luckystrike6

This is one of those rare screenplays in which every line of dialogue is perfectly crafted to have a double meaning, yet comes off perfectly naturally. I don't speak Magyar so I can only guess it's that much better in the original. The whole thing is a very blatant religious parable, cloaked as a sort of thriller, with more than enough foot chases, conflict and humor to keep everyone satisfied. The lighting is absolutely genius. Considering the confines of the space and what the DP was likely forced to work with, it's incredible what he pulled off. Many shots seem almost inconceivable, and the color and texture of light is used very consciously to indicate the good and evil forces at play. With this quality of talent available, it's no wonder so many productions are going to Hungary.

The humor in this movie starts with goofy physical stuff and ends with self-consciously ironic '80s kitsch. It seems unsure of what it's trying to be, and throughout the movie the episodic glue runs pretty thin. It's not well-directed and it's horribly edited, with problems even in the basic continuity from day to night. Most of all I got the archaeological sense that under it was once something actually kind of like a good screenplay, that just got maimed by the production. Although the characters -- overdrawn to begin with -- are forced to a breaking point by the way-over-the-top performances delivered by actors who can't help rolling their eyes at every line, there are some very well-written -- if politically dysfunctional -- dialogue sequences in this movie, most notably when Cusack finds himself on an airplane where the majority of passengers have just voted to travel to a distant destination, and demonstrates to the stewardess what democracy really consists of by decking a threatening passenger and getting the passengers cheering together behind him...