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Light as a feather
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times Today's lesson in movie distribution tactics involves The Four Feathers, a movie fancying itself as another Lawrence of Arabia or The English Patient with its period designs, sandy setting and sweeping heroism. Shekhar Kapur's film resembles an epic along the lines of those Academy Award winners, yet its empty-headed drama seems better suited to the annual Razzies for the year's worst movies. If the film were as thrilling as the volume of battle sequences suggests, this might be a summertime pleasure. If the movie truly delved into issues raised about duty, romance and loyalty, The Four Feathers could be saved for the holiday season, traditionally reserved for award contenders. Instead, Kapur's film is banished to the white-elephant burial ground of September, when Hollywood takes a holiday from quality but still shoves new product into theaters. You can't tell a book by its cover, but a movie often reveals much with its release date. Even in December, The Four Feathers would be tough to take seriously. The film is so old-fashioned that it creaks, yet it strives for the youth market with its casting and the occasional anachronism. Did proper English gentlemen really say "okay" in 1884, or rely upon pro wrestling-style head butts to end fights? Either buck the era's convention all the way, like A Knight's Tale, or get it right. Heath Ledger was in A Knight's Tale and left most of his onscreen charm there. He plays Harry Faversham, a British soldier during the Empire's push to colonize Africa, specifically the Sudan. Harry looks dashing in uniform, yet when called to fight, he chickens out, resigning his commission on the eve of battle. The decision doesn't appear to be a conscientious objection. It may have something to do with Harry's fiancee, Ethne Eustice (Kate Hudson), but that isn't clear, either. We just see Harry's face pucker when he hears he is being shipped out. The screenplay, based on A.E.W. Mason's novel, doesn't say much about Harry's embarrassment at receiving four chicken feathers symbolizing cowardice from Ethne and his friends, including Lt. Jack Durrance (Wes Bentley, American Beauty). All of a sudden Harry is scraggly and stranded in the desert, saved by an African warrior (Djimon Hounsou). Disguised as an Arab, Harry rejoins his British troops as a gofer, waiting for a chance to prove his courage. There's a stuffy romantic triangle when Jack woos Ethne away from Harry's memory, plus a handful of admittedly well-constructed battle scenes, usually ending with Harry returning a feather to someone in I-told-you-so fashion. Kapur constantly leaps over plot points about politics and survival to linger on those that make an inviting preview trailer. We observe but don't connect with the characters. We cringe at the carnage without getting any solid explanation of why it exists. This is the seventh screen version of Mason's novel (counting a TV movie) and probably the dullest. Here's today's math lesson: Four times seven equals enough feathers to stuff a pillow for a nap.
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