Film Review: American Sniper

As is usually the case, I don't get out to see many films in the theater and only end up seeing the ones that both my wife and I both have an overwhelming desire to see.  American Sniper was one such film.  Having read the biography about two years ago I was well familiar with the background and though some of the film was fictionalized to create a narrative that would provide an arc it was largely in line with the details from Chris Kyle's book.

The film itself was excellent with Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Chris Kyle being spot on.  From Kyle's Texas accent to his physical build, Cooper does a masterful job in imitating his real life model.   In story and direction there isn't much new.  We get Kyle's reasons for entering the SEALs, his time in BUDs, his meeting with Taya (his future wife), his deployments, his actions in Iraq as both a sniper and in more close quarter battles, the deaths of close friends, marital problems, etc.  All of it is well portrayed and Eastwood provides enough context to understand where Kyle comes from and why he views the world the way he does.  Yup, some of it may seem too simplistic for modern audiences but based on his own words, it rings true.

American Sniper is not a "great" film.  It doesn't belong up there with any pantheon of Buzzfeed lists of the best films of all time.  Its a very good film that is exceedingly enjoyable but it isn't Earthshattering in its delivery.  Unforgiven remains Eastwood's high-water mark and by a large margin and Mystic River is also better...

It may, however, be a more important film than any of these for what it brings out of its viewers.  Becoming one of the largest grossing "R" rated movies of all time and already the highest grossing "war" film of all time, American Sniper becomes a Rorschach test for any viewer.  Those on the left see it as gringoism at its worst, transforming the Iraqis into mere meat to be mown down by the hands of an avenging American.  Those on the right see it as an expression of American Patriotism and Texas individualism.  As always with these things, its neither.

As Eastwood has actually stated himself, its more of an anti-war film than either the Right or Left want to portray.  By the end of the film Kyle has been broken down both physically and mentally by the tasks required of him.  We've watched his friends die, his justified but difficult shooting of a boy and his mother, marital difficulties, absence from his children's life, the questioning of the war's purpose by his brother and others around him, watched him piss himself as he stands overwatch, and finally, his own destruction at the hands of someone he had hoped to help.  To view the aforementioned and find that the film is either a white-washing of the American effort there or a purely Patriotic retelling  of a Christian, Texas, good old boy is to ignore what one has just seen.

American Sniper is an honest retelling of an exceedingly brave and capable soldier who served his country to the limits of his existence.  It deserves to be told and seen and understood--properly.

Flim Review: Snowpiercer

During my time in my youth as a clerk at the Canyon Ranch Resort in Lennox, MA I had the unfortunate pleasure of bumping into one of the Weinstein brothers of film and TV fame.  Whether it was Harvey or Bob matters not.  They (he) was a fat dink then and he's a fat dink now.  Only now they own The Weinstein Company vs. Miramax which they founded and sold to Disney.  In either case the Weinstein slobs have a habit of requiring major edits to Asian films they acquire the rights to or drastically curtailing their distribution in the West.

So it was with Snowpiercer.  Though an English language film staring Chris Evans, it was directed by a Korean and was based off of an early 80's French comic.  For whatever reason the Weinstein's chose to play games with this most excellent movie.  They demanded major edits of the film with additional voiceovers at the beginning and end of the film likely in an attempt to make it more suitable for American tastes...which is odd given the number of decidedly independent and quirky films the Weinsteins have backed in their career (Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Kids, Heavenly Creatures, etc.)  Fortunately the Korean director, Bong Joon-ho, refused their demands and kept the film as is--which is likely why the Weinsteins then refused to give the film the wide release it deserved, limiting it to some 150 very small, obscure theaters in its initial release and then sending it on to the Home audience via NetFlix and DVDs.

Thankfully a few people in the sci-fi world saw the film and have been singing its praises since.

It took me about the first half hour of the film to warm (pun intended) up to Snowpiercer.  It begins slowly and the special effects are initially not the best that money can buy.  That said, the premise of the film is what drew me in.  Not to say that its realistic, but it sure is interesting.  Virtually the entire population of the Earth has died out due to man's attempt to reverse global warming that has lead to a ice encased planet that is now too cold to live on.  All that remains is a few hundred or thousand individuals aboard an ever moving train that circles the earth once every 365 days.

Aboard this train the population is stratified by class.  The wealthy and powerful live in the front cars of the train and exist in comfort and ease.  The poor and unwanted live at the rear, existing on jello "protein bars" made from well, its not people but its supposed to be just as revolting.  The plot then revolves around an uprising lead by Chris Evans' character "Curtis" who along with his fellow rear train inhabitants have tired of being told what and how to exist.  Watching the progression from the rear to the front of the train as conditions improve and both the rear-trainers and the audience learn just what comforts those in the front have been partaking of is great theater.  The action scenes are excellent and you don't get the "claustrophobic" feeling you might get expect from a film that takes place in such a tight environment (just the opposite in fact, you end up forgetting the action takes place entirely within a train at times).  The story also has a few nice twists to keep it from being a straightforward thriller and makes you reassess the motivations of a number of characters.

There are traces here of your classic futuristic dystopian films and books--1984, Brazil, etc. but the material is definitely fresh and does not feel derivative.   Tilda Swinton is nearly unrecognizable and will get a good deal of Best Supporting Actress buzz for her role as "Mason" the train's second in command and will be the most memorable part of the film for most, I spent much time wishing that she had MORE screentime despite the "evil" of her character.

No self respective fan of Sci-Fi should miss this film.  Its worth nearly every moment.

Film Review: Dallas Buyers Club

A film about an oil working, drug using, rodeo aficianado, man whore who contracts AIDS through his promiscuity and then partners with a cross-dressing heroin addict to bring unapproved drugs to the primarily homosexual community in Texas during the mid 80s in an attempt to both prolong their own lives and turn a dime seems like an odd effort for me to enjoy.  But...well...there it is...

Dallas Buyers Club mixes a bunch of great elements to create a truly enjoyable film.  Foremost is Matthew McConaughey's performance.  He is truly skeletal in his appearance having lost a ton of weight for the role and he is perfect for an obstinate Texas redneck who is a better person than he gives himself credit for.  Yeah, this kind of the "hooker with a heart of gold" cliche, but it works here, likely because the situation and story is unique.

Jared Leto nearly steals the show in his supporting role as Rayon the transvestite.  He owns the role and deservedly won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for it.

Both of these actors have an enormous amount of charm and charisma which keeps you from thinking about any of the unsavory aspects of the story which remain below the surface throughout.  Which is also a great credit to the director.  It could have been a brutally depressing tale of death, disease and failure or it could have been a tedious examination of the reasons for and against the importation or slow approval of various drugs to target the AIDS virus.  Instead its a relatively uplifting story under quite depressing circumstances.

The only major negative in the film I found was the performance of Jennifer Garner.  She plays the role of both of the male character's doctor and confidant.  Unfortunately she is too pretty, too modern and too soft spoken to fit the role.  When the camera turns on McConaughey I believe I'm looking at an AIDS ridden cowboy.  When it turns on Jared Leto, I believe I'm looking at a drug addled transvestite.  When it turns to Garner??  I immediately think of her as Ben Affleck's wife who appeared on the cover of US Magazine recently and who looks like she just stepped off the set of her latest Cover Girl makeup shoot.

In the end maybe others have critiqued it for glossing over the ugliness of the situation the characters found themselves in--facing a wasting death, harsh discrimination, lack of medical options, etc. but not all films can wallow in the dark and sometimes being the attractive sister is the best way to get your message out there.

Film Review: Babel

Third in Alejandro González Iñárritu's films that I've watched after Amores Perros and 21 Grams his films are always contain a wide mix of characters as well as a number of intersecting storylines.

Babel is his most high profile effort with not only his frequent collaborator Gael Garcia Bernal but Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as well.  The film would ultimately win Best Picture at the Golden Globes and be nominated for the same award and many others at the Oscars for 2006 films.

The film weaves four storylines in three locations that are interconnected for various reasons.  Iñárritu touches on so many themes in modern society its hard to keep track.  Illegal immigration, terrorism, undocumented workers, treatment of the disabled, guns, 3rd world tourism by first world travelers, marriage, etc. are all covered here.  While they are all covered here, none are covered as well as they have in his prior films.

Pitt and Blanchett are a married American couple in Morocco on vacation attempting to reconcile their differences after the death of their third child.  Blanchett's character is shot by a pair of young Moroccan boys who are fighting for the favor of their father and use the rifle given to their father by the rich Japanese businessman who has a deaf mute daughter.  Meanwhile the American couple's two children are looked after by their Mexican housemaid who has to take them into Mexico to attend her son's wedding when Blanchett and Pitt are delayed in returning home after her shooting.

The film is shot beautifully with each location taking on its own personality and color--tan for Morocco, orange for Mexico and grey for Japan and as you bounce between the storylines this helps maintain a sense of consistency despite the frequent transfers.  Each location and storyline carries a separate language as well with much of the film spoken in languages other than English.  Outside of the obvious issues being targeted within each storyline, the language and communication issues are an overarching theme.  Even within our most intimate relationships we struggle to convey our true needs and feelings and the fact that we may share our primary language does little help us down that path.

The film succeeds on most levels but not all.  Its a long film at about 2 and 1/2 hours and could have used a bit of trimming and perhaps an elimination of the Japanese storyline which ends up seeming like a separate film due to its first world placement.  Which gets at the heart of what Iñárritu is good at--digging deeper into America and societies interaction with the issues coming out developing countries and societies is where he thrives and where is best work is done.

Film Review: Captain Phillips

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass.  While I loved his United 93 I found the Bourne series of films he helmed to be overly edited, rushed, loud and obnoxious.

Captain Phillips was far more in the United 93 mold than the Bourne films.  Tom Hanks is his usual solid self pulling off a New England accent with aplomb and portraying the real world Captain Phillips as a more nuanced character than we came to know through the news.  We do see that he may not have been the best loved boss, we do see his choice of taking a course directly through the pirate infested waters...He is not painted with a wholly positive brush...he's shown realistically which lends heft to the film as a whole.

Greengrass steps away from his rapid fire edits and constantly shifting camera angles and allows the story to unfold without such a heavy hand and it works.  You never feel like you are watching a documentary but you do come to trust the director to tell the story accurately and without embellishment.

The pirates themselves are rightly shown as khat addled, squabbling, dim witted lowlifes.  No, there is no attempt to show a "rounded" perspective of the Somali pirates so don't look for this film to show up on you local 9/11 truther's best of 2013 film list.  About as "rounded" a look you get at them here is that they are pushed to do what they do by more powerful warlords who demand that they go to sea and hijack ships for money--which they, themselves, will never see.

There is little violence here other than the very end of the film and most of the action takes place inside the characters heads and hearts leaving the viewer to observe much of the tension between the characters.  If Greengrass could stick with films like this rather than action-thrillers like Bourne I think he would be well off.

Film Review: Life of Pi

Its always worrisome to come into viewing a film after having read a book that it is based upon.  Life of Pi is not a book one needs to be concerned about being disappointed with.

About as "true" to is source material as any novel derived film I have seen, Life of Pi is beautiful, thought provoking and moving.  Director Ang Lee knows his pacing and story setup, spending sufficient time going into the titular character's Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Rationalist upbringing.  Other directors might have even just cut this background and focused on the more "exciting" portion of the story--the shipwreck and subsequent drifting aboard a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.  That would have completely changed the point of the novel and cheapened the work entirely.

The film itself is beautifully shot and colored--likely one of the crispest, cleanest and vivid films in existence.  I did not view it in 3D nor would I want to.  The computer imagery--of which the film is chock full with much of the ocean scenery and creatures existing only with the memory of a computer and yet as lifelike and any I've seen.  The animals have more emotion and depth than most human actors.

The Life of Pi novel is still worth reading and if I had a choice of only consuming one or the other, I would still take the written word over the flickering screen as it allows the mind to dig into the questions author Yann Martel poses to the reader about God and existence whereas the film leaves the questioning for only after you have finished the work.  Regardless the film is worth watching as you don't find many films this deep that are so beautiful and so much fun.

Film Review: Gravity

As I always state...its rare when I get to go out and see a film in the theater these days.  Typically its only for a film I "have" to see in the theater or its a kids film that I'm just along for the ride for.

In the case of Gravity I actually got to combine the two instances.  Though PG-13 rated I chose to bring my 8 year old son with me.  In truth there is nothing contained within Gravity that is any worse than anything something like The Goonies which was rated PG and contained just about as many swears plus a number of cocaine and sex comments.  I find the change in how movies are rated and perceived very odd--we've become MORE conservative in that area than we used to be...

Regardless, if you are considering bringing your child to Gravity you may go right ahead without fear of being embarrassed by language or visuals.

I attended the film with both my 8 year old son and my 71 year old father.  To say that all three of us greatly enjoyed the film is a feat not accomplished many other places in movies.  Gravity is all that its reviews have said it is.  Visually stunning (we saw it in regular old 2D), emotional, meaningful, technically accurate, thrilling--everything.  I do put it as the best film of '13 that I've seen thus far.

I've been watching Alfonso Cuaron for a while now starting a while back with the wonderful Y Tu Mama Tambien, which in combination with Amores Peros launched the career of Gael Garcia Bernal and then the brilliant Children of Men with Clive Owen and Julianne Moore.  Gravity takes a very different tack in that it essentially has only three characters--George Clooney as astronaut Matt Kowalski, Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone and "Space" itself as the antagonist.

Bullock, in a tightly cropped haircut is excellent, evoking the androgynous nature of Sigourney Weaver in Alien until, like Weaver's Ripley, she removes her spacesuit and exhibits her very feminine body.  Ryan Stone is a damaged character and through the course of the film she is transformed from one who is literally being towed along by Kowalski due to her own failings/inexperience to one where she is "reborn" from water (of course) a completely new being.  The message of film is one quite familiar to those who have watched movies over the past 30 years or so (as I assume you have seen Shawshank Redemption).  Though not stated directly to the viewer as it was in that film the phrase "get busy living or get busy dying" is driven home.

Note that I haven't mentioned much about the technical aspects of the film including the realistic zero G reactions of the characters, their environment (Cuaron has removed, gasp!!, sound from exterior space shots as there is no sound in space!), and equipment.  It really is wonderful viewing.  The ships interiors and exteriors are beautiful and detailed in a way only a director at the top of his game could capture.  Its the story, characters (including the relentless and uncaring Space itself) and emotive quality of the film that is the value here as without it, the movie could have all the whiz-bang technology it wants and still be found lacking.  Its rare when I actually recommend a film but this is one I would ask a reader to go see but I would make an exception here.  Its damn good and worth every penny, whatever format you see it in.

Film Review: Silver Linings Playbook

Well I guess this makes three of the 2013 Best Picture nominees that I've see so far along with Zero Dark Thirty and Argo.

Silver Linings Playbook is certainly the most cliche of those I've seen so far.  It contains all the usual Oscar tropes that you would expect.  Everyone is damaged in some way--from Bradley Cooper's unemployed bipolar-ism, to Jennifer Lawrence's character who has lost a husband tragically to Robert DeNiro's anger problems and sports obsession.  The true message of the film seems to be that everyone is damaged in some way and we all have to deal with it the best we can.

The film is well put together and well acted, it just follows many of the same plot lines we've seen over and over and over and over...Boy loses girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl again, boy realizes he's been with the wrong girl, boy gets back with the right girl who has been there all along, they live happily ever after.  Seriously after watching the first ten minutes of the film (or even just the previews) who didn't know how the whole thing would unfold?

Direction wise, David O. Russell has likely inked a number of deals on the back of this film due to it being such a huge financial success but it really is unremarkable from that aspect and I haven't truly liked what he has put together in his career other than Three Kings.  Silver Linings Playbook is a decent throwaway film destined for endless reruns on TNT or other cable outlets as its so harmless and retread as to equate to baby formula.  Watch it with your wife/girlfriend...she'll likely enjoy it, and forget about it two days later.

Movie Review: Argo

Finally got around to seeing this film.  I've liked Affleck's other directorial works including The Town and Gone Baby Gone.  Argo continues Affleck's solid directorial resume.  While none of these three films will blow you away with storytelling, editing, acting or directorial chops.  What all will do is entertain the viewer.

Argo entertains the viewer with far fewer bullets and explosions than most films of similar ilk and there is little "action" as it were, in the film.  Almost all of the suspense and action here takes place in the minds of the viewer and characters.  Tension isn't hard to develop given the circumstances (escapees from the Iranian embassy takeover in 1980 hiding in the Canadian embassy) surrounding them as the risk of instant death at the hands of religious zealots awaits any mistake.

In a case of "if it weren't true, no one would believe it" the plot revolves around an American CIA effort to extract said escapees from Iran under the guise of a Canadian science fiction movie location shoot.  That such a scheme actually worked says a lot more about the lax airport security and overall lack of intelligence oversight during that period of time and place than it does about the quality of the plan (please see my review of The Skies Belong to Us for an insight into airport security during this period).  That said, it still took someone(s) with great courage to pull off the mission that successfully extracted those six American citizens.  Doing double duty, Affleck, in addition to directing, also takes on the role of Tony Mendez, the CIA agent who leads the American extraction effort.  While saddling him with a damaged marriage falls into the realm of cliche, luckily the film does not dwell there.

In truth Argo isn't a GREAT film.  Its merely a good one.  One that tells its story without getting in the way or playing its hand too heavily.  It might even be called "restrained".  Certainly other directors would have spruced up the story with more chases, more gunplay, more "gotcha" moments (even Affleck adds in a chase scene that never happened in real life toward the end of the film), but as a bit of a throwback to older "thrillers" Argo comes off fresh compared to something like Die Hard 4 or other set pieces for demolition crews.  While not deserving of its eventual Best Picture and other Oscar nods (there is nothing here that really grips you emotionally or that blows you away artistically), Argo is a good film not for what it is, but instead for what it isn't.