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That Beautiful Somewhere In English (2006) Harold: "To be healed, you have to die and be reborn." I had read a number of reviews of this movie, and not single one was good, so I wasn't expecting a lot. But actually, I thought this movie just missed being really, really good. It was interesting and deeply romantic, in a suicidal and depressing sort of way. Conk (Roy Dupuis) is a police detective and veteran who is haunted by his experiences in Bosnia and unable to pull the plug on his terminally ill mother. Catherine (Jane MacGregor) is an archaeologist with a rare form of migraine that has left her in constant agony and longing for a way out. The two of them are drowning in anguish, and in desperate need of healing. They connect when they investigate the long ago death of an Indian named Red Wind, whose remains were found in a sacred healing bog. As they investigate Red Wind's death in the healing bog together and grow closer, they slowly discover that what happened to Red Wing is the key to healing them both. The scenery is amazing. It is cold, bleak and dramatic, much like the story. Also gorgeous. The sacred bog itself is visually stunning. There's a lot of symbolism, but the plot is also completely coherent and not too arty. Both Dupuis and MacGregor do a good job, too, although I didn't think they had a lot of romantic chemistry. I was also thinking that her constant vomiting might make love scenes a little difficult, although by the time we got to one (a brief one), she hadn't thrown up in awhile. "That Beautiful Somewhere" could have been very special, but it didn't quite hit the mark. It's hard to talk about why without giving away the ending, but I thought that there just wasn't sufficient motivation for the characters to make the denouement work for me. It should have gotten to me, and it didn't. And that's too bad. Bits and pieces: -- The story opens with Conk putting a gun to his own head, followed shortly afterward by Catherine putting a power drill to her own. I thought that was an interesting way to introduce them. It pretty much said it all. -- Conk kept hurting Catherine. The injection right on her bruise, the cigarettes. (Roy smoked a lot in this movie.) The name "Conk" actually had meaning, too, in the "conk someone on the head" sense. -- There's a twelve minute interview with Roy Dupuis on the DVD, and wonder of wonders, it's in English. He talks a lot about aboriginal culture and Fondations Rivieres. And he is, of course, wearing a plaid shirt. I was sort of intrigued, entertained and disappointed at the same time. Two out of four stars, Billie |
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