Okay, so honesty time, if I'd known this was a Michael Mann film, I probably wouldn't have bothered.Heat was good, but then Miami Vice was awful, Ali was over long, Collateral just had no substance to it and Manhunter is overrated. Heat is pretty good, and Public Enemies wasn't as bad as it could have been, but on the whole I really struggle to get Michael Mann. So after I learned he directed this, half way through watching it, I suddenly understood why I was so bored.
This film, like all Michael Mann films, looks nice enough. Lots of forestry, everything has a sort of sharpness to it, which is ironic, because the substance to the film is so fuzzy. Nothing really happens, which isn't so much the issue, except that whilst nothing is happening..... nothing else happens. You've got a fairly impressive battle in the latter half of the film when the British are ambushed by the Native Americans, but the build up to that is incredibly tedious, and after that is also pretty tedious. The romantic element to the film was irritating and I felt nothing for either of them.
The worst thing about this film though is how disappointed I was in Daniel Day Lewis. It's not for choosing to do the film, but more that he just isn't all that good. He's not bad, but he's not great either, and this is one of our finest living actors. Maybe this film has just aged badly, maybe that's why I found it so utterly tedious throughout, or maybe I wasn't in the right mood. Either way I was entirely disappointed with this film.
I don't even feel as though the film has enough substance for me to write a normal amount about, so I will have to wrap it up here. I would steer clear of this film; unless you're a Michael Mann fan, in which case you'll probably love it. I am not, and really did not.
Dude, you're obviously *not* a girl. 'Nuff said.
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