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"'The
King' is Dead"
by Scott Mantz
"Anna and the King"
Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat
Directed by Andy Tennant
There are some
stories that are so great, Hollywood just can't resist revisiting
them every once in a while. Whether they are fact or fiction, some
tales are so interesting that we see them on the big screen again
and again, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. William Shakespeare's
gotta be rolling in money just from all the film versions of his
"Romeo and Juliet" alone. Thanks to our endless fascination with
the subject matter, the Titanic continues to sail the seven seas
even though it sank 90 years ago.
The story of
Anna and the King of Siam has been told before, but never better
than in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1956 musical with Yul Brenner.
Filled with impressive sets, lots of humor, and over-the-top musical
numbers, "The King and I" is one classic that deserves to stand
out from Hollywood's golden age of musicals. However, if you take
away the humor and the musical numbers, wha t do you have left?
Well, as the latest screen adaptation proves, not much. Marred by
a slow pace, a needlessly long running time, and an unsatisfactory
performance from Jodie Foster, "Anna and the King" can't help but
be seen as a disappointment.
Anna Leonowens
(Jodie Foster) is summoned to the eastern country of Siam in 1862
to teach the King's (Chow Yun-Fat) eldest son about the ways of
the world. Upon her arrival, she realizes that adapting to the Siamese
customs are going to be much harder than she thought. Already upset
over her accommodations, the King expands her teaching services
to include the rest of his children--all 58 of them. Though he is
bound by ritual and tradition, King Mongkut embraces for the inevitable
changes facing his country and warms to Anna's intelligence and
independent nature. Anna, still in mourning over the loss of her
husband 22 months prior, begins to let her romantic guard down while
in the presence of the charming and honorable King.
From the moment
Foster appears on the screen, she's annoying. Her effort to be a
strong and independent woman is offset by her bossy and uptight
behavior--especially by mid-1800's standards. Her noble performance
as a British school teacher falls short, and her attempt at a British
accent leaves a lot to be desired.
If anything,
Chow Yun-Fat is the one to watch. He wipes clean his martial arts
reputation with a star-making turn as the protective King caught
between either keeping his country shielded from the outside world
or embracing his people for the changes they must face. Instead
of mimicking Yul Brenner's performance in the 1956 musical, he makes
the role his own with a powerful, charismatic, and heroic performance.
Considering
the epic scale, fabulous set design, and beautiful costumes, it's
too bad the movie is so boring. How boring is it? I had to sit on
the edge of my seat just to keep myself from falling asleep! The
film moves along at a snails pace and goes on and on, et cetera,
et cetera, et cetera. By the time Anna and the King begin to notice
each other on a romantic level, it's already 45 minutes into the
film. The two main sub-stories that are presented here are far more
interesting than the main one, and had they been given more attention,
"Anna" might have felt more like the epic it strives to be.
To say that
Jodie Foster is picky about her roles would be a huge understatement.
She endlessly mulls over scripts, and the press causes quite a stir
when she finally settles on one. It's been years since her last
really good role, 1991's "Silence of the Lambs", and the time has
come for her to make better choices. Does she think too hard? I
don't know. Like Anna Leonowen, maybe she should just lighten up.
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