Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

>>> Knight Of Cups

KNIGHT OF CUPS (Terrence Malick). 118 minutes. Opens Friday (March 18). See listing. Rating: NNNN


Though some long for the days when Terrence Malick’s heavenly musings were attached to a structured story (as in everything before The Tree Of Life), that’s no diss of his recent indulgences: Malick captures fleeting moments and ethereal visions and lets them swirl alongside the remnants of a shredded script like confetti in a vacuum.

If Knight Of Cups lacks the gut-wrenching emotions (and cosmic scope) of The Tree Of Life, it’s because Malick is here prowling through Los Angeles, an alienating place with its surface beauty, shallow beings and numbing excess.

Emmanuel Lubezki’s drifting camera follows Christian Bale’s Hollywood screenwriter Rick as he plays silent witness to his own frivolous existence, his face calcified into a permanent mope. 

Fragments of a former life (family, a lingering tragedy, an ex-wife played by Cate Blanchett, love) haunt Rick as he cruises through meetings, parties like Fellini and frolics with a parade of women who seem to be on loan from La Dolce Vita. Freida Pinto and Teresa Palmer are among those who writhe like fallen angels. 

It’s a purposely vapid and dreamy tour through the place that manufactures marketable dreams, allegories and false idols. As Rick takes it all in, it’s the absence of feeling that makes our heart ache.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted