The Book of Eli (2010)

Taking place within a future apocalyptic wasteland, Denzel Washington plays the titular Eli and he's traversing through this wasteland with an all-important book (hence the title)...along with a super-sharp machete blade, shotgun, killer instincts, and car battery-powered IPod Classic.  Things get hairy once he arrives in the wrong town where the local villain Carnegie (Gary Oldman) wants to take possession of this mysterious book.  And what results is an increasingly violent stand-off between Eli and Carnegie's small army of marauders lead by Redridge played by the late, great Ray Stevenson.  Along the way, Eli takes in a sort-of-protégé Solara played by Mila Kunis.  Directed by Allen and Albert Hughes (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents), this bleak action thriller borrows a LOT from The Mad Max Saga but it has a strong enough cast to keep things interesting....   

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

THE BOOK OF ELI - 2010

Directed by Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes

Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Tom Waits, Michael Gambon, Frances de la Tour, Evan Jones, Joe Pinque, Chris Browning, and Malcolm McDowell

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Action Thriller (Audio clip)

As far as I can tell, this movie has exactly ONE original idea and/or concept....and it's not actually revealed until the last 20 minutes. 😉 The Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents) were clearly going for their bleached out, spiritual riff on Mad Max, The Road, A Boy and His Dog, The Omega Man, etc....a post-apocalyptic action thriller focusing on ONE grizzled man wondering the Earth with but one purpose. Well TWO purposes actually: to survive and to get that titular book to one particular place of salvation where it can preserved for humanity. 

It can come off as an eye-rolling concept at first glance especially with such dreary color-grading with the help of DP Don Burgess (Forest Gump, Spider-Man) - this movie is about as close as you get to being black and white without actually BEING black and white! 😁 You've got washed out visuals plus a VERY ponderous, reverb-laden score (which I still quite enjoy) from Atticus Ross....this movie is in-your-face self-important , also helped by an on-the-nose screenplay loaded with biblical references from Gary Whitta (Rogue One, After Earth). And YET....I have always been here for it thanks to the cast....

Denzel’s protagonist is of course the titular Eli and he's got that all-important book to traverse the post-nuclear wasteland of America with...along with a super-sharp machete blade, shotgun, killer instincts, and car battery-powered IPod Classic. 🤗 He's fun and engaging to watch of course and even better....to fill out the cast, Denzel even has some strong support to play off of.

You want a sturdy bad-ass rival to fight? We've got peak Ray Stevenson (RIP) looking about seven feel tall with a shiny chrome dome at the top. You want a charmingly scraggly side vendor for our hero to barter with? Tom Waits will more than suffice. How about a plucky younger, wide-eyed sidekick to be mentored and protected by our protagonist? Then 27 year old Mila Kunis (same year she did Black Swan) fits the bill. Oh and of course you've got to have a slimy, self-righteous main VILLAIN chewing the scenery....and his name is Carnegie no less…..GARY OLDMAN practically reinvented this role in the '90's so BOOM! :) What else do you need? 

Well-shot action with a Western tinge, solid interplay about the fate of the world among actors who rarely disappoint, some semi-intriguing subplots which at least never wear out their welcome, a couple of fun UK veteran cameos to enliven things during the third act....AND what I consider to be an admittedly nutty but genuinely satisfying conclusion mainly built upon a whopper of a twist which only really works if you have "faith." And fortunately with Denzel in the driver's seat, keeping the faith is just THAT much easier. 🤫

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Now about that score….it comes to us from the UK’s Atticus Ross and it was not only one of the first films he would conduct the score for but this would also be the last one BEFORE he start a VERY fruitful collaboration with Trent Reznor later tis same year for their Oscar-winning score for The Social Network…..and fifteen years later, they just delivered another fantastic score for previous episode Challengers which I hope wins the another Oscar.   

Now compared to those scores which Ross has done with Rezner, this one is much less melodic.  You could even refer to it as PONDEROUS but it still works for the overall setting and tone, I also still find it quite listenable.  I don’t know, it’s just kind of soothing and disturbing at the same time….the way the reverberated guitar leads to simple, elegant piano notes.  This pretty much describes what I believe is the main theme which bookends the film during the opening and closing credits….the full, extended track is called, “Panoramic.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

From what I gather, there is a common consensus among many who even celebrate this film that Mila Kunis was somewhat miscast as Solara, the young barmaid/servant who flees Carnegie’s clutches to join Eli on his journey.  I don’t know, I think she does fine with this role but I DO get the criticism that she just looks VERY made-up and clean for her entire runtime….while pretty much every one else looks appropriately run-down for a dystopian society lacking in running water.  Regardless presentation aside, she’s basically playing a babe in the woods here….she pretty much pulls that off. (Audio clip) 

That said, when I hear about who was ORIGINALLY cast in the role of Solara but had to pull out due to other obligations, I have to wonder…..because that would be Kristen Stewart who at the time was pretty much filming back-to-back-to-back installments of The Twilight Saga.  Yes this was pretty much HER franchise, she was starring as Bella Swan.  Now having seen two Twilight films which came out around this time, do I think she was particularly GOOD in those movies?  Not particularly….but that might have very well been more the fault of the writers, that character on paper just ALWAYS seemed like a mess to me.  However POST-Twilight, Stewart has really grown into quite an accomplished actress with genuine depth in smaller films as varied as Personal Shopper, previous episode Happiest Season, and the Royal drama Spencer which she was received an Oscar-nomination for.  So comparing the actresses they are now – which is NOT to say that Kunis isn’t a good actress – Kristen Stewart could have possibly brought more grittiness and soul to the role to Solara.  We’ll never know but it never hurts to wonder…. (Audio clip)   

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Sometimes it’s easier to just go the most obvious route.  With mythical bad-ass protagonists like Eli, it helps to have at least ONE introductory action sequence early on to establish JUST how bad-ass they are….one such sequence occurs about ten minutes into the movie and it does NOT disappoint.  Eli finds himself walking towards an overpass where a seemingly helpless woman cuffed to a shopping card calls for his help….only it’s a trap which he smells pretty much immediately. (Audio clip) 

And then once this group of marauders appear, he calls them out, makes a threat to the leader, CARRIES out that threat, and then proceeds to dispatch each of them armed only with his extended blade….ALL mostly shot in silhouette.  And from THIS point on, we know that we’re in good hands… (Audio clip)   

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

Yeah this is another no-brainer.  As he has for somewhat mid versions of your prototypical serial killer thriller (The Bone Collector) or urban revenge thriller (The Equalizer) or twisty hot-weather neo-noir (Out of Time), Denzel Washington once again takes pulpy genre material and elevates it through sheer force of will. He does what a movie star is supposed to do: bring charisma, humanity, and an unexpected depth to a protagonist who might seem thin on paper.  Denzel Washington is the MVP.  

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Celebrating the birthday of one Mr. Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. has become a yearly tradition for this podcast usually by celebrating one of his more underappreciated performances….and I would count this among those with his birthday being on December 28.  Therefore Happy Seventieth Birthday to our greatest living actor PERIOD. 

Streaming on Spectrum

And that ends another GOSPEL-SPREADING review!