Beautiful Boy (2011)

7.5 Popcorn boxes

Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) have just sent their son off to college, but it's not healed the discord in their marriage.  Son Sam (Kyle Gallner) is hard to get in touch with, but Kate finally does via the computer.  She doesn't realize it, but Sam is deeply troubled.  Bill barely acknowledges his own son.

They subsequently hear the television news that there's been a shooting at Sam's college.  They are worried, and go home.  Soon, the police come to their door to tell them that not only is their son is dead, but he's the killer responsible for the shooting.

The film depicts all the modern events that accompany tragic news such as this; the media hounding them, making them prisoners in their own home, well-meaning friends that question what led up to the tragedy, and strangers who feel the parents are responsible.

It's an interesting premise, and fairly well carried off, but really, other than shock and dismay among all concerned, what else can the film convey?  The main strength of the film is to put us in the shoes of the family.  It asks the question, what would you do, how would you feel?

Rated R for theme, language, and some sexuality

The Impossible (2012)

7.5 Popcorn boxes

The historic tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on the day after Christmas in 2004 is chronicled in this film, which personalizes the event through the eyes of one family, the Bennetts (changed from the actual Spanish names, to give a more universal appeal).  Henry (Ewen McGregor), his wife Maria (Naomi Watts) and their three boys have travelled to Thailand for a Christmas holiday, staying at a resort on the Indian Ocean.  They have settled in, and are enjoying the start of their holiday when, at 10:25 am, a tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake inundated their resort and miles of the surrounding coastline.  The family is immediately broken apart, and scattered, although Maria and her son Lucas survive the devastation together, and are rescued by local Thais, and brought, eventually, to a hospital.  Maria is seriously hurt, but Lucas suffered only minor injuries.  The film focuses on the efforts of Maria and the rest of the family to survive and regroup amidst the terror and confusion of the horrific calamity.

 It's a compelling tale, and gives us an inside look at a disaster and the aftermath.  There is much doubt throughout the film as to the outcome of each character, and the film is sensitive and insightful regarding the logistics of getting aid to victims, the role of the local population in handling the difficulties of managing the fates not only of their own people, but the thousands of visitors who, in many cases, spoke not one word of Thai.

The film is effective and touching.  Most people seemed to be doing the best they could under the circumstances, and the rescue effort seemed remarkably free of the selfishness and price gouging that might be expected elsewhere (not that that didn't happen, but it's not seen here).

Special note must be made of the special effects duplicating the actual tsunami.  It wasn't an easy task to relate the effects of billions and billions of gallons of seawater had on the low-lying land, but they did a very good job here, on a fairly limited budget.

The film was directed by Antonio Bayona, and based on the esperience of Maria Belon.

The film is rated PG-13 for somewhat graphic scenes of disaster victims and brief nudity

Desert Hearts (1985)

6.5 Popcorn boxes

This film has been in my film collection for years; I finally got around to watching it.

It's billed as a ground-breaking film that seeks to show a lesbian relationship that doesn't end in suicide, madness, or a sudden conversion to heterosexuality.  Despite its legendary status among gays and lesbians, 'Desert Hearts' in an uneven film.

Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) is a Columbia English professor who travels to Reno, Nevada, to establish the six week residency necessary in the 1950s to achieve a 'quickie' divorce.  She stays at a 'divorce dude ranch' to wait out her six weeks.  The ranch is run by Francis Parker, a lonely widow, who tries to support the ranch outside of Reno by taking in borders such as Bell.

Also living at the ranch is a change girl, Cay Rivvers (the very lovely Patricia Charbonneau).  Cay is introduced to Vivian in a stunning car scene, in which the car Cay is driving, goes in reverse at high speed to match Vivian and Francis' car.  Later, as Vivian settles in her temporary home, She encounters the unconventional Cay in more relaxed settings.  Cay is attracted to Vivian from the start, but Vivian doesn't reciprocate.  Later, Vivian begins to change her mind, and, tentatively responds to Cay's overtures.

First the good points: the film is lushly photographed.  High desert such as the area around Reno can be quite beautiful, and it's on high display here.  The period cars (the film is set in 1959) are fantastic.  The soundtrack is a high point, relating time-appropriate music.  The two leads are beautiful, well-costumed, and know their lines.

The bad points: the story is stilted, as is the acting.  The film is curiously emotionless. Shaver is only somewhat believable as she softens her tone to Cay Rivvers.  For herself, Charbonneu doesn't fully inhabit her role.  Audra Lindley is not very believable as Parker.  She's stiff and a bit wooden in her performance.  You never know if she's got a sexual desire for Cay, or just wants companionship.  Even the ending is unsatisfying.

Rated R for graphic sexual scenes.

Red (1994)

9.5 Popcorn boxes

The final installment of the Three Colors Trilogy (the other two, 'Blue' and 'White'), director Krzysztof Kieslowski gives us a strong installment of the series.

Valentine Dussaut (Irene Jacob) while driving destracted, hits and injures a dog.  She tracks down the dog's owner, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant) but he gives the pregnant dog to Valentine.  They begin a platonic relationship, with both learning much about each other, life, and relationships.

It's a complicated plot, but suffice it to say, everything is mainly tied up at the end, bringing to a conclusion all three films of the trilogy.

This was Kieslowski's final film, unfortunately.  He died during open-heart surgery just two years after the film.  We will never know what other masterpieces he had in him.

Rated R for sexual content

White (1994)

9.0 Popcorn boxes

This second in the series Three Colors directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, White is the story of the oddly named Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) who, having been divorced by his wife in France, travels back to Poland in a suitcase, of all things.  He plots revenge on his wife, but has no means to accomplish this task.

He falls in with Mikolaj (Janusz Gajos) who wants to hire him to kill a 'suicide'.  The intended victim is a surprise.  After much development, Karol is able to become wealthy, and finally is in a position to seek revenge on his unfaithful wife.

All of this reads poorly, and makes the film sound uninteresting, and, yes, weird, but believe me, it's rich and replete with great characters, interesting settings, and a sense of justice finally served.

A fine film, but probably the weakest in the trilogy.  Has many amusing scenes.  The one when the suitcase containing Karol ends up in Poland is a classic.

Rated R for some sexual content, language

Blue (1993)

10.0 Popcorn boxes

There are three colors in the French flag, blue, white, and red.  Famed Polish director Krzysztof Keislowski (The Decalogue) directed three films bases loosely on the three themes associated with the colors of the flag: liberty, equality and fraternity.  The first of these films is Blue.

The stunning Juliette Binoche stars as Julie de Courcy, who survives a terrible car wreck that takes the life of her composer husband and her daughter.  She disassociates from her former life, withdrawing into herself as she moves from her home to an apartment in Paris.  She slowly becomes re-engaged in life, with the help of a female friend, Lucille (Charlotte Very).  She has to deal with an old family friend who becomes intent on finishing her late husband's unfinished composition.

This is film making at its best.  Universally beloved the Three Colors trilogy starts with 'Blue', and it's an auspicious beginning indeed.  Binoche has never looked so radiant, so serious, and so fulling inhabiting a character.  The cinematography is excellent, and the French location is used to help convey a sense of place.

This is a great film.  It should be on any film buff's list of must see films.  It's routinely on the list of best films of all time.

Rated R for some sexual content

Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)

8.0 Popcorn boxes

I'll confess:  I thought that this film with the long title was a romantic comedy.  It's about as far from a romantic comedy as you can get, and not have explosions.

This is a loose collections of mildly interwoven stories centering around several women.  It's presented in a number of chapters, each featuring one or two female protagonists

The film begins with Kathy Farber (Amy Branneman), a lonely homicide detective, investigating the apparent suicide of a young woman.  We quickly change pace, and go to the home of Dr. Elaine Keener, a lonely doctor who is caring for an elderly woman who cannot manage on her own.  She's visited by a tarot card reader, Christine Taylor (Calista Flockhart).

The next story involves Rebecca Haynon (Holly Hunter) who is a lonely bank manager.  She encounters a homeless woman who unsettles her.  She has a married lover, but meets and beds a co-worker, Walter (Matt Craven).

Next we encounter Rose (Kathy Baker), a women on a second career as an author of children's books.  She's a lonely single mother whose a bit too close to her son. and is unduly interested in her new neighbor.

We learn more about Christine Taylor (Flockhart) in the next story.  Her partner Lily (Valerie Golino) is dying, probably of cancer.  Her sensitive nature is often tested by Lily, who has nothing emotionally to lose.

Police detective Kathy Farber, lives with her blind sister Carol (Cameron Diaz).  Kathy is highly protective of her sister, but Carol is more fearless.  Walter (Craven) re-enters the picture when he goes out with Carol. 

The film ends with Dr. Keener goes to a bar, and meets Walter,

The premise of the movie is fine; interwoven stories don't happen a lot in film, and this one ties together neatly.  It's written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, who's a producer, writer, director, and cinematographer.  His background is mainly in television and in web series.

This is not a happy film.  As you can tell by my plot synopsis, this is a film about lonely, struggling women.  It's worth the time watching it.  The acting is uniformly good; in fact Holly Hunter (who has never looked better) was nominated for an Emmy (since it went directly to cable).

Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some sexual content.  

The Constant Gardener (2005)

8.5 Popcorn boxes

The excellent British film actor Ralph Fiennes plays the troubled Justin Quayle, who is married to the mercurial Tess (Rachel Weisz).  Tess is a strong, forthright doctor who is obsessed about social issues, from war to corporate greed.  At the beginning of the film, Tess is missing, and it's up to Justin, who loves his unconventional wife very much, to unravel the mysteries surrounding her death.

The film is non-linear, with frequent flashbacks, which took some getting used to.  So even though Tess is very much dead, she plays a large part in the film.  She's not an altogether sympathetic character, willing to trade on her looks and 'feminine wiles' to achieve her goals.  She's suspicious of a drug trial being conducted in Kenya.  Participants on the whole do well in a trial of a tuberculosis drug, dypraxa, but some end up very dead, due to side effects.  The company literally buries its failures, and Tess goes out looking for them.

The film is based on the book of the same name by John LeCarre.  LeCarre made his name writing Cold War thrillers such as 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' (both superb books made into more than excellent films and miniseries).  He had a fallow period with the end of the East-West spy trade, and it took him a while to find new venues to explore.

LeCarre is a left-of-center writer, who has said that the corporate misdeeds in this film were just a 'holiday postcard' compared to what goes on in the pharmaceutical business.  What he doesn't explain, though, is how a bad drug like dypraxa would not be eventually found out.  I don't particularly share his paranoia, but I see where he's coming from.

Director Fernando Meirelles, a Brazilian by birth, turns in an excellent picture, capturing screenwriter Jeffrey Caine's vision of the LeCarrie novel.   Caine's screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, as it should have been. 

The photography and location shots must be commented upon.  Africa, as portrayed in the film, is a sprawling, complex land of violence, extreme poverty, and natural beauty.

Rated R for violence and sexual content

Fearless (1993)

8.5 Popcorn boxes

Directed by famed director Peter Weir, 'Fearless' stars Jeff Bridges as Max Klein, who, as the film opens, is in a plane crash in an agricultural area.  He survives, but is haunted by the event, which changes his life.  He becomes obsessed with the idea of life and death, and how, and why, he survived the crash, while others didn't.  He meets with a fellow survivor, Carla (Rosie Perez), who lost her child in the crash.  Max's behavior becomes even more erratic, and his wife Laura (Isabella Rossellini) is afraid he's trying to commit suicide.

Bridges does an excellent job in the film.  Perez is effective as one of the other survivors.  Director Weir melds the increasingly reckless behavior with the world he doesn't quite seem to be in anymore.  The photography is very good, the plane crash convincing, and the difficulty conveying the thought process of someone not quite behaving normally, done very well indeed.

I enjoyed the film more than I thought I would.  Weir brings the viewer into a world where an examination of how one feels facing death is the central theme.  I'm as questioning as the next guy about what, if anything, happens after death.  This film is as concerned with that as the great film 'Resurrection'.

Rated R for language and disturbing imagery.

The Cold Lands (2013)

8.0 Popcorn boxes

This indie feature is an odd duck.  It's almost glacierly slow.  Long periods go by with just a babbling creek, or some ducks, or just the wind blowing through the forest.  When the film opened, I didn't know what to expect.  I was wondering if I'd be presented with random nature shot with sound.  But, be patient, there is actually a story here.

Atticus (Silas Yelich) is a 'sensitive' teenager, who lives in a very rural part of upper New York state.  He lives with his mother, Nicole (Lili Taylor).  They seem to have a good relationship, but Atticus is prone to just wander off into the forest, finding abandoned places, or empty spaces.  They're poor, but they manage, with some help from concerned friends.  Nicole works as an office cleaner.  They surprisingly have a nice car, and they stop for items placed by the side of the road.  They conserve electricity by having 'pioneer nights' and light candles.

Nicole is sick.  The film doesn't dwell on it at all, just let's us know.  Atticus doesn't know what to do about it, and wants to help, but can't.  Something happens, and Atticus retreats to the forest that he loves.

I'm ambivalent about the film.  It's a moody piece, and terrible things are always threatening.  The film is very low-keyed.  Most people raised on spectaculars won't like it, I'm betting, since it takes a long time to get started.  Some will really like it, and watch it again.

Tom Gilroy wrote and directed.  Gilroy's 'Touch Base' was included on my DVD.  It features an outstanding performance by Lili Taylor. Gilroy is more noted as an actor, but he did direct 'Spring Forward (1999).

Unrated, but probably a PG-13 film

The Answer Man (2009)

7.5 Popcorn boxes

A best-selling author of a book entitled 'Me and God', Alan Farber (Jeff Daniels), is on the lam: 20 years after becoming world famous for the book, he is a recluse, trying to hide from all who have tough questions about God.  They're hoping for answers, thinking that Farber had a direct line to heaven.  Trouble is, Farber wrote a one-of book, and no longer feels any spiritual bond with the deity.  And he's awkward emotionally as well.

Enter Elizabeth (Lauren Graham), a chiropractor whom Faber consults when hurts his back.  He's attracted to her, and she seems interested, especially when she finds out who he is.  She's not in the especially in the market for spiritual advice, but she's interested in companionship, including having a a father figure for her son Alex (Max Antisell).  Also in the mix is an alcoholic and broke bookstore owner Kris Lucas (Lou Taylor Pucci).  Lucas is in clear need of help, and he hopes Farber is just the man for the job.

I'm of two minds about the film.  It's a funny premise to have a cultural religious icon who is sick (and profane) about his fame, and is cynical about the way he ever got there.  He's become a misanthrope, and genuinely dislikes people.  However, he is also capable of some very insightful, and even beautiful, statements about God and man.  The two personality types don't mix well.

In a stand out performance, Graham is appealing as a newly-minted chiropractor who helps Farber with his bad back.  Graham's face is alive with little smiles, narrowed eyes, aw-shucks moments.  She can get more out a scene with just her facial expressions than most actors can do with their whole bodies.  It's a great pleasure to watch.

Rated R for language