Movie Review Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) 

Directed by Bharat Nalluri 

Written by David Magee, Simon Beaufoy 

Starring Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace, Ciaran Hinds, Mark Strong 

Release Date March 7th, 2008 

Publoshed March 8th, 2008 

From the awkward title to the pre-world war two England setting there is nothing all that hip about Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day. However, with a cast that includes Oscar winner Frances McDormand and Oscar nominee Amy Adams there is more than just potential. A terrific trailer with the palette, now the movie is in theaters and this seemingly un-hip period piece proves to be a smart, funny, romantic and sexy romp. Directed by first-time feature helmer Bharat Nalluri, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day offers surprises at every turn and top notch performances from two of the best actresses working today.

London in the late 1930's lived under the cloud of potential war. With Germany on the march on the continent, the British Isles were in a war stance that left many residents out in the cold. Jobs were as scarce as most resources and among the affected as our story begins is Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand). Having been fired from her third stint as a governess, Miss Pettigrew finds herself on the streets. When told by the employment agency that she is no longer desired as a child care worker, Miss Pettigrew takes a chance and steals a job off her ex-boss's desk.

She assumes the lead is for another governess position. However, when she arrives at the flat of Delyssia Lafosse (Amy Adams) she has a few unexpected moments. Miss Lafosse has no children. Her need is for someone to keep an eye on her. She is balancing romances with three different men who offer three very different but important choices for her. There is Tom (Phil Goldman) a playwright and producer who has the power to give Delyssia her big break in his next West End offering. Then there is Nick (Mark Strong) the owner of the nightclub where Delyssia performs and the man who bankrolls her flat and her lifestyle.

And finally there is Michael (Lee Pace) , a piano player fresh from a prison stint. He has been her loyal piano man for a long time as well as her best friend and likely her true love. Michael wants Delyssia to run away to America with him and she with him but it would mean giving up her comforts and her shot at fame and fortune. Each of these relationships comes to a head in one day with the arrival of Miss Pettigrew who accepts the job of social secretary, her real job is more well described as boyfriend wrangler. As Delyssia romances one man, Miss Pettigrew distracts and disposes of the others.

My description makes Delyssia sound like a bad person but as played by the high energy, super-cute Amy Adams she is a fresh and spirited young woman doing anything she can to survive in hardscrabble times. Adams and McDormand are perfect foils as Adams is high spirited and sexy, McDormand is level headed with a quick, observant wit. Both women bring dignity and strong willed self respect to these two desperate characters but it is their spirit in front increasingly desperate moments that is truly winning. There is nothing like watching talented actresses in roles that are their equal. It is so rare and such a treat.

The supporting cast of boyfriends and even a love interest for Miss Pettigrew, is top notch lead by the especially winning Lee Pace. Fans of the show Pushing Daisies know that Pace can play deadpan as well as loving puppy dogs. He plays both exceptionally well in Miss Pettigrew, providing the rooting interest among Delyssia's many suitors. Ciaran Hinds gets a rare good guy role as a rich, lingerie designer who decides to give up his life of models and socialites for a woman who is his equal in every way including age.

Bharat Nalluri's last effort was the massive TV movie Tsunami: Aftermath a true life tale of the survivors of the devastating wave that ravaged the coast of Thailand in 2005. That film showed he could handle large scale effects and grand emotional arcs as well as smaller human moments. Here Nalluri shows an unexpected talent for old school farce with a touch of the British Upstairs/Downstairs comedy. It's a deft, quick witted effort that also manages to be romantic and even sexy. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is a terrific little movie and one of the few must sees of early 2008.

Movie Review The Man from Elysian Fields

The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) 

Directed by George Hickenlooper 

Written by Phillip Jason Lasker

Starring Andy Garcia, James Coburn, Julianna Margulies, Mick Jagger, Olivia Williams 

Release Date September 27th, 2002 

Published May 24th, 2003 

Woman: Are you the man from Elysian Fields?

Man: Is it that obvious?

Just what is this Man From Elysian Fields? Well it's a rare breed of well written, charming, intelligent filmmaking that respects the intelligence and wit of its audience. A film of great wit, that is not afraid to be adult and doesn't compromise itself to the marketplace. Essentially, it's the kind of film I wish there were more of.

The film stars Andy Garcia as Byron Tiller, a down on his luck novelist who spends his free time in bookstores enticing people to buy his novel, a lame thriller called Hitler's Son. Saddened by the fact that after less than a year his book is in the bargain bin, Byron is finally finishing up his second novel. His wife Dena (Julianna Marguilies) is supportive but money is getting tight while she waits for him to finish.

Unfortunately, Byron's publisher doesn't like the new book, which Byron says is about migrant workers. Without a publishing deal, Byron begins searching for a job but finds no one is hiring out-of-work writers.

With no real prospects, Byron finds himself approached in a bar by a stranger named Luther Fox (Mick Jagger. Yes, that Mick Jagger. Is there any other?). Luther claims to have the solution to Byron's problem and gives him a business card for something called Elysian Fields.

Elysian Fields is the cover name for an escort service that pairs men with lonely women to escort them to events when their husbands aren't available and on some occasions sleep with them. Of course, this isn't anything Byron would ever do because he's happily married but when Luther tells him he doesn't have to sleep with the women, he agrees.

After lying to his wife, saying he was spending late nights with hi editor, Byron escorts a gorgeous woman named Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams) to the opera. Why does a woman as beautiful as Andrea need an escort? Because her husband is dying of diabetes and has agreed to allow her to date. Andrea's husband Tobias (James Coburn) also happens to be an award-winning writer whom Byron has idolized. He doesn't find this out until he is caught sleeping with Andrea and is introduced to the couple’s arrangement.

The set up sounds forced and convenient, only in my feeble explanation. The real joy of The Man From Elysian Fields is in its dialogue and characters, all of whom are well inhabited by one of the best ensemble casts I've seen in a long time. Forget what you think of Mick Jagger as an actor, he gives a stellar performance here as the narrator and devil on Byron's shoulder that slowly becomes his conscience.

Andy Garcia is becoming one of the most reliable actors in Hollywood, consistently seeking out and finding great roles and great scripts. Garcia is aided greatly by a wonderfully sympathetic performance by Julianna Marguilies.

In his final performance before his death in 2002, Oscar winner James Coburn is magnificently witty and gruff. His love story with Williams is tender and believable as written by screenwriter Philip Jayson Lasker. Though some of Coburn's dialogue borders on being too well written Coburn reigns it in with the glint in his eye. It is a little strange to watch the late Coburn portray a character that is dying but the performance is so good that it feels like the perfect coda for his career.

There really is little to complain about in The Man From Elysian Fields. Director George Hickenlooper so elegantly crafts this film that even when it’s at times breezy, it’s acceptable. It's just so well written. It's not laugh out loud funny but intelligently witty. It reminded me of the kind of film Hollywood made during its glory days of the 1950's, though with a story that likely couldn't have been made in the days of the Hays code.

Movie Review Love Object

Love Object (2004) 

Directed by Robert Parigi 

Written by Robert Parigi 

Starring Desmond Harrington, Melissa Sagemiller, Rip Torn 

Release Date February 14th, 2004 

Published July 18th, 2004 

I like movies with a twisted sense of humor or morality. Often the best films with that twisted sense of right and wrong, or moral and immoral, break with conventional Hollywood standards of filmmaking and that is always a welcome sight.

However, being different and having that twisted sense is not entirely enough. A film must still be well made and entertaining. The new video Love Object has that twisted quality but is lacking a number of essential elements in great filmmaking.

Desmond Harrington, best known as Eliza Dushku's love interest in Wrong Turn, stars as Kenneth, an office drone who writes instruction manuals and little else. Kenneth is quiet and unassuming with that creepy quality people always describe after they find their quiet neighbor was hiding severed heads in his fridge. Regardless of Kenneth's lacking social skills, his boss Mr. Novak (Rip Torn) respects his ability to get the job done fast and for his next assignment gives Kenneth his first assistant.

The assistant is a beautiful blonde temp typist named Lisa (Melissa Sagemiller, Soul Survivor). She is also quiet and unassuming but far less creepy than Kenneth. Lisa has that librarian quality, dowdy with the potential to be a hotty. That is certainly the quality that Kenneth sees in Lisa as he begins fantasizing about her.

Kenneth's fantasies are stoked by another new friend, an inanimate sex doll. After overhearing some guys at work describe this love doll, Kenneth orders one, customized to resemble Lisa. From there things only get weirder. Lisa is honestly attracted to Kenneth and he seems to resemble a normal human being for a time until he stops customizing the doll and begins customizing Lisa, buying her clothes and making her resemble the doll.

For a time the film, written and directed by Robert Parigi, reminds us a lot of last year’s best film, the horror film May. However this script is not as clever as Lucky McKee's and Desmond Harrington lacks the sympathetic sadness of Angela Bettis. Harrington never develops that unique quality to make you feel for him while he does things that go against anything you should ever have sympathy for. The film is also far more predictable than May, until its ending where Love Object takes a twist that is entirely off the wall but not in a good way.

For her part Melissa Sagemiller is admirable in a very underwritten role. The focus of the film is unquestionably on Harrington and that leaves little room for Sagemiller to make an impression aside from being very attractive.

Behind the camera for the first time, Robert Parigi does create a terrifically subversive atmosphere but he just can't maintain it. There is some good stuff in there but in the end Love Object is an occasionally creepy, weird funny movie but also derivative and by the end completely over the top and off-putting.

Movie Review Live from Baghdad

Live from Baghdad (2002) 

Directed by Mick Jackson 

Written by John Patrick Shanley 

Starring Michael Keaton, Helena Bonham Carter, Lili Taylor, Bruce McGill, Kurt Fuller 

Release Date December 7th, 2002 

Published January 12th, 2003

Hollywood has a knack for timing. Right as the meltdown at Three Mile Island was happening, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas were topping the box office in The China Syndrome. Just as controversy brewed about President Clinton's questionable bombings in Afghanistan, Hollywood released the hysterical political comedy Wag The Dog about a presidential administration that waged a fake war. Now, as we once again sit on the brink of war in Iraq, HBO releases Live From Baghdad, a smart, quickly-paced, entertaining movie that takes us behind the scenes of our first war in Iraq.

The film is based on the writing of CNN producer Robert Wiener, who, with correspondents Bernard Shaw, Peter Arnett, and John Holliman, broadcast live as bombs dropped on Iraq's capital. In the film, Wiener is played by Michael Keaton as a resourceful, quick witted journalist with a great ear for a story and the nerve to go and get it. Wiener, producer Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter), and a skeleton crew--including the always-excellent Lily Taylor and Blair Witch victim Joshua Leonard--go to the heart of Iraq to get the story from inside the country.

The crew from CNN put their network on the map with its all-access war coverage. Their first big story is video of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein posing with "guests" (or hostages, depending upon your perspective.) CNN came under fire for airing the unedited footage, which some viewed as Iraqi propaganda. The next story for the crew is gaining an interview with an American hostage, a story which leads to the interviewee being taken into custody and Wiener's first major crisis of conscience. As we would uncover later, Hussein used American oil workers in Iraq as hostages held in strategic places where the US was likely to drop bombs.

The hostages were released before the bombs began dropping. The big coup was too land an interview with Saddam Hussein, however the things the producer has to promise to get the interview makes you wonder if it's worth it. CBS and Dan Rather land the first interview with Hussein despite Wiener's close relationship with the Iraqi Minister of Information, Naji Al Hadithi, here played by veteran character actor David Suchet. (You don't know the name but, trust me, you would know his face.)

Eventually, CNN would get an interview with Hussein, leading to a surreal photo op of Hussein posing with Wiener, his crew, and correspondent Shaw(Robert Wisdom). But it's not until the bombs begin to drop and CNN becomes America's eyes in Baghdad that the little network that could moves into the big time.

My favorite thing about Live From Baghdad are the performances, especially the group of character actors taking on the difficult roles of CNN reporters. Bruce Mcgill is Arnett and John Carrol Lynch portrays Holliman. (As mentioned above Wisdom is Shaw.) These roles are difficult because these reporters became quite memorable during and after the Gulf War and both Shaw and Arnett remain in front of the cameras to this day. John Holliman passed away in 1999 and Live From Baghdad is dedicated to him.

Mcgill really makes an impression, capturing the modern-day-cowboy attitude of Arnett, who has always loved being in the middle of the action, broadcasting live during the evacuation of Vietnam and other hotspots. Mcgill seems to make an impression in everything he's in. His Robert Hagan was the best part of The Legend Of Bagger Vance in 2000.

With all the media coverage about the Gulf War, one may think there isn't a story left to tell, Live From Baghdad has a story and it's a compelling, exciting story very well told by Keaton, Carter, and Director Mick Jackson. The film was based on the book written by Wiener who also wrote the teleplay, which gives the dialogue a fresh, realistic feel.

Though I found it hard to believe Wiener told Saddam Hussein he loved his tie as he was putting a microphone on the Iraqi dictator, the film teases the reality of it. In the end, it is just really nice to see Keaton back in a lead role, something we haven't seen since the god-awful Christmas movie Jack Frost in 1998. After a movie that bad it was probably a good idea to take some time off. Now he can be welcomed back and I, for one, hope to see more of him. Just no more Christmas movies.

Movie Review The Lion King

The Lion King (1994)

Directed by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

Written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton 

Starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons 

Release Date June 15th 1994

Published August 11th, 2003 

It is a quirk of timing that the same week our poll question asked whether traditional animation was dead, the animated classic The Lion King would open in the IMAX theater in my hometown of Davenport Iowa.

I am of the belief that traditional hand drawn animation is finished as far as its box office appeal. As an artform, however, it is as strong as ever. While my evidence for that is nearly 10 years old, it's not as if it's gotten worse since The Lion King debuted in the summer of 1994. Traditional animation was merely surpassed in both quality and entertainment value by computer animation that allows for more visual flourish, picture clarity and surprise.

It is an interesting question to ask, just how appealing would The Lion King be if it had competed against the likes of Shrek, Toy Story or Finding Nemo? Would it have become the highest grossing animated feature of all time? (A title that now belongs to Finding Nemo) Would opening after the computer animated films I named previously diminish Lion King's legacy as an animated classic?

That question can never be answered, and regardless of whether The Lion King is the all time animated box office champion, it's legacy is in place. The reformatting of the film for the IMAX screen is a reassurance of Lion King's classic status.

In the wilds of Africa, the king of the jungle is a Lion named Mufasa (the resonant voice of James Earl Jones) who has had a son. The heir to Mufasa's throne is Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a playful adventurous kid eager to learn the family business. Standing in his way is his evil uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) and his army of hyenas. The only way Scar can become the king is if both Mufasa and Simba are dead, so using his hyena army he orchestrates a stampede that forces Mufasa to trade his own life for Simba's. Scar then convinces Simba that it was his fault that his father died, leading Simba to flee the kingdom and allow Scar to become king.

Simba wanders off into the wild where he meets a strange tiny little animal, a meerkat named Timon and his buddy, a warthog named Pumba. Together Timon and Pumba help Simba grow into a man and soon Simba, with some inspiration by a lioness named Nala (Moira Kelly), is ready to reclaim his father’s throne.

The film’s story is about death, family, and facing your fears. It's about growing up and realizing who you are. All wonderful elements that are never overplayed. One of the marks of a good animated film or any film aimed at a younger audience is its ability to deliver a message without sacrificing entertainment value.

The animation in The Lion King was the height of Disney's animation renaissance of the late 80's- early 90's. Blown up to the IMAX six-story screen, it becomes even more impressive. The visuals in The Lion King are as impressive as anything made specifically for the IMAX. Though there is an odd shadow that pops up occasionally, it doesn't detract from the beauty of this animated classic.

When you combine the film’s visuals blown up to six stories with it's memorable soundtrack blasted through the mind-blowing IMAX sound system and you get a true masterpiece. Indeed traditional theater sound is very impressive, but it can't compare with the IMAX sound. The Lion King’s African drum score and it's numerous catchy pop tunes are absolutely mind-blowing in IMAX.

Whether traditional animation has a future is debatable but whether The Lion King on IMAX is a masterpiece is unquestionable. 

Movie Review Love Liza

Love Liza (2002) 

Directed by Todd Louiso 

Written by Gordy Hoffman

Starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Stephen Tobolowsky 

Release Date January 14th, 2002 

Published June 2nd, 2003 

In this age of Prozac and less well-known antidepressants, it is becoming odd to see people express real sadness. In Love Liza, Phillip Seymour Hoffman takes sadness to profound depths. Portraying a man whose wife has taken her own life, Hoffman is a revelation in sadness in an award-worthy performance.

Directed by Todd Louiso, Love Liza stars Hoffman as Wilson Joel, a software designer living somewhere in the mid-south. When we meet him, Wilson is returning to his home with an obviously distraught air about him. As he falls asleep on the floor outside of his bedroom, we are certain that something very traumatic has happened. The film slowly reveals Wilson's wife has killed herself. Liza Joel had gone into their garage, locked herself in the car with the engine running.

What we, Wilson, and Liza's mother Mary Ann (Kathy Bates), don't know is why she did. Wilson has a clue, a suicide note that he can't bring himself to open. Mary Ann is pressuring him to open it and bring some small bit of closure to her daughter's death. Mary Ann's prodding and Wilson's attempts at returning to a normal life at work finally get the better of him as he becomes fascinated with Liza's last moments on earth. Having killed herself suffocating on gas fumes, Wilson begins to huff gasoline to get a sense of her final moments. The gas also provides a distraction from real life, and a temporary escape from the sadness.

The role fits Hoffman like it does no other actor; not only because Hoffman is a brilliant actor, but also because his brother Gordy wrote the script. Director Todd Louiso is also a close friend of the Hoffman brothers, which likely helped bring together a chemistry necessary to carry off this film which was shot in a mere 25 days.

As great as Hoffman and his supporting cast--Bates, Stephen Toboloski, and Jack Kehler--are, the rushed production did take its toll on the finished product. With script changes coming at the last minute, it's Bates's character who is hurt the most. Her character's motivations that lead to the film's third act are a contrivance that likely came only as a way of giving her character more screen time. As the filmmakers explain in the DVD commentary track, the character of Liza's mother was beefed up to get Bates in the movie.

Many critics called Love Liza oppressively sad and they were right. But that's the point. Of course it's sad. It is about grief to an extreme degree. This is not meant as an examination of grief on a grand scale. Love Liza is an examination of this character's grief and as played by Hoffman it is a powerhouse.

Movie Review Shrek 2

Shrek 2 (2004) 

Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon

Written by Andrew Adamson, Joe Stillman, David N. Weiss

Starring Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett

Release Date May 19th, 2004 

Published May 18th, 2004 

In 2000, Shrek came out of nowhere and became a box office phenomena. While only spending one weekend at the top of the box office, the film’s buzz sustained it at the box office to the tune of $267 million domestically.

More important than the film’s box office was its quality. One of the rare and wonderful examples of what is possible when animation technology meets talented voice actors, producers and writers. An animated film with as much appeal to adults as to children. The sequel cannot be asked to meet that same lofty standard. That it doesn't spoil our memory of the first film is good enough.

As we rejoin our friends shortly after their wedding, Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are on their honeymoon. The opening of the film is a terrific sendup of those romantic comedy montages set to some silly pop song with Shrek and Fiona cavorting in a meadow, running toward each other both being chased by pitch fork toting mobs.

Once back in the swamp, they are reunited with Donkey (Eddie Murphy). They are informed that they have been invited to the kingdom of Far Far Away where Fiona's parents King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) wish to throw them a royal ball to celebrate their marriage. Shrek is convinced it's a bad idea but Fiona insists they go, even allowing Donkey to join them for the long journey that is best described "Are we there yet?”

No surprise to Shrek, when they arrive and are not greeted with open arms by the King and Queen. There is more to this story than the King's objecting to his daughter marrying an Ogre. It seems the King had cut a deal with the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) that promised Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) would save Fiona from her castle and marry her, thus becoming heir to the throne. The King owes Fairy Godmother for some yet to be revealed reason and so he must get rid of Shrek and allow Charming to take his place.

For this, the King buys the services of a legendary Ogre killer named Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) whose efforts are less than successful. From there, Shrek and Fiona are separated and various miscommunications and mistaken identities serve to keep them apart. Shrek, Donkey and their new friend Puss in Boots must find a way to get Fiona back.

It's not a complicated story, it's a simple setup for the scatological humor that drips from every scene. Each computer-generated frame of Shrek 2 has some kind of satirical jab, even more than the original film. It almost reeks of desperation as if the producers and writers of Shrek 2 felt something was missing from the first film and were going to cover it up with excess jokes.

There is something missing from the sequel though I can't quite explain what it is. Part of the problem is that Shrek's look and animation isn't as special as it was back in 2000. Since then we have seen Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and Ice Age and even live action films like Van Helsing and Spider-man that have made us comfortable with computer animation. It's not that special anymore, it's still impressive but not as mind blowing as the original.

Shrek 2 is not as funny as the first film but it is still funnier than most. Credit the terrific voice cast who project every line of dialogue all the way to the back wall of the theater. Especially good is Antonio Banderas who really tears into the role of Puss In Boots with tremendous comic fervor. Banderas sends up his Mask Of Zorro titular role and the script hints at something that other Zorro movies have used as subtext, something that the kids in the audience won't get but parents will likely pick up.

The other new voices are also well cast. John Cleese picks up the pompous, overblown King role where his good friend John Lithgow left it in the original. Jennifer Saunders makes a terrific villain and even knocks out a rousing showstopper tune near the end. Sadly, Julie Andrews is underused with little to do in the underwritten role of the Queen.

The film’s best assets are still Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy. These terrific comics know how to deliver a punchline and the way the animators incorporate the actors' physical traits into the animated characters adds to the feeling that they are really inhabiting these characters. Listen closely however and you might hear Myers dropping out of his Scottish accent, but that is a minor quibble.

To ask Shrek 2 to recreate the magic of the first film is asking way too much. The best it could do was not taint our memory and that it does it justice with funny references to everything from Spider-man to The Wizard Of Oz to Raiders of The Lost Ark. That it does not fall to sequels and exist merely to capitalize off the original’s success is a testament to the creative team behind it. They put forth an effort to tell a story rather than slapping together a money machine meant to print money off our fondness for the first film.