Movie Review: Dear John

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, Dear John is so beyond formulaic, that anyone who has ever seen a romantic drama will figure out everything from the opening scene. Endless montages, beautiful faces, dreamy stares and a super thin plot will make you yearn for the credits. John Tyree (the very hunky model turned actor - Channing Tatum), a U.S. soldier, meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried - Mamma Mia) , a college student, while home on leave during spring break, 2001. It is love at first sight. John introduces her to his father (Richard Jenkins), an obsessed coin collector who’s suffering from, what appears to be, Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism. When the 9/11 tragedy takes place, John must go back to fight overseas and feels sad to be separated from the love of his life. He and Savannah promise one another that they will communicate through letters in order to keep their love alive. When John goes off to war; Savannah bonds with his autistic father. But after corresponding back and forth through many letters, she suddenly writes her very last letter simply stating that she has moved on with her life. Ugh! Ring a bell? This is what happens when you take sappy but moderately respectable source material and turn into an insipid screenplay. Even the young teenagers, who are the target audience for this movie, were laughing. Jamie Linden, (who wrote the screenplay for We Are Marshall - also not great), fails to bring any of these characters beyond a cliché. The one exception is John’s father (Jenkins). Time spent with him was the most enjoyable. Tender and sweet; we love this man. The film ends with every possible corny, mushy, contrived trick in the book to elicit tears. None of them work. And in case the director, Lasse Hallstrom (he did direct the fantastic, Cider House Rules), doesn’t know it, the audience can only handle so many montages before we start checking our watches. It runs for 1 hour and 45 minutes but feels much longer. Forget it. See The Notebook again if you’re hungry for Sparks’ material.

Movie Review: Crazy Heart

Lots of booze, lots of cigarettes, lots of one-night stands and lots of divorces: What does that all add up to? Nothing; except you can’t take away a God given talent. When given half a chance, that talent will rise again, to the top. How bad does it have to get before a person wakes up and says, “I want to get sober?” Where is rock-bottom? This is Crazy Heart; the story of a washed up, aging, country music singer/songwriter and dangerous alcoholic, on a long downhill spiral. Reduced to playing in bowling alleys and saloons with local teenage pick-up bands, he can’t get through a set without hurling out the back door. Between the alcohol and the chain smoking, you don’t know what will kill him first. Jeff Bridges, as Bad Blake, is so outstanding, so believable; he takes this old story, and turns it into a gripping tale. We all know Bridges can do anything. He was the President of the United States in The Contender, the rightfully paranoid professor in Arlington Road and a murderous husband in Jagged Edge (just to name a few of his exceptional and under-appreciated roles). He outdoes himself with this Oscar worthy performance. Scott Cooper, the director and screenwriter, does a remarkable job bringing the cast together and getting the absolute best performances out of everybody. Maggie Gyllenhaul, as Jane, Bad’s love interest, with her sad eyes, is tender and raw. She does something special with a very traditional role. She plays a single mom who takes a big chance on a beat-up, liquor-drenched, cowboy (very chancy indeed, for her 4 year old son). Colin Farrell, expert at putting his Irish on hold, does a stellar and perfectly understated (and uncredited) job as Tommy Sweet, Bad’s protégé, who has now far surpassed his mentor. Who knew Farrell could sing? I don’t think his agent knew. But he got up in front of 12,000 people at the Journal Pavilion in Albuquerque, New Mexico and did a fantastic job. Fun! Robert Duvall is right at home playing Wayne, Blake's longtime friend, in a movie that is very reminiscent of the one that won him an Academy Award in 1983, the flawless, Tender Mercies. Crazy Heart is an 'upbeat' version of the very very downbeat novel written by Thomas Cobb (co-screenwriter) which does not provide a happy ending. American moviegoers like happy endings. This is a little movie that does not need a big screen but it does lend itself to the intimacy of a dark movie theater. See it for the outstanding performances and the excellent original score by T Bone Burnett - the Producer and award winning songwriter.

Movie Review: A Single Man

Tom Ford, one of the world’s most famous fashion designers, who saved Gucci from the brink of bankruptcy, is in his element directing this highly stylized feature film. We could all guess the movie would 'look' good. But with a masterful screenplay (written by Ford and David Scearce), together with Spanish cinematographer, Eduard Grau and production design by Dan Bishop (Mad Men), the movie is not just good, it is great. A Single Man is a very genuine look at loss and grieving and the loneliness that can permeate a person's life when their heart has been broken. It is one of the few films to treat the subject of grief without manipulating the audience. For anyone, gay or straight, who has lost a great love, the portrayal of anguish in this movie is palpable. George (a never better Colin Firth) is so lost in his grief over the sudden death of Jim (Matthew Goode,) his lover of 16 years, he is oblivious to the fact that the United States is at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is October 30th, 1962. While George is putting his affairs in order, getting ready to take his life, the news that this country is in the middle of the greatest confrontation of the Cold War and as close to Nuclear War as we have ever been, is blaring over the radio and on the TV. We may all be reduced to a cinder. But rather then diminish his experience; it makes it all the more poignant and all the more painful. The movie takes us through his quiet but eventful day where even breathing for George, appears difficult. As he crosses paths with a beautiful student (Nicholas Hoult), a stunning hustler (Jon Kortajarena - wow) and friend, neighbor and one-time lover Charley (Julianne Moore), we get a seldom seen look into the depths of sensitivity of a tortured soul. Pay close attention to the scene in front of the Hitchcock billboard. It is breathtaking. It goes without say, this movie is not for everyone. It is unapologetically, about a gay relationship. Ford, who is openly gay, does not indulge our societal hang ups. Try not to miss it.

p.s. The movie, based on the novel by the same name, was written by Christopher Isherwwod and is loosely autobiographical. He dedicated the book to Gore Vidal, a devout bisexual.

Movie Review: The Lovely Bones

In order to fairly review the movie, I must first discuss the book. The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold, was no small miracle of a novel because it took subject matter that does not lend itself to beautiful storytelling and it does just that. The book begins with a chilling description of a horrendous crime; the rape and murder of 14 year old, Susie Salmon (“like the fish”). It then takes you on an unbelievable journey of healing, forgiveness, understanding, and moving on. Sebold describes the progression and transformation of grief for Susie's family, friends and the community she lived in. She reveals the odd friendships made and the relationships destroyed: the devastated father who buries his sadness trying to gather evidence, the mother who escapes "her ruined heart, in merciful adultery." She simultaneously brings to life an entire suburban community, from the mortician's son to the handsome biker dropout who quietly helps investigate Susie's murder. The novel is about "the lovely bones" growing around Susie's death as everyone goes on with their life. These are qualities and subjects that simply do not lend themselves to Peter Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) style of epic commercial movie-making. It is as simple as that. Caught up in the computer generated heaven he creates and the creepy, murderous pedophile, Mr. Harvey (played by an unrecognizable – Stanley Tucci), the whole point of the story is lost, and I mean really lost. And unless I fell asleep during some of the unbearable 135 minutes of running time, most of those poignant issues that are the crux of this story, are absent in the movie. The source material is turned into a serial-killer thriller, that’s not so thrilling, concentrating on Harvey’s next victim. The raw emotions uncovered by the voice of a child who grieves for her survivors, so beautifully told in the book, are no where to be found. Saoirse Ronan is unbelievable as Susie. Do you remember her as Briony Tallis in Atonement? She is something else. As for the rest of the cast: Sarandon, Tucci, Rachel Weisz and Wahlberg, it is simply a case of great actors (Wahlberg – not so much) working with not so great material. Sebold was not involved in the screenplay; a mistake. Skip it but if you have not read the book, read it. You won’t be sorry.

p.s. Alice Sebold’s description of rape was so bitingly clear in the book because she was viciously raped her freshman year of college. Her book, Lucky: A Memoir, is a fascinating and brutally honest recounting of her ordeal and the legal system which seems unfairly geared towards protecting the perpetrator. When interviewed by the police, they told her she was “lucky” because at least she wasn’t murdered and dismembered like the girl before her. Her experience was the inspiration for her writing The Lovely Bones and shaped the rest of her life.

Movie Review: The Book of Eli

Unfortunately, it is impossible for me not to compare The Book of Eli to The Road, a much darker, deeper and emotionally rich movie. In reality, the resemblance is only on the most superficial level. They are both post-apocalyptic with barren landscapes and gangs of thieving rapist, killers and cannibals roaming what’s left of our country. Both have their star making an epic journey to the coast. The Book of Eli will be a bigger commercial success for a few reasons. Denzel Washington (Eli) is, for the moment, enjoying rock-star status and the carnage in The Book of Eli is less horrific, flashier and has a crowd-pleasing, martial art-like quality. Eli can lop your head off with a flick of his wrist. He carries a big machete and a shotgun and he is very proficient with both. And we all know, Denzel makes a great badass (Training Days and American Gangster), even though in this performance he is very subdued. He plays a scarred loner whose main possession is a copy of the Holy Bible. The book is the target of Carnegie (Gary Oldman – a born movie villain), a tyrant and ruthless businessman who runs one of the small “towns” left. Eli is a prophet of sorts, whose only mission is to head West and deliver the book into the right hands. He doesn't know who those hands belong to but he is certain he will know when he finds them. Directors/brothers Albert and Allen Hughes don’t quite seem to know what kind of film they are making. The picture is deadly serious, almost to a fault, until a scene where Eli and his companion-in-action, Solara (Mila Kunis), must seek refuge with an older couple. Then the one-liners and comedy get thrown in. This is a truly remarkable scene featuring Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour as a very well-armed couple of senior survivors. As the artillery rolls up to blow their house to smithereens, her line about just having put out the best china is priceless. The movie manages to be entertaining in spite of itself. Look for Jennifer Beals (Flashdance), as Claudia, Solaras' mother. She is still beautiful. It is not a must see and even though these post-apocalyptic movies look better on a big screen, this one can wait for cable or DVD.

AWARD SEASON BEGINS

The Critics' Choice Awards, broadcasted last night (1/15), got it right; The Hurt Locker was the movie of the year. It was released before I started "Truly Madly Deeply" but it is, without a doubt, Best Picture. It was originally released in Italy in October, 2008, almost a year before it hit theaters here. It won the Signis Grand Prize at The Venice Film festival. I dragged my husband into the city during the summer to see it. Both of us left the theater speechless. The movie centers around 3 men who work on a highly specialized military team known as Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialists. Their job description:

"The Army's preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts. They are Warriors who are properly trained, equipped, and integrated to attack, defeat, and exploit unexploded ordnance (UXO), improvised explosive devices (IED), chemical, biological, and nuclear ordnance and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). EOD Warriors are the culmination of the best tactical and technical training the Army and civilian academia can provide. They are prepared to perform missions in support of Army units worldwide, across all operational environments. EOD Specialists perform duties locating, identifying, rendering safe and disposing of foreign and domestic conventional, biological, chemical, or nuclear ordnance and IEDs; WMDs and large vehicle bombs".

Sound interesting? How about stressful? It's not for everybody. The movie brings you as close to this experience as humanly possible and although painful to watch, it is an aspect of war we have not seen. The heart of this film centers around Staff Sergeant William James, played by an absolutely brilliant, Jeremy Renner. James is an unrepentant adrenaline junkie who knows what he is and never puts his team in harms way. The obvious question of course; who else is going to do this type of work? With every mission you run the risk of being blown apart. It's playing On Demand and is available on DVD. Don't miss it.

The Winners of The Critics' Choice Awards:
Best Picture: 'The Hurt Locker'
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, 'Crazy Heart'
Best Actress: (tie) Sandra Bullock, 'The Blind Side,' and Meryl Streep, 'Julia And Julia'
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, 'Inglourious Basterds'
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'nique, 'Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire'
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, 'The Hurt Locker'
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, 'Inglourious Basterds'
Best Adapted Screenplay: 'Up In The Air,' Ivan Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Best Acting Ensemble: 'Inglourious Basterds'
Best Animated Feature: 'Up'
Best Young Actor/Actress: Saoirse Ronan, 'The Lovely Bones'
Best Action Movie: 'Avatar'
Best Comedy Movie: 'The Hangover'
Best Foreign Language Film: 'Los Abrazos Rotos'
Best Documentary: 'The Cove'
Best Song: ''The Weary Kind' from 'Crazy Heart'
Best Score: Michael Giacchino, 'Up'
Best Picture Made For Television: 'Grey Gardens'
Best Cinematography: 'Avatar'
Best Editing: 'Avatar'
Best Visual Effects: 'Avatar'
Best Sound: 'Avatar'
Best Costume Design: 'The Young Victoria'
Best Makeup: 'District 9'

Movie Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is not a good movie. The only question you need to ask yourself is: “Do I want to see Heath Ledger’s final performance”? Even if you are a Ledger fan, you may still be disappointed. The movie simply doesn’t gel and despite all the amazing visual images, it is impossible to stay engaged in the story. Ledger does a good job as Tony, the ‘Jokeresque’ scam artist but he is not nearly as good as Christopher Plummer in the title role. He is wonderful, as always, and steals the show with his portrayal of a magician/con man, with a fondness for gambling. He travels around an apocalyptic-looking London in a dilapidated vaudeville wagon. His motley crew includes his very beautiful daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole – who looks just like my friends daughter, Ariel), his tiny sidekick, Percy (Verne Troyer -Mini-Me – the most entertaining person in the film) and what do they do? I couldn’t tell. Parnassus is an outcast who has an extraordinary power; he can project people into their own imagination once they step through his magic mirror. The fascinating journey always ends with a choice which can lead to good or bad. Parnassus, the incorrigible gambler that he is, has his own problems. Having won a wager with the Devil, Mr. Nick (the actor/singer/songwriter-Tom Waits) he has made two successive Faustian deals. Granted immortality first and eternal youth next, he agreed to deliver his first-born when she reaches the age of 16. And now that she is only days away from that fateful age, the Devil is already prowling in the vicinity. But the movie always feels disjointed.
Terry Gillian, the writer/director, does one thing extraordinarily well; he is very resourceful in his cover up of the death of Ledger mid filming. He recruits Johnny Depp (who looks remarkably like him), Jude Law and Collin Ferrell to play the alter-ego versions of Ledger. Gilliam turns what could be potentially morbid, into a group tribute that actually works in the context of the film's universe. Once you pass through the Good Doctor's magic mirror, the movie suggests, you could turn into anyone. Gillian’s love for Monty Python is blatantly obvious with his twisted humor, acid inspired landscapes, bizarre creatures, well dressed devil and wisecracking midget. This is a very tough sell for mainstream audiences.
The end-credits dedication calls it "A Film From Heath Ledger and Friends," which reflects Gilliam's clever answer to a director's worst nightmare: the mid-production death of his star. Even Gilliam himself admits the movie is “a store of unused materials and ideas lying around in drawers from unmade films ... with no form as such." But it never lacks for something spectacular to look at: Monique Prudhomme's remarkable costumes, layers upon tattered layers and the gorgeous sets. Rent it or wait for it On Demand if for no other reason then to get another look at the work of the late, Heath Ledger.