"Beneath the Leaves" seeks to unite two narrative strands related to abused children. One strand focuses on two Bly kids who set their house ablaze with their alcoholic, abusive father inside. The second strand concerns four boys who were held captive in a mine shaft by a psychopath, prior to their daring escape. Years later, after another fire, the psycho escapes from prison and starts stalking the four boys who are now grown men.
First, the entire premise of the film is an unpleasant, unwholesome, and extremely depressing topic. Second, the filmmakers fail to connect the two plot strands except for one detail that links the little boy involved in the Bly home fire to the psychopath Whitley in hot pursuit of the four grown men, Josh, Brian, Matt, and Georgie. SPOILER ALERT: For those viewers interested in the minute plot detail the solves the riddle of messy narrative, here it is: apple harvest. END SPOILER ALERT.
The slow pacing only adds more misery for the film viewer, who was expecting a film that featured the outstanding performers Mira Sorvino and her father Paul. Mira's detective wears a fashionable hat while on the job, and the hat is more interesting than her character. Big Paul plays the hapless chief of police who has as much trouble controlling his wacky police office as he does in tracking down the villain. For most of the film, the chief is sitting at his desk.
This film demonstrates why any work of cinema must start with a screenplay that develops both action and characters in a coherent way. In the case of "Beneath the Leaves," the action was far-fetched and the characters uniformly unlikable.
First, the entire premise of the film is an unpleasant, unwholesome, and extremely depressing topic. Second, the filmmakers fail to connect the two plot strands except for one detail that links the little boy involved in the Bly home fire to the psychopath Whitley in hot pursuit of the four grown men, Josh, Brian, Matt, and Georgie. SPOILER ALERT: For those viewers interested in the minute plot detail the solves the riddle of messy narrative, here it is: apple harvest. END SPOILER ALERT.
The slow pacing only adds more misery for the film viewer, who was expecting a film that featured the outstanding performers Mira Sorvino and her father Paul. Mira's detective wears a fashionable hat while on the job, and the hat is more interesting than her character. Big Paul plays the hapless chief of police who has as much trouble controlling his wacky police office as he does in tracking down the villain. For most of the film, the chief is sitting at his desk.
This film demonstrates why any work of cinema must start with a screenplay that develops both action and characters in a coherent way. In the case of "Beneath the Leaves," the action was far-fetched and the characters uniformly unlikable.