Who Can You Trust?
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THE FACULTY - Dimension Home Video - $29.99 retail
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Screenwriter-du-jour Kevin Williamson tackles yet another one of his homages to better films with THE FACULTY, a hip teen thriller that’s equal parts INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE STEPFORD WIVES. Thankfully, though, the directorial reins have been handed to Robert Rodriguez (DESPERADO, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN), a skilled and competent director who can always inject vitality into such predictable pulp. With Rodriguez behind the camera and a great cast of seasoned actors as the alien-infiltrated teachers, THE FACULTY manages to elevate itself above the recent spate of teen horror romps.
I don’t want to delve too deeply into the plot, because it’s pretty familiar territory if you’ve seen either version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS ... or either version of THE THING, for that matter. Suffice to say that alien life forms have decided to start methodically taking over first the faculty and then the students at Herrington High School. It’s up to a small pack of knowing students to save the day ... but not before they have to assure themselves of each other’s trust.
It was in these quieter moments of paranoia that THE FACULTY won me over, especially during a great homage to John Carpenter’s THE THING where the students devise a test to make sure they’re all still human. Elijah Wood (DEEP IMPACT) effectively plays the class nerd who constantly finds himself at the wrong end of a beating and Josh Hartnett (HALLOWEEN H20) proves here he can do more than scowl and trade insults with Jamie Lee Curtis. The rest of the young cast is mostly populated with fresh faces like the wise and witty Clea DuVall as a goth chick into sci-fi fiction and the captivating Jordana Brewster, who could easily pass for a younger Demi Moore.
There are also some standout adult performances from the likes of Robert Patrick (TERMINATOR 2) as the all-brawn, no-brains football coach; Piper Laurie (CARRIE) as a mousy drama teacher; Bebe Neuwirth (CHEERS) as the brash school principal; Jon Stewart (THE DAILY SHOW) as an easy-going science teacher; and the always-alluring Famke Janssen (GOLDENEYE) as a shy English instructor. It’s fun to see all of these players — especially the women — made to look frumpy and unattractive during the film’s opening segments, then suddenly appear revitalized and self-assured after their “transformations.”
Dimension Home Video presents the 104-minute film on a single-sided, single-layered disc with a terrific letterboxed (1.85:1) transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Both the video and audio are top-notch throughout, and Rodriguez has a knack for spicing up his films with great music — most of which here are covers of classic tracks like Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen.” But as with most Buena Vista/Dimension titles, there’s little here except the film and the theatrical trailer. Given the possibilities of the format, hopefully they’ll learn to take a cue from companies like Warner, New Line and Universal in developing titles which offer more supplementary material for the $30 price tag.
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ENEMY OF THE STATE - Disney Home Video - $29.99 retail
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In the surprisingly entertaining thriller ENEMY OF THE STATE, Will Smith plays a successful Washington, DC attorney who winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time to make himself the prime target of a relentless surveillance group known as the NSA. Everything starts to go wrong when Smith meets an old friend (Jason Lee from MALLRATS and CHASING AMY) in a lingerie store. Lee is being pursued by the NSA for a copy of an incriminating video, and he slips a disc-based copy to his old schoolmate. Now Smith’s entire life comes under scrutiny as the group proceeds to poke at his weak points until something gives.
Taking inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola’s forgotten gem THE CONVERSATION, writer David Marconi and director Tony Scott weave a web of intrigue that includes plenty of non-stop action and some great supporting performances throughout. In a brilliant stroke of casting, Gene Hackman (who played the surveillance expert in THE CONVERSATION) portrays a similar former NSA agent who now does work-for-hire for Smith. Through a mutual friend (the welcomed return of Lisa Bonet), Smith seeks out Hackman’s help in getting the NSA off his back, which leads to an interesting showdown of technical know-how.
Coppola’s brilliant 1974 film was well-timed in the midst of the Watergate scandal and took advantage of swift advancements in audio recording devices and so-called “bugs.” Similarly, ENEMY OF THE STATE has a field day with such contemporary technology as hidden cameras, satellite surveillance, long-distance microphones, cellular telephones, internet and e-mail accounts, and credit cards. It’s almost mind-boggling how easy it would be for such an organization with unlimited resources to find someone and then systematically infiltrate — and destroy — their life.
Although all the performances here are very good — with the sole exception of Regina King, who is forced to play Smith’s one-dimensional wife as a perpetually pissed-off spouse — it’s the supporting players that keep this well-oiled machine moving. Jon Voight (ANACONDA) plays another in a long line of despicable villains whose mounting fear about the incriminating video going public pushes him to the brink of madness; the always-amusing Seth Green (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) effortlessly trades quips with Jamie Kennedy (SCREAM) as two of the NSA’s surveillance experts; Tom Sizemore (NATURAL BORN KILLERS) plays a sleazy, dangerous Italian mob boss with a mean streak and a short fuse; and Gabriel Byrne pops in as a mysterious stranger looking like he just walked off the set of THE USUAL SUSPECTS.
Disney Home Video presents the 132-minute feature film on a single-sided, dual-layered disc with an eye-popping letterboxed (2.35:1) transfer and robust Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The film looks and sounds superb, and director Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, TRUE ROMANCE), reuniting once again with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, keeps the pace brisk yet easy to follow. As is typical of Disney, there isn’t much in terms of bonus material apart from two short “making of” featurettes (created as promotional cable filler) and the original theatrical trailer ... but the two-hour-plus film is well-worth your time either as a rental or a potential purchase.
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