Patient Zero: Finally Opening

It was once on the so-called “Black List” survey of unproduced scripts well-regarded by industry insiders. Well, so much for that. It is about to have a miniscule opening, one month after it released on VOD. These was the same circumstances faced by Kevin Spacey’s most recent film, Billionaire Boys Club, which the trades trumpeted far and wide as the death knell of the disgraced actor’s career. So, are they going to say the same thing about Black List scripts, because fair is fair isn’t it? Actually, there is nothing fair about stupid stories that cherry-pick low opening grosses for films that are primarily seeking VOD business. It would be particularly easy to beat up on this unfortunate genre picture, because it was dropped by a major distributor, but there are worse films hitting theaters this week than Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Patient Zero (trailer here), which opens in a few theaters somewhere this Friday.

Don’t call them zombies. The “Infected” just happen to have a case of super-mega-ultra rabies, leaving them rage fueled berserkers—all except Morgan, that is. He was infected, but he did not turn, to use a zombie term. As a result, he can talk to the Infected, much to their surprise. Under the supervision of Dr. Gina Rose, he interrogates captured Infecteds, hoping to find the original source: “Patient Zero.”

Rose is okay. In fact, Morgan is definitely attracted to her, creating a lot of awkward guilt for the “Infected Talker,” since his wife Janet is one of the Infected they are transfusing, in the hope they can eventually be cured. Of course, they have heightened hearing, so she knows. In contrast, it is the jerkweed martinet in charge of bunker security who really chafes Morgan, but his nemesis will be “The Professor,” a leader the Infected, who does not seem to follow any of the rules Morgan and Rose thought they had figured out.

In fact, those rules are somewhat interesting and probably give is a sense of what the original Black List script read like. The Infected can’t process music, so Morgan, a former record store owner, uses classic rock and soul as part of the interrogation process. They also lost their ability to deceive—or did they? Unfortunately, just when the rules are fully established, they are thrown out and the film loses its distinctive vibe, becoming predictable and cliched.

As you might expect, it is a good deal of fun to watch Stanley Tucci act all sinister as “The Professor” (but Mary Ann remains unaccounted for). Matt Smith also fully commits as the brainy but prickly Morgan, using a lot of his old Doctor Who acting muscles. Natalie Dormer is fine as Dr. Rose, but it too bad Agyness Deyn doesn’t get more screen time as Janet, the Infected, because her portrayal is really quite complex and emotionally engaging.

Yes, Patient Zero clearly owes debts to Day of the Dead, 28 Days and Weeks Later, as well as scores of other zombie and pandemic movies, but Ruzowitzky keeps it moving along nicely. His output has been a little uneven since The Counterfeiters won the Academy Award, but his films usually have intriguing elements, especially the intense psycho-thriller, Cold Hell. Sure, it craters during the third act, but isn’t that always the way? In any event, it is far better than any reports of its minimal opening might suggest. Recommended as a VOD distraction for fans of apocalyptic horror, Patient Zero opens somewhere this Friday (9/14).

The First London Games: Going for Gold

Seventy-three year-old British artist John Copley became the oldest Olympic medalist at the 1948 London Games, taking silver for his etchings.  It would be the penultimate artistic competition of the modern-era games, all of which have since been segregated from the official medal counts.  He might have made history (for a while, at least), but fortunately this will not be his story.  Instead, BBC America takes viewers to the Thames, where a hastily assembled British sculling duo carries the hopes of their nation in Going for Gold: The ’48 Games (promo here), a one-shot airing this Wednesday as part of the current season of Dramaville.

Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell both competed for a spot on the 1948 Olympic team, but fell short.  Pairing-up was not their fallback plan, but the brainchild of five-time British medalist and Olympic committeeman Jack Beresford.  The double sculls is an event close to his heart, since he and his partner upset the favored Germans in front of Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Games.

The stakes are not quite so high for Bushnell and Burnell, but the malaise ridden United Kingdom could use a lift.  London could also use the tourist dollars generated by a successful Olympiad.  However, with mere weeks to go, they still woefully behind on construction.  Evidently, its déjà vu all over again.

Likewise, Bushnell and Burnell have just started training together and it shows.  Socially and temperamentally quite different, the pair clash rather badly.  In fact, the respectably middle class Bushnell’s class resentment of Burnell’s privileged background becomes tiresomely repetitive, perhaps saying more about screenwriter William Ivory (whose credits include the labor drama Made In Dagenham) than two athletes who fundamentally share so much in common.  They both have a passion for their sport, similar last names, and persistent issues with their fathers.

For many viewers (as well as BBC America) the most important thing to know about Gold is the presence of Doctor Who’s Matt Smith as Bushnell.  He is credible enough as the tightly wound rower, but Sam Hoare certainly looks more athletic as Burnell.  He also has some of the better turned straight dramatic scenes.  However, for longtime TV anglophiles, it will be Geoffrey “As Time Goes By” Palmer who stands out as Burnell’s severely reserved father.

If rowing races is your thing, Going for the Gold (a.k.a. Bert & Dickie) is your tele-drama.  Smoothly helmed by TV veteran David Blair, it still is hardly Chariots of Fire-on-the-Thames (notwithstanding one eyebrow raising quote), but it is about on par with most subsequent Summer Olympic movies.  An appealing period production with a decent payoff, Going for Gold is a pleasant enough warm-up for the London Games, recommended for sculling and Olympic enthusiasts when it airs this Wednesday night (7/25) on BBC America’s Dramaville showcase.