'Corelli' roles ill fit for Cage and Cruz

Universal Pictures

In ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,’ Penelope Cruz plays Pelagia, a Greek woman who falls in love with an officer (Nicolas Cage) who is part of the Italian armed forces that have invaded her island homeland.

How unfortunate that such a flowing story as "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is derailed by poor dialect coaching, or perhaps, bad casting.
   Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz - two actors not known for their abilities as much as their good looks - star in the new film (playing at Century and Tinseltown). Sure, they're nice on the eyes, but starring roles in a foreign (to both actors) period piece is beyond both of their capabilities.
   Cruz's Pelagia is abandoned on her native Grecian island by her fiancée when the Italians invade Greece amidst World War II. When the Italians infiltrate the island, Captain Corelli (Cage) is assigned to live with Pelagia and her doctor father (John Hurt).
   Corelli isn't much of a soldier; so far he's a war rookie only on peacekeeping missions. He and his crew enjoy their days on the beach singing arias and their nights in the town square, with Corelli entertaining on his mandolin.
   Pelagia is a prudent woman who's learned her father's trade of medicine, but she still has much to learn and gives her heart away too early. With her illiterate fiancée away fighting and unable to reply to her letters, she falls for Corelli's Italian charms and ardor.
   Meanwhile, the Germans, supposedly the Italians' allies in the war, are filing in and taking over the island. The German officers are preaching unity, but their later actions prove them to be liars.
   Cockeyed casting

Universal Pictures

Nicolas Cage’s Italian accent is a bit off in ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,’ but the story is good.

   Upon first hearing about the film, one bit rang a bell: Nicolas Cage as a charismatic Italian WWII officer. In "Moonstruck," which was set in an Italian-American community, Cage was irresistible and thoroughly owned the role. But here he does little but fumble over the accent and overact with forced hand gestures.
   Although everyone around her uses consistent Greek accents - including the most impressive Hurt, who supports the film with his calculated performance - Cruz's voice awkwardly remains as it always is: seductively Latin.
   Acting inconsistencies aside, the story is worth being told. It's a side of WWII that isn't often seen, and the story and the scenery warrant "Corelli's" being shot. If only Cage wasn't Corelli.
  
  

---

  © 2000 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.