The Fall (2006)

Directed by Tarsem Singh
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Starz)

Stunning location photography is the highlight of this international film, from the Taj Mahal in India to sacred sites in Bali, Italy and South America. Unfortunately, somebody forgot to give it a compelling story. There is a cute little kid in a Los Angeles hospital, nursing a broken arm she got while picking oranges on the local immigrant farm. Also in the hospital is Lee Pace, a suicidal stunt man in the early days of Hollywood. They strike up an unusual friendship. She shows up at his bed and he spins a story about a group of men seeking revenge on a cruel dictator. The story is made up of characters refashioned from the hospital environment. Since it's more or less made up as it goes along, it's often a free-form, confusing narrative. Eventually Roy, the storyteller, convinces the girl to steal some morphine so he can commit suicide. The story-within-a-story takes a similar turn for the violent and morose, until eventually the lines between fiction and reality blur.