‘Flight’

 

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Written by John Gains

With Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood

And John Goodman

 

Fasten your seat belts. Flight will have you searching for any alternative to flying to get to your next faraway destination. This film, brilliantly directed by Robert Zemeckis(“Forrest Gump,” “Glory,” “Training Day,” “Castaway”) is not just an air disaster nailbiter, but really a character study of its lead character, Whip Whitaker, astutely played by Denzel Washington.

Whip, a former Navy ace, is a commercial pilot who likes his booze, coke and weed. In the opening scenes he wakes up after a night of sex and drugs with a flight attendant. He takes a long swig of alcohol, chugs a couple of  beers. To wake himself, he does a few lines of coke. Next you see him in his pilot’s uniform boarding a plane in Orlando, Fla., bound for Atlanta, Ga. 

He is higher than a kite. He straps himself into his seat after drinking three mini bottles of vodka. Finally he guides the plane into the sky. After takeoff, mechanical difficulties cause the plane to lose its power: it is in free fall.  There are terrifying scenes of chaos and frenzy. Somehow he calmly and masterfully crashes the plane with the loss of only a few lives. He is hailed as a hero.

Until the inquiries begin. Whip’s blood alcohol levels indicate he was drinking. Legions of media people want explanations. The pilots’ union and the airlines want a cover up. Insurance companies are circling. An attorney (Don Cheadle)is hired. Whip’s drinking is the issue. Was he drunk when he flew that plane?

The real story of “Flight” is about a man coming to terms with the truth about himself.

Whip has a drinking problem. He has an ex-wife who hates him. His son hates him. Now his flying career is over. He is tough, but also frail. He has a haunted look, he stumbles, blacks out, is often falling down drunk. He does not seek help. He has saved 96 lives, but he can’t save himself.

There is a NTSB hearing to determine Whip’s state of mind while flying. Ellen Block (Melissa Leo) leads the examination. He has been carefully prepped by the attorneys.

Denzel Washington gives a simply perfect in-depth performance as a man struggling to come to the truth about himself. A bit of comic relief is provided by John Goodman who plays Hurling Mays, Whip’s drug pusher. This comic element is a little out of place in this hard-nosed story.

“Flight” is not about the horrific airplane crash. It is a thoughtful film about how a person can fake it, how one tries to get through life as an alcoholic. It is a thriller, a legal drama with some romance, a bit of melodrama. Will there be redemption? See “Flight” and you will find out.  

Argo

 

Directed by Ben Affleck

Written by ChrisTerrio

With Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman and Victor Garber

 

Ben Affleck directs and stars in Argo, a political thriller based on events that took place in Tehran, Iran in 1979. The film opens with harrowing footage of militants storming and finally entering the U.S. embassy, brutally seizing 52 hostages during the Islamic revolution. 

Unbeknownst to the militants, six embassy workers escaped and received asylum in the house of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). Argo details a plan developed to smuggle these six out of Iran—and what a far-fetched plan it was.

Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA operative, is to pose as a producer looking for locations in Tehran to film a ‘Star Wars’ type of film, named “Argo.” He enlists the help of Hollywood to formulate a bogus script, elaborate story boards, costumes, posters, even mentions in the Hollywood trade papers. John Chambers (John Goodman) and Lester Siegelm ( Alan Arkin) are movie veterans conscripted to provide a sci-fi film that will pass the scrutiny of the Iranian officials.  These two men provide much-appreciated comic relief in this tense story.

Mendez creates fake passports for the six workers and coaches them on how to behave in their new identities as film crew workers. Their trepidation is palpable and understandable. One false move and they could be sent to prison—or shot.

The real story has been embellished to make “Argo” an intense entertainment. nBen Affleck will get a nod from the Academy Awards. Each of his characters has depth. We learn a little about what is going on in each of their lives. He mixes humor with life and death by including Hollywood stereotypes Alan Arkin and John Goodman, who never fail to produce the laughs.

Mr. Affleck’s attention to period detail is impeccable. The men’s shirts have wide collars, while others wear gold chains, eyeglasses with oversized frames, 1970s sideburns. The Iranian scenes were filmed in Istanbul, the Americans being oogled and jostled by obviously Islamic crowds. A hand-held camera is used to make the scenes all the more hair raising. 

It really doesn’t matter that parts of Argo stray from the real story. It is a film about real heroes:  Tony Mendez and the Canadian ambassador took huge risks to help the six Americans. The last half hour of the film is as terrifying as any you have ever seen. No need to question the historical details. It is an excellent film. By the way, any resemblance to the recent events in Libya is purely coincidental!

“The Master”

 

Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson

With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams

 

“The Master” is a film that defies easy explanation. It is a disturbing epic tale of clashing personalities, obsession, delusion and the will to control. The acting of its main two characters, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, transcends anything they have previously done—and they both have won academy awards

It begins in 1950 when Americans are seeking the promise of new life. War veteran, Freddy Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), is a rootless troubled mess of anxieties and cockiness, probably suffering from Post Traumatic Stress syndrome. He can’t keep a job, his one success being able to make booze from paint thinner. Perennially drunk, he crawls onto a yacht anchored in the San Francisco Bay. When he wakes up, he is in world of wealth and privilege overseen by a self-help guru, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). 

Dodd is the charismatic leader of a Movement called “The Cause.” He is accompanied by family members and other swooning acolytes who believe he can take them to “an inherent state of perfection.” He uses mind control and hypnosis to get his subjects to relive past lives, some all the way back to millions of years ago. 

Somehow this activity is supposed to rid them of negative emotions. And it might also cure cancer.

Dodd takes on Freddie Quell as a “guinea pig,” figuring that if he can help this disturbed young man, he can cure anybody. Lancaster Dodd bears a close similarity to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who used methods like Dodd’s “processing” to take a subject back to life in the womb. Like Hubbard, Lancaster Dodd is a confident, brilliant theoretician, able to talk anyone into anything. He is a snake oil salesman of the highest order. He is the opposite of the weak and unglued Freddy and “The Master” is mainly about the counterpoint of these two men, as opposite as any two could be.

The early 1950s are gorgeously brought to life in “The Master.” Every dress, every automobile, every hairdo, every skyline is faithful to that time. All the secondary characters are perfectly cast and cinematographer Mihai Malaimare films everything beautifully.

Joaquin Phoenix, hunched over, his face haunted and gaunt, gives the performance of a lifetime. His psychic pain is almost palpable. Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the powerful Dodd, a charming autocrat, winning in his ways.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has created a very strange and dysfunctional world. His other films, among them “Boogie Nights” and “There Will Be Blood,” also depict often bizarre worlds with unforgettable characters. 

“The Master” has no real ending and defies the usual Hollywood narrative. It depicts drifting and searching for meaning. This film will exasperate many viewers who are used to more mundane entertainments, but it is an arresting and absorbing work of power and brilliance. Paul Thomas Anderson has hit the jackpot again.

‘Lawless’

 

Directed by John Hillcoat

Written by Nick Cave from “The Wettest County in the World” by Matt Bondourant

 

With Guy Pearce, Thomas Hardy, Shia La Beouf, Jessica Chastain, Jason

Clark, Gary Oldman, and Mia Wasikowska

 

The impressively executed “Lawless” tells the true life tale of three brawling brothers, Forrest (Thomas Hardy), Jack (Shia La Bouef) and Howard (Jason Clark), who were infamous during Prohibition.

It all happens in Franklin County, Va., where the three Bondourant brothers brewed and sold high-quality hooch. “Lawless” brings together just about everything you could want in a story:  corruption, avarice, family loyalty, envy, pride, revenge, outlaws and, yes, even a love story or two.   

It is based on the book, “The Wettest County in the World” written by Matt Boudorant, the grandson of one of the brothers and gives a graphic look at their dangerous lives.

In 1931, Franklin County, Va., was a major supplier of bootleg booze to the thirsty citizens of prohibition America. The Bondourant brothers made the best, even selling it to the local sheriff and his men. All is fine until Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) arrives, a federal deputy who comes to wipe out the trade, but really only wants a part of the profits. It would be hard to find a more detestable character than Charlie Rakes, a dandy who has spotless leather gloves, perfectly pomaded hair, and a bow tie.

A mobster, Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman), appears on the scene, also wanting a cut. The local deputies quickly join forces with Rakes and Banner.

The brothers decline to share their profits with Rakes. So begins the violence.

Terrifying scenes of shoot outs, raids, neck slashings and face bashings follow. The police become the villains and the outlaw brothers become the heroes. The oldest brother, Forrest, becomes involved with barmaid Maggie (Jessica Chastian) and Jack is besotted by Bertha (Mia Wasikowska), a Mennonite preacher’s daughter. There are delicate scenes of the tenderness of both couples.

“Lawless” is a superb character drama. The dynamic of the three brothers is explored. The stoic Forrest makes the decisions, Howard is quick to execute violent means, and Jack is more timid and emotional. Charlie Rakes is a true villain, a psychopath. Although both Maggie and Bertha are the supportive caring women, their characters are also fleshed out.

The production values of “Lawless” are simply outstanding. The rural Virginia scenes

are beautifully filmed. An interior shot of a hospital is all white and pure, a counterbalance to the mayhem of what is been going on outside in the Moonshine Wars.

Director John Hillcoat has impressively executed a film both of  great beauty and  startling uses of force. All of the violence actually fits into the story line, however, and “Lawless” has memorable characters, a story that pulses, as well as honeyed scenes of Virginia as it was in 1931. And it is based on true events, providing an absorbing and thrilling history lesson about the days of bootlegging.

Hope Springs

 

Directed by David Frankel

Written by Vanessa Taylor

 

With Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and James Carell

 

Although it is called a romantic comedy, Hope Springs is a serious story about a baby boomer couple attempting to freshen up a marriage that has gone stale.

Kate (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) Soames of Omaha have been married for 31 years.  Their two kids have grown up, and their marriage has fallen into a routine. They sleep in separate bedrooms. Kate cooks him the identical breakfast each day, which he eats wordlessly while reading a newspaper. She prepares dinner for the two of them, which he eats quickly then leaves the table to watch golf on television. They have not had sex for five years.

Arnold is a grumpy angry man who is okay with the way things are. Kate is very unhappy about the decades of neglect she has experienced. Although she is married, she is desperately lonely.

She decides to enroll them in a Couples Therapy week conducted by doctor Ben Feld (James Carell) in Hope Springs, Maine.  She pays the $4,000 fee herself. Begrudging and angry, Arnold comes with her.

Hope Springs details their week in Maine with Dr. Feld. That they sit on opposite sides of the couch says volumes about their relationship. Dr. Feld asks them questions, gently, probing about their fantasies, their hopes, when they were the happiest, when they fell in love.  

Arnold is a reluctant, complaining participant. Kay wants only to get closer to him and somehow recapture the affection they once had for each other. It seems hopeless. Will Arnold ever get in touch with his emotions?

“Hope Springs” is an ambitious attempt to reach mature audiences, unusual in mainstream American cinema. But there appears to be a market for that kind of film fare. Observe the success of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” The movie industry is now taking an interest in the aging population.

“Hope Springs” is about real people dealing with real problems. It is an intimate look at how a middle-age couple falls into a marriage of complacency. There are laughs, but there here are no stupid punch lines. This is serious business.

Meryl Streep gives a simple and touching performance of a woman who is rejected by her husband and does not know how to get him to notice her. Tommy Lee Jones is excellent as the uptight curmudgeon who ultimately can show tenderness. James Carell is terrific as the gently probing and patient therapist.

Younger audiences may be grossed out seeing a sixtyish couple making out and will have trouble relating to Kay and Arnold’s relationship issues. But mature audiences are sure to find “Hope Springs” an emotionally rewarding look into the issues between older couples. It is a beautiful and poignant story and has three fine performances. And it all happens in a picture perfect little town in Maine.  

Savages

Directed by Oliver Stone; Written by Shane Salerno from the novel by Don Winslow

With: Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Anderson, John Travolta, Benicio del Toro,

Salma Hayek and Demian Bichir

With his pulsating new thriller, “Savages,” Oliver Stone shows that he is not ready to retire any time soon.

This film has every bit of the often-demented energy of his “Salvador,” “Platoon,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” to name a few of his cinema successes.   

Chon (Taylor Kitsch) is a cynical combat veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His best buddy is Ben (Aaron Johnson), a Buddhist Berkeley graduate idealist whose career ambition is to work on renewable sources of energy. And there is ‘O”, short for Ophelia, the wealthy live in girlfriend that they share in every way. She is mellow and sweet and everyone loves everyone. 

They live in a gorgeous home near the beach in Laguna Beach, Calif. They are doing extremely well because of their thriving marijuana business, specializing in medical marijuana. The stuff they grow is purer and better than any other. Life is idyllic.

Until a Mexican Drug cartel wants to be their partner. The violent and greedy Baja cartel won’t take no for an answer. From anybody. The cartel slaughters people in inventive ways, using chainsaws, accelerants, whatever would bring about the most agonizing death. Fingers and heads are severed. They film it all with their smart phones and post the grisly scenes on line. 

Lado (Benicio del Toro) is the sadistic enforcer who takes orders from the equally severe and perverse head of the cartel, Elena (Salma Hayek) whose husband and sons have all been murdered in the drug wars. 

Things do not go well after Ben and Chon refuse the Cartel’s deal. They have a contact, Dennis (John Travolta), who is a drug enforcement officer they pay off periodically. Dennis is also paid off by the Baja Cartel. Lots of double dealing goes on and no one can trust anyone. 

Something happens to ‘O’ and Ben and Chon will risk everything to save her. These mellow, laid-back pot growers must use violent and desperate measures to try to rescue her. They need to sink to the level of the cartel thugs.

Reference is made to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in “Savages.” After all, Ben and Chon are two good guys sharing one woman who get on the wrong side of the law. The action is non-stop and you may spend a lot of time on the edge of your seat.

Benicio del Toro plays the savage and simple Lado as nobody can. The dark hollows of his face, usually in shadow, make him all the more fearsome. Salma Hayek often steals the show as the cold and focused Elena, who has no mercy. Beautiful Blake Lively is the spot of innocence and purity in the grisly world of the Baja Cartel. It is soothing to watch her, Aaron Anderson and Taylor Kitsch as they lounge around their lovely property. Until they get a visit from Lado.

In “Savages” there are undoubtedly references to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. After all, Ben and Chon are two good guys sharing the same woman who get on the wrong side of the law.

Oliver Stone has beautifully filmed “Savages” in saturated colors. The turquoise of the Pacific Ocean is as lavish as the dark crimson of seeping blood. The action moves at breakneck pace, and it is hard to keep up with the body count. “Savages” splendidly illustrates director Mr. Stone’s take on the violence and greed of the drug business. It is horrifying.

Written and directed by Woody Allen

With Alec Baldwin, Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Roberto Begnini, Penelope Cruz,

Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Alison Pill, Flavio Parenti, Alessandro
Tiberi, Flavio Armilato

Fortunately, some things never change. Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love” is undeniably old school Woody Allen. Sillier than last year’s “Midnight in Paris” and lighter than a feather this film has his requisite neurotics, fantasy fulfillments, and existential angst. And Rome never looked more gorgeous and sun kissed.

There are four stories that are unconnected to one another. They even occur in different time frames. But everything hangs together.

Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastroandi) are attractive but slightly boring

newlyweds having just arrived to enjoy the pleasures of the Eternal City. They become involved in a tangle of farcical situations when Milly loses her cell phone and are forced to become unfaithful to one another..  Anna (Penelope Cruz), a high/low class hooker, adds hilarity and spice to their scenario.

Jack (Jesse Eisenberg channeling Woody Allen), is an anxious New York architecture student. His girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) is a pleasant but unexciting woman. Her young actress friend Monica (Ellen Page) appears on the scene and Sally invites her to stay with them. 

Monica is a self absorbed, pretentious, narcissist woman who is catnip to Jack. Jack is followed by John (Alec Baldwin), an architect reliving his own time as an architecture student in Rome. He is a cynical voice of reason, popping up to give his opinion to Jack whenever Jack is tempted by Monica.

Then there are New Yorkers Jerry (Woody Allen) and Phyllis (Judy Davis), who have come to meet their daughter Hayle’s (Alison Pill) Italian fiancé, Michelangelo (Flavio Paretti), and his parents.  Crazy stuff happens. Jerry is a retired opera director who happens to hear Michelangelo’s mortician father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armilato) singing in the shower. He decides the man has an extraordinary operatic voice and decides he wants to promote him. However, Giancarlo can only sing while showering.Jerry comes up with a madcap solution to this problem.

The other story involves Leopoldo (Roberto Begnini), an everyman who becomes a celebrity overnight. Literally. Instantly he is hounded by paparazzi, appears on talk shows, is pursued by gorgeous women, is asked what he eats for breakfast (toast and jam). Everyone is awestruck and hangs on his every  mundane word.

The acting in this romp could not be better. Everyone is a bit of a caricature, which is intended. Fabio Armilato is a true Italian opera star. His singing is glorious. No one is as funny as the loose-limbed and bewildered Roberto Begnini as he tries to evade legions of fans and photographers. Alec Baldwin is great as the solid, avuncular voice of reason as he makes his remarks to Jesse Eisenberg. The cast are all very fine comic actors.

Woody Allen’s work often borders on the ridiculous. His witty situations in film are legend by now. It is all pretty frivolous; it is lots of fun with picturesque escapism galore. If Rome is not in your travel plans, “To Rome with Love” will whisk you there. Cappuccino, anybody?

Moonrise Kingdom

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

With Jared Gillman, Kara Howard, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Tilda Swinton

“Moonrise Kingdom” is an enchanted love story about a pair of offbeat 12-year-olds who attempt to create their own paradise of purity and goodness, away from the pettiness of the adults in their lives.

Director Wes Anderson, known for his films about people who don’t fit in, is a film industry cult figure who takes huge risks and delivers films unlike any others.  His films have detailed sets, quirky costumes, and are loaded with wit and irony. He is a darling of movie critics.

Sam Shakusky (Jared Gillman) is an orphaned overachieving pre-teen who is bullied and taunted in his Khaki Scout Troop at Camp Ivanhoe, which is located off the Coast of New England. The Khaki Troop is led by the ineffectual, knee-sock wearing Scoutmaster Ward (Ed Norton). Sam wears a coonskin hat and thick glasses. It is 1965.

Suzy Bishop (Kara Howard) lives with her always-feuding lawyer parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray), and three hyperactive little brothers. Her parents communicate through the use of bullhorns and sleep in separate beds. Her mother is having an affair with the woebegone local cop, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis).

Bookworm Suzy lives in an fantasy world far away from her boring but chaotic surroundings. She and Sam have had enough and set off on their own to run away together. She brings a record player, binoculars, a pink suitcase and a striped kitten. Sam brings every imaginable piece of hiking gear, including an air gun. They meet at an uninhabited end of the island and set up camp, creating their own miniature world. They aim to create a happy-ever-after place.

However, the course of true love never did run smooth. The heavily armed Khaki Scouts, Scoutmaster Ward, Suzy’s parents and Captain Sharp set out to find the youngsters. A tight-lipped Social Services officer (Tilda Swinton) is ready to put Sam in an orphanage where Sam may or may not have electroshock treatments. The resentments and jealousies among the adults overwhelm the search. The Khaki Scouts are no better. 

As they search, a terrifying apocalyptic storm of  Biblical proportions scatters the pursuers. Mythic floods wash away the Khaki camps.

A cavalcade of Hollywood stardom is represented by the cast of Moonrise Kingdom. Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Ed Norton, Tilda Swinton and Bob Balaban appear in this beguiling film. But what really holds “oonrise Kingdom together is the performances of the two young stars. Both Kara Howard and Jared Gillman exhibit purity, determination and the power of young love. They act like adults and the adults act like kids.

The sets, carefully manipulated by director Anderson, are perfect dioramas. The light has a faded quality, as you might find in photographs in your old albums.   The acting couldn’t possibly be better. The soundtrack is beautiful. A nostalgic aura of times gone by suffuses the film.

Wes Anderson clearly understands adolescence and what it is to be a troubled teen who doesn’t fit in. He shows us that some wounds of that period cannot be healed, but can be lived with. This odd and lovely film has elements of a whimsical fairy tale, as well as some Biblical references. But mostly. it is a tender tribute to the power of young love.

The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Directed by John Madden

With Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkenson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Sonny Kapoor, Celia Imrie

                For those viewers who enjoyed “Slumdog Millionaire,” here’s a movie you likely will enjoy. “The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is loaded with equivalent pleasures. Not only will you experience India’s assault on the senses: the riot of colors, the cacophony of sounds, the endless procession of life, but you will also witness a Who’s Who of British screen and stage greats. This sweetheart of a film has been called “comfort food” for people of a certain age. 

                The story begins as a varied group British retirees arrive in Jaipur, India. They have been enticed by an advertisement that claims that The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will offer a life of luxury and leisure for those in their golden years for a fraction of the cost of what they would pay at home. To their dismay, they arrive to find a musty and dilapidated palace with drippy faucets, rooms without doors, a fine layer of dust over everything, and food that is far too spicy.The eager-to-please manager Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) assures them everything will be OK, but that doesn’t appear likely to happen.

                Recently widowed Evelyn (Judi Dench) has come because her husband in London left her a mountain of debt. Doug (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) have come to rekindle their marriage. Fussbudget and racist Muriel (Maggie Smith) has come to get a hip replacement. The closeted gay Grahmn (Tom Wilkenson) has come to find someone from his past. They and the others in this film have their own reasons for coming. All of these travelers face the challenges of India’s exotic culture and, by the end of the film, each has been transformed by the experience.

                What unfolds during “The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is predictable and contrived. Each traveler tries to deal with his new environment in his own way. Slowly but surely, each of them, except for one, succumbs to the charm of India. You knew they would.

                But director John Madden has kept the pace brisk and the actors are a total pleasure to watch. Maggie Smith steals scenes with her stuffy and bigoted unpleasantness. Judi Dench is engaging and sensible as the narrator of the story. Tom Wilkenson is marvelous in a most unusual role for him. Dev Patel’s youthful enthusiasm is boundless.

“The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is most assuredly a crowd pleaser, especially if you are over the age of 50 (60?). It is sentimental story with an ending that may be a bit too tidy. But the scenes of India street life are absolutely ravishing; the ensemble acting is simply captivating, and the story is eminently satisfying. You will probably walk out of “The Very Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” with a smile on your face.

Bernie

BERNIE

Directed and written by Richard Linklater

With Jack Black, Shirley McLaine and Matthew McConaughy

In 1997 a well-liked small-town Texas undertaker was accused of murdering his companion, a much-reviled elderly wealthy widow. “Bernie,” a unique dark comedy, tells this real-life story, a bizarre crime tale if ever there was one.

And it is a charming story.

Richard Linklater directed and wrote “Bernie” and it is clear that nobody understands the everyday lives of common folk as he does. The film is interspersed with interviews with some of the real residents of Carthage, Texas, where the story unfolds. The accents alone are enough to keep you smiling.

Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is an assistant undertaker in his 30s, a church-going Methodist who is probably the biggest-hearted and kindest fellow you could meet. He is beloved by his community, especially the older ladies. He is proud of his work and always has a smile and genuine concern for the townspeople.  

The most-hated woman in Carthage is the unpleasant Marjorie Nugent (Shirley McLaine), who is also the wealthiest person in town. Her husband dies and Bernie is the undertaker. Bernie feels sorry for her and befriends her, and eventually they become companions. 

They travel the world together, going first class all the way. But Marjorie becomes impossible, making Bernie her servant, her prisoner. She fires her help, and he does everything for her. He is always good natured and positive—until one day when she nags once too often. Marjorie disappears, but nobody really misses her.

She is finally found nine months later. Slick District attorney Danny Buck Davidson (Mathew McConaughy),who is after fame and fortune, is on a crusade to prosecute Bernie for her murder. The townspeople are convinced Bernie could not have murdered Marjorie. Even though he confesses, he is just too kind and too good a guy. She had it coming.

“Bernie” really can’t be pigeonholed. Is it a comedy or a docudrama or a true crime story? It’s all three.

Director/writer Linklater has blurred the line between real life and dramatization. It is film about small town life with a murderous twist. 

Bernie’s homosexuality is hinted at, but no one is town is bothered by his sexual orientation. Jack Black does Academy Award-level work here. He is simply brilliant, giving a very strong, very distinctive performance.

You would want him as your friend.

Shirley McLaine, who hasn’t been working much of late, does a great job as the nasty widow who looks like she just ate a sour lemon. You would not want her as your friend. In fact, Marjory Nugent had no friends; even her relatives avoided her. The give and take between Ms. McLaine and Mr. Black is terrific.

“Bernie” is a juicy story, perfectly told by outtakes of the people in Carthage, some real, some actors. 

It is a whimsical tale about a murder, but it is more about life in a small town in Texas; a story about ordinary people. It is the sweetest true crime story you could ever see. And I hope you do.

The Deep Blue Sea

The Deep Blue Sea

Directed by Terence Davies

Adapted from the play by Terence Rattigan

With Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russel Beale

The powerful “Deep Blue Sea” tells a simple enough story.  A married woman has a love affair that throws her into romantic despair, destroying her well being and endangering her life.  What makes this story so haunting is the towering performance of Rachel Weisz as well as co stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.   

It comes to life in 1950 in a London still rubble strewn from World War Two. “Deep Blue Sea” was written by British playwright Terence Rattigan, one of the most popular playwrights of the 20th Century and directed for the screen by Terence Davies. This hypnotic film communicates what it feels like to be swept up by emotion and lost in passion.

The story begins as Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) attempts suicide by inhaling gas from a stove.  The rest of the film chronicles in flashbacks what led to this effort. Hester is married to a wealthy older magistrate (Simon Russell Beale).  The marriage is stable and predictable, but totally lacking in passion, and Hester, who is a free spirit, takes up with Freddy Page (Tom Hiddleston), a good looking, but unemployed self-involved playboy, an RAF pilot during the war.

Her husband discovers the relationship and leaves her.  Hester and Freddy move into a quaint, but somewhat shabby walk-up apartment.  There are problems.  Hester loves Freddy above all else; Freddy just wants to have fun.  Freddy is all that matters.

A lot of “Deep Blue Sea” is filmed in murky shadows that capture the aura of that time and the trapped feeling that Hester has.  England has barely recovered from the war.  There is a flashback to the subways being used for Bomb shelters.  It is not a happy time, least of all for Hester who loves more than she is loved.  And she knows it, allowing herself to be humiliated and used by Freddy—but she can’t help herself.

Rachel Weisz gives a mesmerizing and vulnerable performance of a woman in romantic hopelessness.  Her search for joy is palpably painful.  You wish she could leave Freddy but you are made to understand why she cannot.  Tom Hiddleston’s Freddy is totally on target as the callow and fun loving cad who can never give her what she needs.  Simon Russell Beale is solid and staunch as the uncolorful boring Judge.  He still loves Hester and your heart breaks for him as he tries to win her back.

“Deep Blue Sea” is beautifully photographed.  There is attention to small details, such as wallpaper patterns, cobbled streets, dial-up telephones, the formality of the clothing of the time, the ubiquitous cigarette smoking.  Fervent violin music accompanies some of the film as well as post war pop music of the times such as Jo Stafford’s “You Belong to Me.”

Deep Blue Sea captures what it might be like to be “crazy in love.”

You can’t help but be swept away by this spellbinding story of lust

and passionate despair

The Hunger Games

THE HUNGER GAMES

Directed by Gary Ross

Based on novel written by Suzanne Collins

With Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth

Banks, Toby Jones Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland

     “The Hunger Games” may have just opened but it is bound to be a cult classic.  With breakneck pacing, it tells an absolutely riveting story of violence, slaughter and survival.  “The Hunger Games” is based on a popular teen trilogy written by Suzanne Collins who also collaborated on the script.  The film is loaded with references to, among other things,

gladiator battles, chariot races, the Weimer Republic, even American Idol.

     It has been 74 years since some apocalyptic event has leveled almost everything on earth.  In this new totalitarian world called Panem, most people live in squalid “Districts” and must bargain and quarrel for food.  The wealthy elite are decadent hedonists who wear exaggerated hair styles and garish silks and velvets. They spend their time eating, drinking and partying. Theirs is a gleaming and glorious city. Avuncular President Snow (Donald Sutherland) oversees everything.

      To keep the districts in order, there are annual games.  Two adolescents, called ‘Tributes’ are selected by lottery on “Reaping Day” from each of 12 districts to be the contestants.  The object of the game is for them to stone, slice and/or beat each other to death until only one remains alive.  The first prize is a life without starvation.  The story focuses on the Twelfth District’s Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) who belongs to the lowest of classes, coal miners.  She is selected as one of the two Tributes for that district.  The other is Peeta (Josh Hutchinson) .

     Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) groom the two contestants for display for the elite.  All contestants are dropped into a wilderness arena.  The ensuing chases and killings are captured for display on gigantic flat screen TVs as cheery entertainments for the elite.  Watching is mandatory for all members of the 12 Districts. The ‘game makers’ use computer touch screens to create fireballs, savage beasts, explosions to make the games more fun to watch.. Unctuous bright blue haired Cesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) is the ringmaster.  Everyone in the privileged class is having fun.

     “The Hunger Games” moves lickitysplit as the teens conspire to kill one another.  There are riveting moments when they run through the forest, tumble down hills, lie in waiting to slay one another.  Kandiss proves to be a steely survivalist.  But she also has a heart,

which makes her vulnerable.

     The Hunger Games is a provocative entertainment.  The parallels between the Games and reality TV are clear.  The timely themes of greed and elitism (the “one Percent”) are here.  Director Gary Ross does not focus on the blood and gruesome killings.  Every now and then he very briefly shows the aftermath of a kill, but the faces of the deceased are almost angelic.  He keeps this film moving, and his casting is impeccable.

     Jennifer Lawrence as Kandiss is the heart of “The Hunger Games.”  She positively shines in this role.  Woody Harrelson is perfect as her drunken mentor.  Stanley Tucci clearly had a ball overacting as the campy commentator. And Donald Sutherland couldn’t be bested as the stodgy President of privilege. 

     The story is not a new one, but the theme of the oppressed vs. the privileged has never been so imaginatively portrayed.  It is much more than a kids’ movie.  “The Hunger Games” is a dazzling, creative and intelligent entertainment.  There is a good reason why it is breaking spring box office records.

In Darkness

In Darkness

Directed by Agnieszka Holland

With Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Furman, Agieszka Grochowsha, Michal Zuraski and Kinga Preis

There are hundreds of stories about the Jews and the Holocaust, however it remains nearly impossible for us to sense the miseries they suffered. In director Agnieska Holland’s film “In Darkness,” you experience the hellishness and terror of existence of a small a group of Jews in Poland during World War II. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film this year.

Imagine living in a noxious sewer infested with rats, filth, stink and unyielding dampness, shrouded in darkness for 14 months. In 1943 in Lvov, Poland, as thousands of Jews were being rounded up to be shot to death or herded into death camps, one small group of 14 escaped to a sewer. This is a chronicle of what happened.

They form an unlikely alliance with Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), an anti-Semitic Catholic sewer worker who understands the maze of the sewers like no one else. Socha is a petty thief who steals and hides his loot from his wife, Wanda (Kinga Preis). He discovers the Jews cowering in the sewer and senses a business opportunity. 

They offer to pay him a huge sum each week if he will provide them with food, water and other necessities. The film shows the shift in his sentiments from capitalizing on their misery to genuine and selfless concern for them and their well being.

“In Darkness” shows how this trapped group tries to live a “normal” life. The few children play games and sing, there are religious services, there is sexual activity. They, although horribly filthy and living in sewer sludge, manage to maintain their dignity.

Socha has to keep them hidden one step ahead of the suspicious Germans. The close calls are totally unnerving to watch. “In Darkness” has all the elements of a thriller. You don’t know what will happen next.

Director Agniezska Holland captures the wretchedness of the group’s underground existence. Much of her movie takes place in oppressive darkness.

The film seems all the more authentic because Holland has filmed it in the three languages used: Polish, German and Yiddish. The characters often don’t understand each other, as it would have happened. All actors do convincing work. Robert Wieckiewicz’s Socha illustrates the complexity of human behavior. In very small shifts his sentiments change as he becomes more humane.

“In Darkness” provides an unflinching and honest look at a horrifying event. It is spellbinding to watch, capturing the aura of what these people endured. It can be tough to watch, but it is worth it.

The Grey

‘The Grey’

Directed by Joe Carnahan

With Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulrooney, Frank Grillo. Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale

“The Grey” is a horror film without a Freddy Kruger, computer-generated monsters, aliens or supernatural, beings. This unsettling film has men dealing with genuine horrors that include a plane crash, subzero temperatures, icy rivers and blood thirsty arctic wolves. Who survives in such situations? What does it take to live through such rigors?

And who better to show us what it takes than Liam Neeson?

Ottway (Liam Neeson) works as a sniper who picks off wolves at an oil rig in Northern Alaska. “The Grey” opens with him ready to commit suicide. He has lost the woman with whom he is in love; he has nothing to live for.

But he is interrupted and next he is boarding a plane bound for home with a scruffy group of ex-cons and outcast workers from the rig. A terrifying scene follows as the plane crashes into the frigid arctic wilds. There remain seven survivors cowering under the protection of the fuselage. Ottway, who earlier was ready to take his own life, now marshals the men to take measures to save theirs. Not only are they threatened by bone-chilling cold and wind, hunger, and injury but also they now are in an area populated with packs of oversize, snarling wolves whose eyes glow into the night. And they have no weapons.

Director Joe Carnahan has made a film much deeper than a film about narrow escapes and death. His film looks at the circumstances that bring out the true selves of each of the men. After being confronted by the possibilities of dying from exposure, tumbling over a cliff, or being torn apart by wolves, these tough guys become reflective. They talk about their families back home. Each man has a story. “The Grey” is also about how various men struggle to survive while others give up. 

Liam Neeson is in top form in “The Grey.” He is implacable, convincingly bonding the group of survivors.  His Ottway is a mythic character.

“The Grey” reminds us that Mother Nature is a most powerful force, and not a necessarily benevolent one. It is man-versus-nature, and you know who usually wins. The viewer feels the relentless mixture of cold and terror. It never lets up.

“The Grey” is an unnerving survivalist epic with breathtaking cinematography. It is also an emotionally involving story that offers heart pounding thrills.

Incredibly Loud and Extrememly Close

Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close.

Directed by Stephen Daldry from a book by Jonathan Safran Foer

With Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow,

Viola Davis, Jeffery Wright, John Goodman, and Zoe Caldwell.

“Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close” is a lot of title for a film, but

it is a lot of film. It deals with the emotional convolutions of a 9-year-old boy in the aftermath of 9/11. 

Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) is a brilliant but quirky boy who has a close and engaging relationship with his devoted dad, Thomas (Tom Hanks), a jeweler. Oskar probably has Asperger’s syndrome, and his dad makes up games and riddles to encourage him to interact with people. Then September 11, 2001, happened and everything changed for Oskar and untold others.

His father was in one of the towers. Oskar calls 9/11 “the worst day.”

Consumed with grief, Oskar is convinced that his father has left him a secret message when he finds a key hidden in the man’s closet. The key is inside an envelope with ‘Black’ written on it. He simply cannot deal with his dad’s death, so instead he focuses on finding the lock for the key. He finds 474 Blacks in the New York phone book.

The hyper-intelligent and insistent Oskar assiduously creates volumes of files, lists and maps.. Thus begins an Odyssey through New York’s boroughs to ask each and every Black if they know what the key fits. Nobody knows anything.

His grandmother (Zoe Caldwell) lives next door and has an elderly and secretive man renting a room at her apartment (Max Von Sydow). The “Renter” joins forces with Oskar and accompanies him on his missions. The renter is a mute who communicates with Oscar by writing. They develop a bond.

Director Stephen Daldry seamlessly directs this emotionally potent story. He is no stranger to such films, having done “The Hours,” “Billy Elliot” and “The Reader.” He understands Oskar’s desperation in trying to cope with life after having lost his anchor and biggest fan, his dad.

This is Thomas Horn’s first film. He was cast after he won Kids’ Jeopardy on TV. He holds his own against the adult actors in “Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close” and captures the intensity of his character.

Max Von Sydow is simply wonderful as the “Renter,’ and adds a touch of humor to this gut-wrenching story. Jeffery Wright is excellent as a man suffering with his own loss. Sandra Bullock does well as the mother who cannot replace Oskar’s Dad for him and suffers through Oskar’s rages towards her.

The score by Alexandre Dexplat carries the movie along.

Some will say that “Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud” is manipulative, but books are written and films are made to manipulate our emotions. Also, the ending is a bit tidy, but that really doesn’t detract from the experience of watching this film. 

“Extremely close and Incredibly Loud” will resonate with New Yorkers because they uniquely understand Oskar’s sorrow. But it will appeal to anyone who has grieved or tried to make sense of the passing of a loved one. “Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud” is a powerful and emotionally delicate film, beautifully acted and professionally produced. There is a reason why it has been nominated for Best Picture for the Academy Awards.

The Iron Lady

“The Iron Lady”

Directed by Philipa Lloyd

Written by Abi Morgan

With Meryl Streep, James Broadbent, Alexandra Roach

Meryl Streep has had 17 Academy Award nominations. Her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” has just won her a Golden Globe. Is there anything she can’t do?  

“The Iron Lady” is an intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990. She, a grocer’s daughter, came up from modest origins to become the most influential Prime Minister of England since Winston Churchill, and the first female leader of the Western World. She was one tough lady who, among many other things, confronted Gorbechev, took an unwavering stand against unions, dealt with England’s anemic economy, pushed the Brits into the Falklands War and allowed fasting Irish prisoners to die. She also revived a sense of British pride.

But this film really is a portrayal of an aging Thatcher who has dementia. 

As “The Iron Lady” begins, the elderly Mrs. Thatcher (Meryl Streep) fumbles to give the correct change to a clerk in a grocery store. She returns home where her caretaker is upset that she has ventured outside. She sits down to breakfast with her husband, Denis, and has conversation with him, pointing out that he uses too much butter on his toast. She helps him choose a suit to wear to a meeting. She brushes the lint from his jacket. Only Denis has been dead for several years.

Mrs. Thatcher shuffles around her house, reflecting on her life and career. Flashbacks briefly illustrate her childhood and proceed to highlight her many accomplishments, including her feisty and stubborn interactions with Parliament, her meetings with foreign dignitaries, her launching Britain into the Falklands War.  

But “Iron Lady” is not an epic film about Margaret Thatcher’s consequential life. It never really shows what made her exceptional.  Instead it deals with her dementia, her flights of fancy, as when she converses with Denis, her confusion and how she tries to mask it. In this way, the film humanizes her, but it is a bit cruel because Mrs. Thatcher is still alive at age 86.

The reason to see this film is Meryl Streep. Her transformation is absolutely uncanny. Her voice, her accent, her posture, her demeanor are flawless; she is Margaret Thatcher. She captures the idealistic, confident younger Margaret Thatcher who is tone deaf to criticism. She embodies the fading dignity of the older Mrs. Thatcher, now restricted to her home, struggling to maintain her poise.    

We have gotten so used to Meryl Streep’s acting abilities that we almost take her for granted. It seems her expressions, her nuance of character are givens. As “The Iron

Lady” she dazzles. You cannot take your eyes off of her. In a way, her performance overpowers the film. All the more reason to see “The Iron Lady.”

War Horse

War Horse

Directed by Steven Speilberg

Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski

With Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullen, Niels Arestrup, Jeremy Irvine, Tom Hiddleston

Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” resurrects the old-fashioned epic type of filmmaking, complete with sweeping panoramas, powerful music, direct storytelling and gut-wrenching appeals to emotion and sentimentality. There are those who will criticize it for that very reason, but take note, “War Horse” is a strong , stirring and affecting film for everyone.

The film begins with gorgeous sweeping panoramas of a verdant countryside in Devon England. A mare is giving birth to her colt as World War I begins. The colt is Joey, the protagonist of “Warhorse,” a story based on the 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo.

Young Joey is purchased at auction by a drunken farmer(Peter Mullan) who overpays for the horse to spite his landlord, who is also bidding on the horse. When he takes the horse home his wife (Emily Watson) is furious, but his son, Albert, is entranced by the beautiful animal. They bond and Albert trains Joey. However, the bills for his father’s farm must be paid, and Joey is sold to an English officer (Tom Hiddleston) and the animal is taken across the English Channel. Albert is devastated, and vows to somehow reconnect with Joey, who will now be used as a war horse. 

The story proceeds through a series of Joey’s owners, including the English officer , an elderly Frenchman farmer (Niels Arestrup) and a kindly German officer, among others. Joey inspires those who encounter him with his intelligence and “heart.” All of this is shown against the backdrop of the violence and slaughter of World War 1, a very far cry from the paradise of Devon’s bucolic beauty. The battlefields in War Horse are absolutely brilliantly staged. Warfare had been modernized, and tanks and machine guns ravage the combatants, along with swords and carbines. Fields are strewn with bodies of humans and their mounts. 

There is a harrowing scene culminating when a panicked Joey becomes ensnared in the ubiquitous coils of barbed wire used to keep back the enemy. A badly injured Joey can’t move, and both a German and an English soldier work together to free him.

Steven Spielberg’s sentiments have always been anti-war and this film chronicles the horrors of conflict: the fear of the soldiers; the total devastation of the landscape; the ugliness of slogging through the mud with heavy artillery; the fragmentation of families.  He does not focus on the gore and guts of conflict, but he does not need to: The message is delivered loud and clear. 

There are those who will say that “War Horse,” being a Disney production, has too many maudlin, sentimental and contrived moments. That the Devon countryside is just too idyllic; that Albert’s house is too charming and too perfect; that the heart-wrenching separation of Albert and Joey has been  manipulated to bring tears; that the appeal to nostalgia is too obvious; that the “Happy Ending” is just too unrealistic. To them, I say, “War Horse” is a movie full of adventure, sensitivity and soul. It is an entertainment with stunning cinematography (Janusz Kaminski) and top notch performances from a mostly unknown cast. The film illustrates the power of animals to bring out the humanity

in people. 

“War Horse” is a sweeping Hollywood epic of the finest sort. I suggest you take a box of tissues to the theater.