Movie Review: The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth (2009) 

Directed by Robert Luketic

Written by Nicole Eastman, Kristen McCullah Lutz, Kristen Smith

Starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, John Michael Higgins

Release Date July 24th, 2009 

Published July 25th, 2009 

I am a big fan of Katherine Heigl. She was pitch perfect as the hot girl romancing regular guy Seth Rogan in Knocked Up. And in last January's 27 Dresses Heigl brought energy, warmth and life to stale romantic comedy conventions. I'm sure she had similar intent when she decided to make The Ugly Truth.

Sadly, we all know about the path of good intentions. Katherine Heigl and co-star Gerard Bulter and director Robert Luketic certainly didn't set out to make a movie as blazingly awful as The Ugly Truth but at some point their good intentions were no match for dimwitted plotting and bizarrely misogynistic B.S that passes for character development.

In The Ugly Truth Katherine Heigl is a control freak Morning TV Producer whose show is in the tank. It is, for no good reason at all, hosted by a married couple (the wasted comic talents John Michael Higgins and Cheryl Hines) who bicker on an off the air, on the air somewhat more pleasantly.

The show is on the verge of being cancelled for Jerry Springer reruns when the station boss hires the boorish host of a misogynist cable access show. He is Gerard Butler and while he burps and cusses and calls women names we know he's a good guy deep down because he loves his conveniently placed, toe-headed nephew.

You don't need a map or even a pair of glasses to see where this plot is headed. She needs a good roll in the hay to get loosened up and he needs a good woman to reform his bad boy tendencies. Knowing this, the movie needs to invent believable and funny reasons to keep them apart. Unfortunately, believable and funny are both well out of this dimwitted movie's grasp.

The creaky, leaky plot of The Ugly Truth has Butler's bad boy playing Cyrano for Heigl's clutzy control freak so that she can land the man of her dreams, the supremely bland soap star Eric Winters. His method for getting the guy is advising Heigl to laugh at all of her man's jokes, wear tighter fitting clothes and fellate a hot dog.

Basically, she should indulge the ugly tendencies that all men have toward women but most try to hide behind manners and civility, two more qualities this movie could have used along side being funny and believable. Oh, that bit with the hot dog? That is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the low humor and generally foul behavior that passes for humor in The Ugly Truth.

Struggling through the morass of romantic comedy cliche and ugly low brow humor, The Ugly Truth lives up to half of its title, this is one ugly movie. The truth is that Katherine Heigl is far too talented to waste her time with this kind of trash. Kath? Fire your agent, or whoever advised you to even listen to The Ugly Truth.

Movie Review: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 

Directed by Michael Bay 

Written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman

Starring Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro

Release Date June 24th, 2009

Published June 23rd, 2009

As a kid I was a big fan of Transformers. Looking back now as an adult I marvel at the idea: Wow, I was one weird kid. Transformers is one goofball concept. Talking, alien robots come to earth in search of ancient energy and disguise themselves as everyday cars, trucks and electronics.

This concept raises numerous logical questions, not the least of which is: Why would giant alien robots need to pretend to be everyday objects? You're a giant alien robot, why are you disguised as an Ice Cream Truck or a tape player? Identities taken on by a pair of alien robots.

The goofball premise becomes even goofier in the live action movie and sequel Transformers and Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. Adding Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox and a couple of wacky parental figures for comic relief, director Michael Bay takes a bizarre concept and makes it even more bizarre.

When we last saw the Autobots, good guy alien robots lead by Optimus Prime, they had stopped the evil Decepticons, lead by the evilest of evil alien robots Megatron, from obtaining something called the All Spark. Now, the Autobots and their human friends are prepping for war with the Decepticons once again, this time over something called Energon. Riveted yet?

The key to finding or rather creating energon, maybe, I'm not sure, is inside the mind of college bound Sam Witwicky (shia LeBeouf). It was Sam's seemingly random purchase of a rundown yellow camaro that lead to mass warfare when it was revealed that his car was really the alien robot protector bot Bumblebee. Sam making this discovery automatically drafted him and the girl of his dreams Mikaela (Megan Fox) into the war between Alien robot races.

Now, Sam has a map imprinted in his brain that will lead to the discovery of energon, or something. The Decepticons want to open up Sam's brain and remove the information while Sam needs to lead the Autobots to the energon to stop them.

If that plot doesn't grab you then you should probably skip Transformers Revenge of the Fallen because at 2 hours and 45 minutes you will have to want to be invested in this plot. You will have to work very hard not to be bored or put off by this exceptionally over-complicated and lame plot.

Worse yet are the juvenile, amateur hour attempts at humor. Sam's parents played by Kevin Dunn and Judy White are used as comic filler, first doing a variation on the comic strip Bickersons and then a really odd stretch where mom is whacked out on drugs. None of this has anything to do with alien robots and yet it's in there.

Then there is the robot who speaks jive. The robot who speaks through classic songs on it's car radio and the robot with giant robot testicles. Yes, testicles. Are you laughing yet?

As much as I loathe most of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen even I cannot deny the technical mastery on display. Director Michael Bay cannot tell a good story to save his life  but his special effects work is some of the best in the industry. Optimus Prime is a mind blowing special effect that in a better more daring story would be the lead character.

Here is a sidekick to a group of forgettable human caricatures and one exceptionally beautiful woman. This relegation to the background makes him bland as a character but still extraordinarily rendered. When he is onscreen, especially in battle with the Decepticons, Prime is the kind of star you build movies around.

All of the alien robots are remarkably works of CGI effects. As characters they mostly stink. That however, they have in common with their human counterparts. Shia LeBeouf is a nice actor with a good deal of charisma but his only real character development comes in being in better physical shape than in the first film, the likely result of having to literally run from one special effect to the next, from one on set explosion to the next CGI green screen robot.

There is no denying Michael Bay is a master of effects. If that is appealing enough for you, then see the movie, you might be satisfied. If however, you require a well told story with your massive special effects forget Transformers. See Star Trek a special effects movie that actually bothers to tell a story in between CGI explosions.

Movie Review The Hangover

The Hangover (2009) 

Directed by Todd Phillips

Written by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore 

Starring Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha 

Release Date June 5th, 2009 

Published June 5th, 2009 

The glitz and glamour of Las Vegas has long been a tempting target for the movies. But, rarely has the ever so carefully un-wholesome Vegas mantra "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" been better explored than in the brilliant new comedy The Hangover. Directed by Old School's Todd Phillips, The Hangover is male arrested development and Vegas debauchery at its finest.

Four pals travel to Sin city with plans to drink and gamble and be back home with a day to spare before one of them, Doug (Justin Bartha) gets married. Those plans go out the window fast as a night of PG-13 debauchery takes an X-rated turn and the groom ends up missing.

The story picks up the day after the debauchery when Doug's pals Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Andy (Zach Galifianakis) awaken in their high roller suite to find a purloined tiger in the bathroom, a baby in the closet and one missing groom. They remember nothing of the night before and have to piece the night together from available evidence.

A medical bracelet tells them they took a trip to the hospital. A valet claim card delivers the police cruiser they evidently stole and a photo tells them that Stu married to a complete stranger. The trip to the hospital, the cop shop and the chapel lead to more bizarre revelations as we follow on a debaucherously amateur detective story.

The story is inventive in the way it continues to spin the boys' behavior out into new and ever more outrageous action but what really sets The Hangover apart are the three actors at its center. Bradley Cooper plays the handsome ladies man as a wannabe bachelor bitter about having given up his freedom for marriage. He is the traditional lead in a comedy of this sort but Cooper gives the role an edge by blending into the ensemble and truly being one of the boys.

The Office co-star Helms is the nebbish nerd with a harridan girlfriend (Rachel Harris) whose so henpecked he has to say he's in wine country instead of Vegas and has some real tap dancing to do when the trip is extended by another day. Helms gets the privilege of playing opposite the radiant Heather Graham as the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold who may be the key to him leaving his old life behind.

And then there is Zach Galifianakis. The enigmatic comic, known for making the great Steven Wright look cheery in comparison when on the stand up stage, is the breakout star of summer 2009.

Roger Ebert fairly compares Galifianakis to John Belushi in Animal House. It's that iconic. Zach's Andy is a wealth of comic non-sequiturs and manages to make a character generally played as a creep into a sweetheart of a man-child whose naïve observations and physical carriage are parts of the funniest performance of the summer.

The Hangover is arguably the funniest movie of 2009. Destined to break out the pack thanks to its absurd amount of laughs and slightly tweaked take on material that seems more familiar than it really is. It's essentially a road picture filled with human caricatures, recognizable types who should work through a mechanical plot to a rote end. Not the case here where the mechanics are twisted and turned in such surprising and hilarious ways.

This is one time where you will welcome a Hangover.

Movie Review Imagine That

Imagine That (2009) 

Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick

Written by Ed Solomon, Chris Matheson 

Starring Eddie Murphy, Yara Shahidi, Thomas Haden Church, Ronny Cox, Martin Sheen

Release Date August 14th, 2009 

Published August 15th, 2009 

The problem with Eddie Murphy as the star of family movies is that he never seems sincere. Some of it is our fault as an audience. We pigeonholed Eddie as a foul mouthed comedy superstar. The move to becoming the star of family comedies came after we were tired of his act. There were also some unfortunate offscreen issues that dimmed Eddie's star. With few offers on the table Eddie jumped the family movie bandwagon and has never looked back. It is in that rather desperate move into the family genre where his insincerity lies and the latest evidence is called Imagine That.

Evan Danielson (Murphy) is a top stock speculator. He is in line to take over the Denver branch of a major investment firm and he owes it all to a focus on work at all costs. Evan lost his family due to his single minded focus on work and now only sees his daughter Olivia (Yara Shahidi) sparingly. There is however, an impediment to Evan's ascension to the top at work. His name is Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church, a long way from his Sideways Oscar nomination), a fellow speculator who dazzles clients with his alleged Indian heritage. He undermines Evan at every turn with his eyes on the big promotion.

Things get even more difficult for Evan when his ex-wife (Nicole Ari Parker) drops their daughter on him for a week. He had agreed to take Olivia before the promotion came up, now she is holding him to it. For her part, Olivia is a troubled, quiet child with few friends and a possibly unhealthy attachment to her security blanket.

Instead of interacting with other kids at school Olivia places her blanket over her head and has long conversations with several imaginary friends. The 'friends' are princesses who not only talk to Olivia but have advice for her dad. They can predict stocks and soon they are giving Evan stunningly accurate advice.

Daddy and daughter bond over playing with the princesses, only she can see them, but convention tells us as moviegoers that the bond cannot last and eventually the need for stock advice from the princesses will come between them. Worse yet, like clockwork, the finale of Imagine That comes down to a chase to the school where...

Oh, do I even have to tell you.

You've seen Imagine That in different forms a thousand different times. Murphy and Director Karey Kirkpatrick adhere to absolutely every family movie cliche creating a rote, predictable and desperately unfunny slog through the typical and expected.

Well, there is one element of Imagine That I did not predict: The sad, despicable and ludicrous performance of the once promising Thomas Haden Church. Had he played this role before earning an Oscar nomination for Sideways and going on to star in Spiderman 3, it would make sense. Playing second fiddle to Eddie Murphy in a third rate family movie cannot be where Thomas Haden Church imagined his career.

Worse yet is the actual performance in which Church plays a white guy pretending to be a full blooded American Indian and using that heritage to become a successful stock analyst. Why Church or anyone involved in Imagine That thought this character was a good idea is, pardon the pun, unimaginable.

The stupidity of Church's character only makes worse the experience of the overall dreadful enterprise that is Imagine That.

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild things Are (2009) 

Directed by Spike Jonze 

Written by Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers

Starring Max Records, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener, Lauren Ambrose

Release Date October 13th, 2009

Published October 13th, 2009

"It is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception and compassion and hope." Ursula K. Le Guin

The movie Where the Wild Things Are is, of course, an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's legendary children's book. However, the movie by director Spike Jonze lives the quote at the top of this page from sci-fi writer Ursula K. Le Guin.

In taking us on a journey through the wild imagination of Max in the wake of a fight with his mother and a disappointment from his older sister, we come to understand Max as he comes to understand himself. It's one extraordinary, revealing journey.

Max (Max Records) is an introverted little guy who longs for the days when he and his sister still played together. When he tries to recapture that feeling and is rebuffed in favor of boys with a car, Max turns his frustration into destruction.

His guilt matched with the kind, understanding and patient reaction of his mother (Catherine Keener) offers the first of a few perfect scenes in Where the Wild Things Are. The peace between mother and son is soon undone, mom has a male visitor of her own, leading Max to run away.

In a departure from Maurice Sendek's wonderful pictures, pictures in which Max's bedroom melts away and slowly builds into a forest, Spike Jonze has Max run through the streets, wearing his favorite wooly footie pj's with wolf ears, finally taking refuge in a forest.

From there we aren't sure where Max really is. In his imagination an ocean opens before him and a small sail boat waits to take him far, far away. He arrives on an island and there he meets the wild things and learns lessons of family, community, love and compassion from the denizens of his sub-conscious.

It is at time a dark journey and credit Spike Jonze and screenwriter Dave Eggers for not shying away from the scarier moments. Everyone has dark places in their mind, even kids. For a child that dark place in their minds is even darker, mystical and terrifying.

The Wild Things, voiced with wondrous vulnerability and heart by James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Forrest Whitaker and Catherine O'Hara, amongst others, are an impressive combination of old school effects and modern CGI. It's been a while since we've seen classic people in giant costume effects and the old school approach is perfect.

The CGI used to bring life to the faces of the Wild Things fit perfectly on the giant costumes giving a real impression of life. Gandolfini's Carol is especially well rendered as he has the most complex and expressive role of of all the Wild Things.

It is very easy to label the Wild Things as different aspects of Max's psyche, the various ways he see's the people in his life, so I will save the list. Let's just say that Director Jonze does a tremendous job of not laying the psychology on too thick. The film is more immersive and observant than sharp or incisive about Max's mind.

Where the Wild Things are is a marvelous revelation of the mind of a child, capturing all the joy, wonder, confusion anger and longing that every child experiences and how the imagination is the most effective way for a child to deal with these developing emotions.

I return to the quote at the top, perception, compassion and hope.

. Max creates these qualities within himself before our eyes in Where the Wild Things are and it is a remarkable thing to see.

Movie Review: Zombieland

Zombieland (2009) 

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

Starring Woody Harrelson Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray 

Release Date October 2nd, 2009 

Published October 1st, 2009

I don't like zombie movies. There is an inherent undercurrent of nihilism that runs through most zombie movies that I find unappealing. I may be a cynic but I could not live in a world without hope, the world of the zombie movie. I will admit that elements of Romero's use of subtext in his Living Dead movies are appealing. I will also admit to admiring Danny Boyle's skilled technique in 28 Days Later. But, zombie movies remain for me an ugly, unwelcome chore to sit through.

Thus, I was not looking forward to the new zombie horror comedy Zombieland. Starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland deftly flips its tone from horror to comedy and somehow loses nothing in the transition. As much as I hate zombie movies, I must admit, I liked this one.

Columbus (Eisenberg) was not the most likely survivor of the zombie apocalypse. He's scrawny and skittish and carries a shotgun so big you may have a hard time believing he could fire it and remain standing. He has survived because his years of isolation, he was a videogame loving shut in before the apocalypse, taught him to run from people even before they were trying to eat him.

He has a series of rules that have guided him as well. Rule 1: Cardio. He has trained like an olympic sprinter so that he can stay ahead of the horde. Rule 2: Double Tap. Never just shoot a zombie, shoot it twice. The other rules make cameos throughout the film as computer added interstitials. The comic effect is strong and reminds one of Max Brooks's very funny book "The Zombie Survival Guide".

Columbus has traveled alone for a while but for the first time has begun to crave a little company. He's lucky enough to meet up with Tallahassee (Harrelson) who happens to be one of the best zombie killers in the country. He doesn't just run and hide from the zombie hordes, he runs at them guns blazing, bat swinging, hedge clippers... clipping.

The two form an unlikely alliance that grows to four when they happen upon Wichita and Little Rock (Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin). (The names correlate to the cities where everyone is from. You don't want to get to attached to someone you might have to shoot in the head). Wichita and Little Rock are headed to California where they are hoping rumors of a human enlave in an amusement park is for real.

Whether their hopes are well founded I will leave you to discover. Zombieland comes from first time feature director and show stunning skill. Fleischer's directorial experience is limited to shorts and episodes of Jimmy Kimmel's talk show, yet he shows remarkable skill and control for such a relative novice.

Most impressive is how he balances the tone. The laughs in Zombieland come in buckets and yet, so does the horror. Zombieland makes you fear the zombies but still has the energy and wit to make you laugh louder than you have at most any comedy this year. It's a balance that a number of veteran directors could not achieve.

Keep an eye out for what will no doubt be the years best cameo. The actor involved is so unexpected and yet so very, very game for it all you will not be able to control the gales of laughter from this inspired bit of casting.

I still don't like zombie movies. This time however, because of a game cast and some surprisingly skilled direction, I can look past my issues with the genre and recommend Zombieland.

Movie Review: Fame

Fame (2009) 

Directed by Kevin Tancharoen

Written by Allison Burnett

Starring Debbie Allen, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Megan Mullally, Asher Book

Published September 25th, 2009 

Published September 27th, 2009

In the first 10 to 15 minutes of Fame I was reminded of another movie about young artists and their art, Robert Altman's daring and ingenious Ballet observation The Company. That film exists really only as an excuse for the master Altman to indulge his love of ballet. The story was utterly meaningless to him. He likely failed to find funding for a straight up documentation of a ballet performance so instead filmed the ballet as part of what was supposed to be a movie.

That film has Neve Campbell and James Franco as the center of a romantic plot but Mr. Altman doesn't care in the least about that. Ms. Campbell is trained in ballet and her performance and practice scenes are observed with far more care and concern than the romance subplot on which Mr. Altman can barely keep his camera still, as if he were searching for ballet somewhere in the corner of the scene being played.

That may not interest you, it didn't interest much of the mainstream audience that ignored The Company in it's 2002 release. For me however, I found the film's anti-structure daring and Mr. Altman's antsy direction is mesmerizing for it's energy and life. It's as if he was telling his actor's 'not now, somewhere there is art happening, let's find it'.

The first few scenes of Fame have this feeling. The camera wanders the halls of the legendary Performing Arts High School in New York City searching for and quickly finding art in progress. In one room actor's deliver monologues and are critiqued by the great Charles S. Dutton. In another, piano's moan with the work of Mozart or Beethoven under the knowing ear of Kelsey Grammer. In another room singers sing and in still another Dancers leap and glide across the floor.

These scenes are intoxicating and a director with the boldness of Mr. Altman might have stuck with this energy. Bring in a few characters at the periphery but keep the camera roaming from room to room taking in the energy. Sadly, Director Kevin Tancharoen is no Altman. Bowing to convention and studio marketing concerns, Mr. Tancharoen cranks out what amounts to High School Musical crossed with  episodes of So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

7 relatively inconspicuous characters adopt high school movie types and play out the string of a very typical charmless plot. If you want the good version of this movie rent the indie flick Camp. Writer Director Todd Graf's 2003 musical set inside a camp for aspiring artists has all of the daring of Altman mixed with a plot with ten times the life of Fame and characters whose problems and joys resonate far beyond the character types played by the actors in fame.

But even before you rent Camp, maybe consider The Company. As I suffered through Fame, my thoughts kept falling back on this forgotten masterpiece from the late master Altman. It's a remarkable movie and one that was too quickly dismissed and forgotten. In a just world movies like Fame are the one's that get dismissed and forgotten.

Movie Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) 

Directed by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord

Written by Christopher Miller, Phil Lord

Starring Bill Hader, James Caan, Anna Faris

Release Date September 18th, 2009

Published September 18th, 2009

Sony has been trying to break into the big time of the animation biz for nearly a decade now. They've had modest success with movies like Open Season but no real home run shots like those of the industry standard Pixar. Their latest attempt to hit one out of the park is close, atleast a double in the gap.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs is a clever, quick witted and imaginative kids flick that never talks down to the target audience and finds more than a few moments everyone can enjoy.

Flint Lockwood (Voice of Bill Hader, SNL) has always wanted to be an engineer. As a small child he invented liquid shoes, a shimmering paste that hardened on your feet. Unfortunately, he could never take them off, but it kinda worked. His loving mom always supported his imagination while his fisherman father James (James Caan) just wanted him to learn to fish.

The island on which Flint was born and raised has long lived on the towns only export, Sardines. Now, Flint thinks he can change all of that. His latest invention converts water into food. While the town is gathered for the latest Sardine related tourist trap, Flint launches his new invention, accidentally, into the sky.

Meanwhile, an erstwhile weather reporter, Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) is desperate for a big weather scoop to make her career. She happens upon Flint and as they are bonding over mutual failure their salvation falls from the sky in the form of a juicy hamburger. Flint's invention is caught in the clouds and turning the rain to food, a major coup for a young weather reporter.

Not surprisingly things start out in fun and games with the town loving all of the new food and Sam getting scoop after literal scoop, Ice Cream snow, all the while falling for Flint and his wild imagination. Then the machine gets out of control and the movie switches to action mode involving a tornado of Spaghetti, a pit made of sharp peanut brittle, and sentient pizza.

The movie is based on a bestselling kids book and translates smoothly to the big screen easily capturing the spirit and good nature that made the book so popular. Bill Hader is terrific as the voice of Flint over and under playing at just the right pitch. Anna Faris's high pitched voice already sounds like a cartoon and she, like Hader, is perfectly at home here.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs doesn't rewrite the book on digital animation and it may not launch Sony into upper echelon of animation where Pixar resides but it does help further establish a beachhead in what is the most consistent box office segment, kids animated feature.

The key is remembering that just animating a story doesn't make it a hit, you have to  team animation with strong storytelling and great voice talent. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs does just that.

Movie Review: Bright Star

Bright Star (2009) 

Directed by Jane Campion 

Written by Jane Campion

Starring Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Kerry Fox, Thomas Sangster, Paul Schneider

Release Date September 16th, 2009 

Published November 15th, 2009

What does it tell you about me when I say that Keats is my favorite poet? That I am a pretentious prick who still reads poetry? Maybe. That I have taken and passed High School lit classes? Maybe. Mostly, however, it should tell you that I am a sucker for romantic longings unfulfilled. Jane Campion's Bright Star captures those longings by turning Keats into a character and his poems a Greek chorus to the romance that inspired him.

In Bright Star Abby Cornish stars as Fanny Brawne a 19 year old with a love of stitching unusual frocks and no interest in poetry. No interest until she meets John Keats (Ben Whishaw) a seemingly failed poet who, though loved by his fellow artists, has not sold enough poetry to pay the bills.

Keats is Fanny's neighbor, living on the estate of his friend and patron Charles Browne (Paul Schneider). The affair between Fanny and Keats is one of those forbidden 18th century romances where the girl is only allowed to marry a man of means and he is but a poor poet. We've seen this story a few times. It's a little different however with the wondrous words of Keats accompanying it.

Jane Campion directs Bright Star with a stark eye, muted colors and quiet tones. It's an approach that brings the restrictions of the day to the forefront, as if the very environment itself were holding back young love. There are moments of brief color and life such as a scene where Fanny lies in a field of purple flowers or one in which she and her much younger sister have filled their bedroom with butterflies, but these scenes are brief, much like the happy moments of Fanny and Keats' love affair.

The educated are aware that Keats died young, only 25. He and Fanny Brawne, his real life neighbor, love and muse, had only two years together before tuberculosis forced Keats to abandon England for the warmer climes of Naples. The film plays a pair of moving scenes around Keats' illness and his departure. One has Keats performing his poem Bright Star, written about Fanny Brawne, as the two lay together for the last time.

The other scene is their very brief goodbye, Keats boards a carriage as Fanny turns her back and walks away without a word. It's a modest, brief scene but it captures the immature romance in unexpected ways. Brawne was only 19 when she met and fell in love with Keats and Abby Cornish well captures the dramatic circumstances of a love that young.

Keep an eye on Paul Schneider as John Browne as early on he will have many in the audience clawing their eyes wishing he would go away. His redemption in the end comes in the form of a moving, angry confession that is arguably the finest moment in a film filled with great moments.

Bright Star is not a perfect film, there are moments when Fanny's immaturity is overstated to an irritating degree and Whishaw can tend too far toward cheap melodrama in a few scenes, but for the most part Director Jane Campion keeps everything on track.

Focusing the story on Fanny and not Keats frees Director Campion from having to film his words and inspiration and instead she gets to feature them. Stay for the credits and a full reading of Keats' Ode to a Nightingale. That alone is nearly enough to recommend Bright Star.

Movie Review Jennifer's Body

Jennifer's Body (2009) 

Directed by Karyn Kusama 

Written by Diablo Cody

Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, J.K Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Adam Brody

Release Date September 18th, 2009 

Published September 17th, 2009

Megan Fox is a beautiful woman who could coast through a very successful, if somewhat short, career if she chose. In fact, that is exactly what she did in her two biggest roles in the two Transformers movies. Her latest effort however, the horror film Jennifer's Body, requires a little more work than giant morphing robots.

Written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody this teen horror flick combines gore and humor in ways so complex some audiences won't know whether to laugh or recoil.

Megan Fox plays the Jennifer of the title. The head cheerleader and front runner for Prom Queen, Jennifer's one indulgence is her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried). Needy is on a completely different stratosphere from Jennifer but since they were friends as very young girls, they've stayed close.

When Jennifer takes Needy to a local, small town bar the plot kicks in. A rock band on the rise, lead by the O.C's Adam Brody, see Jennifer as their ticket to stardom. After an accident nearly kills everyone in the bar, the band offers Jennifer a ride home and she nearly doesn't survive it.

After a bizarre night in which Needy is haunted by something looking like her best friend, Jennifer is back at school the next day looking better than ever. The only difference is, she's now a cannibal demon, a succubus who eats boys. After snacking on a football star and an emo wannabe, Jennifer sets her sights on Needy's nerdy boyfriend.

The confrontation is well built and plays out entertainingly enough with Seyfried easily holding the screen with Fox, even as Ms. Fox goes all demony. However, both actresses take a backseat to writer Diablo Cody's pop savvy dialogue and Director Karyn Kusama's curious horror/comedy tone.

Jennifer's Body doesn't really know what it wants to be. The movie is played for dark laughs as it keeps a lighthearted tone not unlike Cody's Oscar winner Juno. However, even as things are light and breezy Jennifer is eating people and leaving behind a bloody mess.

This mix of gore and humor could work if the film were a little nastier. More Mean Girls Less My So Called Life. That is Mean Girls if Rachel McAdams character were a man eating demon. The template is Heathers, the 1989 black comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. That film had the guts to get mean and allow the actors to dig into the ugly sides of their characters.

Jennifer's Body is damn near good natured even as the body's pile up. The final confrontation brings the violence as it should but by then the film has already failed to compel. Too often Jennifer's Body falls back on the clever dialogue and insightful human notes of Diablo Cody. That was good in Juno but in a horror comedy we need something more.

We need atmosphere, a consistent tone and a scare or two. Jennifer's Body is sunny when it should be dark and flat when it should be sharp. It's often funny but grows awkward when it comes time for the scars. Too bad, there are some strong elements in Diablo Cody's script and a pair of stars who seem like they were capable of more.

Movie Review: Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell (2009) 

Directed by Sam Raimi 

Written by Sam Raimi 

Starring Allison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, David Paymer 

Release Date May 29th, 2009 

Published May 29th, 2009

There is so much cool stuff in Drag Me To Hell that I really wish I could recommend it. As a fan of Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and of the classic Drive In, Z movies that inspired them, Drag Me To Hell evoked awesome memories of horror films past while standing alone as a hip, knowing and very modern horror movie.

So why didn't I like the movie? Drag Me To Hell is like a really great looking house with a crack in the foundation so bad it has to be condemned.

Drag Me To Hell stars Alison Lohman as Christine Brown an ambitious bank loan officer who dreams of becoming assistant manager. She is competing with a brown nosing co-worker who is admired by the boss (David Paymer) for his willingness to say no. Christine is seen as too lenient. When an old gypsy woman (Lorna Raver) comes in begging for an extension on her mortage, after not paying the last two extensions, Christine says no.

Needless to say, the old gypsy happens to be a nutball and a witch who soon after places a curse on Christine, the lamia. In three days a horned demon will rise to drag Christine to hell. Until that time she will be plagued by visions so horrifying that she may go insane before she can be dragged to despair.

Witnessing her decline is Christine's boyfriend Clay (Justin Long). He's the resident skeptic who exists to mock the psychic Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) who claims he can help with the curse. It is advice from the psychic that leads to the scene that ruined the movie for me.

I won't go into detail as I am sure some of you will still want to see this movie despite my warning. I will only say that the scene is unnecessary but more importantly, it severs our emotional tie to Christine. The scene places the movie's heroine at a distance from the audience, most  members of the audience anyway, and ruins the thrills of the rest of the movie which rely on our connection to Christine.

As for that ending. If you pay attention the whole way through you won't be the least bit surprised. Of course, if your like me, you will have checked out already after the scene I eluded to a paragraph ago.

It's such a shame that Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan who co-wrote the script, decided to put that scene in the movie because without it I think Drag Me To Hell is potentially a horror classic. Raimi crafts classic horror movie gore in ways that will twist you in your seat and make you laugh in the space of moments.

Lorna Raver's ancient gypsy is just the kind of horror film villain that escaped from the Necronomicon in Evil Dead. She looks half dead, she spews everywhere, even before she turns evil, and she can appear seemingly out of nowhere. The numerous allusions to Evil Dead will have horror fans cheering even as they cover their eyes and mouth in terror.

With so much cool stuff happening in Drag Me To Hell, I really want to like it. But I don't. That one scene. One scene. It is enough for me to put aside all that is endlessly cool about Drag Me To Hell and say skip it. Unless you are a hardcore horror fan, with a loose affiliation to the animal world, you are going to dislike Drag Me To Hell as much as I did.

Movie Review: The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria (2009) 

Directed by Jean Marc Vallee 

Written by Julian Fellowes 

Starring Emily Blunt, Paul Bettany, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent

Release Date December 18th, 2009

Published January 6th, 2010 

"Queen Victoria, one of our more frumpy Queens. They're all frumpy aren't they? Because it's a bad idea when cousins marry." Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill"

That quote was all I could think when I sat to watch The Young Victoria. Eddie Izzard's pointedly funny takedown of royal lineage threatened, early on, to affect my ability to enjoy this take on Queen Victoria's rise to power. What a welcome surprise it was then that star Emily Blunt made me forget all about Mr. Izzard, at least till the film was over, and with the great aid of an exceptional script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, made me love this movie.

The Young Victoria tells the story of Queen Victoria from the time just before she became Queen through her struggle with parliament and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). We learn that as a young woman Victoria was kept from the world at large by her dour mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and her mother's consort Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong).

Both pressured the teenage heir to King William's (Jim Broadbent) throne to make them her Royal Regent, essentially ceding them the power over the monarchy. She refused, meanwhile the King himself conspired to win her favor with the help of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), and the King's brother in law, and the ruler of Belgium, King Leopold (Thomas Kretschmann) maneuvered to move his bloodline into power through his nephew Albert.

For his part, Albert proved to be more than just another pawn in another power play. Over the course of Victoria's rise to power he is a trusted friend, confidante and eventually a husband and lover. It is in this relationship between Emily Blunt’s precocious yet savvy Victoria and Friend's stolid yet loving Albert that The Young Victoria gets it's romantic drive.

Emily Blunt is a powerhouse in The Young Victoria. Sure, she looks nothing like what is known of Victoria, ('one of our more frumpy Queens') but as she has told reviewers, you want realistic, watch the history channel. This is a Victoria for pop culture consumption and as such it works. Blunt's Victoria is sexy and smart, winsome and powerful. 

Ms. Blunt has remarkable chemistry not just with Mr. Friend, who is only just her equal, but also with the exceptionally cunning Paul Bettany and the always welcome Jim Broadbent, in a terrific cameo. The rest of the cast, minus the Snidely Whiplash-esque Mark Strong as the villain of the piece, is uniformly excellent. 

Adding to the power of Ms. Blunt's performance is an exceptionally smart, witty and concise script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes. Mr. Fellowes takes a sprawling story of high court conspirators boils them down to their essences and keeps the audience in firm grasp of the various plots, machinations and maneuvers going on around our Victoria all while creating a hot house atmosphere of Victorian Era intrigue. 

So often period pieces like The Young Victoria can seem like inaccessible museum pieces all stuffy and puffed up. Fellowes and director Jean Marc Vallee deftly introduce a little soapy daytime drama into the mix without losing their air of cinematic importance. This is high minded drama but with a sense of the modern culture, hence the choice of a sexy Queen and lithesome, Edward Cullen-esque, leading man. 

The Young Victoria is tart and smart and features a star-making performance from Emily Blunt who may be more of a contender for Best Actress than many think. This is just the kind of glorious underdog of a performance that arrives on Oscar night to upset the apple cart of Oscar expectations. Here's hoping that Mr. Fellowes' scripting doesn't go unnoticed on Oscar night as well.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) 

Directed by Gavin Hood 

Written by David Benioff, Skip Woods

Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan

Release Date May 1st, 2009 

Published May 4th, 2009 

Arguably the most revered of all superheroes, among the hardcore comic book fans, Wolverine has long deserved his own place in the comic book movie world. Nothing against the X-Men movies which were of varying but often superior quality but Hugh Jackman's Wolverine always seemed to strain against the convention of the superhero team. Granted, some of that was by design, the character has always been a lone wolf, so to speak.

But more than the design of the character, Wolverine and Hugh Jackman were simply bigger than the X-Men, as the character really has always been. Thus, there is a great deal of pressure on this Wolvie movie X-Men Origins Wolverine. The pressure to live up to an outsized reputation and the pressure to live up to beyond outsized fan expectatons.

Origins traces the life of young James Logan from the day he found out he was a mutant who could grow claws of bone through years of work as a mercenary alongside his mutant brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) in the US Army, to the day he tried to leave mercenary work behind and live a life of peace and normalcy.

For a time Logan worked with a team of mercenaries assembled by General Stryker (Danny Huston). Along with his brother, Logas fought alongside shooting expert Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), Swordsman Wade 'Deadpool' Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), Chris 'Bolt' Bradley (Dominic Monaghan), John Wraith (Will I Am) and Frederick The Blob Dukes. Together this team committed what Wolverine comes to believe are atrocities, hence why he walked away.

Of course, if they had just let Logan retire we wouldn't have much of a movie. Living in Canada, Logan has met a woman, Kyla Silverfox (Lynn Collins) and is living an idyllic life when General Stryker arrives with a warning, someone has begun killing the team. It's Sabretooth and he wants to make his brother pay for walking away.

With Stryker's help, Logan undergoes a procedure intended to give him the ability to not merely fight his brother but do something no conventional weapon could do, kill him. With the use of out of this world technology that bond unbreakable metal with all of Logan's bones, he becomes the indestructible Weapon X, Wolverine.

Directed by Gavin Hood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has some terrific action and some seriously goofball stuff. The good stuff is watching Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber go claw to claw. The good stuff is Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool taking out room full of armed men with just two swinging swords.

The goofball stuff is the stuff from the trailers and commercials for Wolverine. The flying from an exploding car to a helicopter to walking away in slow motion as the copter explodes. We've seen goofball stuff like this before and have become immune to the point of kitschy laughter at how cheesy they seem and how self satisfied filmmakers seem with these scenes.

The mythology stuff, all of the back story, the Origins of the title, will appeal only to the hardcore fans who will search for their other X-Men favorites among a group of child mutants rescued by Wolverine late in the film. Hardcore fans who can name the real name of Agent Zero without having to look it up. Those fans will no doubt be stoked by the high level of efficacy or terribly disappointed by whatever inaccuracy they can seize upon. Even in the nitpicking they will find pleasure. Those not in the cult however may be a little put off by the thickness of the plotting, especially since so much of the action doesn't deliver enough distraction from the plot.

Still, what works for Wolverine is Hugh Jackman whose cut physique and cigar chomping charisma perfectly capture the elemental badass nature of Wolverine. He was the perfect choice for this role in the X-Men movies and he has only grown more comfortable and capable as the character has progressed. Wolverine gets us past alot of the troubled, overly dense plotting of X-Men Origins.

Mostly for the hardcore fan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is sub-par by the standard set by The Dark Knight, Spiderman and Iron Man. On it's own, away from the lofty comparison, it succeeds with Hugh Jackman's performance, as a summertime filler that should please the faithful.

Movie Review: Whatever Works

Whatever Works (2009) 

Directed Woody Allen 

Written by Woody Allen 

Starring Larry David, Ed Begley Jr, Patricia Clarkson, Michael McKean, Evan Rachel Wood, Henry Cavill

Release Date June 19th, 2009 

Published October 30th, 2009 

It seems Woody Allen has grown sensitive to the attacks on his ego over the years. As Allen has progressed in years he has taken himself off the screen moving to only direct his features. It comes from the criticism of the late nineties and early in this decade that Allen had outgrown his persona.

Despite removing himself from the screen Allan continues to write for himself and hire other actors to play different versions of himself. The latest example is Larry David in Whatever Works. Never once do you not hear Woody kvetching through David's performance as a cantankerous genius.

As Boris Yelnikoff a genius in decline Larry David stars in Whatever Works. He's a real piece of work Boris. With his hatred of all human beings and inability to contain his disdain, Boris finds himself alone and happy in his Brooklyn solitude. That changes one night when a homeless girl named Melodie begs him for some food and a place to stay for a night. He insults her incessantly but enjoys how she takes it all in stride.

Eventually, Boris and Melodie have lived together for over a month and he can't help but admit to having taken a shine to her and she is in love with him. The relationship is clearly doomed from the start but for a year they find a little happy routine. The natural complication arrives when Melodie's mother (Patricia Clarkson) tracks her down.

Mortified that her daughter has taken up with Boris, of all people, she sets about finding a more suitable man for her daughter. Along the way, mom gives up her southern, right wing bible thumping for some lower Manhattan bohemianism with one of Boris's few friends.

Whether mom finds a man for Melodie and what complications Melodie's dad (Ed Begley Jr.) brings to the story I will leave you to discover. These plot maneuvers are not mysterious really, they just are as indeed the movie just is. The title "Whatever Works" is the working thesis of the whole picture.

David as Boris states it directly to the camera in one of Allen's odder choices. Boris, being a genius, see's more than everyone else and thus can see us, the audience, watching the story unfold. Thus, he takes occasion to speak directly to us and explain that life is meaningless aside from the little pleasures you can find to give you momentary pleasure.

As Jason Biggs was a younger Woody in Anything Else and Kenneth Branagh was Woody in Celebrity and even Will Ferrell was a version of Woody in Melinda and Melinda, Larry David plays not Boris Yelnikoff in Whatever Works but Woody Allen. It's not merely the talking to the audience, ala Woody in Annie Hall, it is in his every mannerism and line of dialogue.

Sensitive to claims of vanity Woody cast Larry David as Boris instead of himself. This is merely an observation and not a criticism as David is quite effective as a Woody surrogate. It is easy to buy David as a nihilistic, world hating intellectual. His own Curb Your Enthusiasm is little more than Woody unscripted with a little more West Coast than East Coast sensibility.

The truly interesting thing about David's performance is how it is the only really effective thing in the movie. When David isn't onscreen Whatever Works becomes rather boring. Evan Rachel Wood is a nice young actress but her role in Whatever Works only really works when bouncing off of David's cantankerous insults.

In scenes where she is courted by younger men or dealing with her mother, we can't help wonder what Boris is up to and what interesting, offensive, observation he could offer to give the scene some life. It's to Larry David's credit that he isn't completely swallowed by being Woody 2.0 and offers a very effective surrogate performance.

Whatever Works doesn't quite work because the world away from Boris is so ludicrous. When Boris is offscreen Allen gets busy with lame potshots at red state America that are beneath him. He's smarter than the obvious jabs he loads onto the caricatured southerners played by Clarkson and Begley.

The jabs work when they come from the caustic voice of Boris but when Allen gets these characters alone nothing works and the movie collapses waiting for David to get back on screen. Surprisingly, Boris is gone for much of the late second and early third act. The movie flounders without him and Whatever Works doesn't work.

Movie Review: Bandslam

Bandslam (2009) 

Directed by Todd Graff

Written by Todd Graff, Josh A. Cagan 

Starring Aly Michalka, Gaelen Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Scott Porter, Lisa Kudrow, 

Release Date August 14th, 2009 

Published August 16th, 2009 

After more than a decade as a film critic it is very rare that a movie can sneak up on me. I am generally well informed and aware of most aspects of a movie  before I see it. I keep an open mind but it would be nearly impossible not to have expectations of a movie based on the trailer, the commercials, the stars and the director.

That is certainly the case with the teen comedy Bandslam. The film stars an unknown young man and two Disney channel divas, one of whom is best known for the vanilla High School Musical franchise. Bandslam comes from Summit Entertainment, the company behind the marketing phenomenon that is Twilight and Walden Media, the church lead movie company behind such forgettable fare as Hoot and Because of Winn Dixie.

Expectations were very, very low for Bandslam. Then I actually saw it and my expectations were trumped by a smile that refused to leave my face. Bandslam is a musically literate, adroit teen comedy that packs a number of surprising and honestly moving moments in the midst of some typical High School movie plotting.

The film stars Gaelan Connell as Will Burton a terminal outcast who spends his free time soaked in musical arcana. He writes daily missives to his hero David Bowie and longs for the day he can escape Cincinnati where his father has brought the family an infamy Will cannot escape.

Will gets his wish when his mom (Lisa Kudrow) tells him they are moving to New Jersey. At first, things aren't that different, Will is still an outcast, but things pick up when Charlotte (Aly Mischalka) randomly chooses Will to be her friend. Charlotte is a former cheerleader turned rocker chick who picks up stray outcasts to be her friends and bandmates. 

She and Will bond over music but she makes clear she has no interest in him romantically. The musical bond leads to Will becoming the manager of Charlotte's band which in the near future will play Bandslam and go head to head for a record contract with Charlotte's ex-boyfriend (Scott Porter) and his band The Glorydogs.

The band is good but Will see's potential and begins to round out the sound with a few more outcasts, including a strange cello player and an Asian exchange student with a talent for piano. Meanwhile, Will begins a flirtation with Sa5m; the 5 is silent. She has a secret past as well as a musician but their bond is more romantic than musical. At least at first.

Directed by Todd Graf, who's Camp was another wonderful movie about musical outsiders. Like Camp,  Bandslam is a musically literate teen flick held together by a lead performance by Gaelan Connell that evokes a young John Cusack. No kidding, the kid is that good.

It's a movie of terrific musical taste that runs the gamut from indie rock to ska to The Velvet Underground and David Bowie who shows up late in the film as required by Will's quirk of regularly writing him letters. Graf does well to manage the musical tastes of his fictional teens keeping them smart without being too smart, the music played by the bands at Bandslam is purely the contemporary pop radio stuff one would expect of teens playing in a garage.

That touch of truthfulness gives depth to the movie as do the complicated, believable relationships between these terrific characters. I mentioned Connell as the film's center but he is matched well by Mischalka, an actress I was not familiar with before this film. I am told she is a star of some teen sitcom, wherever she came from she is on her way to big things. I loved the random way she and Connell bond on screen and later when expected complications arise she deftly roots the character in behavior that comes directly from the life experience of this character and not the unnatural, necessary behavior of some teen movie drone.

Also strong is Vanessa Hudgens in an unexpectedly small role. When I saw that one of the stars of High School Musical was in Bandslam I naturally assumed she would be the star. Hudgens however, melts right into this ensemble cast. Though the name Sa5m is a little precious, Hudgens does well to underplay the character quirks. And just wait till she gets on stage to deliver a rockin' version of Bread's "Everything I Own". Wow! Not kidding, great stuff.

The music of Bandslam is a wonderfully curious mix. Bread and Cheap Trick mix effortlessly with Bowie and The Velvet Underground and with such modern rockers as The Daze and Peter, Bjorn and John. Director Graf has experience with mixing musical tastes, in Camp he mixed showtunes and rock and roll with breezy good natured ease.

What fun it is to be surprised. Bandslam looked like just another teen coming of age movie. Thankfully, in its love of music, music literacy and clever and engaging characters, Bandslam transcends genre and low expectations becomes a terrific little movie.

Movie Review My One and Only

My One and Only (2009) 

Directed by Richard Loncraine 

Written by Charlie Peters 

Starring Logan Lerman, Kevin Bacon, Renee Zellweger, Chris Noth

Release Date August 21st, 2009 

Published November 29th, 2009 

In My One and Only Renee Zellweger brings southern propriety to life in a way that reveals the tragedy behind the preening self importance. As the wandering eyed Ann Devereau, mother of two teenage boys, Ms. Zellweger brings both twinkle and tear to her character with spirit, bravado and beauty.

George (Logan Lerman) loves living in ....New York...., the lively streets, the cold, the culture, are the necessities of a budding writer. Thus, when his mother Anne announces a sudden move to ....Boston...., George is none too pleased. With George and his brother Robbie (Mark Rendell) in tow, Mom buys a powder blue Cadillac and sets off to find a new man to care for her family.

Her last husband, George's father Dan (Kevin Bacon) was a serial philanderer that she happily leaves behind despite having no means of making money; Anne is not exactly the working kind. In ....Boston...., Anne quickly connects with an old boyfriend, Wallace (Steven Weber), who promptly ransacks her purse and skips the bill on their dinner date.

That's Ok because the encounter leads directly to another suitor, Dr. Harlan Williams (Chris Noth). He takes care of her bill and soon is making wedding plans. The Doc's temper unfortunately clashes with George and it's not long before the road is calling again and the family is off to ....Pittsburgh.....

Here, again, another man waits. His name is Charlie (Eric McCormick) and despite competition from a much younger woman, Anne is confident she has found a new man. This series of scenes are among the films best as George bonds with a neighbor girl named Paula (Molly C. Quinn) and for a moment settles into his mother's world.

Well, if that weren't abruptly ended there wouldn't be much of a movie. The scene shifts across the country to ....St. Louis.... where Anne's sister lives and eventually to ....Los Angeles.... where Robbie dreams of becoming an actor and George longs for the comforts of ....New York City.....

The story of My One and Only is a fictionalized account of the teen years of actor George Hamilton and the portrait is striking. ....Hamilton.... has become something of a pop culture goofball with his leathery tan and willingness to be the butt of the joke. The modern ....Hamilton.... bears little resemblance to the thoughtful, Catcher in the ....Rye.... loving George of this story.

True or not to Mr. Hamilton's life it is a fabulous story and well told by Director Richard Loncraine. Having struggled to make the move from director of proper English period pieces, The Gathering Storm, My House in Umbria to a modern Hollywood moviemaker, Wimbledon, Firewall, Mr. Loncraine is for the first time comfortable telling a Hollywood style story.

My One and Only is frothy and showbizy with just the right air of angst and desperation.  Ms. Zellweger's indomitable heroine is a creation of years of Hollywood stereotypes of the 'Southern Belle' with her classy pretension to glamour and yet she feels fully real. 

Logan Lerman brings a deep soul to George. Looking like a young Christian Slater, Lerman is a terribly handsome kid with real chops. When the reality of who Lerman is playing is revealed you may find it hard to believe as the uptight, soulful intellectual George of this film clashes with the modern pop cult version of George Hamilton we now know.

A fantastic story, exceptionally well told, My One and Only is one of the surprise films of 2009. Having slipped through the cracks, the film received little box office attention before popping up on DVD. Now, as awards season approaches My One and Only is barely on the radar and it's a terrible shame. Ms. Zellweger and Mr. Lerman both deliver awards caliber performances.

The film itself reveals the evolution of Director Richard Loncraine and promises even better work ahead. Too many people missed My One and Only in theaters; do not forget it now that it has arrived on DVD.

Movie Review Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia (2009) 

Directed by Nora Ephron

Written by Nora Ephron

Starring Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond

Release Date August 7th, 2009

Published August 7th, 2009 

Julie Powell did something that I am sure many daily bloggers dream of. Her chronicle of cooking her way through Julia Child's French cookbook earned her national attention and eventually a book and movie deal. The book became a bestseller and now the movie is in theaters with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and director Nora Ephron.

Whether the movie is successful or even any good doesn't really matter to Julie Powell, she's good.

So what about the movie of her life? Julie and Julia tells the parallel stories of Julie a bureaucratic drone who dreamt of writing novels for a living and Julia Child as she began life as the wife of an ambassador in Paris. Julie failed to find her muse out of college and now sits looking lost as her friends talk of big plans and success. Julia too, is a little lost. With no job and no need for one she is bored.

Thus, both women turn to food for comfort. For Julie comfort comes in the form of successfully adapting one of Julia Child's legendary recipes and deciding to blog about it. For Julia it is the bold move to attend masters classes at the legendary Cordon Bleu despite having no background as a chef.

Will and determination define both women as well as having loving and patient husbands who nurture and support them in whatever they do. The husbands are played by Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci as men just bland enough not to intrude upon their wives spotlights.

Bland is, sadly, an all too appropriate word for the whole of Julie and Julia which unfolds with the tension of a soft, well worn blanket. It's pleasant but there seems to be no real tension. Sure, both women struggle but Julie's struggle is an off-putting battle with her own whiny nature and Julia's battle is never all that well dramatized. We know Julia Child will succeed eventually, the movie merely delays it till the ending.

On the bright side, Meryl Streep brings some joy to the delays. Her Julia Child is vibrant and fun and that voice is simply divine, both homage and parody but never mocking or over played. Meryl Streep has found a joy in performance in the past few years that never seemed present when she was at her dramatic peak.

While other actresses struggle to find a place in the acting world as they age, Streep has transformed herself into a box office star. It's one of the more remarkable under-reported stories in Hollywood: Meryl Streep, box office star. Her audiences love her like they never did when she was the finest actress alive and it is a true joy to behold.

As for Adams, this is a second weak performance following the unfortunate Sunshine Cleaning. At least in that film I didn't feel it was all her fault. Here, well, her Julie is somewhat unpleasant. It's daring for an actress who has built a following by being sweet and spunky to take on such a downbeat, self involved character but that doesn't make it watchable. Julie wears out her welcome quickly and while Streep holds the audience in thrall we endure the Julie portions to get to the Julia stuff.

Nora Ephron has taken a story that was modestly compelling to begin with, Julie Powell's journey in her book is slight but entertaining, and teamed it with Julia Child's biography seemingly because neither story alone was interesting enough to make movies of their own. Both stories lack tension, they lack a real dramatic drive. And thus, instead of one story founding for a reason to exist, we get two.

I admit, I am being a little hard on the movie. I did love Meryl Streep's performance and the movie overall is good natured and breezy. If that is enough for you as a moviegoer , enjoy. If you prefer a story with more meat on its bones see The Hurt Locker or 500 Days of Summer.

Movie Review: Everybody's Fine

Everybody's Fine (2009) 

Directed by Kirk Jones

Written by Kirk Jones

Starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell

Release Date December 4th, 2009 

Published December 3rd, 2009

Filial relations get a thorough going over in Everybody’s Fine in which Robert De Niro stars as the sad, widowed patriarch of a family scattered to the very edges of the continent. Years ago Frank Goode worked extra shifts, overtime, any hours he could to give his wife and children every possible advantage. He was a firm but loving father but work kept him at a distance. Now, retired and mourning the loss of his wife, Frank looks desperately forward to a holiday visit from his four kids. He was destined for disappointment.

One by one Frank’s kids call to cancel. First up is Amy (Kate Beckinsale) who claims work and a sick child will keep her from visiting. She sends along Brother David’s wishes as well, he can’t bother to blow dad off on his own time. Rosie (Drew Barrymore) claims that her Las Vegas review has been called into a last minute performance that will keep her away. Finally, Robert (Sam Rockwell) claims that his duties as Conductor of the Denver Orchestra will prevent him from coming as well.

Since his kids won’t come to him, stubborn and lonely Frank decides to hop a train across the country to visit each of the kids. This is against the wishes of his doctor who tells him he is too sick to travel.Frank’s medical issues are left vague so that they can be employed later in the story.

The first visit is to David whose artwork hangs in a gallery just up the street from his New York City apartment.David isn’t home and after waiting for several hours Frank dashes off to his next location leaving behind an envelope. Next up is Amy, a high powered ad exec. Her troubles are evident right away as the sick kid, Jack (Lucian Maisel) is clearly in fine health. Amy’s husband appears oddly disheveled upon his arrival and a hastily organized family dinner is filled with tension.

Frank is shoved out the door the following morning and headed for Denver to see Robert.

Though warned by Amy of his father’s arrival, Robert doesn’t bother to try and hide his lies; not that he could. Robert is not a conductor in the orchestra but plays the drum. He has some harsh words for Frank about his childhood but little evidence to back up his claims. Robert, like Amy, gives dad the quick brush off and soon Frank is riding the rails again, on his way to Vegas to see Rosie. You cannot possibly be surprised when Rosie’s lies are slowly revealed; the story does little to hide them aside from portraying Frank as dotty and clueless.

Director Kirk Jones’ storytelling choices require not just Frank to be clueless but the audience as well. Every story twist in Everybody’s Fine is as predictable as a sunrise in the east. Poor Robert De Niro is stranded within this morass of slow-witted predictability and does yeoman’s work to keep the audience engaged and not rolling their eyes.

It’s a remarkably subtle piece of work from Mr. De Niro whose work has always been marked by a towering presence well beyond his physical stature. In Everybody’s Fine he is called on to be warm and cuddly and clueless and credit him for giving it all he’s got, it really is a complement to his talent that we don’t buy it for a second. 

We know Mr. De Niro is superior to the material from the first sad, pathetic minutes of Everybody’s Fine all the way to its soporific conclusion. It’s not only Mr. De Niro who is let down by Everybody’s Fine, a terrific supporting cast is set adrift as well. Ms. Beckinsale, Ms. Barrymore and Mr. Rockwell are all talented performers, far more interesting than the whiny, cookie cutter characters they are given to play in Everybody’s Fine.

Each is assigned a particular emotion to play and each does their best with it but they are working at odds with the story. Was De Niro’s Frank a distant slave driver as he is sometimes portrayed or is he a doddering old fool who needs to be taken care of? Each of the supporting performances treats him differently and the picture grows muddier throughout.

That said my biggest complaint about Everybody’s Fine is not in fact predictable storytelling or misguided character work. Rather, my biggest issue comes in a cameo by Oscar nominee Melissa Leo who plays a kindly trucker who gives Frank a lift. There’s nothing wrong with her performance, it’s just not long enough to justify the casting.

Ms. Leo is on screen for less than 4 minutes and leaves you wanting more. Why cast someone this talented and then not make proper use of her? I was left wanting a movie starring her and Mr. De Niro and forgot a good portion of the third act of Everybody’s Fine thinking about the potential of that nonexistent project.

Everybody’s Fine is, for the most part, as benign as its title. Dull and forgettable, the film strands a top flight cast amid a storytelling malaise. If you’re a Robert De Niro fan rent This Boy’s Life or A Bronx Tale to get the true paternal De Niro and forget about Everybody’s Fine.

Movie Review In the Loop

In the Loop (2009) 

Directed by Armando Ianucci 

Written by Armando Ianucci 

Starring Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky

Release Date January 22nd, 2009

Published November 29th, 2009

The inexorable march to war is cataloged with black humor and stinging satire in “In the Loop” a film follow up to the popular British mini-series “The Thick of It.” Chronicling the days leading up to Colin Powell's speech before the United Nations, the unofficial kick off of the war in Iraq, “In the Loop” delivers a devastating satire of the bullies and cowards who pushed and yielded us into war.

Peter Capaldi is the black beating heart of “In the Loop” as Malcolm Tucker, the F-word spouting force of nature, secretary to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He's a hatchet man who would carry an actual hatchet if he were allowed. When the PM makes a decision it is Malcolm's job to force it into happening.

Blair made the decision to support President Bush's war in Iraq and pit-bull Tucker will move heaven and earth to make it happen. Standing in his way, unintentionally, is a cabinet secretary named Simon Tucker (Tom Hollander). In an interview with the BBC Simon is asked about war in Iraq and says that war is not inevitable.

A rather innocuous quote, it would seem, until a US Diplomat named Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy) jumps on Simon's quote as an indication that the British government may not support the march to war. Thus begins an unstoppable collision between the bullies looking to start a war and the cowards who talk of opposing war but allow themselves to be pushed along by the tide.

Along for the ride is Simon's new assistant Toby (Chris Addison), a good natured dimwit who keeps stumbling into gaffes of massive proportion and Liza (Anna Chlumsky), an assistant to Karen Clarke who keeps seeing her paper detailing the lack of real intel on Saddam's weapons kicked up the chain of command, much to her apoplectic disbelief.

If the real march to war in ....Iraq.... was anything like what we see in “In the Loop” we are truly doomed. The film posits, not far from reality, that we were essentially bullied into war by bureaucrats looking to polish their resumes by adding the title 'war planner.' The bullies win by simply changing the rules. They make decisions and then change the facts to justify the decision.

The good people stand by and offer comments on the bullies and complain but they are powerless to stop them. James Gandolfini is the most interesting of the opposition. Though he knows the whole war is based on B.S intelligence his willingness to stick his neck out to stop it mimics perfectly the 2007 conversion of real life General Colin Powell.

The factions in “In the Loop” are a perfect corollary to the right and left wings of American politics. The Republicans wanted war and went to all extremes to bring it about. The Democrats knew it was all crap but allowed themselves to be bullied when their patriotism and toughness were questioned.

”In the ..Loop” is at once entertaining and appalling. Tom Hollander is riotous as the bumbling under-secretary who is kind of against the war but doesn't have the backbone to make a decision. He and Chris Addicott are an effective comic team along with Gina McKee, the secretary's other more practical assistant who simply rolls her eyes and covers her ass.

Pete Capaldi offers what may be the best performance of the year. Malcolm Tucker is a fearsome character who seems coiled toward violent rage at all times. His use of the F-word is as effective as a dagger. I'm told Tucker has become something of an icon in England where his bile spitting image is on t-shirts due to the popularity of the mini-series “The Thick of It” where the character Malcolm Tucker originated.

The old saying about liking sausage and not wanting to know how it's made applies well to “In the Loop.” This is allegedly how the sausage that was the Iraq War came about and it is an appalling vision. The bullies triumph while the good people sulk to the finish line and plot press releases for ass-covering purposes. “In the Loop” is stunning, sad and darkly absurd, and one of the best movies of 2009.

Movie Review Knowing

Knowing (2009)

Directed by Alex Proyas 

Written by Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Liam Hemsworth, Ben Mendelsohn

Release Date March 20th, 2009

Published March 20th, 2009 

I feel I may owe Nicholas Cage a modest apology. In rereading a few past reviews of his films I find that I have spent an inordinate amount of time commenting on his hair. In my defense, Cage's hair has seemed like a separate entity all its own in many of Cage's films. That receding, patchy fro from in Adaptation, the wild out of control hairline from Bangkok Dangerous, and the utterly criminal use of extensions and plugs in various Cage efforts. The man's hair is often as memorable as the movie he's in.

That said, Cage's personal appearance is a matter for his stylist not a review of the quality of the film he is in. Of course, makeup and hair are departments on a film set. Awards are given for great designs in both fields. When you think about it; actresses are constantly judged by their looks in movies whether consciously or otherwise.

Why should Nic Cage be excused? Why should he have a separate standard? Just because he has chosen to look so utterly bizarre on screen I as a critic of film am supposed to pretend I don't notice? How is that at all fair? You know what? Modest apology rescinded. In Knowing, Nicholas Cage's unyieldingly bizarre hairline comes second to the bizarre plotting of director Alex Proyas in a biblio-scientific melodrama about the end of existence.

Knowing stars Nicholas Cage as an MIT professor whose son brings home a piece of paper that had been buried underground for 50 years. The long ago students at his son's primary school buried the time capsules filled with their visions of the future some 50 years ago. When it was opened and his son was given a particular drawing from the capsule, all it had on it was a series of numbers.

Bored and slightly drunk, Cage begins examining the numbers and thinks he sees a pattern. The number 091101 2388 happens to correspond to the date of the World Trade Center attack and the number of people who died that day. Further investigation finds that most of the numbers are also dated and the number dead in every tragedy for the past 50 years.

Worse yet are numbers that correspond to future dates including several in the near future. The idea of determinism vs randomness has been the professor's field for a very long time and his conflict is well founded until he begins trying to alter the future and finds nothing but futility. Rose Byrne plays the daughter of the woman who wrote the numbers 50 years earlier. She now has a daughter who, like her grandmother, is hearing strange voices and numbered warnings. Strangely, Cage's son is also hearing these warnings and eventually unconsciously scribbling numbered warnings.

Director Alex Proyas is a master of this kind of supernatural oddity. His Dark City and The Crow are underrated epics of the macabre and dangerous. Head trips into the souls of people whose souls are questionable at best. Unfortunately, with Knowing he has found his M. Night Shyamalan-The Happening moment.

Ok, Knowing isn't nearly the abomination that The Happening was, but in the context of the two filmmakers, the parallel of the visionary artist finding his absolute nadir, the comparison is apt. Proyas's commitment to the absolute oddity of tone and utter lack of interest in crafting a competent narrative perfectly mirrors Shyamalan's unbelievable commitment to his bizarre meta-environmental parable.

Knowing's milieu is the kind of end of the world prophecy that the religious right oriented Left Behind movies have cultivated for years. Except, replace god with aliens. Yes, ET is somehow woven into this plot along with theology, numerology, Cosmology and even cosmetology as once again Cage's follicles cry out for attention as they hold on for dear life at that place he wishes were his real hairline.

As goofball plots go, Knowing is a doozy of goofball elements from aliens to car chases to the end of the world to moments of family reunion hokum. Director Proyas throws a whole hell of a lot of stuff at the screen. Not much sticks. There is an almost joy in the film's heedlessness of convention and willingness to be so earnestly cheeseball. The appreciation fades however in the final hockey moments.

Knowing is a disaster for director Proyas and yet another bizarre signpost in the career of Nicholas Cage. Add Knowing to Bangkok Dangerous to Next to The Wicker Man and you actually begin to see a pattern of complete disregard for convention that makes Knowing seem perfectly logical for Cage, even as it is a disaster for director, co-stars, producers and subsequent audience.