Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (A-) focuses on Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie as soldiers who dispose of bombs during the Iraq War and how they get deeper and deeper into their mission. Told with stunning authenticity and reverence for the work of the military, it’s a highly dramatic and exciting film as well as a technical marvel.
Tag Archives: Drama
“Slumdog Millionare” an Amazing Adult Fairy Tale
Danny Boyle’s India-set Slumdog Millionaire (A) is an adult fairy tale with elements of magical realism that shows how fate and fortune weave their way into our lives for our own version of happily ever after. As the boy (Dev Patel) who wants to get the girl (Freida Pinto) struggles through poverty, cross-country adventures and ultimately a game show that conjures up his life’s learnings, the brilliant bright-colored cinematography and A.R. Rahman’s propulsive score fuel an absolutely delightful story that will hook you in to its spell. This is an accomplished piece of cinema that will speak to people from many backgrounds around the globe.
You’ll Fall Slowly and Instantly in Love with Musical Almost-Romance “Once”
John Carney’s Once (B+) is a treasure box of a musical with an unassuming storyline showcasing a man and a woman who enter each other’s lives when they need each other most. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglova play the unnamed pair – he, a busking Irish guitarist and she, a Czech pianist, who find themselves “Falling Slowly” into the spell of making beautiful music together. Very much in the vein of Before Sunrise, the duo are fated to be together and bring out talents and insights in each other that they never could have found separately. In its simplicity and handheld look and feel, it celebrates the joy of discovery and the brilliant promises of second chances at love.
Coen Brothers Craft Mighty “No Country For Old Men”
Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men (A-) is a cat and mouse caper told by amazing artisans. When Josh Brolin’s character finds a satchel of money, he thinks he’s hit the mother load, until he finds that there’s a tracking mechanism, and the tracking is being done by super-scary hitman Javier Bardem. This neo-Western breaks lots of rules – no music, minimalist sound sculpture, weird ending and the like. But it’s a consistently entertaining thriller that tells its story in its own idiosyncratic way.
“Shortbus” Creative and Sexually Daring
Explicit and magical, John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus (A) is a sprawling ensemble about sexual release in modern New York and is one of the best films of 2006. Sook-Yin Lee and Paul Dawson are among the superb members of a cast in overlapping stories of lust, loneliness, longing and liberation. With dandy music by Yo La Tengo and clever animations surrounding a phenomenal menagerie of human characters, this freestyle film is experimental, daring and fascinating.
Todd Field Helms Brilliant, Unsettling “Little Children”
Todd Field’s Little Children (A) is a film about unease in modern-day suburbia featuring Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson as a couple meeting up at the neighborhood swimming pool and having an affair. Meanwhile, a freaky neighbor (Jackie Earle Haley) is possibly on the prowl for his own kind of release in the community. Field once again draws amazing, absorbing performances from his actors and doesn’t give obvious hints about where his plot is headed.
“The Queen” an Engrossing Character Study
Stephen Frears’ The Queen (A-) is about finding the proper time and place to say one’s peace. For Queen Elizabeth II, perfectly embodied by Helen Mirren, speaking out after the death of Princess Diana is especially difficult. The film details the negotiations between Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) and the queen to help put public closure on a nation’s tragedy. The film does a masterful job of showing all the steps it sometimes takes to move a mountain.
“The Departed” is Supremely Entertaining
It’s a bit ironic that one of the most original filmmakers of our time has made one of his very best films by following someone else’s formula. A remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (A) traces a young undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) infiltrating a South Boston crime syndicate led by Jack Nicholson while the mobster’s protégé (Matt Damon) has simultaneously penetrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate. Both DiCaprio and Damon become deeply consumed by their double lives and the plans and counter-plans of their respective operations; but when they discover there’s a mole in their midst, they must race to expose each other’s identity. This is Scorsese at his most efficient, with each and every sequence important to the plot and every shot of blink-and-you-missed-it importance to the big picture. It’s an astonishing adventure with a great trio of central performances plus many other great ones in the ensemble including Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Vera Farmiga.
“Brokeback Mountain” a Watershed Gay Romance
Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (A) pairs brilliant actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as men who fall in love in the Wyoming wilderness of the 1960’s and spend the rest of their life trying to reconcile their forbidden desires to their wives (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway) and hide their emotions from themselves. It’s a heartbreaking reverse-romance as most of the love is unrequited. The cinematography and storytelling are exquisite, and the brittle emotions cut to the bone. The passage of time parallels the creeks and brooks of the gorgeous countryside, even if the emotions run deep and powerful but often unexplored. Ledger and Gyllenhaal may be more daring than they even know for taking on these roles with such abandon, and Lee gives them a narrative that resonates.
David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence” is Powerful
David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, based on a graphic novel of the same name, is a powerful thriller in which Viggo Mortensen plays a low-key small town merchant who fends off some criminal types that come into town and outs himself as having a bit of a secret past. Mortenssen is dynamite, and Maria Bello is also spectacular as his wife. William Hurt is also great in a creepy extended cameo. Packed with secrets and poignant as a meditation on crime and American life, this was one of the best films of 2005.
“Before Sunset” Reunites Linklater’s Talky Lovers
Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset (B) reunites the spontaneous lovers played so memorably by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise. This time the conceit is that the roving conversation (this time in Paris) plays out in real time. It’s a bit more experiment than narrative continuation and only occasionally nails universal truths as before. But rarely do you get films with emotions laid this bare, and it’s fascinating to watch what Jesse and Celine will do next.
“Passion of the Christ” Depicts Gruesome Crucifixion, Leaves Other Jesus Highlights on Cutting Room Floor
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (C+) is a peculiar cinematic work: a re-creation of the bloody death of Jesus Christ, which we presume is intended as an exercise to depict the intensity of personal sacrifice suffered by man’s ultimate martyr. As played by Jim Caviezel, the actor doesn’t get much opportunity to act the part but rather to be the part. Gibson should be applauded for authenticity in filming on location and in the Aramaic language, although he throws in some bizarre effects and lingers on some strange exchanges that could play into charges of religious intolerance. The overall film is graphic and punishing and technically quite an accomplishment in its nightmarish depiction of brutality; but in telling the story of the life of one of the most remarkable figures to have ever walked the earth, it is a curious choice to hone in on only the torture that ended that life.