It’s nice to see a movie taking a chance. Unfortunately this set piece makes the wrong gambit: casting ugly John Turturro as the object of a beautiful woman’s affection.
LD chronicles the life of Alexander Luzhin, an early 20th century Russkie chess prodigy who is clearly an idiot savant. The movie takes place at a resort in Italy with flashbacks into Alexander’s childhood, though his childhood scenes, while with some family drawbacks (such as his Dad fucking his aunt), doesn’t seem to have been all that bad, offering little clue to his condition.
While at the tournament, Luzhin SOMEHOW inexplicably catches the eye of Natalia, played by the very cute Emily Watson. I guess the idea is Natalia likes the frumpy Luzhin because he is simple, and a celebrity, but really, I never seem to get the attraction. Frankly the guy is a jerkoff. The whole movie he seems to be on a different planet always thinking about his chess game and this woman just can’t see that he is a freak. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t mean or nasty and is totally harmless, and obviously he has a problem (explained in the movie as an “addiction” to chess- perhaps autism was not understood back then) but the whole movie you keep saying “huh?”.
And this is what kills the “Luzhin Defence”. The entire premise seems to be the pretty girl falls in love with the strange guy and she is the only one that understands him. But Turturro is so repulsive and greasy, with so few truly redeeming qualities, that when Natalia’s mother objects, instead of coming across as the evil bitch mother in law, you actually agree!!
There’s a love scene between the two (Luzhin and Emily, not Emily and the mother!) where instead of being beautiful or stimulating, I actually get repulsed at the thought of this sweet little angel being deflowered by this weirdo.
The problem comes down to two things: Turturro is great in the role, and you buy him as a nutcase, but when you add the romantic angle, he is horribly miscast. Not that they were available, but I picture Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp in the role, because you could at least see a woman seeing past their quirks because of their looks.
Or if the script would have been better written, Turturro could have raised above his looks and his character and be allowed to show more glimpses of his love for this woman, or at least SOMETHING redeeming. But it just doesn’t get across. Doesn’t this woman realize this guy will never change???
There’s also a few other annoying things about this film. Amazingly, despite characters being from Russia, Italy and France, EVERYONE speaks nearly flawless English. Second, the character of Valentinov, played I think by Stuart Wilson, is way too evil and nasty as Alexander’s former mentor. I also hate how Alexander NEVER seems to fight back against him either. He’s a total puss.
One positive I will give is the costume design. Watson is dressed up in some of the most beautiful dresses you’ll see anywhere on film, including a wedding dress that is an absolute knockout.
Which begs the question: why waste such a dress on this creep?