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Haven |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
Movie Reviews List | |
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HAVEN - Limited Release Written and Directed by: Frank E. Flowers (SWALLOW) Starring: Orlando Bloom, Bill Paxton, Zoe Saldana, Bobby Cannavale Rated: R Running Time: 1 hour 55 min. In the tourist paradise of the Cayman Islands, several families lives collide on a memorable Friday the 13th, and those lives are forever altered. This is the premise behind HAVEN. On his daughter Pippa's (Agnes Bruckner) 18th birthday, Carl Ridley's (Bill Paxton) illegal money laundering catches up with him. The pair are forced to flee to Grand Cayman where Carl has a condo and money stashed. The Sterling family is also celebrating the 18th birthday of their daughter Andrea (Zoe Saldana). That evening when her parents are out, boyfriend Shy (Orlando Bloom) comes to celebrate the occasion and they end up spending the night together. Unfortunately for Shy, he is caught leaving the house and Mr. Sterling has him accused of rape. The Allen family who are now residents of Grand Cayman consists of a drunken mother, a father whose business interests are illegal at best and the high school son who is hopelessly in love with his best friend, Shy. All of their lives crash into each other under the beautiful Caribbean scenery. Director Frank E. Flowers wrote the screenplay for HAVEN and coupled with a short film he had directed, caught the eye of Orlando Bloom, who not only wanted to star in this film, but became a producer as well. The script is really interesting as Flowers peels back the normal perception of this tourist destination to reveal all of the struggles and lifestyles of the locals. The characters are pretty well developed. Even the so called "bad" actions of some of the players can be somewhat understood by the circumstances in which they find themselves. People are pushed to do evil things, but are they truly evil people? This is one of the questions in Flowers' film. The cast is really great and terribly diverse. The filmmakers did an outstanding job in casting some amazing character actors, such as Joy Bryant and Jake Weber, in some of the smaller but pivotal roles. All of the main characters are completely believable and you can empathize with each of their situations at some point in the film. Zoe Saldana is a standout as is Orlando Bloom who plays a really different role here and I think will surprise people with the range he shows in this film. Much of the violence and sex are more implied than shown so it is appropriate for even those that are sensitive to that sort of thing. Shot in a TRAFFIC or COLLATERAL sort of vein, there are some great handheld and dolly track shots, and the overall quality of the film has a sort of grittiness to it. While not a perfect film, there are a lot of twists and turns in the story and shows the why behind the deconstruction of these people's lives. 3 3/4 out of 5 |
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