It’s the Rage

AKA – All the Rage

Plot

Helen wakes up one morning to find her husband Warren standing over the dead body of his business partner with a gun in hand. This sets a catalyst for a group of individuals around him in the city of LA.

Cast/Characters

A bit of a congested cast, there are ten primary characters; Warren (Jeff Daniels), Helen (Joan Allen), Warren’s lawyer Tim (the late Andre Braugher), Helen’s new boss Morgan (Gary Sinise), Morgan’s old employee Tennel (Josh Brolin), the girl Tennel longs for , who Tim is also sleeping with, Annabel, (Anna Paquin), Annabel’s brother Sidney (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris, Tim’s boyfriend (David Schwimmer), and cops Agee and Tyler (Bookeem Woodbine and Robert Forster).

Most give solid performances, considering the screenplay. More in a moment.

Screenplay/Setting/Themes

All the characters circumnavigate each other through a weird few days in LA. While other films have merged characters organically – this seemed too conveniently written, when some characters bump into others randomly.

One primary theme is yearning – with most of the characters wanting what they can’t have, in both love (Morgan loves Helen, Tennel loves Annabel, Chris loves Tim etc) and justice (Tyler against Warren).

The main theme is that of gun culture, and how prominent it is in USA. Considering this film pre-dates historic shooting events – it is even more prevalent now than it was back then. There is even a final epilogue of what happens to some characters after the movie that expands this.

The screenplay itself is quite poor, and the cast work with what they are given. Despite the flawed logic, and weird mid movie change in tone of characters (Helen goes from being assertive and sexually powerful to submissive and almost frigid, Tennel goes from confident to almost submissive too).

Once again Giovanni Ribisi plays the crazy loon – but this time it is just strange, and Anna Paquin’s tone of voice and cadence was possibly trying to mimic a Marilyn Monroe but it just was annoying.

Overall

Another of the late 90s “Pulp Fiction wannabe’s” is a bit of a failure (which even references Pulp during the film). Considering other films did well (2 Days in the Valley – coincidentally starring Daniels), and Robert Forster was a QT star himself. Some odd direction too with mostly ‘dark’ tones and some odd camera angles, and a quirky score – don’t help.

Despite some good performances, the screenplay let it down. Only okay. Sadly, one of the poorer films from my favourite year of film; 1999

2.5/5