Movie Review Imitation Game

Imitation Game (2014) 

Directed by Morten Tyldum 

Written by Graham Moore 

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance

Release Date November 28th, 2014 

Published November 25th, 2014 

"Sometimes it is the very people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine."

The above line is a lovely bit of inspirational sentiment. I ask you to say it aloud to yourself. Now, imagine that line used by an actor in a movie as a bit of dialogue. It's clunky. Even in the sonorous tones of Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game," the line sounds like someone banging a gong rather than speaking; it thuds loudly and is exposed as sentimental claptrap. 

Too much of writer/director Morton Tyldum's take on the life of legendary mathematician Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game" lands with the same kind of thud. This conventional biopic about a highly unconventional man spends a great deal of time playing at being a military thriller when it should have been a subversive, rebellious story of a complicated and tragic anti-hero. 

The failure of "The Imitation Game" cannot be laid at the feet of star Benedict Cumberbatch, who enlivens Alan Turing with great vigor and offbeat tics that are fitting with the picture of a man few people liked or understood. Cumberbatch could very well have given us the Turing biopic the world needs. "The Imitation Game" just simply is not it. 

The movie skirts Turing’s life. We see him as a World War II codebreaker, who personally earned the approval (NOT SURE BECAUSE I HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET) of Winston Churchill himself. We flash back to one of Turing's formative relationships as a closeted homosexual, and flash forward to Turing's arrest for indecency that eventually led to his alleged suicide.

There is a rich amount of story to tell here. Sadly, director Tyldum gets caught up in only the most audience-friendly aspect: World War II. 

Yes, what Turing did during the war is a remarkable and important piece of history. In short order, Turing created a machine that won World War II by cracking Germany's legendary Enigma machine. And he invented what would come to be the very first computer. Turing was the first to create a machine which, independently of human manipulation, solved equations and produced data. It's completely astounding. Yet, in "The Imitation Game," it is reduced to the function of a thriller plot involving double agents and MI6. 

The greatest injustice of "The Imitation Game" is saved for Turing's personal life. Turing was a homosexual in England when homosexuals were persecuted. In 1954 Turing was arrested for indecency after a male prostitute admitted to having been with Turing and attempted to rob Turing's home. Turing was forced to agree to chemical castration to avoid jail time. The subsequent treatment is said to have led to his depression and eventual suicide. 

Turing's death is a grotesque tragedy. But the film tosses it off in the final minutes with barely a comment. Why? My feeling is that the filmmakers and the studio lack conviction and fortitude. The thriller stuff, the World War II heroism and Sheldon Cooper-esque comedy about Turing's lack of social skills were an easier sell to a mass audience than the far bleaker but more interesting tragedy of Turing's death. 

In the end, "The Imitation Game" takes the easy way out. The filmmakers set up the most audience-friendly take on Turing, depicting his homosexuality and tragic death as inconvenient plot points on the way to the box office. What a shame. Here's hoping we get the Turing movie we deserve someday instead of this pale “Imitation.”

Movie Review The Grinch

The Grinch (2018) 

Directed by Scott Mosier, Yarrow Cheney

Written by Michael LeSieur, Tommy Swerdlow 

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Angela Lansbury 

Release Date November 9th, 2018

Published November 9th, 2018

I went into The Grinch assuming I would see the standard rehash of a beloved classic combined with the modern pop culture references that 'clever' filmmakers believe to be an innovation. That’s what modern Hollywood tends to do so why should I expect anything more? Horton Hears a Who for example is merely a projectile vomited version of the Seuss story dressed up with references to anime and the standard amount of gross out humor that the kids enjoy.

What reason would I have to expect more from The Grinch? The film comes from Illumination, the company behind The Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me and Minions so that certainly wasn’t going to aid my expectations, they’re basically a marketing machine that happens to make movies. There is Scott Mosier as co-director, that caught my eye.

Mosier has been the right hand of writer-director-podcast magnate Kevin Smith for years. At the very least, I could count on him not to countenance any falseness or saccharine sentimentality Indeed, the makers of The Grinch do avoid schmaltz and unearned sentimentality but the surprising thing is how often, what is still a product intended to sell tickets and toys, comes to genuine, unforced emotion.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the voice of The Grinch, the dyspeptic, cave-dwelling, Christmas-hating, loner from the imagination of Theodor Geisel, aka Dr Seuss. This version of The Grinch matches The Grinch we’ve always known, at least early on. He’s grumpy and rude and judgmental and then, of course, that famous song, reimagined by Tyler The Creator, comes along to pile metaphor, atop metaphor, to remind us what a bad guy The Grinch is.

But listen to that song for a moment. First of all, it’s all kinds of strange with Tyler The Creator’s odd approach to composition and his only vague interest in the original lyrics, he has a very particular fascination with the line ‘You’re a bad Banana, with a greasy black peel’ for whatever reason. But, that’s not the part I’m talking about. There is a line that Tyler invented for this version that has a pointed quality that hints at something about The Grinch character in this movie.

When Tyler The Creator says ‘Halloween comes around, we ain’t knockin’ at your door’ he says the line with a disbelieving quality that asks ‘what are you so mad about? We’re happy to leave you alone.’ This hits at the main thesis of this new version of The Grinch, loneliness, isolation and social anxiety. The reason The Grinch is so desperately unhappy is because he doesn’t really want to be alone.

This plays into a very modern theme that the filmmakers lay under the traditional Grinch story. While we’ve come for the Christmas stealing and the lesson learning, the makers of The Grinch have evolved the story to examine the inner, emotional life of The Grinch in an unexpectedly thoughtful fashion. The film gives weight to the idea that The Grinch doesn’t hate Christmas, he hates the alienation that the family holiday inspires within him.

It’s a simplistic notion, sure, but one the filmmakers treat with the right amount of seriousness and deliver in the midst of a solid number of jokey jokes to keep from getting too weighty for a kids flick. The Grinch has just the right amount of believable angst and silliness that I found myself satisfied on all sides by this charming new take on this iconic story.

Whereas the original Dr Seuss take on The Grinch was as a grouchy, grumpy figure of malevolence inspired by the perceived hypocrisy of the Who’s to try and teach them a lesson, only to have the lesson turned on him, this version of The Grinch gives generous space to the emotional side of The Grinch character. In this version, The Grinch is allowed time to reveal his nature to the audience rather than the live action movie version of the story busily, noisily and clumsily attempting to explain The Grinch while Jim Carrey ranted and vamped.

This version, thankfully, is less chaotic and has a genuine thoughtful quality. That’s not to say that the movie plumbs the depths of The Grinch, mining for insight. Rather, the movie is about the emotional journey of a character overcoming years of traumatic memories and isolation to step out into the world in hopes of acceptance. That’s a strong journey for a character and not one you expect of a character as seemingly uncomplicated as The Grinch.

For that, and the lovely animation, I must say, I very much enjoyed this modern, neurotic take on The Grinch. It’s silly and sweet and it looks great. The crisp character design has the quality of bringing together the classic lines of Seuss and a modern quality of today’s most advanced CGI, a marriage that has, until now, struggled to connect.

Movie Review Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar (2016) 

Directed by Eric Darnell, Simon J. Smith

Written by Michael Colton, John Aboud 

Starring Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, John Malkovich

Release Date November 26th, 2016

Published November 27th, 2016

What is the point of reviewing "Penguins of Madagascar?" I know this movie was not made with my particular sensibilities in mind. I could say it's my job to appraise ``Penguins of Madagascar '' and other such films but you know that already and it doesn't really justify the point either; unless you're as deeply concerned about my work obligations as I am. 

So, why do I write about "Penguins of Madagascar?" I don't know, why don't I write something and see if I arrive at a point. That could be fun, or funny or a complete waste of both of our time. 

Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private are side characters generated for the series of "Madagascar" cartoons that justified their existence by giving big stars like Ben Stiller and Chris Rock major paychecks that they otherwise might not have gotten. The Penguins then proven to be so winning with audiences that they were spun off for their own TV series on Nickelodeon. I have never seen, nor do I have any knowledge of the cartoon series beyond the fact of its existence. I can assume that because it exists, the Penguins must be popular. 

"Penguins of Madagascar" serves as an origin story for how our four flippered heroes came together and became super secret government agents of some sort. First, we see them as children rescuing the egg that would become Private, the cute one. This will be Private's journey even more than the rest as he attempts to rise from being 'the cute one' to being a valued member of the team, Skipper's favored phrase for praising Rico and Kowalski. 

Private gets his chance to improve his status when the foursome is kidnapped by Dave the Octopus (John Malkovich), a revenge seeking former zoo-mate from the Bronx zoo. Seems everywhere Dave went he briefly became a star before the Penguins showed up, upstaged him with their cuteness, and left him to rot in under-filled tanks with zero adoring fans. Now, Dave wants revenge, not just on our heroes but all Penguins everywhere. 

Attempting to thwart Dave is "North Wind" a super-secret spy organization headed up by Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his team of wild animal heroes that includes the voices of Ken Jeong, Annette Mahendru and Peter Stormare. You will have to see the movie to get the joke about the name Agent Classified, it's a runner and it's kind of amusing. 

I've painted all of the pictures of the plot that are necessary so where do I go from here? How about.... Is "Penguins of Madagascar '' funny? Yeah, kind of. I realize that's not a great answer but this isn't a great movie either. The jokes are groaning familiar from other modern referential and self-aware animated movies. There isn't a great deal to the modest joy of "Penguins of Madagascar '' that you couldn't get from a 500th viewing of "Despicable Me" or any of the "Madagascar '' movies. 

In fact, the more I think of it, the less reason there is for "Penguins of Madagascar '' to exist at all. The animation isn't too far off from a random video game. The humor is derivative, the characters fun and cute but nothing much about them is memorable beyond one of them having the lovingly English tones of Benedict Cumberbatch. The lead performers are all unknown voice actors who are fine to listen to but don't leave much of an impression. 

Ahh, but you ask: Will my kids like it? Probably? It depends how discerning your child is. If you have a kid with some flair and taste he or she will likely squirm through the movie in hopes of getting on to something more worthy of their attention. If you have a kid who just likes pretty colors, loud noise and animals that talk,. then yes, yes that child will likely enjoy, consume and forget "Penguins of Madagascar" in short order. 

So, have I justified writing about "Penguins of Madagascar?"

Movie Review: Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (2007) 

Directed by Michael Apted 

Written by Steven Knight 

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Romola Garai, Ioan Gruffaud, Albert Finney 

Release Date February 23rd, 2007 

Published February 23rd, 2007 

How do I recommend a movie like Amazing Grace? In the following paragraphs you will read that I don't find the film all that entertaining. Rather, I describe it as solid, professional, modest, educational, and like something produced by the History Channel. Not exactly the kind of movie that you run to the video store to grab for a Friday night date.

Amazing Grace is more appropriate for a classroom setting. It's studious and factual with the good intention of telling a valuable true story. As directed by the veteran Michael Apted, Amazing Grace is well made and admirably performed. I hope that is enough to get someone to see it, but I understand if you may prefer something else.

William Wilburforce (Ioan Gruffaud) was an easy touch for the issue his friend Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch) brought to him. The cause? The end of the slave trade in England. Wilburforce had before then been merely a junior member of parliament who made his name with grand oratories that were mostly ignored by senior members.

When Wilburforce took up the cause, after meeting a former slave named Equiano (Youssour N'Dour) and a passionate preacher named Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell), he was facing a losing battle. Much of the economy of the country was tied up in the slave trade and slave labor. It was not long before he was throwing himself into some of the most famous speeches in the country's history.

In an 11 year battle Wilburforce lost more fights than he won but he won when it counted.Amazing Grace is the movie the History Channel might make if they made films. Dry, concise, factual. All good traits, if not the most exciting or entertaining traits. Fans of the History Channel, like my father who runs it on a 24 hour loop when he's not watching golf, will find Amazing Grace to be just to their liking. School administrators are another audience likely to be satisfied with Amazing Grace and it's PG rated factuality.

As William Wilburforce Fantastic Four's Ioan Gruffaud gets to do some of the acting that being a CGI rubber band never allowed. It's not the first time that Gruffaud has shown he has some chops, his debut in the A & E mini-series Horatio Hornblower showed his promise as a capital A Actor. His performance in Amazing Grace is more mature than Hornblower, but also far less exciting. Steady, loyal, passionate, his Wilburforce is perfectly calibrated to the rather dry material he is given to interpret.

The rest of the cast is free to be a little more quirky and interesting. Though Romala Garai is underused as William's wife, she does brighten things up a bit by bringing a pretty face to the mostly male proceedings. The one truly entertaining performance comes from the crafty veteran Michael Gambon. Playing a senior member of parliament who surprises Wilburforce with his support, it is Gambon's character who seems to be pulling many of the important strings. That may or may not be true but the mischievous grin on Gambon's face throughout is fun to speculate on.

For fans of a very old school, masterpiece theater approach to filmmaking, Amazing Grace will have great appeal. Most mainstream moviegoers need not apply. There is nothing thrilling or even moderately rousing about this steady, solid and factual historic exercise. I am recommending Amazing Grace because I have no real reason not to. I was engaged by it, occasionally moved, if not entertained in any modern sense of the word. I was educated by it and that is valuable.

Valuable, steady, factual. These aren't exactly adjectives that sell you a movie for a friday night. Nevertheless, Amazing Grace is too well made and well intentioned to be a bad movie. It's not a bad movie, it's just not an entertaining movie.