| THE AMERICAN Rated R for violence, sexual content and nudity. Drama/Thriller 105 minutes 
3 stars |
This is Clooney at his most detached. Maybe it’s the way Roland Jaffe’s screenplay is adapted from the novel, A Very Private Gentleman, by Martin Booth. There are times a writer knows material so well he takes it for granted the audience will understand what’s going on in the movie and be able to follow it. Chances are, though, audiences will not be familiar with this book. Director Anton Corbijn gives us just enough to be frustrated.
George Clooney plays Jack or Edward or Mr. Butterfly. Take your pick. He is a very careful master assassin. If you’ve pictured assassins as humorless, unemotional downers, Clooney is your guy. I purposely left out “intriguing” because as we follow Jack going through his job requirements, it’s about as exciting as watching someone assemble a television stand. You hope there will be a payoff—-when it’s put together. As the movie opens he’s in Sweden with a woman. He’s not exactly romancing her, it’s not Jack’s style, but she is his companion. The “Swedes” try to kill him, fail miserably, and then follow him to Italy. We never learn why they are after him. It may not matter, but would inform his character and give us a clue. Anyway, after the failed attempt by the Swedes joyless Jack goes to Italy to do another job.
His phone contact is with a sinister man named Pavel (Johan Leysen) who makes cryptic remarks when Jack shows any irritation or disagreement. He does note that Jack is “a step behind” hinting that Jack is no longer the best. What does that mean for his future? His assignment includes a meeting with a striking female assassin named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). There are no sparks with her since Jack is involved with a prostitute in the small Italian village where he’s staying named Clara (Violante Placido, providing most of the nudity). He seems to be drawn to women with long dark hair, but why? He develops a relationship with a priest (Paolo Bonacelli) but this doesn’t ring true either. The priest makes a few pronouncements and Jack is ready to change?
It’s one thing to have a mysterious character, it’s another when morose passes for gripping, and the audience is left baffled. Too many unanswered questions about the character make for a fatal flaw when he’s the centerpiece of the movie. Mr. Clooney doesn’t capture the essence of a killer, or leave us caring enough about him, though it’s not entirely on him. Some may be all right with the lack of information, but I wanted to understand Jack.
The one strong element in the movie is the cinematography. Director Corbijn is a well-known photographer. It shows in some of the stunning shots of the Italian countryside, and framing of the actors. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make up for the lack of a cohesive, believable story. Trying to understand what’s going on in The American is like trying to grab fog. You can see it clearly from a distance but it disappears once you get right up to it. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE SWITCH Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexual material including dialogue, some nudity, drug use and language. Comedy/Romance/Drama 101 minutes
3 stars |
Jason Bateman does the heavy lifting, such as it is, in The Switch. What makes the movie at least endearing is little Thomas Robinson, so natural, as the child born of Kassie’s scheme. As played by Jennifer Aniston, you’ve seen Kassie before in various incarnations. Here she is the single woman of a certain age who desperately wants a child, and there’s no man in sight, except Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) her long time best friend.
What’s a woman to do? A sperm bank seems too anonymous to Kassie, she’d rather advertise (?) and get a stranger to father her child. Along comes the manly man, Roland (Patrick Wilson), who is everything Wally is not. He is handsome, stable, and athletic. Though they try to make Mr. Bateman look sloppy by messing up his hair, with wrinkled, dirty clothes, and give him a neurotic personality, it’s obvious he’s not the loser Kassie thinks he is. Of course, there wouldn’t be a movie then. It’s also obvious that he’s in love with her, and he even offers his sperm, but she rejects it.
Her best girlfriend Debbie (Juliette Lewis, loud and looking like she needs a sandwich) gives her an insemination party where the switch takes place when Wally is so drunk he doesn’t remember switching his sperm with Roland’s offering. The movie picks up after seven years when Kassie moves back to New York City after moving away once she was pregnant.
That’s when we meet Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), an unusual, but very cute kid with habits and thinking like, surprise, surprise, Wally. The scenes between he and Mr. Bateman are so natural you could almost believe they are father and son. Especially endearing are the scenes where he has to take care of a medical situation Sebastian develops while Kassie is out of town. Along for the ride is Jeff Goldblum as Wally’s best man friend whose quirky delivery helps concur with the astonishment that these people are so clueless.
The ending is evident from minute one of the movie. That makes it feel even more contrived than it already is, as well as ridiculously extended for such a slight predictable premise. As romantic comedies go, it’s light on logic, heavy on sentimentality, not especially earnest, but generates a few laughs, and is enjoyable enough. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS Rated PG for rude humor, some language and mild thematic elements. Comedy/Family/Fantasy 109 minutes
4 stars |
Nanny McPhee Returns is a bright spot at the end of the summer, or anytime for that matter. It takes place during World War II in England on a run down farm as the father is away fighting and the mother, Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is trying to earn enough to save the farm from her smarmy brother-in-law Phil Green (Rhys Ifans), who is trying to get her to sign it away.
Isabel has three lively children who are always fighting, but all miss the dad, seen in flashbacks, played by Ewan McGregor. She also has a job at a shop in town run by a ditsy old lady named Mrs. Docherty (Maggie Smith.) On top of this, she has her upper crust nephew and niece coming to live with her. The chaos gets worse when the cousins arrive and all the children begin fighting.
Through a series of events Nanny McPhee, nasty looking at first with warts and snaggletooth, shows up to help Isabel by teaching the children five lessons that all should learn before growing up. This includes quite a bit of magic with animals, especially scenes with piglets that fly and perform synchronized swimming.
Director Susanna White has assembled a first rate cast starting with Emma Thompson as the Nanny. No surprise, she is also the screenwriter and has done an excellent job adapting the characters of Christianna Brand into a heartwarming story. Especially well cast are the young actors: Oscar Steer, Asa Butterfield, and Lil Woods as the Green children, and Eros Vlahos and Rosie Taylor-Ritson as the snobby city cousins. The adult actors are also engaging: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans, Bill Bailey, Sam Kelly, and Ralph Fiennes, with a cameo by Ewan McGregor.
Notable are the technical talents of cinematographer Mike Eley giving the movie a bright, magical look, film editing by Sim Evan-Jones, production design by Simon Elliott, art direction by Suzanne Austin, Bill Crutcher, Nick Dent, Gary Jopling, and costume design by Jacqueline Durran.
Overall, a delightful children’s movie, but adults will appreciate it, too. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
VS. THE WORLD |
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD Rated PG-13 for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references. Action/Comedy/Fantasy/Romance 112 minutes
4 stars |
I can’t say that Michael Cera is stretching himself as Scott Pilgrim, but he is very well suited to this cartoon character. Maybe that’s because instead of just moping around he gets to have action sequences where he is “fighting” the seven evil exes of the girl he loves. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (from Rocky Mount, North Carolina) is delightful as the slightly off center Ramona Flowers, the girl Scott Pilgrim falls hard for and has to defend against the cartoon villains.
Based on the graphic novel called Scott Pilgrim Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, written by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the movie is full of hip visual touches. Before Ramona shows up, Scott seems content with being in a band and dating a high school girl, Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong. Once Scott gets a look at Ramona, he’s a goner. When they start dating she tells him about the evil exes, but Scott really has no idea what he’s getting into, until they start showing up. That’s when the fun begins as the fights not only have words show up on screen and look like frames from the graphic novels, but when Scott fights with the evil exes, people literally fly through the air, and don’t just die, they disintegrate. It’s so stylized that it’s not scary in the least.
Scott’s roommate, Wallace Wells, in a good role for Kieran Culkin, tries to advise Scott about Ramona and various other problems. Anna Kendrick is not used to best advantage as Scott’s sister Stacey, though Jason Schwartzman makes the most of his role as the supreme ex, Gideon Gordon Graves.
Director/writer Edgar Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall make this an entertaining visual experience so you may actually feel you are inside the pages of the cartoon. Yet, the dialogue is delivered in an understated style so that even outrageous comments seem normal. Also notable is the original music by Nigel Godrich, the cinematography by Bill Pope, the film editing by Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss, and art direction by Nigel Churcher.
This is a fast, fun movie, which delivers some original touches. Don’t look for any heavy meanings; just sit back and enjoy. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| EAT PRAY LOVE PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity. Drama/Adaptation 133 minutes
2½ stars |
Eat Pray Love is a long movie, so one wonders why it isn’t paced better. In the beginning Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) seems to be happy with her husband Stephen (Billy Crudup), but then at a friend’s party, then in a conversation in the car going home things seem to turn around. He’s a chronic dreamer thinking of going back to school while she’s been thinking of having a baby. She doesn’t want to put her plans on hold for a man who is hard to pin down, but to ditch the whole marriage? The problem is that there is no time to develop any emotional investment in this couple. They get separated and divorced, and then the audience only sees him again in flashbacks. What is it all about? Surely there is more of an explanation then the meager ones we get to see.
What it seems to be about is Liz’s self-involvement. That may be an unfair assessment, since I haven’t read the book. But the majority of the movie is Liz looking forlorn trying to find out what she needs to make her happy. While waiting to divorce, Liz meets an actor named David Piccolo, well-played by James Franco. Both of these people are too self-centered to give much to the other, and again, it’s hard to be drawn into their storyline. After the divorce Liz, who is a writer, decides to take a year off from her life, and travel to Italy, India, and Bali, Indonesia. Doesn’t everybody? When Ms. Roberts does some of the voice over, presumably reading from the book, the prose is enough to get you interested, but then it’s back to Liz on screen.
I found the travels in Italy the most life-affirming part of the movie. Liz finds simpatico people and eats her way to contentment. But then she keeps to her schedule and goes to India where stays as a follower of an Indian guru she never meets, depriving herself of normal pleasures so she can come to some greater truth. This is difficult for Liz who usually only thinks about herself. The highlight of this section is Richard Jenkins who plays Richard from Texas, though the Texan part is not his strength in these scenes. He gives a moving explanation about why his character is in India. By far, it’s more moving than anything Liz has to say about herself.
The section on Bali is where she meets the love of her life, Felipe, played by Javier Bardem who single handedly saves this section of the movie except that again, so much time has been spent on Liz that the relationship isn’t as developed as it could be. Mr. Bardem brings such warmth to Felipe that it makes you wonder what he sees in Liz. Ms. Roberts is not enough to make this movie or this character as inspiring as she’s supposed to be. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE EXPENDABLES R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language. Action/Adventure/Crime 103 minutes
3 stars |
If you like action in movies, there’s plenty of it in The Expendables. They happen to be a group of motorcycle guys who hire themselves out for big paying jobs, yet writer/director Sylvester Stallone and co-writer Dave Callaham make sure that in between all the killing, maiming, and destruction we know they have a conscience. It seems counter-intuitive, but they seem to think that adding some kind of moral questioning to the story justifies the mayhem. As in, for the sake of mankind, we have to destroy everything in sight for their own good.
Mr. Stallone plays Barney Ross, the leader of this super pack, with his usual wooden delivery, yet somehow it fits. Jason Stratham is his second in command, Lee Christmas. He’s the youngest, and arguably, the most appealing of the gang. They first show up freeing some hostages in an impressive manner, but any relation to reality is mostly incidental. Barney hears about a big job and heads over to a meeting where he has a short scene with Bruce Willis as Mr. Church and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench. The dialogue is vintage smart-guy, and that’s all you’ll see of the two stars.
Barney and Lee take the job and fly down to an island to check out the situation. Their contact is the corrupt general’s daughter, Sandra (Giselle Itié, showing potential). General Garza (David Zayas) is controlled by a malicious former US government agent named James Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine (Steve Austin). These two play vicious bad guys well. Meantime, an action sequence takes Barney and Lee off the island leaving Sandra behind. This bothers Barney, and he decides to go back for her.
Others who add to the testosterone fueled atmosphere: Dolph Lundgren as an Expendable who had to be cut loose, Jet Li still showing why he is an icon, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Gary Daniels, and Mickey Rourke who is retired from the heaving lifting, but runs the tattoo parlor that they work out of, and is a kind of resident philosopher and sounding board.
The movie dialogue attempts catchy phrases, the men all look like they worked out hard for their roles, the movie mocks itself fittingly, not to mention all the stuntmen and explosive experts employed. Mr. Roberts delivers the best line in the movie when he responds to a comment by saying it is, “Bad Shakespeare.” The same can be said for this movie, which may be bad, yet is somehow riveting. As action/escapism The Expendables fulfills its mission. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE OTHER GUYS Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence and some drug material. Action/Comedy 107 minutes
3 stars |
It’s a guy thing and a guy movie. It even has “guys” in the title. Given those facts, much of it is silly macho humor. If you get it fine; if you’re there with someone who gets it, fine, but don’t expect any ground-breaking, earth-shattering, or even hilarious comedy. Maybe you’re saying you just want to enjoy a summer movie? This one will pass the time and give a laugh or two mocking buddy cop movies; you’ll see car crashes, explosions, and even several suicidal jumps, all in an evening’s entertainment.
Mark Wahlberg plays Terry Hoitz, a cop who has been relegated to a less than hard-working New York City police station where his partner is a forensic accountant named Allen Gamble, played by Will Ferrell. The reason? He mistakenly shot Derek Jeter in the leg at a Yankee home game. Terry calls himself a peacock and feels the punishment is too severe. He also hates Allen who is more comfortable at his desk shuffling papers than catching the bad guys on the street.
The opening bit with Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson playing two showboating hero cops, who are as dumb as dirt, is funny. As Terry gets more and more frustrated with Allen and his position, the scenes start getting more frantic. Allen has a beautiful wife, Dr. Sheila Gamble (Eva Mendes), which Terry can’t quite believe. Allen is also intent on arresting a smarmy financial investor called David Ershon (Steve Coogan) because of minor business infractions, but of course, there’s more to it than that, and this subplot dominates the rest of the movie.
The captain at the police station tries to keep Gamble and Hoitz under control. Michael Keaton’s Captain Gene Mauch is played in his usual understated manner. Plenty of supporting cast show up to add to the stew including Damon Wayans Jr., with cameos by among others, Derek Jeter, Brook Shields, Rosie Perez, and even Malachy McCourt as an Irish singer. Yet, director Adam McKay keeps the tone steady throughout as Will Ferrell plays his usual befuddled character who doesn't seem to change much from movie to movie. Mark Wahlberg does better and at least shows more energy and spark.
You may enjoy the humor as long as you’re not expecting too much. After all, it is August.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
SCHMUCKS |
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS Rated PG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language. Comedy 104 minutes
2½ stars |
Although there are some moments of humor, there are not enough of them, and they’re not funny enough to consider Dinner for Schmucks as any kind of summer breakthrough comedy. At times, it’s even painful, in an embarrassing way.
Paul Rudd plays Tim who works for some kind of ruthless money managing agency. His boss was fired and now Tim sees this as his chance to get in with the big boys. He makes a few brazen tactical moves and gets himself invited to a monthly dinner where the participants bring a guest. Yes, that’s the dinner with schmucks part. Tim’s girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak), who is sweet and kind, doesn’t like this idea, but Tim says this is his chance to break out from the pack.
Paul accidentally hits Barry (Steve Carell) with his car one day as he’s trying to retrieve a dead mouse on the street for his mouse scenes; a hobby that caused his wife to leave him since he smells of chemicals used for taxidermy. Once Barry enters the picture it’s a series of one disaster after another. Every time he tries to help Tim, it makes the situation worse, leading up to the famous dinner.
No matter how absurd the situation Paul Rudd is a good enough actor to be able to make it work somehow, but Steve Carell’s part is forced and silly. He is the type of actor who is as good as his material, but here, the material fails, too. Yet, they seem to work together well. That’s not the issue. The direction by Jay Roach, and script by David Guion and Michael Handelman, inspired by writer/director Francis Veber's The Dinner Game (Le diner de cons), is off base. As a farce, it doesn’t go far enough, as a comedy it goes too far, but not over the edge.
Stephanie Szostak is pretty, but rather nondescript otherwise as the girlfriend. The only character who brings real energy is Jermaine Clement who plays photographer and performance artist Kieran. His self-important, promiscuous artist is the only consistently funny role in the movie. Zach Galifianakis, usually so reliable, doesn’t bring much to the role of Barry’s boss and mind reader/wife-snatcher, Therman.
When the movie finally gets around to the dinner, you either don’t care, or feel let down. There was potential here, but something got lost in translation. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SALT Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action. Action/Thriller 100 minutes
3 stars |
Angelina Jolie is the only actress who could pull off this role, so she saves it from being another standard action spy thriller. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have problems. The action sequences are well done, if not believable, and too often plot twists are telegraphed in advance.
Evelyn Salt (Ms. Jolie) works for the CIA. As the movie opens she is a prisoner in Korea being tortured. Salt’s colleague Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) walks her out of the prison telling her that her husband Mike Krause (August Diehl) was insistent on getting her out. He is a German arachnologist (a scientist who studies spiders) who she met in Washington D.C. After this ordeal Salt decides she’s going to take it easy and go on desk duty until a Russian defector comes into the office as she’s about to leave.
The Russian, Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), says there is a mole in the agency and her name is Evelyn Salt. Salt denies it, but when she is taken into custody a wild chase begins as she barely escapes from her former fellow workers. The movie takes itself seriously, but with the incredible stunts, she should have died many times over.
Salt manages to get away from every attempt to capture her yet she puts herself in the middle of the action. There is an odd plot that involves a radical group killing the visiting Russian president and restoring Russia to its former glory. If there wasn’t a recent story about Russian spies in our midst, it would hardly be believable.
As mentioned, Ms. Jolie is getting good at toting those guns around and looking serious. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peabody from the CIA, chases her relentlessly. He brings weightiness to the role, and is confused not knowing what to believe. Is Salt a Russian spy or isn’t she?
The movie is helped by the cinematography by Robert Elswit and the film editing by Stuart Baird, John Gilroy, and Steven Kemper. The stunts are well done, yet it’s nothing original. Director Phillip Noyce keeps writer Kurt Wimmer’s script moving along at a fast pace. It’s strictly an action movie with that being its main reason for existing. It will keep you entertained if that’s what you are looking for, as long as you don’t think too hard about what it all means. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
ALL RIGHT |
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use. Comedy/Drama 104 minutes
4 stars |
Any couple together for a long time has irritants in their relationship. In this case, Nic (Annette Benning), and Jules (Julianne Moore) have two kids, a house, and middle-aged angst. The fact that they’re lesbians actually becomes less important as the film progresses because they become real as people. This could be any couple facing transitions.
Nic is a successful gynecologist. Jules has yet to find the right career but has been home tending the kids in between hobbies. Meanwhile, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), the kids, are pretty much typical teens. Joni is the smart one ready to go off to college. Laser is the sensitive one who is looking for an identity in a house full of women. He approaches his sister first about finding their sperm donor father. This meeting seems to happen rather quickly, but the donor does agree to see them. The awkwardness is well played when the three first get together. What do you say to each other? Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who owns a restaurant, is laid back and good-humored, and accepting of the situation.
The two moms are having issues as Nic feels the pressure of being the bread-winner, and Jules tries to find something for herself other than being someone’s partner and mother. Nic, of course, is tense all the time, as she tries hard to control all aspects of their lives. Jules is more of a free spirit. This leads to considerable tension when the moms find out the kids met Paul. They agree to be civil and all sit down together for a meal, which turns out to be better than expected for everyone except Nic, who senses a threat to her family, whereas, Jules and Paul personalities are more simpatico. Jules’ latest career inspiration is landscape architecture, and Paul needs his backyard redone so they begin to work together.
There are some very funny moments, and some poignant ones as the adults and kids navigate uncertain territory. Though they are a lesbian couple, it is clear efforts have been made by writer/director Lisa Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg that they not be stereotypes. It is also interesting how they show that gender roles and sexuality are more fluid than most people realize or would care to admit.
This is a well-made movie with the exception of one major element that seems contrived though may be necessary for the point trying to be made. Overall, it’s well worth seeing.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| INCEPTION Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout. Drama/Mystery/Sci-Fi/Thriller 148 minutes
4½ stars |
The characters in Inception are always on shifting sands, or ground, or snow, and so is the audience. They are constantly in and out of states of altered consciousness, and it’s increasingly difficult to tell when they are awake or invading someone’s dream.
The premise is that it’s possible in some future time to practice extraction, that is, enter someone’s dream and steal secrets. This is done by using drugs and other means to put the corporate raiders to sleep at will so they can enter the dream. The master spy using this technique is Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), who with his team is able to draw big corporate high rollers to hire him for the treacherous process. One of them named Saito (Ken Watanabe) is looking for something different. He wants Cobb to enter the mind of a rival named Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy) who is about to inherit his father’s empire, and plant an idea instead of extracting one. This process is called inception. Cobb’s trusted associate Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) thinks it’s too dangerous and undoable yet Cobb is able to assemble a team to enter Fischer’s dream so they can plant the idea. The team, including: Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Thomas Hardy), and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) all have special skills needed for the project. They don’t find out how risky inception really is until after they enter the dream and it’s too late.
The extractions work because the extractors are able to be unemotional and workmanlike when in the dreams focusing on the task, but there is a complication for Cobb. That is Cobb’s wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) who shows up unexpectedly when Cobb is in a dreamlike state. She is unpredictable in the dreams, and he has to constantly guard against her actions because this puts the assignment and the others at risk. Like a lost love that haunts your dreams, it’s very real to Cobb, and even with the pain and trouble it causes, he wants/needs to see her. Mal has left Cobb with two young children though the reason isn’t clear until part way through the movie. Aside from the danger of extraction and inception itself, Cobb has to fight his own memories and unconscious unfinished business. The mind, and emotions it seems, can only be controlled so much, especially when it comes to love.
The special effects are stunning, with buildings crumbling, avalanches, car chases, floating fights, and matter bending and twisting like licorice. As the movie goes on, reality and dreams are layered, merged, overlapped and it becomes less clear where they are in time and space. It’s disorienting, but so intriguing you can’t take your eyes off it.
Writer/director Christopher Nolan, who as a filmmaker seems preoccupied with the mind’s state of consciousness and reality in such movies as Memento, creates a maze that only he seems to fully understand, and even up to the last frame you will be wondering where Cobb actually is and how he got there. Yet, the questions posed are basically unanswerable, at least, at this point in time. If you are the kind of movie-goer who likes more concrete storylines, you may find this film frustrating, but it will be thrilling all the same. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE Rated PG for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor and brief language. Action/Adventure/Fantasy 109 minutes
3½ stars |
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is, and is supposed to be, different from the original story, but will be entertaining for those who are looking for this kind of innocent story. It doesn’t have the “magic” of the original animated movie with Mickey Mouse, yet the ingredients are still there, only reconfigured.
It opens with voice over narration of Merlin’s magicians’ helpers doing some in-fighting. Balthazar, a master sorcerer, played with appropriate creepy irritation by Nicholas Cage, has the three other magicians captured in a nesting doll after Merlin’s death. He and Veronica (Monica Bellucci) are pitted against his arch enemy Horvath (Alfred Molina), and Morgana (Alice Krige), for the destruction or salvation of the world. Balthazar has been searching through time for the person who is the Sorcerer’s Master Apprentice. He has a ring that once worn will tell him who is the right one. Finally, in present day New York, a ten year old named Dave (Jake Cherry) finds himself in an old antique store. He is, in fact, the one but is so traumatized that it makes him a laughing stock except to the pretty girl he has a crush on named Becky who later is played by Teresa Palmer.
Ten years pass and now that Horvath is out of the doll (young Dave was clumsy), he fights with Balthazar to find a way to free Morgana and destroy New York and everything else to consolidate his power. Now twenty, Dave (Jay Baruchel), wants no part of Balthazar, believing he himself has no real powers.
Though the movie tends to sag a bit in the middle, it has enough enchantment to keep the audience watching. Nicholas Cage is well-cast in the role of magician and mentor to Jay Baruchel, who as a physics nerd is the opposite of what you’d think he should be, but that’s the point. Alfred Molina could be the villain in his sleep making the evil ones he plays improbably interesting.
There are some good action scenes with CGI adding to the story, especially those in Chinatown. Yet the mops and buckets from the original movie are something of a letdown. The car chases are well done though nothing outstanding. There are some amusing twists, yet it’s mostly a standard take on the story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| DESPICABLE ME Rated R for language and some sexual material. Comedy 92 minutes
4 stars |
Despicable Me is an entertaining animated movie that is similar to many animated films coming out now where the cartoon characters are becoming more humanized even as the actions are freakishly more impossible. In this movie we have what is described as a super villain named Gru as voiced by Steve Carell with what sounds like a foreign type accent of unknown origin. But whatever, he seems to be enjoying it. Gru is a mama’s boy who constantly tries to impress his mother (Julie Andrews of all people), yet of course, doesn’t succeed.
Early in the movie he plans to steal a shrink-ray machine so he can borrow money from a bank and prepare to fly to the moon and shrink it. His plans are thwarted by a punk named Vector (voiced by Jason Segel). Gru does steal the shrink ray, but then Vector steals it from him, and Gru tries to find a way to get it back again.
If this were all there was to the movie it would not be very heart rending, so three young orphans: Margo, Edith and Agnes (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher) are brought in to tug at the heart strings. They meet Gru when they are going door to door to sell some items for the head of their orphanage, Miss Hattie (Kristin Wigg). Gru is dismissive and wants nothing to do with them until he notices while scoping out Vector’s place that they are let in because they are selling cookies. Gru gets the idea to adopt the orphans, and use them to get him into Vector’s and steal back the shrink ray machine when they are bringing the cookies.
The orphan characters are cute as the little yellow beings with high-pitched voices who are Gru’s many workers. Gru’s right hand mad scientist, Dr. Nefario, is voiced by Russell Brand. The character of Mr. Perkins is voiced by Will Arnett. The direction by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud moves along quickly once the orphans enter the scene.
One problem is that Gru changes from villain to soft-hearted daddy a bit too fast, because there is never any doubt that the three girls will win him over. The kids will enjoy this movie as will the adults, especially since there are jokes that flash quickly across the screen that only they will get. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| CYRUS Rated R for language and some sexual material. Comedy 92 minutes
3 stars |
It’s low key and gentle, and though it doesn’t completely succeed, if you’re willing to tag along, Cyrus will pleasantly pass the time. The strength of the film lies in the sure and winning touch of the three main characters playing off each other skillfully and believably. In other words, chemistry, dysfunctional though it may be. The characters are perhaps a bit one-dimensional, but so likable you accept them anyway.
John C. Reilly (one of the best and most undervalued actors in the business today) as John, a freelance editor in a funk for seven years after being divorced by Jamie (Catherine Keener, a delight as usual), who remains his best friend, to the patient chagrin of her soon to be second husband Tim (Matt Walsh, not given much to do). They drag him to a party where he proceeds to strike out repeatedly with every girl he approaches. But not demeaningly, excruciatingly, or repulsively as would be the unfortunate approach in most current comedies. Instead, John (an intelligent, decent, and realistic fellow) is defeated, even after a passable first line, by self-consciousness. To the rescue comes Molly (Marisa Tomei, winning in every way) who joins him in a karaoke moment that gets the party jumping, after which she hooks up with John. He is beside himself (and her) with newfound hope that he will leave his loneliness behind. Molly and John are a happy couple except she is secretive and John follows her home to learn why.
The answer to the mystery is the title character, Molly’s twenty-one year old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill, trying on a new sort of character, successfully), who lives at home as he pursues a career in music. Cyrus welcomes John, is friendly, mature, and sincere. And a mama’s boy to the nth degree. Meaning, he does not want to, or intend to, share Molly with anyone and he is a master manipulator. The film veers off track a bit here as Cyrus’ determination to sabotage John inches from childish possessiveness to deeply disturbed machinations. Again, however, this being a subtle film, the war between suitor and son is waged as a psychological chess game rather than a matching of brute force.
Ultimately, everyone recognizes their weaknesses and mistakes (done nicely enough that the corniness can be overlooked) and, especially Cyrus, makes amends. Yeah, a happy ending. But it fits with the nature of the film and isn’t overplayed.
Cyrus is written and directed by the brothers Jay and Mark Duplass and hats off to them for the bravery of presenting a small, thoughtful, quiet film with characters who aren’t larger than life and are, therefore, more identifiable. Reilly, Tomei, and at the end Hill, make us care and root for them. The photography (Jas Shelton), editing (Jay Deuby), costumes (Roemehl Hawkins), and production design (Annie Spitz) are on target and yet unobtrusive. Overall, accepted on its own terms, the movie is satisfying. And there ain’t anything wrong with that.
Cyrus – Lonely man, lovely mom, psycho son, no fireworks but ends with a smile. Review by Charles Zio
THE TWILIGHT SAGA |
ECLIPSE: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality. Fantasy/Romance/Thriller 124 minutes
2½ stars |
The triangle intensifies in the third movie in the Twilight series. If you like/love the books, this is the best adaptation so far, but “best” is a relative term. Its metaphors of chaste teenage angst obviously resonate with young girls who screamed at regular intervals. This is especially true when Jacob (Taylor Lautner) appears without his shirt, which seems like every scene he has, showing exactly why it moves them and in what way. It may not be literature, but Stephenie Meyer’s pop fiction has made lots of people happy, and rich.
As the story continues Edward (Robert Pattinson), and Jacob, each want Bella (Kristen Stewart) to choose him as her love. Let’s see, a polite vampire who wants to wait until marriage to have sex and “turn her” into a vampire or a sexy werewolf she can remain human with who makes her pulse race? Bella mopes less this time around (thank you), and is a bit more pro-active. Jacob guesses correctly that she clearly is attracted to both of them. Viewers will either find this indecision something they can identify with or frustrating, but it’s a remarkable choice for an otherwise unremarkable teenager. A major part of the success of the series and the movies seems to tap into a young person’s need to feel special and unique, and to be loved unconditionally.
Edward and Jacob are both protective of Bella since another vampire named Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) wants revenge against Edward, and the way to hurt him most is to kill Bella. Victoria has created an army of new vampires. Apparently when first turned they are the most violent ones. The local werewolves agree to help the Cullen clan vampires to protect Bella and there is anticipation of a big fight coming.
This is all a backdrop for the main storyline which is the love triangle that begins to get tedious with repeated meaningful looks and declarations of love. Subplots are mainly filler. The dialogue is banal and almost campy; it’s difficult to take it seriously, and sometimes there is the urge to laugh out loud at the lines. But the back stories of several of the vampires, most notably of Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), are actually interesting. Mr. Rathbone is able to convey a sense of melancholy and regret at his vampire’s fate so that his situation is not quite so romanticized. At least it creates some understanding of Jasper and he, along with Alice (Ashley Greene), are ironically more humanized than the large cast of more superficial characters.
When the big rumble happens it is actually a let down and over more quickly than expected. Director David Slade can’t do much about story, but he does give an arc to the narrative and get his actors to show a bit more energy. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE LAST AIRBENDER Rated PG for fantasy action violence. Action/Adventure/Family/Fantasy 103 minutes
2 stars |
The Last Airbender will do nothing to alter the assessment that M. Night Shyamalan must by now be considered, in music terms, a one-hit wonder (The Sixth Sense). As producer, writer, and director the only reaction his movie manages to elicit is a yawning “Who Cares” even though the source material is promising having been a popular cartoon television series with a three year run. A title card declares: Book One, Water. Don’t bet on a Book Two.
Here’s the setup: The world of the movie is comprised of four groups of humans each allied with an element – Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Within each population are “benders,” those with the ability to manipulate their group’s element. There has been, however, throughout time, one (Avatar) who can control all the elements and additionally commune with the god and spirits of each who is charged with maintaining peace and harmony. The complication is that Aang, the Avatar, ran away in a snit after being told he could not, in his position, have a family whereupon he fell into the sea and was frozen in a very, very large ice cube with some sort of air/sea cat-like creature. And so he remained, for a hundred years, until awakened/rescued by Katara, a Water Bender and her clumsy brother Sokka. Once defrosted, Aang learns that in his absence the Fire Nation killed the entire Air Nation and enslaved most of the Water and Earth settlements. Wait, there’s more. Aang ran away before he was trained in Water, Earth, and Fire bending and so must learn those skills and, further, isn’t completely in tune with communing with the spirits. At the same time, of course, he’s being pursued by villains Fire Lord Ozai, his exiled son Prince Zuko, and the most treacherous Commander Zhao. Yes, there’s lots of exposition. And repetition of exposition.
Still awake? Then on to the action. First off, it’s a medieval world so people are dressed vaguely dark ages with the soldiers in dull metals and capes. So similar, in fact, everyone (friend and foe) looks alike making the climatic battle, in particular, hard to follow. The weapon of the day is the sword and the Fire Nation predominates because they have machines (big, pre-industrial, fire powered, blasting ships and tank-like devices). Oh, yeah, the “bending.” This consists of elaborate hand/leg/body motions that take long enough to accomplish so it’s amazing none of their opponents realize they could lop off the bender’s head before they finish their movements. As to the 3D, it adds nothing much aside from a higher ticket price. As to the actors, they’re primarily stiff, unconvincing, and ill served by Mr. Shyamalan’s direction (?), though the most recognizable Dev Patel (Slumlord Millionaire) as Prince Zuko displays some (but not much) emotion. The rest shall remain nameless as it’s likely they will not be listing this credit high, if at all, on their resume (and who can blame them?). All in all, a missed opportunity.
The Last Airbender – A misfire, start to finish. Review by Charles Zio
| KNGIHT AND DAY Rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language. Action/Comedy/Thriller 110 minutes
2½ stars |
This is nothing you haven’t seen before, especially spies being double crossed, and getting out of impossible situations. Knight and Day (even the title isn’t exciting), brings Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz together. I thought it an odd pairing but was willing to suspend disbelief. Yet even here the movie is a let down. These two have no chemistry, though Diaz does better than Cruise at being an okay fit for her part. Besides, both are getting a bit old for these kinds of roles. It’s hardly believable that a middle-aged body could take that much abuse and not at least break a bone or two.
It all begins at an airport when Roy Miller (Cruise) and June Havens (Diaz) bump into each other, not so accidentally, and she manages to get on an almost empty flight with him. This doesn’t seem strange to her after she was told it was full? But then, she must get to a fitting because she is in her sister’s wedding. The opening sequences on the plane are alright, but the killings and violence become just a regular occurrence. Details don’t seem to matter much.
There are all kinds of explanations for the chases that follow. There is even a McGuffin, a battery, that is supposed to be priceless created by a young nerd named Simon Feck (Paul Dano, in a good role for him). Roy is protecting Simon from the good guys and the bad guys because he’s a good guy who is a good guy, or is he? I’m not giving anything away when I say that one of the good guys, Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard, trying to be sinister), turns out to be a bad guy. It remains to be seen if their boss Director George (Viola Davis, who elevates any role she takes on), is good-good or good-bad. And in case you were wondering, there are also bad-bad guys.
The film is episodic, and seems to go on interminably. Apparently, screenwriter Patrick O’Neill wanted to make sure he threw in enough plot twists, chases, and gun fire to keep things going and director James Mangold accommodated him. So it’s difficult to tell who is responsible for the uneven editing.
Knight and Day is supposed to take our breath away, but not while we're yawning. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| GROWN UPS Rated PG-13 for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity. Comedy 102 minutes
1½ stars |
I suppose if you are writing a movie you have the prerogative of giving Selma Hayek Pinault the role of your wife, except, it’s not believable for a minute in this annoyingly adolescent mess. In fact, none the immature grown-up men in this movie are likeable; I don’t believe she’d marry any of them. Adam Sandler’s persona has worn thin to the point of threadbare. He is credited with the writing of this so-called comedy along with Fred Wolf. There are a few guffaws, but that’s about it.
Mr. Sandler plays Lenny Felder, a super-rich Hollywood agent raising several spoiled kids in his opulent home. When the coach of their thirty year old winning junior high basketball team dies, the five guys go back to their home town for his funeral. Lenny rents a cabin for all of them to stay for the weekend, but he’s so embarrassed by his wealth that he refuses to admit he has a nanny. This running gag, like much in this movie is tired and weak, though actress Di Quon, as
The other Saturday Night Live alumni include: Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider, along with Kevin James to round out the group. Yes, there are plenty of jokes about Mr. James’ size, Mr. Spade’s lack of girlfriends, and Mr. Schneider’s “mature” wife Gloria (Joyce Van Patten) who patiently watches all the zaniness while fielding the not-so-secret insults. Maria Bello is wasted on the thankless part of a mother who is still breastfeeding her four year old. Maya Rudolf plays a pregnant wife to house husband Chris Rock who seems to have the least lines of any adult in the movie. Can it get any worse than this?
Well, if you add in the obnoxious old basketball team they beat, the dumb arrow in the air game, the bad-tasting organic food and natural treatments that don’t work, Rob Schneider’s character having beautiful daughters who look nothing like him, the amusement park jokes like urinating in the water, the hilarity seems to go on forever.
None of the various subplots hold together well or add to the overall story. Sometimes jokes fall flat and then there are abrupt edits that jerk you out of the scenes. The movie is amateurish, silly, and obvious even when it wants to make a more serious point. Making this movie was probably more fun for Sandler and company, who must have sat around cracking each other up, than having to sit through it. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| TOY STORY 3 Rated G Action/Adventure/ Animation/Sequel 103 minutes
4½ stars |
The toys are talking again. This time, young Andy, after years of playing with them and imagining all kinds of adventures, has become a teenager and is going off to college. For all the comedy, exceptional animation, last minute saving graces, the real story is about the poignancy of growing up and leaving childhood behind. Hearty applause from the kids in the audience followed the end of the movie, but there were also tears in the eyes of parents, young and old. Either they remember their own departure from home, or they remember sending their own children off to find their way in the world.
Like the Disney hit Up, the filmmakers are on to something here by using a touch of sadness for the reality of life. It goes a long way to making this a good movie-going experience for all generations.
There is a sequence in the opening that shows just how much the toys have meant to Andy’s imagination. As he grows up and keeps the unused toys in the toy chest, they become sad, too. They miss being played with which is the purpose of their existence. The main toys are: Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Lotso (Ned Beatty), Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles and Estelle Harris), Ken (Michael Keaton), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), and Barbi (Jodi Benton). The humans are voiced by John Morris (Andy), Laurie Metcalf (Andy’s Mom), and Emily Hahn (Bonnie). All of their distinctive voices obviously help.
Andy decides to put the toys in the attic and take Woody to college with him (?). (This is the only thing I question in the movie; really, a boy would take a toy to college?). Yet, through a fluke his mom thinks he wants to donate them so they are off to a day care center where they find a diabolical bear and lots of noisy, rambunctious kids. How do they save themselves and get back to Andy’s house? This provides the majority of the adventure.
The real credit here goes to the screenwriters Michael Arndt, who won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, and John Lasseter. It always comes back to the story since visuals have become more technical, and studios are ever more capable of pulling off feats of visual magic. Yet, all the bells and whistles in the world can’t make a movie good if the story isn’t there first. And it is. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
IN THEIR EYES |
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS) Rated R for a rape scene, violent images, some graphic nudity and language. Drama/Foreign/Romance/Thriller Argentina/Spain 127 minutes
4½ stars |
The Secret in Their Eyes won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It is well-deserved. This complex crime drama draws you in and keeps you guessing until the last minute. Even at almost two and a half hours with subtitles it is easy to follow and doesn’t seem too long.
The story is told in flashback (which screenwriting gurus tell you never to do), and starts in Buenos Aires in 1974 when a criminal court employee Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín), is brought to a crime scene of the murder/rape of a young wife in her home. Something about the scene deeply disturbs Benjamin. He is especially touched by the husband Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago) who is devastated at losing his wife, and promises him he will help find the killer.
Twenty five years later, in 1999, the case is unsolved and Benjamin retires. He decides to write a novel based on the unsolved murder opening old wounds for himself and his boss, the beautiful Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil), who he has been secretly in love with all this time.
The case has many dangerous twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat as Benjamin and his alcoholic assistant Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) clumsily investigate the crime on their own and make mistakes that cost him dearly. Mr. Darín is excellent as the everyman Benjamin who is a decent, honest man in a corrupt system. This along with the sadness of his situation is affecting and keeps you rooting for him. You can’t help thinking that Irene understands, too, that Benjamin is the rare man who will stand up for what he believes is right. The rest of the cast is good as well, especially Ms. Villamil, who is an admirable character, and believable as Benjamin’s love interest, and Javier Godino as the psychopath Isidoro Gómez.
Writer/director Juan José Campanella adapted the screenplay with novel author Eduardo Sacheri, and has done a masterful job. The tangled plot is woven together so that there are times it is clear what is happening even without the dialogue. The title has several meanings as people are not always able to hide their obsessions and emotions when they look at an object of desire, or someone they love.
There are clues all the way through the script that may seem inconsequential at the time, but prove very important later in the story. You will be thinking about this film long after you leave the theater. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE KARATE KID Rated PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language. Action/Drama/Family/Sport 140 minutes
4 stars |
This is a surprisingly good remake. Writer Christopher Murphey (from a story by Robert Mark Kamen), and director Harald Zwart have reinvented enough of the original to make it seem fresh. The first thing it does right is move the action to China, where the cinematography and landscapes enhance the story. Twelve year old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) has lost his father and he and his mother Sherry Parker (Taraji P. Henson) leave Detroit to move to Beijing, China for her job. On the first night there Dre gets into a fight with a bully named Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) because of a pretty girl named Meiying (Wenwen Han). When he goes to school the next day, Cheng and his buddies are there, and Dre’s life becomes torturous.
The reclusive maintenance man for their apartment, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), watches as Dre struggles to adjust, but Cheng and his gang are relentless and won’t leave Dre alone. Finally, after enduring enough Dre takes action is about to be severely beaten when he is saved at the last minute by, guess who? Dre learns that Cheng and his group are trained in Kung Fu by an intolerant master who challenges Dre and Mr. Han to fight in the tournament. Dre has no training at all, but now Mr. Han has committed to help him.
You will recognize some of the situations from the first movie, but they have been expanded. Jaden Smith does an excellent acting job. The audience easily believes his loneliness, isolation, and anger after being moved to another continent. He’s not big, but quick, so his moves are possible against larger opponents. He and Mr. Chan have a good rapport.
Jackie Chan takes a quieter, less showy approach than usual, and it works for the most part, though gets sticky sometimes. Taraji P. Henson seems a little too happy, but is otherwise fine as Dre’s frustrated mother. The young actor playing Cheng the villain, Zhenwei Wang, is very good as the hateful bully. And the sweet Meiying, as played by Wenwen Han, is well cast.
There are quiet moments, sad moments, and exhilarating ones, too, that kids will understand. And the message gets across that martial arts are used to defend one self, not attack others. Of course, the climax of the film is the big tournament, which is choreographed expertly, when Cheng and Dre have to fight multiple opponents. It keeps you engaged even though you know the ending, yet tends to wrap up a little too neatly. This is a movie adults and children can appreciate together. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE A-TEAM Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking. Action/Adventure/Thriller 117 minutes
2½ stars |
This remake of The A-Team television show is almost constant motion and action, with explosions at every turn. The editing has such quick cuts that often it’s difficult to tell what’s actually going on, that is, if you care about such things as plot and character development. This kind of movie used to be what the Bond series specialized in years ago: impossible to get out of situations where the hero somehow gets out.
The audience gets to see how the A-Team is formed. They are all Army Rangers with Col. Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) as their leader. The other members are: Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck (Bradley Cooper), B.A. Baracus (Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson), and Murdock (Sharlto Copley). All are rebels, but deeply committed to the military, yet they constantly buck the system.
After forming, the Team is in Iraq doing special missions and are about to be sent home. This is where the plot thickens into impossible goop. They want to be part of an operation, but are given permission only by a General Morrison (Gerald McRaney). They are successful, but then they are framed for committing a crime. In the meantime, the General, the only one who can clear them is killed. They are striped of their ranks, dishonorably discharged, and sent to military prison.
There are double crosses, double triple crosses, and that makes the plot hard to follow. Yet, the CGI is good, and explosions keep adding up. The movie is so violent there is no way these four could survive; I don’t care how great they are as soldiers. But this movie is not about reality. It’s about non-stop action.
Liam Neeson plays it straight, but it sometimes seems as though he’s in a different movie. Bradley Cooper is the playboy, smart mouth and does a serviceable job at it. Quinton Rampage Jackson looks fierce, but the Mohawk seems hopelessly dated. Sharlto Copley (so good in District 9) is the buffoon who takes wild chances and succeeds. Jessica Biel, well, I guess they needed a good-looking woman, but her captain subplot seems thrown in. Brian Bloom plays Pike, one of those bad guys the government tolerates because he’ll do whatever it takes. Patrick Wilson plays “Lynch,” a CIA guy who is loyal to no one but himself, and is one of the few truly ominous roles in the film. It seems the name is used frequently when agents don’t want their true identity revealed.
The A-Team joins a long line of movies that add up to less than the visuals. Once it’s over, not much is memorable. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| GET HIM TO THE GREEK Rated R for strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language. Comedy 109 minutes
4 stars |
With Judd Apatow as producer you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get. This time around there’s plenty of coarse humor, adolescent jokes, lots of vomit, and a surprise. We saw the spark in the character when he was the other man in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He made the audience pay attention and he’s been resurrected as the same charismatic singer, except he’s not sober like he was the first time around. Writer Nicholas Stoller gives rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) a touch of humanity so that the audience can see the loneliness beneath the veneer of a hard partying, self-destructive rock star.
It’s tough in the music world, major stars (translate that as money-makers) are treated as royalty. Aldous makes a disastrous album called African Child after being the darling of the pop scene for a long time. His fiancée, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne) who made the album with him has gone on to more fame, while Aldous has sunk into a drug-hazed semi-oblivion. At the record company, the boss Sergio Roma (Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, more interesting at the beginning of this movie), terrorizes his staff. One of his more innocent guys, Aaron Greene (Jonah Hill) brings up Aldous Snow’s name and is at first rebuffed, but Sergio seeing he is a true fan, assigns him to bring Aldous to the Today Show, and then back to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles where he had one of his biggest triumphs.
The next three days make up the frantic quest to get Aldous anywhere he supposed to be on a reasonable time table, with Aaron putting his own personal happiness with medical intern girlfriend Daphne Binks (Elisabeth Ross) on the line. The thing about Aldous is that even in a drug stupor, he wants to be valued, as everyone indulges his terrible behavior to keep him doing what they want. Yet, Aldous is under it all, a people pleaser, and needs the adoration of all individuals around him and especially the crowd, though he’s lonely and depressed. Russell Brand is very good in these scenes, and believable as someone burning out faster than stardom can replace his fragile ego bruises. You wouldn’t guess it could work, but Jonah Hill as Aaron is a good foil for him. He is a true lover of music, but comes to appreciate what the lifestyle can do to ruin a singer. What Aldous needs is a friend to tell him the truth when no one else will.
The movie is certainly raunchy as dim-witted young girls run around with the only asset they possess--their naked bodies--jumping on any man they are told to satisfy. To Mr. Stoller’s credit, this is shown for the body invasion it sometimes is, and a sharp contrast to the tender relationship that Aaron and the sensitive but average-looking Daphne share.
The extreme lifestyle of out of control rock stars is probably every bit as wild as portrayed, and every bit as empty. You’ll have fun at this movie, but you’ll also get something to chew on. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SPLICE Rated R for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence violence and language. Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller 104 minutes
2½ stars |
In old movie days, mad scientists bent on creating life would gather body parts from morgues, cemeteries, or unwilling victims. Today, thanks to genetics, they can skip the bother and mess by tossing together DNA (human and/or animal) to hatch some kind of human atrocity. What remains constant, though, is the experiment, even if initially promising, will eventually prove fatal (to others, maybe mankind in general, and most certainly to the scientist who has overstepped the bounds of life and death). Splice has some ideas and moments, but the former are too obvious and the latter too few to render this film either a thoughtful or scary film experience.
After a dandy and ominous amniotic title sequence, the viewer is introduced to the brilliant bio-engineering couple, Clive (Adrian Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), through the viewpoint of an organism they have created and will heroically save at birth. This creature, the experimental result of mixing the DNA of a variety of animals, emerges as an indistinct, throbbing, wormlike blob. Named Fred it is introduced to another of its kind, Ginger (cutesy names, huh) and they bond (how nice). Importantly, these entities promise to lead to advances in fighting human diseases. This last makes the pharmaceutical company funding the research happy, but they are truly excited (and very eager) to bottle and make a profit by isolating a protein from the creatures. The sooner, the better.
Elsa and Clive are restless at the prospect of foregoing further research to merely turn out patents for the drug company. They are scientists, darn it, and now on the verge of trying to add human DNA to the mix. Not that they know if the process will work. Or what will be the outcome. Or, if it’s ethically or morally the right thing to do. But charge ahead they do. And, yeah, they succeed turning out something of a human/bird/reptile that they will ultimately name Dren who ages in an accelerated fashion so that she zooms from birth to adulthood in weeks. Clive and Elsa keep her hidden and nurture her as she grows in size and intelligence (she is smart enough to complain of tedium-leading one to believe she saw a cut of the film). Suspense is supplied by the guessing game as to Dren’s nature. Innocent, blood thirsty, sweet, jealous, obedient, rebellious, lover, killer – she is all these and sorting out her true nature is the strongest element in the film. The answer, of course, is clear to the audience before it is to the scientists (no spoiler, but they should at least have learned their lesson from Fred and Ginger).
Splice is directed by Vincenzo Natali and he does set a look and tone of dread and ominous foreboding in the sterile laboratories and abandoned farm and in potentially momentous goings-on beyond the sight of almost everyone (the world here is scarecly populated). The story by Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, and Doug Taylor contains a few issues worth considering (for one, what responsibility is owed life forms humans might create) and there are several well-executed, surprising in incidents, but more often the story drags on predictably. Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley do a respectable job with their characters (although, Adrian could have used a haircut, even a wash and dry, while Sarah manages to look less pretty than she naturally is). Abigail Chu, who plays Young Dren, and Delphine Chanéac, Adult Dren, manage to avoid obvious cliché in their portrayals. In the end, however, this sure ain’t the definitive DNA movie.
Splice – Has moments but doesn’t work overall or as a whole. Review by Charles Zio
THE SANDS OF TIME |
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action. Action/Adventure/Fantasy 116 minutes
3 stars |
Based on a video game, Prince of Persia is non-stop action. It’s also like the old B movies that emphasized fantasy elements so you knew not to take it too seriously. As it takes place in ancient Persia there’s plenty of room to create spells, make magic, and run after talismans. A buffed up Jake Gyllenhaal plays Prince Dastan who is not of royal birth. It seems his father, King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), is in the market one day and sees a child defend a friend then run across the rooftops to escape. He adopts Dastan, and along with his two sons, Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and his own brother Nizam (Ben Kingsley), they form the royal family.
The movie opens the night before an invasion. The King said not to invade the holy city, but as Dastan is the only one to dissent, the brothers and uncle agree to go in the next morning. But Dastan beats them to it with his men and breaks through the fortress, recovering an unusual dagger. The Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) is appropriately annoyed at the intrusion, and then spots Dastan carrying the dagger.
Through a series of events Dastan and Tamina, sparring like lovers already, must travel together to save the world from evil. Men are, of course, more prominent in this brutal world, but the Princess is not only spunky and intelligent, but beautiful as well. She is a fitting mate for the wild Dastan who does gymnastics whenever possible. The premise is that the dagger has magical powers, but can unleash sands that will destroy everything.
The acting is generally good with Alfred Molina providing a good bit of comic relief. Jake Gyllenhaal is a suitable hero. Though Gemma Arterton is pretty, she comes across as more stiff than royal. Ben Kingsley has been playing the same character for a while now, so it seems repetitive. Ronald Pickup, Toby Kebbell, and especially Richard Coyle are good in their roles as royalty.
The cinematography by John Seale, CGI, art design, costumes, special effects, and sound all enhance the storyline. This is an action/adventure movie based on a video game so it has no more meaning or depth than that. It’s meant to be entertainment, and it does provide that for those inclined to see it. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SEX AND THE CITY 2 Rated R for some strong sexual content and language. Comedy/Drama/Romance 146 minutes
1½ stars |
Sex and the City 2 is over the top, and then some. Though I understand the attempt to depict the next phase in the life of these characters, being as the first movie was such a hit, this one is way off the mark, especially at almost two and a half hours. It has a swollen, ridiculous storyline that strains under the weight of throwing in whatever is imagined.
It opens with the gay wedding of Anthony (Mario Cantone) and Stanford (Willie Garson), best friends of Charlotte and Carrie respectively. A chorus, white swans, and Liza Minelli are part of the festivities; need I say more? Then we have Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and John Preston, formally known as Mr. Big, married for two years. Guess what? Carrie is not satisfied; she’s afraid their life will be “boring.” The Carrie character has always been self-centered and annoying, but I found myself actively disliking her this time around for her narcissism, and harassing her husband over trivial matters. The premise for years on the television show and the first movie, was about their mutual fear of commitment and marriage. Now she’s still not satisfied? He buys her an anniversary gift that isn’t to her liking because it has no sparkle, meaning it’s not jewelry. Hey, people are out of work and struggling, get over yourself, spoiled middle-aged brat!
Miranda’s (Cynthia Nixon) boss is a woman-hater. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is overwhelmed by motherhood, even though she has a nanny. Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is resisting menopause by taking Suzanne Somers’ book as gospel. (Skip the ads. Should women really be taking her advice?) So what to do? Why not have all four go on an all-expense paid vacation to Abu Dhabi? Not that there is respect shown for another culture when they get there. In fact, the depiction of the culture is clichéd and bordering on bigoted.
Then Carrie runs into old boyfriend Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) in the middle of a marketplace as she’s shopping. Right. A manufactured moment with him leaves her running back to the hotel with folds of her dress fluttering in the breeze. She wakes the girls to alert them of her crisis and it is taken so seriously that it’s laughable.
Did I mention that Miley Cyrus, Penélope Cruz, and Tim Gunn have cameos? Did I mention that the girls ride camels in the middle of the dessert in ugly designer clothes? Or that they do a cringe-inducing karaoke of "I Am Woman?" Or that they are helped to escape from a crowd by women who are wearing haute couture under their traditional dress? Or that Samantha flaunts herself and gets arrested with a sexy man she’s picked up named Rikard Spirit (Max Ryan)? There is so little here that is not superficial, or is admirable. These characters certainly are not. Did I mention this movie is a disaster? Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SHREK FOREVER AFTER Rated PG for mild action, some rude behavior, and brief language. Family/animation/Sequel 93 minutes
3½ stars |
Does the title really man this is the last Shrek movie? If so, I have to say this one is an improvement over Shrek 3. Even though the originality of the first big green ogre movie is gone, and the story is recycled, this can be a fitting end to the franchise. The 3D aspect is occasionally impressive when there is motion like galloping horses or flying in the air.
Shrek (Mike Myers) is in the middle of those early years of marriage with three cute, but screaming kids. He’s just a tad annoyed that his home in the swamp has been turned into a tourist attraction. He and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are happy together, so that’s not the problem. He’s, well, he’s an ogre, so what can you expect? He wants to be scary again. It’s like those guys who get married, then regret not being able to run around wild and free.
While Shrek is feeling lost and vulnerable he meets Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), an annoying imp who makes Shrek a deal. He gets to trade one day of his life so he can feel the way he used to feel. Shrek, being naïve, signs the contract and wham, his old life is gone. No one recognizes him, not Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), or even Fiona. The world has changed for the worse with all kinds of flying witches torturing and capturing ogres. How will he ever get back to his old life?
Some of the cleverness and humor of the original Shrek that made it such a success the first time around, is back without much of the crudeness that started to creep into the stories. That’s a good thing. And there is an effort to have a moral to the story that makes sense.
There is some stunt casting as other voiceovers include: Julie Andrews as the Queen, John Cleese as the King, Jon Hamm as Brogan, Lake Bell, Kathy Griffin, Mary Kay Place, and Meredith Vieira as witches. Then we have Larry King and Regis Philbin as Doris and Mabel. Though detecting their voices it is not all that easy.
The audience I saw this with paid attention and applauded at the end. The kids liked it. It can make adults smile even if that is accompanied by a groan here and there. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| MACGRUBER Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity. Action/Comedy/Adaptation 99 minutes
1½ stars |
A satire on a resourceful spy character who isn't could be funny and clever—if the spy was really resourceful in the end, in other words, had some redeeming quality. Unfortunately, MacGruber (Will Forte) is an arrogant, coarse, ridiculous “hero” who is a turn-off from beginning to end. The attempt to make him outrageous and over-the-top succeeds too well, and the movie sinks under the weight of desperation. This is often an element of the Saturday Night Live show from which MacGruber was spawned. They apparently sit in a roomful of writers and must really have plenty of laughs among themselves, yet they seem to forget the audience.
MacGruber is thought to be dead as the movie opens. His wife is killed on their wedding day by Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) who is enraged that MacGruber has stolen his former girlfriend, Casey (Maya Rudolph). Von Cunth (how clever) is also the bad guy who has stolen a nuclear missile he plans to use to destroy the White House. When the bomb that killed Casey exploded, MacGruber took the opportunity to die, too. But Col. James Faith (Powers Booth) comes looking for him to save the day.
MacGruber puts down Faith’s young assistant, Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe), until he must use him in his operation to disarm the missile. He then recruits Vicki St. Elmo (Kristin Wiig) to be part of the team.
Okay, I get it; MacGruber the spy is super dense as opposed to James Bond-like characters that are super smart. Yet, the jokes are crude and rely too much on bathroom humor. The movie itself is not witty as writers Will Forte, John Solomon, and Jorma Taccone (also the director) strain to come up with something, anything, interesting.
Will Forte tries too hard as MacGruber. Kristin Wiig, as talented as she is, is kept so low key as to look like she is trying not to upstage Mr. Forte. Ryan Phillippe plays the straight man to MacGruber but eventually succumbs to one of the movie’s worst bits. Powers Booth does alright as the Colonel, but then, it doesn’t require much of an actor who could do the character in his sleep. Maya Rudolph, luckily for her, is only seen in flashbacks.
Much can be forgiven when a script, despite flaws, is actually funny. It is one thing to create a comedy sketch that lasts several minutes, but sustaining an entire movie requires an storyline that actually works. I heard one disgusted movie fan say to another as he was leaving the theater, “It was stupid.” I have to agree. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| ROBIN HOOD Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content. Drama 140 minutes
2½ stars |
It wasn’t a good idea. Robin Hood and his legend were fine, thank you. Why muck up the man and his long established legend with this long, overstuffed historical hodgepodge? If this is, in fact, the first of a series (which the last title card hints with the words “And so the legend begins”) spare yourself two hours and eleven minutes of set up exposition (some of it far from credible) and hope the sequel will capture the image we carry of a brave, daring, skilled archer defending womanhood, justice, and the poor. For background, instead, wait for the History Channel version that will, gratefully, avoid the factual errors and emotional silliness.
From the start it’s evident this Robin Hood film is revisionist history when Richard the Lion Hearted, usually heralded as the epitome of heroism and chivalry, is presented (skillfully by Danny Huston) as a bedraggled, self-doubting, impatient king on his way home to England. His men all adore him (why isn’t clear as he’s dragged them to a far off war where many died and his country was pushed into bankruptcy). Among the troops is Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe, with one expression throughout, grim), shown to be an able archer, honest to a fault, self-confident, possessing a knack for shell games, and a discontent (wanting to go his own way). His opportunity to escape occurs when Richard is killed storming a castle (by a most ordinary assassin, ironically) and he sets off with several of those who will become his men, Little John (Kevin Durand, letter perfect), Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes, well done), and Allan A’Dayle (Alan Doyle, scruffy but musically on the mark). On the way, Robin and his men come upon an ambush and a dying knight, Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge) who makes Robin promise to return his sword to his father in Nottingham.
Plot complications aplenty follow. Robin arrives in Nottingham and is adopted by Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow, who’s got warm and wise down pat) and meets Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett, a saving grace and convincing a good deal of the time except for plot contrivances) and Friar Tuck (Mark Addy, appealing). Villains are three: King John (Oscar Isaac, suitably slimy); Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong, suitably despicable); and the Sheriff (Matthew Macfadyen, mostly a cipher with little to do).
Director Ridley Scott stages some grand battles (the early castle siege, the marauding/raping/killing troops under Sir Godfrey, and the coastal French invasion (paging WWII) along with credit for overall historical and natural panoramas created or captured with assistance by production designer Arthur Max and the costumes of Janty Yates, all as captured by photographer John Mathieson. On the other hand, Scott’s pacing is slow and some shots are familiar and repetitious. The script is by Brian Helgeland based on a story of his, Ethan Reiff, and Cyrus Voris which is believable as there seems to be a little bit of everything thrown in, as for instance Maid Marion, with no acknowledged battle experience, riding off to fight alongside Robin (and taking on the war hardened Sir Godfrey no less). As for historical accuracy, how about Robin speaking before the assembled northern barons and eliciting a promise from King John for a document assuring English rights. No mention of the Magna Carta, which John did sign later (he reneges here on his promise), but Robin Hood as the originator of the idea?
At the end of the picture, Robin has officially been declared an outlaw who can be killed on sight. In defense, and under the adoring eyes of Marion, he has taken to the fabled forest. Maybe there, aside from all the talk about taxation, he’ll finally get to his “steal from the rich, give to the poor” reputation. And maybe, too, he’ll get merry (he can learn from Little John, Scarlet, Allan, and Tuck) because he’s certainly been morose for the great bulk of the two hours and eleven minutes of this film. The same, unfortunately, for the viewer.
Robin Hood – Not a hero for our time. Or even for his own 12th century.
Review by Charles Zio
| LETTERS TO JULIET Rated PG for brief rude behavior, some language and incidental smoking. Comedy/Drama/Romance 105 minutes
3½ stars |
You’ve probably have heard reviewers complain about the lack of genuinely good romantic comedies. Well, don’t get too excited, but this one will make you at least sigh, rather than gag. That is thanks to Amanda Seyfried (Sophie) and Vanessa Redgrave (Claire). Although the premise is thin, the acting of these two ladies makes it more substantial.
Ms. Seyfried plays the American, Sophie who travels to Verona, Italy on a pre-honeymoon trip with her fiancé Victor (Gael García Bernal). He is a restaurant owner more interested in finding culinary gems than spending time with her. So Sophie is forced to amuse herself. She comes to the balcony where Juliet supposedly spoke to Romeo, and sees young women crying. There is the wall in front of them where they leave notes to “Juliet” about their troubled romantic relationships. Sophie is intrigued and follows some ladies who collect the letters. It turns out they are the Secretaries of Juliet who answer the lovelorn letters.
Quickly, Sophie finds a letter hidden in the wall for fifty years from a young British girl named Claire (Ms. Redgrave) who abandoned her Italian boyfriend and then feels awful about it. Sophie answers the letter and gets a visit from Claire’s grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), who roundly scolds her. At this point, you can guess the rest of the movie, but the only mystery in romantic comedies is not how it will end, but how will they get there.
Yes, Claire shows up and decides to track down her long lost love. Charlie reluctantly agrees to take her on the search for Lorenzo (Franco Nero), and to take Sophie along. The audience gets to travel the beautiful Italian countryside with the trio and watch as true love takes its course, though not smoothly as Shakespeare would remind us. Though by the last scene you may be thinking, “Oh no, they didn’t...”
Director Gary Winik makes the most of the modest love story by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan. What really makes it work is the acting of the two women. Amanda Seyfried is pretty yet not above-it-all so she is appealing and easy to root for as well. Yet, Vanessa Redgrave is remarkable in every scene in which she appears, her timing perfect. She glows without seeming to do much. The audience knows exactly how she feels by the expressions on her face or the tilt of her head.
It is not one of the all time greats, but this romantic comedy will leave you smiling, if no closer to understanding that most mysterious of emotions. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| JUST WRIGHT Rated PG for some suggestive material and brief language. Comedy/Romance 111 minutes
2½ stars |
You really have to be a sourpuss not to like Queen Latifah. She plays Leslie Wright, a physical therapist, who at 35 is still looking for Mr. Right. Her parents, as played by Pam Grier and James Pickens, Jr. fret about her finding a life partner, especially her father who calls her “Baby Girl.” They seem to spend all their time at her new fixer-upper so they can look concerned and give her encouraging words.
Also staying at her house is her cousin Morgan (a stunning Paula Patton), who has decided she’s going to nab an NBA star. Since Leslie is a diehard fan she attends a New Jersey Nets game in a Nets’ t-shirt, while Morgan is in a sexy dress. As it happens Leslie meets the star point guard, Scott McKnight (Common), at a gas station and gets invited to his birthday party. She generously takes along Morgan who then manipulates the situation and gets enough of Scott’s attention that he shows up at Leslie’s house the next day.
If Leslie thought she had a chance with Scott, Morgan makes sure that she bewitches him and eventually moves in with him. A possible career-ending injury calls Leslie into duty with Scott and complications ensue.
The screenplay by Michael Elliot is predictable, but aren’t all romantic comedies? This movie is really a star vehicle for Queen Latifah. Common is in good physical shape as the NBA star, and the court shots are interesting with actual basketball players doing some roles. Phylicia Rashad has a small part as Scott’s mother and makes the most of it.
Director Sanaa Hamri does the best he can with his cast, but is limited by the story. There are a few touches to let the audience know that Leslie is a down to earth “home girl” or best friend type who doesn’t put on any false airs. Guys want her around, but fall in love with the thin beauties, many who turn out to be treacherous.
Queen Latifah has more talent than she needs for this movie. Let’s hope she finds another one sooner rather than later. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| IRON MAN 2 Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Thriller 124 minutes
4 stars |
Iron Man 2 remains flashy entertainment, yet the bells and whistles are close to overwhelming the movie. This often happens in sequels when filmmakers try to outdo themselves in appealing to audiences. There’s no mystery about Iron Man’s identity. Tony Stark is the hero, especially as played by Robert Downey Jr. with droll humor, and self-admitted narcissism. That makes it fun, but this Iron Man franchise is in danger of what happened to Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman, and Shrek as each movie sequel appeared. Maybe it’s inevitable—the surprise, the newness is gone. In an effort to wow fans there is too much happening. What was great about the first Iron Man was that it was understandable and clear and had a fresh feel about it. Yet, comic book fans may find it appealing.
In Iron Man 2 we have a Russian villain named Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke with one expression. He’s supposedly a physicist whose father developed the Iron Man technology with Tony’s father. Ivan went bad along the way and went to prison and is full of tattoos, bitterness, and a total obsession with getting revenge against Tony. (This is believable as Ivan looks like he hasn’t had a shower in years.) Now he wants complete destruction of Iron Man. Mr. Rourke is not scary at all though his character is excessively violent.
Then we have Tony’s technology rival Justin Hammer played broadly by Sam Rockwell, as a ruthless though bumbling villain. Also showing up are Scarlett Johansson (very good) as a new assistant to Tony and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who make a good team, but Pepper is less interesting this time around, though the love story between Tony and Pepper sputters on in an afterthought sort of way. Don Cheadle is good as always as Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Tony’s friend, yet he is unhelpful at times because of various plot twists. Then there’s Samuel L. Jackson playing the mysterious Nick Fury, and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. Even director/actor Jon Favreau gives himself an action scene.
There’s plenty of star power, gadgets, explosions, comic turns, and Robert Downey, Jr. to make Iron Man 2 worth seeing, but even though the script by Justin Theroux is packed with as much as can fit, it’s not as exciting as the original. Even Robert Downey, Jr. can't help with that one. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| DEATH AT A FUNERAL Rated R for language, drug content and some sexual humor. Comedy 90 minutes
2½ stars |
I wasn’t too keen on the 2007 UK version of this movie, yet moving the setting and having it directed by Neil LaBute didn’t help much either. The actors try, though some succeed more than others, but it’s just not hilarious in any sense of the word. Then it takes a turn toward crude bathroom humor and that’s where it lost me.
Chris Rock plays Aaron, the responsible brother, who lives with his parents to help them out. When the father dies unexpectedly, he organizes the funeral at home as his father wished. His famous younger brother Ryan, played by Martin Lawrence, has the success as a writer that Aaron can only dream of even though he knows that Ryan’s work is pulp. Aaron’s frustration with his life and this funeral are understandable as you wonder how all the catastrophes are going to be resolved.
Things go wrong immediately as the casket contains not his father’s body, but an Asian man. Aaron is in for quite a day. Ryan arrives, and as a star of the family, basks in praise and chases after a pretty 18 year old girl. Their mother, played broadly by Loretta Devine, favors her younger son as Aaron and his wife have not produced a grandchild.
The cast is large with some good performances. Ron Glass is Duncan, the dead man’s brother. Zoe Saldana plays Duncan’s daughter Elaine who brings Oscar, her boyfriend, played by James Marsden. Duncan doesn’t like Oscar, and it doesn’t help that he is given a hallucinatory drug by mistake and acts crazy. Luke Wilson is Elaine’s ex-boyfriend who is an egocentric bore who wants her back. Danny Glover overplays Uncle Russell. Tracy Morgan plays Norman, the most unhelpful helper in the movie, with his usual delivery. Peter Dinklage, a mysterious guest named Frank, keeps bugging Aaron to talk to him and when he finally tells why he’s there, it is a funny twist. Yet, it begins to lose the initial jolt because it's over-played like most scenes in the movie.
This kind of broad humor can be funny, but most of it falls flat. By the time the funeral is over, it’s a relief. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE BACK UP PLAN Rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, some crude material and language. Comedy/Romance 103 minutes
3 stars |
Oh, the modern woman’s dilemma. Jennifer Lopez plays one such woman named Zoe. She rejects the corporate life to open a small pet store, but the thing that is missing is a baby. So, taking matters into her own hands (or rather the doctor’s) she has herself inseminated with sperm from an anonymous (red-headed) donor. Guess what? It takes the first time. Then she meets the love of her life. Ms. Lopez looks amazing and her guy, Stan, play by Alex O'Loughlin is very good looking, too. But as with so many romantic comedies these days, beautiful people alone do not make a good movie.
There are some funny sight gags and funny lines delivered by actors who come in and out of scenes like Michaela Watkins who plays Zoe’s friend Mona. She has a wonderfully understated delivery of some of the best lines in the movie. Yet, much of the movie seems forced, trying too hard to convince the audience that it is amusing.
While Stan and Zoe have an instant attraction, it takes messy relationship mistakes and other people’s meddling to have them recover from a less than ideal beginning. Since this is a New York story, the settings are interesting, and they even end up on a farm showing Stan, shirtless and smiling on a tractor. You can’t blame them as Mr. O’Loughlin is in good shape, and this movie will appeal mostly to women anyway.
There are also some enjoyable scenes as Zoe joins a single mothers’ group and political correctness is shown for the silliness it is sometimes. Most in the group are manless so Zoe doesn’t fit in as she Stan try to work things out. The birthing scene is amusing as all in the group support the new mother and Zoe becomes her “focus.” But again, it’s too forced so loses much of the humor.
Supporting performances include Robert Klein who plays Zoe’s doctor, Tom Bosley who plays Zoe’s future step-grandfather, and Linda Lavin who makes the most of playing Zoe’s grandmother. Eric Christian Olsen, Noureen DeWulf, and Anthony Anderson are confidantes to Zoe and Stan.
This is not an unpleasant movie, just not a very inspired one. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| KICK-ASS Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use, some involving children. Action/Comedy/Crime/Thriller 117 minutes
4½ stars |
Sit back and enjoy. In this action film there’s comic sensibility, satiric touches, physical comedy, and yes, swearing, the threat of naked breasts (not revealed), and violence (bloody but it doesn’t linger). What happens when the nerd acts out his dream? When the toughest girl is, actually, an eleven-year-old girl? When all the familiar conventions (e.g., the clueless parent, the bad cop) are used and yet are acceptable? These and other questions are given answer in this fun entertainment.
The protagonist here is Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson, natural and appealing), an average teenager ignored (especially by girls) and bullied (exemplified by two neighborhood toughs) in Queens, New York. Yeah, that’s also the home of Peter Parker, Spiderman himself, who is invoked and invested with meaning by Dave and his comic book buddies. Thoughts of super heroes eventually lead to acting out. Dave purchases a green, masked uniform on the web. Adorned with two batons, and with scant useful training in defense or offense as well as the serious drawback of having no superpowers whatsoever, he takes to walking the street. His would-be heroics are foiled on a first intercession when the earlier seen tough guys beat and stab him. Though he survives, with some bionic parts (there’s more than a few witty reference throughout), he remains unprepared. Not that this stops him as he shares, endures, and ultimately rescues a man being brutally beaten by a gang.
Thus, Kick-Ass, the identity Dave has assumed enters, via the net, the consciousness (and media spotlight) of the big city. Having become acquainted with a lovely schoolmate, Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca, pretty and believable), he goes, in disguise, to warn off a former boyfriend of hers, a nasty drug dealer who turns, with the aid of his posse, on the young hero. Of course, Kick-Ass is no match for them. But there are others who are.
That would be Damon Macready (Nicholas Cage, underplaying perfectly) in his persona as Big Daddy and guardian to Mindy (Chloe Grace Moretz, playing humorously and convincingly) AKA Hit Girl, whom he has trained as a pint-sized killing machine. Be aware she is foul mouthed, a jolt in both the incongruity of curses being spewed by a young girl and as a sign of her cold-blooded lethality. These two save Kick-Ass and assure him of aid. Their primary mission is bringing down Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong, a worthy heavy) a gangster surrounded by goons, aided by a corrupt cop, and beset with his own nerd of a son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, nicely handling the various aspects of the role) who adopts a super hero device, Red Mist, in this case for evil purposes.
Soon enough all the lines intersect leading to a dandy climatic payoff, a happy ending, and the suggestion of a sequel to come (quoting a line from, well, you’ll see). This dandy movie has been directed with nary a false note, lapse of comedic sensibility, or technical misstep by Matthew Vaughn who also co-wrote the script with Jane Goldman, based on the comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Nods to Ben Davis for photography; Jon Harris/Pietro Scalia/Eddie Hamilton, editing; Russell De Rozario, production design; and all the actors. The world of movie heroes may be familiar in most ways, but when it’s done as enjoyably as this is, heck even the heart and soul has the right, light touch, it’s worth a look.
Kick-Ass - In the sense of a pleasurable winner - A Kick In The Head.
Review by Charles Zio
| DATE NIGHT PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference. Comedy/Romance 88 minutes
3 stars |
Steve Carell and Tina Fey, both on hit television series, have been engaged in pursuing a presence on the big screen. Aside from some hit and miss movie successes, their efforts have not resulted in consistent stardom (minor or mega). Date Night will not change this situation. While the premise of the movie offers potential, and would even seem tailor made for the duo, the laughs are very few and very far between. The viewer’s reaction alternates between disappointment (at comedic moments fallen flat) and regret (at scenes that didn’t deliver on humorous potential).
Steve Carell and Tina Fey play Phil (tax accountant) and Claire (real estate agent) Foster, an upper middle class New Jersey couple, married with two young children, whose life together has devolved into routine, bordering on tedium. The couple’s one effort at breaking the boredom is Date Night when they leave the kids with a baby sitter and go out for a meal. Except that they always go to the same restaurant and order the same dishes and try to liven up their time together by speculating on the lives of the other diners (to the extent of adopting their imagined voices). Though the movie has hardly begun, the omens are not good.
It’s clear the Foster marriage is strained, the sexual fire is gone, and resentments, annoyances, and misunderstands are harbored by man and wife. On the other hand, their love is a given (in word and deed) so that there is no suspense. The Foster marriage is not at risk. Henceforth, the movie will chart, through the supposed hilarity, their recapturing the early spark of their relationship. If that sounds mundane, it is. Oh yes, the hilarity. Carell and Fey are masters, on television, at capturing the knowing and inadvertent embarrassments of people trying, or falsely believing, they are doing the right thing and are upset when their efforts go astray or fail completely because, they would assure you, their intentions are good. Further, there’s humor arising from attempts to explain or justify their misguided behavior. These finely tuned and laser focused moments (eliciting sympathy and empathy) work fine on the small and intimate screen. And yes, they can work, though it’s much, much harder, on the big one. Unfortunately, Carell and Fey don’t quite have the knack yet so that almost all the movie falls flat. Completely. For now, the two stars should stick to broad comedy. It might work better.
Back to the plot. One night Claire particularly dresses up and Phil, inspired, decides they will go to Manhattan for dinner at a trendy new restaurant, Claw (not a guffaw but a good satiric barb). Having no reservation, they take that of a no-show couple, the Triplehorns. Turns out that couple is involved in blackmail resulting in the mistaken Fosters spending the movie fending off threats, near misses, chases, break ins, etc., etc. They also, here and there, display initiative and resourcefulness. And there are a few sweet heartfelt moments (though familiar from tv movies) between Fey and Carell. But this is a comedy and, sadly, little of it is funny or suspenseful, just predictable. There are, to be sure, some neat cameos (short and wasted) by Mark Wahlberg (consisting mostly of him shirtless), Taraj P. Henson (as a tough, smart detective), Kristen Wiig (as a restless wife), bad guys Jimmi Simpson and Common, and James Franco and Mila Kunis as a battling yet loving couple.
In short, Date Night had a lot of promise but the script by Josh Klausner, though carefully plotted, failed to engage as it careened from bit to bit. The direction by Shawn Levy was professional but lacked inspiration or originality. Carell and Fey, they admit themselves, adlibbed quite a bit, as illustrated in outtakes in the closing credits, though even here the movie fails to amuse. It’s a shame when a comedy elicits maybe two laughs, and those feeble at best, and when the stars are funnier in their promotional efforts than the finished product. Unfulfilled promise is not funny. Same for this movie.
Date Night – This couple should have stayed home. You, too. Review by Charles Zio
| THE GHOST WRITER PG-13 for language, brief nudity/sexuality, some violence and a drug reference. Drama/Mystery/Thriller 120 minutes
4 stars |
Pity the writers of the world, just pawns in everyone else’s chess games. Of course, writers are a curious, intelligent lot causing them to snoop around more than they should. This is especially true in The Ghost Writer. A former British Prime Minister named Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan, who seems to get better with each movie) is trying to finish his memoirs, but his original ghost writer inconveniently fell off a ferry and drowned. The new ghost writer, whose name we never learn, played by Ewan MacGregor who is impressive, is coerced into taking on the assignment, mostly for the money, since he really has no interest in politics. Ultimately, even though he is suspicious, he can’t resist the windfall and is summoned to an island in the United States where Lang lives in splendid isolation.
Everything from the thick fog to the eerie setting to the robotic staff feels odd and disorienting to the Ghost Writer. He has learned that the manuscript needs to be pared down because it is said to contain explosive information. He has no idea what that information could be, but all the pages are locked up before and after the writer works with them. Just as the Ghost Writer has to set to work on editing the manuscript, there is a scandal with opponents of Lang saying he supported the United States when he knew there was incorrect knowledge given to Parliament. Protesters show up outside Lang’s compound and an atmosphere of dread persists.
Lang is pampered though bad tempered most of the time, and his meetings with the Ghost Writer are contentious. Most of the writer’s contact is with Lang’s secretary and presumed lover Amelia Bly (Kim Cattrall) who explains his job, but leaves crucial information. Lang’s wife Ruth (Olivia Williams, first-rate) is mysterious, and seems to be the injured party. Yet, nothing is really as it seems as the ghost writer eventually finds out.
Robert Harris, a journalist, adapted the screenplay with director Roman Polanski, from his novel The Ghost. It is an intelligent and suspenseful story. Putting aside director Polanski’s tragic past, and subsequent criminal charges (if possible), he has done an excellent job directing this movie. There are surprisingly effective cameos by Jim Belushi, Timothy Hutton, Eli Wallach, and Tim Wilkinson, with the supporting cast excellent as well. The original music by Alexandre Desplat, and the cinematography by Pawel Edelman are also notable. This is a movie thriller well worth seeing. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE RUNAWAYS Rated R for language, drug use and sexual content - all involving teens. Drama/Music 109 minutes
3 stars |
The participants and particulars vary but the song remains the same. Call it “The Rise, Rot, And Redemption Of ________________,” with the name of any number of rock bands filling, and fitting, the blank. The form has become familiar enough, in no small part thanks to VH1, to have entered the realm of cliché. Who then would be the audience for a film centered on the ‘70s group The Runaways? A devoted fan with associated past memories of time/place/event. For everyone else it’s a long, long haul.
In the case of The Runaways, the catalyst is Joan Jett - intense, tough, ambitious – played by Kristen Stewart whose one note emotional range, for once, is appropriate to her character. She approaches a promoter, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, equal parts guiding genius and ripoff nutcase), with her idea for an all-girl group. He seizes on the idea and runs with it. A band is recruited including an unhappy sixteen-year-old, Cherie Currie, played to the hilt by Dakota Fanning. Kim contributes songs, attitude, and wisdom to the group, verbally shaping them up into a potent mix of musicianship (the members can actually play), toughness, bravado, and, the key element, appeals to the male libido. Success does not come easy with every tale of this sort recounting missed love ones, lousy motel rooms, short cash, exhausting road tours, mental and physical weariness. Interspersed are good times consisting of drugs, liquor, easy sex, and episodes of silly behavior.
Then fame (hooray), surprising and gratefully received since the odds are stacked against any new group. There’s some reveling in the fame and its attendant perks. And then, the excess sets in. The demons, recognized or hidden or newly unleashed, take hold and life devolves into a blur (aided by variously colored pills and booze) of people, places, things. The faster things spin out of control, the harder it becomes for the members to stop the carousel, even if they love each other as Joan and Cherie seem to (yes, you’ve heard right, they share a kiss). Sooner or later, comes the crash.
The aftermath varies. Some will keep spiraling down, like Cherie, until she finds inner peace (and is now an artist). Others will eventually hit a bottom they can’t escape, like Kim (after some triumphs, reduced to wandering the street with green hair). And a few will recover and triumph, like Joan who, though not without many setbacks, developed a solo career. The Runaways written by Floria Sigismondi, a director of music videos, based on the autobiography “Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story.” As director also, she ably captured the look and feel (aided by production designer Eugenio Caballero and costumes by Carol Beadle) of the 1970s and the performance scenes (Stewart and Fanning did their own singing) have the raw vitality the band must have generated and which led to their success. But the predictability of the group’s journey from nobodies to female rock icons to burn outs lacks surprise or new insights. Unless you love The Runaways the story is not likely to hold your interest.
The Runaways - Rarely moving, but when it does, it’s toward the exit.
Review by Charles Zio
| CLASH OF THE TITANS Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief sensuality. Action/Adventure/Fantasy 118 minutes
3 stars |
I have questions. Like, why is Perseus (Sam Worthington) the only man in the movie with a buzz cut? Why do the characters speak with different accents? Why doesn’t the movie follow the myths more closely? It doesn’t matter because this is not the type of movie where those things are important. This is the kind of movie to sit back and watch the spectacle without much deep thinking. Not that the 3D helps either; it is only occasionally noticeable.
The movie is based on the myth of the Greek gods, and the demi-god Perseus, half mortal son of Zeus (Liam Neeson). Perseus’ mother was tricked by Zeus and gave birth to Perseus. When her husband finds out the child is not his he is incensed, so he puts them in a box and set them adrift in the sea where a fisherman finds them. His mother is dead, but baby Perseus survives and stays with the family until they are killed by Zeus’ hateful brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes). Of course, when Perseus eventually learns out the whole truth he’s mad as heck at his real father and wants to save humans who the gods are threatening to destroy.
In order to save the port city of Argos, and the Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), several of the men go on a quest (there’s always a quest) to cut off the head of the Medusa, an ugly looking snake-like monster with curly hair made up of small slithering snakes.
In their travels they come across the husband of Perseus’ mother. He has been promised by Hades that he will be able to get revenge on Zeus, who impregnated his wife, by killing Perseus. But his hand is cut off and he drips blood which then becomes giant scorpions chasing the men around in the desert. A tribe of ancients save them and they all move on to find Medusa. This middle section is the most exciting. If you know the myth, the Medusa’s head is cut off, and comes in handy later on. The monster Kraken which appears near the end of the movie is huge, but otherwise somewhat of a let down.
Sam Worthington, the hero in Avatar, doesn’t generate much excitement as Perseus, but he’s reliable and likeable. Liam Neeson plays Zeus with dignity, while Ralph Fiennes seems to be getting typecast as a snarling villain. Other actors do well enough: Alexa Davalos, Gemma Atherton, Jason Flemyng, Luke Evans, and especially Mads Mikkelsen. The real stars are the special effects, visual effects, set decoration, production design by the technical staff and crew, and the cinematography by director of photography Peter Menzies Jr. which help keep the viewers’ attention.
If you like action/adventure stories about the mythical angry, jealous, narcissistic gods you will be entertained, as long as you don’t think too hard about it.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| GREENBERG Rated R for some strong sexuality, drug use, and language. Drama/Comedy 107 minutes
3 stars |
Though the title character does not appear in the opening minutes of Greenberg, the story and trajectory are set forth. The first shot is a wide angle of smoggy Los Angeles (messy, mysterious life), followed by the camera panning up to a clear, undeveloped hillside (a journey to clarity and understanding) and a young woman (possible romance) walking a dog (innocent, unpretentious), and then sitting on a rock petting him (kindness, taming). The clincher? The woman, in close up, hands on the wheel, looking to her right asking, “Will you let me in?” She is addressing not a fellow passenger but the driver in the next lane. Quite soon the action is duplicated in reverse (“You won’t let me in”). The movie that ensues will focus on the quirky, confused, frustrated, annoying, unstable, childish, obstinate attributes that comprise Roger Greenberg, a fellow it’s hard to like and a film, therefore, it’s not easy to sit through.
The woman seen at the start is Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig, deservedly stealing her every scene), the personal assistant to a rich doctor’s family who are about to embark on a vacation to Vietnam. While away, the doctor’s brother Roger (Ben Stiller, equally arousing and repelling sympathy), newly sprung from a New York mental institute after a breakdown, will be house and dog sitting (Mahler, a winning German Shepherd) with the assistant’s name and number left in case he needs anything. Inevitably, these two become entangled and the sorting out is messy, to put it mildly.
Greenberg is what you’d call “a royal pain.” He is critical and petty (listen to the complaining letters he insists on writing to all sorts of entities), selfish to Ivan (Rhys Ifans, believably level headed and patient) his best friend/college buddy/band mate (guess who doomed the band on the verge of its big break), and a captive of the past as exemplified by his pursuit of his old girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Jason Leigh, appealing). This last problem is a major stumbling block because Greenberg not only steadily references the 60s, 70s, and 80s (from the irony of a vacation in Vietnam, to playing Duran Duran, to mentioning a balcony scene in Wall Street), but he refuses to leave the past behind as have both Ivan and Beth.
What Greenberg is missing in the here-and-now is Florence’s growing affection and if any proof were needed, he has only to consider her continuing interest in the face of his callous, cold behavior. She isn’t on his intellectual plane but she easily outpaces him in emotional maturity, not to mention kindness, warmth, and sincerity. It takes awhile (and particularly his fish our of water attendance at a party for twenty-somethings and a confrontation with Ivan) but finally Greenberg comes to value Florence, and Stiller has a tender, confessional telephone moment telling her so. No spoiler except to say the last moment is a real winner. If it hadn’t been preceded by a slow pace, lack of energy, and too much illustrative repetition this tale of a quirky couple would have been a gem.
The script, based on a story by Jennifer Jason Leigh, was co-written by her and Noah Baumbach (husband and wife by the way). Mr. Baumbach also directed and is to be commended for his ongoing attention to the power of the past and its hold on the present as related through the lives of regular (if occasionally intellectually or economically advantaged) people. The actors (all excellent) are not at fault. The movie’s success is its downfall. By so accurately capturing the nature and difficulty of an unpleasant man, it makes it a task to watch him for the length of the movie. Even if he does get wise, by that time the viewer is past caring.
Greenberg - A hero only a heroine can love. Or even be curious about.
Review by Charles Zio
YOUR DRAGON |
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language. Animation/Adaptation 98 minutes
4½ stars |
How to Train Your Dragon is a thoroughly entertaining, well-made movie. The animation is excellent with 3D adding to the enjoyment of the Viking story. Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel) is the young hero who doesn’t fit in with his Viking community. He is assigned to the blacksmith Gobber (voice of Craig Ferguson), to keep him out of trouble, but he can’t seem to help making a mess wherever he goes.
Hiccup is scrawny compared to others his age, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to kill the dragons that attack their small mountainous village near the water. He doesn’t have the skills to even help with the attacks and his father Stoick (voice of Gerard Butler), who is the leader of the village, or another adult has to constantly intervene and save him from doing more damage during the attacks.
One day Hiccup has a chance to be a hero for the village for real, but his innate kindness stops him from destroying life. He becomes a different kind of hero and makes friends with an enemy dragon named Toothless. When half the village goes off to find the dragon nests and destroy them, he is told he will train as a warrior. With his new knowledge Hiccup doesn’t want to be a warrior anymore since he begins to understand why the dragons constantly attack them. Yet his ingenuity leads him to use his brain more than the brawn of his fellow trainees. The solutions to some of his problems are quite clever.
Kudos to all the writers: the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell, the screenplay by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, contributing writers Adam F. Goldberg and Peter Tolan. The movie is a perfect blend of story and creative visuals. It moves along swiftly without losing momentum. The dragons are all different colors and types, and the flying scenes are exhilarating. The voice acting roles work well, though, at first is startling to hear a brawny Viking talk with a Scottish accent, but it’s something that interferes with the satisfaction of the movie.
The story is touching (as most sons desperately want their fathers’ approval) and the audience, full of fathers and sons, was applauding and excited as they came out of the movie. It’s a winner. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| CHLOE Rated R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, nudity and language. Drama/Thriller 106 minutes
3 stars |
It is more difficult to surprise audiences these days. Chloe is a perfect example. This moody erotic thriller is successful at being suspenseful, at first. It takes it’s time building the story; the slower pace matches the growing confusion and angst of the main character, Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore), but you can guess what’s coming long before it happens. That takes away from the power of the ending and makes the movie more pedestrian than it first appears.
Catherine is a gynecologist who plans a surprise party for her husband David (Liam Neeson). He is out of town teaching. When he doesn’t show at the party because he missed the plane to their home in Toronto, she begins to become suspicious. Is he having an affair? There are telltale signs. Catherine wouldn’t be the first wife to wonder, except that even though she is a professional woman, she doesn’t ask him outright about it. Why? I suppose we can conclude that Catherine has always been able to manage her life, and won’t admit to herself or anyone else that she has lost control of her husband and her marriage. Confronting him would be the logical thing to do. Instead, Catherine decides to hire a beautiful, young prostitute named Chloe (Amy Seyfried) to test her husband’s fidelity.
The women first meet in a restaurant ladies’ room where Chloe tries to give Catherine a hair ornament, but she refuses to take it. Does Catherine remind Chloe of her mother? You’ll find out.
When Chloe reports back that she and David are having a hot affair, Catherine becomes consumed with jealousy and anger. Catherine has intelligence in abundance, but is not sexually sophisticated. As a busy doctor she hasn’t made the time to keep her husband interested in her and they’ve grown apart. She comes to regret this when she realizes that Chloe, even though much younger, is much more knowledgeable in that one special area than she is. It would give too much away to tell what happens as a result of all this intrigue, except to say that there is nudity and a woman on woman sex scene that will probably get the most attention. Julianne Moore has never been an actress to object to nudity if it seems warranted. Yet, other than being exposed physically, her character comes across as rather cold, self-centered, and not especially likable, though believably distant from both her husband and her son.
Amy Seyfried is able to convey a sense of psychic damage as Chloe, yet she is not especially edgy. Liam Neeson’s David is distracted by his career and seems a visitor in his own life. Director Atom Egoyan does a good job at creating a gripping narrative, with help from cinematographer Paul Sarossy, who somehow gives Toronto an unsettling atmosphere. Ultimately, though, the script by Erin Cressida Wilson and Anne Fontaine is not nearly as shocking as it wants be. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
TIME MACHINE |
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language. Comedy 100 minutes
3½ stars |
Talk about a male fantasy. The Hot Tub Time Machine premise is the dearest wish of every frustrated middle-aged man unhappy with the way his life turned out. The whole premise is outrageous, of course, but it’s alright because it doesn’t pretend to be even marginally realistic. It isn’t quite as funny, though just as crude, as The Hangover yet is similar in that four males decide to get away for a weekend.
John Cusack plays Adam, a sad sack of a guy whose girlfriend left him taking everything that was locked down, then some. His young, geeky nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) lives with Adam in his basement and apparently doesn’t come out for a fresh breath of air. His friend Nick (Craig Robinson), who his own troubles though he’s married to a beautiful woman he loves, calls him one night about another friend named Lou (Rob Corddry) who has landed in the hospital. Lou is totally messed up, with a question about whether he wanted to end it. All of these guys are in a funk, and bad places in their lives. What to do? Go for a ski weekend getaway.
So far, not very bizarre, but then when they get to their room there is a hot tub on their deck that has a magical power. Through some weird situation with an energy drink (don’t ask), the hot tub takes them back to the 1980s when they first visited there as teenagers.
Jacob, being the only one who actually didn’t exist then, wants to get back to the future. In order for this to happen, they all must do exactly as they did that night so the hot tub will heat up again and propel them to 2010. Most of the comedy takes place between liberally sprinkled foul language and gross jokes. One guy has to break up with a girl and get his eyes almost poked out with a plastic fork. One has to be beat up by a bully. Another has to sing in a band. Everyone at the ski lodge sees them as the teenagers they once were, but the movie audience sees them as they are now. Some of the Hot Tub 1980s references are funny even if you weren’t around then, like the music and clothes.
The leads: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Nick Robinson, and Rob Corddry are a motley group for sure, but as mismatched as they seem, they make their characters work. Just one caution, be careful going to this movie if you are the delicate type; it's a guy thing.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| REPO MEN R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and some sexuality/nudity. Sci-Fi/Thriller/Adaptation 111 minutes
2½ stars |
Repo Men is yet another grim view of the future, so don’t expect much in terms of originality. Based on the book Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia, who is one of the screenwriters, life in years to come can be extended by artificial organs, but only permanently if you can pay the exorbitant price. Apparently greed runs amok even more so than in our age as one giant corporation, the Union, has the right to repossess the organs after a payment is three months overdue.
Jude Law plays Remy, a study in cold-hearted practicality. He is one of the top repo men. He goes about his business professionally not letting the client dissuade him in any way. In fact, the repo men mock their clients when they get together saying they cry, whimper, beg, or even laugh. His partner Jake (Forest Whitaker) is even more psychopathic. They have known each other since they were children and were in the army together. Remy and Jake seem to be the only friend each other has, which may explain their lack of any real human emotion.
When giving electroshock to what is supposed to be his last client, something goes wrong and Remy wakes up with an implanted heart himself. He finds out he’s lost his nerve since he had the implant. He’s not a good salesman either, so he falls behind on his payments. He goes on the run with a beautiful woman named Beth (Alice Braga) who has many replacement parts herself.
The film becomes a chase movie as Remy and Beth, and many others, try to get away from the repo men. The scenes of recovering the organs are gruesome as the repo men stun their victims then stick their hands into people’s bodies to recover whatever organs they want. The film is face-paced and tight without any display of conscience, but plenty of blood, gore and violence.
Forest Whitaker and Jude Law are serviceable co-stars in their roles. Alice Braga is likable as the feisty runaway/love interest. Liev Schreiber is becoming quite an expert as the overbearing, malevolent boss. The cinematography, set design, production design, art design, and visual effects are all show skill and meet expectations.
The ruined, ugly landscape is similar to visions of the future from other recent movies. Yet, this story has some plot twists and reversals that try to give it weight to rise above the usual bleak outlook. Just the same, the future looks very unappealing and one-dimensional. But it does make you want to take very good care of your health and your organs.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE BOUNTY HUNTER Rated PG-13 for sexual content including suggestive comments, language and some violence. Action/Adventure/Comedy 110 minutes
1½ stars |
There’s no denying that Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are attractive, appealing actors. There’s also no denying that’s not enough in itself to make a funny, romantic movie. What really sinks it, though, is the inconsistent, silly script. These two characters deserve each other, but the audience doesn’t.
Gerard Butler plays Milo Boyd, a former New York City cop, now disheveled bounty hunter. Jennifer Aniston plays Nicole Hurley his hot shot reporter ex-wife. She has some kind of car accident we never get to see and while she is chasing down leads, misses a court appearance resulting from the accident. You got it, yes; Milo gets a chance to bring her in. Hilarious. The rest of the movie is her trying to get away and work on a big story, and him trying to keep her bound to him as they predictably hate, connect, remember, love, hate, love each other again.
Is it possible they could have so little chemistry? Though Mr. Butler is definitely a manly man, his comic timing seems forced along with any genuine connection to his co-star. He seems more comfortable in action parts rather than looking vaguely embarrassed as a romantic lead. Ms. Aniston does better, especially when focusing on the career woman part of the character.
Subplots about a drug ring, gambling debts, Milo’s boss, and most pathetically about a reporter colleague of Nicole’s who is delusional about their relationship is just more noise; thrown in to fill time and supposedly be wacky, humorous, or serious when needed.
Director Andy Tennant gives the audience plenty of extreme close ups of the stars which their fans will like, but it doesn’t solve the problems. The actors’ appeal doesn’t distract the viewer enough. It just reminds the audience it could have been so much more comedic and romantic. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| REMEMBER ME Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking. Drama/Romance 113 minutes
3½ stars |
Remember Me is about loss. It begins with a senseless murder and continues to get worse for the characters from there; all have been touched by personal tragedy. Robert Pattinson, who is also one of the producers of the movie, plays Tyler Hawkins as a Byronic hero, a twenty-one year old from a wealthy family who can’t make sense of what has happened in his life and so is prone to fits of rage and badly in need of anger management and/or therapy for his depression. But that would be logical; young people in that kind of pain are illogical, angry, especially with their parents who can’t protect them from life’s random horrors.
Tyler directs his anger towards his father, Charles Hawkins (Pierce Brosnan continuing to do good work) a workaholic patrician lawyer who is there for Tyler despite the son’s every attempt to punish him and push him away.
Tyler lives with his annoying roommate Aidan (convincingly played by Tate Ellington) in a crummy apartment in Manhattan. They attend college with a feisty sociology major named Ally (Emilie de Ravin, alternating perky/tough/kind). Aidan convinces Tyler to party with him, but this ends up with Tyler and Aidan jailed by an angry cop, Sgt. Neil Craig (Chris Cooper), who has his own reasons for hating the world.
Tyler and Ally share a class, but until he’s goaded on by Aidan, they don’t even say hello. The relationship moves in fits and starts, but eventually leads to genuine caring based on mutual recognition of damaged beginnings, and poor father/child interaction. The characters are in pain, but, especially with young people, don’t know how deal with it, and either self-destruct or lash out at others in their life.
Mr. Pattinson and Ms. De Ravin do have chemistry, (he certainly gets more to work with here than a mopey teenager); the mostly female audience was paying close attention to him and/or his performance. Tyler’s younger sister Caroline is played by Ruby Jerins in a natural, sweet performance that makes their touching relationship work on screen. Mr. Pattinson brightens considerably during their scenes together, and makes his character more human.
There is a tendency by screenwriter Will Fetters to use coincidence too liberally, though in a city like New York these plot twists could happen. The ending is controversial, and whether you think it is gratuitous or not probably depends on your life experience. The movie tries too hard to be serious and weighty, yet the audience may find it easy to empathize with these characters. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| GREEN ZONE Rated R for violence and language. Drama/Action/Thriller 115 minutes
3 stars |
Politics aside (if you can put them aside), Green Zone is a fast-paced, action driven movie that takes a complex topic and makes it understandable. Adapted by Brian Helgeland from the book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran and directed by Paul Greengrass, it is initially about American soldiers looking for the infamous WMDs or Weapons of Mass Destruction which the Bush administration used as a basis for the invasion of Iraq. Saying they were there is one thing, finding them is another. What Green Zone does do, that The Hurt Locker didn’t, and probably why the latter is more successful, is that instead of focusing on the soldiers’ characters and reactions, it brings up the lies, ugliness, and ruthlessness of politics in this particular war.
Matt Damon (a believable action hero, though not a particularly deep one) plays Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who is charged with finding the supposedly large stockpiles of weapons of Saddam Hussein. The problem? Political infighting between the CIA in the person of Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) and a political hack insider named Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), who seems to know there weren’t any, but agrees with the invasion and wants to make the noise about the weapons go away.
In the meantime, Miller and his men are risking their lives trying to find them, until he gets a tip from a local named Freddy (an intense Khalid Abdalla) that the Iraqi army is having meetings. Then the word comes down from Poundstone that the Iraqi army is going to be disbanded, but they have been secretly preparing to fight the Americans if that happens. Miller meets an American journalist Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) who was used by Poundstone, but she begins to realize the WMDs can’t be found. It begins to dawn on Miller that many people have been duped and he decides to be a one man army by solving the problem, and getting the word out.
The action sequences are sometimes over-powered by hand held cameras that jiggle so much it’s difficult to focus on the action, but when the cameras are used more conventionally, the action makes for tight, tense scenes. Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon, who worked together on the Bourne movies, are not quite as successful here because of the heavy-handed subject matter. The points are made with (American) heroes and villains squarely in opposite corners; little subtlety exits.
When history is so recent it is questionable what is true, what is partially true, and what are outright lies and who is responsible for what. The war in Iraqi is still going on and very raw subject matter. There is no benefit of time passing, or looking back and recounting facts later that might put it into perspective. Yet, this story is told earnestly, if that’s enough of a draw for an audience sick and tired of war. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE WHITE RIBBON Rated R for some disturbing content involving violence and sexuality. Germany/Austria/France/Italy Drama/Mystery/Crime 144 minutes
4 stars |
Writer/director Michael Haneke creates an ominous, menacing atmosphere in a small village in Germany in the year leading up to World War I. The film is narrated by the schoolteacher (Christian Friedel) many years later as an old man, and he remarks that most of it seems true, leading the viewer to draw his/her own conclusions by the end. The provincial people seem rather robotic, but they live in a strict patriarchal society common at the time, ruled by three powerful men: the Baron (Ulrich Tukur) who owns the land the locals farm and is the main employer, the Pastor (Burghart Klaußner), and the Doctor (Rainer Bock). Though all seem to be conventional and follow strict codes of behavior, the sickness of their secrets is eventually revealed.
The movie is long, over two hours, and the eerie pace is slow. At first it’s difficult to follow what’s going on because of the multiple characters, family members, and everyone’s relationship to everyone else, but the story begins to draw the audience into the claustrophobic nightmare. The girls and women are at the mercy, not only of the powerful men who run the village, but of their fathers, as well.
The first mishap is that the doctor’s horse is tripped and he breaks his arm. He leaves for a hospital out of town. A farmer’s wife dies after a possibly preventable accident. Several young children are kidnapped and assaulted, yet no one seems to know who is responsible. A fire breaks out after the harvest. The incidents are horrific, yet the town’s people seem to barely react.
All kinds of abuse and brutality exist in this small innocent-appearing farming community. Children aren’t treated any better than the women, but male children will at least grow up with a chance to escape. The school teacher is smart, has compassion, and cares about his pupils. That makes his discovery at the end of the movie all the more convincing, yet many of the mysteries are never solved. It’s as though the filmmaker believes that the viewer’s imagination will create something far worse than he can inflict on the characters.
The black and white cinematography is ideal for the film. The shadows, even in the bright sunshine, are ominous; yet reveal the beauty of the countryside, and the dark heart and moral decay that lurks beneath. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| ALICE IN WONDERLAND Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar. Adventure/Fantasy/Family 108 minutes
4 stars |
This Alice in Wonderland will not satisfy the purists. It combines Tim Burton’s dark, tense take on fantasy subjects and gives the popular book(s) an overlay of modern film techniques that stretch the story. Readers and viewers have been fascinated with Alice’s weird trip ever since Lewis Carroll first wrote about her. The truth is it is not a sweet little fairy tale; it has always had a sharp edge to it. Pop culture likes to depict corrupt references to Alice in Wonderland so that they often come across with more sarcasm than reverence. It is sometimes described as a nonsense story, but it must have made sense to Carroll in his time. The books wouldn’t have lasted this long if subsequent generations didn’t find something intriguing about them, either.
The visuals in the movie are impressive, though the 3D doesn’t add all that much. Since Alice (Mia Wasikowska, perfect for the role) is a feisty 19 in the movie, the concerns are more grown up. Yet there are a few scenes when we see Alice as a child, missing her father, creating Wonderland from her imagination.
Alice’s story is about growing up; and growing up isn’t easy. There are many hazards and accommodations one must make; danger is everywhere. As she is on the verge of adulthood Alice must leave childish things behind, but is she ready to let go? Alice travels with her mother to visit friends not knowing that she will be faced with a choice. Does she follow convention and do what her mother, sister and friends expect by accepting a proposal of marriage? Or does Alice have the will to do what’s right for her?
She arrives at the manor of Lord Ascot, actually her late father’s business partner, and is asked by the snobbish son to marry him. You can feel Alice’s anxiety. She leaves him standing in the gazebo waiting for her answer as she follows the rabbit and falls down the rabbit hole, again. When she lands with a big thud, she takes the potion and cake, several times, that change her size, then enters Wonderland where she encounters the creatures from long ago: the White Rabbit (voice of Michael Sheen), the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Stayne, Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Caterpillar (voice of Alan Rickman), and of course the Mad Hatter as played in his own peculiar style by Johnny Depp.
Alice knows Wonderland is her dream. Why is she there again? What is she trying to resolve through her dreams? The villain is the Red Queen played vigorously with an enormous head by Helena Bonham Carter. She is at war with her pure sister, the White Queen, and Alice learns she must slay the Jabberwocky with a certain sword. There are all kinds of rules and conventions, like adulthood, that she has to follow. Or can she make her way on her own terms?
The movie’s approach can be somewhat heavy-handed, caught between Victorian fantasy and bizarre nightmare, but there is no doubt that even today women are judged more harshly about everything from their looks, to their choice of jobs. Women still are not paid the equal of men, but more of them are single parents. Does the adult world make any more sense now for a young woman? Symbols and metaphors fill the narrative. Though, if inclined, you can sit back and just enjoy this strange ride. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| BROOKLYN'S FINEST Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language. Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller 140 minutes
2 stars |
Although the actors do good work, especially Don Cheadle, Brooklyn’s Finest is a relentlessly morose movie. It’s not that we haven’t seen variations of this before. Even the attempt to have three interconnected stories that come to a resolution at the end is familiar. These Brooklyn cops are on the outer limits of hell, and I don’t want to be there with them.
The “finest” are Eddie (Richard Gere), so lacking in any morality that even in the last few days before he retires his own fellow officers despise him. Tango (Don Cheadle) is undercover and sinking fast with the betrayals he must perpetuate. Sal (Ethan Hawke, overacting at times) has a pregnant wife, more kids than he can take care of, and bills he can’t pay. Tango is the only halfway likeable cop whose narrative happens to be the most compelling, but having to sit through the other two stellar cops’ bleak stories is tiresome and depressing.
Aside from the movie being too long, the music is too loud and intrusive. The set design and cinematography are fine and give the movie a gritty, realistic look.
The movie is more violent than necessary, though I understand that director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter Michael C. Martin are going for stark reality. Mr. Fuqua is the director of Training Day, a more successful account of cops who cross the line. It has become a cliché that policemen are closer to each other than anyone else because they depend on each other for survival. The brotherhood is in this movie would make you question that supposition. Does extreme violence that is an everyday occurrence, breed lawlessness that eventually wears down the most decent men?
The cops go through the motions, though only Ronny Rosario (Brian F. O'Byrne, excellent) makes me feel that he actually cares about his friend Sal. Wesley Snipes does a good turn as Caz, a criminal who unknowingly saved Tango’s life. There are some off-putting scenes with Richard Gere and a hooker with a heart of steel that don’t make sense for an experienced cop. It’s difficult to care about these characters, and I don’t.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE CRAZIES Rated R for bloody violence and language. Action/Drama/Horror 101 minutes
4 stars |
This remake of George Romero’s 1973 horror movie of the same name (he is also executive producer), is about a small Iowa town that is accidentally exposed to a biological toxin that infects the people driving them mad, which is why they are called The Crazies. It is a pleasant surprise, if you can call a horror movie “pleasant.” This version at least has logic to it rather than just, hey let’s get as many ugly zombies out there as possible.
It starts out innocently enough when the sheriff, David Dutton (Timothy Oliphant, with good screen presence), is at a local baseball game. One of the townspeople comes on the field with a shotgun not seeming to understand when the sheriff tells him to put it down. David is forced to shoot the man and the normally quiet town becomes full of paranoid dread, with good reason. Meanwhile, David’s wife, Judy (Rahda Mitchell, doing a nice job here) is the town physician who starts to notice strange symptoms in normally stable people.
David and his deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson giving a lively performance as the sidekick), find the remains of a crashed plane that has contaminated the water supply. Who drank the water? Who else is will get crazy next? The government doesn’t wait to find out. As depicted here the military is full of faceless, emotionless soldiers in full gear who herd the townspeople together trying to eliminate the virus.
As the desperation grows and more people become infected, David, Judy, Russell, and a teenage girl named Becca Darling (Danielle Panabaker), decide the only way to survive is to leave Ogden Marsh and try and make it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It becomes a road picture at this point with all manner of infected Crazies popping up at inopportune moments as you would see in most horror movies. (There is a scene that may turn you off to car washes. I always knew there was something odd about them.)
Director Breck Eisner is surprisingly effective with the genre; maybe he had suggestions from the master, Mr. Romero. The movie is well paced and moves along at a good clip from the beginning. The screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright has the right mix of terror, action, and love story. The technical effects are well done as is the cinematography by Maxime Alexandre. The original music is never intrusive. There isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, but it the scary part is that it makes you believe it could happen.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SHUTTTER ISLAND Rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity. Drama/Mystery/Thriller 138 minutes
4½ stars |
Though advertized as a horror film and framed as a detective melodrama, Shutter Island is actually a tragic character study, reflecting paranoid fears and primal passions in the 1950s and today. Based on a Dennis Lehane novel (like the film Mystic River), yet also showing director Scorsese's skill with exploring the roots of violence, the film focuses on Ted Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), as he investigates the disappearance of a female inmate and other strange events in a mysterious insane asylum on an island in Boston Harbor.
Insanity becomes contagious as Ted and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) meet the two psychiatrists in charge, the compassionate Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and stern Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow), and then interview various patients, who are also extremely violent criminals. Ted's investigation is punctuated by his memories of holocaust victims he could not save as an American soldier, as he presses beyond the missing woman to find the man he claims killed his wife, and to uncover insidious government experiments on the asylum inmates. Thus, audience sympathies are drawn into his point of view—through historical trauma and collective paranoia, as well as personal loss.
Ted feels guilt in his memory of shooting unarmed Dachau guards, though that scene evoked a cheer at the Charlotte screening. He tells Chuck that he will not seek revenge against his wife's killer, only the truth. But as he and sympathetic viewers are drawn into the tragic twists of this movie, Ted faces an even more difficult choice. Will he continue to play the heroic detective, and sacrifice his sanity, or accept the asylum's dominant reality?
Like the ancient Greek hero, Oedipus, Ted finds a horrifying truth within himself. DiCaprio subtly embodies this change: from a cocky cop to a confused victim of traumas and migraines, to a tormented animal fighting for survival. Kingsley is just as masterful in crafting different views of his character, which the audience may view at various points as brilliant, kind, aloof, menacing, or courageous. The story also allows Scorsese to show changing viewpoints on others whom Ted meets, or remembers, with key twists that make the audience question their own desires for truth, vengeance, and freedom. Hence, historical references provoke a pondering of current social issues: the medicating of those considered abnormal, the need for surveillance and strong government with terrorist threats, and the dependence of identity on others' views, as well as on individual rights.
Impressive cinematography leads us through the island's mazes—from its initial asylum order and subsequent hurricane chaos to further revelations—while also depicting Ted's inner world of memories and hallucinatory projections. At times, the movie's threat music becomes a bit overdone. Genre clichés are used predictably: haunted house creepiness, primal rat fears, and obvious cliffhangers. Yet all of this serves the film's tragic tricks—involving the audience in the hero's Kafkaesque journey, meeting Fellini-like oddballs and summoning American self-reliance when no one can be trusted.
The island's warden even describes a cosmic theatre of tragedy, in which "God loves violence" because humans always resort to it as animals under pressure. The same might be said of the film's director—and his audience. But this Scorsese film, building on his prior explorations of Mafia brutality, taxi-driver terrorism, a boxer's rage, and a rich aviator's madness, takes us to a new level of insight. While entertaining us with horror, mystery, and bloodshed, it forces us to wonder whether we're as pure as we'd like to believe in fighting the evil of others, from Nazi doctors to murderous mothers to current homeland threats.
Review by Mark Pizzato
| THE WOLFMAN Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore. Horror/Thriller 125 minutes
2½ stars |
Benicio Del Toro is usually an interesting actor to watch, even in a movie that doesn’t live up to expectations; his performance in The Wolfman is challenging. Of course, he does have to deliver some inane lines. He has brooding and soul searching down pat, yet the movie he’s in can’t decide whether it’s camp or serious horror. The audience couldn’t seem to tell either as they giggled awkwardly during some serious moments.
Though the production design by Rick Heinrichs and cinematography by Shelley Johnson give the movie a suitably gothic look, this Wolfman is no classic. Even the CGI, excellent when Lawrence Talbot (Mr. Del Toro) changes into the werewolf monster, it looks more like a cartoon at others such as when he’s running along the city rooftops.
It seems Lawrence, now an actor in America, left the family mansion, Blackmoor, years ago as a young man, but returns home when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen (Emily Blunt, trying mightily) writes him. His brother has been missing, but by the time Lawrence arrives his brother is found dead. Who or what is responsible for this dastardly deed? Believe me you won’t need a shovel hitting you over the head to figure it out.
As Lawrence goes to a gypsy camp at night to investigate, during a full moon no less, something attacks and mercilessly kills scores of people. Lawrence then goes into the moors by himself and gets attacked and bitten, but lives. Gwen returns to help him recuperate. They bond.
Anthony Hopkins plays Sir John Talbot, Lawrence’s father, as a recycled Hannibal Lector. Though he gives his lines some ironic verbal twists, it doesn’t fit with the other performances that are overly serious and desperate. Hugo Weaving does a turn as Abberline from Scotland Yard, determined to get his man, or animal. The gypsy woman, Maleva, as played by Geraldine Chaplin is peculiar rather than sinister.
Although there’s plenty of blood and gore, the movie is not frightening. Director Joe Johnson provided more peril and thrills in Jumanji (a movie I still like to watch). The big “fight scene” looks fine but lacks shock value. The inconsistent tone takes a toll by the end of the movie; the viewer knows exactly what’s coming. Despite the melodrama, and hints at a possible sequel, there’s not much to care about in The Wolfman.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| VALENTINE'S DAY Rated PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity. Comedy/Romance 125 minutes
2 stars |
It seems like a cast of thousands, but that’s only because the story keeps switching between all the beautiful people/stars in this movie. Yet, there’s more well known actors than you can imagine. How did they get them to be in this movie? It must have something to do with director Garry Marshall because it sure isn’t the script. The most prominent characters in love filled Los Angeles are Reed and Julia, two best friends, played by Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Garner. He owns a floral shop and is in love with Morley (Jessica Alba). She is a teacher and is in love with Dr. Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey).
There are plenty of interconnecting relationships, but the camera doesn’t dwell on anyone too long lest you get bored. The result is that it’s all pretty superficial. Even if you’re out for a pleasant date movie, don’t expect any great revelations about love. It’s obvious right from the start who belongs together and who doesn’t. Almost everything is telegraphed, yet there are a few minor surprises.
Yes, love can cause pain, and you may have to suffer and make bad decisions before the “right one” comes along. Friends give each other advice, fret, talk to people they don’t know. Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo are fun to watch as the long married couple, but for the most part the movie, at just over two hours, is like an extended sitcom. There’s also not much diversity though George Lopez plays Alphonso, Reed’s best friend, Jamie Foxx plays Kelvin, an insensitive sportscaster, and Queen Latifah plays a cranky boss.
Anne Hathaway is always a pleasure to watch, and she and Topher Grace make an appealing couple. Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper meet on a plane. Bryce Robinson plays young Edison who has a crush on someone in his class. Jessica Biel plays football star Eric Dane’s PR agent. Oh, and Kathy Bates has a couple of short scenes. The less said about Taylor Swift’s acting, the better. The characters are forgettable clichés.
The most relevant comment by an audience member was, “It’s cute for what it is.” So go if your expectations are not too high, but you’ve been warned.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| CRAZY HEART Rated R for language and brief sexuality. Drama/Music/Romance 112 minutes
4 stars |
A story about a down and out alcoholic country singer is not exactly original material for a movie, yet because of the performance of Jeff Bridges the audience is drawn into this admittedly spare screenplay. The movie does not depend on plot so much as character to show a man who really can’t go any lower. It gets to be that time: stop the drinking or die.
Mr. Bridges plays Bad Blake, a man who has alienated so many people that the movie opens as he arrives to play a gig in a bowling alley. Bad knows how far he has fallen, but getting a drink is his first priority, and he’ll do what he has to do. Yet, in his prime, Bad was a top draw, and he can still sing as long as he can stand up without falling over or vomiting.
Bad argues with his agent on and off, but he’s pretty much on his own riding along making stops here and there singing his songs, having one night stands with whatever women are available. On one such stopover he meets Jean Craddock, a pretty, young journalist, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal who wants an interview. They make a connection. I questioned this pairing before seeing the movie because of the age difference, but there was chemistry between the two. It helps that her character is more like a groupie who is in awe of Bad's talent.
There is a country superstar singer that he’s nurtured named Tommy Sweet as played by Colin Farrell, of all people. Again the casting is surprising, but works, to Mr. Farrell’s credit. Tommy has worked hard but owes Bad, big time. Bad can't help resent the way he's been left in the dust barely scraping by. Robert Duval has a few scenes which adds to the mix.
Jean has a son she adores, but somehow thinks she can change Bad maybe down the road (don’t they always), and she makes some awful decisions that lead to a confrontation. This wake-up call turns Bad around.
The good thing about Mr. Bridges performance is that he doesn’t try to hide the sweet-talking louse Bad has become, or the ugliness of addiction. (In fact, his Oscar nomination may be as much for his lack of ego as for his talent.) He looks terrible for most of the movie and it certainly helps deglamorize that hard drinking life. Yet, if there is any complaint about Crazy Heart, not Mr. Bridges performance, it’s that the turn around seems to happen a bit too easily. Once on the wagon, there are many bumpy rides. Though, that aspect doesn’t take away from the performances, or the music, which is so essential to the movie’s success. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| DEAR JOHN Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence. Drama/Romance/War 105 minutes
3 stars |
There are several lapses of logic in Dear John that threaten to sink it, though it’s saved from total melodrama by director Lasse Hallström and actors Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Is it possible that Mr. Tatum is getting more handsome? Either that or I noticed his charisma more this time around. As one woman remarked when asked her thoughts of the movie, “We didn’t see enough of him with his shirt off.”
His character, John Tyree, has lived with a less than communicative father, his mother having left when he was a boy. John has grown up angry, defensive, and the old standby of not feeling good about himself. While taking a break from surfing at a Carolina beach he spots the beautiful Savannah on a pier with some friends. Her purse falls into the ocean and John, as soldier/hero, jumps in to save it. When Savannah gets one look at John, well, you know what’s going to happen. They have that first fevered rush of young love, even though a complication is that his father (Richard Jenkins, always believable) is thought by Savannah to have a mild form of autism. Mr. Tyree is obsessed it seems, and totally absorbed by his coin collection, yet he does make meatloaf on Saturdays and lasagna on Sundays.
John is in Special Forces in the Army and has only a year left to serve, so Savannah takes him home to Mom and Dad’s mansion to meet the folks, but wait, 9/11 changes everything forcing John to follow his conscience and re-up breaking Savannah’s heart. This is where there’s a problem. Love is emotional, not logical, but if she loves him that much she doesn’t think she can wait? They write letters back and forth which is well handled so the audience doesn’t get bored listening to the voice overs, yet something must keep the lovers apart or there’s no story.
Wars have always had Dear John situations, but this one seems particularly contrived. Since John is in Special Forces, his communication is limited to letters. The choice Savannah makes here is difficult to swallow, and the last part of the movie suffers from having to deal with the consequences of her decision.
But this screenplay by Jamie Linden from a Nicholas Sparks’ novel has a certain sensibility to it. I didn’t read the book so I have no way of knowing how closely it follows the narrative. His loves stories have a certain formula, prone to make women weep, but I found the love story between father and son more interesting, though more benign than it could have been.
Amanda Seyfried is a pretty, charming actress and does her best with the part. Channing Tatum, aside from his looks, brings believability to an, at first, non-reflective character, showing potential for growth as an actor. (It might have helped to show more of his struggle recovering from an injury.) Henry Thomas and Scott Porter are notable in their roles.
The Carolina settings are lovingly photographed, the beautiful people play their parts, the kissing is fine; the movie tries hard to be weightier, but Shakespeare it’s not.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| EDGE OF DARKNESS Rated R for strong bloody violence and language. Drama/Thriller/Adapatation 116 minutes
3 stars |
Mel Gibson looks tired, but not too tired to be punching people out, knocking them around, and killing them. There’s a high body count in Edge of Darkness which is not surprising since William Monahan (along with Andrew Bovell) is one of the screenwriters who adapted the story from a television series by Troy Kennedy-Martin. Think The Departed. Yet this movie doesn’t have the genius of Martin Scorsese to temper the bloody gore.
Mr. Gibson plays Thomas "Tommy" Craven (in Boston every man’s first name seems to end in “y” like a kid’s), a cop whose daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) comes home for a hurried visit. Though Emma is a nuclear engineer she looks like any other young professional woman in jeans, straggly hair, and backpack, oh yeah, and gun in her end table. Early on Emma is killed in a most violent manner and this turns Craven into a vengeful machine.
This is a formula the audience has seen before, and if you are a parent, the thought of loving and raising a child then having him/her killed, before there is a chance for a full life, can get you in the gut. Here, what stands out most is the surprise element. Director Martin Campbell catches you off guard at times and wham, the deed is done. Yet it doesn’t always translate into genuine sympathy for Craven who is rather robotic. Maybe that’s because there is no wife/mother around to muddy up the total dedication he has to fatherhood. There are flashback showing Emma as a cute child and daddy’s girl. Yes, she’s precocious, but tugging so shamelessly at the heart strings can leave you numb after a while.
At first the police think Craven is the target of the assassination, but it begins to be clear that Emma’s work for a company that has government contracts is the real culprit. This is more than evident when Craven meets with the head of the company, played in his usual creepy manner by Danny Huston.
Craven receives a warning visit from Jedburgh (Ray Winstone, the only interesting character in the movie), some kind of high-powered, hit man/fix-it man who has a grudging respect for Craven. I suppose murdering people is a lonely business that only other killers can understand. The Gibson/Winstone scenes show what the movie could have been with more subtlety, but they are unfortunately, all too brief. Yet, the audience knows that nothing is going to stop Craven until he finds all the answers. Craven works alone and has no fear, because as he says, he has nothing to lose. That may be true but it takes away some of the suspense which holds the movie together in the beginning, and ultimately wears the audience down. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| WHEN IN ROME Rated PG for some suggestive content. Comedy/Romance 91 minutes
2 stars |
The main character, Beth (Kristin Bell), doesn’t believe in real love. After seeing When in Rome I’m having a problem with it, too, at least movie-wise. Romantic comedies have been struggling for a long time now. The word “lame” comes to mind quickly, but there is always a chance, a slight hope that the next one will live up to the hype. This romantic comedy is another disappointment.
Beth loves her job working at a museum in New York, the Guggenheim no less, and pours all her emotions into the art she is devoted to, mainly because the men in her life have let her down. She flies off to Rome because her younger sister, Joan (Alexis Dziena), is marrying a man she’s known for two weeks. Now that’s realistic, but when their divorced parents are played by Peggy Lipton and Don Johnson (smirking his way through the part), what can you expect?
At the wedding she meets Nick (Josh Duhamel) the best man. I wish I could say the hilarity begins here, but what really starts at this point is a stupid premise. First, she can’t smash a vase that would bring as many years happiness as pieces it breaks into, and then she spots Nick kissing another woman in front of a fountain. She does what any girl would do; she steps into the fountain and steals four coins tossed in by lovelorn men. Guess what? Lightning strikes and the four guys fall in love with her. It is never explained why these guys are in Rome and how they find her in New York, but maybe that’s better because the writers David Diamond and David Weissman already have a mess of a screenplay. Director Mark Steven Johnson isn’t helpful in getting the actors not to overact badly. (Extreme close ups alone are not acting; it actually takes saying lines and conveying something to the audience.) No matter how good the production values, how beautiful the people, if the story isn’t there nothing is going to help.
Back in New York the goofy types all try to woo Beth, but she is only enthralled by Nick, of course, yet she keeps dumping him because she thinks he’s only attracted to her because she took his chip out of the fountain. Like Leap Year which had Irish superstitions, this one relies on Italian ones. Neither works, and might be considered insulting if only one could get worked up enough about the silliness.
We know in romantic comedies that the right love match is the end game. It’s really about how you get there. Despite some chemistry between Kristin Bell and Josh Duhamel, the supposed help of comedians Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito, and the wasted presence of Angelica Huston, the movie is flatter than a pancake. And speaking of food, as my single male friend says disgustedly of Hollywood ingénues, they all look like they need a sandwich, or two or three... Review by Ann Marie Oliva
MEASURES |
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURERS Rated PG for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment. Drama 105 minutes
3½ stars |
CBS Movies has given the audience an effort that rises above the disease-of-the-week movie that we used to see on television. Director Tom Vaughan uses standard storytelling techniques but limits the melodrama by giving the audience a window into the world of medical research; both the good and the bad. In some ways the personal hoops one has to go through are more daunting than raising massive amounts of money.
Brendan Frasier is appealing and earnest as John Crowley, a man whose two children suffer from a genetic disorder that is a form of muscular dystrophy called Pompe’s Disease. It has left them at eight and six years old, in wheelchairs and fighting for their lives. John is a bright executive with a pharmaceutical company and has the smarts, or so he believes, to make something happen instead of waiting around for the endless years it takes to bring a drug to the public. He is able to give his wife Aileen, well played by Keri Russell, some outside help with the children. The marriage is portrayed as a good one; it would have to be to survive not one, but two sick children, though they do snipe occasionally. Who wouldn’t? But time is running out as most children with Pompe’s Disease normally only live to eight years old.
As John’s anxiety grows, he finds the name of Dr. Robert Stonehill as he researches the researchers. Harrison Ford has played this type of crusty character before so it doesn’t seem much of a stretch, but he is a good counterpoint to the distressed father who is willing to do anything to save his children. John largely ignores Stonehill’s bad attitude and lack of emotional intelligence in order to get what he needs most, a drug that has been tested and can pass FDA guidelines.
The interesting part of the screenplay, adapted from the book by Geeta Anand, written in a clear and understandable way by Robert Nelson Jacobs, is about getting the money and means to actually bring Stonehill’s research to production in the form of an enzyme that could help alleviate the symptoms of the disease (there is no cure). The behind the scenes politics, the egos, the rigidity of thought of the scientists, the desperation for money are all shown framed by the parents’ suffering. For them, the reality is a terrible series of emergencies, though the movie resists too many tearjerker scenes. The child actors, Diego Velazquez, and especially the precocious daughter as played by Meredith Droeger are not of the “pity me” variety.
Yet, decisions have to be made in the best interest of the majority. Jared Harris portrays a character who is an example of the way the system puts up obstacles, but even he is redeemable. If it seems cold-hearted to some, others call it an objectivity that helps the most people for the amount of effort and money. This is the realization that confronts, but doesn’t stop John. What begins as his personal journey may ultimately help others more than his own children.
Though not every audience member is going to be drawn to this type of subject matter, it is well done enough to bring out the humanity and resilience of these unfortunate parents who just want to give their children a chance to live. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE BOOK OF ELI R for some brutal violence and language. Action/Adventure/Drama 118 minutes
3½ stars |
An actor like Denzel Washington can keep the audience watching a movie long after the story begins to seem like an impressive con. In The Book of Eli, there is a switch at the end that can be groan-inducing, yet Mr. Washington has made the journey at least memorable (along with the cinematography by Don Burgess).
It begins in yet another post-apocalyptic landscape of ash as a skinny cat idles up to a dead body. Eli watching, very still, uses his bow and arrow to kill the animal for supper. That’s the most quiet he is in the movie. It seems Eli is in possession of a book that he lives by, which is rather ironic as Eli is a kind of avenging killing machine. You haven’t seen moves like these in a long time, even when he is outnumbered and out-gunned, suggesting some supernatural force at work. Someone even says, “He’s not an ordinary man.” No kidding.
That someone is Carnegie as played by Gary Oldman, back to an evil bad man part which suits him quite well, and the movie, too. Eli’s lone journey and wanderings have led him to a so-called “town” that Carnegie has created. He and Eli are “old” meaning they remember how things were before whatever it was that destroyed civilization. As in The Road we never find out what the catastrophe was, or why so few humans survived, though it’s strongly suggested that religion may have played a part. It also shares the frightening prospect of cannibalism, yet The Road has no mythical hero or prophet, it is pure unadulterated hell, a man and his son trying to survive. Here, the spiritual/religious references are heavy-handed.
Carnegie, it turns out, is looking for the book that Eli has knowing its power to persuade will make him king of all he surveys. Eli refuses to give over his book because he has a mission to fulfill even though he’s been traveling for 30 years since the apocalypse. Carnegie’s kept woman Claudia (Jennifer Beals, still beautiful, doing some nice work here) is blind and at his mercy. Her daughter Solara played by Mila Kunis, she of the white teeth and perfectly arched eyebrows while everyone else is filthy dirty, (and out of her league), is also under his control.
When Carnegie tells Solara to try and persuade Eli to stay, he refuses though they bond. When he miraculously manages to get out of town, though at least a dozen guns are pointed at him from all angles, she follows. There is a nice bit of black humor when they come across an older couple (Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon) trying to escape Carnegie.
Yet Carnegie proves that Eli is human after all. Of course, this doesn’t stop Eli from achieving his mission and this is where the story falters. The end is inevitable in one sense, but in another might make you say, “You’ve got to be kidding.” If the journey is the reward then the movie will be acceptable, but with all the great reverence given to the character of Eli, it’s a bit much to swallow. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| THE LOVELY BONES Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language. Crime/Drama/Fantasy/Thriller 135 minutes
3 stars |
Susie Salmon, the heroine, is so bright, bubbling, bursting with charm, innocence, and joie de vie that The Lovely Bones must be faulted that her young, violent death at fourteen, and its aftermath, lacks impact. The weakness of the movie lies in its steady shifting of focus between Susie and her new unearthly home and her reaction, and the reality, of the events unfolding in what is left behind, specifically as it relates to her killer. There are touching moments but surprisingly, given the nature of the story, one ends having watched the movie rather than having felt it.
Susie (Saoirse Ronan, perfect), an innocent girl on the verge of her first romance (with schoolmate Ray, Reece Ritchie, well done) is sweet and kind and harbors dreams of being a photographer. She is shown as a child and her strong relationship with her father Jack (Mark Wahlberg, natural and believable) is established. The tragedy that occurs is horrific in suggestion and implication but, thankfully, not in its actual depiction. The loss is devastating to the family, especially her mother Abigail (Rachel Weisz, good in a sketchy part), and Grandma Lynn (Susan Sarandon, superb as usual) steps in to keep the family together.
Susie finds herself in a “between place” as her brother puts it (i.e., a space separating heaven and earth). It is strange and beautiful with vibrant colors, shifting backdrops, and rapid changes that follow their own internal logic. Though she is counseled to leave the past behind, Susie cannot bring herself to fully depart and continues to hover with concern over her father and feisty sister Lindsey (Rose McIver) and monitors her killer, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), with fear and anger hoping for justice.
Either the devastation of a child’s loss on family members or the pursuit of a serial killer (how Harvey has escaped detection when, despite Tucci’s ability, he is clearly and blatantly guilty) could have effectively filled a movie (while unessential, the teenage romance angle is cute and supplies its own tad of sentiment). As a result, each time the viewer is about to surrender to a particular moment – it morphs into another time/place/set of characters. It’s interesting, but as separate bits and pieces which fail to join into a unified or effective, and effecting, whole. Even the best of intentions do not guarantee a satisfying movie.
As indicated, the script by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens (based on the outstanding book by Alice Sebold) tries to tell too many stories at once. Overambition. Also directing, Peter Jackson, though sure handed, is too close to the material for objectivity and pruning. The photography of Andrew Lesnie (real and imagined) is superb and given the continual scene switching, a pat on the back to editor Jabez Olssen. Production designer Naomi Shohan gives the film detailed interiors (and a nod to the killer’s dollhouse, metaphoric on several levels). That it’s possible to watch this movie without a tear, or at least a catch in the throat, indicates the problem – seeing is not believing.
The Lovely Bones – Heartfelt but not heart stirring. Review by Charles Zio
| A SINGLE MAN Rated R for some disturbing images and nudity/sexual content. Drama 99 minutes
4 stars |
Colin Firth gives a wonderful, heartfelt performance in A Single Man. It’s not easy for any actor to hold an audience’s attention for an entire film when he’s in almost every scene and on the screen constantly. Given that he is playing a gay man in the 1960s, it’s even more remarkable. Looking back on an era that was just opening up for gay people, but not yet there, is sad enough but is compounded by the refusal of many at the time to accept that love can be just as true and deep in different arrangements.
Mr. Firth plays George, a nice-looking but not exceptional man, who loses his younger partner Jim (Matthew Goode) when he dies in a car accident while visiting his family. He finds out in an impersonal phone call from Jim’s cousin, who says Jim’s mother would be upset if she knew he was calling George. The funeral is only for family. The movie follows George during the course of a day. The pace is deliberately slow as the pain and grief become unbearable for George and he plans suicide.
Tom Ford directs with sensitivity from a screenplay he collaborated on with David Scearce adapting the novel by Christopher Isherwood. The film shows flashbacks of how George (who is English) and Jim first met, and their happy fourteen years together in their “glass house.”
George is a college professor who can’t find any reason to go on with his life which revolved around Jim, the love of his life. He has a good friend named Charley (Julianne Moore, always interesting to watch) who is needy, and a young student named Kenny (Nicholas Hoult, the young actor from About a Boy, grown up and delivering a touching performance), yet nothing can replace Jim.
The re-creation of the ‘60s doesn’t feel forced. Art direction by Ian Phillips, set decoration by Amy Wells, and costume design by Arianne Phillips creates a Los Angeles that seems authentic. Original Music by Abel Korzeniowski adds to the atmospherics.
If you’ve ever known a deep loss, you will understand George’s grief. Every moment feels like an hour with only sleep bringing relief, at least temporarily. As life goes on around George it seems to move in slow motion mocking his attempts to move on. Mr. Firth does an outstanding job making us care about this lonely man. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| LEAP YEAR PG for sensuality and language. Comedy/Romance 101 minutes
2½ stars |
The PG rating for Leap Year gives a hint of what to expect. This is at times a sweet, charming romance that is not racy in the slightest, but it also fails to ignite much heat, either. The two leads, Amy Adams as Anna, and Matthew Goode as Declan are both appealing, and do have some chemistry, though one mildly sensual kiss at the dinner table is as far as it goes.
The premise is that Anna, a professional stager, is expecting her cardiologist boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott), to propose. When he doesn’t propose according to her timetable she begins to be a bit desperate. She meets with her father Jack (John Lithgow, wasted on a small role). She hears about an Irish tradition that says a woman can propose to a man on February 29 of leap year. She decides this is a good thing and follows Jeremy to Ireland where he is attending a conference. The problem comes when her flight hits mid-air turbulence and the plane is forced to land in Wales, miles away from Jeremy.
She finds a pub and is the fish out of water trying to get to Ireland so she can propose to her boyfriend. The proprietor of the pub, Declan, is having financial trouble so offers to drive her and they have various misadventures trying to get to Dublin. If this sounds overly contrived, it is. There is also nothing original. The build up leads to a disappointing ending.
Two likable actors can’t make a movie work if the script is lacking. Amy Adams had most of the weight on her shoulders and does the best she can with the material, but is hampered by the script. She and Matthew Goode, who mostly reacts to Anna’s antics, have range, yet you wouldn’t know it from this movie.
The cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel shows off the beauty of the lush countryside. If only the story had been as good. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| YOUTH IN REVOLT R for sexual content, language and drug use. Comedy/Drama/Adaptation/Teen 90 minutes
3 stars |
This absurdist coming of age story is very familiar, as is Michael Cera’s performance in Youth in Revolt. In fact, his role seems interchangeable with his previous roles; there’s the same teenage yearning, innocent face, low key delivery. What makes this movie slightly different is the fantasy elements introduced into the story, but there’s not so many, and they’re not so different that it is ground-breaking. Teenagers often have active fantasy/day dreaming lives that help them make it through until they can have “real” experiences.
Mr. Cera plays the nerdy 16 year old Nick Twisp, and his alter ego, Francois Dillinger, a chain-smoking Jean Paul Belmondo impersonator who only he can see. Francois talks to Nick and comes up with outrageous plans to help Nick get the girl of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday, pretty and suitable dense).
Nick has a tough break with his trailer park mother Estelle (Jean Smart, funny) and her obnoxious boyfriend Jerry (Zach Galifianakis, amusing, but also in danger of playing the same character over and over). Their active “love life” may have something to do with Nick’s obsession to find a girlfriend and put an end to his virginity. Once Jerry is out of the picture, Estelle is quickly on to someone else.The cast tries their best to give director Miguel Arteta the performances he’s looking for with actors in small supporting roles helping to keep the audience’s attention: Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi, M. Emmet Walsh, Justin Long, and Fred Willard.
Nick’s misadventures in his quest for redeeming love, or at least sex, are comical at times, but never side-splitting, mostly because you’ve seen it before. Maybe the popular novel of the same name by C.D. Payne is able to convey what makes Nick different than any other teenage boy. Here, the sense of having seen this all before is abundantly clear. Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| NINE PG-13 for sexual content and smoking. Drama/Musical/Performing Arts/Adaptation 118 minutes
3½ stars |
Daniel Day-Lewis would not have immediately sprung to mind for the part of Guido Contini, the womanizing, blocked Italian director in the film version of the Broadway musical Nine, yet as usual, he does a credible performance, Italian accent and all. In fact, the whole illustrious cast does good work, though they seem to be working independent of each other. No expense is spared, no set short-changed, no visual given less than it needs to look glorious. So why doesn’t Nine add up to Nine plus extra credit?
The problem is translating a one set musical theatre show to film. What works in front of a live audience doesn’t necessarily play well on the big screen. It takes the intimacy away, especially when the main character doesn’t come off as empathetic as he might be.
Guido is the self-involved, spectacularly famous rich director of wildly successful films who can not stay faithful to his wife. Based on Frederico Fellini’s own autobiographical film 8½, it is not nearly as intriguing. Guido is supposed to be starting his next film and no one knows that he has no idea what the film is about. His tortured psyche is exacerbated by the women in his life, though one wonders why. What we have is the always supportive Mamma (the regal Sophia Loren) who, though long dead, is there for Guido guiding him and loving him from childhood. His loving wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard, in the stand out role of the film), wants to be with him, but he keeps her away as he juggles his lover Carla (Penélope Cruz, very alluring), a beautiful, sexy but unstable woman who lusts after Guido, and various other woman who he seems able to talk to more easily. For instance, Lilli the costumer, seems like a cross between a substitute for Mamma, and his best pal.
Also in the mix are flashbacks of Saraghina (Fergie, proving she can hold her own with the other performers, and the only “real” singer in the cast), the prostitute who is his first sexual object. Stephanie (Kate Hudson, finally doing a role that shows she has some talent), is a vogue reporter who’s out to make a conquest of Guido. Finally, there’s Claudia (Nicole Kidman, as the statuesque beauty), Guido’s muse, essential, he believes, for him to make his film, though her role is small. Each woman gets her moment to shine. The musical numbers, though entertaining to watch, seem a bit over-produced. In fact, they cause a distance with the audience as they don’t transition smoothly back and forth to the story.
By the time the audience learns more about Guido, it causes one to wonder why so many women put up with his selfish ways; why doesn’t he value them? Of course, this takes place in the 1960s when “free” love was supposed to cure the ills of the world. Yet, there’s no dispute that director Rob Marshall put his heart into the film. His adoration of his cast is evident. But it doesn’t work as well as Chicago which has more of a plot that suits film.
This movie is one that should have moved the audience to feel more for Guido, his angst, his out-of-control life. How much allowance do you give genius? You can afford to be admiring from a distance (if you don’t have to put up with the narcissism).
Review by Ann Marie Oliva
| SHERLOCK HOLMES PG-13 for thematic material including violence, disturbing images and a scene of suggestive material. Action/Adventure/Thriller, Adaptation/Mystery 128 minutes
3½ stars |
Director Guy Richie has created a certain style making use of cinematic techniques that are supposed to be clever. That’s evident from the first frame of Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey, Jr., has talent, that’s even more evident. You can almost imagine Richie and writers saying, “Hey guys, let’s do something different.” They do make a switch, where Sherlock Holmes is the (brilliant) buffoon, and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is the staid sidekick. Does it work? Mostly, thanks to Mr. Downey. Yet, there’s not much admirable in these characters, and the incessant violence, which Mr. Richie seems to favor, seems excessive. Didn’t Sherlock Holmes use his powers of observation more than his muscle? A modicum of muscle that would have been fine; too much is, well, too much.
Another issue is that Mark Strong plays the villain, Lord Blackwood, with a truly evil demeanor, but the film does not provide the menace of black magic the way it might. It is never for one minute frightening that the magic actually may exist. All it takes is to wait for Holmes’ explanation.
The plot has Watson leaving a house he shares with Holmes because he is getting engaged to Mary (Kelly Reilly). Holmes is unkempt, as is his apartment, he jerks Watson around because he doesn’t want him to leave. Watson says he will not help Holmes anymore but seems to like the excitement of getting beat up with him. Together the two stop the murder of a young woman by Lord Blackwell, which sends him to the gallows. The audience sees him hanged, yet surprise, he escapes from his grave. This is not wholly original.
In the meantime, the only woman who has ever fooled Holmes, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams, pretty and perky), comes back into his life. She is entangled in the Lord Blackwell mystery, drawing Holmes in deeper.
It’s all very tongue in cheek, which Mr. Downey and Mr. Law handle fittingly, though the dialogue is nothing extraordinary. Yet, the razzle dazzle of techniques is not a substitute for involvement, if the audience is not truly engaged in the story. Some might find this movie more interesting than others. I’m guessing the macho fight scenes will keep the attention of men, especially with how Holmes gets the best of his bigger, beefier opponents.
Are the characters ever really in jeopardy? Now that would be exciting.
Review by Ann Marie Oliva