Film Review: Ed Norton, Robert De Niro Misfire in Pretentious ‘Stone’

Submitted by BrianTT on October 15, 2010 - 1:04pm

CHICAGO – Ed Norton and Robert De Niro used to be two of the most consistent actors alive, both with streaks of amazing, Oscar-nominated films that guarantee them places in the history books. Sadly, their reunion in the overcooked “Stone” presents merely a shadow of what these talented stars used to deliver.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

John Curran’s film, which opened the 46th Chicago International Film Festival last week, starts as a pretty-traditional thriller, a borderline noir that promises something not unlike modern noirs in the way they present a femme fatale taking down a family man. It’s criticism not spoiler to say that “Stone” is not that movie. It is not a film of twists and turns; double-crosses and revelations.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Stone” in our reviews section.

In fact, “Stone” looks like it’s going one way and slowly turns to go another. While I absolutely admire the willingness to defy expectations and play with genre conventions, “Stone” proves that if you’re going to do something different than you need to do something. “Stone” starts interesting, gets better, and then simply sits there until it ends with a whimper instead of a much-needed bang.

The title refers to the nickname of Gerald Creeson (Edward Norton), a man up for parole and desperate to get out for a couple of reasons: One, he seems honestly ready to start his life over again and, two, any heterosexual male would want to get back to his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) as quickly as conceivably possible. Stone pulls Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) as his parole officer, a bitter, angry man who seems beaten down by a life spent listening almost solely to religious radio and moments of silence with a wife (Frances Conroy) who we know has been miserable for decades.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Stone” review.

‘Stone’ stars Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, Milla Jovovich, and Frances Conroy. It was written by Angus MacLachlan and directed by John Curran. It opens on October 15th, 2010. It is rated R.