Movie Review: Ask the Dust

Ask the Dust (2006) 

Directed by Robert Towne 

Written by Robert Towne 

Starring  Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, Donald Sutherland, Idina Menzel 

Release Date March 17th, 2006

Published September 16th, 

Though one of the great screenwriters of the 70's; Robert Towne's directorial career is spotty at best. His Personal Best was groundbreaking in subject but banal in execution. Without Limits was well acted but laconic. And the less said about the Mel Gibson-Michele Pfeiffer thriller Tequila Sunrise the better. Back behind the camera for the first time in 8 years; Robert Towne's latest effort, the romance Ask The Dust, is likely his greatest failure yet.

A miscalculation of idea and performance, Ask The Dust is Towne indulging his love of Los Angeles and its history at the expense of telling an interesting story.

Colin Farrell stars in Ask The Dust as Arturo Bandini. Coming to LA in 1930, Bandini intended to write the definitive novel of that famed city. Unfortunately the city of Los Angeles in the 1930's is not as inspiring as he had hoped. The streets are dusty and dull, the people are either decrepit and living out their string or they're writers like Bandini trying to write the great American novel.

The lives of some Angelenos are less easily devised. Camilla (Salma Hayek), a waitress at a dive bar where our friend Bandini drops his last nickel on some bad coffee, claims to be an aspiring actress held back by her latino heritage. However, her real aspirations are far less obvious and eventually undone when she falls into a romance with the struggling writer.

The relationship between Bandini and Camilla is defined by conflict. Their first meeting, the bad coffee, Bandini insulted Camilla and poured his coffee all over the floor. Later, after Bandini gives a weak apology, the two share a romantic drive to the beach where Camilla implores Bandini to join her for some skinny dipping. She plays a cruel trick on him, pretending to drown, and the angry Bandini walks home the seven miles from the beach to his rundown hotel. Still the romance somehow persists.

Meanwhile Bandini has another girl, though not one he really wants anything to do with. The other woman is Vera Rivkin a needy Jewish princess, who Bandini finds passed out in his hotel room. She offers him a sad story and begs for sex which he turns down. Later, however, Bandini, after another strikeout with Camilla, does fall into Vera's arms but is blunt in telling her that he was dreaming of Camilla. Vera's character and her fate are two of the more puzzling aspects of Ask The Dust.

There are any number of puzzling things about Ask The Dust. It's clear that Director Robert Towne is crafting a dusty paean to his beloved city of Los Angeles. With the help of Cinematographer Caleb Deshanel, Towne turns his South African location into a lovely image of 1930's California. At some point however, Towne became too enamored of his scenery and neglected his characters and their romance. Thus why we get stilted angry exchanges that turn quickly to passionate love making and back again with little rhythm and zero chemistry.

Colin Ferrell's performance in Ask The Dust is, at once, the most entertaining and confusing part of the film. On the one hand, Ferrell's offbeat delivery and flashes of Johnny Depp-like tics and mannerisms are quite humorous. Unfortunately, it's unclear whether or not we are supposed to be laughing. Ferrell as Bandini schizophrenically moves from shy to belligerent, from belligerent to sweet and from sweet to cocky without warning. Caught in the maze of Robert Towne's direction, Ferrell likely just did what was asked of him in each scene, regardless of whether the performance would coherently cut together later.

The one thing that really works in Ask The Dust is Caleb Deschanel's lush and beautiful cinematography. While Farrell and Hayek bicker and antagonize us and each other, we can at the very least distract ourselves by gazing at the gorgeous sandy vistas of early South Africa standing in for 30's Los Angeles. The dusty streets and blaze orange sunsets are the stuff of picture postcards, lovely images of warmth and comfort, completely at odds with the war of the roses characters.

Movies are not supposed to work to the audiences' preconceived notions of what we think the movie should be. Movies are the visions of the filmmakers with only a modicum of consideration of what the audience might want. That still doesn't quell my disappointment over not getting what I expected from Ask The Dust. I was hoping for a classical, passionate romance with two hot stars burning up the screen and the kind of literate, well read dialogue that you get with the best literary adaptations.

What I got with Ask The Dust was angry banter that works like a sad, unintentional parody of the Cary Grant-Irene Dunne romances of the 30's and 40's.

Robert Towne is a very talented writer but his direction in Ask The Dust is as lazy as the dusty, windblown, sun drenched streets of 1930's Los Angeles. The script relies heavily on the performances of Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek who, whether they were directed this way or not, come off like petulant children playing dramatic versions of the Bickersons. Blowing the dust off of cliches of 40's melodramas, they bicker like cats and dogs and fall in love anyway. The film is updated only for the sex which runs hot and cold, but mostly cold.

Movie Review The Eagle

The Eagle (2011) 

Directed by Kevin MacDonald 

Written by Jeremy Brock 

Starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong

Release Date February 11th, 2011 

Published February 11th, 2011

Could the wholly un-ironic hero be making a comeback? If the new action movie “The Eagle” is any indication the answer is a solid maybe. The box office is the real deciding factor on such a trend but “The Eagle” is a notable movie for bringing back the story of the unabashed hero, a flawless, stalwart do-gooder who does what he feels is right without pausing for reflection or most importantly without the armor of ironic distance from his quest.

Channing Tatum is the earnest star of “The Eagle” as Marcus Aquila the new commander of a decrepit English outpost of the Roman Empire. Marcus's father was the leader of the legendary 9th Legion, 5000 men who simply vanished in Northern England (Scotland) leading to the establishment of Hadrian's Wall, the edge of the earth for Romans.

Lost in the battle with the 9th Legion was their legendary symbol, a golden eagle that stands for Rome. Marcus aches to recover the Eagle to restore honor to his family name. After suffering an injury in battle Marcus's military career looks to have ended abruptly but after a painful recovery he is ready for a return and he has one quest in particular in mind.

With only the aid of his slave Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus intends to cross into the unconquered territories and rescue the Eagle of the 9th.

”The Eagle” is a movie that doesn't mess around; director Kevin McDonald jumps into the fray and tells a well paced, well motivated story with an economy of dialogue and free of the kind of sardonic asides that modern action movies use as a buttress against seeming to care about the action around them.

The modern action movie began employing humor as a way of barricading itself from the criticism of the oftentimes goofy action, a way of saying 'we know how goofy this looks.' However, in becoming self aware, the action hero became self conscious and the act of heroism became a burden. “The Eagle” rejects the distance between hero and heroism and in doing so feels kind of fresh in comparison.

Channing Tatum is really the perfect star for this kind of movie. Tatum's stony visage seems incapable of winking at the audience, or of really knowing why he would be winking. Instead, Tatum bowls forward head first into the action with earnest relish and while you can make fun of his lack of depth his sturdy toughness fits the role and gives “The Eagle” some real juice.

While Tatum brings the toughness, Jamie Bell brings the acting chops. Bell steals scene after scene in “The Eagle” with his angry, determined performance. Bell gives life to Esca's back story, a slave captured from the North who may just as soon slit Marcus's throat as save his life, with his forceful words and a deathly stare.

The action in “The Eagle” is a little too much of the quick cut style that has plagued far too many modern action epics but director Kevin McDonald saves it with solid pacing and well motivated characters. His heroes have purpose and desire and while honor in battle is something that the modern action hero turns his nose up at, it's refreshing to see that type of hero make a comeback here.

”The Eagle” is a rugged, earnest action movie for audiences that have tired of the modern action hero and his ironic aside. I'm not saying that ironic self awareness is dead but occasionally it's nice to see a hero who says what he means and does what he says he's going to do without the armor of the one liner to keep anyone from taking him too seriously. There is something at stake in “The Eagle” and the hero doesn't hide from it behind a jokey insistence that nothing really matters.

Movie Review: Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold (2008)

Directed by Andy Tennant

Written by Daniel Zelman 

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Alexis Dziena

Release Date February 8th, 2008 

Published February 7th, 2008

Pirates, treasure, gangsters, guns. For the guys? Kate Hudson in a tiny bikini. For the ladies? Matthew McConaughey with no shirt on. The comedy Fool's Gold seems to have everything a movie needs to be a major success. So why does it suck out loud? It's probably because the movie doesn't add up to much more than that checklist of things that I, and I am sure some movie marketing department, just listed. 

Fool's Gold stars McConaughey as Finn, a professional treasure hunter. Living in the Bahamas Finn spends his days in the crystal blue waters seeking shipwrecks containing unimaginable wealth all the while dodging creditors, loan sharks and lawyers, all of whom he owes something to. The lawyers were at first just process servers but once he was served they became divorce attorneys. Finn's wife Tess (Kate Hudson) is finished with his dreams of treasure. She wants a normal life back in Chicago where she can attend school and get her degree in history.

Needless to say, being married to Finn has been a barrier to her goals. Now, as the divorce is being completed he still manages to be a barrier. Incurring  more debt and crossing some pretty severe gangsters, Finn costs Tess the chance to return to Chicago by accidentally blowing up the boat they own, the one she was selling for money to go back to school.

Left with no options she takes a gig working for a wealthy industrialist (Donald Sutherland) on his yacht. His name is Nigel Honeycutt and he is looking for adventure as a way of getting the attention of his daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena). He finds just the thing when Finn arrives at the boat offering the opportunity to find some legendary Spanish gold.

No points for guessing Tess and Finn fight, make love, fight again and then walk off into the sunset happily ever after. That ending was coming the moment Hudson and McConaughey were cast in Fool's Gold. The only chance Fool's Gold has of being entertaining beyond the gorgeous Bahamian landscapes was to find interesting ways to tweak the form.

Director Andy Tennant is a master of formulaic junk, his last film was Hitch with Will Smith. It was Tennant who crystallized the absolute worst sins of the romantic comedy genre with his abysmal Sweet Home Alabama. Fool's Gold is right up his alley in terms of formula junk. Choosing to follow every expected scene, every predictable plot strand, every manufactured pre-packaged joke, Tennant crafts a movie so predictable you could set your watch by it. Interestingly, Tennant is a not a bad directorial craftsman. Say what you will about his inability to escape formula, he knows how to craft and cut a movie.

The landscapes, the scenery, the Bahamian settings of Fool's Gold are utterly gorgeous and were no doubt a welcome respite from the winter when this film was initially released. As it reaches DVD this summer Fool's Gold may actually inspire a few vacation choices. Unfortunately, movies can't skate on visuals alone. When looked at as a movie, Fool's Gold is far too predictable to be entertaining. Tennant and his cast do absolutely nothing to vary the format, to give the material enough of a twist to differentiate it from a dozen similar movies.

In that way, Fool's Gold floats by and disappears leaving no impression whatsoever. Harmless? Yes, but why would you want to pay for this experience on DVD or otherwise. You'd be better off watching Into The Blue on cable, Blue Crush, or Captain Ron. Each of these films while differing in plot and cast offer the same experience of white sand beaches, buff beach bodies and crystal blue waters. It really doesn't matter which one you watch, it's the same forgettable experience.

If you have the money, you might as well just go to Jamaica.

Movie Review: An American Haunting

An American Haunting (2006) 

Directed by Courtney Solomon

Written by Courtney Solomon

Starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'arcy

Release Date May 5th, 2006

Published May 5th, 2006

The ineptitude of director Courtney Solomon is seemingly boundless. After taking what had the potential to be a Lord of the Rings style series of blockbusters in the Dungeons and Dragons, and dragged it into the depths of hellish mediocrity, it seemed Solomon was finished as a director. Sadly Solomon was merely recovering from that massive failure and accumulating material for a property he had purchased around the time of D &D, a horror novel called An American Haunting.

Some five years later Solomon's vision is finally on the biggest screen and hellish ineptitude would be a kind description for the jaw droppingly awful period horror flick An American Haunting.

Donald Sutherland, whom the director must have incriminating photos of, stars in American Haunting as John Bell the head of a small rural Tennessee household with his wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek, another likely blackmail candidate) that somehow becomes afflicted by a spirit. Thought to be the curse of a neighbor who the Bell's wronged in a land deal, the spirit attacks in the middle of the night, knocking over furniture, moaning loudly and taking an unseemly interest in the Bell's young daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd Wood).

The ghost is especially violent with Betsy while afflicting John with ever worsening health. Friends and neighbors visit and confirm the Bell's haunting, the only holdout being Betsy's school teacher Richard Powell (James D'Arcy) who believes science can explain the phenomena, that is until he witnesses the spirit firsthand.

An American Haunting is based on the popular novel by Brent Monaghan called The Bell Witch: An American Haunting. That 2000 novel was a controversial bestseller that purported itself to be a non-fiction account of the only murder ever attributed to a spirit. Monaghan's central thesis that spirits are created by bad energy within homes serves as a pseudo-scientific explanation of the supposedly real haunting. Essentially the family's negativity manifested in an angry violent ghost.

An interesting but thoroughly non-scientific theory that Monaghan, I'm told, spins into quite a compelling yarn. Unfortunately the script by director Courtney Solomon deviates wildly from Monaghan's thesis in favor of a more familiar brand of horror genre hokum. Looking to get audiences jumping out of their seats, Solomon relies on the tired act of loud unexpected noises. Yup, that's it. Just the occasional animal knocking over furniture amped to ear splitting decibels. This is what passes as horror in An American Haunting.

Worse yet Solomon crafts the film in such a way that he forgets to create any mystery as to why the family is being haunted. He retires the film's one and only red herring, a neighbor suspected of witchcraft, early in the story and never allows the skeptical teacher to develop into a formidable enough character that his debunking skills might introduce some mystery.

The storytelling is so awful that at one point we are lead to believe the family was being punished because they charged a usury tax that was well above the established law. USURY! As a horror film device!

The Usury Tax thing is a big laugh but unfortunately An American Haunting does not have enough of that kind of unintentional humor to make it any kind of guilty pleasure. No, sadly the film just sucks and nothing more.

It may have taken Courtney Solomon five years to get another less than mediocre feature on the big screen but don't think for a moment that just because An American Haunting was even worse than his Dungeons & Dragons, that Courtney Solomon is finished. Uwe Boll has stunk out loud on four pictures and has several more in the pipeline. If Hollywood won't throw a leash on Boll why would they stop Courtney Solomon from stinking up movie theaters for the foreseeable future.

Movie Review Reign Over Me

Reign Over Me (2007) 

Directed by Mike Binder

Written by Mike Binder

Starring Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland

Release Date March 23rd, 2007

Published March 22nd, 2007

I've never been a fan of Adam Sandler's big screen work. If Will Ferrell's work sometimes feels like a series of SNL skits, Sandler's work is like Mad TV in comparison. Jokes so obvious that the audience chuckles before the punchline, dirty sight gags that only Sandler and his team hangers on find funny, and story's so blindingly dumb that you lose IQ points watching them unfold, Sandler is the ultimate in movie flotsam, for the most part.

However, after his turn in P.T Anderson's wonderfully quirky Punch Drunk Love, I was forced to admit that, when he is directed, Sandler has some real talent. Now with his turn as a 9/11 widowed husband in Reign Over Me; I am forced to once again reconsider Sandler and his talent. As the only good thing in an otherwise shallow wasteland of male midlife whining, Sandler manages to steal the show from none other than Oscar nominee Don Cheadle. Impressive, if you're also an award winning actor, mind blowing if you are Mr. Sandler.

Allen Johnson's (Don Cheadle) life has grown stagnant. Every night is spent at home with his loving wife Janeane (Jada Pinkett Smith) and everyday spent in the office of his quiet dental practice which, though he started it, has begun to treat him as just another employee. Allen's boring life gets a charge of excitement from two very strange sources.

Driving down the street one day Allen sees his old college roommate Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler). Though Charlie is so scattered that he seems not to remember Allen the two decide to get some coffee and soon they are spending a lot of time together. Charlie was once just like Allen, only happier. He had a beautiful wife and 3 daughters. Sadly, Charlie's family died in one of the planes that hit the world trade center. Since then Charlie has receded into a childish fantasy world of rock music and video games.

The other source of chaos in Allen's life is a wacky dental patient named Donna (Saffron Burrows). She arrives in his office asking about a cosmetic procedure though there is nothing wrong with her teeth. Soon she is offering Allen no strings attached oral sex. When Allen rebuffs her advances, she sues him and yet still wants him as her dentist. If you guessed that she and Charlie will eventually cross paths, well you are not as psychic as you are a student of plot mechanics.

Reign Over Me is the latest aimless, masturbatory exercise in arrested development from writer-director Mike Binder whose scattershot resume includes the exceptional drama The Upside of Anger and the brutal TV series The Mind of the Married Man. Binder is funny and sometimes very insightful. He's also full of shit, navel-gazing, meathead who can't seem to grow up.

Reign Over Me falls somewhere in the middle of Binder's oeuvre. It's at times quite full of shit and at times; honest and insightful. The most truth comes in the pain etched in the performance of Adam Sandler who doesn't so much shed his well worn comic fratboy persona as temper that persona with deep sadness and desperation.

Sandler makes the material work and pulls the character of Charlie away from the grandstanding grief monster written by Binder and into truer, more thoughtful territory. Sandler's own history with arrested development, perpetual child types actually serves him well in giving depth to Charlie. When we see the ways in which Charlie has regressed, with video games and his obsession with the music of his youth, it's very easy to follow Sandler into this territory.

Where the full of shit aspects of Reign Over Me come into play are in any scenes featuring women. Binder does a poor job of writing realistic women and though Liv Tyler and Jada Pinkett Smith struggle to try and give depth to their poorly written characters, they are undone by Binder and his boys club mentality. That ludicrous Binder mentality is especially on display in the character of Donna played by model and actress Saffron Burrows.

Burrows plays a mentally unstable woman who expresses her insecurity and instability by offering oral sex to Cheadle's Allen. She then irrationally sues him but wishes to retain his dental services and again offers sex. Why does this character exist? What does she bring to Allen's journey in the film? These questions are unanswerable, though the explanation could be Binder's inability to avoid shoehorning sex jokes into a film that is lacking them.

What's good about Reign Over Me is Adam Sandler's nuanced and affecting performance. Sandler hasn't been this good since his quirky, oddball performance in Punch Drunk Love, a film that grows more maligned by every Sandler performance. Punch Drunk Sandler and Reign's Sandler have a great deal in common. They are socially inept, damaged souls seeking something bigger than themselves but emotionally stunted to their very soul.

Reign Over Me Sandler is edgy and daring, willing to risk audience sympathies with his rash, childish outbursts and more daringly by allowing the film to use this character to exploit the sadness of 9/11. This is where Sandler truly shines. In a lesser performance writer-director Mike Binder's grandstanding would seem shallow and callous. Sandler makes it work by establishing the grandiose, over the top sadness of this character that carries over the terrific scene where he breaks down.

The rest of Reign Over Me is just another full of shit episode of Binder's former TV show with Don Cheadle dulling his skills to play to Binder's level of myopic male arrested development. The way the character of Allen is written, it is as if he doesn't need a reason to be unhappy and seeking release, he's a dude and dudes need to get out of the house and away from their wives sometimes. That is; literally, the level of Binder's insight into this character.

Reign Over Me is two different movies. One is a shallow exercise in male pattern selfishness. The other is a dark tale of sadness and loss featuring a shockingly good performance from an unexpected actor. If I told you that Don Cheadles was starring alongside Adam Sandler and that Sandler was the one delivering the knockout performance, would you believe me? Well that is what I am telling you and, trust me; I'm more shocked than you are.

Movie Review Pride and Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice (2005) 

Directed by Joe Wright 

Written by Deborah Moggach

Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Dame Judi Dench

Release Date November 11th, 2005

Published November 10th, 2005 

My initial reaction to hearing that Pride & Prejudice would once again be adapted to the big screen was a massive groan. How many times can filmmakers tap this same material for a movie; I whined. I was rather surprised then, in my research, to find that Pride & Prejudice had been adapted for the big screen, in its original form and setting, only one other time. In 1940 Greer Garson essayed the role of romantic heroine Lizzy Bennett opposite Sir Laurence Olivier's stolid Mr. Darcy.

The familiarity that induced my groan of reluctance and apathy was actually related to the various attempts to update Pride & Prejudice over the years. In 2003 Lizzy became a New York college student and in 2004 a Bollywood style song and dance romantic. And let us not forget the many offspring that, while they are not straight adaptations, owe their various romantic cliches and complications to Jane Austen's seminal work.

Movies such as Bridget Jones' Diary, the multiple pairings of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and really any attempt Hollywood has made at creating romance on the big screen owes a nod, in one way or another, to the conventions cemented by Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen.

How this brand new adaptation of Pride & Prejudice overcomes this over-familiarity is extraordinarily simple. The film, directed by big screen novice Joe Wright, remains as faithful as possible to Austen's work and casts exceptional actors to bring the already stellar material to life. The result is a movie that does not redefine Austen's masterpiece on the big screen, but rather allows it to exist anew for audiences who may never have experienced it before.

Keira Knightley stars in Pride & Prejudice in the role of Lizzy Bennet the 2nd of five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn). As we join the story Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with marrying off at least one of her daughters, preferably her oldest Jane (Rosamund Pike), because, with no male heir to take over the family land, when Mr. Bennet passes, the family stands to lose all of the land and their wealth upon his death.

Only a rich husband who can provide for the Bennet woman until each is married off, can save the girls from destitution. Thus it is big news when a new neighbor, a moneyed young nobleman, Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods); announces his intention to appear at a formal occasion the next weekend. Each of the Bennet women will have to be on their best behavior to help Jane attract Mr. Bingley whose wealth is far more attractive than his slight and awkward appearance.

At the party Mr. Bingley arrives with his sister Caroline (Kelly Riley) and a fellow nobleman Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen); a stuffed shirt with an air of superiority that surpasses mere arrogance. Darcy clearly feels everything and everyone is below his standards and even after meeting the spirited and lovely Lizzy; he scoffs that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Regardless of Darcy's attitude, Bingley is smitten with Jane Bennet and it is Bingley and Jane that keep our antagonistic lovers, Darcy and Lizzy in contact.

The dislike expressed by Darcy for Lizzy is mutual. She overheard his 'handsome' quip; and has vowed to loathe him for all eternity. However, after a number of paths crossings and numerous misunderstandings and missed intentions it's clear that Darcy and Lizzy are meant for one another. The plot, adapted by Deborah Moggach, throws in some well reasoned roadblocks to keep our two lovers apart but it is Austen's shrewd dialogue and the performances of Knightley and MacFadyen that make Pride & Prejudice rise above typical romantic cliches.

Keira Knightley is absolutely radiant in the famed role of one of literature's shining lights of romantic optimism. Helping us forget her misanthropic turn in the ugly and forgettable Domino, Knightley reestablished herself as a star of the future and an actress to be reckoned with.

Matthew Macfadyen, in his first major international role, essays an aristocratic, measured, and intelligent Mr. Darcy whose romantic side is cloistered in a wall of self defense. Darcy's money has made him suspicious of romance and looking toward marriage as an arrangement of interests and not in any way related to destiny, fate or love. Macfadyen, like his character, comes to life in Lizzy's presence and his wall of defenses crumble in a beautifully acted scene where Darcy and Lizzy argue in the rain.

The supporting cast of Pride & Prejudice is equally as delightful as its two leads. Brenda Blethyn is the standout as Lizzy's busybody mother. Her desperate need to see her daughters wed to wealthy men is the film's driving force. Is she annoying? Yes. But, it's part of who this character is and if you accept this story you have to accept her. Each of the remaining Bennett sisters make lesser impressions but not so much that they hurt the rest of the picture. Best of the rest is Jena Malone as the impetuous Lydia Bennett who runs off and marries the foul soldier boy Mr. Wickham.

A period romance is a tough sale to modern audiences, even one with the literary cache of Pride & Prejudice. Look at Shakespeare, his plays have been successful in movie theaters only when updated with modern reimagining's or in the case of Romeo and Juliet, a bumping soundtrack and some cool looking guns in place of Shakespearean-swords.

Pride & Prejudice itself has been reimagined with modern trimmings but as this new film version shows, the original is an untouchable masterpiece. That is because; more important than her romantic ideals, Jane Austen's words are her true subject. It is the way her characters communicate their feelings that is as much or even more entertaining than how they act on those feelings. You can update the plot; it is a clever romantic plot -especially by modern romantic comedy standards- but without the words the impact is lost.

The words of Jane Austen, only slightly altered here by screenwriter Deborah Moggach, are smart, funny, warm and witty. Every word has its own sub-textual joy. There is joy and pain in every syllable, a deep meaning in every phrase and a romantic sigh in every pause. The words of Jane Austen have stood the test of time for a reason folks.

One of the great things about the written word is its ability to last forever. The words of Jane Austen in Pride & Prejudice will, no doubt, last forever because of their beauty, wit, and romance. Now those words are also immortalized in a cinematic form that also can last a lifetime in DVD collections of millions of romantics and fans of great words.

Movie Review: Ad Astra

Ad Astra (2019)

Directed by James Grey

Written by James Grey, Ethan Gross

Starring Brad Pitt, Donald Sutherland, Ruth Negga, Tommy Lee Jones, Liv Tyler 

Release Date September 20th, 2019 

Published September 19th, 2019

Ad Astra stars Brad Pitt as astronaut Roy McBride. We meet Roy as he is working on what appears to be the International Space Station or some approximation of such. The station is just above the atmosphere of the Earth, something that becomes urgently important when the station is struck by some sort of energy surge. As the station begins to explode, Roy is sent hurtling back to the Earth. 

By some miracle, Roy survives and upon his rather brief recuperation, he is brought into a secretive meeting of military brass. The men in this meeting inform Roy about a secret mission involving Roy’s father, Dr Clifford McBride, that sent him to what was believed to be his death on a space station near Neptune, the farthest that man has ever travelled in space. Roy was told that his father had died but here, he is told that his father may be alive and his survival is related to these energy surges that now endanger all of mankind. 

The military men want Roy to leave everything behind and travel to Mars where he will, via an American-Martian outpost, be able to send his father a message that they hope will help to stop these energy surges. It’s a lengthy journey and there are many things about his father and his mission that Roy is not yet aware of. One man who does know is Col Thomas Pruitt (Donald Sutherland). Despite his advanced age, Pruitt is to escort Roy on his mission and carry with him a secretive agenda. 

To say much more about the plot of Ad Astra would be to give away too much of this exceptional story. Directed and co-written by James Gray, the underrated auteur behind the brilliant Lost City of Z and The Immigrant, Ad Astra continues a remarkable hot streak for the director. Gray is a director who chooses challenging subjects and attacks them from unique angles. It’s been a hallmark of his work and it continues with the unusual journey of Ad Astra. 

Ad Astra carries influences as varied and fascinating as Apocalypse Now and 2001 A Space Odyssey. Ad Astra lacks the bold un-commerciality of 2001, but for being more straight-forward than 2001, it retains some of the artistic touches of Kubrick’s legendary adventure including a colorful visual palette, a deliberate pace, and a deep respect for space travel. I know that making such a comparison is big but aside from being a good deal more mainstream in ambition, the 2001 comparison is reasonable in terms of the remarkable artistry and care on display. 

The Apocalypse Now comparison is far more typical as Marlon Brando delivered the definitive crazed man of authority in that Francis Ford Coppola masterwork. Tommy Lee Jones in Ad Astra however, earns that comparison. Jones is electric in the role of Brad Pitt’s father, a driven and desperate man on a mission. Jones has been great in any number of roles but I dare say this role exceeds even his greatest work in No Country for Old Men and his Academy Award winning performance in The Fugitive. 

Yes, you can infer that issues of fathers and sons permeate the story of Ad Astra. The issues of loyalty, duty, love and resentment are sewn into this story. These issues underline the action throughout and bring depth and a compelling emotionality to a movie that from time to time can feel as remote as the space wherein it exists. Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones have a tremendous chemistry but it’s the ways in which writer-director James Gray weaves them together when they aren’t on screen together that make Ad Astra so remarkably compelling. 

Ad Astra is one of my favorite movies of 2019. The film ranks next to another ingenious and brilliantly artistic Brad Pitt movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as one of the best in an underrated 2019 at the movies. Brad Pitt went away for a little while, if you follow the tabloids you know he had some issues to overcome, and the time away from the spotlight has sharpened his gifts and helped to hone his eye for movies with great moments. 

Ad Astra is filled with incredible moments that culminate in a final act that is one of my favorites of the year. The final act of Ad Astra is exciting, unexpected and filled with dramatic energy. It’s a perfect ending for a strange often off-kilter movie with a very unique energy and suspense. I adore the third act of Ad Astra and would put it up against the third act of any movie of the last decade or indeed the movies I have compared it to already in this review. 

I am perhaps heaping too much praise on Ad Astra. I am risking hyping the movie to a degree that it may not be able to achieve for you, those who’ve not yet seen it. So be it, I think Ad Astra is deserving of my over-praise. The movie is exceptional and a must-see.

Movie Review: The Mechanic

The Mechanic (2011) 

Directed by Simon West

Written by Lewis John Carlino, Richard Wenk

Starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn 

Release Date January 28th, 2011 

Published January 27th, 2011 

If by some chance you have managed to avoid every other movie about coolly efficient assassins who live alone like monks and share a warrior's code with old school samurais then you might find the new Jason Statham film “The Mechanic” interesting. If, however, you are like me and you have seen any hit man movie ever you will find nothing the least bit original or fascinating about this rehash of sub-genre cliché.

Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop a classical music fan who also happens to be the coldest of the cold blooded killers in the world. Arthur's specialty is hits that don't look like hits and in the opening montage we watch as Arthur murders the head of a South American cartel by making the death look like an accidental drowning. The murder is clever but more in a B-movie fashion than in the sleek, cool fashion the film seems to think it's pulling off.

Arthur's next hit will not be as efficient; he's been hired to kill his mentor. Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) taught Arthur all that he knows about killing people. But now that Harry is aging and in a wheelchair he has become a greedy liability to the higher ups who give the contract to Arthur out of a sense of decency and respect, or something. The expectation is that Arthur will make the old timer's death quick and painless.

Arthur has a son, Steve (Ben Foster), and though the two were not close Steve wants revenge for his father's death. Lucky for Arthur, the unpredictable, hot headed Steve doesn't know who killed his dad. Out of guilt or sympathy, Arthur takes Steve under his wing and begins teaching him the tools of the trade for a 'Mechanic,' aka assassin, a man who fixes problems.

Simon West directed “The Mechanic,” taking the bones of a forgotten Charles Bronson flick from the early 70's and taking out anything vaguely arty like the original's wordless 15 minute opening in which Bronson lays out a complicated kill and cover up without feeling the need to narrate the proceedings the way Statham's Arthur does temporarily and fitfully throughout the new film.

The original “The Mechanic” was no art-house film but it had more ambition than this knock off and in Bronson a more compellingly stoic and fascinating lead. Jason Statham's one note performance, compounded by the dull and needless voiceover, has the same lack of energy and innovation as Simon West's direction. It's a shame because Statham is capable of being a charismatic presence but The Mechanic sucks the life out of the bullet headed action hero. 

Ben Foster is the truly unfortunate one in “The Mechanic.” This talented young actor who has brought vitality and unpredictability to roles in other not so great movies like “Pandorum” as well as great movies like “3:10 to Yuma” and the military drama “The Messenger,” where he helped Woody Harrelson to an Oscar nomination, is stranded in the one note role in The Mechanic. Much like Statham, Foster is hamstrung by an uninspired script and Simon West's dull direction. 

Dreary, derivative, and deeply uninspired, The Mechanic is a complete failure. It's indicative of every other movie Simon West has directed, a dull, often insulting rehash of genre cliches, slickly produced with little care for character or storytelling. 

Movie Review The Italian Job

The Italian Job (2003) 

Directed by F Gary Gray 

Written by Donna Powers, Wayne Powers 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland

Release Date May 30th, 2003 

Published May 29th, 2003 

What is it with Mark Wahlberg and remakes of classic movies? Last year it was the Cary Grant spy flick Charade “reimagined” as The Truth About Charlie. And of course, you remember him in that ape movie. Now it's a 1969 caper flick better known for its car chase then its caper plot. Wahlberg takes the role once inhabited by Sir Michael Caine as a master thief who is double crossed by his partner and wants payback in The Italian Job.

The title is a reference to the film’s opening caper set against the canals of Venice. Inside a beautiful villa, a group of thieves led by Charlie (Wahlberg) and his former mentor John Bridger (Donald Sutherland, inheriting the role from none other than Noel Coward). The rest of the crew includes Charlie's second in command Steve (Edward Norton), the weapons expert Left Ear (Mos Def), the computer expert Lyle (Seth Green) and the wheelman Handsome Rob (Jason Statham).

The so-called Italian job comes off perfectly, and the crew is set to walk away with 35 million in gold. That is until Steve double crosses the crew, steals the gold and shoots John. Charlie and the rest of the crew are nearly killed attempting to get away, setting in motion the film’s revenge plot. Cut to Philadelphia where John's daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) works as a security expert, cracking uncrackable safes for the police department, a skill she picked up from her dad. When Charlie tells her that they have found Steve and plan on getting the gold back, she is down for some payback.

So what makes The Italian Job any different from the numerous heist flicks that have dotted the film landscape in recent years? Pretty much nothing. Like most films of its genre, it has double-crosses, twists, and action. It has murders, a gangster subplot and, of course, a supremely contrived, overly complicated series of heist scenes that involve all sorts of techno-gadgetry and split second timing but always break down to guys with guns.

I realize that it's difficult to criticize a remake for being unoriginal but I must protest the number of unoriginal, uninspired clichés the film employs. Particularly annoying is the use of the age-old reveal scene. The one in which it seems a character is doing one thing but it turns out they are doing something entirely different. In this case, it's Theron cracking a safe, seeming to rob it but in reality, she's cracking it for the cops, as per her job as a security expert. Ugh.

Director F. Gary Gray's one weapon against the been-there-done-that story is his unique visual style and slickness. Gray has that music video honed talent for pacing. It comes from condensing songs to three or four minute visuals for MTV and it's a talent that will someday be recognized. That talent serves Gray well in keeping the audience from thinking too long about the film’s familiar story elements.

Gray is also blessed with an excellent cast headed up by Mark Wahlberg. I'm starting to notice Wahlberg's real knack for melting from topline star into ensemble player. He did it in The Truth About Charlie where he clearly gave the movie away to Thandie Newton. He also did it in Planet of The Apes where, though he was clearly the hero, he still allowed the ape suited Helena Bonham Carter every opportunity to stand in the spotlight. Here, teamed with a charismatic crew of Jason Statham, Mos Def and Seth Green, Wahlberg has an ensemble worthy of ceding the spotlight to. And though I loath to admit it, I actually enjoyed the work of Charlize Theron, who until this film had been to me like nails on a chalkboard.

The Italian Job is familiar and predictable but not dull. It's another Saturday night rental worthy of sitting next to Wahlberg's The Truth About Charlie and Statham's The Transporter and Gray's The Negotiator. Slight, witty action movies that may lack substance but never lacks entertainment value.