Before I begin this review, I would like to say that this year has been great for movies so far. Usually I only give about 10-15 movies four stars in the whole year. It has been only four months in and usually all those four star reviews come around Oscar season. I already have three. This will be my fourth.
**** Stars
Now if someone told me that one day that kid in the old Disney movie Angels in the Outfield would be a terrific actor one day, I may have slapped you silly. I now deserve a slap myself. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is ready to start his true acting career off with a huge bang of a movie. This is great stuff.
Scott Frank gives a brilliant directorial debut after writing such classics as Out of Sight, Minority Report, and Get Shorty. This script, which he also wrote, has no cliche's that would make you want to role your eyes. This thriller won't give you one dull moment. Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a once promising high school athlete, has his life turned upside down after a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.
The story really isn't about the bank heist. It is about how a young man with a very serious head injury would act under the conditions. You seem him make mistakes and you see him collapse. He is not going to be a hero who is protected by a heroic shield. Chris goes to a bar every day drinks an O'Douls while writing down how to get through the day. He cannot open a bucket of tomato sauce because his left hand is sometimes dysfunctional. He has a blindroommate, played wonderfully by Jeff Daniels. Both of these characters look real and feel real. This movie is the real deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment