Movie Review: Up In the Air

If you read Up In the Air, the novel by Walter Kirn, you will have a hard time recognizing the storyline in the movie. They have kept the main character, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a corporate axeman for hire, but that's about it. It turns out to be a good thing. Jason Reitman, the screenwriter and director, in a stroke of genius, added two female characters bringing more interest and more heart to this very clever and timely film. Reitman's previous movies, Juno and Thank You For Smoking are both terrific but clearly more about the comedy and less about the drama. Up in the Air incorporates both creating a richer product. The message regarding long held beliefs about happiness and what is important in life are skillfully worked into scenes as naturally as when you and I are having lunch (or a cocktail), sharing heartbreaks, life lessons and insights. By doing this, the movie, unlike the book, has interest not only in the air but on the ground. Up in the Air is the story of a man who relishes in his whittled down lifestyle. He spends most of his life flying all over the country doing the dirty work that company heads can't bring themselves to do: fire employees. The euphemism used for his job, "career-transition counselor". Brilliant. He has no attachments and spends time lecturing on the benefit of traveling, literally and figuratively, with no more then what you can fit in your carry-on luggage. Clooney is as perfect in this role as he was in Michael Clayton. He is newly leaned down and plays a very well oiled machine. Vera Farmiga (Orphan, The Departed, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) plays Alex, Ryan's love interest and even colder, female counterpart. The nice little surprise; Anna Kendrick (Twilight), flexing her acting chops, plays Natalie, the new kid on the block who gives Ryan a taste of his own medicine. With her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, she steals every scene she is in. Jason Bateman, always underrated, is wonderfully slippery as Ryan's unscrupulous boss. Sam Elliot has a cameo at the end of the movie teaching all of us about star power. If the interviews at the beginning and end of the movie of people getting fired seem very real to you, it's because many of them are. What's real is real and we can feel it. Along with great screenwriting and perfect casting, this very smart bit of moviemaking kicks the film up a notch. Even though the movie has little resemblance to the novel, we know it has Kirn's complete endorsement; he has a part as one of Ryan's colleagues. Kirn has written 7 books. This is the second to make it the big screen. The first was Thumbsucker (Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn). Why am I telling you this? Because I feel I have to offer you something more and a little different then other reviewers because I'm always late. I try to make up for it with trivia! With all the aerial cinematography and shots of big airplanes, it needs a movie theater. This is an interesting and finely crafted movie with a great ending (always challenging) that will hit home for plenty of people.

For My Mom: 1989

What gift can I give you?
So close to that fateful day.
In darker moments you have sighed and said “my life is over”.
Natures trick.

So strong in you to gather, protect and nurture.
Where has your love, your tears, your caring gone?
Your warmth may seem at times reflected back,
Unfelt, unchanged.

But did you know when I put my hand on my crying child’s head
Whispering sssh,
It is you whispering softly rocking him close to my chest.
That love that I feel for my child that I never felt before
That is your love for me.

This I can take with me anywhere and give anytime
So filled am I with this love.
I am so grateful.

If you take this, my thanks
As your gift
I hope it will bring you some peace.
It has for me.

Love,
Cory

Movie Review: Invictus

Clint Eastwood has his own unique way of movie making and it separates him from all the other Hollywood moviemakers. The actor/director stamps each of his films with his own special touch. They are direct and straight to the point movies that don’t squander our time with pointless information. This has worked for Eastwood in the past (think Million Dollar Baby) and it works for him again in his new film Invictus. The movie is about the period of Nelson Mandela’s life when he was released from prison after twenty-seven years. Soon thereafter he was elected President of South Africa. He presided over a divided country. The blacks don’t trust the whites and vice versa. In order to unite the country Mandela (Morgan Freeman) came up with the brilliant idea of using sports. Rugby is the sport of choice in South Africa and the Springbok team represented the nation. The team was lead by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and he and his teammates were far from favorites to win the 1995 World Cup. Still Mandela thought they could and he enlisted the help of Francoise to inspire the team to greatness. This is the bare bones of the plot and the bare bones of the script. We get glimpses along the way of the country, Mandela and Pienaar but there are no “getting to know you” scenes. It is either basic to the plot or it is not shown; Eastwood never panders to the audience. At first this lack of detail is annoying but as the film progresses we are drawn into the quest for glory of the rugby team and Mandela’s vision of unity. The emotions of the story have a life of their own and eventually make the movie a rousing success. Freeman is amazing as Mandela. He has the look of the man as well as his speech patterns and mannerisms. It is a perfect melding of man and role. Eastwood knows how to draw the best performance from his friend and he makes his performance a celebration of the power of Mandela and his place in history. As Pienaar, Damon is very low key which is in keeping with the role he is playing. Pienaar is an athlete, pure and simple. He appreciates the politics of what is happening, but he keeps his focus on the game. In every way Pienaar’s life is second in importance to that of Mandela, and so it is with the screenplay. Damon has the supporting role and he enhances Morgan’s performance at every turn. Most of us know little to nothing about the sport of rugby, but that doen't stop us from enjoying the film. As long as you can appreciate the dream of unity Mandela has, and how he uses the team to achieve that goal then you will be able to follow. Freeman and Damon are at the top of their game and they are in the hands of the quintessential Eastwood does things the “Eastwood way” and ends up with one of the better movies of this disappointing year.

Movie Review: An Education

I loved this movie. It is a simple coming of age story but it is so much more. The screenplay was written by Nick Hornby (best known for his novel, About a Boy). New to American audiences, Lone Scherfig does a fantastic job directing 25 year old Carey Mulligan in what amounts to an astonishing performance. Mulligan plays Jenny, a 16 year old schoolgirl, smarter then her peers who allows herself to be taken in by David (Peter Sarsgaard), a smooth talking much older man. What makes this movie so special is it's restraint. It never goes where it doesn't need to go. It is the nuance in understanding that this man is not what he seems to be. We all know it. Jenny knows it but there is enough in it for her that she lets herself be seduced. She watches with fascination as David manipulates everyone around him, especially her parents. Using their whirlwind romance as a backdrop, the movie slowly exposes who the characters are without spelling everything out. The subtle art of moviemaking I sorely miss. All performances are perfect. Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour are both flawless as Jenny's parents. Rosamund Pike (Fracture, Surrogates) plays a dumb blonde and does such a great job of it. She has a few memorable and priceless lines. But Mulligan is the superstar. Her gift is her ability to move back and forth between child and grown woman. You will be reminded of Audrey Hepburn at her best. The movie is set in a very repressed London. The year is 1961. No one has ever heard of The Beatles. Everyone is just near boiling under their very proper facades and An Education captures that. There is a lot going on in this very pretty, quiet and unassuming movie. It's only playing in little art theaters so you'll have to look for it.

Broken Hearts

I got some very sad news today; a friend’s 23 year old son died in a hiking accident. He was in Africa working for The Peace Corp. Those are the only details I know (not that any other details matter - a beautiful boy is gone). A dear sweet friend of mine is dealing with a very difficult diagnosis. Life is so fragile and at times, so painful. I try to remind myself why we're here. I read a book once called Who Dies by Stephen Levine. The essential message of the book is this: This life is one incarnation. It is most likely not the first and most definitely not the last. Life, as we experience it, is the soul’s journey. The journey is about learning and healing and it doesn't always feel good. The greatest lessons and the most healing come from the experiences that cause the most pain. I really believe that.
I think about when my parents divorced; absolute agony. Or when my mom died; the profound sense of loss, the sadness, the endless tears and the inability to find my smile. And oh, those broken hearts; the feeling my heart was drowning and simply taking a breath hurt. I would feel the world spinning and it was hard to balance. I thought I would never see the other side. But I did, with all of it. It took time, sometimes many years but eventually I recovered. I would emerge a little wiser, always a little more understanding. The book explains that we probably make these arrangements long before we get here. Between incarnations, knowing there is so much to learn about love, compassion, acceptance, gratitude and forgiveness, we 'negotiate' our lessons. We come into the world forgetting all the plans we, ourselves have made. Awareness of this doesn't make the losses or the heartbreaks any less painful. Our bodies still shake and our eyes still fill with tears. But it does allow us to step back, take a breath and ask, "What is this pain suppose to be teaching me?" "How can I be more loving, compassionate, accepting, forgiving or more grateful?" Maybe, just maybe, we can bring a little light to the darkness. There is no loss in this Universe, only learning and ultimately, only healing.
I really love it here..

Note to self: About these 'lessons': The Universe is very generous. Try to be a fast learner.

After experiencing many losses and many heartbreaks in my life, I've come to believe that it takes many many years to truly morn a loss. This is not a bad thing. Quick recoveries from serious losses are more likely denial or repression. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the morning processes means we have to walk around sad, depressed or crying (although we may experience all of that for a while). More often then not, it is a sensation of a heavy heart or the wind passing through us. It comes and it goes as a reminder of what we no longer think we have but is ever present. It's a good thing.

Movie Review: Brothers

Brothers is the anti-war movie of the decade. It is to the Afghan war what Coming Home (1978) was to the Vietnam war. Directed by Jim Sheridan, Brothers is the remake of a Danish film by the same name (Brodre, 2004). The advantage of the original is that without famous faces, the movie generates more power. You buy into the story quicker because the previous characters the actors have played never pop into your mind. For example, it's virtually impossible not to have the thought, "Tobey Mcguire, Spiderman, wow, he really has range". We all know how to move past this but Brodre is better because it's not so "Hollywood". The movie is about two brothers. One is a war hero, Sam Cahill (Mcguire), recently deployed to a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan. The other brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), is a screw up who has just been released from prison. When Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is thought to be dead, Tommy rallies and comes to the aide of Sam's wife, Grace (Natalie Portman) and their two daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison) and Maggie (Taylor Geare). But we know that Sam is not dead. He has been taken prisoner with another marine and tortured. He is eventually rescued but he returns home seriously disturbed by his POW experience. The truth is, this family has already been ravaged by war long before that helicopter is ever shot down. The boys father, Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), has experienced the damaging effects of a previous war. He is a hard drinking ex-marine who served in Vietnam. His limited ability to be a husband and father is made perfectly clear at Sam's goodbye dinner. This aspect of the movie, the multi-generational collateral damage of war, is the films strength. Both boys have taken different paths, but both are reactionary to their fathers' inability to express affection or compassion. The most poignant scene in the movie is when Sam, recently returned home, behaves towards his daughter Isabelle exactly like his father behaves toward Tommy. All the performances are just O.K. , no raves except Bailee Madison as Isabelle. It is one of the best child performances I have seen since Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) or Natalie Portman in The Professional (her best role ever-1994). You can wait for Brothers to come out on DVD or On Demand; it does not need a big screen. It should be required viewing for any young man or woman thinking about enlisting. The movie is not without it's shortcomings but it makes one thing perfectly clear, war is hell for everyone it touches. The unbelievable and discouraging fact is that absolutely nothing has changed in Afghanistan since Brodre was released 5 years ago (except now we have more men there - ugh). Try to see the original, you won't be sorry.

Movie Review: The Road

The Road is bleak and grim, unbearably sad and beyond dark but it is thoroughly engrossing and I dare you to take your eyes off the screen. I can only imagine Cormac McCarthy’s total approval of director, John Hillcoat’s and screenwriter, Joe Penhall’s film adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize winning, post-apocalyptic novel. The film is pretty faithful to the source material (although not as poetic); probably too faithful for most people. It will be a very hard sell for general audiences. There is only one memorable part of the book (too involved to write about here - you should read it) that I assume was left out deliberately to insure the movie never brings to mind another post-apocalyptic movie, The Road Warrior (which is a comedy by comparison). Viggo Mortensen is brilliant as The Man and basically carries the entire movie. New-comer, Kodi Smit-Mcphee plays The Boy and does an honest and emotional portrayal of a child trying to survive his nightmarish existence. His incredible resemblance to his mother, played by Charlize Theron (seen only in flashback), brings an unexpected but sorely needed tenderness to the film. But highest honors go to Chris Kennedy, the production designer for providing the cataclysmic landscape, the real star of the movie. Mount St. Helens, still devastated from its explosion 30 years ago, the Oregon coast, the woods of Pennsylvania and some post-Katrina New Orleans provide the very natural dark, dank and twisted metal surroundings that gives an element of realism, setting this movie apart from others like it. Kennedy was also involved in the production design of Hillcoat’s previous and near perfect movie, The Proposition (if you haven't seen it, rent it). The Road follows the treacherous journey of a man and his son as they head to the coast through what has become hell on earth. We are never told what caused the apocalypse and quite frankly, it does not matter. The movie is an allegory about the bond between father and son. It is about love, devotion, personal strengths and weaknesses. When everything is taken away, what do you do? Can you maintain your humanity? The movie ends with just a glimmer of hope which I was extremely grateful for. Robert Duval and Guy Pearce have very small but critical roles. As always, they are both perfect. This movie is obviously, not for everybody. There are plenty of disturbing images that will stay with you long after you leave the theater. Not giving characters names, usually annoying to me, works in this movie. My one complaint, too much unnecessary voice-over. Ugh.