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Original Sin (2001)

Like most people, I'm watching this one for the Angelia Jolie/Antonio Banderas pairing, but as I stroll through the reviews, I noticed that one person mentioned this is a remake of Mississippi Mermaid (1969) -- aka La sirène du Mississipi. So yeah, I'm going to have to watch that one to see if the story is better told in the original. 

For this remake, I like the story, although I'm not always sure about the plot or the backstory. First, Luis (Antonio Banderas) advertises for a mail-order bride, but he lies about his wealth, claiming to be a clerk, not an owner, of a coffee plantation. He wasn't looking for someone who looked like Angelina Jolie. He was content with a woman who was plain, kind, and had good breeding hips. He doesn't believe in love, but he does believe in a long, stable marriage. 

Julia (Angelina Jolie) also lies. She wasn't the woman who responded to his ad. How did she know Luis was rich? There'd be no reason for her to try to catfish a clerk. Unless I missed something, she actually meets the real woman on the train and poisons her so that she can take her place.  She's able to do shit like that, because although she has a conscience, she does what has to be done. She treats life like a play. 

In any event, she arrives in the place of the other woman, and they marry. Maybe things are okay for a few days, but Julia continues treating the marriage like a play. She will take all of Luis's money and split. 

She does just that, but Luis chases after her. First to seek revenge and kill her, but then, to declare his love for her. The real her. Earlier in the movie, before he even said "I love you," he had told her that she made him a better man -- a man more like himself than he ever was before. I'm not 100% sure what that means, but it's a nice romantic line. Julia just smiles. At that point, she was still playing a role. 

In fact, maybe she plays the role all the way through when Luis continues to affirm that he loves her -- not Julie or "Bonnie Castle," her other name -- but the real woman behind whatever name she's called. It's an echo back to the idea that only he brings out the real woman in her more than has ever come out of her before?? Even so, to prove his love, he has to drink the poisoned cup of coffee she's set in front of him. I guess that finally convinces her that he loves her, and then the choice is hers. She can let him be poisoned, or she can switch sides and leave Billy (Thomas Jane) for him. 

It's a tough movie to rate. I was into the set-up, and the movie won me back over by the ending. It's that whole middle part that was a little weak. 

Speaking of the ending, Julia is in jail for the murder of Billy. She's told the priest her story, and he promises her that she will be forgiven and that she will see Luis again in heaven. Then something miraculous happens. Somehow, she convinces the priest to help her escape, even though in doing so, he's clearly going to be punished. No explanation for why the priest agreed to help her escape, but fortunately he does, and true love prevails, as the poison wasn't strong enough to kill Luis. They reunite, get the hell out of Cuba, and continue to live their best life of danger together. 

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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