Our Idiot Brother, The Future, Magic Trip, and THE HELP revisited

I got a second chance to view THE HELP this week, and I will confess that last week I may have been too close having listened (on book tape) to the book so recently. I remember thinking about what was there and not there during the first viewing (a lot of details and extended relationship scenes, and some minor albeit entertaining scenes like the naked drunk man in Celia's backyard, etc) so that the cinematic experience was compromised, and I was not thinking in terms of whether the film really works as a film. The film works very well on second thought, without being condescending, laborious or petty. The actors are spot on, without much obnoxious caricature or shallowness. Even the over the top evilness of Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly seemed rather tempered on second viewing--her sneering grin seems to mask the insecurity she has as a supposed woman of stature in 1963 Jackson Mississippi. I've never been too fond of her roles (especially the horrid LADY IN THE WATER) but she does have a certain haughty presence in her last role HEREAFTER from last year, and in her next role, the upcoming 50/50. The reliable Sissy Spacek as Missus Walters is quite entertaining as Hilly's demented mother, and Octavia Spencer pulls off a potentially stereotypical role as the wise-cracking maid who becomes a life-saver to an unexpected character. I really like this movie--it has a chance to be one of the top movies of the year, and I recently upgraded THE HELP from a B to a......B+

Amazingly, 47 years after the road trip, home movies from the Ken Kesey bus tour he took with assorted friends featuring hipsters Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary and others, has been turned into an entertaining, lucid (!), fascinating documentary which really captures the times and would be potential of the drug culture, hippies, free love and the "beat" generation. If nothing else, MAGIC TRIP: KEN KESEY'S SEARCH FOR A KOOL PLACE shows how rather uneventful watching a dozen people tripping on LSD at a mountain lake can really be. GRADE--------B+

Speaking of trips, the new Miranda July film called THE FUTURE, is here to take audiences to a place they probably have never been before. Several years ago, her first film ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (2005) caused a stir at the opening night of SIFF with it's depiction of adolescent sexuality. It was still considered a provocative view of loneliness and alienation in people of all ages but very accessible due to the black humor. THE FUTURE continues with the alienation themes, but adds a bit of sci-fi (the ability to stop time) and is narrated by Paw Paw the injured cat--no kidding. It is not as ambitious as ME AND YOU...--July and Hamish Linklater play look alike lovers who decide to take a break from each other, but for those who are into her creativity and deadpan humor, this is a thoughtful and sad experience. This film really DIVIDED (as in Loved it or Hated it)the audiences at the recent SIFF. GRADE----------B

For nearly 20 minutes into the new "comedy" called OUR IDIOT BROTHER, I thought this movie was going to be a (stink) bomb--so leisurely and unfunny was the set-up. But I soon got into the pacing, and the story catches on. Paul Rudd plays a simple yet idealistic "organic farmer" (read: want to be hippie) who sells pot to a cop in uniform (no kidding) because he wants to be a nice guy. After his prison term, he moves around to the sofa's of his mother and three sisters (nicely played by Shirley Knight, Elizabeth Banks-who looks a lot like Parker Posey in this role-- Emily Mortimer and Zooey Deschannel) Unfortunately, his penchant for truth telling (as opposed to lying in any circumstance) gets him into a lot of trouble with his sisters and their families. This is a likable, low-key comedy-drama, and if you don't go in with high, knee slapping expectations, you will enjoy this modest little film. GRADE-----------B-
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The only DVD I watched this week was from last year, called EASY "A" (2010) which features the charming Emma Stone, who is on a big BIG roll this year with delightful turns in top movies like THE HELP (see above) and CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (see previous blogs). This is a (sometimes way to) clever story about a high school girl who does a gay friend a favor by pretending to have sex with him in a very public way, thereby saving him from homophobic attacks, and keeping her from being known as an inexperienced virgin. Of course, things get out of hand, and although I didn't believe but half of the premise (do high school kids really talk like that?), the cast (including funny turns by Lisa Kudrow, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, Malcolm McDowell and Amanda Bynes) has a LOT OF FUN. and so will you. GRADE------B

THE HELP and WHISTLEBLOWER, plus Troy Donahue!

It may be hard to watch due to its graphic (at times) subject matter (sex-trafficking) but there are a lot of other reasons THE WHISTLE BLOWER works so well, including crackling dynamic direction by Larysa Kondracki, a sharp probing script and a terrific lead in Rachel Weisz as a Nebraska cop who takes a job as a peace keeper in post war Bosnia only to find herself in the middle of a sex-slave/human trafficking scandal that reaches into all directions, including the United Nations. Though it is based on a possibly familiar true story, the film is riveting and very fascinating as it details the frustration and paranoia that engulfs the seemingly only "honest" person to be working for this peace keeping mission. This is the type of film that will make you want to look up more information about this scandalous affair. With Vanessa Redgrave, David Straithairn and Monica Bellucci in the cast, all very fine, this thriller will keep you awake, perhaps for days. Winner of best picture and direction at SIFF 2011. GRADE--------A-

I listened to the book tape of the popular bestseller THE HELP just one week before the film recently opened nationwide, so the book was quite fresh in my mind when I watched it last week, and I'm relieved to report that the film version captures most of the main plot points of the novel and captures the spirit and characters of the book quite nicely. The major changes are mostly minor, but I missed the extended relationship with Skeeter's political boyfriend, and her mother's illness is downplayed quite a bit. Many of the plot points have been dramatically rearranged. Especially effective is the "surprise" church meeting, now a more effective "ending." The POV is also (wisely I think) focused on Aibilene (instead of the three women which included Skeeter and Minny), the African-American maid who starts relating her experiences of working for white women, which the white liberal Skeeter wants to write about, at great danger to the other maids, since the time is the early 1960's when "Jim Crow" laws rule behavior, and civil rights is just starting to boil in Mississippi and other southern states. The casting is excellent, and the actors are very impressive, especially Aibileen portrayed in an effectively subtle manner by Viola Davis (who managed to steal DOUBT from Meryl Streep several years ago with just a couple brief scenes) and Octavia Spencer who portrays Minny, best friend to Aibilene, the good cook who's so outspoken that she is fired from many jobs. I also enjoyed the naive Celia Foote portrayed by Jessica Chastain (TREE OF LIFE)and veteran Sissy Spacek, the demented mother of the stone hearted socialite Hilly, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Emma Stone also shines as Skeeter, another fine role for her this year---see CRAZY STUPID LOVE. Is THE HELP as great as the novel? Perhaps not, but it is still a pleasure to read and to watch. GRADE----------B+

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DVD choices this week from the library included two films starring Troy Donahue and directed by the master of soap, Delmer Daves. The first film, PARRISH (1960) is based on a soap-novel and features Troy as a golden boy who accepts work on a tobacco farm (in Connecticut !?!)) which seems to have an abundance of young single woman who all flock to him, including a sympathetic Connie Stevens as the "slut", Diane McBain as the haughty rich girl of his boss, and Sharon Hugueny as the strong minded, independent woman who resists her psychotic father's power and control. The father is played with great distinction and fascination by the great Karl Malden who takes acting honors in this potboiler. In one of her last roles--as Troy's mother, the grand Claudette Colbert really captures our interest, especially when she unexpectedly teams up with the manic Karl Malden. The ending seemed a bit underwhelming, but it is a good solid watch. GRADE---------B

Entertaining for entirely different reasons--Troy Donahue plays a struggling architect (?!) student living in Rome, who hooks up with the repressed (librarian) and virginal (though not for long!!!!) Suzanne Pleshette (in her first major role) while fighting off the advances of his ex--- nasty rich girl Angie Dickinson, in the lushly photographed ROME ADVENTURE (1962). This film is great to look at, especially the travelogue like photography which makes Italy very appealing and nearly totally void of tourists!!!!! Rossano Brazzi plays the older man who temps Pleshette, but Dickinson really steals this movie with her bad-girl lines and moves.Fun most of the time, and when Dickinson is missing, it's at least pretty. GRADE-------B

I was hoping that the low budget b/w drama about a troubled boy and his dog and the kindly priest (Cesar Romero) who takes them in, would be one of those lost undiscovered classics that slips under the shadows. It is rather unsentimental and straight-forward, and it is certainly watchable, but just barely. THE RUNAWAY (1961) still deals with the hoary notions of "all it takes is a kind word/dog/discipline/love etc" to straighten out the delinquency, and the ending is predictable. GRADE----------C+