The Fall

The Fall marks director Tarsem’s first film since his striking 2000 effort The Cell, and to call it a disappointment is an understatement of epic proportions. The movie essentially follows the same formula as The Cell – ie there are scenes set within both a real world and an imaginary one – but this time around Tarsem has failed to include a single element or character worth caring about (as weird as The Cell was, for example, it was at times a compelling serial killer movie). Set in the 1920s, The Fall follows an injured stuntman as he regales a scrappy little girl with an epic tale of revenge. The most obvious problem with the film is that neither of the film’s two storylines are even remotely interesting, with both plagued by unreasonably amateurish performances and lackluster scripting. Tarsem’s oddly restrained directorial choices lend the proceedings a static, distinctly underwhelming feel, and one can’t help but wish the filmmaker would’ve infused the film with the same sort of over-the-top sensibility that was hard-wired into his debut.

*1/2 out of ****