British actor Jamie Bell, who was the lead in “Billy Elliot” and “Nicholas Nickleby’s” stumbling sidekick Smike, has completely Southern-ized himself for his role as a teenager on the run. Lank, barefoot, in work pants and a tee-shirt, his gangly limbs at right angles as he flees through the woods—he is the picture of the laconic teenager. He seems born with a baseball cap on and understands the mystery of when to wear it low over the eyes or backwards at the end of the day. Bell’s Chris exemplifies the smart kid with limited options; we’re kept guessing about what he thinks and feels, even to the end, even with his brother in tow. “Undertow’s” other stand-out performance is from Dermot Mulroney as the boys’ sad-eyed but resilient widower father. In another life he could have been a philosopher or a monk. Instead, he sits alone with his pipe, his wish pulled down long before ever reaching the sea. (Like so many other good-looking actors whose aspirations to become leading men never quite materialized, Mulroney is quietly proving his chops in films like this and “Lovely and Amazing.”)
I would not be surprised if someone were to say that the journey of the boys is the journey of the New South from dank isolation, caught in repeating generations of lawlessness and mistrust, toward modernity. Some bottles are still afloat, some are not. In everything Green does, he seems fearless about tangents, about symbolism, about telling his stories obtusely, about letting us soak up atmosphere and images. Not everything he does seems quite functional or ready to fit together, but we admire his willingness to cast his net wide.
Finished November 15th, 2004
Copyright © 2004 Friday & Saturday Night
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