Hard-living, macho movie director John Wilson arrives in 1950s Zimbabwe to prepare for his next film. There he desires to film the process of hunting down an animal but it turns out that hunting is more interesting than filming.
An ambitious and intriguing project that never amounts to anything more than the sum of its parts--a trait shared by many of Eastwood's other major project as an independent filmmaker, Bird.
Ably aided by a fine cast and Jack Green's no-nonsense photography, Eastwood constructs a marvellously pacy, suspenseful movie which is deceptively easy on both eye and ear.
This material marks a gutsy, fascinating departure for Mr. Eastwood, and makes it clear that his directorial ambitions have by now outstripped his goals as an actor.
Juicy Cerebellum
March 17, 2004
Slow-moving but gently engrossing.
eFilmCritic.com
April 09, 2007
Clint Eastwood raises hell and finds his heart of darkness.
Eastwood's subject is wasted lives and wasted talent; Wilson's charisma and Hollywood's money prove irresistible, and their sheer power brings noteworthy results-but they emerge from a needless vortex of ruin.
