Dwight (Clive Owen, in the same overdrive badass mode as “Closer”) is an escaped convict. He has a new face and a new girlfriend (Brittany Murphy) and her old boyfriend (Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro) means trouble. Dwight follows him into Old Town and, when they tangle, it endangers The Truce. The Truce, as the head whore (Rosario Dawson) explains, is what lets the hookers run Old Town, free from the cops, the pimps, and the mob. The bodies pile up and, to keep The Truce, Dwight spits out “I’ll need a fast car—and make sure it has a big trunk!” Lastly there’s the cop on his last case (Bruce Willis, who’s getting more and more indestructible as he gets older), trailing a psycho (Nick Stahl) and trying to protect a little girl. His name is Hardigan, but in the end titles he’s credited simply as The Man.
The stories intertwine in logical ways, but also like something out of a nightmare. The Man tells the kidnapped girl not to scream; a psychopath at the mercy of Marv never screams. Dwight remarks that he had a facelift and carries the same Springfield .45 as Marv. Marv and The Man share a parole officer (the painfully attractive Carlo Gugino of “Spy Kids”). At the center of the web are the vile Roark brothers (Powers Boothe and Rutger Hauer), one a senator and the other an archbishop. Between the two of them they run Sin City from The Farm, their creepy forest hideout.
Rodriguez likes making movies with large and colorful casts who enjoy the freedom he gives them. In addition to everyone I’ve listed so far, “Sin City” also features Michael Duncan Clarke (“The Green Mile”) and Tarantino regular Michael Madsen (“Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill”). What we love about Rodriguez is usually what also disappoints us about him: he’s so doggone excited about making movies that his final products usually have something of a slapdash, not-quite-planned-enough quality to them. Sticking to Miller’s storyboards seems to have reigned Rodriguez in without losing his panting excitement, and the result is his best film so far. His impatience has made him an advocate of high-definition digital video, which I think was the wrong choice for his Leone-inspired “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” I like DV when it’s a stylistic alternative for film and not as a replacement. Since “Sin City” is essentially in a 2-D world, the glossy flatness of DV suits it just fine, and video was probably the only reasonably affordable way to make it anyway.
Surprisingly, “Sin City” invites comparison to “The Passion of the Christ.” Both films drive their premises all the way to their bloody ends and neither holds out much hope for humanity’s ability to save itself. Both show established religion in need of a good housecleaning. Because “Sin City” drives so unflinchingly to the bitterest end of its fatalistic philosophy, despite its often nauseating turns, I cannot deny its power. You may feel sick afterwards, but cinematic power comes in different forms. No one said a movie couldn’t be great and make you ill.
Finished Sunday, April 3rd, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Friday & Saturday Night
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