Movie Review Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016) 

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by Jean-Christophe Castelli

Starring Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Chris Tucker

Release Date November 11th, 2016 

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk stars Joe Alwyn as Billy Lynn, an Army Specialist who earned instant fame when his attempt to save a wounded soldier was captured on camera and went viral. Soon after Billy is back in Texas and he and his fellow soldiers on tour like rock stars complete with a Hummer limousine ride to their next gig, appearing at halftime of a Football game alongside Destiny’s Child (the film is set in 2003, before Beyonce left her friends behind).

The surreal nature of this rock star treatment is not lost on the men of Bravo Company. It is both intoxicating and repellent. They are joined by an agent, Chris Tucker, constantly on his phone attempting to sell the rights to their story and get the soldiers well compensated. Yet, they are also weary of the agent and the fame that threatens to rob them of the reality of what they experienced in war and all that they lost.

Surreal is a term that best fits Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Director Ang Lee shot the film at the highest film rate ever used for a mainstream feature film. That said, most of the country will see the movie in standard definition that unquestionably robs the film of the effect Lee is searching for. Lee wants moviegoers to feel how awkward and strange this experience is for the soldiers of Bravo Company by tearing down the cinematic walls to make us feel like we are in these awkward spaces with the soldiers.

You might think, as I first thought, that the high frame rate was intended to make the war scenes more spectacular and realistic but that isn’t the case. The high frame rate actually is combined with the awkward and downright off-putting way that actors address each other by staring directly at the camera to strip away the artifice of film and further put us into the mindset of Billy as he is having these bizarre experiences, going from hand to hand combat in which he killed a man at close quarters to standing behind Beyonce on national television and on to having strangers tell him how his story can be bought and sold.

Forcing us to see Billy so clearly and look directly into the eyes of the people talking to him, as ungodly awkward as that is from the perspective of how movies are traditionally made, unmistakably alters the way in which we experience Billy himself and how we identify with him. From that perspective the casting of newcomer Joe Alwyn also plays a unique role. Alwyn is a blank slate for us to project our own Billy Lynn onto.

Alwyn’s co-stars underline that odd perspective. Steve Martin, Vin Diesel, Kristen Stewart and Chris Tucker are actors that we in the audience already have opinions of and expectations for. We see these performers in specific ways and having them look directly at the camera while they address Billy furthers the surreal nature of the story being told. Yes, it takes us out of the scene but the effect is very much the same thing that Billy himself is feeling, a feeling being displaced from reality,  a place where 

Vin Diesel isn’t the muscle-headed action star but your inspiring Sgt. Where Kristen Stewart is your sister and not the equally beloved and reviled star of Y/A Vampire blockbusters. And finally, it’s a strange place where Chris Tucker and Steve Martin aren’t trying to make you laugh but instead using their oily charm to try and make a movie of you.

I could be over thinking the room on this movie but my genuine belief is that the very things I found incredibly awkward and off-putting were actually the things intended to be awkward and off-putting because they were awkward and off-putting as much to Billy as to us. Yes, in real life, people are supposed to look you in the eye when they speak to you and you to them but not at the movies. When actors look directly at the camera in a movie it is usually intended as a gag. Here, it’s intended to break us away from our passive observance of what is happening on screen, to what is happening to Billy. It’s forceful and pushy and showy but I cannot deny the effect it had on me.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is weird and surreal and wildly effective in how it connects us to the weird and surreal adventure that the main character is on. Billy Lynn is trapped on a bizarre rollercoaster of emotions from fear to anguish to unwanted celebrity, displacement from his family and deepened connection to his adopted Army family. It’s a never-ending whirlwind of extreme emotions that Billy is forced by duty and training to endure without comment, without overt displays of emotion. That Ang Lee captures that feeling and brings it to us in such a forceful way makes this movie rather brilliant, in an off-putting and uncomfortable sort of way. 

Classic Movie Review The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element (1997) 

Directed by Luc Besson

Written by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker

Release Date May 7th, 1997 

I love the way Luc Besson views the universe. Besson sees the universe in bright bold colors. It’s the way I would like to view the universe. While my mind is often clouded by the often sad and tragic state of humanity, and especially man’s inhumanity to man, Besson manages to look beyond and see the beauty beyond our planet and into the stars.

The best example of how Luc Besson sees the universe, aside from his dazzling yet somewhat empty new film Valerian and the Planet of A Thousand Cities, is the 1997 film The Fifth Element, this week’s classic on the I Hate Critics movie review podcast.

The Fifth Element was well ahead of its time, a sci-fi movie filled with vibrant color, extraordinary costumes, and remarkable, often mind-blowing, special effects and production design.

If only that same vibrancy extended to the characters. You see, for as much as I am dazzled by the spectacle, the visual dynamism of Luc Besson and The Fifth Element, he’s not a director who is particularly interested in characters. Besson, though thoroughly detailed in costumes and set design and special effects, is not a director of actors.

Read my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Air

Air (2023) 

Directed by Ben Affleck 

Written by Alex Convery 

Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker 

Release Date April 5th, 2023 

Published April 7th, 2023 

Air takes advantage of the collective nostalgia of sports fans of the 1990s. It's a powerful force that alters our critical thinking and places in a welcomg headspace regardless of our critical faculties. Thus how we get a movie about corporate titans, literal billionaires, becomes a shaggy underdog narrative about overcoming the odds. Never mind that Nike always had the means to land Michael Jordan and make him the global brand he became, it's more compelling to pretend that they had no chance and were some kind of upstart in an industry they'd made a billion dollars in in just a decade of existence. 

Our culturewide nostalgia for what Michael Jordan represents leaves us willing to center a story about the triumph of a black entrepreneur that is centered on the success of the white men who proved capable of seeing his worth and willing to bend their profits to his will. Yes, there was still plenty of stakes in 1984 and there was always the chance that Michael Jordan could have gotten hurt or developed a disinterest in greatness, but we know that didn't happen and that fact makes this story much easier to be nostalgic about. 

The makers of Air are aware of the issues we are bringing with us into seeing Air. The film is aware that Nike is the weird cult of a billionaire's personality. The filmmakers are aware that they are taking a story of black excellence and centering it on a group of white men, Nike was well aware that they were seeking athletes they could exploit for financial gain that would mostly go to the white men exploiting them. The film pitches these problems in dialogue and bats them away by telling you a pretty good story about charismatic characters in a complicated and fast paced fashion. Does this excuse the sins involved? No, not in the least, but there is no denying the entertainment value of our blinding nostalgia. 

Matt Damon stars in Air as Sonny Vaccaro, basketball guru. Hired to define the Nike Basketball brand, Vaccaro works alongside marketing guru, Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), to find athletes willing to be paid to wear Nike basketball gear. As we join the story, it's 1984 and Nike ranks third in the world in basketball shoes. Adidas and Converse are numbers 1 and 2 and the biggest stars are making deals with them. This includes the top 3 picks in the 1984 NBA draft, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, and Michael Jordan. Nike has high hopes for maybe inking  a deal with someone named Mel Turpin. 

Then, late one night, Sonny Vaccaro watches Michael's legendary NCAA Tournament winning shot from the 1982 NCAA tournament championship. In that legendary video, he sees something that no one else had seen before. In Sonny estimation, Michael Jordan, then a Freshman, was actually the first choice to make this game winning shot. Of all the stars at the disposal of legendary College Basektball coach Dean Smith, he chose to draw up a play that relied on Michael Jordan to make the most important shot. On top of that, Jordan appears unafraid of this kind of pressure, he's calm and he confidently hits a shot that hundreds of other players might not have the nerve to make. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playlist (2012) 

Directed by David O. Russell

Written by David O. Russell

Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jackie Weaver, Chris Tucker

Release Date November 16th, 2012 

Published November 15th, 2012 

Manic people can change the temperature of any room they are in with their mood. Not literally of course, but anyone who's been in a room with a manic personality has experienced the unbelievable warmth and good humor that moments later becomes an icy cold stare based on something only the manic personality is aware of.

The dramatic comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," written and directed by David O. Russell is the rare film to capture this unique change in temperature. Bradley Cooper's Patrick is a manic personality whose mood swings seem to control the very atmosphere of any room he inhabits.

White Knuckle Determination

Pat was once just a chubby Philadelphia schoolteacher with a struggling marriage and a mental illness he kept in check through white-knuckle determination. That determination was not enough to keep Pat from nearly murdering the man whom he caught having sex with his wife in his own home when he came home from work early one day.

Cut to eight months later and Pat is being released from a mental institution. Pat's mother Dolores has, against doctor's orders, decided to take legal responsibility for him and bring him home. Unfortunately for Dolores, Pat has no interest in following the rules of his release, including taking his meds and seeing a shrink. Instead, Pat intends to get in shape and win back his wife; regardless of the restraining order she has against him.

Manic, Filter-less, Motormouth

Pat's plan is altered greatly by the introduction of Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a manic personality in her own right, though not nearly as volatile as Pat. Tiffany's manic nature comes from the sudden death of her husband. Months of having people step lightly around her and her problems, Tiffany finds Pat's manic, filter-less motor-mouth refreshing.

Tiffany then sets her heart on winning Pat over. Here is where writer-director David O. Russell really begins to get comfortable with this story. The first 30 to 35 minutes of the film he establishes Pat's nature via his relationship with his parents, Dolores, the cheerleader and his father Pat Sr. (Robert DeNiro), who's own anxieties are a clear influence on Pat's nature.

A Lively, Strange Romance

Once Pat and Tiffany become the center of the story "Silver Linings Playbook" becomes a lively, strange romance with the off-beat rhythm of Russell's under-appreciated "I Heart Huckabees" and the rom-com warmth of his oddball romance "Flirting with Disaster." One can also see the commercial influence of Russell's greatest hit, the Academy Award nominated "The Fighter," in the late moments of "Silver Linings Playbook" and the combination is thrilling to watch.

"Silver Linings Playbook" is the perfect David O. Russell movie. The characters are a reflection of his interests, flawed, struggling human beings striving to be better while often standing in their own way. Pat strives toward what he calls a 'Silver Lining' and it is a credit to Russell that this aphorism is never really explained and only means something to Pat.

Appealing and Entertaining

Bradley Cooper's performance in "Silver Linings Playbook" can easily be overlooked. Much of Pat's manic personality is expressed through Russell's camerawork and the brilliant classic rock score that feels as if it is emerging from Pat's fevered mind. That said, it's Cooper who has to convince you fully of Pat's volatile qualities as wells as his relatable, lovable qualities and he does that in a most appealing and entertaining way.

Cooper is aided greatly by a generous performance by Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence. We find a strange sort of balance in Pat when he's with Tiffany and while we recognize it immediately, it's exciting to watch Pat slowly realize it throughout the rest of the movie. These two damaged souls are perfect together and unlike so many romantic comedy pairings, that perfection isn't forced into being but allowed time to breath and build.

The Return of Robert DeNiro

Add Robert DeNiro's finest work in years and you have quite a remarkable movie. Over the last decade, I had come to believe that DeNiro was coasting on his own legend. Watching some of DeNiro's recent work you see an actor not fully engaged, an old man too tired to do the work needed to transcend the way he did as a younger, fresher and more committed performer.

Something in the direction of David O. Russell lit a fire under DeNiro in "Silver Linings Playbook" and for the first time since maybe "Goodfellas" that twinkle in DeNiro's eye is more than just the memory of his past greatness. The passion and energy that DeNiro brings to Pat Sr. matches the volatility and sadness of Cooper's manic character and the father son dynamic they create is both awkward and illuminating.

Director and Character Unite

It's easy to suggest that "Silver Linings Playbook" comes from a very personal place for David O. Russell. Outside of his writing and directing Russell is known for his volatility with actors and critics. It's easy to speculate that Russell finds something of himself in the character of Pat and it gives him an insight into the character that others may not have. It would be foolish to diagnose Russell manic or bi-polar from afar but the evidence presented in "Silver Linings Playbook" indicates an insight others don't have.

Were Russell to share a degree of Pat's illness it would only serve to deepen the film's final act. As Pat finds something akin to peace, maturity and perspective, so has Russell seemed to gain something similar over the arc of his career. "Spanking the Monkey," "Flirting with Disaster,"Three Kings" and "I Heart Huckabees" were made by an uncompromising artist committed to a very specific vision and willing to physically defend that vision. Then, after reaching his most volatile with 'Huckabees,' a new perspective and maturity took hold and led to "The Fighter," his greatest success.

"Silver Linings Playbook" has the best of both of David O. Russell's worlds. The vision that made Russell an artist and the maturity that made him successful. The parallel journey of director and character in "Silver Linings Playbook" is remarkable to watch and part of what makes this one of the best movies of 2012.

Movie Review Rush Hour 3

Rush Hour 3 (2007)

Directed by Bret Ratner

Written by Jeff Nathanson

Starring Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Max Von Sydow, Noemie Lenoire, Jingchu Zhang

Release Date August 10th, 2007

Published August 9th, 2007

Chris Tucker has become something of a mystery. After 2001's Rush Hour 2, Tucker could not have been hotter. Tucker was commanding a salary of 20 million dollars per picture. He had offers coming in left and right and then nothing. For six years Tucker seemingly vanished from Hollywood. Six years later, after spending some time as a philanthropist in Africa, Tucker is back and returning to the character that made him a 20 million dollar man.

The endless troubles, budget and screenplay-wise, of Rush Hour 3 likely contributed to Tucker's absence. This sequel has been in the works since Rush Hour 2 opened to nearly 70 million dollars back in August of 2001. However, they just could not work out the many issues, until now, six years later.

It's been six years since Detective Carter (Chris Tucker) and his international partner, Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) threw down against some bad guys. Today, Carter has gotten himself in so much trouble that he is directing traffic on the busy streets of L.A. Meanwhile, his pal Lee is back in town, protecting the life of Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) who may have information that could bring down the evil Chinese Triad.

When the Ambassador is shot, though not killed, Lee and Carter re-team to search for the Triad leaders who organized the hit, knowing that if they don't the triad will return to finish the job and kill the Ambassador's daughter Soo Yung (Jingchu Zhang). The investigation takes Carter and Lee to Paris where the triad is searching for a secret linked to a cabaret performer (Noemie Lenoire) and the French Ambassador Varden (Max Von Sydow).

You can definitely see some wear and tear on the Rush Hour concept as the creators and stars have stretched this buddy cop premise about as far as it can go. Carter and Lee have been friends for nearly a decade now, since the original Rush Hour in 1998, and yet we are to believe they still cannot understand each other.

The jokes have run their course and what is left is Tucker trying to motormouth his way through some mediocre improv jokes and an aging Jackie Chan trying desperately to hide his use of stunt men and CGI to help him with the acrobatics that made him a star. To Chan's credit, the action is the film's best asset, even if you can occasionally see the CGI at the seams.

Joining Tucker and Chan in Rush Hour 3 is a motley crew of supporting players and cameo day players. Director Roman Polanski is a standout as an officious French police officer who confronts Carter and Lee at Air France airport security in a most uncomfortable fashion. It's uncomfortable not merely for the joke but for the fact that it is Roman Polanski and this joke. And, of course, the trailer plays up Chan and Tucker's encounter with the former world's tallest man Sun Ming Ming which is about as funny as it is in the trailers and TV commercials.

Then there is Yvan Attal as the snooty French cab driver George. His anti-American schtick takes the film dangerously close to social commentary for all of about 20 seconds before he is tearing through the streets of Paris and screaming I love being an American! Americans by his definition, being the kind of people who are constantly involved in car chases and gunplay.

The problem with Rush Hour 3 is that it just isn't funny enough. You know that when the biggest laugh in the movie comes from a woman with a wig and an oh so timely reference to The Crying Game that the humor is beyond stale. Thankfully, Jackie Chan and director Brett Ratner do well enough with the fight scenes that even the most bored and jaded moviegoer will find themselves compelled, especially in the big Eiffel Tower finale.

The Rush Hour series is tired and running on fumes, like so many third films in Hollywood sequel land. Remember Lethal Weapon3? Ugh!. Rush Hour 3 isn't quite that disastrous but it's not that much better either. Here's hoping that Chan and Tucker move on to bigger and better things. Chan might consider training someone else to take all of those falls that have taken such a toll on him.

As for Chris Tucker, it's nice to see him back on the screen as he does remain a welcome presence. Let's just get past the motormouth cops and get him into something more challenging, or at the very least, something funnier than the retread jokes of Rush Hour 3.