Fierce People |  | Director: Griffin Dunne
Actors: Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Anton Yelchin, Chris Evans, Kristen Stewart
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $0.84
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Seller: airportplacebooks
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 9040
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 19637
UPC: 031398196372
EAN: 0031398196372
ASIN: B000YV1Q2G
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Contrasting the mores of high society with the blunt savagery of primitive tribes FIERCE PEOPLE takes an inside look at the upper classes examining the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of good manners. Sporting a biting wit and featuring charismatic performances from Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland this unflinching drama exposes the trappings of wealth and privilege and their overwhelming power to both seduce and corrupt.Cast: Diane Lane Anton Yelchin Donald Sutherland Kristen Stewart Elizabeth Perkins and Chris EvansDirector: Griffin DunneSpecial Features: "Breaking Down the Tribe" Featurette Director's Commentary Deleted ScenesSystem Requirements:Run Time: 107 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/MELODRAMA Rating: R UPC: 031398196372 Manufacturer No: 19637
Amazon.com
Taking F. Scott Fitzgerald's adage "The very rich are different from you and me" as his guide, actor-director Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic) paints a poisonous portrait of privilege. When coke-addicted masseuse Liz Earl (Diane Lane) hits rock bottom, she calls in a favor with an affluent client. In exchange for her services, Ogden Osborne (Donald Sutherland in a sly performance) welcomes Liz and her 16-year-old son, Finn (Anton Yelchin), to his East Coast estate. Liz stops drinking and drugging, while Finn bonds with Ogden's grandchildren, Bryce (Chris Evans) and Maya (Kristen Stewart). Though his mother starts dating Ogden's physician, Finn remains convinced her services extend beyond the therapeutic. Nonetheless, he grows fond of the sensitive, if controlling billionaire. Finn's own father, an anthropologist, deserted him years ago to study the Ishkanani, i.e. "the fierce people," of South America. When Finn is attacked by a masked figure, his warm feelings towards the Osbornes turn cold. At this point, the film takes a disappointingly conventional turn as Finn tries to determine who abused him--and to initiate some payback. If the basic premise never quite rings true, the director, son of bestselling author Dominick Dunne, carries on family tradition in trying to understand what makes people like Ogden tick (Dirk Wittenborn adapted the screenplay from his novel). Dunne's sympathies may lie with Liz and Finn, but obvious advantages aside, Ogden runs away with the show. He may indeed be "different," but he's also the most fully rounded character in the entire muddled exercise. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 How could it even have been produced?? March 2, 2010
Carol Lachman
This "motion picture" is w/o a doubt one of the very worst that I have ever seen. I never even came close to seeing it through to the end nor will I be afforded that opportunity. The 'how come' for such brutal assessment of finality is that it (the vastly overpriced DVD that I dumbed down and purchased) now deservedly resides in the bottom of some other garbage I am taking out later this evening. The cast contains some rather reasonably distinguished actors so the question arises: how did they manage to lend their names and talent to such mindless and banal trash. It may be simply that actors need to eat and pay the mortgage along with everyone else. Why though do they (cast, director, producer, writer) foist something like this on a naive and unsuspecting audience who, in good faith and, relying upon the reputation of these so - called "stars", give of their time and money {heard yet of the Recession} to enjoy "a movie." Is their collective talent starting to wane; are they really hitting a low point in being offered good roles; cannot their agents do any better for them than this crap? 'Aint professsional guys; you have really lost traction and a huge amount of credibility, at least with this writer. Your name alone will no longer be enough to capture my attention or money, or time. You have insulted me and I am not pleased. Off with you then to join the tribes whose violence cannot do any thing further but swell. Augha nugu sen.
 excellent November 12, 2009
andymydear (Florida, USA)
This movie is not for everybody, no. But I thought the actors, the acting, the plot, the direction; I thought it was all very good, and I very much loved this movie. It's definitely worth the watch, if you have the time.
 Great movie September 20, 2009
Michael Harper (NC)
I saw this movie mainly for Chris Evans, who is shocking as the bad guy that you wouldn't expect. But also it provides great insight into the lives of natives in another land and how we can feel the same way when we enter an environment different form our own. I recommend it if you want to lose yourself in a rather small movie with a big message.
Starts very strong, but degenerates into shlock August 26, 2009
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
This film fails to live up to its potential. In the beginning, you see a vivid portrait of a life unravelling in addiction and emotional neglect. The son, Finn, was planing to work with his father (whose only contact with him is through the films he made) in the Amazon rain forest, with the "fierce people" of the title. Unfortunately, while scoring coke for his mom, he is busted and cannot go. This is a shock to his mother, who decides to turn her life around and become a better mother.
They wind up, improbably, in the massive estate of Osborne, many of whose children and grandchildren have the run of his 10-mile square New Jersey estate. Beyond the mother's sobering up and quitting coke, played wonderfully by Lane, there are some very interesting subplots: Finn develops a wonderfully believable relationship with Osborne, who mentors him in some vital life lessons. Sutherland was never better, as a quirky and warm man who cares and yet is also very tough. Ruler of the roost, he hopes to create a better world somehow, in his private kingdom. Finn also studies his father's films, which provide a wonderful sub-narrative to his observations of the huge family culture he is observing. Finally, he mingles with the locals and to a degree is accepted by them, though remains fully aware that he can never be one of them.
Unfortunately, the film unravels with Finn's relationships with Osborne's grandchildren. He finds a beautiful, sensitive girl of course, and their path is ridiculously predictable, if occasionally poignant. While Kristen Stewart succeeds in evoking some of the psychological trouble that underlies her character, the character is essentially a cute stick figure. Finn also becomes friends with the outgoing though mysterious grandson, whose evolution is also a bit far fetched and laughably melodramatic. Then the plot thickens in a ruinous direction, which I do not want to spoil for others, and ends sentimentally if tragically. If the film had ended 2/3 of the way through, it would easily have gotten 5 stars.
Recommended with these caveats. The acting in my viewing is far better than average, but the script in the end is weak.
Aimless yet exquisite June 13, 2009
Roland
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is easy not to like "Fierce People". For starters, it doesn't know what it wants to be. The first 3/5 are some sort of a "Coming of Age story meets Robert Altman" kind of deal, and then it gets dark, really dark, and turns into a very dark Coming of Age story. The movie is unsure which one it really wishes to be, and none of those themes are fully realized.
And yet the five stars, yes. There are two reasons for this.
The first one is that "Fierce People" doesn't deserve a three-star rating. It deserves at least four.
The second are the leading cast. Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland are superb, even if they don't really have much to play. Anton Yelchin is the true star of the movie and - just like anything else he's been in - he does a wonderful job. His character Finn is smart and naive, lively and contemplative, and also sort of dense. That is, until he is forced to grow up fast and deal with a trauma that could haunt him for life if he lets it. Yelchin has some really tough dramatic moments to pull through, and he is brilliant in them.
There is a certain subtlety in the movie. You can't really say it tries to *tell* you anything, but it is not empty either. This is where the "Robert Altman" part kicks in, and even if "Fierce People" is not on this level, it still manages to speak without saying things outright. It has its flaws, and this lack of clarity is a deffinite one in the end, but it's far from stupid. Like I said at the beginning, the movie is unsure of what it is trying to be, but what it ends up being, is good enough, and the acting is amazing.
If that is enough for you, go ahead.
Oh, and the cover is ridiculous. It makes "Fierce People" look like a romantic comedy. It's not. It's anything but romantic comedy.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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