Movie Review: Contagion

Contagion (2011) 

Directed by Steven Soderberg

Written by Steven Soderbergh

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard

Release Date September 3rd, 2011

Published September 3rd, 2011 

Director Steven Soderbergh has described "Contagion" as an Irwin Allen style disaster movie. For those not up on their B- movie history, producer-director Irwin Allen presided over some of the most celebrated disaster movies in history from "The Swarm," to "The Towering Inferno" to "The Poseidon Adventure."

Only horror movie mavens have produced as many dead bodies on the big screen. The Irwin Allen comparison is apt. Allen's formula, a major catastrophe populated with a galaxy of well known stars, is essentially what "Contagion" attempts to be. The only difference is that Soderbergh's level of skill prevents "Contagion" from drifting toward the kinds of caricature that Allen's characters often became.

"Contagion," at first, stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Beth, just another woman on a business trip in China. However, after a layover in Chicago, Beth has returned home to her husband, Mitch (Matt Damon,) and their son, and has fallen ill. It's mere days before Beth is dead. Meanwhile, a video has spread across the internet of a man falling ill on a bus in China.

That man was with Beth in China and now both are dead. Soon, a man in Chicago has fallen ill. A woman in Kiev who had brief hand to hand contact with Beth in Hong Kong has died and her family is infected. Back in Minneapolis, Beth's son has died and her husband is presumed ill while his daughter is returned from her mother's and isolated.

At the CDC Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) and his team begin retrieving data and attempting to piece together the spread of the virus. In Hong Kong WHO Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) has a key piece of evidence from the security camera at the Hotel/Casino where Beth stayed. The video tracks the very start of the spread.

In Minneapolis Dr. Mears (Kate Winslet) attempts to organize the CDC response as the virus spreads like wildfire. Soon, however, because a hotel worker went to work while sick, Dr. Mears falls ill. Soderbergh's "Contagion" has no respect for Awards or star-power as the Oscar winners seem to be the first to fall.

There is a calm and precision to "Contagio"n that is both comforting and limiting. Soderbergh has taken pains not to allow the film to cause massive panic attacks ( though I would urge hypochondriacs not to see Contagion) yet in doing so he contains "Contagion" into a box that prevents it from being as affective as it could no doubt be.

I don't want "Contagion" to cause a panic ala Jaws depressing beach traffic in the summer of '77 however, it's fair to say that "Contagion" has the opportunity to be more fear inducing and thus a more viscerally satisfying than it is. As it is, "Contagio"n could almost be considered hopeful, in its way.

Many critics of "Contagion" have wondered about the character played by Jude Law. Law portrays a blogger who finds a chance to profit off of the spread of the virus by promoting a Government conspiracy and an herbal medicine that he claims is a cure. When there is a run on the herbal medicine, Law cashes in on the stock jump of the company that makes it.

The character however, is vague in purpose. At different moments he ranges from rambling street preacher to Alex Jones style maniac before eventually being taken seriously before yet another final and strangely vague twist. Jude Law's performance is not up for question, he's highly committed and engaging but the character never finds his footing.

"Contagion" is an artful pseudo-documentary in the hands of a master director. Steven Soderbergh's command of this story takes what could have been sensational and exciting--in a terrifying B-Movie way--and makes it thoughtful, cautionary and occasionally moving. It's nice to see a director who though he demonstrates the worst of humanity at times, allows the best of humanity to rise as well.

There is a surprising and unexpected hopefulness at the heart of "Contagion" that keeps it from tipping into something merely intended to terrify. The hope is needed at the end when the film flashes back to the start of its outbreak and reveals the modest and completely plausible series of events that began the outbreak. So simple and so horrifying.

Movie Review: Two Lovers

Two Lovers (2009) 

Directed by James Gray

Written by James Gray 

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Elias Koteas

Release Date February 16th, 2009 

Published May 12th, 2009

Ever since Joaquin Phoenix's meltdown earlier this year on David Letterman and then subsequent you-tube videos, I have been dreading his movie Two Lovers. It was unfair of me to feel that way about the movie. However, it was equally unfair of ....Phoenix.... to burden the film with his antics.

Now, I have seen the film and I feel as if I owe all involved an apology. Two Lovers is a quiet, observant and human drama about a lost soul and the people so willing to find him if he'll let them.

Joaquin Phoenix is Leonard in Two Lovers. When we meet him he is attempting suicide and not for the first time. He survives a plunge into ..Hudson Bay.., thanks to several bystanders but refuses medical care, preferring to wander home in the cold. Leonard is living with his parents, Reuben and Ruth (Moni Moshonov and Isabella Rossellini), and they've been witnessing his behavior ever since his engagement fell apart.

Whiling away the days snapping black and white photos and working at his family dry cleaning business, Leonard's life is changed after meeting two very different women. Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) is the daughter of Leonard's dad's new business partner. Their parents would love for them to get together, as they are soon to merge their businesses.

It's not an arranged marriage however; Sandra is really attracted to Leonard, even to his obvious damage. The other woman who enters Leonard's life is Michele (Gwyneth Paltrow). Michele lives across the courtyard in their shared apartment building. One day as she is seeking a hiding place from an overbearing admirer, she happens upon Leonard and takes advantage of his kindness. He is smitten at first sight but she is clearly, to us, a beautiful blonde fantasy.

Director James Gray reveals his story at a leisurely pace allowing us to observe Leonard and overcome our reservations about his mental state. 2009 has been flush with male performances that are more creepy than quirky and we fear right away that Leonard is just the latest creep. As the story evolves however, Leonard becomes a slightly odd fellow but endearing.

By the end you are rooting for him in ways you never imagined at the beginning. That we can still root for him as he pines for Michele and spends time with Sandra is something quite remarkable. Characters who vacillate as Leonard does can grow tiresome but there is something in the almost childlike, innocent way that Leonard pines that allows us to forgive him.

Some have argued that having one man compete for the affection of Vinessa Shaw and Gwyneth Paltrow is a little far-fetched. Those are people judging Gwyneth Paltrow and not her nuanced and troubled performance. Paltrow's Michele is supposed to be a figure of fantasy and she exists that way throughout. The reality of someone like Michele is far more interesting and well explored in Two Lovers.

Michele is like a virus that infects Leonard, one he cannot shake. She uses him, humiliates him, dashes his hopes and he comes back for more because he simply cannot help it. The fantasy of Michele is so alluring that in the final act even we begin to buy in.

Sandra is not as well fleshed out but that isn't such a bad thing. Vinessa Shaw gives her enough presence and warmth that she is never the girl Leonard might settle for but the one he may or may not really love. She's viable and real and her love for Leonard is as honest as his for Michele.

Two Lovers truly succeeds in its final moments where director Gray and co-writer Ric Menello find just right note of surprising elegance to end on. Two Lovers is moving and cathartic for anyone who has longed for a fantasy at the ignorance of reality. An extraordinary, honest, human drama, Two Lovers is among the best of the year.

Movie Review: Country Strong

Country Strong (2011) 

Directed by Shana Feste

Written by Shana Feste

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester, Tim McGraw

Release Date January 7th, 2011 

Published January 8th, 2011 

Country Strong is a stunningly bad movie. An overwrought tale of addiction, failed romance and country music, Country Strong was written and directed by Shana Feste as two different movies. One version of Country Strong is a straight drama about a falling star and the other is a gritty indie drama about an alcoholic struggling to get clean in the harsh light of fame. Director Feste crashes these two movies into one another and the result is a massive wreck at the corner of Lifetime Movie Network and the Independent Film Channel.

Gwyneth Paltrow stars in Country Strong as Kelly Cantor a country diva who evokes what Taylor Swift might look and sound like in 20 years. As we join the story Kelly is in rehab for some yet to be revealed reason. In treatment she is being romanced by an orderly named Beau (Garrett Hedlund, Tron Legacy) who happens to be a small time country singer. We know there is romance here because of their moony exchanges while Beau tries out a song for the diva in her room.

The rehab idyll is broken up by the arrival of Kelly's husband James (Tim McGraw) who announces that Kelly is leaving rehab early to get back out on the road and reclaim her career. In a fit of bad judgement James is sending his wife back out on the road just 6 months after her breakdown on stage during a concert in Dallas. Moreover, genius James is sending her back to Dallas for her big comeback show at the end of the tour.

Joining Kelly as her opening act is 19 year old Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) a mousy wannabe Carrie Underwood with the brains of Kellie Pickler. James chose Chiles personally and the sexual tension between the married man and the rising teen diva is yet another of James's brilliant moves that seem orchestrated to drive his already fragile wife over the edge. Thankfully, Kelly has brought Beau along as both a lover and protector.

The creepy love quadrangle is one of the stranger touches of Country Strong as bot James and Beau lust after the teenager while sleeping with Paltrow's troubled 40 year old alcoholic. This is part of the wannabe indie vibe that writer-director Shana Feste wants to make even as most of the movie is a big, glossy, classically showbiz drama.

The dissonant tone of Country Strong clangs and bangs along and Shana Feste matches it with a shooting and editing style as clunky and discordant as the two movies she is banging into one. Scenes begin and end in strange places at odd angles and at times all we in the audience can do is laugh at the oddity of what we are witnessing.

How strange and out of tune is Country Strong? The one actual country music star in the cast doesn't sing until the closing credits. While actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester play singers and get on stage, the one person to actually sell a few country records, country superstar Tim McGraw is the one person on the screen called upon just to act.

That's not to say that the music of Country Strong suffers for having actors playing singers; each of the stars actually come off surprisingly well. Gwyneth Paltrow gave fans an earful of her warble in the long forgotten karaoke drama Duets singing alongside Huey Lewis. In Country Strong Gwyneth's voice is stronger and more confident bringing to mind a slightly less engaging Shania Twain.

Garrett Hedlund as Beau is the films one true revelation. Hedlund has a terrific deep drawling voice that fits perfectly the old school, twangy laden country songs that are Beau's forte. Leighton Meester's meek voice is well cast. The Gossip Girl star fits perfectly the role of the pretty pop country star whose best work is created in the studio with the aid of a great producer who can hide her faults.

When Country Strong takes to the stage things get lively and fun. Off of the stage Country Strong is a disaster of high camp melodrama and wannabe indie movie grit. If writer-director Shana Feste had embraced this trainwreck with a bit of irony and humor she might have turned Country Strong into a honky tonk Black Swan with Gwyneth as the cracked diva, Leighton Meester as a ditzy version Mila Kunis's scheming wannabe and McGraw taking on Vincent Cassell's taskmaster with a Tennesse twang replacing the haughty Frenchness.

It would cost the film Hedlund's voice, his character is far too earnest to survive this version of Country Strong, but it would be a better and far more interesting movie and it would free Hedlund to go make a real country record of his own. I know, I have to review the movie that was made and not dream of the movie I wish were made but I had little else to do while I waited out Country Strong's final odd yet somehow conventional twist.

Movie Review Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) 

Directed by Kerry Conran

Written by Kerry Conran

Starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Bai Ling, Michael Gambon

Release Date September 17th, 2004

Published September 17th, 2004 

Call me a Luddite if you wish, but I just don't like the way computer technology is encroaching on modern filmmaking. With the release of Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, we have our first example of a movie made with real actors and no real locations. We are not far from a film with no real actors. Final Fantasy was technically speaking animation, I am speaking more of technology of the kind used in the little seen Pacino movie Simone where America's top actress was entirely created on a computer.

This is disturbing to me because when you pay so much attention to technology, what most often gets lost is real art. Dialogue, characters and acting are the casualties of too much technology. Look at Bruckheimer films, so much attention paid to blowing things up and not nearly enough attention to creating plots, dialogue or characters. Some could point to Pixar's animated features as an example of great plot and dialogue combined with top of the line computer technology and they have a point. Still, an animated character will never replace a great human character like Indiana Jones or The Bride from Kill Bill, at least not to me.

That brings us back to Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, which is technologically well realized. However, when it comes to dialogue, plot and characters, the film is shallow and conventional.

Gwyneth Paltrow stars as intrepid reporter Polly Perkins. Polly has stumbled upon the story of the century, the world's top scientists are disappearing and Polly has the inside track toward finding the supervillain behind the kidnappings. Her story is interrupted when giant metal robots invade New York City and only Joe Sullivan (Jude Law) a.k.a. Sky Captain can stop them.

Joe and Polly have a personal history, they used to be an item years earlier but broke up badly. Now because Polly has information Joe needs and Joe has the story Polly needs, the two are reunited and bickering like a divorced couple. Regardless, they must work together to find the missing scientists who will lead them to the supervillain known as Totenkopf. They are aided by Joe's sidekick and gadget man Dex Dearborn (Giovonni Ribisi) and British flying ace Frankie Cook (Angelina Jolie) who, like Polly, has a personal history with Joe.

For a film as unconventional in its technological creation, its plot is actually rather mundane. It's an adventure lifted directly from a 1940's Errol Flynn movie. A nice homage but it fails to hold up for a full-length modern feature. The plot is highly predictable and relies on any number of contrivances to arrive at its predestined outcomes. The technology has evolved but the ability to create a screenplay that doesn't rely on an obviously stupid decision by a character that should know better still persists.

The acting is a little off, likely because of the technology. There is a big difference between acting on a set and acting against a blue screen. You’re reacting to things that aren't there and when you're forced to remember exactly where you're standing or where the fake tree is or the fake animal attacking you is, it's difficult to concentrate on delivering lines and reacting to real flesh and blood co-stars.

The technology has improved so that acting against a blue screen is not as awful looking as it was in the 60’s drive-in movie era. However, just because everything looks seamless onscreen doesn't make the acting any easier and the strain is evident on each of these actors.

Jude Law, who I believe is in every movie being released this fall, has the kind of glamorous good looks to play the heroic Sky Captain but there is something in his performance that is just a little off. Law has this mischievous glint in his eye, he's always had it and it's always been an asset. However, in a role that calls for earnest heroism, that glint seems out of place. There is just a hint of irony to everything he says, an irony that is out of place in a film that is so ingrained in its faked time period.

Gwyneth Paltrow, one of my favorite actresses, also is just slightly off. Her trouble comes more from the script than from her performance. Her Polly Perkins is required to do things that keep the plot going, things that if the character were as smart as she's supposed to be, she wouldn't do them. She does these stupid things because if she didn't, the movie would be over. If you can't make the plot work without compromising your characters then you need to keep working on it. Of course, when you have so much technology to worry about you just don't have time to devote to your plot.

In a recent column, I wrote of how disturbed I was about Sky Captain using the image of the late Sir Laurence Olivier as a character in the film. I am happy to report that my concerns were greatly overblown. The film does not employ Sir Laurence's image in any way that is overly disturbing or abusive. I don't want to give anything away about how he is used because it might reveal too much, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

The computer technology of Sky Captain is impressive. Some of the imagery is quite striking. I especially enjoyed the flying British aircraft carriers and the blimps. Very impressive stuff. I also enjoyed the film’s gauzy look that makes it feel aged to its 30’s. The film looks like one of Ted Turner's colorized black and white movies, and although colorization is blasphemy, this film just has a similar look.

Writer-Director Kerry Conran is clearly a fan of classic sci-fi of the 30's and 40's and if you share that love you are going to like Sky Captain a whole lot. There are numerous homages to old movies like King Kong or Errol Flynn's numerous adventure movies. The Wizard Of Oz is used effectively in more ways than one. This love of film classics is admirable and quite enjoyable if you know your history. Keep your eyes open for a number of visual references to classic films.

With the technology and the homages to classic films, I can't be surprised that some things would get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, what gets lost is characters, dialogue and plot. There is no doubt that if you’re into technology you will be blown away by what you see in Sky Captain and what could possibly be done with this technology in the future. For me though, no amount of technology can replace the thrill of charismatic characters delivering smart dialogue inside a complicated plot.

Movie Review Shallow Hal

Shallow Hal (2001) 

Directed by The Farrelly Brothers

Written by The Farrelly Brothers 

Starring Jack Black, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tony Robbins, Jason Alexander

Release Date November 9th, 2001 

Published March 15th, 2002

The Farrelly Brothers have had an extremely hit and miss career, having created two of the best comedies of the last ten years, Kingpin and There's Something About Mary, and a couple of the worst, Dumb and Dumber, Say It Isn't So and Osmosis Jones. I'm glad to say that with their latest effort, Shallow Hal, starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow, the Farrelly's have a hit on their hands. The Hal of Shallow Hal is High Fidelity's wind up toy from hell Jack Black and he is back himself after the misfire of Saving Silverman.

Hal is an extremely self deluded jerk who believes that all that matters when it comes to women is physical beauty, neglecting the fact that he is no prize pig himself. Jason Alexander plays his best friend Mauricio who shares Hal's delusion to an even greater degree, Mauricio also has a few of those truly Farrelly Esqe physical features that payoff with big laughs. One day Hal gets locked in an elevator with self improvement guru Tony Robbins, in a surprisingly dexterous turn, who listens to Hal's life story and decides to help him by hypnotizing him into seeing people's inner beauty.

Then Hal meets Rosemary who he and we see as Gwyneth Paltrow but who is actually Gwyneth 300 hundred pounds heavier. This is where the film could have gone wrong. It could have gone very wrong with disgusting jokes at the expense of overweight people but the Farrelly's deftly turn it into an almost afterschool special like a lesson on not judging a book by its cover.

Don't get me wrong, the film is very funny and often raunchy, but the inner beauty message is laid on a little thick at times. Gwyneth Paltrow is amazingly sweet and beautiful even under 300 hundred pounds of makeup. She and Jack Black make a surprisingly fantastic pair with great chemistry and timing. Paltrow is a tad stiff with the Farrelly's brand of physical humor but she makes up for it with a go for the gusto laughter that is very endearing. 

The Farrelly Brothers, when they indulge in their sweet side as they did in both Kingpin and There's Something ABout Mary, and now in Shallow Hal, are quite good at introducing and taking care of sweet, vulnerable characters. It's the sweetness that rescues the often quite sour humor of The Farrelly Brothers whose raunchy jokes may not be for everybody but when they are delivered with earnest good nature, they can reach all audiences equally. 

Shallow Hal is the proof of concept that not all Farrelly Brothers characters have to be obnoxious or on all the time in order to draw out a laughter. The Farrelly's deploy romance like weapon and use it soften the blow from their more sophomoric style of humor. 

Movie Review: The Royal Tenenbaums

Rushmore (2001) 

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson

Starring Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Owen Wilson

Release Date December 14th, 2001 

Published December 24th, 2001 

In Rushmore, Wes Anderson took two very unique characters and used them to establish an unusual comic tone of irony and pathos that, for all it's quirks, seemed grounded in a weird sort of realty. In The Royal Tenenbaums, he applies that same unusual tone to an awesome ensemble cast to an even greater effect.

The Royal Tenenbaums is the story of a family of geniuses and the father who was the catalyst for their self destruction. Gene Hackman plays the father, the aptly named Royal Tenenbaum, a disgraced and disbarred lawyer whose luck and money have run out, and who now seeks to reconcile with the family he destroyed years earlier; not out of any emotional need for forgiveness, but rather because he just needs a place to crash.

Angelica Huston is Royal's soon-to-be-ex-wife, Etheline, a genius in her own right who is about to marry a man named Henry, played by Danny Glover. Luke Wilson is Richie Tenenbaum, a tennis prodigy washed up after a breakdown in the middle of a major match. Gwyneth Paltrow is Margot Tenenbaum (whom Royal makes a point of noting is adopted,) a genius playwright who wrote her first play at age 11 and has written nothing since. Ben Stiller is Chas, a widower who was a financial whiz at age 9, whose resentment of Royal is just one of the family's many dysfunctional aspects.

Bill Murray and Owen Wilson round out the cast in truly funny supporting roles. The whole cast is sensational, and though Stiller seems a little off key at times, everyone maintains this wondrous magical tone that makes the movie hum; never too loud, never too soft. Combine that brilliant tone with Mark Mothersbaugh's inspired score and the soundtrack of 60's tunes like the Beatles' "Hey Jude," and you have what amounts to a comedic symphony. The New York setting is as strange and wonderful as the rest of the film and when combined with the soundtrack give the film a feeling of timelessness. 

I don't know if there is a director I have higher hopes for than I do for Wes Anderson. I cannot wait to see what he does next. 

Movie Review: View from the Top

View from the Top (2003) 

Directed by Bruno Barreto 

Written by Eric Wald

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, Candice Bergen, Joshua Malina, Kelly Preston, Rob Lowe, Mike Myers

Release Date March 21st, 2003 

Published March 21st, 2003 

Of the many odd ripples from our country's greatest tragedy, none seems less important than it's effects on Hollywood movies. It's an effect still felt today, as films that were made around the time of 9/11 finally reach theaters. One of the films shelved after 9/11 was the flight attendant comedy View From The Top. One is left to wonder what kind of movie View was when it was conceived and what it became after the tragedy. Suddenly jokes involving air travel simply aren't funny and as a filmmaker, you have sensitivities to care about that never existed before. It must have been more excruciating for such a light comedy to have that mantle to bear, and it's one that likely ruined any chance the film had of being a hit.

View From The Top stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Donna Jensen, the daughter of a Vegas go-go dancer and an alcoholic father. Donna, living in a trailer with her well-past-her-prime mom, desperately wants out of the trailer and thinks she has a way with a new boyfriend. Unfortunately like everything else in her life, the boyfriend (played in cameo by Buffy's Marc Blucas) let's her down and dumps her in a birthday card. Nevertheless, Donna's pluckiness and spirit lead her to another opportunity to better herself. After seeing a woman on TV talk about the wonders of being a flight attendant, Donna sets out to travel the world. Of course at first, she has to settle for the Laughlin to Fresno route of an economy airline that specializes in drunk gamblers. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

Along the way, Donna makes friends with her flight attendant mentor (Kelly Preston) and another trainee (Christina Applegate). She also makes a new love connection with a struggling law student played by Mark Ruffalo. Donna doesn't have time for a relationship though as she and her friends fight their way into another airline, the high class Royalty airlines. Here, Donna actually meets the woman who inspired her to become a flight attendant (Candace Bergen). In addition, Donna becomes the star pupil of a flight attendant teacher played by Mike Myers.

Though Donna seems destined for the big time, international first class to Paris, she somehow fails and ends up doing commuter flights out of Cleveland. It's not all bad though as while stationed in Cleveland she reunites with the law student and they begin a tentative romance. However, it is then that Donna does get her international route and must choose between her career and personal life.

On the surface, View From The Top seems pretty straightforward, but upon watching you see it become quite confused. Director Bruno Barreto never settles on a tone for the film. Early scenes of Paltrow's Donna living in squalor seem like a Jerry Springer satire. Then as Donna becomes more sophisticated and grown up, something Paltrow is so good at projecting, she is confronted by characters that seem to be in entirely different films.

While somewhere toward the middle of the film, Paltrow and Candace Bergen seem to channel the elegant humor of an Audrey Hepburn movie, Mike Myers is doing Jerry Lewis and Christina Applegate seems a refugee from the aforementioned Springer show. Ruffalo seems to fit somewhere in the middle while seeming capable of fitting either tone if given proper direction.

Again, I wonder how much the film changed after 9/11. It was always a comedy but how much of the humor or even the story was forced to change for the sake of sensitivity. Is it possible that a more coherent version of the film existed before? I guess we will never know. As it is, View From The Top is yet another line on Gwyneth Paltrow's resume. While not great, it does note her amazing range. If given the chance I'm sure she could have made one of the two movies in View From The Top work.

Movie Review Iron Man

Iron Man (2008) 

Directed by Jon Favreau 

Written by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub

Release Date May 2nd, 2008 

Published May 1st, 2008 

Tony Stark has lived a life of glorious privilege since birth. His father was part of the group that invented the A Bomb. That allowed Tony's dad to build a weapons manufacturing empire. By the time Tony Stark became a grown-up, he was a billionaire. He was also an orphan as his parents were killed in an accident some years before this story begins. 

With power, money and women all at his feet things could not be any more perfect for Tony Stark. He was left only for a fall. That fall comes when Tony is captured by Afghan terrorists after demonstrating his latest weapon for the military. The terrorists want Tony to build them his new weapon from the scraps of his weapons that they have somehow purchased.

Tony has other plans. With the help of a fellow captive (Shaun Toub, Crash) Tony builds a new kind of weapon, a giant iron suit that he will use to escape. This prototype suit allows Tony to fight his way out of the clutches of the bad guys and into a well timed rescue by the military, lead by Tony's pal General Rhodes (Terrence Howard).

Returning home, Tony decides to change his ways. While perfecting his iron suit weapon he makes the rash decision to take his company out of the weapons business, against the advice of his father's business partner Obediah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Vowing to protect the people he put in harms way with his weapons of mass destruction, Stark creates Iron Man and goes to war with terrorists and their benefactors.

Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man is classic blockbuster, summer movie fare. Larger than life characters, good versus evil, big time action and a sense of humor. Iron Man has it all and in the person of Robert Downey Jr. it has a soul and depth that similar movies (I'm looking at you Fantastic Four) don't have.

Downey is not your prototypical action star and given his history of drug and alcohol abuse, he's the last actor you would imagine as the star of a summer blockbuster. That is however what makes his casting so inspired. Hiring a real actor as opposed to some hunky stand-in (Tom Welling anyone?), gives Iron Man the kind of depth that it would take other actors a lot more work to establish.

Surrounded by an exceptional supporting cast of Oscar nominees, Terrence Howard, Oscar winners, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and crafty veterans, Jeff 'The Dude' Bridges, Shaun Taub, Downey sparkles and Iron Man transcends the typical summer movie. Iron Man is not without flaws, it takes a while to get to the red and gold suit, the editing of the big fight scene is a little muddled, but overall this is a terrific summer entertainment.

Movie Review Possession

Possession (2002) 

Directed by Neil Labute 

Written by David Henry Hwang, Laura Jones, Neil Labute 

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhardt, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle, Lena Headey 

Release date August 16th, 2002 

Published August 16th, 2002 

As something of a writer myself, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to make a film about writing. In Possession, writer/director Neil Labute (with help from Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart) nearly pulls it off. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how interesting watching people conduct research about great writers can be.

Eckhart is an American historian named Roland Mitchell, working and living in Britain. In the midst of researching a poet named Randolf Henry Ash, played in flashback by Jeremy Northam, he comes across a letter that has gone unseen for over a hundred years. Rather than turning it over to his superiors, Roland keeps it until he can verify its authenticity. This leads him to a fellow researcher named Maud Bailey (Paltrow), who is an expert in all things Ash. 

The letter is quite complicated, as it is not addressed to his wife (as most of Ash's work is), but rather, to a mystery woman. For historians, this is an earth-shattering discovery. Ash's fidelity and love for his wife is part of his legend. The mystery woman is a fellow writer named Christabel La Motte (Jennifer Ehle). Her history is notable for her open homosexuality and what was thought to be a fitful relationship with her maid. The deeper the research the more interesting the revelation. I won't spoil the film's many turns.

The story is interesting and well plotted but the romance between Eckhart and Paltrow never quite sparks. The two just don't have the chemistry it takes to make the film burn with the passion Labute is obviously looking for; the kind of passion that would inspire such great romantic writing. In the film's parallel story of Ash and Christabel, there is great passion. Northam and Ehle do burn up the screen and their writing is vivid and lovely.

Unfortunately that isn't enough for me to fully recommend Possession. This certainly isn't a bad film but the lack of chemistry between the two leads undoes most of the strong narrative. For fans of Paltrow, Possession may be a worthy rental.

Movie Review Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Directed by Jon Favreau 

Written by Justin Theroux 

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson

Release Date May 7th, 2010

Published May 6th, 2010 

Star power is that intangible quality that can turn even a bad movie into a brilliant one. Imagine Pirates of the Caribbean without Johnny Depp, Independence Day without Will Smith or any of the Ocean's 11 sequels. Star power can drive any movie to brilliance without the audience ever realizing that what surrounds the star is mostly a giant mess.

Iron Man 2 is not exactly a giant mess, but imagining it working without the incalculable star power of Robert Downey Jr is impossible.

When last we saw Tony Stark he was revealing himself to be the superhero Iron Man in his usual ostentatious fashion. Since then, Tony has run about the world privatizing world peace in our time. And boy is he ever aware of his power. Called to testify before Congress, Stark has no trouble humiliating Senators with his ever present wit and tech.

Even as his pal Major Rhodes (Don Cheadle in the military garb once worn by Terrence Howard) is called to testify against him, Stark flips, dodges and eventually walks out to cheers and applause.

Watching on TV in Russia is Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a man that Tony Stark is not aware has a connection to his father. Vanko's own father was in business with Tony's late father, together they invented the very arc reactor that Tony now uses on a smaller scale to keep him alive. Vanko's father was banished before he could reap any rewards and Ivan wants payback.

As for Tony, while he seems to be having a great time, he is growing ever weaker. The arc reactor is slowly killing him and if he cannot find a new power source he and Iron Man are finished. Keeping this fact from his longtime assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his new assistant Natalie (Scarlett Johannson) is only a minor subplot meant to keep the ladies busy.

Plot aside, Iron Man 2 is about attitude, it's about cool and it's about big time action. Taken on these terms it is impossible not to enjoy. Robert Downey Jr has perfected the swagger of Tony Stark and found the sweet spot between ego and hero. Arrogance is his stock and trade but Downey's ability to make us part of the joke and not the subject of his arrogance is the paper thin difference between charisma and just being a jerk.

Jon Favreau's direction is mechanical and somewhat perfunctory but he knows how to keep his massive special effects under control while allowing RDJ to carry the weight of the movie with his persona. It may not be anything remotely related to artfulness but Favreau knows how to make Iron Man 2 what it is supposed to be, Robert Downey Jr’s magnum ego opus.

Iron Man 2 is not a work of art, it's not major cinema, its hardcore popcorn entertainment in the most joyous sense. Downey and Favreau and their cohorts deliver what fans want of Iron Man's big swinging ego, massive explosions, and inside baseball allusions to the planned Avengers movie, by the way, stay through the credits.