Tiptoes

Kate Beckinsale and Gary Oldman in Tiptoes

Matthew Bright's Tiptoes, from 2003, is a third rate oddity that pretty much finished off Bright's career in Hollywood, but I found it to be not completely meritless due to its cast. Kate Beckinsale and Matthew McConaughey play expectant parents who face an unusual problem. McConaughey comes from a family of dwarves, a fact he has never shared with Beckinsale, and fears his offspring will be dwarves. McConaughey turns out to have a dwarf twin, who is played by Gary Oldman in a deft and sensitive performance. Oldman and Beckinsale's characters bond and when McConaughey's character has difficulty adjusting to his role as a parent of a child with special needs, Oldman steps in as the father figure. Peter Dinklage tries to add merriment as a French biker who pals with Oldman, but comedy is not Bright's forte.

The film was taken out of Bright's hands and pared down to become a ninety minute feature. It is that rare film that could have used more length, mainly to flesh out characters' motivations. While not a masterpiece about the marginalized like Tod Browning's Freaks, Tiptoes displays enough compassion for its characters to provide moments of interest. Beckinsale and Oldman have pleasant chemistry, but McConaughey seems at sea because he can't utilize his trademark charm and cockiness. Music and costumes are atrocious. Bright seems ill at ease with intimate scenes, a meaningless tracking shot spoils a bedroom scene between Beckinsale and McConaughey. Bright's feature debut, Freeway, displayed a glimmer of inspiration, but that was apparently that.