For about half of its duration, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey (C) maintains a fairly respectable sense of intrigue about whether its bookish co-ed (Dakota Johnson) and her unlikely business magnate boyfriend (Jamie Dornan) will indeed be an ideal match, despite his S&M tendencies. Alas the film gets tied up in fifty shades of loose plot-ends and considerably mounting degrees of absurdity. For a while a meet-cute romance and then a bit of an erotic thriller, the film seems to be at a loss for what it all is supposed to add up to by the final reel. It’s fine to tease the notion of “how far would you go for love?” but then you have to actually answer that question. The two leads are game for the pulpy page-turner quality until they are stuck in a puzzle box that neither illuminates their cardboard characters nor elicits any real answers on theme. With all its talk of negotiations and contracts, it practically had the ambition of at least becoming an Indecent Proposal or Disclosure level pop opus, but it fizzles and flails in most regards. Supporting characters are introduced and summarily dismissed, and the sexy sequences total about seven. And they’re not even as deadly sinful as many viewers will be hoping. Let’s just say the film is likely to leave folks wanting, and not in the ways they may wish.
Tag Archives: Drama
“Still Alice” is Weak But Julianne Moore is Strong
In adapting a popular novel to film, writer/directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland brought one thing and one thing only to the table: Julianne Moore, and her lead performance in Still Alice (C+) is head and shoulders above the material and all other performers. As a 50-year-old linguistics professor diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, Moore is often downright heartbreaking. Her character first tries to out-game the disease and ultimately succumbs to it and gets monologues and speeches and rants and quiet conversations to work out her bouts with sadness and joy in the rich life she has lived. The directors can’t quite lift the material above a “disease of the week movie” feel, and they get no help from near-blowhard Alec Baldwin, whiny Kristen Stewart, vacant Hunter Parrish and frosty Kate Bosworth as Alice’s “loving family.” The air of melancholy over the proceedings is punctuated by a very limited selection of punchy moments, one of which involves a message from Alice’s past self to her future one. There are some accurate and affecting medical revelations as the film unfolds, except the occasional soft lighting that attempts to explain disorientation but somehow seems more like a character going slightly blind. There are also allusions intended to give literary context to the proceedings, but the metaphors are muddled. What’s left is a triumphant Moore, out-acting everyone else and out-emoting the material. She chews the bland scenery with aplomb. She’s nearly always amazing, and her Oscar will be a lifetime achievement award, and this film may go down as a very sincere but unremarkable public service announcement.
Eastwood-Directed “American Sniper” Hits its Marks
No one showcases moral ambiguity better than Clint Eastwood, so it’s no surprise that his military biopic American Sniper (A-) depicts sharp-shooter Chris Kyle in all his heroic glory punctuated with pangs of crisis of conscience. Told in four Iraq tours of duty with domestic dissonance in between, the film is most effective at spotlighting its protagonist’s laser-focused attention to his craft. Bradley Cooper is superb with a Texas drawl and a single-mindedness of purpose, and Sienna Miller makes the most of the role of his wife. The film hardly traverses much new terrain but does so with style and substance. After some sleepier outings, Eastwood crafts a propulsive, absorbing drama that takes viewers into the heart of military heroism.
“Wild” Charts Surprising Course
Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild (B-) plots the course of a lost, grieving young woman along a thousand mile journey on the Pacific Crest Trail as she grapples in both adventures and flashbacks with the demons that haunt her and the passages of inspiration that could set her free. Reese Witherspoon gives an uncommon, relatable and lived-in performance as this drifter with a purpose and she imbues her character with a salty, off-kilter vernacular that’s like Hallmark for Heathens. Despite being a true story, it piles it on a bit thick: Our heroine even struggles with heroin. Few of the film’s episodic segments involving the struggle of the hike or the proto-feminist viewpoints about a “woman on the verge” are as moving or suspenseful or meaningful as seemingly intended, despite a feather-touch observational directorial style filled with montages of Laura Dern as a saintly but underdeveloped mother of the protagonist. Viewers will endure a bit of a slow-burn to the life lessons, yet it’s possible you might enjoy the trip.
“Selma” Tells MLK Story in Stirring Film
It’s been a long journey to the movie screen for the Martin Luther King Jr. story, but writer/director Ava DuVernay’s Selma (B+) is a stunning and sometimes surprising biopic that taps into the zeitgeist of the continuing civil rights struggle. As amazing as he is in reenacting famous oratory, David Oyelowo is even more compelling in the quiet and more contemplative moments as his MLK wrestles with mortality and the consequences of his personal choices on his mass movement. Additionally, Carmen Ejogo gives a sturdy performance in a small role as Coretta, and Tom Wilkinson is effective as a duplicitous LBJ. DuVernay makes some fascinating choices in terms of timeline and sequence, including straightforward typed government descriptors of MLK’s whereabouts and activities from FBI operatives. The film also ends at an expected place. Overall triumph eclipses tragedy in some key moments, which may gloss over the state of the struggle a bit. But the smart dialogue, period detail and forward momentum to the narrative help the film to tell its story of a critical juncture in a specific place and time.
“Foxcatcher” an Absorbing True Crime Drama
Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher (B+) is an absorbing true crime drama featuring spot-on performances by Steve Carell as a paranoid multimillionaire obsessed with being an Olympic sports coach and Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo as gold medalist wrestlers grappling with the limits of loyalty to their wealthy patron. A commentary on how power, wealth and influence can be used to advance twisted values, one can’t help but think of Michael Jackson or Joe Paterno scandals as Carell’s John du Pont manipulates the world around him to support his megalomaniacal desires. Miller creates an austere and often bleak portrait with nary a false note and an underlying tone that traps viewers into an off-kilter lust for power without boundaries. Carell creates a fully unsympathetic portrait, and Tatum and Ruffalo physically and emotionally inhabit their roles with deft skill. Bennett builds on the autumnal tragedy he brought to Capote and the slackjawed sensationalism of sports drama Moneyball to create another modern-American stunner.
Damien Chazelle’s “Whiplash” a Showcase for Amazing Performances
I suppose Mr. Holland would never forge his opus or dead poets their society without a little creative inspiration. Writer/director Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (B+) supposes that great art comes from a relentless push from both oneself and some other outside force. The film starts with an aggressive, percussive beat in a lonely hall and ends with nearly the same in a concert hall, but the film’s young jazz drummer protagonist, brilliantly played by Miles Teller, is not the same man from beat to beat. Under the tutelage of a maniacal perfectionist with the draconian stylings of an unhinged drill sergeant – the performance of a lifetime by J.K. Simmons – Teller’s promising artist learns to hone his craft through a ridiculously escalating series of Herculean obstacles. Chazelle and his powerhouse lead actors never let up in this powder-keg of obsession, filled with unexpected grace notes. The authenticity of the film’s merciless NYC music school and the close-ups of blood, sweat and tears required to make great jazz add to the film’s somber and occasionally off-kilter tone. While there are character details that get somewhat short shrift, the movie is largely an absorbing riff and an often riveting tight-wire act. Mostly, it’s a stunning showcase for fine acting.
“Nightcrawler” is Engrossing
Equal parts drama, thriller and dark comedy, Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler (A) is a spectacular indictment of bloodthirsty mass media. A loner played by Jake Gyllenhaal exploits the “if it bleeds, it leads” culture of TV news to become a stringer for a struggling L.A. news channel and manipulates everything in his path from his equally nomadic assistant (Riz Ahmed) to a washed-up producer (Rene Russo) to feed his nocturnal obsession. Gyllenhaal is brilliant as a mash-up of Max Headroom and Mitt Romney, taking to the streets to document crime as soon as it happens – or is it the other way around? It’s a tour de force filled with the robotic glee of a man seemingly birthed by Wikipedia and an online business class module. Gilroy evokes Network and Taxi Driver while fashioning an ultra-chic West Coast dystopia steeped in a culture accustomed to get what it wants at any cost. The fact that the film’s protagonist is so creepy and unpredictable makes it all the more watchable. Kudos to Russo as well who is part desperate foil and part accomplice in an unholy alliance. This will be a film discussed for years to come.
“Theory of Everything” Exquisite and Unconventional
James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything (A-) is the unconventional true love story of Stephen and Jane Hawking, portrayed indelibly by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones and based on Jane’s memoirs. While bound by the confines of the biopic structure, the film illuminates grand themes of unconditional love, the limits of sacrifice and one’s place in the universe. As Professor Hawking, Redmayne is charming and beguiling and showcases the effects of a neurological degenerative disorder with spectacular realism; he is never an object of sympathy as he continually confounds the odds. Jones has a demanding role of her own right as lover and caretaker, trying to bring order to a life spiraling out of control, and she embodies the role with fierce fortitude. Charlie Cox is also a standout as a family friend with his own designs on the couple’s brief history of time. Marsh photographs the film lushly and embues the characters with realism and humanity. Although the story doesn’t fully plumb the depths of the scientific side of Hawking’s career, it shares a far more unexpected and cinematic slice of his life.
Nolan’s “Interstellar” is Riveting
Christopher Nolan’s ambition exceeds his reach in the often glorious and dizzyingly satisfying outer space adventure Interstellar (B+). Matthew McConaughey valiantly anchors the film as a widowed father and retired pilot living on a midwest farm who gets activated into a journey to find an inhabitable planet for the future of the human race. The stakes couldn’t be higher, setting the stage for epic human emotion and a plot that operates on a dual time continuum of earth and a place beyond the stars, not all that unlike the director’s Inception in which the latter realm was the dreamscape. Michael Caine, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow and David Gyasi are among a very effective ensemble bringing credibility to an often arcane and sometimes pondrous story. In contrast, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain inhabit somewhat problematic characters with odd intentions and impenetrable subplots, respectively. The film’s first and second act are near perfection both visually and thematically, and the final act just can’t sustain the sense of wonder. Still, the early earthbound segments have the heft of Steinbeck by way of Spielberg, and the bulk of the outer space sequences glisten with the majesty of Herbert by way of Kubrick. The film’s heady mix of science and mental puzzles is infinitely resonant and adds up to a near-masterpiece. But as the space dust settles, there are inconsistencies, unexplained motivations and other overlong passages that reflect missed opportunities. Overall, an intriguing premise, fine acting, an engaging story and incredible technology effects put this film in hyperdrive against any others in its category and make for a splendid voyage of mind-boggling proportions.
“Gone Girl” Sometimes Rises Above Pedestrian Material
Director David Fincher’s brilliant career has been marked by incredible displays of calculating gamesmanship, manifested in modern-day classics such as Se7en, Zodiac, Fight Club, The Social Network and, well, The Game, so it’s not altogether inconceivable that he’d adapt a twisty thriller based on a popular novel about the chess match of modern marriage in Gone Girl (C+) but alas it’s not altogether successful. Told in alternating accounts from co-stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, the film feels a bit like a soapy ’90s holdover from the files of Disclosure or Indecent Proposal, heaping more guilty pleasure than gravitas into the cinematic canon. The first hour is pretty solid, with Affleck’s post-modern emasculated husband good for a few laughs and ultimately some raised eyebrows. Tables inevitably turn, and much of the fun is trying to get into the characters’ heads to unravel the mystery of the murky marriage. Many intentions are left unexplained, and tonal shifts are par for the course in a world that can’t resolve if it is Stepford or Anywhere USA. It all seemed a little sloppier than Fincher’s usually exacting enterprises. Some bright supporting performances by Carrie Coon as Affleck’s relatable twin sister and Kim Dickens as a sympathetic cop enliven the proceedings. Tyler Perry as actor gets some nice bits about what to reveal for the scrutiny of the media camera, and there are some clever riffs on what it means to be trapped in defined roles in a relationship. Affleck’s character jokes at one point that he feels like he’s on an episode of Law & Order, but I suppose the joke is on us that we’re paying for the privilege. The mid-point plot shift is pretty cool, but the film’s balance goes off the rails for the final few acts. Ultimately the characters’ fatal flaws were just too obvious to illuminate many universal themes and the story sometimes too ludicrous to consistently entertain.
“Skeleton Twins” Offers Strong Dramedy
Craig Johnson’s dark comedy-drama The Skeleton Twins (B) is like a Hallmark Card series launched by The Addams Family: a veritable arsenal of pick-me-up announcements from occasions such as suicide attempts, abandonment, abuse and infidelity. The fact that this tragic terrain is so skillfully navigated by typically comic actors Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader is a testament to the range of their craft. As Wiig’s good-natured husband, Luke Wilson is also effective as an everyman foil. After nearly a decade without speaking, a botched suicide attempt brings the titular adult twins back together to experience why they can’t live with or without each other. Drunken mishaps, terrible truth or dare games, a great karaoke sequence and a fun Halloween outing string together some of the threadbare plot and themes. The tonal shifts come as fast and furious as the characters’ mood swings; and you simply have to be prepared to not know where the journey will take you. The film depicts lots of lows and very few highs, very true to life for characters in the mental state that these are experiencing, and much of the humor comes in their macabre sarcasm. Johnson’s film portends exciting future works to come.