Cast: Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Griffiths, James Thornton
Director: Sam Miller
Producer: Stephen Garrett
Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy
Cinematography: Witold Stock
Music: Tim Atak
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Perhaps the best way to describe Among Giants is as "Ken Loach Lite." While the film espouses the kind of social causes that Loach is known for championing, it lacks the veteran director's edginess and searing character development. Among Giants is a flat film with little depth - although there's plenty transpiring on the surface, none of the myriad stories (including the main one) evidences any roots. It's a workmanlike project that produces a few nice scenes, but the lack of a credible ending or a sense of closure left me more than slightly dissatisfied.
Among Giants is about a pair of Yorkshiremen, Ray (Pete Postlethwaite) and Steve (James Thornton), two ordinary blokes who enjoy spending time in high places: mountain tops, the roofs of water towers, etc. Their latest job, painting about 250 electrical towers, gives them plenty of opportunity to indulge this fetish. It's grueling work, but it pays well, and, at a time when so many are on the dole, it gives them an opportunity to do a little better than just scrape by. One day, on the way home from work, they meet a good-looking Australian backpacker by the name of Gerry (Rachel Griffiths). Both men are attracted to her, and, when she re-appears the next day at the work site, Ray, the foreman, gives her a job on his crew. For a while, it looks like a relationship might develop between Gerry and Steve, but, in what I suppose is intended to be a surprise development, things instead heat up between Gerry and Ray. When he questions her about why she isn't interested in Steve, she replies, "I've had loads of Steves. It never works out." One wonders why she believes circumstances are likely to be better with Ray, who's about 25 years her senior.
May/December romances are nothing new. For example, rarely are Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, or Robert Redford paired with anyone close to their age. It is worth noting, however, that all three of those actors are recognized sex symbols. Craggy-faced Pete Postlethwaite is not. Nevertheless, because the relationship between Gerry and Ray is allowed to develop slowly, and it isn't the result of a flash of sexual attraction, the attachment doesn't seem as ludicrous in the context of the film as it might to someone reading a summary and imagining a passionate embrace between the two actors. The problem isn't so much the credibility of the relationship as it is the lack of depth accorded to it by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (whose previous effort, The Full Monty, put him on the map).
Aside from the love story, which neither breaks new ground nor effectively treads over familiar territory, the other main theme in Among Giants looks at the difficulties faced by manual laborers in the north of England. The characters in the film are forced to endure 10 hour-plus days in all kinds of weather to accomplish the job. Since they don't have permits, the work has to be done under the table, and it can be difficult getting paid. This is Loach territory, and the banter between the characters is reminiscent of some of the dialogue in Riff Raff and My Name is Joe, but the jabs at the system are half-hearted. Movies like The Full Monty and Brassed Off, both of which were set in the same part of England, brought home the plight of the unemployed. In Among Giants, it's a side issue.
Postlethwaite and Griffiths are both accomplished actors (on separate occasions, each has been nominated for an Academy Award -- he for In the Name of the Father, she for Hilary and Jackie), but, while they're solid in these roles, neither will mark Among Giants as a career highlight. For those interested in a little Full Monty, there's an extremely bizarre scene in which both Postlethwaite and Griffiths are shown fully naked cavorting under streams of water cascading down from cooling towers. This is a perfect example of when nudity can be entirely unerotic. The third main actor, James Thornton, is unconvincing as the headstrong Steve. Part of the problem is undoubtedly that the character isn't well written, but Thornton doesn't do much with what he's given.
As motion picture romances go, this one is far from memorable. Not only is it underwritten, but first-time director Sam Miller and writer Beaufoy, apparently uncertain how to resolve things, resort to a series of obvious contrivances. During the film's final fifteen minutes, individuals do things not because it's in their nature, but because the script demands it of them. With its sketchily drawn characters and unspectacular performances, Among Giants doesn't have enough drama or comedy to make it a worthwhile theatrical experience.
© 1999 James Berardinelli