Up the Yangtze
directed by Yung Chang
written by Yung Chang
starring Jerry Bo Yu Chen, Campbell Ping He, Cindy Shui Yu
The gorgeous, intoxicating Yangtze river, simply referred to as “the river” in China, is the backdrop for this fascinating story that relates China’s hopeful ascendency into a world power. The film focuses on the lives of two young people who take jobs aboard a giant luxury liner waiting on drunken Westerners. It also tracks the technical wonder known as the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the history of the world.
Shui Yu leaves her parents and young siblings behind and goes to work on the ship. She wants to go to school but there simply isn’t enough money for the luxury. The family subsists on produce grown around their shack which sits straight in the way of the river once it will overflow. When she arrives at the boat Shui Yu is given her new name: “Cindy”. It’s a strange moment of westernization where something is thought to be improved and made more digestible to the mass of European and American tourists who won’t have to worry about trying to pronounce a “foreign” sounding name. There’s a quiet separation at work here as the only way the new recruits are allowed to work on the ship is to give up part of their identity.
The goal for each of the workers on the boat is to learn English and get a great job working either as a translator or perhaps even in Europe or America doing anything they can set their minds to it. There is a real devotion to hard work in this film that is heralded as a necessary aspect of success. One gets the impression that the Chinese are in hyperdrive in attempting to reach the vaunted heights of superpower status. Everything in this film suggests a culture that has, for better or worse, taken upon itself Western values that are being forced on the mostly rural population who must, in the case of the dam, adapt or literally be washed away. It’s an escalation toward some mystical, perfect life that will live in apartments, use electronic devices at a rate not yet seen, and grow into happy little middle class consumers just like those suffering through the subprime chaos in the west.
There is an urgency to this film as it plays out the drama of the enormous tech achievement looms heavily over the heads of the two million who have already been evacuated and scattered about away from their traditional homeland. The film doesn’t say much if anything at all about the specific changes in the lifestyles of these people nor does it offer any challenges to the legitimacy of the dam. In this film it is just taken for granted that the dam will be built and that it will benefit all. That certainly is the official line and most people seem to buy it easily enough. Still it might be intriguing to learn more about the actual building of the dam from the worker’s perspective or even from the point of view of a bureaucrat who could further sell the concept behind the enormous enterprise.
The film focuses on personal stories that represent the hopes and dreams of an exceedingly poor people. Shui is supposed to make enough money to support her family so there is a tremendous amount of pressure on her to succeed. Her parents do manage to move above the floodline where they suddenly find themselves having to purchase food and water. It is assumed that they will be allowed to do so due to Shui’s income. There are scenes where she struggles with her work and one wonders if she laments not being able to attend high school. Still, she has reached a higher level of education that both her parents, neither of whom can read. This film offers a simple tale where the youth of China are given opportunities to move into the middle class and accomplish much more than their parent’s could ever imagine. They are the future of China which means they are to participate in the immense psycho-social project that China has designed in order to make them an all-powerful force in the 21st century.
The dam represents ingenuity on a massive scale. This film reflects a tremendous optimism that informs so much of what is being attempted here. As the greeters and waiters are being taught how best to address the tourists one senses they are witnessing the first step up the ladder for frighteningly ambitious young people who soon enough will be the ones taking cruises.
Jerry Bo Yu Chen is a case of too much personality and self-determination. Apparently, this is not something the Chinese strive to inculcate into their children. They also do not want them to be too docile or meek. There is a difficult balance that must be kept between the two realms of behavior. Jerry is not considered to be a team player and is terminated. The Chinese blame this phenomenon on being a single child. Jerry does not worry because he has a cushy home life back with his parents and doesn’t have to work to support himself. He’s already a step up the ladder and his lack of ambition might keep him there if he doesn’t feel the need to ascend further. It’s clear that ambition is considered a virtue in China as long as it is directed toward an important and worthwhile job.
Overall, this film celebrates the desires and longings of an entire people who seem to be collectively climbing out of the Yangtze in order to accumulate their fair share of gadgets and other creature comforts. The two youth featured in this film are merely two amongst a billion whose stories of varying degrees of success are vastly similar. This film promotes a moment in the not to distant future when the damn will close and flood enormous swaths of land. There seems to be a calm attitude toward the dam as it represents a huge jump in the country’s ability to harness natural energy for its ever-growing population. This film gets inside the psychology that has informed this infatuation with grand achievement with a global reach.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Film Review--Dr. No
Dr. No
directed by Terence Young
written by Johanna Harwood, Richard Maibaum, Berkely Mather
based on the novel by Ian Fleming
starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Anthony Dawson, Zena Marshall, John Zitzmiller, Eunice Gayson, Lois Maxwell, Peter Burton, Marguerite LeWars
Employing many familiar tropes that have been injected into the franchise, this initial foray into the Bond mythos places him in a variety of sticky situations that he uses his ingenuity to escape from. In this first installment of the franchise, Bond carries forth all the attributes that have made the character one of the most recognizable and envied of the modern cinematic era. Sean Connery demonstrates a rare cool and energy that propels the character into a realm of danger and erotic necessity. Bond is a glowing testament to potentialities and the urgency of play making and making love.
British Secret Service Agent James Bond (Connery)–007—possesses all the attributes one would expect of such a daring, charming man of mystery. Every woman wants him and every man wants to be him. He’s smart enough to avoid being killed at every turn and he always manages to look exceedingly stylish during his many escapes. In this one he is confronted with a sinister plot to shoot U.S. rockets out of the sky by the infamous Dr. No. (Wiseman). Along the way he discovers an innocent woman named Honey Ryder (Andress) who is quintessentially female in all of the right places. Together they attempt to escape but are captured by No’s henchman and subjected to a series of radiation tests but they look dead sexy doing it.
This super-spy film explores the myriad ways that the hero can be put into danger as well as his ability to extricate himself from various untoward situations. Bond is unnaturally gifted and aware of his surroundings. He knows what is coming and can anticipate any danger before it is brought to bear on his head.
James Bond is known universally as a man’s man who participates in life as the ultimate insider. He’s fully capable of transforming his environment to fit his needs and always manages to escape when he’s faced with a tumultuous storm cloud that would otherwise overtake him. This version of the character is free-wheeling, contained, and exceedingly calm when he encounters dangerous elements. He’s also irresistible to women and it’s clear early on that his allure has mainly to do with his supreme confidence and his immense charm. He’s a character who knows where he is and what is required of him at every turn. He doesn’t falter or stumble and it’s his perfect precision of movement that allows him to react to whatever forces are hellbent on destroying him.
In this film, Bond is hunted by Professor R. J. Dent (Dawson), Dr. No’s key henchman because he knows to much. Naturally Bond is able to escape the clutches of Dr. No until the fateful moment when he is captured and dragged away along with the impossibly delectable Honey Ryder. There are scenes that ably capture the physical attributes of Honey and set the stage for all Bond girls to come.
There is a tremendous energy to this film that is carried through to the end. In the scenes where Bond, Quarrel and Honey are attempting to escape on the beach the film slows down considerably and is transformed into a typical action/adventure tale. It’s fairly pedestrian but quickly evolves int something considerably more dynamic. The film surges and sputters, agonizingly working through its effulgence with a quick eye on the corruption that haunts Bond as he attempts to solve a terrific crime and prevent Dr. No from actualizing his aims.
Dr. No is a classic Bond villain in that he is presented as diabolical, sans a moral center, and hellbent on world domination. His actions lead him to make difficult decisions that are necessary to bring to light those energies that allow him to fulfil his obligations to his craft. He wants to achieve greatness within the context of upsetting the United States’s rights to launch rockets from Cape Canaveral. Dr. No is a member of a terrorist organization called SPECTRE and has determined that messing with the rockets will bring a tremendous fury on the United States. It isn’t exactly clear just how this is supposed to happen or whether or not the U.S. would launch a missile attack on the island thereby removing the good Dr. from the world’s landscape. It doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do as it would only rile up the U.S. military and perhaps the militaries of ally countries as well.
The style of this film is defined by the sharp angles and lighting. It’s a crisp, clean film and Sean Connery is filmed in such a way that his physicality is enhanced. This also works for Ursula Andress who stalks and purrs quietly as she herself provides an intense physicality that carries portions of the film. Jamaica possesses a magical beauty that is exploited at every possible turn; it’s enticing, strange, and utterly beguiling through to the end of the film. It has a real, definitive energy to it that is subtly alive during the sequences on the beach.
The performances in this film are all quite good. Sean Connery brings the cool and decisiveness to his role that has defined it for the past forty-six years and counting. There are many Bonds but there is only one original. Arguments flair about who is the greatest Bond but that argument is superfluous. In this case, Connery demonstrates all the qualities that are necessary for the character. A rakish charm, perfect posture, and a forthright, almost arrogant manner. He is also able to convince any woman, regardless of whatever resistence she might put up, to sleep with him. This quality alone is perhaps what so many men have most admired about Bond. They are able to live vicariously through the character as he goes about his business killing and screwing chicks. Ursula Andress, although she doesn’t actually speak or sing in this film (there are doubles for each), it doesn’t matter because this is all about how she moves her body and the way she comes out of the ocean. She’s specifically in the film as eye candy and to play the damsel in distress. It’s not a particularly feminist role as she doesn’t do much at all to save her self.
Jack Lord’s character comes off as a capable man who knows how to get things done. He also possesses a self-righteousness that works well in the film. Joseph Wiseman is spookily mysterious as the titular character. He is a quiet villain who is not demonstrative and allows others to do his bidding. Wiseman projects a calmness through the role which is expressed with easy mannerisms that make him decidedly more dangerous.
Overall, this film possesses a legitimate charm that comes through the physical performances of its two leads. Each of them are examples of masculine and feminine ideals that work well throughout the film. Ultimately, the film is a classic spy thriller that entertains and excites the viewer through great action sequences and the dangerous situations it thrusts its essential characters into.
directed by Terence Young
written by Johanna Harwood, Richard Maibaum, Berkely Mather
based on the novel by Ian Fleming
starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Anthony Dawson, Zena Marshall, John Zitzmiller, Eunice Gayson, Lois Maxwell, Peter Burton, Marguerite LeWars
Employing many familiar tropes that have been injected into the franchise, this initial foray into the Bond mythos places him in a variety of sticky situations that he uses his ingenuity to escape from. In this first installment of the franchise, Bond carries forth all the attributes that have made the character one of the most recognizable and envied of the modern cinematic era. Sean Connery demonstrates a rare cool and energy that propels the character into a realm of danger and erotic necessity. Bond is a glowing testament to potentialities and the urgency of play making and making love.
British Secret Service Agent James Bond (Connery)–007—possesses all the attributes one would expect of such a daring, charming man of mystery. Every woman wants him and every man wants to be him. He’s smart enough to avoid being killed at every turn and he always manages to look exceedingly stylish during his many escapes. In this one he is confronted with a sinister plot to shoot U.S. rockets out of the sky by the infamous Dr. No. (Wiseman). Along the way he discovers an innocent woman named Honey Ryder (Andress) who is quintessentially female in all of the right places. Together they attempt to escape but are captured by No’s henchman and subjected to a series of radiation tests but they look dead sexy doing it.
This super-spy film explores the myriad ways that the hero can be put into danger as well as his ability to extricate himself from various untoward situations. Bond is unnaturally gifted and aware of his surroundings. He knows what is coming and can anticipate any danger before it is brought to bear on his head.
James Bond is known universally as a man’s man who participates in life as the ultimate insider. He’s fully capable of transforming his environment to fit his needs and always manages to escape when he’s faced with a tumultuous storm cloud that would otherwise overtake him. This version of the character is free-wheeling, contained, and exceedingly calm when he encounters dangerous elements. He’s also irresistible to women and it’s clear early on that his allure has mainly to do with his supreme confidence and his immense charm. He’s a character who knows where he is and what is required of him at every turn. He doesn’t falter or stumble and it’s his perfect precision of movement that allows him to react to whatever forces are hellbent on destroying him.
In this film, Bond is hunted by Professor R. J. Dent (Dawson), Dr. No’s key henchman because he knows to much. Naturally Bond is able to escape the clutches of Dr. No until the fateful moment when he is captured and dragged away along with the impossibly delectable Honey Ryder. There are scenes that ably capture the physical attributes of Honey and set the stage for all Bond girls to come.
There is a tremendous energy to this film that is carried through to the end. In the scenes where Bond, Quarrel and Honey are attempting to escape on the beach the film slows down considerably and is transformed into a typical action/adventure tale. It’s fairly pedestrian but quickly evolves int something considerably more dynamic. The film surges and sputters, agonizingly working through its effulgence with a quick eye on the corruption that haunts Bond as he attempts to solve a terrific crime and prevent Dr. No from actualizing his aims.
Dr. No is a classic Bond villain in that he is presented as diabolical, sans a moral center, and hellbent on world domination. His actions lead him to make difficult decisions that are necessary to bring to light those energies that allow him to fulfil his obligations to his craft. He wants to achieve greatness within the context of upsetting the United States’s rights to launch rockets from Cape Canaveral. Dr. No is a member of a terrorist organization called SPECTRE and has determined that messing with the rockets will bring a tremendous fury on the United States. It isn’t exactly clear just how this is supposed to happen or whether or not the U.S. would launch a missile attack on the island thereby removing the good Dr. from the world’s landscape. It doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do as it would only rile up the U.S. military and perhaps the militaries of ally countries as well.
The style of this film is defined by the sharp angles and lighting. It’s a crisp, clean film and Sean Connery is filmed in such a way that his physicality is enhanced. This also works for Ursula Andress who stalks and purrs quietly as she herself provides an intense physicality that carries portions of the film. Jamaica possesses a magical beauty that is exploited at every possible turn; it’s enticing, strange, and utterly beguiling through to the end of the film. It has a real, definitive energy to it that is subtly alive during the sequences on the beach.
The performances in this film are all quite good. Sean Connery brings the cool and decisiveness to his role that has defined it for the past forty-six years and counting. There are many Bonds but there is only one original. Arguments flair about who is the greatest Bond but that argument is superfluous. In this case, Connery demonstrates all the qualities that are necessary for the character. A rakish charm, perfect posture, and a forthright, almost arrogant manner. He is also able to convince any woman, regardless of whatever resistence she might put up, to sleep with him. This quality alone is perhaps what so many men have most admired about Bond. They are able to live vicariously through the character as he goes about his business killing and screwing chicks. Ursula Andress, although she doesn’t actually speak or sing in this film (there are doubles for each), it doesn’t matter because this is all about how she moves her body and the way she comes out of the ocean. She’s specifically in the film as eye candy and to play the damsel in distress. It’s not a particularly feminist role as she doesn’t do much at all to save her self.
Jack Lord’s character comes off as a capable man who knows how to get things done. He also possesses a self-righteousness that works well in the film. Joseph Wiseman is spookily mysterious as the titular character. He is a quiet villain who is not demonstrative and allows others to do his bidding. Wiseman projects a calmness through the role which is expressed with easy mannerisms that make him decidedly more dangerous.
Overall, this film possesses a legitimate charm that comes through the physical performances of its two leads. Each of them are examples of masculine and feminine ideals that work well throughout the film. Ultimately, the film is a classic spy thriller that entertains and excites the viewer through great action sequences and the dangerous situations it thrusts its essential characters into.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Film Review--The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight
directed by Christopher Nolan
written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer
based on characters created by Bob Kane
starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman. Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Monique Curnen, Chin Han, Cillian Murphey, Eric Roberts, Ron Dean
Moral ambiguity, aggrieved sense of self, and a purity of compunction drive this uniformly excellent film in a direction that no super hero film has dared to go. Every facet of this film charms, thrills and brings close to bear deeply embedded psychological truths that resonate throughout the film.
Batman (Bale) is a tormented character who is struggling with his place in the order. His belief in himself has slowly been stripped away and he is not certain if he can be of any use to the people of Gotham. He feels responsible for a series of deaths and his fears become more pronounced as the film progresses.
There is just so many things to admire about this film as a legitimately dark and mysterious world and a legitimate sense of terror is created. The cinematography by Wally Pfister is crisp and exquisitely focused throughout the film. It imbues the film with a toxic sense of beauty that is difficult to effectively put into words. This film deserves to pull of a sweep at the Academy Awards as well as garnering an acting nod for Heath Ledger. His performance is shattered glass, a head-on collision and a thrilling ride in the back of an expensive Jaguar with a new person you are about to get to know very well. It’s one of those things that can be extracted from the film and examined on its own right although it is also an exceedingly vital aspect of the film.
This is a film that cannot merely be addressed as a battle between good and evil. This simple reduction does not work and cannot explain the myriad complications that are extant here. The Joker (Ledger) is a supremely cataclysmic character that by his own confession has no plans, no motive other than the joy of pure, unadulterated destruction of every aspect of the social order. He merely enjoys the spectacle of chaos and seeks to render as much of it as possible while luring Batman and the other moral representatives of Gotham into his finely woven traps. He seeks no glory, is not motivated by money and simply does not live in the same moral universe as his adversaries. Indeed, he doesn’t adhere to the easy principles of good and evil and in fact is beyond them without making a concerted effort to behave in a specific manner. He merely is a force of nature who scoffs at the simplicities of methods men employ to express what most often is self-righteousness where the elevate themselves above those whose plight falls into their care. He knows how easy it is to corrupt many of those whose fall is rendered by a deeply-seated desire to experience a life free from moral restraints.
The film walks along a dangerous edge and possesses a real power to effect the emotions in a way that is exceedingly rare in film. It captures the imagination and startles consciousness through a cerebral mind warp that is thoroughly intoxicating and born aloft by the effectiveness of the score by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer. It manages to enhance the inherent creepiness of the film and brings the sordidness of the landscape fervently to life. It is in essence another character that remains in the background and does not over aggressively make its presence felt. Yet, when it does emerge from the shadows it strengthens the film by the simplicity of its application.
The energy of this is maintained throughout and doesn’t waver as the film progresses. There is a real senses of place which is most properly expressed on the freeways and viaducts that house the intense road battles between the Joker and his minions and the cops trying to bring him down. There is a poetry to these scenes and they play out with an urgency that is evocative and daring while stimulating the senses with a cosmic flurry of genuine art. There is purity and a legitimate sense of apocalypse in every scene featuring either Two-Face (Eckhart) or the Joker. Both of them possess a grip on the furious and the malignant. They are rogue stars effectively deranged and aiming for the heavens in order to bring them down on the heads of anyone who gets in the way.
There is an essence of loss in this film which drives Batman and the Joker together. Both of them suffered tragedies that have damaged them immensely although the Joker gives two different stories about how he ended up with a permanent smile. It’s off putting to see this Joker’s makeup while attempting to reconcile his smile with his deeds. In essence he’s portraying a mad clown who makes up the nightmares of many a shivering tot. His demented laugh (far more effective than any villain in the entire Batman canon) causes the hair to stand up on the neck and Ledger pulls off the crazed, animalistic purity of the character with a slicing, robust feistiness that carries the film into realms of marked lunacy.
This is a world of unseen triggers that are molded in a way that they inform the framework within which it is thoroughly investigated and brought to bear on the furious action that is aggressively and smartly rendered throughout. This film leaves nothing to chance and erupts in fits and starts which are flaming testaments to the dire impermanence of glories well spent. There are stark contaminants and purposeful conniptions that drive the film into territory rare and cosmically consistent with diabolism and an overarching striving toward purity of form. This film achieves that with an intensity that is maintained long after the credits have rolled.
The role of Rachel (Gyllenhaal) is paramount to the psychologies of both Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne. She is dynamic and quite strong yet exceedingly vulnerable. Her role is to forge a bridge between Wayne and Dent which she traverses with great caution and a confused sense of propriety. Rachel is a character who is caught in an emotional quagmire and cannot effectively disengage herself from either man until she finally is able to alight on a decision.
A fascinating scene involves two ferries that are carrying passengers away from the city. One of them contains prisoners and the other garden variety citizens. The Joker appears over the PA and announces that he’s put bombs under each ship. He provides them all with a dilemma that he has forced them to solve. He tells them that if they want to survive they have to blow the other ship up otherwise he’s going to blow them both up at midnight. This moral quandary explores the worth of prisoners versus that of the average citizen who pays their bills, stays on the proper side of the law and doesn’t cause any trouble. Finally, a rock-steady prisoner demands the detonator as if he is going to use it to blow the other ship to smithereens. Instead he delicately removes it from its box and tosses it out the window. It’s one of the most emotionally satisfying moments in the film and twists the audience’s sense of moral goodness. A prisoner is considered morally bankrupt so to see one acting in such a way is liberating.
The performances in this film all add a distinctive viability to the film and ground it firmly in a realism that is governed by nuance and a psychological awareness of space. Heath Ledger as mentioned presents one of the clearest explorations into the mind of a psychopathic killer. His dedication to the role is legend and he brings a startling intensity which is genuinely terrifying in a way that very few film characters are. This is the kind of character that has the capacity to shock and aggrieve in a most pronounced and genuine way. Yet despite the Joker’s clearly defined role as adversary the character is likeable and indeed sympathetic. One craves to see him succeed after a perverse fashion because he is so dynamic and imbued with a charisma that does tend to take over the film whenever he’s on screen. In essence Ledger’s Joker is a work of cinematic art and every time he appears it’s impossible to determine what series of actions he will follow which gives the character an unpredictability which is endlessly alluring. Christian Bale gives Batman a complexity that is decidedly effective and utterly entrenched in a stark reality that is a nice contrast to the frantic machinations of the Joker. Bale is deadly serious throughout this film and his performance exploits a somber mood that is pervasive.
Morgan Freeman gives yet another strong performance in a role that offers a vital paternal model for both the film and Bruce Wayne. He is matched by the calm, clearly focused performance of Michael Caine who carries quite a bit of the emotional burden in this film. Gary Oldman brings a solidity and authenticity to his role that provides the film with an anchor; his character is one of the few morally consistent cops in an environment where corruption can be found just about anywhere. Maggie Gyllenhaal has a permanence about her in this film and she provides Rachel with a moral compass that she employs dutifully throughout the film. Aaron Eckhart plays both the intensely moral Harvey Dent and his alter-ego Two-Face with the same level of intensity that leaves a definitive impression on the film.
Overall, this film works on every possible level and generates a tremendous amount of emotional strength that is rare in such films. These are characters to believe in and each actor performs their role with fortitude and clarity of vision. It’s a film that truly captures one’s heart and mind with ease and a certainty that is palpable and exceedingly well orchestrated. The music, cinematography, lighting, construction, etc. bring a legitimate urgency to every scene. There is great subtlety as well as demonstrative and passionate dynamism that work well to bring this fiendishly effective cinematic experience to the screen. Ultimately it’s a daring exploration into mental aberrations and seismic spasms of pure, unadulterated manic glee. The Joker is a laugh riot who knows how to push people’s buttons. He is a true poet of terror and Heath Ledger brings him lovingly, brutally to life.
directed by Christopher Nolan
written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer
based on characters created by Bob Kane
starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman. Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Monique Curnen, Chin Han, Cillian Murphey, Eric Roberts, Ron Dean
Moral ambiguity, aggrieved sense of self, and a purity of compunction drive this uniformly excellent film in a direction that no super hero film has dared to go. Every facet of this film charms, thrills and brings close to bear deeply embedded psychological truths that resonate throughout the film.
Batman (Bale) is a tormented character who is struggling with his place in the order. His belief in himself has slowly been stripped away and he is not certain if he can be of any use to the people of Gotham. He feels responsible for a series of deaths and his fears become more pronounced as the film progresses.
There is just so many things to admire about this film as a legitimately dark and mysterious world and a legitimate sense of terror is created. The cinematography by Wally Pfister is crisp and exquisitely focused throughout the film. It imbues the film with a toxic sense of beauty that is difficult to effectively put into words. This film deserves to pull of a sweep at the Academy Awards as well as garnering an acting nod for Heath Ledger. His performance is shattered glass, a head-on collision and a thrilling ride in the back of an expensive Jaguar with a new person you are about to get to know very well. It’s one of those things that can be extracted from the film and examined on its own right although it is also an exceedingly vital aspect of the film.
This is a film that cannot merely be addressed as a battle between good and evil. This simple reduction does not work and cannot explain the myriad complications that are extant here. The Joker (Ledger) is a supremely cataclysmic character that by his own confession has no plans, no motive other than the joy of pure, unadulterated destruction of every aspect of the social order. He merely enjoys the spectacle of chaos and seeks to render as much of it as possible while luring Batman and the other moral representatives of Gotham into his finely woven traps. He seeks no glory, is not motivated by money and simply does not live in the same moral universe as his adversaries. Indeed, he doesn’t adhere to the easy principles of good and evil and in fact is beyond them without making a concerted effort to behave in a specific manner. He merely is a force of nature who scoffs at the simplicities of methods men employ to express what most often is self-righteousness where the elevate themselves above those whose plight falls into their care. He knows how easy it is to corrupt many of those whose fall is rendered by a deeply-seated desire to experience a life free from moral restraints.
The film walks along a dangerous edge and possesses a real power to effect the emotions in a way that is exceedingly rare in film. It captures the imagination and startles consciousness through a cerebral mind warp that is thoroughly intoxicating and born aloft by the effectiveness of the score by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer. It manages to enhance the inherent creepiness of the film and brings the sordidness of the landscape fervently to life. It is in essence another character that remains in the background and does not over aggressively make its presence felt. Yet, when it does emerge from the shadows it strengthens the film by the simplicity of its application.
The energy of this is maintained throughout and doesn’t waver as the film progresses. There is a real senses of place which is most properly expressed on the freeways and viaducts that house the intense road battles between the Joker and his minions and the cops trying to bring him down. There is a poetry to these scenes and they play out with an urgency that is evocative and daring while stimulating the senses with a cosmic flurry of genuine art. There is purity and a legitimate sense of apocalypse in every scene featuring either Two-Face (Eckhart) or the Joker. Both of them possess a grip on the furious and the malignant. They are rogue stars effectively deranged and aiming for the heavens in order to bring them down on the heads of anyone who gets in the way.
There is an essence of loss in this film which drives Batman and the Joker together. Both of them suffered tragedies that have damaged them immensely although the Joker gives two different stories about how he ended up with a permanent smile. It’s off putting to see this Joker’s makeup while attempting to reconcile his smile with his deeds. In essence he’s portraying a mad clown who makes up the nightmares of many a shivering tot. His demented laugh (far more effective than any villain in the entire Batman canon) causes the hair to stand up on the neck and Ledger pulls off the crazed, animalistic purity of the character with a slicing, robust feistiness that carries the film into realms of marked lunacy.
This is a world of unseen triggers that are molded in a way that they inform the framework within which it is thoroughly investigated and brought to bear on the furious action that is aggressively and smartly rendered throughout. This film leaves nothing to chance and erupts in fits and starts which are flaming testaments to the dire impermanence of glories well spent. There are stark contaminants and purposeful conniptions that drive the film into territory rare and cosmically consistent with diabolism and an overarching striving toward purity of form. This film achieves that with an intensity that is maintained long after the credits have rolled.
The role of Rachel (Gyllenhaal) is paramount to the psychologies of both Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne. She is dynamic and quite strong yet exceedingly vulnerable. Her role is to forge a bridge between Wayne and Dent which she traverses with great caution and a confused sense of propriety. Rachel is a character who is caught in an emotional quagmire and cannot effectively disengage herself from either man until she finally is able to alight on a decision.
A fascinating scene involves two ferries that are carrying passengers away from the city. One of them contains prisoners and the other garden variety citizens. The Joker appears over the PA and announces that he’s put bombs under each ship. He provides them all with a dilemma that he has forced them to solve. He tells them that if they want to survive they have to blow the other ship up otherwise he’s going to blow them both up at midnight. This moral quandary explores the worth of prisoners versus that of the average citizen who pays their bills, stays on the proper side of the law and doesn’t cause any trouble. Finally, a rock-steady prisoner demands the detonator as if he is going to use it to blow the other ship to smithereens. Instead he delicately removes it from its box and tosses it out the window. It’s one of the most emotionally satisfying moments in the film and twists the audience’s sense of moral goodness. A prisoner is considered morally bankrupt so to see one acting in such a way is liberating.
The performances in this film all add a distinctive viability to the film and ground it firmly in a realism that is governed by nuance and a psychological awareness of space. Heath Ledger as mentioned presents one of the clearest explorations into the mind of a psychopathic killer. His dedication to the role is legend and he brings a startling intensity which is genuinely terrifying in a way that very few film characters are. This is the kind of character that has the capacity to shock and aggrieve in a most pronounced and genuine way. Yet despite the Joker’s clearly defined role as adversary the character is likeable and indeed sympathetic. One craves to see him succeed after a perverse fashion because he is so dynamic and imbued with a charisma that does tend to take over the film whenever he’s on screen. In essence Ledger’s Joker is a work of cinematic art and every time he appears it’s impossible to determine what series of actions he will follow which gives the character an unpredictability which is endlessly alluring. Christian Bale gives Batman a complexity that is decidedly effective and utterly entrenched in a stark reality that is a nice contrast to the frantic machinations of the Joker. Bale is deadly serious throughout this film and his performance exploits a somber mood that is pervasive.
Morgan Freeman gives yet another strong performance in a role that offers a vital paternal model for both the film and Bruce Wayne. He is matched by the calm, clearly focused performance of Michael Caine who carries quite a bit of the emotional burden in this film. Gary Oldman brings a solidity and authenticity to his role that provides the film with an anchor; his character is one of the few morally consistent cops in an environment where corruption can be found just about anywhere. Maggie Gyllenhaal has a permanence about her in this film and she provides Rachel with a moral compass that she employs dutifully throughout the film. Aaron Eckhart plays both the intensely moral Harvey Dent and his alter-ego Two-Face with the same level of intensity that leaves a definitive impression on the film.
Overall, this film works on every possible level and generates a tremendous amount of emotional strength that is rare in such films. These are characters to believe in and each actor performs their role with fortitude and clarity of vision. It’s a film that truly captures one’s heart and mind with ease and a certainty that is palpable and exceedingly well orchestrated. The music, cinematography, lighting, construction, etc. bring a legitimate urgency to every scene. There is great subtlety as well as demonstrative and passionate dynamism that work well to bring this fiendishly effective cinematic experience to the screen. Ultimately it’s a daring exploration into mental aberrations and seismic spasms of pure, unadulterated manic glee. The Joker is a laugh riot who knows how to push people’s buttons. He is a true poet of terror and Heath Ledger brings him lovingly, brutally to life.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Film Review--The Women
The Women
directed by Diane English
written by Diane English
based on the play by Claire Boothe Luce
1939 screenplay by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin
starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Candice Bergen, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, India Ennega, Tilly Scott Pedersen
In this remake of the 1939 film, well defined female characters work through traumas, gossip, wear designer clothes, shop, confess, panic, and otherwise carry on like women do when they are together.
There are no men in this film to get in the way and be all disruptive and cooly display their hearty masculine virtues. The women unite in various ways that sing to the eloquence of unadulterated sister power. It’s an estrogen orgy of emotional distress and moments of singular affirmation of all things related to the female psyche. These women are bound together by ties that are occasionally fragile and deeply mutable. They are strong in certain ways as they all have careers that satisfy a certain power urge for control and recognition. They are not women driven by the feminist fantasy of having it all and are not interested in shattering any glass ceiling. Indeed, a great number of feminists would consider them vapid as their lives are instrumentally informed by the desire to be girls with makeup and pretty things that shine or shimmer.
The story focuses on the life of Mary Haines. She is a fashion designer who when the film begins is working for her father’s illustrious company. She lives in a massive home and it’s not clear if she’s managed to pay for it all on her own. She seems content at the start but that changes when Daddy fires her and forces her to reevaluate her life. Meanwhile her friend and confidant Sylvia Fowler learns the unthinkable from Tanya, her manicurist at Saks. She finds out that Mary’s husband is having an affair with a girl named Crystal Allen (Mendes) who works the perfume counter. She shares this information with Edie (Messing) and Alex (Smith). Mary also ends up at the manicurists and learns from the chattering woman about the affair. This causes her to kick the bastard out of their home and file for divorce but she cannot sign the papers. Sylvia and the girls go to Saks and confront Crystal who acts cool and oblivious, utterly without remorse.
The film deals with all the issues that drive women. It’s a secret world that men where men are left out and not necessarily wanted. Still Mary is torn between signing the papers and giving her husband another chance. She struggles to right her self before deciding to start her own line of clothing. This decision energies her and she regains some of the spark that had previously been a major part of her persona. She is revitalized particularly after the success of the show. It’s a moment of triumph that brings her back into her Self.
There is a deeply troubling aspect of this film that involves Mary’s daughter Molly (Ennega). She is a pre-teen who has developed an aversion to food and loathes the prospect of becoming a woman. In one scene she is burning tampons because she is completely terrified at experiencing the biological changes that will naturally occur in her body. She confides with Sylvia who seems to help her through her crushing dilemma. The film does not deal with this budding problem which is disappointing. Her issues are pronounced and immediate and it’s exceedingly difficult for her to understand what is happening to her. She is plagued by doubts and confusions that have led her to rebel a bit where she has developed a goth look and smokes. She hides this aspect of her personality naturally from her mother whom she insists she cannot talk to about anything important. She desperately wants to lose weight because she’s convinced she is fat despite being of normal weight. It’s heartbreaking to watch her suffer through her parent’s separation and there is a scene where she overhears her mother carrying out an unpleasant conversation with her father. She is wounded by this situation and the look on her face says everything one needs to know about her pain.
Sylvia quits her job as the president of a fashion magazine that is having difficulty attracting readers. She is outfoxed by a younger girl who possessed new and fresh ideas that Sylvia instinctively rejects because she believes she has the answers to rescue the magazine from oblivion. At one point Mary and Sylvia have a falling out over Sylvia informing a well-known writer about aspects of Mary’s crumbling marriage. Sylvia confesses that she nodded along to the questions because she didn’t want the writer to publish a report stating that Sylvia is possibly on the outs. The story comes out, adding to Mary’s anguish although she seems to take it in stride. It’s just another distress to conquer which she does after a fashion
Alex is a lesbian who shows up at Mary’s gathering with a supermodel named Natasha (Natasha Alam) who is also a possible anorexic and ends up trying to eat a napkin while looking around to make sure nobody can see her. It’s another example of the often painful aspects of woman and girlhood where bodies become something of an enemy. Again, its not strictly addressed and left as an open question.
Each woman has a distinct personality that is expressed as strong, vital and necessary. There is a strong connection between them which men often do not experience. It emotional bonding that is second nature to these woman and a natural extension of the way in which they interact. They tell each other things, routinely display direct emotions, and share the secrets of others with impunity. Men are not made privy to this world and in fact are often hostile to it when they come in direct contact with it. It’s curious to consider if men who like women find this film to be worth seeing. It does show women in a particular light where they struggle with their careers and men although most of these women aren’t driven by the prospect of a relationship with a mere man. They have exceedingly high expectations and certainly do not want to settle. This is particularly true of Sylvia who cannot imagine herself being with a man who doesn’t respect her position of power. She makes a comment that most guys find it impossible to be with a successful woman. Indeed, these are all successful women who in fact do terrify most men who naturally cannot accept a woman whose career has moved beyond theirs.
This is not a particularly sexy film which works in its favour. The only real sex appeal comes in the form of Crystal who admittedly is quite a little stick of dynamite. She is introduced in slow motion and it is certainly a thrill to apprehend her for the first time. She is the young hottie who has driven a wedge between Mary and her husband. She is also shameless about living off of his money and stressing Mary out to near the breaking point. She is too calm and displays nothing to suggest she cares one way or another how Mary feels.
The performances in this film are all believable and well constructed. Meg Ryan plays agonizingly cute for the duration of the film. She is a beacon of light and photographed so that her features shine most extraordinarily. Annette Bening brings a solidity to her performances. She’s something of a terrifying amazon who seems capable of eating up most men for lunch. She is a tad bit controlling but also vulnerable which is displayed in a scene where she loses control and breaks down. Eva Mendes as mentioned is pure cake. She doesn’t have to speak as she demonstrates clearly what is on her mind with every step. Debra Messing is contained and natural yet seems extraneous to the story. Her character does get knocked up which shocks her friends but makes her exceedingly happy. Jada Pinkett Smith has an ease about her that carries her along. As the film opens Alex is struggling to complete her second book and seems none too concerned about this fact. Candice Bergen is open and inviting as Mary’s mother. Her character possesses a quiet calm that she projects warmly and easily. Debi Mazar is a chatterbox who instigates the whole drama about Mary’s dilemma with her husband. Mazar is a bundle of nervous energy which benefits the film considerably. Bette Midler has a brief scene where she plays a hard talking agent who seems to have seen it all. Midler chomps down on the role and devours it whole. India Ennega has a uncommon charisma in this film. She plays a troubled girl without succumbing to the unseemly trap of sentimentality. Her body language sell her anguish as she struggles to make sense of her body.
Overall, this is an enjoyable film that elucidates the myriad details that women share when they are alone without men. It’s a rare insight into a world infused with complications and style. Fashion and power are both explored as the women work their way through emotionally complicated situations that affect them to various degrees. Ultimately this is a film that deals with the intimacies that men are mostly left out of. It’s how women deal with pain and confusions that many men are patently unable to comprehend. It conveys a legitimate slice of a particular reality that shows women’s strengths and virtues in way that perhaps isn’t exactly typical. These are successful women who have become that way through difficult trials that they have clamored over without being unduly afflicted.
directed by Diane English
written by Diane English
based on the play by Claire Boothe Luce
1939 screenplay by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin
starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Candice Bergen, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, India Ennega, Tilly Scott Pedersen
In this remake of the 1939 film, well defined female characters work through traumas, gossip, wear designer clothes, shop, confess, panic, and otherwise carry on like women do when they are together.
There are no men in this film to get in the way and be all disruptive and cooly display their hearty masculine virtues. The women unite in various ways that sing to the eloquence of unadulterated sister power. It’s an estrogen orgy of emotional distress and moments of singular affirmation of all things related to the female psyche. These women are bound together by ties that are occasionally fragile and deeply mutable. They are strong in certain ways as they all have careers that satisfy a certain power urge for control and recognition. They are not women driven by the feminist fantasy of having it all and are not interested in shattering any glass ceiling. Indeed, a great number of feminists would consider them vapid as their lives are instrumentally informed by the desire to be girls with makeup and pretty things that shine or shimmer.
The story focuses on the life of Mary Haines. She is a fashion designer who when the film begins is working for her father’s illustrious company. She lives in a massive home and it’s not clear if she’s managed to pay for it all on her own. She seems content at the start but that changes when Daddy fires her and forces her to reevaluate her life. Meanwhile her friend and confidant Sylvia Fowler learns the unthinkable from Tanya, her manicurist at Saks. She finds out that Mary’s husband is having an affair with a girl named Crystal Allen (Mendes) who works the perfume counter. She shares this information with Edie (Messing) and Alex (Smith). Mary also ends up at the manicurists and learns from the chattering woman about the affair. This causes her to kick the bastard out of their home and file for divorce but she cannot sign the papers. Sylvia and the girls go to Saks and confront Crystal who acts cool and oblivious, utterly without remorse.
The film deals with all the issues that drive women. It’s a secret world that men where men are left out and not necessarily wanted. Still Mary is torn between signing the papers and giving her husband another chance. She struggles to right her self before deciding to start her own line of clothing. This decision energies her and she regains some of the spark that had previously been a major part of her persona. She is revitalized particularly after the success of the show. It’s a moment of triumph that brings her back into her Self.
There is a deeply troubling aspect of this film that involves Mary’s daughter Molly (Ennega). She is a pre-teen who has developed an aversion to food and loathes the prospect of becoming a woman. In one scene she is burning tampons because she is completely terrified at experiencing the biological changes that will naturally occur in her body. She confides with Sylvia who seems to help her through her crushing dilemma. The film does not deal with this budding problem which is disappointing. Her issues are pronounced and immediate and it’s exceedingly difficult for her to understand what is happening to her. She is plagued by doubts and confusions that have led her to rebel a bit where she has developed a goth look and smokes. She hides this aspect of her personality naturally from her mother whom she insists she cannot talk to about anything important. She desperately wants to lose weight because she’s convinced she is fat despite being of normal weight. It’s heartbreaking to watch her suffer through her parent’s separation and there is a scene where she overhears her mother carrying out an unpleasant conversation with her father. She is wounded by this situation and the look on her face says everything one needs to know about her pain.
Sylvia quits her job as the president of a fashion magazine that is having difficulty attracting readers. She is outfoxed by a younger girl who possessed new and fresh ideas that Sylvia instinctively rejects because she believes she has the answers to rescue the magazine from oblivion. At one point Mary and Sylvia have a falling out over Sylvia informing a well-known writer about aspects of Mary’s crumbling marriage. Sylvia confesses that she nodded along to the questions because she didn’t want the writer to publish a report stating that Sylvia is possibly on the outs. The story comes out, adding to Mary’s anguish although she seems to take it in stride. It’s just another distress to conquer which she does after a fashion
Alex is a lesbian who shows up at Mary’s gathering with a supermodel named Natasha (Natasha Alam) who is also a possible anorexic and ends up trying to eat a napkin while looking around to make sure nobody can see her. It’s another example of the often painful aspects of woman and girlhood where bodies become something of an enemy. Again, its not strictly addressed and left as an open question.
Each woman has a distinct personality that is expressed as strong, vital and necessary. There is a strong connection between them which men often do not experience. It emotional bonding that is second nature to these woman and a natural extension of the way in which they interact. They tell each other things, routinely display direct emotions, and share the secrets of others with impunity. Men are not made privy to this world and in fact are often hostile to it when they come in direct contact with it. It’s curious to consider if men who like women find this film to be worth seeing. It does show women in a particular light where they struggle with their careers and men although most of these women aren’t driven by the prospect of a relationship with a mere man. They have exceedingly high expectations and certainly do not want to settle. This is particularly true of Sylvia who cannot imagine herself being with a man who doesn’t respect her position of power. She makes a comment that most guys find it impossible to be with a successful woman. Indeed, these are all successful women who in fact do terrify most men who naturally cannot accept a woman whose career has moved beyond theirs.
This is not a particularly sexy film which works in its favour. The only real sex appeal comes in the form of Crystal who admittedly is quite a little stick of dynamite. She is introduced in slow motion and it is certainly a thrill to apprehend her for the first time. She is the young hottie who has driven a wedge between Mary and her husband. She is also shameless about living off of his money and stressing Mary out to near the breaking point. She is too calm and displays nothing to suggest she cares one way or another how Mary feels.
The performances in this film are all believable and well constructed. Meg Ryan plays agonizingly cute for the duration of the film. She is a beacon of light and photographed so that her features shine most extraordinarily. Annette Bening brings a solidity to her performances. She’s something of a terrifying amazon who seems capable of eating up most men for lunch. She is a tad bit controlling but also vulnerable which is displayed in a scene where she loses control and breaks down. Eva Mendes as mentioned is pure cake. She doesn’t have to speak as she demonstrates clearly what is on her mind with every step. Debra Messing is contained and natural yet seems extraneous to the story. Her character does get knocked up which shocks her friends but makes her exceedingly happy. Jada Pinkett Smith has an ease about her that carries her along. As the film opens Alex is struggling to complete her second book and seems none too concerned about this fact. Candice Bergen is open and inviting as Mary’s mother. Her character possesses a quiet calm that she projects warmly and easily. Debi Mazar is a chatterbox who instigates the whole drama about Mary’s dilemma with her husband. Mazar is a bundle of nervous energy which benefits the film considerably. Bette Midler has a brief scene where she plays a hard talking agent who seems to have seen it all. Midler chomps down on the role and devours it whole. India Ennega has a uncommon charisma in this film. She plays a troubled girl without succumbing to the unseemly trap of sentimentality. Her body language sell her anguish as she struggles to make sense of her body.
Overall, this is an enjoyable film that elucidates the myriad details that women share when they are alone without men. It’s a rare insight into a world infused with complications and style. Fashion and power are both explored as the women work their way through emotionally complicated situations that affect them to various degrees. Ultimately this is a film that deals with the intimacies that men are mostly left out of. It’s how women deal with pain and confusions that many men are patently unable to comprehend. It conveys a legitimate slice of a particular reality that shows women’s strengths and virtues in way that perhaps isn’t exactly typical. These are successful women who have become that way through difficult trials that they have clamored over without being unduly afflicted.
Film Reviews--Searchers 2.0
Searchers 2.0
written and directed by Alex Cox
starring Del Zamora, Ed Pansullo, Jaclyn Jonet, Sy Richardson. Zahn McClarnon
The dusty trail leads a trio of wanderers through vast graveyards of empty spaces; the unforgiving desert where impossible dreams are hatched and people are utterly dwarfed by the landscape. Shot for $200,000 on DV, Cox brings a vibrant story of longing and justice.
Mel Torres (Zamora) and Fred Fletcher (Pansullo) are two old actors who have hitched up to a plan. They have decided to head out to Monumental Valley in Arizona to kick the ass of Fritz Frobisher (Richardson). , a screen writer who tortured them when they were child actors. They are seeking revenge but they have all but convinced themselves that it is justice they are after. Throughout the film there are dozens of film references mostly in the action or war genres that these men have grown up on. They get into an argument as to who is better: Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. Fred names a great number of what he considers to be the greatest war films ever made. Delilah (Jonet) is having none of it because she is of a completely different generation and all these macho films do not resonate with her. When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is mentioned she says it’s a gay film and Fred says, “No, that’s Brokeback Mountain.
Much of the joy of this film is derived from the scenery that surrounds them as they drive along the desert on the way to their destination. This is a road movie with three characters who don’t exactly know what they are after in the first place. It starts out as a quest to beat up old man Frobisher but quickly turns into something else entirely. They want something, anything, but are unable to fully articulate it. Delilah has a bumper sticker on her SUV that says, “Kick their ass and take their oil.” This causes great distress to Fred who considers that it might be offensive to someone who might apprehend it. Delilah doesn’t bite and maintains her cool distance. She is the type of girl who has read “No Logos” and decided that she will not get gas at any station that displays a sign. Naturally, they end up running out of gas several times and end up at a station run by a young man named Rusty (McClarnon) who himself claims to have been tormented in a film by Fred in such a way that he never acted again. It turns out that Rusty is the grandson of Frobisher and doesn’t hold a grudge.
Delilah is a fascinating character who reads the aforementioned book and Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” over and again. She’s not particularly interested in the specifics of the search but seems to be enjoying her sarcasm and deep derision for Fred. What she wants is not so clear but it certainly doesn’t involve smashing in the teeth of some geezer who might have gotten a bit out of hand with the kiddies during the making of the film.
Essentially this is a gravely funny film with characters who seem like the kind of people who are driven by forces they do not readily understand. They are being dragged into the desert which doesn’t much care about their trivial difficulties in locating Frobisher and taking him out.
The film is quite simple and sparse and is driven almost entirely by dialog. The men are simply obsessed with cinema and seem capable of talking about it ad nauseum. They are students of the action and war genres and have nearly encyclopedic knowledge that almost gets in the way of an actual story. Indeed, there is very little of what would constitute a narrative in this film. Mostly its just driving and discussing the many nuances of a specific type of cinema that stimulates Fred and Mel like nothing else can. But it works because the characters are so compelling and earnest about their passion for cinema. This film could pass for a good primer for the genres mentioned and sometimes it feels as if that is all it has to offer. However, the landscape and complexities of the relationships between the three protagonists drive the film toward a rather unexpected yet thrilling conclusion.
There are many moments between the yammering where this film takes on epic dimensions that are quietly rendered and beautifully shot.
The performances in this film are a mixed bag. Del Zamora has a natural quality that is inviting and thoroughly believable. Ed Pansullo seems to be overacting on occasion and it takes a considerable length of time to get used to him. Nevertheless, once his character sinks in it’s easier to take the overemphasis he places on his various utterances. Sy Richardson is just cool in his brief role. He’s exceedingly well dressed and promotes an essence of poetry in his characterization. He’s mesmeric and truly riveting.
Overall, this film works well as a type of buddy picture/road movie that is interrupted by the inclusion of a bored, unyielding young woman who seems to want to be anywhere but on the road with two men she has direct animus for. The characters are well-rounded and the amount of movie references sometimes stops the narrative dead. Still, it’s a relatively effective film that is well-shot and occasionally infectious.
written and directed by Alex Cox
starring Del Zamora, Ed Pansullo, Jaclyn Jonet, Sy Richardson. Zahn McClarnon
The dusty trail leads a trio of wanderers through vast graveyards of empty spaces; the unforgiving desert where impossible dreams are hatched and people are utterly dwarfed by the landscape. Shot for $200,000 on DV, Cox brings a vibrant story of longing and justice.
Mel Torres (Zamora) and Fred Fletcher (Pansullo) are two old actors who have hitched up to a plan. They have decided to head out to Monumental Valley in Arizona to kick the ass of Fritz Frobisher (Richardson). , a screen writer who tortured them when they were child actors. They are seeking revenge but they have all but convinced themselves that it is justice they are after. Throughout the film there are dozens of film references mostly in the action or war genres that these men have grown up on. They get into an argument as to who is better: Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. Fred names a great number of what he considers to be the greatest war films ever made. Delilah (Jonet) is having none of it because she is of a completely different generation and all these macho films do not resonate with her. When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is mentioned she says it’s a gay film and Fred says, “No, that’s Brokeback Mountain.
Much of the joy of this film is derived from the scenery that surrounds them as they drive along the desert on the way to their destination. This is a road movie with three characters who don’t exactly know what they are after in the first place. It starts out as a quest to beat up old man Frobisher but quickly turns into something else entirely. They want something, anything, but are unable to fully articulate it. Delilah has a bumper sticker on her SUV that says, “Kick their ass and take their oil.” This causes great distress to Fred who considers that it might be offensive to someone who might apprehend it. Delilah doesn’t bite and maintains her cool distance. She is the type of girl who has read “No Logos” and decided that she will not get gas at any station that displays a sign. Naturally, they end up running out of gas several times and end up at a station run by a young man named Rusty (McClarnon) who himself claims to have been tormented in a film by Fred in such a way that he never acted again. It turns out that Rusty is the grandson of Frobisher and doesn’t hold a grudge.
Delilah is a fascinating character who reads the aforementioned book and Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” over and again. She’s not particularly interested in the specifics of the search but seems to be enjoying her sarcasm and deep derision for Fred. What she wants is not so clear but it certainly doesn’t involve smashing in the teeth of some geezer who might have gotten a bit out of hand with the kiddies during the making of the film.
Essentially this is a gravely funny film with characters who seem like the kind of people who are driven by forces they do not readily understand. They are being dragged into the desert which doesn’t much care about their trivial difficulties in locating Frobisher and taking him out.
The film is quite simple and sparse and is driven almost entirely by dialog. The men are simply obsessed with cinema and seem capable of talking about it ad nauseum. They are students of the action and war genres and have nearly encyclopedic knowledge that almost gets in the way of an actual story. Indeed, there is very little of what would constitute a narrative in this film. Mostly its just driving and discussing the many nuances of a specific type of cinema that stimulates Fred and Mel like nothing else can. But it works because the characters are so compelling and earnest about their passion for cinema. This film could pass for a good primer for the genres mentioned and sometimes it feels as if that is all it has to offer. However, the landscape and complexities of the relationships between the three protagonists drive the film toward a rather unexpected yet thrilling conclusion.
There are many moments between the yammering where this film takes on epic dimensions that are quietly rendered and beautifully shot.
The performances in this film are a mixed bag. Del Zamora has a natural quality that is inviting and thoroughly believable. Ed Pansullo seems to be overacting on occasion and it takes a considerable length of time to get used to him. Nevertheless, once his character sinks in it’s easier to take the overemphasis he places on his various utterances. Sy Richardson is just cool in his brief role. He’s exceedingly well dressed and promotes an essence of poetry in his characterization. He’s mesmeric and truly riveting.
Overall, this film works well as a type of buddy picture/road movie that is interrupted by the inclusion of a bored, unyielding young woman who seems to want to be anywhere but on the road with two men she has direct animus for. The characters are well-rounded and the amount of movie references sometimes stops the narrative dead. Still, it’s a relatively effective film that is well-shot and occasionally infectious.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Film Review--My Best Friend's Girl
My Best Friend’s Girl
directed by Howard Deutch
written by Jordan Cahan
starring Dane Cook, Jason Biggs, Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin, Lizzy Caplan, Jennie Mollen, Diora Baird, Amanda Brooks, Mini Anden
Oh, the hard, blinding effulgence of cheap and meaningless sex. This film begins as a totem to self-assurance, fearlessness, and the proper measures undertaken to get into the undergarments of any hussy that takes your eye. Tank (Cook) has a unique gift that he exploits routinely for profit. He has the ability to rescue relationships from the brink of failure by exaggerating his essential chauvinism by purposefully sabotaging dates with girls who have just broken it off with their man. He plays the rude, offensive, arrogant asshole to the point that he creates a tableau of the absolute worst date this poor minxes have ever been on in their lives. Subsequently they run back to their boyfriends who pay Tank a handsome sum for the favor.
Tank is a work of art. He’s bold, needy and manages to attract those girls who can’t help themselves and must fornicate with jerks due to some unmitigated complication in their psyche. Of course Tank quickly moves on from these entanglements because the girls serve no purpose once he has had his way with them. His friend and roommate Dustin (Biggs) is just the opposite. He’s a sweet boy who is basically ineffectual and hopelessly romantic in the traditional sense. He merely wants a nice girl he can adore and heap lavish praise upon because he is convinced that women crave this sort of thing. He is in love with Alexis (Hudson) and terribly eager to please her in every way possible. Unfortunately he errs by telling Alexis his true feelings and she balks. This leads him to confront Tank and he begs him to work his magic on her so she will come back to him and welcome him with open arms. So, Tank agrees and soon he is tormenting Alexis as he has done to all the others. However, she rather enjoys his attempts to scare her off and it becomes quickly apparent that she is different from all the other girls he has bagged and tagged. Despite his worst intentions Tank cannot sleep with Alexis for any number of reasons. He quickly realizes he is falling for her and after this point he is transformed into a pedestrian sugar pants who becomes slavish and soft.
The film falls apart once Tank abandons his persona and turns into a big wad of goo. Prior to this his dialog was rapid fire, clever, and inventive. After he discovers his heart the language is replaced by pure need and the film suffers greatly from it. Dustin is pathetic for the entire film and it’s grating to see such helplessness portrayed in a film. Between the two of them they are squishy, meager, and meandering. It’s just not pleasant to watch romantic comedies who don’t deserve to be considered as such. What is supposed to pass for tenderness merely comes off as dopey and contrived. All the energy is sucked out of the film as it becomes typical and uninspiring. Tank loses his sharpness and that demonic edge that defined him as a true force of nature capable of generating real excitement on screen. It’s an unfortunate development because the film had so much potential to be about something more than mere puppy love. Sure, it wants to be about finding true happiness in the arms of someone who can stand you but it goes about it all wrong. It cannot maintain its frivolity and intensity and becomes just another nausea-inducing vehicle for the modern day hook-up saga.
It’s a joy to watch Tank at work. As the film opens he is trying to convince one of his “dates” to sleep with him but because he has nearly ruined her life she rejects him and slams the door in his face. Undaunted he asks her to tell him the reason and she gives him ten. We see how the night unfolded and it’s a legitimate disaster where he makes her listen to a particularly juicy 2-Live Crew song in his car, takes her to a unsanitary restaurant where a dog is laying on the food counter, makes fun of her weight and a whole slew of other idiocies. It’s charming in its way and full of adventure and steaming with dynamism and life. It has a direct purpose and a scalding elegance that disappears as soon as Tank suffers the beginning of a bona fide attraction that troubles him immensely. Dane Cook is best when he’s being horrible in this film and his transformation into kindness sees him falter into standard romantic lead mode and the result is nauseating. It’s important to believe in the viability of both partners but in this film there is really no connection between the two characters. It just seems thrown together at the last moment where the idea of their compatibility is forced down our throats without meaning or purpose.
The character of Dustin as mentioned is such a lowly worm which is difficult because he’s supposed to be the nice guy who deserves to meet a nice girl who can appreciate him for his sensitivity and romantic leanings. But he comes off as a secondary character with no discernable qualities that any woman would see fit to allow into her life. Tank retains his bad boy persona underneath all the marsh mellow stickiness that corrupts him into his new fangled approach to the tyranny of lust diluted by sentimentality. It’s just not easy to buy the cheap and faltering message the film is attempting to sell to its audience. It’s not sexy although it intends to leave the impression that pure animal sex can be properly addressed by putting two actors together who should be rolling around in a dog food commercial.
The performances in this film are a mixed bag. Dane Cook generates a bit of heat when he’s a prick but becomes swamped in doe-eyed niceties and degenerates into a cute little desperate bunny rabbit. Jason Biggs is just not particularly engaging in this film. It’s mostly the character but the film seems to grind to a halt whenever he’s on the screen. He’s mostly a distraction. Kate Hudson plays cute and vapid and her character doesn’t have a single clever line. It’s curious if she’s playing such a one-dimensional character deliberately or if she is unaware of how shallow Alexis comes off.
Overall, this film can’t maintain its manic pace that makes the first part so enjoyable. Mostly this has to do with the Tank character and his slathering idiocy which replaces a sharp tongued, vitriolic anti-gentleman. Ultimately, it suffers from a lack of clarity and each character seems forced into a RomCom that has no direction or validity. It’s essentially two films and the second one lacks even a modicum of originality or style. It’s just a bunch of slobbering idiots and dolts that lack discernible personalities. The best scene in the film is when Tank is walking down the aisle at a church where a couple of turdlings are getting married. The soundtrack plays “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash as Tank lights a cigarette and proceeds in slow motion. It’s perhaps the most iconic image of Dane Cook and makes him decidedly less odious. Too bad the film proper lacks this simple cool.
directed by Howard Deutch
written by Jordan Cahan
starring Dane Cook, Jason Biggs, Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin, Lizzy Caplan, Jennie Mollen, Diora Baird, Amanda Brooks, Mini Anden
Oh, the hard, blinding effulgence of cheap and meaningless sex. This film begins as a totem to self-assurance, fearlessness, and the proper measures undertaken to get into the undergarments of any hussy that takes your eye. Tank (Cook) has a unique gift that he exploits routinely for profit. He has the ability to rescue relationships from the brink of failure by exaggerating his essential chauvinism by purposefully sabotaging dates with girls who have just broken it off with their man. He plays the rude, offensive, arrogant asshole to the point that he creates a tableau of the absolute worst date this poor minxes have ever been on in their lives. Subsequently they run back to their boyfriends who pay Tank a handsome sum for the favor.
Tank is a work of art. He’s bold, needy and manages to attract those girls who can’t help themselves and must fornicate with jerks due to some unmitigated complication in their psyche. Of course Tank quickly moves on from these entanglements because the girls serve no purpose once he has had his way with them. His friend and roommate Dustin (Biggs) is just the opposite. He’s a sweet boy who is basically ineffectual and hopelessly romantic in the traditional sense. He merely wants a nice girl he can adore and heap lavish praise upon because he is convinced that women crave this sort of thing. He is in love with Alexis (Hudson) and terribly eager to please her in every way possible. Unfortunately he errs by telling Alexis his true feelings and she balks. This leads him to confront Tank and he begs him to work his magic on her so she will come back to him and welcome him with open arms. So, Tank agrees and soon he is tormenting Alexis as he has done to all the others. However, she rather enjoys his attempts to scare her off and it becomes quickly apparent that she is different from all the other girls he has bagged and tagged. Despite his worst intentions Tank cannot sleep with Alexis for any number of reasons. He quickly realizes he is falling for her and after this point he is transformed into a pedestrian sugar pants who becomes slavish and soft.
The film falls apart once Tank abandons his persona and turns into a big wad of goo. Prior to this his dialog was rapid fire, clever, and inventive. After he discovers his heart the language is replaced by pure need and the film suffers greatly from it. Dustin is pathetic for the entire film and it’s grating to see such helplessness portrayed in a film. Between the two of them they are squishy, meager, and meandering. It’s just not pleasant to watch romantic comedies who don’t deserve to be considered as such. What is supposed to pass for tenderness merely comes off as dopey and contrived. All the energy is sucked out of the film as it becomes typical and uninspiring. Tank loses his sharpness and that demonic edge that defined him as a true force of nature capable of generating real excitement on screen. It’s an unfortunate development because the film had so much potential to be about something more than mere puppy love. Sure, it wants to be about finding true happiness in the arms of someone who can stand you but it goes about it all wrong. It cannot maintain its frivolity and intensity and becomes just another nausea-inducing vehicle for the modern day hook-up saga.
It’s a joy to watch Tank at work. As the film opens he is trying to convince one of his “dates” to sleep with him but because he has nearly ruined her life she rejects him and slams the door in his face. Undaunted he asks her to tell him the reason and she gives him ten. We see how the night unfolded and it’s a legitimate disaster where he makes her listen to a particularly juicy 2-Live Crew song in his car, takes her to a unsanitary restaurant where a dog is laying on the food counter, makes fun of her weight and a whole slew of other idiocies. It’s charming in its way and full of adventure and steaming with dynamism and life. It has a direct purpose and a scalding elegance that disappears as soon as Tank suffers the beginning of a bona fide attraction that troubles him immensely. Dane Cook is best when he’s being horrible in this film and his transformation into kindness sees him falter into standard romantic lead mode and the result is nauseating. It’s important to believe in the viability of both partners but in this film there is really no connection between the two characters. It just seems thrown together at the last moment where the idea of their compatibility is forced down our throats without meaning or purpose.
The character of Dustin as mentioned is such a lowly worm which is difficult because he’s supposed to be the nice guy who deserves to meet a nice girl who can appreciate him for his sensitivity and romantic leanings. But he comes off as a secondary character with no discernable qualities that any woman would see fit to allow into her life. Tank retains his bad boy persona underneath all the marsh mellow stickiness that corrupts him into his new fangled approach to the tyranny of lust diluted by sentimentality. It’s just not easy to buy the cheap and faltering message the film is attempting to sell to its audience. It’s not sexy although it intends to leave the impression that pure animal sex can be properly addressed by putting two actors together who should be rolling around in a dog food commercial.
The performances in this film are a mixed bag. Dane Cook generates a bit of heat when he’s a prick but becomes swamped in doe-eyed niceties and degenerates into a cute little desperate bunny rabbit. Jason Biggs is just not particularly engaging in this film. It’s mostly the character but the film seems to grind to a halt whenever he’s on the screen. He’s mostly a distraction. Kate Hudson plays cute and vapid and her character doesn’t have a single clever line. It’s curious if she’s playing such a one-dimensional character deliberately or if she is unaware of how shallow Alexis comes off.
Overall, this film can’t maintain its manic pace that makes the first part so enjoyable. Mostly this has to do with the Tank character and his slathering idiocy which replaces a sharp tongued, vitriolic anti-gentleman. Ultimately, it suffers from a lack of clarity and each character seems forced into a RomCom that has no direction or validity. It’s essentially two films and the second one lacks even a modicum of originality or style. It’s just a bunch of slobbering idiots and dolts that lack discernible personalities. The best scene in the film is when Tank is walking down the aisle at a church where a couple of turdlings are getting married. The soundtrack plays “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash as Tank lights a cigarette and proceeds in slow motion. It’s perhaps the most iconic image of Dane Cook and makes him decidedly less odious. Too bad the film proper lacks this simple cool.
Film Review--Lakeview Terrace
Lakeview Terrace
directed by Neil LaBute
written by David Loughery and Howard Korder
starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Ron Glass, Javier Villareal, Regine Nehy, Jaishon Fisher, Keith Loneker
It’s been three years since his wife was killed in a head on collision and Abel Turner (Jackson) is still mourning. He’s got two young kids, Celia (Nehy) who is fifteen and Marcus (Fisher), 11. He is exceedingly strict and a possesses a nearly pathological need to be in control at all times. He’s also a cop whose been on the job for 26 years and clearly loves every aspect of his job. Sometimes, however, the aggression and license for brutality spills over into his every day life and he tends occasionally to get a bit out of hand. This tendency is exacerbated when Chris (Wilson) and Lisa (Washington) Mattson move into his suburb next door. They are an interracial couple who Turner immediately takes a disliking to. It’s never quite clear how important their racial makeup is to his overall rage but he does make several comments regarding it that are far from congenial. He does not approve of much of anything that the Mattson’s do and quickly makes his presence felt by sabotaging their air condition. Then he slashes their tires and persists in playing the hyper masculine one-up game with Chris.
Much of the film is a psychological wargame between Abel and Chris who get entangled in something that is potentially dangerous to them both. Chris and Lisa begin to have some slight marital problems brought on by the stress of living under Abel’s watch. He not only patrols the neighborhood every night, he patrols them and makes certain there is nothing inappropriate that he might have to deal with. Abel Turner is a man who cannot stand the fact that Chris throws his cigarette butts over his fence so his wife won’t find out about them. He simply cannot stand anything out of order and has conservative political views that clash mightily with Chris’s Berkley, California values. He graduated from the college there and Abel makes great fun out of the fact that Chris is a “tree-hugging” liberal Democrat.
There are cultural, political, racial and personal divides that separate Abel from Chris. Abel hates the fact that Chris listens to rap music saying “you can listen to that noise all night long but when you wake up you’ll still be white”. Abel has a strict personal code that slowly erodes as the film progresses. He is temporarily relieved of his duties after bashing a suspect in the ribs with the barrel of his gun. It is revealed that he has a history of such behavior and it’s an indictment on the LAPD that such a cop has for so long been allowed to remain on the force. Abel is a good cop in that he is loyal to his partner and manages to clean up the streets with alacrity and precision. He knows what he does and he does it exceedingly well when he’s not snapping and letting his seething anger get the best of him.
Chris Mattson is a typical liberal who believes strictly in avoiding confrontation at all costs until things get so far out of hand and he has no choice but to revert to the conservative virtue of self-preservation. Under normal circumstances he is able and willing to take a considerable amount of distress before acting in a decisive manner. In this film he puts up with the aforementioned terror, personal insults, illegal detainment and other inconveniences. There is a poignant moment in a bar where Abel tells Chris that “today is the third anniversary of my wife’s death”. He then goes on to pity himself in a display which is most like designed to stir up some sympathy for Abel although the film presents him as such from the first frame.
Abel Turner is a likeable character and this has everything to do with Samuel L. Jackson’s performance. He’s gregarious and charismatic throughout which is belied by his inability to control his anger. It’s clear that this anger is a projection of his deed frustration and anguish over events he could not control. He blames himself for not being there to protect his wife from her fate and it tears into him every day without end. His rage is unyielding as he seems to satisfy the appeal of his emotions through his job and control of his children. He is simply a man who cannot tolerate interferences with his carefully orchestrated, specifically controlled environment that he regulates as he sees fit. Chris is an intrusion perhaps because he reminds Abel of the white man that his wife was riding with when she was killed.
The racial dynamics play out through various channels that suggest Abel has a tendency to direct a specific animus against Chris for attempting to co-opt his race. As mentioned Chris listens to loud hip-hop in his car and this upsets Abel because he feels that no white boy has any right to ape black culture because it’s his and it belongs to him. In a sense Abel feels as if Chris is stealing something very valuable from him by daring to cohabit with a black woman who should know better than to allow her self to be “taken” by someone who isn’t really much of a man to begin with. The implication here is that a black man–any black man–could satisfy Lisa better than an ineffectual “sugar britches” who ought to stick to his own kind.
For his part Chris maintains a certain equanimity with Abel and takes every diplomatic measure at his disposal. He attempts to reason with Abel but soon discovers that this is impossible because Abel believes emphatically that he is entirely in the right. He is convinced that his every action is perfectly reasonable and refuses to consider the situation to be otherwise. Lisa remains in the background and gradually the terror in her eyes becomes more pronounced. There is a fear that Abel is going to try something with her but is held back by some sort of aching propriety. She is rather helpless throughout the film and we never get to see a particularly strong or primal side of her. She’s apparently successful and able to stay at home to do her designs but there is something lacking in her personality that relegates her to a supporting role that merely comforts Chris when they aren’t fighting over trivialities.
The physicality of Abel Turner is a decisive force that separates him from Chris. Abel is an intimidating specimen who hides behind the badge and believes emphatically that it gives him carte blanche to do whatever he chooses to do. He is not entirely corrupt but he has been known to jack various arrestees who rub him the wrong way. He’s simply a brute who is essentially a powder keg ready to go off and Chris and Lisa’s relationship proves to light the fuse.
Samuel L. Jackson dominates every scene he’s in here. He’s robust, dynamic and fueled by an intensity that is pronounced and thrilling. Particularly when his character is expressing his rage over matters that challenge his sense of control, he is a force of nature that seems determined to remove the scourge from his life and restore calm that is exceedingly important to his way of life. Jackson plays the duplicitous nature of Abel with effortless charm and Panzer aggression He sells Abel as a troubled man who must establish his kingship in his territory without fail. Patrick Wilson demonstrates a calm, easy manner that works within the context of the film. His character seems to shun aggressiveness and typical male behavior in order to maintain a level of stasis within which he realizes is his best defense against obstacles that might otherwise befall him. Chris is careful and observant. He doesn’t adhere to the same demonstrative rules that inform nearly every one of Abel’s actions. Kerry Washington plays Lisa as something of a wallflower. There is a distance in her eyes that is never revoked as the film progresses. It’s difficult to get inside Lisa’s head as she attempts to maneuver her way in a world that is perfectly alien to her. It’s clear that Washington is easing up to demonstrate her character’s status as a genuinely strained individual who simply cannot comprehend these distractions.
Overall, this films captures a disparity between a controlling, exceedingly conservative cop and a former Berkley student who doesn’t speak the language of power, aggression and violence. Abel Turner knows the ways in which mankind erupts and tears itself apart. He has seen and experienced violence that Chris has only read about. Abel disapproves of Chris’s politics as well as his relationship with Lisa. He wants nothing more than to drive a wedge between them or to convince them to bail on their house and leave the neighborhood. They represent what he considers to be a failure on his part that he can never forgive himself for. It drives him persistently and the sight of Lisa and Chris drives him over the edge causing him to act in decidedly confrontational ways. He loses control which further enrages him as he is driven by his self-hatred toward a cliff.
directed by Neil LaBute
written by David Loughery and Howard Korder
starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Ron Glass, Javier Villareal, Regine Nehy, Jaishon Fisher, Keith Loneker
It’s been three years since his wife was killed in a head on collision and Abel Turner (Jackson) is still mourning. He’s got two young kids, Celia (Nehy) who is fifteen and Marcus (Fisher), 11. He is exceedingly strict and a possesses a nearly pathological need to be in control at all times. He’s also a cop whose been on the job for 26 years and clearly loves every aspect of his job. Sometimes, however, the aggression and license for brutality spills over into his every day life and he tends occasionally to get a bit out of hand. This tendency is exacerbated when Chris (Wilson) and Lisa (Washington) Mattson move into his suburb next door. They are an interracial couple who Turner immediately takes a disliking to. It’s never quite clear how important their racial makeup is to his overall rage but he does make several comments regarding it that are far from congenial. He does not approve of much of anything that the Mattson’s do and quickly makes his presence felt by sabotaging their air condition. Then he slashes their tires and persists in playing the hyper masculine one-up game with Chris.
Much of the film is a psychological wargame between Abel and Chris who get entangled in something that is potentially dangerous to them both. Chris and Lisa begin to have some slight marital problems brought on by the stress of living under Abel’s watch. He not only patrols the neighborhood every night, he patrols them and makes certain there is nothing inappropriate that he might have to deal with. Abel Turner is a man who cannot stand the fact that Chris throws his cigarette butts over his fence so his wife won’t find out about them. He simply cannot stand anything out of order and has conservative political views that clash mightily with Chris’s Berkley, California values. He graduated from the college there and Abel makes great fun out of the fact that Chris is a “tree-hugging” liberal Democrat.
There are cultural, political, racial and personal divides that separate Abel from Chris. Abel hates the fact that Chris listens to rap music saying “you can listen to that noise all night long but when you wake up you’ll still be white”. Abel has a strict personal code that slowly erodes as the film progresses. He is temporarily relieved of his duties after bashing a suspect in the ribs with the barrel of his gun. It is revealed that he has a history of such behavior and it’s an indictment on the LAPD that such a cop has for so long been allowed to remain on the force. Abel is a good cop in that he is loyal to his partner and manages to clean up the streets with alacrity and precision. He knows what he does and he does it exceedingly well when he’s not snapping and letting his seething anger get the best of him.
Chris Mattson is a typical liberal who believes strictly in avoiding confrontation at all costs until things get so far out of hand and he has no choice but to revert to the conservative virtue of self-preservation. Under normal circumstances he is able and willing to take a considerable amount of distress before acting in a decisive manner. In this film he puts up with the aforementioned terror, personal insults, illegal detainment and other inconveniences. There is a poignant moment in a bar where Abel tells Chris that “today is the third anniversary of my wife’s death”. He then goes on to pity himself in a display which is most like designed to stir up some sympathy for Abel although the film presents him as such from the first frame.
Abel Turner is a likeable character and this has everything to do with Samuel L. Jackson’s performance. He’s gregarious and charismatic throughout which is belied by his inability to control his anger. It’s clear that this anger is a projection of his deed frustration and anguish over events he could not control. He blames himself for not being there to protect his wife from her fate and it tears into him every day without end. His rage is unyielding as he seems to satisfy the appeal of his emotions through his job and control of his children. He is simply a man who cannot tolerate interferences with his carefully orchestrated, specifically controlled environment that he regulates as he sees fit. Chris is an intrusion perhaps because he reminds Abel of the white man that his wife was riding with when she was killed.
The racial dynamics play out through various channels that suggest Abel has a tendency to direct a specific animus against Chris for attempting to co-opt his race. As mentioned Chris listens to loud hip-hop in his car and this upsets Abel because he feels that no white boy has any right to ape black culture because it’s his and it belongs to him. In a sense Abel feels as if Chris is stealing something very valuable from him by daring to cohabit with a black woman who should know better than to allow her self to be “taken” by someone who isn’t really much of a man to begin with. The implication here is that a black man–any black man–could satisfy Lisa better than an ineffectual “sugar britches” who ought to stick to his own kind.
For his part Chris maintains a certain equanimity with Abel and takes every diplomatic measure at his disposal. He attempts to reason with Abel but soon discovers that this is impossible because Abel believes emphatically that he is entirely in the right. He is convinced that his every action is perfectly reasonable and refuses to consider the situation to be otherwise. Lisa remains in the background and gradually the terror in her eyes becomes more pronounced. There is a fear that Abel is going to try something with her but is held back by some sort of aching propriety. She is rather helpless throughout the film and we never get to see a particularly strong or primal side of her. She’s apparently successful and able to stay at home to do her designs but there is something lacking in her personality that relegates her to a supporting role that merely comforts Chris when they aren’t fighting over trivialities.
The physicality of Abel Turner is a decisive force that separates him from Chris. Abel is an intimidating specimen who hides behind the badge and believes emphatically that it gives him carte blanche to do whatever he chooses to do. He is not entirely corrupt but he has been known to jack various arrestees who rub him the wrong way. He’s simply a brute who is essentially a powder keg ready to go off and Chris and Lisa’s relationship proves to light the fuse.
Samuel L. Jackson dominates every scene he’s in here. He’s robust, dynamic and fueled by an intensity that is pronounced and thrilling. Particularly when his character is expressing his rage over matters that challenge his sense of control, he is a force of nature that seems determined to remove the scourge from his life and restore calm that is exceedingly important to his way of life. Jackson plays the duplicitous nature of Abel with effortless charm and Panzer aggression He sells Abel as a troubled man who must establish his kingship in his territory without fail. Patrick Wilson demonstrates a calm, easy manner that works within the context of the film. His character seems to shun aggressiveness and typical male behavior in order to maintain a level of stasis within which he realizes is his best defense against obstacles that might otherwise befall him. Chris is careful and observant. He doesn’t adhere to the same demonstrative rules that inform nearly every one of Abel’s actions. Kerry Washington plays Lisa as something of a wallflower. There is a distance in her eyes that is never revoked as the film progresses. It’s difficult to get inside Lisa’s head as she attempts to maneuver her way in a world that is perfectly alien to her. It’s clear that Washington is easing up to demonstrate her character’s status as a genuinely strained individual who simply cannot comprehend these distractions.
Overall, this films captures a disparity between a controlling, exceedingly conservative cop and a former Berkley student who doesn’t speak the language of power, aggression and violence. Abel Turner knows the ways in which mankind erupts and tears itself apart. He has seen and experienced violence that Chris has only read about. Abel disapproves of Chris’s politics as well as his relationship with Lisa. He wants nothing more than to drive a wedge between them or to convince them to bail on their house and leave the neighborhood. They represent what he considers to be a failure on his part that he can never forgive himself for. It drives him persistently and the sight of Lisa and Chris drives him over the edge causing him to act in decidedly confrontational ways. He loses control which further enrages him as he is driven by his self-hatred toward a cliff.
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