Movie Review The Two Faces of January

The Two Faces of January (2014) 

Directed by Hossein Amini 

Written by Hossein Amini 

Starring Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst 

Release Date August 28th, 2014 

Published November 17th 2014

I feel as if I missed something essential in “The Two Faces of January.” For the life of me, I don’t know why the film is called “The Two Faces of January.” I feel the film must have introduced this information at some point but I don’t recall it. I could speculate that the two faces are those of stars Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac as they seem to be counter-weighted to each other throughout the film but what was the ‘January’ bit? It’s not a reference to the month, it’s a not a name, unless that’s what I missed. It nags at me that I missed this or if I didn’t miss it and am puzzling over something that doesn’t matter.

“The Two Faces of January” is an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel. Thus, it is set in Europe, in this case Greece, among beautiful, vacationing Americans. Oscar Isaac is Rydal Keener, an ex-pat con man and tour guide with aspirations to be rich. For now, he’ll settle for not being at home at his father’s funeral. Rydal’s con is to find fellow Americans who don’t speak the language and don’t understand foreign currency. It’s an almost victimless crime as his victims have plenty to spare and he’s really only skimming off the top.

Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst are Chester and Colette MacFarlane. At first, we’re to wonder if they are set to be Rydal’s next meal ticket. Director and screenwriter Hossein Amini however, has something more sinister in mind. Like Rydal, Chester is something of a conman, an American stock swindler. On the run with Colette in Europe he has conned his young wife into a game of pretend; pretending they’re going to go home and he isn’t going to be sent to prison or worse.

The game ends when an American private eye finds Chester and Colette and sets about a shakedown for the missing money of one of his clients. The detective dies and when Rydal arrives at the wrong moment to return a lost bracelet, he’s roped into a life-changing plot. Using his connections as a conman Rydal will attempt to get his new friends out of Greece without their passports. Phony documents take time however and with Grecian police acting efficiently to ferret out the plot, a road trip is undertaken to remain under the radar.

That’s the crux of the plot. What’s left is spoiler filled so consider yourself warned.

Ok, fine, I decided to look up the title of the movie to see what I missed. It turns out that it is a reference to the Roman God Janus which is said to have had to faces, one to see the future and one to see the past. Janus was the God of beginnings and transitions. That, naturally, is quite fitting for this story as the past plagues the future of all three characters. Janus by the way was eventually honored by the first month of the year, as January.

Throughout the introductory portion of “The Two Faces of January” we come to see Rydal admire both Chester and Colette. We can see his envy for Chester but also a deep respect for his station. We can sense a desire to usurp Chester even as Chester becomes a father figure. Yes, it’s all very Freudian and Shakespearean with the son who wishes to replace the father at the side of the mother. Yada, yada, yada. Here however, is where our director smartens up. By removing Colette via the film’s second accidental murder the dynamic shifts and what was beginning to be a draggy psychological thriller shifts gears to become a noir thriller.

Having failed to also kill Rydal in the wake of his murder of Colette, Chester finds himself chained to his new ‘friend’ as he attempts to leave the country. Each man has it out for the other but the game playing brings them together, as does the revenge each seeks on the other. Rydal is driven to avenge Colette and his having been framed for her murder. Chester, on the other hand is seeking escape but also to redeem the manhood he lost in his cuckolding.

That’s the psychological motivation for the action of the the final act of the film. Mr. Amini however, has by this point, as much as we have, has lost interest in psychology. The final act  of “The Two Faces of January” is instead played almost entirely in the language of film noir camerawork and staging.

As each man evades capture by police the cobblestone streets of Crete are alive with moonlight. Narrow corridors like those out of Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” shimmer with moonlight illuminating a path toward inexhaustible death. That Chester is to die is not in question here but the style with which his death arrives is classically crafted and elevates the film. We also get a very unusual and soulful moment as the dying father figure gives back to his son his life with a helpful confession of his crimes.

Much like the God Janus looking forward and backward at once, “The Two Faces of January” looks to be two movies at once. One movie is a pop-psych thriller with a little Shakespeare for flavor. The other is a tribute to the noir mysteries of the 40’s and 50’s complete with the mistaken identities, the wrongly accused man and the wet, reflective streets that always seemed to await a chase and a death.

That is the film’s beauty and its curse. It is two movies in one and neither is enough to satisfy in full. I loved the ending but the pop-psych stuff plods and the chemistry of the stars never bring it to life. The ending is almost good enough for me to recommend the movie but I wonder how many of you will last that long once the film is available on home video and you can simply stop and do other things.

Movie Review Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) 

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson 

Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, David Callahan 

Starring Shameik Moore, Bryan Tyree Henry, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, Hailee Steinfeld 

Release Date June 2nd, 2023 

Published June 2nd, 2023 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a gorgeous piece of animation. It's a visionary work in the feature animation realm, a treat for the eyes. The innovative style of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse evolves here into brilliant new combinations of art styles and storytelling adventure. It's exciting to watch as the artists behind Spidey press the boundaries of what we can expect from an animated feature. That alone would be worth the price of admission but thanks to the work of writers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callahan, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is far more than just gorgeous to look at. 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens on Spider-Girl, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). She misses the friends she made when portals opened between worlds in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Worse however, is the fate of her best friend, Peter Parker, who, Gwen's world was a picked on pipsqueak who tried to change his lot in life through science. Peter dies in an accident at prom after his transformative medicine turns him into a monster and Gwen/Spider-Girl is forced to fight him to protect their classmates. His death happens just as Gwen's cop-dad arrives and sees Spider-Girl standing over Peter's fallen body. He assumes that she killed him. 

This scene is soon followed by the attack of a new and desperately out of place villain, a version of The Vulture, but not one from this universe. Someone or something is tearing new holes in the fabric of the universe and villains are bungling their way through to unfamiliar universes. Unbeknownst to Gwen, Spider-people from other universes are being brought together to try and repair the multiverse and via Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), and the leader of this group, Miguel (Oscar Isaac), Gwen is recruited to help save the multiverse. 

This is Gwen's chance to reconnect with her friend, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). Miles has grown a few inches since the last time they saw each other but other than that, he's the same awkward, sweet, kind and strong young man she first met. Miles is dealing with school and his parents and a new villain who may be the key to why the multiverse is in grave danger. A villain calling himself The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) is found by Miles while attempting to steal an ATM from a bodega. The Spot has the ability to open tiny portals that he can climb through and arrive at different locations. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Body of Lies

Body of Lies (2009) 

Directed by Ridley Scott 

Written by William Monahan 

Starring Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac

Release Date October 10th, 2009 

Published October 9th, 2009

Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. Two of the biggest stars in the world starring together in a movie. That's a big deal. So why doesn't it feel as big as it should be? Body of Lies is the movie, a CIA spook movie about middle eastern politics from director Ridley Scott. Is it as simple as Body of Lies being less than a great movie? Maybe. Or it could be that Crowe's heart isn't in and thus his star power shines less bright.

Roger Ferris is the CIA asset on the ground in the middle east. The intelligence he gathers is the most valuable of anything the CIA can gather. Ferris gets closer than any military on the ground ever could by blending into the background, speaking fluent arabic and finding just the right person to get him what he needs.

Back in Langley Virginia, Roger's handler is the head of Middle Eastern affairs Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Ed uses high tech gadgets and insanely expensive satellite technology to track not just the world's leading terrorist but to pinpoint Roger himself from space. This technology is put to especially good use early on when Roger and a middle eastern co-hort investigate an Iraqi terrorist hideout and end up in a fire fight. The satellite image sends exact coordinates to attack helicopters that arrive just in time to save Roger and his latest intel.

This latest discovery is big and a plan is hatched using it to suss out the location of the world's most wanted terrorist other than Osama Bin Laden. The plan is ingenious and dangerous with a moral complication that will draw an important distinction between Roger and Ed and what they are willing to do to fight the war on terror.

Ridley Scott is a pro behind the camera. His work on the gritty, sun drenched streets and vast deserts of Iraq and the crowded dusty streets of Amman Jordan is impecable. Scott's action scenes are crisp and exciting, filled with energy and suspense. The trouble for Body of Lies comes from a script without an underlying idea.

There is a plot with a sound engine in DiCaprio's very active hero. However, one is at a loss to delineate the message of Body of Lies. What are the underlying politics. What other than some kick ass action scenes made Scott want to make this movie. The story cries out for a deeper meaning beyond the pale love story between DiCaprio and a Jordanian nurse and the father/prodigal son relationship between Crowe and DiCaprio.

The major hole in Body of Lies is Russell Crowe. The Oscar winner cuts an original, somewhat quirky character, an arrogant almost bumbling bureacrat. Unfortunately, there isn't really much behind the quirks. There is no real arc to the character. Crowe's Ed Hoffman begins as an arrogant jerk and ends an arrogant jerk. He learns no lesson, gets no comeuppance, not even a sharp sock to the jaw that the character so richly deserves.

That is unlike DiCaprio's Ferris who begins as a cold blooded terrorist killer and humanizes throughout. When the dangerous game begins to unfold Ferris is careful, cautious and thoughtful where Hoffman is impetuous and self aggrandizing. My comparison here is not without reason as late in the film Scott reveals what may be his missing thesis. These two men represent the two poles of American foreign policy.

The stretch is exceedingly thin as Crowe is portrayed as a bumbler who acts without thought while DiCaprio is heroic because he is deliberative and patient. The point is as heavy handed in Scott's one scene to lay it out as it is unseen throughout most of the movie. The one scene seems a last minute desperate attempt to give the action of Body of Lies a purpose beyond its series of action. It plays simply as hamhanded and desperate.

There is great work in this movie from Mark Strong as the head of Jordan security apparatus. He and DiCaprio go head to head and the battle of wills, the melding of egos and mutual respect gives their scenes weight. Strong is a heavy presence but he like Crowe and DiCaprio suffers for not having something deeper driving him, something beyond plot requirements.

There is too much good about Body of Lies to dismiss it. Scott is still a talented scenarist even with a thin story to tell. DiCaprio is an engaging hero and Crowe at the very least is charismatic, even on auto-pilot. Body of Lies has some tremendous action and spycraft and that is enough for me to recommend it for fans of big time action.

However, Body of Lies is a good movie that could have been, should have been great.

Movie Review: Drive

Drive (2011) 

Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn

Written by Nicholas Winding Refn 

Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks

Release Date September 16th, 2011

Published September 15th, 2011

Ryan Gosling is arguably the best actor working today. His performances in the last year in a diverse slate from the romantic comedy "Crazy, Stupid, Love" to the thriller "All Good Things" to the romantic tragedy "Blue Valentine," have demonstrated Gosling's chameleon-like ability to melt into any role and give life to a variety of fascinating characters.

Gosling's latest performance is arguably his best. "Drive" Stars Ryan Gosling as The Driver. We never learn his name, nor do his unique clients. The Driver spends his days as a Hollywood stunt driver and his nights as a wheelman for high paying criminals. The Driver gives the criminals a five minute window to commit their crime. Within that window he will drive them anywhere and keep them from the cops.

The Driver lives a quiet and very private life making certain not to form relationships or attachments that could imperil his objectivity. Naturally, we know that will change and he does, slowly but surely when he meets Irene (Carey Mulligan). Irene is his neighbor and has a small child that The Driver strikes an immediate friendship with.

The budding romance is cut short with the revelation that Irene's husband/baby daddy Standard (Oscar Isaac) is getting out of prison and coming home. Here, director Nicholas Winding Refn twists our expectations by playing the predictable showdown between The Driver and Standard quietly and thoughtfully.

Gosling betrays The Driver's true feelings for Irene with his eyes but his actions are a different matter. In a departure from his code of non-involvement, The Driver comes to Standard's aid and attempts to get him out from under a debt to criminals who had protected him in prison. This departure by The Driver will prove costly and the rest of plot unfolds from there with an unexpectedly violent flourish. Drive is stunning in its violence, evoking the calculating yet gory viscera of David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" and "Eastern Promises."

The influences exhibited in "Drive" don't end with Cronenberg. The look and sound of "Drive" evokes the work of writer-director Paul Schrader on "American Gigolo." The neon font of the film titles, the synth soundtrack and the over the shoulder camera position in the driving scenes all evoke Gigolo. Why "American Gigolo?" You'd have to ask director Refn about that; on the surface the two films share little more than the Refn's choice of homage.

Though the influences are obvious "Drive" is far from derivative. The ideas in the film are its own and they are executed with gripping efficiency. Ryan Gosling's acting choices carry weight and intrigue and you can't help but be fascinated by what he will do next. Gosling holds you in thrall as The Driver drifts  further and further into danger.

Gosling is equaled in very different ways by the work of Albert Brooks and Carey Mulligan. You've never thought of Albert Brooks as menacing but you will believe him menacing wielding a knife with fierce efficiency. Carey Mulligan meanwhile, matches the intensity and dangerous charisma of Gosling and Brooks with fragility, beauty and empathy.

"Drive" is a remarkable film, artful, intelligent and gripping. The cast is extraordinary and the direction by Nicholas Winding Refn is superb.

Movie Review Robin Hood (2010)

Robin Hood (2010) 

Directed by Sir Ridley Scott 

Written by Brian Helgeland 

Starring Russell Crowe, Danny Huston, Scott Grimes, Cate Blanchett, Oscar Isaac, Mark Addy 

Release Date May 14th, 2010 

Published May 13th, 2010 

Russell Crowe is a superstar and despite his personality defects, prickly interviews and phone throwing incidents, Crowe's films have always showcased his natural charisma. As was said of classic male movie stars of the past 'Men want to be him, Women want to be with him.' That has been the essence of Russell Crowe.

Lately however, Crowe has chafed against this persona and his ache to pursue a different reputation led to a terrific performance as a roguish and paunchy reporter in “State of Play” and now a buffed up action hero “Robin Hood.” While the movie “Robin Hood” rewrites the English legend, Crowe rewrites his own history essaying Robin as a stoic, charmless action hero that could as easily been played by Vin Diesel.

As King Richard (Danny Huston) wages war in France following a trip to Palestine and Israel in the Crusades, Robin Longstride is one of the King's Archers for hire. No longer entirely loyal to the crown following a horrific massacre of Muslims, Robin Longstride is soon to leave and return to England.

Joining Robin are his long time friends and fellow Archers Will Scarlett (Scott Grimes) and Alan A'Dayle (Alan Doyle) and his onetime antagonist turned loyal friend Little John (Kevin Durand, in a rare good guy role). The way back to England leads to the discovery of a French ambush on English Knights. King Richard is dead and his crown is to be returned to England along with an ancient sword that belongs to Sir Robert Locksley (Douglas Hodge).

Robin and his merry men will return to England dressed as knights, return the crown and reap a reward, or so they had hoped. Winding up in Nottingham to return the sword, Robin meets Lady Marion (Cate Blanchett), Locksley's wife and Sir William Locksley (Max Von Sydow) who engages Longstride in a deal, Robin will take on the role of his son in order to maintain the lands after his death; he will also become husband to Lady Marion.

Meanwhile, as the craven Prince John becomes King John, the French plot an invasion to take advantage of the Royal chaos. Stoking the fires is King John's best friend Godfrey (Mark Strong) who has joined with the French and is leading the invasion. Needless to say, Robin, his merry men, and the people of Nottingham get caught in the midst of all of this intrigue and many a sword is swung and arrow flown.

Directed by the brilliant Sir Ridley Scott, “Robin Hood” treads very similar ground to his Oscar winning epic “Gladiator” and his massive flop, the crusades epic “Kingdom of Heaven.” Scott has a great deal of love for the ancient world, warrior codes and the brotherhood of war. He evokes the age exceptionally well with detailed landscapes and costumes, well used CGI and some terrific cinematography.

Where “Kingdom of Heaven” failed is in the same way “Robin Hood” comes up short; both films swamp the viewer with the ugliness and depravity of the ancient world and leave little for people to enjoy beyond the carnage. Characters suffer because Scott's attention to period detail apparently means depicting men with courage minus charisma and charm.

While Cate Blanchett is allowed to look radiant even while covered in mud, Russell Crowe plays Robin subdued, withdrawn and modestly tortured. His bravery is evident in battle and you can see why his men are loyal to him but he comes up short in the aspects of personality that make him a compelling movie character.

Mirthless, constipated and withdrawn, the Crowe that was so captivating in “Gladiator” and so charming in “State of Play'' is caked in mud and blood and is basically part of the scenery in “Robin Hood'' until the battle scenes awaken his warrior side. The battle stuff is very good, almost the equal of “Gladiator,” but “Robin Hood '' is over 2 hours and 20 minutes long and the battle scenes are merely a third of that run time.

“Robin Hood '' has moments that are as amusing as any classic action epic but the quiet moments are so quiet that lethargy sets in and the audience begins to withdraw nearly as much as Mr. Crowe does. The battle returns the Russell Crowe we’ve come to enjoy then he recedes and we wonder where is the star, where is the spirited rebel. Is Russell Crowe so desperate to create a new persona that he can no longer find joy in his work

If he can’t enjoy it, how can we enjoy it?