Film Reviews

The Wicker Man

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Ellen Burstyn
• Details: Germany/USA / 106mins (16A)

Recently traumatised by a car crash that killed a young mother and her daughter, Cop Edward Maulis (Cage) is a broken man who can't return to work. When he is contacted by his ex-fiance Willow (Behan) - whose daughter has gone missing on the strange self-contained island she now lives on - he makes his way to the eerie rock to investigate her whereabouts. Starting off relatively well, before descending into a live-action version of Punch and Judy, The Wicker Man's failure will come as a surprise to some (given the calibre of the director involved) and as a smug 'told you so' to others. Putting aside the complaint from purists that it was simply a bad idea to begin with, the main problem lies in its lacklustre execution; it's unintentionally hilarious in parts (Cage going all Ike Turner) and horribly misguided in others (excessive use of flashbacks to hammer home already-obvious plot exposition).While there's no doubt that Cage can be outstanding with the right material, Wicker Man -which he also produces - was never just that. His performance feels staged and misdirected, as does most of the inexplicably attractive supporting cast, who look like they've stepped straight out of a Sprite commercial (inbreeding obviously has its plusses).The atrociously-handled outcome (with some of the worst tacked on audio you are ever likely to hear) never shocks the way it was obviously intended, and that's ultimately where it pales in comparison to the vastly superior original. Not particularly scary or dramatic, it brings nothing of interest to the table and relies purely on the 'weird' factor to entertain its audience. Another failure for Cage, and a monumental misstep for Labute.

Review by Mike Sheridan