Movie Review - My Blueberry Nights

A new movie by master director Wong Kar Wai is always cause for celebration, so his first English language film, "My Blueberry Nights", went to the top of my list as must-see viewing. A stellar cast (Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and singer/novice actress Norah Jones), exquisite cinematography and that fabulous Wong Kar Wai style make for a delicious treat for the viewer. Jones stars as Elizabeth, who's left broken hearted by a boyfriend's desertion but can't seem to let go and winds up hanging out each night at a small cafe in Manhattan run by Jeremy (played by Law). She's left her keys in Law's possession so that he might return them to her errant boyfriend if he ever comes back in for a meal. Checking frequently to see if he's shown up (he hasn't), Elizabeth winds up staying for the blueberry pie and conversations with Jeremy. When she suddenly takes off and hits the road on a journey of self discovery, the two keep in touch via postcards as Elizabeth takes jobs as waitress, bartender and casino cocktail server from Memphis to Vegas. Along the way she meets a variety of characters, including an alcoholic policeman (a heart breaking performance by the always amazing David Strathairn) and his wayward wife (Rachel Weisz) as well as a tough, high rolling gambler (Natalie Portman).

It's difficult to describe the intoxicating spell that is cast by a Wong Kar Wai film. He has captured the motion, night colors and isolation of city life with breathtaking effect in such extraordinary movies as "Chung King Express" and "Fallen Angels" and now adds a new talent to his repertoire: Americana. I've always loved his slightly misshapen, uncommunicative characters, but here he's also mastered the flavor of a seedy Memphis bar along with a sweet, long distance romance. Cinematographer extraordinaire, Darius Khondji, is a perfect compliment to the writer/director's style, making everything from the overhead railway to the desert vistas shine with vibrance. Even the smaller, supporting roles are perfectly cast (including Frankie Faison as Travis the Memphis bartender and Katya Blumenberg as Jeremy's ex-girlfriend). Jones does an impressive job in her first acting assignment, plus singing a terrific song ("The Story") over the movie's credits. Many critics have been less than impressed by this movie. Yes, it's rhythms are slightly off, its characters not quite comprehensible, its arty visuals a little precious. Call me crazy, but I love this movie for those very reasons and so many more.

Things to love about this movie: Writer/director Wong Kar Wai, a great cast, wonderful cinematography, mood and style to burn
Things to hate about this movie: (This line left blank on purpose.)
Pleasant surprises: Norah Jones' performance isn't too shabby for a first timer; Wong Kar Wai manages to make an "American" movie without sacrificing his own style; real live female characters who even like to eat (what a concept); a romantic, upside down kiss that puts "Spiderman" to shame
Unpleasant surprises: I'm amazed that more critics haven't liked this movie (is it just me?)

Movie Review - Street Kings

In order to satisfy my serious Keanu Reeves addiction, I went to see "Street Kings" even though it isn't really my type of movie. (Note to Keanu: Please stop making so many action movies!) There's plenty of hard core, James Ellroy L.A. edge here (he's one of the screen writers) with Keanu playing Tom Ludlow, an alcoholic, out of control cop who blows away the "bad guys" without reading them their Miranda rights. His boss Capt. Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), a mover and shaker in the department with political aspirations, covers up Ludlow's unprofessional actions while trying to ride herd on his rough and ready group of cops (including Jay Mohr and John Corbett). It seems that every police officer in the City of Angels is above the law in this story, which isn't too surprising and may even be realistic, but it becomes tiresome as one layer of corruption after another is peeled away. Typical of its action genre, there's little in the way of character development. Ludlow struggles to handle the death of his wife two years earlier, drinks almost constantly and has a girlfriend who's a nurse (a throwaway role played well enough by Martha Higareda). A bitter feud with his ex-partner Det. Washington (Terry Crews) isn't ever sufficiently explained but becomes a major part of the action when a shootout in a convenience store leaves Ludlow as a suspect in contributing to Washington's death. Capt. Biggs from Internal Affairs (Hugh Laurie) begins questioning Ludlow about the shootout and things escalate for Wander's whole crew of renegade cops.

The cast is excellent, director David Ayers makes good use of the seedier side of L.A., the noir feel of the movie allows the somewhat traditional action sequences to become a bit more enjoyable than usual. Still, I was confused by some of the developments and never really got into the characters or action.

Things to love about this movie: Lots of edge with some of that excellent Ellroy story telling keeping things fun; good sense of the L.A. fringes
Things to hate about this movie: Way too many shoot outs; story gets a bit too complicated with the usual detailed explanation at the end
Pleasant surprises: Mesmerizing supporting role by rapper The Game and an excellent performance by Chris Evans as Det. Diskant; Keanu gets to play a rather nasty character
Unpleasant surprises: The script continually refers to Reeves as racist "white boy" although he clearly is part Asian; so much police corruption throughout the film causes the ending to lose most of its punch

Movie Review: 21

A handful of brilliant MIT students are counting cards on weekend trips to Vegas, while I'm counting the improbabilities and predictabilities of this slick, stylish and facile film. Who'll get to 21 first? This story claims to be "fact based", but I'm left wondering how many "facts" remain, and not having read the book from which the movie is taken ("Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich) it's pure guess work on my part. Still, while things may add up to 21 at the gambling tables they don't add up for the audience. It's an engaging enough entertainment with a good feel for Vegas, an interesting young cast with a couple of reliable, veteran actors thrown in (Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne) and a promising premise. Ben Campbell (British actor Jim Sturgess) is a gifted, modest MIT student with a dream of attending Harvard Medical School but no money to back it up. His part time, $8 an hour job in a mens clothing store won't earn him the $300,000 he needs to fulfill that dream, and there are 67 applicants for the scholarship that could make the difference. What's a boy to do? Enter Micky Rosa (Spacey), one of Ben's math professors who happens to have a secret sideline: He trains a select group of MIT students to count cards, earning big bucks on weekend jaunts to Vegas. Before you know it, Ben is throwing over his two nerd best friends for glamorous hotel suites and fancy suits as well as hooking up with the "hottest girl in school" (a vapid Kate Bosworth).

There's very little in "21" that we haven't seen before, and the action is predictable right down to the final scene. With paper thin characters who seem to live for cheap thrills, we're left with no involvement in the story, plus there are some big implausibilities here. It's hard to believe, for instance, that casino security boss Fishburne would actually take a college boy into the basement and beat the crap out of him simply for counting cards (which isn't even illegal). Equally difficult to buy is the rapid transformation of the main character, Ben, from dorky science geek to slick Vegas stud. Gimme a break. Not to fault any of the actors, who do what they can with these silly characters. The exception is Bosworth, who's such a boring actress she manages to make her role into a complete zero. The charismatic Aaron Yoo, playing Choi (a kleptomaniac member of the group), is a joy to watch but under-used with not nearly enough screen time. Director Robert Luketic doesn't do a great job here either. Although the gambling group is supposed to be moving from casino to casino in order to avoid detection, they always seemed to be in the same place with no sense of varying casino settings. And those hand signals the students use for indicating which tables are hot, when to get out, etc. are laughably obvious. Worst of all, there's a nasty message implicit in the movie. It's OK to treat your best friends badly, lie to your mother and trick people in order to get ahead because, hey, everyone forgives you and it's all good. The very idea that the coveted scholarship to Harvard Medical is basically given to someone who jumps off the page, as opposed to someone of merit, is scary. All I know is, I sure don't want Dr. Ben Campbell doing any surgery on me.

Things to love about this movie: The delightful performance by Aaron Yoo; a terrific soundtrack
Things to hate about this movie: Bad values; that terribly unsubtle signaling at the gambling tables; Kate Bosworth's lousy performance; one of the stupidest endings in recent memory
Pleasant surprises: Can't think of a single one
Unpleasant surprises: Even I was able to guess what the final scene would be while the first scene was taking place (and I'm notoriously bad at guessing anything)

Movie Review: Stop-Loss

Does anything good ever come of war? I guess a cinephile's answer might be a few outstanding war movies. While "Stop-Loss" doesn't fall into the category of outstanding, it's an involving look at the latest wrinkle in war games. Beginning with a home movie recording of a routine check point in Iraq, the film unfortunately uses many of the standard issue elements of wartime stories: a small group of military buddies in jeopardy, a bittersweet homecoming with the young veterans almost immediately coming unglued as they try to adjust to civilian life, visits to injured comrades and parents of those who didn't make it back alive. The one difference here is stop-loss, a procedure by which soldiers who think they've completed their tour of duty are returned to service in Iraq. According to statistics shown before the end credits roll, this horrifying plan has been enforced on tens of thousands of soldiers since the Iraq war began.

Ryan Phillippe stars as Sgt. Brandon King, a decorated young soldier who returns to his hometown in Texas only to find he is the latest victim of stop-loss. Things are bad enough for King even before he's informed of his enforced second tour of duty. His hometown buddies Steve (Channing Tatum) and Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are self destructing before his eyes as they drink, pick fights, punch girlfriends and seem incapable of leaving the war behind. King isn't immune to post traumatic stress himself. His constant nightmares and guilt about the loss of several troop members in an Iraqi ambush are causing him to hallucinate even while he struggles to keep his friends from going over the edge. Complicating things further is a strange love triangle that develops between King, Steve and Steve's fiancee (Abbie Cornish). Performances are uniformly excellent (pardon the pun). Philippe, Cornish and Tatum are particularly good, along with a wonderful supporting turn by Victor Rasuk as one of King's troop members who returns from the war blind and permanently maimed. Ciaran Hands and Linda Emond are fine in small roles as King's supportive parents and Gordon-Levitt does what he can with a rather difficult character.

Writer/director Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don't Cry") does a pretty good job of showing King's struggle with his two options: return to Iraq despite his serious burnout and trauma or leave his home and loved ones by taking a new identity and crossing the border to Canada or Mexico. There aren't enough fresh elements to the story, however, to make this film truly stand out. The ending was provocative and not entirely expected, though I'm still trying to work out how I feel about it. As evidenced by my surprise listings below, this resolution was both a pleasant and an unpleasant surprise. Perhaps that's one of my favorite things about "Stop-Loss", since it's increasingly rare when a movie can be pondered long after leaving the theater.

Things to love about this movie: Strong performances; putting a human face on the terrible toll of war and the stop-loss procedure
Things to hate about this movie: Too much fighting and meltdown in too short a time for the returned veterans; all those Texas accents bug after awhile (must the hometown always be a small one that's south of Kentucky)
Pleasant surprises: The attraction between Phillippe and Cornish plays out in a realistic way; fun seeing wonderful actor Ciaran Hands playing a Texan (a good year for Hands so far with some new types of characters, including his turn in "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day"); the film's ending (see also unpleasant surprises)
Unpleasant surprises: The film's ending (see also pleasant surprises)

Movie Review: Priceless

It's a silly, slightly romantic time in the south of France with delightful Audrey Tautou starring as Irene, a professional gold digger working her way through luxury hotels and aging sugar daddies in "Priceless" (original French title "Hors de prix"). It seems that Irene has done pretty well for herself, acquiring a fabulous wardrobe, jewelry, entry to some of the most palatial hostleries in Nice and Monaco. Everything except the one thing she's looking for: a rich husband who will put an end to her increasingly tiresome quest for the good life. Her counterpart, Jean (played with low key charm by Gad Elmaleh), works as a barman and dog walker in the same hotels inhabited by Irene. He's honest but weary, patiently dealing with the wealth dowager owners of his canine charges but clearly longing for something more. When Jean and Irene meet cute in a hotel bar area, she mistakes him for one of the rich guests and he, instantly smitten, allows the charade to continue. As the unlikely pair embark on a series of wacky encounters, it becomes clear they are a perfectly matched combo, though Irene refuses to acknowledge it once she learns the truth about who Jean really is. Taking a page from Irene's book, Jean falls in with a wealthy widow (an excellent performance by Marie-Christine Adam) in order to remain in the elite circles to which Irene is addicted, still hoping to win her love.

Tautou is always fun to watch, showing a little more range as the money grubbing, lonely Irene (a far cry from her famous Amelie character) and Elmaleh provides a good foil for her with enough comic flare to make his character work. There's also a nice performance by Vernon Dobtcheff as Jacques, one of Irene's more serious suitors. Some of the situations seem forced, even repetitious, making the humor fall flat, but there's enough of that breezy, madcap French funniness to compensate for the misfires. These characters aren't very complicated so it hardly matters that the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

Things to love about this movie: The delicious locales (Nice, Monaco, ooh la la); an interesting soundtrack; French flavored humor; sweet little details (food, place settings, glorious hotel suites)
Things to hate about this movie: The movie can't decide if it's only a light hearted romp or is trying to say something about creature comforts and tries to have it both ways; predictable storyline and situations
Pleasant surprises: A little bit of edge as we're reminded, along with the two lead characters, just how cold the rich can be; more charm than expected; a corny ending that somehow works; Elmaleh's strange appeal
Unpleasant surprises: While Tautou looks lovely in her expensive wardrobe, she's terribly skinny

Movie Review: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Frothy, frantic, fairly entertaining. These are the words that spring to mind after seeing "Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day", a comedy in the madcap '30s style with period details galore. The divine Frances McDormand stars as Guinevere Pettigrew, a down-on-her-luck governess trying to survive in pre-WWII London who tricks her way into a position as social secretary to the ditzy, ambitious actress/singer Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams). Of course there's romance: three men for Delysia and a rich designer of lingerie (Ciaran Hands) for Guinevere. Of course there's slapstick silliness and amazingly convenient happy endings (and I'm not giving anything away here since there's never a moment's doubt). Of course there's the nasty guy we don't want our silly actress to end up with and the wonderful guy on whose arm we do want our governess to stroll into the sunset.

The movie starts off at a desperate pace, with everyone talking too fast, dashing pointlessly about and playing to the back of the house, giving the audience the feeling of watching a stage play. Perhaps this is the way zany '30s films are supposed to go, but never having seen many I can only assume this pacing is deliberate to the period, however it does become annoying rather quickly. Once things settle down a little (maybe 20 minutes into the movie) we're given some slightly entertaining characters and predicaments, though certainly nothing to rejoice over.

While there's the barest of character development and the storyline couldn't be more predictable, there are some things to like about this wacky movie. Despite the prerequisite dowdy clothes and drab, sensible shoes of her character, McDormand shines, as usual, whether radiating amazement and pride while watching her boss perform in a nightclub or allowing the slightest hint of a thrill to light up her eyes when she's asked to dance by her handsome suitor. Amy Adams and the sexy Lee Pace (as the ex-convict who charms Delysia) have great chemistry, as do McDormand and Hands. The late '30s feel of the film is excellent with appropriate details, including an amusing lingerie show featuring truly horrible underwear items and the lurking threat of the war that seems to be desperately ignored by many of the characters.

Things to love about this movie: Period music, costumes and interiors; a wonderful duet by Adams and Pace on "If I Didn't Care"
Things to hate about this movie: Predictable plot; clunky slapstick humor
Pleasant surprises: Ciaran Hands as a romantic lead; interesting relationship development between the two lead female characters
Unpleasant surprises: Not enough screen time for the charismatic Pace

Movie Review: Funny Games

Call it a guilty pleasure, but I actually enjoyed this sick, twisted thriller about two preppy psychopaths in white who torture a nice little nuclear family while drawing the audience into the action as voyeuristic accomplices. I'd decided this movie looked too icky even for me after seeing the trailer, but since the cast was strong I gave it a go anyway. "Funny Games" is really not funny in any way, but it is quite a game in which the viewer either decides to play along or might as well walk out of the theater in disgust. If you do buy into this exercise in how to finesse violence, be aware that it's fierce, uncompromising, cold blooded and almost mundane in its depiction of a strangely every day kind of horror. As we watch Tim Roth (husband George), Naomi Watts (wife Ann) and Devon Gearhart (young son Georgie) terrorized, humiliated and physically injured it's almost impossible not to feel slightly squeamish, not only because of the horror of what's happening to these innocent people but for simply continuing to watch. Yet that's part of the movie's effectiveness for me.

We couldn't wish for two more polite, well dressed and appealing psychos as Michael Pitt (Paul) and Brady Corbet (Peter) when we first meet them. All in white (including short white gloves which will, of course, prevent any messy fingerprints from showing up later), Peter appears at the door of the family's beautiful vacation home, innocently asking to borrow some eggs. In a few minutes of screen time, however, the innocuous scene has gone from pleasantness to surreal torment, in the same way that the soundtrack in the movie's opening scene switches from an operatic aria to a noisy, chaotic song by Marilyn Manson. Like the family in the film, the audience is in for a bumpy night as the intruders place a terrible bet that their 3 victims will be dead within 12 hours and proceed to demonstrate how fearsome those 12 hours can be.

The movie is actually a remake by writer/director Michael Haneke, who originally did an Austrian film by the same title in 1997. It's unclear why he wanted to recreate this story a second time, although its themes of unrelenting violence and the growing immunity to it seems particularly relevant in today's world. The acting is excellent, the writing and direction pitch perfect and there are some truly frightening and deeply disturbing images and scenes in this movie. There is also surprising discretion, such as a scene where Ann is forced to strip naked but only shown from the neck up with the director wisely allowing the upsetting part of the scene to be her reactions to this humiliation. I thought about this movie a great deal after seeing it, not only because of its provocative qualities but because of its strengths as a basic horror film.

Things to love about this movie: No heroes, no explanations, no happy endings and no holds barred
Things to hate about this movie: Its terrible violence is uncompromising to the point of discomfort; even the family dog gets done in
Pleasant surprises: The worst violence takes place off screen; one final punch at the end (and the last shot is a chiller)
Unpleasant surprises: I liked it more than I wanted to