WOULD YOU RATHER? PLUS CHRISTOPHER WALKEN IN A LATE QUARTET

At first, WOULD YOU RATHER? Is just like any other SAW derived torture porn film.  The premise, a group of desperate people including the female lead who has a brother with cancer  requiring a bone marrow transplant, are invited to a wealthy benefactor’s house to play a game.  The winner will have all their problems solved (especially expenses).

The game, which is as the title of the movie states, is sadistic and full of increasingly horrible acts.  The invited guests are forced to play.

What made this movie a slightly more interesting watch for me was three things 1.) The always excellent Jeffrey Combs who’d I’d not seen in a movie for awhile as the bad guy a plumb role for an underutilized actor 2.) A nice ending filled with irony and meanness

But the third reason was what I clicked with the most.  The villains here are 1%’ers, the old money wealthy and unlike John Kramer/Jigsaw in SAW they have no pretense to make any of the participants better people.  They are doing this because they are sadists and the film makes just enough of a statement on the connection between the wealthy and this type of perversity for it be the backbone of the film and to redeem any devices that seem cliché for this sub genre of horror film.

In the last decade or so, Christopher Walken’s output has been largely either roles in vehicles for Saturday Night live stars or direct to video indy films.  When he has been in a big budget movie (aside from the SNL vehicles) it’s been as a sort of oddball window dressing, a supporting role as comedy relief.

His phrasing, which he has said comes from growing up  with immigrant parents and in a neighborhood where many languages were spoken and as an ESL teacher I can say that non-natural way of delivery is a result of this, has made him an often imitated figure but he is a good actor and has turned in a number of good to great performances over the years e.g. AT CLOSE RANGE, THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS, KING OF NEW YORK.

Recently he’s started turning up again in quirkier A list films.  Most of these films are forgettable but I was impressed with him in A LATE QUARTET about the conflicts within a string quartet that’s been playing together for years.

As the oldest member facing his own mortality and Parkinson’s disease, Walken turns in a controlled performance measuring dignity and sadness in equal measure.  The film is mediocre-wealthy white people from Manhattan and their problems but Walken is worthwhile.  I hope he takes on more roles that bring this out of him.