What Happens In Vegas
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   B     PG-13   99 min

Yes this is another predictable romantic comedy that uses an old device, venom turns to love. However, despite its formulaic roots, director Tom Vaughan, writer Dana Fox, along with the savvy casting of Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher as the estranged one-night-stand couple, pull off a continually funny scenario. 

The premise is simple Joy McNally, (Cameron Diaz) a commodities trader who gets dumped by her boyfriend and gets fired. She along with her girlfriend decide to go to Vegas and let it all hang out. Jack Fuller works for his dad (Treet Williams) in a furniture manufacturing firm and he gets fired. So he and his buddy decide to drown their sorrows in Glitter Gulch.

The two duos meet and the party goes into full gear. After a night of debauchery, Joy wakes up with a cheap ring on her finger and can’t remember what happened. But Jack informs her that they were married during a drunken binge. Of course, both Joy and Jack want to have the marriage immediately annulled, but go to breakast first. Joy decides to play a slot machine and during an argument, Jack pulls the lever and he wins the 3 million dollar jackpot. Now the excrement has hits the fan, because they are legally married. So, their dilemma ends up in court with Dennis Miller portraying the judge. He has seen this predicament one too many times in Vegas and his judgement involves Joy and Jack to get counselling, stay married for six months, and try to resolve their differences. Then they will report back to him with the marriage counselor’s reccommendation and if they have made it work, he will decide what happens to the money. Queen Latifah plays the marriage counselor.

The judge’s ruling sounds reasonable, but Joy and Jack are hopelessly wrong for one another. They disagree on everything. It’s turns into a battle royale with funny situations developing between the two haters. Jack’s buddy is mediocre lawyer who represented Jack in the court ruling. He doesn’t see them ever making their marriage work. The counselor sees this marriage as a battle field with heavy casualties.

Not surprisingly,  Jack is way too immature to compromise with Joy for the sake of the money. Likewise, Joy is a firebrand of intolerance and permanent PMS. Between them, it’s winner take all. To up the ante, Joy and Jack concoct devious schemes, which include trying to make the other unfaithful by trickery and flaunting members of the opposite sex in front of each other. A serious infraction of the judges rules, such as adultery, would queer the deal and the perpetrator would lose his or her share of the money.

Director Vaughan’s skill at comedy pacing and Diaz and Kutcher’s fiery chemistry together create the hilarious comedy situations that drive the story. Although viewers know where this is going, it’s fun to see it evolve. There are enough surprises to hold the cynics interest.  Admittedly I laughed a lot through out the running time of the film. In the past, Diaz has proved she is a master of comedy, like in There’s Something About Mary. In this film, Diaz is hitting on all comedy cylinders and nails her characterization with verve and deftly executed delivery.

Ashton Kutcher has developed into a leading man styled actor. His charisma in front of the camera goes off the scale, and women viewers adore him.  Kutcher and Diaz work well together to create this titillating comedy. Yes, it’s in the chick flick bag but men will enjoy it also.

Speed Racer
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A   Rated PG   129 min

Those whacky Wachowski Brothers have created a hybrid movie genre, melding bright animated graphics with human actors. The result is stunning, in-your-face action, enabling viewers to experience an alien world where gravity can be controlled and actors interact with jelly-bean colors and Jetsons-like backdrops. The story involves the rivalry and bond between Speed (Emile Hirsch) and Racer X, ( Matthew Fox) who could be Speed’s late brother, Rex.

The Wachowski Brothers updated the scenario to include corporate greed versus righteous independent business, in this case, Speeds’s family racing tradition. Susan Sarandon plays mom and a slimmed-down John Goodman plays Pops. Speed’s preppy girlfriend, Trixie is played by Christina Ricco with skillful affectations. Speed’s goofy mechanic, Sparky is portrayed by an annoying Kick Gurry, who  comes off as nothing but a cardboard cutout..

In this alternate universe, Speed wants to prove himself on the racing circuit, which is unlike any racing tracks that exist in our world. He sets out as an aggressive and fearless driver on the racing tracks that look more like roller-coaster layouts. Cars are equipped with special power plants that allow for amazing speeds and even short flights over other race cars. Drivers use hidden weapons to defeat each other’s machines. Anything goes in this deadly game.

The original action sequences are mind boggling, when the racing CGI kicks in. Interestingly, the CGI stays true to the cartoon reality or the original series. When Speed distinguishes himself on the circuit, he is approached by the corrupt CEO of Royalton Industries, Arnold Royalton, (Roger Allum). Speed is given a tour of his facility and awed by the opportunities and money making possibilities at this race car factory. Royalton molds talent into winners, who will stop at nothing to win races. After the tour, Speed sees through Royalton’s bravado, and is reluctant to sign a contract with the company.  Royalton drops his cordial manner and threatens Speed with being blacklisted from the competitions if he doesn’t sign with him. This makes Speed more determined than ever to fight back against the tyranny of big business racing and his loyal to his family.

The Speed Racer reality is true to the 1960s cartoon world of the original material, however the Wachowskis have upgraded the technology to wow today’s audiences, without losing the charm of the original. The cast had to adjust their acting styles to fit this strange cartoon world, which they did brilliantly. The acting, cinematography, and CGI work are very innovative and original. Indeed, viewers have never seen anything like this. Even the costumes and mores are true to the 60s period and the Leave it To Beaver sitcom reality.

Unquestionably, the Wachowskis were the right filmmakers to shoot this avant garde work. They set new precedents for CGI and fly-by-wire FX in the Matrix series. By inventing their own special reality for Speed Racer, the Wachowskis have again forged new technology that will be studied and copied in the future. Yet, for the sake of the story, they kept the family unity theme, which will play big with families seeing the film. The chimp, Chim Cham and the naughty little boy, Spritle are the comic relief and anchors the story in our reality.

Clearly, the Wachowskis have created an imaginative and inventive new wave film work that will cross-over all age groups and tastes. The subject matter and alternate universe theme seem at odds with one another. However, the film is a brilliant balance of creative filmmaking and mass audience appeal. Like in the Matrix series, the Wachowskis will again have their creative cake and eat it too. It’s a mind blower.

Redbelt
Movie Review  

By Rick Grant   B+   Rated R    99 min

Writer director, David Mamet is into the macho man protagonist and wanted to write a screenplay about the rising popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). But, as Mamet-philes know, he’s also into the psychological games people play with one another and how the resulting consequences often spin out of control, conspiring to wreck lives. Thus, by combining these two powerful story elements, Mamet has created an intriguing scenario. Mamet used his repertory stable of actors, including Chiwelel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Alice Braga, Joe Mantagna, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, and odd outsider, Tim Allen to act out his script.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mike Terry a champion jiu-jitsu martial artist who runs a studio in L.A. with his wife Sondra (Alice Braga) Terry is a purist and does not believe in competition. He follows the Samurai code, which advocates tiring one’s opponent to avoid becoming emotional during a match. He believes that competition weakens the fighter’s spirit. To Terry, honor is everything. Of course, he lives in the real world and his wife pays the bills. Terry doesn’t concern himself with these matters and his wife, Sondra is frustrated with him for not being more aggressive in bringing in new business.

When a stranger Laura Black (Emily Mortimer) enters the studio one rainy night, Terry asks her if he can help her. She’s hysterical because she can’t find an open pharmacy to refill a prescription. He offers her his help and sage advice. One of Terry’s cop friends has just finished his training and is strapping on his gear, leaving his gun on a counter. Laura accidently grabs the gun and it discharges and shatters the big window of the studio. The cop refuses to arrest her and says he’ll write off the incident and tells everyone it didn’t happen.

This strange incident is the core of the negative consequences that ensue as Terry gets in a bind, and does not have enough money to fix the window. His wife Sondra is Brazilian and her brother is into loan sharking and other rackets. Terry refuses to get upset despite his wife’s anxiety. Eventually, she borrows money from her brother, to keep the studio in operation. Terry is furious with her. The last thing he wants is to be on the hook to her gagster brother.

One day Laura comes into the studio and wants to take martial arts lessons. She confesses that she was raped and she feels powerless. He starts her with meditation to calm her mind. Laura is too strung out to concentrate and leaves he studio. However, during their time together, Terry develops a bond with her that he can’t understand. This becomes a factor later in the story.

Clearly, Terry can’t avoid his pressing financial problems anymore, and he goes to a fighter friend to loan him some money. He tells Terry that if he enters a MMA event he could win 50 grand. Terry is against it, but feels he has no other choice. It’s been some time since he competed. But he feels confident he can’t beat the competition. To up the ante on the match, the famous  Redbelt of the world will be watching the match.

At this point, the consequences of the gun discharge incident come into play as other more sinister happenings cause Terry to snap out of his basic philosophy of non-action to face some serious matters that could bring him down. Finally, the match comes up and Terry is faced with some terrible choices when he finds out that Sondra has betrayed him. This leads to the physical fight, as the orbiting elements of the story degrade into the middle. It’s Mamet’s elegant mastery of the foibles of human nature combined with macho bravado that sets up the grand finale. Terry comes out of his shell to fight for what’s right as Laura watches. One can smell the sweat and struggle for justice in this Mamet’s trip into chaos

Iron Man
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    A    Rated PG-13     126 min

Director Jon Favreau along with Robert Downey, Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow have created the seminal comic book movie of all time. Most of the credit for this film’s incredible success goes to Robert Downey Jr., who greatly enhanced his character Tony Stark/Iron Man with his quirky affectations, humor, and amazing talent for characterization. Add to that the brilliant special effects and this film comes off as a riveting, adrenalin-pumping cinematic adventure.

Indeed, it’s not often that a film turns out this great. Everything was done to perfection, with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek comedy. An unrecognizable Jeff Bridges plays the double dealing co-chairman of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane, who becomes Iron Man’s nemesis toward the end of the story. This is the film that anyone would line up to see. Favreau and Downey have brought excitement back into movie going, after a long drought.

Until one sees the film, it hard to imagine Downey as a comic book hero. But, Downey played the role of Tony Stark with a savvy sense of his character’s unlimited mind.  Stark was a child prodigy who attended MIT at 15 years old and had his Ph.D by his early twenties. His mind’s scientific ability went far beyond any physicist in the world. Stark put his Ensteinian brain into developing super weapons for the military, making him an overnight billionaire. His partner Obadiah Stane dealt with the day to day running of the corporation and Stark hunkered down in his private lab and mansion on the North Pacific coast. But what Stark didn’t know was Stane was dealing weapons to our enemies for vast amounts of money.

Gwyneth Paltrow deftly supports Downey with her sharp business woman characterization of Stark’s personal assistant, Pepper Potts, who is secretly in love with Stark but is a devoted and efficient assistant. Of course, Stark is too busy to notice that he too is in love with Pepper, which creates the electric sexual tension between them. Downey and Paltrow play this tension for all it’s worth to keep the audience guessing as to when these two would-be lovers will finally sleep together.

When Stark is captured by terrorists who want him to upgrade their missiles with the latest technology, Stark invents a new form of energy that both keeps him alive and provides the power for a crude steel suit that he uses to escape. When he returns to his lab, he continues developing this new energy source to power an advanced flying suit that he wants to use for good not war. Ah, but Obadiah catches wind of Stark’s plans and is in the process of building his own suit.

The techno-gadget scenes of Stark building his suit using modified industrial robots are riveting and super-cool. Stark interacts with the robots like they are human. Poor Pepper doesn’t know what the heck Stark is doing, but she accepts that it is something special. As Stark perfects his suit and its flying ability, his firts attempts at flying are funny until he gains control over his new energy source.

There are many advanced technical achievements in this film that take these mechanical FX to a higher level. Downey improvises to liven up the technical scenes with humor and excitement. Stark is obviously a media sensation, and when he returns from captivity, he announces that Stark Industries will no longer make military weapons. Obadiah vows to stop Stark at all costs so he can continue his nefarious dealings with the terrorists. This sets up the inevitable showdown between them.

Overall, this is a dynamite film that should revive the comic book movie genre. Undoubtedly, there will be a sequel. I just hope that the producers will keep the same high standards of the first film, which should be a blockbuster. Clearly, Downey is back with a vengeance and should work steadily on at least two more sequels. For Downey, it’s a triumph of spirit an a phenomenal come back after so many years of drug problems.

Made of Honor
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C +    Rated PG-13    101 min

Watching this film is like eating a Big Mac, you know it’s cheap fast food that will clog your arteries with grease, but it tastes good while you’re eating it. Directed by Paul Weiland and written by committee, MOH goes for the female romantic jugular by casting Patrick Dempsey as the dreamy lead and putting him in a cliche situation which titillates young women, hung up on the marriage ceremony.

This well worn script has been around Hollywood forever. I can think of at least four similar scenarios in the past twenty years. Although it’s blatantly paint-by-numbers filmmaking, it was expertly executed and acted by a chemically compatible cast. It’s shameless exploitation of all things that make young women giggle and swoon.

Still, this scenario is the closest to a sure thing that Hollywood can muster in these hard times. Admittedly, I was conflicted watching the film. Yes, part of me was almost enjoying this pap, and the other half was cringing at the spoonful of sentimental molasses that was being shoved down my throat. Ah yes, at least the acting was solid and the scenes were meticulously  staged, setting up the inevitable finale.

In this style of romantic comedy, boy meets girl, falls deeply in love, but he sleeps with many other women while carrying on a platonic friendship with her, and doesn’t realize that all this time, she’s the one.  But it’s almost too late, because she’s about to marry someone else. Oh my, this really turns-on women, who get all tinglely inside.

Patrick Dempsey plays Tom, who invented the paper that goes around a hot coffee cup and is independently wealthy. He spends most of his time bedding different women–never twice in a row. He pals around with his best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) with whom he enjoys a non-sexual friendship. The two are close and in love but are blissfully unaware of their romantic entanglement. To Hannah, Tom is not ready to give up his bachelor lifestyle, and Tom is still into bed-them-and-forget them mode.

Hannah has to travel to Scotland on business and Tom misses her more than he thought he would. He’s beginning to realize that he’s been a fool and he should have told her he loved her. One day, he has an epiphany that he wants to settle down with Hannah. When she returns he meets her at a bar, but she is dragging another man–a Scotsman, Colin McMurray (Kevin McKidd) to whom she is now engaged.

Of course, Tom is shattered, but he keeps up a brave front. After drinks and small talk, Hannah announces that she wants Tom to be her Maid of Honor, which further humiliates Tom. But he plays along. His basketball buddies think that he should use this opportunity to travel to Scotland and win her back. It’s Toms’ last hope of finally telling Hannah he loves her and she should marry him, not the perfect Scotsman who is royalty, handsome, and filthy rich.

To Tom, it’s a long shot but well worth taking. How can he compete with this adonis? But he joins the other Maids of Honor, a funny group of actresses, and travels to Scotland for the wedding. Tom tries to get Hannah alone so he can tell her he loves her, but in the chaos of the wedding preparation, he is left to do his duty as a Maid of Honor.

The scenes in Scotland are elaborately orchestrated and add greatly to the pageantry of the spectacle. Funny, everyone in Colin’s family thinks Tom is gay–another humiliation. But there is no mystery where this is going, so it just guessing when director Weiland will sink the hook and give the women in the audience a cheap thrill. But, cliche or not, these films are guaranteed box office winners and Patrick Dempsey is today’s male sex idol. It can’t lose.

Harold and Kumar
Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   B    Rated R   102 min

This film, shot by co-writers/directors Jon Huritz and Hayden Schlossberg, is aimed at the fans of their first film, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. The original film’s theatrical release tanked, but it went ballistic on DVD, becoming a cult classic–thus, justifying the sequel. The story is a continuation of the first scenario picking up immediately after the finale of the first film then developed into a much broader scenario.

For what it is–an in-crowd stoner movie–Huritz and Schlossberg have managed to write a series of funny sequences that are loosely tied together by flawed segues. In other words, the continuity of the story movement is skewed by a poor sense of getting from point A to point B. Still, the skits are guffaw producing, sexually explicit, with enough nudity to satisfy the fans. Expect many vagina and penis shots. Penis shots are no longer taboo.

As one would expect,  the two hapless weed-dweebs decide to fly to Amsterdam to hook up with Harold’s (John Cho) ex-girlfriend, who he can’t get off his mind. Kumar is paranoid at being racially profiled and he has an encounter with an airport inspector. Finally on the plane, Kumar goes to the bathroom to try out his new invention–a smokeless bong. Harold is furious that Kumar (Kal Penn) will blow the whole trip over a few hits off the bong. Sure enough, his bong is mistaken for a bomb, and the two pot-heads are arrested by air marshals.

The honcho of the anti-terrorist team (a jerky numb-skull) truly believes these two stoners are hard core al Qaeda operatives. One thing leads to another, and Harold and Kumar end up in Guantanamo Bay, locked up with real terrorists. The guards are sexual sadists and make the prisoners do unspeakable things to humiliate them like serving cock sandwiches. Luckily, Harold and Kumar unwittingly become part of an escape plan and end up on a Cuban refugee boat to Miami.

Once in Miami, the pair, now fugitives, look up their buddy with connections to a dude that has high level mojo. This begins their road trip to Texas, where Kumar’s ex-girlfriend is getting married to the man with the plan. Along the way, they have an encounters with some red neck ingrates with a mutant kid in the basement, stumble into a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning ceremony, but remarkably, they stay stoned-oblivious to the real danger they’re in.

Stoner humor alone carried the first film, as the two higher than mount Everest dudes had a heavy jones for those tasty White Castle burgers and would do anything to get them. Hurwitz and Schlossberg realized that was a limited premise. So, for the sequel they come up with more inventive sequences that satirized racial profiling, overaction by anti-terrorist buffoons, and the usual cliches of backwater USA with its redneck stereotypes. Funny, when the KKK catches Harold and Kumar (a Korean and Indian) they think they’re Mexicans.

How Hurwitz and Schlossberg got this film past the MPAA without an NC-17 rating is a miracle. But times have changed and frontal nudity alone is not considered NC-17 material. But, the shock value of penises is quickly equalized by the shots of vaginas, giving females equal rights to flash flesh. But, poor Harold and Kumar are so stressed by being on the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, they seek advice from prostitutes in a legal brothel in Reno. And, they meet Neil Patrick Harris again and traveling with him is not conducive to staying out of trouble.

Most of the scenes have references back to the first film, which holds the fans interest. However, there is enough new material to keep the theater alive with laughter. The bottom line: If one is a fan of the first film, one will not be disappointed by the sequel.

Baby Mama
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C+   PG-13    96 min

Tina Fey’s talent at delivering her style of droll comedy saves this mediocre film from complete ruin. Amy Poehler also contributes her brand of off-kilter humor to the mix, making this movie worth viewing. Otherwise, writer/director Michael McCullers dropped the ball with his uneven pacing that resulted in dead zones in the middle of the story. However, Fey and Poehler work so well together that viewers can almost forgive McCullers’ flaws in making the film.

Fey plays Kate as a highly driven woman executive of an organic food market chain, who, at 37,  heard the alarm of her biological clock going off like a nuclear blast. She see babies everywhere but when she goes to a doctor, he tells her uterus is T shaped and her chances of conceiving a child are a million to one. This sets-up the premise for the story. Kate investigates having a baby by a surrogate mother.

Sigourney Weaver portrays the prissy president of a baby surrogate company that screens the applicants and charges big bucks for the service. Amy Poehler plays the woman Kate chooses to have her baby, Angie–a free spirit who has a jerky boyfriend. Essentially, Fey, as Kate, is playing  a modified version of her character in 30 Rock, Liz Lemon. But, she is so appealing and funny, viewers completely accept Fey as Kate. 

When Amy breaks-up with her boyfriend, Kate allows Amy to stay with her. It’s a marriage made in surrogate mama hell as Amy’s sloppy ways and terrible diet of junk food clashes with Kate’s anal retentive personality and health food regimen. Still, Kate is determined to make it work. However, what Kate doesn’t know is Amy is trying to pull off a scam to get the money and not have the baby.

Steve Martin manages to glean some laughs as Kate’s boss, the owner of the health food market chain, Barry– a New Age geek with a ponytail who never got over the 60s. Kate is tasked with finding a new location in NYC for another organic food market. Her madcap life with Amy is distracting, but she doesn’t let it interfere with her job. One wonders if a baby will interfere with her professional life?

 
McCullers plays heavily on the “Odd Couple” pairing of Kate and Amy, but this is only a superficial part of the story which is meant to have a sentimental hook. Yeah, but McCullers script goes too far by suddenly getting serious as Kate finds out about Amy illicit intentions. By then, Kate has established a twin sister like relationship with Amy, and is devastated by finding out Amy was a fraud. This device is nullified by Amy actually being pregnant by her loser boyfriend.

If course, the predicable path of this formulaic script has Kate meeting a romantic interest, Rob, played by Greg Kinnear. Savvy viewers will figure out where this is going as her romance with Rob blossoms. Still, when Kate and Amy are together, the chemistry between Fey and Poehler shines brightly. Although Poehler’s character Amy is a trailer trash, she has a heart which Poehler plays with skillful finesse.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C+   Rated R  

Shot with many naughty surprises, this comedy was conjured up by scribes Judd Apatow and Jason Segal, who also stars as Peter Bretter. Peter is a TV music score writer who is dumped by his longtime girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Peter does not take the rejection well, and falls into a self-loathing depression. Meanwhile, Sarah is dating an Australian rock star and loving it.

Thus, Segal and Apatow’s  setup provides infinite possibilities for comedy situations as Jason Segal portrays Peter with droll comedic affectations. It seems Peter is always getting bad news while he is naked, thus giving the viewers flashes of male frontal nudity as a comedic ploy. Finally, Peter’s brother Brian Bretter (Bill Hader) suggests that Peter go on a vacation to some exotic location.

After too many nights lying awake pining for Sarah, Peter agrees to go to Hawaii. While checking into the hotel he spots (who else but) Sarah, who, coincidently, is on holiday at the same resort with her rock star boyfriend.  Of course, she thinks Peter is stalking her. But, he convinces her that he’s just there for a good time. Other odd coincidences pile up, like his room is next door to Sarah’s (he can hear them having wild sex) and when he goes to dinner, she and her  toy-boy are at the next table. Ah yes, Peter has landed in break-up hell.

For Peter this situation is like shock therapy and he becomes interested in a pretty young woman, Rachel Jensen (Mila King) who works at the front desk. At first, she is his sympathy date, but as time goes on, she starts to have feelings for him. This side romance temporarily takes the pressure off Peter, but he is warned by the other hotel staff that she is just playing role as part of her job.

Segal and Apalow’s script is cleverly original in that they avoid many of the romantic comedy cliches. There’s an off-kilter feel to the dialogue as Jason Segal plays Peter with awkward dynamics, making the character interesting and unpredictable. Peter tells Rachel that he is working on a rock opera about Dracula, to be performed by puppets. She can’t imagine such an odd combination but she likes his weird imagination and his songs.

During a surfing outing with Sarah’s boyfriend, Peter learns that she was cheating on him with the rocker for a year before they broke up. This throws Peter into another tail-spin. However, considering the painful proximity to Sarah at the hotel, Peter is making the best of his holiday with Rachel. As this plays out with funny consequences, Sarah learns that her rocker squeeze is taking off on tour for most of the next year, and he doesn’t see anything wrong with screwing groupies while away from her. Whoa! Welcome to the freewheeling gypsy lifestyle of a rock’n’roll idol.

As the two romantic scenarios reach critical mass, Peter is faced with an interesting choice and a chance to produce his rock opera puppet show back in NYC. Jason Segal brings a fresh new face to this style of comedy. He’s not built in the mold of the usual male lead in a romantic comedy. When he finally pick himself up out of his depression, he is actually an appealing romantic lead. His ex-girlfriend’s affair with the rock star is such a Hollywood cliche. But inevitably, every budding starlet goes through her rock star phase, and then realizes that these guys are the ultimate narcissists, and are not into monogamous relationships. 

Overall, this comedy is different, funny, and well worth seeing. With all that has gone before, making an original movie is difficult. Segal and Apatow pulled off a cinematic coup d’etat of originality.

Forbidden Kingdom
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    C+  Rated  PG-13  113 min

Jackie Chan and Jet Li teamed up with filmmaker Rob Minkoff to make yet another kung-fu film full of the now cliche wire stunts and choreographed fight sequences. Of course, it will be the number one movie when its released because there are innumerable karate students who can’t get enough of martial arts movies.

After seeing umpteen martial arts movies, I’m bored by the endless fight sequences, which now all seem the same. However, at least Jackie Chan plays his role of the drunken kung-fu master with his tongue firmly imbedded in his cheek. His humorous characterization of Lu Yan upgrades the film considerably.

Effectively, the whole kung-fu genre has become a parody of itself happening in a cartoon world of mystical white-haired witches and other worldly characters, such as the Silent Monk (Jet Li). In fact this film opens with a CGI animated sequence featuring the mythical Monkey King. The characters defy gravity in these kung-fool scenes that are right out of a comic-book consciousness.

The story focuses on a teenage boy, Jason Triptikas (Michael Angarano) who is obsessed with martial arts films. He gets his films from an old man, Old Hop (Jackie Chan) who runs a pawn and video shop. One night a bunch of bullies attack Jason and make him go to Old Hop to open the store so they can rob him. Jason is terrified and runs up to the roof where the gang forces him to jump. During his fall he is transported back to ancient China where the immortal Monkey King (Li) has been imprisoned in stone until Jason brings back his golden staff. Getting the staff to the Monkey King is the trick and the journey is fraught with danger. Jason hooks up with Lu Yan, the faux drunken kung-fu master and his protégée–a pretty girl with advanced martial arts training. Ah yes, for Jason, there is a spark of romance in the air, if he can learn to defend himself.

Jason is a fan of kung fu but he has zero skill. He asks Lu Yan to teach him, which seems like an impossible task. Nonetheless,  the three unlikely travelers set out to the Forbidden Kingdom to return the staff to its rightful master. Ah, but standing in their way is the evil Jade War Lord (Collin Chou) and his  white haired witch attack dog, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yifei). Let the games begin as much footage is devoted to the kung-fool fights with the exaggerated foley effects and impossible moves. Ho hum, it’s just another kung-fake film–wake me when it’s over.

To be fair, in this movie, the choreographed fight sequences, that seem to go on forever, are sometimes exciting to watch. And, that’s why the kids go to see these films. But ever since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released in 2000, it became the model by which all these kung fu sequences were shot. Frankly, I’ve had enough of the high flying wire gags and “whap, whap” sound, amplified tenfold. However, it feeds an insatiable fan base that eats-up this kung-fu candy.

Oh yeah, and all these mystical adventures are predictable. The kid learns quickly to master the staff and kick butt. And the group fights its way into the Forbidden Kingdom to confront the Jade Warlord, where the Monkey King is still locked in stone. “Whap, whap, whap” and the fight is on the action builds to a crescendo of ridiculous martial-dance-arts. Minkoff’s pacing was even and his scenecraft was elaborate with many flashy FX shots as a backdrop for the action. The fact at Lu Yan can fight drunk is amazing, but that’s part of Jackie Chan’s shtick.

Street Kings
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   B   Rated R  109 min

Think Serpico meets Training Day with The Shield’s antihero slantin this corrupt cops tale gone terribly wrong. Directed by David Ayer and written by James Ellroy, the characters in this drama are all twisted, but when the excrement hits the fan, even the good guy is worst than the rest. There are no redeeming characters in this scenario, just various stages of evil.

Keanu Reeves plays Detective Torn Ludlow, a vodka swigging killer cop who hands out his own brand of justice under the supervision and protection of his mentor, Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Captain Wander leads a cadre of bad cops who take illegal short cuts, steal drug money, and execute cop killers or other scum they judge to be guilty.

Detective Ludow’s outrage at injustice fuels his lust for vengeance. Captain Wander uses his anger as a tool to serve his own interests, but Detective Ludlow doesn’t realize he is being manipulated in this criminal enterprise disguised as a police unit. Ludlow considers himself an avenging angel, but in reality, he’s a hired killer. Reeves adopts a cold steely persona for his rogue cop character which is quite effective at characterizing Ludlow as emotionally detached.  The scenes of Ludlow taking out two drug dealers and other scum are brutal and shocking. His former partner wants his blood, but in an ironic scene, Det. Ludlow walks into a convenience store and two hitmen come in to kill his ex-partner. The store tape insinuates that Ludlow was there to setup his ex-partner. 

Hugh Laurie (House) deftly portrays Internal Affairs Captain James Biggs who is looking at Ludlow behind the scenes. But, remember things are not what they seem in this wild west cop thriller which is magnified by director David Ayer’s intense violent secnecraft that can confuse viewers who might ask, “who are the bad guys anyway?” Well, just about every character in the film has an agenda that doesn’t include the police rules manual. This cop culture runs deep with bloody revenge and paid hits to protect the complex illicit operation.

Ludlow goes to extremes so he won’t implicate himself in the assassination of his ex-partner. But he doesn’t realize that it doesn’t make any difference, he is only a part of the chain of command that runs the corrupt cop network. The obvious flaw in Ludlow’s character is why is he so naive and unaware of his role in the criminal conspiracy. 

Still, the story is complicated and dense, which holds the viewer’s interest. Then, during all this violence, Cedric the Entertainer appears as a minor criminal. No one will accept Cedric as a serious actor, but he does get some laughs, which breaks up the high tension of the action.

Forest Whitaker overplays his character with unintelligible sputtering speech. Whatever Whitaker had in mind for his character’s persona, it didn’t work out. Toward the end of the movie, no one emerges as a likeable character. So, when they get blown away, it’s anticlimactic. However, Ayer’s gritty dark action scenes are strangely appealing. The scenario touches a hidden side of the viewer’s imagination.

When we see these cops-gone-bad stories, we wonder how much of it is based on reality. The truth is, there are plenty of righteous cops who do their jobs and obey the rules. But the evil side of the thin blue line is much more intriguing. Just as we are fascinated by serial killers, we are drawn to the corrupt cops scenarios. And this story shows just how far a cadre of rogue cops can take their lawlessness without getting caught.

The odd way this story resolves leaves many unanswered questions. But the law takes a heavy hit and good cops are maligned by the suggestion that corruption this extensive could exist for such long periods of time. But we know that as in the past, justice will win in the end.

The Ruins
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C+   Rated R    91 min

To satisfy the spring-breakers’ jones for grade B horror, Carter Smith along with Scott Smith, as screenwriter, created this Terror on Top of Mayan Pyramid horror flick. The setup this time are two couples partying in Mexico. The fair skinned nubile females (fresh meat) and their beer guzzling boyfriends are suddenly offered an opportunity to visit an archeological dig at some Mayan ruins not on the tourist maps. Well hell, why not take in some cultural experiences while getting drunk and having sex.

The Smiths hired trained actors, who do their best with the material they were given to upgrade this predictable script and make this umpteen formulaic horror film palatable. Lead actor, Jonathan Tucker (In the Valley of Elah) portrays Jeff as a born leader.  Luckily he is in pre-med because during the group’s blood soaked conflicts atop the pyramid, he has to do some crude operations to save a friend.  Amy, (Jena Malone) a whiney naive young woman, is Jeff’s squeeze. Remarkably, she performs bravely in the finale. Eric and Stacy (Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey) are the other couple who have obviously never had to face a critical situation before. Hey, this trip was supposed to be about beer, laughs, and sex. 

At the hotel pool the couples meet a German traveler, Mathias, and his friend, who turn them onto an off-the- beaten- track adventure to the Mayan pyramid.. With a minimum of supplies, the merrymakers are led into the jungle to find the Mayan ruins. It doesn’t take Amy long to start grumbling about being uncomfortably hot as they hike into the dense underbrush. Finally, they find a hidden path that takes them to the Mayan pyramid. It looks spectacular.

Suddenly, a cadre of Mayan villagers surround them, armed with bows and arrows and guns. Of course, they can’t understand a word the Mayans are saying. They don’t’ even speak Spanish. So, when they start towards the Pyramid, the leader of the villagers shoots Mathias’ friend dead. Now, things have escalated from fun to stark terror in a split second. The remaining group retreats up the top of pyramid where the members of the archeological dig seem to be missing.

Surrounded by armed villagers, the two couples are now stranded on the top of the pyramid. Jeff, assumes control and tells his friends that when they’ re missed, a search party will find them. Sure, but no one knows where they are located. He says they should stay put. The others want to make a break for it. On the site, the archeologists have dug a hole into the pyramid to search or artifacts. The wayward hikers hear a cell phone ringing in the hole. At this point, even dumb viewers are suspicious that the cell phone ring may be a lure to get the group into the hole. Oh my, it’s scary down there. Cue horror music.

Scott Smith’s screenplay adaptation is based on a book by none other than (ta-da) Scott Smith. The high caliber of acting holds the viewers interest even when everyone has figured out the plot. Director, Carter Smith was liberal using the fake blood brought in by the 55 gal barrels. In a gruesome scene, Stacy goes crazy and starts cutting into herself with a hunting knife. Jeff has to operate on Mathias, who fell into the hole and broke his back and legs. It’s Civil War medicine 101. Mathias’ infected legs have to be amputated.  It’s a good thing that they found a bottle of tequila for both Mathias and Jeff to get liquid courage.  The gloom and doom sets in as the dark night closes in on the group.

For what it is–cheesy horror–at least the production values were high and the acting was better than it had to be, which created an above average fright flick.

Leatherheads
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A-   PG-13    114 min

This madcap comedy takes the viewer back to 1925 when professional football was a joke. College football was overwhelmingly the most popular version of the sport.  Professional football was struggling to find people who would pay to see it. At the time, pro-ball had no rules and the players used dirty tricks to win. Most of the teams were on the brink of financial ruin, and fans were dwindling. The players wore crude leather helmets and padding. The teams were manned by a bunch of bar-room brawlers, roughing each other up for fun.

It was in this meticulously researched period setting that producer/director/star George Clooney worked his magic to create a wildly entertaining and funny film with a romantic comedy subplot. The cleverly written script  fulfills its commitment to deliver laughs and transport the viewer back in time to the Prohibition era when illegal speakeasys dominated the drinking scene.

Renee Zellweger portrays a reporter, Lexie Littleton, who works for a daily newspaper She has been assigned to write an expose of the young handsome war hero and Princeton football phenom, Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski). He has signed on to play professional football with Dodge’s team, the Duluth Bulldogs. Lexie learned that Carter may have lied about his war exploits. So, her mission is to expose Carter as a fraud. However, she is charmed by him, but falls for Dodge She hides her feelings for Dodge and flirts with Carter to unearth the truth about his war experiences.

Meanwhile, Dodge brings in a big time manager/agent, C.C. Frazer (Jonathan Pryce) to handle the publicity. Having Carter is the whole thrust of Dodge’s PR campaign to bring in the paying fans. When Dodge finds out that Lexie is writing a smear piece, he knows that it will ruin his team and setback pro-ball for decades. However, he is smitten by Lexie and makes a play for her. In the typical mores of the era, Lexie plays hard to get by feigning disinterest. Zellweger plays Lexie skillfully and with sexy affectations. She says one thing, but her body language expresses her hots for Dodge.

The detailed style elements do not overshadow Clooney’s macho mocking delivery and his devilish wit as Dodge. This is Clooney’s trademark suave but nutty character right out of Oceans 11, 12,13, et al.  The cast looks like it is having too much fun rolling around in the mud playing what boils down to sand-lot football with no rules. Lexie imposes herself in this exclusive male world with cheeky wit and sex appeal. Her scandalous appearance in the all male press box shatters the sanctity of this boy’s club. Yet, she swishes around with confidence and nails her story, receiving grudging respect from the grizzled, hard drinking newspapermen.

The picture harkens back to The Sting in its period authenticity and ragtime music by Randy Newman. Clooney cleverly uses the vintage period to set up his comedic scenes with a masterful touch. Of course, he gave himself an inordinate amount of lens time, but Krasinski and Zellweger also got plenty of exposure in front of the camera. A stellar supporting cast rounds out this quality ensemble. A radio censor steals his scene as Lexie and her colleagues curse like sailors which drives the guy crazy because cursing on the radio was strictly forbidden.

This film is unusual in that it’s quality cinema but has mass appeal. Clooney is no fool. He wants the picture to succeed but he doesn’t want to compromise his integrity. In Leather heads, Clooney proves that he can have his cake and eat it too in this rousing funny movie when pro-football was in its infancy and a bunch of roughnecks pounded each other for laughs.         

Stop Loss
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A-    Rated R   

Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) is a model soldier and natural born leader of his squad. He cares about his men and does everything in his power to keep them alive. He is so good at his job that the Army can’t let him retire. Since there is no draft, the Army desperately needs quality soldiers. After Sgt

King completes his second tour of duty in Iraq he wants out. He has seen enough killing and bloodshed. But, the Army has rigged his contract with a provision that if quality soldiers are needed, they are “stop-lossed” and sent back by order of the President of the United States. Sgt. King calls it a backdoor draft.

This unfair dilemma is the premise of Kimberly Peirce’s penetrating film. Sgt. King has two choices–he can become a fugitive and move to Canada or Mexico and never see his loved ones again. Or, he can comply with his orders. Ironically, because he’s such an asset to the Army, he is penalized for his diligence. 81,000 U.S. soldiers have been stop lossed, sent back multiple times.

Peirce deftly sets-up Sgt King’s situation by following him into combat with his men in the first part of the film. Peirce staged shockingly realistic scenes of Sgt. King leading his men into danger. Making split second decisions,  he has to kill women and children who were gathered in houses where the enemy is firing on him and his men. He watches his buddies get blown away or horribly maimed. Yet, he keeps on fighting. Indeed, this sort of up-close urban combat is extremely stressful and ultimately damaging to the psyche. Soldiers can take just so much of this brutal violence before they snap.

When Sgt. King arrives home, he experiences a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome ( PTSB) with horrifying nightly battle nightmares and anxiety attacks during the day. He filed his papers for discharge. But at the last minute just before he is officially out, he’s stop lossed. He’s livid and tells his superior, Lt. Commander Boot Miller (Timothy Olephant) that he refuses to go back. Boot has him taken to the brig. Sgt. King breaks away and goes on the run. Even his parents support his decision.

Sgt. King’s best friend is in worse mental shape than him, and his fiancee (Abbie Cornish – Phillippe’s real-life girlfriend) can’t stand the way he’s acting. He’s been violent with her. So, she volunteers to accompany Sgt. King to Washington where he can visit his Senator, who offered to help him if there was anything he could do. But, Sgt. King finds out that the Senator can’t see him because he is a fugitive–dubbed a deserter.  Sgt. King’s whole world is crumbling.

Filmmaker Peirce’s decision to avoid an on-screen romance with Cornish’s character upgrades the film and gives Phillippe’s character, Sgt. King, more credibility. Sgt. King just want justice, and he is not interested in his best friend’s girlfriend. Still, the viewer can conclude that there is a bond between Sgt. King and Cornish’s character that could, in the future, develop into a romance.

Originally, filmmaker  Kimberly Peirce was going to shoot a documentary about a soldier who was sent back four times. His class-action lawsuit failed. But she decided she could tell the story with more impact if she presented it as a fictional scenario concerning this injustice.

Interestingly, the film neither condemns the war or its brave soldiers. However, to make these men keep going back into combat in Iraq over two tours is permanently damaging their mental health. It’s a form of torture that should be stopped. Perhaps, the draft should be reinstituted. Clearly, it’s a controversial question.

Peirce has exposed an important problem with great finesse and filmmaking skill. It’s the year’s first quality film.

21
Movie Review  

By Rick Grant  B+  Rated PG-13   123 min

Hatched from Ben Mezrich’s best-selling book, Bringing Down the House, this film  adaptation  was loosely based on the true story of a MIT professor who ran a side business using students to count cards at blackjack tables in Vegas. The History Channel ran an exciting reenactment of the story, without the dramatizations of Robert Luketic’s fictionalized scenario.

Nonetheless, Luketic’s film is a fascinating adventure tale of this gaggle of brainiac math students taking Vegas casinos for large amounts of money in the 80s. Of course, this was before the invention of face recognition software that could see through disguises and vast computer data bases of card counters which could be accessed instantly.

Peter Seinfeld’s screenplay focuses on protagonist, Ben Campbell ( Jim Sturgess), a brilliant math major who was trying to get into Harvard pre-med after he graduated from MIT. His involvement in physics Professor Mich Rosa’s (Kevin Spacey) scheme was first based on his need for $300,000 to get through Harvard. But like the other members of the team, he was hooked by the excitement of Vegas and making large scores, which added up rapidly.

Of course, Seinfeld’s script includes a romantic angle as Ben falls for team member Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth). Ben is by far the most gifted of the card counters. He’s fast, and doesn’t allow his emotions to get in his way. The team developed code words and hand signals to communicate with each other once they hit  the casino floor. They have fun with creating characters and wearing disguises. 

Although card counting was not illegal, if casinos caught any of the group, they would be ushered out of the casino and put on their watch list. However, in Seinfeld’s scenario an old-school pit-boss, Cole Williams, played by Laurence Fishburne, still believed in taking the offender to the basement for a beat-down. Of course, those strong arm methods went out when the Mafia lost control of Vegas gaming, and the casinos went corporate.

The other members of this MIT team are Choi, (Aaron Yoo) Fisher, (Jacob Pitts) and Kianna (Liza Laira). Ben is the leader of the team and the others take supportive roles. When Ben gets caught and takes the beat-down, the team regroups and decides to take the casino for one last score. Ah, but there is a sting involved which sets-up the surprise climax.

Obviously, Luketic was using skillful film techniques to make this story more exciting. Seinfeld’s script builds momentum to the resolution, which is not what really happened in real life. However, Luketic created an adrenalin pumping finale, that satisfies the audience’s expectations.

Given the procedural way the real life card counters went about their business, to use that rather boring routine would have made a tedious film. But in the film-- the bold scheme, the glitter of Vegas, and the high living team gives viewers vicarious thrills. It’s Vegas baby! And, in reality, the house always wins. But what if you could beat the house? Ah yes, then you’d have a licence to print money.

Drillbit Taylor
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    C+   PG-13   102 min

In today’s world, bullying is a major problem in middle and high schools. Now, cyber-bullying has caused at least two suicides of kids being harassed on-line until they couldn’t take it anymore. It’s a terrible problem, however filmmaker Steven Brill and writer Kristofor Brown created a “revenge of the nerds” comedy formula, making light of this phenomenon. 

Thus, the premise features three nerds who are about to attend their first day of high school. There’s the overweight kid, Ryan (Troy Gentile) the abnormably short kid, Emmit (David Dorfman) and the painfully thin ninety-pound weakling, Wade (Nate Hartley). The trio knows that they are bully bait. So they try to look inconspicious. However, Wade and Emmit end up wearing the same shirts, which gets them noticed right away.

The trio’s nightmare comes true when two vicious bullies attack them unmercifully humiliating them in front of the entire student body. The boys limp home and try to be brave by not telling their parents about the abuse. After “day two” the boys get the bright idea of hiring a bodyguard. The scene in which they interview bodyguard prospects is hilarious. Most of the so called body guards are wannabes or professionals who want way too much money.

Then, after a parade of losers,  along comes bedraggled Drillbit Taylor, (Owen Wilson) who in real life is an Army deserter and out-of-work bum living on the streets. At this point, Drillbit will do anything for the money. He convinces the boys that he is their man and he asks for $85.00 up front. So, now the boys have a bodyguard who may take advantage of their generosity.

Things go south when Drillbit shows up at school in a suit and tie and is mistaken for a teacher. He fits right in and says he is a substitute. “As long as you have a coffee cup in your hand, everyone thinks you are a teacher,” Drillbit says.  Leslie Mann plays a horny teacher named Lisa who is smitten by Drillbit. So, the transient fugitive is now having sex with Lisa in an empty classroom and trying to watch over the boys. Drillbit’s first confrontation with the bullies ends badly when they beat him up. He tells the boys he can’t hit them because they are minors. They reluctantly buy his lame excuse.

This style of teenage comedy is just the medium in which Owen Wilson thrives. His odd off-kilter manner and delivery are strangely compelling and funny. The trio of actors playing the bully victims are skilled at playing the underdog nerds. So, despite its done-to-death concept, the film manages to glean some laughs and entertain adults, who can remember their first day of high school and how scary it was to see the almost adult seniors.

When Drillbit’s bum buddies hear about his success they attempt to copy him and show up at the teachers lounge. Of course, for them it doesn’t work. But it’s a funny sequence to see bums teaching high school. Things get out of hand when Drill bit’s street buddies burgularize the boys’ homes. This leads to some funny situations as Drillbit’s exposure is imminent.

The rest of the movie is predictable but oddly satisfying. The trio of nerds get their comeuppance but at the expense of Drillbit’s exposure. If a moviegoer is over 16 years old, why go see this schlock? Well, it’s better than staying home and watching reruns of CSI Miami. And, we all were young once and faced the first day of high school. In that respect, it’s nostalgic and somewhat laughable.

10,000 B.C.
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    C+  Rated PG-13 109 min

So what was it that made me laugh hysterically at this ridiculous prehistoric epic? Was it the wooden acting, sophomoric script in modern English, the actors gleaming teeth, vaccination marks,  or the blatant anachronisms out of their time period? Of course, it was all of the those flaws. Director/ writer Roland Emmerich rewrote the evolutionary timetable, mixing various time periods in early man’s development. It was all in the name of producing a campy grade B epic with a cast of thousands of CGI characters, frightening beasts, and accelerated evolution. The result is a fun picture that is laughable and, simultaneously, awe inspiring, a la Cecil B. DeMille!

Although Emmerich took liberties with historical accuracy,  he did produce a spectacular action movie with realistic mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and those nasty prehistoric birds, and the mother of all epic climaxes. Worlds collide, natives meet early Egyptian civilization, and it’s all over the protagonist, D’Leh’s (Steven Strait) obsession with rescuing his girlfriend, Evolet (Camilla Belle) from brutal marauders who have enslaved her and most of his tribe. Yes,  D’Leh’s mission is driven by his love for Evolet. His ragtag band of spear-toting natives follow the slave masters into the unknown.

Of course, in this film, evolution takes a back seat to fantasy, and the viewer must suspend one’s disbelief and ignore Emmerich’s trite dialogue. Laugh at the flaws but enjoy the spectacle of prehistoric man stepping into a time warp to behold the beginning of the Egyptian civilization. Out of the jungle, just past the mountains, the native army comes upon a massive city ruled by a God-like Pharaoh who is constructing the great pyramids using captured slaves brought to the architects by the “four legged demons” a.k.a. slave masters. But, for D’Leh, his journey into his heart of darkness is a personal crusade to free Evolet and his fellow natives from the brutal slave labor of pyramid building. The Pharaoh is using the much maligned mammoths and thousands of overworked slaves to haul tons of rock up steep inclines.

Along the treacherous journey, D’Leh’s band of natives encounter every kind of global topography, including frozen terrain, mountains, steamy jungles, and barren deserts on their way to the slave masters destination. On the way , D’Leh’s squad cross paths with other native tribes who have also lost people to the slave masters. So, D’Leh’s army grows into a formidable force marching to bring down the Pharaoh’s city and free the slaves.

Evolet is the beautiful blue-eyed woman who launched a thousand mammoth hunters to risk their lives to find her and the other captives to bring them home. She and her tribe are just too clean cut to be authentic, but never mind the cheesy makeup and modern look of these mammoth hunters. It’s a popcorn movie with wide vistas and the appearance of thousands of slaves enhanced by CGI, laboring to build the Pharaoh’s pyramids.

Omar Sharif narrates the film with cliche platitudes which adds to the comedic undertone of the film. Clearly, the narration was designed to give the story a sense of importance, but all it did was undermine the action on film and emphasize the silliness of the story. Camilla Belle as Evolet looks properly fragile as she is tied to horses to be drawn and quartered to force D’Leh and his native army to back off. Emmerich injects some spicy sado-masochistic erotic fantasy into Evolet’s enslavement to get the teenage boys in the audience excited at the sight of this gorgeous girl tied up and whipped.
This is one of those guilty pleasure movies that will eventually end up on late night cable so insomniacs can have a beer and laugh at its flaws, secretly enjoying the spectacle. It’s a gas!

Never Back Down  
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    C+   Rated PG-13   106 min

This fight club scenario plays to teenage boys whose blood streams are coursing with excess testosterone and adrenalin. Naturally, they want to bash each others faces in over the slightest infraction or jealously. The story focuses on Jake Tyler, (Sean Faris) who is moving to Orlando with his mom and younger brother–a tennis prodigy. Jake was a star athlete back in his Iowa  home town. But now he has to face a new school and try to get along. Jake’s fight on the football field went viral on the Internet and his reputation preceded him.

Before long, Jake is invited to join the underground fight club, dominated by the school  bully, Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). The fight club has a referee and they use light gloves. The competition is based on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) rules. Ryan is a trained MMA fighter, and defeats any of the school wannabes who go up against him. Jake is a brawler who is basically unskilled. When Ryan goads Jake into fighting him, Ryan easily beats and humiliates him.

Ryan gets perverse delight in beating the crap out of his challengers. Jake’s tag-along friend, Max Cooperman (Evan Peters) advises Jake to go to a special school to train as a MMA fighter. The school is run by Jean Roqua, (Djmon Hounsou) a champion MMA fighter, who forbids his trainees from engaging in underground fight clubs. 

Of course, the script builds up the rivalry between Jake and Ryan with Ryan’s girlfriend, Baja Miller (Amber Heard)  caught in the middle. Ryan knows that Jake likes Baja and the feeling is mutual, so he uses this against Jake to bully him. The tension escalates between Jake and Ryan and savvy viewers know where this is going–the big smack down.

Meanwhile, Jake joins Roqua’s gym to train. He quickly learns that Roqua is a taskmaster who demands extreme training to toughen Jake’s body. Jake is running on rage, which overloads his system with adrenalin, which consequently, leads to sloppy execution. Roqua teaches him to channel his anger into his training and use his mind to defeat his opponents. But Jake can only think of the day when he can put Ryan in his place.

Shot by Jeff Wadlow and written by Chris Hauty, the script follows a formulaic path appealing to teenage boys who like MMA fighting.  Director Wadlow did take the time to develop the characters before staging the fight scenes, which build to a crescendo of MMA action. Mixed Martial Arts involves various disciplines such as boxing, karate, and judo. It requires a high level of raining and body toughness to take the kicks and punches.

Baja’s waffling between Jake and Ryan is exacerbating the animosity between them. At home, Jake’s mom is upset with him over his past brawling and other typical teenage problems. To further intensify Jake’s motivation, Hauty’s script uses a device set in the past to explain Jake’s depression. He dad was killed in a car accident. Jake was in the car but he feels great guilt that he survived after letting his dad drive drunk. In this case, Jake’s guilt has turned to anger manifested in Ryan’s sneering persona.  Jake is determined to wipe that sneer off Ryan’s face.

As the momentum builds to the predictable grand finale–the beatdown fight between Jake and Ryan, Baja falls for Jake and realizes that Ryan is a jerk. So, this ties in the romantic angle that will appeal to the girls who are dragged to the movie by their boyfriends, who just want to see the fight scenes.

Undoubtedly, MMA fighting has caught on big time in America. This film capitalizes on this trend with a high school confidential story mixed into the screaming angst channeled through fists and feet of steel.   

The Other Boleyn Girl
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    A-     Rated PG-13    115 min

Heaving bosoms and high court intrigue mark this tale of siblings Anne ( Natalie Portman)  and Mary (Scarlett Johansson)  Boleyn who connive to win the affections of King Henry Tudor (Eric Bana). Based on Philippa Gregory’s steamy novel, the screenplay,  adapted by Peter Morgan, chronicles how the Boleyn family curried favor with the king by offering up their two daughters to satisfy Henry’s unsatiable sexual appetite for nubile young women.

Call them the whores of King Henry’s court, as the Anne and Mary’s father and uncle plotted to advance their station in the court using sexual politics, pimping Anne and Mary to the king. The court was seething with plots and subplots all designed to move people ahead in title, justifying most any connivance.

Morgan’s streamlined script makes sense of the tangled web of deceit and underhanded skullduggery orbiting King Henry, who had completely surrendered to his hedonistic lifestyle of screwing any young woman he fancied. Mary captured the kings attention first and he had to have her. Although she was married, no problem just promote her husband and get him out of the way. Suddenly, Mary was in Henry’s bedroom, “This is where the king sleeps,” she quips, alluding to the room where Henry has sex with a succession of hand maidens.

Meanwhile, Henry’s stoic wife, Queen Katherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent) had to live with the daily humiliation of her husband’s nightly trysts.” She no longer bleeds,” Henry exclaims, announcing that Katherine has entered menopause and he won’t touch her. Yes, King Henry VIII was the classic tyrannical dictator whose word was law. Ah yes, it was good to be the king. But he had to constantly watch out for plots against him. 

Once Mary got pregnant he focused his attention on Anne, who played hard to get, which backfired when she pushed the horny Henry too far, and he took her by force. Hey, he’s the king. What’s she going to do, call the palace guards? Nay, brother, Henry ruled with an iron fist and got his way no matter what.

Mary gives birth to a boy, but by then, Henry is courting Anne. Mary is devastated. She actually loved this despicable nut case. Anne makes sure her sister is sent to the country so she can play mind games with Henry. The poor sap is frustrated by her delaying tactics. After Henry rapes Anne, he loses respect for her and doesn’t trust her. For Anne, she is put in the untenable position of being desposable. Mary fares better, but she can’t save her sister.

Helmsman, Justin Chadwick skillfully tells the story with vivid visual images without bogging the viewer down in too many flashbacks. But he does go back to the childhoods of Anne and Mary Boleyn briefly, then it cuts to the marriage of Mary to the son of a merchant family. Of course, this union is interrupted by Henry’s lust for Mary, whose hubby willingly capitulates to a higher position in the court. Henry’s hedonistic pursuits begin to corrupt his mind as he retreats further into paranoia. He becomes erratic and mean, having people beheaded at the drop of a hat.

Chadwick’s quality production values uplift this court drama with eloborate costumes and attention to detail of the time frame. His scenecraft is impeccable and his moderate pacing moves along without losing the thread of the story. The sex action in Henry’s bedroom is tastefully shot leaving the details for the audience’s imagination.

As costume dramas go, this bawdy romp is colorful and fun, showing how even an absolute ruler can have problems with his court. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson portray their characters with full dramatic scope, greatly uplifting the quality of this film.

The Bank Job
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   B     Rated R    110 min

Incredibly, this heist film is based on a true story set in London, (circa 1971) the details of which are so bizarre, it could only happen in real life. No writer’s imagination could dream up this twisty bank robbery story that involves compromising photos of Princess Margaret, a black ops unit of MI5, a former model, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) and a gang of petty street criminals.

Terry, (Jason Statham) head of the gang, is selling cars from a chop shop operation. He’s on the hook to some nasty shylocks. His ex-girlfriend, Martine approaches him with a choice bank job that involves a period of time when the bank’s alarm system is down. The plan is to tunnel into the vault from a store and steal the contents of the safe deposit boxes. The way she sells it, it would be a crime not to do the robbery.

But what Terry and his mates don’t know is the MI5 spooks are surveilling the operation to recover the photos that would embarrass the Crown. Of course, it doesn’t take this street savvy crook long to figure out that there’s more to this bank job than just money and jewels. But, Terry is in a bind and needs the money. So, Terry, Martine and the crew start planning the operation with military like precision.

In this film, Statham, looking properly sleazy in his dark stubble, proves that he is more than an action star by playing an interesting character who has recently settled down with his wife and kids. This job is a big risk for him and he doesn’t want to blow it. Statham plays Terry with depth and subtlety, which reminds viewers of his showcase role in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

Shot by Roger Donaldson with attention to detail and savvy scenecraft, the scenario moves with even pacing with unexpected surprises. The supporting cast is superb playing their roles with typically British-styled droll humor. In fact, the movie harkens back to the old British heist films of the 70s. The era’s fashions and mod backgrounds were accurately represented by the shoot’s artistic designer. In one scene there are John Lennon and Yoko lookalikes to add to the era’s sense of time and place.

Ironically, Terry and his gang turn out to be criminal lightweights compared to the people who have stored secrets inside the safe deposit boxes. The robbery uncovers a host of stored evidence that could ruin many upstanding British aristocrats. Also, the gang uncovers a payoff ledger that belongs to a nightclub owner who has been paying off high level police officials to operate his sex club with impunity. The madam of the establishment also has photos of high ranking government officials engaging in kinky sex.

Suddenly, the gang is more worried about retribution from the safe deposit box holders than the police.  The MI5 operation is compromised by a leak to the media and the whole scheme blows up in their faces. Now a contingent of bad guys wants blood from the gang. The cops are clueless, and MI5 is trying to prevent more damage. So, the story is shifting and twisting with many surprises.
MI5 is worried that the whole mess will become a national scandal so they are supporting the gang to get them out of the country with enough money to disappear for good. Terry wants to save his marriage and confesses to his wife that he is the leader of this fiasco. The nightclub owner ges his hands on two of the gang and tortures them to find out where his ledger is located. The list of names being paid off could bring down the entire police force of London.

Overall, this is a slick, and complex heist story that in real life almost brought down the British government. Much of the facts of the case are still secret until far into the future.

Penelope
Movie Review

By Rick Grant      B+    Rated PG   102 min

First time filmmaker Mark Palanski created a madcap style to present this fantasy about an aristocratic young woman, Penelope, who was cursed and born with a pig nose. Palanski used an effective backstory technique of developing the characters through flashback sequences to establish their respective motivations. It’s a whimsical tale of a young woman who must overcome her poor self image. The curse can only be lifted if someone of her status falls in love with her just as she is, and looks beyond her pig nose into her soul. 

Christina  Ricci deftly portrays Penelope with impish charm. Her hysterical mother Jessica Willhern, is played with glorious comedic flamboyance by Catherine O’Hara, who was horrified when her little piggy was born and has hidden her away from the public. But now, Penelope wants her freedom and is tired of her mother offering money to suitors to marry her, only to watch them  run screaming from the house once they see her.

James McAvoy (Atonement) plays Max, who has a gambling addiction and is always up for some scam to raise money so he can go gamble it away. He meets Penelope as part of a scheme to take her picture using a hidden camera so that two con men can make money off her image. But, he likes her, and is not repulsed by her nose. In fact, he has trouble fulfilling his mission to take the photos. He sees that there are many people would exploit her as a freak.

Palanski and screenwriter Leslie Caveny create a Tim Burton-like mosaic to give Ricci a rich setting with which to work her magic. The cast takes this free spirited setting and runs with it to create the off-kilter feel of the scenes. Simon Woods plays a big-business tycoon, Edward Vanderman. He is shocked and dismayed by seeing little Miss Piggy and wants to have her locked up for the common good.  He has teamed up with a reporter, one-eyed dwarf Lemon (Peter Dinklage) to get the tabloid photos of Penelope.. Of course the plot backfires when Max is smitten by Penelope’s sweet innocence.

Penelope finally plucks up the courage to break away from her overbearing mother and she goes out into the world beyond her mansion. There at a bar, she meets a friend, Annie (Reese Withers spoon, also executive producer of the film) and for the first time in he life she is living independently in a hotel room, using a scarf to hide her odd protuberance. The bright lights of the big city mesmerize her. Eventually her secret gets out, and the paparazzi swarm in to expose the pig girl. Suddenly, Penelope becomes a celebrity.

This fable is an object lesson for young girls that teaches them they can be accepted in society no matter what they look like, and sometimes the very thing that they were ashamed of becomes an asset. The entire population of Great Britain falls in love with Penelope.

Meanwhile, Max is ashamed of his involvement in the scam to get Penelope’s picture. And through various circumstances and supernatural events he gets a second change to make it up to her. Once Penelope’s secret is out, she begins to love herself. Her acceptance of her odd looks is a significant happening in the story. 

The picture is entertaining and funny for adults and teenage girls. In a time when eating disorders and depression are epidemic in America’s young women, this film presents ways young females can gain acceptance and develop a positive self-image, without being preachy. Negative cultural programming is rampant in the magazine images and television stereotypes. This film shows that young girl’s can conquer their negative self image, emerging as a butterfly.

Definitely Maybe
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   B  Rated PG-13  

The unwritten law of Hollywood is, Valentine’s Day requires a cutesy romantic comedy to satisfy all the whining females harboring unrealistic fantasies of Mr. Right. So, writer/director Adam Brooks cooked up this pleasant little story of ad executive Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) who is going through a divorce and shares custody of his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin).

Maya has just had her first sex-ed class, but is one savvy little girl. She is trying to understand adult romance and, now that her father is back on the market, how to help him find his true love. She is convinced her dad is miserable, and is shocked to learn that before he met her mother, he had numerous girlfriends. She asks him, “What’s the boy word for slut?” The premise of the story involves Will’s relationship with his daughter and how that bond influences his choice of potential romantic partners.

Abigail Breslin is popping up in many different projects as the latest A-list tween ingenue. In this film, she is adorable and captures the imagination of the viewers with her wid-eyed innocence, charm, and acting talent. Reynolds is funny and appealing as the newly divorced bachelor, who is not especially looking for another committed relationship. Maya is like a Jewish mother, meddling into Will’s love life with abandon, as Will tells her the story of his romantic chronology.

For Will, the present dating scene has changed since he was last single. Flashbacks provide Will’s history of dating in Madison, Wis. where he’s about to leave his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks) to go work for the 1992 Clinton campaign. Of course, the relationship is tested when Will meets two other alluring women such as Summer (Rachel Weisz) a friend of Emily’s. Then there’s April (Isla Fisher) a free spirit who works at Clinton’s campaign headquarters. But Will’s own political ambitions are driving him at this stage of his life.

This link with the past is setup as Will tells his enthralled daughter of his past trysts and romances. Brooks’ use of the Clinton era backdrop is a clever device to develop Will’s character and paint Maya as a precocious and very bright little girl.  Since Maya can’t fully understand the complexities of adult emotional relationships, she oversimplifies her conclusions as to her father’s well being.

Ah yes, Brooks was obviously going for the arrow through the heart formula to wrap up this clever slant on romantic comedies in a neat little bow. Still, the picture is appealing and funny. It hooks the viewer on the concept of Maya and her dad bonding over his romantic adventures. Brooks was going for a Woody Allen-like uptown tone but it falls short of Allen’s intellectual approach.

That darn little girl, Abigail Breslin is so cute and lovable, one can’t help but feel the positive vibes of Brooks’  feel-good manipulation of the viewers emotions. Reynolds is remarkably restrained from his past work. He plays this role with low-key intelligence and consequently, wins over his audience. The female leads, Fisher and Weisz are developed as complex female characters with many quirks that liven up the story. Kevin Kline has a short but stand-out role as a womanizing professor of creative writing and best selling author.  It’s too bad Brooks didn’t use this character more throughout the story.

Yes,  Hollywood gave us a Valentine movie that at least avoids the blatant maudlin cliches, but it goes for the heart and hanky. Just go with the flow and you’ll enjoy this film.

I’m Not There
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    A-     Rated R    135 min

In viewing this film, one might ask, “At what point does this Felliniesque picture become pretentiously abstract?” That’s debatable, but writer/director, Todd Haynes shot this strange movie with the approval of Bob Dylan, using his recorded music, which gives one a hint that it faults on the side of arty excess. Nonetheless, being a Dylan fan, I’m willing to give Haynes the benefit of the doubt and embrace his surrealistic fantasy.

Haynes uses dream-like imagery to present a fictional account of Dylan’s life using six different actors, all playing various stages of Dylan’s incarnations–from a young Woody Guthrie  played by a 12 year old black boy, to Dylan’s androgynous period, depicted in the stark black & white of the early documentary Don’t Look Back.

Incredibly, Cate Blanchett portrays Dylan during this phase of his career. For two seconds viewers see a flash of Blanchett, then she nails Dylan’s schziophrenic demeanor. Indeed, Blanchett completely absorbs Dylan’s psyche. It is a cinematic method acting coup d’etat.
In keeping with Dylan’s put-on humor, Haynes uses a cavalcade of arty styles, shifting back in forth in time with an array of distorted characters, a la Fellini. The presentation is disconnected without a central core. In other words, it doesn’t make logical sense. Ah, but by design, Haynes was looking inside Dylan’s mind as if Dylan himself was dreaming these sequences in an astral world in which just thinking it makes it happen.

Clearly, Haynes took a daring approach to his Dylan’s warped biography by having a 12 year old black boy play Woody Guthrie, idolizing Dylan, who is named Jude Quinn (Blanchett)  in the script. Christian Bale portrays Jack Rollins, representing the mid-career Dylan, who finds Jesus and becomes a preacher. Heath Ledger plays a movie star, Robbie Clark who seems to be a tangent to the story. It was sad to see Ledger on-screen so soon after his tragic death. Clark stars in a film called Grain of Sand, which features Alice Fabian (Julienne Moore) narrating Robbie’s complicated involvement with French painter Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). 

Dylan’s famous Newport Folk Festival debacle in which he presented his back up group The Band and went electric is staged, as Jude, emaciated and loopy, launches material from Highway 61 Revisited. The folk purest audience boos and then riots at his audacity for going electric. At the end of this bizarre show, Dylan and The Band members gun-down the crowd with Thompson sub-machine guns. Yes, it was a wish fulfillment fantasy pulled directly from Dylan’s dream visions.

In a homage to D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Lester, Haynes pulls off A Hard Days Night sequence with Beatles’ lookalikes. By this time, Jude is exhausted and burned out. His pursuit of the ditzy blonde Coco (Michelle Williams) is mocked in a psychedelic party scene. Of course, his infamous “motorcycle accident,” is seen in this film as an excuse to get the much maligned  troubadour into rehab before he died of a multitude of excesses.

Bruce Greenwood plays a snobby journalist from some London rag who is continually trying to attach philosophical and political significance to Jude’s musings. Jude is always putting him on with curt answers. “Look man, I’m a story teller, not a folk singer or poet,” trying to dispel this jerk’s intellectual ruminations that somehow Jude (Dylan) is a prophet. 

Suddenly the film shifts back in timewith Richard Gere playing Billy the Kid, reminiscent of Dylan’s role in Sam  Peckinpah’s Pat Barrett & Billy the Kid. This is the strangest sequence to understand, since it mixes Pechinpah’s McCabe & Mrs Miller with Billy the Kid. It jumps in time showing Billy riding in a limo. Like I said, it’s happening in dream reality where anything can happen in any time frame.

Unquestionably, Dylan’s approval of Haynes magical mystery tour of his distorted dream reality gives Dylanphiles full acceptance of Haynes scattershot pretension and freewheeling use of obscure cinematic techniques to convey this fantasy. In a limo right out of one of Dylan’s past documentaries, Jude  levels with his inquisitor about his music being stories from his dreams and fantasies. He uses the music that fits his vision of the song which could be in any genre. Amen–fade to black!

The Eye
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C+   Rated PG-13   97 min

Using the Pang brothers original 2002 concept, Frenchmen David Moreau and Xavier Palud  remade the film with Sebastian Gutierrez’s screenplay, starring Jessica Alba as blind violinist, Sydney Wells. Moreau and Palud’s remake set out to outdo the original in creepiness. It accomplishes that goal with frightening special effects. Alba did her homework on her character with a credible performance as Sydney, who gets a cornea transplant and almost immediately sees dead people. Her donor turns out to be a Mexican woman, (Fernando Romero) whose spirit has stayed earthbound to communicate with Sydney about something important.

Of course, Sydney does not figure out that her donor is haunting her right away. After her transplant, Sydney is overloaded with visual imagery which freaks her out. Consequently, she is sent to see a specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nicola) who helps her adjust to having sight. Sydney lost her sight at 5 years old, so she has almost no memory of the visual world. Adjusting to having sight is difficult enough, but Sydney is terrified of the afterlife images she is seeing. She calls her sister Helen Wells (Parker Posey) to be with her.

Not even Helen believes Sydney when she claims that her transplant has made her a medium, but she insists that she is not crazy. She pleads with Dr. Faulkner to reveal the identity of her donor. Reluctantly, he finally agrees and the two go on a road trip to Mexico to meet her donor’s mother. There Sydney learns about and meets her donor. If this depressing village in Mexico is typical of the Mexican hinterland, then going south of the border is not on my travel plans.

Sydney had risen to soloist status in her orchestra, directed by maestro Simon McCullough. But after her transplant she is having difficulty concentrating on her music and Simon is concerned. She reverts back to reading brail and is finding the stress of having sight combined with seeing ghosts has left her emotionally disturbed.  Finding out the truth of why she is being harassed by her donor is the only way she can function. Thus, the trip to Mexico is her turning point.

As the story unfolds, Sydney’s visions of the afterlife become much more vivid. She sees her donor in the mirror and sees dark shadow figures escorting the dead to the afterlife. Her dreams are set in the afterlife, and she suffers from sleep depravation. Filmmakers Moreau and Palud created a scary mosaic and use eery special effects. The advent of numerous afterlife TV shows helped the directors sell the concept of “cell memory.” Thus, Sydney is seeing with the eyes of her donor. But, Sydney’s connection with her donor is much more defined. Sydney has advanced psychic abilities, triggered by her new corneas.

Moreau and Palud’s updated treatment of the Pang brothers original film seems contrived to suck in the present day horror fans. However, they went the extra mile to at least imbue the picture with arty backgrounds and other-worldly scene-craft. Alba brings her star power to the film with a convincing characterization of Sydney. Throughout the film, viewers get the impression that Sydney is sorry she got the transplant. It has, after all,  turned her life upside down. Perhaps, having her other senses highly tuned was preferable to having sight along with psychic abilities? Well, only time would tell. For Sydney, finding out what her donor wants is top priority.

There Will Be Blood
 Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A    Rated R    158 min

In this dark but riveting drama set at the turn of the 20th Century, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil, is a scathing study of a psychopath, Daniel Plainview.  Brilliantly characterized by Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel seeks power by  becoming a wealthy oilman by the strength of his will and hard work alone. His superior persona veiled his contempt of other people.

Anderson created special formalized dialogue for Day-Lewis to utter, exposing a deeply disturbed man who could turn on the charm using straight talk to the simple folk to whom he was selling his ideas for oil-rich communities. In his pitches to the townspeople, he painted himself as family man–a single father who believed in a hard work ethic. It was a ruse to get as much oil rich land as he could con out of the landowners.

At first, I admired Daniel’s determination and tenacity as he toiled relentlessly in a self-dug hole to mine silver nuggets to earn his seed money. With his son in tow, (his wife died in childbirth) Daniel works his first oil rig and strikes a large oil field. He surrounded himself with a cadre hand-picked loyal associates who would do his bidding without question. However, as the story unfolds, Daniel reveals his twisted megalomania and psychotic personality.

Daniel’s strategy was to get an oil rig pumping $5,000 per week and move on to the next drilling site, building rapidly increasing wealth on massive cash flow. Never satisfied,  Daniel exhibited dark moods and out-of-control diatribes. His heart was cold, driven by greed and a ruthless nature. When crossed, Daniel held a grudge and schemed to get even with his enemies, especially other oilmen who were working claimed sites nearby. Daniel never learned the art of diplomacy even when it was in his best interest. He had to win at all costs.

            Tipped off that Standard Oil was operating in a certain Texas region, Daniel moved in to grab as much land as possible. His experience at finding oil served him well. He found a tract of land that could produce unlimited amounts of oil, but he needed labor for this dangerous work. So he literally created a town around his drilling operations. In this idyllic setting, Daniel meets his nemesis, a phony preacher and healer, Eli Sunday, skillfully acted by Paul Dano.

derson’s script uses the war of wills between Daniel and Eli as a subtext to exposing Daniel’s true colors.  Ironically, Eli was a lot like Daniel. But he wanted status and power as a religious icon on the back of Daniel’s hard work. Eli, who was bitter that Daniel reneged on his agreement to compensate the Sunday family for taking their land, needs Daniel’s oil money to build his empire. A con man himself, Eli uses his influence with the townspeople to punish Daniel. But his schemes backfire. Daniel is smarter than Eli and forces him into a powerless position. Yet, Eli’s healing sessions and hell fire and brimstone preaching catches on with the townspeople. This results in a stalemate between the two con men.

By now, viewers see Daniel as a man tortured by his past but determined to put it behind him. His endgame is unclear, but he has become very wealthy. Nonetheless,  his mental state is deteriorating, exacerbated by his massive consumption of whiskey. Day-Lewis skillfully guides his character into madness as he gets older and meaner. Despite his status as a wealthy oil baron, Daniel can’t enjoy it. He is harassed by his voices and his descent into mental illness seems profound. His son is a fine young man but Daniel doesn’t respect him. He only sees him as a threat or competitor.

Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood’s haunting score serves as a fitting audio backdrop to Daniel’s trip into hell on earth. Greenwood’s avant garde symphonic music highlights Daniel’s extreme emotional mood swings as he gradually loses control. When Daniel’s faux brother shows up to hang out with him, he brings some peace to Daniel’s soul. But when Daniel finds out the man is an imposter, his true psychotic nature manifests itself.

Into the Wild  
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A     Rated R     140 min

When Sean Penn read Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he, like millions of other readers, was moved deeply by the true story of Chris McCandless who after graduating with honors from Emory University, hit the road, abandoning his family and friends to find universal truth. Penn was determined to write a screenplay and direct a movie about this remarkable young man’s adventures. After the usual struggle to get the movie financed, Penn gathered his stellar cast and crew on location, with Emile Hirsch (Lords of Dogtown) playing Chris, and unequivocally, shot the best picture this year.

Indeed, Into the Wild is Penn’s magnum opus filmmaking accomplishment. As evidenced by Penn’s inspired direction, it’s obvious that Penn identified spiritually and philosophically with Chris’ journey into his heart of darkness. Hirsch went to extremes to get inside Chris’ skin and soul with his Oscar worthy method acting performance. Hirsch channels Chris with a mesmerizing in-depth characterization. He lost 40 pounds to get into the role and revels in the physical challenges.

Penn was determined to walk in the same footsteps as Chris. He setup in the same locations that Chris traveled for over two years. Chris launched his epic journey after burning his driver’s license and credit cards. He gave away $24,000 in savings to find meaning in his life. Of course, most young men want to travel the world after college, backpacking through India or Europe, finding adventure and learning about other cultures. But for Chris, he took this wanderlust to the extreme. Like a monk on sabbatical, Chris was seeking answers to his most profound questions by divorcing himself from the workaday world of the classic American dream seekers. (“Little houses on the hillside made of ticky-tacky.”) Viewers sense that Chris is suffering from some serious disconnect caused by something that happened in his youth, which is driving his radical renunciation of the material world.

Jena Malone plays Chris’ sister Carine as the narrator to explain certain aspects of Chris’ motivations for his estrangement from his affluent parents, Walt (William Hurt) and Billie (Marcia Gay Harden). Given that all young people are alienated from their parents, Chris’ estrangement ran much deeper. Nonetheless, Chris, who called himself Alexander Supertramp, first travels to South Dakota farm managed by Wayne Westerberg (Vince Vaughan) which then inspires a dangerous kayak trip down to Mexico. Later, Chris finds himself in a trailer shared by Jan (Catherine Keener) and Rainey (Brian Dieker). An unconsummated romance blooms with underage Tracy (Kristen Stewart) at an RV camp in the California desert. Chris’ need for meaningful adult interaction finds him consulting with a lonely old man, Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook).

These side trips direct Chris to his ultimate destination, Alaska, where he endures months of isolation and deprivation. This phase of the story reveals a troubled young man who has slipped into loneliness and depression, but he’s hooked on his wilderness experience. Here Penn draws out an incredibly dense and nuanced performance from Hirsch, who by now, has become one with Chris McCandless’ spirit. In Alaska,  he entered a spiritual antiworld between life and death– a place where he may find the answers he’s looking for, but will it be too late? His last camp is an abandoned bus. The movie will leave viewers asking many questions about Chris’ motives. But Penn’s stark mosaic and wide spacial vistas will draw the viewer into Chris’ consciousness where he finally learns the ultimate meaning of life. 

As Chris’ travels further to the melding of his soul with the wilderness, Eddie Vedder’s dark hypnotic songs set the tone of the story. Vedder’s sound track album is now available. It’s the best work he has ever done to date. Vedder’s music emotionally drives the theme of this remarkable young man’s trip into his inner soul, as he struggles to survive against all odds. It’s an exhalting experience. Frankly, this is the best film of the year–so far!

Atonement
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   A    Rated R   130 min

Adapting Jan McEwan’s penetrating 2001 novel to screen would seem like an impossible task. However, Joe Wright shot a cinematic masterwork, bringing the novel to life with consummate filmmaking skill. Wright’s deftly compressed vision of the novel was enhanced with an A-list cast including Keira Knightly as Cecilia Tallis and James McAvoy  (The Last King of Scotland) as Robbie Turner, son of the family housekeeper. Set in 1935 through the 40s, when Robbie comes to visit the family, he and Cecilia fall madly in love. But Robbie is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. This calamity is the central theme in which the characters orbit. When World War II ignites into worldwide conflict, all the characters are swept up in this mighty apocalypse.

Saoirse Ronan plays the pivotal role of Briony Tallis at aged 13. It was her misinterpretation of a consensual sexual act that causes a serious fracture in Cecilia and Briony’s later relationship, that was exacerbated by their involvement as nurses in WWII.. The hook of the premise is about betrayal, overwhelming guilt, and atonement, as Briony faces the horrors of war and the wrath of her sister Cecilia. Later, Robbie comes face to face with Briony. A tense scene of immense emotional turpitude ensues.

Robbie gets caught up in Briony’s hysterical accusation when she accuses him of raping a family friend, when in fact, he had nothing to do with it. Her false witness statement to the police sends Robbie to jail, but after he serves two years, the desperate need for British soldiers gets him released to fight in the war as a private. Bitter and disillusioned, Robbie faces the daily life-and- death struggle of a combat infantry grunt. Meanwhile, Briony grows up and realizes her unforgivable mistake. She joins the British nurses corp to seek redemption in helping wounded soldiers. What she sees horrifies her.

The film, like the novel, is broad in scope and dense in content. It’s a sweeping saga of a family torn asunder by Briony’s incredibly damaging false testimony. Nonetheless, the cold reality of war trumps the family scandal and gives the characters perspective as Briony and Cecilia see first-hand the bloody broken bodies of warfare. Robbie and his squad get separated from their unit and find their way to Dunkirk where thousands of British troops are being evacuated after the Germans drove them to the North Sea. This segment is brilliantly shot in one continuous series of shots as Robbie and his two squad members witness the surreal scene of soldiers killing useless show horses, men gambling and drinking, men in pain or catatonic–total chaos right out of Fellini’s warped vision of a world gone mad.

Novelist Christopher Hampton’s masterfully written screenplay is true to his novel’s erudite but riveting style at building emotional tension that converts his words into vivid images. Ronan’s 13 year old wide-eyed characterization of Briony is the centerpiece of the first part of the film. In fact, viewers learn that the story is being seen through her eyes. When she realizes the extent of her betrayal, ruining her sister and Robbie’s life, she is inconsolable. The war acts as shock treatment, pulling her, Cecilia, and Robbie out of their black hole of bitter past memories. The War’s vast scope and tragic consequences supercede the characters past.

Indeed, this film is a model of the seamless adaptation from a book- to- film without losing the creative initiatives of both artistic genres. Although the film has to be different from the book because of the interpretation of the book’s word imagery to visualizations, this work converts the book-to-film with the most finesse than any similar project I can recall. It’s a magnum opus.

Margot at The Wedding
Movie Review

By Rick Grant    B-  Rated R   91 min

Writer/director, Noah Baumbach created this screenplay as a dark satire of self-absorbed pseudo-intellectuals, who spend their time whining about trivial concerns and psychoanalyze each other. The problem with Baumbach’s well written script is its characters are hard to care about, even though the acting by the stellar cast is first rate. Thank the movie gods that Jack Black brought some humor to this downer story.

Single mom, Margot (Nicole Kidman) and her son, Claude (Zane Paris) decide to visit her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who is getting married to Malcolm (Jack Black). Previously, the sisters were estranged, but Margot has an ulterior motive for making the trip. She wants to revive an old love affair with one of Pauline’s neighbors.

Indeed, Margot is a trouble maker who criticizes Pauline’s choice of a husband as not being good enough for her. The sisters are continually bickering, which waxes tedious right away. Margot dotes on her 13 year-old son, Claude, who is the quintessential mommas-boy, hiding behind his mom’s skirt. Malcolm is an unemployed writer– rough around the edges and says what he thinks. Pauline and Malcolm have a healthy sex life but seem to have little else in common. Pauline has a sweet daughter Ingrid who likes Margot’s son Claude, but he finds her annoying and stupid.

By putting these volatile personalities in one house for a weekend marriage in Pauline’s backyard was bound to stir-up a hornets nest of bad feelings and arguments. The sisters incessantly whine and complain about their lives and the mistakes they made. Malcolm can’t stand Margot who gives him dirty looks. This underlying tension causes the characters to self-analyze their reasons for being there, especially Pauline, who finds out that Malcolm had an affair with a neighbor’s 19 year old daughter. Her dad is the one making whoopie with Margot. Of course, this changes everything.

Baumbach’s idea, which was to combine these characters into a gumbo of emotional turmoil, was interesting but it reality  reeks of pretension and manipulation. There is no way any good is going to come out of this get-together. It’s too much like real life when relatives, who normally hate each other, get together for the holidays. Cinematographer, Anne Ross was going for a noirish dark look in many of her shots, which to the viewer, look like black screen with voices. It’s one thing to use dark shadows but quite another to have no light whatsoever.

Nicole Kidman does neurosis convincingly well as Margot, the nasty bitch. Jennifer Jason Leigh effectively created Pauline as a mass of psychological problems and self doubt. These she-devils will never be happy especially being together for any length of time. The hellish siblings bring out the worst in each other.

Clearly, Baumbach was satirizing these snitty New York intellectual types with an overly dark overview. Only Jack Black found the comedy in this caldron of witches brew. He plays Malcolm tongue-in-cheek, and consequently, gives the story some redeeming value. His tearful confession of infidelity is hilarious while he’s holding a chain saw. “Go ahead, Malcolm, chop Pauline in two–I dare you,” I was thinking. 

No viewer would want to be around these bitchy sisters. Being trapped in that house with Pauline and Margot would be torture. But, in some ways, it’s fascinating to watch this dysfunctional family dig themselves into a deep hole, from which they seem to thrive, wallowing in their depression and misery. The movie trailer implies this is a light hearted comedy. Don’t be fooled, its comedy is so dark, it’s not funny at all. One sighs with relief when it’s over.

National Treasure Book of Secrets
Movie Review

By Rick Grant   C+    Rated PG

 Far fetched with a shameless commercial slant, this big budget franchise movie was written by committee and directed by Jon Turteltaub. The paint-by-numbers filmmaking is designed to follow a prescribed path with the obilgatory car chase scene in London, which is preposterious considering the traffic and narrow roads in that city. Call it Bing, Bang, Boom in your face schlock, carefully flavored for mass consumption. It’s pure escapism.  

Nicolas Cage reprises his character Ben Gates, who is trying to discover the truth about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, using the previously missing 18 pages from John Wilkes Booth’s diary. Gates sidekick, Riley Poole, played with comedic style by Justin Bartha, is welcome comic relief. National Archives conservator Abigail Chase is played by Diane Kruger and Patrick Gates is portrayed by Jon Voight. Helen Mirren slums in this film as Patrick’s ex-wife, an expert on the rarest ancient languages which comes in handy during the hunt. Ed Harris plays Jeb Wilkinson–an interloper and rival in the adventure.  Harvey Keitel turns up in the film as FBI Agent Sandusky.

The story implies that Ben Gates’ great-great grandfather is implicated as a key conspirator in Lincoln’s assassination. Of course, Ben loves the hunt but in this case he is determined to prove his ancestor’s innocence. Ben’s team embarks on an international adventure to follow clues to find the truth, taking them to Paris to London and back to America. In the ensuing investigation, the team finds some surprising revelations that rewrite American history.

Turteltaub likes to use hand held close-up action shots which tend to blur the context of the scene. However, the film has all the elements of a holiday blockbuster, which will be welcomed by the exhibitors who have seen disappointing box office sales so far. For many viewers, movies like this are guilty pleasures. How many times have I stayed up late watching Die Hard films? Too many to admit.

The script is surprisingly wordy, considering it’s a big loud action film. But when the action kicks in, it’s overpowering. Still, everyone loves a treasure hunt, and this brainiac crew of eccentric characters take the audience on a fascinating adventure to find the President’s Book of Secrets, which has the answers to many questions. Yes, it could finally solve the conspiracy theory of what sinister group really killed Kennedy, and the truth about Area 51.

Ben is on a mission to clear his family name but he has to talk to the President of The United States to find out if the book exists. So, he kidnaps the President to find out if the book exists. In so doing, Ben is suddenly a wanted man with the CIA, NSA, and other government agencies on his tale. The  power behind the throne in Washington will stop at nothing to prevent Ben from seeing the Book of Secrets. And so the treasure hunt turns into a dangerous pursuit of the Book, that no one wants Ben to see. The Book of Secrets also contains clues to the biggest treasure known to humanity. No, not what happened to Britney Spears’ underwear, but the Big Kahuna–the mother-lode.