THE INTRUDER (2019)

Rated:  PG-13

STARS: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
DIRECTOR: Deon Taylor
GENRE: Mystery /Suspense /Horror


You won't know what to make of The Intruder any more than the young couple--Scott and Annie--know what to make of the former owner of the opulent house in the woods they just bought. 

Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid) is having a little trouble "letting go." He's a gun nut and a deer killer who can't get over the sentimental attachment he has to the house he grew up in. Scott (Michael Ealy) and Annie (Meagan Good) are an upwardly mobile African-American couple--he's an executive at a San Francisco ad agency, and she does some writing for magazines. Still, there's nothing to indicate they can afford the 3.3 million price tag of the house. Scott initially balks when he hears that figure, but he soon relents because Annie likes the place so much and he wouldn't want her to pout.

They think Charlie is off to Florida to live with his daughter,  but...surprise! He shows up again uninvited to mow the lawn and putter around and continue to kill defenseless animals on their property. You can't get rid of the guy. Scott begins to figure out that Charlie has a screw loose early on, but Annie thinks oh-the-poor-man--he lost his wife  (under suspicious circumstances), and his attachment to his longtime home is something he'll get over in time. So she continues to blindly indulge his impromptu visits, even when Scott is away at work.

There's nothing we haven't seen before in The Intruder. It employs all the old tricks of the trade in the mystery/suspense/ horror genre. The characters do things that are so clueless and stupid--and the brunt of that lies with Annie--that you, as an audience member, want to take off your shoe and throw it at the screen!  But director Deon Taylor is apparently hoping you'll just enjoy it for what it is, and maybe grin along with the darkly comedic aspect of it-- though we don't know if that part of it is unintentional.  

Dennis Quaid is the saving grace of the film. His portrayal of a guy who is right on the edge, and then goes over that edge into a full-blown psychopath is memorable. How crazy is Charlie? He's the second coming of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. There's even a scene that's lifted right out of that horror classic, where Charlie pops his demonically grinning mug through a hole he's carved in the door. You're half expecting his next words to be: HERE'S CHARLIE!  

The Intruder is over the top, but it does the one thing that any good suspense thriller is supposed to do, and that's to keep you on the edge of your seat for the duration. 

Grade:  C +

JILL'S TAKE

A pox on you, Tim, for stealing one of my cinematic comparisons. The Intruder, like The Shining, has quite a few similarities actually. Aside from axe-wielding Dennis Quaid, the darkly-lit home with so many nooks and crannies reminded me of The Overlook Hotel. And the woodsy isolation of the place was also reminiscent of the Stephen King classic. (Granted, the weather was a lot better in this one!)

Yes, The Intruder held few surprises. But who goes to a scary movie to figure out the plot? The idea of pitting a red-neckish white man against a financially solvent black couple was refreshing. And who doesn't relate to the angst of giving up one's longtime home?

But I have to immediately mention something I truly hated about this movie: the score. Every once in a while, especially in the beginning, some loud gangsta rap would blare forth as if our classy couple were more comfortable in the ghetto than the glens of Napa Valley. Intrusive, to say the least. And very much out of character.

When I got to the theater and I saw how empty it was, I assumed I'd be in for a 'summer bummer.'  I was wrong. Within minutes, I became totally absorbed, inwardly groaning with each hospitable move our heroine made toward her obviously obsessed neighbor. Whether you liked The Shining, Psycho, The Amityville Horror, or a legion of other palpitation-makers, The Intruder is definitely worth seeing.

Grade: B

  

AT ANY PRICE (2012)

Rated : R


Stars: Dennis Quaid,  Zach Efron,  Maika Monroe,  Kim Dickens,  Heather Graham

Director: Ramin Bahrani

Genre: Drama

In At Any Price, Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) is a glad-handing, stab you in the back kind of guy--not exactly what comes to mind when you hear the word "farmer." Henry inherited a family farm that at one time was a neighborly kind of operation--I know because I spent many of my formative years on an Iowa farm, like Henry. So what made him this way?  Big business, which has extended its money-grubbing reach and turned farming into a cut-throat enterprise, as the mantra "get big or die" echoes o'er the land.  At least that is the case for those like Henry, a salesman for the Liberty Company and its genetically modified corn seeds. Henry competes with other salesmen to carve out his territory by being the most successful sales rep in a multi-county area. 

The Liberty Seed Company--as anyone who has a mild awareness of what's going on in the agribusiness these days will recognize--is a stand-in for Monsanto. If you don't know the whole Monsanto story and the way in which genetically modified seeds have been foisted upon the farming community, you need to see a revealing documentary called "Food, Inc." which will get you up to speed.  

Henry would like to see his son, Dean, (Zach Efron) join him in the business, but Dean has dreams of becoming a NASCAR race driver, as he routinely picks up trophies for winning races at the local track. But is Dean a born racer, or are his aspirations born more out of a disgust for his father's lack of integrity?  We will find out, so don your helmet and strap yourself in. 

Henry's family is fractured in other ways as well. He has another son who is off climbing mountains in South America and doesn't want to come back. His wife, Irene, (Kim Dickens) tells him she loves him, but that he makes her feel like a fool for it everyday. Mix in his mistress, the alluring Meredith, (Heather Graham) stir that pot, and you've some toil and trouble a brewin.' .

Throughout At Any Price we see those monolithic windmills towering above the cornfields. But they're different from the old style windmills we had when I was a kid--sleeker looking---and the way in which director Ramin Bahrani keeps returning to them is highly symbolic of the prevailing winds that now blow over these vast fields of green---an ill wind that blows no good. 

Despite it all, we'd like  to see Henry's family come together in the end--but the way in which that is accomplished is the dark and sinister part of this film. Is this a marriage of convenience--as in three conspirators who need each other to keep their stories straight to cover for some serious misdeeds--or have they finally grown to appreciate each other for who they are? At any rate, you will leave the theater in a reflective mood. 

At Any Price features good performances from Quaid and Efron, though Quaid's Henry--with that cemented on ear to ear grin-- may be a bit more of a caricature than I  am willing to totally buy into. 

Grade:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

If I shared what I felt was the major flaw in AT ANY PRICE, I'd ruin it for you. And if there's one thing that really pisses me off it's reading a review that reveals too much about a movie. Suffice it to say that I didn't buy the idea that all three "conspirators" would be able to pull off the conspiracy. (That didn't give away anything, did it?)

Dennis Quaid's character adds new dimensions to the word "smarmy." And his devoted wife has definitely never read an issue of "Cosmo." But the actor who impressed me the most was Zach Efron (whose last name means "lark" in Hebrew). From Farley Granger to Tab Hunter, Hollywood has always had its quota of pretty boy actors. And before I saw this 25-year-old golden boy in AT ANY PRICE, I would've put him in that same category. But despite his perfect face and well plucked eyebrows, Zach Efron has acting chops. And the role of Dean Whipple gives him plenty of opportunities to use them.

Since Tim forgot to mention it—but I know he agrees with me—the score by Dickon Hinchliffe was excellent. Too often people take the background music for granted. But it is "instrumental" (pardon the pun) in creating a mood. As was a wonderful scene in this movie where bleachers full of corn-fed spectators at a local drag race sing The National Athem a cappella. What a marvelous way to cement those folksy faces in our minds. Americana at its best – and worst. When I went to see this flick, I wasn't expecting to like it. But by the time I left the theater, I couldn't stop talking about the many underlying themes.

GRADE: B

THE WORDS (2012)

Rated:  PG-13

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde
Director: Brian Klugman & Lee Sternthal
Genre: Romantic drama/ Mystery


A friend of mine predicts that Jeremy Irons' performance in The Words  will garner him an Oscar nomination. My crystal ball is somewhat murkier on that score. It's a damn good turn, to be sure, but knowing how the Academy normally has to be ga ga about the film itself to bestow such individual recognition--and The Words is getting panned by a lot of critics--all bets are off.  Those who aren't dismissing the film, however, are glowing about it, creating a dichotomy of opinion that I always find intriguing, and therefore ready to jump into the fray and lay out the naked truth...the gospel...the straight poop. (Regular visitors to this site know that I've never dispensed any crooked poop!)

Fact is, that by the time the closing credits were rolling, I was blown away by this movie--but it wasn't until the actual ending that it had grown on me to that degree. The Words is a tale within a tale within a tale, which can make you forget who the Original Storyteller is to begin with...kind of like all of us wee lost souls here on planet earth (the "riders on the storm"  that Jim Morrison sang about). 

Bradley Cooper is Rory Jansen, a talented writer, but apparently not talented enough to get his novels published. When he discovers an old manuscript that he instinctively senses is better and more marketable than anything he has created himself, he does some soul searching--but not a whole lot of it--and decides to claim  the work as his own. Now a celebrated author, Rory's karma catches up to him in the form of the old man who actually wrote the book (Jeremy Irons) 

Interwoven is the story "Old Man" (he is never given a name) created in his novel, about his days as a GI in Paris, the woman he falls in love with, and the personal tragedy they bear together. 

Eventually we are steered back to the creator of both these fictional tales, writer Clay Hammond, (Dennis Quaid). 

Or ARE they fictional?  Heh heh.

Or...has a writer so fallen in love with one of his own characters that the lines between fiction and reality have become so blurred as to be indistinguishable? 

The ending of  The Words  should leave you questioning just what is and what isn't--which may be disconcerting to some--but as a writer I was entranced by the ambiguity...by the possibilities being raised...by  a film that actually made me think enough about it as I was heading for the exit that I forgot to stop and take a pee! And one that I will definitely consider seeing again. The only question in my mind is whether the average film goer is going to find it quite as fascinating as some of us literary types will be wont to do.  

Grade:  B +
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LEGION (R)

STARS: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Kevin Durand

DIRECTOR: Scott Stewart

So what is God gonna do when he gets tired of all the bull doo-doo from these vile, egregious humans? He gonna send some angels (who are more like hit-men) down to kick some serious BUTT--dat what he gonna do! Of course, if you're going to buy into the premise of Legion, the new action/thriller from director Scott Stewart, you must assume that God is a dude who gets pissed-off and likes to destroy people and stuff at whim--rather than the idea that God is Love. (But if He didn't want us to work it all out on our own, then why did He give us free will...hmmm?)

Pat Robertson-esque theology aside, the plot of Legion centers around a group of diverse personalities holed up in a remote desert diner: There's Bob, the owner of this rundown dump (Dennis Quaid) ; his kindhearted son, Jeep (Lucas Black) ; an unmarried pregnant girl named Charlie, whom Jeep has befriended (Adrianne Palicki) ; and a few other stereotypes, including a middle aged married couple (she's a drama queen) and their sexy young daughter, and an enigmatic stranger who only stopped to make a phone call.

The group is befriended by the angel Michael, (Paul Bettany) who originally came down to instigate something of an apocalypse on the orders of "God," but had a change of heart (there's that free will operating again) and now thinks that humans are worth saving. (He must have gotten a eye full of Shakira.) But he's not the kind of angel you'd like to have as your guardian--he attracts the wrong element--namely, an army of other angels who have possessed the bodies of ordinary folk and now look and act like half zombie and half Jim Carrey in The Mask. They're after Charlie's baby who, as it turns out, is going to be the only human hope left to save the world--though we haven't a clue as to why an airheaded, smoking-while-she's-pregnant bimbo would be chosen as his mother. But none of the bunch at the diner knows this initially--they're just told to shoot first (with automatic weapons that Michael has supplied) and ask questions later. Michael has his own battle looming with the angel Gabriel, (Kevin Durand) who is doing old irate God's bidding by leading the assault on the diner.

The audience at the showing I attended snickered at some of the unintentionally funny stuff in this movie, highlighted by Jeanette Miller's performance as an initially kindly old lady who transforms into a gutter mouthed, neck biting, wall climbing monstrosity. Senior citizens are noted for getting CRANKY at times, but this lady takes the cake!

And why in the world, when we're so far beyond "Beam me up, Scotty," do the angels still have to have WINGS in all of these films--do they think audiences are so unsophisticated we can't just accept that So and So is an angel--even though he looks pretty much like everyone else? Plainly put, it looks stupid.

Nonetheless, Legion has some decent action scenes, as director Scott Stewart's background is in special effects, and there's enough suspense to keep you hanging around to see if there really might be any hope left of saving the world...or whether we're all massively screwed.

GRADE : C+