'Knight Of Cups' A Review

Knight Of Cups is an experimental drama about jaded Hollywood screenwriter Rick(Christian Bale) as he makes his way through an ethereal Los Angeles. Rick drifts through a series of romantic relationships, contends with familial influence, and attempts to lose himself in tinsel town excess. The film has little to no story relying almost entirely on montage and voice over rather than plot and dialogue. More poem than prose. More interpretive dance than performance. An existential Los Angeles fever dream.

The myriad of talented actors contend with a virtually impossible task(portrayal with no script or narrative) with Bale at the top of the list. His character is almost completely neutral and emotionally inert, taking in everything but reacting to nothing. With virtually no dialogue and no transformation to undergo he, like we the audience, are relegated to virtual tourism in the visually rich world he inhabits. The supporting cast fares only slightly better with the vignettes and moving tableaus in which they are positioned. The sole stand outs are Brian Dennehy as Rick's father and Natalie Portman as Elizabeth an ex-lover, both are able to navigate the material with considerably more depth and emotional power than any of their cast mates.

The images and scoring are the true stars of the film, each complimenting the other weaving together to create a lyrical fluid experience. Beautiful, arresting, and singular. The technique however isn't bolstered by the story(or lack there of). With a parade of scantily clad model-thin women almost all correspondingly objectified there is something immature, dated, and regressive about the product as a whole. Overall the film is incomplete and unsatisfying, disappointing because of how much promise is on display.

Ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful.

Rent It.