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Showing posts with label Jason Clarke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Clarke. Show all posts
Monday, December 11, 2017
Monday, August 11, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The Great Gatsby
Directed by Baz Luhrmann.
2013. Rated PG-13, 142 minutes.
Cast:
Elizabeth Debicki
Amitabh
Bachchan
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?
Friday, March 14, 2014
White House Down
Directed by Roland Emmerich.
2013. Rated R, 131 minutes.
Cast:
Joey King
Nicolas Wright
Michael Murphy
Rachelle Lefevre
Agent John Cale (Tatum) works on the security detail for Speaker of the House Eli Raphelson (Jenkins). Through some favors, he got that job and finagles his way into an interview for a position in the Secret Service at the White House, because that's really how you get a job guarding the most powerful men in the free world. It so happens that the person interviewing him, Agent Finnerty (Gyllenhaal), is an ex-girlfriend from college. Given that, and a spotty work history, he doesn't get hired. Since his daughter is a political buff and absolutely adores Pres. James W. Sawyer (Foxx), he brought her along and she gets separated from him because she has to make a trip to the restroom. Wouldn't ya know it? This is precisely when all hell breaks loose as terrorists storm the property, guns blazing. Pretty soon, Cale realizes he's the only one who can save both his daughter and the Chief Executive.
To my surprise, White House Down takes a little longer to kick into high gear than expected. This is actually a good thing. These early scenes establish our characters nicely and are fairly funny. The mood is kept light and wee see the bad guys moving into position. During this time, star Channing Tatum exudes the easy charm, and yes ladies, the movie star looks that have made him famous. Co-star Jamie Foxx isn't bad, but seems to be caught in a bit of a conundrum. It appears he is unsure how much Pres. Obama should be in his character. He vacillates between impersonation and doing his own thing. Like Tatum, though, he has a natural charm that pulls him through without being too big a detriment.
Once the fireworks start, this is solid turn-your-brain-off fare that never
threatens to get too heavy. It doesn't attempt to brow-beat you into a flag
waving frenzy, either. That last thing is a huge problem with this movie's
barely older twin sister, Olympus Has Fallen. I am an
American, proud to be one. Still, movies that are relentlessly heavy-handed
tend to leave me cold, regardless of how great its message. Thankfully, that
isn't the case with WHD. Sure, there is some overt
patriotism going on, but it feels organic to the plot, not the product of
overbearing propagandists. It just follows two guys, one of whom happens to be
the President of the United States, as they try to maneuver their way out of
the White House even though bad guys control the premises. They have a nice
chemistry which certainly helps. And yup, not only does everything go boom all
around them, they make plenty of things go boom themselves.
The villain does the usual ranting and raving, plus their is plenty of
in-fighting with his team. Meanwhile, the secondary characters on the good side
do the prerequisite hand wringing. It's all pretty much par for the course. The
only standout being the overall quality of the cast. Even though it is just a
big, dumb action flick, they bring the goods.
Where the movie strains just a bit is when it over-twists itself. It spends
lots of time building up one character as our bad guy, giving him a detailed
backstory and the whatnot. Eventually, as must always be the case, we switch
gears and find out there's someone else involved. Normally, this would be fine.
Here, it occurs so late in the proceedings we get almost nothing about him that
matters. It's not quite a deal breaker, but it does take some air out of the
balloon.
Plot malfunctions aside, we still have a fun ride on our hands. It's got loads
of action, it's goofy at times, and genuinely humorous at others. Our two leads
work together very easily. I wouldn't mind seem them together again. Maybe they
can do a buddy-cop movie or something, not a sequel. We don't need a part two.
However, I did have a good t ime watching this. Without the Kong-like
chest-thumping of Olympus Has Fallen, I felt free to just
enjoy it, not be brow-beaten by it. I understand lots of people didn't like
WHD. After all, it is loud and stupid. You know what,
though? It works for me.
MY SCORE: 6.5/10
Monday, August 5, 2013
Zero Dark Thirty
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
2012. Rated R, 157 minutes.
Cast:
Jennifer Ehle
Edgar Ramirez
Harold Perrineau
It’s quite simple, really. This is all about the almost decade long hunt for Osama bin Laden after the events of 9/11. Maya (Chastain) joins the CIA’s effort early on and eventually comes to spearhead it. We see her and her colleagues feverishly gathering intelligence and note the differences in how this is done before and after the general public found out about waterboarding. We see Maya persevere in the face of waning support from her superiors. Finally, we see…well, you know how this ends.
Movies based on true stories generally have to contend with
the audience already knowing the outcome. Here, the problem is multiplied
because a) it is more well-known than most and b) it’s still pretty fresh in
our collective memory. The devil has to be in the details, and so it is. To
that end, we get a procedural chronicling Maya’s difficult path to victory. It’s
an atypical war movie in that it’s all about a chess match on the grandest
scale, not an all out depiction of battle. However, there are bursts of
violence sprinkled throughout and the culmination of all of our heroine’s work
is the operation performed by Seal Team Six. By the way, this is done with
great accuracy, according to everything I've heard or read about it.
Before we get to that finale, it’s all about war waged on
multiple fronts. Most obviously, there is the overall war on terrorism. Within
that broader scope, there is the war between the CIA and the White House over
what procedures are acceptable and which are not. Then there is the war between
Maya and her own bosses over whether or not to keep her pursuit alive. Speaking
of alive, there is also the war to keep her that way once her identity becomes
known to her enemies. As Maya, Jessica Chastain is nothing, if not fierce. Her
ferocity is drawn from unwavering conviction. She is the type of person we
viewers might not like if we had to work with/for her, but we’d appreciate her
and be glad she’s on our side. It’s not that she’s mean or even inaccessible.
It’s that to call her dedicated to the mission is like saying that Oprah has a
little money tucked away.
Through Chastain’s performance, an excellent script and
supporting cast, and the gravity of the situation, director Kathryn Bigelow
crafts an engrossing film. It grabs hold of us as it explains the hows of the
whats we already know. We’re intrigued by the process. When we get to the last
scene, we do as Maya does. We exhale.
MY SCORE: 9/10
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Lawless
Directed by John Hillcoat.
2012. Rated R, 116 minutes.
Cast:
Jason Clarke
Dane DeHaan
Chris McGarry
Tim Tolan
Noah Taylor
The main strength of Lawless is its characters. As Forrest, Tom Hardy is ridiculously good, again proving he’s among the very best actors woking today. Without mugging for the camera, his face says everything it needs to. His Forrest is clearly a man that measures his words whenever he can and has supreme confidence in himself. He actually believes that bit about being indestructible. Still, he’s very smart and doesn’t let his ego make him entirely wreckless, usually. On the other hand, baby brother Jack is pretty much the opposite: a big talker who likes to show off with fancy suits and cars. It’s a surprisingly good performance from Shia LaBeouf. Jessica Chastain, as Maggie, is also solid, as usual. So is Gary Oldman who gets way too little time on screen. However, it’s Forrest’s rival, Special Agent Rakes that steals the show. A bizarrely made up Guy Pearce does the honors. You will love to hate him.
Lawless also maintains an excellent pace. The action is often brutal and the stretches between action scenes are filled with tension and, surprisingly, humor. These attributes, combined with the wonderful cast, make this a very entertaining movie. A time, or two, ti does stretch the idea of Forrest’s invincibility incredibly thin. Other times, Howard and Maggie blend in with the furniture, not given quite enough to do. That said, it is still an incredibly watchable film that absorbs us into its fabric.
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