Dspang's thoughts on The Proposition

Wow. Just wow. It has been a long time since I movie ruined my mood. This movie did. I sat down to watch this bleak and nihilistic portrait of human evil in a pretty cheery mood. After it was all over I needed a shower........Also maybe a few Prozac to get that cheeriness back. This movie did to me what "Leaving Las Vegas did to me.

So it begins with the Captain Stanley making a deal with Charlie Burns(In an unwise move as such deals always are.) to hunt and kill his psychotic brother Arthur. Charlie, played by the prince of brooding looks Guy Pearce, along with his more innocent younger brother seem to be the poor ones that were dragged along on Arthur's little rampages. Nonetheless this little "proposition" made by the good Captain in order to keep and meet justice was an unwise solution which sets a karma into action.

This is yet another "actor" movie. Guy Pearce seemed more at home in this than he did in "Ravenous" because that movie didn't seem to have such a serious tone. This one did. The thing about this movie is the only people that seemed okay in it were Stanley, his wife, Charlie and his younger brother. These four were the breaths of air in this suffocating atmosphere. What struck me the most was that every other player in this game had a moral compass that was just spinning in all directions. If mister Nick Cave were going for a portrayal of human ugliness in this movie, he achieved it in spades. But this movie poses the question, what would one sacrifice in the name of justice? This movie shows exactly how certain actions you perform can come right back around and bite you in the rear.

One thing of note though is that this is a "western" type movie that is set in Australia. I must say that this is a great place to do a western type movie. The photography on tap is particularly beautiful. Every shot of beautiful landscape doesn't last long until some brutal violence is happening on screen.

All in all, don't watch this movie when you are in a good mood. It will ruin it. At least it did mine. It is an excellent movie nonetheless which shows many facets of human evil, and portrays how karma has an effect on everyone around you. So the moral of the story, be careful with your actions. What goes down the road always comes home.