neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Reckoning
	Paul McGuigan Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox, Vincent Cassel, Gina McKee, Ewen Bremner 2004		With its focus on a traveling theater group in a stark medieval setting, "The Reckoning" is as unlikely a whodunit as any on film. It's a gripping journey into Dark Ages politics and jurisprudence, enhanced by a crackling cast that includes Paul Bettany ("A Beautiful Mind"), Willem Dafoe ("Spider-Man"), Brian Cox ("X2: X-Men United") and Vincent Cassel ("Irréversible"), and neatly directed by Paul McGuigan ("Gangster No. 1"). Nicholas (Bettany) is a priest on the run, burdened by a secret. Coming upon a band of actors, he learns that the ensemble goes from town to town and performs sacred plays to earn a meager living. They're short a player, and troupe leader Martin (Dafoe) allows Nicholas to join up, to the chagrin of elder thespian Tobias (Cox). But their very next stop, an insular community controlled by an arrogant lord, brings them into the middle of a criminal case and a potential miscarriage of justice. A deaf mute woman is accused of killing a young boy. She's sentenced to death, but the charges seem extreme. Motivated by conscience, curiosity and the entreaties of the guilt-ridden Nicholas, Martin decides to research and perform a topical play about the murder, despite possibly revealing information that might contradict the prosecution. Theater has seldom seemed as risky and noble as it does in "The Reckoning."