Mavis writes young adult fiction. Throughout the film she struggles to write one last book in a series she is the ghost writer for. It becomes clear that Mavis is not so much writing about a teenage character set in a different world. She writes what she knows and what she knows, or at least thinks she knows, is herself. There is an interesting play of meta narrative going on whenever the author sits with her laptop and types some new prose.

After she receives an email from her old boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) announcing the birth of his new baby, Mavis becomes obsessed with Buddy. She is so consumed with her self that she can only see one reason she received the email – to make her jealous. On a spur of the moment, after viewing the baby’s picture one too many times, the self-obsessed writer throws some clothes in a bag, shoves her dog in a small case and makes her way back to her small Minnesota town, leaving Minneapolis behind. Her mission is a simple one. She wants to have Buddy for herself once again. He’s not happy without her, at least that’s what Mavis would have everyone who will listen believe.

One of those Mavis confesses her twisted plot with is Matt (Patton Oswalt), who graduated in Mavis’ class. Matt uses a crutch to get around. In high school he was jumped by some fellow classmates and nearly beaten to death. He tells Mavis that he got a lot of attention and sympathy from all around the world when it was thought that he was gay. But once Matt made it clear that he wasn’t gay, the sympathy and attention dissipated almost overnight. He quips that the act was heinous when it was a hate crime but not quite so bad when it was some jocks beating a fat kid with a crow bar. Matt is honest, sometimes painfully so. He doesn’t attempt to elicit sympathy for his plight. He seems to cynically accept his position in life.

Matt’s penchant for telling the truth serves, at least at first, as Mavis’ missing conscience. He is vocal in his opposition to Mavis’ plan to steal Buddy away from a happy marriage with a new baby. He even goes out of his way to run interference when Buddy and Mavis meet for drinks at the bar Matt works at. Buddy seems naive in all of this. His happy-go-lucky attitude and clear devotion for his wife and child are juxtaposed up against his former high school girlfriend’s egocentricity.

The journey to destroy a marriage and fulfill the selfish desires of a despicable character does not sound fun but the way that the screenplay writer, Diablo Cody (most famous for writing Juno), positions her extremely narcissistic main character with a backdrop of decent human beings makes things fun. We can never cheer for our main character. Her plans and her ways are never worth cheering for. But we can laugh at the absurdity of her behavior, realizing that when we give into our own notions of self-importance, our vanity, we transform into creatures not unlike Mavis. And in the end, Young Adult serves as a warning for those of us who might think we’re far away from ever being like Mavis.

 ★★★★☆ 

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

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The documentary follows several families in New York City wading through the treacherous waters that are procuring a preschool for your soon to be toddler. Each family comes at it from a slightly different perspective and situation. By the end, it is clear – they’re all lost in the mire. The filmmaker (Marc H. Simon) does his best to maintain composure. While it would be easy to make the subject matter feel like a Christopher Guest mockumentary (think Best in Show), Simon refrains and lets the characters represent themselves on screen – warts and all.

The odds of getting into a nursery school of any standing are slim. For every open spot there can be over a hundred applicants. Making matters worse is the sticker shock. Numbers are thrown around early in the film that made me wonder if we were talking about college. It was not unusual to pay $20,000 and up for nursery school. Some were as high as $50,000 per year. Nursery school. This is the place where kids go to drool on one another and maybe learn to hold a crayon, right?

Even parents who did not grow up wealthy and in this hyper competitive setting of schooling for tikes have bought into the lie which says your child is ruined if she does not get into the right nursery school. In fact, one consultant (yes, they have consultants for getting into nursery schools in NYC!) made reference to a child getting into the right preschool, which leads to the right kindergarten, grade school, high school, university and eventually lands them a plush job at Goldman Sachs. Remove the first piece to that long chain of schooling and the child never achieves success as a prestigious mover of digits from one electronic account to the other. The documentary captures the insanity of this thinking quite well. Where it falls short is thinking this topic has 90 minutes of entertainment value. Because it aims to be fair and not mock the easily mockable, the second half of the film feels stretched thin. Some of the subjects are fairly likable, none are truly abhorrent, and therefore none are entertaining enough to hold interest for a feature length film. Their plight is not one we can empathize with. We’re left with watching the absurd attempt to turn into suspense about whether Johnny gets into the $30,000 per nursery or the $40,000 nursery.

Tackling a topic that seems surreal to everyone outside of it should be an easy win. It’s unfortunate that the narcissism on display never goes completely overboard to the point where it’s so sad it’s funny. And that is likely the result of a director who holds back on highlighting the truly ridiculous nature of his subject matter and the subjects themselves. Being fair to those who’ve let you film part of their lives is admirable, yet two rather famous documentarians Errol Morris and Werner Herzog prove it’s possible for directors to walk the line between fair and exploitative for great results. Nursery University walks too closely to the safe side and ends up giving an informative and somewhat entertaining film.

 ★★★☆☆ 

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

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Whether intentional or not, Days of Heaven borrows its main narrative straight from the Bible. Possibly a mix of stories between Moses and Abraham. Set in the early 1900′s, Bill is a steel-mill worker in Chicago who leaves abruptly after accidentally killing his supervisor. Bill heads south for Texas with his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) and Abby’s younger sister. It’s the younger sister whose voice we hear narrating much of the movie with her distinctive Chicago accent. It’s a voice that contrasts with the beauty of the scenery on display – like a rusty spoon dragging across a chalkboard.

Bill does what any outstanding gentleman of his day would do which is pretend his girlfriend is his sister. He and his “sister” find work in a wheat field that belongs to a rich farmer (Sam Shepard). The farmer notices Bill’s fake sister and makes it known that he wouldn’t mind if she stayed on past the harvesting season. Around this same time Bill overhears the farmer’s doctor say that the farmer is dying. The setup is perfect for Bill, a man who has proven himself to be less than upright so far. He tells Abby that she should accept the farmer’s invite to stay. She’ll marry the farmer, Bill and the Abby’s little sis will get the run of the house as they wait for the farmer to keel over. Ah yes, the best laid plans.

Everything starts to fall apart when the farmer doesn’t die. A bit of conflict arises as a result and the whole thing ends rather practicably. In the midst of this simple story is sparse but generally solid acting. Malick will never be accused of letting his actors run rampant with dialogue. The tension that should result from the story and character conflict within never resonates. Instead, the film feels as though it’s never sure what is more interesting, the characters and their developing plot or the gorgeous scenery around them. As a result, the end is inevitable more than tragic. A beautiful film that is too distant from its emotional drive.

 ★★★☆☆ 

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

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Tom Cruise returns as the IMF super-agent, Ethan Hunt. The opening sequences of the movie set the tone immediately with an action packed Russian prison break. The lighthearted approach is made clear when Hunt’s IMF techno whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) tries to guide Hunt through the prison’s labyrinth by opening all the right doors. Problem is Hunt wants to break someone else out of prison and stubbornly waits at a security camera Dunn has control over until Dunn relents and opens the door so Hunt can go through a massive group of bad guys who are ready to pounce on anyone for no particular reason than they are bad guys.

The plot is not all that important in the movie and that is a strength. It is only important in that it doesn’t make one question the plausibility of every decision made on screen, because the plausibility factor suffers greatly if one ponders for more than a second about the action that takes place. The action is key, with fantastic set pieces and inventive spy gadgets. Whether it’s the cool gimmick used to infiltrate the Kremlin, the breathtaking scaling of the Dubai hotel, or the use of a high tech parking garage for a showdown, it all works. The only missteps are in between the Dubai and India action and the lack of a compelling villain. The lulls in the action are noticeable and the attempts to build stronger characters fall flat. The lack of a villain with much life is forgivable, as the threat of nuclear war is sufficient in generating enough suspense.

Ghost Protocol never pretends to be what it isn’t. Those looking for thought provoking cinema or even character development are sure to be let down. This is an action film that has fun being that and nothing more.

 ★★★★☆ 

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

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Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) fall in love at college in LA. Anna is from London and has to return. She delays the inevitable and violates her visa in the process. On her attempt to make it back to Jacob she is denied access due to the violation. Apparently no one told Anna just how hard it is to travel in and out of the USA these days, no matter if you look as though your puppy dog eyes and quivering lips could melt even the coldest of border control’s hearts. The couple is left with a long distance relationship. Or are they? Why doesn’t Jacob, a recent college grad, chase after the girl who’s stolen his heart? Because he started a chair building business and that would be too hard to do in London. Right, I don’t get it either.

The two live their lives apart and attempt some semblance of a relationship separated by the Atlantic but it’s not working. Jacob seems to come to this conclusion before Anna and it’s not long before he finds someone new and she moves in with him. That someone just happens to be the star of another small film, The Hunger Games. Yep, somehow Jennifer Lawrence plays the smallest of roles as Jacob’s consolation prize, Sam.

The story continues of first loves never able to forget one another and reconnecting. The strength of the film is not plot or dialogue. It is more like an artistic feature film length music video. Emotion needs to be conveyed in every moment Jacob and Anna are on the screen. For the most part it works. It’s done well enough to make one forgive the contrived plot points and a sloppy editing job in the third act that had me questioning whether I was watching the same timeline or something from the past.

Like Crazy is appropriately titled. The obstacles our young love birds must overcome are absurdly small when put in any perspective. Jacob and Anna are driven by their feelings in some bizarre ways, but never driven enough to see things through to one conclusion or another. They chase feelings from one fleeting moment to another only to find that it leaves them feeling empty. An artful tale that falls short but serves a good study for all who feel in love but have little more than emotions to lean on.

 ★★★☆☆ 

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

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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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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

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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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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