MOVIE REVIEW
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
John Baer/Overture Films
In director F. Gary Gray’s revenge thriller “Law Abiding Citizen,” the vengeance is front and center. Acts of payback that range from robotic sniper machines to limb dissection keep the momentum in gear, the gory red stuff smeared like graffiti in surprising amounts. The plot’s crux involves a loving suburban father (Gerard Butler) who waits 10 years to wage violent retribution against the legal-system players (led by Jamie Foxx as a hotshot assistant district attorney) that let a murderer — the greasy, abhorrent deviant who killed the father’s wife and daughter — walk free. That Mr. Butler is behind bars as the plan unfolds lends an air of implausibility.
Beyond that, it’s difficult to grip any semblance of narrative fat. The cat-and-mice game orchestrated by Mr. Butler’s Clyde Shelton is so overpowering that any human elements are lost in the bloody translation. As his 2003 action triumph “The Italian Job” showed, Mr. Gray certainly knows his way around stylish anarchy, and the glossy brutality of “Law Abiding Citizen” is at times quite enthralling. Higher stakes, which could have been upped if the characters existed as more than archetypes, just aren’t in the cards.
Continue reading “Collateral Savage” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Triangle (2009)
Icon Film Distribution
Director Christopher Smith is slowly emerging as one of the most interesting young filmmakers currently operating in the thriller-horror genre. Having cut his directorial teeth on the superbly spooky London Underground-set “Creep,” Mr. Smith changed tack with his follow up, “Severance,” a grisly horror-comedy. Subverting the genre is clearly something Mr. Smith seems particularly comfortable with, even intrigued by, so it should come as no surprise that his latest offering, “Triangle,” ventures rather neatly into psychological thriller territory, albeit with a delicious twist.
Continue reading “Sink or Scream” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Wah Do Dem (What They Do) (2009)
2009 Los Angeles Film Festival
Guerrilla indie filmmaking meets slacker road movie, “Wah Do Dem” is a well crafted black comedy that benefits from its raw, improvisational feel. Conceived when young filmmaking duo, Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner, decided to turn a cruise Mr. Chace had won in a raffle into a film project, “Wah Do Dem” follows the hapless Max (a well observed Sean Bones) as he embarks on a cruise from New York to Jamaica and subsequently stumbles from one misfortune to the next. It’s a touching and sometimes farcical tale that touches on cultural isolation, loneliness and how desperate situations can sometimes be a blessing in disguise.
Continue reading “Cruise Without Control” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Exploding Girl (2009)
Carolyn Drake/
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival
Bradley Rust Gray’s latest collaboration with wife So Yong Kim is an intimate and quirky (albeit incredibly lightweight) portrayal of a developing relationship that lends credence to the adage that sometimes what’s left unsaid is more important than what actually is.
Continue reading “In-Between Daze” »
MOVIE REVIEW
St. Trinian's (2007)
NeoClassics Films
This sixth “St. Trinian’s" film, which opened in Britain in 2007 before finally earning its American release this week, attempts to reboot the franchise based on the work of Ronald Searle. Beginning with 1954’s “The Belles of St. Trinian’s” and culminating, or so it seemed, with “The Wildcats of St. Trinian’s” (1980), it’s a beloved comedy series in Britain, if only a semi-known one stateside.
Continue reading “High School Debacle” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Adventures of Power (2009)
Variance Films
You can’t crush a man’s dreams, even if his is to be the best air drummer in the world. That’s the premise in this “Rocky”-meets-“Napoleon Dynamite” picture written, directed and starring Ari Gold as the titular Power. He looks like a dorky Spike Jonze with a Members Only jacket and a perpetual sweatband. For some inexplicable reason, the powers that be refuse to begin the film’s title with some sort of definite article. One might assume they were going for a play on words, but that feels a little high-minded for this film. This movie is so chock full of quirk that none of the characters are even remotely believable. It’s geared toward the youth — kids and teens who thought the aforementioned “Dynamite” was hilarious and quoted it incessantly.
Continue reading “Drumstick It to the Man” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Trucker (2009)
Kevin Estrada/Trucker Productions
Set against the vast expanse of the American West, James Mottern’s “Trucker” tells the story of a lone wolf who’s an archetype in every way but these: She’s a woman and a mother. As played by Michelle Monaghan, Diane is as hard-nosed and rugged as the California dessert she inhabits, prone to spending weeks on the road driving her truck, aggressive random sexual encounters and some serious drinking.
The picture, which resists the pull of easy catharsis and obvious emotion, depicts the ways her personality modifies when circumstances find her caring for the adolescent son Peter (Jimmy Bennett) she abandoned more than a decade ago. The story of the reformation of a mother-son bond has been told many times before, while the relationship traverses the predictable range from mutual disgust and unease to powerful love.
Continue reading “Keep on Trucking With Son in Tow” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Damned United (2009)
Laurie Sparham/Sony Pictures Classics
Sport at the highest levels can very often be boiled down to little more than a clash of egos. For proof, look no further than the me first attitudes of such N.F.L. players as Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, who take to the sidelines, the media and their Twitter accounts to let their favorable self-impressions be known. This fundamental principle applies to the political world as well, the behind-the-scenes complications of which have helped the screenwriter and playwright Peter Morgan make his name with his work on “The Deal,” “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon.”
Continue reading “An Ego Flies Out of Bounds” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Couples Retreat (2009)
John Johnson/Universal Studios
The cast and crew of “Couples Retreat” would most likely defend their lackluster production with a simple, collective “You had to be there.” And who could blame them? Set amidst the bright, postcard-come-to-life scenery of Bora Bora, the comedy about marital errors must have been all-inclusive for those involved. There’s fancy cocktails and spas employed with attractive masseuses, snorkeling in crystal-clear waters and private cabanas. What’s missing, though, is anything resembling sharp wit. Passable at best, “Couples Retreat” — directed by actor and now first-time director, Peter Billingsley — coasts on the likability of its agreeable cast, an enormous advantage to have when your script is content with pushing comedy to its bare minimum. Seemingly fine with (at least) amusing themselves, the folks behind this just-there effort have essentially turned their own group vacation into a feature film. Too bad there’s no free drinks for the ticket buyers.
Continue reading “Marital Trouble in Paradise” »
MOVIE REVIEW
An Education (2009)
Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics
The tenderness of Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” is positively overpowering, to a degree that even underage-cavorting is easy to forgive — thematically, of course. For her 17th birthday, wise-beyond-her-years schoolgirl Jenny (played magnificently by newcomer Carey Mulligan) is taken to Paris by the much older David (Peter Saarsgard at his best). Full of worldly charm and sophistication, David represents all that Jenny strives for. Thus, resisting his persistent courtship is all the more difficult. In Paris, she succumbs to his gentleman's flirtation, and the scene — set in a small yet plush hotel room — is sublime. So sweet, that when the narrative butterflies cease to fly and reality sets in, the sight of what’s essentially uncomfortable cradle-rocking achieves the desirability of an enviable romance. By this point into the film, the simplistic beauty of “An Education” has reached the point of no return. An irresistible one-way ticket, it is.
Continue reading “Love Is a Many-Spoiled Thing” »