The Flock - Review
A beautiful 17-year old girl is abducted in America's Mid-West and soon it’s a race against time to save her from her captors. This is the set-up to the Richard Gere vehicle, The Flock (Wai-keung Lau, 2007). Though trammelling well-worn ground, The Flock makes several interesting diversions to separate it from the pack. Visually it is reminiscent of the kinetically directed Se7en (David Fincher, 1995). Thematically it recalls Silence of the Lambs (Jonathon Demme, 1991) with its focus on the quest to retrieve a kidnap victim from a psychotic abductor. Unlike both Silence of the Lambs and Se7en, the psychosis explored in The Flock is not serial killing but rather sexual crime and the personnel of the Department of Public Safety who are entrusted to monitor the offenders. This novel take on the crime genre was also a concern of Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone (2007). Like that film, The Flock carries with it disturbing images and ideas which provide the material an added impetus, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
The Flock has a narrative style reminiscent of the ubiquitous C.S.I.-type television series. The story details a criminal investigation of an abducted minor, exploring the underworld that holds the clues to discovering the child's whereabouts. The Flock also employs a familiar rookie/retiree formula in which a tired old investigator is paired with a naïve newcomer charged with solving the crime. In this instance, however, the formula has a twist and it is the retiree who is the loose cannon. Erroll Babbage (Richard Gere) has been in the business of keeping tabs on a range of sex offenders for almost twenty years. It is clear that the job has taken its toll and Babbage is now obsessed with his duties. Babbage is excessive in his current practices, often crossing the line of professional decorum when visiting his sex offenders. His hyper-vigilant attitude explains in part his forced "retirement". He is coupled with Allison Lowry (Claire Danes), a compassionate recruit who finds Babbage's methods highly unorthodox. When Babbage learns that a young woman has been abducted in the region in which most of his sex offenders reside he becomes convinced that one of them must be tied up in the affair. Battling his superiors, his new partner, and himself, he sets out on an obsessive quest to find the kidnapped girl.
The first question that The Flock offers-up is to whom does the title refer? There is enough uncertainty in Erroll Babbage's character to suggest that the flock could be the offenders he monitors, or the (potentially) abused victims he wishes to protect. Babbage seems obsessive about both groups of people and fanatical about his duty as "the shepherd". It is refreshing to see Gere in this role embracing the ambiguity of his anti-hero character. His presence throughout the film promotes a sense of unease that blends superbly with the grimy material. Claire Danes, on the other hand, seems out of place. Danes's role as the rookie is severely under-written. Her character, Lowry, is merely a Greek-chorus, announcing aloud what the viewer is thinking. She is the one responsible for asking all the necessary questions to keep the investigation flowing and lucid. Much of her dialogue is framed by phrases that begins with "Do you think..." or "Does it seem...". After awhile, and through no fault of Danes, her character becomes tiresome and intrusive. The film is at its best when it is exploring the complex character of Babbage and his ambiguous relationship with the sex offenders with whom he is in close contact.
The Flock is a character-based drama, though filmmaker Lau is keen to imprint his own pyrotechnical stamp on the film. Lau was responsible for the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) which was remade in the States by Martin Scorsese as The Departed (2006). Lau's directorial style is typical of Hong Kong action films, replete with visual effects, jump cuts, mis-matched sound and imagery, and a washed-out visual design. The Flock takes on the appearance of a music video clip at times as Lau amplifies the material with all manner of cinematic techniques. The frantic approach gives the film a compulsive momentum that suits the intensity of an investigation where time is crucial to success. This theme is reinforced by the musical score, with its incessant violins capturing the mania of the protagonist and the madness of his quarry. On occasions the film gets bogged down by glorying over the perversions of its characters, apparently attempting to shock the audience. Yet, when it is focussing on the suspenseful investigation and the pressures of related to the search, The Flock is typically compelling.
Given the complexity of the abnormal behaviour being explored one would expect that ultimately there is no explanation that could satisfy completely. Unfortunately, like a C.S.I. episode, the film leaves no loose threads applying a far-too-convenient resolution. Much of the complexity of the film is reserved for Babbage and this is where The Flock is at its most interesting. Gere's performance makes up for the pat narrative, his characterisation is compelling from the first scene to the last. And it is telling that when all is said and done, you still don't know whether he is a hero or a villain.
Claire Danes looking surprised at Gere's ability to act
The Flock has a narrative style reminiscent of the ubiquitous C.S.I.-type television series. The story details a criminal investigation of an abducted minor, exploring the underworld that holds the clues to discovering the child's whereabouts. The Flock also employs a familiar rookie/retiree formula in which a tired old investigator is paired with a naïve newcomer charged with solving the crime. In this instance, however, the formula has a twist and it is the retiree who is the loose cannon. Erroll Babbage (Richard Gere) has been in the business of keeping tabs on a range of sex offenders for almost twenty years. It is clear that the job has taken its toll and Babbage is now obsessed with his duties. Babbage is excessive in his current practices, often crossing the line of professional decorum when visiting his sex offenders. His hyper-vigilant attitude explains in part his forced "retirement". He is coupled with Allison Lowry (Claire Danes), a compassionate recruit who finds Babbage's methods highly unorthodox. When Babbage learns that a young woman has been abducted in the region in which most of his sex offenders reside he becomes convinced that one of them must be tied up in the affair. Battling his superiors, his new partner, and himself, he sets out on an obsessive quest to find the kidnapped girl.
The first question that The Flock offers-up is to whom does the title refer? There is enough uncertainty in Erroll Babbage's character to suggest that the flock could be the offenders he monitors, or the (potentially) abused victims he wishes to protect. Babbage seems obsessive about both groups of people and fanatical about his duty as "the shepherd". It is refreshing to see Gere in this role embracing the ambiguity of his anti-hero character. His presence throughout the film promotes a sense of unease that blends superbly with the grimy material. Claire Danes, on the other hand, seems out of place. Danes's role as the rookie is severely under-written. Her character, Lowry, is merely a Greek-chorus, announcing aloud what the viewer is thinking. She is the one responsible for asking all the necessary questions to keep the investigation flowing and lucid. Much of her dialogue is framed by phrases that begins with "Do you think..." or "Does it seem...". After awhile, and through no fault of Danes, her character becomes tiresome and intrusive. The film is at its best when it is exploring the complex character of Babbage and his ambiguous relationship with the sex offenders with whom he is in close contact.
The Flock is a character-based drama, though filmmaker Lau is keen to imprint his own pyrotechnical stamp on the film. Lau was responsible for the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) which was remade in the States by Martin Scorsese as The Departed (2006). Lau's directorial style is typical of Hong Kong action films, replete with visual effects, jump cuts, mis-matched sound and imagery, and a washed-out visual design. The Flock takes on the appearance of a music video clip at times as Lau amplifies the material with all manner of cinematic techniques. The frantic approach gives the film a compulsive momentum that suits the intensity of an investigation where time is crucial to success. This theme is reinforced by the musical score, with its incessant violins capturing the mania of the protagonist and the madness of his quarry. On occasions the film gets bogged down by glorying over the perversions of its characters, apparently attempting to shock the audience. Yet, when it is focussing on the suspenseful investigation and the pressures of related to the search, The Flock is typically compelling.
Given the complexity of the abnormal behaviour being explored one would expect that ultimately there is no explanation that could satisfy completely. Unfortunately, like a C.S.I. episode, the film leaves no loose threads applying a far-too-convenient resolution. Much of the complexity of the film is reserved for Babbage and this is where The Flock is at its most interesting. Gere's performance makes up for the pat narrative, his characterisation is compelling from the first scene to the last. And it is telling that when all is said and done, you still don't know whether he is a hero or a villain.
