U & V

UNBREAKABLE: We saw this film with John Clark, Fort Collins, CO, and we all had the same reaction: Unbearably slow, unremittingly gloomy, and uniformly uninteresting. What a disappointment. We all liked the eerie mystery of M. Night Shyamalan's first feature--The Sixth Sense, but this film utterly failed to work it's magic on us. I'm getting tired of the trend toward shooting scenes either in half-light or in the rain. It's depressing! Bruce Willis is David Dunne, a University Security Guard who is the only survivor of a terrible train crash. What's more, he survived without a scratch. Samuel L. Jackson is Elijah Price, a man born with brittle-bone disease who has spent his life looking for someone at the opposite end of the spectrum--someone who is unbreakable. It is inevitable that the two men meet. Robin Wright is Megan Dunne; the female half of the Dunne's troubled marriage. She looks incredibly worn and tired here. One reviewer commented that she looks like she's a "refugee from Requiem for A Dream." We seem to be at odds with many critics on this film. Those who praise the film find it "somberly fantastic" and "quietly intriguing," We do agree with a Raleigh N.C. reviewer who said "The film's poky pace may frustrate some moviegoers -- at times it moves so deliberately that the payoffs hardly seem worth the wait." (They weren't worth the wait!) I don't often agree with Mr. Cranky, but I liked his opening line: "I swear, if M. Night Shyamalan makes his movies go any slower, we're going to watch them and start moving back in time." Not only is the action painfully slow, but the actors all speak as though they are sedated. There is a young boy in this picture who doesn't see any dead people, but is in a lot of scenes with half-dead people. (Thanks to John for that observation.) Unbreakable has a running time of 107 minutes. It seemed like three hours to us. GRADE: C-/D

UNDER THE SAME MOON: It would be a hard heart that wasn’t moved by this mother and son reunion movie. It tells the story of nine-year-old Carlitos, whose mother left Mexico for the US when he was just five. For the past four years Rosario has been working two jobs in order get legal papers so that she can bring Carlitos to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, she phones him every Sunday morning and sends $300 a month to her mother who is caring for Carlitos. When his grandmother dies, the youngster decides it’s time to go to Los Angeles and find his mother. How he gets there and the characters he meets along the way make for quite an adventure. Scenes of Carlitos on his journey alternate with scenes of Rosario in Los Angeles. Through some miraculous coincidences, the movie does end happily. Young Adrian Alonso is impressive as Carlito and Kate Del Castillo is a lovely and sympathetic Rosario. This film explores the difficult situation of illegal immigration and uses a human example to pose the question, What should be done? Owen Gliberman, (who gave the film an A-) said in his EW Weekley review of the film that it’s ending was so touching "it could make Lou Dobbs cry." Other critical comments have ranged from "A heart-ripping audience pleaser..." to "...manipulative, saccharin..." We liked this heart-warming film and admit to being choked up at the ending. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles. GRADE B

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN: The only similarity between Frances Mayes' book, Under The Tuscan Sun, and this movie is that the heroine buys a dilapidated Tuscan villa named Bramasole. That's about it. Oh yes, the Frances in the movie was also a teacher. The screenwriter (Audry Wells) saw fit to completely change the rest of the story. She transformed the fifty-something Mayes into a newly divorced single woman of 35 who moves permanently to Tuscany and spends a lot of her time looking for a man. (The real Mayes only spends summers at Bramasole and she spends her time renovating and cooking.) We were very disappointed in this film. Stephen Hunter, reviewer for the Washington Post, said "the most disappointed viewers of this film are likely to be those who loved the book; they will feel not just betrayed but shafted." That sums it up for me. Diane Lane is as beautiful and appealing as ever, but although the writer tried to make a charming film the result is several quarts low on charm. If you want to see a movie about Tuscany, rent the far superior Enchanted April. This film consists of a disjointed bunch of scenes and cliches that probably looked good on paper but never flow together as a cohesive whole. In spite of some gorgeous views of the Tuscany countryside, I'm sorry to say that we thought the movie was dull. The supporting actors are all capable, but only one of them, the realtor who sold Bramasole to Frances, captured our interest. The rest were eminently forgettable. Because we like Diane Lane, we give this film a C. (And Gary thinks that may be overly generous.)

UNFAITHFUL: We have always admired Diane Lane and we hope that this film will increase her visibility. (See Video Recommendations) She is excellent here as Connie Sumner, a housewife who starts an affair with a handsome book dealer. Why she risks her "perfect" life with a doting husband and a bright articulate 8-year-old son has no easy answer. However, Lane's skillful acting helped us understand how the excitement and passion of an illicit affair might seduce Connie. Richard Gere plays against type here as a faintly frumpy, conservative business owner who is shocked when he discovers his wife's duplicity. He is eminently believabl. The screenplay is based on a script by Claude Chabrol, and the writing is superior. I liked the unpredictability of the story line, and the ambiguous ending was perfect. The handsome stranger is Olivier Martinez, who played the Cuban poet, Reinaldo Arenas, in Before Night Falls. Erik Per Sullivan, who played Fuzzy in The Cider House Rules, is very good as the young Charlie Sumner. Be prepared for some graphic sex scenes. We didn't put this film in the "A" category because our reaction to it was intellectual rather than emotional. But it is a solid GRADE B+.

UNITED 93: This is a terrific movie. It plays more like a documentary, and you really feel you are on the doomed plane. Probably that’s because the director didn’t script the dialogue. It’s all improvised, based on recorded flight information or records of phone calls made by the passengers. Also, because the movie set plane moved the same as Flight 93, thanks to hydraulics and a computer programmed from details provided by the 9/11 Commission. The suspense and drama of the film are not at all diminished by knowing the ending. It is riveting. And incredibly moving. The actors playing the Flight 93 heroes are relatively unknown, so they all seem like real people. We did recognize one actor. Christian Clemenson portrays Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. who helped organize a revolt against the terrorists. We recognized him from a reoccurring role he has on TV’s Boston Legal. (We’ve also learned that, as a boy, he carried newspapers in Des Moines, IA, as did Gary.) We think everyone should see this remarkable film. GRADE A

THE UPSIDE OF ANGER: (2005) We first saw Joan Allen when she was working by day as a secretary in Chicago and appearing at night on the Steppenwolf stage. We were impressed with her then and are even more impressed with her now. She gives a remarkable performance here as Terry Wolfmeyer, a deserted wife and the mother of four daughters ("One of them hates me and the two or three are working on it"). Her anger at her husband, who, she believes, has moved to Sweden with his young assistant, drives her to drink and into the arms of a neighbor and family friend, Denny Davies. Davies (Kevin Costner) is a paunchy, alcoholic ex-baseball star who has a local sports talk show and, in his spare time, autographs baseballs to sell at fan conventions. Costner is wonderful in the role and the two actors are splendid together. Both create real people who are flawed and exasperating, but still likeable. They are greatly aided in this film by an intelligent and articulate script that never settles for cliches. Mike Binder, the writer/director, also appears as Shep Goodman, the producer of Davies’ radio show. He distinguishes himself in all three capacities. The four actresses who play Terry’s daughters are simply perfect. (Alicia Witt, Erica Christensen, Kerri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood) The ending caused us a bit of concern. Gary felt that it raised too many questions and weakened an otherwise A movie. The critics are divided as to the ending’s impact on the movie. A.O. Scott in the New York Times called the ending "an utter catastrophe") and Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal said it was "a cheat." However, Roger Ebert feels that "without the ending, The Upside of Anger is a wonderfully made comedy of domestic manners. With it, the movie becomes larger and deeper. When life plays a joke on you, it can have a really rotten sense of humor." We’ll be interested in your reactions. We decided on a grade of A-. GRADE A-

THE U.S. vs JOHN LENNON: Barbara and I viewed two films today, so I get to review the documentary that almost no one will see. That is unfortunate because this is a well made and powerful documentary that deserves to be seen. The film focuses on John Lennon’s life from 1966 to 1976 and only briefly refers to his murder in 1980. The film is sympathetic to Lennon and his widow Yoko Ono, who I am told granted filmmakers unprecedented access to her archives. It is also loaded with testimony and talking heads including Walter Cronkite, Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, John Dean, Gordon Liddy and many others. As you would expect, many of John’s songs are included. His celebrity coupled with his anti Vietnam War stance and his criticism of the Nixon administration brought down the wrath of the government and this struggle makes up most of the documentary. So if you blanch at any criticism of J. Edgar Hoover or the Nixon administration, I guess you will not be seeing The U.S Vs John Lennon. We both liked it and give it a grade of B+. GRADE B+

V FOR VENDETA: Since I wanted to see this film more than Barbara, I agreed to write the review. We both liked it more than we expected. Although there is no shortage of bloody action, I think the overall effect will have a better influence on young people, who will make up the large majority of the film’s audience, than most of the action flicks they flock to. It is an Orwellian tale inspired by a twenty year old graphic novel. Set in 2020 London, it won’t take an astute viewer to see the resemblance to our current political environment. A beautiful and mild mannered Evey (Natalie Portman) is rescued from a horrible fate at the hands of the government’s henchmen by a masked vigilante known only as V. V wants citizens to rise up against the fascist dictator (played by John Hurt) and the tyranny and oppression his regime have forced upon people by promising them security at the price of freedom. It sounds corny and this didn’t escape the pens of many critics, but it played pretty well. Critics evaluations range from C to A, but Barbara and I settled on a grade of B+.

(Barb’s comments: I particularly liked Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) as the sympathetic chief inspector—the only official who was suspicious of the government. Plus, Natalie Portman is gorgeous—even more so with a shaved head!) GRADE B+

VANILLA SKY: David Aames (Tom Cuise) is living the good life--he's handsome and rich--until a spurned lover (Cameron Diaz) takes her revenge by plunging her car over a bridge railing with both of them in it. After that point, we aren't sure what is real and what is fantasy; what is a dream and what is a nightmare. Is David horribly disfigured? Do plastic surgeon's restore his face? Does he kill the woman he loves? Who knows. This is another one of those "try-to-figure-it-out-after-you-see-it movies that seems to be every where these days. I think there are two possible explanations:
1. After the accident, everything that happens takes place in David's mind as he lies in a comma.
2. You can accept the science fiction explanation of a "lucid dream" that is expounded at the end of the film.
Most of the critics seem to buy the science fiction aspect. I subscribe to the coma theory. The 2 hour and 15 minutes running time does seem a bit long, and, for me, there were some slow spots. Cruise, facially disfigured for more than half of the film, proves that he can act even without his killer smile. Penelope Cruz reprises the same role she played in the Spanish film Abre los Ojos upon which Cameron Crowe based this film. Gary thinks that this is the film Cruise wanted to make with Kubrik. It is much better than Eyes Wide Shut. He also commented that if Kibrik had done this film it would be considered his final masterpiece. If Kubrik had directed the film, I would be tempted to go with the Science Fiction ending. But Kubrik didn't make this movie, and Gary can only give it a B. I have to say B-. GRADE B/B-

VANITY FAIR: When I heard the following exchange of dialogue between Becky Sharp and her husband-- "In my own way, I have loved you." "That is your misfortune, my dear."--I thought it could have been Rhett Butler talking to Scarlett O'Hara. Becky certainly comes off like a British Scarlett. I wasn't surprised to read later that Thackeray's novel did, indeed, influence Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind. You can certainly see the parallels: Becky uses her beauty, charm, and wit to flirt and scheme her way into British society, much as Scarlett did in Atlanta. Thackeray's novel is huge and sprawling and it's always difficult to condense such a work into two hours of film. Director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) was more or less successful. Reese Witherspoon does a fine job bringing Thackeray's heroine to life and she is engaging in the role. But, good as she is, I thought she lacked the edge that Becky Sharp needs. Witherspoon just looks too sweet. The film often seemed to plod along without generating much excitement. It never quite came to life for us. Although it held our attention, it never fired our imaginations. The actors all acquit themselves well. We particularly liked James Purefoy, who plays Becky's husband, Rawdon Crawley. Nair has said that she portrayed the adventuress as an opportunist who did to London what England was doing to India. To complete the comparison between colonial power and the colonized, she used a color palette that looks more like India than 17^th Century London. It is, however, quite lovely to look at. We met some Movie Viewer friends, Diane and Lee U., at the theater and they had much the same reaction to the film. GRADE B-

VENUS: Gary and I jotted down our thoughts after seeing this film. I’ll print Gary’s first, followed by my reaction.

Gary: Peter O’Toole plays an aging actor who takes a slightly lecherous interest in the grandniece of one of his acting buddies. His performance has earned him an Oscar nomination and I am sure many Academy members will cast a sentimental vote for the still brilliant actor. For Barbara and me it was not an Oscar worthy performance based on this film alone. Certainly he has given Oscar worthy performances in the past. His Lawrence of Arabia still stands out in my mind as one of the best performances in film history. I have to say it was a little troubling to see a man approximately my age playing a doddering old man at the end of his life. Vanessa Redgrave has a small role playing O’Toole’s estranged wife, but when the two veteran actors play a short scene together it is electrifying. Playing the title role, Jodie Whittaker is excellent as a manipulative young country girl who needs some understanding and direction. The film is funny at times, but also poignant with an ending that rips at your heart.

Barb: It made me sad to see Peter O’Toole, so gorgeous in the past, playing an actor at the end of his life. Especially since he’s about my age! And I had a hard time separating the character from the actor. He plays a famous actor who, although doddering, is not without charm. In his comments, Gary has discussed O’Toole’s relationship with the young girl, and I must confess that a couple of the scenes between them make me a bit uncomfortable. I agree with Gary that the best scenes are those between O’Toole and Vanessa Redgrave. At the Oscar ceremony three years ago, O’Tool received and honorary Oscar. He expressed some dismay, saying he was "still in the game, and might win the lovely bugger outright." I think this movie proves that he is, definitely, still in the game. We agree on a grade of B. GRADE B.

VERA DRAKE: If you're looking for a movie to cheer you up, this isn't the one. However, if you're looking for a movie with superior acting and a strong social message, this is the one. Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) is sweet, loving, nurturing woman whose role in life seems to be that of a helper. She cleans other people's houses for a living, cares for her own family, and, in her spare time, visits people who are sick and housebound. She also helps out poor women who have unwanted pregnancies, and that is her eventual undoing. In Vera Drake, director/writer Mike Leigh shows us that when abortion is illegal poor women suffer while rich women find a way out of their trouble. Leigh spends a lot of time letting us get to know Vera, her husband Stan (Phil Davis) and her son and daughter. This makes for a slow start, but Leigh obviously felt it was important for us to really understand Vera and the people in her life. Leigh (Secrets & Lies --1996, Topsy Turyv--1999) has an unusual approach to film directing. He brings his cast together for many weeks of improvisation so that they can create and explore their characters. The result is people who are achingly real. We feel we know them intimately and are privileged to spend a couple of hours with them. Staunton is certain to get an Oscar nomination for her portrayal. All the characters in the film are beautifully played: the brash young son, the shy, inarticulate daughter, the caring brother-in-law and his bitchy wife. Even the police officers are sympathetic and real people. There are no stereotypes here. We thought the film was overly long (125 minutes), but we were inpressed with Staunton. Her performance deserves an A but we give the movie a B. GRADE B

THE VILLAGE: Grandson Nathan and I went to see this latest M. Night Shyamalan film. We agreed that it was interesting, but not as frightening as we had expected. We also thought that the surprise ending wasn't all that surprising. The village of the title is surrounded by woods that harbor frightening creatures. The villagers exist in an uneasy peace with the creatures: They never venture into the woods, and the creatures leave the village alone. At least up until the events of the film. Beyond the woods lie "the towns." The elders of the village left the towns behind to seek a simpler, safer life, and they have made the village self-sufficient. I can't relate much of the plot because that would take away what surprise there is. I can say that both Nathan and I liked the performances of Joaquin Phoenix as Lucius Hunt and Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron Howard's daughter) as Ivy Walker. Ivy is blind, but she is the wisest and most perceptive person in the village. This is a striking debut performance and I predict great things for Howard. Adrien Brody, William Hurt, and Sigourney Weaver also appear. Gary and I both liked Shyamalan's first film, The Sixth Sense, but we have been less enthusiastic about his subsequent endeavors. Roeper loved The Village, and Ebert hated it. I must quote the San Francisco Chronicle critic, Mick LaSalle, who obviously agrees with Ebert. He opened his review by saying, M. Night Shyamalan has nothing to say, but he's going to keep right on saying it until people make him stop. Our evaluation of The Village is somewhere in the middle. Nathan and I both think the film is worth a grade somewhere between C+ and B-. GRADE C+/B-

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES: No one knows why the five Lisbon sisters committed suicide, and this movie provides no answers. The adolescent boys who were fascinated with the beautiful and inaccessible sisters in high school are never able to forget them. Even in adulthood, they yearn to understand the girls and the reasons for their suicide. It is set in Detroit in the early seventies when the automobile industry is dying because of foreign imports and the elm trees are dying from an imported disease-Dutch Elm Disease. Jaynes Woods is Mr. Lisbon, a high school English teacher, and Kathleen Turner is his wife. Both parents seem as bewildered by their beautiful daughters as are the boys who stand in front of the Lisbon house hoping for a glimpse of the sisters. Sophia Coppola, whose acting was savaged by the critics in The Godfather III, directed this film with a skillful and sensitive touch. She may someday prove to be in a league with famous father. GRADE B

THE VISITOR: This excellent film was shown at the recent film festival we attended. It’s lead actor, Richard Jenkins, won the festival’s best actor award. We saw it at a local theatre and completely agree with Jenkins’ award. Jenkins, who is most recently remembered as the dead father on HBO’s Six Feet Under, is outstanding as Walter Vale a depressed, widowed professor whose life takes an unexpected turn. He teaches at a college in Connecticut, but reluctantly travels to NYC to present a paper at an Economics Conference. When he enters his NY apartment—a place he hasn’t used in years—he finds two people living there: Tarek, a musician from Syria, and his Senegalese girlfriend, Zainab. They had no idea the apartment belonged to someone. Walter uncharacteristically offers to let them stay until they can find lodging somewhere else, and gradually he and Tarek become friends. Tarek plays the African drum and begins to teach it to Walter. Soon the question of Tarek and Zainab’s status in this country is called into question, and Walter finds himself confronted by the harsh immigration laws adopted in the US since 9/11. The cast of four is rounded out by an Israeli actress who plays Tarek’s mother. The script is beautifully written and the performances by all four could serve as a master class in acting. All the characters are touching and real and our hearts went out to them. This is writer/director Tom McCarthy’s second film; his first was The Station Agent. A.O. Scott of the NY Times said in his review that even though The Visitor goes more or less where you think it will, "it still manages to surprise you along the way." If, however, you are someone who believes that all illegal aliens should be immediately deported, you probably shouldn’t see this film. It might make you question your position. Gary says B+, but I say A-. GRADE A-/B+

VOLVER: Pedro Almodóvar always tells an interesting story, although in this case, he takes a while getting into it. For the first 15 or 20 minutes both Gary and I had some difficulty staying attentive. Eventually, however, we became absorbed in this story of two sisters and their dead mother—a dead mother that seems to have returned as a ghost. Almodovar’s stories are always full of dramatic events which, in less skillful hands, would be melodramatic. But Almodóvar is a master at telling his stories, so full of emotion and feeling, in such a matter-of-fact way that they seem completely real. Tragic events are told with realism, simplicity, and even humor. Penelope Cruz is one of the director’s favorite actresses, and she is wonderful here. She’s gorgeous, of course, but also totally believable as a working-class mother. We first remember seeing her in Almodóvar’s 1999 film, All About My Mother. Other films of his that we have enjoyed include, Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk To Her, and Bad Education. Volver is in Spanish with English subtitles and that may keep some people away. For those that do see it, don’t give up if you find your attention flagging at the beginning. The story is worth waiting for. Gary says B-, but I think it’s a B. GRADE B/B-