[yasr_overall_rating]
The vacation of a famous rock star and a filmmaker is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.
I must confess that I am inclined to believe Tilda Swinton can do no wrong, even when it is terribly obvious that something is nothing but. With an other-worldly air, she draws you in with her long movements and stares that could suck you into the abyss. She is both poetry and purpose. In director Luca Guadagnino’s, “A Bigger Splash,” she is simply speechless, save a whisper here or there and a strangled scream. Gratuitous in nudity and overwrought subtlety, “A Bigger Splash,” cannot fill the void that it creates with the silliness and sullenness it produces despite the beauty of the rocky Sicilian island of Pantelleria and stylishness of its stars. The film is much in the same vein as Angelina Jolie Pitt’s melancholy drama, “By the Sea,” in that though you know that there is obviously something deep happening you just don’t care because you find yourself far more interested in the aesthetics of the film rather than the characters and their banal problems. But please note that Swinton still kills.
In this seducing love web you have recovering rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) and her filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) taking it easy lounging around in the sun on the idyllic island of Pantelleria, but soon their blissful break is upended by a real live wire and former lover Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes) and his newly discovered Lolita-like sulky daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson). Harry storms through the tucked away compound, laughing, dancing, and stripping down and literally making a slash (again and again and again), while his daughter creeps quietly, pensively absorbing the awkward tension that is piping hot and about to spill over, just don’t let it hurt you.
Depending on your tolerance for slow pacing, despite the ensuing chaos, you might get hurt for expecting dynamic tension and drama and instead getting a fresh ricotta-tasting, interspersed clips of lackluster rock star life, and a dull murder. But thankfully there is a killer soundtrack and haute couture to lick your wounds. And if you are polite and must look to any redeeming qualities, they would be found in the individual performances of the cast, as they do a sound job.
While Dakota Johnson is possibly the weakest link in this love fiasco, it is by far her best performance yet, though I’m not sure that is saying much. She’s far too mature to play a 17-year-old half-hearted seductress who is full of vinegar, but she plays the role to the best of her ability and at times you are hopeful that she won’t always be so “obvious” as an actress. The rest of the cast is near stellar; Ralph Fiennes’ frenetic energy is delightfully terrifying. But the acting does not make up for a story that loses itself in dullness. Guadagnino’s, “A Bigger Splash,” is both beautiful and disappointing and it is a shame because I wanted so much to love it.
In theaters today
