Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (A-) is set in 1973, but its suburban characters’ escape through adultery, alcohol and sexual experimentation could just as easily be present day. Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood are among the outstanding ensemble. Lee is wryly observant and brings an outstanding vision to what people do behind the outward veneer of manners.
It’s an industry in which every inch of every moment matters. Working in a raw medium, the artists must maintain stamina to create their most convincing moods. And when an actor says, “I’m ready to shoot my scene right now!” it is best for the camera crew to oblige. The denizens of the adult film industry are the subject of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (B-), a sometimes glorious, sometimes tedious glimpse at a cottage industry in L.A. in the ’70’s and ’80’s. The ensemble of Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Heather Graham and Julianne Moore create a family even while casually shooting hardcore scenes and dealing with graphic situations. The film’s first half is as carefree as its second act is sometimes hard to watch. Ultimately it’s a triumph of acting and atmosphere, albeit short on plot.
Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca (A-) is a cautionary sci-fi thriller about two men played by Ethan Hawke and Jude Law in a future world in which one’s aspirations are dictated by genetic makeup. Hawke’s character has defects that will hold him back from his dream of space travel, and ultimately he devises a way to escape his overly engineered future. Uma Thurman is exceptional as his love interest. All actors are strong in this thought-provoking piece, including Ernest Borgnine in a small role. Jan Roelf’s production design, Michael Nyman’s score and Colleen Atwood’s costumes are all central to the gorgeous look and feel of this magnificent film.
Incredible comedy is on full display in Peter Cattaneo’s The Full Monty (A-) as the filmmaker explores the male mystique and physique in the wake of unemployment and inability to take care of one’s family. A bunch of out-of-work and out-of-shape British blokes led by Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy resort to starting a an all-male strip show revue when they find themselves strapped for cash. The result is uproarious, and the script if full of gems that will endear audiences to this motley crew of show-offs. Through their singular charm and humor, they realize their free spirit goes a lot farther in life than a free willy.
Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential (A+) is a superb detective caper introducing American audiences to a trio of magnificent performers — Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey — as Hollywood cops circa 1953. The myth and illusion of Tinseltown versus the scandals and shakedowns is a wonder to behold. Kim Basinger is a symbol of the town shrouded in mystery. The labyrinthine plot, the knife-sharp camerawork and the epic characterizations make this a spectacular modern classic evocative of Chinatown.
Christopher Guest directs and stars in Waiting for Guffman (B+), an uproarious mockumentary about the denizens of a small town (Blaine, Missouri: the “stool capital of the world”) putting on a production to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Eugene Levy, Parker Posey and Catherine O’Hara are among the hilarious ensemble with each playing a singularly incompetent actor. It’s a must-see for fans of dry, small-town humor.
Director John Woo somehow gives plausibility to the notion of two men who switch faces for an adventure in Face/Off (B), and he does a great job staging the action. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage are effective in their roles as FBI agent and criminal mastermind in this cat and mouse thriller.
Barry Levinson’s Men in Black (C) is a warmed-over, less-funny Ghostbusters, as two clean-up artists (Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones) rid NYC streets of pesky aliens. Smith has some witty lines, and there’s a cute dog. Not much more to offer!
Robert Zemeckis’s Contact (A) succeeds on the power of its leads’ Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey’s central debate of science and faith as they explore the notion of finding life outside earth in the universe. The film’s powerful performances and effects are used at the mercy of its central questions and get a nice payoff in the film’s final reel.
Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin (D-) is a cluttered cacophony of hardware and hardbodies, of mechanical merchandising mayhem, madness and magnificent men in their flying machines. But there’s nary an ounce of human connection in a comic book adaptation that all of a sudden got too cluttered and silly for its own good.
Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World (C-) unleashes more Jusassic Park dinosaurs but little of the imaginative whimsy for which he is famous. This unfocused action film coasts on a meandering plot with bland characters and a lack of discipline that sometimes results in self-parody.
P.J. Hogan’s My Best Friend’s Wedding (A) gamely casts Julia Roberts as the woman who doesn’t get the guy, and that drives her character crazy. Knocking the Pretty Woman off her pedestal turns out to be a winning formula for a spiteful revenge comedy co-starring Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney and Rupert Everett. It’s cheeky and joyous.
