Cawdor (2015)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Cary Elwes, Shelby Young, Michael Welch
Directed by Phil Wurtzel
As I look back over the course of my scholastic career, I can think of many a class that managed to NOT trip me up…gym, study hall, lunch – okay, I wasn’t that bad, but with all of the courses that I’d enrolled in, there was that one that seemed as if the masses were speaking in foreign tongue, leaving me sitting there like a completely clueless, bumbling boob – Shakespearean theory.
Now make no mistake – William Shakespeare was (and still is) one of the greatest playwrights to ever put words into action – and his works have spanned centuries, leaving audiences breathless with each performance of his plays, and giving aficionados of his craft multiple views on his thoughts and meanings of said writings…so, needless to say when I was offered this review, I’ll admit for a few short moments, I felt like that kid back in school, endlessly fumbling through textbooks and Cliff’s notes, trying to make sense of it all. Fortunately for me, Cawdor was markedly easier to follow than the likes of King Lear or The Winter’s Tale, but enough about my academic deficiencies; let’s jump into this film with fists a flying, shall we?
Directed by Phil Wurtzel, the movie spotlights adolescent criminal Vivian (Young), whose recently imposed jail sentence has been lessened for good behavior, and she (among many other wayward souls that have run afoul of the law) is shipped off to a small barn/theater/campground set in the Midwest to complete her sentences, Viv and her cohorts serving as both workhands and performers in a stage performance of Macbeth… interesting choice for felonious rehabilitation, but who am I to judge?
The Cawdor Theater is run by Lawrence O’Neil (Elwes), a stage director who unsuccessfully served his time behind the bright lights of the Broadway frame, and he now gives his all to those who are brought to him in the hopes of enlightening them to Mr. Shakespeare’s life-lessons – his methods are textbook, and he has a temperate passion for the teachings with superstitions intact – at one point, one of the group utters Lady Macbeth’s name on-stage, and she is promptly whisked outside to remove a “curse” that can occur when said name is spoken – this guy doesn’t take his work lightly, that’s for sure.
As the kids struggle with their parts in the production, they also have to compete with a rough-and-tumble assistant (Charlie King), who acts as the parolees’ pseudo drill-instructor – rigorous physical activity and chores aplenty are on the slate for these reconditioning thugs – step out of line, and Charles will PUT you back in line. Together, both Lawrence and Charles run a fairly tight setup, but something feels amiss, like one of them has something to hide – past demons, perhaps?
One night after a stage-read and subsequent cleanup, Vivian finds an old VHS tape containing a performance of Macbeth, and once the images play out on the TV screen, does something evil occur…you just have to wait for it, and wait, and wait – needless to say you’ll be waiting awhile for something to happen, but in the meantime, Vivian begins to become emotionally attached to Roddy (Welch), a local misfit who helps her understand what may (or may not) be behind Mr. O’Neil’s curtain. It takes some time to get there, and there isn’t a whole hell of a lot of scenery to chew on in the meantime, and the payoff is one that could be labeled, “lame?”
When all was said and done, it is the work of Cary Elwes that stands alone here – hapless victim or demented mind, this man can cover all the bases, and it’s a joy to watch him do his thing, but unfortunately his best efforts couldn’t save this sinking ship. What starts as something that could have been a tightly-wound slasher/mystery ended up being a step-by-step manual of misdirection and psychotic episodes leading to an unfulfilling conclusion. While this could potentially serve the bards well, this serf will retire to his quarters and dream of the days when “there is nothing either good or bad” – see, I just quoted Shakespeare… and I thought I didn’t learn anything from that class.
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Film
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