TEN HUNDRED KINGS

D: D.W. Maze; with Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, Malachy McCourt.

The meaning of the title eludes me; in fact, I suggest the alternate moniker, 10 Hundred Issues. The story of a blind woman and her crumbling marriage, 10 Hundred Kings is a “problem” movie: problems with drugs, emotional inaccessibility, the premature death of a child, the dissolution of the family, disability discrimination, and dreams deferred. It’s well-meaning, and might have succeeded had its plate not been quite so full. But as is, Ten Hundred Kings gets bogged down in its own heavy-handedness, and the performances just aren’t good enough to save it. Everyone’s vaguely detached, never displaying enough charisma or complexity to really reel us in. This is weighty, emotionally exhaustive material that should be like a buckshot to the gut (you don’t get much more traumatizing than a child’s death), and it’s ably written by Maze, who also directed. But, disappointingly, the cast simply can’t rise to the occasion, or to the caliber of the script. Less of an issue-laden agenda and a more capable cast and this might have been 10 Hundred Reasons to Sing This Movie’s Praises.

This article appears in October 20 • 2000.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...