A Promise

When a young man, Fredrich Zeitz (Madden) goes to work for a magnate Hoffmeister (Rickman) he is unsure as to how far he will move in the company. When he witnesses his boss having a near fatal heart attack, he is swiftly promoted. At first it seems only to tend to the day to day running of the house. This however changes and he becomes an essential part of the home for the ailing man and his wife. This leads him to be promoted to his private secretary and teacher to their young son. While there he falls in love with Mrs Hoffmeister (Hall) but is unable to consummate the relationship as a prior plan leads him to Mexico. Now that is about the whole sum of the story and for those who want to see it through to the end, well I will not spoil it.

A Promise is that rare of films from such a consistent and versatile director as Leconte, a grade A dud. It is almost as if it was decided early on that this film was to be a shambles of visual storytelling and wooden performances. Very much like those films that are almost desperately trying to replicate prior greats but with little of the magic of the former. My case for this opinion is built on the the unholy trinity of problems within this film, the lead actors, camera work and editing.

In the main problem, the acting stakes it is all about Rebecca Hall. Rebecca Hall plays Rebecca Hall and in this she doesn't do a very convincing job. She is dull as an actress and this leads to her character being less rounded and fair more unlikeable. I also would say in fact in places it feels as if she is sleeping and is only slightly awakened by the sound of the camera zooming in and out . Richard Madden is far to intense and this lead to me sometimes wondering if he were trying to remember his motivation or how much he had left in the parking meter. Rickman however is the bright star and as such gains this film its first star, you see he can act and does so fantastically well. Often in terrible films someone shines, Alan Rickman is the man of the hour here.

Next to the camera work, which seems to have been either built from shooting ideas for a Bourne feature set in the early 20th century or is a desperate way to make a tired genre, reinvented with style. Sorry Patrice, it does work and adds little except a jarring and erratic sense of the absurd. To illustrate, in a scene of quiet tension involving the lead actors, the camera decides to refocus and instead of an effective emotional moment there is an awkward and odd fumble to a shoulder and ear lobe. Nice. I give another point here though simply because it seemed apt to reflect the trial of a new and fresh idea in cinema. Don't do it again....Please

Finally the other problem is that of the editing. To truly craft a film you must sculpt it in the cutting room, however to really butcher a film you must do this in the arts and craft lesson at a primary school. It seems that the idea was to play like Godard with pacing and cutting of a conversation along the 180 line. No, it doesn't work when you force the scene to turn into another scene but try to keep the old scene and the old rules and the new rules....No.

So in summing up....its terrible and dull, simple and ridiculous....1 point goes to the music which is quite nice.