Lighter Notes: Burn After Reading and Ghost Town

Looking for a fun night out? Two comedies worth checking out: In Ghost Town, Ricky Gervais (the guy who brought The Office over the pond) plays Bertram Pincus, a cranky dentist who dies for (almost) seven minutes; when he comes to he discovers - to his great dismay - that he can see ghosts. And they can talk to him. These nether world spirits all want something from Doctor Pincus, and the general idea is that he has to find his humanity by helping dead people, and then he can get the girl. It’s sort of like Groundhog Day if you forget all the depth and insight, and overlook the fact that there is really no chemistry between Gervais and Tea Leoni (she plays the girl). Still, there are some good laughs and overall this is a fun movie to watch. First-rate supporting performances: watch for SNL vet Kristin Wiig playing the surgeon.

On a much darker note, Burn After Reading is the Coen Brothers comedic outing and it is essentially a big goof, like the directors invited a bunch of A List stars down to their studio and told them to go ahead and have a good time (cast list includes Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton). The movie barely makes sense, the characters do things no one would ever do, but there are some memorable, laugh out loud moments. It’s not Fargo but if you like the Coen Brothers you will have a good time. Fair warning to the sensitive and uninitiated: there is some nasty, gory stuff in this film, be prepared to avert your eyes now and then; it won’t affect your enjoyment of the movie.

Vote Independent -- Frozen River

This movie kept surprising me. Whenever I thought I knew where it was going, the story would veer another way.

Melissa Leo plays Ray Eddy, a weary but loving mother who is raising her two boys in a beat up old trailer in a bleak northern American town, up where the St. Lawrence River marks the border with Canada. She has a deposit down on a double wide, a nice new mobile home with a Jacuzzi tub and lots of insulation against the fierce northern winter; it’s supposed to be a Christmas present, but a week before the holiday her gambling husband takes off with the family savings, leaving her with an empty refrigerator and no way to play Santa. Desperate, she hooks up with Lila, a young woman from the nearby Mohawk reservation; they form an uneasy partnership smuggling illegal immigrants into the country by driving them across the frozen St. Lawrence, hidden inside the trunk of Ray’s car.

This is a remarkably honest film; it takes us right into Lila and Ray’s lives without any Hollywood gloss. It’s shot so intimately that you can almost feel the cold of the northeastern winter – I actually worried that Lila didn’t have enough blankets on her bed. And while two women are at the heart of this movie it isn’t a chick film –they’re smugglers, after all (there are plenty of heart stopping moments), and they aren’t remotely glamorous.

Melissa Leo (she’s been in a bunch of movies, and she pops up on TV) gives a tremendous performance; there is Oscar talk but it’s always a tough road when the film is this small. Frozen River won the Grand Jury Prize for Drama at Sundance, and it’s a big critical fave. Highly recommended, especially if you’re in the mood for a non-Hollywood film.

The Other Spencer Girl -- The Duchess

A sumptuous period costume drama soap opera – and unfortunately, not much else. Keira Knightly plays Georgiana Spencer (yes, those Spencers) the young Duchess of Devonshire who, in late 18th century England, was an A list celebrity. Her great fame and popularity allowed her to influence society, fashion, and perhaps most notably, politics. She also had a tabloid worthy personal life, and that is pretty much the stuff of this film – the choice is regrettable because there isn’t enough sudsy material to fill the screen time. So we get Ralph Fiennes, as the Duke, sulking because his wife gives him daughters, instead of sons, and then he takes mistresses and then there are long scenes where the Duke and Duchess speak coldly to each other across mammoth dining tables while the servants look on. Not the stuff of high drama. Admittedly, there are plenty of strange twists and turns in the nobles’ personal lives, but history would certainly have forgotten them if it weren’t for Georgiana’s influential public role, and the movie seems to have little time for that. Keira Knightly does well with what little she is given to work with; Ralph Fiennes appears to have shown up for a couple of days of filming because the money was good. See it if you love Keira Knightly and authentic period dramas. Otherwise, move on.

Somewhere Between Bad, and Not So Bad

Three notable films are opening this weekend; unfortunately none of them arrive with much critical enthusiasm. Burn After Reading is the Coen brothers latest, they brought us No Country for Old Men last year and Fargo before that. Good pedigree, but this outing appears to be less interesting. The cast is hot, though: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and Tilda Swinton. With all that talent, how bad can it be? Speaking of talent, Deniro and Pacino team up in Righteous Kill, a movie about a serial killer vigilante cop; the police detectives played by our Greatest Actors seem more inclined to admire the bad guy than arrest him. Not supposed to be a very good film, but around here they have screenings where you can drink wine and beer while you watch: that could work. Finally, The Women – this is a shame: the original, made by George Cukor in 1939, had a sort of wicked catty charm, it was a little subversive. This remake, featuring a gaggle of actresses and headlined by the ever perky Meg Ryan, is reputed to be much more Sex in the City than Mean Girls. Time Magazine’s Robert Schickel said it was the worst movie he’s ever seen. If I was going to pick one of these I would go with the Burn After Reading – Coen Brothers movies always have entertainment value. Oh, and one more: Tyler Perry has a new picture, The Family That Preys. I’m not a Perry fan – I tend to think that he is unkind to his female characters, but this picture has a little bit of buzz.
Otherwise, if you’re looking for action/suspense and all that, try Traitor: Don Cheadle plays a double agent who may or may not have gone over to the dark side.

But he was great in Valley Girl

I have a soft spot for Nicholas Cage. I realize it isn’t always deserved; he makes some god-awful movies. This weekend he pops up in Bangkok Dangerous, a remake of a Thai-language picture from back in 1999. Cage plays a ruthless, loner assassin with strange hair who becomes unexpectedly attached to his street punk sidekick; there’s also a girl involved, always a bit awkward when you’re a ruthless loner assassin. The Pang Brothers, who directed the original, are back for this one; by all accounts they’ve lost their edge. There’s not much to recommend here, but the expectation is that this bit of action driven fluff will take the weekend box office derby.

If you don’t want to take a chance on Cage and Co. look for Hamlet 2, hopefully playing at a theater near you. If it’s action you’re after, see if you can find Hellboy. Everybody loves Hellboy.

Reviving the Prince of Denmark: Hamlet 2

Rock me Jesus! This is a high spirited, fun loving goof of a movie. It stars Steve Coogan (the stressed out director in Tropic Thunder) as a washed up actor turned drama teacher, who isn’t very good at that either. When his drama program is threatened by budget cuts, he makes a desperate effort to “save the arts” by staging a musical sequel to Hamlet – something about Jesus and a time machine and Hamlet forgiving his father and saving everybody else from their tragic ends. A big hit at Sundance, so it’s full of indie cred, there is something so sincere about the lunacy of this story that you can’t help but enjoy the ride. Also features some great performances by the “teenaged” cast (many of them aren’t teens anymore, but never mind). Opened small but expanding over Labor Day.

War is Comedy: Tropic Thunder

The summer movie season is winding down, with official “also-rans” hitting the theaters: titles like The House Bunny and Death Race trying to pick up some box office crumbs. Big winners for the season are Dark Knight and Iron Man, with Indiana Jones not far behind. If you haven’t seen Dark Knight or Iron Man, and you‘re in the mood for action, those are worth checking out. If you haven’t seen Indiana Jones, never mind. Shia LaBoeuf has a whole new thriller coming out on September 26. Otherwise, no real critical darlings opening this weekend, and the new arrivals get mostly middling reviews, including – sorry, Office fans – the Rocker, Raine Wilson’s attempt to play someone other than Dwight Schrute. But, still in a theater near you (probably several theaters near you)…

Tropic Thunder

This movie is about a bunch of self important actors making a self important movie about Viet Nam, Hollywood poking fun at itself, and here is what all the fuss is about: Ben Stiller plays a washed up action star who recently bombed in his attempt to portray a mentally challenged adult. We see clips of his film and it’s a tasteless, overdone, pretty much unfunny bit of business that probably wouldn’t have caused any ripples if it didn’t play such a key part in the Tropic Thunder story line. Fortunately it’s not the most interesting part: that happens anytime Robert Downey Jr. is on screen. In fact the mentally challenged thing is only funny when Downey Jr. explains to Stiller why the role didn’t net him Oscar Gold: “You went full retard, man. Never go full retard." Downey Jr. is brilliant of course, with natural style and timing on screen; in this ensemble cast he is entertaining even when he is at the back of the crowd, reacting to someone else. But when he isn’t on screen the film belongs to the supporting actors, especially Matthew McConaughey, stepping easily into the small role of Stiller’s determined agent, and Tom Cruise, almost unrecognizable as a megalomaniacal studio boss. Cruise is hilarious, actually. Weird guy, but funny. This isn’t the most memorable comedy but it’s a good time at the movies. Go see it, and keep your eye on Robert Downey Jr. He’s fun to watch.