I cannot say what is biggest in The Bridge on the River Kwai: Colonel Nicholson’s pride in the bridge, director David Lean‘s budget for the film, or the nationalistic stereotyping within the film.
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Category: Movie Reviews
After the promised autonomy of the Hollywood film system had lured director Alfred Hitchcock away from Great Britain, he remade The Man Who Knew Too Much, a film he had made in his motherland in 1934. I have not seen the original British version, so I cannot compare the two films, but the later version stands among the paragons of Hitchcock’s style. The film, starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, contains several elements characteristic of Hitchcock’s work: long takes, well-wrought sets, and a serpentine plot replete with foreigners and false leads.
What makes a hero? Is it dying in the name of your country, or is it inspiring hope in the hearts of the civilians for whom you’re supposedly fighting? In what ways are soldiers sacrificed to serve the greater good? In the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, director Clint Eastwood attempts to answer to these questions in his exploration of the mythos behind the soldiers of the Marine Corps War Memorial. In so doing, he shows how the United States ran its own war propaganda campaigns during the 1940s and how relative a term as lofty as “hero” truly is.
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Something’s Gotta Give
Something certainly did give, too. I gave $3, 2+ hours of my life, and half a tank of gas for that movie. What did I get in return? Not much. A glimpse of Diane Keaton’s aging bare body, Jack Nicholson’s ass, and that was about it. An entertaining story, did I get one of those? Heh– I wish!
Jack Nicholson plays Harry Sanborn, a 60-something record company CEO who dates women in a very specific age range– at least 30 years his junior. The movie opens with him riding to the Hamptons with his latest catch, Marin (played by Amada Peet). Once they reach the Hamptons, they shimmy out of their skivvies and into their swimtrunks, preparing for a sun-soaked fuck-fest (or so I presume). This is when Erica and Zoe Barry (Diane Keaton and Frances McDormand, respectively), Marin’s playwright mother and teacher aunt walk in, and awkwardness (I suppose what the audience is supposed to consider “funny” awkwardness) ensues. Just as Harry tries to make his escape, the three women agree that the four of them can have a good weekend together, despite the polarity between Harry and Erica’s characters.
Just as the May-December weekend fornication gets started, Harry has a mild heart attack and is rushed to the local hospital where Dr. Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves, using more than single monosyllabic words for a change) recommends bed-rest and the care of a nurse to his patient. While consoling the bereaved in the waiting room, Dr. Mercer is captured by Erica, and is quick to make with the goo-goo eyes (Oh the dramatic irony! Doesn’t Julian know he’s doomed to being cast aside like last night’s condom?!).
Harry returns to Erica’s house in the Hamptons and immediately shoos away every member of his entourage who comes to see him (including a personal favorite Jon Favreau, who has given a miserably small part) and is left in the care of Marin’s mother. After a day or so together, the two start to wear on one another, and chemistry between them supposedly develops. [You wouldn’t believe it to see it, but part of film-watching is the “suspension of disbelief,” thank you Introduction to Cinema.]
After a few mishaps and misunderstandings [Oh no! Marin’s back to see Harry, and she still thinks together. No wait, she can see the chemistry shared between the movie poster partners, so she tells her mother that it’s okay for her to date Harry. Meanwhile, Dr. Neo makes the moves on Erica, and she enjoys his company, but she enjoys Harry’s company…oh, she’s just so CONFUSED!!!] the two consummate their affection for one another.
But wait. Harry’s tender to Erica, but he’s an old dog, and we all know that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. After he recovers from his heart attack, he returns to New York City, leaving Erica to ruminate on her sudden lapse into sluttiness. She already knows that she’s in love with Harry, and why can’t he just feel the same way? Why?!
More misunderstandings ensue (Erica sees Harry dining with a young hottie in some upscale NYC joint), and the two part ways. [By this time, I was praying the movie would end, but that would be impossible because our two lovers had yet to resolve their feud and be in love again.] Erica realizes that Dr. Neo was a better catch, and Harry realizes that he missed an opportunity with Erica.
After another trip to the hospital– this time for an anxiety attack (he goes to the hospital, the puss, I just do it Soprano-style; pass out, wipe out, wake up), Harry realizes that he needs to make amends, so he embarks on a six-month journey that leads him across several states. Mercifully, these six months pass in a matter of moments, thanks to a montage sequence of girls either slapping Harry or slamming their door in his face. After those six months, Harry finally arrives at Marin’s apartment, only to discover she’s pregnant and married. (ALL THAT IN SIX MONTHS!!! WTF!) He discovers that Erica is in Paris for her birthday, so he travels to surprise her in hopes of winning her back. Erica is surprised to see him, but she’s there with her beau, Dr. Neo. (Gasp! All that soul-searching and self-realization for nothing!) At Dr. Neo’s insistence, Harry joins them for dinner, and the three of them have a grand time (or so we are to infer. During this scene, there were several shots of wine pouring into glasses). After a great dinner, Erica realizes that Harry truly has changed. She doesn’t make any indication of this new-found respect for Harry to him, but somehow or another Dr. Neo knows. At the story’s close, the jilted bachelor stands alone in Paris on a January night, wishing he could have gotten the girl. But hark! What’s this? A car pulling up behind him? No, it couldn’t be! Wait, it is! Oh happy day! It’s Erica, and she loves him again! Yaaaay! Cue the credits.
Yeah, so I was only slightly amused by this movie. Some funny parts, more not so funny. It was obvious that the demographic to which this movie was aimed was not mine. There was not just one joke about Viagara, but three! Overall, the acting was good. I definitely enjoyed Jack Nicholson, and Diane Keaton was not too shabby herself. I don’t know if she deserved an Oscar nomination for her performance, but that’s why I’m not an Academy voter. (Not yet, at least.) It’s a shame they were working with such a trite script and hackneyed genre. The direction was functional at best, but one cannot expect much from a woman whose past credits include What Women Want and the 90’s update of the Parent Trap.
Overall, a decent date movie but certainly not the best.
Final grade: B-/C+
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The Matrix Reloaded
The actual plot for Reloaded feels like familiar territory, but the Wachowskis throw enough twists and turns in it to make it their own. Reloaded picks up very nearly where the first movie ended. After visiting the Oracle, Neo learns that he needs to rescue the exiled Key Master from the clutches of a smarmy Frenchman, the Maravingian. The Maravingian scoffs at Morpheus and company’s proclivity for blindly following orders and not searching for the purpose in them; “doing the what without knowing the why,” as he puts it. With a little help from the Maravingian’s beautiful wife, Persephone, the trio is able to retrieve the Key Master from his confines. The Key Master then explains Neo’s role as the One, which includes going to the machines’ mainframe within the Matrix and meeting the Architect, who further elucidates the machines’ actual control over their humans and offers the ultimate choice Neo must make. Neo makes his choice, and just as he and the rest of Morpheus’ crew are returning to Zion, something hap-
The movie ends there. You get a taste following the credits, but you will have to wait until November for this saga’s conclusion.
First, let me start with the hyperbolic adulation. The film is spectacular. I have seen it three times since it was released Thursday. Compared with the first film, there are several more hand-to-hand fighting sequences (complete with the occasional weapon fight), bigger explosions, longer slow-mo cuts, and a dizzying multi-million dollar highway scene that leaves its viewers breathless. Additionally, the philosophical concepts that are offered for consideration here are truly thought provoking, and one could spend hours puzzling over them. This film is wrought with open-ended themes that encourage multiple viewings as well as intense pontification. With a sweat-soaked party scene in a Zionic temple occurring concurrently with a sex scene between Trinity and Neo, this movie has everything its target audience wants: kung fu, big booms, heavy-handed themes and concepts, sweet-ass special effects, and just a little bit of sensuality, thrown in for good measure. Truly, a film geared directly at me.
The most striking shortcoming I noticed with the film was the terseness of the dialogue. The actors are rarely given more than a few lines at a time, and so many of them are delivered with an almost palpable detachment from what is being said. It detracts from the urgency of the story somewhat, thus removing an element of believability and legitimacy. These people are fighting for their freedom from oppressive mind-enslaving machines, and yet they converse with quick one-liners, looking almosttoo cool in their custom-fitted designer sunglasses. Although this is a problem, it is not enough of one to truly affect the film in any meaningful way.
Personally, I believe the majority of the actors were forced to “dumben” and limit their acting abilities to match those of Ted Logan himself, the one and only Keanu Reeves. I enjoy Keanu’s presence in films, but his acting leaves much to be desired. Although Neo is the great hero of the Matrix films, the character of Morpheus (played brilliantly by Laurence Fishburne) is very compelling and demands more attention. He is the one of the few characters that is given an extended soliloquy, and Fishburne delivers it with gusto. If Morpheus were running for president, I’d vote for him. If Morpheus were leading an army into war, his soldiers would be prepared to follow their leader right into the gates of Hades.
Overall, the movie is an enjoyable experience and demands at least one additional viewing. The fight scenes alone demand an extra viewing. The dialogue is a little weak, and the some of the actors’ performances are even weaker. Other than that, however, this movie is damn good to me. A-