Movie Review: A History of Violence Starring Viggo Mortensen

A History of Violence (2005) 

Directed by David Cronenberg 

Written by Josh Olson

Starring Viggo Mortenson, Maria Bello, Ed Harris

Release Date September 23rd, 2005 

Published September 23rd, 2005 

Streaming Rental through Amazon 

One unique trend in modern film is the connection between sex and violence. In thrillers and horror films these two disparate acts are often found at a crossroad. In horror; sex is punished, often with a bloody violent death, see Friday The 13th. In thrillers like Sin City sex and violence are married through characters. The prostitutes of Sin City are righteously violent vixens who mete out biblical justice when they aren't serving the few righteous citizens who prove worthy of their services.

In David Cronenberg's A History of Violence the sex-violence link is a little more murky. The sex is hardcore and the violence is bloody and excessive. There is no open link between sex and violence except that extreme forms of both are in the film. What in Cronenberg's mind links the two could be a philosophical circle of life, a birth and death connection. Or it could be that few things are more cinematically attention grabbing than sex and violence.

Whatever the reasoning, Cronenberg's A History Of Violence links sex and violence inside a thriller that never fails to titivate and fascinate.

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortenson) has achieved the American dream. Living in a small town in Indiana, Tom own's a diner, his wife Edie is a successful lawyer and their two kids, 16 year old Jack (Ashton Holmes) and 6 year old Sarah (Heidi Hayes) are healthy and thriving. The Stall family is the perfect Norman Rockwell idea of homey goodness.

Lurking beneath the surface of this small town paradise are some violent and dangerous secrets that come to life when two thugs show up in Tom's diner. We have seen these thugs in the opening of the film callously murder the operators of a small motel, now they have arrived at Tom's diner at closing time with the same ill intentions. In a scene that is stunningly violent and graphic, Tom manages to stop the thugs from robbing the diner and murdering his customers.

The violent nature of Tom's turning back these bad guys is overlooked by residents who are just thankful for Tom's heroism. However, when Tom's bravery makes the paper his violent acts and recognizable face draw the attention of people Tom may have been trying to forget. On the heels of Tom's heroic act, three more thuggish types arrive in town and at Tom's diner.

The leader of this group of bad guys is Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris) who claims to recognize Tom as a man named Joey who some years earlier disappeared from Philadelphia after having taken Fogerty's eye out with barbed wire. Tom incredulously explains that he doesn't know who Joey is and is eventually forced to call in the local sheriff (Peter MacNeill) to run Fogerty out of town. That doesn't work and eventually Tom is forced to face Fogerty at his home in front of his whole family.

While all of this drama with Fogerty is going on, tensions at home have amped up over Jack's sudden bursts of arrogance and violence. Being bullied at school, Jack finally retaliated and badly hurt one of the boys who had been harassing him. There is also tension between husband and wife over Fogerty's accusations and holes in Tom's past that he refuses or simply can't resolve. Fogerty confronting Edie in a shopping mall plants seeds of doubt in her mind that eventually leads Edie to believe her husband may not be who she thinks he is.

A History of Violence is a mystery and a thriller. Cronenberg deftly walks the line in teasing the identity of Tom and Joey, allowing for intriguing speculation and cathartic revelation. It's a difficult tightrope to walk and since this mystery plot isn't even Cronenberg's real subject, his skilled handling of it is that much more impressive.

In A History of Violence, David Cronenberg asks; is violence inevitable? Uncontrollable? Is it simply part of human nature? Cronenberg even wonders if violence is hereditary. Is it possible that because Tom is capable of so much violence that he has passed this genetic trait for violence to Jack? Geneticists have debated a violence gene but most feel it is often more nurture than nature. Man is inherently predisposed to certain forms of violence through evolution, the survival of the fittest, but the trait for a violent nature is not passed from one generation to the next through the genes.

Evolution and the survival of the fittest have been a favored subject of David Cronenberg for years. A History of Violence is yet another example of his fascination with the subject. The film displays a kill or be killed example of characters who show themselves to simply be superior in knowing how to survive. One character specifically demonstrates that he is the fittest of all.

Then there is the sex and violence I mentioned in my opening paragraphs. The sex and violence in A History of Violence are graphic and closely examined by Cronenberg's camera. The film opens with offscreen violence which we witness the aftermath of, large pools of blood and a pair of battered bodies, and a shocking finale that also takes place just offscreen, though is no less stunning for not having been seen.

The first sex scene between Tom and Edie begins right away with a bit of kink as Edie dresses the part of a cheerleader and Tom the captain of the football team waiting to take her virginity. The scene progresses to sex that is not often portrayed in a mainstream movie. The scene is not graphic per se, but it is surprisingly frank and revealing.

The violence once again erupts at Tom's diner when the thugs attempt the robbery. Tom defends himself and his customers with serious violence. First shooting one thug in the head, a scene in which Cronenberg captures this mans head exploding from the bullet impact in a vividly realistic flash cut. Tom then kills the other guy with a shot to heart that sends the thug flying through a window.

More scenes of violence proceed the films final sex scene which is completely opposite the tender, loving lovemaking of the first scene. After a major argument in which Edie wonders if Tom may really be Joey, Tom violently takes Edie on the stairs of the family home. The scene begins as a rape but soon an excited and very into it Edie begins to enjoy the violence. This is a highly controversial moment that Cronenberg couches as not being a comment on women and violence but as a comment on Edie's character and her own attraction to danger and the unknown. That's debatable, it's fair to say, many women will justifiably find this scene of violent sex hard to watch so be prepared.

What I really liked about A History of Violence is Cronenberg's depth and curiosity and his bravery in examining so many subjects inside one story. The film considers evolution, violence, sex, and genetics in a frank and intelligent manner. Cronenberg does not hold back at all. His violence is shocking, his sex is no holds barred and his mind is open to exploring; through these characters a wide variety of interesting topics.

There is also in A History Of Violence a smart mystery thriller plot. Is Tom really a mob thug named Joey? Does Edie know the truth? Who is this man Fogerty and who is this guy he works for who claims to be Joey/Tom's brother, played by Oscar nominee William Hurt? This thriller plot combined with Cronenberg's lively mind make a formidable movie.

A History of Violence can be written off as exploitative, but that is only if you look at the surface of the picture. Beneath the surface is a smart and always curious film in search of truths about human nature and our propensity for violence. Inside A History of Violence is a clever dissertation on the modern survival of the fittest.

We rarely acknowledge and certainly do not examine modern examples of the survival of the fittest and the various ways one human thrives ahead another. David Cronenberg is the rare person who is quite taken with this subject. A History of Violence, I believe, is just one of many examples of how Cronenberg has and will continue examining this fascinating and disturbing subject.

Essay Hollywood Sex and Violence Link (2006)

In 2006, in the wake of the release of A History of Violence and Sin City, I wrote about how Hollywood movies linked sex and violence. This is that essay recovered from an old MySpace blog... 

FYI This post contains what you might call spoilers for the plot of the film A History of Violence. If you wish to watch that film with the mystery in place do not read until after you watch the film. Happy reading and please post your responses.

One unique trend in modern film is the link between sex and violence. In horror films and thrillers these two disparate acts are now often found at a crossroad. In horror films sex is often punished with a bloody violent death, see Friday the 13th as an example. Sexuality or sensuality is similarly punished, consider films like Slumber Party Massacre (not exactly a brilliant subject of serious discourse but follow me here) where beautiful woman are brutally and viciously murdered for the simple fact that they are beautiful. The camera spends ample time exploiting the beauty of the women in the film with copious nude scenes and scenes of woman in various states of undress. And then the film sets about destroying that beauty with hardcore violence.

In the thriller genre take an example like Steven Speilberg's Munich which transposes a scene of a husband making love to his wife, a reunion after a long absence by the husband who has been compromising his morals out of duty to his country. The conflicted husband cannot escape thoughts of horrific violence as he is going about the loving act of intercourse with his wife. The sex scene is edited to a chorus violent images of Israeli athletes being brutally killed.What is the purpose of the sex and violence link in Munich? I believe it was the demonstration of the husband's conflicted conscience. On the one hand he is engaged in a pure act of love. On the other he cannot escape the horror of the violence he has been set to avenge. He cannot escape the horror of violence even as he is experiencing the ultimate in pure human goodness and joy.

In Sin City sex and violence are uniquely linked by the prostitutes of Sin City. Led by Rosario Dawson's character the prostitutes are unlikely representations of justice and righteousness. They mete out the punishment of corruption with violence and reward perceived goodness with sexual favors. Thus, Michael Clark Duncan's corrupt detective is punished with violence while Mickey Rourke's Marv is rewarded for his good intentions with the sexual favors of Goldie.

The innocent but oh so provocative sexuality of Jessica Alba's character is protected by the righteous violence of Bruce Willis' cop character. He would be rewarded with sexual favor if he were so inclined. Sex and violence are linked in Sin City in a cause and effect fashion. The good receive sexual favors the evil are punished with violence. All is right with the world.

In A History of Violence the sex violence link is a narrative function. The film features the extremes of both sex and violence. The films central action involves a pair of psychotically violent killers who are first glimpsed having murdered the staff of an anonymous roadside motel and a small child of one of the staffers. They come to the small town Indiana diner of Viggo Mortenson's Tom Stahl with the intent of more violence and are met with a viciously violent reaction from the seemingly mild mannered Mr. Stahl. The violence of this scene is extreme. Tom shoots one killer in the head sending him flailing through a plate glass window. Tom is graphically stabbed in the foot by the other killer who is then shot in the head by Tom. Director David Cronenberg gives us a closeup look at the damage of the bullet through the killer's skull in all of it's gory glory.

Meanwhile at home, prior to the violence at the center of the plot Tom makes love to his wife played by Mario Bello. The first sex scene is tender and loving but with more than a little hint of kink. Tom's wife has chosen to dress as a cheerleader and the two role play as a high school couple entering their first sexual experiment. The sex then becomes more graphic as oral copulation becomes central to the scene before we fade to the next morning and the establishing of the films central plot. Oddly the first sex scene features no nudity. The only link between the sex and violence at this point is Tom. He is an attentive and gentle lover who later shows himself capable of terrific physical violence. This is central to the dichotomy that is Tom who is revealed to have a violent secret past.

The second sex scene takes place after further violence has established Tom as a dangerous figure. An argument between Tom and his wife becomes physical as Tom attempts to stop his wife from walking away from their argument. Tom grabs her forces her to the ground, they are fighting on the stares leading to their bedroom, she slaps and kicks to break away from him. He forces her beneath him. After seeming to subdue her the violent confrontation suddenly begins to become sexual. The wife becomes turned on as does Tom and the two engage in angry, violent sex right there on the staircase. The scene, I believe, demonstrates the wife's tacit acceptance of her husbands true nature. She is telling him at once that she is unhappy with his lie but accepts it and will eventually be able to put it behind her. It's a brilliant form of shorthand that eliminates the need for a merely melodramatic scene of a couple arguing.

None of what I've written however truly gets at the heart of the sex/violence link in modern film. I have demonstrated the link but not the reason. This is where you come in dear reader. What is your theory of why Hollywood has so directly linked sex and violence. Post your responses please.

Movie Review: Flicka

Flicka (2006) 

Directed by Michael Mayer

Written by Mark Rosenthal, Lawrence Konner

Starring Alison Lohman, Tim McGraw, Maria Bello, Ryan Kwanten

Release Date October 20th, 2006

Published October 22nd, 2006

My Friend Flicka starring Roddy McDowell is a family movie staple. The story of a troubled boy and the horse who saved his life and inspired him is a staple of the family movie genre, a story reformed and retold in a number of different ways. More than 50 years later Flicka returns to the big screen, a different gender at it's center, but the same basic story of family, growing up and beautiful horses in place.

Empty and uninspired, this new Flicka is, thankfully, not a total rehash of the original film but is not much of an improvement either.

16 year old Katie (Alison Lohman) has just flunked her end of year exam. Rather than writing the essay required of her, Katie spent 2 hours staring out the window dreaming of her horses back on her family farm. She is returning home when the test is over and will once again get to feel the wind in her hair on the back of a horse, her favorite feeling in the world.

Katie returns home to a loving family that includes her father; Rob (Tiim Mcraw), Mom; Nell (Maria Bello) and older brother; Howard (Ryan Kwanten). Her father soon finds out that she has failed the important test and the testy dynamic of this father-daughter relationship is set. Despite dad's admonitions, the first chance Katie gets she is on the back of a horse and hitting the backwoods trails.

It is on this backwoods jaunt that Katie comes across a wild black mustang that she comes to call Flicka. Her father, fearing a mustang that might rattle his domesticated quarter horses, orders Katie to stay away from the mustang. However, when the mustang rescues Katie from a cougar attack, he is brought to the farm. Can Katie train Flicka and come to ride her or will dad sell Flicka to a rodeo manager (Nick Searcy) who has developed a dangerous new sport around wild horses.

If you think that the horse's wild, untamed spirit matches that of our heroine, well, of course your right. That is the most basic distillation of the plot. The horse and Katie are one in the same and that is the movie's fundamental premise. That, along with dad coming to understand his rebellious daughter and Katie beginning to grow up and reign in her wild ways make up a very simple three act structure as predictable as the alphabet.

Director Michael Mayer, whose Home At The End of the World was a lovely paean to a unique dysfunctional family, directs Flicka as if he were a factory film director his whole career. The film is machine made and polished, lifted from typical family movie molds and reaching theaters seemingly untouched from screenplay to screen.

Little girls love horses and Flicka bursts at the seams with loving shots of horses in stride. Flicka herself is a beautiful black horse with a gorgeous untamed mane and a wild spirit. Scenes of Alison Lohman riding Flicka framed against the mountain ranges of Wyoming with the sun beaming down are truly splendid images that will dazzle any horse lover.

Country star Tim McGraw acquits himself well as Katie's strict but loving father. His contribution to the films soundtrack however, the single My Little Girl, is one of the most gut wrenchingly sappy tunes this side of Barry Manilow. My Little Girl is the first song in McGraw's career that he has written and produced himself, he may want to consider never doing that again.

Rote family movie conventions rendered against a lovely sunlit, mountain background, Flicka is quite attractive but still an empty vessel. As the coming of age story of a troubled young girl; Flicka hits all of the expected notes and hits them about as well as they can be hit. If you can endure predictable, manufactured family movie devices meant to elicit tears and hugs, then Flicka is the movie for you.

Movie Review Thank You For Smoking

Thank You for Smoking (2006) 

Directed by Jason Reitman

Written by Jason Reitman 

Starring Aaron Eckhart, David Koechner, Maria Bello, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, J.K Simmons, Robert Duvall, William H. Macy

Release Date March 17th, 2006 

Published April 20th, 2006 

Whether you call him "Yuppie Mephistopheles'', "Goebbels In Gucci" or simply "Death Merchant" you cannot say Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is not a charming assassin. In his role as lobbyist for the tobacco industry Naylor's job is to charm, cajole and if necessary deceive whomever is in front of him into seeing his industry as the underdog in an unfair and unjust war on personal freedom. Never before has anyone been more charmingly full of shit.

Adapted from a novel by Christopher Buckley, son of the unctuous conservative pundit William F. Buckley, Thank You For Smoking is an amiable and amoral look inside the life of Washington's most sinister and charming lobbyist. Like him or not Nick Naylor could convince you the sky was green while standing outside.

Thank You For Smoking directed by another prominent scion Jason Reitman son of  director Ivan Reitman (Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Ghostbusters). But do not expect anything as gentle as his father's fun loving mainstream blockbusters. Jason Reitman's talent, it would seem, is sharp satire of the most un-P.C kind.

Thank You For Smoking is shockingly not about making the tobacco industry look any more demonic than they already do. Rather it's about this character, Nick Naylor, and his insidiously powerful charms. That his charms are employed by the tobacco companies is merely part of the deep dark fun. Listening to someone convince you that a product that kills more Americans than any other product in existence, a statistic Nick prides while discussing with fellow merchants of death Polly (Maria Bello), lobbyist for the alcohol industry, and Bobby (David Koechner), lobbyist for guns, lends a black humor to Nick's charm. He knows what he's doing is wrong, that the science he misrepresents is complete B.S but being charming and winning seemingly unwinnable arguments is what pays the bills. He also happens to be really good at it.

Darker still is Nick's relationship with his son Joey (Cameron Bright). His attempts to get closer to his son, he is divorced from Joey's mother, include attending a career day at Joey's school where he essentially convinces the children that they should make up their own minds about smoking rather than listen to mom and dad, especially if mom says smoking is bad for you.

Nick takes his son on a business trip to Los Angeles where with the help of an equally amoral superagent played by Rob Lowe, he hopes to restore the cigarrette's good standing in film. Nick's hope is that he can get the cigarette into a big time blockbuster movie in the hands of real movie stars rather than the modern norm that has cigarettes mostly in the hands of villains or europeans.

Also while in Los Angeles Nick is to meet with Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott) the original Marlboro Man who, now dying of cancer, has become a vocal anti-smoking advocate. In a scene so disarming in its honesty and dark humor, Nick essentially bribes Lutch with a suitcase full of cash and yet convinces him and us that the money is not a bribe, but a gift that it would be rude or hypocritical to complain about publicly. Nick's son is witness to this scene and yet does not lose the esteem of his father. In fact he is convinced he would like to be more like his father.

Nick's near downfall, as it is with most men, is a beautiful woman, a reporter named Heather Holloway, who has her own unique opinion off and on the record. Heather's arc is likely the weakest in the film as her triumph over Nick is too easily overcome and the comic possibilities of the relationship are not fully discovered.

Thank You For Smoking is as nihilistic in its point of view of the dangers of smoking as Nick is. The film is not about condemning smoking, the tobacco industry, or its protagonist. In that perspective it's fair to say that film is not as sharp as it could be. A precise perspective would be welcome. However as a dark hearted satirical character study the film is whip smart and very, very funny. Thank You For Smoking is a must see.

Movie Review Secret Window

Secret Window (2004) 

Directed by David Koepp 

Written by David Koepp 

Starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Charles S. Dutton, Timothy Hutton 

Release Date March 12th, 2004 

Published March 11th, 2004

In an interview with Time Magazine, Secret Window writer-director David Koepp wondered aloud why Johnny Depp had chosen to star in his movie. He was grateful but said it's hard to be certain what motivates Depp, it's possible he just wanted to play a guy named Mort. That’s a statement that perfectly captures Depp's unique approach to Hollywood. An actor who does things his own unique way, Depp makes Secret Window a strange and unique Hollywood thriller.

Depp is Mort Rainey, a successful mystery writer whose life is upended when he finds his wife in bed with another man. Cut to six months later and Mort is living in a cabin on a lake in some nondescript small town. The solitude should help him working on his next novel but it's more helpful in providing time for his long naps and general malaise.

The solitude is interrupted by a menacing stranger named John Shooter (John Turturro), an oddball farmer from Mississippi who claims that Mort stole one of his stories. Shooter's story is definitely similar to one Mort wrote years earlier called Secret Window, but Mort is sure he can prove the story is his own. Shooter meanwhile sets about making Mort miserable, including killing his dog and threatening Mort's ex-wife Amy (Maria Bello).

Eventually Mort figures out that there is far more to this story than mere plagiarism and he begins to suspect his wife's new boyfriend, Ted (Timothy Hutton), may have put Shooter up to it. In fear, Mort hires an ex-police officer (Charles S. Dutton) to watch his back. When the cop turns up dead, Mort is on his own in the scary old cabin.

It's a very conventional thriller setup that sounds predictable but David Koepp, the writer of Panic Room, and the director of the underrated Kevin Bacon thriller Stir Of Echoes, has something up his sleeve. Employing camera moves he must have lifted from working with David Fincher, Koepp sails his camera around the tiny cabin in ways that some might call showy but I would say are just cool. He's helped greatly by a classic Philip Glass score and most of all…

…by his star Johnny Depp.

What Johnny Depp does in Secret Window is difficult to describe. It's so delightfully odd and yet perfectly sensible that it defies description. Mort spends the first third of the film essentially in solitude, napping and laying about, talking to his dog or to himself. There is one fascinating inner monologue, darkly humorous, witty, angry and frustrated. Watch the way he reacts while talking to his wife on the phone.

In some scenes you can see that Depp is finding actorly motivation where none is called for, such as a scene where he hides his cigarette from his cleaning lady. There is no reason why Mort would hide his smoking except that Depp assumed that the character would do that. In another scene, Depp and Charles Dutton exchange dialogue while hitting a chess clock as if marking who's turn it is to talk. It's the kind of character shorthand that most writers and actors neglect.

It's as if while the supporting cast was making a typical Hollywood thriller, Johnny Depp was jamming to some totally different vibe. Depp is riffing like a jazz combo and the film is forced to bounce along to his beat. It's safe to say that much of what Depp does in the film wasn't in the original script and certainly not in the Stephen King novella on which the film is based. That it works is a testament to his considerable skills.

Movie Review The Company Men

The Company men (2011) 

Directed by John Wells 

Written by John Wells 

Starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson

Release Date January 21st, 2011

Published January 20th, 2011 

John Wells made his nut as the Executive Producer and creator of the hit series ER. For all intents and purposes John Wells never has to work again. Yet, with multi, multi, multi millions of dollars in the bank John Wells is hanging himself out there as a director and making the movie “The Company Men,” a real American Dream movie about a self made man who decides to risk it all for an ideal that has too long ago passed away in the overwhelming light of modern corporate/Wall Street culture.

Tommy Lee Jones is Gene McClary CFO of a company that used to make ships, now they make corporate deals that have next to nothing to do with shipbuilding. In fact, with every new move the company he formed with his best friend (Craig T. Nelson) gets further and further away from their humble beginnings in the stockyards. The people that came up with them are dropping like flies as every move of the stock price is accompanied by more layoffs and firings.

Among those losing their job in the corporate carnage is up and comer Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). As one of many heads of sales in the shipbuilding division; Bobby looked like a future CEO. Sadly, with shipping dying and his salary near the top he's out and he's not alone. Soon to join Bobby on the unemployment line is Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) , a veteran salesman and one of Gene's oldest friends. Phil came up from building ships in the yard and now, just short of his retirement age he is out of a job.

Bobby's story comprises much of the runtime of “The Company Men” as he and his wife (Rosemarie Dewitt) cope with a big mortgage, two expensive cars and two frightened kids. Unwilling to swallow his pride Bobby scours the country for a job that will keep his family in their home. When he finally is forced to make a choice his only option is to take a temporary job working for his brother in law (Kevin Costner) working construction.

Phil's story is even darker and has a powerful and devastating conclusion that, though it is predictable, nevertheless impacts strongly. Chris Cooper is extraordinary as a man who fiercely clings to his pride to the point that it devastates him. Phil is the impetus for a hopeful and miraculous finish that I will leave you to discover by watching the wonderful fairy tale that is “The Company Men.”

The values at work in “The Company Men'' are deeply liberal but not in the stereotypical sense. “The Company Men '' exerts the true dream of liberalism, fair treatment for all. While the right accuses the left of simply wanting handouts, “The Company Men '' demonstrates a corporate titan and multi-millionaire who acts in the best interest of his employees and sets about using his money to create opportunities not handouts.

The notion is I am My Brother's Keeper. We are our brother’s keeper and that doesn't mean giving something away, it means that when you succeed you use your success to create an opportunity for others to succeed. I have always used a metaphor to demonstrate how I feel about people with money and people without and it goes like this: once you have climbed the wall to financial stability throw a rope back so that the next person can climb up there with you.

Too many of the rich in America are pulling the rope up behind them, taking their wealth and squirreling it away for reasons that only they understand. “The Company Men” gives life to my dream of a corporate culture where opportunities are created and success is decided by those who grab the opportunity given and make the most of it.

Tommy Lee Jones's Gene is fascinating because he does what so many with money will not do, he throws a rope back. It's not about him giving something away, he decides to create something, build something, innovate something and in the process he gives others the opportunity to create and innovate alongside him.

Thank you John Wells, “The Company Men” is a movie of relevance and necessity. This is the movie that so many other modern polemics wish they could be; a story of hope against the sorrow of our tough economic times. “The Company” Men is a guide post for how our country could get turned around if there were more men of means like Gene willing to take a risk and throw a rope back over the wall.

Movie Review: Auto Focus

Auto Focus (2002) 

Directed by Paul Schrader

Written by Michael Gerbosi 

Starring Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello

Release Date October 18th, 2002 

Published October 19th, 2002 

As this website's self-proclaimed Oscar expert, I had proclaimed the Oscar race on when Red Dragon was released. However with that film's mixed critical response and quickly slowing box office, it's award chances evaporated quickly. Now, after seeing Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe's stunning performances in Auto Focus, I can once again start talking about Oscar.

Directed by Martin Scorsese's guy Paul Schrader, Auto Focus tells the story of the rise and fall of Bob Crane. For the unfamiliar, Crane was the star of the 60's sitcom "Hogan's Heroes." Crane got his start in radio hosting the number 1 morning show in LA when he was offered "Hogan's Heroes." He almost turned the role of Colonel Hogan down because of the show's controversial setting. However. after his wife Anne (Rita Wilson) read the script and told him she thought it was funny he took the role.

"Hogan's Heroes" was an immediate success, both a blessing and a curse for Bob and his family. Success means more money and security but it also means long days and less time for the family. It was during his run as Hogan that Bob Crane met the man who would change the course of his life. John Carpenter (not to be confused with the director of the same name), an engineer with the Sony corporation. One day as he was on set installing high end audio equipment in the trailer of Crane's co-star Richard Dawson, Crane and Carpenter struck up a conversation about their mutual love of photography and a new technology that Carpenter was peddling called the personal video camera. 

Spending time with Carpenter visiting strip clubs, where he actually preferred playing drums with the house band to watching the girls strip, Crane first began to stray from his seemingly normal life. At Carpenter's urging, Crane began using his celebrity to pick up women for the two of them, luring them to Carpenter's apartment where he videotaped them having sex, a practice that became a pattern and then an obsession.

The strange pseudo-friendship of Carpenter and Crane is the seed of the film, it's drama comes from the weird uncomfortable interaction between these two odd, lonely men. I say pseudo-friendship, because Carpenter as portrayed in the film isn't so much Crane's friend as he is a hanger on, a yes man. It was Carpenter who helped Crane to justify his self destructive behavior. Not that Carpenter was to blame for Crane destroying his two marriages or his twisted obsession's with videotaping his sexual exploits, rather, Carpenter was the devil on Crane's shoulder whispering in his ear telling him he was normal and healthy and there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. Carpenter was the classic enabler.

Greg Kinnear has certainly left "Talk Soup" in the rearview mirror and Auto Focus is very likely to bring him his second Oscar nomination, the first was for his supporting turn As Good As It Gets. Willem Dafoe as Carpenter is also likely to have a shot at Oscar gold. So far this year I have yet to have seen a more effective supporting performance.

Bob Crane Jr. consulted on Auto Focus, helping Director Paul Schrader and Kinnear understand his father's mannerisms and consulting with screenwriter Michael Gerbosi on events in his Dad's life. One thing Bob Crane Jr, or anyone for that matter, couldn't consult on was who killed his father. Though all available evidence points to Carpenter, who died in 1999, the police in Scottsdale, Arizona (where Crane was killed while sleeping in his hotel after a dinner theater performance) botched the case so badly that by the time Carpenter was finally investigated in 1997, evidence had been lost and prosecutors were forced to drop the case against him.

Bob Crane was one of those guys who had it all, charisma, wit, and looks. Unfortunately he lacked a moral center and his addiction to sex overcame him and likely lead to his death. Whether or not it was Carpenter who killed him remains an open question, the film does seem to posit the theory that he was the killer, though there is conjecture about the husband of one Crane's many conquests taking revenge on him. Whatever happened I guess it's fitting that the man's death should be as enigmatic as the man himself.

Movie Review The Yellow Handkerchief

The Yellow Handkerchief (2010) 

Directed by Udayan Prasad 

Written by Erin Dignam 

Starring William Hurt, Maria Bello, Kristen Stewart, Eddie Redmayne 

Release Date February 26th, 2010 

Published August 4th, 2010 

“The Yellow Handkerchief” is a great looking movie that relies on fabulous Louisiana scenery and a strong eye for locations to distract from what is a rather dull and inert bit of storytelling. Indian director Udayan Presad and writer Erin Dignam, like so many indie minded teams, mistake characters saying and doing inappropriate things for character development.

William Hurt stars in “The Yellow Handkerchief” as Brett a fresh from prison, oil rig working lummox who finds himself on a journey through Louisiana with a pair of emotionally damaged teenagers. Eddie Redmayne is the slightly mentally handicapped Gordie and “Twilight's” Kristen Stewart is the daddy issues having Martine.

For Gordie, Brett is an obstacle and oracle. Because Martine has an obvious affinity for Brett, he stands between Gordie and his crush on Martine even as Brett attempts to offer Gordie sage council on how to deal with her. For Martine, there is a mixture of wanting a father figure and the forbidden nature of being attracted to a stange, older man.

Throughout “The Yellow Handkerchief” we flash back to Brett's life before he was released from prison. Brett was once happily married until something happened and he ended up spending the next 6 years in jail. Maria Bello plays either his wife or his victim, you'll have to see the film yourself to find out.

The characters in “The Yellow Handkerchief” work very hard to make each other and us uncomfortable. They say oddly personal things and reveal things about themselves that normal humans might not reveal to close friends. Call it the comfort of strangers if you like but if a stranger spoke to me the way these characters speak to each other, I would run away screaming.

There is a worthy bit of filmmaking skill to “The Yellow Handkerchief.” Gorgeous scenery, a well managed pace that sinks perfectly into the film's hot southern exteriors; with a better sense of character, something more believable and far less off-putting, “The Yellow Handkerchief” could be extraordinary.

Sadly, the only thing likely to come from “The Yellow Handkerchief” is a solid audition reel for director Udayan Presad and cinematographer Chris Menges.

Movie Review: The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) 

Directed by Rob Cohen 

Written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar 

Starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, Russell Wong, Michelle Yeoh 

Release Date August 1st, 2008 

Published July 30th, 2008 

Brenden Fraser has long been one of my favorite actors. No actor does big, goofy galoot, nearly as well as Fraser who has essayed roles as a caveman, as George of the Jungle, and in the Mummy movies a 40's era action movie leading man. Often, even when the movie really stinks Fraser remains above the fray, a goofy, good time presence. Unfortunately, even Fraser's good natured goofiness can't rescue the latest in the Mummy series, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. By the end of this 2 plus hour slog even Fraser seems tired.

When we rejoin the Mummy-verse, Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, replacing the not returning Rachel Weisz) have retired from the adventure business. After turning back the attack of the mummy Imhotep twice, and even an encounter with the Scorpion King, Rick and Evy are in a welcome respite. At home in their stately manse in England they spend lazy days fishing, writing and being bored out of their minds.

Yes, they actually miss the days when they were risking their lives against supernatural forces and narrowly escaping death through cunning and guile. So, when a British official shows up asking them to return to duty to accompany an ancient artifact to China they leap at the chance. And, as luck would have it, Evy's brother John happens to have moved to Shanghai and opened a nightclub.

Meanwhile, Rick and Evy's son Alex (Luke Ford) happens to be in China discovering the lost tomb of the legendary Dragon Emperor (Jet Li). Unfortunately, after he makes his discovery, Luke gets double crossed and a group of military exiles take possession of the Emperor and set about restoring him to eternal life. Now, Luke and his parents must join forces with an ancient witch (Michelle Yeoh) and her daughter (Isabella Leong) to battle the resurrected dragon emperor and his army of Terra cottar warriors.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was directed by Rob Cohen with a tin ear for melodrama and big action. Listening to characters in this latest Mummy movie chat, you get a painful series of scenes where characters state what just happened ir what happens next in stultifying exposition. It's the most perfunctory, irritating explication you can imagine. When they aren't explaining things to us that we are already painfully aware of, characters are professing their feelings to each other with lunkhead-ed platitudes that would make the folks at Hallmark wretch.

Of course, you can't expect a Mummy movie to have great dialogue, if you've seen the previous two blockbusters, and the offshoot, The Scorpion King, you know what you can expect of the script. You have to just hope going in that there won't be so much of those endless reams of expostion. Hopefully you get big action and effects scenes to drown out whatever waste of breath dialogue there may be. Stephen Sommers, who directed the first two Mummy movies, mastered the ability to put action and effects ahead of all else.

Unfortunately, Sommers is gone and replaced by Rob Cohen whose resume includes XXX and Stealth. Those films stink pretty bad but The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor somehow manages to be even worse. On top of the horrendous dialogue and atrocious melodrama, the action and effects of this Mummy sequel stink. Like digital Ed Wood characters, the digital armies of the dead look worse than most modern video-games and are a hell of a lot less interesting.

Compounding the problems is the grounding of Jet Li. Promoting Jet Li as the Dragon Emperor was a downright lie. Li's role is little more than a cameo. The dragon emperor is more often than not a dull special effect that hardly even looked like Jet Li. When Jet Li does show up he is asked to actually act as opposed to leap about and do things we want Jet Li to do. It's a baffling choice but essentially the filmmakers chose a bad CGI of Jet Li over the real life Jet, arguably one the greatest human special effects of all time.

As a third movie The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor had low expectations when it was completed and somehow manages to come in worse than those expectations. This is a tremendously bad movie that leaves little doubt why Oscar nominee Rachel Weisz rejected the idea of coming back to the role of Evy. With a script this bad and a director this inept it's a wonder this film attracted the onscreen talent it did. I'm still a fan of Brenden Fraser and with the charming Journey To The Center of the earth in theaters, it's not to hard to forget Tomb of the Dragon Emporer. I just cannot forget it fast enough.