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Restless: Wasikowska, Hopper draw happy face on death

January 8, 2012 By

Two doomed teens fall in love in Restless, Gus Van Sant’s Harold and Maude inspired drama.

Wasikowska, Hopper star

Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right; Jane Eyre) and Henry Hopper (Dennis Hopper’s son) star.

The opening is intriguing. Enoch (Hopper) is a glum high school dropout who wears black and crashes funerals. He grieves vicariously for his mom and dad who died in a car accident.

Enoch reminds others that he was “dead for three minutes” and awoke from a coma.

Annabel accepts the end

Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) is an optimist who talks to her hero Charlie Darwin. A winsome sprite with a brain tumor, she has three months to live. Annabel admires birds and beetles, and dubs herself a naturalist. She has transcended anger, living in acceptance and humor.

The two meet at a memorial service. Enoch rebuffs her, but Annabel persists. She recognizes a kindred soul. “Seen any good funerals lately?” is a conversation starter for these two.

Sentimental and trite

I like odd movies, and really wanted to like Restless. Sentimental and trite, it tries too hard with swells of loud music and distracting flourishes. (Annabel’s vintage wardrobe is endless).

Talented Wasikowska has her moments, but Hopper struggles as morose Enoch. The movie lingers in a graveyard of clever banter.

Bucket list action

The action falls flat even with a flurry of bucket list antics. Annabel accepts death as a friend, making light of the inevitable. Enoch is more obsessive.

They must race to fall in love. Their relationship is believable and painfully finite. With no future, they must live in the moment. Death is their silent partner.

Henry helps Annabel make the most of her last days. Scene after scene is artfully framed. Annabel looks healthy and radiant throughout.

A valuable dramatic experiment, Restless is a felt experience that falls flat with one note whimsy.

See the ghost

The ghost fascinates. Enoch’s friend Hiroshi (Ryo Kase) was a kamikaze pilot in World War II. Still dressed in his jacket and flight cap, he pops by for witty conversation or a game of Battleship.

Hiroshi lends playful quasi-fantasy and comic relief to the film. Life and death are one, he suggests, an ongoing adventure.

As Enoch’s mentor, Hiroshi isn’t afraid to talk sense to him. They get into a fist fight, providing welcome conflict. Something keeps the pilot hanging around, which is revealed at the movie’s end.

Enjoying life?

Restless lacks the nuance and power of Van Sant’s Elephant, Paranoid Park and Milk. This film explores the trappings of death while avoiding its mystery and meaning.

Life is not a bowl of candy. A chalk-on-asphalt drawing of two fallen teens holding hands is the tip-off. Restless draws a happy face on death. (2.5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Restless, you might enjoy:  50/50; Love & Other Drugs.

 

Restless     2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Henry Hopper, Mia Wasikowska, Ryo Kase, Schuyler Fisk, Jane Adams, Chin Han, Lusia Strus

Director:  Gus Van Sant

Genre:  Drama, Fantasy

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

Jane Eyre: Wasikowska strong as classic Bronte heroine

January 2, 2012 By

Mia Wasikowska updates classic heroine Jane Eyre with passion and aplomb in Cary Fukunaga’s remake of the Charlotte Bronte novel.

Wasikowska impressive

This is Wasikowska’s breakout role. Her talent and screen presence have attracted notice lately in The Kids Are All Right, In Treatment and Alice in Wonderland.

The Australian-born actor lends intelligent yearning to “poor, obscure” Jane. Gazing out a window at horizons she may never cross, she conveys inner strength and a vast spirit despite her humble circumstances as a governess.

Delightfully sassy with impertinent wit, Jane speaks out to her cruel aunt Mrs. Reed (Sally Hawkins) and to heartless headmaster Mr. Brocklehurst (Simon McBurney).  Amelia Clarkson plays young Jane.

Setting her own course

Wasikowska does Bronte proud, revealing an advocate for women’s rights before such ideas had a name. This Jane stands in time alongside the heroine rendered by Samantha Morton (1997), Charlotte Gainsbourg (1996) and Joan Fontaine (1944).

Michael Fassbender embodies pain and sarcasm as Edward Rochester. What comes through is the character’s loneliness. One senses the isolation of Jane, Mr. Rochester and Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench), each turning to the other to meet their needs in some way.

Mysterious madwoman

Rochester’s stealthy handling of the madwoman in the attic bristles even while Fassbender reveals a sympathetic, conflicted man.

Jamie Bell plays pious and ultimately domineering St. John Rivers. Holliday Grainger and Tamzin Merchant shine as the supportive, nurturing Rivers sisters.

Fassbender excels

Jane Eyre fans will enjoy this film while remembering the over-the-top frenzy of Rochesters past (Orson Welles in 1944; Ciaran Hinds in 1997). They might miss more screen time for the violent madwoman (played briefly by Valentina Cervia), and a more dramatized fire scene in the master’s bedroom.

Chronology is confused with early cross-cutting. In the stirring opening, Jane flees Thornfield and is rescued by St. John Rivers. Next we see a brief review of her orphan days at the family’s Gateshead estate, and later at the Lowood Institution.

Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) finally settles the tale into its natural dramatic arc with Jane’s arrival at Thornfield and her tutelage of Mr. Rochester’s charge Adele (Romy Settbon Moore).

Beautifully written, acted

Spare, powerful writing by Moira Buffini and impassioned delivery give Jane Eyre its ringing, memorable lines. “Children, I exhort you to with hold the hand of friendship to Jane Eyre.” “Mr. Rochester’s visits are always unexpected.” “You transfix me, quite.”

Cinematographer Adriano Goldman captures action in beautiful shades of pewter, contrasted with bright outdoor vistas.

Dench’s Mrs. Fairfax perfect

Judi Dench is masterful as Mrs. Fairfax, opinionated, warm and manipulative. As head housekeeper, she rivals her master (and distant relative) Mr. Rochester even while pooh-poohing her status.

We see less merrymaking by elite Blanche Ingram (Imogen Poots) and her entourage. Poots adds interest with a Blanche who is more threatened by Jane from the start.

Quiet beauty

The heroine receives an inheritance, adding more power late in the drama.  A return to Edward would not be Jane’s only option.

The final reunion scene lacks the outward fire of previous Jane Eyre films, yet it leaves much to the imagination in quiet beauty. (5 out of 5 stars)

If you like Jane Eyre, you might enjoy: The Young Victoria; Restless.

 

Jane Eyre     2011  /  PG-13  /  2 hours, 1 min

Cast Overview: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Amelia Clarkson, Sally Hawkins, Freya Parks, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Imogen Poots, Valentina Cervi, Judi Dench

Director:  Cary Fukunaga

Genre:  Drama, Romance, Period Piece, Drama Based on the Book

 

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

The Kids Are All Right: Bening, Moore build two-mom family

December 31, 2011 By

The Kids Are All Right can open your heart and change your mind. Stereotypes melt with natural acting, arch comedic timing and an honest but not overbearing point of view.

A modern family

Here is a form of family – and it’s genuinely all right. Director Lisa Cholodenko conjures an alchemy of female and male, new and traditional.

When a filmmaker gives her characters the freedom to go all out, letting the story tell itself, it shows true maturity and mastery. The film provokes thought without a sermon.

Golden Globe winner

The Kids Are All Right won two Golden Globe awards, one for Best Comedy Feature  and one for Best Actress in a Comedy (Bening). It also won a Spirit Award for Best Screenplay.

Perfect casting allows Cholodenko to realize her vision. The “momses” Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) are a couple with two children, wise 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and wayward younger brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson).

Meeting their bio-dad

An anonymous sperm donor enabled both moms to give birth. What Nic and Jules don’t know is that Laser is keen to meet his bio-dad Paul (Mark Ruffalo).

Joni, who’s 18, contacts the donor agency to arrange contact. Ruffalo is perfectly smooth as the dude who eventually meets brother and sister at his farm-to-table restaurant. He turns out to be a socially conscious hottie and motorcycle-riding bachelor.

Paul toys with commitment

Paul becomes a wild card in Nic and Jules’ marriage. He’s not family, but suddenly an admired mentor to their children. Never married, he is awed and intrigued by his newfound connections.

Paul feels at home in this alternative family, so moved by its love and belonging that he’d take a shortcut to having one himself.

Paul advises Laser about an abusive “best friend.” Seeking answers, Laser affirms himself as Paul explains his decision to be a donor. “Hey, I’m glad I did it.”

Joni acts out

Joni dares to ride a motorcycle against Nic’s orders, and revisits her own friendships. Both Joni and Laser begin to discern and make decisions newly as they integrate a man into their lives.

True and direct, Wasikowska and Hutcherson are two actors to watch out for.

Bening is hilarious as enigmatic Nic, an uptight, overachieving M.D. with a proclivity for just one more glass of wine. Jules (Moore) is a free spirit, a onetime architect who yearns to launch her own landscape design company.

Moore takes big chances

Moore explores many faces of Jules, from wholesome to aggressive. Together Bening and Moore create bona fide screen history.

“What if” emotions and possibilities run high. Paul’s presence highlights strengths and vulnerabilities in Nic and Jules’ marriage.

Marriage as work in progress

Great direction, acting and writing (by Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg) evoke an appreciation of family relationships and the resiliency of youth. In real life, Cholodenko and her female partner are parents of a donor child.

Love becomes apparent as the family drops Joni off at college. The film’s heartfelt crescendo focuses on marriage as a challenging work in progress. (5 out of 5 stars).

If you like The Kids Are All Right, you might enjoy: Win Win.

The Kids Are All Right 2010 / R / 1 hour, 44 min

Cast Overview: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson

Director: Lisa Cholodenko

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Indie

Filed Under: Awaken, Forgiveness, Heal, Millenials Tagged With: , , , , , , ,