Wednesday, October 31, 2007

American Gangster

***1/2 Stars


"My man..."

Denzel Washington is nothin' but cool as he grins and says these words to anybody who impresses him, cops or dealers. American Gangster is brilliantly acted, wonderfully told, and definitely the work of a master.

The film had a lot of trouble getting to the big screen. Antoine Fuqua, (director of Training Day) was originally set to direct with Washington to star. The film was cancelled due to budget concerns, Fuqua was fired, and Denzel took a 20$ million paycheck. Soon after, it turned up into the hands of director Ridley Scott and producer Brian Grazer, with Denzel back in the lead and another 20$ million. Russell Crowe joined the cast and the dynamic foursome would eventually turn in a dynamite of a crime-thriller.

This is the true story of drug-lord Frank Lucas and how New Jersey honest cop Richie Richards (Crowe) took him down. The very first shot of the movie is Lucas doing his job. He tortures a man, covers him in gasoline, lights him on fire and puts numerous bullets into his head. We don't know who this man is or what he did, but now we know Lucas is a man you don't mess with...period.

After Lucas finally gets settled into the mob boss persona, things shift towards Roberts. His wife leaves him with their only son, his partner dies, and he has sex with a lot of women. Good for him. Him and his wife go to court for custody of their child, but of course Roberts has to have a sudden epiphany that he's a bad father when his ex-wife tells him he belongs in hell. Again, good for him. So all in all, Roberts is an extremely honest cop, but yet can't be honest with the people he loves.

The movie is so authentic to its time that the film looks like it was made in the same time it takes place, right smack in the middle of the Vietnam War. Scott swiftly connects the war to Lucas. In the beginning, Lucas is in control and calm. When the war goes crazy, so does Lucas. When the cease fire occurs, Lucas begins to lose his drug connections from military officials stationed in Bangkok. Washington captures his character perfectly, giving a restrained performance to begin the film, then showing his emotional downfall without being pretentious.

The movie is all drugs. DRUGS, DRUGS, DRUGS. It doesn't lose its historical accuracy for cheap thrills, especially the ending. Though un-climatic, it has a much bigger impact when you see Lucas's aged face coming out of a fifteen year sentence.

By the way, I just have to add that Cuba Gooding Jr. is in about three scenes of the film, and it's better than any performance he's had in ten years. (So, Jerry Maguire)

Friday, October 26, 2007

Saw IV


0 Stars

I have lied to my readers. I told all of you that I usually only walk out on one movie a year and this year's winner was Rush Hour 3. Saw IV joins this category as a truly disgusting site where no one wants to be apart of, except for the people shopping at a torture porn shop or online at www.lacerationfetishes.com

Dan in Real Life

http://graphics.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/10/25/1193358928_3975/410w.jpg

**1/2 Stars

Steve Carell has really come into his own these past few years, with his over-the-top supporting performances (Anchorman & Bruce Almighty), his successful lead role in NBC's The Office, and his more subdued work in the Oscar Winner Little Miss Sunshine. Dan in Real Life joins Sunshine as one of Carell's most personal and realistic performances. Too bad the film falls shy of greatness due to a lackluster and unfortunately clichéd ending. Also, notice how I didn't include Evan Almighty? In my mind, that film no longer exists.

Dan in Real Life is supposed to be wise about human nature. And it succeeds to a point, and that point comes at a crucial climatic moment that fails to give us real truth. It goes for the heart, but skips important reasoning in the process.

Dan Burns (Carell) is a widowed father, devoted to his three daughters who mistake him for being an over protected basket case. However, to his family and friends, he certainly becomes one after he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) in a bookstore. She is the first woman Dan has fallen for since the death of his wife. He runs home to tell his entire family, only to find out that she is dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook). What starts of as an extremely failed idea for a sitcom manages to swoon smoothly above the level of disaster. However, the only problem with this idea is that somewhere down the line, a sitcom idea must have a sitcom ending.

Now, I did enjoy the film's theme of family values. The entire film is mostly set in a family household involving issues we the viewers can all relate to: A widowed father, a daughter in love, learning how to drive, family traditions and games, and in this case a crucial time for the maturity of Dan's children. Dan's change of heart over the course of the film challenges the regrets of his past and decisions of his future. What takes away from these moments is an ending way too comfortable for us to believe. The title should be Dan in Hollywood Life.




Tuesday, October 23, 2007

From the Archives: A Beautiful Mind


**** Stars

A Beautiful Mind, which won four Oscars in 2001 (including Best Picture) is definitely an Oscar worthy film, even though The Fellowship of Ring should have been claimed the winner. With two movies out this fall, 3:10 to Yuma and American Gangster, Russell Crowe has had a credit history of amazing roles, A Beautiful Mind being one of his most memorable. Here, he plays, John Nash, who was a brilliant mathematician, able to unlock any code and solve any problem known in mathematics. Suddenly, in the middle stages of his life, he began to suffer from schizophrenia. His delusions affected his life, his work, and his family. His wife Alicia and his son John Nash Jr. tried to help him deal with this awful disease.

After years of difficulty and hardship, Nash was able to control his disease and receive the Nobel piece prize. His research helped in global trade, the economy, and even breakthroughs in evolutionary biology. He began to live his American Dream. His dream was his work and his wife.

Other cast members include Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly (who won best supporting actress in the role of John's wife), and Paul Bettany.

Ron Howard directs this complex subject with sincere simplicity. Through all the hard ache suffered, the film ends on a wonderful note. The words John says to his wife....

“I've made the most important discovery of my career. Most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found. I'm only here because of you. You're the only reason I am. You are all my reasons...”


Monday, October 22, 2007

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

*** Stars

Queen Elizabeth I of England is a fascinating story. Her successes and downfalls had enormous effects on the outcome of Europe in the 16th century. The Queen had to fight many battles on the field and in the right to her privacy. Elizabeth was a virgin queen, with no heir to her thrown and without the love of another man. Rumors throughout England, and even Europe created a debate of whether or not the power of this sort of freedom would effect the decisions she would make in times of hard days. She stated that she is indeed a mother...a mother to her people.

While the original film in 1998 showed the rise of her power, the sequel is a story of how Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett, who can do no wrong) kept her power, even when the strong men of the world sought to destroy her crown. King Philip II of Spain challenged her rule, bringing a war to her with his Spanish armada and powerful army. The King demanded Catholicism to be spread all throughout England, destroying the Queen's faith of Protestantism.
Sir Francis Walsingham (the always impressive Geoffrey Rush) continued to aid the Queen and her court as politics and her personal life intertwined. He tried to uncover the traitors of her rule. One turned out to be her own cousin Mary Stuart of Scotland (Samantha Morton) who was next in line to rule England. When she committed treason (she tried to kill the Queen), she was punished by death. After discovering this, the Spanish Armada sailed to England to throw the rule of Elizabeth.

The movie not only displays the Politics of Elizabeth's rule, but also the small personal life that had become of her. She bared a forbidden attraction for Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and to keep him around, she asked her favorite aid Bess to befriend him
. She became jealous when the two may have seemed to fall for one another. Elizabeth began to understand that the world she lived in prevented her from obtaining the warmness of a husband, and the wonder of a child.

The film has a hard time deciding what kind of film it wants to be. It spends a lot of time with Elizabeth and Walter rambling about the ideas of loving each other, while Spain prepares for its invasion. To the filmmakers credit, this idea does work, but Clive Owen's character is to fake to feel real. Its as though he appears just for the sake of having a love story. He is also a swashbuckler to the highest order, as he sores through the air on his ship looking like a wannabe Jack Sparrow.

The movie is still definitely worth seeing. Blanchett received an Oscar nod for the original film and keeps the performance here leveled with that one. So if the Academy doesn't want to be hypocritical, she should be nominated again. Now I am not taking anything away from her with that statement. She is a wonderful actress no matter what role she dives into. Even if you role your eyes at some of the parochial love lines, you may gain some knowledge on this subject as the film lets you dive into the world's history without forgetting the importance of entertainment.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Gone Baby Gone


***1/2 Stars

Because I'm from the Boston area, you may feel like I'm cheating when I give this movie a huge recommendation. Not all Boston films are perfect (cough What's the Worst that Could Happen? or Alex and Emma cough). This is just another worthy addition to the Boston crime genre.

My point is simple. Though it is always nice to see a story of where you come from, it better be done right. Director Ben Affleck (in a remarkable debut) takes a dirty section of Dorchester (an outer-skirt town outside the city) and turns in a fast pace, brutally violent thriller, one that will stick in your head for a long time.

Casey Affleck ignites the screen as Patrick Kenzie
, a young detective out to help a young mother (Amy Ryan) find her 4-year old child who was kidnapped by an unknown suspect. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris are wonderful as a cop and a veteran detective assigned to the case as well. Through twists and turns Patrick follows the clues in an effort to stop a potential death of innocent young girl.

Affleck's debut goes far beyond promising. If someone told me this was directed by a veteran like Ridley Scott or even Clint Eastwood, I would take your word for it. While the film's twists get borderline extreme, it manages to hold together without running out of gas. I'm looking forward to see where the Affleck brothers go with their careers after this. Ben has resurrected his while Casey is on the verge of stardom. If they stick together, we may see the two become a legendary pair.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Across the Universe

Jim Sturgess , Evan Rachel Wood and T.V. Carpio in Sony Pictures' Across the Universe**** Stars

What a lovely film this is. Full of life, important topics, and wonderful visuals. Across the Universe explores the lives of young adults in love and how you need nothing else.

The film is a musical through Beatles songs and characters. Jude, Lucy, Max, Sadie, Rita, Prudence, JoJo, Dr. Robert, Mr. Kite are all present. Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a dock worker who leaves his girlfriend in a quest to find his estranged father in America. When he gets there, he meets the girl of his dreams named Lucy (The wonderful Evan Rachel Wood). She is a sheltered American girl whose brother Max (Joe Anderson) is drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, and through that she becomes an activist in the peace movement. Other various characters enter their lives and help them through their struggles through songs that made the world stand still (or erupt them to their feet).

Realists will be compelled to call this a formulaic waste of pretentious garbage. Now, I never experienced Vietnam or lived through the Primetime of The Beatles, but I found this to be one of the most magical movies of the year. Films rarely relate to the personal feelings of confused young adults correctly like this one; who questions authority, chooses to ignore a parents wish and learn from their own mistakes, and where falling in love may be the answer to all the questions. Whether you are Here, There, and Everywhere, writing a letter to Prudence, declaring you are a Walrus, saying hey to Jude, Letting it Be, running through Strawberry Fields Forever, wanting to hold a hand, or crossing the universe, you will find an uplift in these memories even if you have no idea what I just said.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Michael Clayton

michael-clayton-1.jpg
*** Stars

George Clooney is one of the few actors alive who can play himself in a title role and receive a Best Actor nomination. That's not an insult, it just proves he was born to act. His performance is a throwback to classic movie stars like Gregory Peck and Henry Fonda. Slick, yet rightfully flawed, his character Michael Clayton is stuck in the middle of corporate greed testing every standard of human morality.

We learn who Clayton is right from the beginning. "I'm not a miracle-worker, I'm a janitor," he says to a client that has just been involved with a hit-and-run. He cleans up the mess of his corporate clients by getting his hands dirty, even though he has personal problems of his own. He is a divorced father who has family debts and a gambling problem. Instead of worrying about his own life, he tires himself out by fixing other people's mistakes. His career is a dead-end.

His old friend and colleague Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) is an unstable lawyer who has been working on behalf of bigger clients than his health can handle. When he doesn't take his medicine, his behavior causes Clayton to step in and take care of the mess. However, things start to spiral out of control, when one of the company's members against Edens and Clayton steps in. Karen Cowder
(Oscar winner Tilda Swinton) has to make sure her company is protected from any incriminating exposure or malpractice.

Although exciting and intelligent, the film is strangely familiar to garner seven Oscar nominations. It's build-up brings us to an exciting climax, but the conclusion plays it safe to make sure that its end rings true to a possible success for the lead character. Though uneven, Michael Clayton is an old-school thriller that focuses more on complex characters than pointless violence. My point of view is from someone who has seen the film after its massive hype, so maybe its natural for me not to join the true love.