Classic Movie Review The Pelican Brief

The Pelican Brief (1993) 

Directed by Alan J. Pakula 

Written by Alan J. Pakula 

Starring Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Hume Cronyn 

Release Date December 17th, 1993

Published December 27th, 2023 

The Pelican Brief stars Julia Roberts as Tulane Law School student, Darby Shaw. Darby is your average 23 year old who happens to be sleeping with her law professor, played by Sam Shepherd. After a pair of Supreme Court Justices, Rosenberg and Jensen, are assassinated, Darby develops a theory as to why these to seemingly opposing judges were killed. It turns out, the two Justices, had one thing in common, the environment. Each voted regularly against major corporations that risked polluting the environment or those that did pollute the environment received significant penalties for doing so. 

Taking out Rosenberg and Jensen reshapes the court in someone's favor and that someone is likely the person who arranged two assassinations of Supreme Court Justices within hours of each other. For some reason, only 23 year old law student who is sleeping with her professor, is capable of figuring out this conspiracy. So, Darby writes a legal brief and gives it to her professor boyfriend. The boyfriend passes it to his pal at the FBI, played by John Heard. From there, what comes to be known as The Pelican Brief, reaches the desk of the President's Chief of Staff, played by Tony Goldwyn, who takes it to the President, Robert Culp, and a conspiracy unfolds to kill Darby and bury the brief.

On a second track of story, Washington Post reporter Gray Grantham, played by Denzel Washington, is following his own theory on the assassinations. Gray has connected with a Washington lawyer who claims to have seen a memo implicating his bosses at a big time law firm in the deaths of Rosenberg and Jensen. The lawyer, calling himself Garcia, reaches out to Grantham for help but ultimately backs out of a meeting with the reporter out of fear for his life. In the midst of trying to follow the bread crumbs left by Garcia, Gray meets Darby and the two begin working together to solve this conspiracy while running for their lives from ruthless assassins. 

There is something ever so slightly off throughout The Pelican Brief. While the film is perfectly watchable, it feels weightless for a movie about the assassination of TWO Supreme Court justices and a college professor. Oops, spoiler alert. There's actually an even bigger body count than that but I don't want to give everything away regarding this 30 year old blockbuster. The Pelican Brief never feels like anything more than a trashy beach read, perhaps because that is exactly what the movie was based upon. Legendary author John Grisham may have had the pretense of a law professor, but his books were straight melodrama inflated with legal jargon. 

That said, I expected a little something more from writer-director Alan J. Pakula. After all, he's the director behind two iconic 70s movies, one of which is the gold standard of political thrillers, All the President's Men, and the other is the remarkable mystery, Klute. Pakula was more than capable of making throwaway blockbuster style movies, even in his heyday, but, paired with the two most radiant stars of the day and a book that had a solid base for an exploration of corruption and politics, I got it in my head that The Pelican Brief should be more than it is. That's on me. The Pelican Brief, away from my expectations and desires, is fine. It's breezy, it moves quickly, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. 

Read my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia (2009) 

Directed by Nora Ephron

Written by Nora Ephron

Starring Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond

Release Date August 7th, 2009

Published August 7th, 2009 

Julie Powell did something that I am sure many daily bloggers dream of. Her chronicle of cooking her way through Julia Child's French cookbook earned her national attention and eventually a book and movie deal. The book became a bestseller and now the movie is in theaters with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and director Nora Ephron.

Whether the movie is successful or even any good doesn't really matter to Julie Powell, she's good.

So what about the movie of her life? Julie and Julia tells the parallel stories of Julie a bureaucratic drone who dreamt of writing novels for a living and Julia Child as she began life as the wife of an ambassador in Paris. Julie failed to find her muse out of college and now sits looking lost as her friends talk of big plans and success. Julia too, is a little lost. With no job and no need for one she is bored.

Thus, both women turn to food for comfort. For Julie comfort comes in the form of successfully adapting one of Julia Child's legendary recipes and deciding to blog about it. For Julia it is the bold move to attend masters classes at the legendary Cordon Bleu despite having no background as a chef.

Will and determination define both women as well as having loving and patient husbands who nurture and support them in whatever they do. The husbands are played by Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci as men just bland enough not to intrude upon their wives spotlights.

Bland is, sadly, an all too appropriate word for the whole of Julie and Julia which unfolds with the tension of a soft, well worn blanket. It's pleasant but there seems to be no real tension. Sure, both women struggle but Julie's struggle is an off-putting battle with her own whiny nature and Julia's battle is never all that well dramatized. We know Julia Child will succeed eventually, the movie merely delays it till the ending.

On the bright side, Meryl Streep brings some joy to the delays. Her Julia Child is vibrant and fun and that voice is simply divine, both homage and parody but never mocking or over played. Meryl Streep has found a joy in performance in the past few years that never seemed present when she was at her dramatic peak.

While other actresses struggle to find a place in the acting world as they age, Streep has transformed herself into a box office star. It's one of the more remarkable under-reported stories in Hollywood: Meryl Streep, box office star. Her audiences love her like they never did when she was the finest actress alive and it is a true joy to behold.

As for Adams, this is a second weak performance following the unfortunate Sunshine Cleaning. At least in that film I didn't feel it was all her fault. Here, well, her Julie is somewhat unpleasant. It's daring for an actress who has built a following by being sweet and spunky to take on such a downbeat, self involved character but that doesn't make it watchable. Julie wears out her welcome quickly and while Streep holds the audience in thrall we endure the Julie portions to get to the Julia stuff.

Nora Ephron has taken a story that was modestly compelling to begin with, Julie Powell's journey in her book is slight but entertaining, and teamed it with Julia Child's biography seemingly because neither story alone was interesting enough to make movies of their own. Both stories lack tension, they lack a real dramatic drive. And thus, instead of one story founding for a reason to exist, we get two.

I admit, I am being a little hard on the movie. I did love Meryl Streep's performance and the movie overall is good natured and breezy. If that is enough for you as a moviegoer , enjoy. If you prefer a story with more meat on its bones see The Hurt Locker or 500 Days of Summer.

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: Burlesque

Burlesque (2010) 

Directed by Steven Antin

Written by Steven Antin

Starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci

Release Date November 24th, 2010

Published November 23rd, 2010 

There is a near overdose of camp in Steven Antin's “Burlesque.” Whether it's Cher or Christina Aguilera or a story of a small town girl in the big city with big dreams, everything seems to come up kitsch in this tremendously familiar story. Camp is not such a bad thing; especially when it is accompanied by some good tunes and some big unintended laughs.

Christina Aguilera takes the role of the typical small town girl with the surprisingly big voice and even bigger dreams (blech). Ms. Aguilera plays Ali who escapes her tiny Iowa town for the bright lights of Los Angeles where she hopes to find work as a back up singer or dancer. One day as she is wandering the streets with what is apparently a 'dancers wanted' newspaper page in hand, Ali comes across a place called Burlesque.

Inside there is a show going on starring the club's owner Tess (Cher) who literally sings as Aly walks in "Welcome to Burlesque.". At the bar Ali meets Jack (Cam Gigandet) who strikes up a flirtation hindered by the fact that she thinks he's gay. Taken backstage she begs for a job and ends up a waitress. Eventually, Ali ends up on stage and blah, blah, blah.

”Burlesque” is not about plot, it's about massive excess and outrageous everything. “Burlesque” is pure camp from the ludicrously cheeseball story to the outlandish stage presentation and especially to the friendship between Tess and her gay best friend Sean (Stanley Tucci) which is every stereotypical gay man's wet dream. The camp is at near overdose level from beginning to end in “Burlesque” and it's up to you if that is a good or bad thing.

Myself, I enjoyed “Burlesque” in the sort of so bad its good fashion. My favorite part is how the club is suffering serious financial troubles and may be about to close. I'm just guessing here but I think the reason the club is going under is because they spend as much on massive stage spectacles as your average Broadway spectacular and their wardrobe budget likely exceeds the mortgage on the building which allegedly houses this club. Hell, the wig budget alone could probably pay off what is owed to keep the club open.

We aren't supposed to think practically about what happens in “Burlesque” and really why would we? There is no reality even attempting to take hold in this fabulized version of “The Wizard of Oz” crossed with “A Star Is Born.” Someone in the media described “Burlesque” as a 'gay fantasia' and really I cannot top that word perfect description of “Burlesque.”

I could complain that Cam Gigandet is miscast or that Alan Cumming is in the cast but barely used and that Kristen Bell is far too cardboard to be a proper villainess but none of that matters and by the end I didn't care about the movie-ish things that were wrong with “Burlesque;” I was too busy smiling and giggling to care about practicalities.

”Burlesque” is just self serious enough to pity and self aware enough not to be completely terrible. I think all involved had an idea that they were creating kitsch but hedged a little in hope that maybe there was a chance it could all be taken seriously. It cannot be taken seriously but it still works in its very unique, camp fashion. You have to be a fan of over the top, so bad its good fun to enjoy “Burlesque” but if that is your humor, you will love this movie.

By the way, does anybody know if Cher is a fan of the musical “Dreamgirls?” I ask because in “Burlesque” Cher sings a song called “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” that is a near perfect knock off of Effie’s “And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going.” Knock off or not, the song shows that Cher probably could pull off that extraordinarily difficult “Dreamgirls” standard even at 62 years old. That alone might be worth the price of admission to “Burlesque.”

Movie Review: Easy A

Easy A (2010) 

Directed by Will Gluck

Written by Bert V. Royal 

Starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Aly Mischalka, Patricia Clarkson

Release Date Septeber 17th, 2010 

Published September 16th, 2010

There is a shortage of witty repartee at the movies these days. Thus, when wit is on display in such wonderful fashion as it is in the teen comedy “Easy A” it must be celebrated. Written by first time screenwriter Bert V. Royal, Easy A may at times get a little too cute for its own good but the witty passages help us ease past that which is a little too precious.

Easy A stars Emma Stone as Olive, a typically verbose movie creature whose above it all manner works only because you believe she is indeed above it all. Olive has quick, incisive wit that finds the joke fast but never sacrifices the really good thesaurus words. Get used to Olive's high minded verbiage because she is our narrator for this story which plays out as a flashback during an odd but eventually sensible web-cast.

Olive is anonymous within her school until one mistaken conversation with her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Mischalka) is overheard by the school busybody Marianne (Amanda Bynes) and blows up into a massive, school wide scandal in moments thanks to the wonders of social media.

In an effort to shake off a weekend with her best pal and her parents without hurt feelings, Olive invented a date with a college boy. The following Monday Rhiannon accuses Olive of giving up her V-card, the aforementioned overheard conversation that is then blown up. All might have been dismissed as quickly as it exploded, as often happens in our fast paced social media world, but Olive kind of likes being a tramp, at least people know her now.

They know her alright, even more so after she agrees to use her new tramp status to help out Brandon a gay teen who seeks one straight conquest to alleviate the brutal treatment he gets from those who assumed he was/is gay. Olive's good deed soon becomes an industry of helping nerds, geeks and dweebs in need of a social upgrade in exchange mostly for pricey gift cards. Naturally, Olive's actions are not without consequence but it's rather unique the way said consequence rises and falls and then rises again in unexpected ways.

From time to time Olive’s incisive wit is a little too on the nose and things get a little too Juno-esque in Easy A but those moments are thankfully few. Most of Easy A is a tart mix of sexy and smart with witty dialogue that spills forth from terrific characters especially Emma Stone and the sensational duo of Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s parents.

As Stone digs deep into Bert Royal’s exceptional dialogue, Tucci and Clarkson join in the fun bringing life and energy to roles that are more often than not cast as clueless, put upon and foolish. The scenes between Olive and her mom and or dad, are the best scenes in Easy A for their sheer loving, comic energy.

Also good is Penn Badgley an actor who has never impressed me until now. Playing the school mascot, who happens to also be Olive’s original school crush, Badgley matches Olive’s hyper intelligent wit word for fast pitched, jokey word. Till now Badgley has been little more than eye candy on TV’s Gossip Girl, with “Easy A” he shows real chops.

“Easy A: is a strong showcase for all involved from director Will Gluck, who needed the boost after the atrocious comedy “Fired Up,” to newcomer Bert V. Royal who could not have asked for better debut feature and especially for star Emma Stone who, whether “Easy A” is big box office or not, firmly establishes herself as a first rate leading lady, heir to the Drew Barrymore throne of the cool, hot chick.

Witty, sexy, funny and exceptionally well cast, Easy A is a terrific teen comedy that, though the bar was exceedingly low, raises the expectations of the moribund genre of teen sex comedies. “Easy A” references a number of John Hughes classics along the way and is the rare modern teen comedy to have earned the right to make those references.

Movie Review Sidewalks of New York

Sidewalks of New York (2001) 

Directed by Ed Burns 

Written by Ed Burns 

Starring Ed Burns, Rosario Dawson, Heather Graham, Brittany Murphy, Stanley Tucci

Release Date November 21st, 2001 

Published February 3rd, 2002 

Sidewalks is the story of interconnected New Yorkers being interviewed for the same documentary on sex and relationships. Ed Burns is a TV executive who is newly single and living with his boss played by Dennis Farina who in turn meets a divorcee played by Rosario Dawson. David Krumholz plays Dawson's ex-husband who is attempting to woo a waitress played by Brittany Murphy. Murphy's waitress is also seeing a married man played by Stanley Tucci who's married to Heather Graham who's a real estate agent showing apartments to Ed Burns character.

Once were introduced to the characters they set about on a series of mundanities meant to be insightful about relationships, fidelity, and sex but it's all really hot air from a bunch of characters so self centered it's amazing they have time for relationships with anyone else. Burns' relationship with Dawson is particularly insignificant, with two dates, sex and that's it. We have just witnessed the least interesting relationship in each character's lives, and only at the end does the director try to make the relationship something worth caring about. The gimmick is cheap and obviously only in the film to provide the relationship with significance.

The biggest problem with Sidewalks of New York is its documentary gimmick which is both confusing and unnecessary. Confusing because the documentary camera never stops filming, which doesn't jibe with the characters who are called on not to notice they are on camera unless they are performing their testimonials. The gimmick becomes even more confusing when you try to figure out how the documentary filmmakers just happen to catch the first meeting of 3 of the couples. Was it luck and why didn't they notice they were on camera? Why does the camera follow Burns on his search for an apartment when the documentary is about relationships? And if those scenes weren't actually a part of the documentary, why do we still have to put up with the documentary style shaky cam?

Sidewalks of New York is a complete mess and a sad misstep for the very talented Burns whose two previous films, The Brothers McMullan and She's The One treated the same relationship turf as Sidewalks but with more insight and realism. Burns should consider going back to his humble roots and leave the talkative uptown New Yorkers to Woody Allen.

Movie Review The Hoax

The Hoax (2007) 

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom 

Written by William Wheeler

Starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Julie Delpy, Stanley Tucci 

Release Date April 6th, 2007

Published April 8th, 2007 

A biography of a man famous for a fake biography, what an inspired idea. No doubt the great Clifford Irving chuckles at the thought. The man who made his name by inventing, from public record and his fabulously tricky mind, a biography of Howard Hughes, must chuckle endlessly at how his famed hoax has made him a real celebrity.

This multi-million dollar hoax that engulfed his closest friend and his wife, landing all of them in jail, is now the security blanket of his fame and fortune. It could not have turned out more fortuitous unless he had managed to skip the 14 months he spent in federal prison. This grand illusion he spun into a million dollar book deal has, since sending him to prison, allowed him to become an honest bestseller.

The scam has now led Irving to have his life's greatest and most fantastic achievement portrayed in a film, The Hoax, in which he is played with gumption and a touch of crazy by Richard Gere. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the film takes a few minor liberties with the true story; but I'm sure Clifford Irving won't mind.

In the spring of 1970 Clifford Irving, a bestselling novelist and biographer, found himself with a book no one would publish. His latest novel, though praised as a work of angry humor, has just been declined by his long time publisher McGraw Hill and even his friend and editor Andrea Tate (Hope Davis) seems ready to write him.

The desperate moment leads to the invention of a story so fantastic that only master storytellers and con-man like Clifford Irving could come up with it. Bursting into Tate's office he declares that he has the story of the century and he is putting it up to the highest bidder. That story becomes the auto-biography of Howard Hughes, and the highest bidder is McGraw Hill, because there were no other bidders. There really was no book.

Teaming with his best friend and fellow author Richard Suskind (Alfred Molina), Clifford plans to take advantage of the eccentric millionaires current status as a reclusive nutjob, alleged to be hiding out in empty hotels, terrified of germs and slowly deteriorating, on the theory that the crazed Hughes won't come after them for fear of having reveal himself in public.

Together, and with the help of Clifford's wife Edith (Marcia Gay Harden), Clifford and Richard will craft the Hughes story from public records, interviews with friends and associates and fantasy tales of Hughes interviews conducted by Clifford himself to create this unusual and unlikely narrative. They will get the publisher to advance them hundreds of thousands of dollars and take advantage of Swiss banks to launder the money. The plan is foolproof... to Clifford anyway.

Little did the flim flam man and his partners realize just how big this story was. How this story would not only affect the frail but feisty Mr. Hughes but also the President of the United States Richard M. Nixon and, allegedly, change the face of history.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, The Hoax is a welcome departure from the directors usual brand of cloying uplift. Hallstrom's films, The Cider House Rules, Chocalat and The Shipping News are brutal exercises in sickly sweet life lessons. Overly precious with a complete lack of self awareness, these films show a director whose mind is on tugging heartstrings, not making a truly heartfelt film.

The Hoax is a completely different film. Gone is any attempt at uplift. Where there was no self awareness, there is now a light hearted wink and a nod. There is sincere humor in the storytelling and direction of The Hoax which delights in conspiring with Irving to pull off his hoax while presenting an unvarnished look at who this guy was. Clifford Irving was a man incapable of the truth, a literally physical aversion to telling a true story. The Hoax, through the playful, heartfelt performance of Richard Gere nails just who Clifford Irving had to be to attempt; and nearly pulls off; one of the greatest cons in history.

Casting a movie is an art form that is highly underappreciated. The wrong actor in a role can destroy any script; no matter how good that script really is. The Hoax could not be anymore perfectly cast. Richard Gere delivers the single most satisfying performance of his long and illustrious career. In recent years the man once called 'the sexiest man alive' has made a living with sullen, wooden characters in cut rate mainstream program pictures.

There have been good performances, I really liked his wronged husband in Unfaithful, but it seemed the charm was waning and that Gere was restless and bored. The Hoax finds Richard Gere rejuvenated, full of life and bursting with the kind of charisma that made him a star decades ago. His Clifford Irving is an astonishing work of guts and wit and the kind of charm that only the best actors can communicate. This is a first rate performance worthy of Gere's first serious consideration for an Oscar.

The supporting cast is equally sensational. Alfred Molina, as Clifford's best friend, crafts a schlubby, lovable lost soul who would be easily enthralled by someone like Clifford Irving. A talented writer in his own right, Suskind was drawn into this web of lies of his own will but Molina conveys beautifully the longing for glory, even the reflected kind, that likely drew Suskind to Irving.

Hope Davis is tough as nails with just the right touch of naiveté as Irving's editor while Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden provides the emotional center of Irving's life as his ex-wife. Stanley Tucci, Zeljko Ivanek and Eli Wallach each deliver spot on supporting work in cameos that serve to deepen what is an already strong cast.

2007 has been a strong year already with movies like Zodiac, Smokin' Aces and Breach setting a very strong tone. Now comes The Hoax and it is the best of the bunch. Smart, funny, and brilliantly constructed, The Hoax delivers on the best work of director Lasse Hallstrom and actor Richard Gere, really, in their entire careers.

A truly engaging and sensational piece of work, The Hoax is a movie that you absolutely must see.

Movie Review The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) 

Directed by David Frankel 

Written by Aline Bros McKenna

Starring Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Adrien Grenier 

Release Date June 30th, 2006 

Published June 29th, 2006 

The Devil Wears Prada, adapted from the bestselling novel by Lauren Weisberger, wants desperately to be an urbane, witty combination of Sex In The City and the haute couture of a glossy Vogue magazine cover. More true to the film's nature however is a typical little fish, big pond story that combines elements of Cinderella and Mary Tyler Moore.

Anne Hathaway stars in Devil Wears Prada as Andy Sachs, a wide eyed midwestern girl in the big city of New York hoping for her big break in journalism. Landing a job at Runway magazine as the second assistant to the legendary Runway editor Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) is the kind of job that opens a lot of doors.

This, however. There are no typical assistants, assistant gigs. Priestley is a tyrannical slave driver with a withering gaze and a dismissive whispery voice that sets your teeth on edge, especially with her dismissive catch phrase "That's All" dropped randomly during any discussion.

At home Andy's life in the big city centers around the tiny apartment she shares with her boyfriend from back home Nate (Adrien Grenier, TV's Entourage). He is working his way to becoming a chef while watching Andy run ragged by her new job.

The thrust of the plot is seemingly predictable. Will the poor midwestern girl succumb to the glamor explosion of her new job at the expense of her midwestern values or will she be true to herself and her boyfriend. To the film's credit this very typical storyline does not play out completely as expected.

Director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna cannot resist a few cliches along the way. Watch as the film trips along the edge of an old fashioned Hollywood values play as they position Andy's life choices. Andy can have the job and the glamor or the true love of her old boyfriend and all the pre-packaged old school benefits of marriage, kids and settled down 'bliss'.

For some reason Andy cannot have both. At 23 years old neither Andy's boyfriend nor her closest friends, played by Tracie Thomas and Doug Sommer, are unwilling to understand the sacrifices one must make in order to make it in a challenging field such as the one she has chosen.

The boyfriend and the friends bitch and moan about Andy changing into someone they don't know anymore. They even go as far as to condemn her when she accepts the chance to travel to Paris for a few weeks of work. I don't know about you but if a friend of mine were headed for Paris I would try and hide in their luggage rather than complain about it.

To reiterate, the film does not end with the old school values lesson. In fact the movie takes a wide left turn that Hays code era films never would have been allowed to take. Andy has a quickie relationship with a disingenuous newsman, played by Simon Baker, that is counter to her midwest values but that director Frankel does not play as corruption but rather as the choice of an independent minded woman.

Therein lies the problem with The Devil Wears Prada. The film is pushing two divergent messages at once. The old school idea that women are happier with relationships and kids than with a successful career and the idea that women can make independent choices that don't have to conform with old school values. The film wants it both ways, condemn Miranda for eschewing the classic homemaker idyll but celebrate Andy for being independent. The shifts in ideals never make sense.

The film in some fit of old school values rage wants Andy to choose the path of boyfriend and wedded bliss over career and glamor but then shows the career and glamor to be the more interesting and even correct choice, seemingly against the movie's own will.

Is Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley an arrogant harridan deluded by her power? Yeah, but she also has great success and a serious belief in the integrity of what she does. Streep fights off any attempt to typically humanize Miranda choosing instead to have Miranda stay true to her driven hard nose self something the film then positions as her being unhappy.

Miranda however never really seems all that tortured by her life. She has a great life and while it may have cost her several husbands, she is a strong independent woman with little time for the trifling matters of the male ego. This is not something to lament, not in the post-feminism era. Miranda Priestley, despite her seeming loneliness, is a success story and for the film to try and portray it any other way is yet another nod to old school values.

The most important thing one needs to know about The Devil Wears Prada is that Meryl Streep reaffirms that she is an American treasure. Ms. Streep's performance is just spot on, perfect. Nailing Miranda's bitter aloof nature while never allowing her bitchiness to become a cliche. Streep gives Miranda fierce integrity even as the film tries to position her as an arch villain desperate in her loneliness and unhappiness. Ms. Streep will simply have none of it.

Watch Streep's final scene, played just with her face as she gives an approving Mona Lisa smile to the new independent Andy and then just as quickly returns to being typical Miranda snapping her driver to attention with a withering whisper. This is one of the most entertaining performances of the year and the second brilliant performance from Ms. Streep in a matter of weeks, she was exceptional in A Prairie Home Companion as well.

A film that desperately wants to be as hip and edgy as the haute couture it models fails because it lacks the originality of the clothes on its characters' back. The Devil Wears Prada is simply too conventional a fairy tale to be set in and around an industry, fashion, that while fatuous is often very original, forward thinking and ahead of its time. Mary Tyler Moore meets Cinderella as a plot is so mid-seventies.

On the other hand, Ms. Streep is so good I can give a partial recommendation to The Devil Wears Prada based on her performance alone. Just dim your expectations of the film and sit back and enjoy an American treasure at work.

Movie Review The Core

The Core (2003) 

Directed by Jon Amiel 

Written by John Rogers 

Starring Aaron Eckhardt, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D.J Qualls, Richard Jenkins

Release Date March 28th, 2003 

Published March 27th, 2003 

It's not often when screenwriters make the news. When John Rogers, the co-writer of The Core, wrote in to Aint It Cool News to dispute a review that questioned the film’s science, more than a few of us took notice and had a little laugh at his expense. Granted, no one wants their work made fun of, but when you make a movie as unabashedly out there as The Core, you can't expect it to be welcomed as if it were written by Carl Sagan. 

Sci-fi films have a horrible track record of including actual science in them and the aspiration to put real science in a movie like The Core is like asking Beverly Hills Cop to include real police procedures. No one goes to disaster movies for a science lesson, they go to watch landmarks explode. The Core blows up Rome and San Francisco, mission accomplished.

Aaron Eckhart heads up an ensemble cast as Dr. Josh Keyes, a physics professor at some anonymous college. In the midst of a lecture on the layers of the Earth, Dr. Keyes is called out of class by a pair of humorless G-men. Taken on a jet to Washington D.C, he reunites with a fellow scientist and friend Sergei Levesque (Tcheky Karyo, in a rare non-villain role). The two are asked by an army General (Six Feet Under dead guy, Richard Jenkins) to theorize what environmental factors could cause a group of people with pacemakers to simply drop dead without warning.

The answer, after much lucky guessing by Dr. Keyes, is that the Earth's core has stopped spinning causing it's electromagnetic field to go haywire. Not only has it caused pacemakers to stop, but also birds have lost navigating ability and are falling from the sky. Also falling is the space shuttle which has flown off course and nearly crashes in L.A, saved only by the wits of it's plucky navigator Major Rebecca Childs.

So now that we know what's wrong, there are two questions remaining. Number one, how did this happen? And number two, how do we stop it? Thankfully, the film’s trailer has already told us both of those things. A weapon that causes earthquakes has gone too far thanks to the miscalculations of it's inventor Dr. Zimsky (Stanley Tucci). Conversely, crazy scientist Dr. "Braz" Brazzleton has a vehicle with the ability to tunnel all the way to the core. Once there, nuclear weapons can be dropped to kickstart the core. Apparently, no one had jumper cables.

To the science issue, I have no idea and really don't care if the science is real. What matters is if the film is any good. Some geologist writing somewhere said that the film has as many accurate notions as inaccuracies and that the inaccuracies are those that are necessary for dramatic purposes. WHATEVER!

Let's get to the important stuff, how cool are the explosions. Well let me tell you in the words of the late John Candy in an old SCTV sketch, stuff blow'd up, blow'd up real good. The special effects aren't spectacular but they are entertaining in a modern day Ed Wood sort of way. The Golden Gate Bridge explosion is a cheesy treat and when Rome blows up, watching the reactions of the extras running from the Coliseum is priceless.

The Core is a bad movie but in the camp sense it's genius. Whether intentional or not The Core is full of laughs from the effects to the characters. I especially liked Stanley Tucci who seemed to be channeling Dr. Smith from Lost In Space with his whiny smugness. And kudos to Delroy Lindo for assuaging his usual calm cool persona for a geekier frazzled genius demeanor that you don't expect from him.

The Core is just plain goofy and in that sense it's a lot of fun. Though it needs to be greatly pared down from it's two-hour plus runtime, it nevertheless delivers a fun little distraction.

Movie Review Maid in Manhattan

Maid in Manhattan (2002) 

Directed by Wayne Wang 

Written by Kevin Wade 

Starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Bob Hoskins

Release Date December 13th, 2002 

Published December 13th, 2002 

The romantic comedy is dead!

Or if it isn't it should be.

I'm sorry, I know people love the genre of beautiful stars falling in love in magical ways but the genre’s conventions and cliches have made the genre pass and predictable. That is not to say that romance in film is dead but that Hollywood needs to come up with a different way of presenting it. The Cinderella syndrome begun with 1990's Pretty Woman has to stop.

I realize the Cinderella-Prince Charming dynamic is one that women have fallen in love with but even the most forgiving of female filmgoers must acknowledge the genre's shortcomings. Its predictability, sugary cuteness and desperate reliance on coincidence and misunderstanding are now beyond grating. Case in point, the new Jennifer Lopez-Ralph Fiennes romance Maid In Manhattan, yet another Pretty Woman retread right off the romantic comedy assembly line.

J.Lo stars as Marisa, a maid at an opulent New York hotel, where the rich and famous make their temporary homes. Marisa is a divorced mother of one of those typically precocious romantic comedy kids named Ty, played by Tyler Posey. In typical genre fashion, Ty has a unique quality that will become important in the meeting of the two leads. Tyler loves politics, he loves it so much that as a present his mom buys him copies of the Richard Nixon White House tapes and Ty has memorized the voting record of New York Assemblyman Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes). 

Marshall is staying at the hotel where Marisa works and of course he meets Ty and is impressed with his political awareness. Also staying at the hotel is a flighty rich blonde woman named Caroline (Miranda Richardson) who asks Marisa to return a very expensive outfit for her while she is out for the day. Of course Marisa can't resist the urge to try on the outfit while in the Hotel Suite and wouldn't you know that this is the moment when Ty introduces her to Chris. And what a shock when he mistakes her for a guest instead of a maid and invites her and Ty to come with him while he walks his dog in the park. Of course she could avoid the confusion by just coming clean and admitting the truth but then we wouldn't have a movie.

Of course it wouldn't be a romantic comedy without wacky supporting characters and a scene where the characters and wacky supporting cast dance and sing though no music is playing except that which is on the soundtrack. How do they hear it? They dance and sing and then it's time for a montage of makeovers and dresses, because of course Marisa has a ball to attend.

After all, a movie about a Senator who falls in love with a maid without a mistaken identity plot and a lot of near misses where he almost discovers the truth wouldn't be much of a romantic comedy. These stupid plot developments and false crises are tiresome and insulting to anyone who has ever seen a movie before.

Golly do you think when Chris finds out that Marisa is just a maid he will be upset? Do you think that he will get over it quickly and the two will live happily ever after? Do you think the sky is blue and the Earth is round?

Memo to Jennifer Lopez: What Happened? You were so good in Out of Sight, The Cell and Angel Eyes. In each of those movies you showed real acting chops. This is your third role in a row you have played on autopilot, Wedding Planner and Enough previously. There is hope for you yet but another turkey like this one and you may want to stick with the singing career.

Romance in movies is not dead; it is at the moment merely enslaved by cliché and creative laziness. There are still rays of hope, films like Secretary and Chasing Amy both take elements of traditional romantic comedy then find ways to tweak them and make them new, exciting, intelligent and funny. There is still hope but with each Maid In Manhattan or Sweet Home Alabama that hope dims just a little.

Movie Review: Big Trouble

Big Trouble (2002) 

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld 

Written by Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone, Dave Barry 

Starring Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Ben Foster, Stanley Tucci, Johnny Knoxville, Tom Sizemore, Jason Lee

Release Date April 5th, 2002 

Published October 14th, 2002 

Of the many things to be lost in the shuffle after 9/11, one of the strangest was the movie Big Trouble. 

A comedy based on a book by humorist Dave Barry and directed by Men In Black’s Barry Sonnenfeld, Big Trouble stars Tim Allen as a Dave Barry-like newspaper columnist who becomes involved with a plot to buy a nuclear weapon. Because the nuclear weapon was at a certain point in the film on an airplane, the film became a hot potato and was pulled from it’s September 2001 release. After nearly 8 months on the shelf the film finally made it to the big screen on April 5th and tanked badly. Now the film is available on DVD, and it deserves a second chance.

Tim Allen stars as Eliot Arnold who, after being fired from his job writing for a newspaper, takes up advertising only to find his sense of humor unappreciated by clients who believe naked flesh is the best way to sell products. Outside of work Eliot is dealing with a divorce and a teenage son who thinks he is a loser. Ben Foster is Eliot’s son Matt who is constantly making fun of Dad for driving a Geo Metro, a perfectly Dave Barry bit.

Matt is pursuing a girl in his school named Jenny Herk, whose father, Arthur (Stanley Tucci), is jerk who is in trouble with the mob. Jenny’s mother, Anna (Rene Russo), is slowly realizing that she hates Arthur and can’t remember why she married the jerk. After Matt attempts to shoot Jenny at her house with a water gun as part of a twisted high school game, Eliot comes to pick him up and he and Anna hit it off. 

Meanwhile Arthur is being pursued by two hitmen, played by Dennis Farina and Jack Kehler, and Arthur is attempting to get back at the mob by purchasing a nuclear weapon from a pair of Russian bar owners. As Arthur is making his purchase at the bar, two moron thieves, Johnny Knoxville and Tom Sizemore, decide to rob the place and end up stealing the nuclear weapon. All of these people come together when the morons kidnap Arthur and go to his place to rob it. 

Also in the cast are Patrick Warburton and Janeane Garofalo as cops, and a very funny cameo by Andy Richter as a bumbling mall security guard. Also, Jason Lee as the film's narrator Puggy, a homeless guy who witnesses everything while living in a tree outside the Herk’s home. Let us not forget Heavy D and Omar Epps as FBI agents with an executive order that allows them to do anything they want.

The film is often very funny, but it’s also very muddled. There are numerous moments where the film's story could have been tightened up. For instance, though I thought Andy Richter’s cameo was funny, it has nothing to do with the main story and easily could have been cut without affecting the central story. Director Barry Sonnenfeld likely had to keep the Richter cameo just to keep the film feature length. The film is a mere 89 minutes long.

Despite the running time and the occasionally lackadaisical scripting, Big Trouble is still a very funny movie. It’s all in the dialogue, screenwriters Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone smartly retain most of Dave Barry’s original dialogue. It is the dialogue and the spirited cast that make Big Trouble so much fun. Given the release date shenanigans and the unfortunate 9/11 related issues, it's a wonder that Big Trouble made it to release at all. Now that it is available on home video, I hope people forget the trouble and give this movie a chance. 

Movie Review Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America The First Avenger (2011) 

Directed by Joe Johnston 

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely 

Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell 

Release Date July 22nd, 2011 

Published July 21st, 2011 

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was a 98 pound weakling with a heart twice the size of his tiny frame. In 1942 all Steve wanted was to defend his country in the 2nd World War. Steve didn't have bloodlust or a death wish, rather, he saw Hitler as just the kind of bully that he'd spent his young life fighting against and he was eager to strike a blow on behalf of those being harmed by Hitler's evil.

Steve wasn't likely to get a chance until he met a German scientist, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who managed to escape Hitler's Germany with some of his extraordinary research intact. After meeting Steve Rogers, Dr. Erskine was quickly convinced that he was just the kind of good man who would be a perfect candidate for his super-soldier program.

A Hero Born

Indeed, Steve was the perfect candidate and after undergoing the remarkable procedure Steve develops the type of body to match his guts, heart and determination. Soon, Steve Rogers is transformed into the symbolic hero Captain America before gets the chance to become a real hero on the frontline in Europe battling Hitler's rogue defense minister Johan Schmidt aka The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving).

Captain America: The Last Avenger was directed by Joe Johnston, a director very familiar with high end special effects having directed Lost World: Jurassic Park 3 and Jumanji. Johnston's effects work in Captain America exceeds even those two exceptional special effects adventures.

Chris Evans 98 Pound Weakling

Most eye-catching is the remarkably seamless transformation of star Chris Evan from the scrawny Steve Rogers to the muscled up Captain. Early on Johnston attempted to merely paste star Chris Evans's face digitally onto that of another actor but it just didn't look right. Then, employing techniques like those used to help Brad Pitt age backwards in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Johnston and his special effects team shrank the real Chris Evans down to size.

The effect is exceptional as are the action effects that show Captain America and his team heroically battling Red Skull and his robotic super soldiers. Yes, comic book fans, Captain America does whip that awesome shield at many bad guys and in many unique ways as well. Just as cool is Cap's James Bond-esque motorcycle; built by none other than Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper); future daddy to Iron Man himself, Tony Stark.

Here Come the Avengers

Chris Evans is a real surprise as Captain America. There was never any doubt that Evans had the physicality to play Captain America but based on his past performances I was shocked at Evans's ability to deliver Steve Rogers as a compelling, sensitive and well rounded character; it really is a terrific performance. Evans is aided greatly by Stanly Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones in support and Hayley Atwell sparks tremendous chemistry with Evans as Captain America's plucky English tomboy love interest Peggy.

Captain America: The Last Avenger's most lasting effect is as the perfect set up for the summer 2012 blockbuster The Avengers. Walking out of Captain America I was excited by the notion of watching Evans's square jawed, classically heroic Cap work opposite Robert Downey Jr's anti-hero Iron Man. If that were Captain America's only virtue, it would be enough. That Captain America happens to be nearly as good a movie as Iron Man and a better movie than Thor or either of the Incredible Hulk films (other members of The Avengers team) is a fantastic bonus.

Movie Review: The Terminal

The Terminal (2004) 

Directed by Steven Spielberg 

Written by Sacha Gervasi, Jeff Nathanson 

Starring Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana

Release Date June 18th, 2004 

Published June 17th, 2004 

I thought it was an urban legend. My brother and I were discussing the new Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks flick The Terminal when he told me the story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri. Mr. Nasseri has spent the past 15 years in the international terminal of Charles De Gaulle Airport in France after his bag was stolen with all of his identification.

The Iranian born Mr. Nasseri has lived off the kindness of the airport staff for 15 years, has inspired 2 documentaries and a French film called Tombes Du Ciel or Lost In Transit starring the legendary Jean Rochefort. Now Mr. Nasseri is a getting a big time American treatment from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Sadly, this trifle of a film is exposed for it’s light as featheriness by the dramatic true story on which it is loosely based.

In The Terminal, Tom Hanks is Viktor Navorsky who has come to New York City from his Eastern block home of Krakozhia. Unfortunately while Mr. Navorsky was flying to America, Krakozhia plunged into civil war and the government dissipated. Now in America, Mr. Navorsky is a man without a country, his Visa is invalid because the U.S government can’t recognize a ruling power in Krakozhia. Until the war ends and a new government is established, Viktor must remain in the airport terminal.

Breaking the bad news to Viktor is the not so kindly head of the airport’s Homeland Security Office Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci). It is Frank who could find away to really help Viktor but instead strands him with bureaucratic red tape and then takes a sadistic interest in preventing Viktor from making the most of his desperate situation.

Stuck in the International terminal, that looks more like a mall than an airport thanks to the numerous real brand name stores, Viktor waits and involves himself in the lives of the airport staff. There is Diego Luna as a food delivery worker who trades Viktor free food in exchange for Viktor’s help in romancing an INS Agent played by Zoë Saldana. Although Viktor knows he can’t leave, he visits the INS office every day to have his passport declined.

Chi McBride is a baggage handler with a soft spot for late night card games. He sees Viktor as a soft mark for poker games but soon becomes a real friend. And then there is the janitor, an Indian man played by Kumar Pallana, a lovable oddball with a secret past. Pallana provides the biggest laughs of the film and none of them at his expense.

Finally, there is Catherine Zeta Jones as Amelia, a flight attendant who takes a shine to Viktor but can’t get involved because she is hopelessly involved with a married man played briefly by Michael Nouri. While she tries to resist the urge to be with the married man, Amelia and Viktor come close to romance until the plot conspires to split them.

Despite the film’s dramatic underpinnings, everything is kept very light and airy. In fact, it’s so light that it floats off the screen and almost immediately from your memory. Tom Hanks, arguably our most talented actor, here plays a sort of lovable puppy of a character whose moral fiber is so unquestionable, he is too good to be true. There is nothing wrong with a character that is virtuous but Viktor is Touched By An Angel good. Maybe that explains why Stanley Tucci's officious bureaucrat hates him so much anyone this perfect would eventually get on your nerves. Still, Tucci is too evil to be true until the plot calls for him to look the other way.

Too good to be true describes most of The Terminal which suffers from a script full of contrivances. Viktor quickly learns English, lucks into the food deal with Diego, lucks into a job working construction in the terminal and in typical forced romantic comedy fashion, he has a meet-cute with Amelia that becomes a running gag.

I have been quite hard on The Terminal to this point so I should point out that their are a number of good things about the film. Steven Spielberg's direction is typically strong in its structure and look. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminsky relishes the freedom given him by a set that was built specifically for the film and for his camera to be positioned as he pleased.

The film’s biggest star may in fact be the set created by production designer Alex McDowell. Rather than trying to wrangle shooting time in a real airport terminal, McDowell and his team of designers built a terminal inside of a Los Angeles airport hangar. The flawless design is a seamless recreation of any major airport terminal in the country right down to the uncomfortable benches, the ungodly level of branding, and astoundingly high prices.

However, without a well-told story to decorate the terrific set, the movie isn't worth anymore than it's production design. The Terminal is likable and sweet, and occasionally quite funny, but it is also inconsistent, simpleminded, and lighter than air. Tom Hanks is his typically likable self and Mr. Spielberg's direction is of his usual quality. It's unfortunate that the script by Sacha Gervasi and Jeff Nathanson is far below the quality of their work.

Movie Review: The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones (2009) 

Directed by Peter Jackson

Written by Peter Jackson, Phillippa Boyens, Fran Walsh (Based on the novel by Alice Sebold)

Starring Saorise Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon 

Release Date December 11th, 2009 

Published December 8th, 2009 

I have a general detachment from emotion. It's a guard against a young child version of me who was too invested in his emotions and was known to burst into tears at unfortunate moments. Other kids' reactions to my outbursts drove me inward to the man I am today. I am not cold-hearted, just well controlled, guarded. Peter Jackson's “The Lovely Bones” is the rare film that broke through my guards and tapped the well of that emotional young man I was.

The story of Susie Salmon (Oscar nominee Saorise Ronan, “Atonement”) begins with her narration explaining that her name is Salmon, like the fish communicating her innocence and her eager to please nature answering a question no one asked. She then stops you in your tracks with a matter of fact statement: "I was 14 years old when I was murdered on December 6th 1973.

From that moment on “The Lovely Bones” unfolds a story of murder, sadness and heartbreaking purity. After revealing her murderer as a neighbor named George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) Susie narrates her story from a place called The In-Between, a place between heaven and earth constructed from Susie's imagination.

Peter Jackson animates Susie's heaven with artistry absent from even his “Lord of the Rings” movies. For the first time in his career Jackson makes use of film tech to deepen his subject, not merely to animate it. The stunning landscapes of Susie's In-Between are eye popping and reveal aspects of her nature, her innocence, her longings and unfulfilled desires. A crumbling gazebo holds a particular emotional attachment that I will leave you to discover.

From her In-Between Susie watches how her death impacts her family. Her father Jack becomes so consumed with catching her killer that he barely notices his wife Abigail (Rachel Weisz) is drifting away. It's not until her cab leaves for the airport that Jack realizes she is gone. Susie also watches her killer, George Harvey. He has a past filled with other murders but for some reason Susie's murder has a particular hold on his conscience. He spends hours alone seeming to re-live each moment, moments thankfully unseen by us in the audience. The choice to leave the cruel details to our imagination is a controversial one; the book by Alice Sebold went into obsessive detail.

For me, leaving Susie's suffering to the imagination was the right call; I doubt that I could have endured watching the effervescent Ms. Ronan suffering as described in the book. We are given enough detail to construct the horror for ourselves and that is more than enough. Transformed by make-up Stanley Tucci crafts a killer of remarkable repugnance. Today, George Harvey would be the poster boy for creepy. He looks like the picture of someone who murders children. A mumbling, ill at-ease creep, George Harvey sets off alarm bells for his simple lack of social skills. In the 1973 of the film however, he's just a slightly off shut-in, on the surface.

Once he becomes suspect number one, for Jack and daughter Lindsey (Rose McIver), who joins her dad's obsessive crusade, the film takes on a pseudo murder mystery feel that enlivens the middle portion of the film. We know he did it, they think he did it and we become desperately involved in trying to will the characters to the clues we know are there. This clever bit of populist narrative is just one of Peter Jackson's wise choices. Jackson has made an art film, crossed it with a thriller and topped it all with a deeply emotional story of coming of age. It's almost too much for one film to hold, changing scenes as this does from Susie's gorgeous art-scape to George Harvey's dark chambers to the Salmon house consumed by grief and the urgent search for justice.

Only a director as bold and daring as Peter Jackson could pull off such a trick. His experience with the “Lord of the Rings” informs a good deal of “The Lovely Bones.” In LOTR Jackson used technology as a construction device. In “The Lovely Bones” that construction device becomes a painter's brush and the technology melts into the subconscious aiding as much in storytelling as in craftsmanship. Unlike George Lucas or James Cameron for whom CGI remains a carpenter’s tool, Jackson sees technology in “The Lovely Bones” as something to be woven into the fabric of storytelling. Susie's In-Between is never merely a place; it's the state of her soul where her imagination and desires take a physical hold.

Technology, story and character unite in “The Lovely Bones” to create a deeply emotional experience that transports you into the sadness of a little girl gone before her time. An examination of grief, unfulfilled desires, love and death, “The Lovely Bones” is one of the most daring and original works in years and one of the best films of the last year.