Film: True Grit
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Country: USA
True Grit is a surprisingly simple idea coming from the Coens. It's a remake of an old John Wayne movie which focuses on the little girl instead of the old grizzled marshal. The story is pretty basic Western story. A thirteen year old girl Mattie's father is murdered by a man Tom Chaney they had taken in. She goes out looking for revenge, and hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to kill him. While in town she runs into La Boeuf, a Texas Ranger who's also after Chaney, but he's after him for crimes he committed in Texas. Mattie wants to come along on the hunt for Chaney. Cogburn at first wants to leave her behind thinking she didn't have the toughness to survive in Indian country, but he's convinced by her perserverence in following him that she is.
I usually like Westerns but I found myself bored for this one. The story goes through the motions of a movie that might have been made in the 40s through 60s, but it's got a tone of artificiality through it that blunts the impact. It's not as fun as the old Westerns it replicates, and it's not as intellectually interesting as other Coen movies. The characterization feels a little heavy handed and a little manipulative. They try a little too hard to endear you to Mattie's toughness, having her dominate a negotiation for the return of some horses her father bought, threatening to sue him. You can tell from the beginning that Rooster and La Boeuf are going to come to the same conclusion we're obviously supposed to from the first time we see her: That the little girl is endearingly tough. I'm usually a fan of the Coens, but this style of plot doesn't suit their style of directing.
Style: 6
Substance: 4
Overall: 5
Accessibility: 7
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Rabbit Hole
Film: Rabbit Hole
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Counry: USA
Rabbit Hole is a very performance driven movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as the parents of a four year old child who was killed eight months prior to the fim, chasing his dog into the street. The film follows the expected course: The two have very different grieving styles that lead to a major blowout, then toward the end they find small ways to start to cope. In this case, due to the emotional nature of the subject matter, it's good that the plot doesn't deviate much from expectations, because it lets the strength of the performances drive the movie.
The movie opens softly, without telling you directly that the couple has lost a child. You see Becca (Kidman) acting antisocial to the neighbors without explanation. The film reveals what happened indirectly, when one of Howie's (Eckhart) friends suggests they have another child. This way, you see the couple as others perceive them without the insider knowledge. The two deal with their grief in very different ways which come into conflict. Howie wants to keep the constant presence of their son in the house, whereas Becca can't deal with that and wants to get rid of all the pictures, all the toys, and everything that constantly reminds her of him. They start out going to group counseling sessions. Howie wants to be social with the group, whereas Becca can't deal with all the religion talk that comes up. Becca wants to sell the house, Howie doesn't want to. Howie wants to start having sex again, Becca doesn't want to. All of these tensions threaten to break up their marriage (As often does happen after the loss of a child.)
The other major player of the film is the driver of the car who killed their child. He's a teenager who's about to leave for college. Becca spots him on a school bus and follows him. Later they meet at the park and talk. It's interesting the way they express this relationship. They talk existentially and get at the accident mostly indirectly. He goes on with his life and lives it like a normal teenager, but you can tell how crushed inside he is that he killed somebody. He talks in a way that makes it obvious that he's played the incident over in his head a million times, looking for any way he could have prevented the accident. You end up not feeling any anger or malice toward him, even though he's the one responsible for tearing apart Becca and Howie's lives.
The strength of the film, other than the great performances given by Kidman and Eckhart, is the way they address their very mundane subject matter. Whereas other films would be tempted to get melodramatic and have characters calling each other out on everything they've ever done, or swearing revenge on the driver of the car, Rabbit Hole expresses emotions in a way that's indirect but still very emotionally imminent. Becca and Howie have the constant presence of their grief, but they're also constantly aware of the pressure to express that grief in a socially acceptable way. They've both got their own emotional minefields, and will behave normally most of the time, then lash out whenever one of those mines is stepped on. But they're not angry at the person, they're just still devastated. The people who receive this anger try their best to be understanding and not taking it personally, but at the same time, are hurt like any regular person would be.
Rabbit Hole is the sort of film which, instead of trying to do something new and original, does something very mundane in a very nuanced way, and then steps back and lets the actors drive the film, making it one of the better films to come out in the year.
Style: 7
Substance: 9
Overall: 8
Accessibility: 8
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Counry: USA
Rabbit Hole is a very performance driven movie starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as the parents of a four year old child who was killed eight months prior to the fim, chasing his dog into the street. The film follows the expected course: The two have very different grieving styles that lead to a major blowout, then toward the end they find small ways to start to cope. In this case, due to the emotional nature of the subject matter, it's good that the plot doesn't deviate much from expectations, because it lets the strength of the performances drive the movie.
The movie opens softly, without telling you directly that the couple has lost a child. You see Becca (Kidman) acting antisocial to the neighbors without explanation. The film reveals what happened indirectly, when one of Howie's (Eckhart) friends suggests they have another child. This way, you see the couple as others perceive them without the insider knowledge. The two deal with their grief in very different ways which come into conflict. Howie wants to keep the constant presence of their son in the house, whereas Becca can't deal with that and wants to get rid of all the pictures, all the toys, and everything that constantly reminds her of him. They start out going to group counseling sessions. Howie wants to be social with the group, whereas Becca can't deal with all the religion talk that comes up. Becca wants to sell the house, Howie doesn't want to. Howie wants to start having sex again, Becca doesn't want to. All of these tensions threaten to break up their marriage (As often does happen after the loss of a child.)
The other major player of the film is the driver of the car who killed their child. He's a teenager who's about to leave for college. Becca spots him on a school bus and follows him. Later they meet at the park and talk. It's interesting the way they express this relationship. They talk existentially and get at the accident mostly indirectly. He goes on with his life and lives it like a normal teenager, but you can tell how crushed inside he is that he killed somebody. He talks in a way that makes it obvious that he's played the incident over in his head a million times, looking for any way he could have prevented the accident. You end up not feeling any anger or malice toward him, even though he's the one responsible for tearing apart Becca and Howie's lives.
The strength of the film, other than the great performances given by Kidman and Eckhart, is the way they address their very mundane subject matter. Whereas other films would be tempted to get melodramatic and have characters calling each other out on everything they've ever done, or swearing revenge on the driver of the car, Rabbit Hole expresses emotions in a way that's indirect but still very emotionally imminent. Becca and Howie have the constant presence of their grief, but they're also constantly aware of the pressure to express that grief in a socially acceptable way. They've both got their own emotional minefields, and will behave normally most of the time, then lash out whenever one of those mines is stepped on. But they're not angry at the person, they're just still devastated. The people who receive this anger try their best to be understanding and not taking it personally, but at the same time, are hurt like any regular person would be.
Rabbit Hole is the sort of film which, instead of trying to do something new and original, does something very mundane in a very nuanced way, and then steps back and lets the actors drive the film, making it one of the better films to come out in the year.
Style: 7
Substance: 9
Overall: 8
Accessibility: 8
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Somewhere
Film: Somewhere
Director: Sofia Coppola
Country: USA
Sofia Coppola first received mainstream recognition as a director for her 2003 film Lost In Translation. Her new film Somewhere covers a lot of the same ground as Lost In Translation. Alienation, cultural misunderstanding in a foreign country, emotional detachment from one's career. Some of the scenes in Italy seem taken directly from Lost In Translation, except with Italian culture instead of Japanese culture. The main character is another famous actor being pulled around by the demands of his career. His daughter's mother leaves for unspecified reasons for an indefinite amount of time, leaving their daughter with him. His daughter hardly knows him, because his acting career takes him away most of the time. Unlike Lost In Translation however, Somewhere doesn't have the comedy themes or the sentimental payoff that gave it mainstream appeal. The film is very slow paced, with a lot of long shots of the main character disinterestedly inhabiting his life. There's a long scene where he's watching pole dancers, a long scene where he's sitting still having a mold of his head made, presumeably for props in a movie he's making. People who look to movies mostly for entertainment will probably find the film incredibly boring.
Now, a film can be boring and still be a good film. My theory is that the more boring a film is, the better the artistic payoff has to be for the film to be good. There are some nice subtle points made by the film. At the beginning of the film the main character breaks his arm. When he's with his daughter, you see him watching her figureskate, sitting by the side of the pool while she swims, watching her play Guitar Hero with his buddy. Then later when he gets the cast off, he's taking part in the same activities, playing ping pong, swimming in the pool with her. The subtle point made by his juxtopposition is that, he can only relate to his daughter through physical participation in her activities. There is no real emotional bond except through the ritual of playing. There's an eerie similarity between the scene where he's watching pole dancers and the scene where he's watching his daughter figure skate. Without the ability to interact with her, just as he's a spectator to the strippers' sexiness, he's just a spectator to his daughter's daughter-ness. There is artistic and emotional payoff, but it's not strong enough payoff to justify the slow pacing and lack of entertainment value of the film.
Style: 3
Substance: 8
Overall: 6
Accessibility: 5
I know I haven't been doing many music reviews. It's easier to write about films than music. I've been meaning to write up Robyn - Body Talk and Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be but haven't gotten around to it.
I'm going to make sure to write up White Denim's internet release Last Day Of Summer just because it was so poorly promoted, it got almost no attention at all.
Director: Sofia Coppola
Country: USA
Sofia Coppola first received mainstream recognition as a director for her 2003 film Lost In Translation. Her new film Somewhere covers a lot of the same ground as Lost In Translation. Alienation, cultural misunderstanding in a foreign country, emotional detachment from one's career. Some of the scenes in Italy seem taken directly from Lost In Translation, except with Italian culture instead of Japanese culture. The main character is another famous actor being pulled around by the demands of his career. His daughter's mother leaves for unspecified reasons for an indefinite amount of time, leaving their daughter with him. His daughter hardly knows him, because his acting career takes him away most of the time. Unlike Lost In Translation however, Somewhere doesn't have the comedy themes or the sentimental payoff that gave it mainstream appeal. The film is very slow paced, with a lot of long shots of the main character disinterestedly inhabiting his life. There's a long scene where he's watching pole dancers, a long scene where he's sitting still having a mold of his head made, presumeably for props in a movie he's making. People who look to movies mostly for entertainment will probably find the film incredibly boring.
Now, a film can be boring and still be a good film. My theory is that the more boring a film is, the better the artistic payoff has to be for the film to be good. There are some nice subtle points made by the film. At the beginning of the film the main character breaks his arm. When he's with his daughter, you see him watching her figureskate, sitting by the side of the pool while she swims, watching her play Guitar Hero with his buddy. Then later when he gets the cast off, he's taking part in the same activities, playing ping pong, swimming in the pool with her. The subtle point made by his juxtopposition is that, he can only relate to his daughter through physical participation in her activities. There is no real emotional bond except through the ritual of playing. There's an eerie similarity between the scene where he's watching pole dancers and the scene where he's watching his daughter figure skate. Without the ability to interact with her, just as he's a spectator to the strippers' sexiness, he's just a spectator to his daughter's daughter-ness. There is artistic and emotional payoff, but it's not strong enough payoff to justify the slow pacing and lack of entertainment value of the film.
Style: 3
Substance: 8
Overall: 6
Accessibility: 5
I know I haven't been doing many music reviews. It's easier to write about films than music. I've been meaning to write up Robyn - Body Talk and Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be but haven't gotten around to it.
I'm going to make sure to write up White Denim's internet release Last Day Of Summer just because it was so poorly promoted, it got almost no attention at all.
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