Edge of Darkness takes us very close to the edge of dumbness in the first five minutes when Emma Craven (Bojana Novakovic) gets ripped open by a sawed off shotgun even though her assassin is aware that she’s been terminally poisoned. Her murder cuts short an already too infrequent visit to her father’s home in Boston. He is Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson), a Bean town cop – untouched by any double barrelled scattershot - who is assumed to be the target of the killer. However thanks to his eventual good police work we find out that Emma is not the innocent four year old he often revisits via videotape. She has managed to get in the crosshairs of a private nuclear company with heavy classified government contracts that is less than a good corporate citizen. As Thomas gets closer to the truth a mercenary plumber named Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) is contracted to tie up loose ends. Thankfully for Thomas (being one of those loose ends) Jedburgh is at a stage in his career where he’s developing a conscience. Interesting trivia: the corporate heavy Jack Bennett is played by Danny Huston the son of Walter Houston who in 1943 starred in a movie called – Edge of Darkness!. Coincidence? Well yes but it’s no coincidence that this pot boiler is boiled down from a British 1985 six part TV mini series as it was very well received. This version, not so much yet despite the initial departures in logic Gibson delivers a good performance of an over-the-hill, nothing-to-lose father going ballistic in some cool action sequences.
The Last Station is a rich insight into the final year of one of the worlds most celebrated authors. War and Peace and Anna Karenina were written by Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) but who knew that the end his own life was an epic drama. Already an adored aristocrat writer living in pre-Bolshevik Russia he none the less embraces communist ideals setting up a “hippie” like commune in Telyatinki with Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) a passionate kindred spirit who is despised by Tolstoy’s wife Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren). She thinks Chertkov is manipulating Leo and robbing her children of their birthright. To spy on one another both the Countess and Chertkov enlist the aid of Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) a young and eager Tolstoy disciple who spends time at the commune when not working directly for the Count at his country estate. Although his sympathies lie with the countess he’s really powerless to come to her aid if her wishes are in conflict with Tolstoy’s, the man that he worships. Plummer who rarely disappoints is right on his game as Tolstoy and if Helen Mirren doesn’t watch out, Last Station may be her next stop for an Oscar nod.
High Life is set in 1983, the year of the automatic teller machine, a revolution in banking and an easy target for four career criminals except for one thing – they only have one brain among them. That belongs to Dick (Timothy Olyphant) who seems only mildly psychopathic compared to his former cell mate Bug (Stephen Eric McIntyre). Bug got Dick fired from his janitor job at the hospital which left them without a supply or funds to support their morphine addiction and the new cash machines seem the victimless crime just waiting to take care of their needs. Their plan requires them to enlist the aid of the light fingered Donnie (Joe Anderson) and pretty boy confidence man Billy (Rossif Sutherland). When hilarious circumstances conspire against them Bug hastily implements a bloody plan B. Oliphant’s subtle efficient acting continues to impress here and is a welcome addition to this Canadian production which has a lot of great white north references from April Wine music to its wintry location (Winnipeg) to Vancouver’s Rossif Sutherland, grandson of Tommy Douglas. However like many worthwhile Canadian productions it has the feel of grant money running out as at 88 minutes it could have been fleshed out a bit. Certainly the writers are talented enough to have given High Life just a little more life.
Also out this weekend:
Police, Adjective
When In Rome
Extraordinary Measures reads like a disease of the week TV movie with desperate parent putting their live on hold and risking everything to procure a miracle for their terminal child. Here the disease is Pompe a form of muscular dystrophy and its victims don’t survive past single digit years. The Parents are and Oregon couple John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell) who have not one but two children afflicted by the disease (not uncommon with Pompe) and running out of time. Their faint hope is Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) an irascible Nebraskan research scientist with a cure but only in theory. What takes the tale out of the realm of commercial filler and worthy of the silver screen treatment is the engaging drama that unfolds. The parent’s agenda is obvious but unlike the objectionable personality of Stonehill, what is not clear at first is his ulterior motive. Like many scientists he lacks business acumen and sees in Crowley a potential for funding. Meantime Crowley is big success in the business of selling so the symbiosis would seem prefect. However egos and agenda’s often bring the two into conflict putting the project in peril as the clock ticks mercilessly. The story is based on true events so you’re pretty sure of the outcome but what makes it play well is the story of how disaster faced head on at every turn was overcome.
Legion has God upset with humanity to the point that he wants to start over from scratch. The last time He was this irritated things got pretty wet but we’re warned that this time the end will be a lot more terrifying. His plan has a flaw in that all bets are off if a certain baby is born to Mohavi Desert trailer trash parents Jeep (Lucas Black) and Charlie (Adrianne Palicki), employees at the Paradise Diner (one of the only shreds of irony in this picture). Why is the baby so important? Who knows, the reasons could be legion. Slumming in the dust with them is grandpa to be Bob (Dennis Quaid). Also slumming is Paul Bettany as the angel Michael who along with Gabriel (Kevin Durand) are supposed to lead the vanguard of platoons of body snatching angels that will morph into baby destroying zombies. Destination - the Paradise Diner. Another problem here, Michael thinks that God is wrong and has decided to foil His plan. He head to the desert with clipped wings to head off the advancing forces with what else - M-16 and up firepower. For some reason the fireworks are temporarily successful. Why? Who knows, the reasons could be legion. Sure Legion starts out cool but for a movie that looks so chilling in the trailers it couldn’t be more disappointing. Thank God that God didn’t pay full price to see this or he really would initiate Armageddon.
Creation is a romantic drama about the origin of the Origin of the Species. Huh? That’s right Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) wrote his revolutionary earth shattering theory in the throes of romantic turmoil. And not romantic in the highs-seas-adventure sense of the word. By the time Darwin put quill to paper he was long passed stumping after turtles and puffins in the Galapagos. Twenty years later in his stately country manor he’s pressed by his agnostic scientific cohorts to publish his data but his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) is worried about religious persecution from a church that she’s aligned with. She also happens to be his first cousin and he’s wracked with guilt that if his theory is right such close breeding may have been responsible for the poor health of two of his children, particularly his stricken oldest child Annie (Martha West) with whom he has numerous therapeutic and cathartic discussions both real and imagined. The film’s pace at times equals that of scientific data being analysed but it remains a fascinating insight not only into a time of absurd beliefs both religious and scientific that was only a few generations ago but also into the unknown life of a household name who despite the feathers he ruffled still lies in Westminster Abbey with the full blessing of the church.
The White Ribbon is a symbol of innocence and purity that are merely superficial in this Teutonic plate-full of visual and thespian delights. In a Deutschland ersatz version of Children of the Corn we’re taken to a rural German village still is a somewhat feudal state run by Church and State through a Baron (Ulrich Tukur) and Pastor (Burghart Klaußner) about a year before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The local school teacher (impressive first timer Ernst Jacobi) narrates the strange series of events that transpire involving sabotage, kidnapping and torture of the local doctor, a pre teen with Downs Syndrome and the Barons son. In the midst of this intrigue we explore the complicated family lives of the residents of these simple surroundings – complications like veiled incest and unfaithful behaviour. Starring a sensational yet unfamous cast (at least to North American audiences) and shot in black and white with subtitles, The White Ribbon is still two and an half hours well spent.
Also out this wekend:
Tooth Fairy
Crazy Heart features Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal doing some of their finest work which is saying something as their work is usually exemplary especially Bridges. Think Jennings-Kristopherson-Haggard and you’ve got Bad Blake (Bridges), a has-been country music legend who long ago succumbed to a hedonistic lifestyle of alcohol and loose women so that at 57 he’s broke and playing every dive between Houston and El Paso that will let him rest on his laurels for a few bucks. He holds in contempt the people who have faith in him the most namely his agent Jack Greene (Paul Herman) and his ex-protégé Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). Not surprisingly about the only one he has a good word for is his favourites bartender Wayne (Robert Duvall), that is until he meets a smitten journalist named Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal). He gives her the scoop and she dishes out the sugar and Bad starts to have feelings that he could only write about before. Is it enough though to get the train wreck he calls a life back on track? The story doesn’t contain a lot of drama but what’s there is subtle and not predictable. T-Bone Burnett, who penned the award winning music for O Brother, Where Art Thou? composed the films original rootsy music which provides one of the few negatives. They keep fading it down to get back to the story and the music is a delight for traditional country fans.
The Lovely Bones stars Saoirse Ronan (so far very impressive in her young career) as Susie Salmon who is just about to come to terms with the awkwardness of her 14 short years when she is raped and murdered by a neighbour, George Harvey (a hard to recognize Stanley Tucci). As month after month passes Susie watches the effect that her passing has on her family from a beautiful limbo, unable to part due to a nagging feeling of unfinished business. As her father Jack (Mark Wahlberg) tries in vain to track down the killer his obsession drives his wife Abigail (Rachel Weisz) away. Her mother Lynn (Susan Sarandon) moves in for some comedy relief and to help cope with younger brother Buckley (Christian Thomas Ashdale) and sister Lindsey (Rose McIver) on whom the father’s obsession rubs off and who finally discovers damning evidence against George Harvey. The Lovely Bones refers to a foundation of strength provided by her death upon which her shattered family could rebuild. It is Lord of the Rings uber director Peter Jackson’s screen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel of the same name that was on the best seller list for a year and although very stylish, well acted. and gorgeous to watch the movie may not be a best seller and if it is it’s not likely to be for very long.
The Spy Next Door has all of the cool choreography that Jackie Chan fans have come to expect. That’s the good news. All of it. The neighbours should have been tipped off to espionage in their community right out of the chute as Chan clearly goes by an alias with the name of “Bob” Ho. He’ a suburban dweller whose main squeeze Gillian (Amber Valletta) conveniently lives next door. She’s cliché clueless about his clandestine job but very aware that her children Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley) and to a much lesser extent Nora (Alina Foley) don’t think much of Bob. He’s about to tell Gillian all on the eve of his retirement from “the Company” when she’s called away on a family emergency and circumstances conspire to leave the three kids in the charge of the much maligned Bob. Parenting proves to be hard enough but then a Russian plot to hold the world hostage pops up and Bob is faced with the added pressure of being pressed back into service while keeping the trio out of the line of fire. Will kids in the audience at least find this entertaining? Not if they clue into how annoying the on screen child actors are. As for entertaining the adults with those kids, what does it say about a film when Billy Ray Cyrus in his worst mullet ever gets the best lines?
The Book of Eli is indeed about a guy named Eli who has a book. Eli (Denzel Washington) is a nomadic ninja adrift in a treacherous post apocalyptic world where he’s forced to live by the sword (mostly) but seems immune to dying by the sword, chainsaw, Uzi, Gatling gun, and a number of other ordinance. Since “the flash” wiped the planet barren he’s been on a 30 year quest heading west with nothing more than his backpack and a frighteningly efficient scimitar/machete and most important a rare version of the King James Bible - rare because it is the only one left. The rest were incinerated as the cause of the holocaust by its survivors but for Eli it remains a source of comfort. For the ruthless but literate Carnegie (Gary Oldman) a copy of that text would be his ticket to manipulating survivors, virtually all poor and ignorant, into submitting to his megalomania - if only he can get his hands one. You know when their paths finally cross there’s going to be more fireworks and sure enough… Despite the relaxation of the doomsday clock, global immolation is getting to be a repetitive theme in recent movies to the point of being cliché. The Book of Eli doesn’t deliver much that’s new even though it has a couple of interesting twists. It seems confused in its message about the good book, and then there’s the addition of red hot Mila Kunis as Solara, Eli’s venture side kick that makes it more confusing. And where did he learn all those cool moves? But hey it’s Denzel Washington in an action movie which, no matter what, his legions of fans will flock to see so no sense preaching to the converted.
Youth in Revolt is the first outing of the new decade for Canada’s affable Michael Cera. Within the past 10 years he’s established himself as Hollywood’s go to guy for the nebbish, virginal but erudite teen and here we go again – sort of. He plays Nick Twisp the 16 year old son of Estelle (a trailer trashy hot Jean Smart) and George Twisp (Steve Buscemi). Nick can’t stay with his father and his new trophy wife Lacey (Ari Graynor) because Estelle lives off of child support and thus needs to have custody of the child. Since their break-up Estelle has hooked up with a litany of losers the latest being Jerry (Zach Galifianakis) who has to take it on the lam for selling junk cars to the US Navy. Nick has no objections since he feels he’ll die a virgin in Oakland and figures a trailer park upstate won’t be much worse. It’s actually a lot better since Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) also lives just a few pads down in an upscale two level mobile home with her religious mother and father (Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh). Sheeni turns out to have pretty eclectic tastes. To Nicks delight she likes Sinatra and she likes Nick. Too bad she has a hunky boyfriend although she does hint that she could be swayed by a French bad boy. That’s all the encouragement Nick needs to clone himself into the moustachioed, chain smoking n’er do well alter ego he calls Francois Dillinger. To his usually uncomfortable surprise when Francois’ delinquent persona takes over good things start to happen for Nick – sort of. This is a nice recovery from Cera’s 2009 Year One as Youth In Revolt will have audiences in stitches. Like last years disappointing Paper Heart, the comedy here is augmented by cute animation but unlike Paper Heart the comedy here is actually funny. Very funny.
Leap Year is the story of Anna (Amy Adams) and Jeremy (Adam Scott) a New York power couple although Anna, rather than a Blackberry would prefer a ring for her left hand. After four years however Jeremy who is a brilliant surgeon is a little thick on this point. When he heads to Ireland for a medical convention an exasperated Anna, going on the outcome of a family fable told by her father Jack (a momentary John Lithgow), decides to follow and Sadie Hawkins Jeremy on February 29th with a marriage proposal. Gang disasters find her stranded literally on the shores of Eire where she hires Declan (Matthew Goode) an obnoxious local barkeep to chauffeur her to Dublin. As more disasters ensue, sparks fly between these sparring travellers which leaves Anna with a tough decision to make. The Academy award greased acting chops of Amy Adams easily carry this picture and go a long way to creating believable chemistry between her and Matthew Goode who, judging by the tittering females behind me in the theatre doesn’t have to go very far (certainly not as far as Dublin) to charm most women. Leap Year doesn’t require a leap of faith that no surprises are to be expected. What is unexpected is being charmed by such a predictable movie.
Daybreakers