'The Book of Eli': A Real Page-Turner
 Popcorn Columnby Michael S. Goldberger
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 Warner Bros.
Eli Walker (Denzel Washington) proves that books and cool shades still rock in the postapocalyptic world of 'The Book of Eli.' |
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We soon learn there are pockets of others. Some live fearfully in hovels. Many have formed into bands of cutthroats who steal from the weak. But woe unto those who attempt to compromise this proud remnant of better days, superbly played by Denzel Washington. Bold, unafraid and on a mission, he is the post-apocalyptic hero personified.
As such, he has had to equip himself not only with a firm faith and determination, but also with all the fighting skills needed to traverse a world that has reverted to primitivity. When it comes to cinema's top killing machines, you can rate Washington's Eli Walker right up there with Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo and Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name.
Hence, there are guilty thrills aplenty which, when combined with a bit of rather well-written, sociological punditry, make for a rousing and surprisingly absorbing time. Helping Washington establish his "good guy" creds by way of antithetical example, Gary Oldman is nastily terrific as the demagogic Carnegie.
A malevolent lord of the flies, Carnegie has a vision, albeit completely self-serving. And like Walker, and unlike those born after "The War," he can read. He has sent his thuggish minions combing the scorched, concrete-colored countryside in search of a specific book. But so far it's been no dice. That is, until Walker enters his town.
Perhaps it's the way the stranger carries himself, the obvious confidence and humility. Although he decimates a good portion of Carnegie's inner retinue, Walker did first try to discourage them from their untimely but lickety-split deaths. Hmm, figures the bad guy, such power can only emanate from one who has the book. So he offers Walker a job.
No thanks, says our brave new road warrior, who has only stopped in hopes of getting the battery in his iPod charged and trading for whatever needed goods the local black market offers. Nope, doing the Horace Greeley redux, he has heard of more promising pastures out west. Yet under duress, he agrees to stay the night and "think it over."
Sent to Walker's chambers that evening to ply some gentle persuasion is Mila Kunis as the pulchritudinous Solara. The daughter of Carnegie's blind and doubtlessly indentured mistress (Jennifer Beals), she fears that failure in the femme fatale department will spell suffering for her mom. Folklorically, she comes away enchanted by the wayfarer.
Suffice it to note, humanistic captive and nihilistic captor are soon at loggerheads, which provides for daring escapes, action-packed chase scenes and numerous violent engagements. The good fight is fought across the catastrophe-ridden landscape, a backdrop that metaphorically gasps with exhaustion from man's indulgences.
Building on a relatively recent compilation of imagery (the "Mad Max" series, "The Postman"), directors Albert and Allen Hughes construe their idea of a world ravaged by the Big One. Exquisitely drab art direction is at once foreboding and instructive. "See what you did in the name of your one and only God?" the rubble seems to cry.
"The Book of Eli," rated R, is a Warner Bros. Pictures release directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes and stars Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman. Running time: 118 minutes
