I’ve never read Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling novel The Host, but after watching writer/director Andrew Niccol’s uneven adaptation, I can admit that underneath Meyer’s typical view of unrequited-love-as-a-saving-grace is a rather fascinating story. Believe me, I wasn’t expecting much from a film based off a novel associated with the author of The Twilight Saga, but The Host surprisingly does science fiction justice since it knows at the core of any great piece of sci-fi – be it Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Blade Runner – is a human story, one with realistic emotions that combat sleek, futuristic worlds with startling advances in technology. Of course, The Host is nowhere near an accomplished work of science-fiction, but in its story of a world where alien “souls” invade, control, and live in human bodies, it gets at a complex age old question that still proves mentally stimulating – what motivates our desires? Is it power or love? Glory or happiness?
For the Seeker (a calculatingly cold Diane Kruger), power is motivation as she spends her days trying to rid Earth of its remaining resistance groups, humans who pose a threat to the alien’s plan of making our planet their latest home. Yet for the Wanderer, a soul new to Earth, love and happiness become the driving force in trying to stop the Seeker’s hostile take over of Earth, mainly because the Wanderer fails to take full control of her host, resistance member Melanie Strider (Saoirse Ronan). As a result, Melanie’s consciousness remains alive, trapped in her body but able to communicate mentally with Wanda, as the Wanderer eventually becomes known as, and as Melanie fills Wanda’s mind with memories of Jared (Max Irons), the soul begins to understand passion and love and gain feelings of her own for Ian O’Shea (Jake Abel), another member of the resistance. What occurs is the most bizarre love rectangle in cinematic history – four people but three bodies – but one that provides some humorous moments and interesting dilemmas for our main characters. How are Wanda and Ian supposed to get it on when Melanie is trapped inside and yearning for Jared? Yes, this is clearly Stephanie Meyer territory.
Unfortunately, any redeeming idea The Host presents is utterly squandered by what has to be one of the most horrendously clumsy screenplays ever written. I try never to break out extremely negative words unless they are absolutely necessary, but atrocious seems fitting for a screenplay that turns a semi-interesting concept into an unintentional comedy. The interplay between Melanie and Wanda probably worked effectively in the book, but on screen it is awkwardly hilarious and jarring as we constantly hear Melanie shout out inner thoughts through frantic narration. Saoirse Ronan, Oscar-nominated at age 12 for her supporting turn in Atonement, is a fine young actress, perfectly displaying Wanda’s journey from cold alien to affectionate ally; she even gets an Anne Hathaway moment – her face locked in an extreme close-up during a moment of great emotion – during the film’s climax and, for the most part, she handles it rather well, giving the film a rare moment of heart-wrenching sadness. And yet, the screenplay forces Ronan to shout ridiculous sentences as Melanie’s consciousness (“You can’t do this!”, “This is murder!!”, “Sleep with me”) and go through some pretty hilarious moments, such as walking through the desert with heels on that make her look like a drunken twenty-something stumbling out of a night club at 4am.
This mess of a screenplay does similar things to the entire movie. Diane Kruger, so sly and seductive in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, is wasted as the Seeker since the story gives her little to do but make threats and laughably comment on how Earth is such a different planet from the ones she has visited before (in a moment of hilarious uproar, the Seeker stands across a huge landscape, crumbles dust in her hand, and states, “This planet is large”). Much like Billy Burke in the Twilight movies, William Hurt does some nice understated work as Uncle Jeb, the leader of the resistance group who everyone thinks is crazy but is, naturally, the kindest and clearest-eyed of them all. While Max Irons and Jake Abel are much better actors than Taylor Lautner, the screenplay gives them little do but pine for their respective loves and look handsome. Suspiciously, all of the last remaining human males are good-looking guys, which weirdly brings out Meyer’s obsession with handsome youths. Or maybe the “souls” just decided to occupy all the ugly males, which could certainly be a possibility too.
Niccol, who has done both great science fiction (Gattaca) and middling science fiction (In Time), shoots the film effectively, beautifully capturing the wide-open deserts that give the film a futuristic western feel, but fails abysmally with the screenplay, which not only lets the characters down but also drops the ball with the entire story as well. In a world where the “souls” drive shiny silver cars, why are the humans driving large trucks that stand out? Why are people driving over the speed limit when they know the aliens will notice? Some moments of this film – such as a mission to get some medicine – crackle with suspense, but most falter due to an insurmountable amount of questions and an ending that comes out of nowhere and does nothing but set up the sequel that Meyer is currently writing. Way to self-promote!
Since I saw the film for free, The Host was entertainingly bad, a movie where the entire audience was gleeful because the screenplay never stopped amazing us with its horrible one-liners and over-the-top speeches. Many times, my friend who I brought along to the screening and myself looked at each other and laughed harder than we have in any recent comedy, so that’s got to be worth something right? The Host is a fascinating idea but a clumsy, clumsy movie. I think it’s time Meyer stick with her day job.
3/10
Review by Zack Sharf
Reel Reactions 