The Passion of Darkly Noon

source: The Passion of Darkly Noon

This is the worst film I have ever seen. Seriously. Despite some great cast members, it is simply awful. The so-called plot is pathetic and utterly unbelievable. The film just kept getting worse and worse as it goes on. It is not even the kind of bad that can be funny - it is simply terrible. Do not think of watching this pathetic attempt at film-making. I think the director was trying to go for a kind of surreal, possibly allegorical approach, but it does not work at all. Most of the characters and events are one-sided, bland, and uninteresting. Certainly unenlightening. The ending is so bad it makes you cringe.

talk about Your stinkers.. this one sure was !!! when i rented it , i watched about half of it and then i rewound it and took it back to the video store.. talking about a waste of good money for a turkey like this movie is, why in heavens name would Brendan want to be associated with such a terrible movie.. i was Totally lost when i watched it.. Brendan was the only good thing about it..

Brendan Fraser is incredible adept at choosing horrible movies to star in, and this one is no exception. From beginning to end, the characters live in a totally unbelievable world. This is one of those movies that is meant to be completely serious, but causes only hoots of laughter from movie-goers. This was hands-down one of the 5 worst movies I have ever seen. Brendan Fraser and Ashley Judd do what they can with the terrible roles they were given, but I will never understand how they were coerced into making such a film.

This film starts out well enough: a young man (Darkly Noon, played by Brendan Fraser) stumbling through the forest collapses onto a dirt road and is found and taken to the home of Callie (Ashley Judd). As his mind clears, we find out that Darkly is a deeply disturbed individual, and that his keeper (Callie) is no less strange. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film doesn't capitalize on its interesting beginning. The acting by both Judd and Fraser is distinctly uninspired, and the plot entirely predictable. The use of blood and gore as an attempt to shock the viewer is overdone and unnecessary. Brendan Fraser's association with this film is in line with his previous work (Encino Man, Airheads), but Judd's involvement is a disappointment following the excellent Ruby in Paradise.

ATTENTION, POTENTIAL VIEWERS! Some possible SPOILERS follow: Philip Ridley has produced a genuinely poetic yet nightmarish piece in Passion of Darkly Noon. The setting of the film forms perhaps its central part. An almost never-never land in the middle of the lush impenetrable forest. A light cabin with a beautiful and sensual Callie (Ashley Judd) living there day and night and communicating with the primal forces of nature (rain, storm, caves, thickets, springs, etc.) The viewer cannot help but feel inundated by the intensity with which the forces of nature are brought together into a single bundle of some primordial virginity. Darkly (Brendan Frasier) is brought into the "eye of the storm" to be cared for and nurtured back into health. Striking a pose of seductive nymph, Callie unsuspectingly (or maybe not) stirs Darkly's (who is extremely inhibited and repressed) sexual passions. They proceed to escalate uncontrollably. Initially, Darkly is torn by conflicting internal thoughts about how to react to Callie and how to understand his own emotions and urges. Progressively, his "demonic" side takes the upper hand: his "misgivings" about Callie are validated by the nearly insane Roxy (Callie's mother-in-law) who lives as a forest hermit nearby. The end is as frightening as it is purifying and tension-relieving. The film is full of mysterious symbolism and is uncharacteristically replete with ambiguities which remain unsolved throughout. My personal opinion is that this movie should be understood as a fable, a tale of sorts. In a sense, all this happens inside the Darkly's mind and soul. All other images in the film are just the external projections of Darkly's intense internal struggles, his PASSIONS. In terms of its atmosphere, Passion of Darkly Noon has a great deal in common with Maurice Maeterlinck's play Pelleas and Mellisanda (see the beautiful and otherworldly music by Claude Debussy). This movie is truly enchanted and enchanting. Could be watched many, many times for this quality alone. One of the best in its genre. See another Philip Ridley's movie Reflecting Skin -- equally bizarre, stunning atmospherics, wonderfully disturbing yet beautiful imagery.

I wanted to rent a film but decided not to do it because they were showing "Darkly Noon" on Cable TV. What a mistake! Since the beginning I started to dislike most of the characters: LY (Fraser) is mentally retarded and weird; CLAY (Mortensen) is dumb and has nothing heavy to offer to the plot; QUINCY (the black guy who purchases the coffins is like a butterfly trying to be funny and speaking nonsense); ROXY (Grace Zabriskie) is not only crazy, but depressing. You also get to see the dead parents of Ly, they made me sick, their role is so disgusting and meaningless that when I reached this point I started to wonder if I was being punished. The only light of this whole film is Ashley Judd as CALLIE: She is sweet and at the same time sexy and she knows she can be tempting. The other guy, Lauren Dean as JUDE was OK, a normal person! which is rare and valuable in this film. The story is stupid, the conversations are pointless, the scenery is boring ... please beware! I don't like to be so negative to a film, but this one was so tedious... a real waste of time.

Takes an interesting premise demanding gentle, contemplative treatment, and cruelly abandons it for sick slasher stupidity. Brendan Fraser plays a stuttering, sheltered man-child who knows nothing about the world except what he's been taught by his religious fanatic parents. After he watches them die in a Branch-Davidian type incident, he wanders into the care of a beautiful outcast (Ashley Judd) who lives in the woods with her volatile, mute boyfriend. He struggles to reconcile his overwhelming attraction for the openly sexual woman with his parents' harsh, judgmental teachings. Some early scenes are effective, but it soon becomes obvious that the director, Philip Ridley, doesn't know what he is trying to say. He goes for horror, he goes for camp, for dark humor, for arty symbolism - none of it works. It's an amateurish effort all the way around and there is some stupendously bad dialogue as well as bogus, completlely unbelievable confrontations. (I was particularly amused with the way Fraser at one points dangles his arm and index finger like Elvis and "ominously" declares something like "Now it's time for a walk in the dark." Working with Ridley's shallow, dim-witted script; Fraser obediently gives a shallow, dim-witted performance. He overacts atrociously. Ashley Judd is radiant as always and ultimately the film is nothing more than an excuse to put her in situations where the camera can adore her.

"the Passion of Darkly Noon" has to be one of the most bleak and emotional films I have seen. It's even more depressing than Philip Ridley's other film, "The Reflecting Skin". Believe it or not, Philip Ridley is not only a writer of plays but of children's books. "The Passion of Darkly Noon" is a beautiful, disturbing and surreal psychological drama in the vein of "Blue Velvet", "Santa Sangre", "Donnie Darko" and "I Stand Alone". Brandon Fraiser gives an amazing and overlooked performance as Darkly Noon; a naive young Christian man who's just escaped a waco like religious cult. He witnessed his parents and other members shot down by police. Darkly is found injured in the woods and stays with Callie (Ashley Judd), who takes care of Darkly till he's better. Ashley Judd's Character is a nature loving feminist beauty. (Check out the close up of her arm pit hair.) Callie start's to fall for Darkly. Her mute boyfriend is played by Viggo Mortenson. Since Darkly has lived a secluded life with not much contact of the outside world, he doesn't know how to deal with his sexual feelings for Callie. Out of guilt he prays for forgiveness and mutilates himself with barb wire. His religious beliefs cause him to slowly loose his sanity and see visions of his dead parents. He feels it's God's mission for him to kill. The film builds up unbearable tension as it goes along. Ashley Judd is amazing with a performance so good, it's as if she's having a real nervous breakdown. Brandon Fraiser gives the best performance of his career. His character is down right scary, especially compared to his usual roles in family films. Their are certain images in this film that are very confusing. One being the giant silver shoe floating in the pond. "The Passion of Darkly Noon" is somewhat of a puzzle and may require a second viewing. Either way it has my highest recommendation.