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Reviews
for the Week of 10/19:
A bold, daring, and
dark picture, Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River is set in a Boston
neighborhood, and portrays the lives of three childhood friends, once
grown. When young boys, two child molesters, pretending to be cops,
confronted Jimmy, Dave, and Sean when they were writing their names in
wet, drying concrete on the sidewalk. The men asked where each one of
them lived, in hopes that they would be able to take one hostage. Jimmy
and Sean resided in homes right in front of where the incident took
place, but Dave lived on a different street. They insisted that they
would have to take him home, and being just a child, he hesitantly got
into their car as requested. They kidnapped him, as intended, and
tortured him for four days before he was able to escape. This event
traumatized all three of the buddies for a long period of time. However,
many years later, their once eventful relationships faded into casual
acquaintances.
When Jimmy’s (Sean
Penn’s) nineteen year-old daughter is suddenly murdered, the three are
reunited, and begin to redevelop the deep bond which they once had. Sean
(Kevin Bacon), now a homicide detective, is the primary investigator of
the case. Dave (Tim Robbins) becomes a suspect for the killing, because
of all of the evidence against him. While the story unravels, tremendous
forces are at work. Mystic River becomes one of the most
heartbreaking and touching movies in the history of cinema, and one of
the finest of the year, at that.
Each member of the all-star
cast delivers an excellent performance. Penn is insanely spectacular as the
father, simultaneously mourning the loss of his girl and trying to find and
annihilate her murderer before the police are able to arrest him. Bacon plays
the role of Sean fairly straight, but is effective, nonetheless. Robbins is
definitely the strong-suit of the entire film; though we, as the audience, never
feel that he is guilty of the crime, the way he portrays his character’s
interaction with those who do is incredible. Also worth mentioning are Marcia
Gay Harden, Laura Linney, and Lawrence Fishburne. Harden and Linney play the
wives of Dave and Jimmy; their bond is one of the most intriguing of the entire
movie. Fishburne is Whitey, Sean’s detective partner, always keeping the
audience captivated by his commanding work, every time he’s onscreen.
The sole flaw of Mystic
River lies in its assembly. The way this film is strung together feels as
though it’s been loosely woven onto a small and wearing thread. The scenes don’t
match up together, in terms of mood or feel; while this movie is able to capture
many emotions, the way in which they are connected is rough and jumbled. The
transitions, from one passage to the next, are uneasy and misguided. However,
the content itself is just as powerful, nonetheless. In the scheme of things,
this is a small fault in a masterful picture.
While it may be rough around
the edges in certain cases, Mystic River is still a powerful film. For
those who do not mind viewing depressing tales, this is one of the few must-see
motion pictures of the year. I will definitely be revisiting it many times in
the future, for it’s one of the most emotionally complex and beautiful
experiences I’ve had at the movie theatre, in the last decade.
The Rundown
categorizes itself as an “action/adventure comedy”. While it often masters
the former genre, this movie fails to make us laugh. It’s half-empty;
fueling itself only on the tremendous fight sequences it has to offer.
However, these are only able to push The Rundown along for a
generous amount of time. For a solid forty-five minutes, watching this
film is a wonderfully engaging experience. Sadly, when the plot begins to
heat up, and the gigantic finale arises, the action is already tired. With
no amusing jokes to help make up for the relentless and exhausting skits
at the very end, The Rundown becomes close to painful. (I only
laughed twice during the entire ninety minute running length). It does
have some redeeming features, though. These are very helpful in keeping
the audience somewhat interested and enthralled.
The two most notably
wonderful things to be found in The Rundown are Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson’s performance and Peter Berg’s direction. With this film and
The Scorpion King, The Rock is proving himself to be the Arnold
Schwarzenegger of the new millennium. He’s commanding and talented;
offering both force and charisma when onscreen. While Scorpion may
have been a better movie, Rundown better suits his talent. He’s in
good hands, too; director Berg is very gifted, and provides this flick
with a certain amount of stylishness. While the action may become tired by
the end of the picture’s duration, it’s certainly better crafted then,
than it is at the beginning of the film. This is respectable, to say the
least. There’s undeniable potential in The Rundown, but the results
are mediocre; all of the talent is taken advantage of.
This one serves as
passable entertainment, and will be a quality rental for a Saturday
afternoon. While The Rundown certainly lacks inspiration, it’s fun
while it lasts. Let’s just hope that The Rock picks a better script next
time.
Blue Car tells a
tale that we rarely get to experience on film, one that’s so shockingly
welcome and revolutionary; the concept in itself makes the movie worth
seeing. It’s depressing and downtrodden, but ultimately leaves us amazed
and enriched; I was tempted to watch the DVD a second time, instantly
after the credits began to role.
Most of Blue Car’s
success leaves leading actress Agnes Bruckner to thank. She plays Meg, an
eighteen year-old girl in a troubled home, who begins to develop a strong
bond with her high school English teacher, Mr. Auster (David Strathairn),
never thinking twice about his feelings for her. In this role, she
maintains an extravagant amount of power, and always strikes the audience
with a fearless presence, while playing a vulnerably fearful character.
Bruckner is tremendously gifted and her talent is extremely evident here;
her work in this picture is flawless.
Awareness is one of the
most predominant themes of Blue Car, and with such a successful
execution, the audience is always able to grasp this concept. The story
may be simplistic, but its true and earth-shattering contents never cease
to astound us. This film is a must-see.
Are you kidding me? I had
no idea that Miramax, yes Miramax, would involve themselves
with such a dopey, incoherent, stupid, asinine, and trashy project. A
View from the Top is a putrid and overly moronic piece of fluff, which
is only able to keep us remotely entertained for less than half of its
running length. It contains desensitizing characters, pitiful dialogue,
embarrassing performances, and an exhausting story. When viewing this
movie, my mind was constantly bombarded by one question—how could so many
tremendous talents take part in the making of such a ghastly motion
picture? It’s hard to believe that there are actually people, living on
planet Earth, who are air-headed enough to actually be able to enjoy such
trash. While I will admit to finding a few passages of this one to be
tolerable and fun, it’s certainly nowhere near joyous. Those who find A
View from the Top likeable must be on crack. The eighty-seven minutes,
which I spent watching it, would’ve been better used taking a nap.
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