Film in Review

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In the likes of The Squid and the Whale and The Royal Tenenbaums, Running with Scissors parades an overly dysfunctional family with a character trying to make terms with the situation. It really is like The Royal Tenenbaums on heroine.  It is witty and very funny at times, yet the satirical mood is not really carried out throughout the film, like the Tenebaums. The film is basted on the memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, (who is still living). It follows Augusten, played by Joseph Cross, as he grows up with a disillusioned mother (Annette Benning) and a distant alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin). If that was not already enough for this kid, Deirdre, his mother, starts to see a therapist (Brian Cox). Dr. Finch just hands out drugs, to start manipulating Deirdre into a basket case of “spiritually awakened” and an addicted drone. The father is forced out by the lies of Dr. Finch and Augusten is adopted by the Doctor’s very, very messed up family. Augusten then has to come to terms with his new life and what his mother has done.  Confused and searching for love and existence he has to start making decisions on his own, surrounded by what can only be described as a mental hospital. All this is happening over his early adolescents.

This film would probably not have been made had Augusten not been gay. The main point of the film was on the relationship to his mother, and how a self-absorbed disillusioned woman lost her chance to be a loving caregiver to her only son. When Deirdre realizes this, the lose is devastating. Had they stayed more on this side of the story I would have enjoyed the film more. The actors do an absolutely fantastic job with the emotions that they portrait. I have to specifically mention Annette Benning who makes you believe her craziness is real.  I really have mixed reactions from this film. I don’t hate it, yet I really don’t like it. I can’t recommend this film, nor denounce it. This is one that you will have to come to terms with on your own and see it or not.
Definitely don’t pay the theatre prices to see this.

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This is an outstanding film (if you like musicals). Having said that, I love Matthew Broderick in all in nuances. I would love to see him do this same character live, what a show that must be. Uma Thurman delivers an outstanding piece of sultry seduction while keeping an ok Swedish accent. Nathan Lane is fantastic and Will Ferrell is so funny as the very crazed ex-German neo-Nazi. I have to confess that I never have seen the original Mel Brookes movie nor the live show, however if this follows in the tradition than they must be fantastic as well.  In my opinion of modern musicals this is the best to come out of Hollywood in a long time. Rants and raves for Chicago, but in this humble writers opinion The Producers is a much better show.
It is not a film for the non sing song person, and you will probably find most of it boring and ridiculous, so if you like conventional films don’t watch this, however if you have an open mind and don’t mind a impromptu song or 10 then get this and enjoy.

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Film in Review

On the scale of good films this gets an average, on the story it gets a “been there done that.” However the delivery and the principles in this film are worth the watch. Adam Sandler does what he does best, yells, a lot. He plays an over worked career driven man that is wrestling with his own insecurities. He wants a better life for his kids than the one he had, except the only one that thinks he had a bad life is Michael (Adam). So in another crazy attempt to get what the “Odoyal’s” have he heads out in the middle of the night to get a universal remote, but what he finds is a stranger (Christopher Walken) in the back of Bath Body and Beyond. So upon receiving a state of the art new “Universal Remote” Michael begins his learning lesson. At first allowing the new found power to be everything that he wants. The hard parts of marriage with his wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale),
the boring parts of his job, until he finds that the remote has taken control and starts to skip everything basted on learning technology (thanks Tivo). Well, all goes nuts and that’s when Michael has to learn about what it means to put family first.
All the major players do very well and you find the Adam Sandler favorites pop up in small roles. Everything considered this movie is more on par with Spanglish rather than 50 First Dates a very “It’s a Wonderful Life” thing.

So if you like Adam Sandler and a cute comedy then “Click” it.

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MirrorMask (2005)

 What a wonderfully made movie. This is not a film for everyone. It is very experimental, using a lot of CG. In fact I think that 80% of the film is completely green screen. This is a fantasy story in the likes of “A Wrinkle in Time.” We follow the story of a young girl as she deals with a life that is not what she wants. In the typical sense we see a teenager fighting with her mother, but when her mother collapses later Helena (Stephanie Leonida) blames herself and her hurtful words.  As the story progresses we find ourselves in Helena’s dream or so we think. We are wondering around in a wonderful world of oddly creatures and wonderfully eerie scenery. I this world you have a books that fly like birds, cats with wings and human faces (sphinx), giants, jugglers and of course an evil queen.

This film is fun and imaginative. It is childish, but yet witty. I don’t know if really young children should watch this for its creepy drawing and sometimes frightening images. This was a story and I hope to see more people not limited by reality use more of their imagination to make fun films like this one.

I do recomend this film and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

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An Unfinished Life (2005)

Yet another great pick.

A heart felt story that is twisted back and forth by drama, life and emotions. We pick up the story were Jean (Jennifer Lopez) finds herself in yet another abusive relationship. Moving out was the easy part, figuring out where to go that would prove to be more difficult. Settling going to the only family she had left her dead husbands father's house (Redford). Einar, a grumpy old cowboy in the heart of little-ville Wyoming, who blames Jean for the death of his only son. Einar lives a very simple existence helping his only friend, Mitch (Freeman) who was mauled by a Grizzly bear and is now mostly bedridden. The story unfolds into everyone having to deal with their pasts in various ways. All I can really say is how much this story grabs you and pulls you into the characters hurt, anger, pain, joy and triumph. Like any well written story and well made movie the plot keeps moving in a casual pace and has some really beautiful moments that are only heightened by the caliber of acting. Morgan Freeman who plays Redford’s conscious delivers an absolute brilliant performance and Redford does not disappoint as usual. The definite surprise was Jennifer Lopez. She brought a great honesty to her character.

If you have a desire to watch a film that documents the struggles of human emotions: love, forgiveness, fear and courage, then by all means grab this and curl up next to a good woman for one great night.

Reviews coming soon: The Producers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Scary Movie 4

(I might slip a few other in there just for fun)

When Rachel called with free tickets to see a screening of Mark Walberg’s new movie Invincible I jump on the chance to spend some time with my wife. Although I like Mark this was a Disney film, which ultimately made for a horrible story. From the same studio that made Remember the Titans, Invincible should have been title Mostly Impregnable. Although the idea of this story is inspiring and the fact that the guy did end up spending 3 years with the Eagles, the execution of the plot in this film was horrible. The lack of meaningful character development was overshadowed by the overuse of slow motion and sweeping nauseous camera movements. Everything emotion in this film was based on Mark’s facial expressions. Even though you get drawn into the pivotal triumphant moment, the bubble is quickly punctured as you realize the movie is over and nothing really has been exciting. I could not get over the fact that we did not really see any football in this film. For a movie about a guy who was a great player, we saw the movie deal with really nothing along those lines. I can count the amount of times Vince (Mark Walberg) talked to any of the other players on the team. This was a flop at what could have been a great inspirational story. Although I must say that Mark Walberg did a great job, with the emotional side of the character for all the things going on, he did connect, but it would be nice if that were not the only thing that the film writers banked on. I hope you all save your money and wait until this one plays on TV for in my humble opinion straight to ESPN would have been an achievement for this film.