THE 11TH HOUR (2007). In exactly which universe could Al Gore possibly emerge as a more charismatic screen presence than Leonardo DiCaprio? In our own, it seems. DiCaprio has long proven himself to be a sincere environmentalist (he was a logical choice to share the stage with Gore at last year’s Academy Awards ceremony), yet good intentions don’t always make for good movies. Case in point: The 11th Hour, in which DiCaprio (who serves as producer and narrator) looks at the fragile condition of this planet and makes some suggestions on how to improve our quality of life before it’s too late. Unlike the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, in which Gore shocked everyone by revealing himself as an appealing teacher while passing along a wealth of knowledge in a colorful and easy-to-digest manner, this dry documentary relies on a monotonous DiCaprio and 55 talking heads (yes, 55; I counted the names in the end credits) to relay soundbites of scientific data, much of which many of us already knew (if this film was a book, it’d be called Environmentalism for Dummies). This is clearly a case of too many cooks spoiling the organic broth: Whereas, for example, An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car? focused on specific issues and explored them in depth, this dull film is too scattershot to make much of an impression – or impact. As a PSA, The 11th Hour is perhaps an extremely important work, but strictly as a motion picture, it’s ripe for recycling.
Speaking of recycling, the DVD release backs up the sincerity of the film’s creators by being packaged in “100%-certified renewable resources.” Extras on the disc itself include five featurettes (totaling 1-1/2 hours) in which various folks discuss possible solutions to the current global crisis.
Movie: **
Extras: **
JUNO (2007). Ellen Page (Hard Candy) is pure perfection as the title character, a spunky and verbose teen who finds herself pregnant after a dalliance with sweet classmate Paulie Bleeker (Superbad‘s Michael Cera). After careful research, she decides on the adoptive parents: Vanessa (Jennifer Garner), a tightly wound businesswoman who wants a child in the worst way, and Mark (Jason Bateman), a TV jingle composer who tends to live in the past. But Juno’s idea of how everything should proceed doesn’t exactly pan out, and her sarcastic front falters in the face of fear and uncertainty, revealing the child underneath. Perhaps because it was written by a woman – and a former stripper at that – Juno‘s theatrical run occasionally endured the sort of knee-jerk backlash that tellingly was never foisted upon Judd Apatow’s similarly themed Knocked Up (not that the controversy made any dent in its box office numbers or awards tally). Yet Diablo Cody’s script is more balanced than Apatow’s: The laughs are plentiful in both, but Cody places more emphasis on the emotional fallout, with Juno and Bleeker awkwardly trying to express their feelings for each other and Vanessa’s anxiety almost palpable as she worries that Juno might change her mind about handing over the baby (Garner is excellent in her best film role to date and should have received an Oscar nomination). Cody’s dialogue may not always be believable (how many 16-year-old girls reference Dario Argento, let alone Soupy Sales and Seabiscuit?), but its intelligence and quirky humor qualify as music to the ears of moviegoers tired of witless banter. And speaking of music, the soundtrack is a keeper as well, with eccentric tunes that serve the action. Kicking up a fuss (much like Juno’s unborn baby), this was one of last year’s best releases. Nominated for four Academy Awards (including Best Picture), it won for – what else? – Best Original Screenplay.
Extras on the two-disc DVD include audio commentary by director Jason Reitman and Cody, a behind-the-scenes featurette, 20 minutes of deleted scenes, and a gag reel. The second disc contains a digital copy of the film for portable media players.
Movie: ***1/2
Extras: ***
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007). How is it even possible to make a PG-13 movie about a man and his plastic sex doll? To their (sort-of) credit, director Craig Gillespie and writer Nancy Oliver (the latter earning a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nom) give it a shot by fashioning a gentle parable about an introvert whose relationship with said object is actually a cry for help – plus, it doesn’t hurt audience acceptance of the film (and the character) that he never uses the faux-female for what she was intended. In a performance that’s as calculating as it is sweet-natured, Ryan Gosling plays Lars, a shy man who cringes at the mere thought of interacting with other humans, whether at the office, at parties, or even in the home of his brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer). Lars ends up purchasing a sex doll online, but rather than using her to satisfy God-given urges, he maintains a platonic relationship, escorting her all over town and introducing her to bewildered townsfolk as his Brazilian girlfriend Bianca. Rather than shunning Lars, his family and neighbors go along with the delusion, coaxing him (and Bianca!) into becoming more involved with the community even as a psychiatrist (Patricia Clarkson) attempts to uncover the source of his behavior. An often clumsy fable about the sting of loneliness and the welcome balm of selfless intervention, Lars and the Real Girl still can’t overcome a gimmick that’s well-suited for a short film but inadequate when stretched out over 105 minutes. The supporting cast is fine, especially Schneider and Mortimer as Lars’ perplexed family members and Kelli Garner as a co-worker who could use some of that love and affection that Lars bestows on Bianca.
DVD extras include a making-of featurette, one deleted scene, and a short piece on Bianca.
Movie: **1/2
Extras: *1/2
LIONS FOR LAMBS (2007). Say this for Hollywood: At least it’s trying to inject some semblance of sane debate into the Iraq War debacle. While the right wing continues to think nothing about American soldiers being sent to Iraq to “get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement” (as Rep. Pete Stark accurately stated last fall before cowardly issuing an apology), filmmakers from the more sentient left are trying to wake the populace up to the evils of this insidious administration and add value to every life lost in this rich man’s war. But do their recruitment tools have to be so ineffectual? On the heels of Rendition came Lions For Lambs, another drama whose noble aspirations are bungled by ham-fisted storytelling. Working from a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan, director Robert Redford uses three concurrent tales to stir debate about what’s happening around us. The best finds a reporter (Meryl Streep) interviewing a Republican senator (Tom Cruise) on his strategy for winning the war on terror. In the second plot thread, which functions as little more than connective tissue between the other two tales, two soldiers (Michael Pena and Derek Luke) involved in the senator’s master plan find themselves stranded on a snowy mountaintop in Afghanistan with enemy combatants closing in fast. And in the third story arc, college professor Stephen Malley (Redford) urges a self-absorbed student (Andrew Garfield) to get off his complacent behind and take a stand on major issues. This part is too bald-faced and heavy-handed to be effective; Redford would have more luck personally going door to door and distributing get-out-the-vote pamphlets.
DVD extras include audio commentary by Redford, a 20-minute making-of featurette, and a lengthy promotional piece on classic movies from United Artists’ past.
Movie: **
Extras: **1/2
THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) / EIGHT MEN OUT (1988) / BULL DURHAM (1988). Three baseball classics were recently re-released to coincide with the start of the new season. The Pride of the Yankees is a lovely biography of Lou Gehrig (marvelously played by Gary Cooper), the New York Yankees legend who distinguished himself as an extraordinary player before succumbing to the disease which has since carried his name. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), this won for Best Film Editing; Teresa Wright (terrific as Gehrig’s wife) lost the Best Actress Oscar but won Best Supporting Actress that same year for Mrs. Miniver. Eight Men Out, meanwhile, is second only to Lone Star as writer-director John Sayles’ best film; it relates the true story of the circumstances that led members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox (played by John Cusack and Charlie Sheen, among others) to throw the World Series. And I’m not alone in declaring Bull Durham the best sports movie ever made (Sports Illustrated, for one, shares my sentiment). Yet this exceptional motion picture is about so much more than the game, using its story of a love triangle (players Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins vie for the affection of baseball fanatic Susan Sarandon) to offer acute observations about life, love and sex. Writer-director Ron Shelton’s original script earned an Oscar nomination, while Costner and Sarandon make for one of cinema’s all-time hottest couples.
Extras on The Pride of the Yankees include a making-of piece, a look at Gehrig memorabilia, and a discussion of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Extras on Eight Men Out include audio commentary by Sayles, an hour-long retrospective, and a featurette on the real-life scandal. Extras on Bull Durham include audio commentary by Shelton, separate commentary by Costner and Robbins, and a 20th anniversary featurette.
The Pride of the Yankees: ***1/2
Eight Men Out: ***1/2
Bull Durham: ****
Extras: ***
RESURRECTING THE CHAMP (2007). The black hole that goes by the name of Josh Hartnett has managed to swallow up many movies, but this isn’t one of them. For that, we have to thank the force of nature that goes by the name of Samuel L. Jackson. To be fair, Hartnett is passable as a sportswriter who stumbles onto a career-making – and subsequently career-breaking – story: His earnestness works well for this character, and when a single tear journeys down his cheek late in the movie, it’s possible that it’s a genuine teardrop and not a dab of H2O shot on there by a spritzer-wielding assistant. But roiling emotions are clearly out of his range, and he’s shown up as a lightweight in his scenes with Mr. Jackson. The latter delivers a formidable performance as a homeless man who calls himself Champ; raspy-voiced and not all there mentally, he reveals himself to Hartnett’s Erik Kernan as Battling Bob Satterfield, a former boxing great. Realizing this could be his ticket to the big time, Erik devotes all his energy to turning Champ’s life story into a must-read article, a pursuit that backfires when suspicions surface regarding Champ’s history. The picture’s various themes, including the importance of journalistic integrity and the ease with which history can be rewritten, are handled with care, though there’s nothing particularly revelatory on view here (Shattered Glass, for instance, is a far superior film about media misconduct). But towering over the movie is Jackson, who takes a showy role and invests it with so much humanity that it’s impossible not to feel deeply for the character every step of the way.
DVD extras include audio commentary by director Rod Lurie, a brief making-of piece, and cast and crew interviews.
Movie: ***
Extras: **1/2
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2008.
