Alice in Wonderland is the latest from kinky director Tim Burton using advanced digital 3D technology to produce a lush hybrid of Lewis Carroll's beloved stories “Alice through the Looking Glass” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. As with many adaptations in the past, characters are exchanged or blurred like the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts while other characters are introduced like the fierce Jabberwocky which is only alluded to in the books famous nonsensical poem. This is a much matured Alice (Mia Wasikowska) who at age 19 falls down a rabbit hole to escape an unwelcome marriage proposal only to revisit a long forgotten world. Here the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) with help from Stayne the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) controls the kingdom via fear of unleashing the vicious Jabberwocky (Christopher Lee). The other creatures like Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) have eagerly awaited the return of Alice so that she might slay the Jabberwocky with the vorpal sword and restore power to the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Yet again Burton taps the copious talent of Johnny Depp to play the Mad Hatter who is only mad when channelling Ed Wynn but turns lucid while expressing himself in a Scottish Brogue. There is also a quasi romantic vibe between him and Alice that Lewis Carroll probably never dreamed of. Disney/Pixar do their usual magic with Burtons creative juices to make an exciting spectacle that like most of Burtons work and unlike most Disney productions may be a little too intense for the very young.
The Ghost Writer Stars Ewan McGregor as a biographer appropriately unnamed and in over his head when with a lot of cajoling by his friend Sidney Kroll (Timothy Hutton)he’s hired by John Maddox (a hairless Jim Belushi) as the nom de plume for Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) a very Tony Blair like ex British Prime Minister whose former ghost writer is recently quite literally a ghost due to drowning. The audience starts to doubt the accidental nature of his passing far sooner than our anonymous scribe does but the pieces start to fall in place as he observes the interaction of Mrs Lang (Olivia Williams) and Amelia Bly (BC’s Kim Cattrall with a convincing British accent) at the States side eastern seaboard bunker of the former PM and his entourage. As Adam Lang becomes the target of the International Court for war crimes our writer gets in jeopardy by confronting former CIA recruiter and Lang college mate Paul Emmett (Tom Wilkinson with a passable American accent). The Ghost Writer is a fabulously witty political thriller that may have as much to do with politics off the screen as on. It seems more than a coincidence that director Roman Polanski suddenly gets arrested for a nasty crime decades ago just as he’s receiving awards for a film that says “you think what I did was bad, look what these guys got away with”.
A Prophet s from France and stars Tahar Rahim as Malik El Djebena, a street level criminal and not even good at that judging from the physical scars he bears. He’s suddenly no longer a juvie and lands a six year stretch in a French maximum security prison which on the surface is remarkably cordial. However there is an underlying power struggle between the dominant Corsicans led by César Luciani (Niels Arestrup) and a growing Muslim population. Being of Arabian/Corsican mix is a hindrance rather than a helpful coincidence for Malik until the Corsicans need to dispatch an Arabic inmate and force Malik to act as assassin. As a reward his stay in prison gets easier although he’s forever haunted by the ghost of his victim. Meantime this illiterate 19 year old proves to be a fast learner and not just through prison rehab, and as the prison political dynamic shifts he uses that momentum to seize power. This film won the jury prize at Cannes and the quality is definitely there but maybe there was an all too real feeling in this country slightly xenophobic when it comes to Middle Eastern immigration. It’s also nominated for Best Foreign Language film at this year’s Oscars but perhaps like so many other such remarkable films should really be competing for best picture.
Also out this weekend:
Last Train Home
New York, I Love You
Frozen
Brooklyn's Finest
Cop Out shouldn’t be as likeable a formulaic cop action film as it is but when you add Bruce Willis’ Die Hardness to Tracy Morgan’s read-the-phone-book-and-be-funny delivery, a multitude of sins are covered up. Willis is the bad cop Jimmy Monroe (although not as bad as he would have you believe) while Morgan is Paul Hodges the goofy one whose want to be badder is almost as great as his paranoia over infidelity by his innocent wife Debbie (Rashida Jones). The two have unorthodox practices that include interviewing suspect with plagiarized movie dialogue. As is usually the case their non conformist actions get them in hot water and here it means suspension for a month. This is a particular hardship for Jimmy with an expensive wedding upcoming for his daughter Ava (Michelle Trachtenberg). His attempt to hock his prized baseball card gets him unwillingly linked to Dave (Seann William Scott revisiting Steve Stifler) a smart ass snatch and grab thief who turns out to be instrumental in leading the duo full circle to the nasty Latino gang responsible for their earlier dismissal. Director Kevin (silent Bob) Smith may be too fat to fly but his burgeoning size in Hollywood allowed him to land Jason Lee and Kevin Pollack in minor roles and more importantly gave him the clout to lure Willis and Morgan to this below par project.
The Crazies is a remake of a squirmy 1973 George A. Romero movie which this time around adds the capable acting chops of Timothy Olyphant to the mix. He’s David Dutton the sheriff of a sleepy Midwest farming town where the pace is a little mind numbing – but that is not what severely numbs the minds of townsfolk in a geometric progression. Something is turning the villagers into murderous zombies and as usual with these gore fests the culprit is either a rogue virus strain or a toxic government conspiracy. Here it’s actually a bit of both. As families are robotically torn apart Auschwitz style by anonymous soldiers in gas masks David is separated from his pregnant wife Judy (Radha Mitchell) but he makes it his mission to reunite with her at all costs. Then it’s survival any way possible against not only the all of a sudden ubiquitous army but also the stricken populace they seem only too keen on destroying. As splatter fests go The Crazies oozes out a fair amount of tension and fans of the genre won’t be disappointed.
The Messenger stars Ben Foster as Saff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a Purple Heart war hero stateside and almost recovered from his wounds. With only a few months left on his contract he’s assigned the duty of informing the next of kin about recent casualties overseas. His C.O. in this less than desirable assignment is the swaggering Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson in his best effort yet that understandably has earned him an Oscar nomination). Through their almost daily missions we see the casualty count extrapolate on the home front as lives are instantly altered with the relaying of their news. As the two unlikely friends become close we discover that there are inner demons at play with both men and in Will’s case that includes Kelly (Jena Malone) the one that got away but never left. His life takes on some balance when he starts a relationship (despite the taboo nature of it expressed by Tony) with Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton) one of the bereaved with whom they recently met. With an academy award nomination for best screenplay The Messenger is yet another in a growing list of films that delve into the worst of current conflicts that the USA is embroiled in yet pays homage to front line soldiers at risk. This one may be the best of the bunch.
Shutter Island is adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name. Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a Massachusetts Marshal haunted by WW 2 concentration camp atrocities who in 1954 along with new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) is sent to investigate a case involving an escaped patient named Rachel (played intermittently by Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson) from a hospital for the criminally insane. Since the facility run by creepy doctors Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Naehring (Max von Sydow) is located on a remote Atlantic outcropping Rachel’s departure is truly a mystery. As we find out Teddy has an agenda in taking the case as he’s also haunted by the untimely death of his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams) at the hands of an arsonist named Laeddis (Montreal’s Elias Koteas). Things get unnerving when it appears that the island is slowly turning out to be a snare for Teddy. Shutter Island marks the return to the director’s chair for the legendary Martin Scorsese who has the creds to render the service of Hollywood’s elite with just one phone call but for the 4th time has cherry picked DiCaprio as his leading man. As usual Leo proves to be more than the right man for the job. The film culminates with a huge twist that can be figured out well in advance if you halfway pay attention but everyone has fun adopting a Boston accent and Scorsese seems to have borrowed the cellist from Jaws to dominate tense scenes and turn the production into a Kafkaesque salute to film noir.
Defendor has Woody Harrelson again playing an off kilter, borderline certifiable character that is under arrest and ordered into psychiatric evaluation with Dr. Park (Sometimes Vancouverite Sandra Oh) because he vandalized a dry cleaner. Their session reveals that this is just one of an array of acts that he performs as a self imposed crime fighter. By day he’s Arthur Poppington a construction flag but by night as Defendor he patrols metropolitan streets in black tights, storm trooper helmet painted on black mask and an antiquated video system looking to right wrongs on the mean streets with a unique array of organic weapons like angry hornets and lemon juice. He becomes the asexual champion of Kat (Kat Dennings) a teen runaway hooker that he thinks will lead him to a crime boss who is his preconceived nemesis. What he gets is ensnarled in police corruption involving Chuck Dooney (Montreal’s Elias Koteas) that results in some severe bruising for one imaginary super hero who refuses to back down. There’s a fair amount of charm in this movie that could be called Don Quixote light.
Also out this weekend:
Reel Injun
The Wolfman is not an homage to Bob Smith, the universally known DJ from the mid 20th century who also adopted the last name Jack. It is an homage of sorts though to an iconic horror figure from roughly that same era. Benicio Del Toro is Lawrence Talbot who in 1891 is summoned home to the English country estate of his estranged father Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) by Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt) the fiancée of Ben Talbot (Simon Merrells), Lawrence’s savagely murdered brother. Anthony Hopkins is as usual a bright light but like in 1993’s remake Bram Stokers Dracula he fights a lonely uphill battle. In the process of investigating the gruesome fraternal killing Lawrence survives a werewolf attack which leaves him destined for a new wardrobe and a wicked five o’clock shadow every full moon. According to gypsy legend Lawrence’s salvation is predicated on the love of a woman which necessitates a sudden but dubious attraction between Lawrence and Gwen - really we’ve seen more chemistry between Fox News and the Obama administration. While CGI has allowed today’s melodrama purveyors to have werewolves morph into a creature with a truly canine snout here the lycanthropy (at least facially) looks like the demon spawn of make-up artistry that’s over a half century old. So for purists there is a moonbeam of good news here but for everyone else it’s not much to howl about.
The Horse Boy is the inspirational documentary of Kristin Neff an American university professor with a Ph.D. in Human Development and Rupert Isaacson her British émigré travel writer husband and their unique and heroic effort to address the often daunting autism of Rowan their heart grabbing four year old. Rupert who has a history with horses and a history with shamanism (most of it he wrote himself) was surprised to find an equine simpatico with Rowan and a neighbours horse. Because of his African research with the Bushmen of the Kalahari Rupert postulated on combining the two as therapy for Rowan and the one place on earth that reveres both horses and witch doctors with equal measure is Mongolia. Kristin gamely goes along with the unorthodox scheme to blindly go to that wind swept steppe but can two highly educated people really take such a leap of faith? The answer is yes and with some very surprising results.
Love and Savagery is a starkly beautiful Canadian production filmed on the coast of Ireland. Michael (Allan Hawco) is a part time Newfoundland poet who in 1969 exchanged one rock for another, heading to Ireland to follow his passion. With this in mind it should come as no surprise that he’s a geologist but his passion for all things igneous is usurped when he loses his heart to Cathleen (Sarah Greene) a pretty fishing village barmaid. Unfortunately the fossils he’s studying aren’t the only ones in town, there’s also stiff Catholic mores dominating the landscape and all the townsfolk are churchgoing. Things get rough in a much more physical sense for Michael when he tries to ignore the fact that Cathleen is earmarked to become a nun. Despite the constant bruising, sparks fly constantly between these two but does Michael have much of a chance when his rival for Cathleen’s love is none other than God? Love and Savagery looks up front like a guy’s adventure but it turns out to be the unconventional empowerment of a maturing young woman.
Also this weekend:
Valentine's Day
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Dear John is the cliché opening salvo of a letter to a soldier in uniform but not in country with heartbreaking news from a sweetheart back home saying that the relationship is over. This seems hardly likely with crazy-mad-for-each-other John Tyree (Channing Tatum and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) who meet on the shores of South Carolina in the summer of 2001. He’s back home on surfing R&R from the Marine’s special forces and she’s between college years on her family’s annual trip to the seaside and after only two weeks they’re passionately in love. As she heads back to class and he gets deployed overseas but the plan is to stay in touch until his tour is up in 12 months and then reunite. When 9-11 happens John feels compelled to re-up and Savannah plays along for only so long before posting her Dear John (the reasons for which we eventually discover are not exactly logical). This plays like The Hurt Locker meets The Notebook and for good reason since Nicholas Sparks who authored The Notebook also wrote the Dear John novel. Although it’s a predictable romantic drama there are a few surprises especially in the subplot with John’s mildly autistic father played by the always solid Richard Jenkins. Tatum has upped his acting chops considerably and the chemistry between he and Seyfried is palpable. However the saccharin final 15 minutes does leave a slightly sour taste.
Saint John of Las Vegas has Steve Buscemi’s grill all up in your grill for a full 85 minutes. That much orthodontic neglect might be a little too repulsive if he weren’t such a wonderful performer and the peripheral cast only further enhances this smart but dark comedy. Buscemi is John, a compulsive gambler whose luck ran out in Vegas so he blew town, not stopping until he ran out of gas which landed him in Albuquerque. He scores a job with an insurance company and life seems to improve especially when he starts to connect with Jill (Sarah Silverman) the happy face loving flirty girl in the next cubicle. Unfortunately lotto tickets refuse to allow him to totally break free of his gambling addiction and when he approaches Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage) his diminutive but randy boss for a raise he’s put on the company fraud squad and his first assignment is a potentially bogus claim in his own personal Gomorrah – Las Vegas. Things get worse with Virgil (Romany Malco) his sullen and creepy mentor who does little to assuage the dread he feels heading back to sin city. Fans of funky comedy won’t be gambling choosing this sure bet.
Also out this weekend:
From Paris With Love
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