ATONEMENT (2007). Last year’s automatic Oscar entry mostly lived up to its lofty expectations, even if it didn’t possess the sweeping emotion that provided other British period pieces like Sense and Sensibility and The Remains of the Day with their enduring resonance. In this adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Keira Knightley plays Cecilia, who finds herself attracted to the family servant’s upwardly mobile son Robbie (James McAvoy). But Cecilia’s younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) has also developed a crush on Robbie, and she grows jealous of the bond between the lovers. Eventually, Briony uses a family tragedy as a way to get back at Robbie, not comprehending the long-term implications of her actions. Knightley’s role doesn’t allow her to flourish as she did in Pride and Prejudice (her previous collaboration with Atonement director Joe Wright), which is fine, since this is Briony’s story and McAvoy’s film. As played by Ronan, Briony comes off as a bad seed writ large, with an IQ that, coupled with her naivety, makes her especially dangerous. It’s a memorable performance, yet it’s McAvoy who excels the most: We ache for Robbie throughout this tale, and the actor expertly conveys the feelings and frustrations of a man who dared to dream outside his station in life, only to watch as his desires go up in flames. It’s a shame that the denouement doesn’t completely provide us with the emotional catharsis we require. Providing a clever, bittersweet twist, it affects the head more than the heart, and reveals a certain measure of clinical execution on the part of Wright. It caps the film with a slow simmer, when nothing less than a full blaze will suffice. Nominated for seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this earned its sole Oscar for Best Original Score (by Dario Marianelli).
DVD extras include audio commentary by Wright, seven deleted scenes and a half-hour making-of featurette.
Movie: ***
Extras: **1/2
ENCHANTED (2007). It’s a nice touch having Julie Andrews serve as narrator in Walt Disney’s Enchanted. Andrews played the title nanny in the studio’s Mary Poppins, which contains the famous phrase “practically perfect in every way.” And I can’t think of a better way to describe Amy Adams’ performance as Giselle, the animated damsel who doesn’t long to be a real girl but becomes one anyway. This begins in the style of the classic Disney toon flicks of yore, with the beautiful Giselle, at one with nature and its furry inhabitants, longing for “true love’s kiss” from the lips of a handsome prince. She gets her wish when she meets Prince Edward, but his scheming stepmother, Queen Narissa, banishes Giselle to a faraway land which turns out to be our own New York City. Now flesh and blood, Giselle asks a stranger, a buttoned-up divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey), to help her survive in this bewildering city; meanwhile, others arrive in pursuit of Giselle, including Edward (James Marsden) and the evil Queen (Susan Sarandon). Entrusting such a rich premise to the writer of Sandra Bullock’s limp thriller Premonition is a dubious tactic, and Bill Kelly doesn’t come close to exploiting this subject for all it’s worth. But that’s not to say there aren’t moments of genuine inspiration, such as when Giselle calls out to the creatures of NYC for help and instead of the expected rabbits, deer and chipmunks gets rats, roaches and flies. The film’s strongest component is the terrific turn by Adams, who really seems like a Disney heroine come to life (as the preening prince, Marsden also displays fine comic chops). Her performance is every bit as enchanting as one dreams it would be.
DVD extras include three making-of featurettes, deleted scenes and a new short starring the chipmunk Pip.
Movie: **1/2
Extras: **1/2
THE ICE STORM (1997). Unjustly overlooked in director Ang Lee’s robust career, this adaptation of Rick Moody’s 1994 novel is a provocative drama focusing on two suburban families in New Canaan, Conn., in 1973. With its frequent shots of cracking ice cubes and beautifully brittle branches, Lee doesn’t hide the fact that his film is, in more ways than one, a chilly experience. With its muted colors, somber tones and unfussy camerawork by Frederick Elmes, the movie perfectly reflects the frosty attitudes that have come to define the lives of its characters (played by, among others, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver), a malaise largely brought on by the changing times in which they live. It’s the Watergate era, and in a scene that perhaps ranked as both the funniest and creepiest of its year, a teenage girl (Christina Ricci) wears a rubber Nixon mask as she and her boyfriend (Elijah Wood) engage in some heavy petting (brrr). With its piercing look at family dysfunction, the topic of home versus career, and the omnipresence of television in the American lifestyle (there always seems to be a set on somewhere in this movie), the issues addressed in The Ice Storm have as much relevance today as they did over three decades ago. Ultimately, this paradox may be the movie’s greatest strength: Even while nailing a specific period in time, it’s still able to transcend its setting and speak directly to modern folks who no longer find aesthetic pleasure in sideburns.
Extras in the two-disc DVD set include audio commentary by Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus, a 36-minute documentary featuring new interviews with members of the all-star cast, an interview with Moody, and discussions on the film’s period look.
Movie: ***1/2
Extras: ***
MRS. DOUBTFIRE (1993). While there isn’t a single element in Mrs. Doubtfire that wasn’t handled better in Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie (recently re-released on DVD), this cross-dressing comedy is nonetheless an assured crowd-pleaser that nicely mixes laughs with a warm message about the sanctity of family. And like Tootsie, it was a gargantuan box office smash, earning $219 million stateside (Tootsie racked up $177 million 11 years earlier). Robin Williams stars as Daniel Hillard, an unemployed actor whose wife Miranda (Sally Field) has just divorced him. Since she has custody of their three kids, he comes up with a plan to remain near them: He disguises himself as an elderly British woman and infiltrates the premises as the family’s new housekeeper. The script by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon (based on Anne Fine’s Alias Madame Doubtfire) takes a full half-hour to set up the high-concept premise, meaning it doesn’t rush through any important situations or relationships. Furthermore, the film treats all its characters with warmth and respect; this courtesy extends to Miranda’s dashing new suitor (Pierce Brosnan), who would have been portrayed as a hissable cad in most other movies but here is shown to harbor genuine affection for Miranda and her children. Williams (before he became comedy’s Public Enemy #1) and Field provide this with a surprisingly tender center, and the picture has the decency not to cop out with the expected (but illogical) happy ending. This deservedly won an Oscar for Best Makeup.
Extras in the two-disc DVD set (billed as the “Behind-the-Seams Special Edition”) include 32 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, making-of featurettes, a new interview with Williams and director Chris Columbus, a study of the makeup application process (along with early tests), various alternate takes showcasing Williams’ improvisational abilities, and photo galleries.
Movie: ***
Extras: ***1/2
101 DALMATIANS (1961). For all its success at the box office over the course of its numerous re-issues, 101 Dalmatians is rarely mentioned as one of the “Disney classics,” quickly falling by the wayside as such titles as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi are repeatedly referenced. Pshaw; for my money, this is flat-out one of the studio’s finest achievements. Set in London, the story follows the Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita as they initially meet in the park (when their human “pets” literally stumble over each other and soon thereafter get married), produce a litter of 15 puppies, and set out on a search-and-rescue mission after said pups are kidnapped by Cruella De Vil, an evil diva intent on making a fur coat out of puppy pelts. Cruella De Vil is one of cinema’s great villainesses, yet all of the characters are brought to vibrant life, from Pongo’s owner Roger to Cruella’s bumbling henchmen Jasper and Horace to a courageous cat who helps the distraught canine parents locate their missing brood. In addition to all the expected kid-friendly concessions, the movie also sports a funky beat that allows extra resonance for the adults – these include a hilarious visual gag noting the similarities between humans and their dogs as well as a great sequence in which Jasper and Horace watch a spoof of the classic TV show What’s My Line?, this one called What’s My Crime?
Extras in the two-disc DVD set include pop-up trivia facts, a half-hour making-of featurette, a look at Cruella De Vil, deleted and abandoned songs, and children’s activities.
Movie: ****
Extras: ***1/2
12 ANGRY MEN (1957). Francis Ford Coppola’s first movie as a director was a nudie flick called The Bellboy and the Playgirls; James Cameron’s was the low-budget sequel Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. Sidney Lumet, on the other hand, didn’t mess around: After several years cutting his teeth on television productions, he made his motion picture debut with 12 Angry Men, an instant classic that earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and – yep – Best Director. Lumet has since helmed such gems as Dog Day Afternoon, Network and The Verdict, yet this arguably remains his most compelling work, a sweaty, sustained drama that milks its claustrophobic setting for all it’s worth. Adapted by Reginald Rose from his own teleplay, this finds practically all of the story unfolding in a hot New York City jury room in which 12 people must decide the fate of a Puerto Rican teenager accused of stabbing his father to death. Eleven jurors are convinced he’s guilty; only one (Henry Fonda) believes there’s room for doubt, and it’s his Herculean task to convince the others to re-examine the evidence before sending the boy to the gas chamber. Fonda (who co-produced the film with Rose) is quietly authoritative as always, and he’s backed by a superb cast of character actors, many of whom went on to stellar careers (among them Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden and Jack Klugman). The movie’s examination of this nation’s jury system is double-edged, portraying it as inefficient when tainted by bigotry and ignorance and admirable when ruled by a cool-headed examination of the evidence.
DVD extras include audio commentary by film historian Drew Casper, a making-of featurette, and a piece in which attorneys, law professors and others discuss the legal system as it applies to the movie.
Movie: ****
Extras: **1/2
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2008.
