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Reign
Over Me
Reviewed by Deborah Young
The latest film of writer/director Mike Binder takes its title from The
Who’s song “Love Reign O’er Me,” the last song
in the group’s 1973 rock opera Quadraphenia. Like the song,
the movie tells the story of a man in crisis, a man caught in a storm
of emotions that could destroy him or leave him stronger for having survived
it.
Adam Sandler stars as Charlie Fineman, a former dentist who lost his
wife and two daughters during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Since his family’s death Charlie has quit his job, grown his hair
long and become a recluse. He spends most of his time in his spare apartment
playing video games and obsessively remodeling his kitchen over and over.
One day Charlie’s former college roommate, Alan (Don Cheadle),
sees him leaving a paint store. Alan gets Charlie’s attention, but
Charlie doesn’t recognize him at first. The two men start hanging
out together, and Alan soon discovers that Charlie has changed. In addition
to being dazed most of the time, Charlie lives like a child. He aimlessly
rides his scooter through the streets at night. He listens to his Walkman
through a headset to block out thoughts and words that he’s not
willing to face. He also throws tantrums, seemingly without provocation.
None of this stops Alan from befriending Charlie though. The reason for
Alan’s loyalty is twofold: He has no other friends, and he feels
sorry for Charlie and wants to help him.
It’s easy to empathize with both men and to be moved by their growing
bond. It’s also easy to be amused by Charlie’s antics and
some of the men’s conversations.
Sandler uses his wacky expressions and his vocal drones and yells to
convey vulnerability, rage and a dry sense of humor. His character’s
unpredictable, explosive personality combined with Cheadle’s subdued
predictability provides the perfect counterpoint for a moving and funny
buddy flick.
Reign Over Me is the relatively rare film that encompasses sadness
and joy with balanced portions of comedy and drama. (R) Rating: 4
(Posted 03/27/07)
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Pride
Reviewed by Deborah Young
Do people really need another inspirational sports flick? No, but there’s
no doubt that people will always crave these stories of underdog triumphs,
particularly when the stories sprout from real life.
Like cinematic predecessors such as Coach Carter and Remember
the Titans, this film tells the story of one man who turns a group
of unprepared, challenged teens into a winning team. Pride is
based on the life of Jim Ellis, who in the early 1970s formed a winning
swim team at an inner city community center.
Terrence Howard plays a charming but flawed Ellis. As usual, Howard exudes
confidence, dignity and just enough hubris to make his character bearably
flawed. Howard flashes the natural smile of his, even when his character
goes through rough patches, and his enthusiasm and grace under pressure
seems to penetrate the screen.
Near the beginning of Pride a prestigious academy rejects Ellis
as a potential teacher. Clearly, Ellis has been rejected because of his
ethnicity, which annoys him, but he continues his job search.
At the unemployment office he learns that despite his impressive education,
manual labor is the only work available to him. So he takes an assignment
to pack up an inner city community center that has lost its government
funding.
At the community center, he finds a beautiful pool inside and a group
of restless teens outside. He cleans up the pool and then invites the
teens to swim there.
Anyone who has seen one of these inspirational sports flicks can guess
what happens next. However, the most alluring aspect of Pride
is not what happens in it but how it plays out on screen.
The young actors who portray Ellis’ team come across as thoroughly
believable. Like the young stars of the classic Cooley High,
these young actors convey first directionless energy (foolish exuberance)
and later a mature ability to focus on their desires and their futures.
As a result, this film is as uplifting as Cooley High is tragic.
It may be clichéd but it will likely satiate many inspiration joneses.
(PG) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 03/27/07)
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The
Last Mimzy
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Although the title and advertising make it look like a children’s
fantasy, The Last Mimzy is a full-blown science fiction thriller
that just happens to be aimed mainly at kids.
Based upon a 1943 short story by Lewis Padgett that was published in
Astounding Science Fiction Magazine, the movie is as much a social
commentary as it is a time travel mystery. (And in case you were wondering,
the connection with Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky is tenuous
at best.)
Newcomers Chris O’Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn star as Noah and
Emma Wilder, a brother and sister whose lives are in for a big change.
Mother Jo (Nip/Tuck’s Joely Richardson) is a bit of a worrywart
and dad David (Tim Hutton from The Good Shepherd) has work duties
that often keep him at a distance from his family.
One day at the family’s ocean side retreat near Seattle, they stumble
upon a mysterious black box. It’s filled with strange, noise-making
objects including a stuffed rabbit that Emma dubs Mimzy. As it turns out,
Mimzy is a robotic emissary from the future on an important mission to
save the planet.
Of course, Noah and Emma keep this all a secret from their parents. But
some changes take place that mom and dad can’t help but notice.
Suddenly Noah, a heretofore-struggling student, is imbued with strong
intellect. He figures out how to manipulate spiders through the use of
sound waves. Emma manipulates some enigmatic rocks from the box and discovers
that she can levitate.
A power burst from one of the bizarre objects causes the entire city
to go into a blackout, so an official from Homeland Security named Nathanial
Broadman (Michael Clarke Duncan from Sin City) tracks the burst
to the Wilder family home and brings in an invading force of G-men.
There are a lot of things going on in The Last Mimzy that are
never adequately explained but they don’t necessarily detract from
the proceedings. While the kids probably won’t understand the implications
of the time travel story, the visuals and kid-centric filmmaking should
keep them involved.
Bob Shaye (the founder and CEO of New Line Cinema) chose this project
as his first directorial effort in 17 years, and he shows a few signs
of rustiness in his technique. Still, he manages to make the most of a
screenplay that has an awful lot of fingerprints on it.
The Last Mimzy’s charms may be modest, but they’re
charms nonetheless. (PG) Rating: 3 (Posted 03/23/07) |
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Shooter
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
If you took The Manchurian Candidate and mixed in a heaping
helping of Rambo, the resulting movie might look a bit like the
new political thriller, Shooter.
Mark Wahlberg (The Departed) stars as Bob Lee Swagger, a former
Marine Corps sharpshooter, one of the best snipers to ever hold a rifle.
He left the service and has lived like a hermit since he and his best
buddy were abandoned as acceptable casualties when a military operation
in Africa went bad. His friend died, but Bob Lee managed to escape thanks
to his cunning and sharply honed survival skills.
Years later, Colonel Isaac Johnson (Dreamgirls’ Danny
Glover) contacts him at his cabin in the mountains. It seems that they’ve
uncovered a plot to assassinate the president and they need his expertise
to discern whether or not the plan is feasible. If they can get Bob Lee
to figure out the logistics, they can thwart the plan.
But that’s only how it seems. He reluctantly agrees to help only
to find out too late that Col. Johnson is part of the intricate scheme
and that Bob Lee has been set up as the fall guy.
But thanks to the very skills his military training afforded him, he’s
able to escape and try to untangle the plot and root out the real bad
guys.
The film is loosely based on Stephen Hunter’s popular novel, Point
of Impact, whose main character was inspired by legendary real-life
Marine Corps sniper, Carlos Hathcock.
Wahlberg is well cast in this tough guy role, ably handling much of the
extensive stunt work himself. Other cast members include Kate Mara (Brokeback
Mountain) as a woman he gets to help him, Elias Koteas (Zodiac)
as a dirty insider and veteran Ned Beatty as a corrupt senator.
But the movie’s lucky charm may be Michael Peña as an FBI
agent who ultimately comes to Bob Lee’s aid. Peña has appeared
in three straight Best Picture Oscar nominees, Million Dollar Baby,
Crash and Babel.
But director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) may have relied on
Peña’s luck too much. His movie has the structure of a solid
thriller, but it succumbs to its excesses. Not only are the villains far
too over-the-top to be credible, but also Bob Lee’s feats of superhuman
daring-do are so far-fetched that they may elicit laughs instead of thrills.
Although it is often entertaining, Shooter is a little too exaggerated
for its own good. (R) Rating: 3 (Posted 03/23/07) |
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Premonition
Reviewed by Deborah Young
Remember that old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial that features
the collision of someone eating peanut butter with someone eating chocolate?
One says to the other, “You got chocolate on my peanut butter.”
Then comes the response, “You got peanut butter on my chocolate.”
Premonition is a cinematic version of the same type of phenomena.
Romance collides with religion and the supernatural in this sometimes
baffling, sometimes intriguing film. The Lakehouse meets Final
Destination here as Bullock’s character, Linda, senses that
her husband Jim (Julian McMahon) is about to die and attempts to prevent
his demise.
Every time Linda wakes up, she faces a different set of circumstances.
For instance, she lies down next to her husband at night. Shortly after
she wakes up the next morning, a police officer informs her that her husband
has been killed in a car crash. She then has a meltdown during which friends
visit (dressed in black) to acknowledge her grief.
She goes to sleep again. This time she wakes up and her family is intact
again. Her husband is alive.
The movie goes back and forth like this for a while with neither Linda
nor the audience aware of which set of circumstances represents reality.
The lack of clarity draws us in.
A very capable cast also draws us in. It’s easy to empathize with
Bullock as she runs around frantically trying to save her husband. McMahon
has little to do here, but he plays the role of a confused and concerned
husband to the tee. Young actresses Shyann McClure and Courtney Taylor
Burness as Megan and Bridgette Hanson also give convincing performances.
This film’s problem is its convoluted story line. The same thing
that makes the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup a hit makes this movie
a mess. Two great tastes may taste great together, but too many disparate
ideas in one film make for audience confusion.
As the closing credits rolled during the screening I attended, more than
one voice could be heard saying, “I’m lost.”
Those who try to make sense of this film will be confused. It’s
an entertaining flick that just doesn’t make much sense. (PG-13)
Rating: 3 (Posted 03/16/07) |
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Climates
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
How many films have you seen that explore human relationship in both
the sunny and snowy climes of modern Turkey?
That unfamiliar setting may well be the major draw for viewers of Climates,
a sometimes-wrenching drama about a particularly indecisive man’s
love life. It certainly can’t be the movie’s slug-like pace
that makes it seem like a three-hour flick instead of a one hour and thirty-seven
minute one.
Winner of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival’s FIPRESCI (International
Film Critics) Prize, Climates is alternately absorbing and frustrating.
When it works, it is stunning. During the long, long lulls, it’s
excruciating.
Writer/director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Distant) casts himself as
Isa, a middle-aged college professor. His girlfriend Bahar (played by
real-life wife Ebru Ceylan) is a much younger art director for a Turkish
television show. The age difference seems to be weighing on them both.
The opening shows the couple on vacation in a warm southern region of
the country, photographing ancient temple ruins for Isa’s class
and/or thesis project. His first question to Bahar is, “Are you
bored?” She may not have been, but the excessively long shots of
her in deep contemplation might make that a better question for the audience.
While lounging on the beach and dining with friends, the couple’s
low-key bickering makes it clear that there is trouble in paradise. When
Isa announces that it is time for them to break up, Bahar’s response
is initially quiescent. She later makes an irrational and dangerous move
that demonstrates that she’s taking it much harder than he is.
Months later, the lonely Isa is having second thoughts. He hooks up with
an old flame (in a particularly violent encounter that is clearly on the
edge of rape), but that rendezvous isn’t satisfying for him.
He then sets out to find Bahar, who is working with her TV production
team in a remote, desolate and wintry rural Turkish locale. Once again,
his crushing indecisiveness rears its ugly head.
This is clearly a smart, well-constructed and carefully acted piece.
The emotional impact that Ceylan is after is severely blunted by the achingly
slow pace and his insistence on those long, lingering shots. One can almost
hear voices from the theatre yelling, “Okay, come on…get on
with it, already!”
What could have been a riveting one-hour drama is, instead, a challenge
to the viewer’s patience. In a theatre, you can’t reach for
the fast-forward button. (No MPAA rating) Rating: 2.5 (Posted 03/16/07) |
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I
Think I Love My Wife
Reviewed by Deborah Young
Boys will be boys. It’s a common expression in America. Beneath
the expression lies the belief that men are simply slaves to their hormones.
That brings us to Chris Rock’s latest big-screen effort.
I Think I Love My Wife (a remake of Chloe in the Afternoon)
tells the story of a faithful but bored husband (Rock as Richard Cooper).
Richard is a successful and respected banker. His wife (Gina Torres as
Brenda) teaches for a living, and the couple has two young children (a
boy and a girl whom Richard adores).
The problem: Richard and Brenda have settled into a dull routine, both
in and out of the bedroom. Their lives consist of tending to the kids,
having predictable outings with their married friends, falling asleep
with their backs turned to each other, and then getting up in the morning
to do it all again.
Enter Nikki Tru (Kerry Washington), an old college friend of Richard’s.
She’s beautiful, unattached and a bit wild. She starts showing up
at Richard’s office everyday, and Richard starts to neglect his
home and family to follow her around.
“Will Richard abandon his stable life for this fantasy woman?”
That’s obviously the mystery that’s supposed to keep viewers
interested in this story.
However, it’s hard to be too interested, because it’s hard
to empathize with Richard. It’s difficult to understand how he could
contemplate leaving his wife for someone as crass and immature as Nikki,
even though she is physically beautiful.
Nikki sprinkles her conversation with the F word, lights up cigarettes
everywhere without regard to whether smoking is allowed or not. She doesn’t
keep her appointments. She unapologetically uses men to support her financially
and emotionally.
This woman’s list of flaws is so long that it’s difficult
to believe any sensible, mature man could consider her as anything more
than a casual fling (and a really sensible man wouldn’t even go
there).
Granted, Richard has moments of clarity and rationality, but his lingering
attraction to Nikki is a problem. To buy that he would risk everything
for such an undesirable woman is to buy that men really are nothing more
than helpless slaves to their sexual urges.
This is a Chris Rock film, which means there were some laugh-out-loud
moments. Unfortunately, the dialogue (with its heavy use of the F word)
is about as smart as a first-grade reader, and the characterizations of
both men and women are almost too shallow to stomach. (R) Rating: 2
(Posted 03/16/07) |
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The
Lives of Others
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Some eyebrows were raised at this year’s Academy Awards when the
German entry, The Lives of Others, upset the heavy favorite,
Mexico’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and walked away with the
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
While Guillermo Del Toro’s vivid fantasy is certainly a remarkable
movie, The Lives of Others may well be the better picture. It’s
an extremely well made and affecting drama that works as a political thriller
as well as a fascinating character study.
The story is set in Communist East Germany in, appropriately, 1984. The
Berlin Wall still stands and loyal bureaucrats are all too happy to tow
the party line. The Lives of Others focuses on a secret service
agent whose life is forever changed by a wiretapping assignment.
Ulrich Mühe plays Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, a captain in the feared
East German secret service, Stasi. Hard-line and seemingly emotionless,
Wiesler is the type of fellow that makes Dick Cheney seem warm by comparison.
He’s able to manipulate and coerce admissions of guilt from anyone
unfortunate enough to attract suspicion.
He’s assigned to eavesdrop on a noted playwright named Georg Dreyman
(Sebastian Koch). Although the party has given its seal of approval to
Dreyman’s work, a bloated and powerful minister named Bruno Hempf
(Thomas Thieme) holds him in contempt. It seems that Hempf is attracted
to Dreyman’s attractive girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina
Gedeck), a star of the East German stage.
The jealous Hempf pressures the butt-kissing Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz (Ulrich
Tukur) to find some dirt on Dreyman. Grubitz recruits Wiesler to bug his
apartment in order to come up with something — anything —
to pin on him.
After weeks of surveillance, Wiesler slowly gets involved in the lives
of his quarry. His professional reserve begins to erode and his voyeurism
transforms into something akin to concern. The richness of their lives
forces him reexamine his own…and he’s none to happy with what
he finds.
Remarkably, The Lives of Others is the first feature film from
writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Its script is dense
and the direction gives the film a feel that is both authentic and chilling.
Mühe, who has picked up numerous awards including the Lola (the
German version of the Oscar), gives a riveting performance, subtly conveying
the troubled soul beneath the ice-cold facade.
While Oscar sometimes makes choices that eventually come back to haunt
him, it’s clear that The Lives of Others is a worthy recipient.
(R) Rating: 4.5 (Posted 03/09/07) |
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300
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Thanks to success of Sin City (along with the advent of sophisticated
computer generated imagery) a new sub-genre of films has been created
that may as well be dubbed “cine-graphic novels.”
Graphic novels, like Frank Miller’s Sin City, have an
otherworldly look that, heretofore, the movies have been unable to replicate
outside of the world of animation. Reportedly director Robert Rodriguez
used Miller’s comic book as a storyboard for Sin City,
imitating its look and feel by combining live actors with CGI sets.
300 is the newest member of this genre, yet another adaptation
of one of Miller’s works. Director Zack Snyder and his team of special
effects wizards have created a visually arresting film that transports
audiences into the alternate universe of comic book historical revisionism.
300 tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
In that famous engagement, the King of Sparta and a small band of warriors
held of an invading horde of Persians with strategic cunning and sheer
determination.
Gerard Butler (The Phantom of the Opera) stars as King Leonidas,
the leader of the “free” people of Sparta. Raised to be a
fearless warrior from childhood, Leonidas was as much a forged weapon
as any metal spear.
While still a small child, the scrappy Leonidas was able to defeat a
wolf by luring the attacking creature into a mountainside crevice where
its size and strength advantage could be neutralized. That lesson in strategy
would pay off for him later in life.
The vast and undefeatable army of Persian God-King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro
from TV’s Lost) is on its way to cut a swath through Greece.
Because of the duplicitous machinations of a Spartan council member named
Theron (Dominic West from Hannibal Rising), Leonidas is unable
to get permission from the Spartan council to have the army defend the
land.
Leonidas takes 300 of his finest soldiers to handle the battle on their
own.
The action that follows is a violent bloodbath that can only exist in
a world where the laws of physics are very different from those we’ve
come to know. It’s carnage as art.
Director Snyder (The Dawn of the Dead) understands that this
is all about the “look,” and this is the movie’s undeniable
strength. In a strange way, it is also what works against it.
There are two worlds in this movie. One is Sparta, the struggling democracy
that seems like a real place. The other is the battlefield where anything
can happen. Because the visuals remind us that this isn’t reality,
it can’t create a sense that the protagonist and his allies are
ever in any peril. That emotional disconnect blunts the film’s impact.
But it is still an impressive visual experience, and that’s the
only way it can be appreciated. (R) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 03/09/07) |
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Miss
Potter
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Like the storybooks written by its subject, the new biopic Miss Potter
is pretty and sweet. Sadly, it’s also as stiff as the proverbial
English upper lip.
Texas-born Rene Zellweger revives the English accent she struggled with
in Bridget Jones’ Diary, adding an upscale edge to play
Beatrix Potter, the creator of the ever-popular Peter Rabbit
stories.
Turn of the century England certainly looks comely in this respectful
flick that focuses on what made Potter unique. It wasn’t her writing
style or her graceful illustrations that made her stand out. It was the
fact that she was single, female and took care of her own business affairs.
That’s quite an accomplishment for a Victorian woman. In fact,
she may have been the personification of the changeover to the Edwardian
era.
But if the film is accurate, her independent streak wasn’t necessarily
self-imposed. She was unlucky in love and would have gratefully accepted
her reluctant family’s support for her writing endeavors. Her mother
and father mostly dismissed her efforts as a hobby and openly expressed
their disapproval of women conducting business matters.
Ewan McGregor (who co-starred with Zellweger in the fluffy romantic comedy,
Down With Love) plays Norman Warne, the powerless younger brother
of a duo of publishers. Assigned to the frivolous work of shepherding
Potter, he tirelessly champions her work. Not only do Norman and Beatrix
become romantically involved, but Norman’s sister Millie (Gosford
Park’s Emily Watson) winds up as her best friend.
The film also touches briefly on Potter’s love of animals, her
environmentalism and her struggles for sex and class equality. But mainly
it’s a portrait of a nice woman who was just stubborn enough to
get what she aimed for.
Director Chris Noonan, who hasn’t made a film since his 1995 family
smash, Babe, adds only the briefest elements of fantasy, using
animation to occasionally bring Potter’s illustrations to life.
(Potter’s penchant for talking to her creations raised a few eyebrows
back in the day.)
Well-known Broadway director and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. takes his
first stab at a screenplay here, and it’s as respectful and reserved
as a Victorian tea party.
The filmmakers ultimately rely on Zellweger to carry the movie. The popular
actress acquits herself adequately, but one wonders if the part shouldn’t
have gone to the brilliant and underutilized Watson instead. Sadly, she’s
not a box office draw.
Aimed at adults, the lightweight Miss Potter is both likable
and forgettable. (PG) Rating: 3 (Posted 03/09/07) |
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Gray
Matters
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Okay, let’s try to be fair about this. Gay people deserve phony,
poorly written romantic comedies, too.
Awkward and artificial, Gray Matters is the kind of rom-com
that Sandra Bullock would have passed on regardless of the sexual orientation
factor. But its pervasive cheeriness prevents it from becoming a painful
cinematic experience.
Heather Graham (Boogie Nights) stars as Gray, an advertising
executive for a hip, edgy New York agency. Although she’s smart,
pretty and successful, she still lives with her brother Sam, a surgical
intern played by Tom Cavanaugh (TV’s Ed).
Best friends and nearly inseparable, Gray and Sam love to ballroom dance
and talk about old movies from the 1940s. But these thirtysomethings have
little luck in romance.
In an attempt to rectify the problem, Gray and Sam borrow a dog to meet
singles in a Manhattan dog park. Sure enough, they meet a gorgeous woman
named Charlie (Bridget Moynahan from I, Robot) who is a newcomer
to the city. In typical romantic comedy style, Sam and Charlie meet cute
and its love at first sight.
They decide to run off to Vegas and get hitched after only knowing one
another for a few days. The want Gray to be the maid of honor and the
trio jumps on a plane for Sin City. Gray, of course, thinks that Sam and
Charlie are jumping the gun and she tries to dissuade them from making
this rash decision.
But their minds are made up. On a girls’ night out before the wedding,
Gray and Charlie have a bit too much to drink and, when they get back
to their hotel room, begin to kiss. Charlie is too drunk to realize what’s
happening, but Gray is mortified. She comes to the realization that she’s
a lesbian and that she’s in love with her brother’s fiancée.
Gray confides her fears to her eccentric therapist (In the Bedroom’s
Sissy Spacek), but doesn’t tell her brother or her best friend,
Carrie (Saturday Night Live’s Molly Shannon). The most
help she gets is from a Scottish cab driver named Gory that she’s
befriended, played by Alan Cumming (Sweet Land).
All of the melodramatic elements of the movie are handled in the most
featherweight manner. If there is a moral to the story, it’s that
people should just be encouraged to be themselves no matter what.
Novice writer/director Sue Kramer obviously loves old Hollywood because
her script is chock full of references to other, better flicks. While
Gray Matters is innocuous, you’d be better off checking
out the real thing on Turner Classic Movies. (PG-13) Rating: 2 (Posted
03/09/07) |
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Believe
in Me
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
“Inspirational” sports flicks are a popular movie genre.
In the last year alone we’ve seen titles like Invincible,
Gridiron Gang, We Are Marshal, Facing the Giants
and Glory Road.
Believe in Me can be added to that growing list. A well-intentioned
family film based on a true story, its cheerful enthusiasm helps overcome
some of its obvious flaws.
If nothing else, Believe in Me serves as a cinematic salute to a gentleman
who served as a mentor and positive influence to many folks in the Sooner
State. While it’s a fictional account, it parallels the life of
legendary coach Jim Keith.
Jeffrey Donovan (Hitch) plays Clay Driscoll, a young and ambitious
basketball coach who arrives in the small town of Middleton, Oklahoma
in the 1960s in order to take over a high school hoops program. He takes
along his long-suffering wife, Jean (Samantha Mathis from The Punisher)
whose main ambition is to start a family.
Upon arrival, he meets the town boss named Ellis Brawley, played by Bruce
Dern (The Astronaut Farmer) in full-force villainy mode. A rancher,
banker and head of the school board, Brawley runs everything in the county.
He informs Clay that he’s given the position of boy’s basketball
coach to “someone more qualified.”
But Clay is given an option. He’s offered the job of coaching the
Lady Cyclones…the girl’s team. Of course, this is rural Bible
Belt country in the 1960s where women’s sports is either looked
upon with disdain or, at best, simply tolerated.
At first, he balks. But financial pressures force his hand and he reluctantly
takes on the hapless girls’ team, assuming it to be a temporary
position. The team he takes on lacks the most fundamental skills and has
to use hand-me-down men’s uniforms and equipment. (Hey, this was
long before Title 9.)
Plus, the girls have family problems, self-esteem problems and money
problems. How, you may ask, could anyone turn this ragtag group into a
winning team? (If you did ask, you obviously haven’t seen too many
sports flicks.)
Writer/director Robert Collector (whose last directorial effort was Nightflyers
in 1987) adapted the film from a novel called Brief Garland by
Newberry Award-winning writer, Harold Keith (Jim’s uncle). The screenplay
is a compendium of clichés, but they’re delivered with sincerity
by a likable cast.
Believe in Me is the sort of thing that doesn’t hold up
to critical scrutiny, but its earnest good will makes it hard to knock.
(PG) Rating: 2.5 (Posted 03/09/07) |
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Zodiac
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Those who are still creeped out about the recent news surrounding the
arrest of the BTK killer may find Zodiac almost too much to bear.
But brazen and methodical slayers like these fascinate us more with their
correspondence than by their inexplicably violent actions.
Director David Fincher, who explored serial killer territory with his
1995 film Se7en, now brings us Zodiac, an exhaustively
detailed account of the people who pursued the clever title killer who
began terrorizing the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s.
An extremely well cast ensemble presents the story of the press and law
enforcement officials who worked tirelessly to track down clues in an
attempt to bring the madman to justice.
Jake Gyllenhall (Brokeback Mountain) stars as Robert Graysmith,
an editorial cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. When
the killer begins sending ciphers and cryptic messages to the paper admitting
responsibility for local murders, Robert, a puzzle fanatic, becomes obsessed
with tracking him down.
But the main investigating reporter for the chronicle is a substance-abusing
hothead named Paul Avery, played by Robert Downey, Jr. (Fur),
and he doesn’t take Robert seriously. Only when Robert shows that
he’s picking up on a lot of clues others have missed does Paul begin
to listen.
The main cops on the case are Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo from
All the King’s Men) and Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony
Edwards from TV’s ER). These hardworking gumshoes find
that bureaucracy, red tape and police turf boundaries are their main impediments
in solving the case. These obstacles give them more headaches than the
ingenious killer’s clues.
The screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Basic) was adapted from
Graysmith’s book. The script crackles with sharp and realistic dialogue
and finds room for some welcome humor. While he offers up a number of
red herrings in this mystery, they’re always presented in an entertaining
fashion.
Fincher and his production crew manage to capture an authentic sense
of time and place. Since the story takes place over many years, Fincher
also uses some ingenious gimmicks to show the passage of time. One such
sequence shows a time-lapse film of the Transamerica Tower undergoing
construction.
Gyllenhall, Ruffalo and Edwards are all solid, but Downey stands out
in the kind of role he was born to play (and, in large part, has lived).
Talk about verisimilitude!
The only real problem with this extremely smart and dense film is its
length. At 160 minutes, it isn’t quite as riveting as it could have
been. A few edits to improve the pace is all that this disturbing and
intriguing film needs. (R) Rating: 4 (Posted 03/05/07) |
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Black
Snake Moan
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
The interesting thing about “The Blues” (the musical style,
not the mood) is that it can make you feel either exhilarated or depressed.
The same can be said for Black Snake Moan, the schizophrenic
and sordid melodrama from writer/director Craig Brewer (Hustle and
Flow). It is so over-the-top with its Deep South histrionics that
it is often laughable. At times, however, it has a sincerity that makes
it difficult to dismiss.
Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane) stars as Lazarus, a dirt-poor
farmer, and former blues vocalist and guitar player. Recently, his wife
dumped him in favor of his younger brother. To say the least, Lazarus
is in a foul state of mind.
One day, he finds a homely young woman named Rae (Christina Ricci from
Cursed) lying unconscious on a dirt road near his threadbare
farm. Drug-addled, beaten up and dumped in this rural area, Rae is wearing
only the slightest wisp of clothing.
Rae, you see, is a hardcore nymphomaniac who gladly fornicates at any
opportunity. Her sexual proclivities have led her to this sorry state
and Lazarus does what any concerned citizen would do. He chains her to
his radiator! He then takes it upon himself to cure her of her wickedness.
(This is what he only wished he had done with his philandering wife.)
The duo engages a protracted conflict of wills. Lazarus, who has little
to live for, is willing to sacrifice a lot to “save” this
wanton girl. Rae fears the worst, having suffered sexual abuse as a child.
Will these two lost souls ever come to a point where they can help each
other?
Things get complicated because Rae and Lazarus aren’t the only
people in this movie with problems. Rae, you see, has a husband named
Ronnie (pop idol Justin Timberlake) who just began a stint in the Army.
While Ronnie is off at boot camp, Rae’s raging libido has taken
over.
But as fate and contrived plot machinations would have it, Ronnie is
drubbed out of the service for some serious mental problems of his own
and returns to town looking for his wayward wife, handgun in tow. (Hey,
don’t blame the messenger for giving too much away. All of this
is in the trailer!)
While the movie is absurd and sleazy, it is never boring. It also has
a great blues soundtrack that allows Jackson an opportunity to get in
a few licks of his own. Much of the acting is overwrought, but Timberlake
shows some surprisingly impressive chops.
Just like music it celebrates, Black Snake Moan has some blue
devils of its own. (R) Rating: 3 (Posted 03/05/07) |
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Inland
Empire
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
The key to enjoying a David Lynch movie is to NOT get too caught up in
trying to decipher what its all about. Yes, Lynch probably has an idea,
but whatever he’s trying to say isn’t nearly as interesting
as the way he says it.
His latest foray into the absurd and the eerie is Inland Empire,
a 172-minute, shot-on-video creepfest. It plays a bit like a nightmare
on mushrooms. Reportedly, he wrote it as he went along and it certainly
plays that way.
The subtitle, “A Woman in Trouble” says it all. Laura Dern
(Wild at Heart) plays an actress named Nikki Grace. She lands
a big role in a Hollywood melodrama called On High in Blue Tomorrows.
What she doesn’t know is that the screenplay, in its original form,
was a Polish production that had to be shut down because the stars were
murdered. A mysterious curse now haunts this script and Nikki finds out
about it all too late.
That’s about as much linear plot as you’re going to get here.
The rest is all an exploration of the dark inner workings of Lynch’s
subconscious.
As the film progresses, we’re introduced to parallel universe subplots
that fold back and intertwine with the one we’re grounded in. Lynch
keeps you guessing, though, making it impossible to know where the truth,
if there is any, actually lies.
Other actors onboard include Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive)
as Nikki’s co-star, Devon Berk. Jeremy Irons plays the confused
director of On High in Blue Tomorrows, and Harry Dean Stanton
(The Big Bounce) is his mooching assistant. The underutilized
and nearly unrecognizable Julia Ormond (Sabrina) shows up as
Devon’s homicidal (?) wife.
No one in the cinema today can create a sense of dread and foreboding
quite like Lynch. The viewer is always plagued with the idea that something
bad is about to happen and we’re never quite sure what it’s
going to be.
As in all of Lynch’s films, there are the absurd musical moments.
One in Inland Empire involves a group of prostitutes who suddenly
jump up and do a dance to the tune of The Locomotion.
Say what you will about Lynch, but there can be no denying that Dern
delivers a spectacular performance. Brave and with a total lack of vanity,
she allows Lynch to submerge her into his madhouse. It’s a bit like
watching a contestant on Fear Factor lowered into a crate of
tarantulas.
Those who hate Lynch will have to forgive the rating, which is based
on an admiration of the filmmaking, not necessarily the content. Fans
of Lynch, on the other hand, will have another nightmare to celebrate.
(R) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 03/05/07) |
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Hand
of God
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
How’s this for a frightening double-bill? Start with last year’s
acclaimed documentary Twist of Faith and follow it with Hand
of God.
In the 1940s, the Bing Crosby classic Going My Way reportedly
sent people flocking to the Catholic Church. These newer films may have
the opposite effect.
Like Twist of Faith, Joe Cultrera’s Hand of God
is about one man’s experience of sexual abuse at the hands of a
priest. It focuses not only on the incidents themselves, but also on the
subsequent psychological damage they caused and an attempt to seek justice.
Hand of God conveys a keen sense of immediacy and intimacy,
largely because the victim’s brother made it. Access to family,
friends and home movies add greater depth to the story of 53-year-old
Paul Cultrera
In the 1960s, young Paul was an alter boy and dedicated Catholic, the
son of Italian Americans living in Salem, MA. There he comes under the
influence of a “cool” young priest named Father Joseph E.
Birmingham.
Paul is immediately taken with the friendly father, who drives a splashy
car with red leather interior. His family, who display undying trust of
the Church and its priests, encourages the friendship between the two.
But during confession, Paul asks for forgiveness for masturbation. Father
Birmingham suggests counseling “therapy” in his private quarters.
The naive boy senses that the priest’s sexual advances are wrong,
but dares not question his authority. Thus begins a long period of abuse.
Paul suffers emotional damage that plays out long after the abuse has
ended. Only years later does he talk about the incidents and decides that
he should report the abuse to the Church.
He finds that the Catholic authorities are not very forthcoming about
Father Birmingham, who has since passed away. In a clever move, Paul places
an anonymous ad in the paper asking about the priest. To his astonishment,
he receives reams of letters from men who were abused by him.
Through thorough investigation, Paul discovers that the church not only
knew about the abuse, but also covered it up and continued to assign Birmingham
to different parishes.
In between the home movies and interviews, Joe Cultrera splices unnecessary
arty shots like alter boy figurines being crushed by vices. While these
heavy-handed images don’t detract from the movie, they don’t
really add much, either.
What stands out is Paul’s story and the damage that Church authorities
allowed. With or without the arty flourishes, it’s a disturbing,
searing indictment. (No MPAA rating) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 03/02/07) |
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Mojave
Phone Booth
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
The movies, a medium all about communication, spend a lot of time talking
about the lack of it.
The latest example is a quirky, low budget independent feature called
Mojave Phone Booth. It’s also a textbook case of a growing
genre, the multiple storyline film.
The fictional plot was inspired by an actual phone booth that became
popular via the Internet in 1997. Because it accepted incoming calls,
the phone just outside of Las Vegas attracted folks looking for empathetic
strangers to talk to. The site took on mythic proportions, as people gathered
at the booth to chat with whomever happened to call. (The phone company
eventually pulled the plug when the Parks Service complained.)
Director John Putch (TV’s Grounded For Life) and writing
partner Jerry Rapp (Moving Alan) have fashioned a mildly engaging
drama on a shoestring budget (reportedly under $40,000). Four separate
but interlocking stories involve characters that have trouble communicating.
The first deals with the strange tale of Beth (Annabeth Gish), a young
woman with an obsession about recording tape. She sees the abandoned remnants
from tape recorders, video cameras and the like everywhere she looks.
As the technology is about to become obsolete, could this be the badly
timed effort of aliens to communicate with us?
Involved with two men and unable to commit to either, Beth’s insecurities
are compounded by the fact that someone keeps breaking into her car and
stealing her stereo.
Another story involves Mary (Tinarie Van Wyk-Loots), a young woman who
asks her friend Rachel (Jacleen Haber) for some financial help not knowing
that Rachel is a hooker. Rachel attempts to recruit her for a three-way
with a wealthy client (Steve Guttenberg).
The third plot thread has a lesbian couple, Alex (Christine Elise) and
Glory (Joy Gohring), who are at their wit’s end because Glory believes
an alien possesses her. The final tale regards a blackjack dealer (Robert
Romanus) who is suicidal over his recent separation.
All of these trouble souls find some comfort in Greta (Shani Wallace),
the enigmatic voice on the other end of the titular phone line. She acts
as something of a telephonic counselor.
While this multi-story flick never approaches the verisimilitude or depth
of the work of masters of the genre like Robert Altman or Alejandro González
Iñárritu (Babel), it has an oddball aesthetic sense
of its own.
Whatever the filmmakers intend to tell us remains unclear. Once again,
miscommunication reigns. (No MPAA rating). Rating: 2.5(Posted 03/02/07) |
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