The Book of Eli

There are a few celebrities who have built up a reserve of good will with me.  This feeling of affection will occasionally override the common sense that would usually keep me away from what appears to be a bad movie.  Denzel Washington is one of those celebrities, and I thought The Book of Eli was one of those bad movies I’d be seeing only on “GP” because Washington’s star power would be on parade.  Well, I’m not going to say that I was completely wrong.  I maintain that the trailer for the film makes Washington look like a washed-up old man trying to relive his ass-kicking youth.  A Mad Max for today’s generation, and I wasn’t buying it.  However, The Book of Eli was not a bad movie at all, and I’d say it was fairly decent, earning a solid grade of B if I had to score it.

That being said, this is not a movie that will appeal to everyone.  I think Warner Bros was intentionally vague in its marketing of the movie because quite honestly, if people knew what it was all about, they might not show up in theaters.  Better to convince audiences that Washington’s character Eli is just a sword-wielding bad-ass then to tell them what his book is really about and why others are trying to take it from him.  Filmed by the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, From Hell), Eli is a bleak post-apocalyptic tale of a lone journeyman on a westward quest to fulfill a mission involving a mysterious book.

The movie is set roughly 30 years in the future, and the world is a desolate landscape inhabited by survivors of a catastrophic global event whereby the ozone layer, at least temporarily, allowed the sun’s rays to completely penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere.  Now here’s where it gets tricky.  It wasn’t clear to me whether or not this event was natural or man-made.  When the sun “came down” and burned everyone above ground, the powers-that-be elected to destroy all books and works of literature.  Ostensibly this was done to control any survivors and render them ignorant, but for what purpose?  I guess that’s not germane to the overall plot-line, but I think little nagging questions like that detract from the movie.  As Eli treks across the country he passes through various towns, encountering marauders and other bandits along the way.  I didn’t think Washington was young enough to convincingly deliver a beatdown in the fight scenes, but he proved me wrong.  His character was unflinchingly brutal, and methodical but just.  Any obstacle in his westward path was dispatched with ruthless efficiency.

Most of those obstacles involved some intervention from Gary Oldman’s character Carnegie, mayor of one of the shanty towns through which the nomadic Eli passes.  Because all books were destroyed in the apocalypse, they are a precious commodity in the futuristic world of Eli.  Most people cannot read, but older people like Eli and Carnegie have retained their knowledge.  When Carnegie finds out about Eli’s book, he will stop at nothing to have it.  What’s so special about the book? I’m not going to tell you.  What fun is a movie review that spoils the entire movie?

I liked the singular focus of Washington’s character, and the way he embodied a man equally capable of savagery and compassion.  The austere backdrop lent itself perfectly to the post-apocalyptic storyline.  Supporting actresses Jennifer Beals (Devil in a Blue Dress) and Mila Kunis (Extract) were serviceable in their roles of a mother and daughter under Carnegie’s thumb, desperate for a change in the status quo.  Certain aspects of the storyline were interesting, such as the value of commonplace items we take for granted now, like soap and water.  These items are at a premium in the movie, as humanity regressed to the Dark Ages in terms of amenities and even basic necessities.  What I didn’t like about the movie was a series of little things that eventually add up and become flaws.  If a character is locked in a cell with no apparent means of escape, I want to know how and why they are free ten minutes later.  They can’t just show up, with no explanation.  Stuff like that annoys me.  I also thought the ending was implausible, in terms of Eli’s final destination and how advanced it was in comparison to everything he encountered up to that point.  For those reasons, I give my tacit endorsement of the movie, but be forewarned: I never said it was perfect.