Tom Wilkinson, Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell
Woody Allen wisely stays behind the camera in his latest, a dark, gritty morality tale in which Ian (Ewan McGregor) works in his father's failing restaurant, his brother Terry (Colin Farrell) is a car mechanic up to his neck in gambling and other addictions and both are desperate to move up and away from their Cockney working class roots. Ian pursues a highly sexual, ambitious actress (Hayley Atwell) and presents himself as a real estate developer; meanwhile, the risk-taking, pill-popping Terry wins a huge sum at gambling, but then just as quickly blows it. The plot thickens when the two, in urgent need of cash, hit up their rich uncle, played by the great Tom Wilkinson, who asks them to kill a pesky business associate who is threatening to go public with incriminating evidence of his criminal activities.
Sally Hawkins, Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell and Colin Farrell
With Allen in Match Point mode, grappling with themes of family loyalty, greed and pursuit of profit, the plot complications that follow provide McGregor and Farrell juicy opportunities to demonstrate what charismatic, persuasive actors they can be when they're given the rare chance to sink their teeth into meaty material. It's currently as fashionable to trash Allen as it once was to idolize him. But even if Cassandra's Crossing -- with its brooding Philip Glass score and many allusions to Greek tragedy -- may not be another high-water mark like, say, Crimes and Misdemeanors, it at least shows Allen regaining his footing after such missteps as Anything Else and Scoop. It's tense, funny, well-acted and worth a look.
Photos courtesy of Keith Hamshere/TWC 2007.
