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The Four Feathers
(Reviewed September 24, 2002, by James Dawson)
-
Whatever it is that makes a big, melodramatic period piece impressive and unforgettable is definitely missing from this bland, unconvincing effort. The easy scapegoat is Kate Hudson, who is laughably miscast as the British fiancee of a cowardly soldier who goes to fairly elaborate lengths to redeem himself. The bigger failure, though, is that nothing in "The Four Feathers" manages to be moving or memorable, mainly because its whole premise is hard to swallow. Sorry, but I just don't buy Heath Ledger surviving more than, oh, 20 seconds if he actually tried to pass among rebellious Africans without getting his head handed to him.
Also, an extended prison sequence near the end pads the movie to ridiculous lengths and should have been eliminated to keep audience asses from falling asleep.
There is a decent desert gun-battle scene, however, if you're into that kind of thing. If you want to save some money, just stay home and wait for Bush the Younger to start blowing things up in Iraq. That pitiful attempt to redeem his father's legacy of shame, and to divert the American public's attention from an economy that is sliding straight into the shitter, should provide some invigorating images of needless death and destruction to give every mindless Joe Six-Pack a free chubby courtesy of CNN.
Back Row Grade: F
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