The Martian

Fantastic Four

Shooter

Directed by Antoine Fuqua.

2007. Rated R, 125 minutes.

Cast:

Mark Wahlberg

Danny Glover

Kate Mara

Michael Pena

Rhona Mitra

Ned Beatty

Tate Donovan

Elias Koteas

Justin Louis

Rade Serbedzija

Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg), what a name, is a former military sniper who was part of one of those missions that can't be confirmed nor denied. Rather salty about how the whole thing went down, he's now become a bearded recluse living in the mountains with just his dog. One day, the government comes calling, in the form of Colonel Isaac Johnson (Glover). The colonel says he has reliable intel that an attempt will be made on the President's life during an upcoming speech and that the shot will be fired from an incredible distance. Since our hero is the only one known to have made such a long shot, they are asking his help in figuring out how and from where the deed could be done in order to prevent it from happening. One thing leads to another and before you know it, Bob Lee winds up with a couple bullets in him and is on the run from the authorities.

This is a movie built on the cat-and-mouse between Bob Lee and the colonel. It works pretty well as the two make formidable adversaries. Wahlberg gives us the scowling hero look which has served him nicely in the past. It does here, as well. Glover is really a slimy sort. He gives the most interesting performance in the film. I don't think he gets enough credit for playing bad guys. I've seen him give audiences a good one a few times. I guess it's tough to escape the long shadow he himself cast as half of the Lethal Weapon duo. Ned Beatty is also solid as a crooked politician. Meanwhile, Kate Mara does nice work as the girl who believes our hero.

Besides Glover, the standouts are Michael Pena and Rhona Mitra. Pena plays the rookie FBI agent who smells a rat and is determined to get to the bottom of things. Mitra is a fellow agent who slowly comes around to the right side of things. They have their own little cat-and-mouse going with the agency at large as they do their snooping from within the system. Neither is doing award-worthy work her, but they provide some nice interludes between the scenes involving our stars.

In all, Shooter is a passable flick. It's solid action fare that provides enough excitement and suspense for us to make it through no worse for the wear. The ending that's better than the rest of the movie may elevate it in some people's mind beyond what it likely deserves. It deserves to be thought of as decent, definitely worth a watch, but not something that really stands out.

MY SCORE: 6/10

Deadfall

Happy Thanksgiving, folks!!! I couldn't let the day pass without an appropriately themed movie, so today you get Deadfall. It's not exactly going to give you the warm and fuzzies, but...well...let's just get into the review...

Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky.

2012. Rated R, 95 minutes.

Cast:

Eric Bana

Olivia Wilde

Charlie Hunnam

Kate Mara

Kris Kristofferson

Sissy Spacek

Treat Williams

Patrick Kerton

Allison Graham

We meet Liza (Wilde) and her brother Addison (Bana) as they are riding along a snowy road in the getaway car after a casino heist. Our movie watching experience tells us that when a movie starts inside a vehicle, something bad is about to happen. And so, it does. As they tend to, a deer runs out into the middle of the road, which the driver slams into. We won’t be seeing either of them again. As for Liza and Addison, they survive. Since the car did not, they have to find a way to the Canadian border to complete their escape. Addison decides they will split up. Liza is to hitchhike her way to someplace safe. He will have the money and call her later tonight to find out where she is and get there any way possible. As an unsuspecting police officer who happens upon the crash site learns, killing anyone in the way is certainly an option for Addison. Something else we learn about him is that his relationship with his sister is probably a lot different than yours with your siblings. They take the phrase “keep it in the family” way too literally. Anyhoo, Addison takes off through the woods, taking a chance he’ll freeze to death, while Liza manages to get a ride from Jay (Hunnam). Unbeknownst to her, Jay has not only just gotten out of prison, but he is also on the run. Of course, they discover they kind of like one another. Hmmm, wonder what Addison thinks of all this. We find out over a rather tense Thanksgiving day feast.

The movie alternates between Addison’s countryside adventure and Liza’s road trip with Jay. It also lets us get to know Jay’s parents: his loving mom June (Spacek) and his grouchy dad Chet (Kristofferson) who won’t speak to him. Local cop Hannah (Mara), who grew up with Jay and now works under her overbearing father Sherrif Becker (Williams), is also in the mix. With all of this going on, Deadfall manages not to feel cluttered. It ably bounces around the various subplots and keeps them well tethered to the larger narrative. The motivations of each person is revealed in no uncertain terms. Within each, a different aspect of family dynamics plays out. Unfortunately, this also renders them all rather flat. We get the idea we know what any of them are going to say before they actually speak.

Addison is the one person who manages to escape the trap of predictability. Sure, his ultimate goal is transparent, but he gives us surprises along the way. This makes whatever is going on with him the most interesting thing in the movie. Eric Bana has some issues with his southern accent, his character is from Alabama, but is otherwise great. We get that this is a guy with a warped sense of morals. It is certainly understood that his screws are rolling around unfastened to anything in his noggin.

The elders in the cast:  Spacek, Kristofferson, and Williams are all excellent. Spacek is particularly good. Where her male cast mates all huff and puff through much of the movie, she gives a very nuanced performance. Our pair of instant lovers doesn’t fare as well. Olivia Wilde is actually solid, giving off enough naivete to sell her roll. Unfortunately, she shares most of her scenes with Charlie Hunnam. He gives the type of performance that makes it difficult to believe he has a pulse.

What Deadfall has going most for it is the way it all comes together at the end. Leading up to the finale things are a bit uneven. It’s fun when Bana is on the screen and the dynamics betwee the various characters works. During our time with the lovebirds the movie doesn’t sizzle the way it wants. However, from the moment Bana shows up in Spacek’s kitchen, the tension is ramped up and carries us through the third act. The actual ending is on the predictable side, but it works. It takes the movie from being one we could go either way on to the one that’s not too bad.

MY SCORE: 6.5/10

127 Hours

Directed by Danny Boyle.
2010. Rated R, 94 minutes.
Cast:
James Franco
Kate Mara
Amber Tamblyn
Treat Williams
Kate Burton
Sean Bott
Lizzy Caplan
Koleman Stinger

Eventually, Aron Ralston (Franco) travels inward until he reaches the murkiest depts. Of his soul. He comes to realizations he might not have, had he not been afforded so much time, not only alone, but unable to distract himself with his usual activities. Truthfully, his usual activities have gotten him into this mess. He’s a loner and an outdoorsman. As soon as he leaves work on Friday evenings, he’s normally off to some remote place to hike, climb and/or dive. This weekend, it’s Blue John Canyon. He goes alone, without telling anyone where he’s going.

At first, things are going great. Aron bumps into a pair of young ladies who are lost. He takes a couple hours to help them get where they’re going with laughs and giggles throughout. Once he parts ways with the girls, it’s back to his solo adventure. While exploring the canyon, he slips and falls. When he stops, he finds his right arm to be literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock is wedged between the two walls of the canyon and cannot be moved by Aron. Despite his best efforts, he can’t get the thing to budge. Over the next five days, Aron spends his time trying to free himself, reminiscing on his life to this point, dreaming of a future he may never have and having the occasional hallucination.

Aron is also videotaping himself on the camcorder he carries on every excursion. He hopes that someone would get the footage to his family should he not survive this ordeal. In the horror genre, lost footage films are all the rage and have been since The Blair Witch Project up through the recent Paranormal Activity franchise along with a number of other such movies. 127 Hours is not considered a horror flick, but to me that’s precisely what it is. Movies about masked and/or disfigured boogeymen are gory and silly, even fun to watch, but they are hardly scary. Haunted house flicks can be a little more unsettling, if watched in the right setting. Even then, the uneasiness they cause might linger an couple hours after they’re over, at best. Watching a regular person make one misstep and find himself truly isolated is a bigger fright. It’s more tangible. It’s easier to see this happening to ourselves. I’m sure a homicidal maniac “could” show up and wreak havoc on my next camping trip, but its much more likely I’ll go exploring the area and get lost. If I’m lost long enough, the thoughts running through my head will probably mirror Aron’s. This would be even more true if I were facing something so immediately life-threatening as being pinned in one spot with access only to whatever I was carrying.

Since Aron’s predicament is somewhat relatable and the things he thinks about only make perfect sense, this movie wrecks our nerves. They’re calmed somewhat by the fact that this is based on a true story. The story made headlines, so many people know the outcome going in. However, even knowing how it turns out doesn’t prepare us for the pivotal scene in which Aron does something that will free him, kill him, or both. If you don’t already know what happens, I won’t tell you. Suffice it to say, I was physically uncomfortable watching it play out. I did mention that I consider this a horror film, right?

Director Danny Boyle keeps us engaged by letting us into Aron’s mind. He doesn’t merely point the camera at a man stuck to a rock. He explores the man. To make this work, star James Franco is willingly explored. For my money, this is easily his best performance. To be honest, I haven’t liked him in anything I’ve seen him in. Here, he plays his role wonderfully. It’s easy for an actor to be over the top when they’re often the only person on the screen. However, taking a cue from Tom Hanks in Cast Away, his emotions fluctuate perfectly throughout. The movie as a whole does the same. We ride the roller coaster anxiously as it ascends, afraid as it drops and excitedly through the loops.