Monday, May 6, 1996
‘Captives’ costars Roth, Ormond, offer audience film’s only
highlights
By Dina Gachman
Daily Bruin Staff
It’s difficult to hate this film directed by Angela Pope ("Sweet
as You Are," "Shiftwork"), even though the plot and the characters
are completely unbelievable. Tim Roth and Julia Ormond deliver such
powerful, magnetic performances that a story where a beautiful
London dentist named Rachael Clifford (Ormond) falls in love with
convicted felon Philip Chaney (Roth) seems plausible. And she
doesn’t even ask what his crime was.
Ormond’s character takes a job as a prison dentist while she
deals with a messy divorce, and when she pokes around Philip
Chaney’s mouth for the first time the sexual chemistry develops.
Sort of. The storyline has it develop, but in reality it is
ridiculous. Rachael is frightened by Philip and drawn to him at the
same time, which makes sense, but her growing trust and acceptance
of him does not. It is almost reminiscent of of "Pretty Woman."
It’s the old romance between two complete opposites whose love is
way too contrived, and Pope’s direction is too one-dimensional to
save it.
Pope should have let the talent of her cast carry the film,
instead of resorting to cheap dialogue and the "Pretty Woman"-esque
sex/love fantasy. Roth exudes his usual acting genius in the movie.
He gives his character a compelling mixture of sinister
childishness, and he commands attention whether he’s the focus of
the camera or just lurking in the shadows. Roth’s performance keeps
Philip from falling into the hackneyed category of the disturbed,
sexy criminal that’s used so much in Hollywood. He doesn’t just get
some girl with his bad boy persona  Roth shows us that the
character has much more emotion and depth than that. And his
performance nearly saves Pope’s film.
Ormond’s acting also boosts the film’s likability , though not
as successfully as Roth’s. She infuses her character with that same
vulnerability and beauty seen in "Legends of the Fall" and
"Sabrina," and here it really works to her advantage. If you are a
fan of Ormond or Roth, "Captives" might be worth seeing. If not,
save some money and stay home.
FILM: "Captives" written by Frank Deasy. Directed by Angela
Pope. Starring Tim Roth and Julia Ormond. Grade: B-
Julia Ormond and Tim Roth in "Captives."