Acclaimed graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi directs Ryan Reynolds in what critics are saying to be the best performance yet of his career in “The Voices” that also stars Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick.
The story opens on Jerry’s (Reynolds) early days at his new job. Mesmerized by the ballet-like trajectory of pink forklifts amongst the bustling computer-controlled assembly lines at Milton Fixture and Faucet’s modern factory, he wears pink overalls and heavy gloves, and is proud of his work. At home, he is not the brightly clad guy as he is perceived to be and talks to his pets – a dog and a cat that Jerry believes are talking back to him.
Further in the story, Jerry asks for a date with his office crush, Fiona (Arterton), but she is not really that into him and stands him up. “At first Fiona thinks that he is just this kind of strange, sweet guy but, after they dance together at the office party, Jerry is a little bit too friendly and she starts to avoid him in the office,” explains Gemma Arterton. Car trouble strands Fiona on that rainy night when she stood him up and a truck pulls over when she raises her hand for a ride. She pounds on the window and Jerry is startled to see Fiona, an angel from heaven, a sign their love was meant to be! In the midst of their conversation Jerry accidentally hits a deer,” continues Arterton. “To put it out of its misery, he kills the deer in front of Fiona’s horrified face which sends her running into the woods. Jerry chases her, accidently stabs her, and the rest of the film is my talking head in Jerry’s fridge! The relationship really becomes his fantasy of Fiona, which is lovely and sweet and funny.”
Director Marjane Satrapi typically only works on pieces she has written, but “I just couldn’t put the script down,” she recalls. “I thought that it was an extremely ambiguous, very unique story. This crazy world of Jerry’s was one of the best descriptions of schizophrenia that I ever read. I don’t like so much to film reality because I live in reality. I prefer, when I have the opportunity, to create a whole world around something.”
Satrapi known for her acclaimed “Persepolis” graphic novel tells the story of Satrapi’s youth in Iran in the 1970s and 80s, of living through the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq. It is a book about childhood, a childhood at once outrageous and ordinary—beset by the unthinkable, but buffered by an extraordinary and loving family. The book was published in four volumes in France, where it met with enormous critical acclaim and won several prestigious awards: Prix Alph’art Coup de Coeur at Angoulême, Prix du Lion in Belgium, Prix Alph’art du meilleur scénario, and the Prix France Info. Her work was also named as one of the 100 Best Books of the Decade by The Times (London).
Satrapi works with a script by Michael Perry who has collaborated with some of the most talented and demanding luminaries of the small screen, including David Milch, Chris Carter, David Kelley, David Shore, Sam Raimi, and Dick Wolf. Perry was awarded an Emmy for co-writing an episode of NYPD BLUE, and has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award three times, winning Best Television Episode for his writing on LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit.
“The Voices” opens June 3 exclusive at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide. Log on to www.sureseats.com for schedule and reserve tickets.
