Commentary by Cait Buckalew, Campus Carrier Assistant Entertainment Editor
A new movie starring Daniel Radcliffe was released in American theaters last Friday. The film, “Horns,” premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival but was not distributed in North American theaters until this year.
Radcliffe plays the main character, Ig Parrish, who is accused of murdering his childhood sweetheart, Merrin. At the start of the film, we know that he was previously arrested and has now been released as the police investigate the case further. He lives in a small town where everyone knows everyone, so the news of his arrest traveled quickly through town. The majority of the town believes Ig killed Merrin and many of them protest in his front lawn.
Ig wakes up one morning and discovers that he has horns growing from his temples. The townspeople do not notice the horns, but begin acting strangely. They obey any commands Ig makes and tell him all of their darkest secrets.
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| Photos courtesy of IMDB Above: Radcliffe’s character Ig Parrish exits a burning bar. Below: Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple gaze lovingly at one another as characters Ig Parrish and girlfriend Merrin Williams. |
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Ig uses this effect to his advantage and begins his own investigation into Merrin’s murder in an attempt to clear his name. As Ig continues to use the horns’ powers and uncovers the truth behind who killed Merrin, he becomes more and more demon-like.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks as Ig confronts the people involved with Merrin’s murder and the investigation. There are flashbacks to the main characters’ childhoods as we find out the background of Ig and Merrin’s relationship, but the majority are flashbacks to the night of Merrin’s murder.
The flashbacks are written so that as the film progresses, we know as much about Merrin’s murder as Ig does. This is one way the writers of the film pull you in. The script is well written and the characters are believable.
Radcliffe’s portrayal of Ig is a testament to his versatility as an actor. He dons an American accent and five-o’clock shadow to play Ig and showcase the slightly edgier side of the character. His accent slips only once that I detected, and though it was strange not to hear his usual voice, he definitely did the accent justice.
Acting alongside Radcliffe are Max Minghella (The Internship), and Juno Temple (Maleficent). Both actors stand up to Radcliffe’s standards. The acting is believable given the situation set in place by the universe. The child actors of the film are also believable, which was a pleasant surprise as good child actors are hard to find.
While the acting was believable, some of the character portrayals were problematic. The only female characters in the film that are named are Ig’s mother, Merrin, and Glenna, another of Ig’s childhood friends. We never see any of these women interact, and they are each in some kind of sexual or romantic relationship. Women exist outside of their relationships with men and are rarely represented as such in media today.
Another poorly represented group in this film are people of color. There are two credited actors in the entire film who are not white. One of them is a golf pro who is having an affair with another man’s wife, and another is a news reporter with no more than five lines. People of color are extremely underrepresented in Hollywood and this film is no better than the rest.
One thing this movie did get right was the special effects makeup. The prosthetics used to create Ig’s horns are surprisingly realistic. Going into the film, I didn’t expect much from the makeup department, but the horns looked fantastic. There were several scenes where CGI flames engulfed Ig and there was a visual transition to scorched-flesh makeup that was very well done.
While the representation issues in “Horns” were troubling, the movie is definitely worth seeing.
Unfortunately, the film is not playing in either of the Rome movie theaters. It is playing in most major cities and it available for download on iTunes.