Original Sin Movie Review 2001

1880s Cuban coffee-plantation owner Luis (Banderas) sends to America for a mail-order bride, seeking only someone loyal and of child-bearing years. To discourage gold diggers, he describes himself as a clerk. When his bride-to-be Julia (Jolie) shows up, Luis discovers that she's much more attractive than her picture. She claims that she wanted to be desired for something other than her beauty. With a start like that, what could go wrong? Well, betrayal, murder and theft for starters. An American private detective arrives on the scene, hired by Julia's family to report on her well-being. This fuels doubts in Luis, but a little too late. Soon he's cleaned out, shamed and on the trail of his former "wife." Banderas and Jolie torch the scenes as the couple in lust, but the ham-handed dialogue and direction derail this period potboiler. Loosely based on the Cornell Woolrich novel "Waltz Into Darkness," which was also the source for Truffaut's "Mississippi Mermaid."

Distribution

MGM Home Entertainment, 2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404-6061, Phone: (310)449-3000, Fax: (310)449-3100, URL: http://www.mgmhomevideo.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 112 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Period Piece: 19th Century, Cuba, Mail-Order Brides, Books to Film: Cornell Woolrich

Screenplay

Michael Cristofer

Cast

Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Jane, Jack Thompson, Gregory Itzin, Joan Pringle, Allison Mackie, Cordelia Richards, Pedro Armendariz

Cinematography

Rodrigo Prieto

Director

Michael Cristofer

Music

Terence Blanchard

Other

Antonio Betancourt, Eric A. Sears, Jorge Sainz, Donna Zakowska, David J. Bomba

Producer

Denise Di Novi, Kate Guinzburg, Carol Lees, Via Rosa Productions, Hyde Park Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures