Endgame' is quiet and enlightened
Print- •
-
Share
- Share this item
-
Grab the link
Copy and paste the link:
- Blog about it
- Close
- •
-
Post a Comment
- •
Favorite- •
By Robert W. Butler
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)
If you've seen and liked Clint Eastwood's new film "Invictus," with Morgan Freeman as South African president Nelson Mandela, then you should make a beeline for "Endgame," shown on PBS this fall and now available on DVD.
Mandela is also a character in "Endgame," but this story unfolds several years earlier, when Mandela was in a South African prison.
Directed by Pete Travis and written by Paula Milne, this is a prime example of why Brit TV is so good. The film takes on a complex political/social story based on real events. It renders this tale understandable even to viewers not familiar with the history while generating considerable dramatic and emotional power.
Basically it is about an unsung group of South African whites and members of the outlawed African National Congress who, in the late '80s, began meeting in neutral territory (a British country manor) to discuss the possibilities of ending all-white rule and reconciling the races. These unpublicized meetings were organized by a big gold company whose president (Derek Jacobi) saw disaster for his operation if civil war broke out in South Africa. He assigned an underling (Johnny Lee Miller) to recruit participants.
The story boils down to the interaction of two men. William Hurt plays white university professor Will Esterhuyse; Chiwetel Ejiofor is the AFC's Thabo Mbeki (who would go on to follow Mandela as South Africa's post-apartheid president).
Both men risk much by participating. Esterhuyse is periodically visited by a sinister fellow from the South African secret police (Mark Strong), who expects him to spy on the AFC delegates. Mbeki must deal with renegade members of his own organization who continue to stage terrorist bombings that could shatter any hopes for a peaceful solution.
Meanwhile, the imprisoned Mandela ("The Wire's" Clarke Peters) finds himself plucked from a maximum security prison and moved to a fancy country home with its own swimming pool. The authorities hope to soften him up and bend him to their purpose — which is to maintain white rule as long as possible.
This is complicated, fascinating material. The "Endgame" title is the peaceful transfer of power to the black majority, something even the reactionary South African government sees as inevitable.
The acting is first-rate and so are the production values (the film was shot in many of the locations where these events took place). In these regards, "Endgame" is a movie-quality effort, but of course there is no way a film this subtle, quiet and enlightened would ever find an audience at $8 a ticket.
Be thankful for public TV and premium cable channels which turn out fine drama at bargain prices.
___
—"The Answer Man"
We haven't seen much lately of the terrific Jeff Daniels, which makes timely the DVD release of this Philly-lensed Sundance comedy.
In "The Answer Man," Daniels has a comic workout as Arlen Faber, who 20 years ago authored the best-selling spiritual guide "Me & God." Since then, the filthy rich Arlen has holed up in his townhouse under an assumed name, hiding from rabid, needy fans who expect him to answer all their questions.
Arlen is a neurotic, paranoid recluse frustrated by his own spiritual paralysis. A bad back sends him crawling (literally) into the arms of the neighborhood chiropractor (Lauren Graham) and ... well, you can guess that her giving heart warms up his gnarly one.
A secondary plot features Lou Taylor Pucci as an alcoholic bookstore owner with whom Arlen forges a reluctant friendship.
For a first-time writer/director, John Hindman does a more-than-credible job. In its broad outline "Answer Man" closely resembles the Oscar-winning "As Good As It Gets" (neurotic weirdo finds love), but Hindman puts a clever spin on the material, which both sends up and celebrates New Age-y practitioners.
Great supporting cast, too: Olivia Thirlby ("Juno") and Kat Dennings ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist").
___
(c) 2009, The Kansas City Star.
Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kansascity.com.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
