I Am Legend, He Said

I Am Legend is an apocalyptic film that is up there in my ranking of this kind of film, but let me caution you I don't normally like or watch this genre. I went to this film because Will Smith is in it and I think he is one of America's best actors. After seeing "Legend" I again just wish the vehicle he selects was up to his talent.

I never blame a box office star for doing the "money" film. After all if they can make millions doing one film and continue to fill the mall theaters with patrons, it's good for the industry. But a guy with Smith's talent really owes to himself to leave a better track record than making green screen FX movies with make believe monsters.

His break out film in 1993 Six Degrees of Separation was note worthy and should have foreshadowed a career similar to Denzel Washington or Samuel L Jackson. Instead what we get is Bruce Willis. Sith has made action adventure film one after another with only the occasional pause for The Pursuit of Happyness and Ali.

The movie, I Am Legend, is breaking box office records. People no doubt want this stuff and Smith has proven he can raise the bar for the quality of this genre. I guess I'll have to content myself that I'm not going to enjoy the talents of a good, potentially great, actor until he makes a few more million to go along with the bunches of millions he already has.

Atonement, He Said

The critic's loved this film, but going in, all I knew is that it was a British film. I knew that because the a requisite member of the elite British film community was included, in this case Brenda Blethyn.

This film is based on a novel by Ian McEwan. This Romeo and Juliet tale takes place in pre- WWII England. The oldest daughter Cecilia, played by Keira Knightley is in love with son of one of the cooks. While the family approves of this young Robbie Turner, played by James McAvoy, to the point they have paid for his education, they are not ready to accept him as one of the family. Enter the fanciful, thirteen year old sister Briony. She has a crush on the older Robbie herself. He of course regards her as the child she is. when her visiting cousin is found supposedly raped Briony and the girl accuse Robbie.

When we next see Robbie he is behind German lines in France because his unit has been over run by the advancing enemy troops. He has bargained his way out of prison by volunteering for military duty. Cecilia has rejected her family because of their treatment of Robbie and is working as a nurse in London.

We see her reconciled with Robbie after his return and the confrontation between the three of them in the lowly flat Robbie and Cecilia are forced to live in. Briony admits her mistake and reveals the true rapist's identity. She agrees to confess and seeks their forgiveness, which is not forthcoming.

The end of this film will be no surprise to those that have read the novel, but the closing scene featuring Vanessa Redgrave is spellbinding for those of us that had no hint as to this outcome
This a wonderful film, well shot and constructed. The actors are well cast and competent.

I must give special attention to young Saoirse Ronan who plays the young Briony. You grow to dislike this young brat most intently. She is a mischievous and nosey little tattle tale, aside of course of being a vengeful liar. I've always said it takes talent to be an actor, but the most talent to play the bad guy. this young lady does it very well, which in my mind, bodes well for her future and requires us pay special attention.

Interview, He Said

Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Steve Buscemi. As and actor, he is fully capable of completing scenes in support or carrying a movie in the lead role. If you think you've seen him in a film you probably have, as his resume goes on for pages. He is a actor, writer, director and producer of excellent quality and breadth. Yes, he goes for the quirky and off beat, but he does it well.

What I don't understand is Interview, his latest film, in which he wrote, directed, and stared in. He and the talented and beautiful Sienna Miller are on screen for well over 90% of the time this film runs. He is playing the washed up political writer who has phonied his sources and taken far to many ethical shortcuts to merit the big stories anymore. Now he's reduced to doing celebrity pieces and "fluffy" ones at that. He obviously considers his assignment to interview a popular soap opera star as beneath him and it show in his approach to the actress, played by Miller. She correctly interprets his clumsy questions and lack of preparation as an insult to her and a waste of her time.

Events, as improbable as they are, conspire to bring him to her apartment and here the drama takes on a dark caste. His questions and probing take a personal and acerbic quality. She responds by trying distract him with every ruse in the book from seduction to tempting him with drugs. (I'm telling you I almost got sick watching them consume massive amountof drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.)

His probing and prying seems to get him damming information on her, but it needs fleshing out and admission. In his attempt to get her to confess to the condition of her life, he agrees to come clean with her on how his life is screwed up. The whole tale turns on the ending which isn't entirely predictable. The lesson taught might be that you have to know when and actress is acting or maybe you shouldn't be judging the quality of an actress. In addition, A Faustian deal with the devil will mean you're going to spend time in hell.

All in all this film is very uneven and not very entertaining. Buscemi's script gives us the ups and downs, oft times with no set up or warning. Motivation for the actions of these two are left to the most vivid imagination, which makes you wonder if your watching a social exchange or a stuck in shrinks office watch toschizophrenics exchanging personalities.

Margot at the Wedding, He Said

After you've seen his last film, The Squid and the Whale, you have to wonder what in the hell Noah Baumbach was thinking when he wrote and directed Margot at the Wedding.
"The Whale" with it's quirky but lovable if not frustrating characters is funny and interesting study of the dysfunctional family. This film with it's all star cast is just the opposite.
I couldn't identify with or like any of these people.

Nicole Kidman, playing the title role, is caustic and manipulative as the sister who comes home to save her sister from marrying a man, she judges is the kind of guy they rejected in high school. Jennifer Jason Leigh, playing the to-be-wed Pauline is happy and resolved to marry a guy she loves, but realizes is not up to her sisters standard. What becomes apparent is that there are other reasons for Margot's objections and those are at the heart of what is wrong with this film.

Baumbach's script swings back and forth between the arguments Margot puts forth why Pauline shouldn't marry Malcom, played by Jack Black. and their past family relationship.
It became apparent that the past loomed much larger than the present but we never get to see these issues examined. Hints about issues with a sister and mother who show up late in the film in an Hitchcock type appearance that you have to know about to witness are never fleshed out nor explained.

Forget the production values that are below what a teenager can do with a cheap video camera. Muddy dark interiors, washed out exteriors and unbearable sound track are an insult to the talent assembled to make this film. I for one thought the actors did a lot with very little and I'm sure they were disappointed with the result.

I'm Not There, He said

I'm not sure why this film was made other than it was an homage to Bob Dylan. My confusion comes from the fact that this film should have been made about twenty years from now assuming that Bob and everyone important in the story was dead. Instead we witness an amazing film that depicts Bob's life as told by six separate actors portraying different phases of his life.

We open with young Marcus Carl Franklin, Arthur, playing that part of Dylan's life where he is learning about music and his hero is Woody Guthrie. He master this folk form, but realizes that he is singing about things in the past. His genius is the ability to take the form and move the subject matter into the present.

Which introduces us to the phase named Jack, played be Christian Bale. Jack takes us through the early stardom phase to the abandonment of folk style music and the electric Dylan. This is followed by the mature married Dylan, called Robbie, played by Heath Ledger, who abandons his wife and children in the search for... well Bob never figured that out either.

The truly amazing performance is the International Dylan, Jude, played by Cate Blanchett. She impersonates Dylan without being campy and over the top. She shows us his shyness and at the same time exhibits his iron will in the battle with the press to box himself in and categorize his music.
This film is amazing in it's effort to poetically and artistically examine Dylan's career. I applaud the effort, but I'm confused by the overlapping and lack of continuity. I don't believe a story has to be linear in order to be accessible, but in this case we're experiencing the life of a person who did not live or experience flashbacks as another character. this technique bothered me and distracted the viewer from a great tale of an artist who insisted on being what he is on his own terms.

The difference in this effort is not only in the presentation, but as a I mentioned earlier, the timing of the release. Normally we want our hero's to be mythical. We want to know the good and worthy about them. We don't want to see the cuts and scars unless they are healed and can be shown to be character building. by mounting this story before Dylan is even finished his career is invite the kind of tell all reaction that might show our hero to be human rather than the giant we want him to be. Dylan is not a perfect human, but he is one of the great musicians of our time. And even though he might cringe, he will suffice as the Poet Laureate of his generation. Further, if his music did not inspire change, a charge Dylan leveled at himself, it at least serves to embarrass us into the realization that we haven't got the job done

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, He Said

If you've ever disappointed your parents, you need to see this film, because whatever you've done, you more than likely didn't killed them. But then not to many children ever think that getting out of financial problems might include the option of robbing their parents business.

Andrew, the older brother, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, has a lot of problems. In order to keep his wife happy, his drug addiction satisfied and his social image in tack, Andrew has been using his position as accountant for a real estate firm in order to embezzle money. An impending IRS audit, his growing need for drugs and suspicion that his wife is wandering leads Andy to solicit his brother Hank as and accomplice in his plot.

Hank, portrayed by Ethan Hawke is hanging on to his life by a thread. He is also working a the real estate firm. He is deep in debt because of a failed marriage, he is behind in his support payments. He has a serious alcohol problem and he is in love with a women, Gina, who he can't have because she realizes he is a loser. Gina, played convincingly by Marisa Tomei, should know since she is Hank's his brother Andrew's wife.

Andrew in the role of controlling older brother convinces Hank to actually do the deed. All he has to do is go to his parents jewelery store early in the morning when the part time clerk opens the store. They have both worked for their parents. They know the alarm codes, the safe combinations and when the cash will be at it's highest volume. All Hank has to do is walk in take the jewelery and cash and they are both home free. Andrew has already felt out a fence for the jewels and the cash can be laundered through the Real Estate firm.

The problem is Hank hasn't got the stomach for the deed and he recruits a thug, Bobby, he knows through his pub crawling nights. The next problem is that the part time clerk is off and the boy's mother fills in. Bobby doesn't know Hank's mother and during the robbery she pulls a hidden gun on him. She shots and wounds him. He returns her fire and wounds her. She shots him again and kills him.

When the boys their Dad, played by Albert Finny unite at the hospital where the mother is declared brain dead, this comedy of error's becomes a hyper physco drama.

I hesitate to call this dark comedy, because there is no attempt to make the death of two people humorous. However, the situation is so ludicrous and asinine that even Jerry Springer may take pause before airing the survivors of this trip on the avenue of disaster.

The cast is superb and the script is sharp, the story is riveting. Never has so much been invested in trotting out the potential for stupidity when men become desperate.

Reservation Road, He Said

In this thriller, we look at the capacity of man for revenge and the price of the silent burden of guilt. What is worse being a good man who is wronged and a good man who has done wrong? When Michael Dukakis was asked during a presidential debate how he would react to finding out his wife had been raped, the correct answer might have been that he would like to kill the perpetrator. Anyone would feel the urge for revenge, but we live in a society that believes it has solutions under law. The law, while not perfect, is better than each of us having to seek truth and justice on our own. Witness the tale of Reservation Road.

A family returning home stops at a convenience store. Dad, Ethan, played by Joaquin Phoenix, needs to shop and sister, Emma, played by Elle Fanning, needs to use the bathroom. The son, played by Sean Curley chooses to release some fireflies he has captured. During their layover, the boy is killed by a passing car.

The car is driven by an attorney who is returning home with his son. Dwight Arno portrayed by Mark Ruffalo is late delivering his son home to his estranged wife. He is driving too fast. As he swerves to avoid an oncoming truck, hits and kills the boy.

In a world that grows smaller by the scene. Ethan and Dwight cross paths. Dwight's ex-wife is Elle's piano teacher. Ethan hires Dwight and his law partner to assist him in his pursuit of the ht and run driver. Ethan has no idea that Dwight is the man, but of course, Dwight knows exactly who Ethan is.

Dwight is a tortured man. He carries the guilt of his failed marriage, his concern for being the proper father to his son and finally the knowledge that he has killed and run away. His pain is real and Ruffalo does an amazing job of showing us this pain.

Ethan is a also a man in pain. His pain is driving him into unusual and self destructive behaviour. He becomes obsessed with finding the killer, convinced the police have given up their pursuit. He is further incensed by Internet sites that play into his paranoid and pathetic outlook. He becomes remote, turning his back on his wife and daughter. His delusion leads him to accuse the wrong people and alienate him from the police.

Finally, Ethan figures out who the guilt party is and plots to kill him. The ending is not what you might expect, but is satisfying and realistic. Trying to figure out who is hurt most in this tragic tale of carelessness and fear is difficult, but like most great drama it's not who done it that counts. What counts is how you felt about an issue before the story is told and does it challenge your beliefs. The story doesn't have to change your mind but it has to make you think. This film entertains while it makes you think as you jump back and forth across the moral broomstick trying to figure out who, if either, is right and who is wrong.