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Fierce People

Poor city-kid meet plain ridiculous

By JENNY HALPER | September 19, 2007

1.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Fierce People.

Griffin Dunne’s 2005 film is like The Great Gatsby with Jay as an old coot whose grandchildren attack the help with spears. Teenage Finn (Anton Yelchin) takes a cab to the sprawling estate of Ogden Osborne (Donald Sutherland), where his coke-addict mom (Diane Lane) has been hired as a masseuse. Soon she shakes the habit (it was that easy?), and he falls into puppy-eyed love with Osborne’s granddaughter (Kristen Stewart). It’s a vivid playpen for the smart-alecky — and poor — city kid, but he soon learns that wealth isn’t all face paint and hot-air balloons. Didn’t we know that already? Dunne mixes in a sour-tasting rape and tops it off with tattoo’d names and meaningless sex. Despite a starry ensemble including Elizabeth Perkins (her Weeds character but with witless dialogue), the first half is dull. The second half is plain ridiculous, and a subplot involving the vicious Ishkanani tribe (hence the title) doesn’t help.

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Topics: Reviews , Griffin Dunne, Donald Sutherland, Anton Yelchin, More

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