Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) spends the majority of Gran Torino spewing racist jokes and politically incorrect comments with relish as curmudgeonly Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski. With his wife's recent death, Kowalski has little to no desire to live or be loved.
He is utterly unafraid to give anyone, from his ungrateful descendants to his Asian neighbors, an unwelcome piece of his mind. Kowalski spends his days perched on his porch like a sentry, lording over his property - especially his prized Ford Gran Torino - with Pabst Blue Ribbon and rifle in hand.
Of course, the world refuses to leave Kowalski alone. A staunch guardian of American individualism and unflinching morality, he is thrust into the heart of a conflict between the hardworking Hmong family next door and a brutal local gang. Seemingly, the struggle is between Kowalski and the gang as he attempts to stop them from ruining the life of humble neighboring teenager Thao (newcomer Bee Vang).
What the film really is, however, is Eastwood's grudgingly sentimental ode to a previous generation. As the director and star sees it, his generation of Americans built a nation and worked hard only to be replaced by a horde of lying businessmen, spoiled teenagers and amoral thugs. Watching his final classic as an actor (he pledges to stay behind the camera after this film), one finds it difficult to disagree. - Vaman Muppala
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
MARLEY & ME
If Marley & Me teaches us one thing, it's to never underestimate the earthshaking power of cuteness.
After all, Marley & Me could not be a much simpler story. Journalist John Grogan (Owen Wilson, Drillbit Taylor) and his wife, Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston, The Break-Up), get a dog. They marry, have kids, move, go through ups and downs in their marriage and live a regular life with their dog.
The film is adapted from the real-life Grogan's novel by two old pros (The Lookout's Scott Frank and Happy Endings' Don Roos) with a moderate amount of believable characterization. But the marital conflict is about as scary and authentic as a Hallmark card.
Still, Wilson and Aniston click on-screen as the couple and are likeable actors individually. Nonetheless, this may not sound like a movie that's made more than $100 million in the United States alone.
Of course, none of the reasons above are why the film has accrued this sum. That explanation is the unabashed tear-demanding emotion that shows up clearly in the ending. It might be corny, and a cynic would call it manipulative, but try telling that to anyone with a dog. - Dan Benamor
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D
There was a time before Saw came along when horror movies attempted to do more than simply destroy human beings systematically. Sure, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers hacked, slashed and scratched partying teenagers to their deaths - but they did so in a fashion that was fun for the audience.
My Bloody Valentine 3D, a remake of the 1981 original, brings the fun back to the horror genre. The pickax-wielding psycho, Harry Warden (Richard John Walters, Smart People), dispenses with said teenagers just as his 80s contemporaries did but also finds time to horrify the adult population.
Director Patrick Lussier (White Noise 2: The Light) uses the 3-D not just for ambience, as most of the modern 3-D films do, but also uses the technique to splatter blood, guts and, yes, an eyeball right at the audience. It makes for a great time in the theater, especially if you're looking for a diversion from the awards season. - Tripp Laino
RATING: 3.5 out of 5
NOTORIOUS
Biopics - no matter their subject - carefully tread the line between adulatory reverence and bleak truth telling. Unfortunately, the Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace biopic, Notorious, falls with a thud on the wrong side of the balance.
Newcomer Jamal Woolard plays Wallace as roughly the equivalent of a rapping Fat Albert. This makes one wonder if the man who spit some of the hardest, illest rhymes in history was putting on an act to stop his fans from finding out what a happy-go-lucky lover of fun he was. While Notorious does depict Wallace selling crack to a pregnant woman with no remorse, it also shows that same crackhead living a healthy, productive life with her buoyant young son, making one question the entirety of modern biology.
For true fans of Biggie Smalls, your best bet is to play Ready to Die on repeat instead of spending an hour and a half on this glossy, inconsequential joke of a film. Ultimately, it appears no one can illustrate Wallace's life better than he could: "I'm ready to die and nobody can save me/ F--- the world, f--- my moms and my girl/ My life is played out like a jheri curl, I'm ready to die." - V.M.
RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Revolutionary Road, in a nutshell, is a consistently depressing parable of a young couple's ultimate demise in 1950s suburbia. It marks Sam Mendes' return to the suburbs, his first visit since 1999's Oscar-winning American Beauty.
And it also marks a story where the main actors notably outshine the story being told.
Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio, Body of Lies) and his wife, April (Kate Winslet, The Reader), yell and scream as their far-fetched ambition - moving to Paris - begins to crumble around them, and they do it well. They are pushed closer to the breaking point by the probing, crazy son of their neighbors (a frightening Michael Shannon, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead).
All of the leads and supporting players act their roles well throughout, and Mendes' direction presents a great visual view of '50s conformity (take the sea of gray suits spilling through Grand Central Terminal, for example).
The biggest problem lies in Justin Haythe's (The Clearing) adaptation of the Richard Yates novel. While the periodic yelling and screaming is plenty uncomfortable and unsettling, there is no further emotional resonance.
And the lack of effect as the credits roll is what ultimately mars a success in both directing and acting. - Jon Wolper
RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars
SEVEN POUNDS
In Seven Pounds, Will Smith (Hancock) re-teams with director Gabriele Muccino (who directed him in The Pursuit of Happyness) for what might as well be termed The Pursuit of Dourness.
Smith plays Ben Thomas, an IRS agent who spends his time identifying the good people in life so he can help them. This is a movie so solemn and so determinedly serious about itself that when the big, dark secret of Ben's past is finally revealed, it's only a relief because viewers know the movie will be ending soon.
Obviously, Smith is a mega-star, and he brings enough intensity to the role that you almost go with him. And even though the final reveal is more head-scratching than awe-inspiring, the film could have worked as an over-the-top melodrama. The pacing, though, performs a nosedive halfway through and stays flatlined until the end.
While Will Smith's last two blockbusters (Hancock and I Am Legend) squandered interesting premises with poor third acts, Seven Pounds doesn't even get as far. When the most entertaining part of the movie is watching love interest Emily Posa's (Rosario Dawson, Eagle Eye) gigantic dog flop around, drama has become trauma to the viewer. - D.B.
RATING: 1 out of 5 stars
THE WRESTLER
Obviously, the parallels between Mickey Rourke (Sin City) and his character in The Wrestler are indisputable. Two decades after losing much of their fame, they both are trying to win back what was once theirs. For Randy "The Ram" Robinson, it's staging a rematch with his fiercest old-time rival. For Rourke, it's taking the similarities between him and The Ram and turning them into the best performance of his career.
There's a sense Rourke is not acting the part of The Ram - he is pretty much living this man. The Ram lives in a New Jersey trailer, alone, trying to get by on the meager pay he receives for low-turnout wrestling bouts. He's fond of a stripper (Marisa Tomei, War, Inc.), and his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood, Across the Universe) despises him for leaving her years ago.
Smartly, director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) abandons his hyperkinetic filmmaking style for handheld, no-frills shooting and pulls no punches during the gruesome fight sequences.
True, the story arc tends to be a bit familiar at times. However, in a field of great acting, cinematography and directing, Rourke stands tall. It isn't just his best performance; he is the best leading man of 2008. - J.W.
RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
diversionsdbk@gmail.com
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar