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 | Skeleton Key Director: Iain Softley Rating: M Now Showing  Young hospice aide Caroline (Kate Hudson) is hired by oily estate lawyer to look after stroke victim Ben Devereaux (John Hurt) in his gracious old Southern mansion. She is barely tolerated by Ben's wife (Gena Rowlands), but the old woman's suspicion soon becomes the least of her worries. Caroline's skeleton key opens every door in the house, except one - the mysterious door at the far end of the attic. Her skepticism about the folk tradition of 'hoodoo' is challenged as she begins to see and hear strange things, and learns more about the events leading up to Ben's stroke. If you think this premise sounds derivative and dull, you're absolutely right. Ehren Kruger, the writer of 'The Ring', shows us again (as if 'The Ring 2' wasn't enough evidence) that that film's success was entirely down to the writer of the Japanese original, and the relative merit of the remake was despite, not because of, Kruger's involvement. The best thing about 'Skeleton Key' is its setting: the director and cinematographer exploit the beautiful Louisiana swampland and the faded glamour of the central plantation to good effect. Where they really go wrong, however, is with their over-use of certain, shall we say, Bruckheimer-esque camera motifs. The twitchy jump-cut is effective when used for a reason (for instance, Samara/Sadako's emergence from the television in 'The Ring': she's a video image, and thus it's appropriate, and bloody spooky too) but annoying when used gratuitously, as it is here. A flashback? The camera goes jump-cut crazy. Kate's running away from the bad guys? There we go with the sodding jump-cuts again. Poor John Hurt, he deserves so much better. Put him out to pasture with a British detective serial - it's more respectable than working in asinine films like this and 'Hellboy'. He handles the silliness with consummate professionalism, and the film doesn't ask too much of him. He has possibly the most mobile and expressive face of any contemporary actor, and it's put to use here - his character can't talk, and the role is entirely dependent on Hurt's non-verbal communication. Kate Hudson looks stunning here, but acting-wise she is only adequate; Gena Rowlands, however, is good as the xenophobic old Southern belle. Peter Sarsgaard, as the lawyer, is badly let down by his very temperamental accent and talented young actor Joy Bryant is wasted as Caroline's cipherous best friend. The racial politics in 'Skeleton Key' don't bear much examination: 'hoodoo' is identified solely as a Black religion, and a malevolent one at that. It's treated a powerful and evil force, but the film also manages to be patronizing towards its practitioners. One of the characters dismisses hoodoo as "local colour", and that's pretty much how the film sees it too; it's there, along with the Spanish moss and blues bands, to denote 'N'wOrleenz'. It's entirely likely, however, that I'm taking this too seriously: I'm sure a serious exploration of any kind of issue was the absolute farthest thing from the mind of anyone connected with this film.  | |
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