IRON MAN • FLAWLESS • THE VISITOR • MADE OF HONOR

Ratings range from "0" (watch TV instead) to "5" (a must-see).

Iron Man
Reviewed by Russ Simmons

Do we really need a middle-aged superhero? Does Hollywood really think that the teenage audience it covets will turn out to see a once-popular actor make a comeback in a metal suit?

The answer to both questions is a resounding, “Yes.”

Iron Man, the latest Marvel Comic to make the transition to the big screen, is one of the best superhero movies in ages and Robert Downey, Jr. (Charlie Bartlett) is sensational in the title role.

Under the direction of Jon Favreau (Elf), Iron Man is an exhilarating, pleasurable extravaganza that will finally end the box office jinx that has plagued movies dealing with the conflict in the Middle East. (Sadly, it’s taken a fantasy to do so.)

Downey plays Tony Stark, a self-centered billionaire playboy whose family business, Stark Industries, is an arms manufacturer. A successful part of the military industrial complex, the company has flourished by creating weapons of mass destruction.

Although Tony is an egocentric pleasure seeker, he’s also a brilliant innovator with a scientist’s curiosity and a razor sharp wit. Thanks to (or in spite of) his cheeky personality, his few real friends include his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow from Running With Scissors) and an Air Force officer named Jim “Rhody” Rhodes (Terrance Howard from August Rush).

Unapologetic about his role, Tony asserts that peace comes from strength. But when he travels to Afghanistan to demonstrate his latest technological marvel of death, he’s ambushed and captured by insurgents and forced to create one of his high-tech missiles for them.

But the wily American turns the tables on his captors by building a metal flying suit, impervious to bullets and equipped with plenty of offensive gizmos. After kicking some Afghani backside, Tony returns home and has a change of heart about his company’s contribution to society.

This newfound humanitarianism doesn’t sit well with Stark bigwig Obadiah Stain (Jeff Bridges from Stick It), and, of course, mayhem ensues.

Although the script is credited to eight (count ‘em, eight!) writers, Downey deserves credit too, having created much of his own dialogue. His cagey performance propels this action flick every bit as much as the first-rate special effects.

The abundant eye candy is seamless, too. We’ve become so accustomed to computer-generated special effects that any minor flaw is glaring. The work of the magicians responsible for Iron Man should impress even the most demanding viewers.

So, who needs a middle-aged superhero? Hollywood does and so do we. (PG-13) Rating: 4.5 (Posted 05/02/08)

Flawless
Reviewed by Deborah Young

In the late 1960s, I fell in love with a cunning jewel thief named Alexander Mundy. He was the jewel of the television show It Takes a Thief, starring Robert Wagner.

Writers of heist films would be well advised to create characters with the same winning elements as Mundy and scripts that create the kind of suspense and tension that It Takes a Thief generated. The best thing about Mundy was his charm, his cool under pressure and his superior intellect.

The major fun of watching that show was trying to figure out how Mundy would pull off a difficult heist. He’d go to work talking to people and designing his plan. The plan always seemed design to both puzzle and intrigue the audience. What in the world was he doing? And how would he pull off such a difficult burglary?

Flawless, the story of a heist in 1960s London, seems designed to create the same kind of audience intrigue. Instead of a young, charming socialite type, the thief here is an old janitor at the London Diamond Corporation. The inimitable Michael Caine plays the would-be thief, Mr. Hobbs.

Hobbs talks Laura Quinn (Demi Moore) into being his accomplice.. Quinn is the first female manager at the Diamond Corporation. She’s brilliant, but she’s been passed over for a promotion several times.

When Hobbs reveals to Quinn that her future with the company may be short-lived, she becomes a reluctant accomplice. Hobbs’ plan should be as easy as making a cake with a box mix.

But what fun would that be? So screenwriter Edward Anderson threw in a complication. The company installs cameras in every major corridor of the building, and Quinn and Hobbs must figure out how to get the diamonds without being detected by those cameras.

Unfortunately, not much of the action occurs onscreen. We get a couple shots of Hobbs running toward the vault. Then the camera cuts away. The next thing we know the diamonds are gone, Laura’s freaking out and a detective interrogating Laura.

Caine charms and mesmerizes as usual. But watching the rest of this enterprise is like watching someone churn butter for an hour and forty-five minutes.

Moore’s biggest function is framing the story. She appears in old-age make-up at the beginning and starts telling her story to a scornful young female journalist.

The action starts with Moore switching down the street to the jazz standard “Take Five.” At the end, we get the conclusion of Laura’s interview with the journalist and a twist that turns the tale from porridge to syrup. Then once again Moore switches down the street accompanied by “Take Five.” And we’re out.

It’s no fun to watch a door, even if there’s a mastermind behind it plotting the heist of the century. Similarly, watching Flawless is not the suspenseful roller coaster ride it could be. The fun of the heist is missing in action here. (PG-13) Rating: 2 (Posted 05/02/08)

The Visitor
Reviewed by Russ Simmons

The term “low key” is often used to damn with faint praise. It’s used in favor of “slow,” “ponderous” or “boring.”

The Visitor is not slow, ponderous or boring. It is low key…in the best possible way.

Writer/director Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent) isn’t the least bit interested in establishing a zippy, Hollywood pace. He’s interested in people and takes the time necessary to let us to get to know them.

McCarthy isn’t interested in star power, either. He’s interested in finding the best people for the roles he’s created and has assembled a terrific ensemble that brings his intimate story to life.

Leading the cast is Richard Jenkins (The Kingdom). No, he’s not a household name, but chances are you’ve seen him a million times. With The Visitor, this reliable character actor gets the best part of his 34-year movie career…and his first starring role.

Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a tenured professor at a Connecticut college who is nearing retirement. A widower whose only son lives in London, Walter is alone and spends his time tinkering with piano lessons and pretending to work on writing a book. He’s reduced to teaching one class per semester and is simply going through the paces of life.

Making a rare trip to New York for a conference, Walter discovers that a couple of illegal immigrants have taken up residence in the apartment he’s kept there for years. Thus begins an unusual relationship. Walter, the buttoned-down, emotionally repressed widower befriends a bohemian mixed-race couple…and his life is changed forever.

Haaz Sleiman (American Dreamz) plays Tarek Khalil, a gregarious, warm-hearted Syrian dreamer who fled his country for political reasons. His girlfriend is Zainab (Danai Guria), a Nigerian jewelry maker who sells her wares on the city streets.

Things get tricky when Tarek is wrongly arrested for jumping a subway turnstile. As an illegal immigrant, any contact with the law means trouble. Once he’s arrested, Walter does the best he can to help his new friends.

All of the actors are fine but Jenkins gives a subtle yet powerful performance as a lonely man whose icy façade melts in the glow of newfound friendships. His scenes with Tarek’s mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass from The Nativity Story) are particularly affecting.

With his second film, McCarthy shows that he’s definitely a filmmaker to contend with. He imbues his story with a strong sense of realism and an unhurried atmosphere that we usually see only in European films.

This is low key of high order. (PG-13) Rating: 4 (Posted 05/02/08)

Made of Honor
Reviewed by Russ Simmons

The characters that populate the romantic comedy Made of Honor have obviously never seen a Hollywood chick flick. If they had, they would have known exactly what was going to happen to them.

The target audience for this middling time-waster probably won’t care that the story is so clichéd. They’re supplied with the formula, attractive stars and a tidy ending they demand, so they’ll probably be happy.

Patrick Dempsey, Dr. McDreamy from TV’s phenomenally popular series Grey’s Anatomy, stars as a wealthy, attractive playboy whose freewheeling ways are ultimately tamed by a sweet-natured woman. (If that isn’t a classic wish-fulfillment fantasy, then there are none.)

Dempsey plays Tom, an innovative lad who has a way with the ladies. In typical Tinseltown fashion, he and a pretty coed named Hannah (Gone Baby, Gone) “meet cute” at a college party.

Flash forward ten years and Tom has made a fortune by designing the cardboard cozies that wrap around hot coffee cups. Hannah works as an art restorer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They’ve never slept together…and they’re best friends.

Tom is known for his one-night stands and strict rules about dating. He seems quite content to flit from one tryst to another. Hannah has resigned herself to the fact that her pal will never settle down so she’s successfully repressed any romantic designs toward him.

While on a work assignment in Scotland, Hannah meets a wealthy nobleman named Colin (Kevin McKidd from TV’s Rome). After a whirlwind romance, they become engaged. Hannah asks her best friend Tom to be her maid of honor.

Naturally, when he sees that Hannah is unavailable, he wants her. Although he agrees to be the maid of honor, he tries to figure out how to sabotage the wedding.

There isn’t an original moment in the script by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. The direction by Paul Weiland (Sixty Six) is workmanlike, if uninspired.

The thing that propels Made of Honor is its cast. Dempsey cuts a dashing figure and Monahan, who has a clean-cut, girl-next-door appeal, makes her cardboard character seem fully dimensional.

The supporting cast includes veteran Sidney Pollack (Michael Clayton) as Tom’s frequently wed dad, James Sikking (Fever Pitch) as a sympathetic reverend and Kathleen Quinlan (Breach) as Hannah’s mom.

The movie is immediately forgettable, but it meets the target audience’s minimum requirements. The makers of Made of Honor have honored their wishes. (PG-13) Rating: 2.5 (Posted 05/02/08)