SIN CITY

I saw "Frank Miller's Sin City" the other day. If you don't already know the fascinating background story, here it is in a nutshell: Frank Miller made a critically acclaimed graphic novel series called Sin City. He shopped it around Hollywood, but nobody wanted to make it the way Frank wanted it. Then one day, for a goof, director Robert Rodriguez made a 5 minute short out of one of the stories in Sin City, using the comic as a storyboard. He sent it to Miller, who loved it. Rodriguez hired Miller to co-direct the film. The directors' guild said that Miller wasn't a card-carrying member, so he couldn't direct the film. Rodriguez responded by dropping out of the union and letting Miller co-direct. The film is not an adaptation, it is a translation. That is, it looks exactly like the original comic.

Anyway, I was disappointed. I never read the original novels, so I was watching it as if it was just a film, not another version of the books. Like Kill Bill, there are moments of ingenious storytelling, excellent cinematography and fun action galore. But I felt it just went over the top...WAY over the top in terms of violence and overall unpleasentness. I know that's the point of the atmosphere of the movie, but it got a bit much. This is especially true since the "story" is pretty much non-existent. It's a bunch of loosly-related vignettes based on revenge, torture and corruption. It was a real treat for the eyes, but stale chewing gum for the mind (i just made that up and I'm really proud of myself!). If I see it on cable in a few months, I may keep it on while I'm washing dishes or something, but I can't say I recommend it. Oh, and who keeps hiring Brittany Murphy? The girl couldn''t act her way out of a wet paper bag!