Terrence Malick’s The New World is poetic on two contrasting levels, at once lushly romantic and sordidly ribald. The combination of verdant landscapes and tawdry sex makes viewing this film akin to hearing an Italian sonnet read aloud by a man from Nantucket. In Malick’s skilled hands it’s a surprisingly entertaining formula.
The New World tells the story of Johnny “The Llama” Borboni (Colin Farrell), a bagman for the Jersey mob. Borboni goes on the lam after getting caught in bed with the wife of a Philly capo. The first part of the film is a road movie. Borboni travels West in search of a hideout, hoping to find a community where he fits. The journey depresses him as he drifts across an American landscape dominated by a frightened and emasculated citizenry -- little people hiding in big SUVs, children in parks wearing helmets, and smokers thrown out of buildings and onto the sidewalks and alleys of our great cities.
Things look up when Johnny discovers The New World Casino on the outskirts of Palm Springs. Run by the Choctaw tribe, The New World overflows with reverence for all things old-school, including a chilled cocktail, an unfiltered cigarette, and a man who can casually hold both in the same hand. The Choctaw immediately recognize Borboni (who introduces himself as “Johnny Smith”) as a kindred spirit, and they welcome him into the organization, making him a casino ambassador and giving him the power to comp rooms, buy dinners and, as need be, break thumbs.
When the mob tracks down Johnny it looks like his time in The New World will be short-lived. But he is rescued by Ariel (Q'Orianka Kilcher), the fetching daughter of Choctaw chief Powhatan (a ruddy-cheeked Christopher Plummer). She saves Johnny’s life by giving the mobsters trinkets: turquoise pinky rings, two-for-one buffet coupons, and VIP seats for Kenny Loggins' show in the Choctaw Cabaret Lounge. By film’s end, Malick deftly brings the poetic undercurrents to the surface as Johnny and Ariel dedicate their lives not just to each other, but to the finding the perfect Haiku that embodies their two cultures. The film’s coda finds a teary-eyed Johnny gazing over the casino floor as he mutters:
Great Spirit once soared
Where dime slots mean great wampum.
Fuggetaboutit.
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