4/16/08 -- We saw a "working cut" last night in Pasadena which means it might be missing special effects, the final music, credits, or there may still be editing done. The large theater could not accommodate all of the people who came to see the screening, so there was very good interest and I felt very lucky.
When I first heard Ed Hoffman's voice - his accent is something southernish - it took me a beat to realize it was Russell and then I got goosebumps – he's created someone entirely new again. After seeing the whole filmed career repeatedly it is inevitable that we draw comparisons. He looks like Bud, maybe twenty years down the line, after he let his flat top grow out about an inch and gained a chin. The hair is funny all by itself. It looks real enough and it's horrible. So is his wardrobe. They make great fun of his weight. (I kept wanting to press a finger in his belly like the Pillsbury doughboy. There's no help for it – he charms me even when he's playing a prick.) He wears normal reading glasses - like the kind you'd pick up at the drug store, and looks over the top of them whenever he is speaking to anyone. I was reminded at times of Wigand (not a people person), with little touches of Nash (he's very smart) and Max(imillian) (just as arrogant).
Leo is definitely the lead with Russell in a supporting role, much moreso than in AG which seemed to me more like dual leads. The acting is top-notch throughout and I especially enjoyed Mark Strong as Hani and the actress who played Ferris' love interest (I'm sorry I don't know her name). The plot is complex and I felt they did a very good job of explaining these twists, with one small exception near the end, so that even if I had come to the film cold I would have been able to follow it fine. The thing I liked best about the novel is still there – a different perspective of terrorism and conflict from the one coming into our homes on the news. The suspense is good, the action terrific if a bit gruesome – it will get an R rating no doubt, and the dialog terrific.
If you read either the novel or the script that is circulating then you will see that the exact dialogue has changed while the basic plot remains intact. I think the changes are improvements. Ed Hoffman (Russell's character) is more fully developed. He was pretty much a one dimensional creep in the novel and now that is balanced by glimpses of him as a caring, if workaholic, family man.
Ridley seems determined to show us that Russell can be funny, from Max the brave banker's pratfalls to Richie banging his lawyer against the wall and now with Ed. I don't mean to imply it's strictly a comedic performance but I was pleasantly surprised by the humor. Ed has the best lines in the script - sometimes outrageous, terrible stuff, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny - and a few lines that only Crowe fans would perceive as possible winks between Russell, Ridley and maybe their audience – you'll have to see what you think.