[日舞] [獨立] In the Company of Men (1997) <strong><em>ˇ</em></strong> Neil LaBute Debut

惡男日記 In the Company of Men

97 min. 1997



Aaron Eckhart ... Chad

Stacy Edwards ... Christine

Matt Malloy ... Howard



獨立精神獎最佳處女劇本

處女演出









No matter what happens after it - jumped over for promotions, wife runs off with some biochemist, who knows what...

But we would always have this thing to fall back on.

We could always say, "Yeah, fine, but they never got me like we got her."





帥哥 (Aaron Eckhart) & 矬哥 (Matt Malloy) 是大學同學，畢業後進入同一間公司工作，兩個人互相抱怨被馬子無預警甩掉，事業也不很順心，為期六個禮拜的出差旅途上，決定到異鄉找個好女孩，花言巧語一番再狠狠拋棄，此男性復仇將成彼此美好回憶與尊嚴重拾。前提乃兩人都得同時進行這遊戲。



帥哥注意到出差公司的打字小姐，克莉絲汀，完全符合條件：外貌端莊秀氣，英打一分鐘九十五，耳聾但會讀唇語。帥哥先達陣，矬哥也跟進，克莉絲汀的午晚餐就這樣輪流和帥哥與矬哥赴宴。



某次矬哥問要不要吃午餐，克莉絲汀說要忙期末報告，卻撞見期末報告是和帥哥吃午餐，帥哥和矬哥承認兩人認識已久。矬哥好不容易訂到餐廳靠噴水池佳座，勇膽向克莉絲汀示愛遭婉拒，克莉絲汀說自己深深愛上帥哥，不是故意要腳踏兩條船。對克莉絲汀動真情的矬哥既憤怒又不忍，決定把來龍去脈娓娓道來……





這樣類似小佛萊迪普茲電影的劇情設定，女主角長得也有點像 Rachael Leigh Cook，結局竟是如此令人發寒。好比在學校被欺負，只能找低年級展示威嚴，發洩過程被幼小者回踢一腳，你氣得毫不保留地傷害對方，對方抬頭無辜看著你，你成了怪物。



看海報還以為是醫生在幫病人看病。導演以一句 "Let's hurt somebody" 發展劇本，回頭檢視是誰先說自己被馬子玩弄，是誰才吐露自己也遭離棄，你會了解這都會電影與市儈臉帥哥有多危險！



延伸閱讀：

壞胚子吞電影膠囊

這樣中規中矩、平穩而缺乏驚喜的作品竟然出自

這部片是我絕色影展的第一部片













倒數第一二欄分別是院線廳數與爛番茄。





從上列數據我們可以發現，名字怪長得也怪的 Neil LaBute 是個奇妙的傢伙。獨立製片處女作廣受眾家媒體讚譽，接著拍了兩部好評喜劇，兩部 Focus 電影，結束 Aaron Eckhart 四度全勤獎 (同柯波帝與 PTA)，開始墮落。中邪般交出兩部票房不錯，評價卻爛翻天的商業電影。



接受主流資助同時卻無法阻止原創養分流失，導致無法從我的 後宮佳麗 「猶抱琵琶半遮面」組晉升到「人見人愛」組，姑且稱之為失敗版本的 Nolan 吧！(翻拍電影惡靈戰警沒那麼爛呀)









LaBute's Your Friends and Neighbors is to In the Company of Men as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction was to Reservoir Dogs.



In both cases, the second film reveals the full scope of the talent, and the director, given greater resources, paints what he earlier sketched.



-- Roger Ebert on Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)





Like the actors in a Bresson film, they're used for what they intrinsically represent, rather than for what they can achieve through their art.



They are like those all around us, and like us, except that LaBute is suspicious of their hidden motives.



One person plays a cruel trick in The Shape of Things, but we get the uneasy sense that, in LaBute's world, any one of the four could have been that person.



-- Roger Ebert on The Shape of Things (2003)





































矬哥登場！

稱讚克莉絲汀衣服好看，還擔心話從 goofy 如己口出會很可笑。



















































































Served dinner by Willow in a back room, Howie's sarcastic remark, "Broad beans in their natural state aren't normally turquoise, are they?" gains context from Willow's low-cut turquoise top.



異教徒 The Wicker Man

97 min. 1974

 

Writing credits

Anthony Shaffer (screenplay)

David Pinner novel "Ritual" (uncredited)



Edward Woodward ...  Sergeant Howie

Christopher Lee ...  Lord Summerisle

Diane Cilento ...  Miss Rose

Britt Ekland ...  Willow

Ingrid Pitt ...  Librarian

Irene Sunters ...  May Morrison (also as Irene Sunter)

Paul Giovanni ...  Musician (uncredited)

Robin Hardy ...  Minister (uncredited)



"Gently Johnny"

(uncredited)

Sung by Paul Giovanni



1.

Filmed in various Scottish locations, The Wicker Man fell foul of executives at EMI, which had absorbed British Lion. According to Steve Phillips's website (steve-p.org), the studio's 99-minute cut omitted 20 minutes of significant material, enraging Lee. 



Further cut to 87 minutes, it was dumped into drive-in theaters in the U.S. and onto a double bill with Don't Look Now in the U.K., though Lee's promotional work secured it a proper West End release. 



Despite the destruction of the raw footage, Hardy eventually pieced together a 95-minute cut that was released successfully in 1979. A print partially struck from the long version owned by Roger Corman has been shown on TV and released on DVD.



2.

Britt Ekland and Ingrid Pitt (another Hammer favorite) were cast respectively as the lubricious barmaid, Willow, and the sexy librarian who test the sergeant's celibacy... only production stills survive of Pitt's nude scene.



Hardy and Lee remain incensed about the cuts—though they didn't bother Pitt—and are irked by LaBute's remake.