Could have been great (the cast is fantastic)…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Four Feathers
past_tyme — 13 years ago(April 07, 2012 03:28 AM)
but the cheesy direction intended to make it an epic really disappointed me. It was a lot of slow-motion with overdramatic music. Heath Ledger and Wes Bentley were PHENOMENAL in their respective roles, but I don't think the direction enhanced their performances because it was too heavy-handed.
I didn't know the book nor the story beforehand. I remember when this film came out the year after A Knight's Tale and remember wanting to see it in theaters, but never got around to it. I was a senior in high school and even remember one of my classmates mocking all the girls for having a huge crush on Ledger and talking about how we were all gonna be at this movie opening night. It's taken me ages to watch this, because it's one of his last few films I haven't seen (the other two being Dr. Parnassus and all of Monster's Ball) so I was holding onto it. What a GREAT story. Heath and Wes Bentley showed such great range. And I didn't even get annoyed at Kate Hudson,. But again the heavy handed cliche directing didn't enhance the experience.
I'm still glad Heath Ledger was able to make a film of this scale before he passed even though I didn't like certain elements. It must have been one hell of an experience for him. And it's weird visiting this board for the first time ever and seeing posts dated from years ago with messages about anticipation for Brokeback Mountain and his other projects. It still makes me sad to think he's not making films anymore.