26 The Triton
DVD/BOOK REVIEWS
December 2004
What we’re watching, reading In Hollywood movies, kids are cute, precocious and cynical, not to mention clever enough to vanquish bad guys. The children in Italian flick “I’m Not Scared” are different – and more realistic. These kids, who live in a tiny village in southern Italy in the 1970s, are naive and so in awe of their elders that they let their parents’ questionable judgment overrule their own. The star is 10-year-old Michele (Guiseppe Cristiano), a good-hearted boy who discovers his father is partly responsible for kidnapping someone else’s 10-year-old son and holding the child in squalor. Where Macaulay Culkin would hatch a plan for escape, Michele’s response seems truer to life. He comforts the victim as best he can but never considers betraying his father. Director Gabriele Salvatores, best known for “Mediterraneo,” shifts gears effortlessly. “I’m Not Scared” is by turns languid and terrifying, innocent and luridly creepy. The movie is loosely based on a true story, but its tone is more impressionistic than documentary. We see Michele rolling in vast wheat fields and bargaining for a coveted toy. Salvatores’ biggest feat in this compelling film is his accurate portrayal of children just before they lose their innocence. – Jeff Ostrowski
David Baldacci’s thriller “Split Second” (Warner Books, $7.99) centers around the failures of two Secret Service agents on candidate details. In 1996, agent Sean King was distracted for a split second and the result was the assassination of a thirdparty presidential candidate. His career over, King retreated to a small town and a routine law practice. Eight years later, agent Michelle Maxwell makes an error in judgment and the candidate she is guarding is kidnapped. Career in jeopardy and sensing a comrade in King, she seeks his help to rescue the candidate. The fast-paced twists consistently raise the possibility that the recent kidnapping was the final step in a dance begun eight years before. As the pair investigate former campaign staff, service detail and witnesses, the body count increases. The competitive relationship of multiple law enforcement agencies “adjusts” history (from the witness protection program to the protest movements of the 60s and 70s) and complicates the efforts of King and Maxwell. They bend rules and themselves become suspects. Typical of Baldacci, the conclusion of “Split Second” is compelling and neatly wrapped. – Donna Mergenhagen Owner, Well-Read, Ft. Lauderdale