Movie Review: K-Pax

K-Pax (2001) 

Directed by Iain Softley 

Written by Charles Leavitt 

Starring Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Alfre Woodard, Mary McCormack

Release Date August 13th, 2001 

Published November 1st, 2001 

Kevin Spacey is one our finest actors having created such enduring characters as American Beauty's Lester Burnham, Seven's John Doe, and the unforgettable Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (My personal favorite). But no matter how great the actor, he can't get it right every time. Need I remind you of Pay it Forward, and now with K-Pax Spacey has struck out again. High hopes still persist for his role in The Shipping News in December.

You can't blame Spacey entirely for the failure of K-Pax -- director Iain Softley and the screenwriter must share equal blame. They seemed to approach the film with no idea how they would resolve it which leaves the audience with an ending so unsatisfying it collapses any interesting elements the film had built to that point.

K-Pax is the story of Prot (Spacey) a man who's either an alien or a mental patient. Prot is picked up by police at the scene of a mugging after babbling about not being from Earth. He is placed in a mental institution where Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges, in the film's best performance) treats him. K Pax is at its best when Bridges and Spacey go one on one with Bridge's doctor attempting to logically ascertain why this seemingly brilliant man thinks he is an alien. 

The film's other scenes are less interesting featuring your typical cast of loony bin loonies such as the germophobe, the mean one, and the patient who could leave the hospital if someone would treat him with love instead of medicine. Of course Prot will redeem them and these scenes are lifted from the Patch Adams scrap heap though slightly elevated by Spacey's presence. 

Jeff Bridge's performance nearly saves K Pax his search for Prot's true identity is well played with the right amount of emotional impact. Bridges is stringing together one of the most under-appreciated resumes in the business with brilliant turns in The Contender, The Big Lebowski and Fearless. If all of K-Pax were as good as he is, K-Pax could have been one of the best films of the year.

As for Spacey, Prot is a nearly impossible character who's required to be quirky because all aliens are quirky, and he's required to be psychologically damaged and then be a saint. That's a lot of work. In the end the director refuses to give the audience any catharsis by not answering the film's big question, one I won't print because I don't want to spoil it. The ending is left open either for a sequel or to offer the audience the opportunity to write their own ending, but intelligent moviegoers may be annoyed with the mystery. I know I was.

Movie Review: Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) 

Directed by David Wain 

Written by David Wain, Michael Showalter

Starring Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino 

Release Date July 27th, 2001 

Published January 15th, 2002

A few weeks back theatres were infected with the inept, unfunny, teen movie sendup Not Another Teen Movie. An exercise in stupidity, it quickly disappeared from theatres. To see how a teen movie sendup should work, see the new to video and DVD Wet Hot American Summer, a hysterical take on the teen movie sub-genre, the summer camp movie.

Summer is the brainchild of David Wain and Michael Showalter, better known as members of the comedy troupe The State whose short-lived MTV sketch show mastered the art of teen movie parody. Showalter also stars in the film as the nerdy camp counselor who on the last day of camp is going to win over the hottest girl. Janeane Garofalo also stars as the head counselor who is romancing David Hyde Pierce as a nerdy scientist. Indeed all the great camp movie cliches are in place, save for the evil rival camp whose owner wants to takeover the camp, a cliche that is referred to but then knowingly dismissed in one the movies funniest scenes.

The films best moments are provided by Law and Order SVU star Christopher Meloni as the camp cook, whose best friend is a can of mixed vegetables. Anyone who ever saw Meloni on HBO's Oz will laugh hysterically everytime he's onscreen.

If anything keeps Wet Hot American Summer from being a great movie instead of a good movie, it's Garofalo. At times, she can't seem to keep up with her costars outrageous-ness. It's not her fault, all the members of The State, Showalter, Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black have been together a long time and have a chemistry that can't be picked up in the time it takes to shoot a movie.

Wet Hot American Summer is everything Not Another Teen Movie wasn't. It's funny, intelligent and over the top in ways that don't involve excrement and bodily functions. Let's hope Michael Showalter, David Wain and the other members of The State get the chance to make more movies, though the film's box office makes that unlikely.

Movie Review Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) 

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell 

Written by John Cameron Mitchell 

Starring John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin, Miriam Shor

Release Date July 20th, 2001 

Published November 27th, 2001 

One of my favorite shows is VH1's behind the music and my favorite part is usually about 30 minutes in when the announcer intones "Fame came with a price." For Hedwig the genderless protagonist of Hedwig and the Angry Inch the price is one I know I could not have paid.

You see Hedwig used to be Hansel an earnest faced gay teen living in communist East Germany who decides to attempt to become a woman after falling in love with an American GI. I say attempts to become a woman because poor Hansel's operation went awry leaving him with an angry inch get it. Penis or no penis Hansel marries the GI, changes his name to Hedwig and moves to a Kansas trailer park. All of this is enough material for a fascinating offbeat comedy but this is merely the back-story to Hedwig. John Cameron Mitchell writes directs and stars as Hedwig, which he created in an off Broadway theater.

The music is the real star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; it is brilliant rock music like nothing that's been heard in years. The music emulates Bowie Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls with only slightly more accessible pop edge. There is a great deal of Ziggy Stardust in Hedwig and thank God, if your gonna steal steal from the best.

Oh how nice it is to see a film that is surprising, that is not bound by the rules of genre or conventional filmmaking. Hedwig is a breath of fresh air and one of the best films of the year.

Movie Review Made

Made (2001) 

Directed by Jon Favreau

Written by Jon Favreau 

Starring Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Puff Daddy, Peter Falk, Famke Janssen 

Release Date July 13th, 2001 

Published October 25th, 2001 

I hate living in the Midwest, always hopelessly behind the times. I get Variety a month behind and no Hollywood reporter at all. But the worst is not getting indie films 'til they're very successful or headed to video. But thanks to Nova Cinetech I get too see some indies, though still much later than those of you in big cities. 

Which brings me to my review of Jon Favreau's Made which, for a lot of you, is a couple months ago memory and for me not exactly new having read so much about it. Nonetheless Made is the first post Soprano's gangster story all be it on the periphery of "gangsterism," as a pair of would be goomba's take on their first assignment a simple money drop that, of course, if it were that simple there wouldn't be a movie.

For Jon Favreau, it's not really the gangster part that interests him. It's the interaction between his character and his best friend played by Vince Vaughn, who seems to have been instructed to not just act his lines but to make sure he gets in the way of everyone else acting their lines. Favreau plays the flustered straight man to Vaughn's wacky troublemaker beautifully, tweaking their Swingers dynamic with a bit of danger and a dollop more of forced machismo, fitting of the gangster setting. 

Made is populated with great performances including a surprisingly good turn by Sean Puffy Combs. But it's clearly Vince Vaughn's show. As Ricky Slade, Vaugh he is a force of annoying nature. Ricky is the first post Soprano/Gangsta Rap wannabe gangster who believes that if he just knows the lingo and acts tough he can be a gangster.

Made is a funny and entertaining film that I highly recommend.

Movie Review Sexy Beast

Sexy Beast (2001) 

Directed by Jonathan Glazer 

Written by Louis Mellis David Scinto

Starring Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane

Release Date June 15th, 2001 

Published March 13th, 2002 

All the talk has been about Ben Kingsley's Oscar nominated turn in the British gangster drama, Sexy Beast. Beast is an unsatisfying genre exercise somewhat elevated by Kingsley's blistering performance.

Sexy Beast is the story of retired British gangster named Gale and played by Ray Winstone. Gale is living the high life in Spain with his beautiful wife in a gorgeous, idyllic Spanish villa. Things are going well until a friend informs him that an old associate from England is coming to town to offer him a job he can't refuse. This isn't just any old associate though; this is the infamous Don Logan. 

We aren't introduced to Logan necessarily, but the faces of the people discussing him tell the audience everything we need to know. We eventually see Logan, played by Ben Kingsley, and though he is not physically imposing, we quickly see why people are afraid of him. Logan has no time for small talk, has no apparent sense of humor and seems as if he would piss on you as much as talk to you. 

Tbe plot turns on Gale's attempts to turn down Logan's offer but Logan won't hear of it, screaming and threatening him all the while firing expletives like bullets. Logan's words are so raw and so fiery that when he speaks people duck out of the way. Kingsley's ability to be menacing with manner, with presence, and with the expert deployment of four letter words. 

Unfortunately the rest of the film can't match Kingsley's pace or energy. The job Logan wants Gale to do is not all that interesting in setup or execution. And to be honest, I'm not sure I knew just what the job was because by the time the film gets to it, Kingsley's out of the picture and I had lost interest. 

Ray Winstone is a good actor but here, he seems lackadaisical, as if he isn't much interested in what's going on. I understand that some of that is by design but it's not helped by Winstone having to be compared to Kingsley's fiery performance. The man formerly known as Lovejoy, Ian Mcshane, has a supporting role as the mob boss who sets the plot in motion but all he did for me was provide an opportunity to make jokes about Lovejoy.

The cinematography of Sexy Beast is outstanding. Cinematographer Ivan Bird gives the film a gorgeously sun-baked look. Bird also innovates with an incredible boulders eye view scene early in the film as a boulder rolls toward Gale's home, one thematically reminiscent of the unstoppable force that is Kingsley's Logan. I also want to highlight the film's soundtrack, provided by British star Unkle. His energy is fitting of Kingsley's Logan in the most unexpected ways.

Ben Kingsley more than shows why he is Oscar nominated for this performance, he is awesome. If the rest of the film were as good as him it would be a Best Picture candidate.

Movie Review Kill Bill Volume 2

Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004) 

Directed by Quentin Tarentino

Written by Quentin Tarentino 

Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Gordon Liu

Release Date April 16th, 2004

Published April 15th, 2004

Much griping ensued when Miramax decided to cut Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus Kill Bill into two pieces. I was amongst those who were dismayed by the choice, but now that both halves of the film have been released it's clear that Miramax did the right thing. As one three-and-a-half-hour film it would have been brilliant, but as two films with a total combined length of more than four hours, we see Tarantino's vision uncompromised. The fact is, Miramax could not release Kill Bill as one four-hour film, and they did us a favor by cutting it. Because of that, we get two brilliant films for the price of one.

When we last saw our vengeance-seeking heroine The Bride (Uma Thurman), she had wiped out her former associate O-Ren Ishii and 88 of her henchman in a bloody brutal martial arts sword fight. Now, she is back on the road and on her way to Bill (David Carradine). But first a revision of history. In voiceover, the Bride explains what really happened in "The Massacre at Two Pines" where she and her wedding party were wiped out by Bill and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. In one of many scenes of brilliant Tarantino dialogue, we get the backstory of Bill and the Bride.

Back to the future, the Bride is on the trail of Bill's brother and fellow assassin Budd, code name Sidewinder (Michael Madsen). Budd has given up the assassin game and has taken a job as a bouncer at a strip club. Bill has warned him that yhe Bride is coming for him, and regardless of Budd's current state of mind, he's still very dangerous. Budd is more than ready when the Bride arrives which leads to a torture scene that is like a film school class in sound editing and building tension. After knocking the bride unconscious, Budd loads her in a coffin and buries her alive, but not before yet another brilliant but of Tarantino dialogue as Budd offers the bride a flashlight. Claustrophobia has never been so well rendered on screen.

This leads to another flashback, this one taking us back to the Bride's training with the legendary master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu). The master is a brutal taskmaster who, we are told hates Americans, white people, and women. This, of course, makes our hero's training that much more difficult. This series of training scenes have been rendered in any number of classic kung fu movies and Tarantino manages to evoke the look, feel, and sounds of the films he is sampling from.

Needless to say, the Bride escapes from her premature grave and is soon back on her quest for vengeance with Budd and Elle (Daryl Hannah) standing in her way. Budd's end is a little disappointing, but the Bride's fight with Elle is arguably the best of both films. Daryl Hannah gives a comeback performance worthy of Travolta’s in Pulp Fiction. Elle's habit of writing everything in a tiny notebook is the kind of little quirk that most screenwriters neglect; the kind of quirk that makes an average character a memorable character. Hannah has a terrific monologue that she recites directly from her notebook.

Of course, the film’s centerpiece is the confrontation with Bill and to describe any further is to describe too much. Suffice it to say that it lives up to and in fact exceeds expectations with a legendary Tarantino dialogue exchange. The words between Bill and The Bride are better than most fight scenes and the finale is quick but very satisfying.

Where the first film was an exercise in style and direction, with little of Tarantino's trademark dialogue Volume 2 makes up for lost dialogue by providing some of the best screenwriting we have seen since Pulp Fiction revolutionized the art form. Kill Bill is proof that the auteur, the director whose vision is complete from script to screen is where film d'art still lives. Say what you will about great screenwriters, it takes a director to create art and Tarantino is the pre-eminent artist of our time.

Mixing genres from a noirish opening credit and direct-to-camera black and white sequence, to Sergio Leone-style western vistas, to more of the first film’s kung fu grind house vibe, Tarantino is like a club DJ, but instead of mixing Elvis Costello into Public Enemy, he mixes Michael Curtiz into Sergio Leone into Kurosawa. Call it film sampling if you want; the result is a work of art that belongs solely to Tarantino.

Movie Review: Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory (2008) 

Directed by Marcos Siega 

Written by Daniel Taplitz, Kathy Gori

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Stuart Townsend, Emily Mortimer, Sarah Chalke

Release Date April 11th, 2008 

Published October 15th, 2008

Ryan Reynolds carries himself as a man who knows he is a star. Reynolds has Confidence just short of arrogance and a real sense of self onscreen, Reynolds, at times, evinces the earnest friendly quality of Tom Hanks and crosses it with a Johnny Depp-like aversion toward anything to conventional. Don't be mistaken, Reynolds makes conventional movies but like Depp he plays his part in a way that gives convention a noticeable tweak. For his latest movie, the conventional romantic dramedy Chaos Theory Reynolds plays his characters tics and fears as physical expressions and gives a performance of grave irritation.

In Chaos Theory Ryan Reynolds stars as Frank Allen, efficiency expert. Frank gives seminars on time management and lives his life with swiss watch precision. That Frank managed to find a woman willing to put up with his maddening lists and schedules is something of an only in the movies miracle. Emily Mortimer is Susan, a wife of infinite patience. The two were friends for years before she decided of the group of male friends she had amassed, Frank was the one she could see herself with permanantly. That was seven years ago, they have a lovely young daughter now and a life of ease and elegance.

Things change drastically and by chance when a finally snapping Susan decides to push the clock ahead 10 minutes. The result is Frank missing his ferry to the city and having to sheepishly reschedule a talk on time management. If you think being late to work is tough, try being a time management guru and show up late.

Nevertheless, Frank powers through the presentation and meets his pal Buddy (Stuart Townsend) in the lobby. They hit the bar and while Buddy chases skirts Frank drinks a little too much, drowning his inefficient sorrows, and ends up back in his hotel room with Paula (Sarah Chalke, Scrubs) trying to keep from cheating on Susan.

Making a run for it, Frank is involved in a car accident with a pregnant woman. He rushes her to the hospital and a couple of misplaced signatures have him mistaken as the baby daddy. When the pregnant girl disappears the next day, leaving the baby behind, a befuddled Susan receives a call to 'return to the hospital and her baby'. Frank has some explaining to do.

The theory of Chaos Theory is that Frank being late, missing his ferry, sets off a series of chaotic events that leave his marriage in trouble. Had Frank been on schedule perhaps, if he had made it to his ferry and given his talk in time, things could have been different. Now, however, because he was later, he is forced to confront the random, uncontrollable forces of fate.,

Director Marcos Siega and writer Daniel Taplitz start from an interesting place but as the chaos sets in on Frank's life so does it set in on a script that is too uncertain of itself. Is it comedy? Is it drama? The balance is even between the two but without a true perspective a vacuum of ideas develops and Chaos Theory becomes a dramatic/comedic void.

The idea of chaos and order fate and chance, are ideas that many filmmakers have explored with relative success. Siega and Taplitz unfortunately bring no depth or substance to the discussion. Chaos theory, chance, fate, all of these are merely building blocks to a mediocre comedy drama with no real driving dramatic force.