Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

I enjoyed the acting. It's the best I've ever seen Hawke or Hoffman (save for Capote), though they do slide a bit into act-ting mode at times. I'll chalk up to bravado. As for the story, it offers little surprises but has drama in spades. It's hard to see flawed people do awful things and try to make amends for these awful things with more awful deeds (it hurts to watch sometimes), but I felt for them. By the time the film reaches it's inevitable final note, I was emotionally drained - the film pours out itself, but offers no consolation for its audience. It's a difficult film that struggles to clean itself up after a messy third act, but it's a acting hammer from the acting gods. A throw back to dour character dramas from sporadic history.

***1/2

The Getaway (1972)

I've long subscribed to the Hollywood Steve McQueen myth: that cool can equate talent. That's why I keep checking out the guy's filmography. I've actually never really taken to any of his films, though The Great Escape is entertaining. The Getaway, however, is confounding for its misogynistic Steve McQueen character. The women exist in this movie to serve their criminal counterparts. And they're never good enough. To make matters worse, Ali McGraw offers little more than her pretty face to her role. She's wooden and bland. The whole film follows suit. The direction is uninspired. The violence may have seen daring at the time, but it's boring here. Very 70's. Red paint-by-numbers. My first Peckinpah experience was not good.

*1/2

George Washington

I love David Gordon Green. I had to see his first flick. I was a bit disappointed. The story and execution were classic Green, but the film lacked the definitive emotional punch that I got from his other films. A novice cast shows some nerves and growing pains in the acting process. But George Washington is original and offers several scenes of refined beauty in its unrefined world. It's daring in subtle ways, never flashy in its pursuit of the interiors of its characters.

***

The Descent

Good Golly, Miss Molly! What a fright. I watched this in the dark with the shallow, heavy breathing of my aging canine in the background. I was pleased with most everything here. Good characters and surprising development and staging for a horror film. I was constantly on edge. I cringed a lot. I enjoyed the film, but wonder what the film could have been with a better cast. Everyone does fine work, but a few knockout performances would have enhanced the atmopshere a bit. Great for a B-level horror flick, good for anything. Gore is involved - you've been warned. Also, kudos to the writer-director for writing a group of believable and interesting heroines into the genre. There were also countless times that I stopped to marvel at how awesome the camera work was. Tight, claustrophobic angles and locations abound.

Might be the scariest movie I've ever watched.

***1/2

28 Weeks Later

I gave this film another shot. I realized I hadn't given it a fair chance the first time around. I enjoyed it more the second time. The complaint of gore over character development is still relevant, but this is a solid sequel to the amazing first film. I guess where the first film offers hope at the end, this film offers none. "It's not all fucked," Jim said to Selene. The 28 Weeks guys say different. I guess I want the hope...and the character development. Weeks does offer real scares and a frantic pace that keeps the thrills constant.

***

Standing Still

I am in favor of hip young cast ensemble movies, especially when some of them are talented. But in the case of Standing Still, talent is useless as the cast is made to go through the comedic/heartstring/growing-up-is-hard-to-do motions. None of the characters or thespians made an impression in this breezy film. No one is given the chance to (save maybe for Ethan Embry's brief time on screen as a over-eager children's motivational guru). There's no excuse for wasting Amy Adams.

**

Iron Man

It's so pleasing to see a fun, competant superhero blockbuster. Witty, natural dialogue and solid performances from the accomplished cast help create worthwhile characters worth spending time with Downey, Jr. outside the suit. Still, they found a way to let some stilted, forced final battle dialogue creep in. A minor flaw in a very good diversion. The filmmakers made a good movie out of an okay-to-lame comic character.

***1/2

Short and Sweet Updates

I've neglected this site for far too long. I'm gonna throw out some reviews, so get ready.

In Bruges

This movie was a very pleasant surprise. The trailers try to pass In Bruges as a madcap, dark, edgy, action picture a la Pulp Fiction or Snatch, but it turns out In Bruges is quite melancholy. It's a character piece, with the two hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in excellent performances each) being the chief draw. What makes these men tick? How do they handle conflict? These aren't the questions most hitmen movie even bother asking themselves. Bullets, pizazz, and edgy editing are the norm. In Bruges is anything but.

Sure, all the stuff in the trailer is in the film and it can be quite un-PC and irreverent quite often (sometimes strangely and offensively), but that doesn't distract from an interesting story about two men and the drama that comes in the form of regret, grace, vengeance, honor, and ambiguity.

The film can be a mess at times, but it's a organized mess. Things add up.

There's a doozy of an ending. A surprise without a twist. The kind of ending that leaves you a bit hobbled, stuck considering many things after the credits abruptly begin rolling and the theater lights come up. How many hitman movies can you honestly say leave you really thinking after they're done?

****

Wristcutters: A Love Story

There's comedy in Wristcutters, but the film isn't a light-hearted romp. There's a gloom and bleakness hanging over the picture. It's about a purgatory for people who have committed suicide, so it's quite fitting that those "living" in that purgatory can't smile. I didn't really smile either, though there were a plethora of well-earned chuckles.

There's a bit of a Water The Fish feeling for a lot of the movie - the world is strange and familiar at the same time. We can recognize it, but it's maybe a bit too mysterious. Much goes unexplained. The film's climax is a mess, but none of the characters actually seem that shocked or confused, so perhaps I'm overreacting.

I enjoyed it, though. Patrick Fugit was an excellent choice for the lead, as were Shea Whigham and Shannyn Sossamon in supporting roles. All can carry a similar deadpan, monotone, and bland tune like classical musicians. And that's not a knock on the performances at all. They fit perfectly into the odd-shaped holes the writer/director's script made for the characters.

I liked the love story, but to be honest I was more interested in these people being happy even in a world where that seemed impossible. That search for satisfaction was the chief attractor for me.

Great ending. Maybe a sloppy way of getting there, but still a big lift and pleasure at the end.

***1/2