Movie Review The Foreigner

The Foreigner (2017) 

Directed by Martin Campbell

Written by David Marconi 

Starring Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Dermot Mulroney 

Release Date October 13th, 2017 

It seems that I am not a big fan of the work of actor Pierce Brosnan. It’s not that I have an active dislike for the man, but rather, in looking at my cumulative opinion of his work over his 35-plus year career, I have only given Brosnan two positive reviews. Grant you, I have only been a critic for 20 years, but Brosnan was on TV for most of the time before I came into my profession. He had arguably his biggest successes in the James Bond franchise during my time as a critic. Then again, I don’t have a particularly high opinion of that franchise, either.

Thankfully, with the release of the terrorism-centered action movie, The Foreigner, I can legitimately say that I liked a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and not have to qualify it. Brosnan is genuinely thrilling in the role of a duplicitous Irish politician and former member of the Irish Republican Army. Brosnan is magnetic, and I loved the tiny shifts of his manner when he switched from practiced politician to trained terrorist and back again.

The Foreigner co-stars Jackie Chan as a man who has just lost his daughter to an IRA bomb. Well, that is to say that a supposed new faction of the IRA has claimed the bombing while people like Brosnan’s politician do their damnedest to distance themselves. It's part of Brosnan's charm that he can switch easily between the worlds of modern politician and former terrorist. In real life, in fact, more than a few IRA members labeled as terrorists years ago now hold powerful government positions in Ireland.

Chan’s Mr. Quan isn’t interested in how politicians want to frame the attacks; he believes Brosnan knows who the bombers are and he intends to use his skills as a former army ranger in Vietnam to force Brosnan to reveal who killed his daughter. Chan, like Brosnan, is quite riveting in this rare, dramatic role. Toning down his usual physicality, due to age as well as the needs of the plot, Chan’s Quan is a precision killer who takes pains only to kill the people who deserve it.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Classic Movie Review Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 

Directed by Chris Columbus 

Written by Randy Mayem Singer, Leslie Dixon 

Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Mara Wilson, Pierce Brosnan 

Release Date November 24th, 2023 

Published November 27th, 2023 

I feel like our culture has gaslighted us all for the past 30 years. During this time period our culture has maintained a notion that Mrs. Doubtfire is a classic comedy about a father who will do anything to be close to his kids following a separation and divorce from his kind but worn out ex-wife, played by Sally Field. If you look at the film simply through the lens of our culture-wide love affair with the late Robin Williams, you will only ever find people who think that Mrs. Doubtfire is an untouchable comedy classic, ranking among the best family comedies ever made. 

If, however, you view the film without your rose colored glasses, Mrs. Doubtfire is a mess. This is a sloppy and ludicrous movie that stops dead repeatedly so that Robin Williams can do annoying schtick more at home on a mediocre sitcom than in any mainstream feature comedy. But, even more insidious is the bizarre notion that Robin Williams' devoted dad is some kind of hero. This is patently absurd if you actually watch the movie. I recently watched Mrs. Doubtfire for the I Hate Critics 1993 podcast and the consensus among the three of us on the show is that Robin Williams is the villain of Mrs. Doubtfire. 

I realize this is hard for some people to hear but it's true. Williams' Daniel is a terrible person. Every choice he makes, every desperate, sweaty attempt at fooling people, and all of the lying he does to cover his backside, Daniel is a villain. You can try and convince yourself that he does all of these things because he's being kept from his children, but the reality is that he could have been with his children as their father but he chose to be their friend and he chose not to be a good and caring partner to his wife. Those are the facts and I will happily lay them out for you. 

Mrs. Doubtfire stars Robin Williams as Daniel, a father of three whom we meet as he quits his job as a voiceover artist. He does it because he doesn't want to voice a cartoon in which a character is seen smoking. He's concerned about the effect of seeing smoking on kids and I sympathize with that. However, can we pause and consider the level of privilege one must have to be able to quit a good job over a moral disagreement like this? A lot of us aren't in a financial position to be able to quit a job simply because we have a minor qualm. 

So, why does Daniel feel comfortable walking out on his job? It's because his wife, Miranda (Sally Field) has a great job, a well paying job. It's a job that makes their life together with three kids possible and provides him the freedom to think he can quit his job on a whim. Quitting as he does allows Daniel time to pick up his kids from school and get home in time to throw a birthday party for his son that includes a petting zoo and dozens of kids who run around their house crawling on the furniture, throwing trash on the floor and bringing the pets from the zoo into the house. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Black Adam

Black Adam (2022) 

Directed by Jaume Collet Serra 

Written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani 

Starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi

Release Date October 21st, 2022 

Published October 21st, 2022

Black Adam is the film version of a shrug. It's a movie that exists and doesn't effect the world in any way. It's a mild, distracting, passing fad. I don't dislike Black Adam, but I am struggling to care about its existence at all. I admire Dwayne The Rock Johnson but he's distinctly average when not working with a great director and Jaume Collet Serra is not a great director. Serra is a serviceable director, a studio hack. Serra is the director you hire if you want a movie to be remarkably average. That's the best description I can think of for Black Adam, remarkably average. 

Black Adam tells the story of the fictional Middle Eastern country Kahndaq. For centuries Kahndaq has been subject to numerous conquering armies and dictators. Only once in history has the country been able to fight back against oppression. This was through the sacrifice of a Champion who stepped forward to destroy a great evil. This came at a great cost however, as the Champion, known as Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), created immense destruction through his God-like powers in his attempt to stop evil. For this destruction, Teth-Adam was imprisoned for centuries in a tomb in Kahndaq. 

In present day Kahndaq, a researcher and professor, Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), has discovered Teth-Adam's final resting place. This happens to also be where a crown of ancient evil power is located. Tomaz aims to take the crown and hide it away so that no one can wield its terrifying power. When she and her partners are nearly captured by an invading force, Tomaz uses her knowledge of ancient languages to recite a chant that raises Teth-Adam from the dead. Adam destroys the men who are chasing Tomaz and they begin a tentative alliance. 

Finding out that the 5000 year old meta-human Teth-Adam has been raised from the dead, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis in a minor cameo) dispatches the Justice Society to take Teth-Adam into custody. The Justice Society is led by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), and his partner Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan.). Joining them for this dangerous mission are newcomers Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), meta-humans whose superpowers mirror those of Ant-Man and Storm from the Marvel Universe. 

The middle portion of Black Adam is taken up with The Justice Society facing off with Black Adam while ill-defined baddies take advantage of the chaos to try and steal the ancient cursed crown. The fight between Black Adam and The Justice Society amounts to a lot of chaotic wheel spinning. The one nice thing I can say about it is that Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate emerges in this portion of the movie as the most charismatic and interesting character in the movie. The debonair former James Bond plays an aging superhero with magic powers with a strong sense of dignity and good humor. It's honestly one of my favorite Pierce Brosnan performances in some time. 

As for Dwayne The Rock Johnson, well, he's okay. This is not a challenging role for Dwayne Johnson. He already looks the part of a superhero so playing the part was halfway done when he accepted the role. The problem comes in the scripting and direction which has Johnson partnered with a nattering teenager named Amon (Bodhi Sabonguo) whose function is to be a fount of exposition and then to be placed in danger to spark a big action scene. He's also played as a counterpoint to underscore the bravery of Black Adam's son who, in a flashback scene, is shown to have been the true freedom fighter in his family. 

Click here for my full length review of Black Adam at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review The Greatest

The Greatest (2010) 

Directed by Shana Feste 

Written by Shana Feste 

Starring Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan, Johnny Simmons, Carey Mulligan, Michael Shannon, Aaron Johnson

Release Date April 2nd, 2010

Published April 2nd, 2010

“The Greatest” is notable for being the first film I've seen featuring derisive bell ringing. Pierce Brosnan gives the bell to his grieving wife played with anguish and abandon by Susan Surandon. She rings it at him as a rebuke to his attempt to reach out to her following the death of their son. What meaning the bell had was lost on me after Sarandon began so contemptuously ringing it.

”The Greatest,” the first feature from writer-director Shana Feste, is a film that wants to be about grief but plays more like an oddball indie film trying exceptionally hard to treat a familiar subject in an obscure fashion. Pierce Brosnan is Allan, a mathematics professor who was cheating on his wife Grace (Susan Sarandon) at the time their son Bennett (Aaron Johnson) was killed in a car accident.

The affair and everything else in their lives stops at this point as Allan becomes sleepless and confused while Grace becomes crazed and obsessed with what may have been 17 minutes of her son’s life before he died; minutes spent with the man whose truck hit Bennett's car, Jordan (Michael Shannon). Unfortunately, Jordan fell into a coma before anyone could account for the 17 minute conversation.

As Allan, Grace and their younger son Ryan (Johnny Simmons) fall into a routine of grief, sleeplessness, drugs and mania, Rose (Carey Mulligan) enters their life. Rose was Bennett's girlfriend and though she was in the car with Bennett when he was killed, no one in the family seems that interested in her until she shows up at their door three months pregnant.

Allan asks her to move in while Grace resents her and Ryan is a prick to her for reasons only he understands. Why Rose has no one else to live with is passed over briefly in a conversation with Allan but has no importance. She is a plot catalyst and her immediate proximity to the rest of the cast is a plot necessity.

Nothing in “The Greatest” feels remotely organic. It's all dramatic contrivance meant to give the cast a chance to rage in one direction or another. Some of the rage is quite compelling, even moving but mostly it feels like actors showing off the ability to rant and rave in a fashion that feels dramatic. 

Carey Mulligan, the deserving Oscar nominee for “An Education,” plays Rose as an oddball loner who upon moving into the home of her ex's family begins building an elaborate sheet castle in the spare bedroom. She's the kind of indie movie cutie who takes random photographs, typically not on a digital camera, has a pixie haircut and says the things that no one else is willing to say.

Sarandon finds moments of truth in the midst of wilding emotions. She has the film's best scene opposite Michael Shannon as the comatose man. The account of the 17 minutes is deeply moving and revealing and Shannon, a once and future Oscar contender, nails the moment.

”The Greatest” is far from terrible; it's merely off-putting in its overly dramatic fashion and typically offbeat indie movie-ness that has become as cliche as the mainstream dramas that “The Greatest” attempts to circumvent with its oddity.

Movie Review I Don't Know How She Does It

I Don't Know How She Does It (2011) 

Directed by Douglas McGrath

Written by Aline Brosh McKenna 

Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Christina Hendricks, Kelsey Grammer, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers 

Release Date September 16th, 2011 

Published September 17th, 2011

I Don’t Know How She Does It begins with the oddity of characters speaking directly to the camera about the main character, Kate, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s done in a documentary style but the thing is, there is no documentary aspect to the movie. Essentially, this is a hoary device that the movie can rely on without having to explain.

I Don’t Know How She Does It is marked by this kind of sloppiness. This very typical romantic comedy flubs details repeatedly in order to reach the moments that it wants to reach; never mind the fact that the audience is not reaching those moments with the movie, but in spite of it.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Kate Reddy; super-mom. Kate works a big job as an investment banker yet still finds time for bake sales and birthday parties. Even though her job requires her to travel a lot, Kate’s kids and her husband Richard never want for her time and attention.

That changed a few months late last year–apparently the story is told in flashback though again, the structure is so sloppy–when Kate took on the biggest project of her career. Kate has landed a major meeting with Jack (Pierce Brosnan) from the New York office. When she nails the meeting, Kate finds herself busier than ever.

Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna has long been fascinated by the ways in which women balance career and private life. Her script for The Devil Wears Prada turns on the question of work ambition versus life away from work. In 27 Dresses, Katherine Heigl’s character created a personal life at work only to find it was a fantasy.

In Morning Glory, Rachel McAdams’ TV producer was ready to dump her man because he refused to accept her dedication to her job. When I read that McKenna had written I Don’t Know How She Does It, I assumed this would be her thesis statement on the topic of balance between work and home.

Instead, I Don’t Know How She Does It is a sub-sitcom level comedy about a mess of a woman, her messy life and the boring complications foisted upon her by the conventions of a boring movie. The ideas that McKenna enjoys examining are there but they exist not as ideas worth discussing but as boring romantic comedy roadblocks.

The only interesting performance in I Don’t Know How She Does It, among a cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Busy Phillipps, Christina Hendricks, Seth Meyers, Olivia Munn and Kelsey Grammer, is from Pierce Brosnan. The former 007 is completely charming in I Don’t Know How She Does It and for a time, he elevates the plot from the cliched depths of lame romantic comedy.

I can’t say that I Don’t Know How She Does It is disappointing, as the trailers did little to instill confidence. However, I did hope that screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna might sneak a few ideas into the film. Sadly, she failed and what we get is a mediocre sitcom pilot complete with storylines that could continue for endless banal weeks on any network or maybe Lifetime.

Movie Review Mamma Here We Go Again

Mamma Mia Here We Go Again (2018) 

Directed by Ol Parker

Written by Ol Parker 

Starring Amanda Seyfried, Cher, Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walter, Dominic Cooper

Release Date July 20th, 2018

Published July 19th, 2018

Low expectations and an upgrade in the director’s chair have combined to make a Mamma Mia sequel so unexpectedly good that I am still humming about it. Mamma Mia Here We Go Again has no right to be as fun and entertaining as it is, based off of the horror show that was the sloppy, 2008 original, and yet here we are. Director Ol Parker has brought order to the chaos of the original Mamma Mia and delivered a prequel/sequel far superior to the dismal original.

Mamma Mia Here We Go Again picks up the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) five years after the action of the original story. Now 25, Sophie is running her mom’s, Donna (Meryl Streep), hotel and is about to hold a gala grand opening. Unfortunately, mom won’t be there. Nor will two of her three adopted fathers, Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and Harry (Colin Firth). Luckily, Sam (Pierce Brosnan) is at hand, along with Auntie Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Auntie Rosie (Julie Walter).

Worse yet though, Sky (Dominic Cooper), despite being Sophie’s one true love and business partner, will not be there either and is considering a job offer in New York. This leads Sophie to once again pick up her mom’s diary for some bolstering. The diary is the lead-in for a flashback to that glorious Greek summer when Donna met Harry, Bill and Sam, and became pregnant with Sophie. Best of all, it brings us the vibrant Lily James as the young Donna.

Do you recall that time you first saw Julia Roberts’ megawatt smile in Pretty Woman? If you’re my age you likely do and you remember the electricity of seeing a movie star emerge before your eyes. That’s Lily James in Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, a star bursting to life before our eyes. Sure, she was great in Cinderella and has honed her craft in other films, but here, she bursts forth with charisma to spare in a one of a kind performance.

James is so great she overwhelms all three of her male co-stars, none of whom make a dent in your memory despite being young and handsome. I could list their names but I couldn’t pick them out of a lineup even after having just seen the movie. James’ vibrancy is such that her co-stars don’t really matter, they are but mirrors through which to bask in Collins’ star-making performance. Can she sing? Yeah, well enough, but like Streep in the first film, she can sell the singing with passion and performance and that’s what matters.

I kept getting annoyed with the present day Sophie storyline for getting in the way of the flashbacks which were far more compelling. Slowly but surely however, the main story begins to turn an emotional corner. The flashback story begins to underline the action of the modern story in lovely ways and what emerges is a story for mothers and daughters and one that isn’t about the absurd and nasty notion of turning into one’s mother. One would count themselves lucky to become Donna.

As for the music of Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, my favorite performance is Waterloo, though it is arguably the most superfluous in terms of the plot. Indeed, I can recognize that praising the one performance that violates the order and structure that I have praised as a remarkable improvement over the original, is slightly contradictory. That said, Lily James and Young Harry (Hugh Skinner) really steal the show in this performance.

Director Ol Parker sets the scene in Paris where Harry and Donna met in 1979, the same summer she left for Greece. Though Donna is leaving, Harry nevertheless, throws himself at her feet and tells her he loves her and then they sing Waterloo at a French restaurant where waiters are dressed as Napoleon (Ho, Ho!). It sounds cheesy and it is, intentionally so. Director Parker directs the performance like an old school, early 80’s music video, a-la Adam Ant’s Goody Two Shoes, with wacky set pieces and even slightly grainy cinematography to really sell the bit.

Waterloo is wildly funny and a wonderfully shorthand way to bring Donna and Harry together before taking them apart. The other standout is My Love, My Life, which will leave many audience members, especially moms and daughters, a weepy mess. The trailer has spoiled that Sophie is pregnant and the correlation between her pregnancy and her mother’s pregnancy, is brought to bear on this wonderful performance with James and Seyfried singing in different time frames with the same meaning.

Ol Parker had an uphill battle to bring the unwieldy mess that was the Mamma Mia backstory into some semblance of order and he’s done an exceptional job. Sure, he takes the easy way out by mostly ignoring the problematic elements of the original backstory, but what he cobbles together works and the orderly plot helps strengthen our bond with these characters, something that was missing in the first film while we puzzled over how all of the pieces fit.

Thanks to director Parker, we can forget about the nonsense of figuring out when the film is set. It's 1979 when Donna meets Sophie’s dad, by the way, and the movie simply gets on with enjoying some Abba. The disco backlash of the early 80’s robbed us of the joy of Abba’s pop silliness and soapy dramatics and I’m glad to have it back, even if it isn’t the most respectable comeback. Abba was a heck of a lot of fun if you give over to them and we’re able to do that here with far less work involved than in the original.

By the time we reach the credits climax with Super Troupers, a reprise from the original movie, featuring the full cast in full Abba regalia, the movie has won us over with its bubbly spirit and Lily James star-calibur, Awards calibur performance. James is a powerhouse movie star. I won’t go as far as to say she deserves an Academy Award, though I am not opposed to the idea, but wow, we don’t need to see anyone else when it comes Golden Globe time, this is your Best Actress in a Comedy or a Musical, hands down.

I went into Mamma Mia Here We Go Again with a sour attitude, assuming it was going to be as insufferable as the original. What a joyous surprise to find that the sequel makes logical sense, fixes the holes punched in the space time continuum in the original, and crafts a heartfelt and quite funny story out of a bunch of goofy, funny, melodramatic tunes from one of the most underrated groups of all time. This is what Mamma Mia should have been all along, a brassy, blowsy, ballsy, belting it to the back of the room Broadway comedy in execution as much as in idea.

Movie Review Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Lightning Thief (2010) 

Directed by Chris Columbus

Written by Craig Titley 

Starring Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman 

Release Date February 12th, 2010

Published February 11th, 2010 

All Percy Jackson needs is a little forehead scar to complete the shadow of Harry Potter that lurks all throughout this unexceptional effort to craft another teen appeal sequel machine. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on a popular series of novels from an author achingly jealous of the millions raked in by J.K Rowling, even goes so far as to hire former Potter director Chris Columbus just to make sure you don't miss the connection.

Logan Lerman is the titular Percy Jackson, a gap model good looking kid rendered a nerd for the purpose of making him relatable. As we join the story Percy and his pal Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) are sitting by the pool waiting for the plot to kick in. When it finally does, Percy finds out that he is a demi-god, the long abandoned son of the god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd from TV's Grey's Anatomy).

This is revealed to Percy after one of his teacher’s morphs into a bat-winged demon and tries to kill him for stealing Zeus's lightning bolt. Zeus is played by that master of stern blandness Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings). Zeus's bolt is the most powerful force in the universe and somehow he has allowed it to be stolen by a kid who can hardly pass a 10th grade lit class. This does not speak well of the Gods.

The embarrassment and anger is likely to lead to a war of the gods unless Percy, Grover and Percy's assigned love interest, fellow demi-god Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), can find the bolt and the thief and return them to Mt. Olympus which for tourism purposes is located in the Empire State Building.

At least J.K Rowling had the inventiveness to create her own world from scratch in Harry Potter, Percy Jackson rips the work of hundreds of years for its remarkably dull characters. Drawing on centuries of stories about the gods and their offspring, the story of Percy Jackson as adapted by Craig Titley from Rick Riordan's unexceptional book series, manages to be dull about characters with unlimited powers and astonishing back stories.

Then again, this is only the introduction. Percy Jackson is set to be a film series and thus all that is required here is a primer on Percy and the other lead characters including the aforementioned gods, best friend, love interest and Pierce Brosnan as, arguably, the most dignified half-man half horse in film history.

Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on Percy Jackson, the Olympians and the lightning thief. It is, like so many modern studio features, merely a sequel machine meant to pump out just enough plot for us to come back next time. Why should anyone really ask anymore from a film with such a limited goal?

Sure, J.K Rowling and her film partners have taken her work and enhanced and enriched it on screen with each subsequent film to the point where the film work is as grand as or even grander than it is on the page. But why should every movie have to have such aspiration, especially when modern audiences don't seem to require that much hard work.

Ah, Percy; for a compromised rip-off teen friendly franchise you're not so bad.

Documentary Review Oceans

Oceans (2010) 

Directed by Jaques Perrin

Written by Documentary

Starring Oceans, Pierce Brosnan

Release Date April 21st, 2010 

Published April 21st, 2010 

Some of the most astonishing sights ever brought to the big screen have nothing to do with CGI, 3D or Megan Fox. These magnificent sights were captured by the patient, dedicated artists at Disney Nature who in their latest Earth Day documentary “Oceans” may make the folks at the Discovery Channel jealous.

French director Jaques Perrin helmed this awesome project that filmed in over 50 different places around the globe from the tip of South Africa to the farthest depths of the arctic to the beaches that inspired Charles Darwin and the warm waters of the Caribbean. Perrin and his crews spent more than 4 years filming with groundbreaking underwater cameras and capturing sights never before seen.

Pierce Brosnan is the voice of “Oceans” and his relaxed brogue holds together this relatively short episodic feature that doesn't so much tell a story as it strings together a series of astonishing images that holds the audience enthralled by all the beauty and wonder on display.

One will naturally assume that, despite the title, “Oceans” is a rather dry (get it?), scientific, educational and environmentally activist feature. That however, is a grand overstatement. The reality is that the images captured in “Oceans” are so strikingly, breathtakingly beautiful that the whole is as easily entertaining and engaging as it is activist or educational.

Yes, time is spent on just how much damage we have done to our oceans. Most impacting is the sight from beneath a trail of garbage floating in an oddly direct line from a river directly into the Atlantic. The filmmakers smartly avoid too much shock imagery as they take us inside fishing nets off the coast of Alaska where we see from below a cloud of blood flowing from a rising net as fishermen go in for the kill.

It’s not as impactful as the Oscar winning shock images from “The Cove” but images like the garbage and the blood are merely asides in “Oceans.”

Jaques Perrin and his crew keeps the focus of “Oceans” on the astonishing glories of the beneath the seas and in doing so keeps the audience in raw wonder as we attempt to discern just how certain images could possibly have been captured, especially the speed racer like Dolphins who cover acres of ocean at unbelievable speeds. The dolphins are filmed from above with a low flying helicopter and from below in ways that are never explained but will leave you breathless.

Disney's return to the world of nature documentaries, a field they left behind years ago after being pioneers of early nature films, is a glorious success. 2009's “Earth” was a strong effort but “Oceans” is the equivalent of Toy Story, the first Pixar feature to demonstrate the awesome, artistic possibilities of CG Animation. “Oceans” expands the limits of what we might expect from Disney Nature.

”Oceans' ' is a glorious, eye popping experience and it doesn't even need 3D. I cannot wait until next year when DisneyNature takes us into the world of Jungle Cats.

Movie Review Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia (2008) 

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd 

Written by Catherine Johnson 

Starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan

Release Date July 18th, 2008 

Published July 17th, 2008

I have to confess an odd affinity for the music of Abba. The safe, uncalculating earnestness of their disco pop is a pleasant little distraction on occasion. Spike Lee even managed to turn Dancing Queen into a powerful expression of the times when he used it to evoke the synthetic happiness of the late seventies in his underappreciated epic Summer of Sam.

Broadway show tuner Phyllida Lloyd captured perfectly the jaunty, uncomplicatedness of Abba's music when she brought Mamma Mia to the stage in 2005. Even the Tony's sat up and took notice. Now Lloyd has brought the superfluous fun of arguably disco's finest ambassador's (Sorry Bee Gees fans) to the big screen.

Mamma Mia stars Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan, a former disco queen turned hotelier. Donna runs a hotel on the coast of the Adriatic that draws the bare minimum of tourists. Her most urgent project is getting the place fixed up for her daughter Sophie's wedding. Sophie has a big surprise in order for mom. While mom is welcoming guests, including her former singing pals Tonya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters), Sophie is welcoming three surprise guests, each of whom is a blast from Donna's past and, more importantly, each may be Sophie's dad.

Colin Firth plays Harry with his typical British neurotic energy. Stellan Skarsgard is Bill, a globe -trotting journalist going with the free spirited flow at all times. And Pierce Brosnan is Sam, a rich guy who quickly figures out what is going on and comes to assume that he is Sophie's dad and that after all these many, many years, he is still in love with Donna.

That makes a good straight forward plot. However, Mamma Mia is far from straight. I mean straight forward. Sorry. Because the music of Abba serves as the inspiration for Mamma Mia the songs of Sweden's number one entertainment source are jammed into every corner and only some willingly adhere to the story being told.

Making things even more complicated than trying to shoehorn so much music into the movie, is the fact that the stars sing for themselves and most aren't great. Meryl Streep is good, Christine Baranski is better and Julie Walters can carry a tune but the boys are completely overmatched.

Pierce Brosnan is outright brutal as he attempts a duet with Streep. Firth and Skarsgard are equally unlistenable. They are saved, a little bit, by the massive production numbers that accompany the song and give them light and energy. A Lot of Mamma Mia is capable of skating on good intentional and the sheer willful intent to entertain.

Mamma Mia is undeniably fun and frothy. That said, if you don't love Abba you won't love this movie. It's a musical with nothing but Abba tunes. Tunes are jammed into scenes just for the fact that they are Abba tunes and regardless of whether they belong in the story. If you aren't a fan there is nothing here to appeal to you.

Jaunty and energetic in its bizarre way, Mamma Mia is a fans only entertainment that will preach well to the converted and leave the rest in the cold.

Movie Review The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer (2010) 

Directed by Roman Polanski 

Written by Robert Harris, Roman Polanski 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, Jon Bernthal 

Release Date March 3rd, 2010

Published March 9th, 2010 

Director Roman Polanski will be forever colored by the crime he committed that drove him out of America. His conviction on charges of statutory rape, he had sex with a 13 year old girl, will forever stain his reputation and whether he ever returns to America to face justice or remains in exile somewhere in Europe he will leave behind a tarnished legacy and a lifetime of movies that might have been.

Because of his crimes many people will forever avoid his movies as a form of protest. Those who make that choice will be the least for it as despite his crime Mr. Polanski remains a master behind the camera. The latest example of his genius is the political thriller The Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan.

Former British Prime Minister Adam Lang has one of the most anticipated memoirs in the publishing industry. His controversial time as Prime Minister, encompassing the height of the war on terror, his good looks and charm should lend itself to a terrific story and a grand slam bestseller.

Unfortunately, the book stinks and the Prime Minister's original ghost writer, a longtime aide, has died. The book is a shambles and a major fix is needed. Enter The Ghost played by Ewan McGregor, an author for hire who specializes in puffery and wordplay. He will sit with the PM and uncover some details that might turn the book into the bedside reader that publishers look for.

While things begin rather simply, the job of the ghost takes a sinister turn when the former PM is charged with war crimes and he is pressed by his bosses to control the story and keep it all for the book. What the ghost discovers is linked to the fate of the previous ghostwriter, the CIA and the PM's wife, played brilliantly by Olivia Williams.

The plot of The Ghost Writer is intricate and endlessly clever. Roman Polanski adapted it from the work of author Robert Harris who modeled the fictional story on real life British Prime Minister Tony Blair with whom Harris was once close. When Blair began working closely with President Bush, Harris turned and The Ghost Writer was born.

The veiled attack on Blair hovers over the thriller story of The Ghost Writer and the real life conceits serve as a sort of magic trick to distract audiences while Polanski and Ewan McGregor work the thriller aspect for smart, tense and even humorous scenes.

This is a master at work, intriguing us with asides while leaving us gasping with plotting, pace and dialogue. The Ghost Writer is relentless in its smooth pace and enthralling storytelling. McGregor is well matched to the role of the clueless ghost who comes in with no interest in politics and finds himself immediately out of his depth.

Olivia Williams is the standout of the superb cast. Playing the jaded, jilted politician's wife she begins a tense and sexy flirtation with the ghost all the while hiding secrets that nag at the back of your mind until their superb payoff. Pierce Brosnan hasn't been this good since his clever turn in 2005's The Matador. Brosnan combines Tony Blair's boyish energy and charm with an undercurrent of menace.

Kim Cattrall rounds out the cast as Brosnan's loyal aide and likely mistress. The relationship is left tantalizingly off-screen while she flirts with McGregor's Ghost in one of many smart, funny, sexy subplots that keep the audience off balance and searching for clues to the big bad behind all the trouble.

Murder, mystery, sex and politics what more could one ask for in a good thriller. With Roman Polanski behind the camera everything comes together under the eye of a master filmmaker who knows just what buttons to push to keep an audience engaged and grasping for the next clue, the next revelation and the final gut punch finish. Some will find the ending of The Ghost Writer unsatisfying. I feel it was the perfect finish and really the only way this story could end.

Put aside Roman Polanski's crime if you can and you will find The Ghost Writer to be a fantastic movie going experience. A brilliant thriller from a brilliant director who has maintained a mastery of filmmaking even as his personal life has been an absolute disaster.

Movie Review: Die Another Day

Die Another Day (2002) 

Directed by Lee Tamahori 

Written by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade 

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rick Yune, Judi Dench

Release Date November 22nd, 2002 

Published November 21st, 2002 

I've wondered recently as I awaited the release of the latest in the James Bond series, whether it's the character I like or a perception of the character that I've built in my own mind. I've always thought I liked James Bond, but I don't seek out the films. In fact, I haven't seen any of the Bond movies all the way through since the last one was in theaters. I have my own preconceptions of what Bond should be based on vague memories of movies I haven't seen in years. Maybe that is why Die Another Day is so disappointing, because it doesn't match my memory. It may be quite faithful to the legend as it actually exists but for my notion of James Bond, it doesn't work.

Pierce Brosnan takes on the role of 007 for the 4th time, still in the shadow of Sean Connery and not likely to escape it being that this is likely his last go around with the character. In the opening scenes Bond surfs onto the shores of North Korea and kidnaps a diamond dealer who is on his way to sell diamonds to a corrupt North Korean General. Bond takes the dealer’s place with the intent of killing the General, however his cover is blown during the deal and Bond is captured. 

A flash forward during the credits shows us Bond being tortured for several months ‘til he is freed in a prisoner exchange with South Korea. Under normal circumstances a double 0 agent would be left to die but Bond's bosses fear he may have cracked and before he can give up any important information they trade a most dangerous prisoner, Zao played by The Fast & the Furious star Rick Yune, for Bond.

Now suspected of treachery, Bond must escape his own people and find the people who blew his cover. Along the way, Bond makes the acquaintance of an American operative named Jinx (Halle Berry). The only person who knows who set Bond up is Zao, who Bond tracks to Cuba and finally to Iceland and the part time home of a megalomaniacal diamond broker named Gustav Graves. The connection between Zao and Graves is a good one and typical of the franchise, anyone with a vague understanding of the legend will see through it immediately.

SPOILER ALERT – YOU’VE BEEN WARNED

Indeed throughout Die Another Day, Director Lee Tamohori and screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, tip their hand with a sly wink to the audience. There is not one twist or surprise in Die Another Day save for a terrific cameo by Madonna. If you have seen any of the previous Bond films then you know everything that will happen in Die Another Day, including the agent that turns on Bond, the true identity of Gustav Graves, and where Jinx's loyalty lies. Here is a hint, she is getting her own spin off film so safe to say she isn't the bad guy.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

Director Lee Tamohori is to be commended for the film’s action, which is very well staged. The special effects and stunts in Die Another Day are spectacular. If the only reason your seeing the film is for the action and special effects you will be very pleased. Die Another Day is a well-oiled machine of a movie. Think of it like a perfectly running car engine. It's quite brilliant but do you want to watch an engine run for 2 hours?

Ultimately, Die Another Day has no heart, no soul and no passion. And accuse me if you like of asking too much of a Hollywood popcorn film, I don't care. I need characters and story. Die Another Day has neither. It has paper-thin caricatures going through the motions of special effect and action. And as for Bond, the character is now skating entirely on past glory. That past is quite glorious even in my fuzzy memory but reputation can only carry you so far and Pierce Brosnan, since taking over the role, has brought nothing new to the character. 

In fact, he lacks the qualities that made Bond so glorious before him. Much like his immediate predecessor Timothy Dalton, Brosnan's Bond is wooden and charmless attempting to pass solely on looks and legend. Both Connery and Roger Moore brought unique characteristics to their Bond. Connery's Bond was charming and dangerous and just so cool. Moore's Bond lacked Connery's charisma, but he too was cool and he brought a new humor to the character that wasn't a part of Connery's Bond.

The next in the series is likely to bring a new actor to the role of Bond, and my hope is he can bring something new to the character, but he will need the help of a director with vision and a writer with the wit enough not to fall back on effects and stunts and provide real suspense and, heaven forbid, dialogue. Not too much though, I wouldn't want to take away from the effects too much. Just enough to allow an actor to act.

As a technical feat, Die Another Day is flawless. As a movie, it’s lacking.

Movie Review: After the Sunset

After the Sunset (2004) 

Directed by Brett Ratner 

Written by Paul Zbyszewski, Craig Rosenberg 

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle, Naomie Harris

Release Date November 12th, 2004 

Published November 11th, 2004 

Director Brett Ratner has a flair for escapist action junk.  He is the man behind the Rush Hour series. His latest escapist mainstream popcorn fare is After The Sunset, a heist comedy that is lacking a good heist and some comedy but does feature a supremely hot Salma Hayek in various stages of undress. Sometimes even bad movies have a bright side.

Pierce Brosnan stars as Max, a master thief with a particular affinity for the very rare Napoleon diamonds. What he seems to enjoy even more than the diamonds however is humiliating FBI agent Stan Lloyd, (Woody Harrelson) who is guarding the diamonds and who was held responsible when Max lifted the first one. As the story requires, Max once again humiliates Stan in a convoluted little plot with remote control cars, cat and mouse antics at a basketball game, and finally a gunshot wound for Max, though nothing serious enough to keep him from the diamond. 

The heist would not be possible without Max's better half Lola (Hayek) who runs important interference on the heist and even gets to wear a neat costume. It is Lola who decides that they are now retired and she who chooses their retirement home on a gorgeous unnamed Caribbean tourist trap island. She's happy but Max is miserable with no loot to steal and no agent Lloyd to mess with.  He is bored stiff.

Then out of the blue pops agent Lloyd and a cruise ship that just happens to be carrying the third Napoleon diamond, the only one Max hasn't stolen....allegedly. Can Max resist the temptation of the complicated and once again convoluted and over-wrought pilfering opportunity and another chance to show up Stan or will he follow Lola's admonition that they are retired and it's not worth the risk. Whether he steals the diamond or not he is guaranteed to be involved because of a local gangster (Don Cheadle) who threatens to kill him if he won't help lift the diamond.

Pierce Brosnan is trying hard to settle into post-Bond  life, though he still has one more Bond yet to come. Sadly Brosnan once again misfires on his image makeover. Brosnan is a stiff and casting him as a colorful thief in colorful surroundings only serves to show off his weakest qualities. He's charming and handsome and so very, very boring when compared to his co-stars and even the sunrise of the title is far more interesting than anything Brosnan brings to this film.

If they really wanted to have some fun with After The Sunset they should have switched a few of the roles around. Have Cheadle play the thief, Harrelson the American gangster running the island and Brosnan the straight-laced FBI guy. That at least would give Don Cheadle something more to do than just show up when the plot needs him to look mean. For some reason I can really imagine him sparking with Salma Hayek as well, something Brosnan fails at miserably.

For his part Director Brett Ratner is his calculated mainstream self. Always well aware of what test audiences are looking for, Ratner ratchets up the formula story, the recognizable faces and the entirely "lowest common denominator" plot that only few will find complicated or surprising. I will say this for Ratner, his camera loves Salma Hayek and finds new and wonderful ways of capturing her magnificent form.

As the plot clicks away through poorly executed buddy humor and lazy action setups with little if any payoff the one thing that is clear about the making of After The Sunset is that everyone on the crew must have gotten a nice tan and plenty of umbrella drinks. Otherwise there isn't much reason for this film to exist at all. This is a vacation for all involved, a chance to go to paradise on a studio dime. Can't say I blame them for living it up but would it have killed them to make a halfway decent film while they were sunning themselves?

Movie Review: The Matador

The Matador (2005) 

Directed by Richard Shepherd 

Written by Richard Shepherd 

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Phillip Baker Hall, Hope Davis 

Release Date December 30th, 2005 

Published December 27th, 2005 

A great matador can kill a bull with a single precise blow from his sword. This pinpoint accuracy is prized by the crowd who, despite the sport's inherent cruelty, cannot abide the bull suffering too much. At first glimpse the title The Matador seems odd for a movie without a matador character, but with the film set in Mexico and the lead actor playing a hit-man prized for his precision, the title choice becomes clear perfection. Also perfect is the casting of the film which moves the former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, on to a new career path that may be more rewarding than any secret agent franchise.

Pierce Brosnan stars in The Matador as Julian Noble, a hit-man who's losing his touch. Julian has been blowing off jobs and telling his handler, Mr. Randy (Phillip Baker Hall), he just needs a vacation, something most hit-men are not afforded. One lonely night in a Mexico City hotel bar Julian meets Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), who's in Mexico on business. Desperate for any kind of human contact--someone he doesn't have to pay or kill--Julian buys Danny a drink and makes a fumbling attempt at friendship.

Julian is terrible with people and manages to insult Danny more than once before Danny finally agrees to hang out with him. Danny has his own troubles. He desperately needs a major business contract with a Mexican firm or his new company will go under. As if that wasn't enough, just before he left his home in Denver, a tree fell through the wall of his kitchen--nearly killing him and his wife, Bean (Hope Davis).

Julian is, at first, leery of telling Danny what he does for a living. Eventually however, while attending a bullfight, he finally breaks down and tells Danny who reacts with a reasonable disbelief. After a rather ingenious demonstration where Julian nearly kills a target that Danny chose at random, Danny finally comes to believe Julian is a hit-man. Here is where the film takes its first unique turn. Rather than run away from Julian, Danny is intrigued by him and takes on the interesting perspective about what a great story he will have to tell his friends back home. Not many people can say they hung out with a contract killer.

There are plenty of unique twists and turns in The Matador, but to go into much more detail would ruin the fun of this cleverly scripted comedy. Written and directed by Richard Shepard, best known for the direct to video thriller Oxygen, The Matador never goes where you expect it to. The rare unpredictability of The Matador is its charm. Shepard scripts the film with an eye on what is expected in each scene and turns every predictable scene on it's ear.

Pierce Brosnan is attempting to start a brand new career post-James Bond and The Matador is an excellent start. While his comic skills are suspect--he never seems quite comfortable delivering a joke--Brosnan is undeniably handsome and charismatic and that kind of charm can carry an actor along way. Brosnan is aided by a deft and clever script that never tries for big laughs but rather quiet, appreciative smiles as satisfying as big guffaws.

Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis are well cast as a married couple who have never lost the spark of first love. Writer-director Shepard gives both actors a great deal to play with and trusts his actors to make the material come off the page. Because most of the film is made up of smart, funny, dialogue without the kind of dramatic flourishes or overstated comic setups you might expect from a film of the action-comedy genre that The Matador is haphazardly included within. Davis and Kinnear find a lovely beat to play within the familiar genre elements of The Matador and their chemistry is exceptional. 

The Matador plays a little like "David Mamet lite". Drop the expletives (there are a few but not of the Mamet degree), keep the sharp wordplay, and whip smart plotting and you have a movie that resembles Mamet while displaying a light comic touch that establishes the film as a Richard Shepard original.  The real delight of The Matador are the three principle stars who bite into this smart material with gusto. 

These are tough roles which, in the commercials, and the film's trailers are played up as broadly comic but are in fact quieter and more cerebral. Yes, the performances tickle at times and draw more than a few good laughs but the most effort is put into establishing these characters and the universe they inhabit as something plausibly close to reality.

One of the last films of the Weinstein/Miramax-Disney partnership, The Matador only suffers the lack of full support by one studio giving it the marketing attention it deserves. But aside from that, The Matador is a wonderfully clever comic thriller that gives three terrific actors three exceptional roles that each knocks out of the park. For audiences looking for smart funny adult-minded movies, The Matador is a gift.