Movie Review: Death Sentence

Death Sentence (2007) 

Directed by James Wan

Written by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers

Starring Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Garrett Hedlund, Aisha Tyler, John Goodman

Release Date August 31st, 2007

Published August 30th, 2007

Death Wish is the Citizen Kane of revenge movies. That 1974 film starring taciturn tough guy Charles Bronson is too revenge what Julia Roberts is too romantic comedy. The writer of the book Death Wish, Brian Garfield is said to have liked the movie but subsequent sequels that deviated from his best selling book series had turned him off to Hollywood.

Now, more than 30 years later, one of Garfield's Death Wish follow ups, Death Sentence, has been turned into a Hollywood feature and while the author is said to be satisfied with the final product, audience expectations will be left unfulfilled.

Kevin Bacon stars in Death Sentence as Nick Hume a father of two with a great wife (Kelly Preston) and a great job that has given his family security. That security is shattered in the blink of an eye when, after taking his oldest son Brenden (Stuart Lafferty) to a hockey game, Brenden is gunned down at a gas station as Nick looked on.

The murder was committed by a teenager as a gang initiation ritual. Nick saw the kid who did it but when he is told that prosecutors will seek a plea bargain rather than a trial, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Nick tracks down the kid and reaps his vengeance. Actions have consequences however and when it turns out that the kid is the little brother of a ruthless gang leader named Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund), Nick finds himself at war to protect what is left of his family.

Directed by James Wan, Death Sentence is a complicated revenge fantasy that becomes more and more outlandish as it goes on. Though grounded by a serious star performance by Kevin Bacon, Death Sentence paints an increasingly loony series of deaths and reprisals into its plot, so many that you may have a hard time keeping track of who's dead and who's alive.

That said, James Wan is a pro director. He was the progenitor of the Saw series with co-writer Leigh Whannell and invented the complicated aethetics and plotting of that terrific series. His follow up directing gig, Dead Silence was a twilight zone influenced mindfuck that worked cheap thrills into a grand guignol plot. With Death Sentence he makes an uncomfortable transition out of the horror genre.

In tact is Wan's talent for tight, quick visuals and snaky storytelling. What is missing however is depth and perspective. Where Saw is an intricate morality play covered in blood and Dead Silence was a twisty Twilight Zone homage, Death Sentence is mostly about its violence with only a passing glance at the merits of revenge.

Death Sentence wants to ask the question 'what would you do if someone killed your child'. Unfortunately, the script from first time writer Ian Jeffers becomes distracted with the battle of wills between Kevin Bacon's everyman and Garrett Hedlund's ruthless villain. The battle is kind of compelling but as the violence becomes more and more over the top; the perspective goes missing and it becomes little more than a series of staged gun battles.

It's a shame because there is a good deal of potential in this movie. One big missed opportunity comes in the character of Bones played by John Goodman. Introduced as a gun dealer, Bones' connection to one of the two main protagonists is a sly inclusion that should have had a more interesting payoff. As it is, the potential for this character is unrealized after just one terrific scene between Goodman and Bacon.

Death Sentence is a movie that should be better than it is. With Kevin Bacon's exceptional lead performance and director James Wan's skilled direction, it should be more satisfying than it is. As it is, Death Sentence is a modest disappointment. Not a bad film, just not a good enough film for me to recommend.

Movie Review Mischief

Mischief (1985) 

Directed by Mel Damski 

Written by Noel Black 

Starring Kelly Preston, Doug McKeon, Catherine Mary Stewart 

Release Date February 8th, 1985

Published February 8th, 2015 

There is a reason that the pleasant and quite entertaining movie “Mischief” is mostly lost to time. The film simply lacks any ambition. While it has entertaining performances, a terrific soundtrack, and an easy to relate to coming of age story, the film is stubbornly small in its ambition. There is no wont in the film to be anything more than a very slight teenage romance.

Doug McKeon is the ostensible lead of “Mischief” as Jonathan, a teenage horndog with a longstanding crush on Marilyn (Kelly Preston) that is seemingly doomed to be nothing more than a crush. Then, Jonathan meets Gene (Chris Nash) a classic other side of the tracks, James Dean loving, fellow outcast who becomes his guru with the ladies. It is Gene’s mission to help Jonathan get laid, a classically 80’s notion of teen comedy.

Together, Jonathan and Gene endure the pitfalls of smalltown life with rich kid bullies and indifferent adult figureheads aiming to keep them on the straight and narrow path to squaresville. Their friendship, while unlikely, is nevertheless well rendered and we can’t help but feel for both guys, even as we’ve witnessed this story more than a few times. McKeon and Nash work well together and with the aid of Preston’s smoking hot Marilyn and Catherine Mary Stewart’s more thoughtful Bunny, we find a group of characters that are easy to like and root for.

It’s just a shame that “Mischief” doesn’t have a little more ambition. Unlike the characters of another 1985 teens coming of age comedy, “The Breakfast Club,” the characters of “Mischief” are simply too narrow and singular. They have no ambition to be characters who define a generation. That comes in part from the film’s 1950’s setting which removes it from the modern experiences of teens of the time, but also from the narrow notions the film has about love and small town life. There is no grand statement to “Mischief” only minor, humorous incident.

If “Mischief” has a legacy now it’s only due to Kelly Preston. Her young, nubile, nudity was long a staple of the porn site “Mr. Skin,” home of celebrity nude stills from movies. Does “Mischief” deserve a better legacy than that? It might if the film had more ambition. As it is, I guess, it’s rather fitting.

Movie Review The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat (2003) 

Directed by Bo Welch

Written by Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer

Starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin

Release Date November 21st, 2003 

Published Published November 20th, 2003

Like any kid born after 1957, the books of Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, were an important part of my childhood. From Green Eggs and Ham to How The Grinch Stole Christmas to The Cat In The Hat, the Dr's rhyming wordplay and gloriously odd drawings are what helped form my imagination from the time I was able to read.

When The Grinch was turned into a blockbuster starring Jim Carrey, director Ron Howard was able to retain some of the magic of the book while still allowing Jim Carrey to do his thing. The Grinch wasn't a great adaptation but a skillfully crafted one. The same cannot be said of Bo Welch's adaptation of another Seuss classic, The Cat In The Hat which is neither great nor skillful. Rather it's a dreadful exercise in Hollywood blockbuster cynicism.

Mike Myers steps into the fur of the Cat in the Hat, the six foot feline who simply appears out of thin air to reek havoc and entertain a couple kids trapped at home in the rain. The kids in the film adaptation are Conrad (Spencer Breslin) and Sally (Dakota Fanning), brother and sister and different in every way imaginable. Conrad is destructive, messy and out of control. Sally is fastidious, organized and uptight. Their mother (Kelly Preston) works as a real estate agent and is having a party at their house tonight and the house must be perfect for her boss Mr. Humberfloob (Sean Hayes).

Mom has to work and must leave the kids with the narcoleptic Mrs. Kwan, a woman who could sleep through a train wreck in the living room. After a serious scolding from mom the kids agree to keep the house clean while mom works, but once she's gone the plan goes out the window with the sudden arrival of the Cat In the Hat. Thus begins an adventurous day of trying to keep the house from falling down around them and learning a lesson about how to have fun.

Mike Myers is almost indiscernible under piles of fur and rubber. His schtick however, is unmistakable as he bounds from character voice to character voice as if channeling Robin Williams at his manic worst. Myers plays the Cat as a combination of his Austin Powers persona and former flamboyant center square Charles Nelson Reilly. Myers never for a moment resembles the Cat you remember from the book, save of course for the signature red and white stovepipe hat. Aside from the hat however this Cat is a complete creation of Myers and makeup artist Mike Smithson. Much like the recent Austin Powers films, the performance is very hit and miss.

Director Bo Welch, helming his first feature, shows a terrific flair for set design which is not surprising because that is where he got his start. The Cat In The Hat has spectacular sets, production design, costumes, and makeup. If only the same attention had been paid to the script and especially the jokes. The script is credited to three former Seinfeld writers, Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer. Odd choices to begin with but then the script received a number of uncredited rewrites by Myers who likely wasn't credited because his work was all improvisations on the set.

Being that The Cat In The Hat was not a long story to begin with, the writers had a lot of time to fill. The unfortunate choice to fill that space with fart jokes and other forms of low humor are a deathly decision that destroys any chance the film had to be entertaining. Modernizing the story, allowing Myers to riff on pop culture is fine. Those elements worked to a point with Jim Carrey in The Grinch, but Carrey was at least somewhat restrained by Ron Howard's skilled direction. Bo Welch seems completely at a loss to reign in his star and can think of nothing better than the dreadful grossout humor that would turn Theodore Geisel's stomach.

Adding to the pain is producer Brian Grazer and his Imagine Entertainment marketing staff who cram every frame with disgusting product placement. The producers have already put the Cat in every imaginable commercial from pop to pregnancy tests and the commercials don't stop even after the movie begins. Myers even does a riff reminiscent of his Wayne's World product placement bit. In Wayne's World it was a wonderfully knowing incisive joke. In The Cat In The Hat, it's overkill.

Watching this film’s producers prostitute this wonderful piece of literary history is almost as disheartening as it's disgusting and unnecessary bathroom humor and scatology. In fact, I'm not sure which is worse. Thankfully, there is the lovely young actress Dakota Fanning who gives another terrific performance in a film well beneath her talents. Dakota Fanning deserves a far better film and the book The Cat In the Hat doesn't deserve this treatment. 

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 The Last Song

The Last Song (2010) 

Directed by Julie Ann Robinson 

Written by Nicholas Sparks 

Starring Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Kelly Preston, Greg Kinnear 

Release Date March 31st, 2010 

Published March 30th, 2010 

Miley 'Hannah Montana' Cyrus, Nicholas 'schmaltz-merchant' sparks and the family friendly folks at Disney are a combination that invites snark, that malicious form of discontent expressed in sometimes angry, often biting sarcasm. Each of these three properties has earned their fair share of derision with weak in the knees pandering to the most simplistic of audience expectations.

That said, I will attempt to fight back the snarky beast waiting to strike the new Miley, Sparks, Disney movie The Last Song which, under the direction of newcomer Julie Ann Robinson, is not really deserving of the cannon fodder snark aimed in its direction. Ronnie Miller (Miley) is a recent High School grad forced to leave New York behind for her Dad Steve's (Greg Kinnear) beach house in Georgia for the summer before she goes off to, well, at the moment, nowhere.

Though Ronnie has been accepted to Julliard she has no plans of going, she gave up music several years ago when her parents split. Ronnie's main goal will be to do her time at dads and get back to her friends and her mild rebellion in New York. Along for the ride is Ronnie's little brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) who, lucky for dad, is much more enthusiastic about the summer sojourn.

While avoiding her dad Ronnie encounters Will (Liam Hemsworth) and after some required tension the two begin a romance that begins to lead everyone to a better place. That is of course until the typical elements of a Nicholas Sparks melodrama emerge to submerge the story in hokum, predictability and a tragic passing. It wouldn't be Nicholas Sparks film if none of the principles weren't on the verge of croaksville. (Damn you snarkmonster!)

Sparks's script, commissioned by Disney specifically as a vehicle for Ms. Cyrus, is the weakest element of what is otherwise a rather charming little melodrama. Sparks cannot resist applying his trite formula of teen angst, overblown dramatics and cancer to the story and that leaves director Julie Ann Robinson room only to navigate around the many potholes created by Sparks and co-screenwriter Jeff Van Wie. In a rather remarkable turn of events, for the first 2 acts of The Last Song Ms. Robinson actually pulls it off.

The Last Song begins with a little mystery involving Dad's background, moves stiffly but effectively to Ronnie's unhappiness with the situation to her opening up to the surroundings, in the form of saving sea turtle eggs on the beach from predators and into her charming and effective romance with the too handsome Will. Through it all Ms. Cyrus pitches her performance at just the right level of teenage rebellion and little girl petulance.

The final act sadly coheres to the typicality’s of the Nicholas Sparks brand of forced drama and earns the first of more than a few groans. I should point out that on my patented Nicholas Sparks groan-meter The Last Song was a mere 6 groaner where his last effort, Dear John, was somewhere in the 30 to 35 range. So, that's quite an improvement really. (Snark!)

Even with the dithering final act, The Last Song remains a charming little teenage romance that demonstrates that when under the guiding hand of a director who cares Miley Cyrus has the talent to deliver something more than her pop star persona. The performance here is genuine and enjoyable and where I was once skeptical and dubious of Miley's acting aspirations I now must admit she may just have a future in film yet.