Chameleon
I mentioned that I hadn't seen Chameleon when I wrote up last week's film roundup but I have since rectified this (and yet I still haven't seen the Conan remake - go figure) so here is a very quick review about this Hungarian thriller.
Originally released back in 2008 in its home country, Chameleon is a Hungarian film that plays with the very well worn Hollywood convention of a slick and charming conman wooing women into marriage only to run off with their money. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels anyone?
The biggest problem with the film is that is does spend so long adhering doggedly to the formula but,unless its simply a case of the jokes getting lost in translation, without any of the humour of something like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The early parts of the film are largely watchable but most unremarkable with only the performances of the two leads - most especially Gabriella Hamori - to really keep us going.
As the film progresses, though, the tension continues to mount and the characters continue you to draw you in until suddenly you find yourself giving the film all of your attention as it launches into its final act where, not only does the film not go quite where you expect it to but it becomes much more thematically intriguing as well.
It might seem strange to recommend a film based purely on its final act but the way it lulls the viewer into a sense of complacency before pulling the rug out from under them is really rather impressive. It's simply a much, much better thriller than it appears to be at first and is, indeed, my favourite film released last week.
The biggest problem with the film is that is does spend so long adhering doggedly to the formula but,unless its simply a case of the jokes getting lost in translation, without any of the humour of something like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The early parts of the film are largely watchable but most unremarkable with only the performances of the two leads - most especially Gabriella Hamori - to really keep us going.
As the film progresses, though, the tension continues to mount and the characters continue you to draw you in until suddenly you find yourself giving the film all of your attention as it launches into its final act where, not only does the film not go quite where you expect it to but it becomes much more thematically intriguing as well.
It might seem strange to recommend a film based purely on its final act but the way it lulls the viewer into a sense of complacency before pulling the rug out from under them is really rather impressive. It's simply a much, much better thriller than it appears to be at first and is, indeed, my favourite film released last week.
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