Bright Star shoots for the moon, misses

By Jackie Ammons     10/1/09 7:00pm

Bright Star is a high-minded, intellectual film, if you can somehow translate "intellectual" into a lot of staring, a lot of breathing, a lot of silence and a whole lot of boring.One would think a film about Romantic poet John Keats would feature dialogue akin to that of a poetic master. But while Bright Star places an emphasis on Romantic poetry and beautiful scenes, it neglects essential elements of a good film, such as realistic character interaction and a plotline that actually develops.

Writer and director Jane Campion (The Piano) paints Keats (Brideshead Revisited's Ben Whishaw) as a 19th-century version of Billie Joe Armstrong, an emo-loving vagabond who exchanges the traditionally whiny lyrics of Green Day's music for the poetry of arguably one of the greatest poets ever. Fanny Brawne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age's Abbie Cornish) is his muse, and fellow poet Charles Armitage Brown (Away We Go's Paul Schneider) acts as Keats' bachelor buddy. To add some variety to the plot, Fanny's brother (Love Actually's Thomas Sangster) and sister "Toots" (Edie Martin) tag along as chaperones.

Of this ensemble, Cornish stands out from the rest. Her emotion, particularly when she gets word of Keats' death, shines through as startlingly realistic. Her character, on the other hand, is quite unbelievable. Fanny tries to cut her wrists after being apart from Keats for just a few weeks and then creates a butterfly garden in her room because Keats mentions one word about flowers in a letter to her. There are women who are obsessive, sure - but then there is Fanny.

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While Cornish is one bright spot in Bright Star, Whishaw is not nearly so convincing - although at least a little less fanatical than his lover. Whishaw exerts too much emotion, too many stilted poetry recitations and too many wistful gazes into Fanny's eyes to be at all believable.

Because of the disparate talents of the two actors, their chemistry is nonexistent. The sexual tension of the film becomes most apparent in awkward moments when Fanny scurries away from Keats' sickbed or when Keats struggles to slip an engagement ring on Fanny's finger. There's no passion between the two, only lengthy moments of the actors staring into the other's eyes, touching only when absolutely necessary. This romance is nothing like the kind Keats expounds upon in his works.

These unrealistic characters are not necessarily the fault of the actors but instead of Campion. While her last major and successful film The Piano won three Academy Awards in 1994 - one for Campion's screenplay - the filmmaker tries too hard in Bright Star to write an Oscar-worthy film instead of focusing on simply writing a good film. In the process, she trades believable characters and manageable plot development for overemphasis on the depth and merits of Keats' poetry. Such trade-offs result in plodding, stunted dialogue and one-dimensional main characters who can think only of the importance of poetry and their passionate love for each other.

In her reach for Academy-Award greatness, Campion focuses intently on the cinematography of quaint English countryside homes and of flowers dotting the landscape, consequently forgetting that she needs to concentrate on plot development instead of showing random snippets of a pretty daffodil or the curtain lifted in the breeze. Granted, these scenes are beautiful, but they come at the expense of others that would be better used developing Bright Star's sadly static characters.

Bright Star is not quite so bright as one would hope, with only one actor subtly shining in this film. Campion needs to quit shooting for another Academy Award and instead shoot a film worthy of the audience's time. And, while she's at it, crack open the dictionary and remind herself what "intellectual" truly means.

To watch the trailer or read more about the film, visit www.brightstar-movie.com.

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