Critic's Notebook

Forgive and Forget

MOVIE REVIEW
The Vow (2012)

By JORDAN TEICHER

Kerry Hayes/Screen Gems

Disclaimer: Nicholas Sparks had nothing to do with the production of this film. Such a warning is necessary before examining “The Vow,” because all of the movie’s marketing begs potential viewers to believe they are about to see some second coming of “The Notebook.” This type of ploy may result in financial success in the coming weeks: Valentine’s Day is close by; and the two leads — Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum — have previously succeeded in Nicholas Sparks adaptations. But, herein lies the most crucial problem with “The Vow”: The obligation to a specific target audience steers the plot into chick-flick territory that has been mechanically repeated into monotony.

Don’t Leave the Safety On

MOVIE REVIEW
Safe House (2012)

By JORDAN TEICHER

Universal Pictures

Clichés in “Safe House”: skilled C.I.A. agent gone rogue, naïve rookie agent with superb talents, bureaucratic director, gruff and mysterious senior officer, unnecessary blonde girlfriend, shaky camera, fight sequences with quick cuts, an obligatory car chase, poor character development, a double cross, a triple cross, an action-thriller without thrills, boredom.

Most of the film’s opening act focuses on the illegal trade of a high-security file in South Africa. The buyer is Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a rogue C.I.A. agent who is also wanted for treasonous activities in ten different countries. Frost plans to sell the ambiguous file for millions of dollars on the black market, but he is ambushed by armed men and only escapes death by turning himself in at the American embassy.

A Little Too Much Black and White

MOVIE REVIEW
Red Tails (2012)

By JORDAN TEICHER

Tina Mills/20th Century Fox

The true story of the Tuskegee Airmen is a fascinating examination of bravery and patriotism. These black men enlisted in the U.S. military during World War II and became successful fighter pilots to protect a country that would not even give them basic human rights. This slice of American history has all of the ammunition necessary for meaningful filmmaking. Think of the complexity of such a narrative; think of the conflicting emotions the young black soldiers must’ve had at the time; try to empathize with them. George Lucas, the executive producer and architect of “Red Tails” needs to go back to his dictionary, because empathy and sympathy are not the same things. His new creation is an unsophisticated World War II action film stripped of all gravitas. ”Red Tails” is little more than a superficial Hollywood product that cheapens the real achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen.

This Bird Has Flown

MOVIE REVIEW
Norwegian Wood (2010)

By MAGGIE GLASS

Soda Pictures/Red Flag Releasing

How do you make a movie that feels like 1967? Is it a special type of film stock? A perfectly chosen soundtrack? A kaleidoscope of peace signs and bell-bottoms? In the case of “Norwegian Wood” — the film adaptation of the Haruki Murakami novel — director Tran Anh Hung tapped into something much more nuanced and ethereal in his treatment of the story of two lost college students in love (or lust) in 1960s’ Tokyo.

When 'Pirates' Becomes the Pirated

Central Pictures Corporation

By M. TSAI

If you were one of the 9 million people who illegally downloaded “Fast Five,” it might not occur to you that 2011 was a magnificent year at the movies. And you wouldn’t be interested in any of the myriad 10-best lists, let alone one you’re about to read from some obscure critic. This is not about fancy art films with subtitles being more legitimate than Hollywood blockbusters. If you pride yourself on being a movie buff, you would insist on seeing “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” in Imax. Then you would agree that 2011 was indeed awesome. But since you already know movies like “Hugo,” “A Dangerous Method,” “The Tree of Life,” “Melancholia” and “The Descendants” to be great, this list champions films that need a little cosmic extra push.

An Icon Out of the Elementary

MOVIE REVIEW
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

By ALAN DIMENT

Daniel Smith/Warner Brothers Pictures

The easiest way to digest “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is to pretend that the film does not concern the exploits of fiction’s finest detective at all. If one can convince oneself that Robert Downey Jr. is playing not Sherlock, but some rough-and-tumble Victorian adventurer — Indiana Holmes perhaps — then the film can be enjoyed, much like its predecessor, as a rambunctious but somewhat shallow romp. Naturally, one might notice the odd similarity between Conan Doyle’s creation and the hero of Guy Ritchie’s film; but that is surely mere coincidence.

This Genre Will Self-Improve in Five Seconds

MOVIE REVIEW
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

By M. TSAI

David James/Paramount Pictures

You’ll be glad that “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” isn’t in 3-D, especially if you suffer from acrophobia. As you might recall, Tom Cruise made headlines a year ago dangling from the tallest building in the world — Dubai’s Burj Khalifa — some 1,700 feet above ground. You’re going to feel every dizzying inch as the camera slowly pans above his head to reveal the ground beneath when he begins climbing outside a window on the 109th floor and scaling up to the 130th. Mr. Cruise probably deserves an Oscar and then some just for pulling off this stunt. It’s truly difficult to imagine anyone not clutching his or her armrests for dear life during this vertigo-inducing scene.

The Wind Will Tarry Us

MOVIE REVIEW
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)

By M. TSAI

Memento Films

In the beginning, “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” seems to signal a major departure for Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan. With its lush, warm colors and timeless fable-like quality, the film is at first glance nothing like Mr. Ceylan’s meditations on urban alienation. In a long shot, golden headlight beams sweep through the darkness and ignite the Anatolian steppe like comets in the night sky. A caravan of cars wriggles across the hilly countryside amid stops that are virtually indistinguishable from each other as if in an Abbas Kiarostami movie, carrying cops, a prosecutor, a doctor, a few gendarmes, some gravediggers and a pair of murder suspects searching in vain for a corpse. They argue, wax poetic and bond in the course of the twilight-zone journey. But once they unearth the body, it finally becomes apparent that Mr. Ceylan is treading familiar territory after all.

The Psycho of Abuse

MOVIE REVIEW
House at the End of the Street (2012)

By M. TSAI

Jennifer Lawrence has wasted no time parlaying her Oscar nod from indie darling “Winter’s Bone” to land roles in Hollywood blockbusters like “X-Men: First Class” and “The Hunger Games.” But striking while the iron is hot hasn’t boded well for the careers of many an actress with similar prospects. Like, what’s Elisabeth Shue been up to lately? Oh, she’s been in “Piranha 3D” and some teen horror flick called “House at the End of the Street,” which also stars … none other than Ms. Lawrence! We are happy to report, though, that this isn’t some sort of karmic and prophetic cautionary tale about the Oscar curse, because “House at the End of the Street” actually turns out to be kind of decent.

Woman of Destiny

MOVIE REVIEW
The Lady (2011)

By MAGGIE GLASS

Magali Bragard/Cohen Media Group

"The Lady," directed by Luc Besson, is a biographical melodrama set against the last 30 years of tumult in Myanmar. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, here played by Michelle Yeoh, is the lady in question: the daughter of assassinated Myanmar revolutionary, Gen. Aung San. Buoyed by her British husband and thousands of supporters, she endured years of house arrest and intimidation by the military junta and in turn became a leader in the ongoing fight for democracy.

From a Westerner's perspective, the film is a fascinating look at an oppressive dictatorship and the woman who stood in its way, although it never quite escapes the trappings of a typical Hollywood-style biopic, replete with clunky acting and an overly aggressive musical score. Perhaps Mr. Besson would disagree, but audiences are sophisticated enough to appreciate the gravity of a massacre or the wistfulness of returning home without grand, sweeping music at every cue. "The Lady" is at its best when it does away with the bells and whistles and focuses on the story itself.