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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 12/31/07: Although John C.
Reilly does a good job (and apparently can really sing), the movie
doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to be. There are funny
moments to be sure, but the picture is left stranded uneasily between
flat-out farce and mockumentary. Some of the songs are pretty
good, though that just adds to the confusion.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets 12/30/07: Just as ridiculous
as you might expect. Perhaps the best that can be said about it is
that it is breezy and undemanding.
Charlie Wilson's War 12/29/07: Tom Hanks is a consummate pro,
and he delivers here with a smoothly modulated performance that raises
the picture above the level of the fairly pedestrian material. Mike
Nichols directs with a charmless competence. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as everybody
says, absolutely walks off with the picture in the role of a straight
talking CIA man.
I Am Legend 12/15/07: I weep for the buckets of money wasted
on this would-be spectacle. The visual effects are striking for
the most part, but completely squandered in the service of a dismal
script and a lack of dramatic structure. Even Will Smith can't
inject much life into this leaden, lugubrious enterprise.
Juno 12/9/07: Fresh in the best sense of the word.
Funny, incisive, and affecting tale of a sixteen year old girl (Ellen
Page) who finds herself pregnant. Writer Diablo Cody has a great
ear for dialogue. The terrific cast makes every character pop.
Atonement 12/8/07: This is the worst movie to get good
reviews in a long time, and I fear the awards folks are going to be
hornswoggled by it because it is "classy" and pretty, and the
characters speak with British accents. But the truth is there is
no substance to speak of, no chemistry between the stars, and as drama
it is utterly unconvincing. The much talked about long tracking
shot on the beach at Dunkirk simply points up how empty the rest of the
picture is.
Enchanted 12/6/07: Ten times better than Atonement (see
above). A funny, clever story about a cartoon princess sent to
real world New York City by an evil queen. The cast is terrific,
and bring to their roles a charming conviction. This is a movie
that knows exactly what it wants to be, and delivers.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 11/30/07: I admire Sidney
Lumet as much as anyone, but boy this is a dour picture. Philip
Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke are excellent, but the tone of the movie
is so grim and unrelenting it's hard to enjoy. No one gets out
unscathed.
The Savages 11/29/07: No one is a bigger fan than I am of both
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. These two seem incapable
of giving a bad performance, but the script struggles for deeper
meaning, but doesn't quite get there. A good effort--you can see
that the picture could have been great--but ultimately it does not pay
off.
Hitman 11/27/07: An extremely routine thriller about, yes, a
hitman. Competent but no more. It adds nothing new to the genre.
American Gangster 11/17/07: Extremely well crafted gangster
epic based upon a real person. Denzel Washington turns in another
strong performance (is he ever bad?). But in the end the movie never
gets beyond the facts of the case.
No Country For Old Men 11/11/07: Best movie of 2007. I
will say it again: best movie of 2007. The Coen brothers take Cormac McCarthy's
grim novel and turn it into a masterful meditation on good, evil, and
what men are capable of doing to each other. At the same time they
deliver an absolutely riveting thriller. It's a violent picture, but the
violence here is more like a character, hanging around just offscreen,
and the pall of it hangs over every character in the movie. (There
are really only a few minutes of actual onscreen violence.) The cast
(Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly McDonald) is superb
and every performance is pitch perfect.
Dan in Real Life 10/26/07: Funny and
heartfelt, though the chemistry between Steve Carell and Juliet Binoche
seems forced, and a few of the scenes are too sitcom-y, which is really
beneath the picture. The movie also features the kind of loving,
supportive, camera-ready family that may only exist in Hollywood's
imagination.
Gone Baby Gone 10/25/07: Ben Affleck directs
this outstanding dramatic thriller, and he did an exceptional job--the
kid's got talent. Great performances from Casey Affleck (whom, to
be honest, I had dismissed as a lightweight coasting on his brother's
coattails--shame on me) and Amy Ryan.
Lars and the Real Girl 10/24/07: This
picture really is extraordinary. It shows that Hollywood, against
all odds, can still turn out a movie that touches the heart and soul.
The Kingdom 10/23/07: Contrived but well
executed thriller about FBI agents in Saudi Arabia. I like Peter
Berg as a director, but he should hold out for better material.
The
Darjeeling
Limited 10/22/07: I love Wes Anderson's sensibility and I have
liked all of his films. This is no exception.
Michael Clayton 10/21/07: Somber, not to say
gloomy, legal melodrama starring George Clooney. He is effective
and the picture is consistently involving, but it doesn't add up to
much.
Lust/Caution 10/13/07: More hype than
substance. Ang Lee's drama is gorgeous to look at, but it is too
long and never catches fire dramatically. The much touted sex
scenes are not that big a deal. Woe to our censorious nation,
which elects to give this picture an "NC-17" rating for about
eight minutes of tasteful sex, and yet gives "Saw IV"
an "R" rating, though it includes the following as described
by the NY Times' critic: "Take every conceivable form of
torture, then add the inconceivable."
Into the Wild 10/6/07
Eastern Promises 9/22/07
Shoot ‘em Up 9/16/07: Clive Owen and Paul
Giamatti slum through this energetic but ridiculous thriller, whose title
is highly accurate and says it all.
The Brave One 9/15/07: A weak retread of
"Death Wish" with Jodie Foster as Charles Bronson. It
works neither as a thriller not a morality play.
3:10 to
Yuma
9/8/07
Once 9/2/07
Superbad 8/18/07
The Bourne Ultimatum 8/5/07
Transformers 7/24/07
Sicko 7/23/07
Rescue Dawn 7/22/07
Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix
7/14/07
Live Free or Die Hard 6/27/07
Ocean’s Thirteen 6/23/07
Knocked Up 6/1/07
Shrek the Third 5/28/07
Paris Je t’aime 5/27/07
Blades of Glory 5/8/07
Fracture 5/7/07
Spider-Man 3 5/6/07
The Hoax 4/28/07
The Lookout 4/6/07
Music and Lyrics 3/26/07
The Namesake 3/25/07
Shooter 3/24/07
Zodiac 3/3/07
Breach 2/26/07
The Lives of Others 2/17/07
Smokin’ Aces 1/27/07
Pan’s Labyrinth 1/7/07
The Queen 1/3/07
Notes on a Scandal 1/1/07
Rocky Balboa 12/30/06
Blood Diamond 12/26/06
The Good Shepherd 12/24/06
The Pursuit of Happyness 12/16/06
Deja Vu 11/25/06
Casino Royale 11/17/06
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Khazakstan 11/12/06
For Your Consideration 11/11/06
The Prestige 10/26/06
Babel 10/29/06
The Marine 10/14/06
The Illusionist 10/14/06
The Departed
Knock-down, drag out terrific crime thriller (based upon a Hong Kong
picture called Infernal Affairs) from Martin Scorcese. I
have always had reservations about Scorcese, but here he lets the
throttle out and unleashes his superb cast, which includes Jack
Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Leonardo Dicaprio, and Alec
Baldwin. The result is a terrifically profane, funny, violent, and
riveting picture.10/7/06
The Guardian
Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher acquit themselves respectably as,
respectively, a legendary Coast Guard rescue swimmer and the brash young
recruit with whom he eventually (and predictably) bonds. The picture is,
for all intents and purposes, An Officer and a Gentleman remade
for the new millennium. Still, it is a well executed and
entertaining genre piece. 9/30/06
Hollywoodland 9/23/06
Crank 9/16/06
Invincible 8/28/06
Little Miss Sunshine 8/12/06
My Super Ex-Girlfriend 7/31/06
Miami Vice 7/29/06
An Inconvenient Truth 7/14/06
The Devil Wears Prada 7/2/06
Nacho Libre 6/30/06
Superman Returns 6/28/06
The Break-Up 6/4/06
X-Men 3: The Last Stand 5/28/06
The DaVinci Code
By a comfortable margin the goofiest movie of 2006 so far, this
leaden hulk of a picture is comprised of excruciating pages of
expository dialog alternating with mediocre car chases that seem to have
dropped in from other movies. Watching it is like getting a history
lecture from a dull professor who may not be in full command of the
facts. [Full disclosure, I have never read the source novel; after
seeing the movie it is pretty clear I never will.] Tom Hanks may or may
not be miscast, but either way he isn't any good. He and Audrey
Tatou (who is rendered, astoundingly, boring by this movie) have zero
chemistry; half the time they look at each other as if trying to figure
out who the other person is and what he is doing here. I couldn't decide
whether the evil monk Silas (Paul Bettany in albino makeup) was scary or
funny--something about a guy in full monk regalia running around modern
day Paris and London talking on a cell phone and pointing guns at people
just seems a little too Monty Python-ish to take seriously. The movie is
painfully long, and despite that not at all clear about what is going
on. Just about the entire thing takes place at night, in the dark,
in dark places. I'll credit the lighting designers for making
anyone visible at all, but long about the time I wondered if any of the
characters ever slept I wanted to take a nap also. Director Ron
Howard tries some of the same visual trickery he used more effectively
in "A Beautiful Mind" but to no good effect; here it just
seems like a lazy way to lecture the audience some more. But what
can you expect from a movie in which the crucial line, delivered at what
should be the tensest moment of the film, is "I've got to get to a
library... fast"? Exactly. (5/21/06) Poseidon
Long on water and short on characters, this remake of the
capsized ocean liner thriller is nothing if not brisk. The wave
hits the boat nineteen minutes into the picture, and the whole thing is
over after 99 minutes. The intervening eighty minutes are of course, the
story of an intrepid group of survivors struggling to get out of the
boat. The pace is snappy, to say the least, the visual effects are
effective, and the net effect is a movie that, despite the grim premise,
is as light as a popover. (5/12/06)
Mission: Impossible III 5/5/06
The Sentinel 4/29/06
Friends With Money 4/22/06
Brick
Superior neo-noir thriller which, despite being set in a high school,
under a blazing California sun, manages to evoke as much dread and
fascination as any black and white classic from the forties. A
terrific cast of unknowns and sharp writing and directing make this
debut a treat. 4/14/06 Inside Man
A twisty and absorbing bank heist (or is it?) thriller from director
Spike Lee, with a terrific Clive Owen and Denzel Washington as two smart
antagonists engaged in a battle of wits and nerve.(3/31/06)
Ultraviolet
A spectacularly fit Milla Jovovich effortlessly mows downs
legions of faceless drone soldiers in a great-looking and stylish but
incomprehensible futuristic thriller. The script is so poor it
almost seems deliberate; it's like a science experiment that takes parts
of other, better movies and grafts them together to see what it looks
like. As is often the case, messiness results. (3/15/06)
Failure to Launch
A truly despicable premise (sexy gal hired by a guy's parents to pretend to
like him so he is motivated to move out of their house) is rendered
moderately entertaining by an appealing cast and a few clever
moments. Unfortunately, an equal number of moments are pedestrian
and uninspired, and I always take a dim view of movies that cue a
too-loud pop song as shorthand for explication. Now that's just
lazy. But back to that premise; there's a term for a woman hired
to go out with a man, and it's not "motivation
consultant." (3/11/06)
Transamerica
Felicity Huffman is exceptional as a man (now known as Bree) about to
undergo gender reassignment surgery when he learns of a son (Toby) he
never knew he had. Forced by his therapist to find closure with
this part of his life, Bree makes a cross country trip which turns into
a journey of discovery for both of them. Duncan Tucker wrote and
directed, and turns the unusual premise into something
memorable--honest, painful, funny, and human. Huffman is justifiably
nominated for an Oscar, but Kevin Zegers is also outstanding as Toby.
(3/4/06) 16 Blocks
A well rendered, character driven action picture nicely
directed by Richard Donner. Bruce Willis is a Jack, burned-out
detective assigned to transport a seemingly minor witness (Eddie, played
by an excellent Mos Def) to the courthouse for testimony. It turns
out that powerful forces don't want Eddie to testify, and the chase is
on. How Eddie and Jack make the journey, and what we learn about them in
the process, make for a taut, entertaining thriller. (3/4/06)
Brokeback Mountain
A powerful, sad, and visually beautiful adaptation of an Annie Proulx
short story about the wrenching love affair between two cowboys in the
American west. Ang Lee's direction is nearly perfect. Heath Ledger
gives what may be the performance of the year as Ennis Delmar, a man for
whom the pain of communication is second only to his longing for what he
cannot have. (1/30/06) The Matador
Everything that The Ice Storm wanted to be and was
not, namely, cheerfully amoral and darkly comic. Pierce Brosnan is
terrific playing against type as a washed-up assassin who forms an
unlikely friendship with a mild mannered businessman (Greg Kinnear,
also excellent). Hope Davis and Philip Baker Hall provide strong
support in small but key roles. (1/27/06)
Match Point
A reasonable B-movie diversion with an appealing cast.
Woody Allen wrote and directed (explaining why the picture got made at
all) and his script is notable mostly for setting the story among the
moneyed London set instead of the moneyed Manhattan set. (1/6/06) Capote
A nearly astonishing tour-de-force based upon the unlikeliest of
material: the story of Truman Capote's discovery, exploration, and
ultimately, destruction by the events that he recounted in his
best-selling "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is just extraordinary as Capote; the Oscar race
of the year will be between him and Heath Ledger from Brokeback
Mountain. Catherine Keener is outstanding as Capote's friend
Harper Lee (yes, that Harper Lee). (1/1/06) Munich
Forget the politics and the controversy, this is, first and
foremost, a flat-out spectacular thriller. The fact that it is
based upon actual events merely lends it a moral complexity which, along
with Spielberg's absolute mastery of his craft and the wonderful
(largely unknown) cast, makes it by a wide margin the best picture of
the year. I'll say it again: Best Picture of the Year. (12/26/05) Rumor Has It...
Too cute by half, but reasonably diverting all the same. Jennifer
Aniston stars as a woman who becomes convinced that her family is the
one upon which The Graduate was based. (Apparently, an
immortal rumor--in real life--has it that the novel was in fact based
upon an actual Pasadena family.) The funny thing is, they could have
dispensed with the whole Graduate thing entirely and made a
pretty good romantic comedy about a woman's involvement with a man who
may or may not have had an affair with both her mother and her
grandmother. Either way, Kevin Costner does a nice turn as the aging
lothario who appeals to women of any generation. Shirley Maclaine
is sharply funny as Aniston's hard drinking and plain-speaking
grandmother. (12/25/05)
The Family Stone
Far from great, this family based dramedy has its moments, and the
terrific ensemble cast is used to good advantage, with the possible
exception of Sarah Jessica Parker, who struggles mightily with the least
appealing (and least believable) role. (12/24/05) Kong Kong
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this, the Peter
Jackson Version, is that it's only about 90 minutes too long. That
still leaves an hour and a half of stuff that is pretty entertaining,
like the special effects (especially the monkey). (12/17/05) Syriana
Stephen Gaghan wrote and directed this complex, twisty,
one-step-from-reality thriller about the oil business and all the evil
that (at least in this version) it embodies. The picture is very good
but not great; the filmmaking craft is exceptional but the overall
emotional impact is limited. George Clooney is very good as a
burned out CIA operative (and the closest thing to a hero that the movie
has), but there are several dozen too many lawyers, business tycoons,
and sheiks. Complexity in a movie is fine--even good--but like any other
element, it should be in the service of something larger. (12/10/05) Rent
A fairly (and perhaps predictably) dreadful adaptation of the world's
best musical. Don't go if you are a fan of the show. (11/23/05) The Ice Harvest
A good cast (including John Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton) is wasted
in this pointless and not-at-all funny attempt at dark humor. How
and why this picture got made is one of the enduring mysteries of
Hollywood. (11/22/05)
The Squid and the Whale
A lacerating and yet somehow comic portrait of a
disintegrating family. Jeff Daniels, better known for his comic roles,
is outstanding as Bernard Berkman, a fading author, intellectual, and
professor. Laura Linney, equally terrific, plays his wife Joan,
who is just as smart as Bernard, and equally flummoxed by the changes
they experience. Owen Kline and Jesse Eisenberg, as the Berkman
sons, each of whom respond to their parents' split in different ways,
are also completely convincing. (10/30/05)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
A glib, self-referential neo-noir comedy from writer-director
Shane Black (the inventor of the "Lethal Weapon" franchise).
There are plenty of jokes, gunfights, and dead bodies, and the three
leads (Val Kilmer, Robert Downey, Jr., and Michelle Monaghan) are all
quite winning. The film is snappy and entertaining, to be sure,
but you can't help feel a little cheapened by the proceedings, as if you
were laughing at a joke you're not quite sure you get, and which might
be on you. Chalk it up as a guilty pleasure. (10/30/05)
A History of Violence
A very neat twist on a well known theme (the past comes back
to haunt you) which elevates B-movie material to A-movie standards.
Viggo Mortenson stars as Tom, who is an average family man running a
cafe in a small town... or is he? Some gangsters show up,
convinced he is a former associate, and, shall we say, problems ensue.
The material is adapted from a graphic novel, and David Cronenberg
directs with a sure hand. The movie is gripping throughout, and
Mortenson is terrific, as are supporting players Maria Bello, Ed Harris,
and William Hurt. (10/1//05)
Serenity
A fast-paced and witty post-modern western sci-fi
thriller. Get it? Joss Whedon (he of Buffy fame) took
his failed TV show (Firefly) premise and turned it into a
feature. Serenity (the name of the spaceship) tells of a ragtag
bunch of travelers who are unwillingly drawn into battle with the evil
empire dominating the galaxy. Sound familiar? Yup, it's kind
of like Star Wars recast for the IPOD generation, and it works. (10/1/05)
Lord of War
Nicholas Cage is very good as Yuri, an international arms
dealer who grapples--mostly unsuccessfully--with his conscience in
Andrew Niccol's gripping drama. The picture adroitly combines the
politics and morality of arms dealing with thriller conventions (and
some truly surreal set pieces) in a way that is reminiscent of Syriana's
take on the oil biz but is in fact more successful. Lord of War
deserved more than the little notice and audience that it got. (9/16/05) Broken Flowers
Indie film icon Jim Jarmusch teams up with Bill Murray,
playing an aging ladies' man who receives word (anonymously) that he years
ago fathered a son with an old girlfriend. Prodded by his
neighbor, he reluctantly embarks upon an odyssey to try to discover if
it is true, and if so, which former paramour is the mother. The
movie follows him as he tracks down the four likeliest candidates, with
results that are variously sweet, bitter, sad, puzzling, scary, and
strange. The picture is atmospheric, moody, and oddly
compelling, but it is pitched so low-key that at times it almost seems
like a spoof of indie film conventions. But Murray is quite good,
and the movie, while not wholly satisfying, lingers in the mind like an
odd dream that you can't quite deduce the meaning of. (9/5/05)
The Constant Gardener
Well, since no one else seems to want to, I'll say it: this is
not a good picture. Ralph Fiennes sleepwalks through most of it; he is
the least compelling protagonist in recent memory. Rachel Weisz adds a
little verve, but she dies five minutes into the picture, and we see her
mostly in the kind of gauzy, vague flashbacks that drive me to
distraction. The picture (adapted from a John le Carre novel) kind
of meanders in the direction of being an anti-Big Pharma polemic (ooohhh...
evil conglomerates victimizing impoverished Africans while paying off
the fat-cat politicos) but it succeeds neither as drama, thriller,
romance, or political statement. The scenery is OK though.
(9/3/05) Transporter 2
Well, now we're talking. A sequel to the original Transporter,
this is a fine action thriller (actually better than the original) in
which the story and script are just tight enough to provide a framework
for virtuoso gunplay, car chases, and martial arts stunts.
Jason Statham is back as the title character, who knows a thing or two
about driving and other types of mayhem. Statham does a terrific
job with the action, but he also brings a sexy gravity to the role,
deepening the character enough to raise the picture above the genre
level. Oh, yeah, the movie may make you want to buy an Audi,
also.(9/2/05)
Red-Eye
A second class thriller that sets the bar low and even then doesn't
quite clear it. Attractive performers Cillian Murphy (as the charming
bad guy) and Rachel McAdams (as the plucky, resourceful heroine) are
mostly wasted on a plot that can't get out of the way of the lazy
writing that produced it. (8/28/05)
The 40 Year Old Virgin
An absolutely hilarious romantic sex comedy, which, along
with Wedding Crashers has helped reinvigorate the genre. The movie
focuses on Steve Carel, the title character, who is, yes, a virgin, and
the efforts of his friends and co-workers (all played with great brio by
an outstanding supporting cast, including the always terrific Catherine
Keener as the woman who might just be his soul-mate) to help him remedy
the situation. The movie doesn't mind playing the situation for
laughs, but underneath it you get a sense that these guys actually do
care about each other, and that is what makes the film more than just a
string of dirty jokes. It's a tribute to male bonding as much as
anything else. (8/28/05) Four Brothers
Apparently an "updating" of The Sons of Katie
Elder, this shoot-'em-up (directed sharply by John Singleton) is set
in Detroit, where the titular brothers (two black and two white) decide
to hunt down whoever it was who killed their saintly foster Mom.
Lots of action ensues, but the story is a too muddled for its own
good. The characterizations are only OK, and the premise is
gimmicky. I like a good action thriller as much as the next guy,
but while nothing is terribly wrong with this one, nothing is terribly
right with it either. Should have been better. (8/12/05) Me and You and Everyone We Know
The kind of meandering, aimless, low-impact enterprise that gives indie
films a bad name. Written and directed by Miranda July, the
picture seems to want to be a post-modern love story but comes across as
dreary catalog of peccadilloes, insecurities, and neuroses, unleavened
by much in the way of plot or humor. July may have some talent--it's
hard to tell--but she clearly needs some help with focus and editing.
(8/7/05)
Hustle and Flow
Highly effective--and affecting--movie about a black Memphis
pimp (D-Jay, played by a great Terence Howard, last seen in Crash))
who dreams of breaking into hip-hop. When a famous rapper named
Skinny Black returns for a hometown visit, D-Jay decides it is his
golden opportunity. He puts together a ragtag group (including D.J.
Squalls as a skinny white guy who knows how to put a beat together) to
lay down his tracks (which are actually pretty good). He manages
to meet up with Skinny, and things do not go quite as planned. At
its heart, the movie is about a man who dreams of making something
better of himself, and there is not a false note in the picture.
Memorable and rewarding, and keep Howard in mind at Oscar time,
please. (7/30/05) Wedding Crashers
An extremely funny comedy about two dudes (Vince Vaughan and Owen
Wilson) who crash weddings looking to pick up girls put in the mood by
the matrimonial goings-on. Complications ensue when one of
Wilson's character actually falls for one of the girls he meets. The
movie is not shy about nudity and raunchy humor, but it is so sweet
natured you'd have to be pretty sensitive to take offense. The
movie, in its own tilted way, is all for true love after all.
Wilson and Vaughan (who is developing one of the distinct comic personas
around) are great together. (7/22/05) War of the Worlds
A moderately bad remake of the H.G. Wells story, overpraised in
the mainstream press and starring a dedicated Tom ("I know the
history of psychiatry") Cruise as a ne'er do well Dad who just
can't seem to connect with his son until aliens start destroying the
planet (even then, it's a close thing). The visual effects are striking--so
good at times it is hard to imagine how they are done--but unfortunately
that is about as deep into the material as director Spielberg seemed to
want to go. Despite all the talk of "echoes of 9/11"
there is really nothing new here. The narrative runs out of steam about
twenty minutes into the picture; we learn nothing new about what is
going on from that point forward. Instead, we are forced to endure
a protracted period of Tom and his daughter hiding out in a dank,
claustrophobic cellar with a deranged Randy Quaid. Note to
filmmakers everywhere: If you are making an action thriller, don't
have your hero cooped up in a basement for an hour. (7/12/05)
Fantastic Four
A wan adaptation of the Marvel comic book, the movie's chief
virtues are--in descending order--Chris Weber's snappy, comic
performance as Johnny ("The Human Torch") Storm (the only one
of the four with any real charisma; he also gets all the best lines);
Jessica ("Invisible Girl") Alba's physique, and the special
effects, which are pretty good, if put to little dramatic use.
Watching, it became clear why the movie had gone through so many writers
and scripts over the years. The basic premise is that the four are
a kind of dysfunctional super hero family; they argue and bicker, and
generally seem like they would all be better off alone. Despite
that, the writers are forced to try to contrive situations in which the
talents of each of the four contribute equally to saving the day.
That's pretty heavy lifting, and the script creaks and squeaks (7/12/05)
Batman Begins
The taciturn Christian Bale was a fine choice to play the
lead, and I would have to say that this is the best Bat-movie of the
bunch. Director Chris Nolan (Memento) doesn't settle for a
dysfunctional aesthetic; in fact, if anything, he grounds the film more
solidly than any of his predecessors, and Bale brings a compelling
physicality to the role. With sly support from Morgan Freeman and
Michael Caine (as Alfred). (6/18/05)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Two of the world's most photogenic humans, Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie, have a bit of fun in this action comedy. By now most know
the setup: they play a married couple, and each of them, unbeknownst to
the other, is a top professional assassin. Eventually they end up
trying to kill each other, which, as in all good marriages, revitalizes
the relationship. Reportedly the script took over a hundred
rewrites, and even with that (or maybe because of that) it doesn't make
a whole lot of sense at all. I have no problem with
implausibility, but I do expect at least internal consistency, and while
the picture struggles heroically (you can practically hear the gears
grinding), they simply can't wrestle the plot into place. The
picture has two phases: first, John and Jane exchange the banalities of
a stale marriage, neither realizing the secret life the other
leads. Next, John and Jane exchange the banalities of a stale
marriage, each fully aware of the secret life the other leads (not so
secret anymore, of course). The best part of the movie comes at
the evanescent transition between these phases, when both first suspect,
then believe, then finally know, just what each is capable
of. Pitt and Jolie, aside from prettying things up, do well by
both the action and the banter. Director Doug Liman (Swingers, Go,
The Bourne Identity) keeps things hopping, and with a lesser talent
at the helm the whole enterprise would simply have fallen apart. (6/12/05)
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