Movie Review Dreamin' Wild

Dreamin' Wild (2023) 

Directed by Bill Pohlad 

Written by Bill Pohlad 

Starring Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Walton Goggins, Beau Bridges 

Release Date August 4th, 2023 

Published August 1st, 2023

The story of Donnie Emerson is a remarkable one. In the 1970s, he and his brother, Joe, made a record. It got recorded and it was made available on vinyl and everything. It appeared that Donnie, if not Joe, had a bright future ahead of him as a singer songwriter. Circumstances conspired and Donnie never found stardom. Then, in 2008, a copy of Donnie and Joe's album was found by a man in Spokane, Washington. He made it his mission to get the record to as many people as possible. The efforts of this man, Jack Fleischer, brought the record to the attention of Light in the Attic records, an indie label that managed to track down Donnie and Joe. 

In an improbable twist of fate, Dreamin' Wild, their 1978 record, found a new life. Donnie began a second act as a respected and revered singer songwriter and now, writer-director Bill Pohlad has brought the amazing story of Donnie, Joe and their family to the big screen in Dreamin' Wild. It's an inherently cinematic underdog story but the typical elements aren't as interesting to Pohlad as the inner turmoil of Donnie Emerson, a man who was racked with guilt over the failure of his music career and struggled with intense mistrust, insecurity and fear over trying to once again live his dream. 

Casey Affleck stars in Dreamin' Wild as Donnie Emerson. A father of two, Donnie's recording studio is struggling to stay afloat. Donnie and his wife, Nancy (Zooey Deschanel) support their family and business by playing covers at weddings and other small venue events. Donnie is facing an uncertain future when this random phone call changes everything. Matt Sullivan (Chris Messina), a record company flack for Light in the Attic Records has moved mountains trying to find Donnie and his brother, Joe (Walton Goggins). 

Somewhere in Montana, someone found a copy of a record called Dreamin' Wild. The record was recorded by the Emerson Brothers in 1978 and it had been mostly a failure. It did lead to Donnie briefly getting a record deal and traveling to Los Angeles, but he soon ended up back home. That's a story that we will eventually uncover as Dreamin' Wilde lays out its story. For the moment, it's nothing but good news for Donnie's family, including his loving and supportive father, Don Sr. (Beau Bridges). The only one who seems reticent about this sudden new discovery is Donnie. 

Find my full length review on Beat.Media

Movie Review The Last Kiss

The Last Kiss (2006) 

Directed by Tony Goldwyn 

Written by Paul Haggis 

Starring Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Rachel Bilson, Harold Ramis, Blythe Danner 

Release Date September 15th, 2006 

Published September 14th, 2006 

Having turned 30 years old this year I had not really thought about it as a milestone. When I was a kid 30 was old but now that I'm there I don't feel old. In fact I don't feel that much different than the little kid who thought 30 was old. Other than living on my own and having to clean up after myself; I still have some of my childhood hobbies, X-Box, baseball cards and such. The characters in Tony Goldberg's latest directorial effort The Last Kiss are just about to turn 30 and they are terrified. Facing things such as marriage, kids and mortgages, the characters in The Last Kiss face the kind of crises that most men save for their 50th birthday not the 30th.

Zach Braff leads a terrific ensemble in The Last Kiss as Michael; an architect who has just found out his girlfriend Jenna (Jascinda Barrett) is going to have a baby. The panic written on his face is masked by his good humor but is still quite apparent to his pals, Izzy (Michael Weston), Chris (Casey Affleck), and Kenny (Eric Christian Olson).

Michael's friends, like Michael are just about to turn 30 and are also facing grown up issues. Izzy just lost the girl he has loved since high school and is planning an escape to Mexico. Kenny is thinking of going with Izzy on the road trip, a desire that arises after a woman he met and had one night stand with tries introduce him to her parents. And then there is Chris; the only married man in the group. Chris and his wife Danielle (Lauren Lee Smith) have been struggling since having their baby boy and Chris thinks he wants out.

For Michael the troubling grown up thought has coalesced around one thing. If he commits to being with Jenna for the rest of his life she will be the last woman he will ever kiss, a haunting prospect for a 29 year old who feels his best years are still ahead of him. When a college girl, Kim (Rachel Bilson), approaches him at a wedding he see's her beauty but it is her youth that reminds him of his past. He still feels college was the best time of his life. When Michael chances a tryst with Kim it's out of fear of the future as much or more than simply lust.

Directed by Tony Goldwyn from a script by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, The Last Kiss is smart in the ways it draws out these characters and their conflicts. The problems come from the fact that these characters, are childish, selfish and petulant, not exactly the kind of people you go to the movies to meet. Now, there is something to be said for how truthful these characters, true to themselves and their established natures, that still does not make them enjoyable.

Then there is the ending that employs a gimmick in order to resolve the conflict between two central characters. Because neither Goldwyn or Haggis could think of a smarter more mature way to resolve the picture we are left with a character resorting to extreme stubbornness to bring the movie to its conclusion. It's not an egregious issue, nothing that would keep me from recommending this otherwise likable film but it does keep the film from rising from a good movie to a really good movie.

Zach Braff is is quickly becoming a welcome presence on the big screen. His debut in Garden State was a revelation as Braff shows chops as an actor and director. As an actor for hire in The Last Kiss, Braff is rumored to have punched up his dialogue a bit at the behest of director Tony Goldwyn. Whether it was Braff or writer Paul Haggis, the writing of Michael is the smartest thing in the film. It's a difficult role because Michael rarely does what we in the audience want him to do. He more than risks being likable but because he is played by Zach Braff we forgive easier than we might with another actor.

Jascinda Barrett is a rising star who I first noticed in the little seen drama The Human Stain. Since then she was a small but winning presence in Bridget Jones 2 and she managed to survive the abysmal remake Poseidon. It's not just her lovely spokesmodel features, Barrett has a real talent for finding the depths of her characters. In The Last Kiss she wonderfully plays Jenna's contentment early on and her stunned sadness later as he entire world crashes around her.

Barrett's Jenna is central to Michael's plot but she is also deeply inolved in the films best subplot. Veterans Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson play Jenna's parents. Wilkinson's therapist believes everything is fine as does his daughter but Danner shows that everything is not okay when she decides to reveal an affair she had three years prior to the films timeline and decides to leave her husband. Danner has a fabulous moment where she meets up with the man she cheated with and is sad to find he is now happily married.

Watching Barrett play off Wilkinson and Danner is lovely and grounds the film in maturity when it desperately needs it. Without this subplot the film would be nothing but childish posturing and male pattern whining.

Arrested development is a popular theme in 2006. Characters in movies as varied as the stoner comedy Grandma's Boy, the romantic comedy Failure To Launch, Owen Wilson's Dupree in You Me and Dupree and Vince Vaughn in The Break Up, are all examples of men with severe fears of commitment and growing up. It is as if adulthood has replaced Freddy Krueger as the boogeyman of modern times.

The Last Kiss is the most mature of the group of films which make what used to be called Peter Pan syndrome their subject. These characters are no more willing to grow up but are more thoughtful about the subject than the examples I cited before. By that measure; The Last Kiss is a worthy effort. It helps to have such a naturally funny cast to pull it off.

Movie Review Gerry

Gerry (2002) 

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Written by Gus Van Sant

Starring Matt Damon, Casey Affleck 

Release Date February 14th, 2003

Published February 8th, 2004 

There has always been a hunger for films that challenge traditional cinematic form. Films that break with convention and deliver something that is diametrically opposed to Hollywood filmmaking. For the most part these challenging films came from Europe where the avant-garde arose as an artistic movement and a reaction to the encroachment of Hollywood formalism into European film markets. These challenging films are still being made but the hunger for them has died down, beaten back by the invention of the blockbuster and the big business that is Hollywood.

These films, however rare, are out there and Gerry from director Gus Van Sant is one of the most fascinating.

The film begins without credits. We simply open with light classical score and a long shot of a car on a lonely highway. This shot lasts for three or four minutes before switching to a shot of our two protagonists played by Casey Affleck and Matt Damon as they continue to drive. No words are spoken. Finally, they reach their unspecified destination, a hiking trail through the desert. Still no words are spoken.

It isn't until the 8-minute mark that a line of dialogue is spoken but it's not very enlightening except as a minor sign of things to come. A sign that says this is not a film where dialogue is going to explain, enlighten or entertain. As the two friends continue their journey, they bail on the hiking trail for a supposed shortcut before finally becoming lost in the desert. All of the film’s dialogue act as conversations that have already started before we met the two characters. There is a joking conversation about Wheel Of Fortune, some odd conversation about what I think was a video game, but not anything that is going to lead to a conventional plot.

The lost in the desert situation is no Blair Witch exciting fight for survival or wacky slice of life ala some ridiculous sitcom. It simply is what it is, two guys lost in the desert looking for a way out. The two characters never react the way you would expect from a conventional plot. There is very little whining or carrying on. Indeed neither character seems all that concerned about surviving or dying. If they are concerned they keep it to themselves, it's up to us in the audience to fill in the blanks.

In it's minimalism of one handheld camera, sparse dialogue and characters, Gerry is a direct challenge and reaction to the typical explain-it-all-style of the Jerry Bruckheimer era. No obvious explanatory dialogue that leads the audience to obvious conclusions, no quips and no filler before the next explosion of bullets. Gerry has none of those elements and goes to the very opposite extreme. For that I was willing to stick with and feel rewarded at the end. Challenged to create much of the movie in my own mind I was mesmerized by the film and it's techniques.

The films title is odd and not just in it's spelling of the oft-used name. In the film, both characters refer to one another as Gerry but one suspects that it is neither of their real names. In fact, Gerry is an in joke amongst Damon and Affleck's circle of friends. A “Gerry” is a fuck-up, someone who constantly screws up. A fitting title for two guys who manage to get lost in the desert in this day and age when everyone everywhere has a cellphone, pager, blackberry, and any myriad number of other electronic leashes to the outside world.

In that sense, what if the whole film is one big in-joke? What if Damon, Affleck and Van Sant simply went to the desert, film absolutely random shit and called it a movie? They put it together professionally with technical prowess in editing, shooting and scoring to make it look legitimate. Then released the film so that people like myself could rhapsodize about it's minimalist genius and it's influences garnered from Bela Tarr and Fassbinder and other people only snobs have ever heard of.

Whether or not we have been made a fool of, we will never know. I for one don't care if I have been duped. I enjoyed the opportunity to so actively watch the film. To take my mind in odd directions in order to fill in the empty passages that are filled with shots of the two actors walking and the sound of rock under foot. Gerry is a form of film meditation and I dug that about it. 

Movie Review The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Directed by Andrew Dominik 

Written by Andrew Dominik

Starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Mary Louise Parker, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, Zoey Deschanel

Release Date September 21st, 2007 

Published September 21st, 2007 

Few actors are as charismatic and in control as Brad Pitt. His handsomeness causes some to underestimate his talent. Pitt uses this to his advantage and almost constantly surprises. For his latest film, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford,  Pitt uses this audience bias to great advantage. As the legendary outlaw Jesse James, Pitt oozes charisma and draws us into this meandering, off-kilter art film.

That it doesn't quite work in the end is not Pitt's fault as much as director Andrew Dominic's overly ambitious artiness.

You could, if you were prone to being flippant, call The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford -Jesse The E True Hollywood Story-. Jesse was among America's very first celebrities with his every move documented in front page headlines and in books. He was often received by fans when he arrived in a new town.

That Jesse was a thief and a cold blooded killer doesn't change his perception even in our modern culture filled with celebs who don't murder the innocent. In a day and age where serial killers receive repeated marriage proposals behind bars, Jesse James would likely be an even bigger star than in his own time as an infamous outlaw.

Another strange connection between Jesse and modern celebrity culture is how his celebrity played a role in his death. An obsessed fan, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), took James' life after not finding the man a match for the legend he worshiped. Paranoid with an explosive temper and a deep dislike for anyone outside his family, Jesse was not really meant for worship. If that isn't the wrap up of an E True Hollywood Story then what is?

Add to this celeb culture stew the fact that Jesse James is played by uber-celebrity Brad Pitt and the mind reels with the synergy of such a cultural clash. All flippancy aside, for a moment, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is quite a lovely looking movie. Director Andrew Dominik, with the aid of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, crafts a number of striking visuals. In fact,  throughout the film you can see where Dominik got lost in the scenery and forgot about telling his story.

There is so much fat on The Assassination of Jesse James that two movies likely could have been cut from what Andrew Dominik shot. Dominick's original cut of the film was actually over 4 hours long. He never planned on trying to release it at that length but that did not stanch rumors of a troubled production. In fact the film has been in the can since 2005 following battles between Dominik and the studio as to just how long the film could be. For once the studio was right and remained so even after the final cut which could be improved with a few more edits.

Brad Pitt remains, even in a meandering art-fest like this one, an electric presence. Jesse James has the lightning presence that was the legend of Jesse James but it is the anger, paranoia and frightening fragility in Pitt's performance that is truly riveting. As he did in Babel and to a lesser extent in Troy, Pitt captures the essence of heartache and turns it out at the audience in waves. On the other hand, there are also occasional flashes of that easygoing Ocean's 11 charm that shows how Jesse James could invite so much loyalty and worship.

Casey Affleck delivers quite ably in the very difficult role of the star struck Robert Ford. A perennial child, Robert Ford was the runt of his family. His defining characteristic was his desperate worship of Jesse James. His devotion won him a few moments in his hero's presence and the realization of the classic cliché 'be careful what you wish for'. Jesse James may not mind being worshiped but he was not above abusing that worship.

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford has moments that are rich and haunting and quite powerful. The problem is the journey which is overloaded with too much scenery and too little focus on what made these characters who they were. We get essences, ideas of who these men are. Unfortunately, Dominik is distracted by his scenery, overdose on a number of scenes and repeats others. A tighter edit could have made for a far more focused and fascinating film.

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is a maddening mess of a movie. There is a very good film buried somewhere beneath the mountains of film that director Andrew Dominik shot. Sadly, Dominik just didn't have the distance from the material to step away and allow someone else to cut the film a little more closely.

There is a masterpiece buried somewhere in all of this celluloid though we will likely never see it. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford will go down as one of the great ambitious misfires in history.

Movie Review Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone (2007) 

Directed by Ben Affleck 

Written by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard 

Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Ryan, Titus Welliver 

Release Date October 19th, 2007

Published October 18th, 2007 

Ben Affleck has long been unfairly maligned as an actor. Yes, he made Gigli and Paycheck and Reindeer Games and they are no picnic, fair. But those movies do not define his talent. The vitriol aimed at Ben Affleck has long seemed like over the top piling on and more than a little jealousy, from my perspective. Now, with the release of his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, Affleck haters will have to eat their words. In a season of Oscar shortfalls, Gone Baby Gone is the fall season's first film to exceed the awards hype.

Casey Affleck stars in the moody, noirish Gone Baby Gone, based on the Dennis LeHane of the same name. Casey plays Patrick Kenzie, a small-time detective in the slums of Boston. Along with his girlfriend Angie (Michelle Monaghan), Patrick usually handles missing person cases involving bail jumpers and child support deadbeats.

Imagine Patrick's surprise when a family involved in a high profile kidnapping seeks his help in finding a missing four year old girl. Amy Madigan plays the child's concerned aunt who hopes that Patrick can use his familiarity in the neighborhood to get better leads than the cops can get. Needless to say, the cops aren't entirely happy for the help.

Morgan Freeman is Jack Doyle, the local police chief in charge of missing children cases. Ed Harris and John Ashton are the two detectives leading the case who accept Patrick's help grudgingly and quite skeptically. Soon witnesses and suspects begin to pile up and so do a few bodies and Patrick finds himself wrapped in a very dangerous mystery and a moral crisis.

Gone Baby Gone plays like a police procedural but there is so much more to it. As the movie goes on Casey Affleck's Patrick is forced to make choices that no one would want to make. Choices that require an examination of his morals and ethics and his sense of right and wrong. The script by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard doesn't make the decisions easy or overly dramatic. The plot elements of Gone Baby Gone develop organically, natural to the story being told.

It's a rare modern movie that gives characters time to make moral decisions that aren't forced or pathetic. Patrick will be haunted by his choices, right and wrong. The consequences are aired and examined and smartly dispatched in one of the best scripts of the year.

Casey Affleck comes to life in Gone Baby Gone. Long known as Ben's little brother, Casey steps out of big brother's shadow with a performance that combines toughness, street smarts and sadness. Never angsty or overly dramatic, Casey's Patrick reveals himself slowly as just a good man turned into a reluctant crusader by some ugly circumstances and a promise he made to a grieving mother.

Affleck is matched grit for grit with Michelle Monaghan who nails the south Boston accent and the neighborhood's tomboy chic. Sexy with just a touch of naivete, Monaghan is the perfect dramatic and romantic foil for Casey Affleck's street smart tough guy detective. Together they spark with terrific romantic chemistry that gives the perfect impression of a relationship begun long before we meet them.

The third lead character in Gone Baby Gone is South Boston, a hard knocks area of one of America's most well known city's. Ben and Casey Affleck are quite familiar with these streets and this neighborhood having grown up there and as a director Ben Affleck gives gritty life to these downtrodden, drug and crime ridden streets.

That familiar turf is likely what drew Ben Affleck to the work of Dennis LeHane on whose series of novels Gone Baby Gone is based. Like Affleck, LeHane is from Boston and knows these streets, these crimes and these people. The naturalistic dialogue comes from a very knowing place in both Affleck and LeHane and while they are unafraid to expose the dark side of Boston even as you can sense a certain loyalty and love in the way they draw these characters.

Gone Baby Gone is the first film of the fall of 2007 that, for me, exceeds the awards expectations. Casey Affleck's confident and concise performance and the terrific adapted screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard seem like locks come Oscar nomination time. And here's hoping that the long time, unwarranted public disdain for Ben Affleck doesn't affect his chances of being nominated for directing Gone Baby Gone.

Ben Affleck's work here is as gritty and hard boiled as a young Scorsese with the polish of modern Hollywood production. Gone Baby Gone is Ben's baby and it succeeds on his talent. This one is a must see.