Serious Movie Lover

WAR HORSE (2011/IN THEATERS)    Steven Spielberg opened two family movies this Christmas:  Tintin, a motion-capture effort based on the popular Belgian boy-adventurer of comic book fame, and War Horse, an old fashioned sweeping story of war, heroism and the bond between a boy and his horse, based on a bestselling 1982 children’s book by Michael Morpurgo.  War Horse tells the story of young Albert Narracott (played convincingly by newcomer Jeremy Irvine) whose father Ted (Peter Mullan) spends the rent money to buy a beautiful colt who must be transformed into a workhorse to save the family farm.  Albert raises and trains this beloved horse Joey and teaches him to pull the plough — only to see the animal sold by his father to the British Army and sent to the front lines in France during WWI.  Albert swears to be reunited with Joey and this sets up the rest of the movie.   We witness the war from Joey’s point of view overseas where he first serves as an officer’s cavalry mount and then becomes a working draught horse for the Germans.  In between, he is cared for by a young French girl (Celine Buckens) and her grandfather (Niels Arestrup) in a sweet interlude.  Joey is paired with another British stallion and much of the pathos of events involves the two horses.  Meanwhile Albert enlists and we see the war from a young soldier’s point of view as well.  Spielberg, who has given us at least two realistic WWII epics (Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List) is said to have wanted to show U.S. audiences more about WWI, the “forgotten” war.  He accomplishes this goal very successfully with realistic scenes of the true horror of hand-to-hand combat and the claustrophobia of the trenches.  Using the horse’s point of view works well in the movie and certainly allows any children in the audience to identify more closely with something as disturbing as war.    According to Wikipedia, over one million horses were sent from the UK to Europe during WWI to serve as mounts and as work animals pulling the heavy guns, equipment and ambulances, just as depicted in the movie.  Only 65,000 returned—the rest died or were slaughtered by the French for meat.  The author wrote the book based on listening to WWI veterans who lived in his quaint English village and told him of the horrors of that war.  Spielberg shot the movie on actual film stock to give it a richer texture and it is lush.  There are several big scenes that deliver visually—most notably the advance of the British cavalry through the wheat fields (130 horses in that shot alone!) and the horrific scenes of Joey running desperately through the barbed-wire trench fields toward the end of the film.  There are also loads of gorgeous British pastoral scenes at the start and end of the picture—with the final shots looking more like “Gone With the Wind” than anything else.  Personally I found the establishing story at the start to be somewhat tedious but the build-up of the story is necessary to wring out maximum pathos in the rest of the film.   Catch this one on the big screen and don’t be afraid to bring the kids, but be ready to explain what war is all about.

Grade:            B +

BTW:  Churchill himself took an active role in bringing British horses home from WWI.  Read more about it by following this link. 

ALSO:  Emily Watson does a fine job in the film as Albert’s mother Rosie.

FINALLY:  There’s lots of debate already about John Williams’ score–as in, does it beat you over the head or is it terrific.  He has already been nominated for several awards…and certainly will be on the Oscar nominations list.  Let us know what you think!

THE HELP (2011/DVD)     If you missed one of this summer’s biggest hits when it was in theaters, now is a great time to rent the movie and get that popcorn going.  Or better yet, enjoy a chocolate pie!  We at SeriousMovieLover, for some reason, never got around to reviewing this terrific ensemble picture.  Perhaps we were nervous–as you may recall, when The Help first appeared, it was beset by a barrage of negative press, primarily from those in the black community who resented both the book and the movie for being a “simplified white version” of the painful daily racism endured by black help in the South during the 60s.   Mind you, the fault was not being found with the film, but rather with the story-line.  Nonetheless, viewers rewarded the movie at the box office with an opening weekend of $26 million (the film cost $25 million) which just kept growing, taking the top spot for weeks on end— to a total of almost $170 million right now (just in the U.S.) with the DVD only now appearing.   Obviously the film works and it is both serious and amusing at the same time, all the while dealing with a truly sad topic with a decidedly light touch.  Already a bestseller when filming began, the author Kathryn Stockett chose her friend Tate Taylor to direct, even though he had directed only one other feature film.  Taylor rewarded her faith by creating a well-shot movie which features plenty of “good to great” performances, among the best from Viola Davis as Aibileen (a sure Best Picture Oscar nom) and her sidekick Octavia Spencer as Minny (also a sure best for a Supporting nom).  Jessica Chastain turned in another amazing performance as Celia Foote, the “poor white trash” wife who married well, while Bryce Dallas Howard is perfect as the villain of the piece, socialite Hilly Holbrook.  Emma Stone is solid but nothing special as the budding liberal writer of the piece, Skeeter Phelan.  Alison Janney is wonderful as her mother, while Sissy Spacek is equally great as Hilly’s mom.  And watch for a short spot for none other than Cicely Tyson–wow!  Altogether, well worth an evening of your time….be sure to check it out.  And enjoy that pie

Grade:     B+

THE DESCENDANTS (2011/IN SELECT THEATERS)

If you are already a big fan of film director Alexander Payne, then chances are you are heading to the cinema as fast as possible this weekend to catch his latest effort “The Descendants,” which stars George Clooney in a story of family, life and property set on the islands of Hawaii.  Payne has directed only five films including this one (the others are Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt and Sideways) but all feature complex characters, unforgettable performances and locations that come to life before us.  The Descendants is his first film since 2004’s Sideways and he hits the mark again.  At the start of the film, George Clooney introduces us to his home state of Hawaii in a voice-over that reminds us that people in that state, even though they are truly in paradise, are also living real lives.  Clooney’s character is Matt King, a “haole” (white man) who is also a descendant of native Hawaiian royalty and therefore has inherited wealth, though he tries to live a normal upper-middle class life on Oahu with his family.  Because of his lineage, however, he is also the trustee for thousands of acres of undeveloped land and beachfront on Kauai—all of which is due to be developed shortly to the benefit of his extended family.  His life, which is busy and distracted, is suddenly brought to attention when his wife Elizabeth suffers a boating accident leaving her in a coma.  Matt must now pay attention to his troublesome daughters—17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley in a terrific performance) and 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller in her first role).  A third “adopted child” is Sid (Nick Krause), Alexandra’s Punahou buddy who hangs out at her insistence and delivers many of the laugh lines of the movie. As if all this weren’t enough, the film takes a turn that is alternately hilarious and poignant when Matt learns that his wife was cheating on him.  Like all of Payne’s films, this one moves naturally through a series of scenes and locations, giving us humor and pathos, with a real emotional kick by the end.  A big shout-out to Clooney—he shows so much range and depth in this film all the while being his usual charming and handsome self.   Oscar should definitely be watching this one!

Grade:             A-

BTW:  Besides Clooney and Woodley, there are numerous fine small performances among them from Beau Bridges as Matt’s uncle and Robert Forster as his father-in-law.  But it’s Julie Greer who really delivers in her small amount of screen time… watch for this near the end of the film.

ALSO:  The movie is based on the book of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings who has a one-scene cameo in the film—as Clooney’s secretary.

J. Edgar (2011/IN THEATERS) 

J. Edgar (2011/IN THEATERS) Clint Eastwood’s steady hand as a director can certainly be seen in this film which features a stand-out performance from Leonardo diCaprio in the title role–one sure to win him an Oscar nomination as he ages over 50 years in the film thanks to an obviously talented make-up team.  Playing J. Edgar Hoover from his early 20s through to his death in 1972 at the age of 77, diCaprio captures the driven nature of the man as well as his autocratic style and his secret insecurities. DiCaprio is joined by three other strong performers here:  Judy Dench as his ambitious mother; Naomi Watts as his loyal secretary Helen Gandy; and Armie Hammer doing a fine job as the smooth and sophisticated Clyde Tolson who became J. Edgar’s partner both at the FBI and in life. With a script by Dustin Lance Black (2009 Oscar winner for Original Screenplay for Milk), naturally the film does more than hint at homosexual relations between Tolson and Hoover, giving us one mano-a-mano wrestling scene which ends in a kiss (ala Brokeback Mountain) and one slightly over-the-top scene featuring J. Edgar trying on his dead mother’s dress and jewelry.  But these should not be over-interpreted as coloring the film IMHO.  For the most part, we see a very buttoned down J. Edgar working to build his department, laboring to establish a national finger printing system, creating a “scientific” approach to the capture and prosecution of criminals, and maneuvering the fierce politics of living through 8 (count ‘em) different presidents.  It’s not an easy life, for sure, and it’s certainly interesting but it doesn’t make for much of a compelling biopic.  Eastwood is known as a no-nonsense director who can get what he wants from actors in a single take and who shoots pictures in record time (this one in 35 days).  Here he delivers a film that is solid—its art design is gorgeous and period details are everywhere; the dialog and script are good; and of course, the acting is terrific.  But the sum is not larger than its parts and as you walk out of the theater, you may be asking yourself—was it memorable?  And did we learn a lot about this man and his life?  The answer—not as much as we might have wished.  Do catch it in the theater if you’re interested, but you can also wait for the DVD.

Grade:             B

ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002/DVD)  

There’s already Oscar buzz for director Alexander Payne’s newest film The Descendants–which will be out in release on November 18^{th –}and for George Clooney’s performance in the film as the absentee Hawaiian dad who has to step it up for the kids when his wife suffers a stroke.  Can’t wait to see it–Payne has a serious talent for drawing out wonderful and quirky performances from his actors—think about Paul Giamatti in Sideways, Reese Witherspoon in Election, and Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt. Like me, you may have forgotten just how great About Schmidt is.  I caught it on cable late last week and was seriously stunned again by Nicholson’s dead-pan / spot-on performance as Warren R. Schmidt, 66 and just retired, suddenly widowed, driving his RV to Denver and looking for meaning in his life. Nicholson nails this totally against type role and he couldn’t be better. Also fabulous are Hope Davis as his daughter Jeannie, Dermot Mulroney as her weird-ball fiancé Randall, and best of all, Kathy Bates as Randell’s mom Roberta, who gives us that unforgettable hot-tub scene!!  Worth catching this movie again for sure.

Grade: A

BTW:  Nicholson won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama for his role and famously said, “This is surprising.  We thought we were making a comedy.”

P.S.  Did you notice that IFC was running “The Shining” for Halloween.  Another great Nicholson performance.