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Reviews
Whatever Works (2009)
The Woody Allen is back... and it's about time.
After a series of good, but not great, films, the great film-maker has returned to form. From start to finish I thought this film was as good as any film Woody Allen has done. The film is, like his best work, at times very moving, at other times hilarious. It ranks right up there with Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah and Her Sisters. Every line of the dialogue is perfect and flows spontaneously. At his best - and this is his best - nobody is as consistently funny, witty, and thoughtful as Woody Allen. Woody Allen as director is famous for motivating his actors. In his own words: "They do it great and I just sit there and take credit later. Sometimes I have to give them a little direction, like "Be more flippant," or "Be more humble," but they don't need much. They need correction more than direction. You want to hire people like that, then get out of their way and let them do the thing that makes them great. You don't want to put them in a straightjacket and force them to do just what you want all the time. You want their performance." Larry David was brilliant in his characterization of pessimism and self-absorption. But for me the real star of the film was Rachel Evan Wood. She was luminous and lovable. Her performance was convincing and moving. I give this film a ten. I can't imagine how it could have been any better. Woody Allen is back.
Suite Habana (2003)
This is a wonderful picture. People on both sides of the question should see it.
I have read here that this film depicts the poverty in which most urban Cubans live. The comment has been made that the walls are in bad repair. This may be true - but it is not universal in Havana. It is also true that part of the problem in Cuba is the blockade of building materials that come from the US, and the continual American pressure against Cuba that results in shortage of consumer goods. But the crumbling walls are only part of the story. The other part, the real part, is the deep culture of the art, music, and literature that is so much a part of the rich life of the Habañeros. Their lives are filled with music and dance. The opening scenes show a statue of John Lennon in a public park, in the rain, with a continual 24 hour vigil before him. They revere Lennon as a seminal figure of 1960s culture. Lennon was a voice for peace and sanity in the midst of political assassination and US aggression in Asia and South America. The film returns to this scene, many times: in the rain, at night, at 5 AM. It is very moving.
But the film is not a polemic against the United States. The film simply and movingly presents the everyday life of different kinds of people: a man raising a special needs kids, a couple living on the dole who sell peanuts in the park to make ends meet, a hospital worker by day who is a female impersonator by night. He and his wife dance the night away, along with other Cubans. This film makes me want to spend some time in Havana.
It also makes me grateful to Cuba for resisting the pressure to become another impoverished client state of the US. Cuba now is the elder statesman in Central and South America, as more and more regimes drift towards socialism and resist the devastation brought about by the unregulated free market. People in Cuba are like people everywhere. They are not monsters or evil. Nor is the Castro regime evil. It is only evil in the voice of American propaganda. This film makes us realize our common humanity and that there is no such thing as a *perfect* government.
But if there is such a thing as a perfect documentary, this may be it. You fall in love with the people in this film and realize our common humanity. There is no "message.' Just a glimpse of people we want to learn more about. This film makes us see just how wrong the US ban on travel to Cuba really is and how much we would gain from being able to visit a socialist society that works.
Derailed (2005)
Worth seeing if you accept it for what it is. Just don't expect credibility.
I liked "Derailed" a lot. However, there were some slow moments and the plot is so contrived that at points it seems ridiculous. The plot seriously strains the viewer's credulity. I find that Jennifer Anniston can be very annoying. She seems at her best in light comedies. As a femme fatale she wouldn't make me jeopardize my marriage. Clive Owen doesn't display a great range of emotion in the film and the chemistry between him and Jennifer is never quite convincing. This is a shame because as the movie unfolds their relationship is critical to surprising elements in the plot.
All this aside, the bad guys in the picture are really, really bad. Vincent Cassell is wonderful as LaRoche. He is evil incarnate and fills you with fear and loathing. You do wonder why Charles doesn't just get a gun and shoot him. The tension at times becomes unbearable, but there are moments of light humor and banter between Charley and Winston, a street kid become office worker, that alleviate the building tension. RZA plays Winston Boyko and he is also wonderful. These secondary characters are much more inspired than either Anniston and Owen or the characters they play. When RZA and Cassell are on screen the movie sizzles.
The movie isn't in the same league as Body Heat, Fargo or The Usual Suspects. These are great thrillers. Derailed is just a good thriller. I was on the edge of my seat for the last part of the movie. I was still taken in by the twists and turns and surprised at how things developed. Despite having to accept that a man in his position - a corporate account executive - would go along with blackmail, the final hour made it worth watching.
Left Behind (2000)
One of the worst movies I have ever seen.
This film is a thinly disguised Christian apology. The plot is simplistic (good and bad guys and nobody in-between), the dialogue is contrived and the acting mostly competent but variable. It is hard to believe that producers invested heavily in this film. It starts with the main character alone in a field interviewing a man who has developed a way of feeding the world's starving masses. In an instant the sky is filled with 1950s cheap-set style rockets and bomber planes. Although the field is bombed heavily the planes and rockets disappear just as quickly as they came. It is a miracle! And a prophet appears, utters cryptic words, and is never seen again. The film tediously degenerate into a diatribe against man's greed (the villain is the Anti-Christ, who is a mind-controlling Russian- wouldn't you know it) and a glorification of the promise of heaven. At one point people start to disappear. It develops that they end up in heaven - literally, really! I don't know if this constitutes a spoiler- but the film ends in church with an exhortation for us all to be believers. Hardly believable and for the most part very boring. Just like church.
The Human Stain (2003)
A marvelous film, over-looked by most critics. Don't miss it!
After reading some of the reviews of The Human Stain I wasn't sure I wanted to watch it. Then I read a positive review that said that the film was above the heads of many reviewers and was thus under-appreciated and under-rated. Considering some of the films that got reviews that were more positive (The Gladiators, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) I decided to watch The Human Stain. How bad could it be with Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinese and Ed Harris? This film is wonderful. It is intelligent. The dialog is so real you feel that you're intruding into a private conversation. Nothing is contrived. The characters are beautifully presented as round, complicated human beings. Not a one of them is a stereotype. They are all believable and likable, even the characters that are negative. All draw our sympathy and ask us for understanding. Your heart goes out to them. The plot is engrossing. I'd read the book bu Phillip Roth several years ago and couldn't remember everything. But the film seemed amazingly faithful in recreating the atmosphere of the book and bringing it back to life for me. I hesitate to reveal any of the plot elements. The characters are all dealing with life's surprises and with the choices they made that didn't turn out quite as they'd hoped. At the end you realize how alone we all are and how love can transform that loneliness into a release from the past that haunts us. This is that rare thing - a perfect picture. There are no loose ends and no unbelievable characters or plot elements or dialog. The acting is marvelous. There is no broken glass, no fire, no gunshots. Yet the film had us on the edge of our seats and we were sorry when it ended. We've been talking about the ending for the past few days. This is a film not to be missed not, that is, if you like intelligent, thoughtful films rather than films like Die Hard or The Terminator. Or if you like real books, rather than comic books. I look forward to seeing the film again.