The Oxford Murders

I have been dreading writing this post for several weeks now, but I am forcing myself to write it now and get it over with. This is the movie I had been looking forward to watching with great anticipation since 2007 when I heard about it's future release, but the viewing experience I had while watching it was one of the biggest letdowns I have had in a while.
I love the murder mystery/thriller genre, having grown up watching movies and programs with that particular theme. The program, Mystery my family's personal favorite weekly show, hosted by Dianna Rigg was a huge influence on me and we hardly missed any episodes. I was definitely a fan of mystery movies and shows which featured the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, Brother Cadfael, Hercule Poirot, etc. So, therefore, having such a love for this genre, I couldn't help but get excited about the idea of Elijah playing a smart Oxford student and mathematics whiz, who teams up with his idolized hero and professor (played by John Hurt), to solve a series of supposedly gruesome murders by using mathematics and logic. It sounded like the promising premise of a terrific movie, but it was not to be.
The cast is indeed a good one with some big names, and it is seemed that they had all shared a similar desire to work with director Alex de la Iglesia because of his previous work, which promised a great opportunity for them to work with him. Unfortunately, this film has definitely hurt their careers more so than help, and some, I am sure, are quite embarrassed over their involvement. I really hate to give an Elijah movie a really hard time, but this movie does not warrent much in the way of praise.

The movie was wince and cringe inducing and incredibly difficult to sit through due to the movie's pacing (or lack thereof), editing, dialogue, and screen writing.
It felt as if I was not watching the whole movie, but bits and pieces of a really chopped up and edited version of the original film. It jumped around so abruptly without warning between scenes and locations that it felt like huge gaps were missing that might have explained the sudden plot changes. It was very badly paced and the character development was non-existent.

The movie immediately began with Elijah's character arriving in Oxford and we don't really have any clue as to who his character is or why he is there in the first place. The one point the film had no trouble establishing was Elijah's obsession and worship of the philosopher, mathematician, and professor (John Hurt). This fascination and adoration of John Hurt's character totally went over my head because there seemed to be nothing worth that kind of admiration in his character, a mean, overbearing, self-important man with an ego larger than his head. The long and agonizingly over-intellectualized speech that John Hurt gives to a room full of Oxford students at one point in the film went on way too long and lost me in it's monotony.

So, Martin has been in Oxford for no more than two days when the lady he has been staying with is murdered and is discovered by Wood and Hurt. It had been very obvious that the mother and daughter (Julie Cox) had a real hatred for each other and it seems that the daughter should be the prime suspect for the murder, but she is let off the hook almost immediately after she provides an alibi.

Less than two days later, Julie Cox's character is hitting on Elijah and expressing her love and attraction to him and admitting her hatred of her mother in a very awkward scene that still makes me laugh. The two of them have met barely a few days earlier and she is telling him how much she loves him, and in an earlier scene, she expresses her jealousy over his meeting another girl (Leonor Watling) practically a day after he got to Oxford.

As much as I adore Elijah, he was really miscast as the playboy Oxford genius. It was difficult for me to really believe that he had the incredible sex appeal that could score him two gorgeous babe's at once. It was just a little laughable.

I will not go into the plot in this post like I normally do because the plot of the story was all over the place, and I don't think I could straighten it out enough to be understood. I will point out some really disturbing and mind boggling scenes that are still not making sense to me. Let's just dub this section:
The Top 5 Most Ridiculous Moments Found on Film!
1. A scene between Elijah and insane, jealous, Oxford student named Podorov who thinks that Hurt's character stole his mathematics discovery: Podorov obviously loathes Elijah, but in one scene they are drinking together and they are in an argument when Podorov jumps up and starts drunkenly running around on the mess hall tables. Elijah hops up too and proceeds to pull him down, taking him outside where Podorov continues to flip out and consequently hit Elijah. Elijah pursues him and they tousle about. The next thing you know, Elijah can be seen carrying the unconscious Podorov into his room. My question is what point in the movie they had become such goods friends and drinking buddies?

2. Elijah and Hurt are in an argument about logic, or whatever, as they are walking down the street. Suddenly, Elijah trips and falls into a construction area after saying "I trust my eyes" very adamantly to Hurt, and he continues to lay in a pile of gravel as he carries on the conversation without missing a beat.

3. The infamous Spaghetti scene with Leonora (naked in a cooking apron) is one of the most ridiculous of the scenes listed here. After some frolicking with Elijah, Leonor has fixed some spaghetti and she brings Elijah a plate of it. Elijah puts a handful of spaghetti on Leonor's ample chest and proceeds to eat it with his bare hands as they laugh and giggle. Don't ask me what purpose the scene has within the scheme of the movie...I haven't actually been able to discover the scheme of the movie yet either.

4. In this space, I must make room for the VERY tiresome scene that is John Hurt's long, egotistical and embittered speech to an auditorium filled with aspiring students. I find it particularly funny because I just want to know what happened in his life to make him so hateful.
5. Last but not least, the chuckle/cringe inducing scene where Julie Cox is expressing her love to Elijah within two days of knowing him. I thought it was extremely soap opera like, and the least believable scene in the movie...Although none of them really were...
6. I am actually adding a sixth ridiculous scene because I just couldn't get it out of my mind. I actually found it quite disturbing and not funny...It is right after Elijah and Leonor have first met and she has beaten him at racquetball and they fall onto the floor next to each other panting hard. They are laying there laughing and eyeng each other and Elijah (still panting) starts oggling her boobs with his huge eyes, then he looks back at her face with this hungry expression...I was shuddering at how gross it was!


Unfortunately, this was one of the first Elijah movies I have asked my boyfriend, Jeremy, to sit down and watch with me and he agreed to humor me. In fact, it had been Jeremy who acquired the movie for me since he knew how much I was anticipating it. I hope I have not driven him away from watching more Elijah Wood movies with me because of the experience.
I asked him to answer a few of my questions about the movie so that I could post some of his thoughts in this review to get another person's perspective on the film. Jeremy runs his own music and movies blog over at Moon in the Gutter, along with a great "all things 70's" site called Harry Moseby Confidential, and also a tribute site for Nastassja Kinski called Nostalgia Kinky.

My Oxford Murders Questionnaire answered by Moon in the Gutter's Jeremy Richey:

1. Overall, what did you think of this movie, and how would you rate it?

I looked up 'daft' in the dictionary and it had 'senseless', 'stupid' and 'foolish' listed, and according to Wikipedia 'daft' is also a British slang term for 'silly'. So I would say that I found this film extremely daft.

2. What were two of the worst moments in the film?

The scene where Elijah fell on the sidewalk while talking to John Hurt and just continued the conversation was priceless and the infamous spaghetti scene was something I will never forget...although I would like to.

3. What was the best moment (or redeeming quality) in the film?

I quite liked some of Elijah's clothes and the moment when the closing credits began brought a smile to my face.

4. Funniest moment (if any)?

Well the two worst moments above were pretty funny but I would say the scene where Julie Cox expresses her undying love for Elijah just like a day after she met him was particularly chuckle inducing.

5. Describe the movie in one sentence?

Asinine.

6. How would you describe Elijah's performance?

There wasn't really a performance to give. He's a terrific actor as is John Hurt, Leonor Watling and Dominique Pinon but the script was so terribly written that it would have been impossible for any of them to give anything resembling a good performance.

7. Who was your favorite character?

I wanted to kill John Hurt's character so it wouldn't be him and I can't abide the wasting of pasta so Leonor is out as well. I would say that my favorite was 'student (uncredited)' played by someone named Glyn Angell although I couldn't tell you where exactly they appeared in the film nor would I want to re watch it again to find out.

8. What would you have done differently if it had been your film and you were directing?

Had I been stupid enough to sign on with this script I would have shut down production immediately or I would have turned it into a full blown comedy.

9. Anything else you want to say---

I'm still wondering if this monster will ever get a release stateside. I suspect it will eventually come out on DVD here and no doubt someone will try and turn it into some sort of cult classic. I'm not having it, this film was atrocious.

The fault of this film does not lie with incompetent actors (because the cast is quite competent when given a good script), but with the director and editors who were unable to use the marvelous cast to their advantage because the script was doomed from the start.

I was also expecting (and kind of hoping) to see more gore and grizzly murder footage, but that was depressingly absent in an overly talky and boringly intellectualized film that really misses the mark.
If you still wish to see this movie, I hope it is a much better viewing experience for any brave enough to sit through it.
The one positive thing that I got out of the film was the very strong desire to hunt down and re-watch every episode of Inspector Morse, and to rediscover the magic that was the great detective teamwork of Detective Chief Inspector Morse and his faithful sidekick, Lewis. At least John Thaw (Morse) knew how to bring out the more likable and sympathetic sides of an antagonistic, sour, and intellectual snobby character. His is an Oxford tale worth watching.

Elijah in Paradise

Paradise

Cast
Elijah Wood....Willard Young
Melanie Griffith .... Lily Reed
Don Johnson .... Ben Reed
Thora Birch .... Billie Pike
Sheila McCarthy .... Sally Pike
Eve Gordon .... Rosemary Young


Mary Agnes Donoghue's 1991 Paradise was the first movie where Elijah was used in a leading role as the ten year old Willard Young. Having been cast alongside the likes of Melanie Griffith, Thora Birch, and Don Johnson, this was the first movie to showecase Elijah's sensetivity and depth and also allowed him to show his ability to handle the responsibility of a lead character.
The movie begins with Elijah's character, Willard, getting off of school for the summer at a prestigious looking elementary school in the city. The movie immediately establishes Willard as a smart or intelligent child who does not have many friends. The first few scenes at the school allows the audience to see the isolation and rejection that Willard feels and faces from other children his age. We can see that Willard is slightly intimidated by those around him, and as Willard heads home after school, he stops to watch some kids playing ball and gets chased from the premises. He soon finds out that his pregnant mother is sending him to a small town called Paradise to stay with her best friend, Lily Reed (Melanie Griffith's character) for the summer. Willard sees this act as his mother's way of trying to get him out of the way because she doesn't want him around. What he doesn't know is that his mother suspects that his father (who Willard is led to believe to be on sea duty) is cheating on her. In an attempt to straighten out the issues with her husband, Willard's mother sends him away to stay with the quietly sad, but sweet, Lily Reed.
Upon arrival in the sleepy little town called Paradise in the Delta shrimp-fishing area, Willard walks into a country restaurant to ask for directions to Lily's house. He is greeted by a gruff character who gives him directions and the foreboding warning that all is not well at the Reed house and that he hopes Willard's visit with Lily is a brief one. Once at Lily's house while his mother and Lily talk, Willard wanders off and meets the tomboy Billie Pike, played by a very young Thora Birch. They talk for a while and when Billie asks Willard what he wants to do, he says nothing and tells her to leave him alone until she asks him if he wants to see her older sister naked. He then consents since there is nothing better or more interesting to do. Later that same day, the brooding man from the restaurant who had given Willard directions, shows up at Lily's and Willard tells him that his mother had warned him to stay away from him because of what he had said about Lily. The man tells Willard that his mother is right, but then reveals that he lives there too, which introduces him to the audience as Ben Reed, Lily's husband. It is evident that Willard is not too pleased with the news, but he stays quiet. Although, when Willard is left alone at Lily's for the summer, he looks a little forlorn at first, but what he then sees as abandonment, eventually becomes a blessing for him and those around him.
Willard and Billie become fast friends and they spend their summer playing together and having adventures. Billie is a strong willed and independent nine year old girl who shows Willard how to be comfortable with who he is. At times, Billie pushes Willard too hard and he gets angry, but ultimately, they make up and remain friends. The two kids together make an odd pair as friends since they are total opposites, but we see how much their relationship benefits both of them and how they care for each other. Billie likes to take risks and is a bit of a show off, while on the other hand, Willard is quiet, timid, and a bit unsure.
Billie comes from a home where her sister is her half sister from one of her mother’s many relationships, and her mother is a somewhat morally loose, single mom working at the town’s restaurant. Billie has never met her father who, she has been told, is a famous roller skating performer.
One afternoon, Billie and Willard meet up, and the characteristically tomboyish Billie is decked out in white lace from head to toe as she and Willard head out to find Billie’s dad. They hop on a bus and head out of town to the roller rink where her father performs and gives lessons. Billie and Willard skate around for what seems like hours while waiting for her father to appear. Then, finally the rink is cleared of skaters so that the lessons can begin. Her father comes out and Billie skates up to him and asks him if he knows who she is. He impatiently tells her to get off the floor so that he can give lessons, and she tells him that she is his daughter and she gives her mother's name. Recognition of her mother’s name flashes across his face, but he gruffly brushes her off and ignores her and she is forced to leave. Her disappointment and hurt is obvious as she rips her lacy headband off and throws it on the ground. Willard does not know how to comfort her and instead follows her back to Paradise and to the restaurant where her mom works. Billie bursts into tears, and while her mother attempts to console her, Willard quietly slips away. Earlier in the movie, when Willard and Billie first meet, we see the show-off in Billie come out when they are up on a tall lookout tower as Billie climbs up onto the railing and walks and balances around the ledge. When she jumps down, she dares him to do the same, but a frightened Willard refuses.
During her mom’s birthday party, Billie lashes out at her mom and her boyfriend when they announce that they are going to be getting married. Billie yells “Why? You don’t even love him”, then runs off into the dark woods. Willard finds her in one of the trees and asks her why she’s so upset. Billie angrily snaps at Willard and tells him that she overheard his mom talking to Lily about his dad, and that his dad is not coming back. This upsets Willard and he runs off too. Both kids disappear during the night and all of the adults are worried and out searching for them. Billie feels guilty about what she had said to Willard, so she sets out in the middle of the night to find him. Eventually, she stops and falls asleep beside a tree and then shows up at the Reed’s the next morning where her mother greets her with relief. When they finally find Willard, he is up on the watch tower, and Ben goes up to bring him down. While Ben is on his way up the ladder, Willard climbs up on the ledge and makes his way precariously around the railing just like Billie had done. We can see that he is terrified, and it seems as if he is going to fall at any moment, but Ben makes it over to him and catches him right as Willard is about to tumble over the edge. Later, when questioned about why he tried to walk the railing, Willard tells Lily that he felt that since it scared him so much, that maybe if he did something that really scared him, nothing would scare him anymore.
Melanie Griffith's character, Lily Reed, is a very sweet, soft spoken, sensitive, and sad woman who takes Willard in for the summer. She seems to have some deep sadness she is struggling with during the beginning of the film until we find out that her's and Ben's three year baby boy had died. There is a distance and friction between Lily and Ben and is evident that there are problems in their marraige. Later we find out in a confrontation between Ben and Lily that she feels responsible for their son's death and she can't be happy because of the guilt. Towards the beginning of the movie, it seems as if Ben is just being cruel and indifferent towards her, but later we see how his efforts to be affectionate and caring are not accepted by Lily. The tragedy of the death of their baby seems to be the cause of their continuing estrangement. The pressure and sadness is too much. We see Ben gradually warm up and become more open due to Willard's presence in their home, and we see him making more of an effort to reach out to Lily with love and affection. Ben even takes Willard to work with him on his shrimping boat and it is obvious that Ben enjoys having Willard around.

Both Lily and Ben love having Willard in their home and it seems as if they want to imagine that he is their own son. Ben takes Willard fishing and opens up to him about memories and life and their conversation seems like the kind a father and son might have. Willard brings some life and light back into Ben and Lily's life through his quiet and open personality. Willard is there to help Lily with laundry and also there to fly a plane with Ben. One night when Willard gets back from his day out with Ben, he is so tired that he falls asleep before he can put his pyjamas and Lily tries to help him out. Willard puts his head in her lap and sleeps while Lily looks at him lovingly. In that moment, it shows how much Lily wants a son or even a child as we can see that she is imagining him as her son.
Even with Willard's help, Lily is not able to let go of her grief and let go and ultimately, Lily's sadness becomes too unbearable for Ben to continue living with and he makes a decision to live on his shrimping boat. Lily misses Ben terribly, but she doesn't think she could ask him to come back. Willard continues to spend time with both adults and eventually helps them realize how much they need each other and the ultimately reconcile at the end and it seems that they can finally begin anew and have a family again.
The movie is sweet and touching, but it seems to drag at times and is longer than it needs to be. The same story could have perhaps been told in a shorter, more succint manner, but the movie as a whole still works nicely and is visually quite stunning.
Elijah's performance as young Willard is definately good and touching. Perhaps my only criticism would be that the dialogue with Thora Birch during their first few scenes together seem a little labored and unnatural and he looks somewhat self conscious. But the kinks soon iron out and as the movie progresses, we can see Elijah really settling into the role and figuring out the complexities of Willard's character. Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, who were married during that time, both give strong performances and Thora Birch does a great job as the spunky Billie Pike. Elijah is still coming into his own as an actor and we can see him stretching his wings a bit in his role as Willard. As the movie progresses, Elijah becomes more and more believable and loveable in his role, and he shows how capeable he is at handling bigger roles even at such a young age.