Movie Review May

May (2003) 

Directed by Lucky McKee 

Written by Lucky McKee

Starring Anna Faris, Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto

Release February 7th, 2003

Published June 10th, 2003 

The pitch meeting for the movie May could have gone something like "It's Carrie meets Dahmer". But a film as wildly original and scabrously horrifying as May defies such a simplistic description. This horror film from newcomer Lucky McKee is a terrifying portrait of sweet, sensitive madness. Imagine Norman Bates in the body of that gawky shy chick who never talked to anyone in high school and you will get a vague idea of how sickly strange and twisted this movie really is.

Angela Bettis is May, a shy, seemingly innocent veterinary assistant. As a child, May had a lazy eye that made her an outcast throughout her school years. Her outcast status caused her to develop a rather unhealthy attachment to a doll her mother gave her. A doll she cannot remove from a glass case.

While off work one day, May comes across a good-looking mechanic named Adam (Jeremy Sisto). It is not Adam's face, butt or abs that attracts May but his hands. As Adam nods off in a coffee shop May sneaks up on him and indulges her hand fetish by pressing her cheek into his hand. He of course wakes up, and though slightly weirded out, is far more intrigued. As Adam professes, May is weird but he likes weird things. He has no idea.

Meanwhile at work, May's co-worker Polly (Anna Faris) has a similar attraction to the weird shy girl. Polly exudes sexuality with a number of rapturous stares and a couple funny double entendres. May's seeming innocence is an attraction that the voracious Polly can't resist even as May's behavior gets stranger and stranger.

May starts out like a perfectly normal ugly duckling story. Still, as the script, written by director Lucky McKee, presses forward, May's strange qualities melt into an exquisite madness that goes from unsettling to horrifying in slow, broad strokes of plot. McKee knows the best, most horrifying of all horrors is what the audience sees in its own head and like Jaws he leaves some of the film's gore off screen or slightly off to the side. That is, until the end when he drops a pair of bombshell scenes that will have you twisting in your seat and covering your eyes in classic horror movie fashion.

Angela Bettis is magnetic, she quickly earns our sympathy with her quirks and maintains it right up until things get really out of control.

Sisto brings charisma and charm to his character who purports to be strange in his own right with his love of Dario Argento horror films, and his own student film which features a loving couple and cannibalistic sex. When confronted with May's weirdness his iconoclast quickly becomes prudish and runs for the hills.

Anna Faris is surprising in a difficult role. In what would have been a throwaway role in any other horror film, she and McKee never let her character exist solely for titillation. The minor sex scene between May and Polly is sexy but smartly kept off screen so as not to distract from the real story.

I can't praise Lucky McKee enough. He and his star have created a character so devastatingly nuts that the Norman Bates allusion I made earlier is quite valid. This is a classic, cult horror character. Psychotic behavior has never been so sad and damn near sympathetic. I'm not saying I sympathized with May, but I could see moments throughout the film where one simple turn and the girl could have been normal. Even my jaded cynical approach to horror movies couldn't prevent this movie from freaking me out. I can't say I was scared, but May was pretty damn disturbing.

Movie Review Italian for Beginners

Italian for Beginners (2000) 

Directed by Lone Scherfig 

Written by Lone Scherfig 

Starring Anders Berthelsen 

Release Date December 8th, 2000

Published November 4th, 2002

Unless you are a film student or scholar, you probably have never heard of Dogme 95. Dogme is a movement begun by a group of European directors at a conference in 1995. The goal was to counter certain tendencies in cinema by returning to its simplest, most basic forms. A Dogme 95 manifesto was created to define how a Dogme film was to be shot. All shooting must be done on location. The film must be shot on video, using natural light and sound. No music is allowed unless it is played on location during shooting. No sound effects are permitted unless they come from the ambient noise of the location. No genre movies and various other rules meant ensure that characters and story are stressed above all else. Italian For Beginners is the first Dogme 95 film I have seen, and based on this film I will seek more Dogme films.

Set in Denmark, Italian For Beginners follows the interconnected lives of six people who attend the same Italian language class. Anders Bertelsen plays Andreas, the new pastor of the local church. Peter Gantzler is Jorgen a schlubby Hotel clerk. Lars Kaalund is Halfinn, Jorgen’s best friend and the new teacher of the Italian class. Ann Eleonora Jorgensen is Karen, a hairdresser who is dating Halfinn. Anette Stovelback is Olympia, a bakery worker, who, after the death of her father and mother finds out she has a sister who just happens to be Karen. Sandra Indio Jensen is Giulia, a friend of Halfinn’s who has a crush on the clueless Jorgen.

Italian For Beginners is about these unusual characters and the far more unusual connections. It is a very realistic film, the story is plausible, and the Dogme style gives the film a voyeuristic feel, as if you were watching real lives in progress. The style of shooting overwhelms the attention to the story (something that I assume happens in most Dogme films.) As a viewer, your attention is more often drawn to the locations, lighting, and sound than it is to the story and characters. At times, you lose track of characters and their back stories, which can be confusing. Still, the story is heartfelt and humorous and the characters are engaging and likable (save for Hafinn, though I’m sure that is by design.)

Italian For Beginners is most notable for it’s Dogme 95 affiliation and based on that alone I could recommend it. As an introduction to Dogme, this film is a valuable tool. That it also has a good heart and interesting characters is a bonus.

Movie Review Hijack'd

Hijack'd (2003) Cabin Pressure

Directed by Alan Simmonds 

Written by Douglas Schwartz 

Starring Craig Scheffer

Release Date March 11th, 2003

Published March 16th, 2003 

Robert Redford once saw something in actor Craig Sheffer. So much so that he cast him opposite Brad Pitt in his 1992 film A River Runs Through It. However, Sheffer wasn't able to capitalize on this opportunity and since has been relegated to the straight to video market. His latest straight to video feature, Hijack'd is yet another head scratcher that will leave you wondering what happened to this actor who seemed to have such a bright future.

In Hijack'd (no I'm not misspelling it, that is the title), Sheffer is drunk former airline pilot who returns to his hometown to start his life again. Once home he finds his ex-wife Reece (Rachel Hayward) is about to test an experimental new airplane. It's a plane that flies without a pilot. The plane can take off and land on it's own needing a pilot only if something goes wrong.

The airline has tried this once before and electrical problems caused the plane to crash and kill it's pair of pilots. That crash caused the boss (John Pyper) to fire the man whom designed the plane's computer system. The programmer unfortunately is an unstable nut who seeks his revenge by hacking his own system and taking control of the plane which just happens to be carrying a US Senator, his son, daughter in law and his former boss. Why they would fly on a plane no one is sure about is one of the film's many leaps?

Well you don't need a map to follow this plot. The nutjob tips off the good guys to his plot and through some amazing plot contrivances, Sheffer's ex-husband character is left to search for the madman before he crashes the plane and kills everyone on board.

The potential that Robert Redford once saw in young Craig Sheffer flashes one time in an early scene in Hijack'd where he sits in a bar drunk attempting to pick up a blonde bimbo. For a moment his charisma shines through. Unfortunately it is crushed under the weight of the plot which forces him into thriller mode shenanigans.

By the way if your looking for this one on IMDB it's listed under it's original title, Cabin Pressure. Why they changed it to the ridiculous alliteration Hijack'd is anyone’s guess.

Movie Review He Loves Me He Loves Me Not

He Loves Me He Loves Me Not (2003)

Directed by Laetitia Colombani 

Written by Laetitia Colombani 

Starring Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihani 

Release Date February 14th, 2003 

Published March 15th, 2004 

Since 2001's sweet, romantic fable Amelie, star Audrey Tautou has fought being typecast as a pixie-ish romantic. The gritty Stephen Frears movie Dirty Pretty Things about foreigners skirting the edges of British lower classes was a complete and welcome departure. In the movie He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not however, Tautou uses her perceived romantic flightiness to sell us a character who by the end of the film is almost completely different. The film turns entirely on Tautou's believability and almost works save for a ridiculous ending that flies completely off the rails.

Tautou stars as Angelique and when we first meet her, she evokes the memory of our beloved Amelie by being surrounded in roses and flashing those signature saucer eyes. Her smile is so sincere as she plots to send one single rose to her beloved, a doctor named Loic (Samuel Le Bihan) who accepts it happily without reading the card. Angelique is a ball of romantic fantasy as she shows up late for work buzzing with euphoria. In her art class forgets the model she's supposed to sculpting and instead sculpts Loic from memory. At this point, her devotion seems to border on obsession but we have little idea of what we are in for.

There are problems in the relationship, not the least of which is that Loic is married. According to Angelique, he has repeatedly promised he will leave his wife but he can't while she is pregnant. Loic continuously stands up Angelique on dates, except for a party where the two avoid each other save for a little eye contact so as not to arouse suspicion among his colleagues. The couple’s only interaction is a quickie bathroom tryst that oddly happens off-screen. In fact, we have yet to have seen the two speak to each other....hmm.

Hold that thought because half way through the film co-writer/director Laetitia Colombani pulls the rug out from under the story switching the perspective from Angelique to Loic and the entire tone of the picture with it.

It's a gimmick unquestionably and a slightly unfair gimmick at that. If it works, it's only because Samuel Le Bihan as Loic is so believable. Le Bihan sells the film’s central gimmick with his controlled, logical, natural performance. Le Bihan doesn't react like your typical clueless movie character, save for one of those boneheaded scenes where he goes somewhere he is not invited.

Director Colombani and co-writer Carloline Thivel take a huge risk hanging their entire story on this one gimmick that could come off as showy or annoying. I thought it was an intriguing way to toy with genre convention and film structure. If the ending had a better payoff, I could be more definitive in recommending the film. However, the overly creepy ending they chose cheapens the characters and undercuts the drama.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is an interesting exercise in how writers and directors can toy with an audience and manipulate their perspective and rooting interest. Rent it for it's experimental nature. You may be disappointed in the ending or even annoyed with the central gimmick but at least it's different from most modern films.

Movie Review Happy Accidents

Happy Accidents (2001) 

Directed by Brad Anderson

Written by Brad Anderson 

Starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Marisa Tomei, Anthony Michael Hall, Holland Taylor 

Release Date August 24th, 2001 

Published December 21st, 2002 

Good romantic comedies are becoming very rare. Movies like Secretary or Shallow Hal show the potential in the genre to still be vital and funny. But more often, we see trash like Sweet Home Alabama and Maid In Manhattan; assembly line tripe slapped together with big stars and attractive posters. Happy Accidents, which stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei, belongs to the first group of films I listed--a romantic comedy that is unique and funny.

Tomei is Ruby Weaver, a woman in her early 30s, who is on quite a losing streak with men; plenty of frogs and no princes. She and her circle of friends have taken to keeping track of the bad boyfriends by taking pictures of them and filing them in the a box they call the Ex files. For Ruby, her recent strikeouts include a guy with a rubber fetish and a guy in his 30s who still lives with his parents. Then Ruby meets a strange, sensitive guy named Sam Deeds (D'Onofrio). Sam works with the elderly and likes to draw. He is strange because he reacts to everyday things like dogs and perfume as if they were foreign to him. As Sam and Ruby's relationship develops, Sam decides to be honest with Ruby and tell her where he's from. He had previously explained to Ruby that he was from Dubuque, Iowa. The part he left out was that he is from Dubuque, Iowa in the year 2447. 

Of course, Ruby thinks he is a mental patient but Sam's charms lead her to think that maybe it's just a kinky little game. As Sam explains more about time travel, his family, and why he decided to back in time, Ruby is intrigued by the fantastic stories and, as long as they stay just between the two of them, is okay to let Sam live his fantasy. However, Sam isn't content to keep quiet. Even though he says it's against time travel protocol to talk about it, he begins telling friends about it and Ruby comes to believe he is really sick

Writer/director Brad Anderson toys with the audience throughout the film, dropping clues in all directions. Follow one set of clues and Sam is telling the truth. Look at another set of clues and it seems likely that he is likely a mental patient. It's a difficult balancing act, but Anderson is blessed with the talented and charismatic D'Onofrio, who easily balances charm and insanity.

One could easily compare Happy Accidents with another movie about space aliens masquerading as mental patients--K-Pax. The difference is where K-Pax is maddeningly vague and ends with no resolution, Happy Accidents skates and charms, and its resolution is welcome, if not surprising.

D'Onofrio is becoming one of the most consistently fascinating actors working today. I would highly recommend Happy Accidents based on his role alone. That the film is also charming and romantic might be considered a Happy Accident.

Movie Review Gravesend

Gravesend (1997) 

Directed by Salvatore Stabile

Written by Salvatore Stabile 

Starring Tony Tucci, Tom Malloy

Release Date January 1st, 1997

Published June 15th, 2003

There is a pretty terrific story behind the making of Gravesend, this is how it was told to me. It was written and Directed by then 19-year old Salvatore Stabile in 1997. Starring a few of his buddies from his old neighborhood, the film cost about $5,000 to make. Somehow it got into the hands of Oliver Stone who helped the film find a studio and get the film a more polished look without having to do reshoots.

The film made it to a small number of festivals and theaters and was reviewed by major critics across the country, though it went mostly unnoticed by mainstream moviegoers. The really odd thing though is that despite some good notice, Salvatore Stabile hasn't worked since according to IMDB.

Gravesend is a small community in Brooklyn, New York, a dead end where drugs and violence are the only distraction from poverty and depression. Our story begins with four friends sitting around in the basement, Zane (Tony Tucci), Mikey (Thomas Brandise), Chicken (Tom Malloy) and Ray (Michael Parducci). The house belongs to Ray's brother who wants the kids to leave because they are being to loud. Zane, being a belligerent prick, mouths off to Ray's brother who doesn't back down. Unfortunately, Zane has a gun that he didn't think was loaded until it went off and killed Ray's brother.

Now would be the time to sober up, call the police and tell the truth. Of course if they did that there wouldn't be a movie. So these four morons load the body in the trunk of Mikey's car and drive it over to a local junky that Zane says can help them dispose of the body quietly. But again it can't be that simple. The junky won't do it unless they give him five hundred dollars and the dead guy’s thumb.

From there, the guys have a number of close calls with cops and a tow truck driver, a couple fistfights, a robbery attempt and two more dead bodies. Along the way they trade some Tarentino inspired dialogue, and trade on a number of influences from Scorsese to Stone. Unfortunately the young director and cast are in way over their heads.

Rather than the strident confidence of the directors that provide the film’s inspiration, Gravesend is simply angry, childish and belligerent. The characters are so depressingly stupid they make the characters in Dumb and Dumberer look brilliant in comparison. It's not the situation that makes them stupid, it's the grunting caveman style of their actions. These characters disprove evolution with their stupidity, they preen and pose and fight like baboons.

That said, the young director who also narrates the film does have a nice visual approach to the film. His handheld camera is a little tiresome but it does lend itself to the out of control characters and narratives. By some miracle the film does develop a sort of narrative inertia that carries you to the end of the film, sort of like being stuck to something as it rolls down a hill that you can't stop.

That however doesn't excuse these horribly stupid and unlikable characters and a story that grows more and more ridiculous as it goes along. Still, this young director shows he has some talent. He shows that he could do some fine work in the future if circumstances come together right.

So what ever happened to Salvatore Stabile? He made Gravesend and hasn't done anything since. A Google search turns up a number of reviews of Gravesend but nothing about what he has done since the film was released some 6 years ago. It's anyone’s guess but I hope he gives directing another chance, just maybe leave the writing to someone else. 

Movie Review Goodbye Lenin

Goodbye Lenin! (2003) 

Directed by Wolfgang Becker

Written by Wolfgang Becker 

Starring Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass, Alexander Beyer

Release Date February 13th, 2003 

Published July 18th, 2004 

Imagine a staunch Democrat who falls into a coma shortly after seeing Al Gore win Florida and be pronounced the next President of the United States. That person awakens months later not knowing the election was disputed and that somehow George W. Bush is President and you can't tell them because the slightest shock could kill them. That might make an interesting American version of the German film Goodbye Lenin! in which a staunch communist falls into a coma right before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.

Daniel Bruhl stars as Alex Kerner, the loyal, devoted son of Christiane (Katrin Sass) a party loyalist in 1980's East Berlin. Christiane is completely devoted to the state and has involved her children, Alex and sister Ariane (Maria Simon), in state activities. For Christiane, love of country replaced the love of her husband who escaped to the west years earlier.

As East Germany was beginning to see more and more uprising against the state, Christiane herself is attending state dinners honoring party leaders. It is on her way to a party function that she sees her son beaten by police for marching in a freedom parade. The sight causes Christiane to have a heart attack and fall into a coma. For eight months as Alex visited daily, Christiane slept through her country’s most historic changes. The wall falls, Germany is reunited, and communism is defeated.

However, because Christiane's condition is so fragile her doctors want Alex to slowly reveal these changes so as not to excite her. Alex feels she should not be told at all and thus conceives a massive lie that East Germany never fell and that communists still hold power. There are other changes to deal with as well that cannot be covered up. Alex's sister has a baby and a live in boyfriend Rainer (Alexander Beyer) and Alex himself has fallen in love with a nurse named Lara (Chulpan Khamatova).

I found the idea of Alex keeping these historic changes a secret from his mother to be almost cruel but as the film goes on and the lies become more intricate and elaborate you begin to sympathize with Alex. While you may not understand the lengths he goes to extend his lies, you can't help but feel for him. That has much to with Daniel Bruhl whose quiet demeanor and sensitive stare ease the sharp edges of Alex's misguided determination.

The premise sounds almost farcical but director Wolfgang Becker and writer Bernd Lichtenberg do not play the story for laughs. There is some comedy but the laughs are a natural outgrowth of the story and not forced. The mood of the picture is at times somber and yet you can't help but get caught up in these characters and this story. It also helps to have such a terrific supporting cast headed up by Katrin Sass who's dignified devotion to her beliefs really makes you believe the fall of the Berlin Wall could kill her.

I drew a correlation to start this review as to what an American version of this movie might be like but in reality, I don't believe it would work. This is a story very of its time and place. East Germany as it was just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall is a character in this film and a necessary one. I would be very interested to hear a German perspective of this film, to hear it from someone who experienced this remarkable change and could compare it with this movie would be fascinating. Even still as an American, I can appreciate a good movie and Goodbye Lenin! is a very good movie.