Bridesmaids (2011)

BRIDESMAIDS (2011)

Director: Paul Feig

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd

Bridesmaids starts out with a bang (literally) and throws us into the life of Annie (Wiig) a failed bakery owner living in Milwaukee who is hard up for money and fulfillment in her life. This desire is never more apparent when her life-long best friend Lillian (Rudolph) announces that she is getting married and moving to Chicago. Not only does Annie realize that her life is going to change, but that Lillian has begun to change and evolve without her. After Lillian asks her to be the maid of honor at her wedding, Annie’s life takes a turn for the crazy as she fights to keep things the way they’ve been, yet still be there for her friend.

Bridesmaids is a really crude film, but there’s something really refreshing about it. There has been a glut of successful and stupid “guy’s comedies” in the recent past and this film, co-written by Wiig lets the girls scratch their own metaphorical balls and get down and dirty like the guys do, but not without being hilarious at the same time. There were a number of sight gags that were practically stroke-inducing, I laughed so hard (“is that your fella?”) and there were a number of instantly quotable lines. Wiig, an obviously gifted comedic actress really shines in the film, though her affectations are derivative of a lot of female comedians now, including Chelsea Handler and Samantha Bee. Melissa McCarthy was a riot in the film, completely playing against type as a crude, mannish member of the wedding party who says what everyone is thinking, and then some.

Though Bridesmaids succeeds as a romantic comedy, it does have quite a few flaws: the dialogue is incredibly clever and snappy, and Annie is written as someone who is too much of a caricature to exist, or if she did, she would be an exhausting person to know. There were also a bunch of loose ends, and while the romance between Annie and Officer Rhodes (O’Dowd) was sweet, it wasn’t really fleshed out a lot, which was necessary only because it became such an important part of the film.

Despite its faults, Bridesmaids is a really fun film and I enjoyed watching it. I think that a lot of what is wrong with it can be forgiven, or at least pushed to the side because it doesn’t pretend to be an important film; it just opened some doors that we were never able to fully walk through. It’s certainly not a film that everyone would enjoy, but if you can get past the plot holes and embrace the gross out humor it’s actually really clever and entertaining.

3 out of 5 stars



Rango (2011)

RANGO (2011)

Director: Gore Verbinski

Starring: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty

Rango (voiced by Depp) is a wildly imaginative chameleon who has lived a sheltered life up until the point he finds himself alone and wandering the Mojave Desert. He winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless Wild West town populated by many desert animals, including a lizard named Beans (Fisher) and run by the Mayor (Beatty) an old turtle. Rango decides that he can make up whatever past he wants, so he tells the townsfolk tales of false bravado, after which they elect him sheriff of their lawless town. After their water supply goes missing, Rango has to try to save the town, using his ingenuity and imagination while saving face for his new friends.

Rango is an absolutely delightful film from start to finish. It is incredibly entertaining, thanks to expert work by Verbinski and top notch voice talent headed by Depp. He was truly enjoying himself in this film, and his voice talent is just as impressive as his regular acting ability. Rango is a great throwback to classic westerns, including many homages to the genre, be it character design, a classic western plot, or even the mariachi band (made up of owls) who act as the film’s Greek chorus, always gleefully Rango’s ultimate demise, whether it’s true or not.

I am not a fan of most animated films and usually avoid them like the plague, particularly CG ones, but there was so much to like about this film, starting with the impressive animation. Roger Deakins, in my opinion the most amazing cinematographer working right now, was called in to consult on the framing of shots, and this expert consultation was obvious. There were so many amazing sequences (watch the chase scene between Rango’s posse and the thieves about 2/3 into the film, for example) that would have been impressive in live action, but were breathtaking in this form.

Rango also boasts a very intelligent script that features clever film references that will only be caught by “film people”, but isn’t so esoteric that it’s not for everyone. In fact, most times, it’s completely absurd and hilarious; I was laughing really hard throughout most of the film. It really was an enjoyable film that I can recommend to everyone, even the most jaded film lovers, since I’m solidly in that column as well.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Drive (2011)

DRIVE (2011)

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive stars Ryan Gosling (whose character is simply billed as “Driver”) as a stunt driver, mechanic and part time getaway driver. As complicated and exciting as his life may seem, his life becomes more fulfilled when he befriends his neighbor Irene (Mulligan). Soon after, Irene’s husband is released from prison and “Driver’s” life spirals into real danger when he gets involved with the mob in order to protect Irene and her young son.

The plot sounds like it could be interesting and noir-ish, but it’s really not. Drive is nothing more than a plodding story rife with ridiculously long pauses in dialogue accompanied by wistful looks. Within a half hour I was completely bored and frustrated with the pacing of the film, which seemed to last far beyond its 100 minute running time. Not helping is the god awful music that plays throughout a lot of the film. The J-Pop sounding lyrics and voice coupled with the bad 80’s synth lines are laughably and distractingly bad.


Gosling and Mulligan are both good, proven actors but they didn’t help this film along at all. If they were supposed to have chemistry, I didn’t get the memo. Their blank stares only made them seem disinterested. This could be more forgivable for Irene’s character since she’s so undeveloped, but we’re supposed to believe that the Driver is supposed to be mysterious and like Eastwood’s iconic “Man with No Name”, when really he comes across as really dim. Much has also been made of Albert Brooks’ supporting role as a mob boss, but I just didn’t see it. Yes, it was a different role than he has ever played, and he did a fine job, but just because you play a really minor role against type and brandish a straight edge razor doesn’t make a role revelatory. Even Ron Perlman, who, despite growing increasingly simian in appearance is usually good for a few machismo moments, underserved as a mean mobster.


I’m not sure how it’s possible to make a film about a stunt driver who happens to get mixed up in the mob while making some tricky getaway drives so completely hapless and boring, but Refn manages it to do this in spades. There are a couple of good driving sequences, and a few violent moments that are so sudden and out of place that they are actually welcome because at least something is happening, but that little bit of redemption is quickly smothered by a lot of mediocrity. Drive is a film that should never have been made past a 25 minute running time because there simply is not enough material to work with; at least with the presentation we’re given. Drive has been universally hailed, but I think what is being mistaken for style is, quite frankly, pretention.


2 out of 5 stars

Margin Call (2011)

MARGIN CALL (2011)

Director: J.C. Chandor

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany

The financial crisis of 2008 (to present) is a topic that has been explored ad nauseam in countless films, both feature and documentary, books and newspaper and magazine articles, so finding a twist to make “your” film stand out among the rest is imperative. With Margin Call, first-time writer-director J.C. Chandor successfully pulls this off by offering a quiet, yet powerful imagining of the crisis at its incubation and inception stages.

Margin Call features a great cast of character actors including Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Kevin Spacey, Simon Baker and Jeremy Irons, all portraying employees at an investment bank. The 24-hour period covered in the film begins with sweeping layoffs, including Eric Dale (Tucci), a middle manager who is on the verge of making a devastating discovery about the company’s finances. As he leaves, he hands the information over to Peter Sullivan (Quinto), one of his former underlings, with the warning, “Be careful.” After Sullivan analyzes the file and completes the puzzle, his discoveries not only prompt the involvement of every key player at the firm all the way up to CEO John Tuld (Irons), but set into motion the financial crisis that our world’s economy is still trying to recover from.

Margin Call is about as straight-forward a film can be without being a documentary, and it strongly reflects Chandor’s previous work in that genre. What was impressive about the film was that it breathed new life into a stale topic, and did it quietly and without hyperbole. The cast of the film give understated performances despite the highly charged theme, which was impressive. The film could have been played more theatrically, like Glengarry Glen Ross, with a bunch of stressed out people yelling at each other, but it went in the opposite direction, where they were struggling with trying to find a way out, feeling defeated and even wondering how their actions that very evening and day will impact the average man on the street. Margin Call doesn’t kid anyone though; there are no heroes here, merely “survivors” and sacrificial lambs.

There’s nothing flashy about Margin Call, and frankly, there will be some people who will probably be bored with it because there isn’t a lot of action in it. But it is a cerebral and daring presentation of facts that have already been revealed, simply told in an interesting enough way to warrant viewing; notable since this topic has been so pervasive in our lives for more years than I care to recall.

3.5 out of 5 stars



The Descendants



The Descendants (2011)
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley

When his wife goes into a coma following a boating accident, Matt King (Clooney) has to balance his busy business life with trying to reconnect with his daughters Alexandra (Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller).  This would normally be a stressful time for King, an attorney whose native Hawaiian family is about to sell a large plot of land for millions, an issue that is big news in Hawaii, but further complications pop up as more layers of the lives of he and his family are peeled back. 

The thing I love about Alexander Payne films, and The Descendants is no exception, is that no matter how laid back the tone of the film, the protagonist is always pushed to a breaking point where they end up doing ridiculous things they never imagined they would do, but along the way achieve an amazing level of self-discovery.  Clooney's Matt King is self-assured and comfortable until he really opens his eyes (and has them forced open in some instances) and sees that he never had as much control or happiness as he thought, and this discovery is more perplexing than devastating.  Clooney is a versatile actor who is just at home playing a lovable, flawed guy as he is the dashing leading man.  I think it's more fun to see Clooney in the former roles because he's very natural, plus it's fun to see a guy with matinee idol looks making a boob out of himself once in a while.  

Woodley and Miller are great in the film as the young daughters with issues of their own.  Miller, as younger daughter Scottie, is a tomboy on the verge of puberty and Woodley's Alexandra is a teenager whose rebelliousness has landed her at a strict boarding school away from the family.  Woodley in particular is amazing; from what I can tell, this is one of her first feature films after doing episodic dramas on television, and she has an amazing amount of range and talent.  After King reunites with his daughters, the dynamic is not easy, nor even natural.  Like Sideways and About Schmidt, Payne's previous two films, self-discovery and strengthened relationships occur as a result of a journey.  In The Descendants, there are a couple of journeys, all poignant and educational, but also hilarious many times, thanks to Clooney's expert comedic timing and the addition of Alexandra's boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause) who is crude and not very bright, but who has a good heart.  

Though the subject matter was heavy (and what Payne film isn't?) there was still a laid back and breezy feel to The Descendants, partly because of the environment (they were in paradise, after all) but I think the excellent acting and masterful direction and screenplay written by Payne are a large part of The Descendants' success as well.  I've always been a fan of Payne's films because I love their introspection, intelligence and eccentricities, and The Descendants lived up to my expectations after waiting 8 long years for another Payne film (2004's Sideways was a long time ago).  I experienced a great deal of joy watching this film, and afterward described the feeling as "delicious" to my companions.  Though that may sound like a very Holly Golightly thing to say, it really sums up The Descendants quite well, actually.  Delicious and sublime. 

4 out of 5 stars

When Ladies Meet

WHEN LADIES MEET

1941

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

Starring: Joan Crawford, Greer Garson

A remake of the 1933 film of the same name, When Ladies Meet stars Joan Crawford as Mary, a writer who, during the course of writing her latest book, has fallen in love with her married publisher, Rogers (Herbert Marshall). This doesn't sit well with Mary's erstwhile (and still pining) sweetheart, Jimmy, (Robert Taylor) who, after a chance encounter with Rogers' wife Claire, (Garson) conspires to have the two strangers, who don't know their common bond, meet.

While watching this film, I kept getting the feeling that I'd seen this movie before, but there wasn't anything familiar about it beyond the actual storyline. When I realized that it was a remake the light bulb went on because I must have seen the Myrna Loy/1933 version. I really enjoyed When Ladies Meet; it is a perfect melodramatic vehicle with perfect casting. Crawford is strong but naive, and somehow, despite her awareness for what she is doing, is even a bit sympathetic. She's just so darn good at what she does. And Greer Garson... if she's played an unlikeable, weak woman I've never seen that movie. It was these two actresses that actually drew me to watch the film in the first place, and they didn't disappoint.

I'm also a complete sucker for melodramas, and while there were some lighthearted moments, usually provided by Robert Taylor, When Ladies Meet is a melodrama all the way, and considering the plot, how could it not be? Since the viewer knows what eventually has to happen, it becomes excruciating to watch Crawford and Garson become close friends during the course of the evening they spend together, and when the moment of realization happens, it's absolutely devastating. However, it's not a weepy film because the strength of the female characters don't allow it to become mired in treacle, and that is an admirable trait in a film, particularly one from the 40's, a decade which produced some of the best melodramatic films of the century.

When Ladies Meet is a great movie that should be seen by those who enjoy this genre of film, but it's a must see for Crawford and Garson fans.

4 out of 5 stars

For a Few Dollars More

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE

1965

Director: Sergio Leone

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef

Full disclosure: With a handful of exceptions, I can't stand westerns. However, there is something about a Sergio Leone film that makes me positively giddy. After finally seeing For a Few Dollars More (I seem to be working my way backwards through the series, since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was the first one I saw) that familiar giddiness was back because these movies are just so good.

For a Few Dollars More finds bounty hunters Monco (Eastwood) and Col. Douglas Mortimer (Van Cleef) chasing after the same target - El Indio (Gian Maria Volonte), a really bad guy who, along with his gang, are going to attempt to rob the most impenetrable bank that exists, in El Paso.

I really enjoyed For a Few Dollars More, possibly because it was kind of fun to see Van Cleef and Eastwood together before The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. For a Few Dollars More is full of Sergio Leone-isms: sweeping landscapes, minimal dialogue, that great Ennio Morricone soundtrack that is both awesome and comical at the same time and shot after shot of people looking at one another. Really, rereading that last sentence, it's kind of surprising that Leone's films work as well as they do because in a vacuum, those four elements don't sound all that favorable. But work well they do, because after about ten minutes, I was hopelessly lost in the movie and enjoying every minute of it. Eastwood actually has a lot more dialogue in this film than some of the others, and is sometimes a little goofy, yet maintains his status as badass. Van Cleef is full-on badass, however, and acts a little bit like Eastwood's mentor in the film. I actually really like Lee Van Cleef; he really looks like he has no business playing a tough guy, but he really embraces that role and pulls it off fantastically. One of the things I expect in a film that has a villain is that he or she be a good villain. It's really easy to get this wrong, but Volonte's "El Indio" is a really, really bad guy. Women, children, anyone innocent - they're all cannon fodder for this guy. To add a little touch of fun to the character, Volonte also threw in some nifty insanity and flamboyance which I think enhanced the role a lot.

Though not my favorite Leone film so far, For a Few Dollars More is indeed a great film. I really enjoyed it and it's definitely a must-see for anyone who enjoys the genre. Plus, I personally enjoyed the "what the hell?" casting choice of Klaus Kinski as one of Indio's gang members. I also think that it's accessible enough for people not familiar with "spaghetti westerns" to enjoy, perhaps even more than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; despite being the superior film, there's a little more patience needed during Leone's infamous "we're looking at each other" scenes, which tended to go on for more than a minute, whereas For a Few Dollars More is a bit more straightforward. And it's just plain awesome.

4 out of 5 stars

My Neighbor Totoro

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
1988

Director: Hiyao Miyazaki

Though I'm not usually a fan of animated films in general, I do have a soft spot for Studio Ghibli, who have produced some amazing films like Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away and Grave of the Fireflies. Since I'd seen almost all of their films, I was excited to watch not only one of the very few I hadn't seen, but probably one of their most beloved, My Neighbor Totoro.

My Neighbor Totoro is about a father who moves his two young daughters to the country in order to be closer to their ailing mother, who is in a nearby hospital. Everything is an adventure for the two young girls, and one day young Mei follows a little rabbit-like creature she sees through a thicket and encounters Totoro, a giant rabbit-like creature from one of her picture books. Totoro then reveals himself to the older sister, Satsuki, and later helps her through a scary situation.

Unfortunately, with as much anticipation I had watching the film, I was terribly disappointed. There was very little story involved, and what few plot devices were revealed, I felt like I was missing some information that I should have known before going into the film. For example, when Mei encounters Totoro for the first time, the viewer has no idea what it is, but when Mei tells Satsuki about it, she refers to him as the Totoro from her picture book, and it almost seemed like I should have known that, so maybe it is some kind of famous story in Japan that I don't know about. Also, why was Mom in the hospital? Because of the lack of story, I was completely bored, almost to the point of wanting to just cut bait and stop watching the film, even just 30 minutes into it. Usually, Studio Ghibli films have an abundance of cuteness that I can rely on to distract me, since I suppose these films are made for kids and shouldn't have a complicated story, perhaps be merely visually entertaining, but other than a few cute scenes with a sleeping Totoro, I just found some of the surreal action kind of creepy. And frankly, the cat bus that so many people rave about is in the movie for about three minutes. It was a cool three minutes, but obviously it must have made quite an impression on some people. The music was kind of odd and annoying too; it was really typical annoying J-pop that I don't remember in a lot of other Studio Ghibli films.

Don't get me wrong: I understand why people like this movie, and the character designs were typical adorable Studio Ghibli. (Can they make a non-adorable little girl character?) And perhaps because this is one of Miyazaki's first films, it didn't have as much of a story line or adorable characters, or even the eccentricities that some of his later films did. However, despite the fact that My Neighbor Totoro just didn't click with me at all, I will still eagerly await and see the next Studio Ghibli film.

2 out of 5 stars

The Help

THE HELP
2011

Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis

Films about civil rights and race relations in the 60's are not uncommon; even 40-50 years after milestone events occurred, this theme has been not all that uncommon. The trick is to bring a different slant or perspective on the subject. In 2009, after a glut of films about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Messenger, a film about the men who are charged with informing the families of soldiers that their loved ones are deceased, was refreshing because it showed the effects of war from a completely different perspective. Similarly, Tate Taylor's The Help portrays a quiet civil rights movement among a group of women who were usually invisible: the domestic help in the deep South.

The Help stars Viola Davis as Aibileen, a domestic worker in Jackson, Mississippi who has taken care of many children, and has watched them grow from wonderful kids to being just like their parents; basically indifferent to loved ones and at the very least, latent racists. Aibileen and her many African-American female friends all work as domestics, raising the white peoples' children, doing their cleaning and cooking their meals, all for much less than minimum wage, and with no respect. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, (Emma Stone) is a recent college graduate who grew up and is friends with the women who employ Aibileen and her friends, but has a different take on race equality than her friends, and, spurned on by her disgust over the initiative to require separate outdoor bathrooms for African-Americans her friend Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) is hell-bent on passing, decides to take action in the form of writing a book from the perspective of the domestics, warts and all, starting with Aibileen. With the contentious civil climate in the South, Aibileen is terrified, but determined to have her voice and the voices of her friends finally heard, with Skeeter's help.

The Help is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, and though I think it is sometimes unfair to compare a book to its film adaptation, it's also human nature, and in this case, I enjoyed the book a lot more than I enjoyed the film. However, there are some pretty serious reasons for that, namely the fact that a lot more back story can be presented about characters in a book than in a film, and characters can be fleshed out more thoroughly, which was really my only big criticism between the book and the film. Though the characters felt less multi-dimensional on the big screen, it was really only because I had read the book that I felt this way. Davis and Stone were both wonderful; Davis' solemnity and stoicism was reminiscent of her small role in the 2008 film Doubt, but she also was able to easily show a lighter side among her friends. This is the first time I'd seen Emma Stone in a film, and really all I knew about her prior to this film was that she was kind of a teen sensation. I thought she did a great job in this role, deftly walking the very thin line between "white girl saves the day" and "good person who does the right thing" and coming out on the right side - there was nothing condescending about her character and her accomplishments. Also notable was Octavia Spencer who played Minnie, Aibileen's best friend. Minnie is a complex character that could very easily slip into caricature with the wrong portrayal, but Spencer was funny, endearing and fearless. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Howard's performance. Perhaps it's more the adaptation of the character from the book, but the character of Hilly Holbrook is truly horrible, and though there were some smirks and narrowed eyes in the film, Howard basically vacillated between ice princess and foot-stomping harpy, which was more annoying and disappointing than anything. Her actions were terrible, but in terms of being a good villain, which she truly is, she fell short.

The Help isn't going to win any awards, other than perhaps some acting nods, but it was a decent film that gave another side of an oft-told story. It is a mainstream crowd pleaser, but sometimes that's okay, especially when it's quietly opening some people's eyes a little bit.

3 out of 5 stars

Winter's Bone

WINTER'S BONE (2010)

Director: Debra Granik
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes

Deep in the Ozarks, a teenage girl named Ree (Lawrence) is forced to be the primary caregiver for her younger brother and sister because her father has disappeared and her mother is in a weird, incapacitated state. When the town's sheriff informs her that her father, on the run from drug charges, put their house up for bond and if he doesn't appear in a week, they will lose their house. Already barely surviving with the help of some neighbors, Ree sets out to find her Dad, and finds herself embroiled in a really bad situation.

Winter's Bone is a good movie with a good story, especially considering its small budget and resources. Jennifer Lawrence, a relative newcomer to films, gives an amazing performance as Ree, a strong girl whose dedication to her family seems to know no bounds. Her co-star, John Hawkes also gives a good performance as her uncle Teardrop, who both hinders and helps her investigation.

There actually isn't a lot to the film, except a really scary social structure in the Ozarks that will pretty much keep me away from there for life. There's nothing particularly notable about the film, which is why this review is so brief, but I really liked the simplicity of Winter's Bone. It is a dark and depressing film, both in tone and setting, but despite its somewhat derivative plot, writer-director Granik's is able to give the film freshness and some originality.

3 out of 5 stars

Dogtooth

DOGTOOTH (2009)

Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley

This is going to be one of the most unconventional reviews I've written, because Dogtooth is such a unique film that I don't want to give away any of the film's plot or any specifics because it is far more interesting to experience it from level zero like I did, not knowing anything about it, and letting the plot reveal itself naturally.

I can critique Dogtooth without giving much away, however, and I can certainly say that it is one of the most thought-provoking films I've seen in quite some time. Once revealed, the actual plot is simple, but the ramifications of the actions on the screen sounded some serious alarms in my head that I couldn't shake for a day or more. Soon after Dogtooth ended, I was sitting alone in my living room, playing back the film in my head, and became really creeped out, yet I couldn't stop thinking about the film, which was incredibly exhilarating to me. I felt like I was back in AP English class my senior year of high school when my teacher had just shown us Philippe de Broca's 1966 classic King of Hearts and then told us that in the 15 minutes left in the class, we were to write a 5 paragraph critical essay breaking down what we had just seen. There aren't a lot of films where you sit and think about them, whether you want to or not, for hours, but Dogtooth is a rare exception.

The execution of Dogtooth is quite good; director Lanthimos films everything in white and pastels, and though everything is bright, there is a matte finish to it, which made it all the more surprising to me that it was filmed in 35mm. It's sometimes hard to judge acting when it's not being done in a language you understand, but I think that bad acting is universally recognizable and that definitely wasn't the case here.

Dogtooth is shocking, disturbing and without having done a lot of digging, I would imagine it's been pretty polarizing. In a film full of disturbing events, both cerebral and visual, I will admit that there was one point when I completely lost it and almost abandoned the film because I was so shaken by what had just occurred. I still think that, though that scene was necessary the graphic nature wasn't, but I am profoundly happy I continued to watch the film because in the end I thought Dogtooth was outstanding. I think it is one of the best films I've seen in a while, yet I think if I recommended it to most people I know they would watch and then either think I'm strange for admiring it so much or just punch me in the face for putting them through the experience. I mean, I actually had to reassure a good friend of mine that liking this film didn't make us bad people - true story.

Regardless, I do admire Dogtooth for being so daring and once again it serves as a reminder that there is so much great work out there that doesn't come from the good old U.S. of A. And remember, I avoided specifics for a reason in this review - if you do decide to watch Dogtooth, the less you know about it going in, the better. Just don't punch me in the face afterward.

4 stars out of 5

The Fighter

THE FIGHTER (2010)

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Based on the true story of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, David O. Russell's The Fighter features Mark Wahlberg as Ward and Christian Bale as his brother, Dicky Eklund, a former small-time boxer who splits his time training Micky and engaging in a serious crack habit. Ward is a stand-up, regular guy who struggles with pursuing his fighting career on his own and being tied to his dysfunctional family who hold him back, particularly when he meets and falls in love with a supportive and headstrong bartender, Charlene (Amy Adams).

Though I tend to enjoy sports movies, it really takes one with a different angle or strong story to impress me, and The Fighter completely exceeded all of my expectations. I didn't expect that the story would be nearly as compelling it turned out to be. The challenges that Ward faces are far beyond his actual fighting career; in fact, the fight scenes are practically secondary. It is the complicated relationships he has in his life, particularly with his family, that were really at the forefront. His mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), is the rough and mercenary matriarch of a family of 9 children by multiple men who clearly favors Dicky over Micky, her youngest. Dicky's golden moment was in 1978 when he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard and has been planning his comeback since, only he's actually doing drugs all the time and becoming a shell of his former self. Though he is an unreliable trainer for Micky, he and Alice, Micky's manager, still won't cede any power to anyone nor will let Micky make his own decisions, despite their increasingly bad judgments that don't take his best interests into account. Micky's relationship with Charlene is the first healthy thing to enter his adult life, and though she is as opinionated as Alice, pushes Micky to do what he feels is best for him. There are so many rich story lines in The Fighter that it doesn't fit into a specific genre. Despite its sports themes, it's not a sports movie nor is it simply a family drama.

Christian Bale is amazing as Dicky, who is a complicated character, and there isn't a lot of sympathy one can muster up for him. He swings on an emotional pendulum that is nearly exhausting to watch at times because he looks and acts like he is constantly jacked up on 25 energy drinks. Only he lacks so much self-awareness that he has no idea that the HBO film crew following him around is filming an expose, rather than the "comeback documentary" he thinks it is. Though Bale's performance is flashy and front-and-center, I think that Wahlberg did a fantastic job as the straight man. It's not easy to play opposite a character like Dicky and still be notable, but Wahlberg pulls it off admirably. I actually think he's really underrated in general because he has proven that he can play a variety of roles. There are a lot of women in The Fighter, thanks to Micky's harem of tacky sisters, but the two main female roles were perfectly cast. Adams' Charlene is down to earth and foul mouthed, but has an air of respectability and goodness. Leo's Alice is a little more complex, torn between her allegiance to her deadbeat son and deep down, trying to be a good mother when all she has around her is chaos (much of it self-inflicted.)

David O. Russell, though rumored to be difficult to work with, has also proven that he can direct a varied genre of films, from a small independent film like Spanking the Monkey to a war film like Three Kings or even an "existential comedy" like I Heart Huckabees (incidentally, one of my favorite films of 2004). Regardless of theme or scope, he is able to take material that doesn't have a lot of flash and still make it seem epic; though with such a simplicity and richness of character that his films feel intimate and independent. Frankly, I think he is currently one of the best working directors.

I saw The Fighter on a three-film day and though I knew I'd liked Russell's previous films, still thought that, out of the other two films I was seeing, it would land in a distant third. Surprisingly, it was the last film I saw that day and the one I liked the best, and even beyond the obvious boxing similarity, The Fighter is a film I would compare in some ways to Scorsese's masterpiece, Raging Bull both story and performance-wise. I highly recommend it and encourage those who may write it off as simplicity a "sports movie" to give it a chance, because The Fighter is a lot more robust than one may think.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The King's Speech

THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

Though he was often forced to attempt public speaking by his father, England's King George V, the future King George VI (Firth) was second in line to the throne behind his brother, and therefore did not expect (nor necessarily want) to be a king. When his brother, King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) abdicates the throne in order to marry his divorced lover Wallis Simpson, George VI becomes the king and must, after years of failed speech therapy, find a reasonable cure for his stutter with the help of a new and unconventional speech therapist, Lionel Logue, (Rush) in order to represent England and lead the people of England through World War II.

The King's Speech is a small, somewhat quiet movie with a lot of character. Shot with muted tones, it appears vintage without the usual camera and film tricks that accompany some period pieces that strive for authenticity. The story is interesting and fairly straightforward; there isn't a lot of exposition nor are there many (if any) flashbacks. Rather, the action takes place in the present, with any background narrative delivered conversationally, and with such subtlety to appear completely natural, thanks in part to a great screenplay by David Seidler. Director Tom Hooper previously worked mainly as a television director, but many of the films/series are period pieces, which certainly explains the exquisite detail paid to the look of the film.

The excellent performances by the three main actors in The King's Speech complement the film beautifully. Helena Bonham Carter's role, as George VI's wife, Queen Elizabeth, is reminiscent of where she got her start in films, in a bunch of Merchant-Ivory period pieces. It's sometimes hard to remember that she has the acting chops she does since she tends to play over-the-top characters now, but her portrayal of Elizabeth as a devoted, but strong and independent wife was wonderful. Geoffrey Rush probably had the role that was the most fun to play, as an eccentric, failed actor, somewhat derided (but proud) for being Australian rather than British, and above all, really good at what he does. Rush could go from chutzpah to reverence in a snap, and make it believable and natural. And in terms of believable, Colin Firth is superb as King George VI. He is sympathetic without being pitiful, and though his self-confidence and resolve were not high, Firth's performance enabled us to see George VI's gradual transformation into a leader. Never mind having to affect a frustrating stutter while doing it.

I really have nothing but good things to say about The King's Speech. It fulfilled all of my expectations and is truly my kind of film; small, independent, story and character-driven. Because of this, especially since I acknowledge that it is a really good film, I am unsure why it still proceeded to leave me a little flat, but it did. I didn't have excessively high expectations for the film, but maybe it was because I took it for granted that I would like The King's Speech yet wasn't excited by any aspect of it, that it didn't blow me away. Having said that, I will surely own this film and recommend it to most people. And now I have hopefully seen enough good Colin Firth movies where I can forget the image of him dancing around in front of the mirror in leather pants playing air guitar in the "film" What a Girl Wants.

Yeah, it was on hotel cable on vacation - enough said.

4 out of 5 stars

Biutiful

Biutiful (2010)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Starring: Javier Bardem

Uxbal (Bardem) is a single father of two who makes his living through a number of illegal activities, including drug trafficking and illegal immigrant labor. He does have a legitimate gift of being able to connect with the recently deceased whose souls are having a hard time crossing over, and is sometimes hired to assist people's loved ones "let go". This connection takes on a greater meaning, and his need for income urgent when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer and realizes he has to look out for the futures of his children.

I have really ambivalent feelings toward the Inarritu-directed films I've seen. I had abject loathing for 21 Grams, and thought that while Babel was interesting and well done, it was a little heavy handed and didn't have a clear direction. I can proscribe that same description, almost word for word to how I felt about Biutiful. It was well done and amazing to look at from a cinematography perspective, and the story was decent, because it focused on a really interesting character. Uxbal is technically a bad guy - he's embroiled in the exploitation of immigrant workers and he's putting drugs on the street, to name just two illegal operations he's involved in. But he's also a stand up guy with his kids, and, if it's possible, tries to look out for the people involved in his illegal activities, to the best of his ability. Bardem is fantastic in this role, and his performance really embraces the striking dichotomy of his character, making the film more thought-provoking than I think it would have been without an actor as good as Bardem at the helm.

Unfortunately, an interesting character study and great performance doesn't absolve Biutiful entirely of its faults. With a more than 2 1/2 hour running time, the movie is often meandering and unfocused, but at the same time, like Babel, heavy-handed. The audience gets beat over the head with the repercussions of the bad acts being committed, and, like a similar film, Paul Haggis' 2004 movie Crash, confuses profundity and depth with oppressiveness and hackneyed themes. Though I don't mind looking at Javier Bardem - ever - I also tired quickly of his long, soulful looks out in the distance, and the long, soulful looks characters gave one another. The film could have been substantially tighter without these kinds of scenes, and frankly, would have trimmed the running time down to a less butt-numbing time frame.

I didn't dislike Biutiful, in fact, I thought it was decent. However, I left the film with such ambivalence it made me wonder how hard I really should have to work to come by a natural, gut-instinct feeling about it. A one word description for the film is "Meh", but I would encourage Inarritu to go back to the master of long looks, Sergio Leone, to see how it's really done.

3 stars out of 5

Salt

So, after lamenting that I had one stupid review left to write, I go to post this on my web site and find out that I reviewed it already, months ago. Niiiice. Well, here's another review of Salt, no point in deleting this one...lol (Ironically, my grade didn't change, months later)


SALT (2010)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber

After being accused by a defector of being a Russian spy, CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Jolie) goes on the run, followed closely by her boss, Ted Winter (Schreiber).

I wish I could add more to that summary, but I really can't. Salt is that shallow and dim of a film. Director Phillip Noyce has pretty much earned his bread and butter from mainstream action flicks like Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, and Salt certainly is a mainstream action flick, but it is also ridiculously bad. The plot didn't make sense, the acting was terrible and the film was just generally a hot mess.

I don't understand Angelina Jolie. I think she has some acting chops, and she can practically carry a film with sex appeal alone, but she keeps making mediocre (and bad) films in between some halfway decent ones and I can't figure out why. I'm also becoming profoundly disillusioned with Liev Schreiber, who has been my "intellectual" crush for years since his days as an independent film guy. I'll grant him the desire for exposure (and money) with a movie like Wolverine, but there's no excuse for Salt. I couldn't even sit back and take in the eye candy, I was so embarrassed for him.

When one walks into an action film or a "popcorn flick", expectations have to be low otherwise you're just setting yourself up for a disappointment and you have no one to blame but yourself. When my friend I walked into Salt, we were expecting nothing but a fun action film that would probably be bad, but hey, he could ogle Angelina and I could drool over Liev. What we got was a terrible film that somehow fell below our already nonexistent standards, and the best thing I can say about it is that it had us hysterically laughing during several parts of the movie. Unfortunately, I don't think Noyce was looking for that reaction at any time during the film because Salt, even above all of its faults, commits a most egregious sin in film making: it's a dumb action film that takes itself too seriously. And as a result, it is an epic fail.

1 1/2 out of 5 stars (with an extra 1/2 for making us laugh so hard)

Inception

INCEPTION (2010)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page

When one falls asleep, there is a general expectation that your subconscious secrets are kept safe until you let them out. Writer-director Christopher Nolan obliterates this sense of security in Inception, where a band of thieves-for-hire not only can invade your dreams to steal your secrets, but implant ideas as well. Led by Cobb (DiCaprio), the team includes Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), Cobb's right hand man who keeps the team grounded, Ariadne (Page), the architect of the dream, Eames (Tom Hardy), a forger who can appear as different people in the person's dream in order to extract information or move the subject along, and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), the chemist who sedates and watches over them. Cobb has been on the run and unable to return to his children in the United States since being accused of the death of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) but when Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires the team to implant an idea into the head of the son of his business rival, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), Cobb sees his chance to go home, regardless of the danger it puts his team in.

I loved this film for a lot of reasons, one of them being some really fine performances by a great cast. DiCaprio has shown that he can handle some really meaty material, and he really nails it in his portrayal as the extremely complicated Cobb. Also notable was Cotillard, playing Cobb's wife. With a simple look, she could swing from extremely sinister to pitiable in a second. I'm singling these two out, but all of the performances were truly outstanding, and it was nice to see some good character actors get some screen time in such a blockbuster film.

Inception is brilliantly and expertly directed by Nolan, who is no stranger to creating thought-provoking films, like the mend-bending Memento or his twisty debut, Following. With Inception, he creates an epic experience: it's an action-packed thriller, but it's also incredibly cerebral. It's also highly stylized and really nice to look at, with amazing special effects and enough gorgeous slow motion shots to put John Woo to shame.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with Inception is one of the things I most loved about it - its intelligence. I love cerebral films that encourage conceptual thought and require you to come to some of your own conclusions, but there is a fine line between being effortlessly intelligent and not only forcing the material down one's throat but then saying, "look how clever I am." I didn't exactly feel like I was being force fed during Inception, but intellectual revelations were not always natural. Coupled with some heavy-handed moments, the result was a slightly smug undertone at times.

These criticisms aside, I consider Inception to be a remarkable film that was truly exceptionally well done, if not completely accessible. Above all, I loved that a film this intricate could also be so gorgeous to look at and at times, be seriously kick-ass action packed.

4 out of 5 stars

The Kids Are All Right

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010)

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo

Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) have two mommies: Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore). When Laser asks Mia to help him try to find their sperm-donor father before she goes off to college, she reluctantly agrees. This is how they bring Paul (Ruffalo) into their family's lives, regardless of whether Nic or Jules were ready for him. As his involvement becomes deeper, thin cracks begin to appear in what seemed to be a strong and loving relationship between the two women, and their relationships with their children begin to change as well.

I went into The Kids Are All Right expecting a smart film with a lot of depth, and my expectations were met kind of half way. While I was delighted to see a well-received film about alternative approaches to family (both the lesbian and sperm donor angles) I really couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a made-for-Hollywood family that is really whitewashed; kind of like saying The Cosby Show accurately represented African-American families in the 80's. Those families did/do exist, but they're annoying perfect and...easy.

I don't intend to downplay the conflicts in the film; for the most part, they are well played out and believable, with the exception of the Jules-Paul scenario, which could have been a really interesting conflict, considering it ended up being the crux of a lot of Nic and Jules' problems. Unfortunately, there were so many gaping holes in how it progressed and was eventually addressed that it left me more confused than anything, which made the believability factor go right down the tubes.

I thought the acting, primarily by the female leads was excellent, and I'm thrilled that Bening, who is not only extremely talented but seems to exude class and naturalness, got a great role and in turn, has received a lot of recognition for her work in the film. Mark Ruffalo - what can I say - he's always "Mark Ruffalo" and that's not a bad thing, but it's also not fresh either.

The Kids Are All Right was a decent film, but I guess I didn't see in it what a lot of other critics did. Perhaps I had higher expectations for it, considering the subject matter, and perhaps I thought it would contain a little more edge or depth to it, considering the conflicts presented, but it was a nice, somewhat vanilla movie that was enjoyable but not remarkable.

3 out of 5 stars

The Social Network

THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

A film about the inception of the most popular social networking site, its seemingly arrogant creator and the legal troubles he faces doesn't necessarily sound like thrilling and riveting entertainment, but with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, a strong cast and a talented and stylish director like David Fincher at the helm, The Social Network transcended all of my expectations.

Though the names are real, what is actually true and what is fiction in The Social Network is debatable. However, like Oliver Stone's brilliant 1991 film, JFK, after a while, the film is so good, you don't really care. The Social Network traces founder Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook and its hysterically rapid growth in popularity and the subsequent lawsuits he encounters, both from those who sue him for intellectual property theft to the one person who supported him throughout, financially and emotionally, but was denied a piece of the pie.

Jesse Eisenberg is mind-blowingly fantastic as Zuckerberg, with machine gun-like speech patterns, a mind that is working in a million different directions at once and a disdain for most of the people he meets. His best friend, fellow Harvard student Eduardo Saverin (Garfield), shares Zuckerberg's intellect, but is his complete opposite; he's charming, outgoing and socially dialed-in. Garfield plays Saverin as sweet and soft-spoken, which makes his downfall all the more tragic. When the two begin to expand Facebook across the country, they end up meeting Sean Parker (Timberlake), the founder of Napster who wants to get in on Facebook, and though he is outgoing, possesses a crippling sense of paranoia. Though it honestly took me a while to get used to Timberlake in a dramatic role, I just finally had to realize that he's a total natural when it comes to the acting thing, and he really did a great job with Parker, who is a complex character, to say the least.

Sorkin's script is quick and clever, yet very compelling. Without being heavy handed, or beating anyone over the head with a sense of "See? This is what I'm telling you", he addresses the obvious irony of an incredibly socially inept person creating a social network with more than 500 million members. He writes Zuckerberg as someone unwilling to change or acknowledge his difficult demeanor, yet has a staggering desire for acceptance. Sorkin takes content that could have been nothing more than an article in a newspaper or possibly a featured article in a magazine and turns it into a sublime Greek tragedy rife with dishonor, regret and desire for redemption.

David Fincher, who I've admired back to his music video days, has such a strong aesthetic sense that I think has not been fully utilized in some of his feature films. Sure, his work has all been slick and, regardless of its content, interesting to look at. However, just looking at the Regatta scene in The Social Network, with its tight shots of elongated, straining, sinewy muscles and grimacing faces...I'm no longer watching a film, but looking at a Mannerist work of art. However, it isn't just the high style that is most impressive about Fincher's direction. He is able to not only keep up with Sorkin's quick pace, but turn a scene where a guy is hacking into a web site (without the cliche of security about to confront him) into a seriously action-packed sequence. Or jumping between multiple deposition scenes with the snap of a finger, but giving the audience enough visual clues to figure out exactly where they are at that particular moment within a second; it's kind of like watching a great tennis match.

Before I saw it, never in a million years would I have thought that The Social Network was not only going to be nominated for eight Oscars, including being one of the front runners for Best Picture of the Year, but appear on my Best of 2010 list. But it has surpassed all of my expectations and is truly a well written and sublimely directed film that, upon a second viewing for purposes of writing this review, hadn't lost any of the suspense or gloss in the three months since I first saw it. The Social Network is a supremely intelligent film that holds appeal for a wide audience, something that can be said about a shamefully few amount of films lately.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska

Based on the Lewis Carroll's book, and following many previous incarnations, Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland follows the adventures of Alice, who returns to the "underland" to revisit her friends, including the Mad Hatter, among others, and fulfill her destiny: to end the reign of the Red Queen.

I apparently only had a peripheral knowledge of the Alice in Wonderland story because I had no idea it was so surreal or that Alice was such a badass, what with the armor and the jabberwocky and all. This is a perfect story for Tim Burton to add his cartoonish and surrealistic touches to, but as a whole, it wasn't as fun or exciting for me as a lot of his other films.

As the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp once again sinks his teeth into another eccentric role and does a good job of it, but there just seemed to be something missing. Perhaps when we're confronted with a cadre of odd characters it's difficult to shine, as opposed to being the head wackjob in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. That's not to say I didn't enjoy his performance; I did...ish. I also was oddly fascinated by the bizarre Red Queen (Bonham Carter) and was pleased as punch to see the grossly underused Crispin Glover as her henchman. In fact, the most disturbing character, in my opinion, was the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway. Even though I knew she was supposed to be comically ethereal I still found her really bizarre, and not in a good way. Alice (Wasikowska) was just kind of there; not dynamic or even particularly charming or clever.

Alice in Wonderland is full of signature Tim Burton touches: surreal and angular landscapes, bizarre characters, bright colors and a fun (if not derivative) Danny Elfman score. But it just felt kind of hollow in the end, and as a whole, fell flat for me. Personally, I'd like to see Burton get back to making films that aren't primarily geared toward children (though I suppose it can be argued that this film and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory could be for children and adults) because it was films like Ed Wood and Big Fish that really cemented him as a brilliant filmmaker. Even an original "adult fairytale" like Edward Scissorhands had a lot more depth and, in my opinion, were a lot more entertaining than his recent remakes, which just kind of whimper to the finish line.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Exit Through the Gift Shop

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010)
Director: Banksy

A documentary that begins as a study of one subject but turns into something much more abstract, Exit Through the Gift Shop is, at face value, about the renegade art movement of "street art", which has evolved from simple graffiti tagging to, arguably, masterpieces. It begins with Thierry Guetta, a French entrepreneur that settled in Los Angeles with his family, where he soon became obsessed with documenting every moment of his life with his video camera. During restless nights, he would walk the streets of Los Angeles, where he came across street artists who, after finding out he was the cousin of one of their own, Space Invader, granted him unrestricted access to their work and process with the understanding that he was making a documentary about them. This is how he comes to work closely with the elusive Banksy, one of the most prolific and famous artists to come out of the movement. Unfortunately, the film that Guetta produces is unwatchable, which is when the documentary takes an interesting turn, with Banksy at the helm.

As a documentary on street art, Exit Through the Gift Shop is fascinating. It features interviews with many artists and even better, shows their process, which is much more action-packed than that of most other artists. Personally, I'm a huge fan of this movement because its aesthetics, coupled with an enormous amount of cleverness, is a perfect representation of conceptual art. However, the film kind of screeches to a halt two-thirds of the way through, and while the rest was interesting, I couldn't shake the idea that there was something more going on in the film than was being presented; that Exit Through the Gift Shop was becoming less a documentary than a colossal mind screw by Banksy - a performance art piece as clever as one of his tangible pieces, only with a lot more complexity.

Exit Through the Gift Shop, as presented, could be seen as a straightforward documentary, but I really don't think it is. What is it exactly? I have no absolutely no idea - I've been turning it over in my head since I watched it and I can't come up with definite answers, or even full bodied theories. What it definitely is, however, is an exciting film that is more thought-provoking than I ever thought it would be, and though it wasn't as conventional, nor did I like it as much as some of the many other documentaries I've seen the past year, I'm still thinking about this one long after I'd forgotten about the others, and there's something to be said for that.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars