What two things do BILLY ELLIOT (2000), THE HOURS (2002), THE READER (2008), and the new film EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE have in common? Most fans would know that these are the four consecutive films that Stephen Daldry has directed. Film buffs also know that all 4 have been best picture Oscar nominees. EXTREMELY...has had a lot of divisive reviews, and I went into it with rather low expectations, since the subject matter sends queasy shivers down many people's spine. Maybe it's still too early to digest the horrors of 9/11. But I found this story of a precocious nine year old boy's quest to stay closer to his dead father (Tom Hanks) by traipsing all over NYC a year after the WTC attaches in search of the meaning of a lost key he thinks was left by his father as a clue to the mind games they played together, to be just the right approach to some heavy emotional cathartics. His mother (played with restraint by Sandra Bullock) seems out of it emotionally, and he soon hooks up with an old tenant that rents a room from his grandmother from across the alley. The old man (Max von Sydow, a stalwart actor from Ingmar Bergman films)does not speak, but conveys more pain and understanding than anyone else he lives with. Together they search the city for a person named "BLACK" who may hold the answers to the mysterious key left from his father. The film definitely belongs to the genre of HUMANITARIAN, as many characters and events conspire to bring the child (engaging newcomer Thomas Horn) to some sort of closure about the death of his beloved father. One critical line complains that the child, some sort of intellectual savant, can't possible be so perceptive. Another rant has the story teller being accused of insensitivity towards the tragedy (as if there can be only one or two ways to respond...). Others complain that the story is too contrived, or too shallow, or complicated, or unbelievable. But the actors, especially von Sydow, won me over quickly, and I became involved in the mystery of the key, and the wonderful variety of the people he meets that become involved in his story, and he in theirs. I think that EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE has the emotional power to deeply affect a populace that is afraid to confront tragedy and afraid to reach out for help from others. There are many interesting scenes that deal with emotional pain and loss, and even though the film is raw at times, and a bit pat at other times, I think if enough people see this clear-eyed film, it could be the big surprise winner on Oscar night, even though it received only two nominations--BEST PICTURE and BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Max von Sydow. I, for one, LOVED IT. GRADE-----A-
Meryl Streep is the reason for seeing IRON LADY, the rather routine bio-pic of Britain's controversial Prime Minister in the 1980's, Margaret Thatcher. The film is set up as a memory/perception/fantasy/document-drama, which starts with a delusional, slightly demented present day Thatcher/Streep taking to her deceased husband (the amazing Jim Broadbent) about politics and past life. The film flashes back and forth in time, covering the bases of Thatcher's accomplishments. Unfortunately the politics seems rather tame and unengaging. HOWEVER, from the moment she appears on screen, Meryl Streep has you transfixed, whether she is middle-aged or elderly. I found myself absolutely riveted--I couldn't see Meryl Streep in this character at all. She totally engulfed the character in a compelling way, so that it didn't really matter what the plot mechanics were. As much as I enjoyed the other nominated actresses this year, especially Viola Davis from THE HELP, there is nothing close to Streep in the way she's got you completely in her grasp. Win or lose the Oscar, this is the FINEST performance in Meryl's incredible career. GRADE-------B
Based on a true story, THE KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND is a Norwegian film about a dark time in the early 1900's when delinquent bad boys were sent to a remote island reformatory to work under dismal, cold and cruel conditions, often involving beatings and assorted abuses. The uprising that this film details is handled with restraint and heart breaking realism, and it is to the film's credit that there are no easy answers or "jump to your feet" cheering that I'm sure Hollywood would like to include when they try to remake this compelling tale. GRADE------B
The Japanese film NORWEGIAN WOOD, based on a popular novel, is beautifully photographed and skillfully made, but there is a dull, deadness at the center as if follows the story of a young love, the two lovers having been thrown together by the suicide of the young man's best friend. When their relationship sends the young woman into despair and depression (she feels guilty for the death of her first boyfriend) and to a mental health retreat, the young man becomes involved with another woman. Both times I wanted to yell at the screen---"Run for you life, buster--these woman are very damaged." In spite of my disappointment in the film initially, 6 months after I saw it at SIFF, many scenes have stuck with me in a haunting manner. GRADE--------B-
Seen last summer at SIFF, the gorgeous looking bio-pic YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE had a brief run last week, which is about right, since the film is unremarkable but for the costumes and photography. GRADE-----B-
MAN ON A LEDGE tries hard to become more than a caper flick, with what seems like a suicide threat from a man perched high on a hotel ledge threatening to jump, but trying to incite the crowd and the cops that he is really innocent of the crime he was sent to jail for earlier. We quickly learn that his actions are a cover for a robbery of the rich man who set him up and sent him to prison. Unfortunately, the action rarely rises to elicit much interest, and we really don't care in the long run. GRADE-------C
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Some good DVD choices I viewed this last week.....
I've never before seen this classic Bette Davis thriller called THE LETTER (1940)--she made it at the height of her Warner Brothers career with director William Wyler,
with whom she was having an affair. The first jarring scene has her following a man out of her plantation house in Malaya, firing her handgun point blank at him all the while. She claims it was self-defence, but before long an incriminating letter shows up which puts her in the hot spot. Davis always excelled at playing really bad women, or at least larger than life women, and this is definitely one of her best. She's wonderfully underplayed, complete with crochet hook and horn rimmed glasses, but she shows real power with many pithy lines, especially the classic closer "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed." I read after seeing this that the production code forced a change in the ending, so that no one can get away with murder. This seemed like the least convincing scene to me. Still, it doesn't get any better with Bette. GRADE-------A
An entertaining biopic that premiered on HBO in 2010, TEMPLE GRANDIN is spearheaded by a terrific Claire Danes in the title role, with fascinating support from Catherine O'Hara, Julia Ormond and David Strathairn. It tells the true story of a young woman and her mother who struggle to give Temple the education she deserves despite struggling with autism. It is an endlessly creative film, which informs as it entertains with humor and drama. It won top Emmys for Best Picture and Best Actress. GRADE------A
I'd call it a guilty pleasure, but really, there's nothing to be guilty about here. This might be a case where the film version is actually better than the London musical play upon which it is based. I'm talking about director Joel Schumacher's film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004). I saw the play back in 1997 and couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about. Perhaps seeing the actors close up and personal really put a personal spin on it for me, and in the film the music and songs make so much more sense. The costumes and sets are spectacular, and the romantic conflicts really grab me. This is the third time I've seen the movie version, and I get sucked in to it every time. My small complaint: Emmy Rossum has a terrific voice, but not so much screen appeal, and Gerard Butler makes for a dashing and dramatic Phantom, but his voice is only fair, and Patrick Wilson's hair is distractingly fey. But hey, whenever I want a good musical score to go through my head, this is the go to film. (At least until December 2012 when LES MISERABLES comes to the screen with Hugh Jackman (Valjean) and Russell Crowe (Javert) and Amanda Seyfried (Cosette,) and Anne Hathway (Fantine)!!!!!--big question, can Crowe sing?????) GRADE-------A-
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten star in LOVE LETTERS (1945), sort of a convoluted love story where the bottom line is "love conquers all." During wartime, Cotten writes poetic love letters for his buddy to send to his wife. After the war, he looks up the wife, since his buddy has died, only to find her in an amnesiac state, since she's been accused of killing her husband. She's in love with the letters, but realized that her husband is not the man who wrote them. Of course, Cotten falls for her but many hurdles must be jumped before the happy ending can occur. Pleasant enough, with a surprising twist at the end. GRADE------B-
A French film called THE GIRL FROM MONACO (2010) has plenty of eye candy with beautiful actors and scenery set in and around Monte Carlo, but the set up--an older lawyer falls for an obnoxious, young party girl while on a high profile court case--just doesn't ring true. GRADE--------C
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