CONSTANTINE (2005) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Francis Lawrence
Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton,
Djimon Hounsou, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Peter Stormare
A mixed-up supernatural thriller starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, a chain-smoking demon hunter who's dying of lung cancer after successfully killing himself once before. For reasons the film tries not too successfully to explain, John's still out prowling the night streets of L.A. as a kind of middleman in a war between angels and demons for control of the earth. To call Reeves' acting wooden would be to understate the dramatic potential of wood, and Rachel Weisz as the psychic cop he teams up with seems to have cornered the market on severe. As if to compensate, Peter Stormare as Lucifer goes way the hell over the top, but when you're playing the Prince of Darkness, maybe that's allowed. Which leaves Tilda Swinton as the devious, beguiling angel Gabriel, who could be on one side or the other, it's anybody's guess, but at least she's interesting to watch. Tilda Swinton as a butch angel. Why couldn't they give Keanu the seven-minute cameo and turn the rest of the movie over to her? Damn.
