Film Reviews

Wicker Park

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Christopher Cousins
• Details: US/ 114 mins/ (12PG).

A remake of the classy French drama, L'Appartement (1996), Wicker Park stars Josh Hartnett as Matthew, an investment banker who has gotten his life back on track after his heart was crushed by his former lover Lisa (Diana Kruger). Having met and proposed to a new girl (Pare), he thinks that he's finally starting to get on wiht things. However, a series of unlikely coincidences means that Matthew's mind is very unfocused on his impending wedding and he gets it into his head that a woman he sees in a cafe is, in fact, long lost love. Following your heart is not always the cleverest thing, as Matthew soon discovers to his peril.
While L'Appartement was shrouded in an elusive an mysterious air, Paul McGuigan takes the absorbing premise far too literally, signposting the film's multi-perspective narrative so obviously that it becomes a tiresome device. Although he usually rivals Ben Affleck for his ability to impersonate a piece of furniture, Hartnett is surprisingly effective. Perhaps his performance is helped by the fact that that he has to spend large chunks of the film looking confused, a state which appears to come entirely naturally to him. When his part demands more expression and subtlety, he, like the rest of the film, looks out of his league.

Review by Garreth Murphy