Ash Scattering Movie Reviews

Related Subjects: Death
Family movie reviews for "Ash Scattering" sorted by average review score:
B. Monkey
Released in DVD by Miramax (21 March, 2000)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Michael Radford
Starring: Asia Argento, Jared Harris, and Rupert Everett
Director Michael Radford made a surprising about-face from his international hit Il Postino to this grungy British romantic crime thriller. Asia Argento (Dario's daughter and costar of Abel Ferrara's New Rose Hotel) is the title character, a street criminal whose specialty is breaking and entering: "I can get into anywhere." Jared Harris (Richard's son and Andy Warhol in I Shot Andy Warhol) is a bookish, shy schoolteacher with a yen for jazz who becomes smitten with Argento's sexy wildcat. Argento brings a vitality to the supercharged street thief trying to break with her past, but stick-in-the-mud Harris is restrained to a fault and Radford never quite finds the right chemistry to make their union any more than curious. Rupert Everett costars as a smart-mouthed, sleepy-eyed ne'er-do-well whose drug habit puts him deep in debt, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is Argento's volatile partner, a jittery young punk on a hair trigger. Radford has more fun with the villains than his ostensible hero; the film bubbles when they're on screen and the movie's single heist scene is a short, sharp, energized shot in the arm to a slowing story. Only Harris sticks out as an impossibly resolute saint who's dedicated his life to a passionate sinner. The conclusion reverberates with echoes of Straw Dogs, as remade by a kinder, gentler filmmaker. --Sean Axmaker
Average review score:

Unfortunately Titled Thriller Has Super Hot Babe.....
...I've got to put Asia Argento on my list of Much Watch Actresses: she puts to mind a combination of Angeliina Jolie and Thora Birch, but with way more fire than Jolie ever goes for...Jolie is kinda 'mellow', y'know?

But, I caught this on one of my cable stations one Sat. evening 'cause I'm a big fan of heist cine, and this *is* one, albeit wrapped in a rather odd love story. Tawk about opposites attracting! The grade school teacher trails live wire Beatrice one day and asks her out for a drink. What follows is one of the most passionate and interesting court ships I've ever seen on film. They go to Paris to find their love. I thought that was a rather nice touch. But, always, always, one muddy alley away, one warehouse loft away, one scummy tavern away are the boosters and druggies threatening to pull her back in the mire. Beatrice does one more job out of a since of obligation to her ex-partners and to help her pallie (played with greatness by Rupert) pay some drug bills.

The heist at the jewelry shoppe nearly gets botched when her companion loses nerve: they are saved when the driver slaps a man with a car lug wrench. And Beatrice comes away with a 'well, I did get a rush from this, but I can't afford this type of rush anymore. They are 'way too risky'. So she and the teacher find a way to get a house in the country side. And one day, in a break of monotony and ennui, Beatrice calls up Rupert from a road side phone...just to check up on her pallie, you know?

You can just about guess what happens next, but by the time this part of the film happens, if you are anything like me, you find yourself into the story so deeply that you let the obvious cliches run their course. That's what I did.

Also, this is one of the most attractive of the modern British gangster/heist cines I've seen. Many of them have that dark or greyness as if the directors were trying to capture years of sooty, foggy decadence on film. My overall opinion is that if you see this, it will entertain you....

Asia Argento is , god is she good
its about a mild-mannered british schoolteacher who falls for a bank robber trying to leaver her criminal past behind. good story and it plays out well. Asia Argento(Triple X, New Rose Hotel) is a woman in the making and shes the daughter of Dario Argento the director. costars Jared Harris(Igby Goes Down, Lost In Space1998), Jonathan Rhys Meyers(Maker, Ride With The Devil), Tom Woodward and the excellent Rupert Everett(My Best Friends Wedding, Inspector Gadget#1). I loved this movie just to see Argento do her thing, I mean yeah baby.

Increase to 4 stars for Asia!
*
My personal technical review:

Picture - 3.5, Sound - 3.0, Sound/Jazz - 4.5

This is quite an ususual little movie with unusual colors, good use of sky (in shots), and I suppose it's a bit of a love story.

The overall picture is dark but clear. It is not true 16x9 but is a nice widescreen presentation. You will probably have to watch this movie at night or in a very dark room. With that, the weird blues will jump out at you.

This film will *make* fans for Asia Argento. For those of us who have enjoyed watching her since "The Church", she has matured and looks great. No doubt as you collect DVD's of her father Dario Argento, you will also buy everything Asia Argento appears in. Both of them are quite addicting.

A male lead has a part-time or volunteer job as a DJ and plays jazz LP's. Sometimes in the soundtrack you will hear clicks and pops -- as vinyl records must have been used. It was an interesting effect. Other than that, the jazz background music is excellent and never lasts long enough. Enjoy the Peggy Lee song at the end! Actually, the movie is fairly entertaining, but Ms. Lee's song for the closing credits is the best part of film, since that song is used as a theme throughout.

The case includes a Chapter List and duplication of the cover on one sheet.
*

Related Subjects: Death