Swedish director Daniel Espinosa’s predictable spy versus spy saga “Safe House” (**1/2 out of ****) resembles “The Bourne Identity” in several respects. The chief difference is Denzel Washington doesn’t play an amnesiac “Bourne” again hero. Instead, he is a rogue CIA agent at large who tops Langley’s most wanted list who remembers everything rotten about the Agency. Like the superb“Bourne” thrillers, this nimble actioneer concerns corrupt CIA superiors who want Denzel dead because he has damaging information about them. Mind you, this isn’t the first time the CIA has been depicted as crooked. Watergate era thrillers such as “Three Days of the Condor” and “Scorpio” deployed that plot back in the early 1970s. Of course, the Agency isn’t entirely corrupt, only some powerful individuals at the top. When freshman scribe David Guggenheim isn’t muddling up things with multiple layers of mystery, Espinosa does his best to captivate us with brief, brutal, and breathless combat scenes that rival the “Bourne” franchise. Lenser Oliver Wood enhances this violence with the same jittery camerawork that he used in the three “Bourne” movies. Three-fourths of “Safehouse” bristles with miscreants either shooting to kill or wielding their fists like cudgels. If you get in the way of these dastards, you die! Any movie where Denzel snaps a guy’s neck like celery and abandons his corpse in a toilet stall isn’t designed to market action hero figures. Indeed, nothing about either Denzel or the tenacious thugs blasting away at his heels is frivolous. “The Green Lantern’s” Ryan Reynolds co-stars as a character roughly similar to the one that actor Ethan Hawke played opposite Denzel in “Training Day.” “Safe House” emerges as one of those male mentoring melodramas where an older guy grooms a younger guy for the grimy world of espionage and corruption.
The Central Intelligence Agency has been trying to nab the elusive Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington of “American Gangster”) for nine years since he quit their ranks. When he shows up at a rendezvous with a shifty British Intelligence agent, Frost’s enemies miss him, but obliterate the MI6 man’s skull. A desperate Frost scrambles for the sanctuary of the American Consulate where the authorities immediately take him into custody. Meanwhile, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a naive, straight-arrow CIA operative itching for the opportunity to prove his mettle. Instead, Langley has relegated Matt to serve as a glorified custodian for one of their safe houses. Twelve months later Matt is still waiting impatiently for a posting as a field agent. Trouble is he lacks the experience that would make him eligible. Life in Cape Town, South Africa, where Matt is stationed as a ‘housekeeper’ bores him to tears. Despite friendly reassurances from his immediate superior David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson of “The General”), Matt feels like he is stuck in a dead-end assignment. When he isn’t supervising the CIA safe house, Matt cavorts with a gorgeous French gal, Ana (Nora Arnezeder of “Paris 36”), and fills her ears with lies about his work.
After CIA Deputy Director Harlan Whitford (Sam Sheppard of “Black Hawk Down”) learns about Frost’s capture, he transfers the treasonous Frost to Cape Town for safekeeping. Frost’s unexpected arrival at Matt’s safe house catches our hero by surprise. He watches with obvious misgivings as a group of ruthless CIA agents, led by Daniel Kiefer (Robert Patrick of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), subject Frost to some grueling water-board torture. As it turns out, Washington didn’t use a stand-in for the torture scenes. Anyway, Kiefer’s men get nowhere with Frost. Suddenly, another gang of gunmen burst in with guns blazing. They aren't in the mood to take prisoners. Things don’t look promising for Matt who is supposed to shield Frost. Frost reminds Matt that the killers want him alive, but they won’t display any charity toward Matt. Impulsively, Matt ushers Front at gun point from the safe house. The two men form an uneasy alliance as they struggle to stay one step ahead of adamant adversaries. Gradually, Matt learns what a CIA agent has to look forward to in his line of work. Frost plays along with Matt as they hide out from the gunmen. Gradually, the renegade agent lulls the rookie into a false sense of security before he catches him off guard. When they venture out into public, Frost alerts the police that Matt is armed and dangerous. The Cape Town cops seize Matt while Frost vanishes into thin air. Not surprisingly, Matt’s superiors in Washington react with rage. Not only does Whitford put Matt’s boss Barlow on a plane to South Africa, but he also has a snooty, suspicious associate, Catherine Linklater (Vera Farmiga of “The Departed”), accompany him. Catherine strongly suspects that Frost has turned Matt. When Matt calls Whitford to explain what happened, Whitford orders him to stand down. Nevertheless, Matt sets out to recapture Frost. Our hero isn’t prepared for what he learns about either Frost or his CIA honchos.
“Safe House” benefits from on-location lensing in Cape Town. Everything appears genuinely gritty and none of it looks familiar. This isn’t the kind of spy thriller that boasts exotic locations, desirable dames, and cool gadgets. Espinosa, Guggenheim, and Washington—who doubles as one of the executive producers—are gunning for realism, and they achieve it. The close quarters combat scenes will have you searching for bruises on yourself. Sadly, the surprises that occur throughout “Safe House” aren’t revelations, and the ending seems straight out of “Three Days of the Condor.” If you’ve seen "Hanna," "Red," "Salt,” "Knight and Day" or “Haywire,” you know what comes next at every turn. “Safe House” isn’t as good as some of Denzel’s earlier films, and he generates little sympathy with his martyred shades-of-gray character. Poor Vera Farmiga plays the most thankless role in the action, while Brendan Gleeson and Sam Sheppard turn in sturdy performances. On the other hand, Ryan Reynolds delivers the strongest performance and emerges as a contender. “Safe House” is best watched as a rental.
CINEMATIC REVELATIONS allows me the luxury of writing, editing and archiving my film and television reviews. Some reviews appeared initially in "The Commercial Dispatch" and "The Planet Weekly" and then later in the comment archives at the Internet Movie Database. IMDB.COM, however, imposes a limit on both the number of words and the number of times that an author may revise their comments. I hope that anybody who peruses these expanded reviews will find them useful.
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
FILM REVIEW OF ''INVICTUS'' (2009)
Morgan Freeman has so much talent that he makes acting look easy. In director Clint Eastwood's latest movie "Invictus,"(***1/2 out of ****) based on John Carlin's non-fiction book "Playing the Enemy," Freeman impersonates controversial South African President Nelson Mandela. Interestingly, Mandela said that Freeman was the only actor who he felt could do him justice on the big-screen. Basically, this inspirational sports saga about rugby concerns more than just capturing the 1995 World Cup. "Sherlock Holmes" scenarist Anthony Peckham and Eastwood have produced a solemn, straightforward, but contemplative film about how Mandela shrewdly appropriated a hated symbol of apartheid and wielded it so that he could unite a racially torn nation. In other words, the savvy politician pulled the ultimate public relations ploy and used a rugby team. This factual social activist melodrama with its liberal perspective seems rather predictable at times, but it is remains nevertheless as reassuring as it is absorbing. Essentially, two minds meet in "Invictus" and forge a change that solidified a country. The performances by Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as a conscientious rugby coach are flawless. Damon appears physically fit for such a demanding role and his accent sounds reasonable. Some scenes seem almost too good to be true, particularly the camaraderie between a young black teen and two gruff-looking South African beat cops during the World Cup game. Unlike most sports films, "Invictus" dwells more on how the game of rugby engineered racial harmony in a repressive society than about the game itself.
After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman of "Unforgiven") emerges and wins the presidency of South Africa. Mandela's victory ushered in many striking changes, and his fellow blacks wanted to disband the South African team, the Springboks, because it reminded them of racial oppression. No sooner does Mandela hear about this rash decision than he races out to appeal to his constituents about the error of their ways. Of course, they hate the Springboks, but Mandela urges them to support him and his request to leave the Springboks alone. Mandela convinces them that this represents a splendid opportunity to allay white fears about black power. Initially, Mandela's closest adviser warns him about this kind of activism. Meanwhile, the Springboks are doing themselves no favors with their abysmal performance on the playing fields. A Mandela adviser observes that winning the World Cup would create a lot of ppsitive publicity for the new government and Mandela summons blond Afrikaner, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon of "The Bourne Ultimatum") who bears no political crosses, and encourage him to win the World Cup. The messiah-like Mandela exerts considerable influence on Pienaar and the coach takes his pampered team on promotional tours into the most squalid of black ghettos to teach the children the basics of the game. Early in "Invictus," one of Mandela's white bodyguards describes to his black cohorts the essentials of rugby: "Soccer is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen."
When Peckham and Eastwood aren't concentrating on Mandela's cagey political maneuvers, they depict the changes that occurred all over South Africa with a subplot about the president's integrated team of bodyguards. Mandela's chief of security had requested more bodyguards, so the president obliges him with British-trained, Afrikaner cops. Indeed, Mandela discourages any whites from leaving government service because he needs them as examples of unity within his administration. Time gradually erodes white anxieties about black aspirations as reflected by grudging cooperation between the black and white bodyguards. Again, rugby takes center stage with the whites explaining the rules of rugby to their colleagues.
Nelson Mandela comes off looking as slippery as James Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Mandela doesn't miss a trick in his political calculations and he impresses his closest adviser. Indeed, Mandela emerges in "Invictus" as an Abraham Lincoln of sorts. He survived 24 years of brutal, back-breaking imprisonment on an island and slept on a mat for a bed. This same individual, who endured enormous hardship, later ascended from the lowest position in society—a prison inmate—and attained the highest post—president of the same country that had incarnated him. Mandela realized from his pinnacle of power that the only way to thwart an immanent civil war that threatened to tear South Africa apart that he had to exercise accommodation toward his fellow whites.
Wisely, director Clint Eastwood doesn't have much truck with politics in "Invictus." Peckham and he provide the basic ground work about the sudden changes that rocked South Africa with Mandela's election as president. They present us with the struggles that the Springbox with their green and gold outfits endure. Mandela demonstrates true insight into his fellow men when he decides to let a predominantly white rugby team become a rallying cry for intolerance and unity. No, "Invictus" is not the kind of movie that you would expect from Clint Eastwood and—like his protagonist who prefers to make risks—Eastwood has helmed and honed another classic. "Invictus" ranks as a sentimental sports saga that never gets sappy. Incidentally, "Invictus" translated means as invincible.
After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman of "Unforgiven") emerges and wins the presidency of South Africa. Mandela's victory ushered in many striking changes, and his fellow blacks wanted to disband the South African team, the Springboks, because it reminded them of racial oppression. No sooner does Mandela hear about this rash decision than he races out to appeal to his constituents about the error of their ways. Of course, they hate the Springboks, but Mandela urges them to support him and his request to leave the Springboks alone. Mandela convinces them that this represents a splendid opportunity to allay white fears about black power. Initially, Mandela's closest adviser warns him about this kind of activism. Meanwhile, the Springboks are doing themselves no favors with their abysmal performance on the playing fields. A Mandela adviser observes that winning the World Cup would create a lot of ppsitive publicity for the new government and Mandela summons blond Afrikaner, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon of "The Bourne Ultimatum") who bears no political crosses, and encourage him to win the World Cup. The messiah-like Mandela exerts considerable influence on Pienaar and the coach takes his pampered team on promotional tours into the most squalid of black ghettos to teach the children the basics of the game. Early in "Invictus," one of Mandela's white bodyguards describes to his black cohorts the essentials of rugby: "Soccer is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen."
When Peckham and Eastwood aren't concentrating on Mandela's cagey political maneuvers, they depict the changes that occurred all over South Africa with a subplot about the president's integrated team of bodyguards. Mandela's chief of security had requested more bodyguards, so the president obliges him with British-trained, Afrikaner cops. Indeed, Mandela discourages any whites from leaving government service because he needs them as examples of unity within his administration. Time gradually erodes white anxieties about black aspirations as reflected by grudging cooperation between the black and white bodyguards. Again, rugby takes center stage with the whites explaining the rules of rugby to their colleagues.
Nelson Mandela comes off looking as slippery as James Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Mandela doesn't miss a trick in his political calculations and he impresses his closest adviser. Indeed, Mandela emerges in "Invictus" as an Abraham Lincoln of sorts. He survived 24 years of brutal, back-breaking imprisonment on an island and slept on a mat for a bed. This same individual, who endured enormous hardship, later ascended from the lowest position in society—a prison inmate—and attained the highest post—president of the same country that had incarnated him. Mandela realized from his pinnacle of power that the only way to thwart an immanent civil war that threatened to tear South Africa apart that he had to exercise accommodation toward his fellow whites.
Wisely, director Clint Eastwood doesn't have much truck with politics in "Invictus." Peckham and he provide the basic ground work about the sudden changes that rocked South Africa with Mandela's election as president. They present us with the struggles that the Springbox with their green and gold outfits endure. Mandela demonstrates true insight into his fellow men when he decides to let a predominantly white rugby team become a rallying cry for intolerance and unity. No, "Invictus" is not the kind of movie that you would expect from Clint Eastwood and—like his protagonist who prefers to make risks—Eastwood has helmed and honed another classic. "Invictus" ranks as a sentimental sports saga that never gets sappy. Incidentally, "Invictus" translated means as invincible.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
FILM REVIEW OF ''DISTRICT 9" (2009)
Director Neill Blomkamp's freshman, feature-length, dystopian sci-fi thriller "District 9" (* out of ****)qualifies as both grotesque and grungy. Worse, heavily-laden with anti-apartheid messages, it emerges nevertheless as an uneven blend of Monty Python skits with a serious polemic about alien rights. Does anybody remember director Christopher Columbus’ “Bicentennial Man” (1999) with Robin Williams and lack of concern for alien rights? Despite some visceral action sequences that attest to Blomkamp’s expertise at staging action, this nimble but numb-skulled nail-biter puts the protagonist in a thoroughly impossible position. Essentially, “District 9” exemplifies those supernatural films that occur primarily on Earth with the 'aliens among us’ theme. Mankind knows that the aliens have arrived. In fact, not only have we accepted them, we have grossly taken advantage of them! These aliens are neither as lovable as “Wall-E” lovable nor as cunning as the “Terminator.” You could call “District 9”: 'The Day the Aliens Stood Still.'
Indeed, Blomkamp and co-scenarist Terri Tatchell encapsulate the action in a fictional expose television documentary. Intermittently, Blomkamp indulges himself with adrenalin-laced dramatic footage that no documentary film could have captured without staging it. At other times, Blomkamp cross-cuts black & white footage from surveillance cameras to show our woebegone hero at work. Essentially, he is following the same scenario as “Cloverfield,” except for those few sequences that do not fit into the documentary. Indeed, “District 9” borrows from a number of science fiction films. A gigantic alien spaceship visits Earth like in "Independence Day,” but this spacecraft cannot leave. The spaceship hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa, for three months before the authorities board it. The skeletal aliens that humans find inside are malnourished, and the good folks in Johannesburg, wind up confining these aliens in what constitutes a huge slum. The humans treat the aliens like second-class citizens and allow them to sink into squalor. The aliens resort to crime to make ends meet and are often at odds with the authorities. No, "District 9" shares little in common with the conventional "Alien Nation." These aliens look like they walked off the set of a "Predator" movie and--unlike most alien invaders--they are not as intimidating as their counterparts. These aliens remain largely at our mercy, and Blomkamp renders humanity as brutal and unscrupulous in their treatment of the aliens.
“District 9” opens with several talking heads as part of a documentary about the scandal involving the protagonist. Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copely) is an ordinary field representative for Multi-National United, (MNU), a private company that has dominion over the aliens. Escalating alien crime and violence has prompted the government to move some 1.8 million of them to new District 10 camp located outside of Johannesburg. They are being served eviction notices by MNU field representatives who are backed up by armed helicopters hovering above them. Our hero’ s father-in-law, Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar) assigns him to head up the mission. During one of his visits to a domicile, Wikus discovers a suspicious cylinder among an arms cache. When he fumbles with it, a black liquid squirts into his face, contaminating him with alien DNA. As the story open, Wikus is already under investigation. The tabloids carry pictures of him mating with aliens. We are given a recap of the story and then the second half opens as Wikus grows flippers on his left hand. Suddenly, Wikus becomes the most prized human alive with the alien DNA polluting his bloodstream. Alien guns that scientists could never have fired now discharge at Wikus’ half-breed DNA touch. Mind you, Wikus refuses to fire the weapons, but his captors shock him with cattle prods until he accommodates them. Wikus goes berserk and escapes from the laboratory. He joins forces with an intelligent, inventor-type alien named Christopher. Christopher wants to rekindle the energy of his command capsule so he can get back to the spacecraft overhead and haul freight.
Basically, "District 9" appropriates the ‘what if’ sci-fi theme and employs it as a metaphor for a social consciousness sermon about racial xenophobia. Neither Blomkamp nor Tatchell regard humanity in a sentimental light. Worse, we are asked to sympathize with a hero who is a complete imbecile. The theme of man's inhumanity to aliens comes through 'loud and clear.’ Imagine a science fiction movie that takes place in a third world country and you've summed up "District 9." These aliens aren't cool. They look like big bugs and they speak in guttural language. Everybody refers to them disparagingly as ‘prawns.’ Blomkamp translates the alien lingo in white subtitles. They are as pathetic as the hero who behaves as if he were in a Woody Allen comedy. He is a naive moron, a patsy, a fall guy. The important part of the plot transpires when he undergoes a quasi-alien metamorphosis a la Franz Kafka meets "The Fly."
Blomkamp lenses "District 9" like a documentary, and its bureaucratic hero makes an ass out of himself. He couldn't be any more abject if he were John Cleese in a Monty Python skit. Eventually, after he gets contaminated, he begins his transformation into an alien with one hand turning into an alien claw. Yes, the aliens do resemble huge insects which make them appear less hostile but far from appealing. Indeed, Blomkamp creates a very convincing alternative universe in that the story is credible and as down to earth as any sci-fi you can imagine. Eventually, the alien along with the Wikus Van De Merwe bureaucratic hero launch a one-man/one-alien war against the repressive organization MNU that keeps the alien cooped up in the worse circumstances. The section between Merwe escaping and then teaming up with Christopher is action packed, but there are no surprises in this flat movie. I cannot believe that so many people are going ape about this asinine little flick.
Indeed, Blomkamp and co-scenarist Terri Tatchell encapsulate the action in a fictional expose television documentary. Intermittently, Blomkamp indulges himself with adrenalin-laced dramatic footage that no documentary film could have captured without staging it. At other times, Blomkamp cross-cuts black & white footage from surveillance cameras to show our woebegone hero at work. Essentially, he is following the same scenario as “Cloverfield,” except for those few sequences that do not fit into the documentary. Indeed, “District 9” borrows from a number of science fiction films. A gigantic alien spaceship visits Earth like in "Independence Day,” but this spacecraft cannot leave. The spaceship hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa, for three months before the authorities board it. The skeletal aliens that humans find inside are malnourished, and the good folks in Johannesburg, wind up confining these aliens in what constitutes a huge slum. The humans treat the aliens like second-class citizens and allow them to sink into squalor. The aliens resort to crime to make ends meet and are often at odds with the authorities. No, "District 9" shares little in common with the conventional "Alien Nation." These aliens look like they walked off the set of a "Predator" movie and--unlike most alien invaders--they are not as intimidating as their counterparts. These aliens remain largely at our mercy, and Blomkamp renders humanity as brutal and unscrupulous in their treatment of the aliens.
“District 9” opens with several talking heads as part of a documentary about the scandal involving the protagonist. Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copely) is an ordinary field representative for Multi-National United, (MNU), a private company that has dominion over the aliens. Escalating alien crime and violence has prompted the government to move some 1.8 million of them to new District 10 camp located outside of Johannesburg. They are being served eviction notices by MNU field representatives who are backed up by armed helicopters hovering above them. Our hero’ s father-in-law, Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar) assigns him to head up the mission. During one of his visits to a domicile, Wikus discovers a suspicious cylinder among an arms cache. When he fumbles with it, a black liquid squirts into his face, contaminating him with alien DNA. As the story open, Wikus is already under investigation. The tabloids carry pictures of him mating with aliens. We are given a recap of the story and then the second half opens as Wikus grows flippers on his left hand. Suddenly, Wikus becomes the most prized human alive with the alien DNA polluting his bloodstream. Alien guns that scientists could never have fired now discharge at Wikus’ half-breed DNA touch. Mind you, Wikus refuses to fire the weapons, but his captors shock him with cattle prods until he accommodates them. Wikus goes berserk and escapes from the laboratory. He joins forces with an intelligent, inventor-type alien named Christopher. Christopher wants to rekindle the energy of his command capsule so he can get back to the spacecraft overhead and haul freight.
Basically, "District 9" appropriates the ‘what if’ sci-fi theme and employs it as a metaphor for a social consciousness sermon about racial xenophobia. Neither Blomkamp nor Tatchell regard humanity in a sentimental light. Worse, we are asked to sympathize with a hero who is a complete imbecile. The theme of man's inhumanity to aliens comes through 'loud and clear.’ Imagine a science fiction movie that takes place in a third world country and you've summed up "District 9." These aliens aren't cool. They look like big bugs and they speak in guttural language. Everybody refers to them disparagingly as ‘prawns.’ Blomkamp translates the alien lingo in white subtitles. They are as pathetic as the hero who behaves as if he were in a Woody Allen comedy. He is a naive moron, a patsy, a fall guy. The important part of the plot transpires when he undergoes a quasi-alien metamorphosis a la Franz Kafka meets "The Fly."
Blomkamp lenses "District 9" like a documentary, and its bureaucratic hero makes an ass out of himself. He couldn't be any more abject if he were John Cleese in a Monty Python skit. Eventually, after he gets contaminated, he begins his transformation into an alien with one hand turning into an alien claw. Yes, the aliens do resemble huge insects which make them appear less hostile but far from appealing. Indeed, Blomkamp creates a very convincing alternative universe in that the story is credible and as down to earth as any sci-fi you can imagine. Eventually, the alien along with the Wikus Van De Merwe bureaucratic hero launch a one-man/one-alien war against the repressive organization MNU that keeps the alien cooped up in the worse circumstances. The section between Merwe escaping and then teaming up with Christopher is action packed, but there are no surprises in this flat movie. I cannot believe that so many people are going ape about this asinine little flick.
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