# Skulls, The (2000)

### reviewed by
Shannon Patrick Sullivan

    THE SKULLS (2000) / * 1/2

Directed by Rob Cohen. Screenplay by John Pogue. Starring Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Craig T Nelson. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated AA (MFCB). Reviewed on April 2nd, 2000.

    By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN

I'd be hard-pressed to name a movie more average than "The Skulls".=20 Scripting, acting, direction -- none of them are bad, exactly, but none=20 of them manage to impress much, either. This is the sort of movie where, if you're paying any sort of attention, you can easily predict the plot twists (to use the term loosely) before the first five minutes are up... and probably come up with better ones, too. "The Skulls" is utterly lacking in spark or invention, barely enjoyable as a mindless popcorn movie.

"The Skulls" is inspired by Skull and Bones, a real Yale "secret" society. This movie, too, takes place at Yale, though in one of several bizarre decisions by screenwriter John Pogue, the university is never named -- despite the abundance of the letter 'Y', the name of the school sports team, and other signs which should make the setting obvious. Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) is a "townie" who has built himself up from meagre roots. Now he's a scholarship student and the star of the school rowing team, and has attracted the attention of the Skulls.

Inducted into the secret society, Luke is paired with Caleb Mandrake=20 (Paul Walker); the two become "soulmates", intended to watch each other's= =20 back. Caleb's father, Supreme Court hopeful Judge Litten Mandrake (Craig T Nelson) is the chairman of the Skulls, but their relationship is strained over Caleb's indecision about his future. At first, life as a Skull seems grand: Luke is given money, a car, women. But his newfound status -- and the all-pervasive secrecy of the Skulls -- begins to cause tension between him and his best friends Will (Hill Harper) and Chloe (Leslie Bibb).

To make matters worse, Will is covertly working on an expose of the=20 Skulls. This leads to a confrontation with Caleb and Will's death, which the Skulls make to look like a suicide. Luke decides to betray his benefactors and tell the police what he knows, but soon discovers that the Skulls' power truly is as far-reaching as they claim.

Despite starting from a promising premise, the script for "The Skulls"=20 leaves much to be desired. Having come up with the basis for the movie, it appears Pogue was content to write the rest of it with his brain stuck in neutral. Usually, a conspiracy film at least hands its audience a few unexpected twists to keep the suspense high, but even that is lacking here. There is a feeling of inevitability surrounding the proceedings, an unfortunate sense that we've seen all this before -- and often done=20 better.

But the movie's biggest problem is its conception of the Skulls itself. Although they are obviously supposed to appear powerful and fearsome (right from the start, we're told three Presidents have been Skulls and the CIA owes its origins to them), the members instead come across as a bunch of squabbling, scheming incompetents. I find it difficult to believe that a society could remain so secret and so successful for two centuries with its membership stabbing one another in the back at every opportunity.

But wait, there's another problem: just how "secret" are the Skulls anyhow? Everyone on campus has heard of them, which isn't surprising given that they advertise with a bloody great symbol on the roof of their building. The night they induct new recruits is common knowledge, and each member has a skull branded into his arm for all to see. (The movie dubiously has the recruits don wristwatches afterward, as if this will cover up the brand forevermore.) Their videotape records are cleverly hidden in a secret room behind a bookcase in the campus library, accessed by moving a certain book. This would be a foolproof scheme, I guess, if it hadn't also appeared in about two hundred episodes of "Scooby Doo". Even the Skulls' attempt to cover up Will's death are hamfisted. He has smacked his head off the floor, so they make it look as if he hanged himself; wouldn't it be a lot more convincing to just throw him off a building?

One good thing about "The Skulls" is that, in addition to main star Jackson, a very good, action-oriented role is provided for Bibb as well.=20 To feature a woman who isn't entirely helpless is a rarity enough for the genre; to feature one whose deeds are so pivotal to the outcome is unusual indeed. Although wooden in places, Bibb does a capable job in a=20 commendable role, and it is only unfortunate that her contribution does not extend to the movie's lackluster climax.

Jackson, although not a prototypical action hero in appearance, isn't bad here either. He does a good job of portraying Luke as a man torn between two worlds: not just between the Skulls and his friends, but between his "misspent youth" and current Ivy League life as well. Sadly, his and Bibb's chemistry leaves something to be desired; a sex scene, for example, feels token and unnatural.

The rest of the cast is less impressive. Walker is given a lot of potential as Caleb, but doesn't really run with it, turning in a performance that is passable at best. Harper is vapid, albeit in a transparently scripted, purely functional role. William Petersen, as Senator Ames Levritt (who may or may not be Luke's only ally in the Skulls) appears to be doing his best Bill Clinton impersonation throughout. And Craig T Nelson is hard to take seriously in a dull and cliched part, especially given that he seems to have borrowed Patrick Stewart's mustache from "Masterminds".

Given that it boasts an intriguing premise and a couple of good young castmembers, "The Skulls" could have been much better. As it is, this is a mostly forgettable exercise in the paucity of the creative process. The teenage market, at which this film is obviously aimed, has endured movies much worse than this one. But it deserves better than "The Skulls", too.

Copyright =A9 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/TheSkulls.html

      _______________________________________________________________________
     / Shannon Patrick Sullivan  | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \
    |                            |  are looking at the stars."                |
     \ shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca |                            -- Oscar Wilde /

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