31 Days of Horror: Green Room

Jimi: All is By My Side

A Late Quartet

Directed by Yaron Zilberman.

2012. Rated R, 106 minutes.

Cast:

Christopher Walken

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Catherine Keener

Mark Ivanir

Imogen Poots

Liraz Charhi

Wallace Shawn

The Fugue is a highly successful string quartet that has been playing together for twenty-five years. They are led by David (Ivanir), the first violinist and an uncompromising perfectionist. Robert (Hoffman), the second violinist is married to viola player Juliette (Keener). This seemingly perfect square is completed by Peter (Walken), the cellist and elder statesmen. We meet them as they’re getting ready for the start of their next season. Peter realizes he isn't quite right and soon learns he is in the early stages of Parkinson’s. As he contemplates his predicament, his illness becomes the impetus for the lives of these people and their group to start coming apart at the seams.

These are people who have intently studied every note of the classical music they play. No subtlety or idiosyncrasy of its composers has gone unnoticed. Fittingly, the story we’re told is very nuanced. It starts with the double-edged dialogue spread throughout. The characters, especially Peter, will occasionally spout little anecdotes about their lives that work on the literal level by being amusing. Subcutaneously, they function as clever analogies for what’s taking place on screen. The tricky part, which A Late Quartet masters, is they don’t tell us what’s about to happen. Instead, these tales present us a way of looking at the various situations that informs our viewing.

Of course, we run into some predictable plot points along the way. Thankfully, the movie deals with them in often unconventional ways. However, it’s not doing this just for the sake of being creative, or contrarian. They culminate in scenes that feel wholly organic to the situations, forgoing many of the contrivances of other movies. This fosters the notion we’re watching real people go through difficult times.

Also helping us believe in what we’re seeing is a phenomenal cast. Among our four principals, plus Poots as Robert’s and Juliette’s daughter Alex, there isn't a false chord struck. I’m a hug fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman so it’s no surprise I find him to be great here. I will note that for some reason I haven’t figure out yet, he wears his wedding band on his right hand for the entire movie. Mistake or metaphor? Catherine Keener plays a woman caught in the middle of multiple dilemmas. Still, it never feels like she’s overwhelmed despite the fact all of these are potentially earth shattering. Keener does a wonderful job conveying this. Perhaps most impressive of them all is Christopher Walken. For starters, he steers clear of giving us the usual Christopher Walken shtick. Admittedly, it’s served him well in many roles including the recent Seven Psychopaths. The absence of it works here. He really gives a poignant performance in what is ultimately a heart-breaking storyline.

While I see Walken’s storyline as a sad one, it’s debatable whether it’s totally so. That’s because it sets the stage for the others to possibly end happy. Whether any of them are or are not is open to interpretation. This is good. It leaves us something to discuss. There is ammunition for both sides of the argument. It gives us this ammo in a way that is not confusing, but fun to analyze.

As much as I like this movie, it isn't for everyone. It is not the type of film that throws us into deep waters as soon as possible. We wade in, slowly at first, and gain momentum as time passes. Even so, this is a drama absent much of the over the top histrionics found in plenty other pictures. Your “movie night” crowd might find it boring, especially if it is made up of viewers with middle age still over their horizons. This is a movie about adults with no illusions of youth who’s adventure is born of the anxiety of breaking their decades long routines.

Fright Night (2011)

Directed by Craig Gillespie.

2011. Rated R, 106 minutes. 
Cast: 
Anton Yelchin 
Colin Farrell 
Christopher Mintz-Plasse 
David Tennant 
Imogen Poots 
Toni Collette 
Dave Franco 
Reid Ewing 
Sandra Vergara 
Will Denton 
Lisa Loeb 
Chris Sarandon

In a small Las Vegas suburb things are going pretty well for Charlie (Yelchin). He has a good relationship with his single mom. Not only has he recently become one of the cool kids at his school, he’s also dating Amy (Poots), one of its hottest girls. There are some minor irritations in his otherwise perfect life. His neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Farrell) has been moved in for a while but still hasn’t had the dumpster removed from his front lawn. How dare he? Apparently, Jerry doesn’t realize how much of an eyesore this thing is. Charlie’s bigger issue is Ed (Mintz-Plasse). The two were once bestest buddies but Charlie has moved on. Ed hasn’t. He basically throws very public temper tantrums because Charlie won’t play with him anymore and blackmails him into doing so. It’s complicated.

Neighbor Jerry further complicates things. Aside from taking his sweet time getting rid of the dumpster, he flirts with Charlie’s mom. Even worse, Charlie soon discovers Jerry is a real live vampire. He’s not the type that Peter Vincent (Tennant) slays in his Las Vegas show, but an actual, homicidal bloodsucker. Jerry is also fond of apples and beer, but it’s the blood that’s most troublesome.

Troublesome also describes the way our tale is constructed. In case you didn’t know, this is a remake of the 1985 hit. That movie begins with Jerry moving in next door to Charlie. Everyone in the movie becomes aware of him as we do. Here, he’s been around for a while. It may not sound like much, but this little change to our entry point is enough to set the entire movie off-kilter.

Our view of those involved is off-kilter, as well. We don’t like any of them. In the original, Jerry is a debonair devil. We know he’s a killer, but he’s awfully charming. This version is more the sweaty, creepy type. He just happens to be as handsome as Colin Farrell. Farrell does a good job with the role, but it is what it is. Our new Ed is a jerk. We start actively rooting against him within thirty seconds of meeting him. Amy is just kinda there most of the time. Her subplot from the first film is not used. Peter Vincent is no longer a once-great facing the end of his career. This time around he’s at the height of his popularity. Instead of being insecure and incredulous of the events surrounding him, he’s a self-centered jackass we’d rather punch in the face than go vampire hunting with. He also seems like he was written for Russell Brand or David Tennant is just doing his darndest impression, but that’s beside the point. Charlie is pretty bland in both movies. However, when surrounded by unlikeable characters he also becomes hard to really care for. At best, we’re not aching for him to be brutally murdered.

The vocation of screenplay writing has been brutally murdered. Well, probably not. It has been severely injured, at least. The various strands are haphazardly slapped together. The comic relief isn’t funny and the horror isn’t horrifying. That nice bit of self-awareness the original had is almost completely gone. The make up for these lapses in execution we get the trusted method of multiplying the body count. Yawn. Since most of the killings are of the loud noise, look of fear, camera cuts away variety, double yawn.

I did a lot of double yawning while watching the Fright Night remake. Strangely enough, going into this it was the rare case where I didn’t mind something from my youth being remade. The original is pretty good, but there is room for improvement and the basic premise welcomes updating. Unfortunately, this movie did none of the things that would’ve made it better.