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Director: Rob Cohen (The Rat Pack, Dragon: The Bruce
Lee Story) Rating: PG-13 (language, violence) Length: 107 minutes Rating: The Skulls starts out with an ominous tale of secret societies in Ivy League schools and a factoid that three U.S. Presidents are known to be members. The only two I am aware of are William Howard Taft and George Bush, both of whom are members of "Skull and Bones" at Yale University. This club is the subject of the film, even though they are only known as "The Skulls" and the university remains unnamed but with blue "Y"s appearing everywhere. There's also a rowing race of all Ivy League schools where each is named except Yale. The Skulls is a pretty good suspense thriller, although it uses many cliches and has a rather anti-climatic ending. This is Joshua Jackson's first starring role, and he carries it off well. He's a normal-looking, kinda pudgy guy that looks like he could fit in with normal folks. For a major star, this is refreshing. He plays a poor kid who grew up in New Haven as an orphan. His mother died when he was very young and he never knew who his father was. He's working several jobs and hopes to make it through Harvard Law, but is daunted by the $45,000 per year price tag (and we thought OUR tuition and fees were bad!). He's also best friends with Will (Hill Harper), a journalism major who is becoming a crack investigative reporter. He's especially close to Will and Chloe (Leslie Bibb), yet he can't resist the thought of an entire fraternity of new pals, mostly because of the rumors of the riches bestowed on all members, including a full ride to the graduate program of your choice. Everything seems so easy, including the assignment of a "soul mate", Caleb (Paul Walker), who happens to be the son of a judge (Craig T. Nelson) who also is a prominent member of The Skulls and has his sights set on an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. When Luke meets a Virginia U.S. Senator (William T. Petersen), also a Skulls member, he seems to have found a mentor and father figure. Then, of course, it all goes awry. Paul Walker seems to be stuck in the role of the Dumb Jock, as this is the third movie of his where he plays a dimwitted athlete. He played the clueless basketball player in Pleasantville and a sidelined football player in Varsity Blues. In this movie, this physique is more prominently displayed and should provide the ladies with a visual treat of a "ripped" body. Unfortunately, there is no such eye candy available to the men. While Leslie Bibb as Chloe is quite attractive, she doesn't show a lick of flesh, not even in the shower scene. Craig T. Nelson once again shows his acting range in a role that, while poorly written, is well executed. The ending of the movie is anti-climatic in a way and you can pretty much guess what will happen once the ending is revealed. The plot device used is pretty original for a modern-day thriller, though. Yet, the movie ends on a surprise that is just left out there, dangling. What happens to the characters involved in the finale that lived? Was Luke's (Jackson) father revealed in the final shot or not? It's not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon. You won't leave the theatre disappointed, but you won't leave it thrilled either. It's mindless, yet good entertainment. It does make you wonder about those super-elite secret societies in the Ivy League, though. It's an especially timely question as George W. Bush, like his father before him (riding on Daddy's coattails again; surprise, surprise!), is a member of the very society mentioned in the title, Skull and Bones at Yale University. Maybe that's what happened to John McCain…. |
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(out
of 5)