The Big Empty
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
What do
you get when you do a film that wants to emulate a Detective Film and elements
of Film Noir, but has no clue about either?
The James McManus/Jack Perez collaboration The Big Empty (1998) is a great example of this, though it does
manage to avoid being pretentious in either sense.
McManus,
who co-wrote the story with director Perez, and the final screenplay, also
stars as the detective who sounds (it turns out unconsciously) just a bit too
much like Jack Nicholson’s Jake Gittes in Chinatown
(1972) and its sequel The Two Jakes
(1990, reviewed elsewhere on this site).
Like “Mr. Gittes”, he is involved in marital infidelity cases and
despite the welcome shot of trying to have a slow, deliberate pace, it just never
works.
Even with
the non-surprise twist of a Gay relationship as infidelity, but that is tired
on arrival. Our would-be private
investigator goes from a supermarket job to his stab at PI work. It is treated as a joke throughout, which is
why the transition is never convincing and even never complete by the film’s
own storyline. It is one of those films
that is also not the character study it might want to be, nor is it really
concerned about any mystery. This is
practically from the school of though that treats all mysteries like “The
McGuffin”, Alfred Hitchcock’s term that has to do with a very specific story
function that is astonishingly abused by thousands of would-be filmmakers.
The full
frame image has some good color, but also has a certain kind of softness
throughout. Cinematographer Shawn Maurer
thankfully does not go for a lame, shallow “noir” look, but this is no Long Goodbye either. It is not very distinct. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no Pro Logic
surrounds, but is clear enough. The only
extras are a trailer and a smart-enough commentary by McManus & Perez. They said they had falling outs with each
other. The resulting film bares this
out.
Ultimately,
this is very average and unsatisfying, though there is talent somewhere behind
the camera. It just may be conflict
holding the principals back. It would be
bad film critic form and a cliché top say the film lives up to its name, but The Big Empty has so little to offer,
it still does virtually live up to its title just the same.
- Nicholas Sheffo
