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Fierce People

It's just fiercely bad

By Geoff Berkshire

September 7, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Teenage Finn (Anton Yelchin, “Alpha Dog”) gets caught stealing drugs for his junkie mom (Diane Lane), which freaks her out enough to make her move them both to the country estate of her filthy rich massage client Mr. Osborne (Donald Sutherland). During that fateful summer Finn falls under the questionable influences of Osborne’s grandchildren Maya (Kristen Stewart, “The Messengers”) and Bryce (Chris Evans, “Fantastic Four”).

Big question: What were they thinking?

Skip it: Osborne is fond of saying “out of bad comes good.” That’s definitely not the case here. Originally filmed in 2004 and shelved for several years, “Fierce People” should’ve gone straight to video. Miscalculated at every level, it’s a vacant drama full of ineptly drawn characters. Things actually get worse after the first hour when a preposterous violent act sends the narrative spinning wildly out of control. Not even talented actors like Lane and Sutherland can make a difference when the material is this bad.

Catch it: For unintentional laughs. Finn’s obsession with the Amazonian Ishkanani tribe (his absent father made a documentary about them) is supposed to translate to the over-privileged world he finds himself in. It only leads to a lot of risible situations, including a particularly bad acid trip and a really creepy love scene with the very young, underwear-clad Yelchin and Stewart rubbing body paint all over each other.

Bottom line: “Fierce People” is the first release from Autonomous Films, a sister company of trashy distributor After Dark Films (“Captivity,” “Skinwalkers”). This drama may be classier than the cheap horror fare, but it’s not really any better.

Bonus: When Osborne tells Finn that a woman from his past “smelled like Creamsicles,” Finn responds “Creamsicles don’t smell.” Pondering that exchange is a lot more interesting than watching the film.

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