RUSH (2013)

Rated:  R

Stars: Daniel Bruhl,  Chris Hemsworth,  Alexandra Maria Lara,  Olivia Wilde

Director: Ron Howard

Genre: Action-Adventure/ Drama

There is a reason why those new car commercials on TV have some stunt driver careening wildly around hairpin curves, and turning doughnuts in a cloud of dust.  It speaks to the inner race car driver (or maniac) in most of us. That's why you don't have to be a racing fan to get off on Rush,  Ron Howard's new film based upon the true story of Niki Lauda and James Hunt--rival drivers at the top of their game on the Formula One racing circuit back in the seventies.There is something primitively sexual about the deafening roar of an engine that will propel you around the track at 170 mph.  That's why race drivers are surrounded by beautiful women. (Danica Patrick, not sure.)  

Hunt and Lauda were polar opposites. Englishman Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) was a pretty boy. A wild party-goer and a womanizer who hacked his guts up at the track before each race--presumably out of nervousness, or maybe it was just carried over from the night before. (And in the name of realism, we get to witness it multiple times.) Lauda, (Daniel Bruhl) an Austrian, was the cold, analytical type  who knew how to tune his cars to make them go just a little faster than the competition. He tried to calculate the odds of getting killed in any given race in terms of a percentage figure.  

With those engines roaring in your ears, jump-cut editing that matches the frenetic pace of the track, and an exhilarating music score from Academy Award (R) winner Hans Zimmer, Rush puts you in the driver's seat to experience all the heart-pounding, bang-up action--and there is plenty of it-- of the 1976 duel between Hunt and Lauda for the Formula One world championship. 

Of course, there's more to the film than that. It's a poignant tale of two rivals who drive each other to be the best that they can be, and in that sense--much like the legendary thoroughbreds Affirmed and Alydar--they feed off of each other 

I did a little research and found that the film sticks pretty close to the facts, except for portraying these guys as snarky adversaries with nary a kind word to utter to one another, at least in the beginning. In truth, Hunt and Lauda were friends. 

I'm going to declare Rush as the Rocky of racing films--in future years I think it will be regarded as such. And in a supporting role, Lauda's wife, Marlene, (Alexandra Maria Lara) makes a fine Adrian, as she gazes upon her man putting his life on the line, 
( forty-nine drivers have perished driving a Formula 1 car) outwardly composed, but her eyes reveal what her body language tries to conceal.

For some, the closer they come to death, the more alive they feel. That would be the only way to explain why these hyped-up adrenalin junkies keep tempting fate the way they do.  Lucky for you, all you need do is survive the city traffic and get to a theater to experience one danged realistic rush of a movie.
GRADE:  A

JILL'S TAKE

As Tim and I were leaving the movie theater, I got to thinking about other car racing movies and couldn't come up with a single one. Whereas horse racing flicks have always been a lucrative staple in the film business. (Or should I say 'stable'?) I decided to type in 'car racing movies' in my search window and, believe it or not, Netflix supplied a bunch of 'em: Dust To Glory, On Any Sunday, Love The Beast, Once Upon A Wheel, Yank Tanks, Octane, to name a few.

More amazing is the fact that I am not familiar with any of these gems. The only other movie I can think of that deals with car-racing--motorcycle racing, actually--was a brilliant movie starring Anthony Hopkins. Like RUSH, it was based on a real person, New Zealander Burt Monro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle that helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. The name of the movie was The World's Fastest Indian and, like the two rivals in RUSH, the main character was obsessed with speed and winning. 

Although Formula One racing is a subject I know nothing about, I was still hooked on the movie because of these two diametrically different racers. Director Ron Howard made me feel like I, too, was crammed inside one of those pricey machines with Hunt or Lauda. Of course, Howard also took some liberties with reality when he prolonged the tire-changing scenes for dramatic purposes. True racing aficionados would have taken exception to this. 

Despite his brilliance, Daniel Bruhl seemed unfamiliar to me (although he did have a fairly decent part in Inglorious Basterds). I was blown away by how much the actor resembled the real life Niki Lauda pictured at the end of the film.

Grade: B+

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THANKS FOR SHARING (2013)

Rated: R

Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Tim Robbins, Pink, Patrick Fugit

Director: Stuart Blumberg

Genre:  Dark Comedy

Apparently, the difference between a "normal" guy and a sex addict is that the normal guy will see an attractive woman on the street and start having fantasies about her. The sex addict will observe the same woman, have those same fantasies, and then act on them in some inappropriate way. In essence, then, the difference is one of self-control. Which should confirm many of the suspicions you've had about us all along, ladies!

Thanks For Sharing follows three New Yorkers whose lives intersect as they work their 12-Step program for sex addiction. There is Adam, (Mark Ruffalo) who is a good looking, successful guy who would seem to have it all. He is now five years "sober". (It's interesting that they use the AA parlance in all of these programs  to denote the abstaining from self-destructive behaviors.) When Adam stays in a hotel room he has to have the TV removed because it would be too tempting for him to watch porn and fall back into his old ways. Committed relationships are encouraged in the program, and Adam begins something with a blonde named Phoebe, (Gwyneth Paltrow) whose overindulgence has to do with exercise and fitness.  

Mike (Tim Robbins) is a burly middle-aged guy who seems to have his doo-doo together and acts as a sponsor within the program. But he has issues with his son, Danny, (Patrick Fugit) who has his own issues with substance abuse.

And then there is Neal, (Josh Gad) who provides the true comic presence in this dark comedy that is otherwise mostly...dark. Neal is a roly-poly emergency room doctor who has been court ordered to do 12-Step because he does things like rub up against women on the subway.

The three story lines work well in Thanks For Sharing because each of our protagonists is struggling to keep it together in his own way, and there is nothing that renders one more human--and thus worthy of rooting for--than to have his demons laid bare for all to observe. And what come through loud and clear is that even those of us who are considered to be more or less normal--whatever that means in a world where the inmates appear to be running the asylum--may be regarded as such because we're a little more adept at keeping our compulsions under wraps. (Carlos Danger notwithstanding!)

On the one hand, I want to say that Thanks For Sharing is one of the best movies I've seen this year. On the other, I wish they could have dialed it back a bit on the melodrama to make it more believable. In certain places I felt that the film was right on the verge of turning into Reefer Madness for sex addiction. (If you recall, the campy, moralistic melodrama from the thirties had people turning into monsters after smoking one joint.) Case in point: There is one character here, a young female, who is so over the top on the bizarre meter that her scene would be downright laughable if it weren't so godawful gritty and scary. 

So for the first time, I'm giving a film a dual rating. The first is for the performances of this fine ensemble cast and as a creative work as a whole. Grade : A  

The second is for realism. Grade: C 

JILL'S TAKE

Two ratings? Gimme a break, Tim. I agree wholeheartedly with your first one. THANKS FOR SHARING is an excellent movie on many, many levels. The acting is top-notch, the characters are spot on. And I would bet my virginity (long gone) that the script writers are all in some 12 Step program. They know the jargon, the games 'newbies' play, the egos that won't quit. Because all these 12 step programs encourage rigorous honesty—the hardest thing for addicts of any kind to get in touch with—let me begin by saying I am seventeen years sober and have attended a mountain of AA meetings. (As well as ACOA, Al-Anon and CODA) In other words, when I say THANKS FOR SHARING is the real deal, I know whereof I speak.

For me, the standout performance in this film is given by Josh Gad. Who is this guy and why haven't I seen him before? Probably because I don't watch The Daily Showwhere he plays a regular correspondent. Nor have I seen "The Book of Mormon" where he played Elder Arnold Cunningham. Anyway, he has the knack of turning his perversions into humorous bits—until they finally get him fired.

Another actor who deserves a nod is Pink (Alecia Beth Moore) who plays Dede, the female version of a sex addict. The interplay between her and Neal (Gad), really illustrates how vital friendships between fellow sufferers can be. They are one of the cornerstones of recovery. I remember when I was first getting sober, I connected with a gal named Brenda. Under different circumstances we would never have been friends. But our need to connect, to support each other in times of temptation was invaluable. What I'm curious to know is whether people with no personal 12 step experience will understand how essential going to meetings, working the steps, getting a sponsor is after seeing THANKS FOR SHARING.

GRADE: A +

THE SPECTACULAR NOW (2013)

Rated: R

Stars: Miles Teller,  Shailene Woodley,  Jennifer Jason Leigh,  Kyle Chandler

Director:  James Ponsoldt

Genre: Drama/ Romance-comedy


The Spectacular Now is a small gem of a movie with a splashy title that features a soon to be prominent film star (my prediction) in the young Shailene Woodley. (You might remember her as the George Clooney character's daughter in The Descendants.) More on the talented Ms. Woodley in a moment.

Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is a popular high school kid who drinks too much. He and his girlfriend, Cassidy, (Brie Larson) are the life of the party because they can dance and know how to booze it up (the two main attributes a high-schooler must possess to be popular.) But as we enter their lives, they are breaking up due to a misunderstanding. Or maybe they just saw each other one time in the light of day when they were both sober. So Sutter begins to imbibe even more to deal with his loss.

Not surprisingly, Sutter is a slacker in school.  He has a teacher who cares, who knows that the kid would do well if he would just apply himself. Despite it all, he's a sympathetic character (a mite reminiscent of  Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate) with whom many of us can identify because he doesn't want to grow up. 

Enter Aimee Finecky, (Shailene Woodley) a rather plain-looking and plain-spoken--read nerdy--type who becomes Sutter's rebound girl.  That's not to say that she isn't beautiful. It's the kind of beauty that radiates from within and shines from without on her exquisitely expressive face. A face that hits all the right marks at the appropriate times. So unspoiled, so real, so sincere, and yes, a bit naive--that you can't fathom why he doesn't fall head-over-heels for her right away. And that is high tribute to the talents and fresh-faced appeal of Ms. Woodley. 


But Sutter is troubled, and the key to his alcohol abuse may lie with his estranged father, whom he hasn't seen since early childhood. He is compelled to find the man--and in the process, he hopes--to find himself as well.

The appeal of The Spectacular Now is that  we have a young couple--on the verge of high school graduation and facing major changes in their lives (undertones of American Graffiti) that we can root for, despite the odds that are stacked against them. 

Grade:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

This is our tenth joint review, Tim and I. And finally, at long last, we have a spectacular conflict of opinions. I felt there were more holes in this script than Sutter Keeley's propensity for telling untruths. The most blantant being how our leading brat's rampant alcoholism is never really addressed. All it takes in this coming-of-age saga is following your sweetheart to the college of her choice. (Who needs Alcoholics Anonymous?)

As for "the teacher who cares," he is prominently featured at the beginning and then conveniently disappears by the end. And then there's Sutter's mom. The first time we meet her, she's pissed at her son for forgetting to hang up her uniform so it won't be wrinkled when she has to go to work. The second time, she's pissed at her son for showing up at her place of business and demanding to know who and where his father is. Basically, theirs is not an ideal mother/son relationship. Then—with zero preparation—she becomes a validating parent. Convenient but totally unrealistic.

I could go on...and on...and on. But as is my custom with these mini movie comments, I like to end on a positive note. There is a beautifully directed and very real sex scene between the two leads that touched my heart and made me recall "my first time." I defy anyone to watch this particular scene without being moved. Nonetheless, I'd call this film a bomb-in-the-making.

Grade: C – 

LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER (2013)

Rated:  PG-13

Stars: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo

Director: Lee Daniels (What was your first clue?)

Genre:  Drama

Witnessing one's father being gunned down in cold blood because he stepped out of line in the white man's world in the pre-civil rights era will have a lasting effect on a child. . For Cecil Gaines, the central character in Lee Daniels' The Butler, it shaped his entire life. And while we could say that Mr. Gaines rose to the top of his profession as a butler at the White House--he was still walking on egg shells in another man's world. Don't express opinions. Especially about politics. Know your place and stay in it.  Ironic, then, that Cecil would have a son who became active in the civil rights movement of the sixties, throwing his lot in with the freedom riders down south, and later joining the militant Black Panther party. 

 The Butler is a tale of two generations as different as black and white. ( And please don't make me insert "Lee Daniels" as a prefix  every time I mention the name of this movie. Does Quentin Tarantino put his name in the title of his films? Let's just name another football stadium after its corporate sponsor and leave it at that.)

 It's a good thing that the character of Cecil  Gaines is a composite, loosely based (and blatantly inaccurate) on the life of Eugene Allen, the man who served eight presidents in the White House from 1952 to 1986. Because Mr. Gaines is not an admirable or likable individual throughout most of this film.  It's not his Uncle Tom attitude. Given the era he came up in, we can allow  him that.  It's his outright hostility and barely concealed resentment toward his son, Louis, who represents everything Dylan was waxing nasally about in "The Times They Are a--Changin."  The boy just seems to have a nose for trouble. Challenging authority and landing his ass in jail. Why ya tryin' to upset the apple cart?  Riding in the back of the bus ain't so bad.

But times change, and people do too. And if you are like me, you'll be rooting for Cecil to come around as well. 

I've felt that Forrest Whitaker was one of our finest actors since seeing him in The Last King of Scotland. He has solidified that opinion here. Oprah Winfrey, as his wife,  does a credible job as a woman starved for attention--seeking it elsewhere because Cecil is up in the big house...er,  I mean White House, doing his thing. And then we have all those cameos by Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Jane Fonda, and Liev Schreiber, representing the various presidents and/or their wives from Eisenhower to Reagan . Going strictly by appearances, some miss the mark,  as Marsden doesn't look much like Kennedy. But Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda absolutely nail Ronald and Nancy Reagan.  Especially Fonda, who has the first lady's mannerisms and walk down pat.  I was expecting to hear "just say no" dribbling mindlessly from her lips at  any moment. The irony of casting some of these Hollywood "pinkos"  as the likes of Richard Nixon and  Ron and Nancy Reagan is not lost on those of us who lived through the era.

And the era is the real star of The Butler. The turbulence of the civil rights struggle is dramatized,  then complemented with actual footage of redneck cops beating up peaceful marchers...the vicious dogs...the high powered water hoses--it's all there to remind those too young to have witnessed it that yes, these things really happened in a place  we called America. At times, however,  the film slips into mawkish stereotypes, as when Louis and his girlfriend sit down to dinner with his parents. Louis never removes his Black Panther beret, and his gal sports an Afro that rises about two feet atop her head. It's all for dramatic,  and rather humorous effect; but I tend to think that a real version of Louis, with everything he's been through, would have the sensitivity to remove his hat at the table. 

We aren't really sure whose side the movie is on until the closing credits, which give credit where credit is due. 

Grade: B+

JILL'S TAKE

Nice review, Tim. Well-expressed and thoughtful. But if we had gone to see this flick together and you had called Oprah Winfrey's performance "credible," I would've beaten you over the head with my ticket stub! Credible? She was (blankety-blank-blank) brilliant. Mark my Oscar-predicting words, she's gonna win this year's gold statuette for Best Supporting Actress. Kudos to everyone involved in this movie. But special praise must be given to the editors. The cuts—from a posh White House dinner to a lunch counter sit-in where the protesters are being spat upon—speak visual volumes about that era in history.

As far as the various presidential cameos go, the one of Lyndon Johnson played extremely well by Liev Schreiber is about as unflattering as you can get. No doubt, an accurate portrayal. (I encourage those of you with HBO to catch this actor in "Ray Donovan.")

When the end credits rolled and I tried to stop weeping and sniffling, choking down more tears, the fellow I went to see THE BUTLER with made a comment I agree with. (See, Tim? I do agree with some opinions!) He felt it was slow in the beginning, a bit confusing at that party with the bickering neighbors. Yes, the drunk guy—played with missing front teeth by Terrence Howard—figured into the plot later on. But if I had anything to criticize about this fantastic film, it would be the subplot between him and Cecil Gaines' wife. I felt it was unnecessary.

Grade: A

THE ATTACK (2013)

Rated: R

Stars: Ali Suliman,  Reymonde Amsellem
Genre: Drama
Director: Ziad Doueiri


A Palestinian surgeon, who has built a successful career for himself in Israel, is about to be honored at an awards ceremony. As he waits to be introduced, he receives a call from his wife,  but dismisses her with his can't-you-see-I'm-in-the-middle-of-something-important attitude. So early on, what lies at the heart of The Attack is revealed (though not all will recognize it as such). 

A failure to communicate.

So much so that I thought the film should have been titled "The Call," (but there is another recent movie with the same name).

When a suicide bombing brings a flood of broken rag-doll victims into the hospital where Dr. Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman) is employed, he must work feverishly to try to save them. Then, the ultimate punch in the gut. Dr Jaafari's suddenly deceased wife (Reymonde Ansellem)  is suspected of being the bomber. His life will never be the same. Initially, he is accused of being a party to the plot.  When his name (but not his reputation) is cleared on that front, he embarks upon a harrowing mission to Palestine to search for answers as to why the woman he thought he knew could be led so tragically astray.

The Attack features fine performances from Suliman and Ansellem, who is shown in flashbacks of their life together before the shrapnel hit the fan. The ending is haunting,  and perfectly poignant. The film doesn't favor either side in the Arab-Israeli conflict. And it doesn't attempt to answer substantial questions as to why the madness of their situation has gone on, and continues on with no resolution or end in sight. (Don't be fooled by the upcoming "peace talks." That's just a political show.) 

A more important question, I think, is what turns human beings into suicide bombers in the first place. The obvious answer is that a people who feel so downtrodden and so utterly without hope or faith in the political process, may come to  feel that there is no alternative. We live in an end-justifies-the-means world. But when we make the decision to go there, we relinquish all claim to the humanity we purport to be defending.  No, in the end it's about communication, or the lack thereof on a human level. 

When all around we see only  "other,"  then there is no brother.

Grade:  A

  

JILL'S TAKE

Usually, I read what Tim writes before adding my two cents. This time I must make my comments ahead of his. (I'll be out of town when he sees THE ATTACK and reviews it.) I want to start by saying that a good friend of mine back east recommended this film well over a month ago, saying it had 'changed his life!' I kept waiting for it to come to La Jolla. When the preview arrived, I gathered that THE ATTACK was a foreign film, most likely shot in Israel, about a surgeon who fainted when he was told that his wife was a terrorist. A helluva a teaser!

Tim has already filled you in on the plot. I prefer to fill you in on the feelings I had when—dazed and saddened—I staggered out of the movie theatre, mumbling to myself, "Nothing is all wrong or all right, all good or all bad..." THE ATTACK forces the viewer to come to terms with this. No matter what your politics are. I used to be married to somebody Jewish; a non religious man who, although he was bar mitzvahed, knew next to nothing about what it meant to be a Jew. (Even as a shiksa, I spoke more Yiddish than he did having worked at a guitar store in the heart of Manhattan.) Years later, I dated an Arab who was born in Lebanon but moved to Montreal. He was raised Catholic and I remember him telling me that when one of his four sisters married a Muslim, his family disowned her. I've never been big on history or religion but this fellow certainly gave me a different perspective on why there is such hatred among the Palestinians for the Israelis. I'm neither pro-Israel nor pro-Palestine but I can definitely identify with the horror (and confusion) of being lied to by someone you love. For me, THE ATTACK tries to explain—if such a thing can really be explained—what motivates a suicide bomber. Everything about this film was thought-provoking and brilliant.

GRADE  A +

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THE WAY, WAY BACK (2013)

Rated: PG-13

Stars: Liam James,  Steve Carell,  Sam Rockwell,  Toni Collette,  Maya Rudolph,  Annasophia Robb,  Allison Janney,  Amanda Peet

Director: Nat Faxon,  Jim Rash 

Genre: Comedy/ Drama  

When I was fourteen, I avoided speaking  to adults--they were just too uncool. In my case, that wasn't just some warped teenage perception. Adults really weren't very cool back then. In The Way, Way Back, fourteen year-old Duncan (Liam James) is a similarly withdrawn kid, surrounded by some modern day adult lamesters.  Until he arrives at the beach house where his divorced mom (Toni Collette) and her condescending ass of a boyfriend, Trent, (Steve Carell) and his teenage daughter will be spending at least part of the summer, trying the blended family experiment on for size. 

At the beach house, Duncan is introduced to a more colorful ilk of of freaky folk. Allison Janney, as Betty, is a scene stealer as one of the funniest female drunks in recent memory. Then there is Owen, (Sam Rockwell) manager of the  Water Wizz amusement park, where Duncan is drawn when he finds an old bike in the garage and cuts out on the sappy grown ups. He gets hired on at the park, and Owen--an overgrown adolescent stuck in class clown mode--is the ideal mentor to help Duncan, in the shadow of that giant water slide, to emerge from his shell. 

The Way, Way Back is a coming of age tale with a familiar plot,  though it doesn't completely span that outhouse to penthouse emotional arc. The ending they opted for is a more thoughtful one that may leave some viewers feeling deflated, but reflecting on it, this is a movie about incremental rather than sweeping change.   

Steve Carell plays against type in yet another role. He may be dissatisfied with just being a comic genius,  feeling that he's been typecast, maybe? This turn has a bit more depth than the totally deadpan psychiatrist he played in Hope Springs, (a  waste of his talents, in my opinion) but if he really wants to be known as  a serious actor, he needs to take on roles that are way more challenging than this.

Maya Rudolph conveys a sweet vulnerability as Owen's main squeeze at the water park. She strikes me as a surprising choice, but their chemistry works. 

Toni Collette, as Duncan's mom, is a woman who lacks the necessary self-esteem to dump the asinine Trent, even in the face of his infidelity. 

Funny, endearing, poignant. The Way Way Back is all of that. At the end, I felt like I had just spent the summer with some truly memorable characters. And like Duncan, I kinda hated to leave. 

 Grade:  B  +

JILL'S TAKE

The way Tim and I work this joint reviewing is simple. He writes his review first, sends it to me via email, and I then add my two cents. (Or three? Or four?) I always wait nervously, fearing he will make the exact same comment I was planning to make. In effect, stealing my insightful thunder. Luckily for me, it hasn't happened. Until now. And we aren't exactly on the same page here.

We both agree that Steve Carell's character in THE WAY, WAY BACK is a departure from previous roles. Unlike Tim, I was impressed with his performance as an A-1 a-hole. Most comic actors—from Charlie Chaplin to Eddie Murphy—have a likablity factor that makes playing villains an uphill battle. Kudos to Mr. Carell for carrying it off! I did have a bit of a problem with Sam Rockwell's character going from perpetual teenager to romantic lead. (Okay, that's stretching it a bit.) And I also though the screen writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash could have come up with a snappier title than THE WAY, WAY BACK. ("Endless Summer, Pt. 2"? "Hell in the Hamptons"? Even "Water Wizz" would have worked better in my view.)

I've given the last two films an "A." So I really can't do it a third time although I'm tempted to. If I'm being totally honest, it's not so much because the movie deserves it. It's just that I am filled with gratitude that this movie isn't yet another comic book rip-off for the mindless minions of kids on vacation. I did exit the theater feeling a bit more sympathy for those teenagers steeped in gawkiness rather than gangdom.

GRADE:  B

UNFINISHED SONG (2013)

Rated: PG-13

Stars: Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston

Director: Paul Andrew Williams

Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Musical 


Arthur (Terence Stamp) is a cranky old Brit.  He's cranky with his wife, Marion, (Vanessa Redgrave) who is in ill health and not long for this world. And he's especially cranky with their son, James,  (Christopher Eccleston) a rather hapless sort who needs to be prodded to come and sit with his mother while Arthur tends to other things. Arthur and son don't get on with each other-- they've never really been that close, apparently, but there is no background provided on why that might be. 

Marion, in her waning days,  is a member of a senior citizen glee club led by Elizabeth, (Gemma Arterton) a perky young woman who thinks it's cute to get them to sing hi-hop and other semi-modern songs like, "Let's Think About Sex" (baybeeee) and have them do the robot. We learn next to nothing about her though, except for the one time when she gets weepy about a broken relationship. 

The pensioners are all sort of cute in their ineptness, as one and then another gets carted away after pulling or straining something.  And while they have lots of on-screen time, they are all just extras, really, because besides Marion, none are even partially developed as characters. And therein we have the main flaw of Unfinished Song--the lack of character development (other than the shining performances of Stamp and Redgrave)--providing and unintended irony to the film's title. 

In the beginning, the plot centers around Marion's stiff upper lip in the face of her terminal diagnosis.  When she passes on, Unfinished Song becomes Arthur's story--a tale of redemption in how choir director Elizabeth gradually brings him out of his shell to get on with the business of living--getting involved with the choir himself as they prepare for a big competition they've been invited to participate in.

There will be plenty of moist eyes in the theater when the emotionally manipulative Unfinished Song  is finished. The most effective films manipulate you, but you don't mind because what they're doing isn't all that obvious and it takes you by surprise--like a marionette performance where you don't notice the strings.  In Unfinished Song, however, those strings are clearly visible.  


Grade:  B --

JILL'S TAKE

For me, one of the most highly satisfying things in life is when you suddenly hear a favorite oldie on the radio – a song you used to play over and over again in your youth. Well that happened to me in UNFINISHED SONG. Emotionally manipulated or not, Billy Joel's "Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel)" has been one of my all-time favorites since it first appeared on the scene in his album titled 'River of Dreams" (1993). After seeing UNFINISHED SONG through "moist eyes," I went home and promptly got on YouTube to uncover the story of what motivated Joel to pen such an incredible masterpiece. According to him, he wrote the song for his daughter who was six at the time. It was his way of answering that age-old question all kids ask their parents at some point: "What happens when you die, Daddy?"

As for UNFINISHED SONG... Here is my prediction: Terence Stamp will garner an Oscar nomination for his stellar performance. He's played some interesting characters in previous films (from a transsexual in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to an English vigilante in The Limey). But his role as an unlikeable/likeable curmudgeon in SONG is by far his most challenging to date. I realize it's early to be talking Academy Awards. Still. There's always one early release every year that offers viewers a tour de force on film. (Inglorious Basterds was released nine months before voting began and even then we all knew Christoph Waltz would walk away with a Best Supporting Actor award.) Speaking of which, I'd also give "Lullaby" a Best Song Award. Only it probably won't qualify since it wasn't written specifically for this film.

GRADE: A