Enter the coliseum ready for action-filled melodrama and a leading-man-is-born performance by Russell Crowe as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (B). This rousing historical epic traces the title character, a former general rising from slavery through the ranks of the arena, determined to avenge the murders of his family and the emperor. Crowe is born for the role, with commanding and believable swagger and swelling speeches and pecs, and he faces a fantastic foil in an outrageous, power-hungry villain played with juicy relish by Joaquin Phoenix. The story gets additional gravitas with the presence of a cadre of veteran actors Richard Harris, Oliver Reed and Derek Jacobi, and Dijmon Hounsou and Connie Nielsen give good performances as allies. While not all that original, the story is a welcome throwback to swords-and-sandals epics of bygone Hollywood. Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score adds to the power of the picture, but some of the special effects work appears too artificial in the ancient world. All in all, it’s a winner.
Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (A) is a haunting look at the effect of addiction through three interlocking stories. Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly are among the amazing actors headlining this ensemble. Shocking and mesmerizing visuals mark this audacious director’s wicked and direct style.
Tony Goldwyn’s A Walk on the Moon (B+) is an unexpected sleeper of a melodrama and a highly recommended movie of 1999. An unfulfilled homemaker, played beautifully by Diane Lane, quietly suffers as the tumultuous events of the summer of 1969 unfold on the surface of her TV screen. But, when she invites a dashing traveling salesman (Viggo Mortensen) into the safety of her living room for the live broadcast of the historic moon landing, they begin a passionate affair that threatens to destroy her marriage to her by-the-books high school sweetheart, sturdily played by Liev Schreiber. Goldwyn does a great job working with the actors, including Anna Paquin as the wise family daughter, who give lived-in qualities to the characters. The film is also a superb depiction of a time period in transition, with Woodstock and Vietnam era references and songs such as “Purple Haze” on the soundtrack. It’s sexy, symbolic and pulls you in.
M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense (A-) pairs Bruce Willis and child actor Haley Joel Osment for a tender and suspenseful look at the afterlife. As a psychologist helping a boy who believes he sees and talks to people who have died, Willis is absorbing and effective. Newcomer Osment is very good in his role. Shyamalan turns the screws with great suspense, leading to a stunning showdown with fate.
There is more than meets the eye behind both Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening’s picture-perfect marriage and nearly everything going on in their neighborhood in Sam Mendes’ revealing dark comedy American Beauty (A). The acting is superb and the satire biting in this cautionary tale with parallel tales of unhinged, unfulfilled adults and teens acting out fantasies in modern-day suburbia gone horribly awry.
David Fincher’s Fight Club (A-) is an awesome underground action drama with Edward Norton and Brad Pitt playing the opposite ends of the spectrum of modern men of today. Fed up with his WASP-y life, Norton’s character finds himself lured into a nihilistic world of fighting and vulgarity, where he can finally feel again. But it’s not as simple as it seems, when you can’t tell anyone about fight club. Helena Bonham Carter is great in a supporting role as a love interest of both guys. Norton and Pitt are outstanding in their parts and add iconic cult characters to their repertoire.
Gary Ross’ Pleasantville (B) transports two 1990’s teens (Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon) into an alternate 1950’s sitcom reality, and the mores of the four passing decades get a dose of parody and pathos in a story that blends drama and comedy. Although quite entertaining, it pales a bit in comparison to the similarly themed Back to the Future. It is lifted by a supporting performance by Joan Allen as a mom who finds unexpected liberation and by quite lovely effects morphing a color and black and white world into vivid existence.
Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters (A-) is a drama about the final days of Frankenstein film director James Whale, regally played by Ian McKellan, haunted by his WWI service and transfixed by his own homosexuality and his new gardener played by Brendan Fraser. Lynn Redgrave is outstanding as Whale’s disapproving housemaid. Superbly filmed and acted, the movie makes deft metaphor for the exploring and remembering of one’s demons.
Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (B) has one of the most amazing, bloody and grueling first twenty minutes of war re-enactments ever committed to film with its beach invasion of Normandy. Unfortunately, the remaining film featuring a search for the title character is rather pedestrian. Tom Hanks and an ensemble of Hollywood A-listers lead the charge to find Ryan (Matt Damon). The remaining film includes a series of exciting and nostalgic episodes but not a one that again matches the opening sequence.
James Cameron’s Titanic (A-) is an epic disaster spectacle mixed with an epic romance. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are the star-crossed lovers aboard the ill-fated ship. Their playful romantic sequences are the film’s heart. The effects and production design are also exquisite. I wasn’t wild about the framing device with Bill Paxton and Gloria Stuart or aspects of the shallow screenplay or the one-note villain Billy Zane, but it’s hard to deny the power of the romance, the James Horner music and the tragedy of the night the dream died. Cameron truly outdoes himself with this larger-than-life modern classic.
Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting (A) is a magnificent coming of age movie about a South Boston troublemaker (Matt Damon) who is also a secret prodigy and learns to give in to his abilities and learn from and love those around him, including an inspiring girl (Minnie Driver) and a fabulous teacher (Robin Williams). Ben Affleck, who in real-life co-wrote the script with Damon, plays his buddy in the film. Van Sant does a great job capturing the naturalistic settings and scores the film with superb music by Elliott Smith.