Movie Review Hostiles

Hostiles (2017) 

Directed by Scott Cooper 

Written by Scott Cooper 

Starring Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Jesse Plemons, Ben Foster

Release Date December 22nd, 2017 

Scott Cooper is one of the most focused and intense filmmakers working today and the proof of that comes in his latest film, the western, Hostiles. Hostiles stars Christian Bale as military officer in the New Mexico territory who has spent over a decade fighting against Indians and securing the new American west from the people who rightfully owned that land.

Bale’s Captain Joseph Blocker is at the end of his military career when he’s told he has one more mission. The President of the United States has decided that Indians held as prisoners in the territories are to be freed and specifically, an Indian Chief named Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) is to be returned to his native home in Montana. Because the Chief is in poor health and the passage from New Mexico to Montana is lengthy and dangerous, Blocker must assemble a group and accompany his former enemy.

The early scenes of Blocker protesting the assignment given to him by his commanding officer, played with imperious glee by Stephen Lang, are the lowpoint of Hostiles. Cooper mistakenly shoehorns a reporter from Harper’s Magazine, played by Bill Camp, who acts as Captain Exposition, calling out Blocker for his cruelty on the battlefield and reputation for brutally murdering innocent and warring Indians alike.

When Blocker’s pension is threatened, he finally relents but only after getting his best friend, Master Sgt. Metz (Rory Cochrane) as a member of his team. Metz had his guns taken away after their last mission and was headed toward retirement after being diagnosed with Melancholia, what we would recognize today as suicidal ideation. Giving him his guns back is Blocker’s misguided attempt at giving his friend purpose again.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal. Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal. 

Movie Review Saltburn

Saltburn (2023) 

Directed by Emerald Fennell 

Written by Emerald Fennell 

Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe 

Release Date November 17th, 2023 

Published November 27th, 2023 

Saltburn stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an outcast at Cambridge University. Oliver is a scholarship kid from a middle-class family. He's a little awkward, a little shy, and doesn't make friends easily. When he meets Felix Carlton it's quite clear that Oliver sees Felix in a more than friendly fashion. He's practically falling all over himself to catch a glimpse of Felix and that makes sense, Felix is a young God. As captured by director Emerald Fennell, Jacob Elordi's Felix is among the most attractive human beings on the planet. 

Felix will also prove to be incredibly kind as when Oliver offers to help him with a broken bike wheel, Felix adopts the outcast as a friend and brings him into his popular Cambridge friend group. When Oliver proves to be a loyal and devoted friend, Felix returns the favor by inviting him to parties and introducing him to others. Eventually, when the holidays arrive and Oliver has nowhere to go home to, Felix invites him to Saltburn, the name of Felix's family property, a sprawling mansion in the English countryside. 

Oliver even gets the bedroom next door to Felix, connected by a shared bathroom. It's more than Oliver could dream of, though Felix seems unaware that Oliver has feelings for him that go beyond friendship. One person who does appear to be on to Oliver's romantic obsession is Farleigh (Archie Madekwe), Felix's best friend and a close friend of the Carlton family. Farleigh delights in needling Oliver, even as Archie seems to be holding more than friendly feelings as well. At the very least, both young men exhibit a fluid sexuality. 

Slowly but surely, Oliver weasels his way into the good graces of the Carlton family, removing obstacles like Farleigh, and earning the trust of Felix's parents, Lady Elspeth Carlton (Rosamund Pike) and Sir James Carlton (Richard E. Grant). If you haven't caught on that this is all part of a master plan hatched by Felix to break into a rich family, then you aren't paying very close attention. For all of Oliver's awkwardness and creepiness, he's not the wilting violet that he would lead you to believe. as Saltburn careens toward its unexpected ending, Oliver's duplicitousness comes to the fore in nasty, bitter fashion. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review The Big Year

The Big Year (2011)

Directed by David Frankel 

Written by Howard Franklin 

Starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, Rosamund Pike 

Release Date October 14th, 2011

Published October 17th, 2011

I've always longed to be part of a community. I love the idea of a group of likeminded people who share a joyous passion for something. Sure, I have the community of fellow Chicago Cubs fans but we're such an edgy, angst-ridden bunch; it's hard to have a sense of community among people constantly waiting for something bad to happen.

I should consider birding. The wonderful new comedy The Big Year starring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson offers a wonderful, angst-free group of people whose passion is so purely beautiful that you can't help but admire and envy it, even if you don't quite understand it.

Birding and Birder Not Bird-watching or Bird-watcher

Brad Harris (Jack Black) has a crappy job and little money but he does have his birds. Brad is a passionate birder and this year he is going to chase his dream, a Big Year. A Big Year is when a birder, bird watcher to us non-birding enthusiasts, spends one year crossing North America trying to see as many bird species as possible.

Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) is the greatest birder in the world. Kenny set the world record with his big year not long ago. Now, with an El Nino weather pattern on the horizon, Kenny knows someone will try to break his record and he's intent on keeping his legacy, even if it strains his marriage to Jessica (Rosamund Pike).

Third Retirement is the Charm

Joining Brad and Kenny on a quest for a Big Year is Stu Preissler (Steve Martin). Stu has just retired for the third time and his Big Year is his best chance to finally make his retirement permanent.

On the surface, The Big Year sounds like a ludicrous idea for a movie; a movie about bird-watching? A movie about bird-watching starring Jack Black? What's that old phrase about judging a book?

Never Judge a Book...

Get past the cover of The Big Year however, and you find a brilliant, sensitive, smart comedy about seeking adventure and chasing a dream that only makes sense to you. There is a pioneer spirit to these crazed men chasing their bird obsession and as directed by David Frankel that spirit is infectious and entertaining.

Jack Black is the heart of The Big Year as Brad. Black provides the voiceover for the film and his sensitivity, humor and passion are as surprising as they are terrifically low-key; it's Jack Black dialed down to a regular human speed and it works.

The Surprising Chemistry of Jack Black and Steve Martin

Jack Black and Steve Martin have surprisingly great chemistry as these two very different men who have only one thing in common, but one really great thing. Martin also sparks wonderfully with his onscreen wife JoBeth Williams, adding another terrifically human level to this well-grounded comedy.

Owen Wilson has the most complex role in The Big Year. Kenny Bostick's passion is less justifiable and closer to madness than is anyone else's. Kenny, we are told, already cost himself one marriage in his pursuit of a Big Year and looks to be on the verge of losing a second.

Owen Wilson The Greatest Birder in the World

Yet, even as his marriage to a woman he clearly cares about, Kenny cannot let go of what he believes will be his legacy. Rosamund Pike is excellent as Kenny's wife, a reasonable and sensitive woman who is a great deal more patient than any one should have to be until she can be patient no longer.

David Frankel is an exceptional mainstream auteur. Frankel tells very mainstream, easily accessible stories that could, in the hands of lesser directors, become wacky and over the top. Under his guidance however, stories like Marley & Me and The Big Year, become sensitive, smart human stories that mine humor from universality and truth.

A Shortcut Here and There

Of course, The Big Year has to take a few shortcuts to get where it's going. A few scenes have an air of convenience to them but that's only because the scenes were required to keep The Big Year from being three to four hours in length.

At the very least, Frankel's shorthand dialogue is neither insulting nor simpleminded. Rather, it's purposeful, well directed and exists only long enough to serve its purpose. A good example is a scene between Owen Wilson and Steve Martin.

The Honor System

There are rumors among the birding community that Kenny Bostick may have cheated to get to his Big Year, abusing the honor system on which the whole of the Big Year concept is based. Thankfully, Stu witnesses Bostick in a moment when Bostick doesn't know he is there earnestly seeking to see a particular bird that he has heard and could technically claim as he has recognized its call.

The moment is convenient for Stu's presence to witness it but the scene is necessary as it establishes Kenny Bostick as an honest man who takes his birding seriously; a point that only makes his home life compromises more poignant and sad.

An Unexpected and Welcome Surprise

The Big Year made me smile repeatedly all the way to the end and sent me home with a giant grin as well. This is a wonderful little human comedy populated by wonderful characters whose crazy adventure is inspiring, invigorating and at times both moving and funny.

The Big Year is the most unexpected and welcome surprise of 2011.

Movie Review: A Private War

A Private War (2018) 

Directed by Matthew Heineman

Written by Arash Amel 

Starring Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan, Tom Hollander, Stanley Tucci 

Release Date November 2nd, 2018

Published November 6th, 2018 

A Private War stars Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) as Marie Colvin, famed war journalist who was killed in a bombing attack in Syria in 2012. To her dying breath, Marie Colvin was a reporter, fighting to bring the facts of the story to the masses with the power of words. It was what she’d done since the 80’s when she became one of the first western journalists to interview Muammar Gaddafi when he was the name in middle eastern terror as the leader of Libya. 

The story begins on a shot of devastation in Homs, Syria where Marie was killed in 2012. We then quickly flashback to 2001 when Marie was reporting on the conflict in East Timor, Sri Lanka. Against the explicit instructions of the government, Marie went to interview members of the Tamil Tigers who were fighting a vicious, inhuman war in East Timor and were ravaged by starvation and violence. 

It was during this event that Marie was nearly killed when government backed forces attacked the rebel guides leading Marie back to a safe area where she was to write and report her story. Even after Marie told the soldiers that she was a journalist, she was nearly struck by an RPG fired by government soldiers. In that attack Marie lost sight in her left eye but still found a way to write 3000 words about the conflict and do so in time for her deadline. 

The attack in Sri Lanka however, would have long term effects on Marie as few stories had. Marie suffered from PTSD, something she dismissed but her repeated nightmares and increased reliance on alcohol indicated was true. Even this was not enough to keep Marie from going to Afghanistan and then Iraq in the wake of the September 11th attacks. It was Marie Colvin and her photographer who, against the explicit instructions of the American government and Iraqi leaders, helped to uncover Saddam Hussein’s horrific mass graves in 2003. 

A Private War bounces around in time to an occasionally confusing degree. The film does use captions to orient us to what time we are in but it’s up to us to catch up to where we are, which might be Marie’s apartment in London in the midst of a nightmare or some foreign journalist hangout in some unnamed war zone. Director Matthew Heineman is a documentarian by trade so perhaps the weaknesses of the story structure of A Private War come from inexperience in the structure of a narrative film as opposed to the more edit heavy word of documentary. 

That said, Heineman is exactly the right director for Marie Colvin’s story. Heineman’s time in the documentary world placed him in many of the same dangerous circles of the Marie Colvin’s of the world. Heineman’s previous documentary feature, City of Ghosts was filmed in Raqqa, Syria among a group of citizen journalists who likely would have been inspired by Marie Colvin had they known her. Raqqa is just 4 hours from Homs, where Marie was killed. 

Heineman’s style is strong, especially considering that the move from the intimate digital of documentary to the more filmic and controlled style of narrative feature can be jarring for some directors. A Private War is a great looking movie and that should come as no surprise as it was lensed by Academy Award winner Robert Richardson, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarentino protégé. The film has a similarly hazy, heady quality to Richardson’s work for Scorsese. 

Rosamund Pike is a complete badass in A Private War. She captures Marie Colvin as a human character in a way that we’re rarely allowed to see a woman in a movie. It’s not merely warts and all,  it’s honesty and bravery and the warts and all. Not only is Pike’s Marie tough, she’s also super sexy in a way that is similar to the swaggering way actors like Richard Gere are sexy when they play rebel journalists in war zones. 

Pike’s femininity is enhanced by her tenacity. The film shows her being bolder and crazier than some of her male counterparts and then shows her completely nude, stripping bare your perceptions of what it means to be tough and feminine. It’s a striking scene and one in which the nudity matters, it’s a demonstration of her character, a statement about her sexuality and desirability and how these are not separate qualities from toughness and intelligence. 

Rosamund Pike is on her way to a Best Actress nomination if there is justice in the world. Her Marie Colvin deserves that. This performance and this person deserve that tribute. It’s a shame that Marie Colvin didn’t receive this kind of recognition when she was alive to revel in it. She had already earned her stripes even before she helped put a face on the crisis in Syria and not merely her own. It was Marie Colvin’s stories about the dead and the dying in Syria that put the crisis in Syria into the homes and minds of the world and in ways many world powers would prefer she hadn’t. 

A Private War is imperfect as a movie, it’s far too episodic in nature to quite satisfy as a narrative feature but Rosamund Pike’s performance goes a long way to correct many of the qualms I had with the narrative structure of the movie. Pike is incredible and for her, A Private War is an absolute must-see.

Movie Review Surrogates

Surrogates (2009) 

Directed by Jonathan Mostow

Written by John Brancato, Michael Ferris 

Starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund, Boris Kodjoe, Ving Rhames

Release Date September 25th, 2009

Published September 25th, 2009

Bruce Willis is the last of his kind it would seem, a real star. People go to the movies to see Bruce Willis. His plots don't really matter. The stories he tells and characters he plays have grown more and more outrageous and ludicrous and yet fans still turn out. The latest example is the likely number one movie of this late September weekend, Surrogates.

This derivative story of a murder in a world where sentient robots carry out the daily lives of real humans never rises to anything more than an exercise in genre and thus carries no real interest on its own merits. And yet, people turn out. Willis is a star and the only reason to spend money on Surrogates.

Set just over a decade from our own time, Bruce Willis stars in Surrogates as FBI Special Agent Greer. With his partner Peters (Radha Mitchell) Greer investigates the first murder in over a decade. Violence has grown almost non-existent in the last decade as more and more humans replaced themselves with sentient robots called Surrogates.

These Surrogates, or surrys as some call them, can't grow old, get sick and if one is damaged it is simply repaired or replaced. All the while humans control the surrey with their minds from the comfort and safety of their homes. I am told that this technology is not merely the stuff of science fiction but a real possibility.

Things are all hunky dory until Greer and Peters are called to the scene of an assault and are shocked when a pair of surrogates are linked to a pair of dead users. Somehow, the weapon employed by the assailant managed to kill the robot and its controller. The implications are staggering to the characters in the movie but anyone with a degree in plot dynamics already has the gist of the lame conspiracy thriller soon to unfold.

The plotting is obvious, especially after we are subjected to the shady corporate villains and equally shady military types who emerge as early suspects. All are going to be involved in some way and in some fashion punished per the plot requirements of such simpleminded storytelling devices.

On the bright side, all of the mediocre story is told through the always compelling presence of Mr. Willis and the capable, if predictable, direction of Jonathon Mostow (Terminator 3). Willis on his worst day is more compelling and charismatic than most of the men in his line of work. His cocksure walk, bullet head and ferocious spirit give him an unpredictable quality that brings life to even the most predictable of plots.

Willis is our tour guide through the lame plot and while he is engaged, so are we. You have to be a fan of his brand of brusque charisma to enjoy Surrogates. If not, don't bother because it is really all that this movie has going for it.

Movie Review: An Education

An Education (2010) 

Directed by Lone Scherfig

Written by Nick Hornby

Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, Emma Thompson

Release Date February 5th, 2010

Published March 17th, 2010 

Wading through the “A Star is Born” hype surrounding Carey Mulligan in “An Education” is a bit of a chore. Coming to the movie late as I am; research is filled with endless paeans to her brilliance and innumerable comparisons of Carey Mulligan to Audrey Hepburn. If I sound a little bitter it has nothing to do with Ms. Mulligan's actual performance. It's that I find it hard to move about the muck of repeated praise and find my own feelings.

Carey Mulligan stars in “An Education” as Jenny, a 16-year-old with dreams of Oxford University and romantic sojourns to Paris with some lovely boy of her future. Jenny's parents, Jack and Marjorie (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour), don't mind Jenny’s daydreaming as long as it doesn't interfere with good grades and extracurricular activities such as band.

Jenny's first real distraction arrives in the form of a sports car and the charming cad inside. The cad is David and while he feigns interest in keeping Jenny’s cello from getting wet in the rain, his real interest is apparent to everyone. Jenny is naïve but not unaware. She accepts the ride home and is soon accepting much more.

David offers Jenny the life she has daydreamed about; including that romantic Parisian adventure. Meanwhile he charms her parents so thoroughly that he could have his way with Jenny in their home if he chose to. If 35-year-old David's designs on 16-year-old Jenny weren't troubling enough, he has even more sinister secrets waiting to be revealed.

“An Education” was directed by Lone Scherfig, a Danish director making her English language debut. Scherfig shows that a young girl coming of age is a relatively universal story no matter your country of origin. Many a beautiful young girl will find elements of their own lives reflected in Jenny's wide eyed willingness to be seduced. The allure of the older man, with the daddy issues inherent, is yet another seemingly universal story reflected in “An Education.”

The script from Nick Hornby, only his second screenplay, the first not based on his own work, is bittersweet, intelligent and warm in its way. Jenny's life at home is not miserable or drab, just realistically dull, as seen from the perspective of a 16-year-old girl. Hornby does a terrific job of balancing the dull home life with the adventurous life with David, never making either seem overly hellish or overly romantic.

Ms. Mulligan is a radiant presence who never overplays Jenny's youth or faux worldliness. Her talent with Jenny is capturing the moment and one in particular stands out. In a nightclub with David and his friends after a night at the symphony, Jenny smokes her first cigarette. Watch the way she balances Jenny's embarrassment with a desperate attempt to look like she belongs. It's a little detail but so knowing and a great instinctual acting moment. None of the other characters had taken notice, well aware of how young she really is, but Jenny knew and that's what Ms. Mulligan knew.

Carey Mulligan adds these seemingly minor but brilliant touches throughout “An Education.” Her supporting cast is right there with her. Peter Sarsgard has not been this good since his degenerate performance in Zach Braff's, “Garden State.” Alfred Molina deserves an Oscar nomination for his controlled doddering as Jenny's dad and Cara Seymour is the quiet soul of the film, supportive, frightened but stalwart and trusting.

It's a fabulous cast and a very well told story. So what is holding back my appreciation? There is a musty quality to “An Education.” The film is set in the 60's so, of course, the filmmakers want to give a feel for the time, I get that. What I am talking about is content not quality; it's an exceptional re-creation of period. My issue is the values and ideas of the film that feel old and dated. The link that baby boomers have to Paris as the embodiment of sophistication and romantic adventure is severed for my generation. We are more likely to think of New York or even London before Paris. The idea makes the film feel old, even if it is true for the character and her time.

Emma Thompson's cameo as an officious schoolmarm holds one of the film's other pitfalls. As she shoulders her way into the film as a representation of an authority the film simply doesn't need, Ms. Thompson’s cameo sticks out, calls attention to itself.

Finally, in the third act another actress is employed to force the ending back to an acceptable place for the simple audience. Olivia Williams plays a teacher with convenient sympathies and paves the way to a much easier ending than what may have been true for the situation.

These are minor quibbles really. “An Education” is in so many ways a brilliant movie, maybe one of the best of the year. Just, be forewarned if you are approaching “An Education” based on the amazing hype you may come away as slightly disappointed as I am.

Movie Review Pride and Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice (2005) 

Directed by Joe Wright 

Written by Deborah Moggach

Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Dame Judi Dench

Release Date November 11th, 2005

Published November 10th, 2005 

My initial reaction to hearing that Pride & Prejudice would once again be adapted to the big screen was a massive groan. How many times can filmmakers tap this same material for a movie; I whined. I was rather surprised then, in my research, to find that Pride & Prejudice had been adapted for the big screen, in its original form and setting, only one other time. In 1940 Greer Garson essayed the role of romantic heroine Lizzy Bennett opposite Sir Laurence Olivier's stolid Mr. Darcy.

The familiarity that induced my groan of reluctance and apathy was actually related to the various attempts to update Pride & Prejudice over the years. In 2003 Lizzy became a New York college student and in 2004 a Bollywood style song and dance romantic. And let us not forget the many offspring that, while they are not straight adaptations, owe their various romantic cliches and complications to Jane Austen's seminal work.

Movies such as Bridget Jones' Diary, the multiple pairings of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and really any attempt Hollywood has made at creating romance on the big screen owes a nod, in one way or another, to the conventions cemented by Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen.

How this brand new adaptation of Pride & Prejudice overcomes this over-familiarity is extraordinarily simple. The film, directed by big screen novice Joe Wright, remains as faithful as possible to Austen's work and casts exceptional actors to bring the already stellar material to life. The result is a movie that does not redefine Austen's masterpiece on the big screen, but rather allows it to exist anew for audiences who may never have experienced it before.

Keira Knightley stars in Pride & Prejudice in the role of Lizzy Bennet the 2nd of five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn). As we join the story Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with marrying off at least one of her daughters, preferably her oldest Jane (Rosamund Pike), because, with no male heir to take over the family land, when Mr. Bennet passes, the family stands to lose all of the land and their wealth upon his death.

Only a rich husband who can provide for the Bennet woman until each is married off, can save the girls from destitution. Thus it is big news when a new neighbor, a moneyed young nobleman, Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods); announces his intention to appear at a formal occasion the next weekend. Each of the Bennet women will have to be on their best behavior to help Jane attract Mr. Bingley whose wealth is far more attractive than his slight and awkward appearance.

At the party Mr. Bingley arrives with his sister Caroline (Kelly Riley) and a fellow nobleman Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen); a stuffed shirt with an air of superiority that surpasses mere arrogance. Darcy clearly feels everything and everyone is below his standards and even after meeting the spirited and lovely Lizzy; he scoffs that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Regardless of Darcy's attitude, Bingley is smitten with Jane Bennet and it is Bingley and Jane that keep our antagonistic lovers, Darcy and Lizzy in contact.

The dislike expressed by Darcy for Lizzy is mutual. She overheard his 'handsome' quip; and has vowed to loathe him for all eternity. However, after a number of paths crossings and numerous misunderstandings and missed intentions it's clear that Darcy and Lizzy are meant for one another. The plot, adapted by Deborah Moggach, throws in some well reasoned roadblocks to keep our two lovers apart but it is Austen's shrewd dialogue and the performances of Knightley and MacFadyen that make Pride & Prejudice rise above typical romantic cliches.

Keira Knightley is absolutely radiant in the famed role of one of literature's shining lights of romantic optimism. Helping us forget her misanthropic turn in the ugly and forgettable Domino, Knightley reestablished herself as a star of the future and an actress to be reckoned with.

Matthew Macfadyen, in his first major international role, essays an aristocratic, measured, and intelligent Mr. Darcy whose romantic side is cloistered in a wall of self defense. Darcy's money has made him suspicious of romance and looking toward marriage as an arrangement of interests and not in any way related to destiny, fate or love. Macfadyen, like his character, comes to life in Lizzy's presence and his wall of defenses crumble in a beautifully acted scene where Darcy and Lizzy argue in the rain.

The supporting cast of Pride & Prejudice is equally as delightful as its two leads. Brenda Blethyn is the standout as Lizzy's busybody mother. Her desperate need to see her daughters wed to wealthy men is the film's driving force. Is she annoying? Yes. But, it's part of who this character is and if you accept this story you have to accept her. Each of the remaining Bennett sisters make lesser impressions but not so much that they hurt the rest of the picture. Best of the rest is Jena Malone as the impetuous Lydia Bennett who runs off and marries the foul soldier boy Mr. Wickham.

A period romance is a tough sale to modern audiences, even one with the literary cache of Pride & Prejudice. Look at Shakespeare, his plays have been successful in movie theaters only when updated with modern reimagining's or in the case of Romeo and Juliet, a bumping soundtrack and some cool looking guns in place of Shakespearean-swords.

Pride & Prejudice itself has been reimagined with modern trimmings but as this new film version shows, the original is an untouchable masterpiece. That is because; more important than her romantic ideals, Jane Austen's words are her true subject. It is the way her characters communicate their feelings that is as much or even more entertaining than how they act on those feelings. You can update the plot; it is a clever romantic plot -especially by modern romantic comedy standards- but without the words the impact is lost.

The words of Jane Austen, only slightly altered here by screenwriter Deborah Moggach, are smart, funny, warm and witty. Every word has its own sub-textual joy. There is joy and pain in every syllable, a deep meaning in every phrase and a romantic sigh in every pause. The words of Jane Austen have stood the test of time for a reason folks.

One of the great things about the written word is its ability to last forever. The words of Jane Austen in Pride & Prejudice will, no doubt, last forever because of their beauty, wit, and romance. Now those words are also immortalized in a cinematic form that also can last a lifetime in DVD collections of millions of romantics and fans of great words.

Movie Review: Fracture

Fracture (2007) 

Directed by Gregory Hoblit

Written by Daniel Pyne, Glenn Gers

Starring Ryan Gosling, Anthony Hopkins, David Straithairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz, Cliff Curtis, Billy Burke, Fiona Shaw 

Release Date April 20th, 2007

Published 19th, 2007

There is plenty of Oscar related gravitas to go around on the new thriller Fracture. Star Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for Silence of the Lambs. His young co-star Ryan Gosling is fresh off of his first nomination for Half Nelson and David Straithairn isn't long from his Best actor nomination for Good Night and Good Luck. With all of that Oscar gold shining  it could be easy to miss how shallow and unworthy a movie like Fracture is.

This movie of the week, sub-Law & Order-CSI, thriller wastes a group of great actors on a plot full of minor cracks and imperfections or fractures if you will.

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) has one foot out the door. Having just landed a big paycheck; corporate law gig; Willy is leaving behind the district attorney's office and his 100% conviction rate. He just has one case left on the docket and it looks like a slam dunk. A wealthy older man, Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), has attempted to murder his much younger wife (Embeth Davidtz). Crawford confessed to shooting her. The police on the scene found the gun in his hand. They were the only people in the house. This guy is guilty.

So how can this guy Ted plead not guilty? And why did he decide to represent himself in court. If Willy weren't already out the door on his way to that new job; he might have asked these important questions and maybe he wouldn't have been ambushed in court and made to look like a fool when it's revealed that the lead cop on the case, detective Rob Nunnally (Billy Burke), the man who took the confession and found the murder weapon, was sleeping with the victim.

Now, a case that should have been a slam dunk; is now a case that could cost Willy his career.

With the Oscar pedigreed cast and a complicated thriller plot, Fracture should work. Unfortunately, director Gregory Hoblit and writers Daniel Pyne Glen Gers can't get out of the way of these remarkable actors. Placing them in an untenable maze of cop and lawyer show garbage, Fracture unfolds like an average CSI or Law & Order episode, only less believable.

Despite a plot that betrays him, Ryan Gosling turns in a surprisingly good performance. Watching him work is like watching a young Newman or Redford as they came into their own as actors. Gosling has the looks and the brains of those legends and most importantly that classic smolder of a leading man. There is a scene in Fracture with Gosling and Rosamund Pike who plays his very brief love interest. They meet for the first time at an opera and sitting down the aisle from one another; Gosling gives Pike a look that has more heat than your average sex scene. It's a look that only a great leading man could give.

Anthony Hopkins can't help but be entertaining but in Fracture he seems a little more tired than we've ever seen him. Sleepwalking through this underwhelming plot' Hopkins falls back on a gleem in his eye and a forced creepy smile to sell this malevolent character. He also has Hannibal Lecter to fall back on and there are plenty of laconic Lecter-isms in Ted Crawford. Hopkins is still watchable but there is a cruise control feel to this performance.

What the creators of Fracture fail to realize is that modern audiences in the age of Court TV, CSI and Law & Order audiences are more savvy and knowledgeable about the law and law enforcement than ever before. So, when Willy misses an obvious bit of legal maneuvering, the cops seem to ignore pertinent information, or the killer makes an obvious forensic mistake, we notice and it takes us out of the movie.

I spent more time in Fracture pulling apart its legal logic, or lack of knowledge, than I did watching these two wonderful actors work together. It's a shame, because the few minutes I did watch the actors, they were very good.

Two great actors, one not so great movie, Fracture fails to take advantage of a seriously good pedigree. Instead we get a sub-cop show thriller that relies on ill logic and poor decision making by characters who should no better.  The creators of Fracture underestimate the intelligence of their audience and think they can play fast and loose with the rules of law enforcement. However, in the day and age of Court TV and Forensic Files, we know more than they give us credit for and the ill-logic of Fracture shows through.

Movie Review: Doom

Doom (2005) 

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak 

Written by David Callaham, Wesley Strick 

Starring Karl Urban, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Rosamund Pike 

Release Date October 21st, 2005 

Published October 22nd, 2005 

I am a huge fan of The Rock. The guy is charismatic, he's cool, he's big and surprisingly funny. That talent was on display in both of his previous roles in the action movies The Rundown and Walking Tall. So what happened to Doom?  Director Andrzej Bartkowiak somehow manages to strip The Rock of his charisma, his humor and any of his other appealing qualities for this human vs. aliens video game retread. Doom had little going for it when it was conceived. Take away the only really appealing element it had in Dwayne Johnson and you have one of the worst films of the year.

On Mars a futuristic research facility has sent out a distress signal of unknown origin. Scientists and archaeologists have disappeared and no one in the facility seems to know why. Enter the Sarge (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) and his team of marine mercenaries. Sent to mars to find the missing scientists and help the corporation recover proprietary data, they soon find themselves up against an enemy that may or may not be human.

Hey wait... isn't that the plot for Resident Evil 2? Remove the trip to outer space and toss in Milla Jovovich in some skimpy ass-kicking outfit and you have essentially the same movie. There are even zombies in Doom and possibly, this point was not all that clear, a virus.

Funny thing, there were no zombies at all in the video game on which Doom is based. Of course there weren't any characters in the game either. Instead of The Sarge or Grimm (Karl Urban) or Destroyer (Deobia Oeparai) or the Kid (Al Weaver) you had the first person point of view of a gun that you used to blast alien monsters.

Creative license, I'm sure, was necessary for adapting Doom to the big screen but this departure is rather extreme and made worse by the fact that it's a near complete rip off of another bad video game adaptation. It's bad enough Hollywood studios cannot resist making video games into movies but do they have to make them knockoffs of other video game movies? UGH! 

We might have predicted the kind of disaster that is Doom considering the director. Polish born director Andrzej Bartkowiak, has the kind of resume that only Uwe Boll could envy. Bartkowiak directed two atrocious Jet Li flicks, Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 The Grave and, most egregiously, he brought Steven Seagal's Exit Wounds to the big screen, a cinematic nightmare of incalculable proportions.

Consider ourselves lucky Bartkowiak did not include Mr. Seagal in Doom. The combination of this already bad idea with Seagal might have caused time and space to collapse upon itself in a cosmic gag reflex hurling us all into the ether. Sorry, I'm just saying maybe things could have been worse.

In a nod to gamers Doom retains the first person shooting scenario that is one of the games trademarks. Unfortunately, once we enter the first person mode, which happens for much of the last 20 minutes of the film, watching Doom becomes very much like watching someone else play a videogame and knowing you don't ever get a turn.

The one thing the film had going for it was The Rock. Sadly, cast as taciturn, humorless pseudo cyborg killing machine The Rock loses every last bit of the personality that made him a star. The action genre that The Rock has quickly risen to dominate, in terms of the classic one man against the world Stallone-Schwarzenegger-Van Damme action genre and not the genre as a whole, is built on physicality and personality. Removed from that mold Rock is just another beefcake behemoth with a gun.

Walking Tall was an old school action flick that played to the strengths of Rock's personality while being just different enough from the old school to seem fresh and fun. The Rundown is an out and out buddy comedy that really allowed Rock to cut loose with that fresh charismatic smile and surly but exciting demeanor that I had hoped would become his trademark. Doom is a major step backward for the man once known in the world of professional wrestling as 'the most electrifying man in sports entertainment'.

Just who is the audience for Doom? Teenage boys who loved the videogame might find something to enjoy. But even the least discerning teenage male must have his limit. Doom is an abysmal mess of genre knockoffs and an outright theft of another movies plot and action. And the movie it steals from, Resident Evil 2, isn't very good either so you can imagine how bad a knockoff would be. 

Throw another hack director into the movie marketplace. Andrzej Bartkowiak joins Uwe Boll and the king of all hacks Paul W.S Anderson in the ranks of directors dragging the standards of Hollywood filmmaking to new lows. Where is the justice? Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch and other auteurs struggle to find financing for their work, often having to leave the country as Allen did for his latest film Match Point, to find the funding to make one small picture.

Hacks on the other hand are finding ever growing budgets and clout. I know Hollywood is a business but that does not make such practices right. Watch Doom and tell me you disagree.