Entertainment
Way late review: The Descendants
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer who lives in Hawaii and is the trustee of a family trust that controls a large portion of highly sought after land on one of the Hawaiian islands. The King family has decided to sell the land but not without discontent from at least some. In the middle of this family fun surrounding hundreds of millions of dollars, Matt’s wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), is in a boating accident which leaves her in a coma. Matt is left to care for his ten year old daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller) and parent his seventeen year old daughter, Alex (Shailene Woodley), from an island away at a boarding school.
Matt is unlike most characters played by George Clooney. Rather than smooth and suave we get careful and conservative. The normally self-confidence on display by Clooney is replaced by a man who hides behind a veil of controlled confidence that hides his quiet desperation. He works hard rather than living off his family inheritance. He wants to ensure that he still knows what it is to work and earn a living. In that process he seems to have lost touch with his wife and kids. He’s a man who would appear to have it all put together from the outside but a closer look at the inner workings of his life tell a different story. Inside we see a man who barely knows his ten year old daughter and when confronted with the task of caring for her on a day-to-day basis he shrivels at the challenge. He passively parents her as she acts out in ways that range from mild to profane. When things take a turn for the worse, Matt picks up his other daughter Alex at the boarding school and it’s there we see a child who is acting out against authority in rather typical teenage angst. Matters go from bad to worse, with Matt’s father-in-law unleashing words whose only purpose would appear to be to wound the walking wounded in Matt, a soon to be widower. And in the midst of it all Matt is confronted with a cheating spouse, one who can’t speak for herself and he can’t express his hurt towards.
In the midst of the chaos is a film that stumbles most in regards to pacing. There are moments that fly by and others that crawl for no apparent reason. Regardless of the pace, Clooney convinces throughout with his performance as a man who stands to gain the whole world but feels as though he may be losing his soul, all that truly matters to him. He is the center of the film and yet the performances around him are often just as engaging; including smaller roles like that of Sid, the at first seemingly inserted for cheap comedy value friend of Alex.
The laughs come in small spurts, as Matt confronts the onslaught of obstacles, sorrow and tragedy before him. Rising above the quirky indie comedy, The Descendants succeeds where many fail. The seriousness of the story presented is never fully played for laughs nor is there a need to redeem itself in the end with melodrama. Instead we’re left with a film that feels oddly comfortable even in the midst of uncomfortable situations.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
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Let’s get this thing done – Only the Young
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
At the True/False film festival this year I saw some great documentaries. There are two that I tell everyone about. One of those is Only the Young, a film about a few ordinary teenagers in Southern California living their lives and growing up right before the camera. It doesn’t sound like an amazing premise and that’s largely what makes this film such an incredible feat. The cinematography is gorgeous, the soundtrack is unexpectedly great, and the editing is crisp. Add to all that some amazing kids and the results are magic on the screen. No lie. Magic.
Only the Young is making its debut at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto this May. Great! But the bad news is the film makers still need some help finishing the film. I mentioned the soundtrack stood out as being particularly excellent. Well, that soul music filled soundtrack costs quite a bit to license. There is also some technical work that needs to be done to make the film look and sound its best. All this adds up. Fortunately, the film makers have connections and are getting good rates on the technical work that needs to be done which lowers the costs. But they still need around $15,570 to pay for everything.
There is a Kickstarter project and everyone can help make this happen. I supported the film and will get a DVD for that contribution. This is a film I’ve been wanting to get my hands on ever since I saw it at True/False so the chance to support it early and get a DVD later is a good deal. I don’t normally go around peddling for projects like this so I hope that shows just how much I enjoyed this film and think you will too. If you want to support a great film and get a copy of it (and possibly more, depending on how much you contribute) in the not so distant future, now is the time to act:
Support Only the Young on Kickstarter
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Way late review: A Better Life
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
There is no doubt, A Better Life is just as much about the plight of the illegal Mexican immigrant in the United States as it is about Carlos and Luis. But, one can watch the film and never feel as though the larger theme of the film overwhelms the narrative or the characters. That is a credit to the director, Chris Weitz.
Carlos is a hard worker. He’s landed steady work with another illegal immigrant who owns a truck and has a base of customers for his landscaping business. Unfortunately for Carlos, the truck and the business are going to be sold to the highest bidder. Carlos is tempted to bid but doesn’t have the funds. He finally breaks down and calls his sister to ask for the money. She’s reluctant to give it, not because she doesn’t trust Carlos but because her husband won’t approve. Without her husband’s knowledge, she delivers $12,000 in cash to Carlos. He buys the truck, goes on to run a successful landscaping business, and achieves the American dream for he and his son. Not so fast.
In his altruistic and trusting nature, Carlos selects an older gentleman from the group of those looking for work. This is a man who shared his sandwich with Carlos. This fairy tale arrangement doesn’t last long, as the old man waits until Carlos is in a tree to steal the keys to the truck and take off. Most businessmen in this situation would proceed to call the cops, but most businessmen probably aren’t illegal aliens. Carlos shows up home late that night distraught and drunk. His son guides him to the couch and tucks him in for the night.
Luis is at a crossroads. His girlfriend has uncles in a gang and are covered in tattoos that would make even Mike Tyson question their tastes. Luis doesn’t like school and is developing the mentality of a street thug where hard work, honor and decency his father displays on a daily basis are scoffed at. There isn’t much keeping Luis away from joining the gang. His friend desperately wants to join and eventually does, but there is something keeping Luis from committing. It’s likely the respect he still maintains in a small part of himself for his father. Even though Luis talks irreverently to his dad throughout much of the film, he doesn’t give into the impulse to take what likely seems to be the easy way out in joining his girlfriend’s uncles.
The theft of the truck leads father and son on a detective mission. It’s at this point in the film where I felt an odd, yet strong comparison to Winter’s Bone. As much as Winter’s Bone was a backwoods film noir, it seemed to be about displaying the conditions and culture of the poorest folks in the Ozarks. Similarly, A Better Life shows us a slice of life for the illegal Mexican immigrant in LA while the mystery of where the truck is gets solved. The journey and the sites along the way are far more interesting than the amateur detective work being done. The contrast between the ethos of Carlos and Luis are played out in some trite and less trite manners. In the end a deeper bond between the two develops as they both pursue a common goal that becomes bigger than either one of them.
A Better Life walks a tightrope of authenticity and after school special television episode. There were moments I was sure the movie was going to plunge to depths it could not recover from but the screenwriter resisted and the fine acting wouldn’t allow it to teeter into schmaltz. An admirable task with the payoff being a solid movie with a bigger message behind it.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
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Way late review: Take Shelter
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Curtis (Michael Shannon) is a husband to Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and father to a young daughter who lost her hearing. He lives in a small town where your secrets are only well kept for a matter of minutes if not less. Everyone knows everyone. There is nothing extraordinary about Curtis. He works hard, appears to have a good relationship with his wife and child, and enjoys the friendship of those he works with. Contrasted with his relatively simple way of life are visions and dreams he has of deadly storms approaching along with strangers and loved ones threatening to kill him. The events seem so real that physical pain is inflicted. The torment this down to earth man goes through is hard not to feel.
After one too many painful dreams, Curtis realizes he needs to figure out what is going on. He knows there is a history of schizophrenia in his immediate family. This leads him to seek help though without letting his wife know. While desperately seeking help he also goes about securing a risky home equity loan in order to get funds for expanding the tornado shelter out back. It’s at this point that Samantha loses her patience. She has seen changes in her husband, mostly writing them off as one off oddities or physical illness. But when she comes home to discover Curtis and his friend from work tearing up the backyard to expand the tornado shelter she is at a loss for words. She can’t comprehend the project, the way she discovers it, where the funds are coming from – none of it makes sense. Since there is a sweet chemistry between Curtis and Samantha this grenade set off in their relationship by Curtis is painful to watch, even though we as viewers understand a bit more about what Curtis is dealing with it’s also hard for us to justify his self destructive behavior.
To go further into the plot development is to potentially ruin one of the components that makes the film so compelling. Take Shelter is sure to leave some perplexed, others enthralled, and almost everyone thinking for days about what it all meant in the end. Count me in the camp of those enthralled. The performances, the overall mood, and the contrast between an everyday life and schizophrenia are done in a near perfect manner.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
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Way late review: Grizzly Man
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Knowing how things end makes Grizzly Man an uncomfortable watch, not because we get to see a bear rip a man and his girlfriend to shreds (we don’t), but because a majority of the film is filled with laughs. For example the movie opens with Treadwell talking about being a warrior, a samurai of sorts as bears roam behind him. Seriously? Herzog finds a plethora of odd footage Treadwell shot of himself, the bears, and the rest of nature around him. Perhaps even stranger are some of the role players, such as the coroner whose every movement and word have creepy connotations. Herzog can’t help himself, as even the seemingly mundane pilot who flew the grizzly man in and out of the Alaska wilderness is introduced with a subtitle of pilot and former rodeo performer. And, like most Herzog documentaries, the narrative is done by the director, not only for exposition but to opine. The deadpan delivery makes it hard to know if Herzog is part of the comedy or sincerely trying to make a point.
The fact that Treadwell wanted to be an actor is not surprising. His roughly one hundred hours of footage he shot while out in the wild is filled with manufactured drama. We know this because we’re allowed to see some of the outtakes and setup of various scenes. This doesn’t take away from the authenticity, in fact it raises it. Instead of pretending the grizzly man is pure in his insane pursuit of his large furry friends, a more complete picture is painted of a man losing his sanity but still hoping to make it big someway. Truth is, Treadwell died just about the time reality TV took off like a rocket. Had he been doing his crazy living with the bears routine today there is little doubt there’d be a bidding war for the rights to the show.
In order to balance out the insanity, there are interviews with those gracefully calling Treadwell out on his crossing the boundaries between man and animal. They don’t make fun of him or point fingers but question his misguided mission. These level headed folks seem alien in comparison to those dominating the majority of the film.
A fascinating character study filled with uncomfortable laughs, Grizzly Man succeeds to peel back the layers that make up the life of a man who wanted nothing more than to trade in the painful reality that life can be at times for the fantasy that grizzly bears could be his best friends.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | 2 Comments »