The notion that high society is just as uncivilized—if not more uncivilized—than the rest of society is nothing if not old news. Looking at characters who inhabit the highest of high class through a dark lens is a sub-genre in itself. Fierce People does this in the bluntest way possible by drawing comparisons between a fictional family whose patron is the seventh wealthiest man in the world and a wild, South American tribe indigenous to the rain forest.
Drawing these comparisons is Finn (Anton Yelchin), a 15-year-old kid whose absent father is an anthropologist studying among the fictional Iskanani tribe down in South America, and whose mother is a massage therapist (happy endings included) who is trying to kick a cocaine habit. Finn is the kind of 15-year-old who, instead of becoming some burnout, has become a self-taught, competent smart-ass and loves to show it. Of the handful of things this film got right, casting one was of them (save for Diane Lane), and Anton Yelchin is probably one of the few young actors in Hollywood who can pull this off convincingly and hold the audience's interest.
His drug-addled mother, (Diane Lane, who I think was miscast simply because there's almost no way to make Diane Lane look “not put together”), sequesters herself and Finn on one of her former client's estates for the summer. Not just any former client, and not just any estate: this is Ogden Osborne, one of the wealthiest men in the world. He and his family live on his 10-square-mile property, and exemplify to a cartoonish degree the idea of being an upper-class, wealthy family on the east coast.
The family living in this huge space is as diverse as they come, all garnering their own unique displacement. Chris Evans plays Bryce, Mr. Osborne's grandson, and does so with a near-Shakespearean sort of attitude. He throws around phrases like “gentleman and a scholar,” wears poofy, white shirts and flies hot-air balloons. A pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart plays Maya, Mr. Osborne's granddaughter. She is sort of spacey, but unlike her brother Bryce, more down-to-earth. Definitely more approachable, even with the bow and arrow she carries with her to ward off anyone trying to kill the deer that roam on her grandfather's estate.
This sets the tone for a pretty good-looking, plucky, dark, coming-of-age comedy wherein the chief character, Finn, realizes the rich act and live much like the tribes in South America. The movie is great in doing this; it moves quickly and has interesting enough characters to keep things unpredictable. However, about an hour or so into it, the movie decides to turn on the audience, and become no fun. The story turns ugly and uncomfortable, because one of the characters gets seriously sexually violated. The story tries to justify said rape by attributing it to the actions often displayed by the Iskanani tribe, but that justification isn't enough to excuse the switch in tone. Both halves are good and well executed, but to elicit laughter from the audience for the first half, then to elicit cringes and anxiety for the second half is not something a lot of people will go for.
What's worse is that the movie had a great thing going in the first half: a teen character with few to no goals in life trying to find himself. You know, what great coming-of-age films are about. The barbaric twist in events ends up giving Finn the tangible, material goal of finding out who the bad guy is. That sort of mundane tension is best left to genres where self-discovery is not the central theme.
The Osbornes are made of some pretty nutty people. Finn and his mom fit right in with them and their fancy friends...or do they? Money can buy happiness...or can it? Kristen Stewart is better in movies without sparkly vampires...or is she? No, no and yes are the answers. By the end of the movie, the audience isn't introduced to a wrap-up loaded with original themes. It's worth seeing if you get the chance, as the movie boasts some originality in its characters and how they play off of one another, and Anton Yelchin is very likable on screen, as is the rest of the cast. But the plot elements and themes are recycled.
DVD Bonus Features
A 15-minute behind-the-scenes bit with cast and crew talking about all sorts of things like the story in general and the specifics of their characters. Also some deleted scenes, and the director's commentary over the feature.
"Fierce People" is on sale February 5, 2008 and is rated R. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Griffin Dunne. Written by Dirk Wittenborn (novel & screenplay). Starring Anton Yelchin, Chris Evans, Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Stewart.
