Cutthroat Island is a wonderful movie as long as the watcher can ignore the fact that Geena Davis turns in a Kevin Costner-esque performance. Davis, like Costner, shines in characters tailor-made for her personality, but she usually flops when asked to extend her acting wings and move into a role that does not fit her. She was very good as a ditzy manicurist in Earth Girls Are Easy and even though I haven't seen it, she won an Academy Award for her work in The Accidental Tourist. She is lost in this movie, floundering in her part. Where other skilled thespians would have attempted to delve into motivation and achieve verisimiltude, she has little to no accent, her grammar is pretty anachronistic for the most part, and what's worse, her battle grunts seem to be totally out of place. Davis' husband, Renny Harlin, directed this movie and even though he fills it with color, conflict and coquetry, he fails to draw out a credible performance from his wife
Now let's move on to the true stars of the picture.
First off, Matthew Modine is adorable as "Dr." William "Willie" Shaw. I cannot vouch for his accent, but he manages to make me believe he is a not-quite suave and debonair pickpocket. In his brief interview with Trotter, Shaw claims to be "all at sea when it comes to things nautical"; later in the film, when Morgan asks where he hid her Uncle Mordecai's piece of the map, he tells her that it was "in the boat [the long boat], under the seat-y thing." His mustache and beard are luscious, and I especially adore the "soul patch" that he affected. He does an admirable job, considering that he was "filling in" for Michael Douglas, who left the picture because he was not satisfied with his role.
What can I say about Frank Langella except that he is the consummate piratical villain? I loved his turn as Dawg Brown in this film. His scratchy voice, his beady stare and his deadpan when faced with people who bother him are played to the hilt. "That boy doesn't understand us, Morgan," he says, referring to Shaw, "but then again, he's not family." Harlin did a great job creating a mystique for Langella's character by backlighting him with fire, and letting Langella run with the nasty bad guy that he excels at.
Patrick Malahide shines as Governor Ainslee, a greedy popinjay agent of the crown whose carmine lips, powdered skin and fashionable wig epitomize the fashion style of Restoration England transported to the Colonies. He has excellent elocution, and he is the most believable of the characters, even when his is the most over-the-top of all of the dramatis personae. Harlin must have liked him to invite him back to play Mr. Perkins in the next and last Harlin/Davis collaboration, The Long Kiss Goodnight. Stan Shaw and Rex Linn as Glasspoole and Blair are confident in their roles, although I often saw hesitation on both of their parts in their scenes with Davis. Perhaps it was because they knew they were out-acting the director's lead/wife. . . Christopher Masterson as Bowen, the cabin boy, seemed out of place as a character in the film, but his teen idol looks might have drawn more of a teenage female crowd had he been allowed a greater role. Masterson does the best with what he has been given, even though the role was pitifully small.
Angus Wright is the undiscovered gem of this piece. He is a formidable actor in the part of Ainslee's lackey, Lieutenant Trotter. Trotter has depth and breadth; he is actually one of the few characters to leave the audience with a feeling of familiarity. This is most likely because Harlin invested time in showing Trotter's development in the movie. Constantly harassed and ridiculed by the governor for his bumbling and ineptitude, he makes a sudden about-face in the midst of the crucial sea battle between Morgan and Dawg. He shoots an officer of the crown who is about to put an end to Blair, disclaiming, "I, uh, have no future in the army, sir." He should have had more of a part, but Harlin seemed intent on devoting his film stock to battle footage rather than character development.
My Little Nitpicks
- The flag used for Morgan's "colors" was actually the flag flown by Calico Jack Rackham, lover of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Pirate flags were not flown until well into the eighteenth century, and even the red flag flown by buccaneers and pirates, called "jolie rouge" or "Jolly Roger", was not used until the early 1700's.
- The genealogy of the Adams family is difficult to envision. Here's as close as I can get: Grandfather Adams had Henry "Black Harry" Adams, Mordechai "Fingers" Adams and Richard Adams, who was killed by Dawg Brown, uncle to Morgan, who is daughter to Black Harry. Is Dawg a younger son? Is Dawg a disinherited son? Is Dawg brother to Morgan's unknown mother? Where does he fit into the movie? A simple explanation of this question would have helped tremendously.
- Exactly how deep was the water where the treasure went down? I don't think the rope which was tied to the marker barrel was long enough to stretch from the surface to the briny depths where the treasure was headed, and the barrel could not have supported the weight of the 4 million pounds (I think this was measured as a unit of British money in the movie) of gold and jewels attached to it. Perhaps The Reaper and The Morning Star were still in shallow water, or the treasure settled on top of an underwater rock. But how did they bring it up from the ocean?
- Morgan should not have set sail to Madagascar without heading for a port to patch up her ship and give her men some much deserved shore leave. The Morning Star was probably taking in a lot of water and the ships stores were almost certainly depleted.
"Why should I see this movie?" you ask. Simple, it's fun, the music is fantastic and if you're a romance novelist interested in writing about 17th century colonial Jamaica and ships, this is a good movie to watch for details and local color. Give it a try.
Bonus: The combination of cinematography and music in the opening sequence is incredible!
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