Posted: 02/16/2002

Rollerball

(2002)

by Wayne Case

Gutterball

Getting right to the point, this is a bad movie. I can’t think of a single reason that anyone should see it. Generally, I can find something worthwhile about most films, but not this time. This is going to be brief — it’s not worth spending a lot of time or energy on. I saw it a few days ago, and I want to forget about it as soon as possible.

The setting is a few years in the future in a country near to and similar to Afghanistan. The rollerball of the title is a violent game played on a multi-level and/or banked track and seems to be an extreme version of roller derby. It is played by two competing teams made up of both men and women on skates and/or motorcycles. Inadequate explanation of how the game itself is played is but one of many problems that the film has. Among other problems are a bad script with bad dialogue, some poor casting, and photography that equals the worst ever seen in a 35mm film. Since the film was re-edited from an R rating to a PG-13, it’s hard to place all the blame, but even in scenes that don’t seem to have been altered, the direction is flat, at best.

Blame that on director John McTiernan. Of the ten released films that he has directed, I consider two to be good: The Hunt For Red October and The Thomas Crown Affair; two excellent: Die Hard and Die Hard: With a Vengeance; while Medicine Man and The 13th Warrior are both weak and unsuccessful. The film that he is most famous (and infamous) for is The Last Action Hero. It had a huge budget and was a huge disappointment at the box office. Frankly, I found it boring, bland, and forgettable, although it wasn’t an embarrassment. I suspect that its biggest problem was that it didn’t deliver the action/violence that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fans and critics expected. None of Mr. McTiernan’s previous work gives a hint that he would deliver the incomprehensible disaster that Rollerball became. His next release is Basic, scheduled for later in 2002, probably. It stars John Travolta. Given these two gentlemen’s recent track records, my enthusiasm is well contained. At least Basic is not a remake of a successful film made by multiple Oscar-nominee Norman Jewison. Mr. Jewison’s Rollerball and The Thomas Crown Affair were superior to McTiernan’s versions in every way. Pray that McTiernan doesn’t take a shine to Jewison’s other successes, such as In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof and Moonstruck.

It’s not the cast’s fault. Chris Kline (American Pie; Election) is one of today’s more appealing young actors. He was a bad choice for this part to begin with and brings absolutely nothing to it. The next Bruce Willis type action hero he ain’t. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (X-Men) is an attractive young woman with a great body. This film doesn’t even hint as to whether or not she has any star potential or acting ability. Well respected French actor Jean Reno comes off badly here also.

If you felt that you just must see it, you’d better hurry, since it’ll be gone soon. Opening weekend gross, February 8, 2002, was quoted at a weak nine million dollars. The budget is said to be seventy million. Exit scores were far from promising. My advice is that you pass.

Wayne Case works in the film industry in Hollywood, and still can’t help himself — he loves the movies.

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