The Proposition

2/4 stars

The Proposition is a slowly building movie. It starts in the midst of a bloody gun battle, probably in an attempt to convey the misconception that it will be an eventful film. Shortly thereafter, we are witness to the proposition in question, and then spend most of the rest of the film waiting for the situation to unfold. Because it may have been only my curiosity about the nature of the proposition that tricked me into seeing this movie, because it turns out to be a fairly minor plot point, and because numerous summaries of the film that I've seen since have revealed it, I will do the same: Guy Pearce is asked, in exchange for the freedom of himself and his relatively innocent younger brother, to bring his villainous older brother to justice, dead or alive. This is the scenario, as Pearce's character is allowed to disappear into the desert.

And then it stews in the heat of the Australian outback for roughly an hour. This wouldn't have been such a bad thing, necessarily. The cinematography of the film portrays a sort of lovely ugliness to the landscape and its inhabitants. Nothing is frosted over in this film, nothing is romanticized or idealized about the situation or the characters. The film shows moments of powerful tragedy, and powerful emotion. However, not much of anything really happens. The time isn't devoted to revealing the subtleties of an intricate plot, nor really engaging the internal lives of the characters. Instead, the film keeps a close eye on the compelling harshness of the scene, and the tragedy that is unfolding. It does those things very well, but I wanted more from it.

There's a lot of talent here. I was drawn to the movie initially because its writer is Nick Cave, better known a rock musician whose songs are dark and dissonant, but with a rough and hidden beauty. Guy Pearce brings a strong presence to this role, even in his inactivity. He exudes a sense of turmoil which is brought on not by uncertainty, but by the presence of conflicting certainties. Ray Winstone plays a multi-faceted character who the script simply neglects to fully investigate. Director John Hillcoat displays great potential, and does a lot with what he's given. The problem with the film is that Cave's novice script is too content with mood and foreboding and not curious enough about the people involved.