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Cruise so cool in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

January 12, 2012 By

Tom Cruise swings from the world’s tallest building in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, a stylish, daring sequel to Mission: Impossible (1996). Brad Bird directs.

One of 2011’s best thrillers

Cruise personifies cool as agent Ethan Hunt of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF). Larger than life, he faces impossible odds as an outcast tasked with preventing nuclear holocaust.

The exciting opener shows Ethan being broken out of a Moscow prison. Immediately, he prepares for a mission to infiltrate the Kremlin.

Mission inside the Kremlin

Ethan and techno-nerd Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg, offbeat bringer of comic relief) set out after dangerous renegade Kurt Hendricks [Michael Nyqvist of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)].

Using fascinating cloak technology, they approach the target. They fail, accidentally helping Hendricks to escape.

A massive explosion erupts. Blamed for the terrorist attack, Ethan regroups with Benji and Agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton, coolly effective).

Advised by the Secretary

The IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson) secretly tells Ethan that the IMF has been disavowed. He and his team are cut off from the U.S. and its resources.

He has one chance to redeem the agency and himself. Operating under Ghost Protocol, Ethan must prevent Hendricks from acquiring nuclear launch codes.

A brilliant but reluctant analyst William Brandt [Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), astounding as always] joins the effort. Careful William creates an exciting counterpoint to Ethan’s bold aggressiveness.

Director nails action thriller

Bird (Ratatouille; The Incredibles) may have surpassed the action, thrills and suspense that Brian De Palma conjured in the 1996 original. Cruise also produced this sequel and helped select Bird to revitalize the franchise.

Bird skillfully composes every scene. Lulls and quiet moments are ripe with delicious suspense. Dazzling filmmaking enhances terse schemes and battles.

Identifying with the hero/heroine

The best thing about watching a thriller is that you get to identify with the hero and vicariously save humanity. Everyone is a hero in his or her own myth, according to writer and mythology scholar Joseph Campbell.

With solid acting and great filmmaking, that’s exactly what you get to do in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Cruise is a brave, intense and very smooth hero. He thinks on his feet and plunges into action.

Aside from the Kremlin bombing (gorgeous pyrotechnics in IMAX), the film has just a few explosions and crashes. Each is impeccably executed.

Cruise performs his own stunts

Cruise, 49 and in great shape, performs his own stunts here. It’s nerve wracking as he swings precariously from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Robert Elswit’s cinematography will awe you.

Patton told Trailer Addict that she did 1.5 hours of weapons training and 2.5 hours of physical training each day.

Jane displays her prowess in hand to hand combat with a French assassin (Lea Seydoux) who’s about to sell the launch codes. She entices playboy Brij Nath (Anil Kapoor of Slumdog Millionaire) only to assault him and extract vital intel.

Cast, crew achieve mastery

Tension soars when Ethan and his operatives meet with two pairs of crooks at the same time on different floors of the towering building. With impeccable timing and verve, it’s pure mastery.

An outstanding crew makes it all possible. Special kudos go to second unit director Dan Bradley, stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz and fight choreographer Robert Alonzo. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec wrote the suspenseful, darkly funny script.

Breathtaking IMAX creates visual thrills without making you wear dark glasses.

Brave, cool and effective

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is one of the best thrillers of 2011. You’ll leave this movie feeling that you can conquer the world. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, you might enjoy:  The Debt; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

 

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol    2011  /  PG-13  /  2 hours, 13 min

Cast Overview: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor, Lea Seydoux, Tom Wilkinson

Director:  Brad Bird

Genre:  Thriller, Action, Spy

Filed Under: Character, Heal, Learn & Grow, Millenials Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Descendants: George Clooney braves hell in paradise

January 9, 2012 By

Crisis breaks George Clooney’s heart open in The Descendants, a family movie where tragedy is touched by humor and grace. Alexander Payne directs.

Matt King, back-up parent

Hawaii’s no paradise for Matt King (Clooney), a real estate lawyer whose wife Liz (Patricia Hastie) lies in a coma after a waterskiing accident. “Hell, I haven’t been on a surfboard for 15 years,” he gripes.

Matt has been busy earning a living. He also serves as trustee of his family’s 25,000 pristine acres on Kauai’s South Shore.

Clooney is intelligent, vulnerable and charming as “the back-up parent, the understudy” who now must step up for his daughters.

Family, community and nature

Director Alexander Payne weaves the trouble in paradise theme into a personal journey that embraces family, community and the Earth. With satisfying plot twists, the story shows Matt, Alex and Scottie begin to live more from the heart, and less from the mind.

Alex (Shailene Woodley) is an angry 17-year-old who finds compassion. Scottie (Amara Miller) is a tender, volatile 10-year-old eager to grow up.

Transforming pain, loss

When Alex tells her dad that Liz was cheating on him, horror and disbelief are accompanied by upbeat ukulele music. He dons his flip-flops and runs to a neighbor’s house to find out “who my wife was … seeing.”

Elizabeth is never going to wake up, Matt learns. He must transform his own pain and sorrow, and guide his daughters through their impending loss. Sometimes falling flat as a parent, he perseveres. He genuinely loves his girls.

Matt confronts Brian

Urging extended family and friends to say goodbye to Liz, Matt hatches a plan. He and Alex track down Elizabeth’s lover, realtor Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard). They discover the unexpected. Matt confronts Brian.

Impressive growth for Clooney

Clooney’s fully dimensional character is wounded but spunky. He reveals your own foibles and makes you laugh at them.

The actor played a “termination specialist” in Up in the Air; a repentant assassin in The American, and an escaped con in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Hawaiian treasure

Matt presides over motley relatives who vote to sell the family land. Hippie cousin Hugh (Beau Bridges) urges him on. Among the bidders are a ritzy condo chain and a Hawaiian developer. A local mother asks Matt not to move forward with the sale.

Hawaii is a land of natives and newcomers, of privilege and struggle. Matt’s ancestors were among the islands’ first white settlers. Surveying the family photos on his office wall, you realize that his actions reflect on all of them, including a Hawaiian princess by marriage.

NextGen spunk

Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) is memorable as rebellious Alex. Slowly she begins to accept her dad and take better care of herself. Nick Krause is engaging as Alex’s dude friend Sid. Matt must come to terms with Sid and see him as more than a loser. It’s one way he learns to grow as a father.

The excellent cast includes Judy Greer, heart-tugging as Brian’s wronged wife Julie. Robert Forster plays Elizabeth’s belligerent father.

Payne assembles great team

Payne last directed the film Sideways (2004). He’s also known for Citizen Ruth, Election and About Schmidt. His next project is a father-son drama Nebraska.

Payne, along with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, wrote the first-rate script based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel. Cinematography by Phedon Papamichael and editing by Kevin Tent marry drama and comedy. Voiceovers, so easy to overdo, are well executed by Clooney.

Family comes together

“My family seems exactly like an archipelago, always drifting apart,” Matt observes. By the end of The Descendants, Matt, Alex and Scottie achieve wholeness. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like The Descendants, you might enjoy:  Win Win; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

 

The Descendants    2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 55 min

Cast Overview:  George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel, Patricia Hastie 

Director:  Alexander Payne

Genre:  Dramedy, Drama, Family

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Community, Compassion, Forgiveness, Heal, Healing - Traditional, Inspiration, Learn & Grow, Nature, Transformation, Wisdom, Youth Tagged With: , , , , ,

Melancholia: Kirsten Dunst dances with doom

January 9, 2012 By

Lars von Trier casts a spell over you in Melancholia, a visual masterpiece about apocalypse and humanity. Kirsten Dunst stars as a Justine, a runaway bride.

Visual masterpiece

After an enigmatic prologue, Justine and her groom Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) arrive hours late for the wedding reception. Their white limo gets stuck on the trail leading to the secluded estate of her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland).

The well-to-do murmur as the couple arrives. Servants bustle. A wedding planner (Udo Kier) frets. Petulant guests fight private little wars. Upstairs, a little boy sleeps.

Wedding day blues

Depression sinks Justine as the night drags on. All is not well and she knows it. The wedding seems little more than an exercise. She struggles with the niceties. What’s the point?

Claire and John want Justine to be happy. Her illness becomes rude, an inconvenience. “Sometimes I hate you so much,” Claire tells her.

Uncertain new beginning

Assembling under the night sky, the merrymakers launch hot air balloons scrawled with best wishes and messages of love.

Justine lashes out, confronting her man-hating mother (Charlotte Rampling) and pound-of-flesh boss (Stellan Skarsgard). A co-worker (Brady Corbet) assails her.

Justine tries to shield her unsteady father (John Hurt) from her mother. When Michael mentions having a family someday, she balks.

Endings, beginnings haunt us

Fleeing her wedding bed, Justine rides off on a golf cart, gown trailing. Alone she finds peace, watching the stars.

Melancholia joins a flurry of “end times” films. The end of civilization as we know it seems etched in our collective unconscious.

Change is in the air. The Occupy Wall Street movement and increasing awareness about economic and environmental issues are dawning.

von Trier not hopeful

While The Tree of Life is hopeful and redemptive, Melancholia focuses on approaching devastation. Terrence Malick sees humanity as a grand experiment, a wondrous part of the universe. Von Trier examines our shortcomings and how we face death.

You might view von Trier as a cynic. We’re simply not worth redeeming, he suggests. Let’s start over.

This is a masterful interpretation of the writer-director’s own battle with depression. The illness takes on universal significance.

Dunst and Rampling bold, unapologetic

Dunst boldly conveys the female archetype. In one of Melancholia’s most striking moments, she skinny dips in the night, bathed in the blue light of the looming planet. In a black pastoral scene, the bride runs in slow motion. Brown goo pulls at her hem, trapping her.

Humanity is plagued not by locusts, but by mental illness. Claire suffers bouts of anxiety. She too feels death approaching. Just in case, she keeps a bottle of pills locked away in a drawer.

Claire nurtures her son Leo (Cameron Spurr). Justine dotes on her nephew too. Only with the boy does she show any real warmth.

John and Leo play astronomer

If Dunst portrays the Female, then Sutherland plays the Male. John is the rock of the family, the sensible breadwinner. Yet by the end of the film, his actions take a bizarre turn.

The planet Melancholia will be a “fly-by,” John declares. That’s what the scientists say. Childlike, he tracks the spectacle by telescope. Leo shares his fascination.

Nature takes control

Horses stir in the stables. Justine beats her horse Constantine when he stops moving. He is trying to tell her something. Finally she stops and looks skyward.

Melancholia unfolds like a dirge to the strains of Wagner. Cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro achieves a visual hypnosis that is exhilarating. Cosmos, eros and anguish hum.

The bride is considered a symbol of life and fertility. Justine longs for the relief of death.

Dunst lauded at Cannes

Dunst won the Best Actress award at Cannes for this role. Melancholia is winning numerous prizes, including Best Film at the European Film Awards.

You can fear death. You can try to escape it. You can die a hero, returning home. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Melancholia, you might also enjoy: Take Shelter; Another Earth; The Tree of Life.

 

Melancholia   2011  /  R  /  2 hours, 15 min

Cast Overview: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard, Kiefer Sutherland, Stellan Skarsgard, Jesper Christensen, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Udo Kier, Brady Corbet

Director:  Lars von Trier

Genre:  Drama, Sci-Fi

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Heal, Healing - Traditional, Learn & Grow, Nature, Sci-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Margin Call: how Wall Street crashed the economy

January 9, 2012 By

Margin Call is a tense drama about how Wall Street investment bankers caused the 2008 economic collapse. J.C. Chandor’s suspenseful feature debut boasts an all-star cast.

Chandor dispassionate and direct

Vivid dialogue and action reveal exactly how the crisis might have happened. Writer-director Chandor captures every nuance objectively. His father was a Merrill Lynch executive.

Margin Call complements Wall Street, where Michael Douglas fills the screen with charismatic greed, and Inside Job, the Oscar winning documentary explaining the meltdown.

Spacey and cast incredible

Kevin Spacey gives one of his best performances as Sam Rogers, a world-weary trading manager who frets over his ailing Labrador. After a massive layoff, Sam congratulates the survivors. “Now they’re gone,” he says. “They’re not to be thought of again.”

Impeccably acted, Margin Call has the power of a play. Actors enter and exit. They face one another and themselves. They maneuver. They lie.

Trapped in a glass tower of offices, each holds self-preservation dear. Frank DeMarco’s cinematography ranges from stark to shadowy.

Delusions of capitalism

Concerned but not caring, the bankers learn about the impending crash from junior analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), a former M.I.T. rocket scientist. Laid off risk analyst Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci)  alerted Peter before he left.

Peter is horrified to discover that the firm is fatally over-committed to risky loans. It has 24 hours to exploit this knowledge – or lose trillions. The tale is loosely based on the now-defunct Lehman Brothers.

Worldwide recession unleashed

Owners arrive by helicopter in the night. Each minute is precious. Decisions must be made. Jeremy Irons plays ruthless CEO John Tuld. “Be first. Be smarter. Or cheat,” is his motto. Tuld orders the sell-off.

Self-interest has many faces. They’re providing for their families. They’re living the American dream. They’re hooked on big thrills and bigger risk. Nathan Larson’s score deepens dread.

Chilling and sad, Margin Call is precise and efficient. The players move like automatons. Watching them, you’ll ask yourself, “What would I have done?”

Time for self-reflection

Demi Moore is exquisitely cagey as Chief Risk Manager Sarah Robertson. She reminds Tuld that she did warn the firm repeatedly. Still, heads must roll, he tells her.

Also excellent are Paul Bettany as charismatic playboy and manager Will Emerson; and The Mentalist’s Simon Baker as terse, unsmiling leader Jared Cohen.

Tucci is marvelous in a scene on a Brooklyn Heights stoop. Eric tells Will about his engineering career. He once built a bridge that saved drivers commuting time. He yearns to do something real again, to find rewarding, meaningful work.

Regrets catch up with Sam

Pain and angst eats away at Sam. He hates who he has become. He delivers one final speech to his team, urging them to sell worthless, mortgage-backed securities for million dollar bonuses.

True empathy is never shown in Margin Call, except by Sam for his dog.

Friends with benefits

Fuld coaxes Sam to stay on for awhile. There’s still plenty of dough to be made. Sam confesses: “I need the money.”

In a David Mamet-inspired moment, Peter asks Sam if he’s told his own son about the impending crash. “No, I … didn’t even think …” Sam sputters. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Margin Call, you might enjoy: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Casino Jack.

 

Margin Call    2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 45 min

Cast Overview: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci

Director:  J.C. Chandor

Genre:  Drama, History

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Heal, True Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Wind Journeys: ethnomusical crosses Colombia’s Caribbean

December 30, 2011 By

Marciano Martinez stars in The Wind Journeys, an adventure tale from Colombia. Ciro Guerra writes and directs this moving but unsentimental epic, a follow up to his debut feature The Wandering Shadows (2004).

Search for the beloved Ignacio Carrillo (Martinez) searched for his wife Ana for 10 years. The devil, he believes, took her away. Now he wants to return his accordion to teacher Master Guerra, who won it in a duel with the demon. Fermin (Yull Nunez) follows Ignacio - who might be his father – to become his apprentice.

Ignacio wants nothing to do with the boy. He doesn’t want Fermin to be doomed as he is to wander forever, a lonely troubadour. His spirit finally breaks. He declares that he never wants to play again.

An homage to Colombia’s Caribbean The Wind Journeys is an homage to the Caribbean region of Colombia and its rich musical traditions. This is a vision quest set to music, a search for truth. The reflective, deliberate nature of the northern Colombians emerges, set to their famed accordion melodies. Stunning cinematography at over 80 locations reveals mountains, forests and fields. Vast sands reduce the travelers to specks. Ignacio teaches Fermin by example. He regrets past exploits where he unknowingly fathered many children. The determined Fermin looks forward to his future. He wants to master music and return to his fiancée back home.

Accordions duel Ignacio comes to life during an accordion duel in Becerril. Since the front runner uses sorcery, Ignacio rises to the challenge. It’s a duel of riffs and sung retorts. Ignacio’s playing captivates the audience. He becomes a medium who manifests the passion and soul of a people.

Ignacio defeats the longtime champion, but then his accordion is stabbed by an angry bystander. The only man who can repair the accordion is Nine, Ignacio’s brother who lives on a mountaintop. Miraculously, Nine restores the instrument.

Ignacio shows no enjoyment though when he plays at the next contest. He disappoints the audience with a melancholy Vallenato for a son he abandoned. Ignacio later submits to a gang leader who insists that he accompany a machete fight.

Impassive, with no joy or malice, Ignacio plays at the macabre scene. The music continues as a kind of dirge when it is over.

Fermin earns respect Fermin finally gains self-respect when he jams for voodoo drummers. With sheer will he drums a frenzied solo, and is baptized with lizard’s blood. Still receiving no acknowledgment from his teacher, Fermin proves himself again when he wins back Ignacio’s accordion after it is stolen.

The Wind Journeys is a film that grows on you. It was named Best Colombian Film at the Cartagena Film Festival.  Director Ciro Guerra won an Award of the City of Rome at Cannes. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like The Wind Journeys, you might enjoy: A Better Life; The First Grader.

The Wind Journeys 2009 / NR / 1 hr, 57 min

Cast Overview: Marciano Martínez, Yull Núñez

Director: Ciro Guerra

Genres: Music, Ethnomusical, World Cinema, Drama

 

Filed Under: Awaken, Change of heart, Character, Heal, Learn & Grow, Transformation Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Insider: Crowe fights Big Tobacco in real life thriller

December 30, 2011 By

A whistle blower (Russell Crowe) forces Big Tobacco to reveal the dangers of cigarette smoking in the fact-based thriller The Insider (1999).

Exposing an expose

With non-stop suspense, the film follows tobacco scientist Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) and CBS news producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) as they create a 60 Minutes expose. Wigand faces death threats and loses his job and family. Bergman challenges the network and legendary newsman Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) to air the segment despite litigation.

Director Michael Mann’s film is in the spotlight again in 2011. On November 7, a federal judge blocked the F.D.A. mandate that tobacco companies print graphic warning images on cigarette packages as of September 2012.

Journalism examined

The Insider is an iconic look at American journalism. Like All the President’s Men (1976), it explores moral dilemmas in journalism and in life with outstanding character development and pacing. The relationship between a journalist and his source is intimately explored.

Wigand reluctantly tells his story and is sued by Big Tobacco for breaking a confidentiality agreement. Bergman assures Wigand that he is making a tremendous difference by speaking out.

According to HealthNews.com, “Tobacco smoke contains a deadly mixture of more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, of which hundreds are toxic and at least 70 cause cancer. Smoking causes more than 85 percent of lung cancers. . . . One in three cancer deaths in the U.S. is tobacco-related.”

Whistle blower loses all

A whistle blower on the edge of nervous exhaustion, Wigand cannot ignore the serious public health hazard. Before speaking with Bergman he warns a tobacco company executive about “ammonia chemistry.” He’s incredulous when the company chooses profit over safety.

Crowe’s acting is raw and fully dimensional, foreshadowing his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Dr. John Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001). Wigand loses virtually everything: his career, his reputation, his wife and children, and his home.

Crowe becomes the consummate hero as The Insider never flinches from looking at personal agony and danger. Wigand rails against Bergman. “I have to put my family’s welfare on the line here, my friend! And what are you puttin’ up? You’re puttin’ up words!” he shouts.

60 Minutes producer speaks out

Pacino is a pit bull here as Bergman fights to air the 60 Minutes interview. “You pay me to go get guys like Wigand, to draw him out. To get him to trust us, to get him to go on television. I do. I deliver him. He sits. He talks. . . . Is it newsworthy? Yes. Are we gonna air it? Of course not. Why? Because he’s not telling the truth? No. Because he is telling the truth.”

Privately, Bergman worries that his source has sacrificed in vain. His wife (Lindsay Crouse) prompts him to re-examine his personal and professional values.

Forced to take a leave from work, Bergman walks along the beach near his vacation home. Ocean waves roll in. It’s a timeless image of a man re-evaluating his life and career.

A high point for Pacino

Bergman is one of Pacino’s many memorable characters, reminiscent of Lt. Vincent Hanna in Heat (1995) and Arthur Kirkland in … And Justice for All (1979).

Plummer portrays Mike Wallace as ego-driven and power-hungry. His interest in investigating powerful special interests is compromised. Plummer conveys charisma and gravitas as the 60 Minutes star. Wallace objected to how he was portrayed when the film was released.

Diane Venora (who played Al Pacino’s wife Justine in Heat), gives a brief but moving performance as Liane Wigand. Philip Baker Hall plays legendary investigative journalist turned CBS executive producer Don Hewitt. Hewitt died in 2009.

Story aired at last

Finally the full interview appears on 60 Minutes, but only after The New York Times reveals CBS’ financial motives to suppress the story. The Wall Street Journal clears Wigand’s name after a tobacco industry smear campaign. 

Wigand reveals that the manipulation of ammonia causes addiction as nicotine is more rapidly absorbed into the lung. This boosts its affects on the brain and central nervous system, he said.

Director Mann’s creation

Mann wrote the excellent screenplay with Eric Roth. Dante Spinotti’s cinematography is superb, especially during a scene where a suicidal Wigand sits alone in a hotel room. In a panoramic shot, the mural-covered walls swirl around the hero. Music conveys more than dialogue.

The Insider was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Crowe) and Best Director. 

Wigand went on to teach high school science and was nationally recognized for his work in the classroom. Bergman became a producer for the PBS show Frontline. He’s also a professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

If you like The Insider, you might enjoy: The Cove; The Whistleblower.

 

The Insider     1999  /  R  /  2 hours, 35 min

Cast Overview:  Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Michael Gambon, Diane Venora, Bruce McGill, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Gina Gershon

Director:  Michael Mann

Genre:  Thriller, Drama, Biopic

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Current Affairs, Heal, Learn & Grow, True Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Conviction: Hilary Swank illumines sister’s fight for justice

December 29, 2011 By

A sister goes to law school to win her brother’s release from prison in the true life drama Conviction. Betty Anne Waters passionately believed her brother Kenny was innocent.

Best Actress Hilary Swank plays determined Betty Anne, who raises children while she studies and waitresses part time. Sam Rockwell brilliantly plays Kenny, a wild man known for bar fights, crazy stunts and bad luck.

Poor kids in trouble

Kenny and Betty Anne were poor, unsupervised kids in rural New England. The police knew them for pranks like shoplifting and sneaking into people’s trailers.

Sometimes the best films are based on real, hardscrabble folks like these who manage to squeeze sweetness from their lives.

The drama is brought down to earth immediately by Swank, Rockwell and an excellent cast. Actor-turned-director Tony Goldwyn (grandson of producer Samuel Goldwyn) keeps dramatic tension alive as Kenny’s innocence is doubted, testimony is questioned, and legal complications arise.

Conviction’s sound track is too precious for its honest look at class and criminal justice in America.

Wild Sam Rockwell

Rockwell has come a long way since Wild Bill Wharton served his last days on The Green Mile. Here the actor portrays Kenny throughout 18 years of hope and despair. The bright spot of his life, little sister Betty Anne, stubbornly defends him just as she did in childhood. Rockwell and Swank are luminous as brother and sister.

Best Supporting Actress Melissa Leo (The Fighter; Frozen River) is devastating as Nancy Taylor, a beat cop and the only woman on the force who seems to hate Kenny more than she does herself. Minnie Driver is superb as Abra Rice, the law school classmate who matter-of-factly befriends Betty Anne at a neighborhood bar.

Stellar cast contributes

Kenny’s ex-wife (Clea DuVall) and former lover (Juliette Lewis), both of whom helped put him away, perfectly embody shattered survivors. Ari Graynor conveys her mixed emotions as Kenny’s grown daughter Mandy.

Karen Young is heart wrenching as ill and bewildered Elizabeth Waters. Peter Gallagher plays Innocence Project director Barry Scheck, a busy idealist who assists Betty Anne after she manages to unearth long lost evidence.

Goldwyn shows restraint in not revealing Kenny’s fate after prison. For all its anguish, Conviction is a film that has earned its happy moment. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Conviction, you might enjoy: The Fighter; Winter’s Bone.

Conviction 2010 / R / 1 hour, 47 min

Cast Overview: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Clea DuVall, Peter Gallagher, Karen Young, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis, Ari Graynor

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Genres: Drama, Thriller, Drama Based on Real Life, Biopic

 

Filed Under: Character, Heal, Learn & Grow, True Stories Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fair Game: Watts reveals the real Valerie Plame

December 29, 2011 By

In a potent reminder of recent history, Fair Game shows the outing of former CIA agent Valerie Plame and its aftermath.

Wife, mother, CIA agent

Naomi Watts deserves Oscar gold for her riveting performance as Plame. Best Actor Sean Penn does the honors as Plame’s ambassador husband Joe Wilson.

Fair Game roils with emotion and action as a public service career ends, a marriage hits the rocks, reputations are shredded and lives are lost overseas. It puts a personal face on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where ideology apparently justified the use of false pretenses.

Doug Liman’s film will anger viewers whether they believe the war was necessary or not in the fight against terror. Fair Game is a fact-based story of two patriots who stood up to power. It reveals cowardice in the White House and the media.

The peril of dissent

Watts’ spot on rendition of Plame shows the foreign operative, wife and mother live through trying and dangerous days. The film is based on the memoirs of both Plame and Wilson.

Penn channels his righteous social anger into the persona of diplomat Joe Wilson. A subtext considers whether Wilson revealed the no wmd (weapons of mass destruction) bombshell to The New York Times out of patriotism, or to compete with his successful wife.

After Wilson speaks out, his family’s safety is compromised. The diplomat shares his plight, and his idealism, with fresh faced political science students.

Political intrigue

Liman (The Bourne Identity) brings immediacy to the action. Fall guy Scooter Libby (David Andrews) brings to life the power-drunk, alternate reality of the Vice President’s inside circle. Bruce McGill plays a career intelligence official who consoles Plame, sharing his insights into the way things work at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Fictional elements were added, including a sub-plot about an Iraqi doctor (Liraz Charhi) and her brother (Khaled Nabawy), a former nuclear engineer living in bombed out Baghdad.

Democracy’s price

Fair Game will rank with All The President’s Men as a taut, fine description of everyman facing Washington power. In this scenario, truth and justice does not prevail.

Appearing on The Chris Matthews Show, Wilson expressed the hope that Fair Game reminds viewers to speak out against tyranny. Facing personal threats to one’s way of life is part of the price of democracy, he said. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Fair Game, you might enjoy: The Insider.

Fair Game 2010 / PG-13 / 1 hour, 48 min

Cast Overview: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Liraz Charhi, Anand Tiwari, Khaled Nabawy, Ty Burrell, David Andrews, Jessica Hecht, Norbert Leo Butz, Bruce McGill, Rebecca Rigg

Director: Doug Liman

Genres: Action, Biography, Drama, Thriller

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Current Affairs, Heal, Learn & Grow Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Secret in Their Eyes tantalizes in romantic thriller

December 29, 2011 By

Argentinian romantic crime drama The Secret in Their Eyes was released in the U.S. after winning the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Writer-director Juan Jose Campanella has crafted thoughtfulness and humanity into this masterwork.

Graceful arcs of script are translated lovingly into story on film. Action and plot move in satisfying ways. Relationships develop fully and believably. The film uses no cinematic formula, and only one CSI-like murder scene. It moves from present to past to present with all the naturalness of fully realized drama.

Detective relives his adventures

Soulful Ricardo Darin plays Benjamin Esposito, a retired detective now writing a novel. Benjamin once worked for Irene Menendez Hastings (Soledad Villamil), now a judge. Irene had been Benjamin’s superior in a criminal investigation unit.

Benjamin’s novel revolves around a real case, the rape and murder of a young schoolteacher 25 years ago. The book also reveals a story of forbidden love during those years. Benjamin’s attraction to Irene, a lawyer of wealth and social standing, is so doomed that he dares not pursue it. When the truth emerges, Irene divulges her feelings for Benjamin. Yet she is already engaged.

A mysterious love story

The Secret in Their Eyes is a love story wrapped within a detective story, made more delightful by unexpected infusions of humor. The plot keeps gifting us in unexpected ways. One twist occurs when a fascist government official changes the course of events after Gomez (Javier Godino) is imprisoned for the woman’s murder.

The film also becomes the story of Benjamin’s life and his decisions. Campanella (who directed over a dozen Law & Order: SVU episodes) gives us just enough detail and nuance to portray the detective as a put upon hero who’s always bailing out his alcoholic assistant Sandoval. Yet he is also a dedicated, honest public servant chasing justice.

Benjamin ultimately follows the clues of his own life to transcend what seemed his own certain ending.

Villamil is unforgettable in several scenes, in particular during her cagey interrogation of the schoolteacher’s suspected murderer.

Can we change life?

The Secret in Their Eyes asks several questions. How do we deal with emptiness? How do we reconcile our past life with the present? Here the realities of “what happened” and “what is possible” arise and intertwine.

Felix Monti’s cinematography is unassuming but powerful. Most memorably choreographed is a chase scene in a crowded soccer stadium (CGI effects were utilized). Guillermo Francella creates a tragic, ironic Sandoval, and Pablo Rago convinces us as the murder victim’s obsessed husband Morales. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like The Secret in Their Eyes you might enjoy:  I Am Love.

The Secret in Their Eyes 2009 / R / 2 hrs, 7 min

Cast Overview: Ricardo Darín, Guillermo Francella, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino, José Luis Gioia, Carla Quevedo

Director: Juan Jose Campanella

Genres: Foreign, Foreign Drama, Foreign Romance, Foreign Crime Drama

Language: Spanish with English subtitles

Filed Under: Heal Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hereafter: Clint Eastwood envisions lives, afterlives

December 29, 2011 By

A reluctant psychic, a journalist and a boy chase the afterlife even when they want to run from it.  Clint Eastwood directs Hereafter, a passionate exploration of life after death.  

George Lonegan (Matt Damon) is a former psychic in San Francisco who is fed up with death and has returned to the practical trade of dock worker. Marie Lelay (Cecile de France) is a vacationing French journalist who gets caught in a tsunami. Marcus is a London boy whose twin brother dies in a truck accident (Frankie and George McLaren play both roles).

Where do we go after death? 

In Hereafter, Eastwood brings all the richness and wisdom of his mature vision to explore who we really are.

Shot by shot and scene by scene, the characters are portrayed with integrity and respect. Fascination grows as each one searches: George for happiness, Marie for truth, and Marcus for a link to his lost brother Jason.

Marie has the most to lose. After drowning and being revived (her personal encounter with the tsunami an impeccable part of movie history) she is changed. Fame and fortune vanish as she takes time off from her national news program to write a book about Francois Mitterrand. But soon a new book topic chooses her. Thierry Neuvic plays her fickle lover Didier.

George has abandoned his popular psychic website. It hurt too much. He wants to focus on life now, not on death. He no longer gives readings, he insists. Still, a few desperate souls manage to find him, thanks to his brother Billy (Jay Mohr) who urges George to be true to his gift.

Gifted George no quack

The image of Damon’s big, burly hands briefly clasping those who seek him out is beautiful. In a world of psychic quacks, George seems to be the real deal. What is refreshing is his perspective. He can “connect” with those who have passed away, but affirms the importance of living here and now.

George lies on his bed each night, the words of his favorite author Charles Dickens wafting over him from the radio. His sensitivity and insights are rare, and he knows it.  Slowly, he realizes he must abandon blue collar work.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Melanie, George’s perky cooking classmate and love interest. The Sopranos’ Steve Schirripa is delightful as sensitive Italian chef and class instructor Carlo.

McLaren brothers delight

The McLarens are up-and-coming actors to watch as Marcus evokes the tragedy of losing his best friend and twin. He wants neither sympathy nor understanding as he delves into the meaning of his loss. Lyndsey Marshal plays the boys’ addict mother.

In a sweeping climax, the paths of George, Marie and Marcus intersect at a London book fair. Eastwood, firm and self-effacing, helms a big story. His classical treatment of a spiritual theme makes the film great.

Director succeeds again

Until ten years ago, Eastwood was best known as action hero Dirty Harry Callahan. He began directing in the acclaimed Charlie Parker biography Bird (1988). Eastwood has created a succession of deep, fascinating films including: the Western Unforgiven (1992) which won an Academy Award for Best Picture; A Perfect World (1993); The Bridges of Madison County (1995); Absolute Power (1997);Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), and True Crime (1999).

More recently Eastwood directed Space Cowboys (2000); Mystic River (2003), and Million Dollar Baby (2004), which won Best Picture as well both the Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Director. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Hereafter, you might enjoy:  Another Earth; Adjustment Bureau.

Hereafter 2010 / PG-13 / 2 hours, 9 minutes

Cast Overview: Cecile de France, Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, George McLaren, Frankie McLaren, Lyndsey Marshal, Jay Mohr

Director: Clint Eastwood

Genres: Drama, Thriller, Fantasy

Filed Under: Awaken, Character, Compassion, Heal Tagged With: , , , , ,
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