Thumbnails November 2007
by Tony Medley
Father G and the Homeboys
(10/10): Born and raised in Hancock Park, Jesuit Greg Boyle,
America’s Mother Theresa, has devoted his life to providing a
regenerative lifestyle for gangbangers in East LA. You won’t soon forget
watching the tears stream down the face of young Frances Aguilar as she
tells about the murder of two of her children before her eyes, Joe
Aleman fight his drug addiction, and the other tales of the young people
Fr. G has helped to change their lives. Not to be missed.
Gone Baby Gone (10/10):
After years of less than mediocre performances in horrible films, actor
Ben Affleck finally finds his niche as director and co-writer of this
tense, black, profane, atmospheric Boston-based mystery about a private
eye, Casey Affleck, tackling the kidnapping of a little girl and the
Byzantine machinations surrounding it.
American Gangster (9/10):
Director Ridley Scott combines with two of today’s best actors,
Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, an A-list supporting cast, and a
well-written script by Steven Zaillian, based on a true story, to
produce a rip-snorting, action-packed tale of two strong men colliding
on either side of the law. Notwithstanding a running time of two hours
forty minutes, I didn’t peek at my watch once.
Dan in Real Life (7/10):
Despite its contrived situations, its Ozzie & Harriet-type family,
and failure to achieve its potential, it’s still entertaining. To its
credit, it presents a positive picture of a single father.
Michael Clayton (5/10):
Words, words, words,
I’m so sick of words.
This Alan J. Lerner litany
from My Fair Lady succinctly sums up how I felt about Michael
Clayton. Some might see the dark cinematography, the unshaven
protagonist who is being pursued by demons, both known and unknown, and
the wordy, incoherent story-telling as tense. George Clooney fans,
mostly female, should love it because he’s in almost every scene.
Despite a good turn by Sydney Pollack, it failed the watch test.
Elizabeth: the Golden Age
(5/10): This story of a tumultuous part of the life of Queen
Elizabeth I, covering her execution of her cousin, Mary Stuart, and the
defeat of the Spanish Armada, is told in such a strikingly melodramatic
and superficial manner that the terrific cast is left to thrash around
to try to save it. As for me, I’ll see anything with Abbie Cornish in
the cast, and the recreation of 16th century England is
romantically evocative.
Lust, Caution (5/10):
With sex scenes so acrobatic (and graphic), a panel rating each position
with 9s and 10s wouldn’t have been out of place. A pretty simple spy
story that could easily have been told in 90 minutes; instead this is
160 minutes of reading subtitles. In Mandarin.
Mr. Untouchable (5/10):
Director Marc Levin minimizes the damage that Harlem drug king, Nicky
Barnes, foisted on New York City in the ‘70s by failing to emphasize the
murders and drug addicts for which he was responsible, instead focusing
on his conviction and then ratting out all his compatriots, finally
getting off despite a sentence of life “without parole.”
Rendition (4/10): The
filmmakers' clumsy manipulation of the facts to fit their bias misses a
golden opportunity to examine a troubling issue in an even-handed manner.
In film after film Hollywood chooses to demonize the United States,
which has dedicated itself at great cost to ridding the world of
medieval terrorists who subjugate women and murder at will. Some
filmmakers, like Dutchman Theo Van Gogh, have been murdered for telling
the truth about what is going on with the Islamic Jihad. Hollywood
apparently doesn’t have filmmakers with that kind of courage
Lars and the Real Girl
(3/10): Instead of the clever farce it could have been, this bilious
tale of a clearly psychotic man, Ryan Gosling, who falls in love with a
plastic doll and treats her like a real person, is told as a sweet love
story, which makes sitting through its 95-minute running time seem like
95 hours.
Jimmy Carter Man From
Plains (1/10): How do you make a fawning documentary about the man
many consider the worst President in American history? You ignore his
Presidency and spend two hours following his book tour. While it is
probably apocryphal that Carter was the model for the role of the
delusional Lars in the film “Lars and the Real Girl,” the resemblance is
astonishing.
Read full reviews at
www.tonymedley.com.
|