Change Your Image
wildgoose77
Reviews
You Can Count on Me (2000)
A little trust goes a long way
This is a very rewarding and satisfying movie. Don't expect it to be tremendouly moving or groundbreaking at all, but if you're looking for a good character-driven story that's grounded in the drama of human relations, this is a movie for you. Sammy is a single mother, dealing with her anal-retentive new boss and her on-again off-again boyfriend. She is excited when her younger brother, Terry, returns to the small town where they grew up as children. However, her excitement is soon tempered when Terry finally arrives. She finds that he is still as directionless and untrustworthy as ever. What I liked most about this movie was the way director Ken Lonergan used the medium of cinema to its full advantage. He is a skilled visual storyteller, oftentimes cutting out of a scene before key dialogue is spoken, or even leaving out dialogue entirely. This method involves a great deal of trust from a director--a trust in your actors, that they are capable of delivering a truthful performance through body language; a trust in the audience's intelligence, that they really don't need everything spelled out for them; and a trust in the medium, that it is fully capable of handling an intimate, complex story without using dialogue as a crutch. This trust in others can only result in one thing: a deep respect for the filmmakers and the work they've produced.
Grade: B+
Two Family House (2000)
Following your dreams, Italian-American style
I enjoyed this film overall. The cast turns in some outstanding performances, without a doubt the film's greatest strength. My problems with the film had more to do with the argument being made. Buddy Visalo, an Italian-American man with an entrepreneurial fire burning in his soul, just can't seem to make any of his business ventures pan out. Complicating matters is his wife, Estelle, who wants him to cease these hair-brained schemes and get a good, dependable job that will support a nice house and a family. So you have an otherwise happy couple who just can't give each other what they need most in life. She needs a husband who can be a dependable provider, he needs a wife who will always believe in him and support his goals. The film is clearly sympathetic to the goal-oriented male, expounding the virtues of always striving for success and never giving up no matter how crazy your idea may seem to others. I left the theatre wondering how the story would have panned out if it had been directed by a woman, or for that matter, a mother.
Grade: B
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
An enormously disappointing adaptation
This is a big part of my childhood here--my all-time favorite children's book (narrowly beating out ("The Monster at the End of this Book"). My parents tell me that repeated bedtime readings caused me to have this book memorized by the time I was four. Suffice to say, I was apprehensive when I first heard about this project. But, I told myself to keep an open mind. After all, this movie could never compare to the understated genius of the Dr. Seuss book or the Chuck Jones cartoon--those works were untouchable. Therefore, to be fair to the filmmakers involved, this latest adaptation needed to be judged on its own merit.
Of course, that would be much easier to do if the movie didn't steal so much from the cartoon. Using the musical numbers "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Welcome Christmas", and even ripping off a couple of the sight gags, it's more appropriate to say that this is an adaptation of the cartoon than it is the book. That really bothered me, especially after I made a conscious effort to leave my adult cynicism at the door, putting myself in a child's mindset, and hoping to enjoy the movie as such. The movie incorporates a number of post-modern "in-jokes" that make fun of pop-culture and current events. An effort to entertain the parental units in the theatre, these jokes ripped me back into adult cynicism and forced me to think about the desensitizing effect of violence in the media and how ridiculous it is when a movie star runs in slow motion to escape an exploding fireball. Well, fine. So be it. If the filmmakers wanted to appeal to adults, than as an adult, I say this is an overblown spectacle whose message is undercut by the shameless merchandising and licensing that accompanies this film. Save yourself eight bucks and go read the book with a child. You'll probably get a lot more fulfillment out of that, anyway.
Grade: C-
Cast Away (2000)
Hollywood moviemaking at its best
I love it when Hollywood proves me wrong. Here I am, a huge proponent of independent cinema as the last bastion of quality filmmaking left in America. But I have to admit, it is such a good feeling to walk out of a multiplex after seeing a Hollywood movie that is finely crafted by intelligent professionals, with production value afforded by the financial support of a major studio, and yet so full of truth and love. By any standards, Hollywood or Indie, Cast Away is a smart movie that is courageous enough to challenge its audience. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to pitch this idea to a studio executive.
Exec: Lemme get this straight, for the whole second act of this picture, we only get to watch one actor? How are we gonna get dialogue out of that?
Writer: That's the point, you see? There won't be any dialogue. This is a movie about the loneliest guy on earth.
Exec: Are you kidding me? The average Joe Moviegoer won't go near a picture that doesn't have any dialogue in it.
Writer: Um, yeah.... Did I mention that we also don't want there to be any music while he's on the island...?
I'm of the opinion that the only way this movie could have been greenlit is if the greatest actor in the world was attached to star. And indeed he was. While there are many great actors in the world, none of them have the same Everyman affection, the Nice Guy appeal, or the Movie Star clout as Mr.Tom Hanks. He's the only actor in the world who could carry a film like this by himself. And it is such a joy to watch his mind work through challenge after challenge after challenge on the island.
Watching this movie just makes you feel good. As much as I say it challenges the audience, it is also dramatically satisfying and thematically reassuring. We are presented with a story of man vs. nature, reminiscent of romantic classics such as Robinson Crusoe. And by watching his struggles and witnessing the difficult lessons he learns upon his homecoming, the movie delivers one of those universal truths that we never get tired of hearing. This is Hollywood moviemaking at its best.
Grade: A
Waking the Dead (2000)
A picture of true beauty
I cannot recommend this film strongly enough. This story celebrates the timelessness of love without cynicism or irony. It portrays a relationship in all its many forms: moments of joy, frustration, passion, tenderness, tragedy, and even a bit of insanity. Fielding Pierce and Sarah Williams are the two politically-minded lovers. While they share very similar political goals, their means of achieving those goals are vastly different. Fielding is the ambitious golden boy, campaigning through the political machine in an effort to affect change by working within the established system. Sarah is the rebel outsider, who believes real change will never be accomplished within a corrupt system, leaving political revolution as the only alternative. The film never passes judgement on which is the nobler or the more effective method. Rather, it chooses to portray Fielding and Sarah as two people whose love for what they believe in is second only to the love they have for each other.