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Movie Review
The Big Empty
By Lee Tistaert Published January 25, 2004
US Release: November 21, 2003
Directed by: Steve Anderson
Starring: Joey Lauren Adams , Jon Favreau , Rachael Leigh Cook , Melora Walters
R
Running Time: 94 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $2,500,000
Directed by: Steve Anderson
Starring: Joey Lauren Adams , Jon Favreau , Rachael Leigh Cook , Melora Walters
R
Running Time: 94 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $2,500,000
C+
Some moviegoers might appreciate the movie due to the constant curiosity factor, and I was even in that category for a good distance; but in the end, I was not satisfied with the answer that was handed over.
My first impression of The Big Empty as it was unfolding was that it felt like a wannabe David Lynch film that actually made some sense. On one level, I enjoyed its unknown and mysterious context, but wasn?t really appreciating some of its student-film qualities. The movie has a teasing factor that works, as we don?t really know what is going on as it plays, but the film is not directed with the proper professionalism to brand the filmmaking on the same level as the storytelling.
However, as the story kept progressing and a new sling of characters were introduced one after the other, the more I started to realize that the movie actually didn?t make a whole lot of sense; and once the ending hit, that theory was decently supported. The Big Empty plays like an X-Files meets Twilight Zone feature-length episode: there is an unknown factor within the story, but there?s never much explanation about the unknown.
And for a mystery where we need to understand the results, the final payoff is not sufficient, nor is it entirely logical. Some moviegoers might appreciate the movie due to the constant curiosity factor, and I was even in that category for a good distance; but in the end, I was not satisfied with the answer that was handed over.
The Big Empty stars Jon Favreau as Randy, a struggling actor confronting debt problems. When a neighbor in his apartment complex offers him $25,000 to take a mysterious suitcase to Baker, California, he is given no choice but to comply. Having no idea what is inside the suitcase, Randy drives to Baker in search of a figure named Cowboy (for those who have seen Lynch?s Mulholland Dr., this does not seem like a subtle homage) to give over the contents.
After missing Cowboy on a few occasions in this small town, Randy has a run-in with various strange characters, including an awkward motel clerk, a young girl whose boyfriend has gone mentally unstable, and a man in a cafe who has his share of UFO theories about the desert. As his visiting time lengthens and clues about the meaning of his presence show up, Randy becomes increasingly curious about the contents of what he is really carrying.
In an interview, Jon Favreau said that when he read the script for The Big Empty, he was fascinated by its structure, as he didn?t see where it was all going in the end (with many scripts leaving him uninterested early on). I can understand his point of view, as the general premise is intriguing, but after a little while, scenes start to get a little ridiculous, with the purpose of a few subplots becoming a mystery themselves.
Had the script been re-written, including a total redo of the ending and resolution, Big Empty would be a potentially absorbing concept (despite ripping off a subplot from Pulp Fiction). As it is, there are pieces that work but there are too many elements within writer/director Steve Anderson?s direction that feel hokey and too loose like a film school project. The setup of the mystery works on some levels and I liked the idea of its primary setting in the desert, but the pieces as a whole just do not add up efficiently.
The film also features Joey Lauren Adams (Randy?s sweet neighbor), Rachael Leigh Cook (the young girl), and Daryl Hannah (the young girl?s mother), who take questionable roles and breathe some life out of them. However, the disorderly fashion of the movie starts to degrade some of these components that do play reasonably well.
The Big Empty leads up to an ending where we expect to be handed a twist or a catch of some kind. And rather than revealing or at least hinting toward our much-needed answer, the finale turns clich? and only hands over an additional mystery for the audience to do dwell on, if only it made sense. The concluding scene also poses the second biggest question mark-inducing element, making the viewer come out even more perplexed than they had been five minutes beforehand, which is actually an accomplishment in making the viewer additionally clueless.
Beneath the surface, The Big Empty has a vague but fascinating idea and a fairly creative way of beating around the bush to elaborate on that idea. But by the end of the film, we realize that Anderson himself may not have been aware of what his answer was from the very beginning, only attempting to lead the viewer on his own dead end mystery. The Big Empty did divert me for a decent distance, but when all is said and done, the film is all confusion and little reward.
However, as the story kept progressing and a new sling of characters were introduced one after the other, the more I started to realize that the movie actually didn?t make a whole lot of sense; and once the ending hit, that theory was decently supported. The Big Empty plays like an X-Files meets Twilight Zone feature-length episode: there is an unknown factor within the story, but there?s never much explanation about the unknown.
And for a mystery where we need to understand the results, the final payoff is not sufficient, nor is it entirely logical. Some moviegoers might appreciate the movie due to the constant curiosity factor, and I was even in that category for a good distance; but in the end, I was not satisfied with the answer that was handed over.
The Big Empty stars Jon Favreau as Randy, a struggling actor confronting debt problems. When a neighbor in his apartment complex offers him $25,000 to take a mysterious suitcase to Baker, California, he is given no choice but to comply. Having no idea what is inside the suitcase, Randy drives to Baker in search of a figure named Cowboy (for those who have seen Lynch?s Mulholland Dr., this does not seem like a subtle homage) to give over the contents.
After missing Cowboy on a few occasions in this small town, Randy has a run-in with various strange characters, including an awkward motel clerk, a young girl whose boyfriend has gone mentally unstable, and a man in a cafe who has his share of UFO theories about the desert. As his visiting time lengthens and clues about the meaning of his presence show up, Randy becomes increasingly curious about the contents of what he is really carrying.
In an interview, Jon Favreau said that when he read the script for The Big Empty, he was fascinated by its structure, as he didn?t see where it was all going in the end (with many scripts leaving him uninterested early on). I can understand his point of view, as the general premise is intriguing, but after a little while, scenes start to get a little ridiculous, with the purpose of a few subplots becoming a mystery themselves.
Had the script been re-written, including a total redo of the ending and resolution, Big Empty would be a potentially absorbing concept (despite ripping off a subplot from Pulp Fiction). As it is, there are pieces that work but there are too many elements within writer/director Steve Anderson?s direction that feel hokey and too loose like a film school project. The setup of the mystery works on some levels and I liked the idea of its primary setting in the desert, but the pieces as a whole just do not add up efficiently.
The film also features Joey Lauren Adams (Randy?s sweet neighbor), Rachael Leigh Cook (the young girl), and Daryl Hannah (the young girl?s mother), who take questionable roles and breathe some life out of them. However, the disorderly fashion of the movie starts to degrade some of these components that do play reasonably well.
The Big Empty leads up to an ending where we expect to be handed a twist or a catch of some kind. And rather than revealing or at least hinting toward our much-needed answer, the finale turns clich? and only hands over an additional mystery for the audience to do dwell on, if only it made sense. The concluding scene also poses the second biggest question mark-inducing element, making the viewer come out even more perplexed than they had been five minutes beforehand, which is actually an accomplishment in making the viewer additionally clueless.
Beneath the surface, The Big Empty has a vague but fascinating idea and a fairly creative way of beating around the bush to elaborate on that idea. But by the end of the film, we realize that Anderson himself may not have been aware of what his answer was from the very beginning, only attempting to lead the viewer on his own dead end mystery. The Big Empty did divert me for a decent distance, but when all is said and done, the film is all confusion and little reward.
Lee's Grade: C+
Lee's Overall Grading: 3025 graded movies
| A | 0.4% | |
| B | 30.0% | |
| C | 61.7% | |
| D | 8.0% | |
| F | 0.0% |
