X-Files: I Want to Believe
July 30, 2008
by Nate
Review written at Amanda's request:
X-Files: I Want to Believe, directed by Chris Carter. 3/5 monads. I can only give X-Files one more monad than I gave The Dark Knight, but the difference in emotional tenor between the two experiences could not be more pronounced. Part of this is that, at some level, I feel like judging them differently: the X-Files is television, even if seen on the silver screen. This second X-Files movie acts like it knows that, content to let its characters have particular moments within the contexts of broader lives and worlds that it has no burden to explore within this particular film. Frankly, this is one of the nicest things about the movie: it feels small and modest in scope, an approach that allows certain kinds of excellence that are otherwise impossible. It also just changed the way I sat: instead of clenching my arm-rest trying to survive the onslaught of action and themes, I got to sit back and look carefully at skies, rooms, and faces.
The story, if it had been an episode, wouldn't have been one of my favorites: I enjoy the fantastic more than I enjoy the crime-thrillers, and this one comes grislier than anything previously seen on the show. It asks traditional questions about belief in a particularly TV-ish (that is to say: generally unsophisticated) way. Carter has a troop of modern issues he feels like roping together into the story: stem-cell research, homosexual marriage, priestly pedophilia. Happily, he relies on some classics, too: the story heavily involves evil Russians.
For me, though, Mulder and Scully are a bit like a group of friends I had in high school. They were drama nerds and they weren't all as smart as the people I knew in my AP classes, but they loved skulking around the theater catwalks talking about lighting design and Pink Floyd, or trying on outlandish pieces from the costume shed, or figuring out what fake facial hair they needed to add to their personal make-up collection. When it came down to it, I just preferred their company and tastes. Similarly, there are smarter figureheads than Mulder and Scully on television and on the screen, but I'm just not really sure that I'd rather spend my time with anyone else. Much of their chemistry had dissolved toward the end of the X-Files's TV run, but in the movie it was back.
Vancouver, too, is back, as a faux-West Virginia, and its subtle magic is worth the movie alone. Many of the icy scenes of falling snow and solitary figures were so beautiful that I wished I could just rest in the moment. Happily, the movie does that, to some degree: it seems conscious of its own meditative atmosphere and the camera work, usually merely functional, acquires a kind of grace in these moments. Much of what bound me so closely to the X-Files emotionally was its aesthetic, an aesthetic which is interpreted wonderfully and newly in the film.
I should note that Rebekah's take on this movie is pretty different from mine; she would give far higher praise to the film's writing, so you should prod her further if you'd like details. For my money, it was a great movie by no means, but it's one that I'm very happy to have seen. It's not, though, what I'd steer someone toward if he had never heard of the show: I think it works best for those already deep and quiet friends of Mulder and Scully, people for whom the phrase "I want to believe" already shivers with meaning.
Comments
On July 30 at 8'53 PM
, Amanda wrote:
So many movies that follow television series try too hard to appeal to a broader audience with unfortunate results. I also appreciate the way this new X-Files movie focuses on the more immediate story instead of becoming overly concerned with attracting new fans. Another danger is that when there is a considerable gap since the last time we’ve been given a glimpse into the lives of these characters, the movie might try to cram in excessive back story about what’s been going on during that interim. That’s certainly avoided too, but I felt a little lost a couple of times and had to look up some of the things I had forgotten about, particularly that Mulder and Scully had a son and what happened to him. That might have more to do with my unreliable memory than any flaw of the film though.
The pacing and location of the film are delightful in all the ways you’ve mentioned. You’ve described the aesthetic much better than I could hope to manage. It’s certainly a tremendous thing to see all of this in the movie theatre. Now that I only see three or four movies in the theatre each year and netflix everything else, I chose to see this film rather than the new Batman one. I certainly think I made the right decision.
I feel the same way as you about not enjoying the crime-thriller episodes as much. But I find it difficult to imagine a different sort of story working as well for a movie. The first film has so many other problems, but one of them is that focusing on an alien/government conspiracy storyline is better suited to serialized episodes than film. The exploration of Scully’s work as a doctor provides some balance with the crime story, but the story could have benefited from even more about Scully’s interest in the particular patient whose treatment she found herself so concerned with. A little more of Mulder’s life outside of the FBI—something more substantial (or insubstantial, given that his is a life of isolation) than a beard and newspaper clippings—would have made the story more balanced as well.
I am wary of some aspects of the film when it came to Scully’s work as a doctor. At first, she seems to be primary care physician for the sick boy. Then she’s suddenly able to do radical experimental surgical procedures based on printing materials from a Google search. Give me a break! I guess Scully just seems like some kind of impossibly knowledgeable and skilled doctor at times—even more so in this film than any episodes I can recall. I do appreciate the way they left the results of the experimental surgeries and other aspects of the plot open-ended.
I’m interested to know Rebekah’s take on the film and the writing. I was impressed by how genuine everything that Scully said to the priest, the parents, and the boy in the hospital seemed. It was disappointing to me that no one told the boy about the severity of his condition and that the decisions about his course of treatment were made by his parents and doctor without seeming to consult the person who would physically suffer so much from the surgeries, but this is part of what made it seem real to me. I also found the more personal dialogue between Mulder and Scully especially satisfying, but I am not sure whether it’s really that good or if it just seems that good compared to the super-saccharine shit they were saying to each other toward the end of the series.
On July 31 at 9'54 PM
, Jess wrote:
Ok, I was on the fence, but I’ll have to see it now. Also: this is a very well-written review.
On August 1 at 9'13 AM
, Nate wrote:
Jess: Thank you very much for the compliment. I hope you’ll post your own response.
Amanda: I think I agree with absolutely everything you wrote — particularly in wanting some more Mulder back story. I think, though, that that particular lack is related to the restraint and immediate-story focus that you praise. I think they could have rolled out something more substantive for Mulder without sacrificing that, but, still, it makes me more willing to forgive the film.
And, yeah, Scully’s definitely a superhuman doctor. Maybe it’s related to her abduction.
On August 5 at 10'37 PM
, Jess wrote:
I would agree with most of what you guys wrote. The acting of Amanda Peet and Xzibit was pretty appalling; not a fatal drawback, but it definitely detracted from the film. The dialogue related to the priest just seemed very cliched and wooden. The end also felt pretty goofy and (more) implausible than the rest of the film, esp. when Skinner just shows up and kind of just blusters about when he goes into the facility (“What did you do?!”) But there were some very good moments as well, e.g. Mulder’s long quiet moment at the end of his very intense conversation with Scully in the hospital (when he decides to stick with the case). I’m glad I saw it too, but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who hadn’t been into the series either.