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joemystery2004
Reviews
Roll Bounce (2005)
Definitely not the worst movie ever but...
Roll Bounce is the type of movie that even when you try to appreciate it for what it is, it's still lacking. I saw this with a friend in exchange for her seeing "An Unfinished Life" (highly recommended by the way) I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start with questions: 1. Why wasn't Meagan Good laughed out of the audition for this film? This broad (while nice to look at, don't get me wrong) has zero presence on screen. I mean, I know Bow Wow is a great thespian, but he can only do so much to carry a scene.
2. Why wasn't the scene in which Bow Wow was smashing the car and crying cut from the movie? A: This scene came out of left-field and was way too heavy for this movie. And B: The director should have seen that Bow Wow couldn't carry such an *ahem* emotional scene.
3. How did it ever come down to a skate off? Come on, dog! The other team was doing flips. FLIPS! They should have had that, no question.
All in all, Roll Bounce isn't great, but it isn't terrible either. I think it's a shame that there aren't a lot of good roles written for black people. Instead, we get this.
Crash (2004)
This one cuts hard and deep.
Paul Haggis' "Crash" is a movie that makes us ask the worst questions about ourselves and our own racist inclinations. Where do these thoughts come from? Are these thoughts inborn or are they learned? A beautiful ensemble piece, Crash examines modern day Los Angeles in a 36 hour period where several events have the lives of about 15 characters converging. There is no performance in this film that is wasted. No actor doesn't pull his or her own weight. I won't go into deep character details. I'll just call out a few standouts.
First, there's Matt Dillon, who in my mind is a lock for a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role as a racist cop. His villain is so multi-dimensional, that you hate him, empathize with him and identify with him. Superbly acted, Dillon never misses a beat.
Don Cheadle also delivers a great, subtle performance that may earn him a lead Oscar nomination simply because he clocks more screen time than Dillon. It seems that Cheadle, a great black actor who isn't showy or cocky like his peers, is finally getting the respect he deserves as an actor. Oh, how I would have loved to see the dignified and humble Don Cheadle accept the best actor Oscar over Jamie loud-full-of-himself Foxx. That would have been a great day for black cinema.
There has been a lot of talk about Sandra Bullock's fine performance. And it was a good performance. I was surprised how easily Sandra Bullock abandoned her cheeky, comedic stupidity for this role and transformed herself into this largely plausible and detestable character. However, she will not get nominated for an Oscar. That I can almost guarantee. If she were to be nominated for an Oscar, it would be in the best supporting actress category and two actresses from the same movie are rarely nominated in the same category. (RARELY - It has happened) I say all this because Thandie Newton, whose performance is second only to Matt Dillon, is sure to garner this actress her first nomination and maybe even a win (it's too early to tell. I can't really see any supporting female players topping this performance.) Thandie Newton's performance as a violated wife of a black socialite is also multi-layered. Now, my brother has said that he dislikes roles where people are yelling and carrying on. He says that it's too easy. Is it? I don't think so. Showing gut-wrenching emotion is difficult because you have to straddle that line between believability and maudlin. Some people can do it. Some people can. Newton can.
This movie may garner nominations for director, picture and screenplay, but I'm loath to say definitively at this point, simply because of mixed reviews from critics. Had it been released a little later, it would have had a greater chance. However, I still have a feeling that "Crash" linger in the minds of Academy voters and be recognized for the bold, standout film that it is.
Garden State (2004)
Flawed but Beautiful Movie
Zach Braff's directorial debut "Garden State" is a flawed, yet beautiful and entertaining character study that tugs at the heart strings. The movie centers around Andrew Largeman (Braff) an emotionally numb struggling actor who returns to New Jersey after nine years for his mother's funeral. He has been on some form of medication since he was a child that leaves him in somewhat of a stupor or a waking sleep. Andrew decides to leave his medication behind and try to go to New Jersey without it for a few days. The film is essentially about how being off his meds opens his eyes to the world around him. In this world are his friends from high school, his father with whom he is estranged (Ian Holm) and a quirky young woman named Sam (Natalie Portman) who bewitches him.
I have heard a lot of talk about how this movie is pretentious, art house drivel. This comes from the same people who loved "Lost in Translation" yet can't for the life of them explain why. That isn't a knock at "Lost in Translation" by the way. I didn't love "Lost in Translation" nor do I love "Garden State." They are both entertaining in their own ways and I appreciate both. I appreciate "Lost in Translation" for the beauty it conveys about being lost in a strange world and finding someone else who is also lost to share in the desolation.
However, I was much more entertained and touched by "Garden State," and am not afraid or ashamed to say so. It seems that Braff was coming from a very personal place when he wrote this movie. His portrayal of Andrew is one of quiet absurdity. He is fascinated and a bit put off by the world he lives in, but he has no right to be. Braff plays this off beautifully, hitting every note with precision and sad humor. Portman's Sam is a delightful force of nature and although many people found her performance to be somewhat annoying, I thought it was wonderfully endearing. Peter Sarsgaard is top notch as always playing Andrew's loose cannon friend who drinks too much, does too much drugs and doesn't seem to care. Only Sarsgaard could pull off lines such as "Don't tease me about my habits. I don't tease you about being an asshole."
There are places where the movie is clearly trying to be quirky and funny, which it is. For instance, the scene in which Braff models a shirt made for him by his aunt out of the same material as the wallpaper. That image is one likely to become a famous association with the film, such as Dustin Hoffman being viewed through Anne Bancroft's leg in "The Graduate." Does it contribute to the film as a whole? Not really. In fact, there are several unnecessary scenes in "Garden State", but they are presented in such a way that you couldn't imagine the film without them. Somehow, Braff makes it work. Braff makes everything work invthis film that shouldn't work. He has proved to be a great writer and a VERY GOOD director. He has a clear style and it'll be interesting if he becomes an auteuristic director like Kubrick or even Hitchcock. I pray he doesn't stop here. I am so intrigued.
In the end, Braff has written and directed a film that, love it or hate it, will be talked about for years to come and will likely go down in history as a cult classic, gathering a following comparable to that of "Reality Bites" and dare I say "Lost in Translation."
Closer (2004)
A Beautifully Written Film
Mike Nichols' "Closer," is at once a cross-section of relationships in western culture and a scathing revelation of the deception and underhandedness that lies at the root of these relationships. The audience was silent at the end of this film when I saw it, and rightly so. It is one of the best films of the year, put very simply.
The film, based on screenwriter, Patrick Marber's successful play, centers around two couples: Dan and Alice (Jude Law, Natalie Portman) and Larry and Anna (Clive Owen, Julia Roberts.) How these people come to be with one another is coincidental. How they deceive one another is despicable and how love quickly mutates into a desire to cause each other pain is tragic.
Through Nichols' brilliant direction, he creates the illusion that there is an entropic tragedy, where there is really just a melodramatic relationship drama. That's what's so great about this film: you are so sucked into the experiences of these four characters and you feel their pain so deeply. The dialogue scorches like acid and burns hard and deep. Particularly, the scene in which Larry (Owen) confronts his wife Anna (Roberts) about her affair with Dan (Law.) There are explicit descriptions, at Larry's request, of sexual positions, practices and even talk of bodily fluids because Larry simply has to know if she enjoyed it. "I'm a fu**ing caveman," he explains.
Despite all the graphic sexual conversation that takes place in this film, there are no "sex scenes" in the traditional sense. There are no scenes where people are actually having sex, there are only scenes directly before and after the act. This is possibly to add to the theme of the mystery of sex: how it makes us do weird things and how it tears us down the middle. It is amazing to me, that in the absence of sex scenes, this movie is incredibly sexy. It's all in the script and the wonderful performances.
All of the actors really pull together and deliver outstanding performances. Jude Law and Julia Roberts bring subtle and poignant performances to this film. even whilst uttering laughable lines of dialogue such as "I can see the love it draining out of you." I was particularly impressed with Roberts, who delivers her best theatrical turn since her Oscar-winning performance in "Erin Brockovich." Though I don't normally enjoy her as an actress, her absence from this year's best actress nominee roster seems strange.
Even more impressive than Jude Law and Julia Roberts are academy award nominees Clive Owen and Natalie Portman. Clive Owen, with his large, sinister teeth and angry throaty voice make him the perfect jealous husband. Portman's performance is so multi-dimensional that I will not refer to it as "her first adult role." While her character is a stripper, and curses like a sailor, Portman's Alice has a tragic vulnerability reminiscent of her performance in "Leon." She is the most likable character in the movie and the best performance. For it is Alice and Larry who are victims in the beginning, yet they use one another to get back at their lovers. While it's deplorable, you identify with Alice's need to hurt Dan who has hurt her. It is lovely to see her get the last laugh. If there's any justice, Natalie Portman WILL win best supporting actress for this performance Closer will surely be studied in film classes as an example of film-making at its best. It is a film that rises above its humble appearance to so much more.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
The best film in a year of wonderful films.
Million Dollar Baby is the best picture of the year through and through. After taking the history of motion pictures last semester, I somehow decided that I was going to reject the mannered style of classical Hollywood cinema such as Howard Hawkes and Frank Capra, where style and montage are subordinate to narrative. Despite this, I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with this film from the first frame until the last. Clint Eastwood has an eye for film-making and directing that is worthy of all accolades, including the Oscars. If there is any justice, Clint will walk away with his second best director trophy, well deserved over Martin Scorsese (who also directed a good film. Just not as good, and noticeably not as good.) Million Dollar Baby follows the rise of underdog boxer Maggie Fitzgerald, in a flawless performance by Hilary Swank who has proved that her turn in 1999's Boys Don't Cry wasn't a fluke. She too will take home her second Oscar, also well deserved over her "overdue" competition who will remain nameless. Maggie is too old to start training, too inexperienced to fight and too dumb to realize it. The film centers around her relationship with hardened fighter-turned-trainer, Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) who approaches her with steadfast reluctance that believably morphs into a paternal love that words can hardly describe. Eastwood too gives a wonderful performance as Maggie's trainer/surrogate father whose troubled relationship with his own daughter leaves a void that Maggie fills with her unwavering loyalty.
Possibly even more wonderful than Eastwood and Swank is the film's narrator, Scrap played by the ever-lauded, yet still Oscar-less Morgan Freeman. His performance is on-point, consistent and almost effortless, as he narrates this tale with haunting grace. If this performance doesn't garner Freeman an Oscar, then there truly is no justice in the academy.
To say that this film switches gears some two-thirds of the way through is redundant and pointless at this point, considering the press the film has received. I won't specifically divulge what that twist is because it isn't my place. Yes, this movie is at its heart, about far more than just boxing. The fact that this movie is getting some bad press from right-wing media, wasn't the most Oscar nominated film (Scorsese's the Aviator got the most noms) and lost the Producer's Guild award will logically keep Million Dollar Baby from stealing the best picture trophy from the Aviator. However, like Hilary Swank's Maggie, I believe that Million Dollar Baby, with the odds stacked against it, will rise above all obstacles and take home Oscars for best picture, director, actress and supporting actor. Clint has truly pushed himself to earn his best director and best picture trophies this time around. While it would be great to see Scorsese finally take home an Oscar (it's a travesty that he doesn't have one by now), the general consensus is that it's Clint who deserves it and I'd be loath to disagree.