Movie Review: Albert Nobbs

Albert Nobbs (2011) 

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia 

Written by Glenn Close, John Banville, Gabrielle Prekop

Starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Release Date September 2nd, 2011

Published November 14th, 2011

"Albert Nobbs" suffers from novelty. The film about a woman pretending to be a man in 19th century England cannot escape the novelty of star Glenn Close dressed as a man. Close's soft features and fragile demeanor betray her at every turn even as her Albert is a very sympathetic creation.

Albert Nobbs has lived for many years at the Morrison Inn where he's worked diligently as a butler. Scrimping every shilling Albert has saved up quite a nest egg; possibly enough to buy his own tobaccos shop and possibly even enough to live the life of his choice.

Albert is a woman pretending to be a man in order to find work and acceptance. As a child Albert was often abused and was to be left out on the streets after her foster mother passed away. Albert found a way out from under her abuse and poverty by dressing as a man and taking a job as a butler.

That was many years ago. Now, Albert is a respected; if somewhat odd, middle aged man living quietly at the Morrison in silent longing. Albert's secret is nearly revealed when he/she is forced to share his bed with a day laborer named Hubert (Janet McTeer).

In another of "Albert Nobbs" less than convincing visual portrayals, Janet McTeer plays Hubert and, like Ms. Close, Ms. McTeer's features betray her. Add that to the contrivance of two women pretending to be men stumbling upon each other in this way and "Albert Nobbs" begin to seem silly.

What keeps "Albert Nobbs" from becoming ridiculous is the complete commitment of both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer to their characters. While the movie seems to almost attempt to embarrass them, these tremendous actresses maintain their dignity and are never less than sympathetic.

Unfortunately, "Albert Nobbs" suffers for the novelty of Close and McTeer's less than convincing looking drag act as well as a lack of discernible purpose. For the life of me I cannot understand what "Albert Nobbs" was about.

Often times a director will excuse a lack of purpose by calling a film a 'character study;' "Albert Nobbs" is unquestionably that. However, the cop out of a character study is that it allows the filmmakers to not have to craft a compelling story but merely turn out characters who are strong enough to hold the audience's attention.

The characters of "Albert Nobbs" are unquestionably interesting, including the lovely Mia Wasikowska as the object of Albert's affections, Aaron Johnson ("Kick Ass") as Wasikowska's lover and Brendon Gleeson as a friendly, drunken doctor.

I mentioned Wasikowska as the object of Albert's affections. Here the film is unnecessarily coy about Albert's sexuality. Is Albert a lesbian? Does Albert know what it means to be a lesbian? McTeer's Hubert is married to a woman but her sexuality is vague as well; she was married to an abusive husband before stealing his clothes and becoming a man.

I understand wanting the audience to draw their own conclusions about these issues. I also understand that sexuality wasn't as well defined by sub-culture as it is in America in 2011. That said, the film is so vague and so coy that our ability to draw conclusions is nearly comically derailed. Glenn Close delivers a well-considered performance in "Albert Nobbs" but there are simply too many issues surrounding the performance for me to recommend "Albert Nobbs."

Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Directed by Tim Burton 

Written by Linda Woolverton

Starring Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Pigott Smith, Anne Hathaway

Release Date March 5th, 2010

Published March 4th, 2010

The story of Alice in Wonderland is one of a teenage girl tripping down a rabbit hole into a magical land where adventure awaits. The sub-story however, is not onscreen but behind the scenes. It is an unfortunate story of a once promising filmmaker with the potential of a game changer but who sadly lost his way.

In Alice in Wonderland Tim Burton demonstrates that the promise he showed as a filmmaker who deftly combined unique characters with fabulous visuals has now devolved into a style over substance approach better at aping other storytellers’ visions but lacking what made their stories lasting and memorable.

The latest attempt to bring Lewis Carroll's wildest dreams to life stars newcomer Ali Wasikowska as Alice a teenage girl of privilege destined to marry a doofusy Lord (Tim Pigott Smith) and live out a sad existence as his concubine and servant. Naturally, Alice is non-plussed about this idea.

As Lord doofus ahem Lord Ascot goes to one knee in front of everyone they both know Alice runs off. It's not merely that she is horrified about getting engaged to such a dope, she also happened to see a strange looking white rabbit who seemed to be trying to get her attention. Following the rabbit, Alice finds herself at a rabbit hole which she falls into and winds up in Underland.

Underland is a magical, bizarre world of strange characters who act as if they know who she is, as if she'd been here before. Indeed she has but she doesn't quite remember it, even after being reintroduced to her friend the wild haired, hair-brain the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) who informs her of a particularly dangerous destiny ahead of her in in Underland.

This is extraordinarily rich material for a visual artist like Tim Burton and he dives right in with broad strokes of CGI landscapes and eccentric makeup and costumes. As Burton did with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd he takes his pal Johnny Depp dresses him in wacky costumes and hair and aims to set him loose in a crazy looking world.

The formula unfortunately has lost its flavor in Alice in Wonderland. Both Burton and Johnny Depp seem to have made Alice on auto pilot relying on the things they have done before to carry this film to completion while bringing little new effort to bare. Alice in Wonderland is a lazy, laconic knockoff of what Burton and Depp have done before.

The diminishing returns in the career of Tim Burton are one of the saddest stories to be told. After arriving with astonishing promise in the 1980's, Burton has spent the past decade repeating himself with less and less interest. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a movie I really liked but received much fair criticism. Sweeney Todd wasn't great but was at the least a bit daring in approach.

Alice in Wonderland is simply bad. The filmmaking is lax from the cheap looking CGI to the strangely muted colors. The pace is almost non-existent, the movie crawls from scene to boring scene relying on our familiarity with Lewis Carroll's story to keep us involved.

The 3D aspect of Alice in Wonderland is utterly unnecessary and only serves to bring forward unfortunate comparisons to James Cameron's Avatar which from a visual standpoint blows Alice out of the water, exposing the films sluggish CGI and weak 3D posing.

It is clear now that the reason Tim Burton retreads so many famous stories isn't a wont to bring classic literature to the masses but mere laziness. Famous source material allows Burton to focus on creating fantastic new worlds visually or at least that's the theory. 

In Alice in Wonderland however, the famous source material gives Burton the opportunity to relax and recreate the things he's done in previous works with little invention on his part. The approach extends to his star pal Johnny Depp whose lackadaisical Mad Hatter is a visual representation of the laziness of the director and indeed the production as a whole.

Alice in Wonderland is the first major disappointment of 2010, a lazy rehash of a well known story by a director resting on his reputation. It is heartbreaking to see what has become of the talent of Tim Burton. So much promise unfulfilled. We will always have Edward Scissorhands to remember him by but what of the future, duller, droopy remakes of other people's works with whatever existing tech best allows him to rest on his rep. It's just sad.

Movie Review The Kids Are Alright

The Kids Are Alright (2010) 

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko 

Written by Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Bloomberg 

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hutcherson

Release Date July 9th, 2010 

Published August 1st, 2010 

An unconventional family in an unconventional movie; “The Kids Are All Right” tells the story of a lesbian couple named Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) and their teenage son and daughter, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and Joni (Mia Wasikowska). The picture of modern domestic bliss in their comfortable upper middle class niche; this family is in just the right moment to be upended.

Upended they are when the kids seek out the man who donated the sperm that impregnated their moms. The donor daddy was Paul (Mark Ruffalo) a bachelor restaurateur living the California ideal of wine, women and organic coop farming. He's shocked to hear from Joni and Laser but willing to meet and after meeting them he becomes a part of their lives. Naturally, though they put on a brave face, Jules and Nic are a little hurt and a little threatened by Paul. With Joni leaving for college soon they are concerned about losing precious moments with her to Paul. To rectify the situation they attempt to connect with Paul and it goes well for Jules, not so well for Nic.

You may be able to guess what happens next but not the way these characters react to these changing circumstances. Writer-director Lisa Cholodenko has gathered an expert cast into a modern and unique story of love, family, sex, heartache and self discovery. Surrounding these dramatic developments are comic moments that are painfully awkward yet somehow round the corner from embarrassing to shockingly funny.

In a cast filled with standouts Annette Bening is the star. Though some may find her control freak character shrill, Ms. Bening turns this around with one touching and brilliant scene that is arguably the finest bit of acting in any movie this year. An uncomfortable dinner at Paul's house finds Paul and Jules finally sharing a common interest, singer Joni Mitchell, and Ms. Bening heartachingly warbling a piece of her favorite song.

In the film's timeline this scene arrives at a turning point and as the scene plays out we become lost in this moment of pleasure tinged with sadness. It's a moment that sets the pace for everything to come after it and the moment bonds you not just to Ms. Bening's Nic but to the film and the emotional journey of all of these characters.

While Ms. Bening is the star, Mia Wasikowska is the film's MVP quietly holding the emotional center while all around her grow chaotic and emotional. She too will have her moment of emotional breakdown but her center is strong and her recovery quick. Best known for her role as Alice in Tim Burton's unctuous “Alice in Wonderland,” this is the first time Ms. Wasikowska has been allowed to stand apart from the background and she really proves her dramatic chops.

”The Kids Are All Right” is not flawless. The story grows restless and the awkward comedy is, at times, wearying but for the most part this is a wonderfully adult dramatic comedy with a good head and a better heart. Lisa Cholodenko has a strong sense of character and place and with this cast there was simply no going wrong.