Genre Guessimation - Drive

Mudbound

Inside Llewyn Davis

Directed by The Coen Brothers.

2013. Rated R, 104 minutes.

Cast:

Oscar Isaac

Carey Mulligan

Justin Timberlake

John Goodman

Ethan Phillips

Robin Bartlett

Max Casella

Jerry Grayson

Jeanine Serralles

Adam Driver

Garrett Hedlund

F. Murray Abraham

It's 1961 in Greenwich Village, New York. Llewyn Davis (Isaac) is a down-on-his-luck folk singer. He has an album out that no one is buying, plays gigs here and there in local dives to make a few bucks, and sleeps on the couch of one friend or another every night. One of those couches belongs to loving couple Jean (Mulligan) and Jim (Timberlake). Jean spews endless streams of vitriol at Llewyn and continuosly declares her undying hatred of him. However, there was at least a short while where she let her guard down because she's just discovered she's pregnant and there is a possibility that the baby is his. In addition to this problem, he's lost the cat belonging to the Gorfeins (Phillips and Bartlett), another couple who lets him crash at their place from time to time. A rather interesting week ensues.

In true Coen Brothers fashion, we follow our hero on a series of misadventures as he continues to make a mess of his life. We get the sense he's been doing this for a good while. The fascinating part for us is trying to figure out whether or not he wants to fix it. Actually, that's not quite right. We're really trying to see how stubborn he is in trying to fix it his way before relenting and doing it the way others urge him. It's all a question of priorities and if Llewyn has them straight. Early on, shortly after Jean has told Llewyn she is pregnant, the two have a conversation discussing both the baby and the missing cat. By the end of it, Llewyn expresses more concern over the cat. Perhaps it's a defense mechanism kicking in after the verbal assault he suffers whenever Jean is within earshot. Maybe he is that far removed from reality that one situation is no more weighty than the other regardless of the consequences. This is what we're always trying to figure out with Llewyn. Eventually, we have to ask similar questions of Jean. As much as she hates Llewyn and proclaims her love for Jim, how is it possible the two ended up in bed together? What gives her the right to think that her decision making is any better than his? Nothing she does is above reproach. Are her tirades merely her own defense mechanism intended to disguise her true feelings?

The beauty of a Coen Brothers movie, and what makes them frustrating for some, is that even though they raise these questions they don't feel the need to explicitly answer them. They give us enough that we can argue about what we think those answers might be, but there really is no definitive right or wrong, just like in real life. In fact, this particular slice-of-life rings truer than most of the Coens' films because the situations Llewyn finds himself in are much more relatable than most of their other protagonists. He's a guy trying to make it as a musician and struggling badly. That's far more common than say, being chased around Texas by a relentless drug dealer wielding an oxygen tank, or a trio of escaped convicts becoming a renowned bluegrass band, or a pot-head trying to get money for a ruined rug from a millionaire he just happens to share the same name with. Don't get me wrong. Those are all great pictures, but not as grounded in reality as Inside Llewyn Davis.

Our star Oscar Isaac makes the whole thing work. That he's a guy determined to continue down the path he's on despite repeated failure is wholly believable. He sells us on the idea that no matter what, he knows better than you. He's going to do things his way and whatever happens happens. Because things aren't going so well with this method, there is an underlying anger to him that is consistently present. He only once berates someone. However, through Isaac's entire performance we get the sense that this is an angry, depressed little man. It seems his only joy comes from being on stage, but he can't get on enough of them to either satisfy his emotional need of them or to be able to afford a place to live. It also helps that he carries the musical performance aspect of his role really well.

Isaac isn't alone in giving us wonderful work, either. Mulligan is terrific speaking forcefully with every word exits her mouth. More than the words she says, the blunt look on her face while she does is what makes the character. The Gorfeins were played perfectly by Ethan Phillips and Robin Bartlett. Garrett Hedlund gives one of those performances that is quirky and great, but bound to be forgotten. Justin Timberlake gives a hard to judge performance. I don't hate him as an actor. In fact, I think he's usually not bad. Here, I didn't really like him most of the time. When he was performing music, it was a whole different story. Even here, you can see why he's become a pop music superstar. He has that little something extra that makes it impossible to take your eyes off him when he's working a song. Despite all of the stellar acting going on here, John Goodman steals the show as disabled, hard sleeping jazz musician Roland Turner. He is a vile person, often saying vile things, but he says them so eloquently it would be hard not to listen to him. It would be equally hard not to be pissed off at him. That's the magic of his character and Goodman pulls it off with ease.

When I first watched Inside Llewyn Davis, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I mean I liked it, but I didn't know how much. I was a bit perturbed that the whole thing seemed to be just a set up for a cheap timeline trick which I won't spoil. I also had some thinking to be about that ending. I did the only logical thing I could and started writing this review. This helped me work through it, and recognize all the exquisite things going on, here. Coen Brothers films often have this effect on me. I see them and like them okay, but don't quite appreciate them until I spend some time putting some serious thought into what I just saw. Unlike most movies, theirs get better under scrutiny. This is no exception. Taken at face value, it's a movie you can easily forget. Once you start digging though, you start to unearth a bunch of treasures.

The Great Gatsby

Directed by Baz Luhrmann.

2013. Rated PG-13, 142 minutes. 

Cast: 

Leonardo DiCaprio 

Tobey Maguire 

CareyMulligan 

Joel Edgerton 

Isla Fisher 

Elizabeth Debicki 

Jason Clarke 

Amitabh Bachchan 

Jack Thompson 

Adelaide Clemens

In 1922, Nick Carraway (Maguire) is one of the young, ambitious types who have flooded Wall Street looking for a big score. He's just moved into a small house on a rather exclusive island just outside New York City called West Egg. All of his neighbors are filthy rich and live in towering mansions. These are mostly people who've recently become wealthy. His next door neighbor, the mysterious Gatsby (DiCaprio) is one such fellow. Right across the bay is East Egg, a community made up of people from old money. There lives his cousin Daisy (Mulligan), who is married to the snobbish Tom Buchanan (Edgerton). Nick becoming tangled up in all of these people's affairs and their wild partying lifestyles ensues. In case you skipped high school, this is based on the famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Speaking of high school, that is where I first and last read the book and saw the original movie, starring Robert Redford in the titular role. Since that was at least umnumdiddily years ago, I have no recollection of the details. For all intents and purposes, I came into this blind. I'm okay with that. It makes it easier to judge the film on its own merits rather than how faithful it is to a classic piece of literature. So to all of you slamming it for not being as good as the book, I'm sorry. I just don't have that perspective. I am not saying that I just love this movie. Far from it. I am saying that my reasoning for what I view as pros and cons have nothing to do with the novel.

To start on the plus side, what can't be denied is that this is a remarkable looking film. The sets and the props all scream "roaring twenties." From the upscale mansions that reach toward the heavens to the grimy communities where the rich go to do their dirt, it all looks perfect. Add in the cars, costumes, color pallettes, and the grand time everyone seems to be having nearly at all times, and The Great Gatsby continuously dazzles the eyes. It's a vibrant world filled with people without a care in it. Their extravagant lives jump off the screen.

That extravagance is at the heart of the movie's slyly self-mocking sense of humor. It's not a comedy, but the people on the screen, especially Gatsby himself, have an understanding that they are ridiculously out of touch with the real world. They know that it's all "too much," yet they can't help but revel in the excess. They've cocooned themselves in bling and are quite giddy about their accomplishment.

Our wealthy fools are all played marvelously. Leonardo DiCaprio superbly shows us a man completely in tune with building his empire, however that may be, and presenting himself as a dashing figure. On the other hand, he tends to flap about like a fish on a boat when dealing with matters of the heart. His eventual rival, Tom Buchanan, is played nicely by Joel Edgerton as a relentless brute. He brandishes his life of privilege like a weapon and isn't afraid to use it. Carey Mulligan is wonderful as a woman torn, not in an emotional sense, but an ethical one. She has one treasure trove and is offered another. Her dilemma is deciding if she owes it to the man who gave her the first, to keep it. Finally, there's Maguire as Nick. He makes a nice mediator. More importantly, he's the closest thing to "one of us" we have in this world. As such, he maintains a somewhat incredulous disposition about everything.

Eventually, we have to get to the downside. Here we are. to start with something simple, let's talk music. In case you've forgotten, the movie is set in the early 1920s. That alone is more than reason enough for us not to be hearing Jay-Z every five minutes. To be honest, I've been a fan of Jigga for a very long time. I'm talking since well before most of you had ever heard of him. I'm talking since back when he cared more about his lyrics than trying to fit them to a radio-friendly beat. Right now, I can recite "Can't Knock the Hustle" totally from memory without pauses or mistakes, and without the song playing to guide me. I like a number of the tracks used here. Many of them are retro-fitted for a vaguely 20s feel. They just don't fit, no matter how they're altered. Having early twentieth century party goers kick their heels up to "Crazy in Love" is just silly, to me. It stinks on of a filmmaker over-reaching in an attempt to appeal to young audiences. For a movie that went through painstaking efforts to look authentic, this is a hard to forgive misstep in the opposite direction. Admittedly, if it makes your toes tap you might be willing to look past it. I couldn't.

The music is really just a symptom of a bigger problem. The whole thing feels empty and pointless. If not completely empty, then definitely shallow. I'm sure there is some grand interpretation of the American Dream and our remorseless capitalism to be culled from the fates of all involved. Those of you who have written papers on the novel, feel free to clue me in. Cinematically, it doesn't translate. On the screen, it comes off as a couple of flashy rich guys we don't particularly like in a pissing contest to see who gets to spoil the already spoiled princess. One is a heartless philanderer. The other is purposely a home-wrecker. Both men are exceedingly arrogant and self-centered. The question we wind up asking ourselves is do we really care which asshole gets the girl?

Shame

Directed by Steve McQueen.

2011. Rated NC-17, 101 minutes.
Cast:
Michael Fassbender
Carey Mulligan
James Badge Dale
Nicole Beharie
Lucy Walters
Hannah Ware
Elizabeth Masucci

Like a lot of bachelors, Brandon (Fassbender) sleeps and walks around his apartment in the nude and uses the bathroom with the door open. This is the opening scene and serves as your warning Shame is a movie that doesn’t pull any punches. We learn shortly hat he has a well-paying job, watches lots of porn and has hookers over from time to time. He also spends a few nights a week at bars with his boss David (Dale) who is constantly trying to pick up chicks. A little after that, we find out the woman pleading with Brandon on his answering machine is not some jilted lover, but his estranged sister Sissy (Mulligan). She suddenly re-enters his life without permission. Against his better judgment, he decides to let Sissy stay with him a while. From there we watch his life, and eventually hers, fall apart.

It becomes pretty clear that Brandon is a sex addict. This is eroding his ability to function as a normal member of society and carry on meaningful relationships. However, we wonder why all the disdain for his sister. He seems to see her as a free-loader who bounces in and out of his life, wreaking havoc as she does. However, there also appears to be more to it than that. The movie moves steadily down that path, intriguing us all along the way.

Unfortunately, the seams burst during the third act. It happens when Brandon suddenly isn’t able to perform. Why isn’t readily clear. Perhaps the lady he's with is too nice a girl. Maybe it’s because his attraction to her isn’t based on sex. Or maybe it’s because she’s a co-worker, or because she’s black, or because he doesn’t like her choice of underwear. Whatever it is, it needs further explanation because none of those ideas hold much water based on what follows. We immediately see Brandon go on a serious binge involving a bit of everything. I guess it brings us back to the meaningful relationship/nice girl line of reasoning. However, their encounter isn’t something that takes place while they appear to be falling in love or even considering each other as serious potential mates. It’s a spontaneous, mid-day, ‘let’s go do it’, type of thing a day or two after they’d only had their first date, a moderately successful but decidedly asexual event which didn’t even result in a goodnight kiss. The problem is compounded by what Sissy does. It’s something that positions itself as an impetus for something, but for what? I’ve said too much. I’ll stop before I get into serious spoilers.

Michael Fassbender is ceaselessly fascinating in the lead role. His work is nothing short of courageous as he exposes himself both physically and emotionally throughout. He ably conveys the fragile mind state of an addict. He doesn’t have to go it alone, either. Carey Mulligan is nearly as good in her role. Her portrayal is not quite as in your face as Fassbender’s but it’s even closer to the breaking point right from the start. She teeters the edge very well.

Shame is an interesting movie dealing with an addiction not often depicted on screen. Director Steve McQueen tells his story without flinching and manages to hold our attention even when everyone has their clothes on. The problem comes with the pivotal scene I mention above. It triggers a serious binge by Brandon but doesn’t make much sense within the context of the movie. It just hangs there, a giant loose end we can’t quite tie. We get a similar feeling about how Brandon escapes even the slightest consequences for his behavior and of the ending itself. I’m all for ambiguous conclusions but when the credits roll on this one the questions raised aren’t compelling, leaving us with a dissatisfied feeling even after we enjoy so much of it.

MY SCORE: 8/10

Drive

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.

2011. Rated R, 100 minutes.
Cast:
Ryan Gosling
Carey Mulligan
Ron Perlman
Bryan Cranston
Albert Brooks
Oscar Isaac

Christina Hendricks
Kaden Leos

The kid or Driver (Gosling), as he’s listed in the credits, is special behind the wheel. His ability has gotten him a few different gigs. He’s a mechanic and part-time Hollywood stunt driver. His boss at the shop acts as his agent and is trying to borrow money from the local gangsters to finance a racecar driving career for his boy. The kid is also a popular and highly effective getaway driver for area riffraff. We get the impression that when he’s not doing any of these jobs he sits in his small one bedroom apartment all alone and stares at the walls. He doesn’t say much. His conversations consist mostly of one word answers to the questions of others. It’s pretty safe to say he’ll never be mistaken for a social butterfly. I imagine it’s kind of hard to meet girls that way.

Ah, but a girl there must be. The kid has a thing for Irene (Mulligan) who lives next door with her son Benecio (Leos). We quickly realize, she has a thing for him, too. They often see each other in the elevator but might never have interacted beyond saying a polite hello if not for her car breaking down. You see, she’s less shy than he, but still not a big talker. He manages to string together enough words to ask her out. She accepts and they sort of become a couple. Even though there are fewer words shared between them than sheepish grins, they understand one another.

Showing such a silent relationship is a tricky proposition. Movies are generally cluttered with noise. It’s what we expect. Here, neither of our lovebirds says much with their mouths. Body language and facial expressions handle the bulk of their communicating. The make a cute couple. The trick that’s turned is making us understand the depth of their feelings for each other. Even this is done without the usual visual panache. They never look longingly into each other’s eyes or go running towards one another and kiss deeply while sweeping music blares from the speakers. Neither tries to chase the other down while the object of their desire is aboard a departing bus or train with tears streaking down their face. There are no love scenes. What they have just is.

Well, it just is until it just isn’t. Rather, it lurks in background when we get a large piece of information. This info that I won’t divulge is the dime the movie turns on. When we get it, we may realize things are about to change. Still, we can’t fathom how it will lead us to the place at which we eventually arrive. Just know that this makes the second half of the picture a graphically violent excursion.

For some, the fact that all the action takes place late will be problematic. They’ll be frustrated by all non-verbal communication and general lack of adrenaline during the first part of the movie. The issue will be that these people have likely seen the trailers for Drive and happily hit the play button expecting something more along the lines of a Fast and Furious retread. They will be severely disappointed. The rest of us will be drawn in by the uncommonly quiet half of the film and will delight in the explosion of violence when it comes.

Never Let Me Go

Directed by Mark Romanek.
2010. Rated R, 103 minutes.
Cast:
Carey Mulligan
Keira Knightley
Andrew Garfield
Izzy Miekle-Small
Charlie Rowe
Ella Purnell
Charlotte Rampling
Sally Hawkins

A few years ago, director Michael Bay gave us “The Island.” In it, there was a colony of clones keptin in what was essentially an underground warehouse for spare parts. These clones existed only to provide any parts needed by the person they were cloned from. Eventually, a couple of them figure this out and all hell breaks loose. For my money, it’s easily one of Bay’s better movies. Nevermind that it was actually a rip off of an old 70s B-movie called The Clonus Horror.. Never Let Me Go starts with the same idea. In this case, our clones are being raised at a special school. When they eventually graduate, they are moved to various boarding houses until it is time for them to make “donations.” Depending on what’s needed, most of them make about four donations before dying in their early twenties. This movie takes a decidedly quieter approach to the subject. Where the latter half of Bay’s movie is essentially one long chase scene, “NLMG” has no such adventure. That’s okay. Sci-fi that uses its brain instead of its fx is a nice change of pace.

One of the problems is there isn’t much sci-fi beyond its premise. By that, I mean there are deep ethical and philosophical discussions to be had based on the mere fact of the existence of clones. There is a little of this at the beginning, a little more in the middle, then a bit more at the end. Most of our time is spent on a rather mundane love triangle. Kathy (Mulligan) has a crush on Tommy (Garfield) when the two of them are about ten years old. Classmate Ruth (Knightley) suddenly decides she likes Tommy and steals him away. Kathy spends most of the next 18 years pining over the only boy she’s ever loved.

Let’s get back to the sci-fi. There are some interesting things afoot. For instance, Kathy gets what can only be deemed as a stay of execution when she becomes a “caregiver.” Basically, she becomes a social worker to other clones who are going through donations. Eventually, she will have to go through them herself, but she gets to live a little longer. Sadly, exploring truly intriguing topics such as this are only skimmed while we plumb the depths of the aforementioned love triangle.

Honestly, I have nothing against movies about longing for love, if they’re done well. This one is trite and has an air of inevitability. It’s coming to a point we know that it must. No matter how much they try to fake us out, we just don’t buy it. There will be some that will be enthralled by the romance factor. To the rest of us, it will seem to have wasted its potential.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Directed by Oliver Stone.
2010. Rated PG-13, 133 minutes.
Cast:
Shia LaBeouf
Michael Douglas
Carey Mulligan
Josh Brolin
Frank Langella
Susan Sarandon
Austin Pendleton
Vanessa Ferlito

There is a lot of stuff happening, here. The iconic Gordon Gekko (Douglas) is finally out of jail and armed with a best-selling book. Still, his daughter Winnie (Mulligan) blames him for everything since the crucifixion of Christ and wants nothing to do with him. Of course, this means she’s in love with a guy just like him. That guy is Jake Moore (LaBeouf), a young Wall Street hotshot with a jones for an alternative energy company in California.

Keep up, we’re just getting started.

The firm Jake works for collapses. Did I mention this is set in 2008? Anyhoo, when the firm goes belly up, Jake’s beloved boss Lou (Langella) can’t take it anymore, or finally had enough of the smell in the subway, and steps in front of a train. As you would expect, Jake gets all pissed and , tries to go Jason Witwicky and get Bumblebee to kick some ass. However, since he can’t do that in this movie, he decides he’s going to try and take down the man who he thinks is responsible for all his recent misfortunes, Gordon Gekko…oh, wait, sorry. That would’ve made it more interesting. Instead, it’s some other cold-hearted arrogant mogul named Bretton James (Brolin). He’s the kind of guy that likes to stab people in the back and then come around front and act tough as they die.

Well, since it is 2008 and all, the Dow Jones does all of Jakes heavy lifting and all the firms soon find themselves in financial ruin and facing extinction. By the way, there’s also Jake’s mom (Sarandon) who’s a real estate junkie, a cajillion karat engagement ring and an angry liberal website.

Phew! Let me catch my breath.

Actually, all that sounds like an interesting movie. Add in the fact that Oliver Stone is indeed directing the sequel to one of his masterpieces, and this has the pedigree to be great. Sadly, it’s nothing of the sort. It’s just a bunch of stuff.

An old baseball saying warns us to “make them beat you with your best pitch.” If you’re a pitcher tasked with getting out the other team’s star hitter in a potentially game-changing moment, throw your best pitch. If that pitch is a 100 mph fastball, go with that. Don’t bother with your curveball that doesn’t curve so much. For non-baseball fans, it simply means go with what you do best in crucial situations. WS: MNS rarely throws its best pitch.

It’s best pitch is the Gordon Gekko of the original movie. That Gekko is simultaneously magnetic and repulsive. He is irreverent, unapologetic, self-absorbed and above all, greedy. He is one of the best villains of the 1980s, possibly of cinematic history. This version is much more pathetic. His smugness and sliminess has lost most of its appeal. Worse than that, because we do get glimpses of the old Gordon, he’s a secondary player on what should’ve been his stage to shine.

That stage is thoroughly hogged by Jake and James. As our good guy, LaBeouf does what LaBeouf always does, take it or leave it. As the bad guy, Brolin turns in another in what’s becoming a long line of impressive performances. The problem is the characters themselves. They’re both less interesting knock-offs of their counterparts from the original, with equally less interesting dialogue and relationship between them. There’s no complexity to it. It’s simply good guy vs. bad guy. The original gave us two guys who obviously admired one another and, for a time, really were on the same side. The sequel ditches that for standard hero/villain fare, not its best pitch.

About two-thirds of the way through, we get a cameo by Charlie Sheen, ever so briefly reprising his role as Bud Fox. This might be the best scene in the movie. That’s the worst thing that it could’ve been. Seeing Sheen and Douglas have a short, but contentious conversation is too much a reminder of what could’ve been. It’s a mere hint of the movie we wanted. After a few fleeting moments, Sheen walks off dragging our hopes and dreams, kicking and screaming behind him, never to be seen again. There went the movie’s best pitch.

We get more curveballs that don’t curve. We get lots of drawn out scenes of meetings where old men try desperately to save their own backsides. We get lots of one-on-one meetings between others, either trying to save themselves or talk tough to one another. We get lots of clips of CNN. All of this is steeped in joyless financial jargon. The movie only moves away from feeling like economics class when it involves Gekko’s daughter, Winnie. However, with her constant whining she’s much more an annoyance that the reprieve we need.

This movie has needs, too. Apparently, it needs us to like the Gekko family, along with Jake who keeps threatening to be their new addition. To that end, everything is wrapped up in one gutwrenchingly cheesy and hastily tied little bow. All of the good guys will have their cake, and eat it too. It’s too easy, too cliché and not Oliver Stone’s best pitch.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

Brothers