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

Seriously.

Nothing really needs to be said.

Fin

Well, my celebration upon completing the list of reviews I had to write came to a halt when I realized that the last review I had to write, for the horrible movie Salt, was actually written already. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until after I'd posted the new review and was trying to add it to my review index on my web site, thecinemaphile. Not only that, but my original review was actually better than this one. Oh well, I posted it anyway. A movie so crappy, panning it makes me happy. (I guess)

So now it's full steam ahead with the Oscar push, albeit a couple of weeks late. Chris and I are traveling to Madison this weekend to clean up three movies in one fell swoop at the sublime Sundance theater, and then either before or after we are going to catch the Oscar Live Action and Animated shorts programs at the Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse and Times Cinema, respectively. Fun times ahead - now if I can just get through this work week.

One more wish - warm up a little outside, won't you? It's 2 degrees out and I'm sitting in my office with a long-sleeved turtleneck, but it's so cold I have my space heater going on full whack, which is just making me want to curl up and sleep.