Susan Granger's review of "Head in the Clouds" (Sony Classics)
This old-fashioned, romantic melodrama tips its fateful hand too early and shatters suspense as two lovers are forced to choose between their mutual passion and their political convictions.
Charlize Theron (this year's Oscar-winner for "Monster") demonstrates her versatility as she evolves from promiscuous socialite to carefree hedonist to clever W.W.II spy. She's Gilda Besse who bursts into the Cambridge dorm room of an idealistic, Irish-born scholarship student (Stuart Townsend) who is immediately besotted by her impetuous behavior. Although their paths cross over the years, glamorous Gilda refuses to commit to anyone or anything. Neither him nor her bohemian, bisexual lover (Penelope Cruz), even when they both trot off to join the Resistance in the Spanish Civil War. Daughter of an American socialite and wealthy French aristocrat (Steven Berkhoff), Gilda's a self-centered, determined dilettante who won't leave Paris, even under the German occupation, when she keeps company with a high-ranking Nazi (Thomas Kretschmann).
Writer/director John Duigan captures the atmosphere of that enticing European era far better than the complex narrative and enigmatic, cliché'd characters. Gorgeous Charlize Theron cavorts topless, using her sexy charisma to overcome the almost ludicrous inconsistencies of this ambiguous femme fatale role. Penelope Cruz never seems to stop smirking and brooding and, despite his real-life romance with Theron, Stuart Townsend comes across wimpy, stodgy and unconvincing as her on-screen lover. There's no spark, no chemistry between them. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Head in the Clouds" is a disappointing 4. Up there in the clouds, this pulpy melodrama is really, really boring.
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