Lissa's Rating: Three out of five identifiable body parts
Lissa's Review: I admit that I tend to be partial to cheerful movies. I like to respect and admire characters, and yes darn it, I like my happy endings. But every now and then I like a good dose of dark humor. Something deliciously funny, wicked and sarcastic, like Trainspotting or Grosse Point Blank.

"You should want them to win, even though every decent thing inside you is telling you that the person on screen needs to be tortured with hot needles under the fingernails and creative uses of cheese graters."

Shallow Grave was lurking on our DVD shelf when I moved in, and of course I wanted to see it. I mean, it has Ewan McGregor! He’s a great actor and he’s dead sexy to boot! You’d think, being a pretty bright girl, I’d have caught on that most Ewan McGregor movies are really strange and unfathomable (The Pillow Book, Eye of the Beholder, Attack of the Clones…), but I like my eye candy, so I had to investigate.

Shallow Grave had something going for it -- it has a plot and a premise that is understandable, thus the reason it had actually earned a place in my husband’s movie collection (he isn’t all that attracted to Ewan McGregor). It is actually possible to follow the story. This automatically makes it a better movie than The Pillow Book or Eye of the Beholder, where I was totally lost. The premise is actually very intriguing: three friends (Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, and McGregor) find a bag of money and a corpse in their apartment. Naturally, they don’t call Scotland Yard and report it hoping for a reward, or put huge amounts of effort into finding relations of the stiff. And of course the money isn’t from the deceased’s own private accounts or an inheritance from a grandmother. There’d be no fun in any of those scenarios. I could tell you more but I’d have to kill you, or you’d kill me for ruining the rest of the movie. Either way, it’s not an option I’m too into. But suffice to say the plot was solid. I couldn’t predict the story, but the ending that resulted did not require any additional suspension of disbelief or Olympian jumps of logic. There were twists and turns and enough tension to support a tightrope walker.

So. Good plot.

The atmosphere was suitably creepy. Granted, I’m not one to judge since I jump if you sneak up behind me while whistling, but it’s macabre, eerie, and they certainly got the “dark” part of “dark humor” down very well. Additionally, the acting was solid. I’ve always liked both McGregor and Eccleston (although I didn’t realize how much until I looked him up on IMDb and really put the face and name together), and they do an excellent job. Fox is just as solid, and I’m delighted to see her portrayed as being incredibly sexy without being the stereotype of beautiful. The three actors play off each other well and the chemistry of friendship is there.

Good cinematography. Good acting. Good mood. I even laughed several times, so we can say good humor. So why am I not raving about how wonderful this movie is? The characters themselves.

Dark humor does not require that the characters be noble, admirable, or in any way a decent human being. I wasn’t looking for that. But Alex puts it best during a scene where the three main characters are interviewing prospective flatmates: “I'm talking here about things like presence, charisma, style and charm, and I don't think we're asking too much, I don't think we're being unreasonable.” Exactly. The characters can blow people’s brains out or steal from their own grandmothers, but they need to be charismatic while doing it. You should want them to win, even though every decent thing inside you is telling you that the person on screen needs to be tortured with hot needles under the fingernails and creative uses of cheese graters. The viewer must like watching them, even as they hate the character’s guts. I hated all three characters, but there was nothing to really make me like watching them. Perhaps they said some funny things, but the next moment they would go a little too far, and the funniness would just become pure meanness. And while that certainly was true to the character, it made me want them off the screen, not walking off with the money.

A hint to those doing dark humor: when I want the cop with the snide attitude and the pole up his butt to take these three down, something’s going wrong.

Is Shallow Grave worth it? Since it’s not in the theaters any more and you can rent it from Mike’s Video for 88 cents, absolutely. Even if you have to pay three bucks at Blockbuster, it’s worth seeing. It’s nauseating in spots (I nearly gagged, but I’m a wuss, and that R rating IS for violence more than anything else), and the characters are quite despicable and are incapable of simply dividing by three. All they needed was some things like presence, charisma, style, and charm. Would that really have been asking too much?

The O.C. is on! Eek! Dead foot! Hope it's not a zombie foot! Oh, to be a glove upon that hand...

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• That Danny Boyle really has a thing for Hitchcock movies?
• Obviously no one in this movie has a sense of smell. How long could YOU tolerate a decaying body in your apartment?
• When Juliet pours the wine, she only pours two glasses. In the next shot, all three glasses are full.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

Nope.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

This was Danny Boyle’s (28 Days Later, A Life Less Ordinary, Trainspotting) directorial debut (movie-wise, anyway). He also directed a movie called Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise, which I now must see simply for the title.

Ewan McGregor’s mother appears in the movie as one of the prospective flatmates.

Such were the budgetary constraints on this shoot, the production had to auction off various props in order to raise enough money to buy essential film stock needed to complete the picture.

This won a ton of awards: the Audience Award, Best Screenplay, and Liberation Advertisement Award at the Angers European First Film Festival, the Audience Award and the Grand Prix at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier, the Golden Hitchcock at the Dinard British Film Festival, Empire Awards for Best British Actor, Best British Film, and Best Director, and a bunch of others I’ve never heard of.

Groovy Quotes

Alex: When was the last time you heard these exact words: “You are the sunshine of my life?”

Juliet: Alex is a vegetarian. Do you know why? Because he feels it provides an interesting counterpoint to his otherwise callous personality. It doesn't.

David: I’ve never seen a dead body before. I saw my grandmother, of course, but I don’t think that counts. I mean, she was alive at the time.

Alex: God, you two are sensitive. All I'm doing is implying some sort of sordid, ugly, sexual liaison. Why, I'd be proud of that sort of thing.

David: Well, Brian McKinley, if you want to talk to my girlfriend you talk to me first. If you want to dance with her, then you apply in writing three weeks in advance or you’re going to end up inside a bin-bag. You didn’t apply so you don’t dance.
Juliet: Do you think you could try to be a little more forceful next time?

Hugo: No, but like all novelists, I'm in search of the self.
Alex: Has he tried down the back of the fridge? I mean, that's where I normally find things.

David: Victory is the same as defeat. It’s giving into destructive competitive urges.

Alex: I'd like to ask you about your hobbies...Now when you sacrifice a goat and you rip its heart out with your bare hands, do you then summon hellfire? Or do you just send out for a pizza?

David: Oh, yes, I believe in friends, I believe we need them, but if, one day, you find you can't trust them any more, well, what then, what then?

DVD Review

Nothing special. Cast and crew biographies, trailer, and animated menus. Whee.

Soundtrack Review

Not special either. I don’t really remember much off the soundtrack. But if you’re like me and really just after the movie, as long as you’re not paying $29.99 for it, no big deal.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Usual Suspects
• Trainspotting
• 28 Days Later

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