The Proposition

Director: John Hillcoat
Year Released: 2005
Rating: 1.0

Cut-rate Malick wannabe about a 'deal' brokered by policeman Ray Winstone to get Guy Pearce to 'turn in' his murderous older brother in exchange for the life of his semi-retarded younger brother. The barely plausible plot is just a fragile frame for Hillcoat to attach his pretty pictures onto - actually, there's a strong focus on mostly surface details, like how much fake blood needs to pour out of a severed hand/head and how much grease and dirt should go on the characters' clothes, and less about what motivates them (Winstone's single-minded devotion to his wife, played by Emily Watson, could only lead to her being defiled - which I saw coming way ahead of time). The grand message amounts to: "People are animals who, without law, would even kill their own families." Okay, got it, Mr. Cave ... now go back to making double albums about Orpheus and singing with Kylie Minogue.