Stone
A convicted arsonist schemes to get out of prison by convincing his debauched wife to seduce his retirement-ready parole officer in director John J. Curran's adaptation of a play by Angus MacLachlan (who also authored the screenplay). His career as a parole officer winding down after years of service, Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) reluctantly accepts an assignment to reassess inmate Gerald "Stone" Creeson's (Edward Norton) case for an upcoming parole hearing. Convicted of setting a fire to make the murder of his grandparents look like an accidental death, Stone will do anything to get out from behind bars, and his wife, Lucetta (Milla Jovovich), is willing to do whatever it takes to help secure her husband's freedom -- including seducing Jack. Meanwhile, Jack's devoted wife, Madylyn (Frances Conroy), has suffered with the emotional weight of her husband's demanding job for far too long. more..
Director: John Curran
Starring: Robert De Niro,Edward Norton, Milla Jovovich, Frances Conroy, Enver Gjokaj
De Niro is so good at playing a man who has essentially emasculated himself because of fear of his anger, so that sex and anger may be leashed in precisely the opposite way, as in "Raging Bull." And Norton, the puppetmaster - it may not even be freedom he requires, but simply the pleasure of controlling others to obtain it.
Ultimately, Stone is a haunting film about what it feels like to be really and truly lost.
So few Hollywood movies go here that this one's oddly welcome, even in its most turgid moments, of which there are many.
Because the film is overproduced and unconvincing in telegraphing its several gestural themes, its excellent lead performances get lost in what feels like an aesthetic tug of war over what a movie should be, and do.
Nothing is etched in anything remotely resembling a hard surface in Stone.
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