Much hype, but little plot in "The New World"

Tool's Rating:

2 out of 4

Let me start off by saying that this movie is better than two stars in many respects. As art, it is a meticulously-crafted masterpiece in which writer-director Terrence Malick flexes his strongest American Film Institute-trained muscles. As entertainment, however, it is a disjointed story that cares little for plot or character development, and is likely to drive the casual movie watcher to leave halfway through the 150 minute opus under a cloud of boredom and frustration. "The New World" is clearly a product of amazing skill, but it is lacking in the core elements of greatness.

The film documents the settlement of the first American colony of Jamestown in 1607 in grimy, muddy, bloody detail. Boldly taking on another "historical figure" role after the floppy "Alexander," Colin Farrell portrays Captain John Smith, the only professional soldier in the entire expedition. Sent out to create an alliance with the Native Americans in the newly-founded Virginia colony, he meets and falls in love with the youngest daughter of the chief, Pocahontas, played by Q'Orianka Kilcher. Somehow, a "Romeo and Juliet" style feud between the settlers and the natives ignites, and the lovers are forced to deal with rejection from both sides.

Malick does capture the wonder with which the English settlers must have seen the new world, as well as the gritty truths inherent in the struggle to start a new script -- you know what's happening, but the soul of the action is gone. Smith and Pocahontas meet, and a few intimate, well-shot visuals of their relationship later, they're hopelessly in love and she knows conversational English.

Malick focused so much on the visual aspects of the film that you feel like you're merely watching and not experiencing -- there is no immersion into anyone but the princess, and the surfaces of the rest of the characters are only skimmed.The plot becomes a little more comprehensible in the film's second act, with the departure of Smith for England and the entrance of Pocahontas' eventual husband John Rolfe, played by Christian Bale. Here Malick departs from art for a little bit of storytelling, as the princess struggles to fit into a strange world, her only link to which has moved across the sea and is presumably dead.

Her transition into her new Anglo-life has the compelling conflict of values that the film has wanted the whole time, and as she explores the foggy streets of London itself you can feel her marvel at the impossibly high stone buildings and other wonders of the civilized world. The return to a more artistic form of expression at the end of the film finally carries some emotional weight, but it is too little, much too late.

The buzz surrounding "The New World" is that it is a major cinematic triumph -- maybe it's just the English major in me, but a film has to be more than just a clever string of interesting photography and a dramatic score to be great. There were moments in this film that seemed like a CK1 commercial -- two intertwined figures rolling in the grass to whispered bits of narration. Sometimes, such moments can be very powerful. It's just that the entire story is told that way, and some of the best drama is lost.

"The New World" has been justifiably nominated for a few minor awards for cinematography and original score, but I would expect the honors to stop there. It's worth a watch if you're willing to give your attention span a workout for the sake of the technical achievements, but it's up to you to decide if they can carry a plot. In my humble opinion, they can't.