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 Written by [ Lee Shoquist ] It happens all the time. It's Friday night, you're in Blockbuster video, and you're browsing the DVD new release section. Somewhere between Spiderman 5: MJ's Last Stand and Shrek 6: The Return of Gingey, it's sitting right there in front of you on the shelf, a single copy, untouched. Title sounds familiar but you can't quite place it. You almost remember reading about it in the overstuffed, Entertainment Weekly holiday movie preview double issue, a tiny blurb of real estate on a page overcome by the latest Clooney in-joke. Sounded like something you wanted to see when it first came out. But when exactly was that? Did it ever? Puzzled, you pick it up. The Blockbuster employee comes by and offers that he's seen it-and it sucked. Now there's no way you're leaving without it. The five movies below, with a total domestic gross of approximately $7.7 million (with four of them combined at less than $3 million) have been overlooked or otherwise dumped, ignored or sent to a celluloid cemetery-low budgets, offbeat subjects, minimal ad campaigns, lack of studio support and no substantial opening weekends-but each is, in its own cinematic right, unmissable. 1. A Home at the End of the World - Domestic Box Office Gross: $1,029,872 The most openhearted performance of 2004 came unexpectedly from Colin Farrell, and I'm not talking about his underrated star turn in Alexander. I'm talking about his underrated star turn in Michael Mayer's criminally neglected A Home at the End of the World. Against-type Farrell aces an exhilarating character you've never, ever seen in movies before, and what's onscreen is a master class in reacting and subtlety. Young Bobby Morrow grows up in Cleveland circa 1967 with a teenage brother who teaches him that drugs, music, free love and the whole crazy world are all nothing but good. By the time Bobby's a teen, he's endured the tragic loss of his entire family, landing permanently in the home of best friend and fellow outcast Jonathan. It's here that Bobby's fear of being alone takes root, and he becomes all things to all people, best friend-and boyfriend-to Jonathan (Dallas Roberts), and emotional shoulder to Jonathan's free-spirited suburban mom, played with warmth by Sissy Spacek. As adults, they join each other in New York and form an unorthodox ménage with an older, Bohemiam woman played with color by Robin Wright Penn, before settling down as a family trio in Woodstock with baby in tow. Sadly, it doesn't last long. As written by Michael Cunningham (The Hours) and based on his own novel, Bobby Morrow is nothing resembling a real person-he's a selfless force of goodness, untouched by cynicism or ego-a movie and literary construct. Indeed, watching Farrell disarm his signature cocky confidence and embrace Bobby's puppy-dog, polar dimensions-love and intimacy for both Wright Penn and Roberts, introspective moments of elation and deep sadness, an androgynously hippie free spirit who needs only to be needed, can't be alone but ultimately must make hard choices-is, as played by Farrell with unexpected innocence and wisdom, pure and poignant. Duncan Sheik's acoustic score and original songs are just about perfect. Don't miss scene: Farrell's bittersweet reaction while losing his virginity to Wright Penn. It's on DVD. Get it. Now. 2. Code 46 - Domestic Box Office Gross: $210,143 Sometimes you sit alone in an empty theater watching something you know is damn good, wondering, "Where the hell is everyone else? Do they have any clue what they're missing?" Such was the botched release of a stellar Michael Winterbottom (when isn't he?) film named Code 46, loaded with social ideas, global ideas, romantic ideas, science fiction ideas, and two searing performances from Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton. Code 46, the story of a near future society governed by laws that prohibit any romance that might create a "Code 46" violation-that is, a pregnancy plagued by any genetic birth defect caused by similar DNA strands-is a lot of things, all of them exceptional. American investigator Tim Robbins uses an "empathy virus" to infiltrate a European global company to smoke out a mole helping illegal aliens get phony "papelles" (immigration papers), and falls madly for the culprit, a carnal, clever Samantha Morton. The meet, commit clandestine Code 46 crimes, endure memory erasures and unknown government abortions then almost do it all over again while engaging in the year's most painful and intense sex scenes. There are no happy endings, and the final shot of Morton just burns. The safe bet is that MGM/United Artists found themselves in the middle of a hot summer with offbeat Code 46-a little movie with a big star and a director with a reputation for impeccably versatile work-then threw up their hands and held their breath, hoping to make this melancholic lost romance into a poor man's Minority Report. But on only 21 screens during widest release? Yup, they blew it. The film, however, is pitch perfect. Don't miss scene: Morton's nakedly vulnerable (and physically naked) participation in a late love scene. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] |
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