Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road is the latest drama from director Sam Mendes and features the reunion of Titanic co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film follows the self-absorbed lives of Frank and April Wheeler during one tumultous summer when they try to change the overall arc of their lives.

This film is one of the first ones that we've reviewed for this blog that Kinsey and I disagreed on. We disagreed pretty vehemently. Kinsey really enjoyed it; me, not so much. So this review will probably reflect my more negative view of the film.

Revolutionary Road, which is based on the Richard Yates novel, is nothing you haven't seen before. The featured couple are selfish and fear the cloak of suburbia closing around their self-declared "special" lives. I guess the biggest issues I had with the movie didn't involve the plot but how the plot was delivered. The script was a problem. A lot of the scenes felt heavily, well, scripted would be the best word. Specifically the fight scenes, which are a large part of the film. Anytime Frank and April begin fighting, they spout all this overwrought exposition on their feelings and lives, and it just doesn't feel real at all. Even a couple of actors who had pretty good chemistry in Titanic couldn't pull off these heavyhanded scenes.

I didn't really know what Revolutionary Road was trying to make me feel. Was I supposed to feel sorry for these characters? That was difficult considering how loathsome Frank and April are as human beings. Was I supposed to be happy that I'm not them? Or was I just supposed to watch all these tragic events unfold? I guess it just might be my personal preference that I could in some way connect with films that I enjoy. I definitely did not connect with Revolutionary Road.

OK, this is Kinsey. In response to Wade's last paragraph, its not a movie's job to dictate how you feel - that's up to you and your interpretation. As for me I found this movie very powerful and moving. I understand how Wade thought it felt scripted, but he seems to have missed Mendes' different style. I thought the movie felt like a play. I almost thought I was in a theater watching actors on a stage. This may be a bad or a good thing, but the content of the script and the way the lines were delivered was different than other movies with similiar themes. It added to the overall concept that Frank and April were playing a part in life rather than really living. While I wouldn't consider this the best movie I've seen this season, nor is it better than Little Children with Kate Winslet from 2006 which has a similar concept, it is very good and I would recommend it - despite what Wade says!

Kinsey: 4 stars
Wade: 2.5 stars

The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky's latest film The Wrestler follows the life of washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, portrayed by Mickey Rourke. The film also stars Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.

The Wrestler is a wonderfully touching and chilling look at the life of a broken down man. It's even more engrossing when you start looking at the parallels between Randy "The Ram" and the actor who plays him, Mickey Rourke. Mickey Rourke was an up and coming actor in the early '80s garnering critical acclaim in films like Body Heat, Diner, and Barfly. His eccentric choices (he gave up acting to become a boxer) led him to direct-to-DVD releases in the late '90s.

It's safe to say that Rourke's performance is one of the best of the year, even perhaps the last several years. Its amazing that someone portraying a professional wrestler, a most bombasitc figure, could convey emotion with such subtlety and nuance. Body language, small eye movements, and subtle facial changes define his character with much depth.

Besides Rourke's performance, this film should also be seen for the director's complete 180 switch in style from his last feature. The Fountain was an effects heavy fantasy while The Wrestler employs a guerrilla style of handheld camera work to bring a gritty sense of reality to the film. I particularly enjoyed all the shots following Randy "The Ram" from behind, taking the joy Randy feels when entering the ring and applying different emotions when Randy is faced with reality.

There wasn't much I didn't like about this film. Maybe one thing would be how Randy's relationship to his estranged daughter is portrayed. I wish the film would have given this relationship more screen time. It seems a little tacked on and Evan Rachel Wood's anger seems a little forced. This is especially true in a scene where we see what is apparently the end of a heartfelt conversation. Couldn't the film take the extra ten minutes to show us the whole thing?

Kinsey: 4 stars

Wade: 4.5 stars

Drive Home Review: The Wrestler

Click on the title of this post to listen to our drive home review of The Wrestler.

Man on Wire

Man on Wire is a documentary about "the artistic crime of the century." The documentary centers around the exploits of Phillip Petit, an accomplished street performer, who in 1974 strung a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and proceeded to walk, kneel, frolic, and lay upon said wire.

Truth be told, Kinsey and I don't watch a lot of documentaries. I think we probably saw three last year (Born Into Brothels, In The Family, and Grizzly Man). I'm used to talking about works of fiction. But I think Man on Wire transcends that label of "documentary." It is easily the most entertaining, most suspenseful, and best film I've seen so far this year.

A documentary has to take advantage of the interesting qualities of its characters and story. A person like Phillip is perfect for a documentary because he's energetic, well-spoken, and above all, sincere. And that's something thats true of all the players in this caper. You can see on their faces and hear in their voices how this event changed their lives. You can see that joy, and you, as a viewer, reciprocate it. When one of Phillip's friends cries tears of joy over what they had accomplished, it moved me like no other moment this year.

Now, documentaries are visual arts, and this film has amazing visuals. Unfortunately, there isn't any video of Phillip walking between the two towers, but there are mindboggling photos. And there's one that's particularly striking. It's a photo of Phillip, suspended between the two towers of the WTC, and there's a 747 framed in the background. It's at that point that you realize that this is a film about an event that took place at the World Trade Center and it doesn't even mention 9/11. The film simply lets you marvel at the towers and what happened there.

Kinsey: 4.5 stars

Wade: 5 stars

Un conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale)

Un conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) is a French film from director Arnaud Desplechin starring Catherine Deneuve, Anne Consigny, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos, and many others. The film revolves around the exploits of the dysfunctional Vuillard family and their attempt at reconcilation through their mother's cancer over the Christmas holiday.

I came out of this film knowing something about myself and movies: I enjoy a simple movie that is well done. It's kind of how I look at architecture; its so difficult to do a simple building well, so why do we make vain attempts at complexity? Let's get the simple stuff down first. A Christmas Tale seems to me to be a complex movie, probably because its subject matter (the Vuillard family) is so complex. There were times that I got lost due to a character's actions or because of the film's narrative choices. The multiple sub plots got mixed up with the main plot, everything just got muddled. Kinsey used one word to describe the film: boring.

Now I know directors, especially progressive directors like Arnaud Desplechin, are still going to make films with complex themes and narratives, but that doesn't mean they're going to turn out well or that I'm going to like them. That's why I didn't like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Synecdoche, NY. And I really wanted to like both those films, and A Christmas Tale. I don't fault them for trying, but it takes a lot for these types of films to work for me.

Two more things I came out of this film knowing: that Mathieu Amalric is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, and that Catherine Deneuve still looks great at 66.

Kinsey: 2 stars

Wade: 2.5 stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the highly anticipated film from director David Fincher starring Brad Pitt as the title character. The film centers around the life of Benjamin Button, who, as his character states early on, "was born under unusual circumstances." These unusual circumstances lead to Benjamin being born as an "old man" baby, a wrinkly infant with cataracts and arthritis, and aging backwards to a "baby" old man, a little kid with dementia.

Oh, where to begin. So far, this film ranks as my biggest disappointment of the year, even more so than the abysmal Australia and the underwhelming Doubt. I have been looking forward to this film ever since I saw the first preview. Its been on all kinds of critic's top ten lists, its seems to be penciled in for a Best Picture nom, its got great actors in Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton, and a very capable director, with really tight, well constructed films like Seven, Zodiac, Fight Club, and even Panic Room on his resume. I mean, this should be a great movie, right? Believe me, it is not. It's bloated, meandering, overdone with CG-imagery and boring. And the thing that bothers me is that there is a great movie somewhere in there. The interesting thing about a guy who ages backwards is how that affects his relationships with other people. I don't want to know about the backstory about how he was born the way he was (in the movie), or how he reconnects with his father through booze and brothels (in the movie), or how he goes to war on a tugboat (also in the movie). Those things are not interesting considering your main character's special circumstances.

The only time the film presents an interesting story is about two hours into it's over 2 1/2 hour running time. Here we finally get to see Benjamin and his love interest Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, spend some significant time together and also begin to question how the relationship will work when Benjamin keeps getting younger. That relationship is where the heart of this film lies. Someone should take a hatchet to this thing, hack away all the superfluous fluff, a create a great 90 minute film about Benjamin and Daisy's relationship from childhood to death. That would be a great use of the source material, which, by the way, is a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story.

As far as the acting goes, Cate Blanchett does a good job as Daisy and Tilda Swinton is admirable in a small role. I don't see all the hubbub about Taraji P. Henson's role as Queenie, Benjamin's adoptive mother. Seemed a bit false and overdone to me. But Brad Pitt's performance sums up the movie as a whole. It's blank and lifeless.

Kinsey: 3.5 stars

Wade: 2 stars

Tara: 3 stars

Drive Home Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Click on the title of this post to listen to our Drive Home Review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with special guest Tara!

Marley and Me

Kinsey and I went to see Marley and Me over the holidays in Nebraska with my family. There are only three movies showing in McCook, and this seemed like a better option than Yes Man or Bedtime Stories.

Marley and Me is based on the book by John Grogan about his relationship with his ill-behaved yellow lab, Marley. The two leads (the human ones, not the dog) are played by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

We were surprised by how much we enjoyed this movie. Judging from the trailer, this seemed like it would be one of those movies that used up all the good jokes to get people to the theater. But it really wasn't like that. In fact, the "trailer" jokes are even better in the context of the film. Not a whole lot really happens in this movie. You follow Josh from his wedding day, to getting Marley, to having kids, to the (spoiler!) death of his dog. Sure, there are a lot of Hollywood cliches along the way, the couple live in picture perfect homes in both Boca Raton and Philadelphia, their kids are adorable, neither Owen Wilson or Jennifer Aniston seem to age, even though the film probably covers a dozen years, and so on. (Oh, and Jennifer Aniston has three kids and never loses her figure. Only in the moving pictures.) But cliches notwithstanding, its pretty difficult difficult to find good Hollywood fare these days. And that's what Marley and Me is, it's good Hollywood fare.

Kinsey: 3.5 stars

Wade: 3 stars