By Dan Cohen, Santa Monica Reporter
It’s been hard to find a couple of decent movies to write about from the first part of this year, especially after the bumper crop of Oscar contenders that played through the early months of 2011.
There’s been no standout release from Januarys’ Sundance festival, with the possible exception of “Win Win.” A gently comic drama about a high school wrestling coach who gets a lesson in life from a teenage runaway, the movie is another step forward for writer/director Thomas McCarthy, (“The Station Agent,” “The Visitor.”)
McCarthy, who began as an actor and continues to take supporting roles in features, has a knack for creating large moments out of small events. He gets the best out of an eclectic cast, led by Paul Giamatti, and newcomer Alex Shafer, an actual high school wrestling star, who’s been gifted with remarkable presence. We’ll be seeing a lot more of this young actor.
McCarthy has a fine eye for detail, but lives in the shadow of directors like Alexander Payne, (“Election,”) and David O Russell, (“The Fighter,”) who work the same territory but deliver a higher quotient of irony and wit. But there may be more and better where “Win Win” came from.
Another Sundance comedy, “Cedar Rapids,” starts well, but turns so painfully redundant by the middle, it becomes an endurance test. This one got a significant release, and performed beyond its means.
Sadly, nothing on the order of “Juno” or “Little Miss Sunshine,” has yet to appear. “Submarine,” well received in the UK, “Beginners,” with Ewan McGregor, and “My Idiot Brother,” starring Paul Rudd, may change that. They’re coming soon. But the consensus view of the festival was that documentaries carried the day. So far this year there have been so many good ones they’ve crowded the market place, making it hard for any single title to rise above the rest. More on that later.
What we had, in abundance this spring, were adult oriented thrillers. Trumpeted by engaging trailers and promising concepts, they opened well, but then struggled to find a big following. Modest budgets insure they’ll be profitable, especially after international runs, but the slightly sour taste of missed opportunity lingers over all but “Source Code,” which maintains a high level of invention from beginning to end.
For those who wait for DVD releases, (most of us,) here’s a quick inventory, with an eye to keeping expectations in line.
It was hoped that “Unknown,” with the sympathetic presence of Liam Neeson, would cash in on the surprise success of “Taken.” But “Taken” was lean, mean, (especially the unrated DVD,) and unapologetic; a brutally effective action flick.
“Unknown,” based on a novel, is a cleverly rigged thriller of the lost identity variety, that relies more on story points than body counts. But its crafty plot is marred by two absurdly overpowered car chases, that test our patience and the story’s credibility. January Jones’ icy performance keeps her relationship to Neeson’s befuddled scientist at arms’ length. This is not entirely her fault; she’s leashed to the script, which takes an interesting turn in its third act. Diane Kruger is lovely as the bystander who helps Neesom find himself, but her role, to be kind, is overly familiar.
“Adjustment Bureau” gets a boost from Matt Damon’s solid presence, but the idea is thin. A mysterious cult that works beyond the scope of human perception, to keep mankind on course, suffers a setback when one of its subjects gets a glimpse of their shadowy netherworld. The concept might have passed muster as a half hour installment of the old “Twilight Zone,” but there isn’t enough material in director George Nolfi’s script to sustain a feature. This, in spite of its roots in a Philip K. Dick short story.
Emily Blunt, whose provocative gravity commands your attention, has almost no chemistry with Damon, further complicating matters. It’s not that the part isn’t well constructed; it’s that the script, beyond its trigger, lacks fire power.
“Limitless,” is another idea that strains to fill its running time. Bradley Cooper, of “Hangover” fame, happens on a pill that boosts his intelligence beyond his wildest dreams. In the early going, screenwriter Leslie Dixon, a Hollywood stalwart, (writer of the excellent remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair,” has fun with a landscape she obviously understands; Cooper is a writer at a loss for inspiration. That carries us about halfway through the movie, to the point where the drug becomes more liability than asset. But the movie’s second half mirrors the first without adding much. The threat level is pushed, but the same devices are called upon, over and over. The result; audience exhaustion. Abbie Cornish, an inspired actress from Australia, has been all but neutered by bland dialogue and a makeover as an American.
The trailer for “Hanna” captivated me from first frame to last. Director Joe Wright is a first rate visual stylist. But the full length movie, a humorless revenge thriller, simply held me hostage.
After her mother is slain, a little girl, (Saorise Ronan,) born as the result of an ill conceived experiment, is obsessively trained by her father, (Eric Bana,) to seek out the perpetrator. Wright and cinematographer Alwin Kuchler, (who delivered extraordinary images in Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine,”) have exploited the wintry settings for maximum impact. It’s just that the characters aren’t deserving of their efforts. The little girl, a pre pubescent killing machine, is basically flat, a problem with the idea at the movie‘s core.
I believe “Hanna” was derived from a successful “graphic novel,” but as a film, with flesh and bone actors, it lacks a pulse. Cate Blanchett plays the villain with a campy wink that might have amused in a movie like “Kill Bill,” where the director is working on several levels at once. Here the acting just draws attention to itself, with no objective other than to stave off our boredom.
The exception to this series of misses is the satisfying and energetic “Source Code,” which takes a familiar idea and plays joyful havoc with it.
We don’t know why Jake Gyllenhalls’ fighter pilot is forced to relive the same train wreck over and over, but the information is revealed with an eye toward maximizing suspense. It’s “Groundhog Day,” but with dire consequences. And it works. While none of the actors are challenged, Gyllenhall becomes more likable as he’s forced run the same race against time over and over. Michele Monahan, an actress capable of much more, ably supports him
“Source Code” is a movie that gleefully inspires goose bumps, not by graphic violence, but by devilishly clever manipulation of plot points. Director Duncan Jones, whose “Moon” created a critical stir two years ago, juggles a laundry list of elements, teasing the audience with personal quirks that serve the central sci-fi premise with wit and invention. The film panders at the end to our desire to see things come out just so, but points have been raised, elegantly, along the way. We accept the final manipulation, even if it raises questions the script never answers
While you’re waiting for these titles to debut in home video, you might seek out an amusing and thoughtful documentary called “How To Live Forever.”
No, director Mark Wexler’s ambitious exploration of aging isn’t an instruction manual, even though the subtitle states, “results may vary.” What it is, is a fast moving global travelogue of the elderly, the industry that’s sprung up to serve them, and the resourceful ways they cope, for the most part, in spite of it.
The movie was shot over several years, so a few of those who bear witness, like Jack LaLane, have since left us. But most of the centenarians, and those close to their hundreds, appear vigorously engaged in life sustaining activity.
It begins as you might suspect, with the director’s acknowledgement of his own middle age…And his predictable mixture of resentment and helplessness. But from there it takes off, both physically and psychologically. Wexler travels the four corners, looking for clues to longevity.. Almost everything you’ve ever thought of about the later stages of life is touched upon, much of it from radically different points of view.
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously described a first rate intellect as having the ability to consider two hold two contradictory ideas at once and still function. Wexler’s film presents us with multiple points of view. The movie continually surprises, not with its information, but with the endless resources of our quirky species. Wexler unloads a fusillade of conflicting ideas, lets their proponents have a say, and leaves us to use whatever inspiration we’ve found to better live our lives.
Next: Woody Allen’s latest.
