Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 2-March-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Leading Man (1998)

To the casual observer, Felix Webb appears to have a fine life. He is a noted playwright with a London mansion, a handsome wife who shelved her own ambition to manage their home, three healthy children, and a cutting-edge play with an imminent opening. Yet those who inspect him more closely, such as viewers of "The Leading Man," realize that Felix is not satisfied. He appreciates the trappings of his success, yes, but he also wants the beautiful, up-and-coming actress who is his lover. And he wants to have it all while preserving his self-perception as honorable.

There is nothing remarkable about this story, but "The Leading Man" runs on an infectious momentum comprised of drama, eroticism, suspense, and the promise of pulling back the curtain on live theatre. It also reaffirms an undeniable truth about human natures. The leading man in Felix's life is not himself but rather an American movie star named Robin Grange. He is portrayed by Jon Bon Jovi in a performance that justifies his presence as more than the punch line to the filmmaker's joke, you know, the one about having an American rock star play a character who lives the rock star's life. Robin has left the U.S. after falling out with a studio head and has taken a role in Felix's play to gain thespian credit while indulging his voracious sexual appetite somewhere less conspicuous than Hollywood — at least for a time. He is the most cocky, physically sculpted, and insinuating son of a bitch you would ever want to meet, and everybody bends to his will.

The truth expressed by the picture is that some men have the ability to take and enjoy whatever they want on their own terms, while others do not and should not even bother to try. This becomes evident when the ironically unlucky Felix (Lambert Wilson) agrees to Robin's solution to his problem of how to possess his mistress (Thandie Newton) without robbing his wife (Anna Galiena) of her dignity. Robin offers to seduce the wife to make her feel good about herself and letting her husband go. After all, he says, it is not an unpleasant assignment since the target is so attractive, and of course there is no chance of him not hitting his mark.

Once he has his foot in the door of Felix's professional and personal lives, Robin does what Robin was born to do, which is snatch, suck the marrow, and humor himself immensely. It is both amusing and disgusting to see him go at it; then again, it is both amusing and disgusting to watch Felix straining so hard just to behave like a schmuck. His plans simultaneously bear fruit and go awry, as if nothing he did or did not do could save him from fated discontent, especially when juxtaposed with the charmed Yankee. Thus "The Leading Man" can be regarded as cynical since there are many more Felixes in the world than Robins. But it is essentially light despite that, a decent seat at the spectacle of life.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.