I'm refraining from writing a full out movie review because frankly I'm tired and my head is swimming because I did see several movies in the past couple of days. Some were better than others and I'm still formulating my thoughts about some of them.
So instead, I'll just take the time to wish you a Happy New Year! I do hope that in 2010 we can move closer to a world that is peaceful and hopeful. We do need to treasure the days we have -- sometimes we -- well I -- forget that.
Take care all. Party responsibly and please DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
December 30: Middletown
This one was supposed to be published on December 28 but somehow got lost in the shuffle -- so better late than never.
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, one of the frustrations of some of the film festivals I used to cover was that there might be several movies screening at the same time that I wanted to see. Middletown was featured at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and while I kept seeing intriguing postcard advertisements for the film, I could never make any of the screenings. So when I saw that it was available from Blockbuster, I added it to my queue. Well, I recently got the film and watched it and all I can say is that maybe the spirits were trying to tell me something when I missed the film the first time around.
Middletown is an Irish film written by newcomer Daragh Carville and director by novice filmmaker Brian Kirk making his feature film debut. The director went on to helm episodes of the Showtime series The Tudors, Brotherhood, and Dexter and he enjoyed a bit of praise for the Daniel Radcliff vehicle My Boy Jack which aired over PBS stations.
The movie's plot owes a bit to the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. In this case, Gabriel Hunter (Matthew Macfadyen) returns to his hometown situated somewhere near the border in Northern Ireland. Gabriel was the chosen one who went off to study for the ministry and who has returned determined to clean up the town and right what he feels were the mistakes of the priest he is replacing.
That he returns to a place where his father Bill (Gerald McSorley) and his younger brother Jim (Daniel Mays) live is more than a coincidence. Of course, Gabriel doesn't seem to appreciate the sacrifices that these men have made that have allowed him to study and not work a day in his life. (In the opening scene, we seen a teenage Gabriel being told that he has been chosen by God to do God's work -- which should automatically set off warning bells.)
There's conflict between the brothers as well. Jim has always been seen as something of a muck-up and now that he's saddled with a pregnant wife Caroline (Eva Birthistle) who happens to be the daughter of the owner of the local saloon, he still can't seem to make things right. He and the wife live in a caravan on land next to a house that is being built -- but never seems to get anywhere near to completion thanks to Jim's inability to manage money. He'd rather gamble away the few dollars he has than pay the laborers to build a house for his wife and child.
Gabriel blazes into town like an avenging angel and sets about to "fix" things -- denouncing from the pulpit anyone who dares to cross him. First it's Caroline, then it's Jim. Unfortunately Gabriel only sees things in black and white and it soon becomes predictable what will occur. Well, I concocted a few possible scenarios and one of them was exactly how the movie unfolded.
I have to say that I understood what the screenwriter and the director were trying to get at -- the idea that fundamentalism -- or the embrace of any religion a bit too tightly -- can lead to a misreading and misinterpretation of the ideas that a religion espouses. Clearly, there's a very strong germ of an idea there. But in execution, Middletown falls fairly short. The setting is more or less modern day but there seems to be no police presence in the town -- not even a volunteer to enforce law and order. Instead, it is left up to the minister -- in this case Gabriel -- to serve as judge and jury -- and the fact that everyone in the town except Caroline and later Jim embrace his beliefs didn't ring true. I get that the filmmakers were trying for an analogous situation and all, but it just didn't work.
The performers do what they can with their roles, with Birthistle emerging as the most memorable perhaps because she's the only one to really show any gumption. Mays doesn't exactly handle the transition from whipping boy to man with spine very well -- but I think a lot of that is flawed writing. Macfadyen is even more lost, left trying to play an idea. Part of the problem is that the audience never gets a sense of who he was before he left the town or of what happened to him while he was away. He just returns and assumes this stance of vengeance. Since we know so little of him, we hardly care, despite the actor's best efforts.
Middletown ends in a conflagration that alters the lives of several of the key players -- but the audience is left wondering why we bothered. If it hadn't already been used by a much better writer, the title for this could have been Much Ado About Nothing.
Rating: D
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, one of the frustrations of some of the film festivals I used to cover was that there might be several movies screening at the same time that I wanted to see. Middletown was featured at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and while I kept seeing intriguing postcard advertisements for the film, I could never make any of the screenings. So when I saw that it was available from Blockbuster, I added it to my queue. Well, I recently got the film and watched it and all I can say is that maybe the spirits were trying to tell me something when I missed the film the first time around.
Middletown is an Irish film written by newcomer Daragh Carville and director by novice filmmaker Brian Kirk making his feature film debut. The director went on to helm episodes of the Showtime series The Tudors, Brotherhood, and Dexter and he enjoyed a bit of praise for the Daniel Radcliff vehicle My Boy Jack which aired over PBS stations.
The movie's plot owes a bit to the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. In this case, Gabriel Hunter (Matthew Macfadyen) returns to his hometown situated somewhere near the border in Northern Ireland. Gabriel was the chosen one who went off to study for the ministry and who has returned determined to clean up the town and right what he feels were the mistakes of the priest he is replacing.
That he returns to a place where his father Bill (Gerald McSorley) and his younger brother Jim (Daniel Mays) live is more than a coincidence. Of course, Gabriel doesn't seem to appreciate the sacrifices that these men have made that have allowed him to study and not work a day in his life. (In the opening scene, we seen a teenage Gabriel being told that he has been chosen by God to do God's work -- which should automatically set off warning bells.)
There's conflict between the brothers as well. Jim has always been seen as something of a muck-up and now that he's saddled with a pregnant wife Caroline (Eva Birthistle) who happens to be the daughter of the owner of the local saloon, he still can't seem to make things right. He and the wife live in a caravan on land next to a house that is being built -- but never seems to get anywhere near to completion thanks to Jim's inability to manage money. He'd rather gamble away the few dollars he has than pay the laborers to build a house for his wife and child.
Gabriel blazes into town like an avenging angel and sets about to "fix" things -- denouncing from the pulpit anyone who dares to cross him. First it's Caroline, then it's Jim. Unfortunately Gabriel only sees things in black and white and it soon becomes predictable what will occur. Well, I concocted a few possible scenarios and one of them was exactly how the movie unfolded.
I have to say that I understood what the screenwriter and the director were trying to get at -- the idea that fundamentalism -- or the embrace of any religion a bit too tightly -- can lead to a misreading and misinterpretation of the ideas that a religion espouses. Clearly, there's a very strong germ of an idea there. But in execution, Middletown falls fairly short. The setting is more or less modern day but there seems to be no police presence in the town -- not even a volunteer to enforce law and order. Instead, it is left up to the minister -- in this case Gabriel -- to serve as judge and jury -- and the fact that everyone in the town except Caroline and later Jim embrace his beliefs didn't ring true. I get that the filmmakers were trying for an analogous situation and all, but it just didn't work.
The performers do what they can with their roles, with Birthistle emerging as the most memorable perhaps because she's the only one to really show any gumption. Mays doesn't exactly handle the transition from whipping boy to man with spine very well -- but I think a lot of that is flawed writing. Macfadyen is even more lost, left trying to play an idea. Part of the problem is that the audience never gets a sense of who he was before he left the town or of what happened to him while he was away. He just returns and assumes this stance of vengeance. Since we know so little of him, we hardly care, despite the actor's best efforts.
Middletown ends in a conflagration that alters the lives of several of the key players -- but the audience is left wondering why we bothered. If it hadn't already been used by a much better writer, the title for this could have been Much Ado About Nothing.
Rating: D
December 30: Julie & Julia
Anyway, the film received a lot of attention because Meryl Streep was playing Julia Child. Now Ms. Streep is arguably one of American cinema's greatest actresses but I do have the feeling that sometimes she gets a pass when she shouldn't. I mean Music from the Heart was an okay movie but hardly Oscar worthy and yet she picked up one of her innumerable nominations for that picture. Undoubtedly she's headed to add yet another one for this movie but throughout I had the distinct feeling I was watching her do an impersonation as opposed to giving a performance. It didn't help that Ephron included Dan Ackroyd's famous sketch from Saturday Night Live. There was something a bit off about that moment and for me it marred Streep's work.
(Yes I know she's getting awards for this but I cannot fathom it -- the performance isn't one of her best. At this point I think she gets a prize as long as she shows up and tries out a new accent.)
Ephron seems to have more of a flair for Child's life with her husband Paul (a fine Stanley Tucci). Those scenes have more life to them (which I think is where the critics go blind thinking that it is all Meryl Streep and not noticing that she's supported strongly by Linda Emond, Joan Juliet Buck, Tucci, Jane Lynch, and Helen Carey).
I was a bit disappointed by this movie, especially since this was supposed to be about food. Ephron would have done well to examine Tucci's movie Big Night for pointers. I left that one craving Italian food. After watching Julie & Julia, I wasn't in the least hungry.
Rating: C
December 29: Ragtime
I had hoped to get to New York City in January to see the revival of the stage musical Ragtime. Back in 1998 when the show first opened at the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts on 42nd Street (the Hilton Theater since 2005), I sat transfixed watching the opening number. Frankly, it brought tears to my eyes and gave me goosebumps. It's probably one of the most perfect opening numbers for a musical I've ever seen in my long years of theatergoing. (The Tony Award telecast that features an abbreviated but no less thrilling version of the number can be viewed here -- and for fans of Glee, see if you can spot Lea Michele in an early stage role.). The rest of the show left me with mixed feelings -- I felt the direction was somewhat lacking -- more of a staging of a pageant or an opera rather than a musical. The performances were mostly topnotch and several were memorable -- Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie, Judy Kaye, etc.
So when I read about this new production that started at the Kennedy Center I was intrigued and then when I heard it was transferring to Broadway -- I really had hoped to catch it. My work schedule for the fall, though did not allow me the luxury of travel time and now that the show is closing on January 3rd, well .... I guess I'll have to wait and see if someone somewhere produces another version of the show before I kick the bucket. Or I'll just have to be content with my memories of the show.
As the next best thing, I rented the DVD of the 1981 Milos Forman-directed film from Blockbuster as a sort of consolation prize. This was Forman's follow up to Hair and he reteamed with screenwriter Michael Weller on the project. Having read E.L. Doctorow's novel, I was a bit surprised that someone decided to condense the project into a 2-1/2 movie instead of turning it into a prestigious television miniseries. The book was so dense and contained so many historical figures who interact with the fictional characters that Doctorow had created it cried out for a longform treatment. Nevertheless, Forman and Weller perservered and crafted a flawed but engrossing movie. What makes it so much fun to watch now in hindsight is to spot several actors whose careers were in their nascent stages -- blink and you might miss Fran Drescher (The Nanny) or John Ratzinberger (Cheers) or Frankie Faison or Jeff Daniels or Samuel L. Jackson or Michael Jeter. There's supporting work from Robert Joy (as Harry K. Thaw) and Moses Gunn (as Booker T. Washington) and in a DVD extra Mariclare Costello as Emma Goldman (although it's easy to see why that scene was cut).
The main family doesn't even have conventional names; they are known simply as Mother (Mary Steenburgen fresh off her Oscar win for Melvin and Howard), Father (James Olson) and Younger Brother (Brad Dourif). They are an upper middle-class family who has settled in the wilds of New Rochelle in the early 1900s. At the time, mixing with immigrants and African Americans just wasn't done. So when a black baby turns up on their property and Mother pushes to take in the child and its mother Sarah (Debbie Allen strinking a wrong note by channeling Butterfly McQueen), the times are a-changin'. Younger Brother develops a crush on Evelyn Nesbit (a fetching Elizabeth McGovern), the chorus girl at the center of a scandal due to her relationship with Stanford White (Norman Mailer sounding a great deal like Tommy Lee Jones) and her husband Harry K. Thaw (the aforementioned Robert Joy). The pragmatic and mercenary Evelyn sort of romances and then drops Younger Brother -- partly leading him to channel his anger and throw his lot in with Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Howard Rollins, Jr.).
Coalhouse is an educated African American -- what some of the prejudiced characters term "uppity" -- who makes his living as a piano player. He's also the father of Sarah's baby -- the one she left on the grounds of the family's home. He drives to New Rochelle in his new Model T to woo her and eventually she agrees to marry him. On his way home from one of his weekly visits, he gets stopped by racist firemen led by Willie Conklin (Kenneth McMillan) who can't comprehend a black man being able to own a car like that. They foul it up and he complains to the police (Jeff Daniels) which leads to Walker's arrest and his quest for justice.
All he wants is restitution for the damage done to his car. Sarah intervenes and pays a terrible price for it which only spurs Coalhouse's determination and fuels his righteous anger.
There's also a subplot about a Jewish immigrant called Tateh (Mandy Patinkin), a man with a young daughter to flees the Lower East Side to reinvent himself as a movie director known as the Baron Ashkenazy. While he later directs Evelyn in a movie, he is strangely drawn to Mother who begins to return the favors.
Also in the mix is the police commissioner (James Cagney in his last screen role) who oversees the last third of the film when Coalhouse and his band take over the Morgan Library. Here is where the movie becomes a bit of a curiosity and may be why the audience for the musical was a bit reluctant to see the show. One might argue that Coalhouse Walker embraces what became known as the Black Power movement in the 1960s. He certainly doesn't embrace Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent approach. Walker is pushed to the limits and the refusal by those in power in the Caucasian circle (he seeks the proper channels to file a complaint only to be given the bureaucratic runaround) as well as a rejection by his own people -- a black lawyer (Ted Ross) refuses to take his case and Booker T. Washington denounces him. When Walker resorts to violence, it is an outlet for the frustrations he has experienced -- and in Doctorow's novel it seems inevitable. In both the movie and the stage play, it becomes something of a choice. Judging him by today's standards -- he might be considered a home-grown terrorist -- and that may be something audiences don't want to see. The world has changed so much since 1981 when the film was released and 1998 when the musical opened.
The film's production values are suberb as one come to expect from Forman and his collaborators. (Special mention goes to Randy Newman's exquisite musical score.) In the general cannon of Forman movies, Ragtime falls between his two Oscar winners. It aspires to greatness but sadly falls a bit short. Weller's script tries to condense too much and some of the storylines are dropped or not followed through enough. I'm sure someone could write a thesis on the way Weller approached adapting the novel and contrasts that with Terrence McNally's approach for the book of the musical. McNally's version streamlines in a different manner and builds up aspects that Weller doesn't. (For instance, the relationship between Tateh and Mother in the musical becomes more organic -- and the intersection of the three stories is so beautifully laid out in the choreography of the opening number.) The stage show sends Father off on travels whereas the movie focuses on him (and James Olson does yeoman work -- I think he was terribly underrated when the movie first opened).
Anyway -- they are definitely two different animals. Arguably both only partially succeed (although I love the stage score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens).
Rating of the film: B+
So when I read about this new production that started at the Kennedy Center I was intrigued and then when I heard it was transferring to Broadway -- I really had hoped to catch it. My work schedule for the fall, though did not allow me the luxury of travel time and now that the show is closing on January 3rd, well .... I guess I'll have to wait and see if someone somewhere produces another version of the show before I kick the bucket. Or I'll just have to be content with my memories of the show.
As the next best thing, I rented the DVD of the 1981 Milos Forman-directed film from Blockbuster as a sort of consolation prize. This was Forman's follow up to Hair and he reteamed with screenwriter Michael Weller on the project. Having read E.L. Doctorow's novel, I was a bit surprised that someone decided to condense the project into a 2-1/2 movie instead of turning it into a prestigious television miniseries. The book was so dense and contained so many historical figures who interact with the fictional characters that Doctorow had created it cried out for a longform treatment. Nevertheless, Forman and Weller perservered and crafted a flawed but engrossing movie. What makes it so much fun to watch now in hindsight is to spot several actors whose careers were in their nascent stages -- blink and you might miss Fran Drescher (The Nanny) or John Ratzinberger (Cheers) or Frankie Faison or Jeff Daniels or Samuel L. Jackson or Michael Jeter. There's supporting work from Robert Joy (as Harry K. Thaw) and Moses Gunn (as Booker T. Washington) and in a DVD extra Mariclare Costello as Emma Goldman (although it's easy to see why that scene was cut).
The main family doesn't even have conventional names; they are known simply as Mother (Mary Steenburgen fresh off her Oscar win for Melvin and Howard), Father (James Olson) and Younger Brother (Brad Dourif). They are an upper middle-class family who has settled in the wilds of New Rochelle in the early 1900s. At the time, mixing with immigrants and African Americans just wasn't done. So when a black baby turns up on their property and Mother pushes to take in the child and its mother Sarah (Debbie Allen strinking a wrong note by channeling Butterfly McQueen), the times are a-changin'. Younger Brother develops a crush on Evelyn Nesbit (a fetching Elizabeth McGovern), the chorus girl at the center of a scandal due to her relationship with Stanford White (Norman Mailer sounding a great deal like Tommy Lee Jones) and her husband Harry K. Thaw (the aforementioned Robert Joy). The pragmatic and mercenary Evelyn sort of romances and then drops Younger Brother -- partly leading him to channel his anger and throw his lot in with Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Howard Rollins, Jr.).
Coalhouse is an educated African American -- what some of the prejudiced characters term "uppity" -- who makes his living as a piano player. He's also the father of Sarah's baby -- the one she left on the grounds of the family's home. He drives to New Rochelle in his new Model T to woo her and eventually she agrees to marry him. On his way home from one of his weekly visits, he gets stopped by racist firemen led by Willie Conklin (Kenneth McMillan) who can't comprehend a black man being able to own a car like that. They foul it up and he complains to the police (Jeff Daniels) which leads to Walker's arrest and his quest for justice.
All he wants is restitution for the damage done to his car. Sarah intervenes and pays a terrible price for it which only spurs Coalhouse's determination and fuels his righteous anger.
There's also a subplot about a Jewish immigrant called Tateh (Mandy Patinkin), a man with a young daughter to flees the Lower East Side to reinvent himself as a movie director known as the Baron Ashkenazy. While he later directs Evelyn in a movie, he is strangely drawn to Mother who begins to return the favors.
Also in the mix is the police commissioner (James Cagney in his last screen role) who oversees the last third of the film when Coalhouse and his band take over the Morgan Library. Here is where the movie becomes a bit of a curiosity and may be why the audience for the musical was a bit reluctant to see the show. One might argue that Coalhouse Walker embraces what became known as the Black Power movement in the 1960s. He certainly doesn't embrace Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent approach. Walker is pushed to the limits and the refusal by those in power in the Caucasian circle (he seeks the proper channels to file a complaint only to be given the bureaucratic runaround) as well as a rejection by his own people -- a black lawyer (Ted Ross) refuses to take his case and Booker T. Washington denounces him. When Walker resorts to violence, it is an outlet for the frustrations he has experienced -- and in Doctorow's novel it seems inevitable. In both the movie and the stage play, it becomes something of a choice. Judging him by today's standards -- he might be considered a home-grown terrorist -- and that may be something audiences don't want to see. The world has changed so much since 1981 when the film was released and 1998 when the musical opened.
The film's production values are suberb as one come to expect from Forman and his collaborators. (Special mention goes to Randy Newman's exquisite musical score.) In the general cannon of Forman movies, Ragtime falls between his two Oscar winners. It aspires to greatness but sadly falls a bit short. Weller's script tries to condense too much and some of the storylines are dropped or not followed through enough. I'm sure someone could write a thesis on the way Weller approached adapting the novel and contrasts that with Terrence McNally's approach for the book of the musical. McNally's version streamlines in a different manner and builds up aspects that Weller doesn't. (For instance, the relationship between Tateh and Mother in the musical becomes more organic -- and the intersection of the three stories is so beautifully laid out in the choreography of the opening number.) The stage show sends Father off on travels whereas the movie focuses on him (and James Olson does yeoman work -- I think he was terribly underrated when the movie first opened).
Anyway -- they are definitely two different animals. Arguably both only partially succeed (although I love the stage score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens).
Rating of the film: B+
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
December 27: Body of Lies
In the film, Crowe is cast as Ed Hoffman, a slippery CIA type who seemingly has a permanent telephone connection. I mean, he's helping his young son go to the bathroom and he's directing an overseas operation. Same with watching his daughter's soccer match. It's almost humorous -- but somehow I get the impression we're not meant to think that. Instead, we're supposed to look at him and go - wow, this guy will stop at nothing to get what he wants. What exactly that is, however, well, it's anyone's guess.
DiCaprio is Roger Ferris, an operative with a speciality in Middle Eastern affairs. Of course, throughout the movie he's constantly referred to by his surname which only made me think of Matthew Broderick and Ferris Bueller. I know. I guess I'm either seeing too many movies or something.
So the plot has Crowe directing this operation in the Middle East that has DiCaprio making contact with a Jordanian official (Mark Strong in one of the best performances in the movie) and trying to get a bead on a terrorist (Israeli-born actor Alon Abutbul) meant to remind the audience of Osama bin-Laden and his ilk.
Of course there's also the requisite love interest -- for DiCaprio-- Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani. (Actually her backstory is more dramatic than this film's plot -- which is pretty chockablock with action and dramatics. Farahani was not allowed to leave Iran for many months after shooting this film, despite offers for other film roles. She and her family were eventually allowed to leave and she now resides in France.)
Ridley Scott certainly knows how to stage an action sequence but as written by William Monahan, who adapted from a novel by David Ignatius, has a tightly plotted if somewhat convoluted structure. It becomes a bit difficult to figure out who is doing what to whom. But I suppose that may have been the theme of the piece. It's a bit of a mishmash -- sort of like American involvement in Middle Eastern affairs.
I wasn't blown away by the movie, but I wasn't bored either. It was an okay way to pass a couple of hours.
Rating: B-
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
December 24: The Girlfriend Experience
The night before last, I had The Girlfriend Experience. No, I didn't hire an escort, I watched Steven Soderbergh's low-budget movie.
Soderbergh is something of a curiosity. He is perhaps the only director currently working in Hollywood who makes small films interspersed with big-budget movies. I particularly admire his skill with actresses, as he has elicited career-best work from several including Andie MacDowell (sex, lies and videotape), Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), and Natascha McElhone (Solaris). To that list can be added Sasha Grey, heretofore a porn star, now a cross-over performer based on her work in The Girlfriend Experience.
Honestly, I'd never heard of Sasha Grey before this film, but she's remarkable and very talented portraying Chelsea/Christine, a professional in a committed relationship with personal trainer Chris (Chris Santos) whom the audience follows over a period of a few days in the fall of 2008.
Chelsea isn't a hooker, she's an escort who will provide the whole "girlfriend experience" for the right price. Meaning, she'll dress appropriately, go wherever, do whatever, listen to your troubles and offer sympathy and sex. But she's not entirely happy despite having a great apartment and a guy who seemingly loves her. She wants more, so she seeks out ways to expand business and runs into the competition. One of her regular clients is brusque after an encounter and a few days later she spies him out with a new girl. She wants to enhance her reputation but when she seeks assistance from a so-called connoisseur she runs afoul of him. Chelsea and her partner experience some bumps in their relationship as his frustrations with his own stalled career and the opportunity to hobnob with wealthy clients in Las Vegas presents itself. The capper is that Chelsea meets a client with whom she connects and who may be able to offer her something different and more fulfilling than what she has.
When Soderbergh does these low-key, no-frills productions, the results can be uneven. I happened to really like Bubble but wasn't crazy about Full Frontal. For me, The Girlfriend Experience falls somewhere in the middle. I was bored at times (particularly when the movie focused on Chris) but other times I really got caught up in the story -- which is told in a nonlinear fashion. (Soderbergh shot the movie on digital video with an outline and some dialogue and then sort of scrambled the timeline in the editing room.) Grey manages to captivate and enchant when she's the focus of the film. The rest of the cast ranges from appropriately creepy (critic Glenn Kenny as the sex guru) to adequate (Santos as the boyfriend). This is clearly Grey's show and she is more than up to the challenge. In fact, it's almost a shame she already has such an established porn career; she easily could be the leading lady in any number of Hollywood films. If she makes the transition, she can thank Soderbergh.
Overall my "Girlfriend Experience" was a pleasant one, so I'd say seek this one out and give it a whirl.
Rating: B
Soderbergh is something of a curiosity. He is perhaps the only director currently working in Hollywood who makes small films interspersed with big-budget movies. I particularly admire his skill with actresses, as he has elicited career-best work from several including Andie MacDowell (sex, lies and videotape), Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), and Natascha McElhone (Solaris). To that list can be added Sasha Grey, heretofore a porn star, now a cross-over performer based on her work in The Girlfriend Experience.
Honestly, I'd never heard of Sasha Grey before this film, but she's remarkable and very talented portraying Chelsea/Christine, a professional in a committed relationship with personal trainer Chris (Chris Santos) whom the audience follows over a period of a few days in the fall of 2008.
Chelsea isn't a hooker, she's an escort who will provide the whole "girlfriend experience" for the right price. Meaning, she'll dress appropriately, go wherever, do whatever, listen to your troubles and offer sympathy and sex. But she's not entirely happy despite having a great apartment and a guy who seemingly loves her. She wants more, so she seeks out ways to expand business and runs into the competition. One of her regular clients is brusque after an encounter and a few days later she spies him out with a new girl. She wants to enhance her reputation but when she seeks assistance from a so-called connoisseur she runs afoul of him. Chelsea and her partner experience some bumps in their relationship as his frustrations with his own stalled career and the opportunity to hobnob with wealthy clients in Las Vegas presents itself. The capper is that Chelsea meets a client with whom she connects and who may be able to offer her something different and more fulfilling than what she has.
When Soderbergh does these low-key, no-frills productions, the results can be uneven. I happened to really like Bubble but wasn't crazy about Full Frontal. For me, The Girlfriend Experience falls somewhere in the middle. I was bored at times (particularly when the movie focused on Chris) but other times I really got caught up in the story -- which is told in a nonlinear fashion. (Soderbergh shot the movie on digital video with an outline and some dialogue and then sort of scrambled the timeline in the editing room.) Grey manages to captivate and enchant when she's the focus of the film. The rest of the cast ranges from appropriately creepy (critic Glenn Kenny as the sex guru) to adequate (Santos as the boyfriend). This is clearly Grey's show and she is more than up to the challenge. In fact, it's almost a shame she already has such an established porn career; she easily could be the leading lady in any number of Hollywood films. If she makes the transition, she can thank Soderbergh.
Overall my "Girlfriend Experience" was a pleasant one, so I'd say seek this one out and give it a whirl.
Rating: B
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
December 23: Southland Tales
Salon has recently launched a Film Salon section and currently various people are contributing a list of movies they are calling "films of the decade". So imagine my surprise and pleasure when Thomas Rogers listed Richard Kelly's maligned Southland Tales as his choice. I'd watched the film on DVD shortly after its release and rather enjoyed it but because so many people had been so negative about it -- and by this time I wasn't regularly posting my reviews (even though I drafted versions to post) -- I sort of let it slide. So many times in the past, I've been an audience of one. So it was with some interest and a bit of a relief to learn that I'm not the only one who thought the film had merit.
There a great deal of ambition in Kelly's vision and from what I recall reading, he faced some financing problems so he wasn't able to fully realize his vision on screen. There's a graphic novel that covers three chapters that are basically the set up for the film which comprise the final three chapters. Even without having read the novel, I could appreciate that he was aiming for something -- which so many filmmakers today don't or can't because of budgets, studio interference, whatever.
Southland Tales is set in an alternate world Southern California on July 4, 2008. When the film opens, America had engaged in World War III and the result was the break up of the United States into zones, all overseen by US-IDENT, a Big Brother government agency with cameras everywhere and all the power created by the Patriot Act. Los Angeles -- part of the titular Southland -- is a mess and home to a series of very curious characters ranging from a movie star with amnesia named Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) whom several people are searching for, a former porn actress turned singer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who has ties to Boxer, a policeman (Seann William Scott) with a secret, to a group of underground rebels (Amy Poehler, Nora Dunn, Cheri Oteri).
The cast is large and rangy (I haven't even mentioned Justin Timberlake, Miranda Richardson, John Larroquette, Bai Ling, Wallace Shawn, Beth Grant, Zelda Rubinstein, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jon Lovitz, Christopher Lambert, all of whom add something special to this ragout) and the plot is a mix of science fiction, spy drama, low comedy and action movie rolled together.
I've watched the film several times again recently when it was playing on cable and each time I think I gained more of an insight into Kelly's vision. This is certainly not an easy film and I can see how some critics might dismiss it outright without giving it a chance. The right wing types are the villains, but the left doesn't get off easily either. It's sprawling, ambitious and almost visionary. One has to open up and just go with the flow -- but there's so much to admire and appreciate from Dwayne Johnson's pitch-perfect comedy to Seann William Scott's heroism to the oddball cameos. Kelly's influences range far and wide and that seems to be what some find most objectionable -- that he takes from David Lynch and Ridley Scott and Kathryn Bigelow and on and on. But what they apparently can't see is that Kelly HAS a vision. It's refreshing to see a film that challenges you -- that forces you to use your mind and to pay attention to the details. There's an intelligence at work behind the camera that I certainly appreciated.
I was a fan of Donnie Darko, Kelly's first feature, when it was released and I actually thought the director's cut brought elevated that film to a close to being a masterpiece. Southland Tales did not succumb to the sophomore slump as I saw it. No, if anything it tried to do too much -- but I would rather see a noble failure than a pallid cookie-cutter feature film.
Rating: B+
Southland Tales is set in an alternate world Southern California on July 4, 2008. When the film opens, America had engaged in World War III and the result was the break up of the United States into zones, all overseen by US-IDENT, a Big Brother government agency with cameras everywhere and all the power created by the Patriot Act. Los Angeles -- part of the titular Southland -- is a mess and home to a series of very curious characters ranging from a movie star with amnesia named Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) whom several people are searching for, a former porn actress turned singer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who has ties to Boxer, a policeman (Seann William Scott) with a secret, to a group of underground rebels (Amy Poehler, Nora Dunn, Cheri Oteri).
The cast is large and rangy (I haven't even mentioned Justin Timberlake, Miranda Richardson, John Larroquette, Bai Ling, Wallace Shawn, Beth Grant, Zelda Rubinstein, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jon Lovitz, Christopher Lambert, all of whom add something special to this ragout) and the plot is a mix of science fiction, spy drama, low comedy and action movie rolled together.
I've watched the film several times again recently when it was playing on cable and each time I think I gained more of an insight into Kelly's vision. This is certainly not an easy film and I can see how some critics might dismiss it outright without giving it a chance. The right wing types are the villains, but the left doesn't get off easily either. It's sprawling, ambitious and almost visionary. One has to open up and just go with the flow -- but there's so much to admire and appreciate from Dwayne Johnson's pitch-perfect comedy to Seann William Scott's heroism to the oddball cameos. Kelly's influences range far and wide and that seems to be what some find most objectionable -- that he takes from David Lynch and Ridley Scott and Kathryn Bigelow and on and on. But what they apparently can't see is that Kelly HAS a vision. It's refreshing to see a film that challenges you -- that forces you to use your mind and to pay attention to the details. There's an intelligence at work behind the camera that I certainly appreciated.
I was a fan of Donnie Darko, Kelly's first feature, when it was released and I actually thought the director's cut brought elevated that film to a close to being a masterpiece. Southland Tales did not succumb to the sophomore slump as I saw it. No, if anything it tried to do too much -- but I would rather see a noble failure than a pallid cookie-cutter feature film.
Rating: B+
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
December 22: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
Adapted from a novel by Winifred Watson (what an alliterative name!) by screenwriters Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) and David Magee (Finding Neverland), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was a charming if fluffy way to pass the time.
Frances McDormand portrays Guinivere Pettigrew, a British governess in the 1930s who is a bit dour, very straight-laced and apparently unemployable. Despite repeated attempts to be placed by an agency, Miss Pettigrew gets the sack. The film's event unfold over the course of one day when everything changes. After losing her last gig and spending a night on the streets where she pretty much loses everything except for the clothes on her back, Pettigrew pilfers information about a possible employment opportunity and shows up at the door of flighty Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a chorus girl with aspirations who is juggling a trio of lovers, including Phil (Tom Payne, handsome but shallow), the youngish producer who may be able to boost her to stardom, Nick (Mark Strong, debonair with a hint of cruelty), her sugar daddy who keeps her in apartments and fancy clothes, and Michael (Lee Pace, charming), a musician who knows the girl behind the dreamer she now has become.
The take-charge Pettigrew snaps to action. The one thing she can do well is size up a situation quickly and come up with plausible explanations. Along the way, she gets drawn into fixing another relatioship, that of Delysia's rival Edith (the always wonderful Shirley Henderson) and Joe (Ciaran Hinds, seemingly relieved at not portraying a heavy), her slightly older and gentler suitor.
On paper this is catnip and shortly after Watson's novel was published it was optioned for the movies to be a vehicle for Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew. Personally I think that might have been a bit disatrous as Burke, like Alice Brady, tended to portray scatterbrains; she might have made a better Delysia. The project languished for nearly 70 years before it finally hit the screens and, frankly, McDormand is perfectly cast as the uptight governess/social secretary. Her Pettigrew is a masteful comic creation and she grounds the movie, becoming the placid center around which all the intrigue swirls. Adams is a bit chirpy and sacchrine at first but eventually she adjusts and plays her character in a less cartoon-like manner. As with many romantic comedies, it's painfully obvious which of her three suitors is more suitable just as the chemistry between McDormand and Hinds hints at an outcome that isn't too hard to predict.
Half the fun is getting there, though. The director, Bharat Nalluri (who helmed The Crow: Salvation), doesn't seem fully comfortable with the genre. The film lacks a certain panache. Still, the production design of Sarah Greenwood, the costumes of Michael O'Connor (who won an Oscar for The Duchess), and the cinematography of John de Borman (who shot Ella Enchanted, among others) go a long way toward creating the appropriate atmosphere.
The actors appear to be having a good time and that infectiousness eventually overcomes whatever shortcomings the movie has. There are some slightly darker elements as well, and the hints of the war to come layer this particular 24-hour period with a certain poignance. While not exactly a complete throwback to the old-fashioned studio produced romantic comedies of the time depicted on screen, Miss Pettigew Lives for a Day comes pretty close. It's an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.
Rating: B
Frances McDormand portrays Guinivere Pettigrew, a British governess in the 1930s who is a bit dour, very straight-laced and apparently unemployable. Despite repeated attempts to be placed by an agency, Miss Pettigrew gets the sack. The film's event unfold over the course of one day when everything changes. After losing her last gig and spending a night on the streets where she pretty much loses everything except for the clothes on her back, Pettigrew pilfers information about a possible employment opportunity and shows up at the door of flighty Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a chorus girl with aspirations who is juggling a trio of lovers, including Phil (Tom Payne, handsome but shallow), the youngish producer who may be able to boost her to stardom, Nick (Mark Strong, debonair with a hint of cruelty), her sugar daddy who keeps her in apartments and fancy clothes, and Michael (Lee Pace, charming), a musician who knows the girl behind the dreamer she now has become.
The take-charge Pettigrew snaps to action. The one thing she can do well is size up a situation quickly and come up with plausible explanations. Along the way, she gets drawn into fixing another relatioship, that of Delysia's rival Edith (the always wonderful Shirley Henderson) and Joe (Ciaran Hinds, seemingly relieved at not portraying a heavy), her slightly older and gentler suitor.
On paper this is catnip and shortly after Watson's novel was published it was optioned for the movies to be a vehicle for Billie Burke as Miss Pettigrew. Personally I think that might have been a bit disatrous as Burke, like Alice Brady, tended to portray scatterbrains; she might have made a better Delysia. The project languished for nearly 70 years before it finally hit the screens and, frankly, McDormand is perfectly cast as the uptight governess/social secretary. Her Pettigrew is a masteful comic creation and she grounds the movie, becoming the placid center around which all the intrigue swirls. Adams is a bit chirpy and sacchrine at first but eventually she adjusts and plays her character in a less cartoon-like manner. As with many romantic comedies, it's painfully obvious which of her three suitors is more suitable just as the chemistry between McDormand and Hinds hints at an outcome that isn't too hard to predict.
Half the fun is getting there, though. The director, Bharat Nalluri (who helmed The Crow: Salvation), doesn't seem fully comfortable with the genre. The film lacks a certain panache. Still, the production design of Sarah Greenwood, the costumes of Michael O'Connor (who won an Oscar for The Duchess), and the cinematography of John de Borman (who shot Ella Enchanted, among others) go a long way toward creating the appropriate atmosphere.
The actors appear to be having a good time and that infectiousness eventually overcomes whatever shortcomings the movie has. There are some slightly darker elements as well, and the hints of the war to come layer this particular 24-hour period with a certain poignance. While not exactly a complete throwback to the old-fashioned studio produced romantic comedies of the time depicted on screen, Miss Pettigew Lives for a Day comes pretty close. It's an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.
Rating: B
Monday, December 21, 2009
December 21: Winter Solstice
I've really been trying to keep up with posting something daily. Today will be one of those days when I don't post a review. As everyone probably knows, there was a massive snowstorm that hit the Eastern part of the US.
Well, it caused several things to be cancelled and/or postponed. One of those was a co-worker's holiday party, which I was going to have to miss because I had a family party to attend. Instead, I was stuck inside and took advantage of the time to do some design work on my web pages. The site is by no means completed as I've got a backlog of older reviews to post and link to Rotten Tomatoes. So it's going to be an ongoing project for a couple of months. I hope to debut the new look in the spring, maybe earlier if things go well.
Today is the first official day of winter, although the weather seems not to have gotten that memo. It's also the solstice which has been marked by various cultures in history and which eventually the Christians co-opted and established Christmas. It's a time of renewal, rebirth, celebration, gift-giving and hope. So my suggestion would be for everyone to try to concentrate on sending out "good vibes" and remember that in the hectic rush and hustle & bustle of this "holiday" season, to take a minute and really stop and think about what it all means.
Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to resume the reviewing. I've certainly got a ton of stuff to watch.
Well, it caused several things to be cancelled and/or postponed. One of those was a co-worker's holiday party, which I was going to have to miss because I had a family party to attend. Instead, I was stuck inside and took advantage of the time to do some design work on my web pages. The site is by no means completed as I've got a backlog of older reviews to post and link to Rotten Tomatoes. So it's going to be an ongoing project for a couple of months. I hope to debut the new look in the spring, maybe earlier if things go well.
Today is the first official day of winter, although the weather seems not to have gotten that memo. It's also the solstice which has been marked by various cultures in history and which eventually the Christians co-opted and established Christmas. It's a time of renewal, rebirth, celebration, gift-giving and hope. So my suggestion would be for everyone to try to concentrate on sending out "good vibes" and remember that in the hectic rush and hustle & bustle of this "holiday" season, to take a minute and really stop and think about what it all means.
Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to resume the reviewing. I've certainly got a ton of stuff to watch.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
December 20: Snowy day -- Tom Kalin retrospective
I had seen Swoon years ago, but because I had recently read Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago (HarperCollins, 2008), I got my hands on the DVD to refresh my memory of it. Kalin, who worked on the screenplay with Hilton Als (who is now a theater critic for The New Yorker), put a new spin on the story which had served as the basis for Rope (1948) and Compulsion (1959), both of which fictionalized the case.
In the film, the relationship between Leopold (Craig Chester) and Loeb (Daniel Schlacter) is clearly a sexual one and the crime they plan is merely an extension of their feelings for one another. The amorality of the characters could be off-putting to audiences, but Kalin has couched the story in an intriguing manner. The film was shot in black and white by Ellen Kuras but Kalin and his associates Therese DePrez & Stacey Jones, who did the production design, and Jessica Haston, who did the costumes, add anachronistic flourishes that are at first jarring but eventually become part of the landscape. In so doing, Kalin and company invite audiences to view the events through modern eyes. It also has the balls to present the lead characters as sociopaths who happened to be homosexual, rather than depraved homosexuals who set out on a crime spree. In this way, the film is a spiritual brother to Gregg Araki's The Living End, however, Swoon is the much better film.
The leading actors are perfectly cast and deliver strong performances. Chester, of course, went on to have a career as an actor, writer and director. Schlachet, who had charisma to spare, forsook acting to pursue a career as an attorney. Together in this film, they create a perfect symbiotic relationship where sex is used as a controlling factor. Even after nearly a decade, Swoon hold up nicely and was the perfect complement to Baatz's book.
Rating: B+
For whatever reason, it took Tom Kalin almost 15 years to make another feature film. Again he chose a true-life story that had depravity as a theme and murder as a side note. Working from Howard A. Rodman's screenplay, which itself was adapted from the book Savage Grace written by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson, Kalin directed this tale of Barbara Daly Baekeland (Julianne Moore) and her unhappy marriage to plastics heir Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane) and her subsequently turbulent relationship with her troubled son Tony (Eddie Redmayne).
From all accounts Barbara was a handful, a fiery redhead who had once been a model and wanna-be actress. She also fancied herself an artist and strove to be accepted by "society", hence her marriage into the Baekeland family, whose fortune derived from Bakelite plastics. Brooks and Barbara hobnobed with the elite artists of the day, but cracks in their relationship soon shown through. Barbara was somewhat unstable, a heavy drinker who didn't censor her opinions and became noted for saying inappropriate comments and generally acting out. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, Brooks attempted to leave only to have Barbara attempt suicide. She was clearly a troubled woman and her life story could provide an actress with a meaty part.
She has delivered consistently interesting and often memorable performances. So, it's very easy to see what might have drawn her to playing this unstable woman. Moore does yeoman work but Rodman's screenplay doesn't really delve into the psychology of the Baekelands and Kalin's direction is a bit superficial. He doesn't dig beneath the surfaces, but presents set pieces that are meticulously designed.
Moore dominates the screen and while that may be appropriate to a certain extent, she should find a match in Dillane, who is wan and a bit of milquetoast in his scenes, and in Redmayne, who is outright miscast. He has no screen presence here and while it might have served to have the character begin as a cipher, he needs to develop into something. Redmayne seemed lost as to how to depict the character's instability and eventual descent into madness. True, he is not assisted by either the script or the director, but a stronger actor might have at least been able to shade his performance better.
Savage Grace could have been a much better film. It's as if during the long gap between films Kalin forgot the basics. It's almost enough to prove the dictum that those who can't do, teach.
Rating: C-
Saturday, December 19, 2009
December 19: Adoration & Ararat
No Atom Egoyan doesn't only make films that start with the letter "A", it just happens that I recently re-viewed both of these movies so that I could review them. I had seen both in theaters, Ararat back in 2002 when it made my Ten Best list for that year, and Adoration last spring when it played for, like, a minute in theaters. I had intended to review the latter at the time, but things got in the way.
When I was watching season two of "The Tudors" on DVD (courtesy of Netflix), the actor portraying the musician Mark Smeaton looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. After consulting the Internet Movie Database, I discovered that it was David Alpay, who had made his feature acting debut in Ararat. So I had a desire to revisit that movie.
Ararat is a complicated and complex film that deals with several themes, but is particularly focused on the atrocities inflicted on the Armenian people in Turkey between 1915 and 1918. To this day, the Turkish government denies that a deliberate, systematic destruction of the Armenian people occurred, despite evidence to the contrary. Relatives of Egoyan's grandparents perished, so this story is clearly one that is close to him.
There are at least three main plot strands that eventually weave together to create the tapestry that is this challenging film. In one, director Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznevour) and his screenwriter Rouben (Eric Bogosian) are crafting a film about events that occurred during the Siege of Van in 1915. In their research, they discover that the painter Arshile Gorky (ne Vostanik Manoog Adoyan) was a boy who may or may not have taken part in the events, so they hire as a consultant an art historian Ani (Arsinee Khanjian) who is an expert on Gorky and his work.
Ani has a checkered history: her first husband died while attempting to assassinate a Turkish government official and her second husband committed suicide. Her son Raffi (David Alpay) from her first marriage and her stepdaughter Celia (Marie-Josee Croze) are engaging in a sexual relationship, despite Celia's fervent belief that Ani drove her father to his death.
The final thread involves a Canadian custom official (Christopher Plummer) about to retire who has difficulties relating to his own child (Brent Carver), a formerly married man now living with another man (Elias Koteas).
The characters cross in odd ways, which I realize some may feel are convoluted, but which I accepted. Plummer's custom official is first seen stopping Aznavour's director from entering the country because the filmmaker is carrying a pomegranate. Later, on his last day of work, he questions Raffi about the contents of canisters of film -- which may or may not contain drugs.
The movie shifts between these various worlds raising pertinent issues about the discrepancies between how historical events unfold and how people can put specific spins on them. Plot points unfold in counterpoint: Celia's desire to pin the blame for her father's death on Ani runs parallel to the Turks not accepting the blame for the genocide of the Armenians. In the film-within-the-film (also titled Ararat) the issue of Gorky's participation in the events at Van is open to interpretation. All that is really known is that he lived in that town during the time and that he was 10 years of age. Did he participate in the events as the filmmakers suggest? Or are they merely taking artistic license? Can these questions be answered? Not definitively.
Although there are some flaws in the film -- and there are certainly a few sequences that feel a bit didactic, overall, I was impressed with the movie. It was challenging, informative and for the most part extremely well acted. Everyone from Plummer to Alpay to Elias Koteas as an actor portraying one of the Turkish generals who perhaps identifies a bit too closely with the character he is portraying to Croze to Khanjian all do fine work. I was moved by the film and its themes and still feel it ranks as one of the director's best movies.
Rating: A-
To some extent, Egoyan continued to explore some of these themes in Adoration, but with a little less success. Inspired by the true story of a terrorist who planted a bomb in the luggage of his unwitting, pregnant girlfriend, Egoyan spins the tale of Simon (Devon Bostick) who identifies too closely with the true story which his French teacher (Arsinee Khanjian) reads to her class. Simon, influenced by his bigoted grandfather (Kenneth Welch) and equally prejudiced uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), concocts a tale wherein his father Sami (Noam Jenkins) becomes that terrorist and his mother Rachel (Rachel Blanchard) becomes the woman. Of course, that means that Simon was the unborn child. Years later, after arguing with Rachel's family, Sami deliberately crashes the car in which he and his wife are riding, leaving Simon an orphan to be raised by his uncle.
Some of his classmates come to believe the story and encouraged by Simon, word spreads, including in Internet chat rooms where people who were on the plane make their feelings known. Simon, abetted by his teacher -- who has an agenda of her own -- challenges his uncle's beliefs.
Once again, Egoyan explores how cultural identies are shaped and how lies and falsehoods can be presented in a manner in which they are taken for truth. Where Ararat explored the issue of communication within a familial structure by examining several groups, in Adoration, the filmmaker has trained his eye on a single unit. He shows how prejudices and misinformation can get passed down from one generation to the next like heirlooms.
I was struck in reading various reviews by other critics at how many failed to see the connections between these movies. Most did not like Ararat and called it confusing and overly-ambitious whereas they lauded Adoration. I had an opposite reaction. I felt Adoration was too small, too confined and a bit confusing. The big reveal about Khanjian's character felt false to me and undercut the film's power. Still, even second-rate Egoyan is better than a lot of other films.
Rating: B-
Ararat is a complicated and complex film that deals with several themes, but is particularly focused on the atrocities inflicted on the Armenian people in Turkey between 1915 and 1918. To this day, the Turkish government denies that a deliberate, systematic destruction of the Armenian people occurred, despite evidence to the contrary. Relatives of Egoyan's grandparents perished, so this story is clearly one that is close to him.
There are at least three main plot strands that eventually weave together to create the tapestry that is this challenging film. In one, director Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznevour) and his screenwriter Rouben (Eric Bogosian) are crafting a film about events that occurred during the Siege of Van in 1915. In their research, they discover that the painter Arshile Gorky (ne Vostanik Manoog Adoyan) was a boy who may or may not have taken part in the events, so they hire as a consultant an art historian Ani (Arsinee Khanjian) who is an expert on Gorky and his work.
Ani has a checkered history: her first husband died while attempting to assassinate a Turkish government official and her second husband committed suicide. Her son Raffi (David Alpay) from her first marriage and her stepdaughter Celia (Marie-Josee Croze) are engaging in a sexual relationship, despite Celia's fervent belief that Ani drove her father to his death.
The final thread involves a Canadian custom official (Christopher Plummer) about to retire who has difficulties relating to his own child (Brent Carver), a formerly married man now living with another man (Elias Koteas).
The characters cross in odd ways, which I realize some may feel are convoluted, but which I accepted. Plummer's custom official is first seen stopping Aznavour's director from entering the country because the filmmaker is carrying a pomegranate. Later, on his last day of work, he questions Raffi about the contents of canisters of film -- which may or may not contain drugs.
The movie shifts between these various worlds raising pertinent issues about the discrepancies between how historical events unfold and how people can put specific spins on them. Plot points unfold in counterpoint: Celia's desire to pin the blame for her father's death on Ani runs parallel to the Turks not accepting the blame for the genocide of the Armenians. In the film-within-the-film (also titled Ararat) the issue of Gorky's participation in the events at Van is open to interpretation. All that is really known is that he lived in that town during the time and that he was 10 years of age. Did he participate in the events as the filmmakers suggest? Or are they merely taking artistic license? Can these questions be answered? Not definitively.
Although there are some flaws in the film -- and there are certainly a few sequences that feel a bit didactic, overall, I was impressed with the movie. It was challenging, informative and for the most part extremely well acted. Everyone from Plummer to Alpay to Elias Koteas as an actor portraying one of the Turkish generals who perhaps identifies a bit too closely with the character he is portraying to Croze to Khanjian all do fine work. I was moved by the film and its themes and still feel it ranks as one of the director's best movies.
Rating: A-
To some extent, Egoyan continued to explore some of these themes in Adoration, but with a little less success. Inspired by the true story of a terrorist who planted a bomb in the luggage of his unwitting, pregnant girlfriend, Egoyan spins the tale of Simon (Devon Bostick) who identifies too closely with the true story which his French teacher (Arsinee Khanjian) reads to her class. Simon, influenced by his bigoted grandfather (Kenneth Welch) and equally prejudiced uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), concocts a tale wherein his father Sami (Noam Jenkins) becomes that terrorist and his mother Rachel (Rachel Blanchard) becomes the woman. Of course, that means that Simon was the unborn child. Years later, after arguing with Rachel's family, Sami deliberately crashes the car in which he and his wife are riding, leaving Simon an orphan to be raised by his uncle.
Some of his classmates come to believe the story and encouraged by Simon, word spreads, including in Internet chat rooms where people who were on the plane make their feelings known. Simon, abetted by his teacher -- who has an agenda of her own -- challenges his uncle's beliefs.
Once again, Egoyan explores how cultural identies are shaped and how lies and falsehoods can be presented in a manner in which they are taken for truth. Where Ararat explored the issue of communication within a familial structure by examining several groups, in Adoration, the filmmaker has trained his eye on a single unit. He shows how prejudices and misinformation can get passed down from one generation to the next like heirlooms.
I was struck in reading various reviews by other critics at how many failed to see the connections between these movies. Most did not like Ararat and called it confusing and overly-ambitious whereas they lauded Adoration. I had an opposite reaction. I felt Adoration was too small, too confined and a bit confusing. The big reveal about Khanjian's character felt false to me and undercut the film's power. Still, even second-rate Egoyan is better than a lot of other films.
Rating: B-
Friday, December 18, 2009
December 18: Last Call (2002)
So today was the company holiday party and we had a relatively good time. Afterwards I went out shopping for last minute gifts and before I knew it, the day was practically gone. It's 10:45 pm, so this is going to be a short entry.
I've been a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing since I got turned on to his work when I was in high school. I had a wicked crush on a slightly older woman -- she was in college! -- and we did a play together that happened to be set in the 1920s. The director had suggested we read Fitzgerald short stories and so ... I was hooked. I've read a number of biographies, all his novels, most of the short stories, and a lot of related materials. And I've tried to watch whatever biographical films that were made, however terrible.
Which brings me to Last Call, a movies that premiered on Showtime in 2002. I just got around to watching it on disc and I have to say that it was rather disappointing. It's based on a true story set in the writer's waning days when he was trying to write The Last Tycoon.
Although purportedly about Fitzgerald (played by Jeremy Irons -- who seemed to me to be coasting through the job), the movie really is the story of Frances Kroll (Neve Campbell), a naive young woman who worked as the writer's secretary. Kroll, of course, later wrote a book and that served as the basis of this drama, written and directed by Henry Bromell. I haven't seen Bromell's debut feature Panic (2000) but I've read fairly good things about it. Bromell went on to work on several TV series, including Showtime's Brotherhood, which I'll get to in another post (after I've finished watching the 3rd season).
Last Call terribly disappointed me. It's a minor film about a fairly important writer and it fails to make him come alive. Sissy Spacek shows up as his wife Zelda, a ghostly figment of the fevered imagination of a dissolute writer. For some reason, Spacek earned an Emmy nomination for this performance which is not one of her best. (She lost the award to Stockard Channing playing Judy Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story.)
The story is filled with cliches: of course Frances is enamored of Scott. Of course, he makes coarse remarks about her writing. Of course, they come to a detente. It's fairly predictable and somewhat boring. Irons and Campbell do not seem to connect at all, as if they are acting in separate films. Campbell tries hard to create a full-bodied character and she has a few affecting scenes, particularly with Paul Hecht as her father.
There's really yet to be a decent biography of Fitzgerald but his work defies filming (despite several attempts). He may be one of those writers whose novels and life is best left to books.
Rating: D+
I've been a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing since I got turned on to his work when I was in high school. I had a wicked crush on a slightly older woman -- she was in college! -- and we did a play together that happened to be set in the 1920s. The director had suggested we read Fitzgerald short stories and so ... I was hooked. I've read a number of biographies, all his novels, most of the short stories, and a lot of related materials. And I've tried to watch whatever biographical films that were made, however terrible.
Which brings me to Last Call, a movies that premiered on Showtime in 2002. I just got around to watching it on disc and I have to say that it was rather disappointing. It's based on a true story set in the writer's waning days when he was trying to write The Last Tycoon.
Although purportedly about Fitzgerald (played by Jeremy Irons -- who seemed to me to be coasting through the job), the movie really is the story of Frances Kroll (Neve Campbell), a naive young woman who worked as the writer's secretary. Kroll, of course, later wrote a book and that served as the basis of this drama, written and directed by Henry Bromell. I haven't seen Bromell's debut feature Panic (2000) but I've read fairly good things about it. Bromell went on to work on several TV series, including Showtime's Brotherhood, which I'll get to in another post (after I've finished watching the 3rd season).
Last Call terribly disappointed me. It's a minor film about a fairly important writer and it fails to make him come alive. Sissy Spacek shows up as his wife Zelda, a ghostly figment of the fevered imagination of a dissolute writer. For some reason, Spacek earned an Emmy nomination for this performance which is not one of her best. (She lost the award to Stockard Channing playing Judy Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story.)
The story is filled with cliches: of course Frances is enamored of Scott. Of course, he makes coarse remarks about her writing. Of course, they come to a detente. It's fairly predictable and somewhat boring. Irons and Campbell do not seem to connect at all, as if they are acting in separate films. Campbell tries hard to create a full-bodied character and she has a few affecting scenes, particularly with Paul Hecht as her father.
There's really yet to be a decent biography of Fitzgerald but his work defies filming (despite several attempts). He may be one of those writers whose novels and life is best left to books.
Rating: D+
Thursday, December 17, 2009
December 17: Star Trek (2009)
I recently got a Blu-Ray player to go with the new big screen TV. (I figured if I'm spending so much time watching movies at home, I'd better have the proper equipment.) So, I upgraded my Netflix and got one of my first Blu-Ray discs - the 2009 remake reboot of Star Trek. Now, I know that a lot of TV geeks worship at Abrams' shrine, particularly for his contributions to Alias, Lost and Fringe. On the big screen, some of his efforts have been less than stellar: Armageddon, anyone? Mission Impossible III? So his selection to oversee the "new" Star Trek didn't necessarily mean it would be a slam dunk. Even though that's pretty much how it turned out. I remember the original short-lived series; when it premiered science fiction wasn't really all that popular in primetime television but several of the episodes have stayed with me and one in particular that featured the gods and goddess of Greek lore led me to seek out and read Edith Hamilton's classic Mythology. Watching those episodes now -- with a more adult perspective -- I can see the cheesy special effects, the cheap sets and the terrible acting, but to a kid, it was revelatory. I wasn't all that pleased with the various spin-offs and the first round of movies. The rule was that only the even numbered ones would be pretty good but you had to try to sit through the others to know what was happening.
The idea that the franchise needed to be remade or rebooted or whatever creative term they are using nowadays was cause for concern. A lot of 60s television series that served as the basis for movies turned out badly (The Mod Squad, The Beverly Hillbillies, I Spy). We had the films that were made. Why couldn't we just enjoy those for what they are? Could they improve on the material?
Abrams and the screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman took Gene Roddenberry's basic concept and added his own special twist. While the characters on screen in this version were younger than the originals, they also exhibited slightly different traits. Parents who were alive in the series didn't survive in this version. Romantic relationships were skewed a bit. It soon becomes clear -- and indeed is a major plot point -- that events occurred that changed the universe in which the characters existed: they were in an alternate world, a parallel reality. If you went with the plotting, it all began to seem, well, "logical".
The plot is somewhat convoluted but revolves around a group of Romulans who survived the destruction of their planet and are led by Nero (Eric Bana, who isn't nearly as menacing as he should be). Perhaps in a nod to another of Bana's movies this year, Nero has time-traveled and is out to seek revenge against the man he feels responsible for his planet's being wiped away. (Hint: It's one of the members of the crew of the USS Enterprise.)
As the film opens, Nero is wreaking havoc on Federation vessels and the USS Kelvin is caught in this battle. One of the passengers is a woman (Jennifer Morrison) who goes into labor with the ship is under fire. It happens that her husband George (Chris Hemsworth) had just been promoted to acting captain and he must make a life or death decision that will have impact on their lives. He sends his wife and newborn son, James Tiberius Kirk, to safety while he stands his ground and, like a good captain, goes down with the ship. That's just the prologue.
Little Jim grows into a young man (Chris Pine) who likes his women (including Zoe Saldana's Uhura) and his booze and who isn't afraid of a brawl. It turns out he's also very smart and catches the attention of a Starfleet commander named Pike (the efficient Bruce Greenwood) -- the name is meant to pay hommage to Jeffrey Hunter who portrayed Captain Pike in the TV show's original pilot. Pike makes an offer to Kirk who accepts and trains at the Starfleet Academy. Gradually, we meet the various actors who will fill out the characters that fans have come to know. Karl Urban is superb as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, John Cho is fine as Sulu, Anton Yelchin does a nice turn as Chekhov, and Simon Pegg finds the right balance of comedy and seriousness as Montgomery Scott. Zachary Quinto has one of the more difficult tasks -- to step into the boots of Leonard Nimoy as the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock, and the actor does so completely and successfully. I would argue that he delivers the best performance in the film since a great deal of the time, he struggles to keep the human (read: emotional) side of his personality in check. He and Pine also balance one another well, going from dislike and mistrust to begrudging admiration to outright friendship. Theirs is the bromance at the heart of the film.
The rest of the large cast does yeoman work, although as I mentioned, Bana isn't quite in the pantheon of memorable villains. He's too timid, not theatening enough. He is capable of portraying a vile character as anyone who saw Chopper could attest, but here he is lukewarm. Ben Cross, Winona Rider and Clifton Collins, Jr. are also good in small but pivotal roles. The one jarring appearance -- at least, for me -- was Tyler Perry as a Starfleet admiral. I guess I just didn't expect to see this actor-director in a sci-fi film and it momentarily took me out of the movie. It was an example of stunt casting that backfired a bit.
Otherwise, I readily enjoyed Star Trek and am looking forward to seeing what will unfold in the inevitable sequels. Perhaps they can get it right each time and not every other time.
Rating: B+
The idea that the franchise needed to be remade or rebooted or whatever creative term they are using nowadays was cause for concern. A lot of 60s television series that served as the basis for movies turned out badly (The Mod Squad, The Beverly Hillbillies, I Spy). We had the films that were made. Why couldn't we just enjoy those for what they are? Could they improve on the material?
Abrams and the screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman took Gene Roddenberry's basic concept and added his own special twist. While the characters on screen in this version were younger than the originals, they also exhibited slightly different traits. Parents who were alive in the series didn't survive in this version. Romantic relationships were skewed a bit. It soon becomes clear -- and indeed is a major plot point -- that events occurred that changed the universe in which the characters existed: they were in an alternate world, a parallel reality. If you went with the plotting, it all began to seem, well, "logical".
The plot is somewhat convoluted but revolves around a group of Romulans who survived the destruction of their planet and are led by Nero (Eric Bana, who isn't nearly as menacing as he should be). Perhaps in a nod to another of Bana's movies this year, Nero has time-traveled and is out to seek revenge against the man he feels responsible for his planet's being wiped away. (Hint: It's one of the members of the crew of the USS Enterprise.)
As the film opens, Nero is wreaking havoc on Federation vessels and the USS Kelvin is caught in this battle. One of the passengers is a woman (Jennifer Morrison) who goes into labor with the ship is under fire. It happens that her husband George (Chris Hemsworth) had just been promoted to acting captain and he must make a life or death decision that will have impact on their lives. He sends his wife and newborn son, James Tiberius Kirk, to safety while he stands his ground and, like a good captain, goes down with the ship. That's just the prologue.
Little Jim grows into a young man (Chris Pine) who likes his women (including Zoe Saldana's Uhura) and his booze and who isn't afraid of a brawl. It turns out he's also very smart and catches the attention of a Starfleet commander named Pike (the efficient Bruce Greenwood) -- the name is meant to pay hommage to Jeffrey Hunter who portrayed Captain Pike in the TV show's original pilot. Pike makes an offer to Kirk who accepts and trains at the Starfleet Academy. Gradually, we meet the various actors who will fill out the characters that fans have come to know. Karl Urban is superb as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, John Cho is fine as Sulu, Anton Yelchin does a nice turn as Chekhov, and Simon Pegg finds the right balance of comedy and seriousness as Montgomery Scott. Zachary Quinto has one of the more difficult tasks -- to step into the boots of Leonard Nimoy as the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock, and the actor does so completely and successfully. I would argue that he delivers the best performance in the film since a great deal of the time, he struggles to keep the human (read: emotional) side of his personality in check. He and Pine also balance one another well, going from dislike and mistrust to begrudging admiration to outright friendship. Theirs is the bromance at the heart of the film.
The rest of the large cast does yeoman work, although as I mentioned, Bana isn't quite in the pantheon of memorable villains. He's too timid, not theatening enough. He is capable of portraying a vile character as anyone who saw Chopper could attest, but here he is lukewarm. Ben Cross, Winona Rider and Clifton Collins, Jr. are also good in small but pivotal roles. The one jarring appearance -- at least, for me -- was Tyler Perry as a Starfleet admiral. I guess I just didn't expect to see this actor-director in a sci-fi film and it momentarily took me out of the movie. It was an example of stunt casting that backfired a bit.
Otherwise, I readily enjoyed Star Trek and am looking forward to seeing what will unfold in the inevitable sequels. Perhaps they can get it right each time and not every other time.
Rating: B+
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 16: Of Time and the City
The annual run-up to the Academy Awards is in full swing with various critics groups announcing their prizes and while there seems to be something of a consensus on the major awards (The Hurt Locker, Jeff Bridges or George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique keep appearing with regularity), I took note of one selection by the New York Film Critics Circle which bestowed its prize for non-fiction film on Of Time and the City, Terence Davies' meditative look at his hometown of Liverpool.
Years ago, I was priviliged to work at a company that had many erudite individuals who all loved movies and TV. It was always fun to chat with them, because I honestly learned something. One of my co-workers, the late Kent Greene, was the person who really introduced me to the films of Terence Davies. Kent had been an admirer of the filmmaker's early efforts and after seeing his infectious reactions to them, I sought them out and was not disappointed. I will grant you, though, that I can see how films like The Long Day Closes and Distant Voices, Still Lives might not hold popular appeal. I, however, find both of them to be wonderful, evocative of a recent past. Both films have strong autobiographical elements and both play almost like documentaries, although they are clearly fictional.
Unfortunately, Terence Davies is not a prolific director -- and I'm unsure exactly why. He has spoken of the difficulties he has faced in securing financing for his movies and that is just sad. Such an incredible talent -- with an unique voice and perspective. His last feature film was 2000's The House of Mirth -- in my estimation the best film of that year with an underappreciated and underrated performance by Gillian Anderson.
After nearly a decade, Davies has returned with a film
that in my estimation falls just short of being a masterpiece. There is much to admire in it but even at only 74 minutes, there are a few spots where it drags a tiny bit. As much as it pains me to say it, I did find myself becoming slightly bored.
Nevertheless, this film -- which is subtitled "a love song and a eulogy" -- posseses some vibrant and memorable images, from children playing to older women washing laundry to the sights and sounds of this port city. Davies was born and raised in Liverpool and while today most people know of the city as the birthplace of the Beatles, it is and was so much more. For many years, it was a way station for Irish immigrants fleeing the famine and hardships of rural life who were en route to something better in London or the United States. Indeed, a large number of Irish settled in Liverpool and the city had a notable Roman Catholic population, including Davies. In his voiceover narration that veers from seriousness to dollops of sarcasm, mostly directed at Mother Church or the queen, whom he calls "Betty Windsor" in a typically irreverant fashion.
As in his other films, Davies adopts a very impressionistic style. The film is born of memories and as such there is no particular linear storyline. Instead, we get glimpses of buildings and places or people and faces that cause the filmmaker to launch into a reverie, sometimes poignant, sometimes bitter, sometimes rueful. We see a life in Liverpool, whether it be a typical one or not is debatable. But themes of religion, sex and homosexuality, the arts as healer (particularly the cinema), violence, loss, death, decay, rebirth, all permeate this movie and mesh together. Davies has crafted a tone poem that is rifled with autobiography. It's devestating and uplifting, if occasionally marred by too much repetition. Davies is nothing if not a passionate filmmaker and I just hope it won't be another eight or ten years before he gets to make another film.
Rating: A-
After nearly a decade, Davies has returned with a film
that in my estimation falls just short of being a masterpiece. There is much to admire in it but even at only 74 minutes, there are a few spots where it drags a tiny bit. As much as it pains me to say it, I did find myself becoming slightly bored.
As in his other films, Davies adopts a very impressionistic style. The film is born of memories and as such there is no particular linear storyline. Instead, we get glimpses of buildings and places or people and faces that cause the filmmaker to launch into a reverie, sometimes poignant, sometimes bitter, sometimes rueful. We see a life in Liverpool, whether it be a typical one or not is debatable. But themes of religion, sex and homosexuality, the arts as healer (particularly the cinema), violence, loss, death, decay, rebirth, all permeate this movie and mesh together. Davies has crafted a tone poem that is rifled with autobiography. It's devestating and uplifting, if occasionally marred by too much repetition. Davies is nothing if not a passionate filmmaker and I just hope it won't be another eight or ten years before he gets to make another film.
Rating: A-
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
December 15: Dentists and Christmas music
So in a slight departure for today's entry, I'm refraining from doing an actual movie review (or two or more).
This was a very strange day for me. If you had asked me, I would have sworn that I had an appointment for dental surgery tomorrow -- Wednesday. However, when I awoke to my alarm and turned on the local news (I tend to gravitate to WBZ for some reason, even though it is a CBS affiliate), and someone mentioned the date, it resonated in my then very sleepy mind. December 15. I have a dental appointment, but it can't be the 15th because it's Tuesday and I made a Wednesday appointment. Then it began to penetrate and I went into warp speed. Showering, shaving and dressing in record time, I arrived a full 15 minutes early. And the doctor had an early appointment that ran late. Anyway, I got what needed to be done taken care of, got the prescription drugs (for pain -- which I ended up needing) and am making the adjustment to soft foods and chewing on one side of my mouth.
While I was sitting in the chair, though, I usually have flashbacks to the way dentists have been portrayed in the movies. One of the first things that springs to my mind is Marathon Man - "Is it safe?" Laurence Olivier may have been aged but he was damn scary and Dusting Hoffman may have required some Method work to portray terrified, but that scene is very scary to me and has colored how I see the profession.
Of course, I wish I could be more like Jack Nicholson in Little Shop of Horrors or to a lesser extent Bill Murray in the musical remake. In the latter, the dentist is played by Steve Martin and that wasn't to be his last take on the profession. He later showed up as tooth doctor suspected of murder in Novocaine. Then there was the dentist who was a murder victim in Compromising Positions. Do you see a pattern here?
Anyway, once I got back from the office, I put on some soothing music. Now I'm not much for holiday recordings, mostly because their shelf life is so limited. (I'm not the type to listen to carols in July.) But I actually did purchase a CD of holiday music recently and after a couple of listens, I can highly recommend it: "Christmas Mornings" by Brent Barrett.
Who is Brent Barrett you may be asking? Well if you don't know, shame on you, as he is one of the American theater's best musical performers. Back when soap opera mattered, he appeared on "All My Children" as the stumbling block between Kim Delaney's Jenny and Laurence Lau's Greg. But he's better known for his stage appearances in Closer Than Ever, Grand Hotel, and Chicago. He's got a terrific, rich tenor voice and the selection of songs includes standard fare ("White Christmas", "Winter Wonderland"), some lesser known gems (the title track), a few Broadway numbers ("A Place Called Home" in a medly with "I'll Be Home for Christmas", and "Lovers on Christmas Eve"), plus one that he has a sonwriting credit on ("A Star To Guide Me"). It's a charming, enjoyable selection that actually succeeded in putting me (who could give the Grinch lessons) into a holiday frame of mind. You can order it from Kritzerland or at Barrett's website.
Hopefully, I'll get back into the movie review mode tomorrow but my mouth is throbbing, there's a pill with my name on it and a strong need for some sleep. Till anon.
This was a very strange day for me. If you had asked me, I would have sworn that I had an appointment for dental surgery tomorrow -- Wednesday. However, when I awoke to my alarm and turned on the local news (I tend to gravitate to WBZ for some reason, even though it is a CBS affiliate), and someone mentioned the date, it resonated in my then very sleepy mind. December 15. I have a dental appointment, but it can't be the 15th because it's Tuesday and I made a Wednesday appointment. Then it began to penetrate and I went into warp speed. Showering, shaving and dressing in record time, I arrived a full 15 minutes early. And the doctor had an early appointment that ran late. Anyway, I got what needed to be done taken care of, got the prescription drugs (for pain -- which I ended up needing) and am making the adjustment to soft foods and chewing on one side of my mouth.
While I was sitting in the chair, though, I usually have flashbacks to the way dentists have been portrayed in the movies. One of the first things that springs to my mind is Marathon Man - "Is it safe?" Laurence Olivier may have been aged but he was damn scary and Dusting Hoffman may have required some Method work to portray terrified, but that scene is very scary to me and has colored how I see the profession.
Of course, I wish I could be more like Jack Nicholson in Little Shop of Horrors or to a lesser extent Bill Murray in the musical remake. In the latter, the dentist is played by Steve Martin and that wasn't to be his last take on the profession. He later showed up as tooth doctor suspected of murder in Novocaine. Then there was the dentist who was a murder victim in Compromising Positions. Do you see a pattern here?
Who is Brent Barrett you may be asking? Well if you don't know, shame on you, as he is one of the American theater's best musical performers. Back when soap opera mattered, he appeared on "All My Children" as the stumbling block between Kim Delaney's Jenny and Laurence Lau's Greg. But he's better known for his stage appearances in Closer Than Ever, Grand Hotel, and Chicago. He's got a terrific, rich tenor voice and the selection of songs includes standard fare ("White Christmas", "Winter Wonderland"), some lesser known gems (the title track), a few Broadway numbers ("A Place Called Home" in a medly with "I'll Be Home for Christmas", and "Lovers on Christmas Eve"), plus one that he has a sonwriting credit on ("A Star To Guide Me"). It's a charming, enjoyable selection that actually succeeded in putting me (who could give the Grinch lessons) into a holiday frame of mind. You can order it from Kritzerland or at Barrett's website.
Hopefully, I'll get back into the movie review mode tomorrow but my mouth is throbbing, there's a pill with my name on it and a strong need for some sleep. Till anon.
Monday, December 14, 2009
December 14: Humpday
Well, maybe I should have saved reviewing this film for a Wednesday instead of Monday, but I felt it was necessary to write about it in a somewhat timely fashion. You see I won a Twitter contest sponsored by Magnolia Pictures and the DVD arrived on my doorstop fairly recently. I had a couple of other things in the pile to get through first but last night, with nothing to watch on the tube, I popped the disc in, sat back and watched.
Humpday, written and directed by Lynn Shelton, revolves around the relationship between two males: Ben (Mark Duplass, who with his brother Jay makes movies like The Puffy Chair and Baghead), and Andrew (Joshua Leonard, arguably the more successful of the people involved with The Blair Witch Project).
Andrew is sort of the quintessential Peter Pan -- the boy who won't grow up. He arrives at Ben's home in the middle of the night and ingratiates his way into the placid life that Ben and his wife Anna (Alycia Delmore) have built. At this point, I sort of felt I was watching a low-budget remake of You, Me & Dupree, but Lynn Shelton thankfully had other ideas.
Soon Ben is standing up Anna as he follows Andrew on his wayward adventures -- hooking up with a bisexual woman (writer-director Shelton) and her coterie of assorted polyamorous pals. While getting alternately drunk and stoned, Andrew and Ben hatch a plan to participate in an "art" festival where each entrant makes a porn film. After some discussion, the boys hit on the very weird notion of filming themselves having sex because in their minds there's no such thing as straight men having sex together on camera. (If they were to check out the Internet, they'd see that there's a myriad of porn sites that purport to show exactly that.)
That's the premise of this well-made and surprising little movie. I will confess, it took a while to hook me in. The first couple of scenes were somewhat meandering and a bit too loose for my tastes. But then, those appear to be the hallmarks of the genre dubbed "mumblecore" -- low-budget with a slightly improvisatory feel. (I have seen a couple of them, but only one other has made an impression on me -- I'm saving that review for a more appropriate date -- oops, I may have tipped my hand there.)
Mark Duplass and Josh Leonard in Humpday.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Back to Humpday. Once it settles down a bit, it becomes a really intriguing character study centered on three people. Ben agrees to do this oddball venture because he feels he owes it to his best friend. There's no homophile vibe. No one is secretly gay or anything, but Ben has an affecting confessional moment that helps to define his character. Andrew, for his part, just thinks it's a goof and like much of his free-wheeling life, he's just going along with the flow. He doesn't really take into consideration Anna until they attempt a get-to-know-you evening.
For her part, Anna is the most unusual character because she doesn't quite react in the cliched terms one might expect in a Hollywood film. Delmore has a flint-like charm and she comes off as the most relateable of the characters. She and Duplass have an easy chemistry -- they are belivable as a couple -- and there's one particular scene where she reveals something that is devestating to watch thanks to the superlative acting.
The final section of the movie is a comic delight as the guys head off to a motel to actually make their porn film and discover a lot about themselves.
So the upshot is that after a slightly rocky start, Humpday turns into a compelling and enjoyable movie about male bonding, the limits of friendships, marriage and several shades of love. Check it out!
The DVD has two commentary tracks -- one with the two lead actors who offer some interesting insights into the making of the movie, and another from the director, the leading lady and several of the crew that is equally informative. (My only quibble is that there are too many people offering insight.) There's also the requisite deleted scenes (most of which are easily understood as not being that germane to the film) and a behind the scenes featurette and trailer of other Magnolia Pictures offerings.
Rating: B+
Humpday, written and directed by Lynn Shelton, revolves around the relationship between two males: Ben (Mark Duplass, who with his brother Jay makes movies like The Puffy Chair and Baghead), and Andrew (Joshua Leonard, arguably the more successful of the people involved with The Blair Witch Project).
Andrew is sort of the quintessential Peter Pan -- the boy who won't grow up. He arrives at Ben's home in the middle of the night and ingratiates his way into the placid life that Ben and his wife Anna (Alycia Delmore) have built. At this point, I sort of felt I was watching a low-budget remake of You, Me & Dupree, but Lynn Shelton thankfully had other ideas.
Soon Ben is standing up Anna as he follows Andrew on his wayward adventures -- hooking up with a bisexual woman (writer-director Shelton) and her coterie of assorted polyamorous pals. While getting alternately drunk and stoned, Andrew and Ben hatch a plan to participate in an "art" festival where each entrant makes a porn film. After some discussion, the boys hit on the very weird notion of filming themselves having sex because in their minds there's no such thing as straight men having sex together on camera. (If they were to check out the Internet, they'd see that there's a myriad of porn sites that purport to show exactly that.)
That's the premise of this well-made and surprising little movie. I will confess, it took a while to hook me in. The first couple of scenes were somewhat meandering and a bit too loose for my tastes. But then, those appear to be the hallmarks of the genre dubbed "mumblecore" -- low-budget with a slightly improvisatory feel. (I have seen a couple of them, but only one other has made an impression on me -- I'm saving that review for a more appropriate date -- oops, I may have tipped my hand there.)
Mark Duplass and Josh Leonard in Humpday.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Back to Humpday. Once it settles down a bit, it becomes a really intriguing character study centered on three people. Ben agrees to do this oddball venture because he feels he owes it to his best friend. There's no homophile vibe. No one is secretly gay or anything, but Ben has an affecting confessional moment that helps to define his character. Andrew, for his part, just thinks it's a goof and like much of his free-wheeling life, he's just going along with the flow. He doesn't really take into consideration Anna until they attempt a get-to-know-you evening.
For her part, Anna is the most unusual character because she doesn't quite react in the cliched terms one might expect in a Hollywood film. Delmore has a flint-like charm and she comes off as the most relateable of the characters. She and Duplass have an easy chemistry -- they are belivable as a couple -- and there's one particular scene where she reveals something that is devestating to watch thanks to the superlative acting.
The final section of the movie is a comic delight as the guys head off to a motel to actually make their porn film and discover a lot about themselves.
So the upshot is that after a slightly rocky start, Humpday turns into a compelling and enjoyable movie about male bonding, the limits of friendships, marriage and several shades of love. Check it out!
The DVD has two commentary tracks -- one with the two lead actors who offer some interesting insights into the making of the movie, and another from the director, the leading lady and several of the crew that is equally informative. (My only quibble is that there are too many people offering insight.) There's also the requisite deleted scenes (most of which are easily understood as not being that germane to the film) and a behind the scenes featurette and trailer of other Magnolia Pictures offerings.
Rating: B+
Sunday, December 13, 2009
December 13: A Little Night Music
In honor of the opening of the first Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler masterpiece -- which is one of my favorite musicals -- I pulled out my copy of this movie and watched it again.
The show is based on Ingmar Bergman's 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night, which in turn owes something to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Comedy in that both revolve around a series of mismatched lovers. Bergman's charming and droll film has been well served in Hugh Wheeler's adaptation. (As a side note, I feel a need to point out that Wheeler was one of the better musical book writers and his contributions to this play and to Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street are often overlooked in the same manner that Piave's contributions to Rigoletto and La traviata aren't always recognized. It's a composer's world, I guess.)
Only four scant years after the musical graced Broadway, Harold Prince had the notion to turn the stage show into a film. Unfortunately, it was a troubled production, despite the presence of a genuine movie star -- Elizabeth Taylor -- in the lead role. Financing proved difficult and there were starts and stops in filming. What ended up on screen is a pale imitation of the enjoyable stage musical.
It's always interested me that Prince could employ cinematic techniques when directing for the theater but put him behind a camera and he was at sea. His first effort, the Wheeler-penned film Something for Everyone, did not exactly inspire rave reviews. For A Little Night Music, the location was switched from Sweden to Vienna (because the score was written in 3/4 time?) which required renaming some of the characters. In the show, there is a group of leider singers who function as a chorus, but they are jettisoned, despite the film's first sequence that makes it appear the audience is watching a stage show. Somehow with the financial uncertainty, that aspect of the production got forgotten.
Instead, the audience gets a very turgid version of the original with almost all sense of the comedy lost. In a nutshell, lawyer Fredrick Egerman (Len Cariou) is married to his virginal second wife Anne (Lesley-Anne Down) who is the object of desire of his seminarian son Erich (Christopher Guard). Egerman decides to seek counsel from his ex-mistress Desiree (Elizabeth Taylor), a bohemian actress with a teenage daughter (Chloe Franks). She is also carrying on a relationship with a titled military man (Laurence Guittard) whose long-suffering wife (Diana Rigg) is acquainted with Egerman's wife Anne. All parties converge at the estate of Desiree's mother (Hermione Gingold) where the relationships get sorted out.
Cariou, Guittard and Gingold reprise their stage roles. None of the movie star names -- Down, Taylor and Rigg -- (who look gorgeous in Florence Klotz's Oscar-nominated costumes) are particularly noted for their singing abilities. Taylor tries mightily hard but doesn't capture the essence of the character. Her version of the show's best-known song "Send in the Clowns" is passable but hardly memorable. Gingold does what she can with her part but the best performance (in what is generally thought to be the best role) comes from Rigg.
That's feignt praise, though, as this film is nothing short of a disaster. Whether it was because of the monetary problems, Prince's lack of experience with film, bad casting decisions, or some combination of all, this version of A Little Night Music falls far short of the possibilities inherent in this musical. Hollywood has remake fever, yet they don't seem to want to take on terrible movies that cry out for a new version (like this one). Perhaps if the new revival proves to be a hit, then someone might take another crack at it.
Rating: D+
Saturday, December 12, 2009
December 12: Ludivine Sagnier
Happy Hanukkah!
So I recently watched several French films and, purely by accident and not design, there was a common denominator among them -- the actress Ludivine Sagnier. Sagnier started as a child actress and has gone on to amass a very respectable resume, perhaps most notably Swimming Pool with Charlotte Rampling. The films I watched were Moliere; Les chansons d'amour (Love Songs); La fille coupee en deux (A Girl Cut in Half); and Un secret (A Secret). Whether playing a leading role or a supporting one, Sagnier proved to be a luminous and arresting screen presence. She's fast becoming one of my favorite actresses and I'm awaiting the release of the acclaimed dyptich Mesrine which has been scheduled for sometime in 2010, not only because she's in it, but because it stars one of my favorite actors Vincent Cassel.
Moliere shares some of the same DNA as the film Becoming Jane. Both are speculations on the lives of a famous writer about whom there is incomplete information, both are period pieces, and both draw parallels between the author's life and his/her work. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin a.k.s Moliere (Roman Duris) is a playwright and actor who has been constantly touring the French countryside with a troupe of actors. He wants to settle down and craft more "serious" work than the crowd-pleasing comedies that have become the company's stock in trade. When the film opens, he has returned to Paris and is summoned to the deathbed of a mysterious individual.
The movie then flashes back more than a decade when Moliere was about to be imprisoned for racking up a large debt. He is "saved" by a wealthy merchant (Fabrice Luchini) who agrees to pay the debt if Moliere will assist him with a play he has written that he hopes will impress a local widow (Sagnier). Moliere poses as a tutor hired to instruct the rich man's daughters and also catches the attention of the lady of the house (Laura Morante). Borrowing from Tartuffe, The Imaginary Invalid and The Misanthrope, among others, the film weaves an intermittently entertaining tale. What elevates Moliere are the strong performances. Duris is usually cast as dour sorts so it's nice to see him get to cut loose and display his comedic side. He deftly handles the role and strikes sparks with Laura Morante as the neglected homemaker. Luchini captures the follies of a man led not by his heart but by another organ. Sagnier is note perfect as the frivolous widow who is more than aware of her charms. While there is a schematic feel to the film, Moliere is an enjoyable way to pass a few hours, particularly if you like theater, especially farce.
Rating: C+
A Girl Cut in Half is Claude Chabrol's modern-day version of the Evelyn Nesbit story. Evelyn who? Her story has been told on screen in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (with Joan Collins) and Ragtime (with Elizabeth McGovern earning an Oscar nomination). In a nutshell, in 1906, Nesbit was a model who became something of a celebrity because of her affair with architect Stanford White who was shot to death by Nesbit's unstable husband Harry K. Thaw. When Thaw's case hit the courts it was dubbed "the murder of the century" -- this was eighty-something years before O.J. Simpson.
Chabrol and his co-scenarist Cecile Mastre utilized the outlines of the case to craft their plot. Gabrielle (Sagnier) is a local TV weathergirl on the rise. She soon catches the romantic attentions of two gents, Paul (Benoit Magimel), the wealthy scion of a family who owns a pharmaceutical firm, and the older successful novelist Charles (Francois Berleand).
Chabrol has often been compared with Hitchcock and Sagnier's character is a relative of the many cool, icy blondes that populated Hitchcock films. The audience isn't clued into the reasons why she dallies with these distinctive men, although there are hints that she may be seeking a father figure in the older writer, and, of course, there's the cliche that every woman is attracted to the "bad boy". In any case, this is a love triangle that will end in tragedy; getting there is the thrust of the film and it's a bumpy but satisfying ride.
Sagnier does what she can with a slightly underwritten role. Berleand is forceful and charming, while Magimel walks off with movie. There's fine support from Caroline Silhol as Paul's snobbish mother and Matilda May as Charles' publisher. It's all very Chabrolian, and if you are a fan of the director's work (as I am), then you'll like this movie, even if it is not top shelf.
Rating: B
In Un secret (A Secret), Sagnier has a pivotal supporting role. This is a film that is difficult to write about because one doesn't want to give away too much of the plot. It is based on an autobiographical novel by Philip Grimbert and centers on Francois, a character the audience meets at various stages in his life. He is seen as a child, a teenager and an adult, all played by different actors, and the plot revolves around his uncovering a long-buried family secret that is partly based on religion and partly on a more taboo issue. Sagnier is terrific in her role but the movie really centers on Francois' parents (Patrick Bruel and Cecile De France), although Julie Depardieu as a family friend (and keeper of the secret) delivers the best performance. Directed by Claude Miller.
Rating: B-
And in what is my favorite of this quartet, Les chansons d'amour (Love Songs), Sagnier again plays a pivotal role.
First off, this is not a remake of the 1986 Catherine Deneuve film that bore the same title in English -- although it does feature Deneuve's daughter Chiara Mastroianni.
This is a musical, directed by Christopher Honore, and set in contemporary Paris. As the film opens, Julie (Sagnier) and her lover Ismael (Louis Garrel) are experiencing troubles in their relationship. To spice things up, they enjoy the occasional threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme), Ismael's co-worker. Julie's family has embraced the young man, but her mother (Brigitte Rouan) is shocked when she learns of the arrangement. While Julie claims that she agreed to the arrangement to hold on to Ismael, she also confesses that there are aspects which she enjoys.
An unexpected tragedy occurs which forces the various lovers apart and into new arrangements. Ismael deals with conflicting emotions and eventually makes a suprising choice. Since the film is called "Love Songs" -- one can gather that it focuses on the healing powers of that emotion.
Did I mention that this is a musical? In fact, one of the better musicals I've seen in years. Yes, the actors aren't trained singers, but that's part of the film's charm. The fourteen songs in the movie, all written by Alex Beaupain, aren't all that memorable -- you don't hum them afterwards -- but in the context of the plot, they work quite well. The best number is a mournful lament delivered by Chiara Mastroianni.
Sagnier is terrific as the conflicted Julie. Hesme is fine as the pragmatic Alice. Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet offers fine support as a puppyish suitor and Alice Butaud as Julie's other sister also registers, as do Brigitte Rouan and Jean-Marie Winling as Julie's parents. Garrel anchors the film, deftly taking a somewhat selfish lout on a journey in which he opens up his heart.
I have seen Love Songs several times now and with each viewing I discover more to it, like re-reading a good novel. This is easily one of my favorite films of the last decade and ranks along with Once as a wonderful musical and a bittersweet romance.
Rating: A-
So I recently watched several French films and, purely by accident and not design, there was a common denominator among them -- the actress Ludivine Sagnier. Sagnier started as a child actress and has gone on to amass a very respectable resume, perhaps most notably Swimming Pool with Charlotte Rampling. The films I watched were Moliere; Les chansons d'amour (Love Songs); La fille coupee en deux (A Girl Cut in Half); and Un secret (A Secret). Whether playing a leading role or a supporting one, Sagnier proved to be a luminous and arresting screen presence. She's fast becoming one of my favorite actresses and I'm awaiting the release of the acclaimed dyptich Mesrine which has been scheduled for sometime in 2010, not only because she's in it, but because it stars one of my favorite actors Vincent Cassel.
Moliere shares some of the same DNA as the film Becoming Jane. Both are speculations on the lives of a famous writer about whom there is incomplete information, both are period pieces, and both draw parallels between the author's life and his/her work. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin a.k.s Moliere (Roman Duris) is a playwright and actor who has been constantly touring the French countryside with a troupe of actors. He wants to settle down and craft more "serious" work than the crowd-pleasing comedies that have become the company's stock in trade. When the film opens, he has returned to Paris and is summoned to the deathbed of a mysterious individual.
The movie then flashes back more than a decade when Moliere was about to be imprisoned for racking up a large debt. He is "saved" by a wealthy merchant (Fabrice Luchini) who agrees to pay the debt if Moliere will assist him with a play he has written that he hopes will impress a local widow (Sagnier). Moliere poses as a tutor hired to instruct the rich man's daughters and also catches the attention of the lady of the house (Laura Morante). Borrowing from Tartuffe, The Imaginary Invalid and The Misanthrope, among others, the film weaves an intermittently entertaining tale. What elevates Moliere are the strong performances. Duris is usually cast as dour sorts so it's nice to see him get to cut loose and display his comedic side. He deftly handles the role and strikes sparks with Laura Morante as the neglected homemaker. Luchini captures the follies of a man led not by his heart but by another organ. Sagnier is note perfect as the frivolous widow who is more than aware of her charms. While there is a schematic feel to the film, Moliere is an enjoyable way to pass a few hours, particularly if you like theater, especially farce.
Rating: C+
A Girl Cut in Half is Claude Chabrol's modern-day version of the Evelyn Nesbit story. Evelyn who? Her story has been told on screen in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (with Joan Collins) and Ragtime (with Elizabeth McGovern earning an Oscar nomination). In a nutshell, in 1906, Nesbit was a model who became something of a celebrity because of her affair with architect Stanford White who was shot to death by Nesbit's unstable husband Harry K. Thaw. When Thaw's case hit the courts it was dubbed "the murder of the century" -- this was eighty-something years before O.J. Simpson.
Chabrol and his co-scenarist Cecile Mastre utilized the outlines of the case to craft their plot. Gabrielle (Sagnier) is a local TV weathergirl on the rise. She soon catches the romantic attentions of two gents, Paul (Benoit Magimel), the wealthy scion of a family who owns a pharmaceutical firm, and the older successful novelist Charles (Francois Berleand).
Chabrol has often been compared with Hitchcock and Sagnier's character is a relative of the many cool, icy blondes that populated Hitchcock films. The audience isn't clued into the reasons why she dallies with these distinctive men, although there are hints that she may be seeking a father figure in the older writer, and, of course, there's the cliche that every woman is attracted to the "bad boy". In any case, this is a love triangle that will end in tragedy; getting there is the thrust of the film and it's a bumpy but satisfying ride.
Sagnier does what she can with a slightly underwritten role. Berleand is forceful and charming, while Magimel walks off with movie. There's fine support from Caroline Silhol as Paul's snobbish mother and Matilda May as Charles' publisher. It's all very Chabrolian, and if you are a fan of the director's work (as I am), then you'll like this movie, even if it is not top shelf.
Rating: B
In Un secret (A Secret), Sagnier has a pivotal supporting role. This is a film that is difficult to write about because one doesn't want to give away too much of the plot. It is based on an autobiographical novel by Philip Grimbert and centers on Francois, a character the audience meets at various stages in his life. He is seen as a child, a teenager and an adult, all played by different actors, and the plot revolves around his uncovering a long-buried family secret that is partly based on religion and partly on a more taboo issue. Sagnier is terrific in her role but the movie really centers on Francois' parents (Patrick Bruel and Cecile De France), although Julie Depardieu as a family friend (and keeper of the secret) delivers the best performance. Directed by Claude Miller.
Rating: B-
And in what is my favorite of this quartet, Les chansons d'amour (Love Songs), Sagnier again plays a pivotal role.
First off, this is not a remake of the 1986 Catherine Deneuve film that bore the same title in English -- although it does feature Deneuve's daughter Chiara Mastroianni.
This is a musical, directed by Christopher Honore, and set in contemporary Paris. As the film opens, Julie (Sagnier) and her lover Ismael (Louis Garrel) are experiencing troubles in their relationship. To spice things up, they enjoy the occasional threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme), Ismael's co-worker. Julie's family has embraced the young man, but her mother (Brigitte Rouan) is shocked when she learns of the arrangement. While Julie claims that she agreed to the arrangement to hold on to Ismael, she also confesses that there are aspects which she enjoys.
An unexpected tragedy occurs which forces the various lovers apart and into new arrangements. Ismael deals with conflicting emotions and eventually makes a suprising choice. Since the film is called "Love Songs" -- one can gather that it focuses on the healing powers of that emotion.
Did I mention that this is a musical? In fact, one of the better musicals I've seen in years. Yes, the actors aren't trained singers, but that's part of the film's charm. The fourteen songs in the movie, all written by Alex Beaupain, aren't all that memorable -- you don't hum them afterwards -- but in the context of the plot, they work quite well. The best number is a mournful lament delivered by Chiara Mastroianni.
Sagnier is terrific as the conflicted Julie. Hesme is fine as the pragmatic Alice. Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet offers fine support as a puppyish suitor and Alice Butaud as Julie's other sister also registers, as do Brigitte Rouan and Jean-Marie Winling as Julie's parents. Garrel anchors the film, deftly taking a somewhat selfish lout on a journey in which he opens up his heart.
I have seen Love Songs several times now and with each viewing I discover more to it, like re-reading a good novel. This is easily one of my favorite films of the last decade and ranks along with Once as a wonderful musical and a bittersweet romance.
Rating: A-
Friday, December 11, 2009
December 11: Becoming Jane with Rachel Getting Married
When I challenged myself to try to write a review a day for the month of December, I didn't realize just how much of an effort it was going to be. I've certainly got newfound respect for people who operate blogs for profit (y'all know who you are). I suppose I could just post about anything (and I do and I have) but my goal was to try to write about the many films I've seen in the last month or so.
Two of the more recent items to cross my path were Becoming Jane and Rachel Getting Married, both starring Anne Hathaway. Of course, I first encountered this actress when she co-starred with Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries, and I'd watched her attempts to shed her perky image (which she solidified in Ella Enchanted) by co-starring in Havoc and Brokeback Mountain. Of course sharing the screen with that goddess Meryl Streep in the middling The Devil Wears Prada only served to make her more appealing.
But portraying the British author Jane Austen in a speculative biography? I was a bit surprised that there weren't more cries against this from the folks across the pond -- but then, lately, that seems to be a mini-trend -- allowing non-British actress to portray iconic English writers (e.g., Renee Zellweger inMiss Potter or Nicole Kidman in The Hours).
Well, Hathaway falls more closely in the Zellweger camp; she tries mightily but fails to convince. Granted this film, written by Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams and directed by Julian Jarrold (who was responsible for the Cliff Notes version of Brideshead Revisited) plays more like a 18th-century episode of "Sex in the City". While it is purportedly based on letters from Austen to her sister Cassandra, the plot cobbles bits from her work in a vain effort to cash in on the Austen craze that ceaselessly continues despite hitting its high point in the mid-1990s . I have to give Jarrold credit, though for wisely surrounding Ms. Hathaway with a bevy of strong character actors including the redoubtable Maggie Smith, as wells as Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Ian Richardson. Perhaps the smartest move was casting up-and-comer James McAvoy as Austen’s roguish love interest.
The period details are there, but there’s a blazing hole in the center because McAvoy and Hathaway don’t generate any real heat. It’s a pity because there’s potential in the story but the writers didn’t trust enough to run with the idea; instead they chose to fall back on Austen’s work and undercut the endeavor. Instead of making something original, they opted for a pallid mashup of Austen’s novels.
Rating: C
Someday Hathaway will find a vehicle that takes full advantage of her abilities. For some critics, that was Rachel Getting Married, but for my money it wasn't. Although I knew the actress had earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance, I was expecting a bit more from the movie itself. Truthfully, I had tried to stay away from reading reviews until after I had seen the film, but once I did and disliked it intensely. I was shocked by how many critics raved about it. I don't know what they saw. (But then again I don't "get" why people love supposedly great TV comedies like "The Office" and "30 Rock".)
The premise of Rachel Getting Married is fraught with promise: Kym (Hathaway) is released from rehab just in time to return home in a tony Connecticut suburb for her sister's wedding. Being self-dramatic, Kym HAS to be the center of attention, all the while decrying the fact. She chafes under her overprotective father (Bill Irwin), barely acknowledges her stepmother Carol (Anne Deveare Smith) and knows exactly how to push the buttons of her sister Rachel (Rosemary DeWitt).
The family doesn't exactly trust Kym and it takes a while before the audience is clued into why. Hathaway offers a detailed confession of her transgression in a monologue set at an A.A. meeting and undoubtedly it was that scene that landed her among the final five Best Actress nominees. Her characterization overall, though, proved that she was more than just a fluffy lightweight. In some ways, it called to mind Liza Minnelli's work in The Sterile Cuckoo. I mention this partly because I see something of resemblance in the two performers and if Hugh Jackman ever does The Boy From Oz as a movie, he should look no further than Hathaway to portray Minnelli.
The other performers vary from note perfect (DeWitt who captures the admixture of sibling love and rivalry) to hammy (Irwin who pushes too hard) to uneven (Debra Winger as the girls' icy mother whose confrontation scene with Hathaway fell flat instead of invoking chills). Much of the problem rests with Lumet's rambling, unfocused script -- the rehearsal dinner seemed to last for half the movie with guest after guest offering toasts to the happy couple. Who were those people? We don't know them? We don't care about them? We barely know the bride and the groom is really a cipher.
Jonathan Demme also has to share some of the blame, allowing scenes to go on far too long. It's meant to be atmospheric, but again, we aren't focused on the key players in this family drama and the peripheral characters are not developed and don't register.
There's a germ of a good story at the heart of this movie but it is not developed. Instead, we get Hathaway's diamond-like performance in a cheap and shabby setting.
Rating: C-
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)