Movie Review: The Hulk

The Hulk (2003) 

Directed by Ang Lee 

Written by James Schamus, Michael France, John Turman 

Starring Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Nick Nolte, Josh Lucas 

Release Date June 20th, 2003 

Published June 19th, 2003 

I don't know much about the comic book version of The Hulk. My only exposure to the big green guy is the goofy live action TV version in which Bill Bixby turned into a green-painted Lou Ferrigno. I'm not familiar with the comic book mythos, his origin story, his powers, and especially his heroic purpose. I'm sure the comic has a dramatic force to it, something that the Incredible Hulk seeks, a goal he hopes to achieve. It is that goal that is missing from Ang Lee's The Hulk, a listless superhero movie without a real hero.

The film version of Hulk's origin begins with Bruce Banner's father David (Nick Nolte, looking worse than his recent mugshot). David is a military scientist working on some potion that, according to the military, is too dangerous to test on humans. Undeterred, David Banner tests the potion on himself. We are not certain what was accomplished until David and his wife have their first child Bruce, who has inherited his father’s altered genetics. David soon realizes he made a terrible mistake, but before he can find a cure for his son, the military shuts him down. So David blows up the facility and returns home where something really bad happens. It's clear to the audience, but young Bruce blocks the memory.

Flash forward and Bruce, in the person of Black Hawk Down's Eric Bana, is working as a scientist on a military base. With his ex-girlfriend Betty Ross and another classmate, Bruce is unknowingly working on the same project his father had begun years earlier, an experiment that uses gamma rays to heal injuries without surgery. What Bruce doesn't know is that his father is back from prison. David Banner has taken a job as a janitor in the lab, not only to see his son but to take revenge on the man who shut down his lab, General Ross (Sam Elliot). Oh, and the General is also Betty's father.

When Bruce's experiment goes bad, he is accidentally sprayed with gamma rays unleashing his heretofore unknown alter ego. Seeing his son for the first time as the Hulk, David Banner sees an opportunity to get his revenge on General Ross. He will manipulate his son's alter ego into destroying everything. That is the basic plot as I understood it, though there is also a quick bit with a military contractor named Talbot (Josh Lucas) who wants to harvest the Hulk's DNA to create super soldiers. However, that is an ineffectual afterthought in a plot full of afterthoughts.

Initially, when I heard director Ang Lee was going to make a so-called art house super hero movie I was excited about the possibility. I was thinking Jekyll and Hyde, a little Frankenstein, maybe even Freud. Unfortunately, I got some of what I was hoping for and I didn't like it. Lee lost the real idea that drives super hero movies and that is escapism. Lee's Hulk is so tortured that I'd rather see him in counseling than a movie. There is this protracted plot point about Bruce's repressed memories of childhood. Specifically about the day his father blew up the army lab. Though we in the audience know exactly what happened, Bruce has blocked it out. The director drags it out so far that we are left screaming the memory at The Hulk. The frustration of waiting for Bruce to unclog his memory lasts almost to the very end of the film.

One of the many problems with The Hulk is its casting of Eric Bana as Bruce Banner and the CGI face of the Hulk. Bana, who was so charismatic and exciting in Black Hawk Down, appears to have had his personality removed. This is likely due to a script that rushes him along even while he sulks like a tortured artist. Bana never communicates anything other than painful exasperation throughout the entirety of The Hulk. Maybe he was attempting to mimic the audience.

My major problem with The Hulk is that there really isn't much of a plot. The Hulk isn't the least bit heroic, save for his fight to save Betty from some vicious genetically-enhanced dogs. For the most part, I was sympathizing with the film’s supposed bad guy, Sam Elliot's General Ross. The General does what any right thinking person would do when a giant superhuman begins going around smashing things and hurting people, he tries to kill it.

Then there is the CGI effects that bring the Hulk to life. Ugh! Sadly the concerns that fans had after the poor showing in the Super Bowl commercial back in January were confirmed. The Hulk never looks like anymore than a video game character. Bana's dull facial expressions on the CGI mug don't help much. It's impressive that a CGI character could be so well integrated into the real life backgrounds but I was far more impressed with the CGI realism in Shrek, where the technology really seemed to be at its peak. Would I have been happier with a big green painted professional wrestler as The Hulk? No, it was dopey looking on the 70's TV show and it would be even dopier now, but this CGI is only slightly more satisfying. 

What The Hulk truly lacks though is dramatic purpose. The film is so wrapped up in Bruce Banner's psychology and Hulk's CGI appearance that they seemingly forgot to give the character something to strive for. Is he looking to cure himself of the Hulk? Does he want to be a superhero? Does he strive to control his new self in order to become a hero? I never understood the reason why I should care about The Hulk. And thus I didn't.

Movie Review The Humbling

The Humbling (2015) 

Directed by Barry Levinson 

Written by Buck Henry 

Starring Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Dianne Wiest, Nina Arianda, Charles Grodin, Kyra Sedgwick 

Release Date January 23rd, 2015 

Published January 17th, 2015 

The crazed, narcissistic, sexist, ludicrousness of "The Humbling" almost needs to be seen to be believed. I say “almost” because I really don't want you to waste your precious time watching this dreadful movie. Al Pacino has been wandering in the cinematic woods for years now. While he surrounds himself with talented people in "The Humbling," each is defeated equally by the film. Based on the novel by Phillip Roth, "The Humbling" stars Al Pacino as washed-up actor Simon Axler. Simon is beginning to lose his mind. On stage one night, in front of a disinterested crowd, Simon takes a header into the orchestra pit and winds up in a mental institution. 

Despite his tendency to share his narcissistic rambling with anyone, the talking cure doesn't seem to be working. Nevertheless, after 30 days Simon heads back to his empty mansion in Connecticut to recuperate. There, Simon is joined inexplicably by Pegeen (Greta Gerwig). Pegeen explains that she is the daughter of Simon’s old acting friends. Because she had a crush on him when she was 11, she says, she'd like to give up being a lesbian and be with him. This is, despite his impoverished living situation, his inability to work, and the fact that he is 66 years old and slowly losing his mind.

Here, director Barry Levinson and Pacino might have found a believable direction for "The Humbling" if they they followed through on Pegeen being a figment of Simon's imagination. There is briefly a hint that she's not real and if that had been the direction of the story, maybe the film would not be completely horrible. Instead, the film doubles down on the Pegeen character, rendering her the picture of a sexist fantasy and feminist nightmares. With Pegeen comes a series of reductive caricatures of women including not one, but two, stalker ex-girlfriends. One of them (Billy Porter) is now a man. The other one  is Louise (Kyra Sedgwick), whom Pegeen claims to have slept with in order to get her job as a university professor. I really wish I was making all of this up, but I am not.

Pegeen's arrival at Simon's home is among the more bizarre series of scenes in any movie in 2014. Pegeen arrives, introduces herself and then angrily begins to explain who she is. Why is she angry? Apparently it’s because Simon gave her a ring when she was 11 years old and she thought it meant they were married. It's impossible to tell if this dialogue is meant as a joke, because Greta Gerwig plays the scene with a bizarre, haughty intensity that doesn't fit the scene if it is indeed intended as a joke. It probably should be funny but it is most certainly not. 

That scene somehow ends in a kiss between Pegeen and Simon which is as creepy and awkward as you would imagine between 66 year old Al Pacino and a much, much, much younger woman. Then Simon and Pegeen begin playing with a toy train. Again, all of this is played straight, as if nothing remarkable or unusual has happened. A lesbian has just switched gender preference to be with a man old enough to be her grandfather and now they are playing with toy trains. That sounds like someone describing a fever dream.

The Humbling somehow manages to get weirder and more repellent. "The Humbling" contains a subplot in which a woman named Sybil (Nina Arianda), whom Simon met while he was committed to the asylum, (funny joke, right? Sybil in a mental hospital), Sybil wants Simon to kill her husband. After Simon is released from the hospital, Sybil stalks him and continues to try to hire him to kill her husband. Why? Because in "The Humbling" all women are completely insane.

Oh, but wait dear reader, director Barry Levinson and writer Buck Henry  he film have a cop-out for all of this sexist bullshit on display: Simon is an unreliable narrator. Simon may be suffering from Alzheimer’s or a more simple form of age-related memory loss. As he narrates the story, he can't remember it well. He talks to Pegeen when she's not there. He may be inventing all of this story or none of it. "The Humbling" is a grand, disturbed, mess of a movie that inspires bafflement over those involved in its creation. The once great Levinson continues his 17-year run of terrible films and takes the once-great screenwriter Buck Henry down with him. Henry hadn't had a screenplay credit in 19 years (his sharp wit last crafted the Nicole Kidman movie "To Die For"). He should have remained retired.

Greta Gerwig, Kyra Sedgwick, Dianne Wiest, who plays Gerwig's mother in the film, and the wonderful Charles Grodin also get dragged down into the muck of Pacino's continuing decline. I can't imagine what each of these fine performers thought that they were getting into in "The Humbling," but I am sure they cannot be happy with the outcome. Repeatedly throughout the film, Simon goes meta and muses about how people only want to see him return to the stage to watch the freak, the car wreck in progress. I doubt Pacino recognizes this musing as a commentary on his own career. But indeed there is only that reason to watch a Pacino movie these days. I keep watching Pacino in part because it is my job and in part because I just don't think it can get any worse, and then it does.

"The Humbling" is the latest rock bottom for the once-great Pacino.

Movie Review The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 1

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 1 (2014)

Directed by Francis Lawrence 

Written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig 

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks 

Release Date November 21st, 2014 

Published November 20th, 2014 

"The Hunger Games" could have been a revolutionary box office bonanza with a brain. Sadly, thanks to the greed of Lionsgate Pictures, it's become an ironic symbol of the greed that the film is meant to satirize. I’ve been told not to hold against "Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" how it came to be a “part 1.” But I must. Because what could have been a deeply impactful 2 1/2- hour epic finale has been beefed up into a bloated, four-hour-plus time waster that won't play out in full for another year. There was the potential for greatness in the "Hunger Games" series. 

"The Hunger Games" arrived on the big screen at nearly the same moment as the Occupy Wall Street protests dominated the headlines. It wasn't by design, but it happened that the plot about the desperate poor spoiling for war with the ruling elite coincided with an all-too-brief cultural moment. Of course, Occupy Wall Street had neither the marketing muscle nor physical will of the "Hunger Games" hype -- I'm speaking more of a fashionable attitude for revolution rather than an actual revolution. 

"The Hunger Games" was never meant to galvanize a movement. Still,  Gary Ross's original had an unmistakable edge with its themes centered on the “haves” and “have nots.” The denizens of the Capitol, first glimpsed in "The Hunger Games," are the picture of grotesqueness: Loud, proud fools adorned in their riches, flaunting everything in front of those who arrive with nothing. Those who arrive with nothing include our heroes, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). 

Sport fighting the poor for the amusement of the rich has a historic flavor to it – think “Christians and the lions.” While our modern society hasn't devolved to that point, who hasn't heard someone compare America to ancient Rome? The rich under-girding of the first "Hunger Games" is the potential for class warfare and why such warfare is justified. The second film, "Catching Fire," doesn't carry the metaphor as strongly. While Katniss is used as agitprop for the Capitol, we're left with a story about the games and not the people in them. Simply getting Katniss and Peeta to the arena seems to be that film’s goal, and the journey is a bit of a drudge. 

"Mockingjay - Part 1," on the other hand, goes too far back the other way. Katniss, now the agitprop of the revolution, spends the film mourning the poor and the dead in the class warfare that she inspired. The film fails to take flight as an adventure movie without the propulsive effect of the games. This isn’t because director Francis Lawrence is incapable, but because he's been handcuffed to two movies instead of a single film. 

"Mockingjay" should have been written as a thrill-ride epic, a finale that combined tears and compassion with the kind of rollicking rebellion the series should have built toward. 

What should be a whipsaw ride of emotion, excitement and catharsis is instead an exhausting, 2-year trudge to an overstuffed conclusion. What a shame. Commerce has defeated art in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1." While Katniss weeps for the districts, I weep for wasted opportunity for greatness. 

Movie Review: The Hunted

The Hunted (2003) 

Directed by William Friedkin 

Written by David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths, Art Monterastelli 

Starring Benicio Del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones, Connie Nielsen 

Release Date March 14th, 2003 

Published March 13th, 2003 

Director William Friedkin, the action director best known for the Oscar winner The French Connection is back with yet another great chase movie. In The Hunted, Friedkin teams fellow Oscar winners Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones in a one on one, mano e mano, chase movie that is remarkable for its economy of characters and lack of special effects. Hand to hand combat in movies usually involves some form of martial arts. In The Hunted, a hand to hand knife fight is the central scene and the combat feels raw and exciting. 

In The Hunted Del Toro plays Aron Hallem, a Special Forces soldier that we are introduced to as he and his unit infiltrate a Serbian incursion in Albania. Incursion is merely a kinder term for genocidal slaughtering as Aron is witness to horrible atrocities including children being forced to watch their parents killed then be killed themselves. Despite the atrocities, Aron sticks to his mission, which is to kill the commander of the Serbian forces, which he does as coldly and efficiently as one might gut a fish. Back in the States, Aron is awarded the Medal of Honor for combat bravery. However, in his quiet moments, Aron is tormented by the atrocities that he could not prevent.

Parallel to Aron's story is that of his mentor, a survivalist named L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones). Though Bonham is not a military man, he was contracted years ago to teach special forces officers how to kill in cold blood. Working off his debt of conscience in British Columbia, Bonham rebuilds his karma protecting wildlife from trappers. Meanwhile Aron, back in the States, is also into wildlife but to more of an extreme as we watch him slice up a pair of goofy looking, orange vest and camouflage wearing hunters. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party (2007) 

Directed by Richard Shepard 

Written by Richard Shepard 

Starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Kruger, James Brolin, Dylan Baker 

Release Date September 14th, 2007 

Published September 13th, 2007 

Do you remember the so-called "Scud Stud"? His real name was Arthur Kent and for the uninitiated Kent was the undisputed media star of the first Iraq war. Standing against a starry Baghdad sky with missile alarms in the background and explosions not far out of the frame, Kent's handsome, steely veneer and unshakable calm was the enduring media image of the war, even beyond the deified danger boys over at CNN, probably because Bernard Shaw just isn't as pleasant to look at. Desert Storm was the peak of Arthur Kent's career. He failed in his attempt to get a massive new deal with NBC, his arrogance pricing him out of a market that already had its share of pampered divas.

Kent has since carved out a respectable career in documentaries and hosting specials on the History Channel, but he will always be the Scud Stud. The new movie The Hunting Party is a movie about a journalist not unlike Mr. Kent. The roguishly handsome, globetrotter played by Richard Gere flames out more spectacularly than Kent did, after becoming the star of the forgotten 90's conflict in Bosnia. Now a shell of the journalist he once was, he stumbles on the opportunity to regain his fortune. With the help of his trusted cameraman, played by Terrence Howard, he's going to capture the world's most wanted terrorist. If only Arthur Kent had flipped this badly, imagine The Scud Stud trying to hunt down Saddam Hussein. 

Richard Gere is perfectly cast in The Hunting Party as Simon, a man who became a media darling for his daring coverage of the Bosnian conflict. With his trusty cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard), Simon wasn't afraid to go into the fire fight if it meant getting great visuals and a great story to tell. A diva on the air and off, Simon basked in worldwide fame and its trappings, mostly in Serbian bars with beautiful Serbian women on each arm and a drink in every hand. Then, as the conflict worsened and the genocide became clearer, Simon snapped. During a live network shot from an ethnically cleansed village where bodies still burned, Simon uttered words that no one can utter on television.

He was fired immediately and began a spiraling descent, shooting and selling his own reports to tiny nations' state TV networks. Meanwhile, Duck got promoted right out of Bosnia, into a cushy gig in New York. He didn't see Simon again for nearly a decade when networks returned to Bosnia to celebrate ten years of a peace accord. Simon hasn't been heard of, even on state TV, in a few years but he too has returned and he has a story that Duck cannot resist. Simon knows where an infamous Bosnian terror leader is hiding and that though the CIA and the United Nations are supposed to be chasing him, they are in fact helping to hide him away.

With Duck and a young producer, Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), in tow, Simon makes the journey into terrorist controlled territory for what Duck and Ben thinks will be the interview of a lifetime but is really Simon's last shot at glory. Simon intends to capture the terrorist and expose the hypocrisy of the system that protected him for a decade. Hiding this fact from Duck and Benjamin, the story turns on whether this is Simon's quest for redemption or merely an arrogant and dangerous ploy from an egomaniac grasping at straws. 

Written and directed by Richard Shepard, who crafted the modestly brilliant The Matador in 2006, The Hunting Party is based on the true story of several international journalists who did in fact seek out and find Bosnian war criminals who were being squirreled away by international politicians who would rather sweep the genocide under the rug than go to the trouble of an international trial. The main character is an American because The Hunting Party was made by Americans for Americans. That is a little insulting but nothing new from a Hollywood that has never trusted the audience to simply enjoy a well told story regardless of the nation of origin.

My cynicism about Hollywood aside, Richard Gere is the perfect actor to play Simon. Playing the crusading journalist or the pretty boy egotist, Gere wears this character like an old suit and his comfort is a comfort to us. Effortlessly charismatic, few actors hold the screen as well as Gere. The weak link here, surprisingly, is Terrence Howard who may be falling victim to Kevin Spacey syndrome. Ever since his breakthrough Oscar nomination for Hustle and Flow, Howard seems to be over-serious in every role. Whether it's the swim coach in Pride who seems constantly on the verge of tears or his the social worker of August Rush who also seems on the verge of tears, Howard is straining to bring a little extra drama to every role. In The Hunting Party, Howard is only slightly less weepy. 

The role of Duck calls for hard bitten manliness crossed with slightly over the hill cynicism. Howard tries to play that idea but then strains things to the point of once again seeming on the verge of tears. The same struggle has swallowed the career of Kevin Spacey who now plays every role with dewy eyes. It's a shame because the character of Duck is a vital cog in the machinery of The Hunting Party and without him the film goes from exciting to adequate and from thrilling to modestly compelling. This is a good story, well told by director Richard Shepard and terrific by Richard Gere but it only gets a partial recommendation because Howard fumbles his important role.

Movie Review The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker (2009) 

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow 

Written by Mark Boal 

Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce 

Release Date June 26th, 2009 

Published June 25th, 2009 

The Hurt Locker is the most intense, breathtaking moviegoing experience of my critical career. I have had some movies really grind me into my seat but few do so as compellingly as The Hurt Locker, an Iraq war drama that avoids nearly all of the pitfalls of the myriad Iraq war movies of the past five years.

Lost in a sea of muddled agendas and fearful pandering, movies about the Iraq war have never taken hold within the culture the way movies like All Quiet On the Western Front or Patton did for World War 2 or Platoon and Full Metal Jacket did for Vietnam. Hell, even Rambo managed to be both an audience grabber and a commentary on Vietnam.

No such luck for movies like Jarhead or Stop-Loss. Each a well made, well intentioned movie, but movies at a loss to capture this elusive and ill-defined conflict in the middle east. Each attempts to be about soldiers and their real life struggles and each fails for lack of conviction and an inability to draw a line between anti-war agendizing and dramatizing the real struggles of their characters.

Now comes The Hurt Locker a film that sidesteps agendizing through the luck of timing and a smart specificity. The luck of timing comes in being released at a time when the conflict has receded from the headlines and is no longer the burning hot lightning rod it once was. The specificity comes from the focus on a set of very specific, very unique soldiers, the men in the business of bomb disposal.

Jeremy Renner stars in The Hurt Locker as Lt. Willam James. On his third tour, James claims to have disposed of more than 800 bombs and he keeps coming back for more. Whether he is addicted to adrenaline or has a serious death wish, William is the best at what he does and his seeming recklessness is arguably what has kept him alive. He makes decisions that others don't have the guts to make.

Joining William on this tour is Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) a bomb tech in duty only, he has yet to raise the nerve to don the protective suit and walk up to the bomb. And Specialist Owen Eldridge, a skittish youngster who remains tortured by all he's seen.

Together they are fighting through the last 100 days of what will hopefully, for Sanborn and Eldridge anyway, be a last tour. Each day brings a seemingly more dangerous and even larger bomb and the tension released at the end of the day is something akin to a constant stream of adrenalin that never shuts off.

Director Katherine Bigelow chooses a pseudo-documentary style of shooting that amps the tension even more. The digital cameras and limited angles draw the audience right into the danger. You will be surprised to learn that The Hurt Locker recorded more footage than even Coppola's epic Apocalypse Now and yet, what is onscreen is so tense and tight it seems of a moment, in the moment.

You have seen bombs and even bomb disposal in movies before and you have certainly seen the horrors of war before. But, there is something in the style of Director Bigelow and the intensity of Jeremy Renner's performance that sets it apart, and above so many other war movies.

Much of that comes from the scripting of Mark Boal who researched The Hurt Locker as an embedded journalist for Playboy Magazine. Traveling with and witnessing what bomb techs do in Iraq gave Boal a unique and thorough perspective on these very particular men and their job.

The Hurt Locker is a visceral, physical, filmgoing experience that will have you twisting in your seat, holding your breath and begging for the air to come back into the room. It is a fierce and ferocious film that will leave you spent by the end. The walk from the theater is likely to be a somber one, but with the reward being a movie experience like few others.

Moving, exciting, exhilarating and enthralling, The Hurt Locker is among the best movies of the year.

Movie Review The Hustle

The Hustle (2019) 

Directed by Chris Addison 

Written by Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer, Jac Schaeffer 

Starring Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp 

Release Date March 10th, 2019

Published March 9th, 2019 

The Hustle is a remake of 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. Scoundrels itself was a remake of 1964’s Bedtime Story starring Marlon Brando and David Niven. So yeah, this material has been traversed on multiple occasions and that’s not even accounting for the numerous movies that Bedtime Story was heavily influenced by. Con artists have long been figures of fascination at the movies as they provide a rich playing field for actors and screenwriters alike. 

The Hustle stars Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect’s Amy, as Penny, a boorish Australian con artist who uses a scam involving a sick sister, and a little bit of catfishing, to get men to give her the little amounts of money she needs to get by. It’s small potatoes and when she’s seemingly run low on gullible Tinder dates, she decides to give Europe a shot. Penny is headed to the French Riviera in hopes of finding a bigger game for her cons. 

On a train to a place called Beaumont Del Sur, Penny meets Josephine (Anne Hathaway), a fellow con-artist, though Penny doesn’t know that yet. Josephine has set up shop in Beaumont Del Sur for years, using its lavish, expensive hotels as her hunting ground for rich husbands looking for a good time on the sly from unwitting elderly wives. Josephine isn’t worried that Penny will provide competition, she’s worried that her clumsiness will scare away the bigger fish marks. 

When Penny proves herself to be a little more formidable than expected, Josephine takes her in and begins to teach Penny about higher level cons. A con-job, codenamed Lord of the Rings, is the centerpiece of this early portion of the second act and I really enjoyed it. All three movies, Bedtime Story, Scoundrels and The Hustle, feature this sequence and it proves to be a durable comic sequence, earning some unexpectedly big laughs. 

Unexpected laughs are a hallmark of The Hustle. The disjointed narrative of The Hustle, a series of setups and payoffs with a bare minimum of connective story tissue, works in spite of the structure. The laughs are so big and so often that I actually didn’t mind the obvious flaws in the structure. I somehow didn’t mind that The Hustle isn’t much of a traditional movie and is rather a series of gags, skillfully performed by the talented duo of Wilson and Hathaway. 

On most occasions a movie as faltering in structure as The Hustle would not work for me but I have a notable soft spot for Rebel Wilson. Few people in Hollywood make me laugh as hard as Wilson, who has become one of the most remarkably ingenious comedians on the planet in recent years. Her Isn’t it Romantic from back in February of this year remains one of the highlights of 2019 at the movies and Wilson makes it impossible for me to dislike The Hustle or dismiss it over some very noticeable flaws. 

Those specific flaws are embodied in the character of Thomas played by newcomer Alex Sharp. Sharp is central to the film’s third act and he’s completely overmatched in attempting to keep up with Wilson’s brilliant comic chops and Hathaway’s skillfully light touch comedy. I get that this part requires a performer who appears at a loss consistently opposite the brilliant cons on either side of them, but Sharp is an almost non-existent presence. Those who’ve seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels know where his character arc is headed and I will tell you, Glenn Headly struggled to pull it off in Scoundrels and Sharp doesn’t even compare to her. 

The Hustle was directed by Veep veteran, Chris Addison. Addison has demonstrated a strong talent for gags on Veep and he shows that same flare for setup and punchline in The Hustle. The Hustle unfortunately doesn't have the advantage of being a weekly television series that can more simply perform setup and punchline and pick up narrative strands as needed. Characters have time to grow and for us to get to know them on television. The Hustle doesn’t have time to develop these characters or a deeper narrative, which necessitates the reliance on big gags over what makes movies great.

That said, the laughs in The Hustle are often so big that I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy it. I can levy a number of complaints about the film, but what matters is that I laughed and laughed loudly and quite often at The Hustle. I can’t say my fellow critics who don’t care for The Hustle are wrong about the movie, they are right in many instances and complaints. I just happen to be in a position to be a great deal more kind about The Hustle due to my adoration for Rebel Wilson. 

Lower your expectations of an actual movie and get set for some funny set pieces and you can enjoy The Hustle as much as I did. 

Movie Review The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest (2005) 

Directed by Harold Ramis 

Written by Richard Russo, Robert Benton 

Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Randy Quaid, Oliver Platt 

Release Date November 23rd, 2005 

Published November 22nd, 2005 

Director Harold Ramis is best known for lighthearted comedy with an edgy intellect. His best work, 1993's Groundhog's Day, is such a true gem of a film that its polish has only shined brighter in the years subsequent to its release. Most credit for that film goes to Bill Murray's complex curmudgeonly existential performance. But, behind that performance was Ramis' sly, sneaky direction that played games with the audience that many did not discover until years later.

Even in lesser efforts like Analyze This and Analyze That, Ramis has at least delivered moments of pithy intellect and sly commentary. Ramis' latest effort Ice Harvest is nothing like anything he's directed before. A black hearted comic noir so thick with dark irony and detached violence one wonders if a late night cocktail of Pulp Fiction and Fargo somehow festered in Harold Ramis' dreams.

John Cusack stars in Ice Harvest as Charlie Arglist, a low level midwestern mob lawyer whose job seems to be holding down bar stools in mob controlled strip clubs. Charlie had never shown an ounce of ambition until a mobster named Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) convinced him to lift two million dollars in mob money from a local bank.

Getting the money was easy, now Charlie simply has to get out of Wichita. Unfortunately that will have to wait until morning as the entire town is nearly shut down due to an ice storm. Vic also has a few loose ends to tie up before they can go, including his soon to be ex-wife and a mobster, Roy (Mike Starr), who has discovered Vic and Charlie's scam.

Charlie is not simply waiting out the storm either. He is hiding from Roy while being seduced by Renata (Connie Neilsen), the manager of one the many strip clubs Charlie frequents, who is well aware of the money Vic and Charlie stole and has an eye on joining them in their getaway. Before Charlie can close that deal however, there is the matter of his best friend, Pete (Oliver Platt), who has chosen this night to get record-breakingly drunk and only Charlie can help him get home.

Pete happens to be married to Charlie's ex-wife which leads to an awkwardly humorous scene where Pete confronts his wife's growing dissatisfaction with their marriage in the midst of Christmas dinner at her parents house as Charlie stands by saying goodbye to his young daughter and unhappy son who he never sees. Platt is very funny in the scene but his plot really has little or any relation to the rest of the movie.

The rest of the film is full of double and triple crosses, bodies pile up high and all the while director Harold Ramis and writers Richard Russo and Robert Benton can't decide if they are making a dark comedy or a modern noir. Cusack's performance is, for the most part, dark comedy. Charlie assesses every plot development with a cowardly paranoia and suspicion that makes him the butt of every joke and the comic victim of every other character in the film.

In fact most of the cast is playing dark comedy. Thornton plays it cool for the most part but then there is the scene, featured prominently in the films trailer, where he has stuffed Roy in a trunk and comically beats it with a golf club which is straight slapstick. This is followed by a funny exchange in the car on the way to dump the body as Roy, in the box, attempts to save his life by convincing Charlie that Vic is going to kill him too and run off with all the money. The scene is funny but nothing after it is and much of what comes before it is unamusing as well.

As Cusack, Thornton, Platt and Starr are all playing dark comic riffs, Ramis is directing a bleak, mean spirited and violent Coen brothers' style anti-thriller with Neilsen's femme fatale and Randy Quaid's mob boss clearly not in on the rest of the cast's joke. The film shifts uncomfortably from ugly violence to black comedy, never able to incorporate the two in a way that makes both work.

Ice Harvest is shot as confusingly as it is plotted. Certain scenes have the bleak grays and blacks and dark colors of a noir mystery right down the rascotro lighting. Other scenes feature the bright colors and slick styling of any major mainstream comedy. A scene of Charlie standing in the empty frozen tundra of a Kansas highway is straight noir but the scenes between Cusack and Oliver Platt are from a dysfunctional holiday comedy filled with brightly decorated Christmas items. The shooting further muddies the line between the film's noir and dark comic intentions.

John Cusack does find a way to make his hapless loser Charlie work in terms of winning the audience to his side. Even as Charlie engages in some of the bad behavior in the film he retains an air of detached observation. With every dark development Charlie rarely gets riled up, he merely rubs his eyes in frustration and gets down to the distasteful business of surviving this one extraordinarily difficult night.

Oliver Platt's performance is equally as winning as Cusack's. The two actors spark a terrific chemistry in the few scenes they have together. Despite his oafish and even rude actions, Platt's sad sack Pete is very sympathetic in his sad drunken way. Had the film been able to straighten out the problems with its tone Platt and Cusack's performances alone could have made Ice Harvest a worthy effort.

It's not that dark comedy and modern noir are mutually exclusive genres.  It's just a difficult balancing act to make the two elements work together. Fargo, for example, works on both levels because of its exceptional cast and the assured direction of the Coen brothers. Ice Harvest director Harold Ramis is unable to find the balance between the comic performances of his cast and the dark action script.

Ramis wants to escape his reputation as a director of light comedy and indulge his dark side but his comic instincts are uncontrollable and express themselves in the direction of his actors. Ramis clearly wants to indulge his dark side in Ice Harvest but he cannot quiet his crowd pleasing instincts. After years of light, entertaining comedies, Ramis is very in tune to giving the audience the simple pleasures that most seek. Ice Harvest is not a film as a whole that can or should give audiences what they want.

The film's happy ending underscores my point. Watching Charlie escape with the money, and with his pal Pete, I could feel the gears turning as Ramis attempted to please the audience with a pseudo-happy ending. But what did Charlie do to deserve a happy ending? Granted that both Cusack and Platt are very good together and earn our sympathy, their plot is from an entirely different movie. Charlie still did a lot of unforgivable things and punishing him in a darkly ironic way would have been a more appropriate ending.

With a cast this talented Ice Harvest should be far more entertaining than it is. The failure lies with Ramis who, whether unwilling or unable, cannot find a way to mix his comic instincts with this black-hearted script. The result is a mixed bag of darkly humorous moments and awkward modern noir violence. John Cusack delivers a dead-on performance but the film lets him down and more importantly it lets the audience down.

Movie Review: The Ides of March

The Ides of March (2011) 

Directed by George Clooney 

Written by George Cloooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon 

Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright 

Release Date October 7th, 2011 

Published October 6th, 2011 

It's hard to believe that America has ever been more cynical about politics and politicians than we are right now in 2011. The divisions between Democrats and Republicans are at ocean's depth and that division has fed a distrust of government like nothing since the Civil War. Into this angry, cynical fray comes a cynical movie, "The Ides of March," directed by and starring George Clooney, which audiences will either embrace as a cynical sign of the times or reject as a more of the ugly animus that has weighed on us for several cynical years.

Ryan Gosling is the focus of "The Ides of March" playing an up and coming communications specialist named Stephen Meyers. Though only 30 years old, Stephen is a veteran on the campaign trail. Now, he's the second in command on what may be a game changing Presidential campaign. Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) is the candidate the Democrats have been searching for, a Liberal from a prosperous and politically pivotal state, Pennsylvania, with a spotless record and endless charisma. More importantly, Morris's uncompromising convictions are of a kind that inspires even the most jaded politico, like Stephen.

Grasping at a first opportunity to win the right way, in the arena of ideas, Stephen has become a true believer in Governor Morris. Naturally, such blind faith is a dangerous thing. When Stephen discovers the chink in Governor Morris's armor his devastation has shockwaves that reverberate through the whole campaign. Unfortunately, there is an inherent flaw in "The Ides of March" that cannot be escaped. I won't reveal the secret here but it involves a supporting character who preposterously exists in the lives of Stephen and the Governor. The laziness and obviousness of this character's function undermines much of The Ides of March.

Not only does this character function in a way that is hard to believe, the character is also quite dated. Political scandals have evolved and while the occasional old school, 90's style scandal still bubbles up, the bigger more elaborate scandals involving money and abuse of power are more resonant today. That said, "The Ides of March" contains scenes that are transcendent and would make a better movie into one that would be talked about for a very long time. One scene involves Gosling's Stephen and Paul Giamatti, the campaign manager for a rival campaign, which contains the kind of political inside baseball that political junkies won't be able to resist.

Another great scene involves Gosling and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in which Hoffman delivers a glorious speech about loyalty. Hoffman is Gosling's boss and when he finds out that Stephen has met with Giamatti he unleashes a fury that is Oscar quality. The cast of "The Ides of March" is first rate, including strong supporting roles for Marisa Tomei as a cynical journalist and Max Minghella (The Social Network) as an ambitious campaign operative. The main cast is very good as well but they cannot overcome the flaws of the film's 'twist' and a distinct ugliness that is magnified by our real life political climate.

Movies cannot ignore the times in which they exist, especially one that aims to mimic real life. "The Ides of March" is a mirror image of the negativity and vileness of our current politics. George Clooney has every right to make a movie that reflects our current politics but that doesn't make "The Ides of March" enjoyable to watch. Count me among those who are exhausted by politics; exhausted by the cynical game playing. 

I'm tired of being suspicious of all politicians. I'm sick of all the lying and gamesmanship. I want to believe in something again, anything. "The Ides of March" believes only in the ugliness of politics and while that's a perfectly valid perspective, I don't want to watch this or any movie about this ugliness. I'm tired, too tired for any more cynicism than I am already burdened with. "The Ides of March" invites us only to wallow in our cynicism and I am too tired to wallow.

Movie Review The Illusionist

The Illusionist (2006) 

Directed by Neil Burger 

Written by Neil Burger 

Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan

Release Date August 18th, 2006 

Published August 17th, 2006 

Bob Yari is the controversial producer of the Oscar winning Crash. I say Yari is controversial because a fallout with his partners on that film prevented Yari from taking the stage to accept the best picture Oscar. The fallout, naturally, was over the cuts of money each of the profit participants were to receive. His partners claim he was cutting himself a bigger portion than the rest. The details of this controversy are left up in the air at this point.

We do know Yari made a tidy sum from Crash, enough to start his own production and distribution company. The production company is typical Hollywood, everyone and their brother has a production company. It's the distribution that is eye-catching. Only major studios usually have the means to get a picture on enough screens for profitability. Bob Yari is himself a major. Yari has somehow managed to finance and distribute the new romantic period piece, The Illusionist; a mature, well acted movie that is making waves in a stronger than expected platform release. If the film can maintain a strong box office, Yari may even try his hand at launching an Oscar campaign.

In turn of the century Austria a magician named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is astonishing sold out crowds. So amazing are his various tricks and illusions that even royalty must come to see his show. When Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewelll) and his future Queen, Sophie (Jessica Biel), attend a show, Eisenheim chooses Sophie to assist him with a trick. Seeing her face, Eisenheim realizes that Sophie is his long lost childhood sweetheart.

When Sophie finally recognizes Eisenheim they begin a dangerous rekindling of their relationship. Sneaking off to Eisenheim's cottage for forbidden trysts the couple eventually is discovered by Leopold who assigns his chief of police, Uhl (Paul Giamatti), to follow Sophie and if she goes to Eisenheim, the magician is to be killed.

The story of The Illusionist, adapted by writer-director Neil Burger, from a short story by Steven Millhauser, works at a snail's pace and yet manages to enchant thanks to the brilliant topline performance by Edward Norton. Ever the method actor; Norton learned magic from the famed English magician James Freedman as a way to avoid CGI as much as possible. His stage schtick is spot on and his minor conjuring's are as entertaining as any great modern magician.

Of course when conjuring spirits on stage a little CG help is unavoidable. Thankfully, the effects of The Illusionist are minimal and the magic looks as if it were the conjuring's of a true stage magician. The CGI is good and most importantly, it's effective enough to not distract from the main point of the film which are the exchanges of dialogue between the dueling geniuses Norton and Paul Giamatti. The Illusionist is an actors showcase and Norton and Giamatti take full advantage of the freedom offered by director Neil Burger.

Neil Berger, in his second feature film, shows a great deal of skill, and a deft touch in handling his actors. As I mentioned earlier, the film unfolds very slowly and requires the cast to do a great deal of talking. For this task Berger smartly assembled a terrific cast who could handle these talky characters. What Burger does best is direct without ever letting you know it. It's a skill far too many directors fail to master.

What a treat it is to watch great actors working with great material. That is what you get with The Illusionist, a movie that respects its audience, dazzles the eyes and the mind, and allows us the opportunity to watch great actors at work. Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti are a magnificent tandem. The verbal tete a tete, the actorly flourishes, are a joy to watch and clearly, from the exuberance of the actors, a joy to perform.

The romance of The Illusionist between Norton and Jessica Biel is strong if not fiery passionate. The actors do smolder for one another but they don't quite set the screen on fire. The backstory of forbidden teenage love and two terrific teen actors, Aaron Johnson as young Eisenheim and Eleanor Tomlinson as young Sophie, does much of the work of establishing the drama of this romance.

The Illusionist is the kind of fabulous adult minded dramas that many don't believe Hollywood can make anymore. Smart, literate, sexy, romantic, and populated with fantastic actors in meaty roles, The Illusionist is that rare breed of high minded drama that combines high intelligence with mainstream popular storytelling and a stellar cast.

The Illusionist is a must see picture.

Movie Review The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) 

Directed by Oliver Parker 

Written by Oliver Parker

Starring Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Dame Judi Dench

Release Date May 17th, 2002

Published May 17th, 2002 

When considering the works of Oscar Wilde one should wonder what this most quotable of writers would say of our current culture. Wilde believed that art should not be popular, and when you consider modern American cinema you might say that we have achieved Wilde's belief. Indeed art in modern American cinema is not popular. Popular as defined as gaining widespread viewership and appreciation. Think of the best filmmaking in this day and age, the most artistic works are very often the least seen. Such is the case with the most recent of Oscar Wilde's works adapted for the screen The Importance Of Being Earnest, artistically brilliant but by previous definition not popular.

The film was adapted and directed by Oliver Parker who previously adapted Wilde's An Ideal Husband to great artistic and little popular success. Parker here re-teams with his Ideal Husband star Rupert Everett, who takes the role of Algernon. One of those brilliant cads who seems to have endless charm and wit yet never a job or responsibility. Algernon's closest friend is Earnest or rather Jack depending on who he is speaking to. Earnest-Jack is played by Colin Firth as an English nobleman who keeps up the appearance of class by taking the name Earnest when in the city and the more respectable name of Jack when at his country estate. Complications arise when as Earnest he meets the woman of his dreams Gwendolyn (Frances O'Connor). Gwendolyn knows him only as Earnest and has a particular affinity for the name that makes confessing his real identity very difficult.

Back at Jack's country estate his new ward Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) is nursing a small crush on the man she only knows as Jack, that is until a visit from Algernon. Of course this too has complications as Jack has warned Algernon to stay away from the country house and especially Cecily. So while Jack is in the city trying to win the hand of Gwendolyn, Algernon travels to the country to meet Cecily. Of course he cannot go as Algernon because the staff would send him away so HE takes on the name Earnest and poses as Jack's brother. Meanwhile Jack as Earnest is trying to convince Gwendolyn's mother Lady Bracknell (Dame Judi Dench) that he is of proper breeding to marry her daughter. Unfortunately his family history is conspicuous at best.

Well everyone knows where this story is going as similar more recent stories have populated films for years. With Oscar Wilde it is never about where the story is going but how it gets there. Getting there in a Wilde story is all about witty repartee and The Importance of Being Earnest overflows with quotable dialogue and farce. Dame Judi Dench especially gets on with the witty dialogue, it seems every line from her character is memorable. Indeed each character's dialogue is so good the story becomes superfluous.

Director Oliver Parker perfectly captures the spirit of Wilde's text, just as he did in An Ideal Husband and he surprisingly tops that film’s sly humor. The performances by Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are superb, especially Everett who seems to have been born for this material. Reese Witherspoon puts on a strong English accent and wears it well. She has a couple of brilliant scenes with Frances O'Conner, likely the funniest in the film.

If I had any complaints about the film they would be that the story goes beyond meaningless. There really is no meaning in the film whatsoever, which may actually have been Wilde's aim, but it strikes a false chord. In fact at the very end of the film Wilde's dialogue calls the whole film’s story into question with a subtle reference to the film’s title that implied an entirely different story altogether. To explain it would ruin the surprise, but it was a reference that in Wilde's time was a scandalous aside despite now having less meaning and impact. See it for yourself if you can figure out the meaning let me know.

Movie Review The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk (2008) 

Directed by Louis Letterier

Written by Zak Penn

Starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, William Hurt 

Release Date June 13th, 2008

Published June 12th, 2008 

In 2003 director Ang Lee took a stab at the comic book genre and divided audiences in ways no one could have imagined. Non-comic book fans were enamored with Lee's take on the origin of the Hulk. Fans were left wondering what happened to Hulk Smash! Hulk was a box office misfire costing over 200 million dollars while taking in a paltry 124 million domestic, breaking even thanks to worldwide numbers never changing the perception of failure.

Now the Hulk is back and with Incredible back in the title he is everything that fans have been waiting for. Hulk Smash is back as well.

Edward Norton takes over the role of scientist Bruce Banner and rather than making us endure 20 or 30 minutes of back story Norton and director Louis Letterier cram what we need to know into the credits and then thrust us right into the story. David Banner is living in Brazil, hiding from a US Military, lead by General Ross (William Hurt), that wants what he has inside him.

Fans know that inside Bruce Banner is the result of an experiment gone wrong. Exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, Banner has a hulk inside him that comes out when his heart rate goes over 200 beats per minute. The General needs a sample of Banner's blood in order to synthesize it into a weapon to create super soldiers. Banner knows that is far too dangerous an idea.

Banner is seeking a cure and corresponds with a doctor in New York who may have some sort of breakthrough. Returning to the US, after a spectacular chase scene involving Banner and some US soldiers through the streets of Brazil that gives us our first glimpse of the Hulk, Banner first seeks Betty Ross, his ex love and science partner who has more than just key scientific details for him.

Running parallel to Bruce's story is that of an ambitious and dangerous mercenary named Blonsky (Tim Roth) who volunteers to become Ross's guinea pig for another Banner-esque experiment. Naturally, the experiment goes very wrong and now Ross must turn to Banner and The Hulk for help. .

The Incredible Hulk is the second movie from the gang at Marvel Comics as they begin to take a more active role in taking their legendary characters into the realm of film. The first was Iron Man and that was a huge success. Now The Incredible Hulk which is not quite Iron Man good but works well enough to shine more positive light on the production crews at Marvel.

The script for The Incredible Hulk by comic book movie veteran Zak Penn, with an alleged uncredited polish by Norton, does a terrific job balancing the need for character development with the need for full bore action and effects. It's not a perfect balance, too many times big effects overwhelm and consume the film, but not so often that Norton and his talented supporting cast can't bring it back. 

Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson provide backup for Norton and though I would like to see Tyler do something more than whimper, she and Norton strike a good chemistry. It is through Tyler and Norton's scenes that The Incredible Hulk gets its heart and humor and given the heavy handed nature of the special effects, the chemistry of these two stars is an essential element.

It's no Iron Man, even with a kick butt cameo by Tony Stark himself, but The Incredible Hulk is strong enough to put the wearying Ang Lee version out of our memories and set up plenty of intriguing storylines for the future of the Hulk series. Keep in mind this quote from the very end of the movie "We're putting a team together".

Movie Review The Informant

The Informant! (2009) 

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Scott Z Burns 

Starring Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey 

Release Date September 18th, 2009

Published September 17th, 2009 

In Hollywood there are stars and there are actors and rarely do they exist in one. People like Tom Hanks or Paul Newman can claim both mantles. Now, after watching the new comedy The Informant! you can add Matt Damon to that select group. In The Bourne series Damon is a star. In The Informant! Damon is both star and actor as he devilishly deals laughs while melting so perfectly into his role that even his hairpiece is acting.

As Mark Whitacre Damon brings midwestern values to the razor's edge between character and caricature. His portrayal of a corporatized doofus from Decatur of Illinois comes ever so close to an unkind parody of a typical Midwesterner. Thankfully, Damon's deft touch and inexhaustible charm keep things at just the right pitch.

Mark Whitacre worked at ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, one of the leading corn processing companies in the world. He began his career as an agri-scientist before being bumped up to the office. Once out of the lab he never really seemed to acclimate to the office. He was good at accepting a paycheck but when his job is on the line Mark cracks quickly under the pressure.

Hiding it all behind a doofusy grin Mark gets himself in real deep trouble when accusations of corporate dirty tricks lead to the FBI getting involved. Scott Bakula plays the lead FBI Agent assigned to investigate, at first on behalf of ADM then eventually gathering evidence against them. Mark willingly becomes his expert witness. Sensing a chance to play spy, and buff his ego; Mark agrees to wear a wire and gather evidence that his bosses are fixing the price of corn.

The story in The Informant is based on a true story. Mark Whitacre is a real guy who indeed attempted to become a whistleblower only to end up admitting to crimes of his own. The book based on Mark's story is the inspiration for the movie and both are terrifically well told stories.

Steven Soderbergh adapted and directed The Informant! with a touch of the absurd. With a jaunty score by the great Marvin Hamlisch and a comically distracted voiceover by Damon, the oddity of The Informant! perfectly matches the oddity of Mark Whitacre whose bizarre, ever escalating absurdity is matched only by his bizarre ability to remain an affably clueless doofus.

What a remarkable performance by Damon. Truly, an Oscar worthy effort. Damon's Mark Whitacre is, if you can imagine, like a non-animated Ned Flanders from The Simpsons all eager to please pep. He can put a bright spin on almost anything and his upbeat attitude is at once charming and utterly hilarious. By the end of The Informant, Matt Damon is earning laughs with just a raise of his eyebrow.

The supporting cast of The Informant! is at once a terrific assemblage of comic talent and a subliminal in-joke from Director Soderbergh to an educated audience. Soderbergh fills the supporting cast with some of the best stand up comics working today. Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Bob Papa, Bob Zany, Paul F. Tompkins among others have roles in The Informant.

By stocking the cast with comics Soderbergh effectively creates a funny by association meta-joke. The Informant! seems funnier just by the sight of so many funny people in the cast. It only works if you are a fan of the world of stand up comics and recognize these guys. If you do, it's an extra giddy thrill in what is already a pretty terrific movie.

Funny, smart, exceptionally well directed and featuring an Oscar level performance by Matt Damon, The Informant! is one of the best movies of the year.

Movie Review The International

The International (2009) 

Directed by Tom Tykwer

Written by Eric Warren Singer

Starring Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Brian F O'Byrne 

Release Date February 13th, 2009 

Published February 12th, 2009 

Director Tom Tykwer is best known for the cult classic Run Lola Run, a film that consists of one woman running almost non-stop for nearly 90 minutes with an occasional bit of dialogue and a little gunfire. For his latest and most high profile effort to date, the new thriller The International, Tykwer applies a similar formula as Lola only with a little more dialogue and gunfire but still plenty of running.

Clive Owen stars in The International as an agent of Interpol on the trail of the shady dealings of a devilish bank. This bank, run from Luxembourg, is weeding its way into the international arms market. To get there they engage in assassinations to smooth their way.

Anyone who has ever stood against the bank has died and now Clive and his partner, a New York district attorney played by Naomi Watts, are at the top of the hitlist. They must gather the evidence they need to bring down the bank before the bank's killers bring them down permanently.

The International has a certain timeliness to it that may appeal to the American zeitgeist or hit too close to home. Bankers and banks in the day and age of bailouts and bonuses make great boogeyman. Who wouldn't want to see Clive Owen kicking some banker butt. On the other hand, those who subscribe to the theory of movies as escapism may be turned off by leaving banks on CNN on their TV and finding more bankers in their movie theaters.

The filmmakers don't have anything to say about bailouts or bonuses, the movie instead bores us conspiracies involving debt accumulation. Thankfully, it doesn't linger too long on the conspiracy before director Tykwer gets to what he does best, running and shooting.

The International is a run and shoot movie. There is running and shooting in Luxembourg, running and shooting in Rome and running and shooting in New York City in an explosive and dazzling scene set inside the famed Guggenheim museum. Using the famed architecture to great advantage, the makers of The International craft one of the best gun fights we've seen at the movies in a very long time. This scene alone may be worth the price of a ticket.

The International is a movie of great energy and action invention. Clive Owen in all his rumpled, 5 O'clock shadowed glory sells the dull conspiracy by keeping the intensity at a constant simmer and managing to keep up with his director's hectic pacing. For the fan of big time action only, I recommend The International.

Movie Review The Interview

The Interview (2014) 

Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Randall Park 

Release Date December 25th, 2014 

Published December 24th, 2014

I was more than halfway through watching the new comedy "The Interview" on my computer when the darn thing just shut off. I had just reached the scene where Seth Rogan's Aaron and James Franco's Dave Skylark are about to interview Kim Jong Un (Randall Park) and are coming to terms with their potential executions when my computer simply shuts down. Thankfully, the issue was not a cyber-attack, but merely an aged laptop overheating. But it does make for a perfect story about watching "The Interview."

No film in 2014 has been discussed in print and by pundits than "The Interview." Having taken center stage in the cyber attack on Sony Pictures, "The Interview" finally arrives for audiences to finally judge just how offensive the film truly is. To the film's credit, there are no holds barred in attacking the myth and legend of Kim Jong Un. That said, the film is not exactly weighty, with most jokes surrounding a concept called "honey-dicking."

"Honey-dicking" is a term used when one man is attempting to seduce another man by pretending to be all the things that the seducer wants in another person. In this case, Kim Jong Un pretends to be cool and gives Skylark his dream friendship based on what he knows about Skylark's affinity for basketball, women, tanks, etc.

So you can see this is not exactly high-minded satire that earned the ire of North Korean leadership. Still, it's not hard to identify what the real Kim Jong Un might find offensive about "The Interview" beyond the simple matter of the premise, which is his assassination. The Supreme Leader of North Korea is portrayed as a borderline psychotic manchild who loves Katy Perry songs and has serious daddy issues.

For his part, Skylark is an easily misled doofus who falls for Kim Jong Un's act very quickly, only to watch in horror when the dictator shows off his crazy side. James Franco is a pure joy to watch in the role of Dave Skylark with his big goofy grin, oddball slang and general flightiness.

It's up to Seth Rogen to ground the humor of the picture and he does an admirable job. Though I would not in any way call the film realistic, Rogen and co-writer/co-director Evan Goldberg create a strong pace and energy for this off-the-wall premise to exist. In front of the camera Rogen is his typically goofball self, only slightly more mature than usual. Slightly more mature.

"The Interview" is quite funny at times, drawing most of its humor from Franco's unique line readings and the terrific enthusiasm of all the performers. Park is a true scene stealer as Kim Jong Un. Park has the same joy of performance that seems to drive Franco, and the two have an exceptional comic chemistry.

Does "The Interview'' deserve to be some kind of celebrated cause? No, it was merely thrust into the midst of chaos rather than actually being the cause of it. The film is rather slight overall, less memorable -- aside from the controversy -- than Rogen and Goldberg’s far superior films "This is the End" and "Superbad."

Take "The Interview" out of the context of the current controversy that swirls around it and it might not have made much of an impression. It's not a bad movie. It's actually a pretty good version of the bro-comedy we've grown accustomed to with Franco, Rogen and Goldberg. It is, however, aside from the controversy, not that much more than a typical bro-comedy that likely would have faded quickly from theaters over Christmas without North Korea choosing to act as an accidental press agent for the film.

Movie Review The Italian Job

The Italian Job (2003) 

Directed by F Gary Gray 

Written by Donna Powers, Wayne Powers 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland

Release Date May 30th, 2003 

Published May 29th, 2003 

What is it with Mark Wahlberg and remakes of classic movies? Last year it was the Cary Grant spy flick Charade “reimagined” as The Truth About Charlie. And of course, you remember him in that ape movie. Now it's a 1969 caper flick better known for its car chase then its caper plot. Wahlberg takes the role once inhabited by Sir Michael Caine as a master thief who is double crossed by his partner and wants payback in The Italian Job.

The title is a reference to the film’s opening caper set against the canals of Venice. Inside a beautiful villa, a group of thieves led by Charlie (Wahlberg) and his former mentor John Bridger (Donald Sutherland, inheriting the role from none other than Noel Coward). The rest of the crew includes Charlie's second in command Steve (Edward Norton), the weapons expert Left Ear (Mos Def), the computer expert Lyle (Seth Green) and the wheelman Handsome Rob (Jason Statham).

The so-called Italian job comes off perfectly, and the crew is set to walk away with 35 million in gold. That is until Steve double crosses the crew, steals the gold and shoots John. Charlie and the rest of the crew are nearly killed attempting to get away, setting in motion the film’s revenge plot. Cut to Philadelphia where John's daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) works as a security expert, cracking uncrackable safes for the police department, a skill she picked up from her dad. When Charlie tells her that they have found Steve and plan on getting the gold back, she is down for some payback.

So what makes The Italian Job any different from the numerous heist flicks that have dotted the film landscape in recent years? Pretty much nothing. Like most films of its genre, it has double-crosses, twists, and action. It has murders, a gangster subplot and, of course, a supremely contrived, overly complicated series of heist scenes that involve all sorts of techno-gadgetry and split second timing but always break down to guys with guns.

I realize that it's difficult to criticize a remake for being unoriginal but I must protest the number of unoriginal, uninspired clichés the film employs. Particularly annoying is the use of the age-old reveal scene. The one in which it seems a character is doing one thing but it turns out they are doing something entirely different. In this case, it's Theron cracking a safe, seeming to rob it but in reality, she's cracking it for the cops, as per her job as a security expert. Ugh.

Director F. Gary Gray's one weapon against the been-there-done-that story is his unique visual style and slickness. Gray has that music video honed talent for pacing. It comes from condensing songs to three or four minute visuals for MTV and it's a talent that will someday be recognized. That talent serves Gray well in keeping the audience from thinking too long about the film’s familiar story elements.

Gray is also blessed with an excellent cast headed up by Mark Wahlberg. I'm starting to notice Wahlberg's real knack for melting from topline star into ensemble player. He did it in The Truth About Charlie where he clearly gave the movie away to Thandie Newton. He also did it in Planet of The Apes where, though he was clearly the hero, he still allowed the ape suited Helena Bonham Carter every opportunity to stand in the spotlight. Here, teamed with a charismatic crew of Jason Statham, Mos Def and Seth Green, Wahlberg has an ensemble worthy of ceding the spotlight to. And though I loath to admit it, I actually enjoyed the work of Charlize Theron, who until this film had been to me like nails on a chalkboard.

The Italian Job is familiar and predictable but not dull. It's another Saturday night rental worthy of sitting next to Wahlberg's The Truth About Charlie and Statham's The Transporter and Gray's The Negotiator. Slight, witty action movies that may lack substance but never lacks entertainment value.

Documentary Review Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009) 

Directed by Bruce Hendricks 

Documentary 

Starring The Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift 

Release Date February 27th, 2009

Published February 27th, 2009 

After watching the new Jonas Brothers 3D spectacular I am curious about something. It's something that occurs in most movies or music videos featuring teen idols. It's the scene where the idols run down the street chased by a mob of screaming fans. I can't help but wonder: What would the fans do if they caught their idol? Would it turn into some kind of twisted Misery fan scenario where a girl takes the boy hero home and makes him sing in her basement forever? Or would the fans just paw the idol to death? Whatever would happen, the whole chase just doesn't seem all that well thought out.

I pondered this question for a while as I patiently endured the pop banalities of the latest pre-fab pop idols to storm our culture, The Jonas Brothers, Nick, Joe and .... um ... Kevin. Kevin. The Jonas Brothers are three charming, energetic young kids who work hard on stage even as their music doesn't work to hard on the brain.

The Brothers began life as musical prodigies until their big break on the Hannah Montana show. Soon Disney was throwing money at the brothers and their own TV specials and series at them and girls were flipping out at the sight of the brothers. All of this while they somehow managed to keep their boyish sensibilities and a chastity that has become a whole identity, the boys where purity rings and their promise to stay chaste till marriage seems more earnest commitment than marketing ploy.

That I don't suspect anything of the boys is quite something. There is no wink or nod to the Jonas's act and their success and that of Hannah Montana among others indicates that, at least for a little while, the age of irony is over. Whether that is good or bad depends on your perspective. The age of irony was fun early on but as it aged it became cynical to the point of intentional ugliness.

However, the post-irony era has its pitfalls and the Jonas's demonstrate some of them. Like an overall lack of critical thinking. Fans of the brothers are so earnestly devoted that one wonders if a cult is being formed. I realize it's likely no different than the devotion shown to previous pop idols but regardless, my creep factor was piqued by some scenes in this movie.

I wonder honestly and in my own way earnestly whether the banal, forgettable tunes of the Jonas Brothers will cripple the critical thinking of some fans and begin a pattern in them where they don't ask more of their heroes than bland pleasantries and shy good looks. Myself, I want my kid asking more of their idols.

Despite my reservations though Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience is fairly harmless. My advice to parents of Jonas fans, gather a group of parents to go to the movie and then draw straws to decide which sacrificial parent will have to actually sit through the movie while the others go for drinks or maybe see a different movie. Really, why should every parent have to suffer.

Movie Review The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale (2003) 

Directed by Alan Parker 

Written by Charles Randolph 

Starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Gabriel Mann 

Release Date February 21st, 2003 

Published February 20th, 2003 

It seems that in all of my reviews of Kevin Spacey's movies I end up asking, “What has happened to Kevin Spacey?”

I always begin by recalling how brilliant he was in Seven, The Usual Suspects and his star making turn in American Beauty. It is because I WAS such a big fan of Spacey that I long to remember why I was a fan. Spacey's last four films have done a lot to make me forget how great Spacey once was. The Shipping News, K-Pax, Pay It Forward, and Ordinary Decent Criminal are all terrible films that don't meet the standards of Spacey's previous work and are really not even in the ballpark with his best performances.

I still believe Spacey can turn it around with one great role. His last four films and his previous brilliant works represent two extremes which leads us to our point, to which extreme does his new film The Life Of David Gale go? Well with early Oscar buzz quickly shifting to a scramble by producers to get it out of the way of the competitive December market, the buzz wasn't good. Sadly, the film lives up to the bad buzz.

As the title character, Professor David Gale, Spacey is the head of the philosophy department at a Texas college and the lead spokesman for Deathwatch, an anti-death penalty lobbying group. However, when we first meet Professor he is behind bars and awaiting a lethal injection on Texas's death row. David Gale was convicted of the murder of a fellow death penalty activist, Constance Halloway (Laura Linney). Her nude and battered body was found on her kitchen floor with a bag over her head and her hands handcuffed behind her back. Every piece of evidence points at Professor Gale, his fingerprints were found on the bag and his semen was found in the victim.

Gale still maintains his innocence and agrees to an interview with a New York journalist just four days before his execution. The journalist is Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) and it's unclear why Gale chose her. She has never written about the death penalty and has only a vague knowledge of his case, which has made national headlines simply based on the irony of a death penalty activist on death row. In fact, it is that very irony that fuels Gale's paranoid defense that a conspiracy has landed him on death row. 

In flashback, Gale details his relationship with Constance, which he claims was that of good friends and nothing more. Gale talks about his wife leaving him and taking his son to live in Spain. He openly discusses his drinking problem and finally the affair that sent his life into a tailspin. After a student offers to do anything to raise her grade, the good professor tells the student to study harder. That student is expelled for her bad grades. After that same student shows up at a party Gale attended, Gale is seduced and later accused of rape. The former student's revenge on Professor Gale is to accuse him of rape, she soon after dropped the charges but the stigma of the charges cost Gale his job. As Gale is explaining his story to Bitsey, a mystery is unfolding involving a shady cowboy (Matt Craven) and a videotape that may prove Gale's innocence.

To tell you anymore would spoil the film’s supposedly shocking twists. Director Allan Parker's ham handed direction tips off the twists well ahead of time but you should be disgusted by this film’s lunkheadedness on your own. The film is supposed to be a message picture about how horrible the death penalty is but the film hammers it's message home in such a way that the audience couldn't care less if Gale gets the needle or not. 

Surrounding the anti death penalty screed, is a mystery plot so convoluted as to murder credibility. The film’s mystery relies on the journalist being such a dope that her magazine would actually pay a half million dollars to get the interview with Gale, when he should be begging for interviews to prove his innocence instead of charging exorbitant amounts of money. The Life of David Gale flies in the face of credibility and saddles it's wonderful stars with a plot so heavy handed and ridiculous that they really had no chance of recovering.

So there is a ray of hope for Spacey fans. At least this one wasn't entirely his fault.

Movie Review: The Seeker The Dark is Rising

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007) 

Directed by David L Cunningham 

Written by John Hodge 

Starring Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy 

Release Date October 5th, 2007

Published October 4th, 2007

Why are so many fantasy adventure heroes so whiny and ineffectual? Shoved along by the forces of good and basically forced to be heroes? Take, for instance, Will Stanton, the hero of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Will is among the whiniest and most winsome heroes in film history. Constantly slowing the action to complain that his mission is too hard and that he's too young, Will makes The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising a slog to sit through.

Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) did not know, until his fourteenth birthday, that he is a member of a secret society. Will is secretly a member of The Light, a force that protects humanity from the forces of The Dark, led by The Rider (Christopher Eccleston). Not long after Will's birthday, The Rider is set to regain the strength that he has been denied for centuries but before he can do that, The Rider needs the trinkets gathered by The Seeker, to gain his full strength. You can probably guess who The Seeker turns out to be. 

Yes. Will just happens to be the seeker, or so he's told by Merriman (Ian McShane), the cryptic spokesman for the good guys, which also includes Miss Graythorne (Frances Conroy), Dawson (James Cosmo), and Old George (Jim Piddock). Merriman explains to Will that he can travel through time, summon great strength, and control fire as The Seeker. And still Will whines that the task will be too much for him. Nevertheless, it's up to Will to get the six elements that can restore the power of The Light or if the fall into the hands of the rider, bring about the rise of The Dark and the end of the world.

Directed by David L. Cunningham, and based on the popular novels of Susan Cooper, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is one of the lamest adventures in a good long while. I can't compare what is on the screen to what came from Susan Cooper's page except that Cooper's books are over 30 years old and the film has been modernized. Also, The Dark is Rising is the second in the 6 book series of The Seeker and thus truncates each of the first two books into this one 94 minute movie.

You can see and feel where corners were cut, even if you haven't read the books, because the plot of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is so full holes. The nonsense with The Rider, the characters who work for The Rider, and the motivations of the evil known as The Dark are murky and goofball. Just the fact that the evil of the film is just referred to as The Dark shows how little creative thought went into the evil side of the movie.

Not that the good is all that well defined. Calling the forces of good 'The Light' is certainly no more interesting than 'The Dark'. On the bright side, The Light is represented by Ian McShane and Frances Conroy to terrific character actors who need to take more care in choosing their roles. Both of these brilliant, dignified actors give their all to their work, sadly they are defeated by the poorly crafted script and by Alexander Ludwig's deeply awful performance. 

Whiny, ineffectual and shoved along by the plot, Ludwig's Will Stanton would let the world come to an end if he had his way. Were it not for the forces of The Light forcing him to be a hero, Will would simply accept the sweet embrace of death rather than have to learn, grow, and fight with honor for a cause he believes in. There is certainly nothing wrong with a reluctant hero, that's a fine source of dramatic conflict, but the makers of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising have the character Will Stanton do little more than whine and complain about his reluctance to be a hero. 

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising fails on a number of levels but most damningly in the creation of its hero. I don't want to be too hard on young Alexander Ludwig, or harder than I already have been, but his Will Stanton is arguably the whiniest hero of all time. Constantly bleating about how it's too hard or he's too young or he can't even find the courage to talk to a girl, Will whines throughout the film and grows into one of the most annoying 'heroes' in the history of fantasy adventure.