Youth Without Youth Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)December 6th, 2007
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
In YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, Tim Roth (THE LEGEND OF 1900) plays Dominic, a scholar who has spent his whole life writing a single book which he hopes will explain all of life's mysteries, going all the way back to the beginning of language. As the newspaper headlines warn of "War Clouds," Dominic is struck by lightning in Bucharest, Romania. Although he is over seventy-years-old and is hit by a bolt so strong that it should have killed him, Dominic survives and is reborn as a man in his late thirties with a talkative alter ego to guide him. He also develops many magical powers from being able to read books without opening them to knowing every language without any prior training.
This pseudo-science fiction tale makes for a mess of a movie, which meanders along with a few nice moments here and there. Never believable and rarely compelling, it just plods along.
After awakening at about half of his original age, Dominic becomes the medical world's favorite subject. The Nazis in particular are very interested in studying him. They send an agent known only as the "Woman in Room 6" (Alexandra Pirici) to seduce him. The most outlandishly bad piece of writing occurs during this part of the film, when the infamous Dr. Josef Rudolf (André Hennicke), "Hitler's most dedicated servant," tells Dominic, "What we have to do with time expresses the supreme ambiguity of the human condition." If ridiculous phrases could kill, Dominic would have been struck dead upon hearing the evil doctor's thoughts. Instead Dominic instantly develops the skill to play Jedi mind tricks on the doctor, forcing the doctor to kill himself with his own gun, which had been pointed at Dominic.
The movie, however, does have one really big surprise associated with it. The film is written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the first time in a decade that he has directed a film. Nothing of the old master shows through in any of the movie.
As we follow Dominic, he marches through time but without aging past his new age of about thirty-nine. Throughout the various times, he has a girlfriend, played by Alexandra Maria Lara (Hitler's secretary in DOWNFALL), who is called Veronica or Laura, depending on the timeframe.
As Veronica ages and Dominic doesn't, she starts working her way back the linguistic tree until she gets at the root of all languages. This proves to be dangerous for her health. Watching the film, however, may be good for yours, as it provides plenty of opportunities for you to catch up on your sleep.
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH runs 2:04. It is rated R for "some sexuality, nudity and a brief disturbing image" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, December 14, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be playing at the Century theaters.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
