Eureka

Rating:
Summary: One of the all time great movies
Review: 'Bad Timing' and 'Eureka' are Roeg's best films and, like 'Bad Timing' this film uses a sophisticated structure, light years ahead of most productions. The acting is brilliant without exception, as is the writing. The film basically examines what happens to a man once he has everything. There is nothing left to do other than to seek death. That is exactly what happens to Gene Hackman. One of the greatest movies ever made.

Rating:
Summary: Be Careful What You Wish For
Review: A beautifully directed, sumptuously photographed film, at once strange and intriguing. Jack has been 'chosen' to obtain what he desires most, to find the gold. He knows who has come before him, but who will come after is a mystery. 30 years later, his days are numbered. A complex tale of erotic desire, greed, revenge and disillusionment saturated with symbolic portent and intensely evocative images. What, you've never seen a Voo Doo snake orgy?

Rating:
Summary: "I once had it all. Now, I just have everything."
Review: By owning tons of books of film criticism, the reviews I've read about EUREKA are so sundry and varied. The validities that critics have brought up about the film (both positive and negative) are justified, which had given me an unsure opinion on the EUREKA's true value. I have watched the film several times and examining the fact that it has never ceased to amaze me, EUREKA has engraved a place in the list of my favorite films. The cinematography (specifically the imagery in the cold of the Yukon) have haunted me whenever I talk to people about great photography in films. What amazes me more is that great actors such as Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, Mickey Rourke and Joe Pesci put such faith in the arthouse movement in order to star in what some consider a Nicolas Roeg relic in a realm of such diverse arthouse efforts by major studios (United Artists reportedly put up "mucho dinero" for this film to be made).

The film follows Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) throughout his life and legacy. It begins in the Yukon and his crusade to find the summit of all dreams and fantasies...the quest to find gold. Exclaiming "I never earned a nickel from another man's sweat", McCann sets foot throughout the ravaged Canadian wilderness, through towns which are developing into ghost towns as well as the acquired warmth of whorehouses ("Gold smells stronger than a woman"). When McCann finds the gold (in a wonderfully wrought orgasmic sequence when gold flows out like a million waterfalls as McCann roars in ecstasy. We then juxtapose from the iciness of the Yukon to the glow of the Caribbean with wife (Jane Lapontier) puttin' it on the sauce and turning Tarot cards and daughter (Roeg's wife Theresa Russell) woefully throwing herself at a handsome but devious Dutch playboy (Rutger Hauer). Meanwhile, McCann's island paradise is almost literally going to the gods as both Miami gangster (Pesci) and lawyer sidekick (Mickey Rourke) conspire to overthrow his island empire appropriately named "Eureka".

The "courtroom histrionics" that Maltin so much complained about in the film's final third are essential to character metamorphasis as the ambience of Hackman's McCann character flows into free-spirited Hauer, who he once scorned in hatefulness. It is important to realize that this character transmographication explains the nuances throughout the film, with its numerous allusions to voodoo and tokens of character's fortune. Nicolas Roeg, who gave audience such stylish and surreal tales like DON'T LOOK NOW and PERFORMANCE, is in fine form and his complete respect for technique is what ultimately makes the film unforgettable.

Hackman's McCann character, in a scene with Lapontiere, is in bed looking around at all he has, dissatisfied with what he and his environment has evolved into, retorts "I used to have it all...now I just have everything." A perfect line to express the film's convictions. EUREKA is, in my opinion, the best film of the three years it was distributed over. The film's epic offbeat structure only adds to its message. Some of the scenes illustrating Roeg's technique will make you shout "Eureka!"

Rating:
Summary: A prayer for the dying
Review: Good movie. Mickey Rourke does an ok job trying to convince us of his Irish accent....but does a stellar job in acting without words. Good supporting cast. Suspenseful, spiritual movie

Rating:
Summary: Not quite vintage Roeg
Review: It's taken a long time to be released, but at last 'Eureka' is available on DVD. There are no extras, except for the trailer, which is a shame.

To my knowledge, this 1983 film has been screened only very rarely on terrestrial TV -- just once in the UK, for example, in the late 1980s on BBC2. At the time, viewers were given a great intro to the film -- i.e. how it was loosely based on true story, and how it had existed in several versions etc etc. Because of that, I've always felt this was a British film -- with people like Roeg, Jeremy Thomas, Lapotaire and many British actors in minor roles. But most of the major roles are taken by US actors -- e.g. Gene Hackman, Mickey Rourke, Joe Pesci etc.

This is the same version as shown on TV -- i.e. with all the gore, nudity and voodoo -- if you prefer to stay away from that sort of thing. Although Theresa Russell has done many good things, I'm not convinced by her acting in this one. But at the time, she was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and it is surprising that Roeg is prepared to share so many views of his wife with the cinema-goer.

As a plot and an atmospheric experience, I don't think this works as well as say, DON'T LOOK NOW. Once Hackman has been killed, it becomes too much of a courtroom drama. In other words, the climax comes too early in the film. Much is made of women with black hair -- McCann's wife, daughter and the hooker who guides him to the gold. And we have a literal and several figurative gold-diggers. In the end, I don't feel this movie has any grand message for the world, except perhaps the pointlessness of having so much wealth if you don't do anything with it. (Maybe Bill Gates has already seen this.)

But I'm glad it's now available, and we come close to having nearly all Roeg's significant work out on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite vintage Roeg
Review: It's taken a long time to be released, but at last 'Eureka' is available on DVD. There are no extras, except for the trailer, which is a shame.

To my knowledge, this 1983 film has been screened only very rarely on terrestrial TV -- just once in the UK, for example, in the late 1980s on BBC2. At the time, viewers were given a great intro to the film -- i.e. how it was loosely based on true story, and how it had existed in several versions etc etc. Because of that, I've always felt this was a British film -- with people like Roeg, Jeremy Thomas, Lapotaire and many British actors in minor roles. But most of the major roles are taken by US actors -- e.g. Gene Hackman, Mickey Rourke, Joe Pesci etc.

This is the same version as shown on TV -- i.e. with all the gore, nudity and voodoo -- if you prefer to stay away from that sort of thing. Although Theresa Russell has done many good things, I'm not convinced by her acting in this one. But at the time, she was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and it is surprising that Roeg is prepared to share so many views of his wife with the cinema-goer.

As a plot and an atmospheric experience, I don't think this works as well as say, DON'T LOOK NOW. Once Hackman has been killed, it becomes too much of a courtroom drama. In other words, the climax comes too early in the film. Much is made of women with black hair -- McCann's wife, daughter and the hooker who guides him to the gold. And we have a literal and several figurative gold-diggers. In the end, I don't feel this movie has any grand message for the world, except perhaps the pointlessness of having so much wealth if you don't do anything with it. (Maybe Bill Gates has already seen this.)

But I'm glad it's now available, and we come close to having nearly all Roeg's significant work out on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Eureka.....A masterwork...
Review: Nic Roeg has made a number of great films, aka 'Bad Timing', 'Don't Look Now' etc but 'Eureka' is a masterwork, a work of true genius. And it stems, like all great films, from a great script.....this time from Paul Mayersberg.
The subject deals with the problem of success. What do you do when you find what you've always been after ?
A fantastic cast headed by the trio of Gene Hackman, Theressa Russell, and Rutger Hauer weave their way through a complex plot based on the book 'Who Killed Sir Harry Oats' by Marshall Houts.
If you like film, structure and complex characterisation then this is a must see. Watch it before you die.

Rating:
Summary: Odd little film, but Roeg's last real venture
Review: Nic Roeg made some fascinating films in his day. BAD TIMING, DON'T LOOK NOW, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, WALKABOUT, and PERFORMANCE are all amazing works of cinema. Somewhere somehow something happened to him -- his muse went bankrupt, or maybe he just got sick of fighting to realize his idiosyncratic and demanding movies in the face of studio conservatism and unappreciative audiences. EUREKA is, really, the last REAL Roeg film available, and, as quirky as it is, it's worth seeing. Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, and Rutger Hauer all give top-notch performances; Mickey Rourke and Joe Pesci have noteworthy small rolls. While I agree with Leonard Maltin that the courtroom "hystrionics" that climax the film are a little odd, there is considerable visual beauty to be had here, and a narrative that is daringly-structured and unique, dealing, thematically, with questing and ambition -- their consequences and continuity from generation to generation. The early scenes of gold prospecting, in particular, are at times stunning, as is the Obeah (or was it Santeria? Voudon? Don't recall) ritual that Hauer takes part in. If you're a fan of Roeg, it's worth getting this very reasonably priced gem from Amazon. Thought provoking film, if overcooked at times.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOMENTS.....MANY FLAWS
Review: Nicolas Roeg was once one of the GREAT directors of the 1970's. With "Performance", "Walkabout", "Don't Look Now", "The Man Who Fell To Earth" and "Bad Timing" he built a reputation for being a man who didn't compromise his vision to just pander to mere entertainment. Indeed these 5 movies are his most rewarding and challenging works. With "Eureka" Roeg begins to slip. There are some great Roegian moments in the film and the first half with Gene Hackman is compelling at times but as the film goes on it loses steam and just simply turns into a courtroom drama. From what I've read of Roeg, he likes this film very much and while it is very good in places as a whole it just doesn't have that vision that his previous work had. After this film his choices of material did not match his odd style and seem mostly like vehicles for Theresa Russell(it seems he was a better director BEFORE she came into the scene).

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOMENTS.....MANY FLAWS
Review: Nicolas Roeg was once one of the GREAT directors of the 1970's. With "Performance", "Walkabout", "Don't Look Now", "The Man Who Fell To Earth" and "Bad Timing" he built a reputation for being a man who didn't compromise his vision to just pander to mere entertainment. Indeed these 5 movies are his most rewarding and challenging works. With "Eureka" Roeg begins to slip. There are some great Roegian moments in the film and the first half with Gene Hackman is compelling at times but as the film goes on it loses steam and just simply turns into a courtroom drama. From what I've read of Roeg, he likes this film very much and while it is very good in places as a whole it just doesn't have that vision that his previous work had. After this film his choices of material did not match his odd style and seem mostly like vehicles for Theresa Russell(it seems he was a better director BEFORE she came into the scene).