Movie Reviews, March 30

Three for the Road (Printable Version , E-mail to a Friend )
A trio of flicks worth getting out to see for a trey of different reasons

There’s this comedian named Dane Cook. I’ve no doubt some of you’ve heard of him. He does this bit about something guys want even more than sex. He says it’s to take part in a heist. Of course, he also says every guy wants a monkey, so...

But there’s something to the heist thing.

Not that I’m condoning that behavior. Stealing is wrong. But, man.

Think about all the action movies you’ve ever watched. The cool parts are always when they’re getting away with something.

Remember when Ethan Hunt breaks into Langley, CIA headquarters, in Mission: Impossible? It’s the best part of the whole movie.

Remember that cool flick Sneakers with Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, River Phoenix and Dan Ackroyd? A whole movie full of heists!

Part of loving a good heist flick is that they usually involve gadgets, trickery and a good amount of (to borrow a Bushism via SNL) stategery.

And they, they being the good guys, always get away with it.

Ocean’s 11. Good stuff. Who wouldn’t have wanted to be part of that crew?

It’s the idea of the thing.

Sure, not all heist flicks involve cool gadgets, but they always involve sleight of hand.

Inside Man does a great job at the shell game.

For one, it gives you all the clues to what’s going on--starting with the title of the flick and then sort of dares you to figure it out even while the film’s mastermind shucks and dodges the police and everyone else. Gotta love a movie that just comes right out and tells you what’s going on and then keeps trying to make you second guess yourself.

But then again, that’s the point of it all, right?

So this one involves a bank.

One morning, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) takes a band of three into a bank. They’re dressed as painters. In no time, they take out the cameras, security and herd the people in the bank back away from the doors.

See, Dalton has planned the perfect bank robbery. He’s got it all figured out.

The cops get on the scene quickly. They realize they’ve got a big hostage situation and assign in-the-doghouse detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) to the case. A long time on the force, he’s hungry to move up the ranks.

He might be in over his head.

In the meantime, the bank Dalton has chosen to stick up has in it a safe deposit box containing something of importance to that bank’s president. Call it some self-incriminating dirty laundry. He wants it at all costs.

He, the bank president, sends in Madeline White (Jodie Foster). She’s a power broker of sorts. She gets people to do things, what she wants, and she’s very good at it.

Madeline knows more than Keith, but she’s not willing to enlighten him. He thinks it’s a standard bank robbery gone wrong and is worried about the hostages.

But it’s not so simple.

And there’s the matter of the flashback interrogations. Obviously, Keith doesn’t get his man.

So what does happen, exactly.

Therein lies the rub.

You’ll have to go see it to find out. I’m sure not telling you.

I will tell you I had a pretty good time. Nothing like what I watched last week (V for Vendetta), but a solid heist flick, and there’s something to be said for a movie that delivers what it sets out to deliver.

On the way to the car, the wife, Steph said she thought Owen would’ve made a good James Bond, which is kind of funny. The way I read it, Owen was considered for the role, but flat out turned it down. Said he had no interest in the part. I think that’s funny.

I mean, I agree with her. He would’ve made a cool James Bond. But I also agree with him James Bond has been done. Why pigeonhole yourself that way?

If I could see Clive Owen in a full-length action flick, I’d like to see him do a feature length version of his character from the BMW films. Course, they kind of stole/ruined that idea with The Transporter and its subsequent sequel.

Ah well.

New Genre

I think probably you’ll fall into one of two camps on this film. You’ll either appreciate it or hate it. I don’t think it’s the kind of film you can love. There’s nothing to love.

For one, it’s not really a movie. It’s more of a filmed play and bears many characteristics of “epic theatre,” given its unrealistic sets, absence of music, focus on political/philosophical matters and intrusive narrative voice-over.

Which is appropriate, I suppose, given that the story isn’t really the story but a philosophical question clothed in the guise of characters, plot, events, and to a lesser extent, melodrama.

In fact, when it comes down to it, the film is a commentary on both the past of the United States and its current . . . state.

Here’s the short and sweet version: it’s 1933 America in Alabama. A gangster (Willem Dafoe) and his crew stop by a cotton plantation for some reason. His daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), gets pulled into the plantation and discovers there are still slaves.

Indignant, she wants to stay and sort it out. Her father won’t hear of it, but they come to an accord. She’ll stay and sort it out with a couple of her father’s men and he’ll go on his merry way.

Armed with her idealism and backed by a trio of tommy guns, she sets about “freeing” the slaves and giving them democracy, whether they want it, are ready for it, or not.

Honestly, it took me awhile to get into it. I wasn’t down with the set, the mise en scene, if you will. There’s just something about it that screams pretension, and frankly, I’ve got no place for that.

Is this film art for art’s sake? Is the director running about shaking his Pretentious Film Director card in the air babbling under his breath about how much more enlightened he is than everyone else?

Maybe not.

But it sure feels that way. Frankly, I think it’s the coward’s way out. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what Trier was attempting, but . . .

He’s one of those Dogma ’95 people who want to make films in the face of today’s rising budgets. You’ve heard of “found” footage? Well, a Dogma ’95 film is almost a “found film.” The basic premise is that filmmakers have to make a film that uses what’s immediately available with no extras--no extra props, no music, no lighting, no genre ideas, no plot devices such as violence, murder or weapons.

Epic Theatre seeks to keep the audience at an arm’s length emotionally from the action on stage. It’s meant to keep them focused on the ideas being presented rather than on the characters and the story, rather than the melodrama.

This is what Trier does. If that’s his intention, he accomplishes it spectacularly.

In the end, I felt lukewarm about the film. Yes, he kept me at a distance from the drama of the thing and let me focus on the topics under consideration; the nature of freedom, social roles, and the United States current attempt to foist democracy upon cultures that have little desire for it.

In fact, if you can get past the whole slavery issue, the whole film is really talking about the here and now.

A worthy film for its ambition. I think it accomplishes what it sets out to do. I’m just not sure I “enjoyed” it. But then again, maybe I wasn’t supposed to.

How’s that for ambiguity?

Unbalanced Beam

I’ve said before how much I enjoy a good documentary. Thing about documentaries, they can actually be almost poorly made and still be captivating if the subject matter is interesting enough.

There’s no question of that with A State of Mind.

It’s about two teenage gymnasts in North Korea and it’s fascinating.

Talk about drinking the koolade…

In 2003, the BBC got a film crew into North Korea and they followed around two girls, Kim Song Yun, 11, and Pak Hyon Sun, 13, as they relentlessly practiced for the upcoming Mass Games.

The Mass Games are a sort of sports/stage show on a massive scale. They are meant to evoke the pure spirit of socialism. Basically, it’s hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens – students, gymnasts, musicians – in an enormous choreographed dance number. Think the opening ceremonies for the Olympics jacked up on steroids.

But the two girls and their training are not what make the film so engrossing. It’s what you learn about North Korea and its people.

First, they believe in their state. They almost worship General Kim Jong Il. They believe whatever they are spoon fed to believe.

It might as well be a cult of millions.

And they hate America, possibly not without just reason.

The film itself is very much vérité, letting the story play out without narration or explanation. There are some visuals that act as chapter designators or brief descriptions, but no attempt to explain the footage is made. What you see is what you get: vérité.

It’s eye-opening. In fact, what they show us, particularly as Americans, bears enough of a punch to leave you in a sort of state of shock. As with some of the other documentaries I’ve talked about, this one will at some point make you ashamed because of what’s been done in the name of your country.

Because of that, it’s a film worth watching.

Every time you see something that makes you ashamed or makes you question the actions of your government, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions. First, do you realize these things are being done with your approval, and second, if you do and don’t like it, what are you going to do about it?

A State of Mind is fantastic. Check it out.

Until next week.

*Authors Note: Every time I saw Kim Jong Il, I thought, "Im so roneryy, so ronery." And also, "Remember the signal?"