The Caveman's Valentine has always fascinated me. As someone who has a mental illness, I've always tried my best to seek out films that portray such conditions in a respectable, inquisitive and enlightening tone. While this one cushions it's earnestness with a slightly lurid and generic murder mystery, much of its desire to explore its character's inner mindset shine through superbly and with much more authenticity than other films that try the same. Unless you suffer through, or have some intimate experience with someone like this protagonist, it's tough to artistically represent their state. This one manages very well, and Samuel L. Jackson gives one of the most memorable, affecting and curiously overlooked performances of his career so far. Jackson is an actor who almost always gets cast in assured, authoritative roles. Here he portrays exactly the opposite of that as Romulus, a severely schizophrenic man who lives in a cave in Central Park, New York City. Romulus was once a brilliant pianist and a student at Juilliard, before his illness cut his career and personal life painfully short. He spends his days in confusion, raving in delusion about an all powerful man named Stuyvesant who secretly manipulates everyone in the city. When a young man is found murdered near his cave door, he feels an internal compulsion to find out what happened to him. As you might imagine, a man with his affliction might not make the most reliable detective, but Romulus tries his best and in between bouts of paranoia he makes his way towards weirdo avant grade photographer David Leppenraub (always excellent Colm Feore) who may have had something to do with the homicide. He also has a daughter (Aunjanue Ellis) who is a policewoman and somewhat resents him through her ignorance, and a wife (Tamara Tunie) who no doubt left, but still speaks to him in segments of his visions. Because his perceptions can't be trusted, even by himself, it makes it a touch and go plot-line that's heavily accented by frequent visual detours into his own consciousness, where humanoid Moth Sarefs hauntingly play unearthly instruments. Director Kasi Lemmons is not only a woman, but an actress herself, both traits which I believe lead to a certain intuitive advantage in filmmaking. I absolutely love how she moulds the narrative to patiently linger with Romulus's perception of events and never make them sensationalistic or rushed. Even though Romulus walks through a dangerous, real world story of murder and corruption, the film always sticks with his childlike, abstract and very intangible internal view of the world, a choice which most films either don't possess the courage or aren't allowed to do. Jackson is subtle, complex dynamite in what is for me the best work of his career, playing completely against type and most definitely the opposite of his usual instincts to give us something truly special, to any viewer who wishes to exhibit the same patience and understanding that the filmmakers have strived for in making this unique piece.

Wow… I don't care what people think about Samuel L. Jackson, that man is amazing. This film shows his versatility something fierce.This is a great film about a man named Romulus who most would consider homeless. But in the film, if you called him homeless he gets mad because he actually lives in a cave by a little park. He's a used-to-be musician who ends up going insane and can't finish school. He ends up finding a dead man, and is convinced that he knows who killed him. He spends most of the film trying to prove it while also battling the things inside his crazy head.The entire story is told amazingly unique. His character was very strange, and the way the director portrayed what Romulus was thinking was innovative, as well as straight forward. You need to see this film.

I picked this up in the video store not knowing what to expect and was I pleasantly surprised. This film is a real work of art and works on many levels. First, the direction is magnificent. Lemmons works magic blending reality with flashbacks, imaginings and fantasies. Weaving all these together is a true feat. This is a film one could watch without the sound just to appreciate the images.Second, the arts that are portrayed are excellent, from the dancing to the music to the photography. Lemmons has a fantastic arts sense.Third, the performances. Jackson is magnificent. A musician who cannot take the pressure of his career and of the context in which he must perform yet maintains his artistic sensibility. Like so many real people, his fears become externalized, but he still maintains a sense of his reality. And it is this sense which makes his character credible when it comes to the plot.The plot is a good mystery but would have been hackneyed in lesser hands. And the plot works on at least two levels. Romulus may be crazy, but he knows what is going on and the images of his wife beautifully portrayed by Tamara Tunie keeps Romulus grounded. And since this is a character driven film, this conflict between Romulus's fears and fantasies with the realities he finds himself in, works beautifully thanks to Jackson's performance. On the second level the mystery qua mystery also works well. There are enough confusions to keep the viewer guessing.All in all a great film.

The Caveman's Valentine was really a disappointing film.Sure Sam Jackson put on a great performance and Terence Blanchard's score was great especially the theme but other than that this one is a stinker.During the whole film I thought that Colm Feore looked just like Liam Neesan but without hair.Sometimes you just don't know what is happening in the film and I didn't care for that mixed sex scene either.I really can't say any more except only see this if you are a hardcore fan of Samuel L. Jackson!