Film No.82 (2014) Wild. December 9th.

Film No. 82 (2014) December 9th. 6:30 PM VMAX Innaloo.

Wild

"Honestly, I'm lonelier in my real life than I am out here", are the words spoken by Cheryl Strayed in a scene part way through Wild. While the scene is typical in look to what we've become used to as we've accompanied this woman along the famous Pacific Crest Trail, the words best sum up our key character's predicament. For me it is why the film succeeds. Barring the sudden and convenient ending, Wild is inspiring and entertaining.    

Wild is based loosely on the Cheryl Strayed memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. I say loosely because much of the heartfelt drama we view on screen via flashbacks have been embellished for purposes of more convenient story telling. The key to the journey however is the fact Strayed (nee Nyland) walked the PCT and documented her 3 month journey. The real life walk was possibly underwhelming but Strayed's ability to write made the story worth telling. 

So why does the film gel with such a narrow premise? Part of the reason for its success is due to the clever scripting provided by Nick Hornby. The reason Strayed is walking a trail we give her no chance of finishing, is because she is damaged. The clever method Hornby uses to narrate her story using light moments on the walk to juxtapose the heartfelt scenes told in flashback from her prior life builds a magic balance. We soon believe she has the strength to succeed. 

More importantly Reece Witherspoon is entirely convincing. Like most films that surprise, they are often films where the expectations were never high. Ms Witherspoon bought the rights to Strayed's story just prior to publication 3 years ago. Hornby was employed immediately to write the narrative, so her vision was real. The word is Witherspoon is in line for an Academy nomination and to my mind she probably deserves it.  9GUMS

     

Film No. 81 (2014) The Judge December 7th.

Film No. 81 (2014) December 7th. 8:15 PM Luna Outdoor Camelot.

The Judge

Father / son relationships have formed the backbone of many well made movies through the years. Surprisingly The Judge is a mediocre addition to that list. I say surprisingly because the cast assembled for this film is of the highest quality. Names including Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmega and Billy Bob Thornton will draw a crowd but unfortunately the script left them bereft.

The Godfather, one of the greatest films ever made, can be compared in some way with The Judge. The father (The Don, Marlon Brando and The Judge, Robert Duvall) in both cases has a fractured relationship with his son who returns home due to family circumstance. Al Pacino's Michael is brooding and underplayed, Robert Downey's Hank Palmer is a brash lawyer but we never get to really understand why there is such a rift between his character and his father, The Judge. In both films there are other brothers, more loyal, who are important to the story but once again The Judge flounders because there's not the chemistry or the quality of Don Corleone's lads. I wonder if the presence of Duvall was not coincidental.

The Judge is the keeper of the moral compass in a wheat belt town in central US. He holds secrets however and all is not what it seems as seen through the eyes of son Hank when he returns from his city highlife to mourn the death of his mother. We learn that father and son are not close but after an incident involving The Judge, his car and a former criminal, you guessed it, Hank becomes his fathers defense attorney.

Then there is Sam (Vera Farmiga), Hank's high school sweetheart who has a teenage daughter (Carla Powell). There is silliness in this sidelight to the story. Warner Brothers' films often delve into cliched moments which do the film no justice. The real disappointment, however, is Billy Bob Thornton as Dwight Dickham. It's not Billy's fault, the script fails him miserably. His band of fans who paid their money to watch his work would have hoped for a refund. The Judge is tepid and clunky. 6GUMS

Film No.80 (2014) Serena. November 26th.

Film No.80 (2014) November 26th. 6:30 PM VMAX Innaloo.

Serena

Serena offers so much. A cast of Hollywood A listers, sumptuous costumes and sets, a screenplay based on a best selling novel and arguably the best Danish director currently working. Perhaps, as William Goldman outlined in Adventures in the Screen Trade, there is no such thing as a sure thing because Serena is a flop. Unfortunately, echoes of things to come could be heard early in the screening I attended. We laughed when we really should have been moved or shocked.

Serena (Jennifer Lawrence) marries George Pemberton (Brad Cooper)because he asks her, in their first meeting, with the second sentence he utters to her. In the next five minutes of screen time we are asked to be convinced of a special love they have for one another based on some vigorous horse riding and sensuous lovemaking. With all of that done they are soon on a train to George's timber cutting empire in North Carolina. All of this narrative is fed to us in 10 minutes.

Next we are presented with a few cliched scenes depicting Serena as one tough lady who knows her timber and needs to be respected by George's workforce. Meanwhile she becomes pregnant but not before she has paid close attention to an ex-servant of Georges who is the mother of a boy he fathered before they were married. And so it goes, she has complications during child birth etc etc.

My previous paragraphs are written slightly offhandedly, I apologize for that. It is a spin off of the manner in which the film presented itself to me. We are never attached emotionally to the characters or their emotional plights. There are however some picture postcard settings. If that is your thing then go see Serena. 3GUMS 

Film No. 79 (2014) The Drop November 24th.

Film No. 79 (2014) November 24th. 6.15 PM LUNA SX Fremantle. 

The Drop

I did enjoy The Drop. It's one of those quality thrillers where piece by piece each scene fits to form a three dimensional puzzle. Like all good films, there are some pieces more significant than others and so one is left to ponder the significance of each careful placement well after the screen has faded to black. For me however there is a flaw, it's with Marv (James Gandolfini), he lacks a credibility which I feel sure was not director Roskam's intention.

There were qualities only De Niro has previously exhibited to Tom Hardy's, Bob, the linchpin to all that The Drop stands for. The brooding bartender becomes our hero early and while he's not everything he seems, we root for him to the end. It's all to do with his commitment to the downtrodden; there's Nadia (Noomi Repace) a lady with both physical and mental scars and then  Rocco, the pooch he rescues from Nadia's garbage bin. These are simple but effective scenes to get us onside.

Cousin Marv used to own the bar where drops are made. The drops take the form of illicit money paid to the new Chechnyan owner Chovka (Michael Avonov)for services rendered. The Drop evolved from a short story Animal Rescue (Dennis Lehane). The story goes that the title of the film was to be Animal Rescue however because there was less of a focus on the human/animal relationship and more on the bar, The Drop was chosen. It's the muddled cues about cousin Marv's past and  the real connection he has with Bob, leading to the subsequent climax, that bothers me.

Don't get me wrong, I repeat, I enjoyed The Drop. I wanted it to be better, that's my issue. I haven't read the short story. As Dennis Lehane also wrote the screenplay I dare say there may be some enlightenment in the written version. Maybe I just wanted James Gandolfini to be better defined in his final role. I, like many others who continue to luxuriate in The Sopranos will miss him ..... Oh, and don't take my criticisms to heart, don't miss The Drop. 9GUMS   

  

 

Film No.78 (2014) Nightcrawler. November 17th.

Film No.78 (2014) November 17th. 6:30 PM VMAX Innaloo.

Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal emerged as a character actor of quality with the cult figure Donnie Darko thirteen years ago. Since then many a film buff has been waiting for another strange fellow to creep from our screens with Gyllenhaal wearing his skin. For me the time has come, Lou Bloom is the creep and Nightcrawler is the film.

We meet Bloom as a down and out thief working the L.A. streets accumulating steel and metal junk for cash so that he can maintain a semblance of a nocturnal existence. Suddenly he finds himself amongst the chaos of a traffic accident on a freeway. We observe him taking in every detail of a camera crew working the scene to film fresh fodder to sell to the highest bidding network keen to fill their breakfast television schedule. This gives him the seed of an idea for making fast cash.

Bloom is a psychopath of the Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) order, but without the misguided moral foundation De Niro gave Bickle. Gyllenhaal as Bloom takes us on a twisted journey of entrepreneurial genius as he becomes a major player in the news collection industry. But he then delivers us into evil as we stare into his single minded persona via his dark eyes. His autistic tendencies mean the people who mean most to him, Nina (Rene Russo) and Rick (Riz Ahmed), don't mean much to him at all. So, what happens when he decides to manipulate the news?

Many a movie goer may revile this film. The subject matter may bring issues about our world too close to their own doorstep. For me Dan Gilroy found a wonderful narrative to create a new cult character to be remembered. Lou may not quite meet the standards of Donnie but he goes mighty close. Bloom will certainly creep under your skin and we have Gyllenhaal to thank or detest, which ever you prefer. 10GUMS.   

     

 

 

Film No. 77 (2014) Fury 3rd November

Film No. 77 (2014) November 3rd. 4:10 PM MILLENIUM Fremantle.

Fury

War is Hell. It's an over used cliche, I know, but after watching Fury I found myself subconsciously turning the phrase over in my mind until well after the final credits disappeared. The mud, the blood and the corpses mount as we roll along with Fury, the Sherman tank which gives this film its gritty traction. 

"Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt)commands Fury. It is nine months after the D Day landings. His men and their tank are battle hardened and tired. We meet them immediately after a field battle which has left one of the crew dead. In stunned silence they drive with the body of their comrade, covered and seated in his normal position, to their next control point. There is a real dignity in the way their comrade is lifted and taken from their fortress; Fury.

Enter Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) a "wet behind the ears" solder. The replacement for their fallen buddy. Norman is frightened and poses a threat to the safety of his new "brothers". Collier needs to exert his authority immediately by forcing a hard lesson upon Norman. There is chemistry in the Pitt and Lerman connection. The glue which holds Fury together is seen in the charisma Wardaddy and Norman bring to the action. A long scene set in the dining area of a German house brings the two characters together in a unique, tense then tender series of events.

Written and directed by David Ayer, Fury represents his most accomplished film so far. End of Watch showed flashes of what Fury accomplishes. To write and direct a war film which gives an audience a sense of what war might have been like is a big shift from Ayer's usual US city street dramas. Fury is slightly predictable and a little cliched in it's conclusion. So was Saving Private Ryan but for me Fury is a better film.  10GUMS.       

Film No. 76 (2014) The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet October 22nd.

Film No. 76 (2014) October 22nd. 6:30 PM PARADISO Northbridge.

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is a unique book. Reif Larson's novel is presented as a journal come scrapbook, making any attempt to translate the story to the screen, tempered with risk. The film doesn't quite live up to the spirit of adventure depicted in the book however it is very entertaining and well worth seeing in 3D format.

The 3D format is often reserved for animated films. Up is an example of a film I loved because of it's 3D dimension. In The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet, 3D elevates the story to new levels as we grow to enjoy the company of T.S. while he imagines, invents, dreams and predicts all manner of ideas. The pop out inserts (3D) give us extra insight into the prodigious mind of our new friend. 

Put simply, T.S. is primary school genius who lives with his eccentric mid western farming family. He is a scientist of note, inventing a perpetual motion machine and having that achievement recognized by the Smithsonian Institute. He accepts the invitation to attend the awards presentation in Washington without his family's knowledge and then proceeds, with over-sized suitcase in hand, to take the daunting road-trip cross country; via a goods train.

Kyle Catlett is wonderfully charismatic as T.S.  He captures our heart as he avoids the pitfalls and challenges served up on his journey, all the time coming to terms with the tragedy embedded in his past. His family, led by his mum (Helen Bonham Carter) are colourful and help us to better understand our traveling friend, T.S.  With the advancement of 3D to the latest T.V. units this film may become a real icon of the family movie genre. 8GUMS