Review: 'Heatstroke' Starring Maisie Williams, Stephen Dorff, and Svetlana Metkina

Only those who have enjoyed Maisie Williams' seasons-long trek on HBO's Game of Thrones may find something notable about Heatstroke, a survival thriller in which she crosses the African desert with another adult companion. Otherwise the film, directed by Evelyn Purcell in her first feature since the '80s, fails to take proper advantage of the danger-rich environment full of evil poachers, wild hyenas, and Mother Nature's brutal hand. With little to offer but bland, generic characters and lukewarm shocks, the real act of survival is making it through Heatstroke all the way through to the end.

Stephen Dorff is Paul, an expert on hyenas who is gearing up for a trip to the wilds of Africa to study the predators, bringing along his hot, tough-as-nails Russian girlfriend, Tally (Svetlana Metkina), to help out. The film kicks off with Tally, looking battered and frayed by the sun, eluding mysterious adversaries in a Cessna, so we know she can hold her own. But is she tough enough to deal with a bratty American teenager? Paul's daughter, Jo (Williams), was caught with drugs and now she's been forced to tag along with Dad so he can keep an eye on her. Jo is a spoiled brat whose face is always buried in her Ipad or ears under headphones, and when she does bother to speak it's to complain about Dad's lover or the boring surroundings.

It's a fairly one-note performance by Williams as the bratty teen, and for much of the first half of Heatstroke it plays out like an especially arid family dispute, one with the occasional hyena passing through. But then a string of events involving poachers (led by the ever-boring Peter Stormare), a car crash, and a murder thrust Tally and Jo into one another's company where neither wants to be. Chased by killers while low on life-giving water, the duo's squabbles are understandably heightened, and for a time there's a great deal of promise in watching these enemies leaning on one another for support. Exhaustion, fatigue, mirages, and the constant threat of heat stroke are long-term threats, but the most immediate concern is Jo's attitude and downright stupidity at times. Her stubbornness puts them in greater danger on more than one occasion, literally walking right into the poachers' base camp at one point. Fortunately for her, Tally's pretty badass, a sort of poor man's Lara Croft with survival skills in spades. If only we got to see more of them. And Metkina is certainly no Angelina Jolie; she lacks the charisma to lead a film like this, and the other performances are similarly underwhelming. Purcell, who also wrote the script, does a great job of capturing the exotic, wide expanse of bush country but is less effective at depicting action, something she's rarely been called upon to do and likely won't be called upon to do again.

Rating: 2 out of 5

 Heatstroke is available now On Demand here.

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Somewhere

Sofia Coppola makes movies for a specific audience, and I count myself as one of her most rabid supporters. From the moment I saw her short film, Lick the Star, she was somebody I knew I had to follow whether she was the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola or not. From The Virgin Suicides on, she's been able to capture a surreal , dreamlike mood in everything she's ever done. Her crowning achievement, the serene Lost in Translation, ranks as one of the few films I consider to be completely flawless. Despite my appreciation for her work, I knew there'd come a time where her deliberate style would rub me the wrong way. The biggest complaint about her films is that very little actually happens in most of them, in terms of overt twists and ramping tension. While that may be true, none of her movies can ever be considered boring. Somewhere, which explores the repetitive and mundane nature of celebrity, comes dangerously close. But then again, that might've been the point.



Taking her typical laid back approach to filmmaking, Coppola idles her camera on Johnny Marco(Stephen Dorff), a Hollywood hot shot caught up in the minutia that is his life. He goes from his sweet digs at the Chateau Marmont off to the set for fittings; he does inane press junkets with people he can't stand; and spends the rest of his day sitting by the pool. Oh wait, that's not quite right. He also can't sleep without first watching his favorite pair of pole dancers, brought up to his room to entertain him with their routine each and every night. So "blah" to it all that Johnny doesn't even really seem to care as he watches the two dancers shake their moneymakers. This scene sets the tone for the entire film, so if you can't make it through that then you might as well pack it in early and go see Little Fockers or something. Johnny's rut continues until the unexpected arrival of estranged daughter, Cleo(Elle Fanning), arrives on his doorstep to break the monotony.

At first, Johnny seems like the worst possible choice to be put in charge of anybody's kid, much less his own. His life is an exercise in frivolous excess, with little to no responsibility other than to wake up and arrive on time wherever his studio masters want him.  Cleo's presence puts Johnny's life into laser focus. The shallowness of his celebrity life fades gently into the background as he strives to forge a meaningful bond with the daughter he barely seems to know.

In Lost and Translation, Coppola explored with shocking honesty facets of her own real life failed marriage. Whether or not Somewhere is tapping into some element of her life growing up isn't nearly as obvious, but there's a credibility to Somewhere that keeps it interesting even when nothing seems to be going on. The bulk of the film follows Johnny and Cleo as they go through rather mundane tasks, like eating breakfast. The difference now is that Johnny has someone to share these moments in his life with.Cleo, in turn, has the presence of her father, a relationship Coppola clearly believes is essential to any girl's upbringing.

Coppola's style is so chill, so relaxing, that I could just hang out with them all day, but that approach isn't for everybody. There are moments when her camera lingers just a little too long, and it's not always a rush watching people eat breakfast or play Guitar Hero. Coppola never wastes a shot, though. Every scene serves a purpose, and the reason for the extended nature of certain scenes is to put us squarely in Johnny's shoes. We need to feel the general malaise of his life.  We need to be in Johnny's state of mind for any of this to work. I only wish that once we are put in the position of understanding where Johnny is coming from, we'd get more of a chance to see him evolve. It all happens rather suddenly.

For Dorff, this is something of a breakthrough for him. He's been solid in the past, but rarely has so much of the dramatic weight been placed on his shoulders. Embodying the cluelessness of the insta-celeb perfectly, Dorff has never been better. Elle Fanning is proving to be just as capable, if not superior, actress to her older sister Dakota. She is the story's true heart and soul, precocious, yet unsure at the same time. There's a layer of fear, the fear of abandonment or rejection, just beneath the surface that is tragic. 


I had to watch Somewhere a couple of times to truly understand and enjoy it. It's not a movie that's going to "Wow" audiences or break the bank at the box office. It's going to appeal to certain folks who will simply adore it, while the rest will brush it off as pretentious. I can't count myself as a member of either camp, but definitely leaning towards the former. If you love the way Coppola builds entire stories out of the quietest moments, then Somewhere is definitely for you.

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