CAPSULE REVIEWS
by Matthew Goltz
16 July 2003
Irreversible
This often unpleasant but well-designed French exercise is a prime
example of a simple story told well that doesn't quite add up to
the sum of its parts. The film's scenes are presented in a backwards,
"conclusion-to-beginning" manner rather like Christopher
Nolan's Memento. Here the use of this device is
actually more of a gimmick, yet somehow it strangely seems less
so. We begin with two men (Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel) being
ushered out of a sex club and we learn what brought them there in
a plot involving events both naturalistic and grizzly. While the
storytelling and whirling, shaking cinematography seem little more
than window dressing they do keep us wondering what happens next
-- or "happened previously," as it were. Even the film's
detractors would have to agree that the brave work here by female
lead Monica Bellucci raises the performance bar substantially...
though to a level the rest of the film never quite reaches.
**1/2 stars out of four
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Our favorite femme-fighters bring us another helping of hyperactivity,
action and eye-candy for the fourteen-year old boy in all of us. Never
mind the storyline involving Government witnesses, shadowy pasts and at
least one character that serves no narrative purpose whatsoever. Full
Throttle is a celebration of Hollywood excess with gleefully
overdone special effects, huge star cameos and scenes that play tribute
to nearly every great film of the last twenty years -- a movie-fan's dream
party thrown by four cinematic supervixens. Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and
Drew Barrymore are every bit as smart, fun and gorgeous as they were in
the previous film. The presence of Bill Murray as Bosley is sorely missed,
but Bernie Mac fills the void well. The big news is the big screen return
of Demi Moore as the former Angel turned bad. While some might take issue
with her cool self-consciousness, Moore brings a real sense of strength
and competition to the film. And besides, she looks great firing two guns
at once.
***
Cinemania
This documentary examines four New York movie fans whose love of cinema
has overtaken their very lives. Their devotion to "all things filmed"
borders on the occasionally sociopathic and often-tragic, never more than
when one subject's home appears to be a tenement room with one lightbulb
and no hallway space... but lots of movie memorabilia. As much a comedy
as a cautionary tale of loving something too much, Cinemania
makes us smile as often as we cringe as it paints its subjects in a harsh
but sympathetic light. In a moment of clarity, one cinemaniac relays to
us that their shared infatuation might not be normal, "but who wants
to be normal, anyway?" Anyone who loves the movies can naturally
see a little of themselves in these folks... and possibly breathe a sigh
of relief as they think "there but for the grace of God go I."
***
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines
T3 manages to squeeze through as a bright, fun action
ride even without the participation of series regulars Linda Hamilton,
Edward Furlong and creator James Cameron. In their stead we have Nick
Stahl as the adult John Conner, Claire Danes as a not-so-innocent bystander
swept up in the action and Kristanna Loken as the T-X -- an attractive
killing machine sent from the future with neat abilities but not a fraction
of the menace of Robert Patrick from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Director Jonathan Mostow (the underrated Breakdown and
the overrated U-571) keeps things moving at a breakneck
pace even though the screenplay misses the subtlety and narrative drive
of the first two films and features a somewhat cerebral conclusion that
some may find off-putting. It's too jokey, too loose, and less involving...
yet it's great to see Arnold back in the role in which we love him most.
T3 may not be a great Terminator movie, though eventually
it turns into a decent sub-adventure on its own.
***
Whale Rider
Terrific performances and lush, wondrous imagery carry the emotional weight
of this story of family, responsibility and destiny. The New Zealand Ngati
tribal mythology heralds the birth of a male child, a Whale Rider, that
guides and links man and the sea. When the presumed child and mother die
during the birth, the twin sister survives and must discover her strength
and her identity under the scornful watch of her grandfather and clan
leader. In presenting us with this examination of culture, Whale
Rider is eloquent and poetic, featuring stirring performances
by Rawiri Paratene and especially Keisha Castle-Hughes as the young girl,
Pai. Fitting in alongside The Piano and Rabbit-Proof
Fence, the film is nearly as educational and enlightening.
***
The League Of Extraodinary Gentlemen
and Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The
Black Pearl
Big, adventurous summer blockbusters aren't easy to pull off. They all
have the requisite special effects but rarely have the screenplays to
back them up. Here are two that get it right. Both films have ensemble
casts led by bankable stars, exciting moments of derring-do and competent
scriptwriting propelling the action. Pirates has a century
of swashbuckling predecessors to live up to and does so with high style
and classically fun work by Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. League,
based on a comic book and starring Sean Connery, combines literary inspiration
and high-tech wizardry in a way that Wild, Wild West
only wished it had. Directors Gore Verbinski (Pirates)
and Stephen Norrington (League) keep it light and fun.
Sure, Pirates could've been cut by about 30 minutes,
and sure League suffers from just a little overload.
But then again, I saw these two movies back to back and haven't had so
much gee-whiz, childlike fun at the movies in quite a while.
Both films: ***
Swimming Pool
This new character-based thriller from Francois Ozon has a well-focused
and mannered momentum that nearly drives it to greatness. Ozon plays with
our expectations and the conventions of the mystery genre brilliantly.
Largely a story of the nature of creativity set against a backdrop of
murder, it's rather like a feminine Barton Fink without
the surrealism. Charlotte Rampling's performance as a repressed English
crime novelist trying to recharge her creative batteries is as good as
it gets. Her young co-star Ludivine Sagnier also makes a huge splash as
her unexpected, oversexed guest. What comes of these two forces of nature
is the stuff of Hitchcock caliber moviemaking, until the ambiguous conclusion
when the double surprise ending becomes just a bit too clever for it's
own good.
*** |
