Movie Review: The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria (2009) 

Directed by Jean Marc Vallee 

Written by Julian Fellowes 

Starring Emily Blunt, Paul Bettany, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent

Release Date December 18th, 2009

Published January 6th, 2010 

"Queen Victoria, one of our more frumpy Queens. They're all frumpy aren't they? Because it's a bad idea when cousins marry." Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill"

That quote was all I could think when I sat to watch The Young Victoria. Eddie Izzard's pointedly funny takedown of royal lineage threatened, early on, to affect my ability to enjoy this take on Queen Victoria's rise to power. What a welcome surprise it was then that star Emily Blunt made me forget all about Mr. Izzard, at least till the film was over, and with the great aid of an exceptional script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, made me love this movie.

The Young Victoria tells the story of Queen Victoria from the time just before she became Queen through her struggle with parliament and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). We learn that as a young woman Victoria was kept from the world at large by her dour mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and her mother's consort Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong).

Both pressured the teenage heir to King William's (Jim Broadbent) throne to make them her Royal Regent, essentially ceding them the power over the monarchy. She refused, meanwhile the King himself conspired to win her favor with the help of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), and the King's brother in law, and the ruler of Belgium, King Leopold (Thomas Kretschmann) maneuvered to move his bloodline into power through his nephew Albert.

For his part, Albert proved to be more than just another pawn in another power play. Over the course of Victoria's rise to power he is a trusted friend, confidante and eventually a husband and lover. It is in this relationship between Emily Blunt’s precocious yet savvy Victoria and Friend's stolid yet loving Albert that The Young Victoria gets it's romantic drive.

Emily Blunt is a powerhouse in The Young Victoria. Sure, she looks nothing like what is known of Victoria, ('one of our more frumpy Queens') but as she has told reviewers, you want realistic, watch the history channel. This is a Victoria for pop culture consumption and as such it works. Blunt's Victoria is sexy and smart, winsome and powerful. 

Ms. Blunt has remarkable chemistry not just with Mr. Friend, who is only just her equal, but also with the exceptionally cunning Paul Bettany and the always welcome Jim Broadbent, in a terrific cameo. The rest of the cast, minus the Snidely Whiplash-esque Mark Strong as the villain of the piece, is uniformly excellent. 

Adding to the power of Ms. Blunt's performance is an exceptionally smart, witty and concise script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes. Mr. Fellowes takes a sprawling story of high court conspirators boils them down to their essences and keeps the audience in firm grasp of the various plots, machinations and maneuvers going on around our Victoria all while creating a hot house atmosphere of Victorian Era intrigue. 

So often period pieces like The Young Victoria can seem like inaccessible museum pieces all stuffy and puffed up. Fellowes and director Jean Marc Vallee deftly introduce a little soapy daytime drama into the mix without losing their air of cinematic importance. This is high minded drama but with a sense of the modern culture, hence the choice of a sexy Queen and lithesome, Edward Cullen-esque, leading man. 

The Young Victoria is tart and smart and features a star-making performance from Emily Blunt who may be more of a contender for Best Actress than many think. This is just the kind of glorious underdog of a performance that arrives on Oscar night to upset the apple cart of Oscar expectations. Here's hoping that Mr. Fellowes' scripting doesn't go unnoticed on Oscar night as well.

Movie Review Legion

Legion (2010)

Directed by Scott Stewart

Written by Scott Stewart

Starring Paul Bettany, Adrianne Palicki, Willa Holland, Kevin Durand, Charles S. Dutton, Dennis Quaid

Release Date January 22nd, 2010

Published January 22nd, 2010 

When a movie's opening voiceover narration intones that God lost faith in humanity because 'he got tired of all the bullshit' you have to lower your expectations. Unfortunately, there just are not expectations low enough for a post-apocalyptic thriller as dopey as Legion. Paul Bettany, one of my favorite actors, stars in Legion as the archangel Michael, a General in God's Army. As God has lost faith in humanity, God sends Michael to earth with a mission. Michael however, is not going to obey orders. Seems God has ordered Michael to exterminate humanity.

Instead Michael travels to a diner in the middle of nowhere New Mexico where a disparate group of people sits patiently waiting for the plot to kick in. Among them are the diner's owner Bob (Dennis Quaid), his son Jeep (Lucas Black), Bob's old army buddy Percy (Charles S. Dutton), A WASP couple (Jon Tenney and Kate Walsh) and their bitchy daughter (Willa Holland).

Most important in this group is Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) who is with a child from some anonymous hookup but by some luck happens to be the savior of all mankind. As Michael informs Charlie, and us, if the baby is born he will lead humanity out of the darkness. Before the baby comes they must fight off God's Army of Angels led by Michael's long time friend and fellow Angel Gabriel (Kevin Durand).

The Archangel Michael is mentioned only once in the Hebrew Bible. It is said that he will stand for the people of Israel at the end of days. Not that the movie Legion gives a crap about the biblical arcana from which its main character came from. Director and co-writer Scott Stewart merely uses Angels and Archangels as a device for apocalypse. Legion exists only to place Paul Bettany in fetish wear, long leather coat, bandoleer, and lots and lots of guns, and watch him shoot people. He and the cast pile up a few bodies and then die in a particular order until the screen time runs out. Nothing much of interest happens and certainly nothing you cannot anticipate without seeing the movie.

Dennis Quaid continues a sad, pathetic career decline. It's hard to recall the last time Quaid was in a film worth watching. In Legion the most notable aspect of Quaid's performance is his dopey lopsided haircut. Yes, he gets a big moment near the end but by then you won't really care.

Paul Bettany is not the typical idea of a lead in an action movie. He brings a different energy to the role than your average action movie star might but sadly little more than looking cool in a leather jacket holding two giant machine guns is required of him. We’ve seen him do more, we want him to do more and we just don’t get it in Legion.

Little more than an idea, Legion drones and wheezes through a series of violent scenes briefly interrupted by mindless expository dialogue before reaching its violent and predictable end, Legion should be mindless fun but instead is just mindless. Remember the opening narration I mentioned about God giving up on humanity because God got tired of all the bullshit, I think I know how God might feel watching Legion.

Movie Review: Wimbledon

Wimbledon (2004) 

Directed by Richard Loncraine

Written by Adam Brooks, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin

Starring Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Neill, Jon Favreau

Release Date September 17th, 2004

Published September 16th, 2004

With what I have written in the past about my disdain for the clichés of sports movie and of the modern romantic comedy, you could sense that a movie like Wimbledon would be a special sort of torture. Simply take the worst of both genres and combine them and ugh. However Wimbledon is the creation of Working Title Films, a company that has discovered it's own unique formula for romantic comedies that really works.

Working Title is the company that made Hugh Grant a star in Four Weddings and A Funeral and Notting Hill and delivered last year’s wonderful romantic ensemble Love Actually. It must be a British thing. There is something about Working Title's approach to romantic comedy that usually works. It works in Wimbledon albeit not as well as it has in the past.

Paul Bettany stars as over-the-hill (32-years-old) tennis star Peter Colt. Peter is playing Wimbledon for the final time in his fifteen-year career. In fact, Wimbledon will be his final tournament period, Peter is retiring to be the club pro at a posh resort. He only hopes not to embarrass himself and just maybe win one last match before he quits.

Before he steps on the court he has the pleasure of meeting a beautiful young American tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury. The two meet in a cute way when Peter accidentally gets the key to her hotel room and walks in while she is in the shower. From there, the two start bumping into each other and soon its a little romance, under the radar of course, the British press can be murder.

Complicating things further is Lizzie's overbearing father (Sam Neill) who warns Peter not to interfere with Lizzie's concentration. That is a subtle way of saying stay away from my daughter, something Peter just can't do. Peter especially can't stay away from Lizzie because after meeting her, he begins to play well and wins and wins again. Soon people are talking about him again and he has a shot at going all the way.

Naturally, since this is a romantic comedy you know that there will be some artificial roadblock thrown in front of the lovebirds to separate them until the big finish. This contrivance is usually where the Working Title formula separates itself from other romantic comedies but this time they fail a little. The contrivance is less than believable this time. It's saved only by Bettany who comes through in the film’s final reel to save the movie from the typical pitfalls of the romantic comedy.

In a role that many will recognize as one Hugh Grant turned down, Paul Bettany becomes a star in his own right. Not quite as charismatic as his Chaucer from A Knight's Tale, his Peter Colt is charismatic but subdued. He is weary and sees only dreariness in the near future. That is until he meets Lizzie who opens his eyes to an entirely new and brighter future. At first, the relationship is ambiguous as to whether we have a love match or superstition. Are Peter and Lizzie in love or do they get together because they play well after being together. Bettany plays the ambiguity well but plays the love and devotion even better as the film progresses.

For her part Kirsten Dunst does well to put over Bettany's starring role. She seems to act as a way for Bettany's character to get to the next big scene. It's as if she is a supporting character rather than a lead and that works surprisingly well. Especially well because of how poorly written Lizzie's backstory is written. She's playing her first Wimbledon and is one of the top players in the world but how old is she? Most champions of her ilk are 18 or 19, Lizzie seems older. This maybe a sticking point for tennis fans only.

I happen to love watching tennis. I have vivid memories of Boris Becker's first Wimbledon victory, of Jimmy Connors at the U.S. Open and Pete Sampras failing to win the French Open for so many years. My love of tennis makes this film so much more pleasurable because Paul Bettany is a terrific tennis player. Much praise must be given to technical advisor and former player Pat Cash for developing Bettany into a competent enough player that his scenes look believable.

The film’s final tennis match is spectacularly well realized, aside from the unnecessary commentary by tennis legends John McEnroe and Chris Evert. Bettany's play is excellent and director Richard Loncraine embellishes it with terrific camerawork and a plot device that let's us inside Peter Colt's head, a weary stream of conscience that is funny and endearing.

I must say what a pleasant surprise it is to watch a romantic comedy and a sports movie that is not absolute torture. Wimbledon may not avoid the cliches of it's combined genres but at the very least it embellishes them enough to make it interesting. Paul Bettany is the film’s real find and the element that lifts Wimbledon above it's many cliches and contrivances. This could be a star making and Hugh Grant had best start looking in his rearview mirror for Paul Bettany who could be scooping up a few of those roles that used to go right to him.

Movie Review: Firewall

Firewall (2006) 

Directed by Richard Loncraine

Written by Joe Forte

Starring Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Mary Lyn Rajskub, Robert Patrick, Robert Forster, Alan Arkin

Release Date February 10th, 2006 

Published February 9th, 2006 

It's been a tough millenium for Harrison Ford. Since the year 2000 the man who was once our number one action star has had one hit movie, 2000's What Lies Beneath. Ford has worked sparingly since, and each of his three projects has been creakier and more tired than the last. In 2002,  K-19: The Widowmaker featured Ford with an embarrassing Russian accent in a film that was otherwise entirely forgettable.

Hollywood Homicide (2004) was meant to share some of Ford's action-star status with Josh Hartnett. That slipshod effort, however, did nothing for either actor. Now comes the nadir of Ford's recent career, a techno-thriller called Firewall.

Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is the top bank security officer in the field. His computer network is seemingly impenetrable. In fact, its only flaw is Jack himself. In a situation that he or someone from the bank might have predicted, a group of bank robbers lead by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) has been watching Jack and his family. When Jack takes a late-evening meeting with Cox he has no idea that Cox's thugs have taken his family hostage.

The plan is not all that ingenious really. The bad guys threaten to kill Jack's family unless he will use his security knowledge to find the robbers a way to steal the cash. Naturally, the evil plot involves framing Jack for the theft while the bad guys sneak off to the Carribean with their cash in one of those offshore accounts that are so ubiquitous amongst movie criminals.

Firewall is merely the latest in a new genre called the techno-thriller. It's a genre that requires actors to spout techno-jargon while outwitting one another at computer terminals. What sets Firewall apart is star Harrison Ford who, at 63, could not possibly seem more out of place. The crotchety action star never for a moment seems comfortable with the techno-jargon. Only when the techno-thriller devolves into fistfights does Ford rouse slightly from his discomfort.

Criticizing Harrison Ford is not easy, especially for a fanboy like myself. The man has earned undying appreciation for being Han Solo, Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan. However with his last film, Hollywood Homicide, and now Firewall, the man once considered America's number one action hero is more than showing his age. Ford looks tired throughout Firewall and it's not just because of the character's stressful situation.

Watching the clearly bedraggled action hero vainly beat on his much younger nemeses and expect us to accept it is sad to watch. Someone needed to pull Ford aside and tell him that this role is no longer his strong suit. Ford should be seeking the kind of elder statesman roles that befit someone of his age and stature. Never one to seek awards recognition, Ford might consider chasing more challenging and more rewarding pictures. Certainly no one would begrudge one of our great heroes were he to launch an attempt at being taken seriously.

Director Richard Loncraine, who directed a British thriller called Bellman & True with a very similar plot to Firewall, brings a levelheaded professionalism to his direction. Loncraine is a veteran who knows how to build tension, but working within the constrictions of this genre and a sub-par script by Joe Forte, there is not much even a pro like Loncraine could do.

Loncraine, however, must take some of the blame for taking care of his star's vanity. It is Loncraine who allowed Ford to monopolize the film with his vain attempt at recreating past heroic glories. I would not want to be the director who has to tell Harrison Ford that he just doesn't have that action juice anymore, but someone needed to take responsibility and the director should have been the one.

It took about 15 minutes into Firewall before my eyes began rolling. Once the villains begin talking about encryption codes and servers I wanted to walk out. These computer terms became tired tropes around 1998 when Sandra Bullock ran them into the ground in the identity-theft thriller The Net. They were painfully dull once again in 2000's Swordfish with Hugh Jackman and John Travolta. And I had hoped they had passed for good after Michael Douglas' oh so lame Don't Say A Word. Sadly, Firewall rolls the clichés right back out and reminds us why they were so lame the first time.

Don't Say A Word is an even-closer cousin to Firewall, and not just because Douglas is in Ford's age bracket. Both films indulge another tiresome commonplace plot device, the all-seeing cameras. Big Brother plays a big part in Firewall as the baddies have invented all sorts of neato electronic gizmos to spy on the security expert and his family. In fact these items, along with their laptops and the leader's high-performance sports car, lead one to wonder why they need to rob a bank at all. Simply sell that high-tech equipment and there is a million bucks in your pocket right there.

Firewall is not Harrison Ford's first disaster--Random Hearts, Six Days Seven Nights and Hollywood Homicide could each qualify for that. Firewall, however, is somewhat sadder than the rest. This is the first time that Ford has looked worn out, beaten and defeated. Maybe that was the intent of the performance and, if so, it was a bad decision. Ford looks tired. He looks like a guy in need of retirement or a very long vacation and that just makes the film sad to watch.

Movie Review: Dogville

Dogville (2004) 

Directed by Lars Von Trier

Written by Lars Von Trier

Starring Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgard, Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany, Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Clarkson

Release Date April 23rd, 2004

Published March 25th, 2004 

Director Lars Von Trier received a lot of positive notice for his film Dancer in the Dark, but what really stuck with him was the negative notice. Specifically, Von Trier bristled at criticism that he did not understand America well enough to set his film there. In response, Von Trier began work on what he calls his America trilogy. The first of the trilogy is called Dogville, which observes America's morals and values from a European perspective. A powerful, if not entirely accurate, indictment of American moral hypocrisy.

Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, a woman on the run from gangsters and the law who finds herself in the tiny hamlet of Dogville somewhere in the Rocky mountains. With the help of a local named Thomas Edison Jr. (Paul Bettany) Grace avoids the gangsters by hiding in a mine shaft. Tom diverts the gangsters but he has ulterior motives for helping this stranger.

Thomas is Dogville's self appointed philosopher and teacher. He holds monthly meetings at the town’s church where he pontificates to the town’s 15 residents on morals and ethics. When Grace arrives Tom sees an opportunity to put his teachings to the test and see if the townspeople live up to the ideals he has attempted to instill. Grace is unaware of Tom's motives and sees only his kindness; the two form an immediate bond. Despite his underlying intentions, Tom's feelings for Grace are real and for a time we think there could be a happy ending for the two.

Tom's plan for Grace and the town is for Grace to hide out under the town's protection. In exchange, Grace will work for each of the town’s residents one hour of each day. For Grace, it's a hideout. For Tom, it's a social experiment--a test of the town's kindness and caring. It begins as Tom would hope, with the town taking to Grace. (It helps that Grace is, in turn, a hard worker.) However, as Grace's predicament is slowly revealed the town slowly turns and Tom's experiment takes a sad and dangerous turn.

Oscar nominees Chloe Sevigny, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Clarkson head up the supporting cast with Philip Baker Hall and Jeremy Davies. The soul of the film however is the noble but badly damaged Chuck played by Stellan Skarsgard. Chuck stands in for all of America's failed dreams, stuck in a loveless marriage and a job that is more of an obligation Chuck takes his rage out on whoever is nearest to him. When that rage is turned on Grace it begins the films ugly turn. Skarsgard is invaluable; his pained expression conveys the broken back of the American working class of the depression era.

Von Trier's first of three American allegories is a searing look at the morals and values that this country was built upon, and the level of hypocritical betrayal of those values on the part of many Americans. It's a cynical point of view, but one that is shared by a number of Mr. Von Trier's European brethren. As a patriot and a partisan, I find some of what Von Trier has to say about American values a little unfair but take it with a grain of salt because, in Europe, Von Trier's views may not be a minority opinion.

Stylistically speaking, Dogville is an amazing break from conventional filmmaking; an experiment on par with Von Trier's invention of Dogme filmmaking back in 1995. The set standing in for the Rocky Mountain hamlet is merely a barren soundstage with chalk outlines where homes should be. The only sets are an elevated stage that serves as Grace's home, a small storefront window, and a bell tower that hangs from the ceiling.

Von Trier cribbed the visual style from the filmed plays he grew up watching in his native Denmark. Like a great stage play, the action is in the words. This is a terrific screenplay with powerful, intellectual ideas. Ideas about morality, values, religious hypocrisy, and old world justice. It's the best thing Von Trier has written since Breaking The Waves. At nearly three hours, the film clips by at a surprisingly strong pace. The script is so powerful that you barely notice the passage of time.

This a rare and unique film. A challenging look at how a foreigner has viewed our country's cultural history. A film that holds a funhouse mirror up to our past, our politics and our culture, it's not an entirely accurate or fair vision but is valid in its own way as an opposing view. If the two remaining films in Von Trier's America trilogy, Manderlay and Washington, are as powerful as Dogvilleis, then we are really in for something amazing.

Movie Review Master and Commander The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander The Far Side of the World (2003) 

Directed by Peter Weir 

Written by Peter Weir 

Starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'arcy, Billy Boyd

Release Date November 14th, 2003 

Published November 13th, 2003 

I've never been exposed to the work of author Patrick O'Brien. His high-seas adventures are the kind of tales that always appealed to my father, a student of history, especially naval history. So Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World is an opportunity for my dad and I to bond over a movie, the film’s historical accuracy pulled apart over a dinner cooked by my mom. So you can understand why I was looking forward to this film and why I might seem to gush a little bit about this tremendous Oscar-worthy adventure.

Take the essential elements of Errol Flynn's classic high seas serials and a dash of Herman Melville and you get a sense of what you’re in for in Master and Commander. Lucky Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) is the Captain of the British navy ship the Surprise. Lucky Jack's mission is to hunt down and either sink or capture the French profiteer ship the Acheron (pronounced as Ack-Eron). It's 1805, and Britain is at war with France and its leader, Napoleon. 

Though the Acheron is larger and better armed than the Surprise, the Surprise’s 197-man crew has complete faith in Captain Jack--everyone, that is, but the ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany). It's not that Maturin doesn't trust Captain Jack's abilities, however he functions as Jack's conscience as the captain begins to see the Acheron as his white whale. Two times early in the film the Acheron snuck up behind the Surprise and nearly sank it. The captain is determined to not let it happen again. Maturin feels that returning to Britain for repairs is a more prudent solution.

Even as Captain Jack and Maturin disagree vehemently over tactics, the two are good friends who spend their free time dueting, Maturin on the cello and Jack on his violin. Crowe and Bettany played a similar relationship in the Oscar winner A Beautiful Mind and their familiarity and ease working together shows.

The rest of the cast of Master and Commander run together and, especially during the battle scenes, it's difficult to tell them apart. The one other cast member able to make a real impression is Max Perkis as Blakeney, a teenager who both Captain Jack and Maturin take under their wing. Blakeney is also quite interesting from a historical standpoint as not only a teenager, maybe only 13 years old, but an officer on the Surprise. This seems unreal but it is historically accurate that children as young as 13 were taking positions in the British navy.

Master and Commander is the first non-documentary ever to be allowed to film on the famed Galapagos Islands, where Maturin is allowed to indulge his love of nature and, in a pre-Darwin scientific discovery, develops an obsession with a flightless bird that would be an amazing find. It would be, but in his search of the island, he discovers the hiding place of the Acheron and must rejoin Captain Jack for the film's climactic battle.

Based on the first and the 10th book of Patrick O'Brien's 20 volume series, Master and Commander was a dream project for producer and Fox Chairman Tom Rothman who acquired the rights to the books while O'Brien was still alive but was unable to get it made until after the author’s death in 2001. It wasn't until three studios--Fox, Miramax, and Universal--pooled $125 million that the film even seemed viable. Finally, after landing director Peter Weir and Crowe, Rothman had the tools to turn the dense, character-driven adventure into a film.

With so much rich dialogue and innumerable characters Master and Commander seems an unlikely blockbuster but in the capable hands of Weir, who also co-wrote the script with John Collee, it is an epic action adventure movie that evokes classic Hollywood filmmaking. In its scope and scale it's reminiscent of Lawrence Of Arabia, but may be more akin to Gladiator, another modern epic that also starred Crowe. The combination of realistic stunts and seamless CGI is what true blockbusters should aspire to. Too many computer generated effects can be distracting and more often annoying. Master and Commander proves there is no substitute for real actors and real stunts. Let the Oscar season begin with Master and Commander firing the first shot.

Movie Review: The Tourist

The Tourist (2010)

Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck 

Written by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck 

Starring Johnny Depp, Angelia Jolie, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Rufus Sewell 

Release December 10th, 2010 

Published December 9th, 2010 

The novelty of placing pop culture icons Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in the same movie is nearly too much of a burden to bear for the slight, off-beat, spy comedy "The Tourist." Director Florian Von Donnersmark, in his English language directorial debut, takes on the Herculean task of capturing these two supernova stars in the same shot and not having the camera overload from all of the star power.

"The Tourist" stars Johnny Depp as Frank a mild mannered Wisconsin school teacher who finds himself whipped into a world of intrigue, adventure and danger when he is approached by an unbelievably beautiful woman on a train ride from Paris to Venice. Her name is Elise and her extraordinary calm while picking up this odd stranger on a train is quite unsettling.

Upon arriving in Venice Elise absconds with Frank's bags thus forcing him to join her at her high dollar hotel, not that he really needed to be kidnapped. Frank will be Elise's date for the evening while she awaits the arrival of her loutish, criminal lover who, unknown to Frank, urged her to find a tourist who looks a little like him and frame that tourist while he and Elise make their escape.

The only thing that Elise could not count on is falling for the doofusy math teacher. Meanwhile, as Elise is pretending to seduce Frank, and accidentally falling for him, the duo is being tailed by Interpol agents lead by Inspector Acheson (Paul Bettany) and by an evil Russian gangster (Steven Berkoff) who believes Elise knows where his stolen money is.

The plot of "The Tourist" is meant to combine a touch of Alfred Hitchcock with a dash of Cary Grant at his most fleet footed and charming and while it conjures some of those memories, "The Tourist" is far more interested in the modern, tabloid-esque notion of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie making goo goo eyes at each other.

During production of "The Tourist" Johnny Depp insisted on never being alone with Angelina Jolie where paparazzi could get a picture and create a story. In the movie itself, director Von Donnersmarck goes for a similar paparazzi voyeurism in scenes where the camera just observes Depp and Jolie smoldering at one another.

Depp and Jolie's beauty as a couple is the true appeal of "The Tourist," so much so that the plot becomes an impediment as it too our ogling of the stars. Yes, there is plenty of daring do and mixed up identities, even a chase scene that is unlike most other chase scenes (it involves a pair of boats tied together and a slow speed ride through the stunning canals of Venice) but none of it registers beyond the pull of these two stars.

What stands out in "The Tourist" are scenes like those set on the train ride as Depp and Jolie feel each other out with lustful glances and hushed conversation. Later, Depp and Jolie send sparks flying as they gaze at one another over dinner in a gorgeous café with candlelight and the moon glimmering off the canal in the background. Cinematographer John Seale's imagery here will make you want to live in this scene.

The adventure stuff, the spy stuff is treated with a light heart and good humor in "The Tourist" but it's beside the point. "The Tourist" is about two unbelievably attractive people being unbelievably attractive together against Parisian and Venetian backgrounds that can almost compete with the actors in radiance. This may not have been the overall intent of the makers of "The Tourist" but it works and I can recommend "The Tourist" because I can recommend ogling these megastars.

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees (2008) 

Director Gina Prince Blythewood 

Written by Gina Prince Blythewood 

Starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys Jennifer Russell, Sophie Okenedo, Paul Bettany

Release Date October 17th, 2008

Published October 16th, 2008 

The Secret Life of Bees is one of the most manipulative movies ever made. It takes lovable little Dakota Fanning, she of the apple cheeks and blond curls, and has her utter lines about being unlovable and never knowing her mom. Then, she is given a picture of her late, dead, mother holding her when she is a baby.

If you can get through these scenes without bawling like a baby you are a better man than me. Yes, The Secret Life of Bees is Machiavellian in it's pushy way but my heart did ache for this little girl and yes, I did cry. In an early 1960's I'm sure of someone's memory, if not exactly the collective historical memory, a little girl named Lily (Dakota Fanning) is running away from her bullying father (Paul Bettany). With her caretaker Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) in tow, Lilly makes her way to a small town in South Carolina where a memory of her mother exists.

A scrap of paper with a black Mother Mary on it leads Lilly and Rosaleen to a bright pink house where three sisters, August (Queen Latifah), June (Alicia Keyes) and May (Sophie Okenedo), live in a bright  make a very good living cultivating and selling honey. Lilly's mother indeed has a lingering presence here and though she tries to be a stranger, August knows the little girl isn't here by accident. Running parallel to Lilly's journey are the racial politics of the early 1960's. June spends her time registering voters while Rosaleen is beaten up for trying to register.

The racial politics get only a blush, the focus of director Gina Prince Blythewood's story remains focused on Lilly and her journey toward accepting her tragic past and the role of her mother in her life all too briefly. In sticking to this story, Blythewood is blessed with Fanning's winning innocence and Queen Latifah's comforting motherly presence. The scenes between Latifah and Fanning are charged with joy and sadness and love that permeates the whole production of The Secret Life of Bees. The film radiates warmth and good feelings, pausing only briefly to acknowledge the ugliness of the time period.

Many will fault The Secret Life Of Bees for not taking more care to describe the challenges of the timeperiod. Many of those criticisms will likely fall on the character of May played by Sophie Okenedo. Her character provides shorthand for dealing with the sadness of the times. It's a cheat, there is no denying it, but I willingly looked past it toward what is very good about The Secret Life of Bees because what is good, is often very good. 

And that good comes from Latifah and Fanning whose warm glow engulfs the audience and allows them and us to forget about all of the ugliness in the world, then and now, for just a little while. Yes, the moments are manipulative but they are manipulative in ways that work. I cried. I never cry. That tells me all I need to know about the effectiveness of The Secret Life of Bees.