Movie Review American Fiction

American Fiction (2023) 

Directed by Cord Jefferson 

Written by Cord Jefferson 

Starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown 

Release Date December 15th, 2023 

Published December 23rd, 2023

American Fiction is the sharpest American comedy of 2023. This brilliant deconstruction of writers, writing, society, and popular culture from Cord Jefferson fearlessly points an accusing finger at the audience while not letting its main character off the hook either. Featuring one of our finest actors, Jeffrey Wright, at his absolute best, American Fiction takes elements from classic literature and mixes them with a touch of the angsty self-analogizing of the formerly great Woody Allen, and crafts a near perfect comedy. 

Monk, played by Jeffrey Wright, is a dyspeptic college professor and long struggling author. Despite having published several books, he cannot escape the specter of being a 'black author' and he's desperately frustrated. After suffering a loss in his family and the decline of his mother's health, Monk gets drunk and writes the kind of novel that he despises. It's a novel filled with stock characters from popular culture centered on the supposed 'black' experience. 

It's written in broken English and Monk's fictional author, Stagg R. Lee, is supposed fugitive from the law. He hopes to use the book to shame those that claim this kind of book is 'important' and 'raw' and explores the 'black' experience. It centers on a gang member with a deadbeat dad and no mother. The book is cobbled together from every 'important' piece of black popular culture aimed at white liberal guilt of the late 20th and 21st century. And in what should come as no surprise, it becomes a massive hit when Monk's agent sends it out to white publishers. 

Faced with the conundrum of having written a book he despises and being offered big money to publish the book he despises; Monk begrudgingly takes the money. With his mother being in declining health and needing round the clock care and his brother, Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), being of little help as he drugs and sexes his way through a nasty divorce, Monk needs the money, even if it is coming at the cost of his self-respect. Where this story is headed, you will need to see for yourself. I can only tell you that it is an exceptionally smart and funny journey to get there. 

Writer-Director Cord Jefferson has written one incredibly nimble and lithe comic script. It bubbles with wit and a contempt for a culture that reduces people to stereotypes. At the same time, the keystone of the movie is revealed in a terrifically awkward and deeply uncomfortable opening scene. Here, Monk in his job as a professor is teaching about the work of Flannery O'Connor. When he writes the title of one of O'Connor's short stories on the board, the title of which I can't comfortably write in this review, the student, a young white woman objects. The title contains the N-word and while the young white woman expresses her discomfort at having to see the word, Monk becomes frustrated and berates her. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Rustin

Rustin (2023) 

Directed by George C. Wolfe 

Written by Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black

Starring Colman Domingo, Aml Ameen, Glynn Turman, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright 

Release November 3rd, 2023

Published November 2nd, 2023 

I must be honest, I am not sure I can review the movie Rustin objectively. The film stars Colman Domingo, an actor whom I have interviewed on three occasions and who I have found thoroughly charming. Despite being an actor on a media tour on which he spoke to numerous journalists and was undoubtedly as the same questions again and again, Domingo is one of the most dynamic and kind interview subjects I've had the pleasure of talking to. And, on top of that, after my first interview with him, he remembered my name the next two tours I was on with him and recalled details from the prior interviews. The man is a wonder. 

With that out of the way, Colman Domingo is exceptional in Rustin. Based on the true story of the 1963 Civil Rights march on Washington D.C, Domingo plays the driving force behind the March, Bayard Rustin, a controversial figure in the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s. Rustin was at the right hand of Martin Luther King (Aml Ameen) until Bayard over played his hand politically and King was forced to side against him, causing Bayard to resign and leave the Civil Rights movement all together for several years. 

Rustin was drawn back into the Civil Rights struggle after seeing the horrors being committed by authorities in Alabama. Reverting to his roots as a planner and organizer, Rustin gathers together a disparate group of young radicals in California and starts planning for a two day march on Washington D.C intended to put pressure on Congress to pass President Kennedy's Civil Rights bill. The plan is for more than 100,000 black people to gather on the National Mall where people like Dr. Martin Luther King and prominent black leaders from around the country will address the crowd. 

8 weeks is the time frame when Bayard pitches the idea to Union Leader and Civil Rights legend, A. Phillip Randolph (Glynn Turman). The idea would be absurd if it weren't for Bayard Rustin whose talent for organizing is seemingly unmatched at the time. Randolph is on board but it will take a lot more convincing to get black leaders involved. Specifically, Roy Wilkins, the head of the NAACP is no friend or fan of Rustin. It was Wilkins who appeared to orchestrate Rustin's ouster from leadership among Civil Rights leaders, and help divide Rustin from his friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Click here for my full length review 

Movie Review Asteroid City

Asteroid City (2023) 

Directed by Wes Anderson 

Written by Wes Anderson 

Starring Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Jeffrey Wright

Release Date June 23rd, 2023 

Published June 23rd, 2023 

I adore the work of writer-director Wes Anderson. As a film critic with more than 20 years of experience writing about movies, Anderson's work has an unusual appeal for me. I see so many movies that look the same, go for the same goals, demonstrate the same filmmaking technique, and though they can be quite good or not good, the sameness of most of what I see becomes monotonous. Then, along comes a Wes Anderson movie like an alien from another planet. Instead of striving to place his characters in a place we can recognize and identify with them in a typical fashion, Anderson's style creates a surreal reality all its own. 

In his first feature film, Bottle Rocket, the characters were colorful and odd amid a realistic landscape. Since then, The Royal Tenenbaums began a turn for Anderson that led to more and more of a surrealist perspective. Anderson is a fan of artifice, and he brings artifice forward in his cinematography and production design. In his newest, remarkably ingenious work, called Asteroid, the surrealist production design is intended to logically marry the stage and film. It's as if Wes Anderson wanted to adapt a play into a movie but wanted to bring both the play and the movie forward at once. It's an exceptionally silly, funny, brilliant move. 

Trying to describe the plot of Asteroid City is rather pointless. Wes Anderson isn't so much interested in his plot. Rather, it's a Wes Anderson style of comedy, a series of odd, awkward, and often various funny scenes that may or may not be moving forward a plot. On the surface, we are following photographer and family man, Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), as he takes his kids across the country and their car breaks down in the oddball small town of Asteroid City. Luckily, they were on their way here anyway as Augie's oldest son, Woodrow (Jake Ryan), is to compete for a science scholarship. 

Asteroid City is the real star of Asteroid City. At the center of the town, which is made up of, perhaps four locations, is a giant crater where an asteroid landed in 3200 B.C. The town grew up around the asteroid as scientists and military men seek to understand the asteroid. Tilda Swinton is the top scientist and Jeffrey Wright is the military man. Things get crazy when an alien comes to Earth and takes the asteroid. The arrival of an alien causes the town, and all of its visitors, including Augie and his four kids, celebrity actress, Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johannson) and her genius daughter, Dina (Grace Edwards). 

Augie begins a tentative flirtation with Midge, their tiny cabins are right next door to each other, and Woodrow starts a budding relationship with Dinah as they work with their fellow genius kids, played by Sophia Lillis and Ethan Josh Lee to study the alien while also making sure the rest of the world knows that the alien exists, much to the chagrin of the military and their parents. The genius kids also work with Tilda Swinton's scientist to try and determine where the alien went and whether or not the alien is dangerous or not. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records (2008)

Directed by by Darnell Martin

Written by Darnell Martin

Starring Adrien Brody, Jerffrey Wright, Gabrielle Union, Columbus Short 

Release Date December 5th, 2008 

Published December 12th, 2008

Without Muddy Waters there is no Mick Jagger, there are no Rolling Stones. The hardest working band in Rock N' Roll heard Muddy Waters when they were just passing puberty and were so effected by it that their whole lives have been shaped by the experience.

Thus the extraordinary influence of a man and a genre of music that has too long gone unnoticed. Cadillac Records is a far from perfect tribute that comes up short of truly honoring the history the history of Chess Records and the Blues but as a reminder of it does an effective job of getting your attention and making you at least hear the music.

Leonard Chess (Oscar winner Adrian Brody) was a Chicago nightclub owner whose club mysteriously burned to the ground leaving him just enough insurance money to build a recording studio and found a record label. Having just met and heard Muddy Waters (Geoffrey Wright) and his protege Little Walter (Columbus Short) for the first time, I'm sure the fire was just a coincidence.

Chess got Muddy and Walter in the studio and with a little grease for the local DJ's, Chess Records started making big money. The nickname Cadillac Records because instead of paying his artists royalties, early on, he gave them Caddies paid for with their royalty money.

From there Chess went on to discover Howlin Wolf (Eammon Walker), Willie Dixon (Cedric The Entertainer), Etta James (Beyonce) and his most famous find Chuck Berry (Mos Def). After introducing the actors and the artists they portray we are treated to a song or two some manufactured melodrama and then it's over. Say this for Cadillac Records, it's efficient and to point.

The pre-packaged drama is as weak as I imply but director Darnell Martin smartly doesn't dwell on it to much, Martin knows where the bread of Cadillac Records is buttered, it's all about the tunes. Geoffrey Wright, Beyonce and Mos Def sing these indelible classics themselves and the performances capture the passion of live performance like few music movies have.

This is powerful stuff and though many will be distracted by Beyonce's celebrity, all reservations about her taking on the role of Etta James will be alleviated when her performance of "I'd Rather Go Blind" is belted out through tears and deep, deep subtext.

Mos Def gives the film a jolt of joy as the ebulliant Chuck Berry. The irreverent, duck walking Berry is the perfect role for Mos Def an actor who does childlike joy and mischief like few other actors working today. Even portraying the darkest moments of Berry's life, Mos Def captures the roll with the punches style that has sustained Berry to this day.

Cadillac Records is not the tribute that people like Muddy Water, Etta James or Leonard Chess deserves, not to mention Chess' brother who was shamefully left out of the movie over life rights issues, he's still alive, but it is a solid reminder of these legends collective greatness and it gives us a chance to hear these songs again.

That alone is worth the price of admission.

Movie Review Source Code

Source Code (2011) 

Directed by Duncan Jones

Written by Ben Ripley

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Jeffrey Wright, Vera Farmiga

Release Date April 20th, 2011

Published April 19th, 2011

The less you know going into "Source Code," the more you will enjoy it. "Source Code" is an ingenious sci-fi thriller that delivers surprises that seem nearly impossible in the age of the spoiler alert. Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, "Source Code" is an early candidate for year end best of lists.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a Chicago commuter train disoriented and very confused. The woman in the seat across from him, Christina (Michele Monaghan) looks at him as if she knows who he is but she calls him by a different name. None of the other passengers seem familiar. Finally, when he gets to the mirror in the bathroom he finds a face he does not recognize.

Then, the train explodes and Colter is fired to another reality. Now, he is strapped to a seat inside some kind of pod. Over an unseen intercom a woman's voice begins quizzing him about what he had seen on the train. Slowly, Colter begins to recognize the commands he is being given.

There has been a terrorist attack on a Chicago commuter train and 100 people on board are dead. It is Colter's mission to go back to that train before the bomb goes off and find and identify the bomber and report back to the voice on the intercom, Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and her boss Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright.)

To tell you more than that, the very basic description of the opening minutes of "Source Code" threatens to rob you of the joys of this terrifically crafted sci-fi thriller. "Source Code" is about plot, it's about confusion and it's about shocking clarifications. Director Duncan Jones and writer Ben Ripley unfold the plot of "Source Code" with the clever twistiness of a young M.Night Shyamalan.

Source Code is a time travel movie and the time travel aspect is a lot of fun. Duncan Jones and his team create their own time travel rules and employ those rules to create nail biting suspense. We and Jake Gyllenhaal's Colter know what the rules are but most of the other characters don't and that creates a terrific tension as the everyday people Colter is trying to rescue become his accidental antagonists. 

Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright commit completely to the notions of "Source Code" and their investment in the plot and in their individual characters sells all of the pseudo science as a believable plot. Either you buy what these actors are selling or you don't. I bought it and I loved "Source Code."

The crafty plotting and terrific cast of "Source Code" create a thrilling and fun movie going experience. Do not let anyone spoil the plot for you and you may love "Source Code" even more than I did and I had far too many clues going in and still was blown away. "Source Code" is an excellent movie.

Movie Review: Casino Royale Starring Daniel Craig

Casino Royale (2006) 

Directed by Martin Campbell 

Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis 

Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Dame Judi Dench 

Release Date November 17rh, 2006 

Published November 16th, 2006 

I've never been a big James Bond fan. I have always perceived OO7 to be my fathers kind of hero not mine, I'm more Han Solo than Bond. So I didn't get all that worked up over the controversy that surrounded the selection of a new James Bond and the unceremonious ouster of Pierce Brosnan. The most recent Bond flicks had begun to devolve into kitschy exercises in gadgetry and snark.

The new James Bond is a little more my style. Grittier, more violent, darker in tone than any of the other Bond pictures, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, is an action packed, quickly paced thriller with more in common with Jason Bourne than James Bond.

In this version of Ian Fleming's legendary spy series, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is a rising star in British Intelligence. Having just attained his double-oh status, James is a prickly thorn in the side of his superior M (Dame Judi Dench). On a mission in Africa, Bond killed a government witness in full view of witnesses and a security camera and, though the death was justifiable in context, the tabloids want someone to blame.

Rather than feeding the junior spy to the media, M sends Bond on holiday; knowing full well that he is not finished with his current mission. Tracking a terror target to the Bahamas, James reveals his talent for hold'em poker and his charm with the ladies by showing up a terror suspect at cards and then seducing the man's wife.

Eventually this trail leads Bond to a high stakes poker game in Montenegro where the world's leader in funding terror groups, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson) is holding court. Le Chiffre is a highly competitive and seemingly unbeatable player. It is up to Bond and his government accountant Vesper Lind (Eva Green) to stop Le Chiffre from winning the money he needs to continue supporting terrorists.

That is a semblance of the plot of Casino Royale. The plot, of course, is superfluous to a movie so much more interested in looking cool. Director Martin Campbell and star Daniel Craig are the perfect combination of style and cool. With his cold blue eyes and chiseled physique, Craig is the most intimidating Bond in the franchise history. Director Martin Campbell makes great use of Craig's assets, placing him in more hand to hand combat than ever before and eliminating the series' stale reliance on gadgetry.

Danish actor Madds Mikkelson is a Bond villain not unlike Charles Gray's Blofeld, at least early in the film. Mikkelson's Le Chiffre is a hands off villain whose talent is moving money for far more dangerous villains. He's unlikely to get physically involved with Bond, especially one on one. As demonstration of his vulnerability, Le Chiffre cries blood when he's frustrated.

There is however, a torture scene where Le Chiffre shows a more sadistic side than any Bond villain has likely ever shown. I won't detail what happens in this scene, let's just say it involves that most sensitive part of the male anatomy. The torture scene along with some of the violent hand to hand combat left me wondering just how the MPAA gave Casino Royale a PG-13 rating. The hand to hand battles are brutal and bloody and the torture scene is nearly unbearable, not anything you want to take the kids to see or allow your young children to see on their own.

There is much that I enjoyed about Casino Royale; but, the film is not without noticeable flaws. At two hours and 20 minutes, Casino Royale desperately overstays its welcome. The movie ends atleast twice before finally resolving with a major sequel tease. Just as the film seems to be over for the first time, new villains are introduced out of the clear blue sky and with little to no connection to the main plot. That's irritating enough but when the film continues on with a second false ending, I nearly walked out in disgust.

There are a good 20 minutes, at least, that could be cut to make Casino Royale a leaner, more focused and far better film than it is.

The most exciting thing about Casino Royale is the absolutely extraordinary chase scene that opens the film immediately after the credits. As Bond and a fellow agent scope out an African bomb maker, Bond's partner accidentally tips off the bad guy and Bond is forced to give chase. The chase is one of the most mind blowing action sequences ever filmed as stuntman/actor Sebastein Foucan demonstrates a style of free running called Parkour that shows off his abilities as a human special effect. Foucan's leaps, jumps, dives and twists and his incredible speed make Jackie Chan look like Jackie Gleason.

I wanted more of Sebastien Foucan and would love to see him get together with Tom Tykwer for a Run Lola Run sequel. Foucan really steals the show in Casino Royale.

As always one of the most eye-catching things about a James Bond picture is the Bond babe and Eva Green, the sexpot star of Bertolucci's The Dreamers, really fits the bill. Though little is required of Green in terms of plot, character or action, she is terrific eye candy and that is the very least you can ask of a Bond babe. Yes, I know the term Bond babe is passe in this day and age, but what about Bond is not anachronistic in the age of the techno thriller.

An excellent debut for new Bond Daniel Craig, Casino Royale is a rollicking, old school action flick that could have ranked amongst the best action pictures of the decade with a little more work in the editing room. At nearly150 minutes Casino Royale is a chore to sit through, especially the irritating triple ending.  Still, Casino Royale contains just enough action and sex appeal to make for some terrific popcorn entertainment.

The film received a PG-13 rating but I do not recommend the film for kids under 18 years of age. The film is darkly violent with a callousness and brutality that belies the teen friendly rating. Parents use your discretion.

Movie Review Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace (2008) 

Directed by Marc Forster 

Written by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

Starring Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Dame Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright 

Release Date November 14th, 2008

Published November 13th, 2008 

Much of the juice of Quantum of Solace rides on whether you bought the whole James Bond-Vesper Lind romance from 2006's Casino Royale. I did not. Thus witnessing Quantum of Solace becomes something of a struggle for motivation. To enjoy it. is to suspend disbelief in an uncomfortable fashion. Believe that Bond could leap through fiery hallways without being burned? No problem. Believing Bond could be shot at more than Dick Cheney's hunting partners and live to tell? Sure, I can buy that.

But trying to believe that the cold hearted ladies man of 22 previous adventures could have his heart melted by a feisty government accountant. Sorry. Can't do it. Thus, Quantum of Solace gets off to a stumbling pace and builds to a non-climax climax on its merry way to promising yet another sequel instead of being the tightly wound, classy action pic it so desperately wishes it were.

Quantum of Solace picks up in the immediate aftermath of Casino Royale. Having captured Mr. White (Jesper Christianson) and begun torturing answers out of him about the shadowy organization he works for, Bond delivers him to M (Dame judi Dench) for further questioning, not before he is chased through the ancient streets of some nameless Italian mountainside.

Mr. White leads to a murder plot in Haiti involving a dangerous young woman named Camille (Olga Kurylenko), ostensibly the girlfriend of Mr. Green (Mathieu Amalric). She was to be the victim but Bond makes the rescue, something he will do several more times throughout the film. From there we are off to Bolivia where there may be oil or diamonds beneath a giant swath of desert and Mr. Green can get his hands on it by funding a military coup.

It's up to Bond to face down Mr. Green, Green's shadowy boss, and even the truly evil forces of corporate and state greed. All the while maintaining his Bond-ian cool which includes drinking, flirting and sexing when necessary. Along for different parts of the ride are Gemma Aterton as Agent Strawberry Fields and Giancarlo Giannini reprising his rather confusing role from Casino Royale.

Directed by Oscar nominee Marc Forster from a script by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, Quantum of Solace should be a great movie but settles for being a good movie. The action is cut to MTV style quick cuts that whip audiences through action scenes so we won't notice any sloppiness. We don't but often we are so dizzy we don't care.

The script makes more sense than much of Casino Royale, but beginning as it does on the false note of Bond's tragic 'love story', it is hamstrung from the start. The script lacks depth beyond its obvious action propellants, leaving only the character of James Bond to keep us from getting up and walking out. Thank heaven Daniel Craig rises to the challenge.

Craig is the baddest of all Bond's and because of him we are compelled past the film's worst flaws. He may not have any interest in sipping martinis or repeating his name and he is entirely without gadgets, but when he invites Gemma Aterton's Strawberry Fields to help him locate something in his bedroom you can't help but smile, knowing the next scene will find Ms. Fields sans clothes. Bond's way with women is one of the few elements of classic Bond to survive the reboot.

The other piece of classic Bond comes in the spectacular credit sequence. The animated opening featuring the nude bodies of gorgeous babes rising from desert sands has the bold, psychedelic look that has defined the Bond credit sequences of the past.

Did I like Quantum of Solace? Kind of. I liked Daniel Craig. I liked individual scenes and I liked the Bond babes, if only for serving their purpose as classic eye candy. But Quantum of Solace comes up short of being a movie I am wild about. It lacks a unifying plot. It lacks one truly breathtaking scene that might make this good movie into a great one, even beyond the plot trouble.

Movie Review: Ali

Ali (2001) 

Directed by Michael Mann 

Written by Eric Roth, Michael Mann, Christopher Wilkinson 

Starring Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright 

Release Date December 25th, 2001 

Published April 15th, 2002 

The life of Mohammed Ali is one of the most fascinating ever lived, a life that should be dramatized for the big screen and make for a great film. 

Unfortunately, this is not that film. 

The film covers a ten-year span of Ali's life from his victory over Sonny Liston in 1964 to his dramatic victory over George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. Michael Mann gives us a feel of Ali's personal life, his battle with his father over his conversion to Islam, his relationships with his wives and his relationship with Malcolm X. However all of these scenes feel disjointed. Director Michael Mann seems to keep the audience at a distance instead of allowing us into the mind of Ali. With dialogue, Mann uses the film's soundtrack of 60's R & B tunes to deliver the emotion and at times even replace actual dialogue. 

It's likely that Mann knows many of us are already quite familiar with Ali's many public challenges and doesn't feel the need to go into much detail. But why then does he muddle the timeline of the champ's career? If Mann believed the audience to be overly familiar with Ali's story, why does he leave out important moments of the champ's career such as the infamous phantom punch in the second Liston fight and his two rematches with Joe Frazier? 

The boxing scenes in Ali are quite good with Mann getting in the ring with a handheld camera and putting the audience right in the match. The camerawork in the boxing scenes is phenomenal and star Will Smith is surprisingly credible, trading punches with real boxers including former middleweight champion James Toney who plays Smokin' Joe.

As for Will Smith he's very good, not quite Oscar good in my opinion but good. Smith evokes many of Ali's most recognizable attributes such as his brashness and vocal cadence. He also handles the emotional elements very well, especially the difficulties in Ali's personal life. Unfortunately, Smith is let down by director Mann who forgoes Smith's dialogue in favor the film's soundtrack as I described earlier. 

Movie Review Syriana

Syriana (2005) 

Directed by Stephen Gaghan 

Written by Stephen Gaghan 

Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, Amanda Peet, Tim Blake Nelson

Release Date November 23rd, 2005 

Published November 22nd, 2005 

2005 has been an extraordinary year for George Clooney. His second directorial effort Good Night and Good Luck, a film about the pitched battle between newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy, has been lauded by critics for its intellect and social relevance. Both Good Night and Good Luck and Clooney's latest acting effort Syriana are awards contenders with Clooney likely competing against himself as a supporting player in both films. In Syriana, Clooney is part of one of maybe a dozen subplots in a byzantine tale of corruption and futility. An exceptionally thought provoking narrative that is as fascinating as it is depressing.

Describing the plot of Syriana is a somewhat futile task. The complex, non-linear form of the script defies any simplistic description. The film is essentially about how business is done in the oil industry. But the real essence of Syriana is futility. The futility in attempting to stop the madness in the middle east. Futility in attempting to discern the culpability of oil companies in creating the instability of the middle east. And finally the futility of following the myriad of motivations of each of the characters in Syriana.

There is George Clooney's Bob Barnes, a CIA operative in the middle east, who we first meet as he is setting up some potential terrorists in Iran to be killed. Bob is getting older and his colleagues back in Washington are talking about the end of his career. Bob's career, the chance at a cushy desk job, rides on one last task. He must kill a potential new middle eastern king. When that job goes bad, Bob's career is beyond merely being over.

Matt Damon plays Brian Woodman, an oil industry analyst who lands a major new middle eastern client after his own son is killed at a party held by this new client. Naturally, this arrangement does not sit well with Brian's wife (Amanda Peet) who cannot abide profiting from her son's death. This does not deter however as becomes the top economic advisor to his new client. With this client about to become the biggest player in the Middle East, Brian stands to get very rich. This, however, puts Brian's interests at odds with a number of other competing interests.

Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper and Christopher Plummer inhabit another of Syria's many plots. Wright is an ambitious Washington lawyer who lands a gig trying to smooth the way for two major oil companies to merge into the fifth largest company in the world. Cooper is the CEO of one of the two companies, Killen Oil of Houston, Texas, and Christopher Plummer plays Wright's boss whose CIA connections are key in helping the merger succeed.

How these plots intrude on one another only becomes clear well into your post-film analysis. While watching Syriana you are dazzled individually by each plot, even as you have little idea what they mean or where they are headed. It's a rather astonishing film that can leave an audience so bedeviled and at once so fascinated. Syriana is as compelling a film as they come.

Director Steven Gaghan knows a little something about sprawling multi-layered, massively cast epics. It was Gaghan who scripted the Oscar nominated Traffic. Syriana and Traffic are each muckraking cousins in terms of stirring debates on important issues. Traffic is slightly superior in that it somehow feels more complete and its characters' motivations so much clearer. But both films are a testament to Gaghan's talent for complex and meaningful stories. 

When late in Syriana Clooney's CIA agent is chasing through the desert in attempt to save someone's life you cannot figure if it's just dumb luck that landed him in exactly the right spot or just an editing decision that excised the scene that might explain his luck. At one moment he looks lost, the next he is tearing off after exactly the people he's searching for. I say that Clooney's character was trying to save a life, but his motivation may be more ambiguous than that. There are a few more scenes missing from Syriana that might make the narrative clearer but, in the end, they aren't needed. Part of what makes Syriana fascinating is a level of ambiguity left to the audience to consider well after they have watched the film.

Working from a book by former CIA agent Robert Baer called See No Evil, director Steven Gaghan posits that much of the fictional tale of Syriana is based on reality. If this is true, Syriana could rank as one of the more depressing films of the year. Essentially it depicts oil companies, the CIA, and our government as morally bankrupt and completely corrupt. They do business with people in the middle east who are equally as corrupt and often more murderous than us, though we do more than our share of killing. 

Corruption, as illuminated in a quick but resonant speech by Tim Blake Nelson, in a pivotal cameo, is not only necessary, it is simply what we do. Corruption is American foreign policy. It is the cost of doing business, an everyday part of how things move through the Middle East. Both here and abroad corruption is everywhere and you can do nothing about because all of us, no matter how much you may deplore it, benefit from this corruption every day.

The gas you buy so cheaply as compared to other countries is the result of this corrupt system. Most of the products you buy are produced in some way, shape, or form using the oil that is siphoned from middle eastern oil fields. The corruption is inescapable unless you're willing to accept some major new inconveniences and even then you have to find a way to elect people who will put those new inconvenient policies in place, which means working around the corruption in place to hold up the corruption already in place. Good luck with that.

In a way Syriana reminds me of the first amendment documentary Orwell Rolls In His Grave, which details the corruption that has led all of America's communications industries to fall into the hands of a few wealthy elites. The thesis of 'Orwell' was that fighting the battle against the major media is a waste of time because they have all the power. Leaving Orwell I felt pretty hopeless and I had a similar, if slightly less desperate feeling leaving Syriana.

There is something hopeful in just the fact that a movie like Syriana got made. The film shines a light on some things I'm sure those in power would rather not become part of public discourse. That is not to say that Syriana has the power to change the nature of the way we do business in America but it's like the old saying about how people love bacon but no one wants to see how it's made. Syriana shows you just how our American economy is made in all of its gory, blood-soaked, greed-obsessed ways and leaves it to the individual viewers to decide how to live with that information.

Syriana is exceptional in executing its maze of plotting and leaving the audience with questions and feelings that could have a lasting impact. However, if you are looking for a simple movie to pass the time, you might want to look elsewhere. Syriana is not interested in being a simple entertainment. The makers of Syriana are intent on making you think about American foreign policy, about the feelings and interests of our allies, and enemies, and about the dirty business of making money in America. Often disheartening but never boring, Syriana is a powerful film going experience.

Movie Review The Invasion

The Invasion (2007) 

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel 

Written by David Kajganich 

Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jeffrey Wright

Release Date August 17th, 2007

Published August 16th, 2007 

The latest incarnation of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, that legendary cold war parable based on the novel by Jack Finney, is one those mythically troubled Hollywood productions. Not quite the historic Hollywood disaster of Bonfire of the Vanities or Ishtar, but with more than a little in common with the recent disastrous Exorcist prequel(s), The Invasion was once directed by an up and coming director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, before being almost entirely reshot by V For Vendetta helmer James McTiegue, with guidance from his producing partners Lana and Lilly Wachowski, The Invasion is a bizarre hybrid of failed ideas and pieces that just don't fit. 

Now, this compromised, reshot version of Hirschbiegel's take on the Body Snatchers legend is finally on the big screen and the result is, as predicted, an utter disaster. The Invasion is a nonsense movie comprised of half baked political ideas and lame, over the top action set pieces. The last time Nicole Kidman starred in a big budget remake the result was the dreary, nonsensical recreation of The Stepford Wives. Working on that highly troubled production should have taught the Oscar winner a lesson yet here she is in The Invasion starring as psychiatrist Carol Bennell. This mother of one son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), is a dedicated mother and doctor

Dad, Tucker (Jeremy Northam) is a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and when the space shuttle Patriot crashes leaving debris spread across several states he is surprised to be called to the scene. It seems the ship is coated in some sort of alien ooze. When Tucker is accidentally cut by a piece of debris he is soon changed and an alien virus is set loose on the planet. Beginning as what many feel is a flu epidemic, Tucker uses his position at the CDC and his access to the President of the United States, to spread the alien virus and his first target is his son.

It will soon be up to mom and her scientist boyfriend Ben (Daniel Craig) and another scientist, Dr. Galleon (Jeffrey Wright) to discover the virus, uncover the conspiracy and stay uninfected long enough to discover a cure. There are germs of many ideas in The Invasion and a good deal of high minded ambition as well. Unfortunately, not even two talented directors, Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) or pinch hitter James McTiegue (V For Vendetta), and a script overhaul by the Matrix team can seem to wrangle these ideas or ambitions into a cohesive story.

It's clear that the makers of The Invasion desperately wanted the film to be relevant, even political. However, lacking any idea of what metaphor it wants to represent or political philosophy it supports, The Invasion flails in many different directions with no real target to aim at. Allusions are made to the genocide in Darfur, the roiling conflict between Israel and Palestine, and to the war in Iraq but the film doesn't really have a discernible opinion about any of these issues. Rather, each is used as an unsettling plot point in a truly confusing final act that will have some wondering if the aliens are really the bad guys. Yes, the film is so bad, you may just root for the destruction of humanity.

Even through the morass of a thoroughly confused plot, the talented cast of The Invasion manages to make the movie rather gripping. Nicole Kidman is an actress of tremendous strength and fortitude and she sells the tension of the alien invasion extraordinarily well. Though she is a little too convincing as an icy, emotionless, zombie, Ms. Kidman's tenacity and the well calibrated action of The Invasion do manage, from time to time, to move you to the edge of your seat.

Is this really the film that Daniel Craig meant to follow up James Bond with? Not really, actually he was given the role of 007 during shooting of The Invasion. It was only after he completed work on Casino Royale that Craig was called back to reshoot scenes for The Invasion that would hold the film until after Casino Royale. A bummer for Craig who I'm sure wishes he could have had a stronger follow up for Bond than playing second fiddle in a tragic sci fi misfire like The Invasion.

On a more disturbing note, whose awful idea was it to bring the alien virus to earth on a crashing NASA space shuttle? A crash that is not merely reminiscent of the 2003 crash of the space shuttle Columbia but so obviously modeled on the details of that tragedy that a lawsuit would not be out of the question. The crash in The Invasion is spread predominantly over Texas with debris that spread over several southern states. This was the near exact fate of Columbia.

Shame on the producers of The Invasion and the studio for including something of such poor taste and utter disregard for the brave men and women of Columbia and their families. They deserve far better than to have their tragedy be a plot device in some B-movie sci fi schlock-fest. Will we ever see director Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut of The Invasion? Maybe, maybe not. No one expected to see Paul Schrader's Exorcist prequel or Ridley Scott's Blade Runner but both are now widely available. Hirschbiegel's version no doubt still exists somewhere and will likely be sought after by many a curious sci fi fan due to how uproariously terrible the reshoots clearly are.

Let us keep in mind however, that there is nothing in what is left of The Invasion that holds much promise for a better version to exist in the shadows. The whole misguided enterprise looks more simply like a case of a movie in search of an idea that never really found one. Covering the holes and the cracks with skillful car chases and  well staged gunplay, the Wachowski's and director James McTiegue likely did all that they could with the materials on hand.

Don't hold out too much hope sci fi fans. Let's try and put this Invasion behind us.