Rust & Bone (DVD REVIEW)
Rust and Bone
(De Rouille et D’os)
DVD Review
by Kam Williams
Buff Bouncer
Bonds with Blemished Beauty in Body and Soul Saga
Alain (Matthias
Schoenaerts) is a homeless street hustler barely eking out a living in his
native Belgium
when he is suddenly handed custody of a 5 year-old son, Sam (Armand Verdure). Overwhelmed
by the unanticipated extra responsibility, the single-dad moves to Antibes
in the South of France to dump the boy he barely knows on his obliging sister,
Anna (Corinne Masiero).
Buff,
imposing and blessed with formidable strength, Alain soon lands part-time work as
a bouncer in a trendy nightclub. And he also starts leveraging his good looks
into lustful liaisons of brief duration with attractive habitués of the haunt.
Meanwhile,
elsewhere in the
seaside resort town, an attractive lass named Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) is gainfully
employed at an aquarium as a trainer of Killer whales. She meets Alain one evening
after he rescues her from a nasty brawl inside his cabaret.
The very grateful damsel-in-distress
takes his phone number, but before she has a chance to call, she loses both of
her legs in an unfortunate accident when she he is crushed against the side of
the pool by a runaway Orca. So, by the time the two finally do rendezvous, she
is confined to a wheelchair, and terribly depressed by her diminished life
prospects.
Will this roaming Romeo befriend the
blemished beauty, or will his roving eye have him right back out on the dating
circuit where he invariably has his pick of the litter? That is the crux of the
question at the heart of the deceptively-endearing Rust and Bone, a romance
drama written and directed by Jacques Audiard (Read My Lips).
This piercingly-evocative love story
ultimately proves far more poignant than one might expect of a picture that
starts out with such a limited Neanderthal as a protagonist. Fortunately, his
character definitely benefits from considerable development over the course of
the engaging adventure.
For, he gradually gets in touch with
his sensitive side to the point where he’s ready not only to abandon his womanizing
ways but to spend some quality time with his neglected young offspring. Besides
unfolding against an array of visually-stimulating backdrops, Rust and Bone is
blessed by a couple of tour de force performances coming courtesy of Matthias Schoenaerts and Marion Cotillard as the unlikeliest of lovers.
A “Salt of the Earth” saga plumbing
the depths of the human soul.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, profanity, graphic sexuality and frontal nudity
In French and English
with subtitles
Running time: 122 minutes
Distributor: Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Commentary
with writer/director Jacques Audiard and co-writer Thomas Bidegain; 6 deleted
scenes; The Making of Rust and Bone; VFX Breakdown by Mikros; and On the Red
Carpet at the Toronto Film Festival.
To see a trailer for Rust and Bone, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyAJDL3mTxI
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