Movie Review - Coriolanus

Coriolanus (2011)

Starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Jessica Chastain, Brian Cox, and Vanessa Redgrave

Directed by Ralph Fiennes

Shakespeare.  Right off the bat, uttering that word limits the marketplace for Coriolanus, the directorial debut of Ralph Fiennes.  The knowledge that Fiennes decided to keep the old world dialog in tact narrows the audience even further.  And choosing a play of the Bard's that no one in the world is familiar with is sort of the last straw.  Fortunately for Fiennes, the update of the work to modern times helps alleviate some of the marketable problems with a film like this, but in the end, there may very well be a reason this is one of Shakespeare's least performed works.

It's not that what is onscreen in this adaptation is bad by any means, but the story itself lacks depth.  Fiennes is the title character, a Roman soldier who has succeeded in helping his country in many of their battles.  However, he's not loved by the people and when he attempts to make his way into politics, the public tosses him out of the country forcing Coriolanus to befriend his biggest enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), a general in the Volscian army.  The two men team up to wage war on Rome and its people and regain control.

Ultimately, Shakespeare has crafted a solid beginning and a good (though not great) conclusion, but the work suffers greatly in the middle.  Perhaps it wasn't explained well enough in this version, but I never understood (or cared, for that matter) why the Roman people had such a huge problem with Coriolanus.  Somewhere in there, we discover that Coriolanus despises the concept of "public rule" and the right of citizens to elect their representatives -- at least I think that's what happens -- but that never really seemed like enough of a reason (especially considering the film was updated to current times) to toss a guy out of the country.  Because of this awkward and "under-explained" middle, I found myself lost and losing interest quite a bit.

It's no fault of the actors as everyone is very good.  Fiennes is tough and nasty and makes a solid "action star" which this role almost requires of him.  Butler is fine as well, although his character really isn't given a whole lot to do.  Even in the final act when Coriolanus teams up with Aufidius, Butler's character almost seemed to be simply a higher paid, glorified extra more than anything else.  Vanessa Redgrave got a lot of praise for her role as the demanding and almost Oedipal mother of Coriolanus and it is deserved.  She's strong, forceful, and quite a presence, and the Shakespearean words roll off her tongue effortlessly.

While I've criticized the movie a bit, it's certainly an interesting look at a very underseen and underperformed play of William Shakespeare's and for that reason alone, this is worth a watch.  Ralph Fiennes certainly doesn't skimp on the violence and he has rather slyly turned this into an action film with Old English dialog.  Unfortunately, I just don't think the play's all that good to begin with which hinders what can be done with it.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+