Oscar Nominations: Silver Playbook FTW

For no useful reason I dragged myself out of bed at 5:20 AM this morning in order to hear the Oscar nominations announced live. Well, there is a reason, but it isn’t useful: I like to hear the gasps when surprises emerge. Or the lack of gasps, like today, when Spielberg got his best director nom and not a sound came from the crowd, no murmurs, no polite applause, nothing at all. Which is kind of like my response to Lincoln, except I liked Tommy Lee Jones.

But what’s up with the Kathryn Bigelow snub? A vast, anti-woman conspiracy? Or maybe all those old white dudes in the Directors’ Branch are mad because she makes combat films that don’t feature muddy, carefully lit infantrymen slogging through Europe or Southeast Asia. Or it could be the torture thing but, c’mon, people, this is a movie! Y’all shouldn’t be letting a bunch of testy senators influence your Oscar vote.

Otherwise, good for Beasts of the Southern Wild, always a great thing when newcomers get recognized; makes you believe that the Academy can be shaken out of its torpor. And the Silver Linings Playbook sweep through all the big categories is satisfying – it’s a film that deserves attention: clever, well plotted, with actors who brought those characters to complicated life and deserve recognition for it. I am still surprised that Bradley Cooper pulled that off.

One more thing: the Academy shook up its schedule a little this time around, trying to get a jump on the Awards season momentum. They also changed to electronic voting, which had a few bugs and left some members angry and perplexed as they found the system difficult to manage. It’s possible that these changes have had an impact: the DGA nominees barely overlap with Oscar’s directors; there are also a lot of misses between the acting categories and SAG. Could be that voters were less influenced by Guild nominees, or that fewer voted because of the complications with the electronic voting switch, although Academy president Hawk Koch stated today that the new system actually encouraged more members to cast their ballots.

In any case, this is an interesting year for Oscar, and in the next six weeks prognosticators will be eagerly looking for signs of momentum among the nominees. My opinion? Free for all. None of the old rules apply.

Big Weekend at the Movies

Didja go to the movies this weekend? Any trouble parking? Were there long lines for tickets? It seems like sometime on Friday or Saturday everyone in America looked at everyone else and said, "Hey, let's go see a movie!" and presto, just like that, we had one of the biggest February movie going weekends ever. Big winner was The Vow, scoring about a third more box office coin than anyone expected , but it was closely followed by Safe House, which nearly doubled its predicted take. Biggest surprise was Journey 2: Mysterious Island, which confounded prognosticators by doubling its business between Friday and Saturday; seems like good word of mouth and Dwayne Johnson propelled this one into a respectable third place finish, beating out Phantom Menace 3D, the only new opening whose business lined up with expectations. Among holdovers, Chronicle and Woman in Black held their own.

Minor historical note: if you don't count holiday weekends, this is the first time ever that four films earned more than $20 million in their opening sets.

Here's the list:

1. "The Vow" (Sony/Spyglass): $41.7 million.

2. "Safe House" (Universal/Relativity): $39.3 million.

3. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" (Warner Bros.): $27.6 million.

4. "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace" (Fox/Lucasfilm): $23 million.

5. "Chronicle" (Fox): $12.3 million. Domestic total: $40.2 million.

6. "The Woman in Black" (CBS Films): $10.3 million. Domestic total: $35.5 million.

7. "The Grey" (Open Road): $5.1 million. Domestic total: $42.8 million.

8. "Big Miracle" (Universal): $3.9 million. Domestic total: $13.2 million.

9. "The Descendants" (Fox Searchlight): $3.5 million. Domestic total: $70.7 million.

10. "Underworld: Awakening" (Sony/Lakeshore): $2.5 million. Domestic total: $58.9 million.

Opening this weekend: February 10

Bunch of big openings this weekend, and none look to impress. The Safe House stars Denzel Washington as a CIA turncoat who is attacked while in government custody and has to be rescued by a young operative in the form of Ryan Reynolds. The story involves a lot of John Woo style action and psychological warfare between the traitor and his protector. Middling reviews. In The Vow, Rachel MacAdams plays a young wife who develops amnesia following a car accident, and she can’t remember her husband. She does remember her old boyfriend, though. Is this supposed to be a date movie?  If so, which love are we rooting for? The husband is played by Channing Tatum, and he  doesn't have a lot of star wattage, and the boyfriend is Scott Speedman, who - wait, who is he?  Based on a true story, getting middling to poor reviews. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, stars Dwayne Johnson and Michael Caine (and a surprising number of other familiar actors) as explorers on a strange isle. This one is really just an excuse for 3-D effects and box office dollars; reviews aren’t great but they aren’t terrible either. Might be a possibility if you have kids to distract on Saturday afternoon (rated PG). Unless, that is, you can’t help yourself and need to take them to see Phantom Menace (Star Wars: Episode 1) in 3-D. Lucas has said that this special edition of his most disappointing film is designed for the grammar school set. So far, no lines around the block; in fact, the new release getting the most attention in presales and general buzz is The Vow. Must be a Valentines thing. Could be a record breaking weekend, box office wise, so if that kind of thing interests you, click back for the Monday wrap up. I’ll be here.

Young Adult

Paramount Pictures

Charlize Theron is a brilliant, and brave actress; she’s also beautiful, which is kind of the point in her latest film, Young Adult. She plays Mavis Gary, former prom queen and belle of the high school ball, currently facing middle age in a dismal messy apartment with only a fuzzy little dog and the occasional Internet date for company. She decides that the solution to her growing angst is to go back to her tiny hometown and drag her high school boyfriend out of the trap of family life. Never mind that he seems to be happily married and celebrating the birth of his new baby girl; Mavis is sure he wants out. “It’s like he’s a hostage,” she tells a friend, and she packs up her dog and motors out of the city to rescue him.

There is really nothing likeable about Mavis Gary; she’s crudely self-centered,  but Theron manages to show us the vulnerability in her, the desperation that leads her to decide that re-creating past glories is her best path to present day happiness. And while many actresses trade on their good looks, determined to look pretty under the most unlikely of film circumstances, here Theron allows herself to look scruffy and worn, wearing shapeless t-shirts, hair mussed, mascara runny. This could seem kind of sad and tragic, but Theron plays it like an ironic statement of toughness; as Mavis walks the streets of her former hometown in a Hello Kitty t-shirt, you get the impression that a smart person would not risk commenting on her disheveled appearance.

Young Adult is a comedy, a dark one, and the funniest scenes are the ones where Mavis meets up with Matt Frehauf, a high school classmate that she had nearly forgotten. As a teenager, Matt (played with perfect comic timing by Patton Oswalt) sustained life altering injuries at the hands of a bunch of football jocks who attacked him because they thought he was gay (he is not). Permanently disabled, he is cynical, funny, and sees right through Mavis’ pretensions; the two form an unlikely but extremely entertaining comic duo. The movie really brightens whenever they are both on screen. Young Adult is not an important film, it isn’t terribly weighty in its themes, but it is funny and a great showcase for the talents of Theron and Oswalt. Opening small this weekend in a few major cities, should go wide on 12/16. B+

Awards Season is On

It's been a busy couple of days on the awards circuit, the Gotham Independent Spirit Awards revealing themselves last night, the  New York Film Critics announcing their year end picks as well, and today the West Coast Independent Spirit folks put out their list of nominees.   Put it all together and what have you got: well, The Artist, certainly.  A big hit at Cannes, but playing only an extremely limited run (four theaters so far) here at home, this film is a serious critical darling but hasn't yet had a chance to prove itself among regular folks.  Another small film, Take Shelter, got attention from these organizations, both for Best Picture and for lead actor Michael Shannon.  But Take Shelter is a dark story with an ambivalent ending, an unlikely film to get mixed up in the big leagues, although Shannon could get a nod for acting.   Brad Pitt got noticed by the New York film Critics for his performance in Moneyball; this relatively small crowd of writers also chose Meryl Streep as Best Actress in Iron Lady.  Neither one of these films would get noticed by the Independent Spirit folks, who leave any big studio film out of their considerations, but certainly this is a clue that Pitt and Streep will get attention from Oscar (and the Screen Actors Guild, and the Golden Globes).  Jessica Chastain also got some love for her performances in (take your pick) Tree of Life, Take Shelter and The Help.  She has had a busy year, and will no doubt have a lot of red carpet walks in the next few months.


But, award hopes aside, all these picks and nominations can provide some film going direction. In the next month, there should be some high quality movies at the multiplex.  Look for Iron Lady, and The Artist, although The Artist is more likely to show up in art houses.  Spielberg's War Horse, a World War I story, is getting lots of buzz (it is a Spielberg film) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo should make a splash, although it's bound to be a brutal, bloody one.  Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, a thriller based on a John LeCarre novel, is getting positive reviews from the handful of critics who have seen it,  and Young Adult, a story about a morally ambivalent woman (Charlize Theron) who returns to her high school reunion determined to rip her old boyfriend away from his wife and family, is generating some good acting kudos. Extremely Loud and Terribly Close, based on a novel about a boy whose father died in the Towers on 9/11 and left a mysterious key behind, is getting a lot of buzz even though no one (really, no one) has seen it yet.  Some  bold prognosticators are even calling it for Best Picture.  Back in the real world, look for The Descendants, whose Oscar hopes are rosy because of its solid box office and loving critical reviews.  It's also a good film and still in theaters.  My Week with Marilyn is also getting attention for Michelle Williams' performance.  Too soon to tell how any of these will fare come awards times, but they should provide some good movie going entertainment.  More awards insight and prognosticating as the story unfolds. 

Review: The Descendants

Fox Searchlight

Good movie. George Clooney stars as Matt King, a disconnected dad who has to step up his parenting game when a boating accident leaves his wife in a coma. His two daughters, ten and seventeen, are mysteries to him, but he’s a essentially a warmhearted guy, giving the unexpected dad thing his best shot until older daughter Alex (played with beautiful authenticity by Shailene Woodley) hits him with a bombshell: his comatose wife has been having an affair. “She was cheating on you, Dad,” Alex tells him, in a matter of fact tone that is only a little impatient, as though this huge development in his marriage was something she pretty much expected him to miss. But once the news is out Matt is galvanized into action, collaborating with Alex to track his wife’s lover down – determined to confront the guy, wanting to see his face when he learns that the woman he has been dallying with is at death’s door.

Obviously there is a dark side to all of this, but writer/director Alexander Payne (Sideways) teases the humor out of the drama, and George Clooney gamely allows himself to appear foolish, letting go of his leading man suave to look believably awkward when he peers over a hedge trying to spot his wife’s mystery man, or races in flip flops to his neighbors’ house to demand the truth about the affair. The film lingers a little too lightly on the real pain at the heart of this story, skims over the tough stuff, but we still feel enormous sympathy for the characters and keep pulling for them. With Robert Forster doing great work as the dying woman’s father, and young Nick Krause providing welcome comic relief as Alex’s friend. Playing a relatively small run (433 theaters) throughout the country but it’s doing good business and should expand. Lots of Oscar buzz. B+

What to See November 18, 2011

The big opening of the weekend is Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and if you are on Team Edward or Team Jacob (no one seems to need a Team Bella) you are already in line for the midnight show. Good for you, but keep me out of it. I am hoping to miss this one. I’m not sure what I dread most: Kristen Stewart’s sourpuss face, Edward Pattinson’s steely blankness, or Tyler Lautner’s wholesale abandoning of any nascent acting talent in exchange for flashing his abs. It all depresses me, and we haven’t even arrived at the bizarre birth scene. Oops! Spoiler alert. The other big opening is Happy Feet 2, an animated tap dancing penguin movie. Early reviews are mixed, but it looks like a solid family film.

More highbrow, The Descendants opens this weekend in a handful of theaters; this is one of the best reviewed films of the fall, definite Oscar bait. George Clooney stars as an absentee dad who has to step up his parenting game when his wife is injured and falls into a coma.

Held over are a number of biggies: Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill, Tower Heist and The Immortals. You might be wise to skip all of those but if you are in the mood for a big Hollywood movie, Tower Heist is a better bet than the other two. Unless you absolutely love Adam Sandler, and, just a tip, the membership of that club appears to be dwindling. Jack and Jill had a disappointing opening weekend and critics really hated the film. On the other hand, people who showed up liked it well enough.

If you happen to live in a city with an art house scene, look for a film called Like Crazy. This charming, unexpected and extremely well done love story is one of the best films out right now.

Review: J. Edgar

Warner Brothers

I hate to burst bubbles, but this movie is a snooze. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the title role and he tries mightily to make it work, but the script lets him down; J. Edgar Hoover, one of the most significant and controversial American public figures of the 20th Century, is presented with such a narrow, insulated focus that it’s hard to tell if he was a real threat to his enemies or just an awkward, slightly deranged man ranting about in his office. The film is shot in understated tones with muted colors, and that might have seemed retro cool if the story had any spark, but instead the low key presentation too easily allows your mind to wander. I started planning my weekend.

The story begins early on, when Hoover is an eager young agent trying to bring a new level of sophistication to crime investigations. Determined, ambitious, and socially awkward, he is appointed the first head of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation when he is only 24. He assembles a personal staff that includes his secretary, Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) and his number two in command and possible love interest, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer). The film spends a good deal of time attempting to explore the relationship between these two men, which was a source of speculation for anyone who paid attention to Hoover, both during and after his lifetime. The question was never resolved, though, and J.Edgar’s considerable efforts to lift the veil seem hackneyed and flat.

The film divides Hoover's nearly fifty years as head of the Bureau by referencing different crimes or crime sprees; in each segment Hoover has a young agent sequestered in his office, dutifully typing up the director's version of events. The story evolves from these memoirs, which, unfortunately, make us like those young men sitting at the typewriter: we merely take down what Hoover has to say. The film provides no context, no characters to give perspective. We don’t know, for example, why the Director feels a need to explain himself, since we see no one of any significance seriously questioning his actions. When he goes on his well documented vendetta against Martin Luther King, we don't see anyone in King’s camp react; we never get a chance to understand if Hoover’s hatred of the civil rights leader had any consequences.

Armie Hammer does excellent work as Tolson, even though his aggressive aging prosthetics never seem natural. Naomi Watts plays a routine role in a routine way. Clint Eastwood is a great director when he has the right material, but this one misses the mark. Still playing wide throughout the country.  B-

Review: Margin Call

Roadside Attractions

Margin Call is set on Wall Street in the fall of 2008. It revolves around a handful of upper echelon players in a big investment firm - well, they are mostly upper echelon: in a memorable performance, Zachary Quinto plays Peter, a young risk analyst who identifies the beginnings of the coming financial meltdown before any of the more experienced executives have taken notice. He gets a tip from his recently fired boss, Eric (played with calm understatement by Stanley Tucci); Eric slips him a flash drive before he leaves the building for the last time, warning Peter to “Be careful.” 

It’s good advice. Peter passes up a happy hour outing with co-workers and stays late studying the file Eric gave him. Within a few hours he has it figured out: the beginnings of the biggest financial crash since 1930 laid out in colorful graphs and numbers on his computer screen. It’s about 9:00 at night, and from here the clock starts slowly ticking towards financial Armageddon.

The film doesn’t spend much time trying to explain the mechanics of the crash. It only covers a tiny bit of time, less than 24 hours. Peter alerts his boss, and as the news travels up the corporate ladder executives arrive back at the office in the dead of night (all nicely dressed, hadn’t they gone home yet?), trying to grasp what’s happened and waiting to meet with head honcho Jeremy Irons, who lands on the roof in a helicopter around 4:00 AM. And here is the heart of the story, the real question being asked: once all of these high level insiders understand the stakes, how will they respond? With nobility? Crass self interest? Is there a moral debate to be had?

It’s interesting stuff, and it’s handled in a far more intimate and revealing way than in a film like say, Wall Street 2. If you ever wondered what went on in those moneyed ivory towers as the financial system came tumbling down, this is a great film to see. With outstanding performances by Kevin Spacey and Paul Bettany as the two execs on the front lines of dealing with the crisis. Still playing in selected theaters nationwide. B+

Box Office Wrap Up: October 21

The smash movie of the weekend was Paranormal Activity 3, its $54 million take giving it the interesting title of “biggest fall opening ever.” For perspective, that means it made more money in its opening than films like Jackass 3D, Shark Tale, and The Grudge. The third outing of the low budget franchise is a prequel to the other films in the series, working on the notion that the creepy other worldly ghostly thing that terrorized the young couple in the first movie actually got a foothold when the young woman was just a toddler. Seemed like a good idea, sort Poltergeist-y: little girl picks up communications from the beyond, and her mom is all freaked out about it.

Paranormal Activity 3 locked down about half of the box office generated by the top ten films, but the big fans who turned out for the opening weekend didn’t love it, giving the horror flick a C+ in exit reviews. Meanwhile, the latest screen incarnation of The Three Musketeers barely registered. Continuing movies Real Steel, Footloose, Ides of March, and Dolphin Tale hung on pretty well. Upcoming, we’ve got Jason Timberlake in In Time, a movie where no one ages past 25, and time becomes currency. Olivia Wilde plays Timberlake’s mother. Not sure how that’s going to work.

Looking for a Few Good Films (and Some Oscar Predictions)

I am a big fan of summer blockbusters. I like the comic book heroes and the grand battles between good and evil where good always wins and evil is defeated in a humorously ironic way.

But once Labor Day rolls around, I’m ready for something a little more thought provoking.

Which makes this fall oddly disappointing. It had a promising start, lots of hype about the great films on the horizon, but so far only Moneyball has hit the mark. Like a lot of critics, I was hoping for a little more depth from Drive and more complexity from the Ides of March; both films were well made and entertaining, but neither one could be called a great movie.

So we look forward. This weekend Martha Marcy May Marlene opens, featuring what is promised to be a stunning performance by Olsen twins sibling Elizabeth. Filmmaker Sean Durkin also won the top directing prize at Sundance. Lots of buzz on this one.

After that there is a bit of a wait before the next hyped picture arrives. J Edgar, a biopic about the controversial FBI chief comes out on November 9 in the big markets; Leo DiCaprio takes the title role, and this one has Oscar written all over it. Also in November look for The Descendents: George Clooney stars as an absentee dad who has to step up when his wife has an accident and slips into a coma. From the trailer this looks like a standard family crisis drama but, unlike Ides of March, it persistently shows up in the Best Picture conversation. The Artist opens on Thanksgiving weekend; it’s a black and white not-quite-silent picture about the advent of talking films. Screened at Cannes to wild enthusiasm.

Other possibilities include War Horse, a Spielberg picture that comes out at the very end of the year, barely making the cut off for awards consideration; it’s a World War I (that’s one, not two) movie about a horse and the kid who loves him. Okay, it’s probably more complicated than that, but it hasn’t been screened yet so nobody knows. There is also a film version of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, based on one of the very first novels to set in post 9/11 New York. Also opens late December. The American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo looks like it’s meant for mass market pop culture consumption, but Academy voters are keeping it in mind because of Director David Fincher's pedigree (he directed Social Network). As the eponymous Girl, Rooney Mara is also expected to snag a best actress nod.

But she’ll be competing with the Grande Dame of Oscar nominees, Meryl Streep, who is expected to blow out the competition with her performance as Maggie Thatcher in Iron Lady. If there’s a lock in this awards season, old Meryl is probably it.

Review: Fifty Fifty

Summit Entertainment

There are critics who love this picture and I can’t imagine why. It’s possible that the lack of impressive films in the fall “noteworthy movie” season has led them to embrace it, even though it is pretty much like any cancer movie you have ever seen. Guy is having a normal day, feels a twinge, finds out he has cancer, family and friends freak, they rally, they are inspired and full of hope because of his brave struggle. Or something like that.

50/50 doesn’t introduce anything new into this conversation. If you have ever dealt with cancer, either as a patient or as a supportive family member or friend, you will not learn anything from this film, or come away with an altered perspective.

Which is not to say it’s a bad picture. As cancer victim Adam, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does credible work even though his part is badly underwritten; he’s so low key we hardly ever get a handle on what he’s like or how all these events are affecting him. There are a lot of moments in the film where the camera focuses on his face while he … thinks, I suppose, or maybe he just feels sleepy. You start to wonder if the filmmakers have run out of things to do.

There are bright moments, mostly when Ann Kendrick is on screen; she plays Katherine, Adam’s therapist, but she’s young, new to the job, interning at the hospital while she works on her PhD. She screws up a lot but she tries hard to find her way, and you see in her expressive, intuitive face how intently she is trying to break through Adam’s stoicism. Kendrick is a remarkable actress, even though her small stature and slightly off kilter face make her a natural for odd ball supporting cast roles, she always carves out something new in her characters. You would never mistake Katherine for Up in the Air’s Natalie. Angelica Huston also has a few, pitch perfect moments in the film; she plays Adam’s overbearing mother but you have nothing but sympathy for her.

The elephant in the movie, of course, is Seth Rogen, playing the stoner buddy he always plays. It’s comforting to watch the friendship between his character and Adam become a source of support for the poor dude, but Rogan doesn’t do anything new or different here, he’s just the stoner buddy. If you enjoy his act, you’ll have a pretty good time watching him. Or you could just rent Pineapple Express. 50/50 is playing around the country, doing decent box office. B-

Now in Theaters - August 26, 2011

There are three new movies opening this weekend and none of them is highly recommended by anybody. Our Idiot Brother stars Paul Rudd as a genial ne’er do well who runs into some life challenges and elects to solve them by crashing into the well ordered lives of his three sisters. Big hit at Sundance, getting decent, but not terribly enthusiastic reviews. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is a remake of a made for TV movie; it stars Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes as the parents (well, Pearce is the dad, Holmes is dad’s new girlfriend) of a precocious youngster (Bailee Madison) who unleashes goblins, or something, in the old Gothic home they’ve just moved into. Scary stuff – or not: one critic suggested that all you would need to fight off the little creatures is a good stiff broom. What does seem scary is that Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes are in this movie. Weren’t they supposed to be serious actors, once upon a time? Finally we have Columbiana, an action picture where Zoe Saldana sheds her Avatar Blue, picks up a gun and becomes a dangerous assassin. By most accounts this movie will remind you of every other movie where someone learns to kill in order to avenge the tragic, senseless death of a loved one. There are a lot of movies like that. This one isn’t very good.

So what to see? Well, The Help is a popular choice. It’s become a box office juggernaut, beating out other adult oriented films as well as the latest blockbusters. Well worth seeing: entertaining, thought provoking, all of that. If you are in a summer movie mood, Captain America and Rise of the Planet of the Apes are still in theaters, and if scares are your thing, give Fright Night a try.  

Nothing strike your fancy?  Well, just hang on.  Next week a new shark movie is coming out.  And it's in 3D!

Transformers

Paramount Pictures

For the ReelFan, it’s been a long summer without enough movies. Oh, there have been plenty of films in theaters, just too much summer traveling to find time to see them. Recently I was in Chicago and from my hotel window, just past the river and peeking out from behind a skyscraper, I could see a building with the AMC logo on it. I imagined myself creating a credible pretense and strolling over there, then dashing in to catch whatever was playing. I was willing to see anything. I would have gone to Final Destination 5.

Which might have been a better choice than Transformers; I saw the latest installment of the blockbuster fighting robot franchise at a strange little theater in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was part of one of those giant, sprawling retail complexes where you can drive for hours through adjacent parking lots, trying to make sense of conflicting signposts that claim to be leading you to wherever you thought you were going. Which is a little bit like Transformers: the movie is a muddled mess of confusing parts that are vaguely connected, and you keep hoping there will be some sort of cinematic signpost that leads you to a logical conclusion. There aren’t though, any signposts or logic; instead the film has lots of crashing explosions and battles between robots that look so alike you can’t tell which one to root for. Or why they’re fighting, for that matter – I think the future of humanity was on the line. I’m not sure.

Shia LaBeouf was cool, though. Such an everyman, this guy, but he has a little swagger, a way of squaring his shoulders and striding into robot battle that makes you believe he can be a badass. He’s fun to watch, and that worked for me, but I don’t recommend anyone see this movie. No reason to go.  C

Movie Review: Water for Elephants

20th Century Fox

Water for Elephants may one day show up in a film class as a lesson in how not to adapt a popular novel for the screen. Sara Gruen’s 2006 book is packed with unique characters and compelling stories of life in a Depression era circus – many of them based on actual accounts – but screenwriter Richard LaGravanese chooses to ignore most of that and focus instead on the love triangle at the center of the story. Then he runs out of things to do. So we see a lot of Robert Pattinson, playing young Jacob, staring into Reese Witherspoon’s eyes – she’s Marlena, the star attraction under the big top; and then we see Marlena staring into her husband August’s eyes (Christopher Walz, reprising his deranged Nazi role). And then we see August staring from a distance at Jacob and Marlena – well, you get the idea.

It’s a shame. Because the time lavished on the pretty faces of the stars would have been better spent developing the supporting characters, who are pivotal to nearly every important moment in the story. And it’s a good story, opening with young Jacob on the verge of getting his veterinary license and feeling the first stirrings of love, and then losing everything in a moment when he learns that his parents are dead and his inheritance is worthless. Despairing, he hops a train out of town and, quite by accident, joins the circus. He gets permanent work as a vet with the show, but soon discovers that owner August is a sadistic man who is cruel to his animals and his human employees, throwing men off the train if it helps lighten his payroll or soothe his easily injured pride. The troupe bonds together to maintain their spirits and protect each other from August’s wrath, and they take Jacob in, first out of sympathy but then out of respect and hope that he can become their de facto defender and leader.

But you won’t see any of this in the film, or any cohesive version of it, anyway. LaGravenese, along with director Francis Lawrence, seem to find the colorful characters and grittiness of circus life and the desperation of Depression times to be merely background noise to the story, instead of the very thing that gives it depth and authenticity. So the film is a bore. Still playing in lots of theaters but it got trampled by Rio and Tyler Perry’s latest picture over the weekend; don’t expect a long run. C

Movie review: Hanna

Focus Features

This movie has a great trailer. I’ve watched it a lot. We see an ethereal blonde haired girl, blue eyes luminous, gutting a newly killed antelope. A voice behind her says “You’re dead! I’ve just killed you.” And the angelic child suddenly becomes a twisting punching shrieking fighting machine.

Cool.

Hanna has a great premise, the notion of a sweet faced youngster trained to be an elite assassin before her sixteenth birthday. She has lived her life in a remote forest in Finland, where her father (a restrained, but warmhearted Eric Bana) has instructed her in martial arts and survival skills. She can fight with a gun or a knife or a good stout stick, but all this training is very directed: once she comes of age, she needs to assassinate Marissa Viegler, an elite American agent who, according to dad, wants Hanna dead. It’s kill or be killed in this adventure, and once Hanna (played with memorable delicacy and believable toughness by Saoirse Ronan) sets events in motion so she can confront her nemesis, it seems we are off on a rollicking roller coaster ride of a movie.

Or not.  When Hanna leaves the forest behind, when she makes her first assault on the evil crew that wants to do her in and then speeds away into the desert, the tension of the story slips. It appears that Marissa Viegler – played by Cate Blanchett with a cold heart and Texas twang – does want Hanna dead, but we don’t know why, and what’s more, we don’t know what’s at stake. Is Hanna at risk of becoming a mercenary soldier for some nefarious international organization? Could her sweet nature be corrupted by their evil demands? Is there an innocent population at risk? International relations on the brink?

Apparently not. Marissa Viegler wants Hanna dead because she does. She hires henchmen to help her, and they kill people because that’s what they do – the film is full of violence that serves no purpose; it doesn’t heighten the risks or propel the plot. A lot of it isn’t even interesting, the bad guys and their methods are oddly trite. And there are peculiar lapses in logic: early on, we see Hanna staring dumbfounded at a television; a few scenes later, she expertly types search terms into Google in an effort to understand her peculiar genetic make up.  Pretty sophisticated stuff for a kid raised by lantern light in a remote forest.

But mostly what goes on here are chase scenes, punctuated by fights, followed by more running away. There is a charming intimacy to the early moments of the film when Hanna and her father prepare for her entry into the world, where they struggle with their upcoming separation with the kind of mixed feeling parents and children have always had, even if the kid isn’t setting off to assassinate someone. (But why Hanna needs to go off on this mission by herself is never explained. Would it have been so bad for dad to have her back?) The most entertaining part of the movie happens when Hanna meets up with an English family on holiday; they have a teenage daughter named Sophie who takes Hanna under her irrepressible wing. Jessica Barden delivers Sophie’s lines with excellent comic timing, the film is almost worth seeing just for her. But the real star of the show is Saoirse Ronan, who makes Hanna so intriguing and sympathetic you leave the theater hoping for a sequel; one with a more interesting plot. Playing everywhere, had a pretty average box office performance on opening weekend so it may not last long. B-

Review: The Adjustment Bureau

 Universal Pictures

The Adjustment Bureau is a cool sci-fi love story. Matt Damon plays David Norris, an up and coming New York congressman making a big play for the US Senate. Everything is on track until the New York Post publishes some old pictures of him engaging in youthful indiscretion, specifically, pulling his pants down at a party. This is enough to crush his campaign, and on election night, glum and full of self recrimination, he practices his concession speech in a swanky hotel bathroom. Then, a ray of hope: Elise (Emily Blunt) emerges quite unexpectedly from one of the stalls, where she had been hiding from hotel security, caught in the act of crashing a wedding. Carrying a half empty bottle of what is probably very good champagne, the irreverent Elise immediately recognizes David (“Aren’t you that guy who’s running for Senate?”) and proceeds to tease, flirt and cajole him out of his mood and back into fighting form. He is instantly smitten, so is she, but then security shows up and she has to run, the girl of David’s dreams disappearing down a hotel staircase. But, inspired by his brief encounter, David tosses his index cards and gives a stirring speech to his supporters. His political fortunes, though delayed, are back on track. 

But the path of true love, and Matt Damon characters, never runs smooth.  On a sunny New York morning, when David has just set out for work (his between campaigns gig) it appears that two men are tracking him. “He needs to spill coffee on his shirt by 7:05,” Richardson (John Slattery) tells Harry (Anthony Mackie) and Harry wearily agrees but then he dozes off on a park bench, missing the cue. Meanwhile, David hops a bus and miraculously, spots Elise. Sparks fly, and this time he gets her number, but then the day takes an ominous turn. David arrives at work to discover strange doings: his co-workers are frozen in time, and his friend and colleague Charlie is getting zapped by a mysterious light beam; the Adjustment Bureau is busily making changes to the fabric of fate that spilled coffee was supposed to prevent David from seeing. Richardson corrals him and then tells him the truth: his future is not his own to plan. And, incidentally, he’s not supposed to be with Elise.

Since Matt Damon has made a career of playing stubborn rogue tough guys, we all know he’s not going to let Elise slip away just because John Slattery tells him to. And so the adventure takes off, with lots of twists and turns and elaborate foot chases through Manhattan. Along the way we are asked to speculate on what choices we would make if we knew in advance what the outcomes would be: White picket fence in the suburbs? Fame and fortune, but no satisfying personal life?

Based on a Philip K. Dick short story (it's like screenwriter and director George Nolfi read the story and decided to write another chapter of his own)The Adjustment Bureau is a fun film, and a great night out in the midst of late winter movie doldrums. Damon and Blunt have crackling chemistry, Slattery’s usual ironic light touch provides welcome amusement, and Anthony Mackie is terrific as the Adjustment Bureau “caseworker” who isn't certain that the team is making the right decisions.  Playing everywhere. B

New Movies: March 4, 2011

Oscar excitement has left town, and along with it the glut of nominated films that dominate movie theaters this time of year. So welcome to the new arrivals! There are many, if you count obscure foreign and Sundance type films that are only playing in big cities. Not counting those, here’s what we got:


Now Playing in a Theater Near You

RANGO Johnny Depp plays a lizard in this live action animated tale of a pet store chameleon who gets lost in the Wild West. Depp based the character of Rango on Hunter Thompson, which is edgy, to say the least, and may be why so many critics caution that this film is probably not going to appeal to the pre-school set. It’s the first animated film to come out of Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ special effects company, and that makes it worth seeing ; but wait, there’s more: director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) upped the realism by having his cast act out the story as though it were a live action shoot, instead of the usual thing of calling the actors in to record their lines individually. Most of the big name critics are big time fans.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU Matt Damon and Emily Blunt play star-crossed lovers in a sci-fi world that is determined to control their destinies; in order to be together, they must outmaneuver the mysterious Adjustment Bureau. Terrance Stamp and John Slattery play the mysterious evil puppetmasters. Based on a Philip K. Dick short story and directed by George Nofi (Bourne Ultimatum), The Adjustment Bureau is supposed to be a pretty good thriller and an even better love story. Generally good reviews.

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT Topher Grace takes another stab at stardom in this story about an aimless college graduate whose life is upended when his high school crush invites him to an “epic” end of summer party. It’s sort of like American graffiti, if John Hughes had directed it in the eighties. Most critics love Topher and don’t love this film.

BEASTLY Aimed at the Twilight set, this modern take on the Beauty and the Beast fable features Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number 4) as the Beast, Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) as Beauty and Mary Kate Olsen as the witch. Cool. It’s all set in New York and has a Gossip Girl kind of vibe. Lukewarm reception by critics, who mostly seem to think it could have been a lot better. Well, we all know the story works.

Hall Pass and Drive Angry are also still around, even though they could barely scrape together an audience last weekend; theater owners seem to think they deserve a second chance. Oscar winner The King's Speech is in wide release and worth checking out if you haven’t seen it yet, and i f you’re in the mood for a fun thriller, Unknown is probably at a multiplex near you.