general situation relating to both Walken's recent roles and to film in general, and it is this more general perspective that I would like to concentrate on here.
One of the notable things about Walken's acting has always been his rare capacity to deliver interesting and striking insights into human experience and behaviour which resonate at philosophical and aesthetic levels. This effect is by no means restricted to his well-known turns as villains. The intrinsic limitations of many of Walken's recent roles simply don't allow that spark to happen and if his performances always remain excellent, his audience is left disappointed and wanting more, knowing just what he has been capable of in previous work. Those who follow his work have also been becoming increasingly frustrated by the brevity of his appearances in recent films, films which are all too often of otherwise limited interest. This dissatisfaction emerges clearly in a number of reviews, in remarks on the net and with journalists even starting to quiz Walken in interviews about the situation. In addition to this, there are the nominations for Razzies in 2003 and 2004. These nominations are less criticisms of Walken's actual performances, than reflections of the view that his unique talents are being wasted in such inconsequential fare.
It is difficult to know how far all of this is the result of the kind of roles Walken is currently being offered, and how far it is the result of his own strategic selections amongst available offers. The actor is of course, far more restricted in his or her choice of material than is, say, the writer or the painter, and it is likely that Walken is simply doing the very best he can with what's on offer. Added to this, are the way films are edited and the material that is included or excluded. For example, two of the best scenes involving Walken were not included in America's Sweethearts as being 'too odd' and can only be seen as DVD extras. But at least they can be seen - Viggo Mortensen refers to Walken material that simply did not appear in The Prophecy, material which he speculates may have been excluded by producers with a narrow and unimaginative view of the kind of market these films would reach.
Further to this, the rules governing the contemporary production of film for global mass markets are also highly restrictive, and the experimental, socially critical opportunities that existed in the 1970s and even up to the end of the last millennium have largely closed down - particularly in the USA. But this may be an undue generalization, as there are still good independent filmmakers, willing to push the boundaries, working in a number of countries, admittedly often under rather difficult financial or cultural circumstances.
Be all that as it may, I for one, would still like to see Walken in a new role that gave him the opportunity and the screen time to really get his teeth into something a bit more solid than the kind of soufflé confection that Plots serves up.
Walken Essentials
Hair: Walken's hair is a bouffant delight, worthy of the worst excesses of eighteenth century aristocratic French hair sculpture. It has audiences laughing as soon as he appears on screen. He also cuts a striking figure with his height and dancer's posture, in light coloured suits and a full-length camel coloured sheepskin coat.
Salute to Broadway: A wonderfully tasteless glitzy Broadway style tap dance, alongside his assistant at one of the novelty funerals.
Thanks
I would like to thank Jason Evans and Carolyn Hinton for discussion in relation to this review.
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