Film Review --Pride and Glory

Pride and Glory
directed by Gavin O’Connor
written by Joe Carnahan and Gavin O’Connor
story by Gavin O’Connor, Gregory O’Connor, and Robert Hopes
starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Lake Bell, Jennifer Ehle, John Ortiz, Frank Grillo, Ramon Rodriguez



Sometimes a film can be awash with cliches and still generate legitimate feelings of great depth and lasting purity. In this film, its true that nothing presented is particularly original and much of it has been seen many times before. Having said that, there is something undeniably poignant about this production and all the formulaic measures lose out to a gripping, intense cop drama that shows the perils of institutionalized violence and how easily corruption can come to the fore.

This is the story of a family of officers who have seen their share of bad deeds gone wrong and the wreckage of lives left behind. Francis Tierney Sr. (Voight) and his two sons Francis Jr. (Emmerich) and Ray (Norton) are all NYPD blue along with Jimmy Egan (Farrell) who is married to Tierney Sr.’s daughter Megan (Bell). As the film opens four cops have been found shot to death and the trail points to the elusive Angel Tezo (Rodriguez). The film slowly peels away the layers as the law works to get to their man with as much alacrity as possible.

This is a very human drama and we learn quite a bit about what makes each of these men tick. Ray has been resigned to a desk because of some untoward incident that landed him in court several years ago. He is convinced by his father to head the task force created to solve the cop killing crime. He’s reticent and reluctantly allows himself to be sucked into the mire and the further he goes in the more disturbing are his findings. He is a man driven by principal and represents the tried and true cop who simply wants to get to the bottom of things as quickly as possible. Francis Jr. is a commanding officer and the men who were gunned down were his men. He himself is tormented by the condition of his ailing wife Abby (Ehle) who is dying of cancer and spends a considerable amount of time in hospital. Jimmy is a hard nosed cop and the more we get to know him the more we realize that his brand of morality strays far outside of the lines of what is commonly acceptable. He’s unscrupulous and brazen but he genuinely adores his wife and small children. He’s a classic contradiction who is designed to portray the many possible aspects of any given personality. Francis Sr. is a leader of men. He’s soft spoken but relatively out of the loop. He doesn’t want to see what is straight in front of him because such realizations are exceedingly costly.

Yet it is far more dangerous to turn a blind eye once the facts start checking out. The entire department comes into question once a series of events begin to be analyzed by Ray and others. The piecing together of the puzzle regarding the night the cops lost their lives is handled with great care and an attention to the emotional agonies being played out. What truly rattles is the simple fact that such circumstances exist and how hard they come down on those who are simply attempting to do their jobs. It’s one of those situations that makes a sympathetic person worry over the nature of such scenarios. Corruption is a difficult pill to swallow for those who retain even a modicum of belief in the efficacy of their local police department. Corrupt cops are nothing new and in fact seem to have become ubiquitous in a number of films of recent vintage including Lakeview Terrace, Street Kings, Righteous Kill and The Departed.

There are scenes here suggestive of great cruelty that elucidate the mind of an individual who has allowed himself to be dragged along such a sordid course that its difficult to reconcile his behavior with the sweetness he displays on other occasions. Still, such is the nature of how far he has fallen and how easy it is to rationalize such behavior when you are caught up in it. This behavior is presented in a matter of fact fashion and suggests terrible possibilities that are in fact realities in far more places than we care to admit. Francis Jr. admits to allowing certain measures of grift as long as his men get their jobs done. But he remains ignorant of just how far some of them are taking the liberties he has bestowed upon them. He is not part of the underlying nefarious schemes and only learns of them once the evidence begins to pile up. Yet he is a strong, upstanding man with personal integrity that ascends far above his personal gratification. Subsequently he takes a step that is noble, princely and thoroughly necessary. It’s a sacrifice of the highest rank despite the inevitable fallout which follows.

Often this film feels like an requiem for all those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. There is a tenderness here that stems from, I think, a deep reverence for the special place our society reserves for those who have paid the ultimate price for protecting and serving their community. The blight that threatens to consume the force is slowly but surely eradicated as the film progresses culminating in a form of just desserts that allow for a brand of closure.

There is tremendous sadness throughout this film. From the melancholy that covers Ray like a shroud to the brave fight put up by Abby there are moments of true heartbreak that drive the film toward its necessary conclusion. Each character seems to be fighting something or other and it feels as if they imagine that if they give in they themselves will be swarmed under into oblivion. This is most true when Francis Sr. is being a father. He transfers one hard line for another and pleads with Ray to take a step that nobody should ever have to take. He is horrifically torn between his duty to his sons as a man they can trust and respect and his obligations to his profession. The tension plays on Voight’s face as his character attempts to maneuver himself through a field of snakes and scorpions.

The performances in this film are all uniformly excellent. Jennifer Ehle has but four scenes but she demonstrates a resolve that is as refreshing as it is difficult to contemplate. Edward Norton gives yet another nuanced turn as a man who discovers truths that are deeply unsettling and that challenge the very foundations upon which he has placed his trust. Colin Farrell is a brooding, unharnessed mess of fears and frustrations. Jimmy is a ragged character who cannot help but take advantage of certain circumstances when he discovers them to be to his advantage. Farrell is perfectly cast as the tenacious, fiery messenger of despair and terrible desire. Jon Voight gives a totemic performance here that reverberates throughout the film. Noah Emmerich is a thrill to watch as his character juggles his career and the trauma at home. Emmerich is the real heart of this film and enlightens with his deft, agile performance.

Overall, this film may indeed consist of myriad cliches but it works through them and ultimately the result is a deeply engrossing film that projects emotional truths that ring through to the conclusion. There is a wounded sensibility that haunts the film as it relates a story that profound in its familiarity. Each character is complex and their actions reflect their own peculiar moralities. Corruption is nothing new in cinema and either is the struggle between the order of the old boys network represented by those who have allowed certain infractions to slip through the cracks for years (We protect our own) and everyone else who simply wants to do the right thing and go home to their wives and kids. This film does little narratively to shed much light on this struggle but it nevertheless is a thoughtful reminder of the tenuous grip most of us have on who we think we are and what we might become.

Film Review--Religulous

Religulous
directed by Larry Charles
emceed by Bill Maher



It’s tough believing in anything these days. One is constantly forced to explain away contradictions that ultimately prove that no belief system no matter how sacrosanct truly holds up under scrutiny. One is left with a poorly strung together series of cliches that make skeptics giggle because they are so certain in their own belief system that posits that all religions are based on fallacies and should not be entertained by those who adhere to a strictly rational position. Enter Bill Maher. This is a fiercely funny man who has made his name lambasting every bastion of good, moral taste from his days as a petulant punk stand up comedian. In this film his pompous blatherings come off as both funny and mean spirited. He sort of resembles a weasel and his work here exploits such a comparison.

Charles emerged on the Anti-sitcom “Seinfeld” and graduated to directed the mildly amusing box office debut of Borat, another uncouth daemon who takes interviewers hostage and ransacks their soft spots for fun and profit. Maher certainly fits the bill here and his poking and prodding technique works for the most part to uncloak the pious and reveal the depths of uncertainty that undermines their own firmly held convictions. In short, Maher only proves to his targets that there is no legitimate way to justifying any belief whatsoever and much of it is nothing more than fables and fairy tales that even the dullest child can see straight through.

Maher takes us on a trip around the world to show us how absurd it is to waste one’s time giving credence to something that is impossible to prove. His technique mostly is to capture a person representing this or that religion and egg them on into revealing that they don’t exactly have a firm grasp on why they believe one system is more valid than any other. He goes to a trucker church filled with the exact type of person Borat enjoys lampooning so much. They are fundamentalist christian types who more than likely shouted “Kill Him” and “Traitor” at McCain rallies. They are horrid stereotypes and Maher knows this. Their understanding of the complexities of religious matters are no doubt very scant. They simply believe in the absolute validity of the bible as a uniform text that ultimately justifies all of their beliefs. Maher seems to be having a gay old time deriding them to the point that a rather corpulent man leaves in a huff because he senses accurately that Maher is taking direct umbrage with this man’s god. And he is. And he’s not even subtle about his scorn.

At first viewing I tended to see this film as merely the ranting of a tired little man whose real claim to fame is as an irritant that continues to plague no matter what measures are employed to eradicate it. I still felt this way until five minutes ago when I started writhing over this review. Somehow I have realized that all it is doing is showing the world that belief is not something that can be externalized in a way that makes perfect sense to an outsider. My real problem with this film is that it refuses to recognize that there are many individuals who allow themselves to be guided by a presence or a force that they interpret to be much larger than themselves and worthy of communion or worship or whatever other way they interpret it to be. It doesn’t separate faith from religion and chooses only to lambast the visual cues that people mistakenly take for the more esoteric aspects of their personal interpretations of matters of the eternal philosophy.


Religion is an easy target and the very construct of a binding set of beliefs that are rigidly held lends itself to lampooning. To those who cannot or will not succumb to the temptation to be so held, the sheer idea that such a formulation exists is seen as moronic and beneath contempt. In this film we meet George Coyne, an astronomer priest who firmly accepts as reality evolution and other bastions of heretical scientific inquiry. Maher allows this learned man to speak because he represents a way of thinking that is acceptable to him. Maher also allows Father Reginald Foster, who takes biblical literalism to be some kind of sick joke, the opportunity to express his views without being censored. The same goes for a group of former Mormons who with Maher cheerfully discusses some of what appears to outsiders to be the more baffling aspects of that religion. Indeed, Maher treats these individuals with great care and openly displays where his sympathies lie.

The same can not be said for everyone else in the film. From a man who claims to be the second coming of Jesus (his ministry reaches over 100,000 people) to the Jesus look alike who reenacts the crucifixion while onlookers cheer and guffaw–there is a sense that the film is taking great pleasure in denouncing the legitimacy of Christ as a living man. In fact, Maher states that Jesus never existed and the film points out that the Egyptian god Horus’s trajectory mirrors Jesus’s biography nearly point by point. But this is only something scholars or religion or zany half Jew comedians even bother to concern themselves with.

There are moments that annoy me. The treatment of Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss is unfortunate. His position is against Zionism and the Jewish State. It is clear that he has quite a lot to say regarding his position but Maher keeps interrupting him and eventually just walks away. Also Mark Pryor, a representative of the group Jews for Jesus is ridiculed when he claims to have had personal experiences he considers miraculous. When asked for an example Pryor explains how he once was compelled by what he considers to be the voice of God to pray for rain and stick his hand out the window. The fact that rain came immediately convinces him that God was answering his prayer. Maher scoffs at this and labels it a mere coincidence but his response to the anecdote comes off as mean and unnecessary.

What’s missing here is any in depth analysis of belief that isn’t infected with the overarching need to reduce it to comedic talking points. The fact is that religion and faith are complicated and cannot be explained away by the simplistic attempt to refute them by outsiders who have not shared the same experiential events that have solidified them in the minds and hearts of adherents.
Still, there are moments of genuine hilarity as the contradictions are unmasked and the reasons for clinging to religion are shown to be held rather tenuously at best. That is the real aim of this film. It wants clearly to demonstrate how since there is no way of knowing the truth about any religious position then the only legitimate way to approach it is agnostically. What’s interesting here is that Maher claims to be coming from a position of doubt which makes him a hard agnostic but his surety in his own belief system suggests he’s more of an atheist. It’s a contradiction that puts Maher in the same boat as everyone else that he is trying so desperately to sink.

Overall, this film does bring some fascinating questions to light. It can ultimately be forgiven for Maher’s snarkish, smarmy approach to most of his subjects simply based on the nature of these questions. If nothing else it gives us an opportunity to challenge our own belief systems and perhaps transform them into something that is not hogtied by traditions that we cannot ably justify for ourselves, our heritage, or our kinfolk. One of the tragedies of this film is its lack of scope and depth. There are numerous legitimate spiritual paths that are not explored perhaps due to their obscurity. Still it would have been quite enlightening to see more Paganism or tribal heathenism investigated. Nature religions, Wicca, and the such would have shed light on the overall arch of the monotheistic religious traditions that are tackled in the film. Also, the tired, flatulent “satanist” who is profiled is yet another sad example by main stream media to represent a system of thought that is in no way religious but holds principals that this man clearly does not possess. It would have been a joy to see Maher attempt to weasel his way out of an interview with a bona fide Satanic Priest.

Film Review--Revolver

Revolver
written and directed by Guy Ritchie
adapted by Luc Besson
starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, Andre Benjamin, Mark Strong, Francesca Annis, Terence Maynard

If any film has ever demanded multiple viewings just to get through the tangled ruckus that it presents in ever cranny, this one certainly fits the bill. It’s loose, contrived, arrogant and thoroughly despondent of anything remotely cohesive. Yet it strives for something esoteric that stuns the mind into a strange place where worlds inevitably collapse upon themselves and nothing is ceremoniously sorted. It’s an agony that traps the unwitting into the terrible excesses of their own ego and rewards the effort to break clean free and start again with a new and more intoxicating set of rules.

In this torture chamber Jake Green is a man who must feel cheated out of the seven years he has just given of himself in some dank, unforgiving cell. Inside he is flanked on each side by a chess master and a con. They have developed a system for cheating any game and pass their intel back and forth using Jake as some sort of elevated middleman. Through all this Jake learns the system and is wounded when their promises to take him along fall through. He is finally released two years later seeking revenge on overtanned Macha, the man he holds responsible for his incarceration. He also realizes he’s been cleaned out of his riches. No problem, he uses the system to acquire a massive torrent of wealth through various gambling efforts at a number of casinos. The owners of these establishments fear him because it just doesn’t seem possible that one man can be so damn good.

So, it comes on like a traditional narrative where one man seeks to right the wrongs that have so afflicted him for such a considerable length of time. Time he will never get back although one is left to wonder just exactly what time means in this film. It’s never clear just who Jake is or trying to be and a perpetual stream of torments in the guise of inner dialog do not seem to clear up the picture with any alacrity. What we have is a conflict of the ego–enslavement to its clutching demonism–that haunts the film at every turn. It’s a sadistic game reminiscent of Philip Ridley’s The Reflecting Skin where mad secrets are buried in tune to the awakening that never quite resolves the myriad issues at play.

So, the necessary action filters through and bodies fall in step with the rhythm of confusion and regret. Macha puts a hit on Jake and he is rescued by two occult figures named Zach (Pastore) and Avi (Benjamin) who all but force him to turn over his cash so they can siphon money from the careless and unwitting. Jake is taken along to terribly sad sights where desperate men sabotage their futures to make payments that only prove to dig them further in the pit. Jake also learns that he has three days to live due to a rare blood ailment and has been instructed by his new friends that he will not die if he continues his generous financing of their enterprise.

This film almost defies review after a single casual viewing. It’s simply impossible to fully grasp every con, every angle, and the darkening succulence that is revealed so passingly on the screen. There are intricacies here at play that move beyond the mere experiencing. There is carnality in the shape of the easiest of asides. The film uses quotes that are directly implicated in the plot to further it in a direction that begs for martyrs of a stifling age who know the meaning of cruel measures of neglect and terminal woe. This certainly feels like something new as films of this nature generally stick to the plan and do not attempt to fog the viewer with existential crisis and what I am told is references to Kabbala or other variants of Jewish Mysticism. The symbols are present to be sure but perhaps any inference might by the work of over eager conspiracists who are forever cursed to connect the dots. Regardless, this is a spiritually-themed film that deals heavily with issues of self torment, proscribed agonies of the soul, and phases of abject belittlement sourcing from the eye of the ego.

Yes, this is a psychological tumble that exploits that disciplines sacred cows. The ego is the enemy here because it insists on convincing the Self that they are one and the same. So, Jake stumbles about until he finally catches on to this ultimate con. He plays chess with a master because it is the only way to improve his game. Likewise he learns all the nuances of the con to make himself harder and more attuned to the dynamics he must learn to love.

Macha is a truly tormented character choked off from his Self by his own insistence to cling to the Ego’s slick promises that it forever fails to honor. He’s cold and spinning, never sure where the enemy is hiding simply because it is hiding in his head and he is incapable of banishing it altogether. Haunting every being in this film is the unseen specter of a man known as Sam Gold. He allegedly is the one to whom all deals originate and in fact is the ultimate power player. All games are played in accordance to his rules and he determines the structure of every endeavor.

So, the terrors of the mind are brought clean and examined with a scythe that startles the consciousness into a rarified air of comprehension that is denied by the ego’s tyrannical hold on the Self. Jake runs through a cycle of determination that ultimately leads him into a novel space where thoughts are corralled and formulated into their proper place. This is a film about stilling the mind and calming the internal sea that bashes about in a blind fury designed to keep the Self off balance for eternity. It is moving beyond attachment and seeing the void for what it really is.

The performances in this film offer up a range of emotional vitality that comes through in every frame. Jason Statham is as good as he’s ever been in this film as he documents his character’s pressing need for answers in a realm that is not particularly friendly to them. Andre Benjamin presents a fabled aristocratic venom that his character ultimately uses to fuel his fascination with the intricacies that are behind the conquering of any con, any game. Ray Liotta is a thrilling psychopathic messenger who slowly succumbs to the beast knawing away at his fevered brain. Liotta brings a type of blistering agony as his character struggles to right himself in the face of so much delirium that he himself has helped foster.

Overall, this film teases the brain and then bashes it into quiet submission without first bothering to offer any hope of recompense for the abuse. It is mangled and fractured and it feels as if one has experienced a brain peel by the end. It is a magical mystery tour of beauty, corruption and sweet, delicate decay. It proves to be an agile thriller searching for any other vein to inject its pretty poison into and the result is a giddy high that needs to be experienced again and again for the full effects to start kicking. I certainly do not understand it altogether but it kept me entranced long enough to guarantee that I’ll be revisiting its sacred halls soon enough.

Film Review--Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married
directed by Johnathan Demme
written by Jenny Lumet
starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mather Zickal, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George, Tunde Adebimpe, Debra Winger, Jerome Le Page



If you are ever released from an institution the very last people you should be around are your family. Unfortunately for Kym (Hathaway), she pretty much is forced to face them as her older sister Rachel (DeWitt) is planning a massive wedding and Kym feels obligated to attend. After nine months in rehab Kym decides to take the big stumbling first step out in front of most her family and a gaggle of guests who all seem to know a bit about Kym’s tortured past.

This really is an exquisite turn by Anne Hathaway who creates a character so delicately wounded that it’s impossible to truly comprehend the depth of her sorrow. Hathaway allows the viewer into the tangled mess that has become Kym’s life and the effect is heartbreaking yet deeply entrancing. It’s mostly conveyed with a slight glance or a half, uncommitted smile. When the camera is on Hathaway this seems like an important film. But it also has to be about the wedding and all the madness surrounding it. At times it feels as if Kym’s story is sacrificed to the very pressing need of showing a truly liberal, international crowd doing everything to prove that they are truly embracing of the universal brotherhood of man. This is a film that certainly wants to say something about race relations by presenting a scenario where an interracial couple meet and fall in love. It’s a veritable utopia of multiculturalism, way too much dancing, and way too much food.

The major obstacle to any stasis in Kym’s life is a tragic family event that happened when she was sixteen. It was horrific and Kym was astoundingly high when it occurred. She was supposed to be in charge that day and her lapse in judgment cost the family a loved one and they seem still years later to harbor feelings of judgment for Kym. She certainly feels persecuted and paranoid and has a terrible time relating to her family. Numerous scenes capture a look that expresses nothing less than a desire to be far, far away. The problem is however that she also feels an overwhelming need to perpetually tell her story over and again as if by doing so she can reduce it somehow and imagine it is someone else’s story. But it isn’t and she knows this. She acts out in front of her family in an effort to alienate them so she can feel truly wretched and therefore undeserving of forgiveness.

Early on it’s apparent that there is great tension between Rachel and Kym. From Rachel’s point of view Kym is doing everything she can to take the spotlight for herself and Rachel despises her for it. The film does a great job in conveying these difficult moments between siblings and just how impossible it is for each of them to reach a place of grace and understanding.

For whatever reason, the film makers decided to create a scene lasting nearly twenty minutes and shoot it in a tiny space where nothing substantial happens whatsoever. It is a pre wedding dinner sequence and countless people are filmed offering their congratulations. It’s nauseating and claustrophobic and I truly understood the urgency to escape as fast as possible. It seemed to finally come to a stop with Kym taking the mic and nakedly proceeding to weigh the gathering down with her myriad issues regarding her addiction and subsequent treatment. But then it just picked up again for a few agonizing minutes before the next outdoor scene. This technique is repeated later when the entire party seems to have gathered in the kitchen and a contest erupts to see who can load the dishwasher in the quickest time. Again, it’s being forced in a small space watching people do something that has absolutely no meaning in terms of the plot and it just won’t stop. The only redemption in the scene comes at the end when the crowd disperses leaving Kym alone sitting in a chair with her back to the camera. Rachel’s fiancé Sidney (Adebimpe) approaches her and gently places his hand on her back. It’s such a simple moment but it says everything about the genuineness of Rachel’s need as well as Sidney’s great empathy and understanding.

In many ways Kym does not behave like an adult. Indeed, many of her tantrums and outbursts are more reminiscent of a teen-ager than anything else. She longs to be the center of everything and quite enjoys being talked about however scornful the dialog may be. There are allusions to anorexia combined with drug abuse that led to her cycle of dysfunction and several hospital stays. When she rattles on about her sickness its as if she’s prideful of it in some strange way.

Throughout this film there is tremendous sorrow and anguish on Kym’s face but also defiance. Indeed, the complexity of emotional states presented in this film are reminders of the strain that this forced encounter has necessitated. Kym is not in a state where she can be relieved of her guilt and torment by sitting in enclosed spaces with people she doesn’t feel she can trust. It is apparent at various moments that she senses that the walls are closing in on her. She is desperate and needy and takes no solace in either the concerns of her embattled father or the occasional reassuring words that trickle down to her.

The contrast between Kym and Rachel is clearly defined. We are to congratulate Rachel for her well structured life–marriage, child, well-paying job. She’s a beacon of normalcy and has readily taken her place in the pecking order. Kym, on the other hand, has tasted oblivion and has systematically railed against stifling, pedestrian social norms and seems unwilling to accept the niceties that are an inherent aspect of adjusted social grooming. It isn’t clear just what she’s done to fill in the void created by whatever junk she was injecting into her system. She isn’t portrayed as particularly artistic and seems to show little or no motivation to do anything particularly constructive. In short she is devoid of that almost blind optimism that afflicts so many as they make those initial inroads into society.

As mentioned Anne Hathaway is phenomenal in every scene she’s in. She deserves to be put on the short list for possible Oscar nominations with this role when the time comes. Rosemarie DeWitt stands firm and delivers a solid performance that resonates throughout the film. Rachel deftly reflects Kym’s anger right back at her and refuses to give any ground. This actually proves to be helpful in the end and suggests that a certain type of severity is often necessitated to jar certain types out of their apathetic states. Bill Irwin is startlingly good as the Dad Paul. He conveys his characters stress as well as his rather odd touches of playfulness if not outright glee. It’s a nice contrast to the brooding hysteria that threatens to take the house and the entire wedding party down with it. Tunde Adebimpe gives a tender, unaffected performance and clearly allows his character’s warmth and emotional agility shine in this part. His performance is quiet, unassuming and gravely effective at demonstrating how nobility and integrity can be conveyed with very little dialog.

Overall, this film has many flaws that tend to distract from what seems to be the core story being put forth here. It’s a film about family conflict and misdirected anger. There are too many interruptions of irrelevant scenes that hijack the plot and leave it sore, confused and dizzy when it is finally rescued from its assailants. Still, it does feature a truly brilliant performance and a couple of nice turns by others who manage to keep the film afloat just long enough.

Film Review--RocknRolla

RocknRolla
written and directed by Guy Ritchie
starring Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Chris Bridges, Jeremy Piven, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Tony Kebbell, Nonso Anozie



What is a RocknRolla? Well, it isn’t simply being able to turn the heads of scores of shouting babes merely by babbling odes of distress and posturing your body at the precise angle of their shared, inglorious climax. It is more than the primal demonstrations of all the glittering young suicides smashing themselves into hyped up states and vomiting seismically on their prized lizard skin boots. Yet it is both of these things and much, much more.

All one really needs to know about this glistening, heroic take on the pulsating urgency that drives certain people to great, totemic excess can be found in a brief scene where Johnny Quid (Kebbell) is playing with his guns. His movements, the dusty filth of his room, and the lighting create a scene of melancholic poetry. As the soundtrack aches Lou Reed’s “The Gun”, Johnny slowly moves his body in an elegy to hard muscle sorrows. Then his body begins to spasm and we see the junkie’s soft train to oblivion derailing into the cold, fathomless depths below. It’s a tragic moment and haunts the film in an exquisite torment that underlies every scene and every word.

Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) is a shady businessman who brokers deals for those who would otherwise be unable to secure the proper authorization. As the film begins he’s working on a deal between a Russian mafia type named Uri (Karel Roden) and the Councillor (Jimi Mistry). All does not go according to plan. There are too many variables at play and each of them want a piece of the action.

At the center of this story is a painting which we never see. It is Uri’s favorite painting and he has determined that it brings him good luck. As a gesture of good will he allows Lenny to “borrow” it for an indefinite time. However, Johnny Quid breaks in to Lenny’s house and steals it to possibly shift for smack at some later date. But he too is utterly transfixed by the painting and loath to give it up. Ultimately we follow the painting as it corkscrews throughout the film landing in the hands of a ribald cast of characters. It’s a symbol for a haunting, brutal form of beauty that reverberates throughout the film and provides it with a sad, jangling quality that pretty much sums up Johnny Quid’s life. As he is Lenny’s stepson he has been subjected to the whiny intonations of the man who professes to own the entire city. He’s a bit wound up as his snug little world slowly becomes alien to him.

In the guise of Johnny Quid Ritchie has crafted an individual who has clearly taken life as it comes without bothering to torment himself with unnecessary worries or concerns. He’s completely fearless and we discover this characteristic in a flashback fifteen years previous. He’s singing along in the mirror to the Clash’s “Bank Robber” and he’s maybe ten or eleven. Lenny comes in hollering for him to shut the music off but as soon as he slithers away Johnny cranks it back up again. Then we see Lenny unloosening his belt and we learn the occasional price of rocking out takes out on true believers. It’s that perfect moment where it’s clear as death that Johnny has geared himself up in such a way that the only real alternatives are prison or rock ‘n’ roll. He seemingly chooses the latter exclusively although there is something of the hard man in Johnny. There is a venom in him that informs every gesture and propels him forward into realms both terrible and pristine. He seems to need nothing to live on provided he can get high and lose himself for a bit.

This is a character driven film and there are certainly a great number of personalities who all play off one another in this story of deception and intrigue. At the center of this game is Stella (Newton), Uri’s slinky, sexy attorney who gets bored one day and decides to lighten the coffers of her boss for her own amusement. She hires One Two (Butler) and Mumbles (Elba) to perform the same precise robbery two times with different personnel. The first one goes exceedingly well but they are ill prepared for the tenacity of their next victims and barely escape with their lives. In one of the many highly comical moment, one of the angry Russians refuses to be beaten and lunges onto the back of their car wielding knives and piercing the hood. Stella merely purrs and licks her paws before bedding One Two in perhaps what might be the briefest sex scene in cinema history. She’s a very dangerous woman because she knows how to connect the dots and maintain her cover without drawing attention to herself.

Archie is Lenny’s gracious, sophisticated right hand man. He’s the type that never leaves any detail unattended and knows how to keep things in the most impeccable order. He’s a skilled man with useful talents and he applies these to a variety of enterprises. He simply knows how to get things done and by the end of the film it’s clear just how skilled this man truly is on an almost metaphysical level.

This is in many ways a film that celebrates high culture or at least the leisure required to truly acquire a lasting appreciation for its finer aspects. There is an elegance to many of the scenes and various shots betray a nuanced grasp of editing that specifically conveys a legitimate sheen of glamour. Yet it is not all style as the story bears enough weight to keep audiences pondering well after the final credits. Is this a psychosexual romance between one tortured man and his decimated muse discovered randomly in a treasured artwork destined to pull him forever inward? Does Johnny realize a part of himself that had gone missing as he gazes longingly into the many mysteries inherent in the painting?

This film is deeply lacquered by the usual suspects. Vanity, greed, deceit, and all the other malignancies that eventually bring the walls closing in fast. Johnny Quid is a concoction of aggression and poetry within the framework of each song. Yet we never actually get to see him perform. The closest we come follows his youthful rendition of “Bank Robber”. The film returns to present time and adult Johnny is now singing the words while brandishing firearms in one of those drop dead sexy moments of control and brazen cool.

The performances in this film all bring out the color and excuses of each character. They are all intricately woven players who create an exceedingly energetic and ambitious story of hunger and need. Tony Kebbell radiates a mesmeric quality that is as haunting as it is heartbreaking. Johnny Quid is the quintessential bohemian struggling through the pipe and its imminent decay to reveal something he can grasp hold of. Kebbell gives us a character of great depth as one readily senses Johnny’s earnestness and frightening self awareness. Tom Wilkinson is in top form here and he brings a certain blase deliberateness to the role. Lenny is a lifelong player and Wilkinson easily captures his bravado and illustrates the man’s supreme self importance. Lenny is ruled by things he can trust and part of his genius has been being able to trust the right people. Thandie Newton as mentioned plays a hissing, clawing sex kitty with a menacing streak that is belied by her classic, formal austerity. Newton plays Stella as emotional calculus; she’s cold and decisive and driven by lusts that are scarcely quenched. Stella needs danger to feel alive and her maneuverings in this film suggest a playful lucidity that is terribly delightful to encounter. Gerard Butler demonstrates a bit more of that beefy charisma that makes him perfect for these types of roles. His character is clearly a charmer and Butler projects just enough goofy swagger to keep the film slightly askew during his scenes. Mark Strong is a solid, impervious presence who creates a highly polished diplomat who knows who to lean on to get things done. Strong is dynamic and his character is ruthlessly aware of his surroundings at all times.

Overall, this is a fresh, highly stylized film that digs into motivations that drive people to behave in the specific manner that they do. This film certainly explores greed and the ways that individuals motivated by cold hard cash can be manipulated for a variety of ends. Johnny Quid is an entirely different animal who is lured by a beauty that he recognizes to be wholly cruel and unforgiving in the end. There is quite a bit of poetry here and much of it is brought in through skilled editing and a willingness to maintain a certain formality that allows various scenes to readily take shape.

Film Review--Battle in Seattle

Battle in Seattle
written and directed by Stuart Townsend
starring Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Carpenter, Andre Benjamin, Ray Liotta, Rade Serbedzija



This telling of the momentous 1999 Seattle clash between the monolithic World Trade Organization and a massive contingent of their detractors manages to steer away from demonizing the police although it certainly shows some of them in less than flattering light.

The WTO is an international organization that has become a thorn in the side of a baffling array of folks who view it as immoral and deliberately entrenched in a philosophy that views products and commerce more important than the lives of the poor who these individuals conclude have suffered directly due to the WTO’s policies. Nearly a decade ago they came to Seattle to hold a conference and thousands of protesters were ready waiting for them.

This is a film that clearly expresses the legitimacy of civil disobedience and the art of staging a large scale protest involving everyone from environmentalists, labor, human rights advocates and countless others. The scope of the protest is impressive for a variety of reasons. It involves a networking of determined individuals who literally put their lives on the line to force a dialog. The film captures the hungry mood and the pent up aggression that spills out specifically when the embattled police are forced to employ chemical deterrents and other grisly tools in a vain effort to control the clouds. There are really two factions of protesters operating in this film. There are those whose protest is indeed civil and entirely within the confines of legality. There are also those who insist on making a loud raucous display of their frustration by vandalizing shop buildings and otherwise heightening the tensions that lead to the police actions, a state of emergency and ultimately a curfew in downtown Seattle.

Jay (Henderson) is the leader of a group of individuals who simply want to demonstrate their ill will toward the WTO and their modus operandi is to do so non-violently. They are there with the others to put a face on a mounting distrust toward everything the WTO stands for. They are sickened and concerned and perfectly willing to go to jail should it come to that. Naturally everyone involved is participating for a variety of private reasons that culminate in what turns out to be one of the largest public outcries of recent memory. The protests were not limited to Seattle as at least thirty different cities saw their streets teeming with angry, frustrated mobs who also saw the WTO as reprehensible and beneath their contempt.

The film shows the strain that the police are under and allows a few portraits of individual officers who are beset with their own frustrations and the growing tension and pressures from every link in the chain of command leading up to the President. Lou (Harrelson) is a complex cop whose wife Ella (Theron) suffers a miscarriage after being assaulted by an anonymous police offers as she’s leaning against a building after being caught in the fray. He tries to get out of front line duty but is told he has no choice but to put on his riot gear and report for duty. Unfortunately his claims of not being right in the head prove to be accurate as he loses control during a pivotal scene. Mayor Jim Tobin (Liotta) is as tortured as anyone by what has befallen his city. He is both attempting to appease the WTO and present them with a warm reception but he also has to deal with reestablishing order and maintaining a face for the media and an international audience. It’s a daunting task and one that becomes more remote as the film progresses. There is no cheer on the side of the authorities as they attempt to maintain their cool and avoid allowing their pent up emotions to replace the necessity of the service they are bound to provide the community.

The film manages to show this tension and overall the police do not fair too poorly in the way they are depicted. They are presented as mere human beings who are allotted a mammoth task that requires patience and fortitude which are virtues that often fall by the wayside in the heat of battle. In this case there are a few cops who, like Lou, fail to uphold their sacred duty and become violent with individuals who are simply congregating albeit refusing to move despite the curfew which has been set up to sweep the streets of debris. They are presented as anomalies who besmirch the otherwise pristine image of the individual cops that the film presents. Indeed, the film criticizes the institutional pressures that are necessitated when such heated animosities spill out into public life. There is hatred here and anger toward something that is viewed as unjust. There is also hundreds of thousands of people who remain outside the conflict and simply want to return to their daily grind in peace. They care nothing for the conference or if they do they don’t share in the sentiments that lead so many to vocalize their own distress in a primitive wail that necessarily leads to violence.

There is something of the martyr to many of the individuals who routinely put themselves in harms way simply to make a point. They disregard their own personal safety and well being because they want to show whomever is watching just how riled up they are about whatever happens to be their pet cause at the moment. Jay has been arrested twice before and can hardly afford another one. Still, he knows with every movement that the more pronounced his protest the more likely he will be arrested and sent away for a very long time. It’s a risk he’s willing to take and there are very few people in the film who can relate to his level of dedication. Also, one can argue that those who throw themselves at the front of the line where they are most likely to come in direct contact with randomly swung batons are masochists who seek out such confrontations because of the real possibility they will suffer acute bodily harm. The whole mess plays out like some barbarous ballet where the players taunt each other in a desperate urge to make something happen. This film showcases how both the protests and the aftermath are consumed with passion and a legitimate zest for life.

Django (Benjamin) is the easiest going kid on the block. He takes everything in stride and is a genuine inspiration to those around him. He is a strong, vital presence who raises morale by singing Bobby McFerrin’s small classic, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” after a particularly rough patch. It’s a delightful moment because it comes straight from Django’s heart and he clearly means every word of it. He’s the smiling, merry face of the operation and reminds the viewer of the joy that is inherent in such endeavors. There is a bit of the thrill of it all in these acts on both sides as the experiences gained are relatively scarce and filled with the prospect of grave and irrevocable danger.

The performances in this film all serve the material. Both Woody Harrelson and Charlize Theron convey the hopes and fears of any couple expecting their first child. They prove to be fully believable in their roles and their characterizations ring true throughout. Martin Henderson conveys his character’s driving passion to draw attention to injustice wherever he finds it. Henderson gives Jay a necessary bit of unease as events begin to unfold around him. Ray Liotta is solid as the mayor stuck with the unfortunate task of attempting to sort out the mess created by the conflict. He expresses just the proper amount of distress throughout and the war being forged is displayed clearly on his face.

Overall this is a powerful, relatively even handed film that expresses a quiet outrage over the machinery that led to such a monumental standoff. Neither the police or the protesters are particularly grilled although the film doesn’t hesitate to show how some individuals on each side, who remain anonymous, take out their aggressions and fears in violent actions against either property or other people. This is a film about the belief that direct steps can be taken to change the present environment and that motivation and certitude projected in a specific manner can draw the attention of the world to your cause. In this case, the cause is simply forcing the WTO to abandon ship and take their concerns as far away as possible. It is a modest aim but this film demonstrates how an aggressive plan properly executed can lead to great, substantive alteration of the landscape.

Film Review--Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye
Directed by D. J. Caruso
Screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, Dan McDermott
Story by Dan McDermott
Starring Shia Labeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie, Ethan Embry, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Azizi



The Future is a terror storm replete with constant monitoring and a computer network that knows where you are at all times. You cannot escape, you have no way out and once they decide you are fit for their most exclusive job they have you dead in their sights. In this film, the beast is named ARIA—a cute name for such a deranged harlot with the kind of fearsome tendencies that keep big-billed congressman groveling on their knees for the sweet succor of delicate abuse. She is all knowing, all powerful—the only kind of god we need in the 21st century—and capable of tracking anyone at any time and assembling a grab bag of intimate secrets and casual asides that get hidden in the refuse of the daily grind. She contacts a network of strangers who work together in order to carry out a diabolical plot destined to obliterate the political landscape and erect from the ashes something entirely new.

Jerry Shaw (Labeouf) is a shiftless sort of person who has no direction and seemingly no real and lasting ambition. He works a dead end job and life is relatively uneventful until that fateful day when he comes home to discover a mass collection of weapons, secret government plans and other doo-hickeys that play him out to be a major player in the lexicon of terror. ARIA calls and her voice is so commanding and sexy because she sounds like she could get you all riled up while buildings collapsed all around you. She informs him that the FBI will be at his place in roughly thirty seconds. He doesn’t act and is arrested and questioned by an agent named Thomas Morgan (Thornton) who is convinced that he is a serious threat to the security of the United States. Then ARIA busts him out and the chase is on. Jerry meets a woman named Rachel Holloman (Monaghan) and the two of them realized they are being haunted by the same diabolical force.

The action sequences in this film are stellar throughout. They look fantastic and they truly propel the viewer into a ream of twisting, turning danger that never lets up. There is quite a bit of death in this picture including the twin brother of Jerry who died mysteriously in a smash up after working in an exceedingly secret mission that ultimately compromises him.

The idea that it might be possible to capture every single moment of everyone’s life forever is a troubling one most certainly and it’s intriguing to imagine just how far one could take the Patriot Act and its bastard offspring. Is this remotely possible and if not then why is it that films are able to create a landscape where this sort of thing is played out in a most decisive fashion? When will cinema become the harbinger of real, measured actions that scare the bejeebus out of everyone and truly invade the privacy of every single citizen presently residing in the relatively safe confines of the United States and beyond? It’s certainly time for this technology to be transformed from the hypothetical to the actual. Sure, it’s all smoke and mirrors and none of it actually works but if it could be altered slightly and all the kinks worked out then perhaps sheer tyranny might grab each of us by the throat and threaten to beat us into submission if we don’t comply.

This is a film about the loss of choice. Jerry and Rachel are forced into specific actions and if they fail to comply there are dire consequences including probable death. They no longer are capable of thinking for themselves as every movement is dictated by the voice that commands them to complete a specific course that they cannot anticipate. They are slaves to a terrible idea that has originated out of the minds and sinews of well-meaning men and women whose sole purpose is to protect the interests of America.

America’s solvent future is toyed with throughout this film. The military is a fanatically driven machine that serves to maintain order at all costs often regardless of the consequences of swift, decisive action against whomever is perceived to be an enemy. A mishap early in the film triggers ARIA and facilitates her plan to cause a chaos never before experienced on U.S. shores with perhaps the exception of 9/11. The sheer scope of the endeavor is impressive and the measures undertaken to put the plan into action is ingenious and brilliantly orchestrated. There is a sadness to this film that comes through when Jerry is led to witness scenes of his childhood with his brother which lead to memories that haunt him as he stands before the multiple screens playing out his and Rachel’s life before them including private conversations and intimate moments with friends and family. It is the ultimate orgy of too much information and perhaps not to far from what is actually taking place if one desires to succumb to the tendency to become paranoid about the possibilities inherent in such technology.

There are many questions put forth in this film. Are we truly safe from the invasive directives of our government and military machinery? How far have they actually gone in the way of keeping tabs on regular folks? What is the ultimate end of the glut of cameras that have kept us in check and given us carte blanche to make records of ourselves? The cultural climate is such that it seems that the only way to prove that something actually happened is to document it. All these sounds and images have perhaps enslaved us to a reality that has tricked us into compliance with some devious master plan to which we are programmed to pay absolute allegiance. This film is a scare fest about how far these ideas can be taken and it’s a stark reminder of what happens when we blindly turn our very lives over to the technology that we ourselves have created to better amuse ourselves.

The real heart of this film is Air Force Special Officer Zoe Perez (Dawson). She is the moral compass that wakes up to the cold reality that is unfolding before her. She is determined and sharp-eyed and gradually begins to put the pieces together. She is sucked in further into the maelstrom by protocol and is the one who discovers a key piece of evidence which blows the whole conspiracy wide open. She offers insight into the strange and dark world that threatens to cause unprecedented mayhem. Secretary of Defense George Callister (Chiklis) also provides a complex witness to the events as they unfold. He is a man of integrity who, like everyone else, becomes bombarded with the system as it jumps the rails and begins to take control of everything from traffic lights to cranes as well as every electronic device known to man.

The performances in this film are uniformly excellent. Billy Bob Thornton has a commanding presence and is instantly believable. His character is a bit rough around the edges but it’s clear that he is the kind of agent who is never caught unawares. He’s also solid, upstanding, and dutiful to the cause of justice. Rosario Dawson gives a mesmeric, intoxicating performance that keeps the film grounded throughout. Dawson is impeccable in this role and her presence is clearly defined. Shia Labeouf puts together one of his most convincing portrayals in this film. He shows a range of emotions that are the only recourse against the tyranny which he is facing. He imbues his character with a consistent mien that works well in the overall context of the film. Michael Chiklis gives a commanding performance as the embattled Secretary of Defense. He is coarse and somewhat distant throughout the film which lends him an aura of invulnerability. Michelle Monaghan provides her character with a winsome charm as she struggles to follow along to ensure that her son is kept alive. Monaghan’s character is strong, vital, and fully capable of handling herself in any situation.

Overall, this film has a lot of depth and allows the viewer to come away with fewer answers than questions. It’s driven by its special effects and action sequences and these are certainly above par. It’s a thrilling ride from start to finish and every performance is spot on creating an environment that nicely exploits the nuances of the script. Often times four script writers tend to create a muddled mess but here the ploy works quite well as the energy and pacing of the film is maintained throughout. Ultimately, it’s the type of movie that shakes you a bit and I have to admit to being a bit terrified at the suggestions put forth in this film. The troubling thing is that it only seems like the future but you can bet that many of these techniques are already in place and the sad thing is that many of us are helping usher in such a system by perpetually making sure we record everything there is possible to record.