Film Review--The Exiles

The Exiles
written and directed by Kent MacKenzie
starring Mary Donahue, Homer Nish, Clydean Parker, Tom Reynolds, Rico Rodriguez, Clifford Ray Sam, Eddie Sunrise, Yvonne Williams



Oh, cruel isolation and boredom can be a sordid mess of failed expectations and general distress. Here we have a small gang of youth who are looking, just looking, to get into it, to feel it tightening about their throat. They want to be ripped to shreds, to be cast into the stars, to fly heavenward, leaving a trail of matter to crash broken into exploded buildings. Yet, the daily grind keeps wearing at them; they cannot bear to be left behind so they dance, they fight, they live life with a rare and discreet passion.

The soul of the Indian, not some sacred buffalo or wolf, nothing like you’ve seen in movies before; it is the same soul shared diligently by all mankind. This is the Indian who has been brought or been brought to the city to carry on with business of living. They are hardly distinguishable from any other youth out to find trouble on a Friday night. All the illusions, the safe stereotypes, do not do justice to these individuals who merely want the same thing the rest of them want: a bottle of something cold and perhaps a comforting look from a stranger. They want to dance and be drunk, spinning around as lights distort and flash by. To find a reason to fight someone who might have given you a sour glance as you walked in. There is hatred of circumstance projected onto anyone who dares stand in the way. Broken promises healed by split knuckles glancing off of smug faces, falling backward as tables overturn.

Mostly they drink because they need to dull whatever it is that is afflicting them. These are Urban Indians, non-actors, who are living out fantasies and movements that sing brutal songs of poverty and disease when they bother to think about conditions back on the reservation. One instance of flashback gives us an elevated vision of the res with happiness and order taking the essential place in the narrative. But, in many areas such unabashed ebullience does not reign without contradiction. In the city there is acute loneliness and fear of everything that can strip a life of its bearings.

Within the lines there is a sense of meaning that can be exploited to engineer a reasonable life divorced of undue excitement, regulated and controlled. This is not the life these characters want to lead. Improvisation and a loosely constructed script lead to moments of clarity that send a pleasantly confounding message of regret and steely-eyed determination. The night leads to confrontation, battles of wills, strange moments when the battle axe of fate hangs delicately overhead, bearing down on lives about to ring true perhaps for the first time.

The threat of violence is always present; the anger is pronounced and takes form in small gestures or sideways glances that say more about the situation than any high minded application of script to action ever could. The story is simple. It is a matter of drinking, gambling, lamenting and trying to forget what cannot be forgotten. Energies are stripped bare and clean; each emblem commits to a startled moment where bodies pause in mid air and cannot come together. The sex in this film is all contained in the frustrated males who would break any woman down to her usable parts. The women get slapped around and put in their place; they are treated as necessary evils who wear out their welcome soon enough and are thereafter considered a nuisance. Still, there are moments of need when the women are treated with something resembling respect. But there is no dignity to their movements; they shuffle about with their noses to the ground like dogs searching for a freshly killed body.

Overall, this film captures the feeling of longing that takes over reason and catapults the body into a realm where the studied realm of normative life ceases to be a burden. It is speed, power, and even a bit of pain to remind one that it all actually happened. We have a sacred/profane drumming session high on a hill. Chanting echoes off the valley below as the creatures lay snug in their expensive sheets, dreaming of haunting figures, slouched over a drum, patchouli souls bringing a new created thing into this multiverse. The sun rises and the players and pretenders move out to find their place back in the cruel, victorious world. Yet the possibility exists that later in the evening they can start the whole charade over again. This time there will be no excuses not to go all out. No safety nets, nothing can hold back the effervescent agonies that will most certainly afflict them as they prolong the torment into a soft, diabolic dementia. These are the Indian youth, removed from the influence of tradition yet reclaiming it after a fashion as it comes headlong into contact with the white man’s music. The furies fly about and sow the seeds of discord that is transformed into moments of sweet torment.

Film Review--The Express

The Express
directed by Gary Fleder
written by Charles Leavitt
based on the book by Robert Gallagher
starring Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Omar Benson Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Nicole Beharie, Aunjanue Ellis,



Based on the true story of Ernie Davis, this film tells his story against a backdrop of institutionalized racism throughout post war America.

Ernie is first seen escaping the taunts and threats of a gang of racist white youth where he discovers he’s a gifted runner. Later he moves from his grandfather Willie’s (Dutton) house in Uniontown, PA with his mother to Elmira, New York. There he discovers a pee-wee football program and signs up. He’s confronted with basic racism of a rudimentary kind but proves to excel on the field. The film fast-forwards several years where Ernie is in high school. Coach Schwartzwalder of Syracuse University sees tape of him performing and heads out to New York with Syracuse standout and legend Jim Brown (the most able back the previous season who was nevertheless denied the Heisman trophy. Jim Brown convinces Ernie to sign up with Syracuse.

The rest of the film follows Syracuse as they march toward a national championship. Ernie is the key player and there are various bumps along the road that lead to confrontations. Racism is clearly apparent in many instances where various people voice their antipathy to the emergence of an African-American player. It is a strong sentiment throughout the film although it never threatens to consume it. Ernie just plays football without speaking out to the chagrin of his uncle Will (Nelsan Ellis) who takes him to an NAACP meeting and wants him to set an example for black liberation and determination. He speaks on the field by presenting himself as an example to all the youth who naturally idolize him for his prowess on the field.

There is only a hint of political activism in this film as it mostly wants to focus its attention on the exploits of its central character and use the tumultuous times to make occasional comments on the difficulties that a black collegiate athlete of Ernie’s stature would face. It’s mainly a film about a singularly gifted player that also deals with the pettiness of an underlying racism that still informed many white people and influenced how they dealt with blacks. The jabs are subtle but Ernie Davis feels them all with a sharpness that nevertheless does not affect his ability to shine on the field. There is a real sense of community amongst the African-American population who treat Ernie with adoration. One gets the firm impression that his success is taken as an emblem for all African-Americans and an example of what they might accomplish in their own lives. This is a film of empowerment and relates a type of consciousness that transcended the football field and reached into all arenas of public life. Ernie is a symbol of high expectations in which he is forced to carry the weight of an entire people on his shoulders.

Dr. Martin Luther King is presented in a speech that stands in for the confounded black position during the time. Ernie Davis seems unaffected by Dr. King and rather spends his time either playing or courting his girlfriend Sarah (Beharie). This is not a film about political awakening or black power. It’s merely a simple story about a great athlete who carried on a tradition started by the impossibly talented Jim Brown.

Ernie does occasionally fight back but its not necessarily clear if his racial pride is hurt or if he is merely reacting to hostilities in a direct, physical manner. He is aware of how others see him and doesn’t pretend that he isn’t aware of the racism all around him. He knows that there are many people who would love to see him fail in order to prove their own theories about the inferiority of the black race. Even referees are not immune to the contagion and there are moments where Ernie is cheated specifically because of his race. At one game the fans throw bottles and other debris at the field in a collective demonstration of their animus toward Ernie and the entire team.

The film is hackneyed at times and the story is predictable and certainly not novel but it does manage to consistently entertain and Rob Brown makes a good stand in for the football hero. There is a bit of a letdown late in the film where the film shifts gears from an exegesis on American brand racism into a strictly personal account of the life of Ernie Davis. Everything build up to a specific end and once that is accomplished it just sort of fizzles out. Still, it’s engrossing straight through to the end and there are many moments when one firmly believes in the vitality and talent of this singular individual. Racism or no this is a film that explores the notion of greatness and what it means to those who participate in it and those who live through it vicariously.

There is decent sports photography in this film but nothing that hasn’t been seen in countless other sports films. There are also several moments that are seen in all these film including the hard headed coach, the hazing of the phenom, and the significant sports moments that are slowed down so that they begin to resemble Gatorade commercials. Still, the film is presented in a straightforward way and the characters are likable while the tensions surrounding them are clearly demonstrated.

The performances in this film are all quite enjoyable. Rob Brown captures all the physicality and fine posture of capable football star. Ernie is smooth, gallant, and freakishly good at what he does. Brown gives us the heroic figure who does great things that resonate with the community and beyond. Charles S. Dutton has a brief role as the elder statesman of the Davis Family. Just in the way he moves about there is indication that this is a character of substance that is revealed in his strong faith. Dennis Quaid gives a riveting performance as the coach who is battling his own racist tendencies. Quaid is intense throughout and one truly gets the impression that his character is a man driven by the desire to win. Quaid personalizes this desire with a straightforward performance that owes a lot to the gritty, no-nonsense coaches that have made the gridiron their home. Nelsan Ellis has a coolness about him that is present in every scene he’s in. Ellis is adroit at playing off other actors with a deft touch and skill.

Overall, this is a bit more than the typical sports hero story. It wins primarily due to its performances and its concentration on the consummate personality of its star. It doesn’t work as well as a historical piece mainly because it doesn’t have the scope to tackle the issues at play. Still, it doesn’t try too terribly hard to be something that it is not and mostly comes across as a commendable entry into this tightly packed field. It is the story of a gifted man who discovers an outlet for his singular talent and that’s all it really needs to be. Racism certainly plays a part in the tale but it doesn’t overwhelm the core narrative of goodness, dedication, and honor.

Film Review--9/11: Time of Crisis

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
written by Lionel Chetwynd
starring Timothy Bottoms, John Cunningham, David Wolos-Fonteno, Gregory Itzin, Penny Johnson, Stephen Macht, Mary Gordon Murray, Lawrence Pressman, Scott Alan Smith

A slick flag-waving, bugle-playing piece of solid agit-prop, this film nevertheless captures the tumultuous mood extant during the crisis of 9/11. This film is designed to sell the idea that President Bush (Bottoms) stood up and bravely led the country through the nightmarish days following the attack. This is a firmly pro-Bush film and it manages to sell the idea that his diligence and forthrightness were responsible for much of what followed. It uses extensive research and mixes stock footage with drama to tell the story of the nine days following the assault on the towers.

The film follows events from the attack straight through to Bush’s emotional trip to ground Zero and his address to the nation. It tracks the efforts of the various cabinets to come up with a plan to implement in order to punish those responsible for the attack. Various proposals are brought forth and the players attempt to determine precisely which direction to head in to have the most impact. There are numerous meanings where the staffs explore different strategies for taking al Qaeda out. The message of this film is clear and precise: America will retaliate and eliminate all threats to our freedom and way of life. The message is quite strong and resonates throughout the film. There is a real sense of urgency in this film as the staffs scramble to put together the most decisive measures to eliminate the threat.

President Bush is portrayed sympathetically as a man prone to succumbing to his emotion but who nevertheless is strong and vital under pressure and fully capable of leading the charge during the crisis. Some critics have insisted that Cheney was actually behind the effort but this film’s purpose is to sell one specific version of events and does not intend to undermine the President they so clearly admire. Bush is a human being in this film susceptible to the same torrents of fear and pain as everyone else. He is shown to be an admirable character who himself is struggling with trying to understand the gravity of the situation facing him. There are scenes between him and Laura (Murray) that reveal his doubt and confusion during the events. It is easy to view this as a possible falsification of events but such an interpretation must nevertheless admire the consistency with which the film presents its central figure. Whether he was or wasn’t instrumental in helping orchestrate the proper course of action immediately following the attack one can not deny that this film serves its purpose in how it presents its hero.

The film has a tremendous amount of energy and maintains it nearly throughout. It’s somber and there are moments when the impact of the terrible events is felt emotionally although its not during the clearly manipulative scenes designed to create a specific reaction. In many ways this is a love poem to all those mythical ideas that America is supposed to represent. It makes it a point to focus its rhetoric on the primary virtues that the film wants to instill in its audience as belonging solely to those nations that espouse freedom. Great Britain is hailed as the best friend America ever had. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair (Andrew Gillies) is shown bending over backwards to ensure that his government help the cause in any way possible.


Yes, this film is a big fist pump for America and all its supposed to stand for in the world. There is no room for anything that challenges this pretense toward global supremacy in this film. Of course its propaganda that wants to force the simple idea that America was firmly correct in its immediate and direct response. It also attempts to sell a belief in solidarity around the government’s decisions during the aftermath of the attack. Each participant in this film is shown to be a thoughtful, complying component to the issuance of the edicts that determined the course of events that led from the gathering of intelligence to the invasion of Afghanistan. It is presented as a difficult and gut-wrenching decision that is carefully determined and painstakingly worked out.

Timothy Bottoms, who previously played a lovable if not a bit cartoonish version of Bush in the Comedy Central “sit-com” That’s My Bush! reprises his role here as a more serious, resolute President. He conveys the character’s personal struggle in the film and there are many moments when acute pain is demonstrable on his face. He offers the audience a President who is humble yet forceful in his handling of events. This is not the bumbling ninny that much of the press has insisted on perpetuating regarding the President. Bottoms plays him straight and convicted regarding the decision to put American lives on the line. Penny Johnson is convincing as Condoleezza Rice and generates an image of respectability and an adherence to perfect order.

Overall, this film sells the global chess match with certitude and precision. It presents an idealized President who is portrayed as a man who happens to be in a position to make decisions that prove costly when they are ill-determined or improperly measured out. The characters are all believable although it’s difficult to determine how much the synergy they achieve relates to the actual facts. There is an earnestness to this film that resonates throughout. There is an unyielding sense of rightness that is presented as an absolute that cannot be challenged by mere protests that would reject any decisive action in favour of a more moderate response. This is a film about a strategic mission that is presented clearly as the only alternative to the tragedy.

Film Review--From Russia With Love

From Russia With Love
directed by Terence Young
written by Johanna Harwood (adaptation) and Richard Maibaum (screenplay)
starring Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Pedro Armendariz, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Eunice Gayson



The travails and subterfuges of the world’s most dashing agent take center stage in the second installment in the colossal franchise.

M16 British Secret Service Agent James Bond (007) (Connery) checks in here to capture the elusive Lektor cryptographic device that both the OSS and CIA are hungry for because it deciphers Russian secret documents. He is lured to Istanbul to meet with a Russian Beauty named Tatiana Romanova who is under the impression that she is being given the opportunity to defect to the other side. Unfortunately, she is merely being used by the nefarious SPECTRE to attract Bond in an epic struggle to pit the Russians and British against one another. The film is essentially a romance between Bond and Tatiana who quickly fall into when she shows up in his bed. Such is the allure of Bond who always manages to bring them in with little or no effort.

In this film, Bond is hounded by SPECTRE goons including the strong and vital Red Grant (Shaw) who has been programmed by the sinister Rosa Klebb (Lenya) to retrieve the Lektor in order to sell it back to the Russians for a tremendous profit. Ostensibly the British are involved only so they can have their pants pulled down because of the Doctor No. incident. This film features one of the best belly dancing sequences of recent memory. It is hypnotic and impossible to ignore. The woman’s name is Lisa Guiraut and wherever she is today I just want to say thank you for your performance. It was truly a work of art. There is also a decent cat fight between two gypsy women who are fighting over a sultan. Bond ends up sorting the dispute by bedding both women and ostensibly deciding which one pleased him the most. I wonder just what Sylvia (Gayson), Bond’s unofficial “girlfriend” thinks of all this whoring around or does she just expect it considering who he is and what he is able to do.

There is tremendous energy in this film as it carries through from Istanbul to Venice. There’s a real sense that danger is around every corner and that Bond must be exceedingly careful to get out of the trap alive. It’s the essential Bond formula and this one does a thrilling job in actualizing it without stumbling over its fresh script. The characters are vivid, alive and one feels destined for great things that involve stealth, ingenuity, and physical strength. There is a terrific sense of the Cold War vibrating through this work as the Russians are presented as grand enemies whose secrets are necessary to the state of both the British and American nations. The whole point of the Lektor is to sneak a peak at necessary secrets that the Russians would rather have kept secret.

We need secret agents to do the work that others can simply not do. In Bond’s case, he makes the work seem exquisitely well crafted and original. He is forever the quintessential man for the job and every entry into a new territory is merely another place where Bond will do precisely what he is instructed to do. This perfection of form, this impossibility of style leaves the viewer ecstatic and feeling whole somehow. For just the moments when Bond figures out another piece of the puzzle, the audience can swoon and realize a bit about what it means to be so ably equipped. In this film Bond doesn’t take a false step. He is the perfect image of charisma and everything he does leads him toward a specific goal. Bond is the man who solves all our problems for the few moments he is on screen. The style, grace, and poetry with which he carries his body and employs his mind are precisely how we would react to dangerous situations if we only could develop the same icy sensibility that charms Bond through every circumstance.

Bond must navigate in this one through some difficult and harrowing circumstances that allow him to come through as he always does in the end. We know he succeeds and all we want to see is precisely how he goes about getting the job done. The tricky attache case that contains fabulous new weapons that he uses to get himself out of the muck are symbols of the progressive aspect of the British Secret Service. They are the future of weaponry and allow Bond to be one step ahead at all times. Much of what he does in this film is anticipate and stay on guard although there are moments when he is forced to act immediately and with great care. Naturally, he pulls off every confrontation and manages to kill a few of them in the process. There isn’t much blood here but a few bodies do pile up as the film progresses.

Sexual tension works for Bond as he attracts both men and women to his incredibly vibrant personality. Men want to be him and women want him to bend them over softly and show them the latest secret weapon in his arsenal. It’s the price of being Bond and he suffers so exquisitely to please nearly every woman who stumbles into his web. Bond is the perfect sexual animal and he radiates an intense heat that all women are instantly attracted to. Yet his cool demeanor keeps them off base as he does remain selective in who he allows to experience him full front. Most of the woman can hardly stand to be in his presence and there is much swooning to be had when he walks into any room.

The performances in this film all keep the plot rolling along. Sean Connery is again spot on as 007 and every gesture he makes seems calculated for supreme effect. Connery is at ease in this film and maintains his charisma throughout. Daniela Bianchi plays it reserved sexy in this film as she carries a bit of coldness with her throughout the film. Her character is open and warm but there is something about the office clerk about her and occasionally the reserved, timid aspect of her character is revealed which simply makes her even more sexy and seemingly respondent. Robert Shaw is strong and vital in this film and until the end he hardly says a word. Nevertheless, he presents a strong presence that is realized toward the film’s close.

Overall, this film radiates with a specific energy and is ingenious enough when it has to be. The characters are all fully formed and there is the requisite mixture of sex and power at play throughout. Bond continues his reign as the sexiest, most vital secret agent of that period. He personifies every personal characteristic that is sold as ideal to the general public. Bond is a rock star who pushes all the right buttons in his audience who just want to feel a bit more able when they watch this film. Fantasies erupt about the potentialities inherent in such blazing charisma if only it could be tapped into and exploited. Bond is a promise of sorts and an emblem of what can be accomplished with the right application of style, form, capability, opportunity and grace

Film Review--Flash of Genius

Flash of Genius
directed by Marc Abraham
written by Philip Railsback
based on an article by John Seabrook
starring Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney, Alan Alda, Duane Murray, Mitch Pileggi, Tim Kelleher,

In the guise of a familiar story about a pip squeak who challenges Mr. Universe to a wrestling match, there are here elements of another story that plays with ideas regarding the nature of patience and stubbornness.

This is a true story based on the life of Robert Kearns (Kinnear) , a college professor from Michigan who in the mid-fifties through the early sixties discovered through a series of interesting coincidences the trick to make the intermittent windshield wiper work. All the major auto companies had tried and failed and Robert took his idea to Ford who backed out of their deal after a few months. Then, eighteen months later Robert discovered they’d ripped him off and were installing his wipers in some of their new cars. Needless to say the little guy here starts flappin’ his wings and getting mighty mighty, ya’ll. The film cuts a swathe through the twelve years it takes Kearns to have his case heard and in that time he suffers many pains that would most likely have weakened a lesser man’s resolve. But Bob is possessed and can literally see nothing else before him but his big day in court. Meanwhile his wife Phyllis (Graham) can’t take it and absconds with the six kids. There is nothing left but a grubby apartment and boxes and files relating to every patent case Bob can get his hands on.

The film does seem to slow down to the same deliberate pace that is being depicted in the film. This is mostly during Bob’s study period leading up to the trial. There isn’t a whole lot going on in these scenes save Bob tearing into another file folder in search of some elusive document that might help him make his case.

Bob Kearns is a character of exceptional motivation and determination. He’s rather unexceptional otherwise and it’s difficult to keep the energy of the film going when it’s attempting to expand on the basic Bob model. The family gets short shrift and we never learn much of anything about any one of him. The wife is essentially a cipher who mostly exists in the film because...well...Bob had himself a wife. The kids grow up so that other actors play them and so it’s impossible to get too attached to any of them and soon the film is over so it doesn’t much matter anyway. No this is Bob’s film and it lives and dies by our ability to latch onto something about him that makes sense. Mostly this occurs when Bob is first working on the windshield wiper and when he’s in court. In between, Bob doesn’t do much of anything compelling. The film feels about as stimulating as watching a middle aged man sitting in a dark and dank apartment all day looking at papers. Still, Greg Kinnear is one guy I would certainly enjoy watching perform these tasks so therefore the film keeps my interest long after it should have petered out.

It’s difficult to imagine what it’s like to come up against something seemingly as impenetrable as the Ford Motor Company but that’s what Bob Kearns did and that’s why this film was made. It’s even more difficult to fathom how a man could spend twelve years fighting that same corporation over a patent. This anti-corporation film manages to sling a bit more mud on the faces of executives who seem to get richer the worse the economy gets. But we all know Ford will just absorb the losses and it won’t effect them at all. Still, the point of this is to allow the audience to root for a character they can readily identify with and to fantasize in the hopes of experiencing the proper outcome when it occurs.

This is very much a story about second chances and giving the kids something to prove that you are not quite the asshole they make you out to be. In this film Bob sticks through to the end and demonstrates to his children that he is a man of his word who does what he says he’s going to do. There is a moment near the end when Bob is surrounded by his children and it gives one a moment of pause. Bob is willing to risk losing everything he has just for the sake of proving a point. He puts it all on the line because he can’t stomach the thought of being taken advantage of by a corrupt thief with no sense of shame. As the film progresses, Bob does not appear to care much about the time he is spending on putting everything together in the hope that one day the patent courts will open up and he’ll be able to make his claim. He gets so stitched in to the idea of the thing that he is unable to really grasp what is happening around him.

The moment of inspiration, where everything turns suddenly sharp focus, and that singular idea appears out of nowhere is celebrated in this film as a rare circumstance that comes to the very few. According to the film Bob was opening a bottle of champagne on his wedding night and the corked popped off directly into his eye. From that point on he says he thought routinely in terms of his eye. During one such rumination after articulating his frustration over the present wiper blades he wondered why a windshield wiper couldn’t be more like the blinking of an eye. Such is the trigger that leads to him using his fish tank to mimic rain conditions and his new-fangled contraption designed entirely in his garage. Bob is presented as a man who has been inventing innovations for much of his life. Prior to his big hit he had been unsuccessful to fully actualize his vision but he found a way with the wiper blades and it proved to smash him across the mouth and beat him down with a tire iron.

All along Bob is tempted with money by a representative of the Ford Motor Company named Charlie DeFao (Kelleher). DeFao keeps appearing with more from the treasure chest but Bob doesn’t bite because there is no admittance that Ford did anything wrong. What is strange is that he never got the admittance and took home less bank than he would have received had he took one of their final offers. So, it’s not at all clear what he gained by dragging the thing out in court for years other than the satisfaction of personally confronting them and showcasing their behavior for everyone to see. Still, they didn’t admit to outright theft so he didn’t exactly get what he came for after twelve grueling years in the trenches searching for the right ammunition to use against them. Then again, a man’s pride is a sticky and strange thing. Bob considered the Ford Motor company and all the others that came after to be an infringement on his life.

The performances in this film keep the story in motion through to the conclusion. Greg Kinnear demonstrates his character’s grit and resolve through how he presents his character’s myriad tics and other physical characteristics. Kinnear keeps the mopey postures to a minimum and captures a character who is truly pushed to the brink by the impossibilities inherent in his unique situation. Lauren Graham plays the dutiful wife who gets pissed off and eventually leaves. She’s not really present in this film and remains on the sidelines throughout. Alan Alda is brilliant as the lawyer who takes Bob’s case until becoming frustrated with Bob’s lack of cooperation. Dermot Mulroney is solid as the friend/business partner who can’t quite understand the bee in Bob’s bonnet.

Overall, this film doesn’t altogether do what it sets out to do. The end doesn’t do justice to everything that has built up before and ultimately it’s something of a letdown. The characters are all well written but they don’t necessarily serve the story as clearly and effectively as they might. Still, there is the battle between the just and unjust in this film and that carries the film part of the way it needs to go. Bob’s not all that interesting of a guy so all we are left with is watching how Kinnear’s body bends in certain scenes and what he does with his eyes. Indeed, it’s difficult to gage a character who doesn’t do anything particularly compelling from the first scene straight through to the end. It’s not really a film about movement or mannerisms and instead can be read as a film about principles and getting what one deserves even if it takes a dozen years to come to fruition. This is the story of an almost bizarre obsession with getting things right. The real Bob Kearns wanted to set up a factory and do everything with his kids as his “corporation.” Was he naive? Was he shortsighted? Perhaps he really was that ambitious and had no concept of limitations.

Film Review--An American Carol

An American Carol
directed by David Zucker
written by David Zucker, Myrna Sokoloff, Lewis Friedman
starring Kevin P. Farley, Trace Adkins, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Bill O’ Reilly, Jon Voight, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Davi, Fred Travalena, Serdar Kalsin, Geoffrey Arend

Yes, I held out so much promise for this most rare cinematic experience. I longed to be zinged with creative, subtle humor that jabbed a fork in the underbelly of the liberal media establishment. I wanted to see them eviscerated and have their entrails fed to starving Somalian children high on prescription grade crack cocaine. Instead, I got bonked over the head time and again with tired, obvious jokes that were not related to anything funny whatsoever. In short its an embarrassment and a terrible disappointment. All I have to say is that if Zucker is or was the king of American satire he has fallen very far off his horse and is now being dragged to a concentration camp for reassessment.

First, it’s been long suggested that Hollywood is a haven for lefties and their various lefty causes. That’s nothing new. The opinion of Michael Moore on the right ranges from Communist to Socialist and he is considered to be a bloated blowhard who is consistently light on facts in his documentaries. In that spirit we have Michael Malone (Farley), who certainly has the same girth as Mr. Moore, who is also a documentary film maker who makes blatantly Anti-American films with titles so ridiculous one just imagines the film maker’s sweating profusely to come up with them. So, Malone spouts off all the typical tropes regarding abortion, guns, gays, and everything else liberals are known to soak their pink striped panties over. None of it is original or fun or remotely funny. I mean, who would have thunk it that the teachers at Columbia University are a bunch of radical leftists who have butchered their curriculum by stripping it of the tenets that used to form the foundation of Western thought? And do we have to see it all in a glaring song and dance number that says emphatically that nothing has changed for them since 1968?

This film is just a series of hysterical plot devices designed merely to instill the same old tired cliches about liberals in a gross and blind manner that lacks style or nuance. Malone harps against all the usual suspects and his tired rants devolve into meandering and misguided broadsides that lack power, substance, or meaning. In other words, he is the mouthpiece of all those fears that stimulate and surprise conservatives who like to imagine that they alone have their thumb on the pulse of the American People. It’s clear this film is supposed to celebrate a particular America that worships the military and gleefully sends their sons and daughters to die in the guise of serving their country. Antiwar means anti America in this film and Malone and his followers are portrayed as weak, dangerous, and hopelessly out of touch with the thinking of the nation.

Malone is hired by a couple of jihadists to make their new recruitment video because he’s a big named Hollywood director despite the fact that he makes documentaries. Indeed, there are at least a dozen jabs against documentaries suggesting they aren’t as important as feature length films. It’s ostensibly meant to minimize the creative output of Michael Moore but it just comes off as lame and poorly constructed. It’s a shame this film couldn’t have been sharper, more subtle, more clever. It wants to be divisive, to paint a clear picture of the enemy but it just fails to do anything but make the audience cringe. Still there are moments that stand out for no other reason than the acting involved. John F. Kennedy (Chriss Anglin) comes out of the television during his inaugural speech to chastise Malone and remind him that he supported a strong military and stood ready to intervene should circumstances call for it. This scene says quite a lot about what’s at stake here in this dialog between hardline military first conservatives and radical leftists who deplore all war and would see all troops removed from their posts worldwide. The inclusion of General George S. Patton (Grammer) as a bastion of the war mentality and the finer points of battle is somewhat inspired. The juxtaposition of Malone and his flabby arms and cowardly sensibilities with the totemic presence of Patton is telling. America in this context is truly a land of strength and brutality.

This film implies that liberals are anti-Christianity amongst all of their other many sins. Malone seems to roll his eyes whenever God is invoked and a character called Rosie O’Connell (Vicki Browne) creates a hostile video equating Christians with radical fundamentalist Muslim terrorists.

Terrorism is played both for fear and laughs. The terrorists are silly little men who do silly little dances. In liberal America they would own Hollywood and keep the structure but change all the signs. As Malone is carted around by the Spirit of Patton he is shown a warped alternative universe where he owns a plantation replete with slaves because Lincoln checked out of the war and subsequently did not afford the slaves their freedom. Neville Chamberlain capitulates to Hitler in 1938 and winds up on his knees shining the Fuhrer’s shoes whereupon Hitler sings Kumbaya. The message here is that without war there is no hope of freedom. The spirit of George Washington (Voight) further cements this point for Malone. Malone is just a soft-bellied pacifist who cannot identify with the hardness of military might. His followers merely make chants out of his words without actually taking the time to listen to his words. This is very much like his selective listening to the words of John F. Kennedy. He merely heard what he wanted to hear and took it from there.

Despite everything a certain giddiness is wrought by the sight of Dennis Hopper as a Judge shooting down ACLU zombies. There is just something clearly defined and naturally amusing about such a scene. Especially when the Judge tosses Malone a shotgun and says “use it, it’s fun.” This truly is what’s at the heart of the gun issue. Liberals such as Malone are afraid of having too much fun and guns are a tremendous amount of fun to shoot, pose with, etc.

The film is an awakening of sorts because it’s just wrong to challenge American supremacy and much more worthy of citizens to fall in line with what the six packs of the world are spouting off to their children when they aren’t taking a belt to their chapped and blistered backsides. This is America and we show our patriotism by cheering whenever our soldiers go off and kill something foreign. America means war and without it we’d all be vassals of some foreign power and forced to do their bidding. It’s essentially a recruitment film for the military and everything it ostensibly stands for. It’s a fear-mongering diatribe against extreme factions of the left wing.

Overall, this film fails to elicit laughter for the greater portion of its duration. It just isn’t intelligent enough and takes the easy way out nearly every time it has a chance to pull off something miraculous. It’s such an ambitious project and certainly a worthy subject for a feature but everything falls hopelessly flat in the attempt. It’s difficult to gage just what makes this film’s message different from countless others. Every great war film celebrates the carnage in the same way and brings home a message of patriotism and peace to the great citizens of the nation. This film has an defined agenda and seems interested in instilling it into the heads of its audience members. It lacerates liberals but does so rather softly in the end. It attacks them on basic points that are instantly observable in much of the right’s firm rhetoric for the past thirty odd years. Nothing here is novel and the characters quickly start to grate on the nerves after but a short while. There are a few moments of inspiration but they do nothing to make up for the paucity of ideas that plague the rest of the film.

Play Review--I Can Do Bad All By Myself

I Can Do Bad All By Myself
written and directed by Tyler Perry
starring Tyler Perry, Kisha Grandy, David Mann, Tamela J. Mann, Elaine O’Neal, Tyga Graham, Carl Pertile, Donna Stewart.

Mable “Madea” Simmons (Perry) is a wizened pot-head whose been raising her great granddaughter Kiesha (O’Neal) and lusting after the lawn maintenance man, Bobby (Graham). She lets out the holler that she’s ill on something or too stoned or whatever and the family slowly begins trickling in. Her sad and dejected granddaughter Vianne (Grandy) moves in because she busted up with her man and needs some space to recoup. This production, Perry’s second, is a veritable soap opera with hysterical drama competing for moments of genuine comedy. The relationships get a bit entangled and there is sometimes too much going on to keep it all straight. Regardless, there is always Madea toting her pistol just waiting for an excuse to put a bullet in one of her nattering progeny. It almost feels like she’s going to do it too but all she does it put a few in a jack-asses car.

The story itself involves the sassy-frassed Maylee (Stewart) who comes by toting her new man–the jackass Antony (Pertile). She is the absent mother of Kiesha and Madea’s other granddaughter. Maylee is the sort that has a different hairdo everyday. She’s grossly materialistic and doesn’t much care for the pains and sorrows that come with spawning. She’d rather spend her time thinking about the easy lifestyle her future husband will afford her (plenty of more extensions and wigs) than caring for her daughter. Subsequently Kiesha finds the time to do the nasty and get herself all knocked up. So right there we have a “serious” issue that is all dolled up and ready for prime time. This is a family that despite seeming unable to hold a conversation without invoking the name of Jesus sticks together through thick and thin. Then Madea’s eldest daughter Cora (T.J. Mann) shows up to complete the family picture.

The real tension is between Vianne and Maylee because as fate would have it Maylee’s new man is Vianne’s ex whom she has barely divorced. The sisters go at it with a few claws and a bit of hissing and each seems to be able to get as good as she gets. The best moments are when they are trying to tear each other to shreds but fail because the bond between them is just too strong. All the while Madea is shooting off her mouth, not really helping, and bitching because the pot she’s been growing gets cut down by a self-righteous Vianne. It seems like she isn’t particularly ill but more that she needs targets for her erudite wit.

Madea is in her early stages in this performance. She’s quite a bundle of energy and can leap up the stairs with all the vitality of a man half her age. She’s a character that can either grate on one’s nerves or inspire with her deft ability to zing fresh insults at anyone who gets in the way. Of course she’s careful enough to make sure that the others don’t actually hear her when she’s slamming them to the mat and putting them in a headlock. She’s got a household to run and she does so without needlessly leaving her perch on the sofa.

The play is blatantly Christian and there are many instances when the action ceases and various characters break out in song. They are mostly songs about needing Jesus to help with some terrible emergency that is afflicting them. Jesus is really significant in this production as each character is under his spell. The songs are all gospel tinged except one where Bobby tries to instill in Vianne’s mind that he’s man enough for her.

The production continues along the same vein with complications that are naturally worked out before the curtain closes. There are several instances where the cast cracks up leaving one to wonder if there were adlibs that were injected into the script. Regardless, it ends up seeming a bit amateurish although charmingly so. This is a fine introduction to the character of Madea. She gets all the best lines and seems to be on her game most of the time. She is the grandmother with an eagle eye who knows if you try to sneak a piece of candy off the coffee table before dinner. This play also includes a diatribe by Anthony regarding the black man’s adoption of Christianity. He suggests that Bobby read the Koran instead. It’s a weird moment and one that resonates for the rest of the play.

Overall this play keeps the jokes coming and it’s a pleasure to watch Perry shaking his padded ass and flopping his enormous fake breasts all about when Madea is getting down and low. The characters on occasion seem a bit overdone but for the most part they serve the script. It’s a classic family drama with distinct moments of conflict and chaos. These are mostly god-fearin’ folks who exhibit dramatically when they are in the spirit of the Lord. It’s rare to see something so frankly devotional and that works in the play’s favor. Ultimately, the play celebrates family in a clear and vital manner and this family holds together despite barriers that come in their path.