Rancid Aluminium (2000, UK)

What a strange movie. I'm not sure if there was a point. There was a plot, but at the end all I could think was, "Why?" The major idea of the movie was that a man (Ifan)'s father dies and leaves him the family company, even though the son's best friend (Fiennes) put more work into the company. The friend is jealous and smart. So he convinces the son that they're going bankrupt and enlists Russian mobsters to (it seems) steal his friend's money and then kill him.

His motivations made no sense. The Russians' role made no sense. The son's affair with the mobster's daughter made no sense. The vague ending made no sense.

I guess this just wasn't my cup of tea, but it did have Joseph Fiennes in it, so I had to try. (Random note: I think they trimmed his eyelashes so he wasn't as attractive. Some attention to detail!) The best things about this one were the acting (of course) and the score. It was almost like the score was one big joke. It was overdramatic, diverse, and just plain odd. But it fit perfectly, and really added something. If you're big on original (by which I mean unique) film music, it's worth watching just for that.

Rating: 2.5

Love, Honour, and Obey (2000, UK)

What a weird one from Natural Nylon. But then, I guess you couldn't expect anything else. A clash of London gangters. Violence, profanity, sex jokes, friendships, love, marriage... Jonny Lee Miller narrates the film in a clown costume. Scenes of all of the characters singing karaoke are spliced into the main storyline. Jude and Jonny's friendship is paralleled to Sadie and Ray's pending nuptials. (Hence the "love, honour, and obey.")

I read a review of this on imdb, and the reviewer said "It wasn't bad. It wasn't good." And that's about what I thought of it. Parts of it were really brilliant—the time structure, the random karaoke and clown-narration scenes, the relationship foil, the ongoing erectile dysfunction side plot (now there was a surprise). On the other hand, it seemed too violent, too vulgar, too unrealistic, too pointless. So not good, not bad. On the other hand, I am curious to see some other Natural Nylon productions now.

I don't really know what else to say about this one. It is definitely one of a kind, if nothing else.

Rating: 3.0