Word: ruthlessness
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...there is the sting of life.” And they do remarkably well with many of the key scenes: a confrontation between Lady Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne is powerful, rich in desperation and dramatic irony. Nearly all the characters sound completely convincing talking elegantly about why they are ruthless or superficial or why they’ve had a sudden change of heart. However, other scenes don’t do quite as well—the party at which Mrs. Erlynne first appears should be a tense network of gossip and power struggles, a powderkeg ready to explode...
Instead, the book focuses on the political maneuvering and petty-turned-deadly squabbling between the ambitious major characters. The ruthless female district attorney, Monique Lamont, eyes the governor’s mansion, while equally cutthroat men try to destroy her aspirations. Eager for positive publicity, the district attorney creates the “At Risk” cold case initiative, which uses DNA analysis to solve old crimes. Naturally, other savvy political operatives work hard to bury...
...Damon's performance is suave and scrupulous; Nicholson has almost too much fun; and in a large, stalwart cast I especially liked Ray Winstone as Frank's ruthless hit man, and Farmiga as the woman two lonely men need to confide in or betray. DiCaprio is the standout. Every second of Billy's life is as a spy behind enemy lines; DiCaprio shows the tension such a man feels, the determination and the grace inside...
Thank the cruel, vengeful gods for Cormac McCarthy, who delivers a much more comprehensive apocalypse in The Road (Knopf; 241 pages), which is about half the length of Thirteen Moons but 20 times as ruthless. The scenario: a man and his son push a shopping cart with a wiggly wheel through a landscape from which all plant and animal life has been scoured by some undefined but definitive calamity--we know only of "a long shear of light and then a series of low concussions" that left survivors "sitting on the sidewalk in the dawn half immolate and smoking...
...domestic trust bordering on treason. (Diana is seen only in news footage, and the film weaves some of these TV clips into the action.) Elizabeth figures a terse silence is best - best for a discreet monarchy and best for the boys, Harry and Andrew. Prince Philip (a slyly ruthless, bullying performance by James Cromwell) wants to take the lads hunting. Right: nothing'll take their mind off death like going out and killing something...