Maybe too ambitious this drama told through a children's tale. Photography is great, though.

CinemaSerf

Oct 20, 2024

7.0

This is quite an enjoyable depiction of some multi-lingual Arabian Nights-style scenarios as we find "Roy" (Lee Pace) in an hospital in 1920s Los Angeles. He had previously been a movie stuntman but an accident has robbed him of the use of his legs and so with medical science being somewhat limited, he is pretty much bedridden. Also in the hospital is the young "Alexandria" (Catinca Untaru) who is recovering from breaking her arm and in need of some cheering up. With a vivid and varied imagination, he begins to regale his new friend with fantastic tales of bandits and slaves all trying to defeat the epitome of evil that is "Odious". Along the way, she becomes enthralled as the "Black Bandit" tries to avenge the killing of his "Blue" brother by working with the equally aggrieved "Luigi" (Robin Smith) who turns out to be quite nimble when it comes to getting things to blow up! Indeed, before too long we have quite a few folks determined to bring their nasty antagonist to book. There is method to his madness in telling these stories, though. She is charged with procuring some medicine for him that he can't get from the nurses. When we discover just what that is, then we begin to appreciate that "Roy" has a darker agenda of his own. The question might be, will his stories create a bond with the youngster that might divert him from that path? This is great fun, with loads of action packed into a two hours that really does fly by. The performance from Daniel Caltagirone as the baddie reminded me a little of the sergeant from the old "Zorro" television series - menacing but in an almost avuncular fashion, and with loads of swash and buckle, pyrotechnics and fantastic mystery it's just as easy for us to get sucked into his stories as it is for the young "Alexandria" - and that's a character that's played well by the young Miss Untaru - imbuing enthusiasm, a bit of awe, and latterly something altogether a little more poignant. The scoring is lively, the dialogue frequently quite funny and the portmanteau style of chaptered storytelling works well. It's for grown ups; you can appreciate that pretty much from the start and I really did like it.

db

Sep 3, 2026

10.0

A visual masterpiece with surprising depth. It has arguably the best child acting performance ever put on film, and unarguably the best location scouting.