Rated: PG-13
Stars: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie
Director: Robert Redford
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Political Thriller
The Boston Marathon bombing has given The Company You Keep a kind of relevance and topicality it might not otherwise have appeared to possess. The film pings upon historical events from the politically turbulent sixties and seventies to present a fictionalized story that bears the ring of authenticity.
The Weather Underground, which came to be known as the Weathermen, grew out of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the late sixties. It was a revolutionary group that conducted bombings of U.S. government buildings, and other targets, primarily in protest of the Vietnam war. As the movie opens, a former member of the group, Sharon Solarz, (Susan Sarandon) who had been hiding out as a suburban housewife, is preparing to turn herself in for her part in a bank robbery that turned deadly back in the seventies. (Look up Sara Jane Olsen, aka Kathleen Soliah!)
The ensuing publicity results in one of her cohorts, lawyer Jim Grant, being ferreted out by cub reporter Ben Shepard, (Shia LaBeouf) who is still cutting his teeth at an Albany, New York newspaper. Grant (Robert Redford) is in reality Nick Sloan, and he may or may not be guilty of having participated in that same robbery. He goes on the run to attempt to prove his innocence, and in the process reunites with some of his old comrades, which gives Nick Nolte, Richard Jenkins, and Julie Christie a reason to be in this movie.
Sloan is particularly anxious to hook up with his old flame, Mimi Lurie, (Julie Christie) who, unlike some of the others, hasn't developed a different perspective through the passage of time. (Christie, who is now in her early seventies, is eerily reminiscent of Katherine Hepburn here.) Lurie is unapologetic for carrying the same ideals that galvanized her, and many of her contemporaries back in the day, to demonstrate what people power can actually accomplish by bringing an unjust war to an end. When their clandestine meeting finally occurs, Lurie still has fire in her eyes--still railing against a system that brought us Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the loss of so many innocent lives on all sides.
I think it was Redford's intention, by taking on this project, to give a little poke at a society that has grown complacent in many ways--and to say HEY, the questions raised in the Vietnam era haven't gone away--they are still here, as relevant today as they ever were.
To those too young to have lived through these events, The Company You Keep may simply seem to be relating a tale of homegrown terrorism from another era. Baby boomers are more likely to grasp the complexity of the issues that existed at the time. And while there is no disputing that their actions were tragically misguided, the difference between organizations like The Weathermen and the Boston bombers is that the former believed that they loved their country, whereas the latter apparently hated it.
That said, The Company You Keep does a good job of bringing some balanced perspective to an era that becomes ever more misunderstood as time passes and we grow farther and farther away from the fact. Efforts to try to rewrite history for the purpose of promoting a particular agenda are something that should be vigilantly guarded against.
There are some intriguing twists and turns, and a few loose ends don't get tied up at the conclusion, but beyond the nuts and bolts of the plot, The Company You Keep is a thoughtful attempt to examine still relevant questions about the use and misuse of government power.
Grade: B +
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie
Director: Brian Helgeland
Genre: Biopic
To understand the institutionalized racism that existed in the United States prior to 1964, one must appreciate the value of travel and education. During this shameful period in America's history, there were many whites--most notably in the south--who hadn't so much as popped open a book or even traveled outside their home county. Through education we learn about other cultures. Through travel we are exposed to other cultures. The more we learn about and are exposed to other cultures, the more tolerant we usually become. So--especially if you were born subsequent to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964--and still find it difficult to comprehend just what the HELL was wrong with people back then... the answer is that a good many of them were just rubes...and dumber than a stick.
It is said that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Unfortunately, ignorance WAS the law during that era, and that's what Jackie Robinson came up against as the first black player to break the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947.
42 is a straightforward, feelgood rendering of the young Mr. Robinson's career, starting from his stint in the Negro Leagues, up to and through being tapped by Branch Rickey-(Harrison Ford) -president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers--to join the team. And the rest, as they say, is history.
It's not really a baseball movie--it's a film about triumph over adversity--and as such, with Mark Isham's stirring music score that never lets up, the movie had the audience blubbering and sniffling all the way through. Why do people cry when they are feeling uplifted? That's beyond the scope of this review and beyond my pay grade!
42 pulls no punches in showing you much of the ugly harassment Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) endured, not only from fans and opposing teams, but from his own teammates as well. And then one of his teammates finally grows the balls to confront a manager who is spewing the "N" word from the opposing dugout, and we are off again feeling around for that second box of tissue.
Newcomer Chadwick Boseman should be able to parlay his competent performance here into another major role somewhere.
Harrison Ford obviously studied Branch Rickey's folksy speech affectations, but he lays it on a bit thick here, and comes off as playing a character rather than being the character. Still, the innate decency of a man who was willing to take a stand and stick to his guns--changing societal attitudes forever--shines through.
42 is no more or less than what I expected to see going in--the canonization of Jackie Robinson--but hey, the guy deserves it. That doesn't mean, however, that a movie as predictable and emotionally manipulative as this one deserves the highest grade.
I'm giving it a "B" for baseball!
Grade: B
Rated: R
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liota, Ben Mendelsohn, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Genre: Drama
The first thing you should know about The Place Beyond The Pines is that it's too long. Just in case you have a hairdresser appointment later in the day--you're going to have to furtively call on the cell phone you're not supposed to use in the theater and reschedule it. That's how long the movie is.
But you get Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper in the same film, so quit yer bellyachin! These are two leading men, so ya gotta wonder...hmmm...how they gonna work this? No problem--the first half of the movie belongs to Gosling, and the second half belongs to Cooper. Probably the only way the two of them would agree to being in the same film together.
So when I say The Place Beyond The Pines is essentially presented in two acts--and if you want to get technical, three acts--you can begin to understand why it's too long. The end of the first act is disconcerting, because you start to think it's the end of the movie, and you're saying, well, that was kinda short! Then you realize (if you are me) that the first part is a prologue to the rest of the movie, which then takes off in another direction. So you hunker down for the rest of it, not knowing until near the end how it is all connected. And it is all connected...the movie just takes its time getting there.
The reason I'm speaking in generalities is because you can't go that far in describing the plot without giving too much away. But I'll give you this: Luke (Gosling) is a motorcycle stunt driver working for the carnival. One night after the show he is approached by former one-night-stand Romina, (Eva Mendes) who clues him in that he is now a papa. Instead of moving on with the carnival, Luke decides to hang around and try to become a presence in his son's life, which will be difficult because Romina is living with another guy. This is the first stupid thing Luke does. The second stupid thing is he becomes a bank robber to get some cash to lavish upon Romina and the boy. For a while it's easy money because Luke goes zoom zoom on his bike and gets away fast. But it's incredible just how stupid this guy is, and he is going to meet his match in young cop Avery Cross (Cooper). Avery also has a young son, and that is going to factor significantly into the rest of the plot .
Fast forward fifteen years, and A Place Beyond The Pines becomes Avery's story. He has parlayed being a hero cop into a burgeoning political career for himself. But kids are always acting out and embarrassing the folks, and Avery's teenage son, A.J., (Emory Cohen, as a young Brando type--he's one to watch) and Luke's teenage son, Jason, (Dane DeHaan) are going to carry forth the connection between Luke and Avery by proxy. DAMN...now looka there...you've already made me tell you more than I wanted to. STOP TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ME !
Notable performances from Gosling and Cooper, but director Derek Cianfrance must have gotten so caught up in the intricacies of the plot that he forgot a few minor details--like aging the adult characters a little after that fifteen year skip forward. They all look the same. He DID remember to age the two boys--because...uh...they were just toddlers in the beginning--so that was some clear thinking there.
Anyway, the main thing I took away from The Place Beyond The Pines is that stupidity runs in the genes, and it often passes down through the generations.
Oh, and did I mention it's kinda long?
Grade: B--
Rated: R
Stars: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund, Morris Chestnut
Director: Brad Anderson
Genre: Thriller
In most films where some crazed psychopath is on the loose, those who encounter him always do something really stupid that puts their lives in jeopardy. Otherwise, the plot won't work. In The Call, EVERYBODY, including the bad guy, does stupid things--which, needless to say, makes the whole plot pretty... uh... stupid. But director Brad Anderson, who gave us the excellent Transsiberian , has crafted a fairly decent (though totally formulaic) thriller here, aided by deft editing and a music score that effectively ratchets up the tension and suspense throughout.
And by now, most sophisticated film fans--such as you and me--are pretty forgiving of implausible plot elements, as long as the movie takes us on a wild enough ride.
Jordan (Halle Berry) is a 911 dispatcher in L.A., where the phones never stop ringing. Sometimes it's just a lovable drunk the operators are familiar with, but sometimes it's a teenage girl who's about to be abducted by the aforementioned psycho (portrayed convincingly with just the right amount of creepiness by Michael Eklund). Jordan does her best to handle the situation and steer it toward a good end, but it all goes awry when the girl's body is discovered. This haunts Jordan, because she did something STUPID while on the phone with the girl. Now her nerves are frayed, and she opts for the job of teaching new operator recruits, rather than manning the phones.
And as The Call follows the formula for these kinds of movies to the hilt, you know that another teen girl (Abigail Breslin) is going to end up in the clutches of the perp, who then does the STUPIDEST thing himself. Everybody knows that every teenage girl carries a cell phone, but this guy fails to check to see if she's got one on her when he stuffs her into the trunk of his car and peels out! So the abductee, named Casey, calls 911 from inside her claustrophobic confines.
The operator who takes the call becomes frazzled and turns to Jordan, saying she doesn't know what to do. (This film does not inspire confidence in the ability of 911 dispatchers to remain calm and cool under pressure--or for that matter, the effectiveness of police response time!) After some momentary soul searching, Jordan takes over. She is in her element again, and she gives Casey some creative instructions on how to try to save herself.
When police units are unsuccessful in honing in on the maniac's whereabouts, (and as you will see, he is one twisted dude) Jordan does the CLASSIC stupid thing and gets personally involved, tracking him down and placing herself in harm's way.
Be forewarned there are a couple of scenes of some real nasty gore in The Call. There is also some eyebrow-raising titillation involving Abigail Breslin, (whom you may remember as the precocious kid from Sunshine Cleaning) age 16 at the time of filming, stripped down to her skimpy bra.
With all of its flaws, such as the bare bones of a subplot involving Jordan's cop boyfriend (Morris Chestnut) that is never developed, this movie does keep you glued to your seat right up to its twisted surprise twist at the end.
You make the call.
Grade: B --
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Rated: R
Stars: Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Channing Tatum
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Not since we all bought into the idea that Lois Lane couldn't figure out that Clark Kent and Superman were the same dude--just because Clark wore glasses and Superman didn't-- has our willing suspension of disbelief been stretched to the point of losing its elasticity like a five year-old pair of boxer shorts. But besides the highly implausible and convoluted plot, it's a pretty engrossing yarn of deception and intrigue that's being spun in Side Effects.
Rooney Mara is Emily Taylor, an unstable woman who deliberately crashes her car inside a parking garage and ends up taking anti-depressants under the care of shrink Jonathan Banks (Jude Law). One of the side-effects of the drug she is taking is sleepwalking, and in one of those episodes she stabs her husband,(Channing Tatum) to death. Which was adding insult to injury because he just got out of the pokey after doing a four year stint for insider trading, and now look... he's dead. (Damn, didn't you read the label on this stuff? It says quite clearly that it may cause drowsiness, headache, AND A SUDDEN AND OVERWHELMING DESIRE TO MURDER YOUR SPOUSE!)
Emily goes on trial, pleads insanity, and is confined to a mental institution. In a sense, this is where Side Effects begins, as the roller coaster plot unfolds from here. And much like The Sixth Sense, nothing is what it appears to be.
Catherine Zeta-Jones has a very interesting turn as Emily's former therapist, complete with lesbo scenes. She's one of the last I would expect to go that route, but you know, DAHLING, no one can be considered a serious actress TODAY without it on your resume.
Side Effects will have you shaking your head due to its sheer bravado in asking you to say, "Uh...it could happen." And while you can figure out who's the good guy and who's the bad guy in most films, there is no one here who turns out lily white at the end.
Grade: B +
Rated : PG-13
Stars: Jean-Louis Tritignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert
Director: Michael Haneke
Genre: Art House/Drama
The enduring image I will always have of Jean-Louis Tritignant is that of the race car driver in the superb 1966 film, A Man And A Woman . So there's a disconcerting aspect to seeing him onscreen today as an Octogenarian (which he is) in Amour, the Oscar nominated drama from director Michael Haneke.
Time happens.
And as Time (that old gypsy man) drags us kicking and screaming down this one-way street, most of those who do not meet a premature death will eventually end up like the Parisian couple Georges (Tritignant) and Anne, (Emmanuelle Riva) in this movie. That's stark realism, man. And that's what Amour deals us. It's a stiff dose of here's-your-worst-nightmare-only-it's-real--that thing we never signed up for...old age and decrepitude.
Georges and Emmanuelle are conversing inside their apartment one day when she suddenly checks out...face gone blank and unresponsive. She's had a stroke and, to make a long synopsis short, goes downhill from there. Now she's partially paralyzed and bedridden, and Georges is her caregiver.
He gets to do all the fun stuff like haul her into the bathroom and prop her up on the toilet. At some point it's just down to changing her diaper. This is the first two-thirds of the movie.
Now anybody who has had an elderly and/or infirmed parent has been there, done that. So why rub our faces in it here? Because we are spared none of it in Amour . It goes on and on until you are ready to throw up your hands and say what's the point, and just about then you get the point (or at least I did) that what had initially appeared to be the wife's story is actually the husband's story. The metamorphosis he undergoes from compassionate caregiver to...well...something else. And we need all of the unpleasant business leading up to it to properly put ourselves in his shoes and ask what would we do.
Nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, I'd not be surprised at all if the 85 year-old Riva takes the Best Actress prize--her challenging performance here is that good. Let's say at least that she deserves it, but you know how these things go. (We're not all that far removed from those idiots who excoriated the French for having the intelligence and the foresight--and maybe just the bad taste of experience in their mouths--to not go along with Dubya's little foray into Iraq. How much of an anti-French hangover still lingers is anybody's guess.)
Suffice it to say that Amour--despite the title--is not a date movie. I pity the unwitting guy who took his best girl to see it on Valentine's day. I wonder who she's with now.
Grade: B +
