There's starting to be a deluge of movie openings, and already I'm behind, but I'll do my best to get caught up on the end of the year. Here's whats been seen this past week.
Alexander Payne's last film was the superb SIDEWAYS (2005), and his new film, although quite different, does not disappoint. George Clooney stars in THE DESCENDANTS, and he really has a full plate of emotional issues to deal with, including being the executor of the family estate--a huge chunk of prime undeveloped land in Kauai must be sold or developed or something with in the next 7 years, and he must steer the large family descendants through decisions and legal choices. Also on his plate are two surly, angry daughters that he doesn't quite know how to deal with, and a wife who now lies comatose in a hospital bed due to a boating injury. Plus he has just found out that she was cheating on him. Well, his life is a mess, and it is fair to say that Clooney plays it subtly straight. In fact, the only bits of humor come from well meaning people saying something ghoulish about his dying wife, and the presence of his older daughter's stoner boy friend. Thank God for that, because otherwise we'd be leaving the theatre in an overwhelming state of depression. But the film is very smart in combining the tragedy with the humor, and there are many excellent scenes that get to the truth of each situation. GRADE-------A-
A film about baseball doesn't normally make my heart skip a beat, and a film about the finances of baseball was not high on my list of things to see, so maybe it was with low expectations that I saw MONEYBALL and found myself quite fascinated by the politics and maneuverings that make up the Oakland A's (true story) team in the 1990's. Brad Pitt gives an excellent understated performance as the general manager who succeeds in turning around the team with perhaps the smallest about of money to work with in the whole American and National leagues combined. This David vs Goliath story may not have the emotional punch as some sports stories--indeed, players were traded so casually and inconsequentially in some cases that the viewer grows quite numb to the notion--but the film is skillfully directed by Bennett Miller and acted by Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill (who provides a lot of deadpan humor) that it is a pleasure to watch. GRADE------------------B+
The always dependable Clint Eastwood has directed an engaging biographical picture that has a lot of engrossing details about that old rascal J. EDGAR Hoover, head of the FBI since it's inception (as the Bureau of Investigation) in the 1920's until his death in 1972. The film covers the controversies about his secret files on famous people he didn't like, his obsessions against communism and anti-patriotism, and his struggles to form a data base for fingerprints, and to reform the science of criminology. It also shows his efforts to find the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby, and his crusade to stop infamous criminals during prohibition and later. It also dispels some events that Hoover built up about himself. Some well known actors have portrayed Hoover in the past, including Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden, Treat Williams, Bob Hoskins, and Kelsey Grammer, but I think perhaps the most effective is the excellent turn by Leonardo DiCaprio in J. EDGAR. Unfortunately the film jumps back and forth between 3-4 time periods with what I feel was unnecessary energy, sometimes destroying whatever emotional truths that were being developed. The film also insinuates strongly that Hoover had--if not an explicit physical relationship--a strong emotional relationship/dependency on his assistant Clyde Tolson. In fact, the emotional center of the film rests solely on this homosexual relationship that seemed to last for nearly 50 years. In some ways, it is the strongest cinematic portrayal of gay love since BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN(2005). GRADE--------------B+
With amazing art and set designs, beautiful musical score, strong fluid cinematography and direction, and charmingly memorable characters (and actors, especially Sacha Baron Cohen), the new film HUGO by Martin Scorsese is always a pleasure to watch. But what bothered me about this one was the script, which at times seemed cloying and inconsistently paced. At later times I also felt like I was being lectured to about the greatness and importance of Georges Melies, one of the early great directors of fantasy (and special effects) films who filmed over 500 movies--most are lost today. Centering the point of view and story on a child, 10 year old HUGO, brings the expectation of a family film full of lyrical fantasy. This is really a charming, leisurely adult film, and I doubt most children except for older and more mature kids, will find much to please them. GRADE----------B
DVD Choices below......
I haven't seen it since 1977, but the film NETWORK (1976) has stuck so strongly in my mind that I anticipated every scene (and much of the dialogue) on this fairly new Blu-Ray dvd. The script by Paddy Chayefsky still crackles with wit, shock, sarcasm and truth, and unfortunately, nothing has changed much in network television. The actors have never been better---Oscar wins for Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Beatrice Straight and Chayefsky were well deserved, and William Holden, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty and director Sidney Lumet were all working at their prime. This is a contender for one of the best films of all time. (Oddly, it lost best picture that year to...........ROCKY!?!) GRADE--------A
Say what you will about the silly slapstick comedy IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963) but it is nonetheless a funny film if you are in the mood, and I think I watch it once every 5 years or so. This time I was especially impressed with Jonathon Winters as the bear of a man who can only handle conflict by knocking down a building or person.....the brassiness of Ethel Merman, who managed to keep a straight face while being insulted by nearly every other actor on the set.....the toothy Britishness of Terry-Thomas, who I used to think was boring......the absent mindedness of Paul Ford (see the cut scenes for even more laughs) who managed to get tangled in the microphone wires while trying to talk down a civilian in a pilot less airplane.....Jim Backus as the sleepy, drunk rich man.....and Jimmy Durante who kicks the bucket like nobody's business. GRADE---------B
I had recently seen Howard Hawk's classic western RED RIVER (1948) in the last couple years, and my reaction this time was---why is it so honored? The plot seemed to be a hoary collection of cliches-----John Wayne and his group leave the wagon train just hours before the rest are attacked by Indians, leaving behind his true love to be slaughtered. Later they come across a wandering (?) wagon train of what--circus performance, women, misfits---just as they are being attached by Indians. Wayne's mother's bracelet gets passed around a lot. Wayne acts cranky and severe, and the film echos MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY as his "adopted son" Montgomery Clift seizes control to prevent total mutiny. Then Wayne declares that he will kill Clift when he catches up to him. Who is he kidding, since they have declared their love for one another several times, and this has been noted by most of the other characters in the wagon train. And crusty Walter Brennan is Wayne's right hand man and cook, who gets to toss off the best lines through-out the film. I guess it's great because it is so damned entertaining in spite of the cliches. GRADE-----B
Preston Sturges THE LADY EVE (1941) has one of the best first halves of any comedy. Straight laced Henry Fonda falls for card-shark Barbara Stanwyck on a cruise from South America back to New York, and after a witty couple of days they fall deeply in love, but holding back her secret shady past (as a gambler) causes a misunderstanding, and they fight and separate. This is handled so very well with clever lines and humor, that when they do separate, it hurts us just as deeply. The second half has Stanwyck pretending to be British royalty to seduce and abandon Fonda in an illogical revenge scheme. It is all very entertaining and the leads are effortlessly charming. GRADE----------B
The year 1939 was a great year for films (WIZARD OF OZ, GWTW, GOODBYE MR CHIPS etc) but MADE FOR EACH OTHER is a bit disappointing, mainly for the plotting. Jimmy Stewart is a struggling lawyer and Carole Lombard is his just married spouse. They live in a small New York apartment with mother-in-law and new baby and pay cuts, etc., and the first half is comic and sensible. Then, on New Year's Eve the baby comes down with pneumonia and the only serum available is in Salt Lake City--which is being hit by a severe blizzard. Can the plane make it? Things really fall apart here with forced drama and hokey suspense. GRADE-------B-
I was hoping that the film THE BETSY (1978) based on the trashy novel by Harold Robbins would be good smutty fun. Instead it is laborious soap opera with a lurid sub-plot involving patriarch Lawrence Olivier (hamming it up in a fun way) sleeping with several women including his daughter-in-law (Katharine Ross) over the course of several years, all the while trying to build a new eco-logical car named after his granddaughter, Betsy, who likes to get naked with the young racer (Tommy Lee Jones) who also gets it on with the company boss'(Robert Duvall) mistress Lesley-Anne Down. Yes, it is all rather sordid and not terribly interesting, except for the fact that back in the 1970's the idea of a good car using very little gas was just as threatening to the big car makers as it still is today. GRADE-------C
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