Review

Review Date: 22-September-02
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

The Four Feathers (2002)

"The Four Feathers" is being billed as two things, a passionate love triangle and a story of a man sent to retrieve his buddy lost in war. I hope that these representations don't draw too many people into the theater, because they are both inaccurate. Luckily for me, I didn't go for either of these reasons. I paid full price on opening night (which I almost never do) because, faced with the oppressive slickness, extreme moral ambiguity, and drudgery of modern life, sometimes I yearn to disappear into a lost (or wholly fictitious) world where manners, honor, loyalty, and adventure truly shape the lives of men. (Also, I have a jones for the African desert and find it the perfect backdrop for all things dramatic.)

The epic begins in London in 1884, when Harry Faversham (Heath Ledger), a young British soldier, announces his engagement to the lovely and devoted Ethne (Kate Hudson). Harry is both envied and admired by a brotherhood of comrades-in-arms, particularly his brooding best chum Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley), who is also smitten with Ethne. Harry's charmed life quickly vanishes when his regiment is ordered to Sudan to squelch a local uprising and he immediately decides to quit the army. His motives are not understood by his chums or his fiancée (or me, at first), so they present him with white feathers, a symbol of cowardice. Having received this blow, Harry becomes distraught with shame and self-doubt and, to prove to himself that he is not completely worthless, follows his erstwhile regiment to Africa to share somehow in their perils. Of course, he ends up enduring great emotional, psychological, and physical hardships while helping his old friends and discovering what he's really made of. Only then can he return to England and face Jack (who has also suffered much in the war) and Ethne (who, though despondent over Harry's absence and the way she treated him, has been succumbing to the ties of old friendship and new pity offered by Jack).

"The Four Feathers" is based on a 1902 book which has been adapted for the screen several times before. Approached as escapism, the latest version succeeds, even though it's not a fantastic film. Its principal weakness is a distracting choppiness, which seems less the fault of bad editing and more the difficulty of fitting a big, sweeping story into two hours. (A couple of scenes are implied which I would have preferred to witness, to flesh out the story.) However, "The Four Feathers" has a few notable strengths, including the gorgeous scenery of Morocco (a stand-in for Sudan) and a nicely sketched element of exoticism — if you're looking to get away from it all, here's the place to do it. The movie's biggest strength, though, is the very fine work of its cast, which, I must admit, I was not expecting. I can officially state that I have lost all of my initial reservations about Heath Ledger's talent or star power. Never mind the Australian hunk thing; never mind the fact that he is a natural actor; what really sets him apart is that he's so damn likable. Whoever he is on screen — hero, lover, tormented soul — you can't help but root for the guy. As such, he is perfectly cast to play Harry, who starts out on shaky footing (do you really care what happens to a yellowbellied deserter?) and needs to keep your interest long enough to redeem himself. Wes Bentley (of "American Beauty" fame) makes a convincing Jack, all pale skin and wide eyes as he struggles in more quiet torment than his flashier friend. (Are his teeth really that bad, or did they alter them to make him look British?) But the real surprise here is Hudson. I was not among the people who admired her debut in "Almost Famous;" I found her one-note performance cloying and overly precious. Here, however, she shows herself perfectly capable of being British, sober but still vivacious, and quite charming — although, to be honest, she doesn't have much to do beyond being a trophy awaiting one or the other of her swains. Oftentimes Hollywood producers call in the British when they need some serious or enormously gifted dramatic actors; it's interesting that this very British tale is ably headlined by two Americans and an Aussie.

But no; make that two Americans, an Aussie, and an African. Djimon Hounsou (former model and star of "Amistad") plays undoubtedly the best and arguably the most important character in "The Four Feathers:" Abou, a native African from a lowly slave tribe who finds Harry dying in the dunes and becomes his guardian angel, sent by god to preserve Anglo ass. Abou embodies the white man's dream of the noble savage; he's splendidly built, dignified, exotic but not entirely threatening, and always there when you need him. You could quibble with how wise, sensitive, ubiquitous, regal, patient, and bilingual this guy is, but, really, he's just plain cool, so I would advise you just to go with it. The white, imperial patsy who finds his courage when circumstances demand it is a nice point of interest, but the real hero is the half-naked demigod of the desert who paves the way for the "superior" Englishman's return from disgrace.

The latest stab at "The Four Feathers" is not "Lawrence of Arabia;" nor is it "The English Patient." It's a decent, entertaining tale about a man who finds that being British isn't reason enough to make him invade foreign lands and kill people, but that given stronger incentives like honor and friendship, he has the guts to do it. Each of the characters (except the perfect Abou) endures pain and learns from it, becoming stronger and more worthy in their own and each other's eyes. That is a solid, good theme no matter how you slice it, and, coupled with the allure of a lost era in a strange land, makes for a nice bit of fantasy.

Copyright © 2002 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.