Plot: Based loosely on the autobiographical book of the same name, 1985's Out of Africa follows the exploits of Danish Baroness Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) in Kenya from 1914 to 1931. The relationship between European settlers and the natives of Kenya, the struggles of Karen to create a successful coffee farm, and Karen's torrid love affair with big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) are all major focal points in the film.
Review: I first saw Out of Africa in my Introduction to Sociology class in 1998. My mother and father had always spoken highly of the film and by most critics accounts it was a grand sweeping epic. The critics in this case were correct. Out of Africa was an epic.
An epically bad film.
Maudlin, self-indulgent, long, and mind numbingly boring, Out of Africa was one of the most painful movie experiences I've ever had. I've watched episodes of Antiques Roadshow that were more compelling than this film.
There are several problems with Out of Africa right from the get go. The first and most significant is the pacing. If you're planning on ever watching this movie you better down a six pack of Red Bull because you're going to need it. Speed this a'int. It's more like "Hey Out of Africa the tortoise called and he wants you to speed up!" We're forced to endure endless shots of the African countryside which while breathtaking are also exhausting and tedious. Don't get me wrong, the cinematography is beautiful and David Watkin deserved the Academy Award, but for the love of God this is supposed to be a drama, not an episode of Meercat Manor. Someone should have told director Sydney Pollack (who won the Academy Award for this film by the way) that if he wanted his audience to watch a 161 minute movie about Africa that they should have waited ten years and seen Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls twice.
It would be even worse if the awful pacing detracted from a compelling story but Out of Africa doesn't even have that to fall back on. The plot is virtually non-existent fleeting from one scene to the next with no sense of coherency. And let us not forget the acting. While I consider Meryl Streep to be one of the finest actresses who ever lived (she so got jobbed for the Academy Award last year losing to Sandra Bullock) her performance is painful to behold in this film. It's not so much that Streep's acting is bad, it's just that her character is so boring. How is anyone supposed to relate to a rich white baroness from Denmark who has a bad marriage. A bad marriage huh? You and about a gazillion other people sweetheart. (Not me though. My wife is wonderful :) ) To make matters worse Redford's acting is equally bland. Karen's love affair with Hatton (Redford) is so meandering and devoid of passion that you'd probably get better sparks between Janet Reno and James Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) from The Remains of the Day. I found myself cheering when Karen contracted syphilis and Hatton died in a plane crash. They were the two most rewarding and exciting things to come out of Out of Africa.
A common, and I think valid, complaint among moviegoers and critics alike is that today's films focus too much on spectacle and not story. Out of Africa proves that a movie doesn't have to have aliens or large explosions to be more about spectacle than story. Sometimes all you need are shots of endless African plains. And even though Out of Africa won best picture in 1985 it proves that members of the Academy can also be wrong.
My suggestion is to only watch Out of Africa if you need to go out of consciousness and into a coma.
My rating: 4/10
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