New Releases
KEEPING MUM Mary Poppins commits murder most foul in Keeping Mum, a slight but worthwhile comedy that proudly displays its droll British humor at every turn. Rowan Atkinson, toning down his Bean befuddlement just a tad, plays Walter Goodfellow, the vicar of a miniscule English burg as well as the head of a highly dysfunctional family. Walter has become so consumed with his church duties that he has emotionally and physically abandoned his wife Gloria (Kristen Scott Thomas), who in turns seeks comfort in the arms of an American horndog she employs as her golf instructor (leatherface Patrick Swayze, appropriately sleazy). Their children aren't faring much better: 17-year-old Holly (Tamsin Egerton) sleeps with a different guy every day as a form of rebellion, while younger brother Petey (Toby Parkes) emerges as the school bullies' favorite punching bag. But along comes housekeeper Grace (Maggie Smith) to set things right. Working behind the scenes, she improves everyone's lot in life -- never mind that this seemingly benign lady has to kill a few people in order to foster family unity. Working from a story by American author Richard Russo (Empire Falls), co-scripter and director Niall Johnson manages to wring some poignant moments out of this dicey material without ever betraying its dark comic roots. Still, the greatest amount of credit for the movie's surprising emotional heft goes to Scott Thomas, who creates a fully realized characterization of a woman whose natural need for human compassion and closeness forces her to take foolhardy risks. Scott Thomas currently lives in France, which may explain why she rarely appears in movies that secure stateside release (her last widely seen picture was 2001's Gosford Park); how might Hollywood producers better lure this marvelous actress to make films on this side of the Atlantic?
***
MAN OF THE YEAR It's junk like Man of the Year that makes me remember movie reviewing often isn't just a job; it's an adventure -- and I'm owed some serious combat pay. Merging the premises of Warren Beatty's caustic Bulworth, Kevin Kline's decent Dave and Chris Rock's flaccid Head of State, writer-director Barry Levinson imagines what would happen if an outspoken and compassionate comedian became president of the United States. Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, a Jon Stewart-like TV talk show host who, after joking that he should run for office, finds himself on the ballot in 13 states. It's a decent premise for a piercing satire, but Levinson's approach is so timid that it makes last spring's soggy American Dreamz look as incendiary as a Michael Moore documentary by comparison. The main problem, of course, is Williams, who isn't playing a fictional character running for president as much as he's playing Robin Williams playing a fictional character running for president. In other words, it's the same lazy performance we almost always get, with the actor groveling for laughs via his patented physical shtick and repertoire of stale jokes that were already passé around the time Roman emperors began chucking Christian standup comics to the lions. Soon, the attempts at humor dry up completely to make room for a dismal plotline in which a techie (Laura Linney) at a company that produces Diebold-style voting machines realizes that a computer glitch led to Dobbs' ascendancy to the Oval Office. As she tries to reveal the truth, the company goons (led by a what-is-he-doing-here? Jeff Goldblum) decide to shut her up permanently. This film is so all around terrible that I'm almost tempted to replace my "Defend America: Impeach Bush" bumper sticker with one that reads, "Defend American Cinema: Impeach Man of the Year." I said almost.
*
Current Releases
ALL THE KING'S MEN Writer-director Steven Zaillian's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is an unmitigated disaster, choked by miscast actors, suffocated by illogical editing and drowned by a choppy script that offers no real sense of period and no clear delineation of its central themes. Zaillian has stated in interviews that he deliberately avoided seeing the 1949 film version (an Oscar winner for Best Picture), preferring instead to take all material from the printed source; in retrospect, that was a faulty decision, since studying that movie would have enabled him to see how weighty material can be effectively thinned out and streamlined for the screen. The film's faults are many, but let's start with the grotesque miscasting of Sean Penn as self-proclaimed "hick" politician Willie Stark. Penn, who's about as folksy as a Manhattan Starbucks, turns in one of his worst performances, second only to his shameless "Look, Ma, I'm retarded!" showboating in I Am Sam. Still, he's hardly the only one who was hired for name recognition rather than because he was right for the role: Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Anthony Hopkins are similarly ill-used in this stultifying boondoggle.
*
THE BLACK DAHLIA Until it derails heading into its final turn, The Black Dahlia represents Brian De Palma's most assured moviemaking in at least a decade, a gritty neo-noir which reminds us that only Scorsese and maybe a couple of others can match this maverick filmmaker when it comes to astonishing feats of technical derring-do. Based on the novel by James Ellroy, it presents a fictionalized take on the real-life slaying of Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Short (touchingly played by Mia Kirshner), with Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart as the cops on the case and Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank set up as the potential femme fatales. Working from Josh Friedman's initially sharp screenplay and backed by tremendous production values, DePalma spins a compelling murder-mystery that clicks until the last act, at which point the movie madly dashes through its messy resolutions, pausing only long enough to succumb to some ill-placed camp. Yet even if the movie had kept its head from start to finish, it still wouldn't have survived the critical miscasting of Hartnett, whose complete inability to project anything more than glazed befuddlement leaves the film with a cavernous hole right where its noir heart should beat.
**1/2
THE DEPARTED At this point in his career, it's hard to imagine Martin Scorsese accepting another filmmaker's hand-me-downs. Yet in essence, that's what's taking place with The Departed, which isn't an original screen story but rather a remake of the excellent 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Like its predecessor, this boasts an ingenious premise: A lawman (Leonardo DiCaprio) goes undercover and infiltrates the inner circle of a crime lord (Jack Nicholson) while a mob underling (Matt Damon) simultaneously works his way up through the ranks of the police department. Neither informant knows the other's identity, prompting both men to feverishly work to uncover the plant on the other side of the fence. Given that powerhouse punch of a scenario, it's perhaps not surprising that Scorsese elected to rework someone else's property while also embellishing it with his own distinctive style. The violence and vulgarity -- trademarks of this sort of Scorsese outing -- are pitched at operatic levels, and they occasionally verge on overkill. But with weighty issues of identity, duplicity and deception remaining constants throughout the film, it's refreshing to find a stateside remake that for once doesn't feel the need to dumb down for the sake of Yank audiences.
***
FLYBOYS Long before cultural divisions involving "freedom fries," there was the Lafayette Escadrille, the World War I squadron of American flyers who gladly lent a helping hand to the French before the U.S. officially entered the conflict. Flyboys is inspired by true events, though its veracity often makes it seem about as believable as that Brat Pack favorite Young Guns, another picture which sought to marry young hunks to a dusty Hollywood genre. Stereotypes are acceptable, often even desired, in this sort of red-meat picture, but when no room is left for surprises, boredom invariably rears its head -- more so in this film, since it runs a punishing 135 minutes. Because of his smoldering good looks, James Franco (as swaggering farmboy-turned-pilot Blaine Rawlings) has been repeatedly compared to James Dean; given Franco's lack of edge and mystery (two qualities Dean possessed in spades), this is like comparing David Spade to Cary Grant. The movie ends in a battle between Blaine and a ruthless German pilot known as the Black Falcon. Given my druthers, I'll take Snoopy vs. the Red Baron any day of the week.
**
THE GUARDIAN In this pale imitation of An Officer and a Gentleman, Kevin Costner plays Louis Gossett Jr., the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer instructor whose tough-love approach to training works wonders for the young recruits; Ashton Kutcher is Richard Gere, a narcissistic pretty-boy student more interested in making a name for himself and romancing the local cutie (Melissa Sagemiller) than in actually saving lives. For a long while, The Guardian wears its clichés pretty well, but because this is a Kevin Costner film -- and because Costner spends more time playing mythic, larger-than-life Christ figures instead of ordinary mortals -- we sense this can only end one way. Director Andrew Davis and scripter Ron L. Brinkerhoff tease us by hinting that the final act might actually stray from its preordained path, but no: When push comes to shove, the pair pummel us with the shameless ending we dreaded from the minute the opening credits appeared on the screen.
*1/2
HALF NELSON An examination of stunted idealism as well as a showcase for an actor who just gets better and better, Half Nelson wears its indie street cred in the most unassuming manner imaginable. In a nicely understated performance, Ryan Gosling plays Dan, a Brooklyn school teacher respected by his students because he's engaging, quick-witted and doesn't condescend. But Dan's also a crack addict, something his 13-year-old student Drey (Shareeka Epps) learns upon finding him laid out in a bathroom stall at school. Drey's used to such downtrodden sights -- her dad's split, her brother's in jail and her brother's acquaintance (Anthony Mackie) keeps trying to bring her into the drug business -- so she accepts Dan's imperfections and the pair strike up a friendship. The white teacher and the black student -- it's a perfect formula for formula filmmaking, yet Half Nelson continues to surprise through the manner in which it avoids any simple solutions or miraculous about-faces and instead remains true to its setting and its characters.
***
THE ILLUSIONIST Set in Austria, The Illusionist stars Edward Norton as Eisenheim, an enigmatic stage magician so skilled at his profession that the locals suspect he might actually possess otherworldly powers. One of the few skeptics is Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a cruel ruler who sets out to prove that Eisenheim is a fake. He enlists the aid of the corrupt Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti), yet matters become more tangled when it's revealed that Leopold's fiancée (Jessica Biel) was once Eisenheim's childhood sweetheart. For a good while, The Illusionist is topflight entertainment, with its lush period setting, its assemblage of captivating magic tricks, and a delightful relationship between Eisenheim and Uhl, two men sharing a wary respect for each other (both Norton and Giamatti are excellent). But then the film makes the fatal mistake of morphing into a lackluster mystery, the type that's agonizingly easy to figure out even before its gears can really be placed in motion.
**1/2
INFAMOUS Can the box office handle two movies about Truman Capote? Not a chance. That's a shame, because Infamous, being released approximately one year after Capote, compares favorably to its award-laden predecessor and, in at least one regard, it trumps it. Whereas Capote focused almost exclusively on the social raconteur's experiences while writing the true-crime novel In Cold Blood, Infamous offers more scenes showing Truman flitting about the New York social scene. Furthermore, it has more of a sense of humor in sequences that could benefit from them. Toby Jones is quite good as Truman, even if he doesn't provide as many psychological shadings to his portrayal as Philip Seymour Hoffman did in his Oscar-winning turn. And while Sandra Bullock's impression of Capote confidante Harper Lee isn't as memorable as Catherine Keener's work in the earlier film, other performances stand out, particularly Jeff Daniels as the sheriff investigating the farmland slayings and Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) as the more complex of the two murderers. It's just a shame not many people will ever see all this fine work.
***
JESUS CAMP Just in time for Halloween comes Jesus Camp, featuring a monster more frightening than either Jason or Freddy. Her name is Becky Fischer, a Missouri pastor who runs a summer camp in which children are trained to be soldiers for God. That'd be fine if this were an ordinary Christian organization that practiced Jesus' messages of peace, love and tolerance. Instead, it's one more example of the insidious Evangelical movement that's helping destroy the fabric of this nation, as this sobering documentary shows kids being brainwashed at every turn by fanatical adults. Offering the film's lone voice of reason is radio talk show host Mike Papantonio, a devout Christian who, like the rest of us sane believers, is aghast at how these zealots are turning the religion's saintly sentiments into something ugly and brutal (Fischer discusses everything in terms of war and battles, failing to note the similarities between her methods and those of -- what's the popular term these days among Republican parrots? -- Islamofascists). The most surreal scene finds Fischer bringing out a cardboard standup of George W. Bush for the kids to worship -- and one can't help but note with amusement that it seems no less intelligent than the real thing.
***
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND Based on Giles Foden's novel, this employs a fictional character to take us inside the regime of brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada (Forest Whitaker): Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a Scottish doctor who agrees to serve as Amin's personal physician and regrets his decision once Amin's true nature comes to light. The film could conceivably be viewed as yet one more work in which a white man is given center stage in what is primarily a black man's tale, yet a couple of elements set this apart from such pandering works as Cry Freedom and Ghosts of Mississippi. For one, Garrigan (nicely played by McAvoy) isn't the usual bland Caucasian bathed in the light of liberal guilt but a conflicted young man with his own ofttimes prickly personality. And while McAvoy has more screen time, the sheer force of Whitaker's superb performance -- to say nothing of the dynamic character he's playing -- guarantees that he remains the story's central focus even when he's not in front of the camera. Paradoxically, you can't take your eyes off him, even when he's not there.
***
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP Michel Gondry previously helmed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, yet his latest picture (which he both wrote and directed) is so out there that it makes that Charlie Kaufman-penned movie seem as streamlined as Bambi by comparison. This often delightful oddity stars Y Tu Mama Tambien's Gael Garcia Bernal as Stephane, a young man who moves from Mexico to Paris and lands a dull job working at a calendar publishing firm. Stephane has a hard time keeping his waking life separate from his dream state, which causes all manner of complications both professionally and personally, the latter mainly built around trying to forge a relationship with across-the-hall neighbor Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg). The film employs deliberately rudimentary effects and slipshod animation to convey Stephane's REM visions, yet it also posits the character as a childlike individual whose inability to cope with adult emotions balances him precariously on the line between untainted innocence and troublesome obsession. It's a shame the movie pulls back from examining this angle -- a sense of danger would have completed the package -- but at it stands, it's still a marvel of wide-eyed whimsy.
***
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20:
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS: Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach.
FLICKA: Alison Lohman, Maria Bello.
KEEPING MUM: Kristen Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith.
MARIE ANTOINETTE: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3-D: Animated; voices of Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon.
THE PRESTIGE: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale.
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