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Untraceable
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Diane Lane is one of Hollywood’s most underrated actresses. Although
she hasn’t spent as much time in the spotlight as some of her peers,
she has quietly put together an impressive resume that includes fine turns
in films like Unfaithful and Hollywoodland.
It’s disheartening, therefore, to report that she’s also
in the contemporary thriller, Untraceable, a sleazy and violent
flick that tries to exploit common fears of the Internet.
Lane plays Jennifer Marsh, an FBI agent who works on a cyber crimes unit.
It’s her job to track and shut down Internet criminals who, for
the most part, spend their time stealing identities and racking up bogus
credit card charges.
But on occasion, they’re faced with violent criminals who use the
Internet to terrorize people. One particularly clever offender is not
only a computer expert…he’s a psycho with a grudge against
the media and law enforcement. Plus, he’s cynical enough to believe
that online surfers will help him commit murder.
Jennifer and her colleague Griffin (Colin Hanks from King Kong)
discover a website called “Kill With Me.” The site’s
webmaster has kidnapped a man, cut him, and hooked him up with a surgical
drip that adds anti-coagulants to his blood. As more people log on to
watch, the faster the drip works, hastening his death.
All of Jennifer’s efforts to trace his site fail. When a second
victim shows up online, more word gets out and more traffic comes to the
site. Like a demented Rube Goldberg, our twisted techno geek finds inventive
new ways to off his victims and make viewers complicit.
But things really get hairy for Jennifer when the killer involves the
FBI unit that’s trying to track him down. He manages to hack into
their personal information and attempts to make one of the agents his
next victim.
First time screenwriters Robert Fyvolent and Mark Brinker (with the aid
of veteran Allison Burnett) attempt to plow the same ground as The
Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. Unfortunately, their story
has none of the interesting psychological underpinnings that made those
thrillers so memorable. Even worse, their villain isn’t nearly has
compelling.
Director Gregory Hoblit, who made last year’s memorable thriller
Fractured, loses his way here. He follows a grisly, by-the-numbers
formula places Untraceable among the second-rate examples of
the genre.
But Lane’s world-weary performance gives the movie a big boost.
In spite of her presence, however, Untraceable is unbearable.
(R) Rating: 2 (Posted 01/25/07)
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There
Will Be Blood
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Perhaps our suspicions have been proven true. Daniel Day-Lewis can do
no wrong.
With his sensational performance as a soulless prospector in Paul Thomas
Anderson’s epic drama There Will Be Blood, Day-Lewis has
possibly cemented his reputation as our greatest contemporary actor.
In this loose adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ novel Oil, Day-Lewis
(The Gangs of New York) provides a riveting portrayal of the
greed and ruthless ambition of unbridled capitalism, embodied in a single
individual. There Will Be Blood is a brutal combination of Citizen
Kane and Giant…and squarely belongs in that rarified
company.
Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, a rugged individualist who, at the
end of the 19th century, sets out to make his mark on the world…and
do it all by himself. As he readily admits, he hates most people and would
prefer not to have to relate to them.
The film opens with a lengthy, stunning sequence where we see the lone
Plainview mining for ore. There isn’t a word of dialogue, so Anderson
communicates in a tongue we all understand, the international language
of cinema.
We follow Plainview’s continuing efforts to make his fortune and
he eventually turns his attention to oil in 1911. In that fateful year,
one of the handful of workers he’s hired to erect a well is killed
in an accident. By default, Plainview “adopts” the worker’s
son.
Although he becomes as attached to the boy as an emotionally stunted
person can, he ultimately exploits him in the same way as he does the
Earth’s resources. In his efforts to procure capital and drilling
rights, he brings the lad along claiming, “I’m a family man.”
Plainview’s fortunes change thanks to a teenager named Paul Sunday,
played by Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine). He sells Plainview
some valuable information about crude bubbling out of the ground on his
family’s California goat farm. Plainview manages to worm his way
into the community and buys up the mineral rights.
Paul’s twin brother Eli (Dano, again) becomes Plainview’s
antagonist. A charismatic preacher with ambition that rivals that of Plainview,
Eli proves to be an ongoing pain in the side. Their tense relationship
provides the movie with its central human conflict.
Anderson, who has proven his cinematic prowess with quirky films like
Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love,
plays it straight here, telling a direct, linear story, but employing
impressive artistry in doing so.
There Will Be Blood is a harrowing indictment of the dark side
of the American way, told by a visionary director and an unrivaled actor.
(R) Rating: 5 (Posted 01/18/07) |
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27
Dresses
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Doris Day starred in a series of romantic
comedies that paired her with handsome leading men like Rock Hudson, James
Garner and Cary Grant. As the joke went, she managed to retain both her
suitors and her virginity while becoming the biggest female movie star
of her era.
Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) fills the Doris Day role in the
old-fashioned chick flick, 27 Dresses. She plays Jane, a pretty,
smart and sweet-natured Manhattan professional who is always a bridesmaid,
never a bride. In fact, she’s been a bridesmaid 27 times.
A romantic at heart, Jane still loves weddings and happily saves all
of the un-wearable gowns that she’s been forced to don for the various
ceremonies she’s been a part of.
Jane is carrying an unrequited torch for her boss, George, played by
Edward Burns from One Missed Call. Unfortunately for her, George
has fallen for Jane’s attractive but manipulative sister, Tess (Malin
Ackerman from The Heartbreak Kid.)
A newspaper writer named Kevin, played by Enchanted’s
James Marsden, complicates matters even further. An avowed cynic who doesn’t
believe in marriage, he’s assigned to write an article about Jane
and her many wedding appearances. Naturally, Jane and Kevin butt heads…and
find themselves repulsed by and attracted to one another.
Yes, this is the kind of romantic froth that Day could have done in her
sleep. Fortunately, Heigl is an attractive lead who has the affability
that made Day a box office favorite.
There are plenty of predictably calculated “cute” moments,
like the time when Jane and Kevin get drunk in a karaoke bar and sing
“Bennie and the Jets” and when Jane dutifully models the ugly
gowns in her closet as Kevin adds derisive commentary.
Oddly, Aline Brosh McKenna, the screenwriter of the cynical (and far
better) flick, The Devil Wears Prada, is responsible for this
retro screenplay. Here, she eschews the dark edge of Prada in
favor of unapologetic sentimentality.
Director Anne Fletcher (Step Up) is best known as a dancer and
choreographer. (She served as associate choreographer and second unit
director on Hairspray.) As a director, she has a workmanlike
if uninspired touch.
In spite of the obvious implausibility, it won’t matter to fans
of the genre. They want to see good looking stars in a formulaic romantic
situations complete with a happy ending.
Like Doris Day’s playful output, 27 Dresses delivers the
fanciful goods. (PG-13) Rating: 2.5 (Posted 01/18/07) |
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Cassandra's
Dream
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
The world of moral ambiguity is one that Woody Allen is very familiar
with. When he takes a break from comedy, the iconic filmmaker often returns
to this theme like a recurring nightmare.
His 1989 classic Crimes and Misdemeanors and his more recent
tennis drama Match Point deal with people who blithely get away
with some heinous acts. In Cassandra’s Dream, he once again
shows how unethical behavior has negative effects…but only on those
with a conscience. Karma is dismissed as fantasy.
Ewan McGregor (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) leads
the cast as Ian Blaine, an ambitious but repressed young man who has been
running a modest restaurant for his ailing father. His brother, Terry
(Colin Farrell from Miami Vice) is a hard working car mechanic
with a gambling problem. While they’re decent enough fellows, they’ve
got serious economic frustrations.
Ian is anxious to get out of his boring life and emulate his successful
Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson from Michael Clayton). Plus, Ian
has met a pretty young actress and hopes to make a good impression on
her. Terry has gambling debts that threaten his girlfriend’s wishes
for a new home.
Good old Uncle Howard has a proposition for the frustrated lads. It seems
that there is a former business associate who is getting ready to spill
the beans over some of Uncle Howard’s felonious corporate practices.
If his dutiful nephews are willing to assassinate his meddling associate,
he’ll make it worth their while. He’ll also continue to take
care of the boys’ mom and dad.
Of course, the lads don’t immediately agree to Uncle Howard’s
indecent proposal. But after they deliberate, the decision they make takes
them to places they’d never imagined.
As you’d expect, Allen’s script is intriguing and intelligent.
But, sadly, it is besieged by problems.
First of all, McGregor (a Scot) and Farrell (an Irishman) simply aren’t
convincing as brothers. Plus, they’re both required to affect Cockney
accents. On top of that, Allen’s dialogue never employs believable
English dialect. (In fact, the script was originally set in America and
the locale was changed to England at the request of the film’s British
investors.)
But the real problem lies in the story’s awkward pace and lack
of focus. The subplot that involves Ian and an actress is simply an unnecessary
distraction.
While lesser Woody Allen is still better than a lot of movies, Cassandra’s
Dream has to be considered among his weakest efforts. (R) Rating:
2.5 (Posted 01/18/07) |
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Cloverfield
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
The enormously popular Japanese monster movies have been raking in the
box office dough for decades. While they were fun, they never really generated
any real terror because of the fact that they were shot from a distance.
We reveled from afar as Godzilla smashed Tokyo’s cardboard skyline.
The makers of Cloverfield made an astute decision to film their
giant monster from the perspective of the imperiled humans under foot.
Now that’s scary!
In what could be described as Godzilla meets The Blair Witch
Project, Cloverfield is a genuinely original and frustrating
sci-fi thriller that will probably polarize audiences.
Producer J. J. Abrams (TV’s Lost), writer Drew Goddard
(TV’s Alias) and director Matt Reeves (TV’s Felicity)
have concocted a unique and imaginative horror movie that benefits from
a very contemporary approach.
As the movie begins, we learn that what we’re about to observe
is videotape taken from a camcorder that was recovered from the rubble
of what once was New York’s Central Park. After some initial interference,
the tape begins to reveal a riveting story.
It begins with the going-away party for a young professional named Rob,
played by Michael Stahl-David (TV’s The Black Donnellys).
Rob’s being promoted and shipped off to Japan, so his young Yuppie
pals are throwing him one last New York shebang.
Rob’s friend Hud (T.J. Miller from TV’s Carpoolers)
has been assigned the task of taping video farewells from all of the partygoers.
When there is an apparent earthquake, the revelers scramble to the roof
to see what’s happening. What they observe is the beginning of the
end of New York, as we know it. All of the chaos is captured on Hud’s
camera.
As part of the general populace, we’re not privy to any background
information. For some time, we don’t have any idea about what’s
going on. All we know is that there is some giant thing that is attacking
the city and that it is sloughing off hundreds, perhaps thousands of murderous
dog-sized, spider-like creatures and that the city is being evacuated.
Whew.
Those who found the jerky camerawork of The Blair Witch Project
disorienting may find Cloverfield downright nauseating. The camera
is seldom still or at an upright angle. Viewers who want clarity in their
storylines will be equally unsettled.
But the special effects are outstanding and the film builds undeniable
tension as it creates an unnervingly realistic vision of an apocalypse.
In more ways than one, Cloverfield will shake you up. (PG-13)
Rating: 4 (Posted 01/18/07) |
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Mad
Money
Reviewed by Deborah Young
A movie with a premise like this could turn out cartoonish and unremarkable
(like one of actress Queen Latifah’s previous efforts, Taxi).
But that didn’t happen here because screenwriter Glen Gers (Fracture)
and director Callie Khouri (screenwriter of Thelma & Louise)
presented “round” characters that an audience can empathize
with.
The premise is simple. Three women who work for the Federal Reserve team
up to steal some of the old money that the bank destroys daily. These
women are easy to empathize with because they’re like most of us,
not filthy rich or desperately poor.
Unlike the characters of the 1996 film Set It Off, they’re
not ticked off at the powers that be and determined to rise above “the
man’s” efforts to oppress them. They are just regular working
Americans tempted by the idea of a better life.
Latifah’s character, Nina, is a single mom lured by the idea of
a private school education for her children. Jackie (Katie Holmes) is
a quirky music lover who wants to buy instruments and toys like motorcycles
for herself and her husband. The eldest of the group (Diane Keaton as
Bridget) has lived an upper middle-class lifestyle for some time. Unfortunately,
her husband has been out of work for a while, and she has to go to work
as a janitor at the Federal Reserve.
Each of these characters has her quirks, but they don’t feel like
gimmicks. The quirks and the repartee that they evoke come across as credible
characteristics of everyday people.
These are people we want to root for and warn. They are people that in
the course of nearly two hours we come to like. We even fear for them,
because their bad choices may land them in the pokey.
The sympathy and empathy this film evokes (along with the big belly laughs)
are sure signs that this isn’t an average or mediocre comedy. Any
artistic work that can get audiences to feel something is indeed a work
of art, regardless of the genre. (PG-13) Rating: 4 (Posted 01/18/07) |
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The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Reviewed by Deborah Young
A little more than a decade ago director Julian Schnabel brought the
life of a quirky artist to the screen. With Basquiat, Schnabel
effectively recreated the ambiance of the New York art world. He also
seemed to get inside artist Jean Michel Basquiat’s head, giving
audiences some ideas of the artist’s personal torments.
With The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Schnabel has successfully
recreated the world of a man whose mind is alive although his body is
mostly useless, with the exception of one blinking eye. The film is an
adaptation of the Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir of the same name.
Bauby was the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine’s French edition.
At age 43, he suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed, with the exception
of the one blinking eye. However, he was able to dictate the book one
letter at a time. Assistants would recite a special alphabet to him, stopping
when he blinked to indicate a letter.
The movie shows what Bauby (Mathieu Almaric) sees and dramatizes his
dreams and fantasies. Schnabel has done a great job of putting us inside
Bauby’s head, with plenty of close-up and oddball perspective shots.
The voiceovers of Bauby’s thoughts add plenty of humor as we watch
the physically lifeless Bauby lying in bed or being wheeled around.
Bauby expresses his annoyance and slight amusement about being surrounded
by pretty women at a time when he “can’t do anything.”
His fantasizes about an affair he might have had with one of his female
attendants. He reminisces about the mistakes he has made with women and
his children.
But despite its many artistic virtues, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
is painful to watch. It’s like staring into someone’s eyes
for nearly two hours and reading his or her mind. The exercise is fascinating
at times and mind-numbingly dull at others.
For that reason, this film is not for everyone. However, Schnabel has
created a moving cinematic work that emphasizes the beauty of the mind.
The beauty of this film is that it takes us inside the paralyzed writer’s
tragic but inspiring existence. (PG-13) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 01/11/07) |
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The
Bucket List
Reviewed by Deborah Young
I’ve created my own tagline for director Rob Reiner’s latest
film: “Have a Kopi Luwak and a smile.”
Kopi Luwak is a very expensive coffee (think $50 a cup, hundreds per
pound). It’s made of beans harvested from animal poop. It’s
also a perfect metaphor for this story of two terminally ill men who decide
to have one last hurrah together.
In an early scene wealthy businessman Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) produces
a cup of Kopi Luwak during a business meeting, lauding its aroma and taste.
Later, Cole makes the coffee in his hospital room and praises it to his
roommate, Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), who won’t have any part
of the exotic drink.
But by creating a “bucket list,” things to do before they
die, the two men make symbolic Kopi Luwak, harvesting sweet memories from
an unpleasant circumstance. Cole’s money makes it possible for the
two men to travel to exotic locals and engage in expensive hobbies such
as skydiving.
Chambers makes an important contribution to Cole’s life as well.
He brings a love of knowledge and a strong value for personal relationships,
particularly familial ones.
Although it has some clichéd elements (the lonely rich guy, the
relationship-rich poor guy, etc.), The Bucket List has three
big things going for it: a good director, a strong cast and compelling
cinematography.
Once these men leave the hospital the audience is treated to great shots
of natural and man-made beauty (including the Taj Mahal).
Screenwriter Justin Zackham has said that he had trouble selling this
script, but the idea of it has caught on. The movie’s subject matter
has already unearthed discussions of life lists and finding fulfillment.
Ultimately, The Bucket List is a quiet film that explores the
themes of friendship, love and finding meaning in life. The film explores
these themes with humor and a dose of reality. (PG-13) Rating: 4 (Posted
01/11/07) |
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First
Sunday
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
When a filmmaker’s intentions are humanistic and compassionate,
it’s easy for root for his success. Audiences are even willing to
accept a lot of flaws if the movie has such positive aspirations.
It is disheartening, therefore, to report that First Sunday
is a big disappointment. Awkward, lumbering and rarely funny, this ensemble
comedy is unable to overcome its inherent weaknesses.
Successful playwright David E. Talbert makes his filmmaking debut with
First Sunday, and he clearly has a lot to learn. The film’s
pace and tone take broad and jarring swings. To coin a term, the critical
diagnosis might be “cinemanic depression.”
Ice Cube (Are We There, Yet?) leads the cast as Durell, an extremely
intelligent and good-hearted young man living in Baltimore who just can’t
seem to stay out of trouble. His doltish buddy LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan from
TV’s 30 Rock) keeps getting Durell into situations that
land them in front of a judge.
Their latest escapade has earned them each 5,000 hours of community service.
Durell’s “baby mama” (Scary Movie’s Regina
Hall, utterly wasted) threatens to move to Atlanta with Durell’s
son unless he can come up with $17,000 to pay off her debts. Since his
criminal record prevents him from leaving the state, this would mean that
Durell probably wouldn’t get to see his son again until he was grown.
So, how does a smart, bighearted man get that kind of cash? Why, he decides
to rob a church, of course.
The rest of the movie involves the bungling robbery attempt and subsequent
complications that arise from this boneheaded enterprise.
Talbert sets up the situation to show that even good people can be pushed
into bad decisions by dire circumstances. But this isn’t Les
Miserables and Durell isn’t starving. Talbert wants us to believe
that this bright young man considered all of his options and figured that
sticking a gun in innocent people’s faces, holding them hostage
and taking their money was preferable to simply sneaking out of the state.
But aside from its lapses in logic, the movie isn’t very funny
even though Morgan and comic Katt Williams (playing a flamboyant choir
director) somehow manage to ad lib a few amusing lines.
In its favor, First Sunday has an engaging cast (along with
the leads, Chi McBride, Loretta Devine, Malinda Williams and others make
an impression) and a toe-tapping score by Stanley Clarke.
But, sadly, the ham-fisted sermon delivered by First Sunday
fails to inspire. (PG-13) Rating: 2 (Posted 01/11/07) |
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The
Orphanage
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Contemporary horror films are generally filled with gore, computer generated
special effects and cheap gimmicks intended to give audiences a jolt.
For the most part, these elements are blissfully absent in the creepy
new Spanish entry, The Orphanage. They’ve been replaced
with a thoughtful screenplay, heartfelt performances and a macabre atmosphere.
But horror fans shouldn’t let this loftier approach prevent them
from seeing The Orphanage. It’s still plenty creepy.
Director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Sponge Man) has obviously
taken some inspiration from his producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s
Labyrinth) and concocted a dark and ethereal ghost story where children
provide adults with a link to the supernatural.
Belén Rueda (The Sea Inside) stars as Laura, a compassionate
woman who spent her early years in an orphanage. As an adult, she convinces
her husband to purchase the old mansion that once served as her orphanage
so that she could provide a loving home for her own adopted son, Simón
(young Roger Princep), who is HIV positive, and some special needs children.
Shortly after moving in, however, Simón begins engaging with a
number of “imaginary friends.” Although Laura is concerned,
her husband, a therapist, convinces her that Simón simply has an
active imagination and that he’s completely normal.
Simón’s behavior becomes more erratic, however, and a visit
by a mysterious elderly woman, claiming to be a social worker, thrusts
the family into chaos. When Simón disappears, the panicked Laura
begins to believe that supernatural elements may be at work.
In tone and structure, the film bears some similarities to the excellent
and sadly underrated Nicole Kidman ghost story from 2001, The Others.
It’s as much a psychological thriller as it is a creepfest. Both
films centered on a troubled mother struggling with paranormal elements,
relying on a strong central performance to carry the day.
Rueda is excellent, ably exposing her character’s empathetic nature
as well as her obvious frustration and incessant drive to find her lost
son.
The screenplay by Sergio Gutiérrez Sánchez draws some intriguing
parallels with the Peter Pan story. While the plot gets a little
too convoluted for its own good, it never fails to keep our interest.
Although most of the action takes place within the creepy old house,
the movie never seems constrained. In fact, the fluid camerawork and shot
compositions give it a feeling of openness and a pleasing pace.
The Orphanage shows that restraint is sometimes a virtue. (R)
Rating: 3.5 (Posted 01/11/07) |
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Starting
Out in the Evening
Reviewed by Russ Simmons
Veteran actor Frank Langella has had a good year. He has achieved numerous
accolades for his performance as Richard Nixon in the Broadway hit Frost/Nixon,
including a Tony Award for Best Actor.
Langella, who has played his share of sleazy villains like Dawg Brown
in the movie Cutthroat Island and Skeletor in Masters of
the Universe, has seldom found material that is in a class with his
talent.
His film appearance in the low key literary drama Starting Out in
the Evening may not prove to be his valedictory performance, but
it is certainly the case of an old pro who has found a cherry role late
in his career.
In the film adaptation of Brian Morton’s novel, Langella plays
Leonard Schiller, an aging novelist and professor who is trying to finish
one last book before he meets his maker. A young and obsessed young fan
complicates his efforts.
Lauren Ambrose from TV’s Six Feet Under plays Heather,
a bright graduate student from Brown who has decided to resurrect Leonard’s
faded career by making him the focus of her thesis project. Having become
enamored with his first two works, she clings to the romantic notion of
discovering the young and dynamic Leonard behind the eyes of the old man.
After initially rebuffing her efforts to get him to cooperate in her
project, Leonard relents when he realizes that this may be the only way
to get his final book published. Subsequently, the two engage in an awkward
emotional dance that could become a May/December romance.
Naturally, Heather’s fresh and youthful presence sparks flame of
passion in Leonard — and in his work — that’s been missing
in his life since the loss of his wife decades earlier. Her brashness
and candor prove to be both an inspiration and an annoyance.
An important subplot involves Leonard’s neglected daughter Ariel,
played by the always-reliable Lili Taylor (The Notorious Bettie Page).
Leonard’s strange relationship with Heather has a carry-over affect
on Ariel’s romance with her boyfriend, Casey (Adrian Lester from
The Day After Tomorrow.)
Director Andrew Wagner (The Talent Given Us) takes his sweet
time, establishing a realistic tone and a deliberate pace. This is a character
piece, so Wagner (who shares credit for the adapted screenplay with Fred
Parnes) places the focus squarely on his actors.
While all of the cast members are fine, it is Langella’s beautifully
calculated performance that gives this quiet and modest drama its ultimate
power. (PG-13) Rating: 3.5 (Posted 01/04/07) |
