Eureka

A typically oddball effort from Nicolas Roeg, Eureka follows obsessive prospector Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) as he strikes gold and subsequently retreats to a remote island with his wife (Jane Lapotaire’s Helen) and daughter (Theresa Russell’s Tracy) – with complications ensuing as an equally obsessive gangster (Joe Pesci’s Mayakofsky) decides he wants to build a casino on blahs land. Filmmaker Roeg kicks Eureka off with an ominous, foreboding opening stretch that certainly holds plenty of promise, with the somewhat captivating atmosphere enhanced by Hackman’s riveting turn as the single-minded central character. From there, however, Eureka segues into a slow-moving and often ostentatiously avant-garde narrative that slowly-but-surely drains the viewer’s ongoing interest – which is disappointing, to say the least, given that Roeg admittedly does pepper the proceedings with spellbinding images and sequences (eg Pesci’s character delivers a fairly riveting speech to an underlying, Mickey Rourke’s Aurelio). And although Hackman’s predictably captivating work here does remain a highlight, Eureka’s erratic vibe grows more and more problematic as it progresses – with much of the picture’s second half riddled with overlong or flat-out needless interludes (eg there’s a long bit set at an African orgy that just feels endless). The climactic courtroom sequence, which is overwrought and hampered by Russell’s ineffective performance, ensures that the whole thing ends on a decidedly underwhelming note, thus confirming Eureka’s place as a misfire that could (and should) have been so much better.

** out of ****