By Dan Cohen
It’s hot and humid. And you didn’t get invited to a single bar-b-que. Worse, reviewers are calling the new Sandra Bullock comedy, “All About Steve,” “the worst movie of the year.” And it’s about the only new release this weekend.
You promised yourself you’d see the highly acclaimed doc, “Food Inc.” but on a holiday weekend, that may feel like homework. And you know it’s not going to be pretty.
I got it. You need a few DVD recommendations that won’t fry your brain or turn it to mush. Classy entertainment. Ok, here are a few recent releases that will satisfy your movie cravings without the bitter aftertaste of artificial flavors or empty calories.
“Adventureland”
This modest comedy came out of Sundance, got good reviews and played well on the art house circuit. Written and directed by Greg Mottola, who had a huge hit with “Superbad,” “Adventureland” is a lot more like his first movie, the wryly amusing and underrated “Daytrippers.” It’s a mature look at late teenage.
James Brennan’s plan to backpack Europe after high school is cut short by his Dad’s financial problems. While his peers are off seeing the world James works a crummy game in a run down amusement park just outside Pittsburgh. A pretty but conflicted co-worker quickly gets his attention. But she’s dating a semi-married guy who seems to have all the angles figured. The local punks and the dour economic times further complicate James’ issues.
The material is familiar, but Mottola’s approach is wistful, nostalgic and good natured. Jesse Eisenberg and rising star Kristen Stewart (“Twighlight,”) seem totally comfortable in their parts. Kristen Wiig and Bill Hayder are funny in small roles. Ryan Reynolds is totally convincing as the errant husband.
While the ad campaign tried to sell “Adventureland” as a gross out comedy, it’s not. There’s the expected quotient of R rated dialogue, and the requisite drinking and vomiting, but the story is told from an adult perspective, which makes all the difference.
You won’t get big laughs from “Adventureland,” but it’ll please you with its slightly off kilter characters and setting. And if it isn’t available at your video dealer of choice, look for Mottola’s “Daytrippers,”
“Sin Nombre” (Without names)
Yes, the movie is in Spanish, and subtitled, and you’ve never seen any of the actors. But don’t let that keep you from seeing this adrenaline fueled drama that feels like a cross between a social realist film from the thirties, (the height of the depression) and a B movie noir from the mid fifties. Except that it’s been shot and edited in a state of the art style unavailable to the kitchen sink directors of the past.
A desperate young woman and a conscience stricken gang member come together on a perilous train trip they hope will take them to a new life in the US. The gang member is coming fresh off a murder he didn’t intend to commit. The girl seeks escape from her impoverished roots in Honduras. But the real stars of the movie are a massive, demonic train and the alternately magnificent and menacing landscape through which it passes.
Director Cary Fukunaga, an award winning short film maker, spent time with some of Central America’s fiercest gangs in order to bring authenticity to the story. Many of them appear in small parts, and their tattoo dominated faces alone rivet our attention. But the train, a noisy behemoth, barreling through the countryside, indifferent to the hangers on whose lives it holds in the balance, becomes the most vivid character.
While you’ve seen this story many times before, you’ve never experienced the relentless sound and fury of a chase in quite the way it’s been realized here. This is a real find.
“Sunshine Cleaning”
It was sold as a comedy, but it’s really more of a quirky drama, about two women who take on the job of mopping up crime scenes as their own lives teeter on the edge of chaos. Emily Blunt and Amy Adams bring genuine emotional commitment as sisters who suddenly find themselves partners in a somewhat unconventional career, trying to make the best of it. And here, once again, the unforgiving landscape is an important player.
First time scriptwriter Megan Holley pitches her story at a mid level and director Christine Jenks has honored it with an understated approach. The humor is sly, for the most part, thrown away in small asides. The story’s main elements are marshaled toward the shifting turns of the relationship between the sisters, who can’t live with or without each other.
Right from the start their hopeful partnership in the Sunshine Cleaning Company is challenged by the reality of taking charge of truly unsavory situations, after cops, coroners, and government officials have moved on. Their work, deeply enmeshed in the finality of death, is a nifty counterpart for their struggles in life. And yet there’s nothing big about the movie. It’s almost defiantly small, and yet, endearing.
“State of Play”
Well crafted and well acted, this is the type of “quality” entertainment Hollywood used to turn out almost weekly. But when this labyrinthian thriller failed to recruit a large audience, (along with the Julia Roberts vehicle “Duplicity,” and the Clive Owens movie, “The International,”) studio executives pointed to them as proof positive adult movie attendance is in decline.
I doubt that, because the demographic is steadily growing. And it has lately supported a wide range of films, from “Slumdog Millionaire”to “500 Days of Summer.” I just think middle aged adults are more selective, and that “State of Play,” failed to distinguish itself from its less accomplished relations.
Two murders and an apparent suicide seem unrelated until it turns out that the suicide victim was having an affair with a married congressman, (Ben Affleck.). The congressman contacts a hard bitten journalist, his college roommate, (Russel Crowe) when it appears that a private corporation is about to use his indiscretion to squelch a government investigation. Crowe’s work is then complicated by his paper’s shrinking resources and a plucky blogger, (Rachel McAdams) who thinks the female suicide was involved with at least one of the people murdered the night before she died.
It gets really complicated from there, and you’ll probably be glad for the rewind function on your player. Slender threads eventually intertwine in the twisty last act, and you’ll probably feel fairly well satisfied by the final fade out. And then, if you feel the need for more of the same, look for a copy of Sydney Pollack’s 1981 “Absence of Malice, “a far superior drama with similar elements… Which starred the stellar Paul Newman!
Ok, that was then and this is now.
