| BLOOD & CHOCOLATE |
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| © 2007 by C.E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved. |
| L to R: Olivier Martinez as Gabriel and Hugh Dancy as Aiden in the werewolf thriller BLOOD & CHOCOLATE. Photo Credit: Toni Salabesev Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Inc. © 2006 Lakeshore Entertainment. All Rights Reserved |
typically "dump" films that somehow went off
the track between page and screen. Sometimes,
a rare feature will slip through, but after shoving
all the prestige Oscar-bait at audiences in
selected cities, the movie industry high tails it
to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival and
critics and audiences are stuck having to view
middling movies like BLOOD & CHOCOLATE.
Being the ever eternal optimist, I actually held
out some hope for this drama about werewolves
in Bucharest. The director is Katja von Garnier
who directed the terrific BANDITS in the late
1990s and the impressive IRON-JAWED
ANGELS which went straight to HBO and which
both featured strong female leads. And indeed,
BLOOD & CHOCOLATE is built around Vivian
(Agnes Bruckner, who resembles a younger
Maria Bello). The cast also included Olivier
Martinez, Hugh Dancy, and Katja Reimann. On
the negative side, the screenplay was co-written
by Ehren Kruger whose previous efforts are such
cinematic gems as REINDEER GAMES, THE
RING, THE SKELETON KEY and THE
BROTHERS GRIMM.
The film's opens with a brief, confusing prologue
where a group of hunters attack a family living
in rural Colorado. Flash forward ten years and
the sole survivor -- Vivian (Agnes Bruckner) is
now running through the streets of Bucharest
where she has gone to live with her aunt Astrid
(Katja Reimann), a former concubine of the
werewolf leader Gabriel (Olivier Martinez), and
her cousin Rafe (Bryan Dick). Being Gabriel's
son, Rafe is plotting for the day when he can
assume the leadership of the hunt and hangs
around with his own pack of four other
semi-attractive young men. It seems everyone
thinks that when Gabriel returns, he plans to
mate with Vivian. (There's something where he
takes a new mate every seven years according
to tradition.)
Complications must ensue and they do in the
form of Aidan (Hugh Dancy), a nomadic
American graphic artist. He and Vivian meet late
one night at a deserted church (which
supposedly is devoted to werewolves or loup
garoux as they are called in the film). Aidan
pursues Vivian and she's drawn to him, despite
her "heritage." She crosses Rafe by threatening
to expose him as the killer of a tourist and he
spies on her, discovers her relationship with
Aidan (who seems to know a lot about
werewolves and the legends about them) and
concludes that Vivian is spilling the family
secrets. From there, it just gets worse.
The film is an adaptation of a novel of the same
name by Annette Curtis Klause and takes its
title from Hesse's STEPPENWOLF, which is
reiterated by Astrid. "In fear I hurried this way
and that. I had the taste of blood and chocolate
in my mouth, the one as hateful as the other."
To further hammer home the point, Vivian works
in a chocalaterie and the sight and smell of
blood brings out the animal in her (and the
others).
As I said, I went into BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE
hoping it might have some redeeming qualities.
The actors are dedicated, if nothing else, but
Kruger's screenplay has them reciting howlers of
lines that invoke unexpected laughter from
audiences. Von Garnier has shown capabilities
as a director in the past, and I hope will do so
again. This film is not one of the worst I've ever
seen, but it won't be winning any prizes either.
It may find a secondary life as a DVD rental but
in terms of where it stacks up against other
werewolf films, it's a dog.
Rating: D+
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence/terror,
some sexuality and
substance abuse
Running time: 98 mins.
Viewed at the Regal Union Square Stadium 14