Playing Movie Catchup
I’ve seen quite a few movies in the past couple weeks, but haven’t had a chance to talk about them. So here’s a little recap of what I’ve been watching.
American Beauty set in the ’50s, with more fighting, less plastic bags, and a bloody carpet. Seriously, Kate Winslet and Leo were happier at the end of Titanic, when he’s sinking to the bottom of the ocean, than they are through most of this movie. It’s a brutal watch, made even more difficult by the fact that this type of material has been mined before. It’s an acting clinic, nothing more, nothing less.
I love a movie that can show me something I’ve never seen before. Slumdog Millionaire shows a side of the world you rarely get to see– the ghetto of India — and instead of exploiting it, uses it as a character that sets up this story of hope and romance. It’s about clinging to that small bright light in a room full of darkness, and it’s powerful.
Slumdog’s story is brilliantly framed by the ascending levels of the game show. The central question of the film is, how does a boy from the slums know all the answers to a trivia game show that requires a knowledge of a wide array of subjects? The story is told through his experiences finding out the answers. In the beginning of the film, it’s set up that perhaps his appearance on the show is written in the stars. It’s fate that each question relates to his troubled life, and he can trace the answer back to pivotal moments. I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but suffice to say this was one of my favorite movies from last year. If you haven’t seen Slumdog, find it. Especially during these slow few weeks of theatrical releases.
That supposed “totally hot sex scene” between Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Jo in a dark room? One of them touches the other’s elbow and they kiss. In the words of the immortal Gob Bluth, Come on! Coupled with this disappointment, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the movie as a whole. Yes, Javier Bardem is charming, and the performances are fun to watch, but I never felt connected to the characters. There’s a narrator who fills in the gaps not covered by dialogue or action, but it only serves to push you away from the story rather than drawing you in. No one’s feelings are ever really at risk because everyone is so flippant. Even Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as a bickering couple lacks fire because it’s stated time and again their relationship will never work. The biggest feeling I had coming away from this movie was indifference. I felt just like any of the characters in the movie.
While watching Benjamin Button, I remember liking it. It’s not until it’s over that you start to get a creeping feeling that this may not be the Oscar powerhouse everyone’s making it out to be. It’s clearly a “This Is Your Life” type tale. We’re gonna watch Benjamin from birth to death and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. You can’t help but make similarities to Forrest Gump, (as many people have) which makes even more sense when you realize it was written by Eric Roth, the same guy who wrote Forrest. It seems like the natural way to tell this unique story, but also feels like we’re going through the motions at times until we reach the logical conclusion.
The real problem I had was that Benjamin Button, aside from his unique malady, is not a very interesting character. He observes a lot, never really taking much initiative in situations. He just happens upon things, which is what makes him curious, I guess. Despite this, it’s emotionally effective, because you know what will happen to him and can’t help but feel for him. There’s a heartbreaking shot near the end of the movie where Cate Blanchett is walking down the street with a baby Brad Pitt, whom she once loved and is now just a toddler. It sums up the whole movie in a single shot and is extremely effective.
Of course, the most important reason to see the movie are the special effects. Easily the most convincing aging effects I’ve ever seen on film. Somehow even a 90-year-old Brad Pitt looks better than a 29-Years-Young Nerd With Words. Usually when they put people in old person makeup, it looks completely phony. And that weird age-shaving trick they used in X3 to make Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan looks 20 years younger is employed with gusto here, making Brad Pitt look 16. The technology has been perfected, and it frightens me that they can just cut years off of anyone. Pretty soon they’ll just be propping up corpses of dead actors and reanimating them.
W. is fascinating at times, but unfocused and incomplete, with no historical relevance/hindsight. Josh Brolin is fantastic and makes this movie infinitely watchable, but the film is marred any time Thandie Newton is on screen as Condoleeza Rice. It’s like she’s channeling Kristen Wiig. It’s cartoonish and embarrassing.
Thumbs Down. Ricky Gervais takes his trademark endearing yet annoying character and drops the endearing part. Add to this the fact that stories with ghosts who talk to the living are played out, and you’ve got a wholly inconsequential movie.
Whew. Okay, I feel a little better now.
