Film Review “San Andreas”

Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario
Directed By: Brad Peyton
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 114 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

I don’t expect too much from my disaster movies. Like most people, I grew up on them, and at this age, I know what I enjoy. For me, you have to have some engaging and likeable characters, plenty of wanton destruction, and maybe just a hint of self-aware cheesiness. Of course you can play around with these mechanics and it’s possible to create something genuinely fun and unforgettable, but “San Andreas” doesn’t do that. “San Andreas” doesn’t offer any Earth shattering originality or groundbreaking fun.

“San Andreas” does manage to entertain when it really, really wants to, but it fades into forgotten passages of the disaster movie history books. The Mother Nature run amok in “San Andreas” is fairly self-explanatory from the title; it’s an earthquake. A scientist played by Paul Giamatti is luckily around for the ride so he can supply information and give the audience simplistic explanations to summarize tectonic plate movements and what-not. “San Andreas” introduces the notion that just before a series of earthquakes strikes along the San Andreas Fault, he’s learned how to predict earthquakes. But it’s not necessarily the most helpful thing when he learns this technique minutes before the big “ones” strike.

“San Andreas” emphasizes multiple times the earthquakes we witness, on screen, are record breakers. “San Andreas” visually emphasizes this well with as the land rolls up and down like a wave pool and skyscrapers cascade into other skyscrapers. When not setting the scene, close-ups show slabs of concrete piling up, sometimes crushing unnamed innocent bystanders as they let out one final cry. And if you see this in 3D, there’s absurd amounts of rubble that litter the screen and fly at you. While this is all terribly exciting, but sometimes gruesome, there’s this pesky thing called plot that gets in the way.

Amongst the trembling masses fleeing every tall structure, is Chief Ray Gaines (The Rock). He’s the physical embodiment of a Swiss army knife. There’s no hesitation with his abilities and it seems like he’s ready to do it all at the flip of a switch. He could probably teach multiple courses on how to operate all land, sea, and air. Half way through I began to expect that he was eventually going to punch the physical manifestation of the earthquake in the face, but alas this movie isn’t that ridiculous, and that slightly disappoints me.

During his journey to demonstrate his MacGyver-esque knowledge, he has to save his ex-wife, Emma (Gugino) and track down his daughter, Blake (Daddario), who’s caught up in the chaos. There’s some nice moments where we learn about why Ray and Emma are no longer married, their inevitable reconnection, and a few other cute side stories, but it’s hard to get too emotionally attached after being subjected to awkward scenes featuring the horrified last looks of people whose lives are extinguished.

At times you’re disappointed they aren’t going balls out with the deaths and in other instances you’re thumbing your nose at the poor choice of people who die. The Avengers spent plenty of time in “Age of Ultron” making sure innocent civilians could live, but it seems like “San Andreas” made up for that by killing 100 times that amount. There’s such a fine line between enjoying disaster sadism and simply being repulsed, but “San Andreas” finds a way to do both multiple times. By the movie’s end, the tally falls in favor of distaste.

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Film Review “Tomorrowland”

Starring: George Clooney, Raffey Cassidy and Hugh Laurie
Directed by: Brad Bird
Rated: PG
Running time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Walt Disney Pictures

Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I have very fond memories of Tomorrowland. I’m referring to the section of Disney World where everyday people like you and I can wander and be amazed. A few years ago I stumbled into a theatre there and, somehow, my likeness was projected as “Sully” when they told the story of “Monster’s Inc.” Afterwards, as we left the theatre, more than one child pointed at me and said “bye, Sully.” That was Tomorrowland then. But what about “Tomorrowland” now?

We find ourselves at the 1964 World’s Fair. Here, while many new marvels are being unveiled (among them, the Ford Mustang, color television and, since this IS a Disney film, the “It’s A Small World” ride) we meet young Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson). Frank has shown up to enter his invention in a contest in the hopes of winning $50.00. He is met by Nix (Laurie), who questions his invention and its usefulness. Frank also meets Athena (Cassidy), a young girl who is smitten with the young man. Ah, young love.

Fast forward 50 years and meet Casey Newton (Britt Robertson). Her scientist father (Tim McGraw) is in the final weeks of his job with NASA. Hoping to keep dad working a little longer, Casey tries to disrupt the work that is leading to dad’s dismissal. Arrested she is sent to the local pokey. When she makes bail she gathers her belongings and finds, among them, a mysterious pin. When she touches it she flashes to another place. Another time. Tomorrowland (bum, bum, bum)!

Beautifully filmed and full of amazing effects, “Tomorrowland” is a film with a message. What’s bad about it is that it takes more than half the film to actually get TO that message. Basically, the film is the story of two people with different ideas about the future. One (Frank) is sure it’s doomed while the other (Casey) has that optimistic outlook that one normally finds in kids who still believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. Not only is Frank down on the future, his heart is broken because young Miss Athena did not return his feelings. Or should I say she couldn’t. Let’s just say that a lot of things were being built in 1964.

One of the drawbacks to the film is the length. Director Bird seems so intent on dazzling the audience that he seems to have lost his watch. A side-trip to a fandom-themed store is fun (stock full of “Iron Giant” toys and many reminders that Disney will be releasing the next “Star Wars” film this Christmas) but, like other set pieces, goes on forever. If not for the work of the actors, who seem to be buying the premise, the film could have been one big commercial. Clooney is subdued while Robertson is hyper. The best performance in the film belongs to Miss Cassidy, who brings true emotion to a character that shouldn’t have any. The PG rating my bring the kids but I think both they, and their parents, may keep checking their watches in-between the on-screen fun.

 

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Film Review “American Rescue Squad”

Starring: Tony D. Czech, Douglas Sidney, and KariAnn Christense
Directed By: Elliot Diviney
Rated: R
Running Time: 94 minutes
Music Video Distributors

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Imagine a Troma movie without any of the fun gratuitous nudity and violence. That’s “American Rescue Squad” in a nutshell. The creators behind this low budget flick have the know-how to realize what kind of movie they’re making. I just hate to think that a movie missing two components, as simple as naked people and gore, is what brings down this movie, but it does.

“American Rescue Squad” is a politically incorrect “Avengers”. Two superheroes, by the names of Personal Responsibility and Common Sense, have been away from the scene, but come out of retirement after a group of villains kidnap the Taxpayer. These villains are made up of the Freeloader, the Bible Thumper, and they’re all led by Congressman Dick Pansy. And just like any knowledgeable comedy movie that touches upon politics, it’s an equal opportunity offender.

There’s nothing too outlandishly offensive that should cause you to turn off the movie. There are jokes for both blue and red states, but luckily it never really grandstands and preaches a solid message. You can take what you want, but in an unbiased comedy like this, you would be wasting your time trying to read between the lines because there is nothing. None of the jokes are particularly clever, but silly for the sake of being silly. If you don’t have a rod up your butt, you should be able to chuckle every once and a while.

While it’s not about to join the ranks of “Airplane!” or “The Toxic Avenger”, it’s decent for what it is. It reminds me a bit of “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead” because of how it adds nonsensical musical numbers for our stereotypes to sing. And as you could surmise, the songs are equally crude and vulgar. “American Rescue Squad” has a charm that only comes from shoestring budget movies with passable acting.

But I just can’t quite enjoy it because as I stated earlier, no blood or naked people. I know when it comes to excessive nudity and violence, I’m generally condemning other movies for doing that, but when it comes to Troma, that’s what makes them so enjoyable. It’s supposed to be silly and over-the-top, but “American Rescue Squad” doesn’t have that and when you don’t have squirting red syrup and bare breasted women or male genitalia to keep your dirty mind occupied, you start to really think about the flaws of a movie that’s created in the same vein. I don’t know if what’s more terrifying. That that’s how my own moral compass is guided in some pop culture or that that’s my big slam against a movie that could have been better.

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Film Review “Pitch Perfect 2”

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Skylar Astin
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 1 hour 55 mins
Universal

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Get ready folks, the Bellas are back! And they’re just as ACA-funny as they were the first time.

It’s been three years since the Barden College Bellas captured their first collegiate a Capella championship. Now a three-time champion, the group, now led by the spirited Becca (Kendricks) has been asked to perform for the President. However, during a very elaborate aerial stunt involving “Fat” Amy (Wilson), something goes horribly wrong and soon the term “Muff-gate” has become part of the common lexicon. The resulting punishment strips the group of their title but allows them the chance to continue to compete in the World Championships versus groups from all over the world, including Germany’s current champions Das Sound Machine. With a few new voices in the group, will everything go as planned?

Fans of the first film will be pleased to learn that most of the original Bellas are back, with a few new voices to lead them. Among them is Emily (“True Grit’s” Hailie Steinfeld) a legacy whose mother (Katy Segal) is a Bella-legend and hopes to follow in her footsteps. Many of the returning characters are equally fun to watch, especially John Michael Higgins an director Banks as the smarmy hosts/commentators of the various competitions. Special attention to David Cross, as an eccentric a Capella fan who hosts “sing-offs” in his home featruing, among others, various members of the Green Bay Packers. The other main story follows Becca asshe continues to try to make it as a music producer. She gets her chance when she works with Snoop Dogg on his upcoming Christmas album. I must say here that when he’s crooning holiday classics, Snoop sounds a lot like the late, great Nat King Cole.

The script is fun, with many of the best lines going to Wilson’s “Fat” Amy, who considers David Hasselhoff the last great German singer and has been intimate with “three of the Wiggles.” The songs performed are familiar “sing-a-long” numbers and director Banks has a fine eye for capturing the excitement and exhileration of competition. If you enjoyed the first film, you won’t be disappointed with “Pitch Perfect 2.”

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Film Review “Mad Max: Fury Road”

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult
Directed By: George Miller
Rated: R
Running Time: 120 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars

From smashing real life cars in the early 80’s to CGI spectacles of today, it’s been quite the road for vehicular mayhem on the big screen. One of those movies to pioneer heart racing chases and motorized feats that could decapitate a stuntman was “The Road Warrior”. In 2015, George Miller has come full circle with his “Mad Max” franchise. He’s stepped on the pedal and revved up some life into this old franchise. While the original “Mad Max” movies were the quintessential action movies of the 80’s, “Mad Max: Fury Road” is undoubtedly the quintessential action movie of the 21st century.

This isn’t your typical summer blockbuster that requires knowledge of the backstory to understand the current predicament of the characters. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” much like the other movies, follows our hero, Mad Max. Max opens the movie with a narrative that packs more words than he’ll say for the rest of the movie. And trust me, that opening narrative still isn’t that long. His gritty and heavily accented voice grumbles out, “I exist in this wasteland, hunted by scavengers.” And that’s all you need to know about this world.

Fans of the previous movies will know that we’re plopped down in the fierce unforgiving deserts of Australia, but a sandy wasteland speaks for itself in a post-apocalyptic world. The movie establishes very briefly that there’s been a shortage of oil, a resource richer than water, which has thrown the world into chaos. Wars have torn us apart and devolved us into a primal state of mind. We no longer remember have a sense of normalcy and some have been born into this rustic nightmare.

Max is imprisoned in a mountainous fortress known as the Citadel. The Citadel is under the tyrannical control of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). He dilutes the populace with promises of guiding them through these end times and delivering them to Valhalla, sometimes personally. His operation includes a variety of different slaves, including men who churn a monstrous machine that pumps water from the ground, an army of pasty lunatics, simply called the “War Boys”, a row of women who are constantly being pumped for their breast milk, and five wives who he impregnates. He sees everything around him as his property and especially covets the angelic women like Gollum lusts after the One Ring.

But under the sanity of Imperator Furiosa (Theron), the five wives have hope. They escape with the battle hardened woman who burns with a deep hatred for Immortan Joe. Furiosa is in a position of power though, as the driver for the rig that transports precious gasoline, from a lone oil refinery, to the Citadel. With this super fitted and armed to the teeth war rig, she takes off with Immortan Joe’s “property”, sending him into a blind rage. He gathers the war party and storms into the desert with altered vehicles that seem born out of a NASCAR race from Hell.

“Fury Road” is a hot, violent, fever dream in the dunes of despair. There’s so much insanity to cover, I wouldn’t even know where to even begin. The chase after Furiosa drags Max into the fray as he’s used like a sick front hitch ornament for a pursuing vehicle, with his blood literally being siphoned from him into the deranged driver. Then throughout the movie, our enemies, when facing certain death, kamikaze after inhaling what appears to be spray paint, like deranged suicidal junkies. Main villain after villain appears with some sort of disgusting physical complication. While Immortan Joe needs a breathing apparatus, one villain has the teeth of a meth addict and the blind fury of an insane asylum patient, while another appears to be a discount Bond villain with a golden nose, a chain hanging between his pierced nipples, and a severe case of diabetes. And I haven’t even talked about the faceless creature that’s shown constantly playing an electric guitar that shoots flames.

Then there’s the thing you will be hearing about all summer, the stunts and the action. Yes it is relentless and fierce, and yes it avoids CGI, most of the time. Once you hear the sounds of gears shifting and nitrous being kicked on, you’re hooked from scene one. There’s such an adrenaline rush from watching real metal being chewed up and spit out, you can’t take your eyes off the screen. It also helps that every weapon and vehicle is unique in its brutality, while the chase itself seems like structured pandemonium. After watching the green screen CGI, sequel after sequel, and superhero epics, it’s refreshing to watch a realistic circus of carnage.

For being such a grotesque visual spectacle, it manages to be a very thoughtful movie, speaking volumes visually, without uttering a single word. Even though his name is in the title, the movie focuses heavily on Furiosa, who provides the bulk of emotion. While Hardy’s notes must have been very bare, Theron must have had a lot to handle. The movie begins with her as a cold, calculating, man-eater, but as the movie goes on she becomes a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape. But “Mad Max” movies, forego the first, aren’t really about Max. It’s about the world he inhabits along with the people he helps, despite his usual reluctance in the beginning. “Fury Road” is no different. Max joins Furiosa and the five brides on this journey, fraught with despair, but ultimately driving towards hope. It took nearly three decades for all of this to come together, and after an over 10,000 day wait, it was worth every millisecond of my time.

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Olivia Wilde and Reed Morano discuss the film “Meadowland”

In Reed Morano’s new drama Meadowland, Olivia Wilde stars as school teacher Sarah, the mother of Jesse (Morano’s son, Casey Walker). While on a family trip with Jesse and her husband Phil (played by Luke Wilson), Sarah loses Jesse from a bathroom at a rest stop. Morano and Wilde sat down at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival to discuss the making of the film.

Because the film is largely about Sarah’s journey in coming to terms with her lost son, it begins with the harrowing realization that Jesse is gone.

Lauren Damon: Could you guys talk about filming the opening sequence, both technically and emotionally of the child initially going missing?
Reed Morano: I mean, I think I just wanted to not follow the typical conventions of ‘okay, something bad’s about to happen, this is a thriller’ like I didn’t really want to do any indication of it. And that’s sort of like why you don’t–we don’t really even see Jesse before he goes into the bathroom. And I thought okay…We also didn’t really have very much time.
Olivia Wilde: Yeah.
Reed: I was surprised there. So I was like okay, we’re gonna film, let’s just do it. Let’s just have [the actors] do the whole action and we’re gonna kind of–I’m just gonna follow [them] with the camera. Since we were handheld, it was just very easy to just kind of like go with these guys, move off of them. We kind of had a general–we kind of planned out in general where [they] were gonna go look and then I just kind of went with [Olivia] and then focused on you know, Sarah for a while. And then I focused a little bit on Phil.
Olivia: It was very true to life to, we wanted to show that tragic realism of when something bad happens and if you play it back in your mind, you think ‘What would I have done differently?’ And that guilt that both parents may have felt. That they didn’t spend enough time focusing on him right before he went. You know, they’re in the front seat, Sarah’s working on something, Phil’s driving. And there is Jesse in the back kind of entertaining himself. And that’s why, you know, it’s a scene about real life, real parenting, [a] real family moment where everyone is not necessarily completely 100% focused on each other. And then they go into the rest stop and as we said, you don’t even see [Jesse] because that’s how it would be played back in their minds. Like for me watching it, that’s how Sarah’s remembering her last moments with him…She remembers the cookie, she remembers his little voice, she remembers small moments of looking at Phil. And then once they get to the rest stop, it’s kind of blotchy. She doesn’t really remember. She remembers he’s not there and then he’s gone. And when she goes back in her mind, she thinks ‘Who was there? When’s the last time I touched him?’ You know, all of that that we would all do trying to relive it and think what could I have done differently? So I loved how Reed made that choice just to do this as it would be true to life. Just another day, another moment.
Reed: Yeah because if you lose something, you don’t know ahead of time that’s going to happen…There was this thing at one time where people thought I was going to do this poignant moment in the first scene in the car and I was like no, it should be like real life. Like completely real. We don’t want to indicate–it’s not perfect. It’s just like a regular family hanging out, driving. Some people told us ‘Oh some of this stuff’s a little mundane’ and it’s like but that’s a family driving on a road trip. And then him going into the bathroom–I debated should I show a shot of the bathroom at first? To show, to reveal that the door wasn’t open initially. And then it’s like you’re putting too much pressure, you’re putting too much emphasis on him going into the bathroom. It’s like you’re already–people going into the movie, kind of already know what’s going to happen, but that would really indicate it.

 

LD: What was the thought process behind casting Reed’s actual son as Jesse?
Reed: Well, I mean there are practical reasons and there are emotional reasons to cast him. And I felt like when I was trying to cast–
Olivia: He was the best one!
Reed: He was the best one. I auditioned a lot of kids and I finally–and I was trying to avoid it–I think we talked about it and it’s like it’s so perfect, not only does Casey look like he could be Luke and Olivia’s son, he is also, he’s not an actor. He’s like really subtle…Like I know him, he’s sort of been my muse for a long time and I take a lot of photos of him. But just knew that he, he’s just wise beyond his years. And I just thought he’s going to be a natural in front of the camera. But besides that, originally I was scared of the idea because I was like, that’s so fucked up for me to do that. Am I putting this idea out to the universe and then my own son’s going to go missing? God forbid. And then I thought, no maybe it’s the other way around. Like I’m doing this so that it won’t happen to me. And I also thought it’s such a huge thing to ask of these actors, in particular Olivia, who has just had a son. And I know from experience that right after you have a baby, it’s the most emotional time period. It’s such a weird time for women. That’s why postpartum happens and all these other things. And I just thought I’m asking so much of her and I want to be like in it with her as much as possible and it was sort of like my way…And also, I wanted to make sure I got it right. You know, I feel like I wanted to know–and I don’t know, maybe it would have been better if it wasn’t a kid I was connected to because then I could find a way to make it emotional without having extra baggage attached–but I just, I wanted to really feel what they were feeling. And I felt like that was like the closest way I could do it.
Olivia: I think also in terms of performance, something I loved so much about the opening scene is how natural that moment is. And it’s hard to get a child actor to relax to that point. So I thought we were really lucky to have Casey, who’s not only I think a good actor, but he was so relaxed that we got these real moments that kids don’t typically do when they’re performing.
Reed: And to be noted, pretty much all the dialogue in that scene in the car is ad-libbed by the actors. It’s not–we ended up not really using anything from the script. I think the only thing we used was when he says ‘I’m thirsty’ and Luke says ‘Milk or juice?’ But then Luke added in ‘Or beer?’ and then Casey was like ‘Beer.’ [Laughs] I mean that’s what I mean. He was like SO on it. And then that whole story that Casey tells about ‘I was running…’ that was just me saying ‘Why don’t you tell us some stories about why you like going to see Uncle Tim’ and he’s like ‘Well last time I saw Uncle Tim in Ithaca, we were running around in a field of grass…’ And he just like made that up. The weird part is that later on in the movie, Luke tells a story about seeing Jesse running around in a field of grass behind his house. But that was actually in the script. But Casey had never read the script. So it was this weird like thing that happened. And I had to put it in and my editor was like ‘No no no, it’s too much of a coincidence’ But I’m like when people see the first scene, they don’t know what happens later so it’s fine.

The other child actor in the film is Ty Simpkins as Adam, an autistic student with whom Sarah emotionally connects at her school.

LD: What was the thinking behind having the character of Adam be autistic? And what was it about Adam that would have drawn Sarah in more than her other students?
Olivia: Well he’s an outsider and she relates to that. He has trouble connecting and communicating and she relates to that and so I think that was the reason for it. And I think Reed made the really wise choice, along with Ty, to create Adam to be subtlety different and so that Sarah would be the one to recognize what makes him special. But yeah, that everyone else had just kind of abandoned him and that she in no way sees herself as his proxy mother or him her proxy son, but I think she connects more to him. That he’s her and he’s probably the only one that she wants to be around because he’s not asking her to act normal. And she’s not asking him to act normal.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: discuss, film, meadowland, morano, olivia, reed, ...

Film Review “Radio America”

Starring: Jacob Motsinger, Christopher Alice and Kristi Engleman
Directed by: Christopher Showerman
Not Rated
Running time: 1 hour 41 mins
ShorrisFilm

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

The time is the 1970s. Instead of heading right to school, we find young David and Eric hanging out near the broadcast antenna of the local radio station. With their transistor tuned in, David tries to follow along, picking out the notes on his weathered guitar. Some days the duo becomes a trio, joined by their fellow truant Jane. As they dream of the future they dream of it one filled with music.

20 years later, David (Alice) and Eric (Motsinger) and still playing music, this time serenading the cows on the dairy farm they work on. They’ve become an accomplished couple of musicians, writing their own songs and continuing to dream. Eric dreams of making the big time, while all David wants is to have his music heard. His motto: “when they start paying you for it stops being fun.” Eric would like to play a gig for someone other than the cows but David refuses to be in a cover band. Jane (Engleman) talks them into entering an original song in a local “Battle of the Bands,” which first off requires them to actually form a band. With a drummer added to the mix, and the cool band name “Rockness Monster,” they play the gig. They don’t win but they catch the ear of a record exec who tells them he can make their dreams come true. But he doesn’t tell them at one cost.

Written by first time director Showerman, “Radio America” is a film that tells the familiar message of doing what you want because you WANT to, not because you have too. Like Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” (or even Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do”) it features a lead character who would rather play HIS music for a few people than sell out to play packed stadiums. However, like “Famous’” Russell Hammond, “Radio America’s” David, despite his trepidations, does begin to enjoy the good life. When the band’s first single begins to sell, they embark on a tour opening for a band drawing 20,000 fans a night. Soon David and Eric find themselves living the rock and roll lifestyle, from hotel rooms full of groupies to spending a night in jail for a little hijinx. David and Jane have started a relationship but that is quickly tossed away thanks to the spoils of the road. Meanwhile, Eric has become insufferable, going so far as to invite a young woman calling in to a radio program to “dress slutty and come on down” for a visit. Is this the end of “Monster” (their new, shorter name)?

The cast is strong here, with Christopher Alice giving David the quiet innocence of a true artist, making art because he likes it. As things progress we see him fighting, and eventually losing, that innocence. Which is ironic because all he wanted to do was play music. As Eric, Motsinger gets to act out more. The band’s front man, he becomes the face of Monster, for better or worse. Left behind is Jane, who follows their exploits on the road from her small town bank job. Also turning in solid work is Read MacGuirtose as English Joe, the band’s tour manager and director Showerman himself, who excels as the record executive that signs and guides the band.

The original songs, many of them written by and co-performed by Mr. Showerman, are also well done. It can really take a lot away from a film when the same song is featured several times on screen. If it’s not a good song it takes you out of the film. The songs here, most notably the title track, are bona fide rockers. Surely a soundtrack CD is on its way!

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Film Review “Hot Pursuit”

Starring: Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara
Directed by: Anne Fletcher
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 1 hour 27 mins
Warner Brothers

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Rose Cooper was destined to be a police officer. The daughter of one of the city’s finest, she spent her young days riding along with her dad. In the back of the car. Whether it was to be dropped off at school or heading to the prom, Rose saw the world from behind the plexiglass safety of a patrol car. We find her now working in the evidence room, more glorified secretary that law officer, thanks to an unfortunate incident in the field which is forever known as “being Coopered.” Kind of like being “Munsoned” in “King Pin.” However, when a high ranking member of a drug cartel and his wife agree to become witnesses for the state, Rose, because the law demands it, is sent to travel with the wife. Sounds like an easy job, right?

A hilarious mixture of “The Defiant Ones” and “Midnight Run,” “Hot Pursuit” is a film that lets Reese Witherspoon, an Oscar on her mantle for playing June Carter not withstanding, do what she does best: comedy. With her “by the book” attitude and Tennessee twang, her Rose could be a close cousin of Sandra Bullock’s Sarah Ashburn from “The Heat.” Paired up with, and against, the statuesque Vergara as drug wife Daniella Riva, Witherspoon is at the top of her comedic game here. If you’re a fan of television’s “Modern Family” (guilty) then you’re already familiar with Vergara’s broad comedy chops. The Columbian actress uses them well here, though finds a few scenes to do some real emoting as well.

The script, by David Feeney and John Quaintance, has great fun with both Witherspoon and Vergara and their comedy styles. A running gag, after Rose and Daniella begun to run, is that the paper and news sources continually get their descriptions wrong, with Rose growing shorter and Daniella growing older. And of course, Daniella’s massacre of the English language (“who do you tink you are, Terlock Holmes?”). These ladies are amateur bad guys but top notch comediennes and I hope Hollywood finds a way to put them back together again soon.

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Lake Bell chats about “Man Up” along with director Ben Palmer and writer Tess Morris at Tribeca Film Festival

Man Up, the hilarious new comedy from director Ben Palmer and writer Tess Morris, made its NY debut at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival with the creators and star Lake Bell in a cheerful mood on the red carpet. They along with producers Nira Park and Rachel Prior spoke with me about working on the film.

The film focuses on the awkward Nancy (Bell) accidentally swiping some else’s blind date, Jack (Simon Pegg) and the wild night they have out in London. True to the spirit of Man Up’s main character Nancy, writer Tess Morris was unabashedly honest about how she felt about the premiere, laughing and saying, “First time I’m going to see it with a paying audience–so I’m really excited and also I feel sick!”

Lauren Damon: How did you come up with some of the phrases and strategies that Nancy throws out in this film? The tactical puke? The blowjob paradox?
Tess Morris: Because they’re all actual things in my life! Actually, The Blowjob Paradox is my friend Austin. I have to credit him. That was his theory that I stole. Never be friends with a writer because they’ll just use everything of yours. Tactical puke? Because I’m the least sporty person in the world. So the idea of me actually having to do a tactical puke is sort of like half the joke. But yeah, I just base a lot of stuff on–I have a notebook with me everywhere I go and I just nick everyone else’s…

LD: Like Nancy carrying a notebook.
Morris: Oh yeah! Yeah, she’s very much myself.

LD: Did you write Jack with Simon Pegg in mind?
Morris: No I didn’t, I actually wrote it on spec, but he came on board it quite early and just changed the whole process for me. Because obviously once he was playing Jack, I could just have even more fun with him. And he brought so much to it, obviously. As did Lake. So yeah, that was a very exciting moment when he agreed to do it.
LD: I appreciated how none of your other female characters are mean, how the other date isn’t grotesque or competitive.
Morris: Oh yeah, like she gets her–I just sort felt like it was really important that she didn’t come across as like some young shallow kind of gal. Like she’s really excited for them because she’s a good soul. And I don’t like mean movies, you know? What’s the point?

LD: Can you name some of your favorite romantic comedies?
Morris: Oh yeah! I love Moonstruck. I think it’s underrated a lot. And I obviously love When Harry Met Sally and I also, most recently, Silver Linings Playbook and Crazy, Stupid, Love and Enough Said actually. I really liked Enough Said a lot. I think there’s been a slight resurgance recently.

 

Producers Nira Park and Rachel Prior had worked with star Simon Pegg throughout his entire “Cornetto Trilogy” with Edgar Wright and even earliar than that on UK sitcom “Spaced.”

LD: Can you speak about your relationship with Simon Pegg since you’ve worked with him dating back to spaced?
Nira Park: Eighteen years, seventeen years…we met on Spaced actually so I’d done something small with Channel 4 with Edgar before Spaced, then Spaced was starting up and Channel 4 actually asked me if I’d just do a couple of days a week initially to just kind of help them get it together. And I remember being really nervous when I met Simon and Jessica [Hynes] and I’m a bit older than them and they said they were terrified of me for the whole of the first series but I was actually quite scared of them! And–cause he’s just so bright and so brilliant and so funny–so yeah, I did a couple of days a week at first and then we all got on so well that kind of within a few weeks they were like ‘will you produce it??’ So okay.

 

LD:How did you get connected to this particular script?
Park: Well this script came about, we were just saying, because Rachel [Prior]–well we were all completely obsessed with Bridesmaids because we premiered Paul at SXSW and Bridesmaids was the surprise screening at midnight after Paul’s screening and it wasn’t finished at that point and actually [producer] James [Biddle] and Rachel weren’t there but I came back to London and was like ‘Oh my god, I’ve seen this film! It’s amazing! I wanna make this film!’ and we were just like ‘Why are there no more female writers in the UK who are writing this kind of thing??’ And then literally a couple of weeks later, this script, no one in the UK really writes on spec in the same way–it’s not the same as in the States–and this script just arrived through the letter box written by Tess and she’d kind of written it for Big Talk in the hope that we’d like it. Because she liked the films, the other films. And it was like everything we’d been hoping for! So at that point, we picked it up and we developed it for like a year and a half, we attached Simon kind of six months into the development.

 

LD:When did Lake come in?
Rachel Prior: When Lake came in it was just as we got to the point where we had a script that we were happy with and we were about to sort of start putting together and actually with BBC films and StudioCanal to actually start going into production. And we saw a couple of trailers for In A World and it was like there’s this–we had knew Lake from “Children’s Hospital” but there was something in In a World where we were like ‘Oh my god, she could play Nancy’ It’s obvious she was great at accents. And then we read an interview with her where she had said she studied drama in the UK for four years so we were like ‘Can she do a British accent?’ And she can.
Park: A brilliant one.
Rachel: Some Brits when we tested the film had no idea that she was American!

 

Lake Bell’s previous film, In a World featured her playing none other than a dialect coach with a great ear for accents.

LD:Was it gratifying going from In A World where the subject matter was doing dialects to this full feature where you’re using your British accent?
Lake Bell: It definitely was. You know accents and dialects are very much an obsession of mine. That is very authentic to In a World. So this was definitely on my actor bucket list of things to do was to play a fully realized British character, so yes. It absolutely satiated a desire to play a British character.

 

LD: How familiar were you with Simon Pegg before you paired up here?
Bell: You know I had known Simon’s work and certainly upon first meeting him I noticed we had a good sort of comedic chemistry and you know was excited to kind of go down this journey with him because I thought ‘Yeah, this if is gonna work.’ Especially with Tess Morris’s words which are so brilliantly…I really do attribute the brilliant repartee to her script.

 

Finally, director Ben Palmer comes from having done the feature film of UK TV teen comedy Inbetweeners.

LD: Your previous feature was The Inbetweeners, with just this manic teenage male energy, how was it switching to having a strong female lead?
Ben Palmer: It’s how I respond to a script, to be honest. And so the Inbetweeners was a really big part of my life and when I got sent Man Up, I almost felt they probably had sent it to the wrong person. Because I never thought that I’d be doing a British romantic comedy. But there was something–within the first couple of pages of reading Tess’s script, there’s something in that dialogue that stuck with me. And in a way, it has sort of that sharpness and that speed and the naturalism, I suppose. Those characters are so well drawn that I was a sucker for it, basically. And there’s and edge and there’s a truthfulness and it’s anarchic in its own way. There’s swears, there’s all that sort of stuff that excites me, I suppose. Although it is a romantic comedy, there is a crossover to the Inbetweeners. And it’s nice just to keep shaking it up and do a different thing.

LD: The film takes place over the course of one night, but has so many locations, what was that shoot like?
Palmer: I loved that hook, that it happened over sort of 24 hours, in one night really. So within that…the challenge is to try and liven it up and move it around and the fluidity and the speed that they’re hammering through this city. It’s trying to find locations, not the easy locations to shoot in, but to go well ‘this is where this would happen.’ And so with that, when you’re doing a low budget film, there’s problems there. Because you can’t close down whole blocks, so you’ve gotta sort of work around general public in a way. But that’s how you achieve something that feels real and honest.

LD: Bowling features heavily in Nancy and Jack’s date, was there a best bowler on the set?
Ben: (Laughs) Simon. Simon’s a pretty good bowler. I’d say he’d edged it.

Man Up opens in UK cinemas on May 29th, while Saban Entertainment has recently acquired US distribution rights. You can read my review from Tribeca here.

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Film Review “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron”

Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, James Spader and Samuel L. Jackson
Running Time: 141 minutes
Marvel

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

We’re already ten movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe when we wade into the battlefield with Ultron this first Summer Movie weekend so I think it’s a pretty fair assumption that most people have taken a stance on whether or not they’ll be grabbing a ticket for this latest offering. I know I’m betraying the idea of a critic’s ‘power’ here, but honesty’s the best policy. And honestly, we’re seven years in here and I’m on board despite it not always being the smoothest of rides. That said when it comes to this, the culmination of Marvel’s “phase 2”,  I was a bit overwhelmed. Age of Ultron is more of everything. How could it not be on the heels of its predecessors? There’s more characters, more back stories, and inevitably more destruction.  The former two will always play better than the latter for me but I can’t deny that Whedon’s film is an often wow-inducing spectacle that leaves our heroes on intriguing and unstable grounds.

As we learned from Iron Man 3, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is capable of accidentally creating some demons. In that solo story, it just happened to be a slighted science colleague, but in Ultron he really steps up his screwup game. The Avengers have been tracking down the scattered physical remnants of their 2012 outing, Loki’s mind-controlling scepter included. With that ‘glowstick of destiny’ finally in the capable hands of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Stark’s vision of utilizing Artificial Intelligence in his technology to protect the Earth from off-world threats can be realized. But faced with the prospect of the scepter being returned with Thor to Asgard, he does a rushed job of instilling his AI, Ultron, with a peace-at-ALL-costs mentality. And after raiding the internet and all the digital files of humanity, Ultron notices that it’s really the humans who always are in the way of peace. Oops, our evil robot threat is born. When Ultron beams his programming across the globe to the HYDRA facility from whence the scepter came, he picks up two ‘enhanced’ twins (read: evilly experimented on to the point that they’re super. Or as Cobie Smulders’s Agent Hill sums them up, “he’s fast and she’s weird”) in the form of Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who have their own axe to grind with Mr. Stark, a former weapons dealer lest we forget.

Ultron himself is menacingly played by James Spader via motion capture that is really chilling, especially in his zombie-like entrance. I hadn’t bought into a CG villain like this since Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. As a character born of quip-master Stark, he has a wicked sense of humor that these films always benefit from, even if he’s not as clever or fun to watch as Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Furthermore, it’s always a risk with comic book franchises to load their sequels with new characters but for me the twins were completely welcome additions. Olsen is particularly compelling as Scarlet Witch, whose powers to access the minds and darkest fears of her opponents induce some emotional, trippy visions for our core heroes. Later we’re introduced to the sublime Vision (played by Paul Bettany, on screen in the flesh, finally! Rejoice!) whose amazing origins are a bit too spoilery to divulge here but he is really a marvel (sorry) to behold. His introduction is one of the quietest sequences and winds up being the most entrancing. I suspect he, more than Ultron, will be what gets the most people talking in the category of new characters.

What’s interesting about Ultron as the chief villain is the gray area he thrusts the Avengers into. It’s all well and good when a mysterious army descends upon New York to be defended by the group, but when they are the creator of the threat, the onus to protect civilians is that much greater. Thus for better or worse, much of our battle sequence time is dedicated to getting the innocent populous out of range. A novel concern for a blockbuster really, though one wonders how much care they receive from the Stark Relief Fund in the aftermath what with their country destroyed…This responsibility is what causes the most strife amongst our original team. With the next Captain America film being Civil War—a comic book conflict that saw Cap and Stark fighting over a government registration of the super powered— it’s really exciting to see that seed of disagreement take root, evencoming to blows in a way they hadn’t since Thor was still a stranger to humans.

As you may have guessed with all my talk of hero in-fighting and quiet sequences being the best, I truly believe that the real power in these films ultimately comes from the scenes where things aren’t exploding. These actors have lived in these characters for years now and Whedon wisely gives them a couple extended sequences in which they just get to be human for a while. Of course they would all try and lift Thor’s hammer (side note: Thor in a red sports coat? Four for you wardrobe department), and hey, maybe some of them even have a family life, how crazy. There’s especially touching exchanges between Ruffalo’s Banner and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanov, both damaged in their own ways, that remind you just what an amazing caliber of actors this cast contains. Not to mention it’s especially pertinent to highlight their humanity in the face of legions of evil robots. I came away wishing for more of this in fact, since as far as I counted the film had four major city-leveling sequences to the first film’s two. Still, the destruction-fatigue continues to be offset by the cleverness embedded in the action—Cap’s shield certainly is a team player, even if that Hammer isn’t—and the cool new players in the field.

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2015 Tribeca Film Festival Red Carpet Interviews

The 14th annual Tribeca Film Fest was held from April 15th to 26th in lower Manhattan. Media Mikes had the opportunity to speak to many of the creative minds behind the films making their premieres over the course of the Fest. You can read my coverage by clicking on any of the posters below and check back to see more additions:

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About the Tribeca Film Festival:

“The Tribeca Film Festival helps filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enabling the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. It is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001, following the attacks on the World Trade Center, to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of the lower Manhattan district through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture, the Festival brings the industry and community together around storytelling.

The Tribeca Film Festival has screened more than 1,600 films from more than 80 countries since its first edition in 2002. Since inception, it has attracted an international audience of more than 4.9 million attendees, and has generated an estimated $900 million in economic activity for New York City.”

 

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Director Jeppe Rønde and star Hannah Murray talk about “Bridgend” at Tribeca Film Festival

Jeppe Rønde’s harrowing new drama Bridgend made its debut during the Tribeca Film Festival this past week with both the director and star Hannah Murray (“Game of Thrones”) in attendance. Bridgend is based on the true story of a massive series of teen suicides that occurred in a small town in Wales. The suicides received media coverage at a point where seventy-nine young people had taken their lives between 2007 and 2012. In the film, teenager Sarah (Murray) moves to Brigend with her police officer father and quickly finds herself running with the pack of local teens who’ve recently lost some of their peers to suicide. They are a wild bunch who borderline worship the deceased and memorialize them in an anonymous online chat. All the while Sarah’s father, like the rest of the community, seeks to find what is causing this horrible phenomenon.

This mystery intrigued director Rønde who spent time in the actual community and eventually shot the film there on location. Rønde and Murray both spoke to me on the red carpet about how important it was to dramatize the town’s story in a respectful manner.

Lauren Damon: You spent time in the actual community of Bridgend, what was that like and did you go there with the goal of developing a film about it?
Jeppe Rønde: I went there with the–a goal is a strong word–but I went there to try and find out what is this about? And why is this tragedy happening? Which is of course may be a mystery, because it doesn’t make sense. Why do so many youngsters kill themselves? So I was trying to figure out how can this happen? And how can it keep on going?

LD: Was Hannah’s character influenced by a particular story that you found there?
JR: Not particular, but I wrote the whole script through all the characters that I met there. Many of them. And I mixed them into, you know, one character. So you couldn’t do like a one-to-one, ‘oh this is that character’, because I would never be able to do that. Because that would be morally incorrect. So I built it on the reality I met but also making it a fiction which was important to me. Because it cannot be too close to the real people living there…

LD: How did you find filming in the actual location?
JR: Actually to film on the location was very important to me. Because you feel the presence of what is there. The geography is specific. There’s a fog coming, you know every day it rains a lot. And it can feel depressing. And at the same time it is extremely beautiful. And it was easy for me to get the actors into this state of mind that I wanted them to be in.

LD: How much preparation went into your work with the DP to get this very ominous atmosphere?
JR: Of course we wanted to push forward a feeling of something that would be this collective subconsciousness. Something that’s within us that’s a darkness. So we wanted to put that also into the shot.

LD: What would you want audiences to take away from the ending of the film?
JR: I hope that they will take away from the ending that this is something that is beyond understanding of who we are as human beings. That there’s something in us that we don’t know what it is…that if we do look into it carefully, then we can maybe choose one or the other. Because it is an open ending.

LD: Is this still going on? All the suicide statistics associated with the town seem to come from 2007 and 2012.
JR: Because that’s the only figures that you can find officially. But unfortunately yes, it is still happening. From what I heard and no one really knows, but the media was shut down in 2010. So it’s difficult to say, but you would have to ask the authorities there.

 

Hannah Murray, who currently plays Gilly on “Game of Thrones” had a breakout role in the UK teen TV drama “Skins” but saw the role of Sarah as a wholly different teen.

LD: What was your initial reaction to the script?
Hannah Murray: I’d never done something that was based on you know, based loosely on true events. I felt a huge sense of responsibility and I didn’t really want to get involved unless I thought things were going to be done sensitivly and respectfully. And when I had been offered the part I had a meeting with Jeppe to ask him why he wanted to make this film because I was worried about someone, I don’t know, wanting to do it in a kind of half-hearted way or taking advantage. So when I understood how long he’d taken to research it and how dedicated he was to the subject matter, and how involved he’d become with the community, I thought ‘Oh, you’re going to do this right and you’re going to do this honestly and bravely and compassionately.’ So that made me decide that it was something that it was worth jumping into.

LD: How was it shooting in that location?
HM: I don’t think we could have made the movie anywhere else. When you go there, you feel something very unique about that place and it’s beautiful. It’s incredibly beautiful but in a very bleak way. And there’s something kind of almost mystical and strange about it. I loved being there but it was, yeah you do feel a sort of sense of darkness in the air. Maybe that was because of the story we were telling though, I’m sure.

LD: You have this background coming from “Skins” of acting in the midst of a bunch of wild teens, did you feel a little like you were tapping into that again?
HM: I mean I feel like they’re incredibly different projects in sort of every way. Skins shows a dark side of teenage life but it also shows an incredibly fun and comedic side of teenage life. And in this, I mean, one of my friends saw this movie and described it as a gangster movie. Which I think is a really really interesting way of looking at it. And I think there’s a kind of, there’s a level of tribalism in this world that is so much more severe than anything that related to my teen experience. Whereas “Skins” I could kind of go like ‘Oh yeah, it was fun, we went to parties.” It was very different.

LD: How was it different on set with between the days you had you just acting with the pack of young actors versus the more intimate, intense scenes of just your character and her father?
HM: I mean that was one of the most amazing things about the project was all the different people I was working with were so different in terms of experience they’d had and the types of things they’d brought to these characters. So yeah, I remember every day we had the gang there it was just like this injection of energy and they were so exciting and would throw all these amazing lines that they’d improvised…And they would talk a thousand words a minute. And when I was working with Steve [Waddington] I felt like a child and when I was working with the kids I felt more like an adult because I felt sort of more responsible for them. And then I also had the love story with Josh O’Connor, which was a whole other element to play out…but I love everyone who worked on the film. It was such an amazing group of people.

LD: Finally, congratulations of continuing with Game of Thrones–especially this season’s opener being their highest rated–
HM: Oh was it?
LD: Apparently
HM: Oh that’s great!

LD: Why do you think the audience just keeps growing for it?
HM: I think it’s a REALLY good TV show. I think people put an incredible amount of hard work into it. The production values are really high and I just think David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] and George [RR Martin] are geniuses. I just think they’re so smart…And George created this amazing world in the books and these incredible characters and then the way David and Dan have adapted it is beyond. I think they’re so so smart.

LD: And how many times a day does Kit Harrington have to hear he knows nothing?
HM: He gets told quite a few times. Not by our crew, but I’ve seen people come up to him in the street and that’s allllways the thing they want to say to him.

LD: How about you, do you get fan recognition out and about?
HM: Um, a bit. Less so than I think some of the others. I think because I’m–well, now I have red hair, but I’m normally blond in real life whereas I have dark hair in the show so I can kind of be a little bit more under the radar. But I still, I’m surprised how many people still spot me. I think because there are so many fans of the show.

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Martin McCann, Olwen Fouere and Mia Goth talk about “The Survivalist” at Tribeca Film Festival

Stephen Fingleton’s post apocalypse drama, The Survivalist held its NY premiere at the Tribeca Film Fest on Thursday April 16th with the stars and director in attendance. Martin McCann takes center stage in the film as the survivalist who has a small farm in the woods and a strict solitary routine to keep himself alive.

Lauren Damon: Was it daunting for you to receive a script where your character spends so much time in silence?
Martin McCann: No no, I just think when you’ve got a silent script, you’ve got more of an opportunity to appear a better than you actually are. Because most actors mess things up when they’ve got lines! [laughs]

The Survivalist’s routine is broken by the appearance of mother-daughter travellers, Milja and Kathryn, played by Olwen Fouere and Mia Goth.

LD: Did you two have a backstory worked out for this pair of characters?
Mia Goth: Well you know, you never actually find that out in the movie either so you sort of, you know–which was a lot of fun–you get to create your own idea of what that character was and who she was as we lead up to where we meet her in our story. And I think I kind of just got the sense that she was just a normal girl, an ordinary girl, thrown into like extraordinary circumstances. And she, I don’t know, just shows great bravery and resiiliance and that was one of the things that I found most compelling and [made] me wanting to be involved in this. I thought it was very empowering.   
Olwen Fouere: We sort of did, yeah. We sort of did together and seperately. You know, I think what I thought was important was that we would each have a very strong internal life. So we would have individually worked towards that…And I think that it was also important that there was sort of a distance between the two of them as well, you know, because one of the points of the film is how it overthrows societal norms and the whole idea of family values, which of course is a whole idea that’s falling apart now anyway.

LD: The Survivalist adds to a long string of recent bleak post-apocalyptic views of the future on film, what do you think the appeal of that genre is?
McCann: Sometimes the truth hurts. And even though it’s a science fiction idea, you know post-apocalyptic and in the future, the inevitability of the life we’re living is that resources will run out. So I think there’s a weird sort of effect that that has.
Fouere: Well I think perhaps the world is starting to question the fact that with the explosive of our population, of the human race, and that the human race is becoming the greatest virus on the face of the Earth. So I think maybe people are beginning to realize that and you know, I think that’s what happens at a critical time is people start to envision what might happen. What the future might hold and how you might address things.

You can read my review of The Survivalist here.

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Film Review “The Water Diviner”

Starring: Russell Crowe, Jai Courtney and Olga Kurylenko
Directed by: Russell Crowe
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 51 mins
Warner Brothers

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Here’s a little trivia for you. What do these people all have in common: Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Ron Howard? The answer is that they are all well-known actors who have won an Oscar for directing. If Hollywood thought like me, this list could also include Paul Newman, Rob Reiner, Barbra Streisand and Penny Marshall. It should already include Ben Affleck and I wouldn’t be surprised if it one day includes George Clooney. I mention all this because there is a very good chance another name could join this group soon: Russell Crowe.

Turkey, 1915. As the incredibly brutal Battle of Gallipoli rages on, the Turkish troops, led by Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) prepare for their assault on the invading Australian forces. As they charge towards the sea they are shocked to find no resistance. As they overrun the barricades they see that the Aussies have withdrawn. History will tell us that the Australian army lost over 10,000 people here; the Turks 17,000. But it will take a father’s love to begin to give all of those lost souls some sense of peace.

Brilliant in every way, “The Water Diviner” has already been honored in its native country, winning three Australian Academy Awards, including Best Picture out of a total of eight nominations. Incredibly Russell Crowe’s direction went un-nominated. There was a time many years ago when Crowe would have gone out, got pissed and kicked some asses for this slight. And I would have been right beside him! Like Kevin Costner with “Dances with Wolves,” he has taken a prime piece of history and woven it into an epic piece of storytelling. Crowe plays Joshua Connor, a farmer whose three sons went off to battle and never came home. As the countryside is quite dry (we learn that sometimes it doesn’t rain for YEARS at a time), Connor often spends his days with divining rods, looking for a place to sink his next well. It has been four years since the wars ended and Connor’s wife still grieves. She also is in disbelief, insisting that Connor go into the boy’s room before bed and read to them. To appease her, he does, and it’s heartbreaking to watch this father surrounded by three empty beds trying to get through “The Arabian Nights.”

After another family tragedy Connor sets off to Turkey in the hopes of finding his sons bodies and having them buried at home. When he arrives in Istanbul he is greeted by a young lad named Orhan (Dylan Georgiades) who leads him to a hotel run by his mother, Ayshe (Kurylenko). Her husband has also not returned from battle but she refuses to accept his death, instead stressing to her son (and herself) that he is just “away.” This is unsettling to her brother-in-law, who feels he has a duty to take her as a wife and raise his brother’s son as his own. After some red-tape cutting, Connor finds himself in the battle zone, where British troops are constantly digging up new skeletons. Joining the British in this expedition is Major Hasan and his trusted assistant, Cemal (Cem Yilmaz). Learning when the boys died, the Major leads Connor to a section of beach that stretches for miles. When the officers are questioned by others why they should change everything (they’re method of operations) for one father who can’t stay put Major Hasan replies, “because he is the only father who came looking.”

As an actor, Crowe has seldom been better. His devotion to family, his bonding with young Orhan, the growing respect and admiration he has for Orhan’s mother (and she for him) is evident in every frame. As Ayshe, Kurylenko is strong and brave, refusing to give up her husband’s memory. Erdogan and Yilmaz and also excellent, allowing just a bit of decency to creep through their military ethic. Technically, the film is beautifully done. The photography, both during the battle scenes and later, when taking in the beautiful Turkish countryside, is outstanding. Production values are top notch all around and the musical score, by David Hirshfelder (“Shine,” the recent “John Doe: Vigilante”) helps provide the right emotional cues. “The Water Diviner” is a first rate classic that’s sure to be remembered come Oscar time.

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Film Review “Little Boy”

Starring: Jakob Salvati, David Henrie, and Emily Watson
Directed By: Alejandro Gomez
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 100 minutes
Open Road Films

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

Good intentions, on a movie’s end, can only mean something if the message is delivered in a clear and concise manner. There’s an awkward juggling act going on in “Little Boy” between one too many themes and one too many outlandish characters. All of them eventually get whittled down to blunt stereotypes. There’s a sentimental message in “Little Boy”, but it’s packaged in so many weird and different ways, it ultimately becomes a turn off by the film’s end. The movie’s good intentions can easily be seen as insensitive manipulation.

“Little Boy” has its heart in the right place, but it goes about showing it’s tenderness in the wrong way. Pepper (Salvati) is an adorable little lad, that has stunted growth, or at the most, a growth spurt that is literally waiting around the corner. His best friend, and only friend, is his dad, James (Michael Rapaport). They play together, they imagine together, and they dream together. Their scenes together are thoughtful, but hammy. When Pepper’s obnoxious brother London (Henrie), can’t go overseas to protect our freedom during WWII, because he’s too much of a flat footed doofus, the government instead hand picks James.

“Little Boy” could be have been complacent with this set-up and followed the story of a boy trying to land back on his feet after the departure, and loss, of his best friend. But instead there’s an exhausting list of confusing story arcs and plot points. There’s the town priest that shamelessly ties in the boys confusion and misery with a path towards spiritual enlightenment. There’s a Japanese immigrant in town that draws the ire of the boy, as well as some wince inducing scenes of a young child using derogatory slurs in a vicious manner. There’s the boy’s comic book hero that, through a live performance of the comic book material, convinces Pepper that he’s magical. Then there’s the shoehorned role of Kevin James as a doctor who does nothing in his scenes but eat and flirt with Pepper’s heartbroken mom.

It’s a confusing mess with no steady focus or fluid plot path. There are also some scenes that seem really inconsiderate to the material it’s handling. One scene that comes to mind involves the moving attempting to draw parallels between Pepper being bullied and his father being captured by the enemy to be forced into a POW work camp for torture and starvation. “Little Boy” treats delicate topics similarly to how Lenny from “Of Mice and Men” pets a rabbit.

This isn’t an outright disaster. Some steady and impressive performances by Tom Wilkinson, Emma Watson, and Cary-Hiroyuk Tagawa keep the movie from completely derailing and their presence adds a nice level of believability to an otherwise silly concept. And maybe it’s because so much is happening without a clear future, but there is a level of uncertainty as the movie progresses. Even if you think you know what will happen, it does manage to throw a few curves, even though they’re very sappy.

“Little Boy” is shot on 35mm film stock, which may be a turn off for some who expect crystal clear clarity, but it does somehow add to the general nostalgia of this WWII era film (although I did spot a 21st century currency being used). The movie may have worked best as a flick about tolerance towards other people and the misconceptions our society still has. Or, as I said earlier, it could be about the trials and tribulations of a boy attempting to grow up while his father fights for our freedom. At the end of the day though, the acting skills of Salvati represent the childish direction of a director who clearly hasn’t grasped the concept of mature, thematic content that is the basis for strong dramas.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews Tagged With: boy, film, review
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