The Ben Stiller & Eddie Murphy thriller “Tower Heist” (**1/2 out of ****) amounts to an entertaining but harebrained morality play about a gang of amateur thieves. Mind you, “Rush Hour” director Brett Ratner’s ninth film is a splendid example of contemporary class rivalry; responsible working class city dwellers tangle with a ruthless irresponsible millionaire who uses the system to shield himself. This shallow often silly snapshot of our times makes it plain that the have-nots want everything that they can haul off from the haves. Although Ratner and “Ocean’s Eleven” scenarist Ted Griffin & “Rush Hour 2” scribe Jeff Nathanson have contrived an innocuous, occasionally suspenseful caper with a few surprises, the overall result remains is bland and colorless. Sometimes, the filmmakers contradict themselves with psychic FBI agents who are easily fooled by the most obvious prank. Happily, despite its clumsy narrative lurches, “Tower Heist” doesn’t wear out its welcome. Ratner and company have done a good job of establishing the characters and setting up the heist. At one point, Casey Affleck concisely summarizes the predicament that they find themselves in and the gauntlet of obstacles that they must negotiate. Stealing what they wind up stealing turns out to be no picnic for our intrepid heroes. In some ways, “Tower Heist” is reminiscent of last summer’s hit comedy “Horrible Bosses” where amateur murderers sought advice from a professional hit man. The heist that our heroes plan during the Thanksgiving Day Parade under everybody’s noses recalls a similarly audacious crime committed in New York City during Labor Day in director Sidney Lumet’s “The Anderson Tapes” (1971) with Sean Connery. Meantime, the production values of “Tower Heist,” itself budgeted at a hefty $75 million, are impeccable. “Heat” lenser Dante Spinotti’s dazzling cinematography makes Ratner’s Manhattan based melodrama a feast for the eyes. The opening aerial shot atop a skyscraper looking down at Benjamin Franklin’s face on a $100 dollar bill at the bottom of a huge swimming pool is something to remember! Incidentally, the actual edifice itself is The Trump International Hotel & Tower overlooking Central Park.
Hardworking Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller of “Meet the Parents”) serves as the general manager of the Tower where he reigns as the top gofer who ensures that all his residents enjoy the best of everything. The owner of the Tower, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda of TV’s “M.A.S.H.”) , is an investment mogul who attended the same public school that Josh attended in Astoria. Josh and Shaw play chess on a regular basis with Shaw teaching him about the minutiae of the game. During the opening moments, Ratner provides us with a tour of the Tower and some of its notable workers and residents. We meet Josh as well as the adored doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson of “Everyday People”), the harried concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck of “Drowning Mona”), Josh’s immediate superior Mr. Simon (Judd Hirsh of “Independence Day”), new elevator operator Enrique (Michael Peña of “Shooter”) and a destitute stockholder, Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), who Josh must evict. Aside from Mr. Fitzhugh, Josh keeps everything under control, until he learns the Feds have charged his old friend Shaw with securities fraud. Poor Lester tries to throw himself under a subway train because he has lost everything. An angry Josh storms into Shaw’s penthouse apartment and smashes Shaw’s most prized possession, a red Ferrari that Steve McQueen once drove. Later, Josh meets FBI Special Agent Claire Denham (Téa Leoni of “Bad Boys”) in a bar. She mentions that bigwigs like Shaw have a contingency safety net of millions to fall back on in case of a contingency. Josh assembles a motley crew of disgruntled employees who Shaw took to the cleaners, and they decide to ransack Shaw’s apartment for the loot. Josh enlists the aid of a former school mate, Slide (Eddie Murphy of “48 Hrs”), who knows something about committing crime. Predictably, nothing goes as planned, and our heroes find themselves in a real quandary when they discover where Shaw has stashed his money.
“Tower Heist” benefits from Alan Alda’s stellar performance as a slippery Bernie Madoff-style Wall Street villain. He steals a fortune from his gullible clients who have no clue that they’ve been defrauded. The supporting cast, including Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Stephen Henderson, Judd Hirsh, Gabourey Sidibe, Téa Leoni, and Michael Peña, has flawless timing. Michael Peña is particularly funny. The flaw in the ointment of “Tower Heist” is the incompatible casting of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. These two are accomplished comedians but their comedic styles and rhythms clash. Indeed, Stiller makes a sympathetic protagonist who commits an unfortunate mistake which not only costs his employees but also himself their life savings. Essentially, Stiller is playing a variation of his “A Night in the Museum” hero. Meanwhile, a hammy Murphy chews the scenery. The former “Saturday Night Live” comic emphasizes caricature over character in a role that Martin Lawrence could easily have pulled off without the histrionic antics. Murphy acts like he is in a “Norbit” spin-off, while everybody else plays it straight and narrow. The best comics behave as if they don’t know that they are being hilarious. Inexplicably, the producers delay the integration of Murphy into the action for about 40 minutes. Meantime, “Tower Heist” suffers from a bad ending that punishes our hero, apparently for his good intentions. The villain’s utter treachery, however, sanctions the efforts of our woebegone heroes to recover their stolen money. Shrewdly, the filmmakers have confined the larceny strictly to the characters who the villain has duped. No innocent bystanders are caught up in the calamity, and nothing in the PG-13 rated “Tower Heist” comes off as offensive. As polished as “Tower Heist” appears, the plot stumbles through its paces after everything has been carefully set up during the opening forty-five minutes. Nothing about "Tower Heist" qualifies it as a towering heist caper.
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.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF ''THE THREE MUSKETEERS"
"Resident Evil" producer and director Paul W.S. Anderson should stick to making either science fiction horror chillers, like "Event Horizon" and "The Soldier," or brawny actioneers, like "Mortal Combat," and "Death Race." These genres thrive on larger-than-life characters performing heavy-handed histrionics in over-the-top situations. Gadgets and gimmicks proliferate in both genres, typically with the combatants defeating their enemy because they display greater competence with their weapons. Now, Anderson has ventured outside of his usual bailiwick with "The Three Musketeers." The immortal Alexander Dumas novel emphasized court intrigue, chivalrous romance, and colorful swordplay in a 17th century setting. Indeed, "The Three Musketeers" has been a favorite of filmmakers since the French produced the first cinematic version in 1903. Since that long lost classic appeared over a century ago, more than 30 remakes and various sequels have followed. Hollywood conjured up two unusual adaptations. First, Mascot Pictures released a serial in 1933 which cast ten-gallon hero John Wayne as a one of the three eponymous protagonists in the Arabian Desert as French Foreign Legionnaires. Second, Universal Studios shifted the storyline to the Texas-Mexican border for the short-lived 1960s’ western television series "Laredo" which swapped six-guns for swords, but captured the essence of the Musketeers' tongue-in-cheek shenanigans. Anderson and scenarists Alex Litvak and Andrew Davies have tried to update “The Three Musketeers” (** OUT OF ****) for contemporary audiences by adding anachronistic elements which are often found in steampunk science fiction and fantasy. Instead, had Anderson imitated the latest literary trend that Quirk Books launched with Seth Grahame-Smith in 2009 in his parody of Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” entitled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” he might have fared better.
The best "Musketeer" movies have been frivolous, light-hearted swashbucklers with nimble swordplay and charismatic characters. “A Hard Day’s Night” director Richard Lester made the most memorable remake that emerged as two films “The Three Musketeers” (1973) and “The Four Musketeers” (1974). Although Anderson's take on the chivalrous Dumas tale qualifies as ambitious with impressive costumes and production values, the overall treatment is nevertheless uneven and ultimately uninspired. Anderson lacks the light touch and helms this period outing with a heavy hand. In a misguided effort to revitalize this venerable yarn of derring-do for contemporary audiences, he has resorted to outlandish gadgets such as scuba gear, complex vaults, and airborne galleons. Basically, Anderson seems to be imitating swashbucklers like Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988) and Mathew Vaughn's "Stardust" (2007). Meantime, he has forsaken the essence of any good "Musketeer" movie, the camaraderie among Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and D'Artagnan.
Mind you, Anderson's "Three Musketeers" doesn't qualify as a complete fiasco. This $90-million international production is a triumph of Pierre-Yves Gayraud's extravagant costumes and Paul Denham Austerberry's sophisticated production designs. Although Anderson filmed this epic on location in Germany, the sprawling Castle Herrenchiemsee in Bavaria stands in splendidly for the actual Palace of Versailles. If showy costumes, production values, and a handsome cast constituted a good movie, then this "Three Musketeers" would qualify as a stunner. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Sadly, nothing about the use of 3-D distinguishes "Rambo" lenser Glen MacPherson's impeccable widescreen cinematography. Meantime, Anderson must have been tugged in two directions by his writers who were as different as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Alex Litvak, who penned the horror opus "Predators," and Andrew Davies, who wrote the two chick flick "Brigit Jones" romancers, seem to alternate between a diamond heist and sword fighting without any time out for romantic interludes. The chief differences between this “Three Musketeers” and previous remakes is the use of airships to accelerate the momentum of the plot. Whereas our heroes galloped on horseback in the earlier epics, Anderson and his scenarists rely on gimmicks to speed up the action. Anderson doesn’t have a clue about how to wield comedy and all the jokes and pranks fall flat, particularly with Planchet who serves as the butt of the humor. Matters aren't helped that the actors cast as the leads. They are hopelessly overshadowed by a stronger supporting cast, principally Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, Mads Mikkelsen, and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz who are better known to audiences. “The Three Musketeers” never generates the zest that either the silent Douglas Fairbanks’ classic or the famous Richard Lester version with Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, and Oliver Reed had. Altogether, “The Three Musketeers” buckles because it doesn’t swash!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF ''BEVERLY HILLS COP 3" (1994)
This uninspired sequel about a counterfeit ring operating in a Walt Disney look-alike amusement park qualifies as the least entertaining entry in the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise. After producing "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Beverly Hills Cop 2," Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer had nothing to do with this pathetic Paramount release that unimaginatively drags Detroit Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy of "48 HRS") back to California for the third time. You can tell when a franchise has run
out of momentum because it starts knocking off its own characters. Further, neither Taggart (John Ashton of the first two "Beverly Hills Cop" movies) nor Capt. Bogamill (Ronny Cox of the first two Beverly Hills Cop" movies) return. Nothing is ever said about Bogamill's absence, but we're told that Taggart has retired. (Actually, in the Special Features on the DVD release, a producer mentions that John Austin was not available so his character had to be replaced.) Nevertheless, nobody replaces Captain Bogamill, but franchise newcomer Hector Elizondo appears as John Ashton's replacement. Let's not forget Paul Reiser's character Detective Jeffrey Friedman who is conspicuous by his absence. Not even witty Bronson Pinchot can rekindle the magic with his English-language challenged foreigner, Serge, who no longer works at an art gallery, has concocted what he refers to as a firearms boutique.
Sadly, this is one sequel that shouldn't have been made. Although the stunt work is exemplary in the Spider Ride park scene, the recurring firefights between our hero and the trigger happy villains conjure up neither suspense nor tension. "Beverly Hills Cop 3" (*1/2 out of ****) recycles one of the most deplorable movie clichés. Specifically, the well-armed villains cannot hit the side of a barn with their machine guns. Axel's one-liners and the dialogue are both forgettable. Murphy doesn't field many laughs and looks pretty idiotic wandering around in an elephant costume. In all fairness to the filmmakers, at least they did not have another foreign villain with a heavy accent like they had in the first two entries.
"Animal House" helmer John Landis doesn't let the derivative action bog down in complications, but the contrived Steven E. de Souza screenplay yields few surprises. Axel doesn't suffer any setbacks on the scale that he did in the first two outings. Simply said, Landis and Souza develop few things that haven't done before with greater polish. It is interesting to note the change in settings where Axel is concerned during his time off. In "Beverly Hills Cop," he stayed in the Beverly Palms. In the sequel, he hung out at an plush house with a pool. In "Beverly Hills Cop 3," he has a room at the Sunset Motel. The only exciting scene occurs early in the action when the bad guys riddle the sports car that Axel appropriates when he chases them through the streets. The multitude of bullets that the ruffians pour into Axel's car wind up dismantling it piecemeal until it falls apart. Director John Bonito would borrow this gag for his 2006 thriller "The Marine" with wrestling sensation John Cena. Worse, Axel seems to have lost his ability to clown around with everybody as he did in the first two. Murphy grins a lot but nothing he does boasts a glimmer of spontaneity. Meanwhile, this abysmal second sequel looks like utter hack work.
Meanwhile "Innocent Blood" lenser Mac Ahlberg doesn't make the shoot'em up scenes look cool like they were in the original and the first sequel. Despite the profane language, this ignominious R-rated crime thriller qualifies as a by-the-numbers, cookie cutter actioneer. Clearly, the franchise had lost its agility by this time that Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer had shed themselves of it, and nothing Murphy does resuscitates it. While he is investigating the chief villain, Ellis De Wald (Timothy Carhart of "Thelma & Louise"), Axel flirts with Janice (Theresa Randle of "Junge Fever") who works for everybody's favorite uncle, Uncle Dave Thornton (Alan Young of TV's "Mr. Ed") who cannot figure out what is happening in his theme park.
"Beverly Hills Cop 3" resembles the original only in the narrative respect that our protagonist leaves Detroit and heads back to Beverly Hills to arrest the cold-blooded murderer that shot his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill of "Beverly Hills Cop"), three times during a Tuesday morning raid on an auto chop-shop in the Motor City. (Incidentally, there is a flaw here because when Axel confronts Ellis DeWald in Wonder World, he accuses DeWald of shooting Todd on a weekend.)The complication here is that Axel goes into the operation with the idea that the mechanics won't be armed with machine guns, so he doesn't summon S.W.A.T. for back-up. While Axel is justifying his decision to Todd, De Wald and his machine gun wielding gunmen shoot up the garage, killing all the chop shop personnel so De Wald can get a Ford delivery van filled with U.S. Government stamped boxes. Once Axel enters Wonder World, the film degenerates into claustrophobic mediocrity. The scene when Axel brandishes the Annihilator 2000 gun is one of the worst. Of course, our hero cannot get the elaborate firearm with a CD-player and other gadgets work properly when he faces down a couple of villains with machine guns. Timothy Carhart makes a smug enough villain, but he never really poses a real threat to Axel. Incidentally, Landis indulges himself by inserting Hollywood directors in cameos throughout his movies. If you look closely, you will spot George Lucas, John Singleton, Joe Dante, Barbet Schroeder, Peter Medak, Arthur Hiller, George Schaefer and Martha Coolidge in some of the scenes. Sadly, the third time is not the charm for either the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise or Landis and Murphy who teamed up again after "Trading Places" and "Coming to America."
Eddie Murphy has gone on the record and called "Beverly Hills Cop 3" "ill-fated." What more do you need to know???
out of momentum because it starts knocking off its own characters. Further, neither Taggart (John Ashton of the first two "Beverly Hills Cop" movies) nor Capt. Bogamill (Ronny Cox of the first two Beverly Hills Cop" movies) return. Nothing is ever said about Bogamill's absence, but we're told that Taggart has retired. (Actually, in the Special Features on the DVD release, a producer mentions that John Austin was not available so his character had to be replaced.) Nevertheless, nobody replaces Captain Bogamill, but franchise newcomer Hector Elizondo appears as John Ashton's replacement. Let's not forget Paul Reiser's character Detective Jeffrey Friedman who is conspicuous by his absence. Not even witty Bronson Pinchot can rekindle the magic with his English-language challenged foreigner, Serge, who no longer works at an art gallery, has concocted what he refers to as a firearms boutique.
Sadly, this is one sequel that shouldn't have been made. Although the stunt work is exemplary in the Spider Ride park scene, the recurring firefights between our hero and the trigger happy villains conjure up neither suspense nor tension. "Beverly Hills Cop 3" (*1/2 out of ****) recycles one of the most deplorable movie clichés. Specifically, the well-armed villains cannot hit the side of a barn with their machine guns. Axel's one-liners and the dialogue are both forgettable. Murphy doesn't field many laughs and looks pretty idiotic wandering around in an elephant costume. In all fairness to the filmmakers, at least they did not have another foreign villain with a heavy accent like they had in the first two entries.
"Animal House" helmer John Landis doesn't let the derivative action bog down in complications, but the contrived Steven E. de Souza screenplay yields few surprises. Axel doesn't suffer any setbacks on the scale that he did in the first two outings. Simply said, Landis and Souza develop few things that haven't done before with greater polish. It is interesting to note the change in settings where Axel is concerned during his time off. In "Beverly Hills Cop," he stayed in the Beverly Palms. In the sequel, he hung out at an plush house with a pool. In "Beverly Hills Cop 3," he has a room at the Sunset Motel. The only exciting scene occurs early in the action when the bad guys riddle the sports car that Axel appropriates when he chases them through the streets. The multitude of bullets that the ruffians pour into Axel's car wind up dismantling it piecemeal until it falls apart. Director John Bonito would borrow this gag for his 2006 thriller "The Marine" with wrestling sensation John Cena. Worse, Axel seems to have lost his ability to clown around with everybody as he did in the first two. Murphy grins a lot but nothing he does boasts a glimmer of spontaneity. Meanwhile, this abysmal second sequel looks like utter hack work.
Meanwhile "Innocent Blood" lenser Mac Ahlberg doesn't make the shoot'em up scenes look cool like they were in the original and the first sequel. Despite the profane language, this ignominious R-rated crime thriller qualifies as a by-the-numbers, cookie cutter actioneer. Clearly, the franchise had lost its agility by this time that Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer had shed themselves of it, and nothing Murphy does resuscitates it. While he is investigating the chief villain, Ellis De Wald (Timothy Carhart of "Thelma & Louise"), Axel flirts with Janice (Theresa Randle of "Junge Fever") who works for everybody's favorite uncle, Uncle Dave Thornton (Alan Young of TV's "Mr. Ed") who cannot figure out what is happening in his theme park.
"Beverly Hills Cop 3" resembles the original only in the narrative respect that our protagonist leaves Detroit and heads back to Beverly Hills to arrest the cold-blooded murderer that shot his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill of "Beverly Hills Cop"), three times during a Tuesday morning raid on an auto chop-shop in the Motor City. (Incidentally, there is a flaw here because when Axel confronts Ellis DeWald in Wonder World, he accuses DeWald of shooting Todd on a weekend.)The complication here is that Axel goes into the operation with the idea that the mechanics won't be armed with machine guns, so he doesn't summon S.W.A.T. for back-up. While Axel is justifying his decision to Todd, De Wald and his machine gun wielding gunmen shoot up the garage, killing all the chop shop personnel so De Wald can get a Ford delivery van filled with U.S. Government stamped boxes. Once Axel enters Wonder World, the film degenerates into claustrophobic mediocrity. The scene when Axel brandishes the Annihilator 2000 gun is one of the worst. Of course, our hero cannot get the elaborate firearm with a CD-player and other gadgets work properly when he faces down a couple of villains with machine guns. Timothy Carhart makes a smug enough villain, but he never really poses a real threat to Axel. Incidentally, Landis indulges himself by inserting Hollywood directors in cameos throughout his movies. If you look closely, you will spot George Lucas, John Singleton, Joe Dante, Barbet Schroeder, Peter Medak, Arthur Hiller, George Schaefer and Martha Coolidge in some of the scenes. Sadly, the third time is not the charm for either the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise or Landis and Murphy who teamed up again after "Trading Places" and "Coming to America."
Eddie Murphy has gone on the record and called "Beverly Hills Cop 3" "ill-fated." What more do you need to know???
Monday, October 24, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF ''REAL STEEL" (2011)
The exuberant Hugh Jackson robotic slug-fest "Real Steel" (*** OUT OF ****) punches all the right buttons. Synthesize two classic boxing epics like "Rocky" (1976) and "The Champ" (1931), and you’ll have a fair idea what to expect from this feel-good, formulaic, PG-13 rated, fodder about an estranged father and son who rescue a robot from the scrap heap. "Real Steel" takes place in the near future when crowds prefer to watch colossal, cybernetic palookas pummel each other into spare parts. The concept that man can no longer participate in simulated violence via sports is a tantalizing prospect, but "Night at the Museum" director Shawn Levy doesn't preoccupy himself with such lofty ideas. Instead, he focuses primarily on a troubled father and son relationship. Meantime, Levy reminds us that a better human always stands behind every good 20-foot metal behemoth in the ring. Inspired partially by the Marx Toy Company game ‘Rock'em Sock'em Robots’ marketed in 1964, "Coach Carter" scribe John Gatins also drew on "I Am Legend" sci-fi author Richard Matheson’s 1956 short story "Steel." Mind you, this isn’t the first time Matheson’s tale has been adapted. Lee Marvin played the boxing robot’s owner in an episode of Rod Serling's landmark television series "The Twilight Zone." In Matheson’s tale as well as the “Twilight Zone” episode, the robot’s manager had no son, and he masqueraded as the robot after it malfunctioned before the match. Consequently, Levy and his scenarists have made some major changes. Nevertheless, the charisma of the “Real Steel” cast stokes this tearjerker with so much sentiment that you’ll shadow box with our hero and tear up as father and son bond. What makes this reversal of character so dramatic is the change that sweeps over our repellent hero and makes him sympathetic.
Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman of “Swordfish”) is a washed-up pugilist who is his own worst enemy. He owes gambling debts to more people than he can remember. Charlie makes bets that he cannot cover with his robot named ‘Ambush’ because he believes “Ambush” will triumph. Naturally, Charlie has to dodge obnoxious louts, especially Ricky (Kevin Durand of “Legion”), a shady promoter, who lures our hero to a rural country fair. Charlie pits ‘Ambush’ against Ricky’s prize bull Black Thunder. Imagine Charlie’s incredulity when Black Thunder pulverizes ‘Ambush.’ Not only is Charlie out of a bot, but also he owes Ricky $20-thousand that he doesn’t have. If things weren’t appalling enough for him, Charlie must contend with another problem in the person of his 11-year old son Max (Dakota Goyo of “Thor”), who he walked out on when he split from his wife. Max lives to play video games and chug Dr. Pepper. Yes, “Real Steel” features some of the most blatant product placement in a long time. Irresponsible as Charlie is, the former heavyweight is prepared to sign away custody of Max to the latter’s Aunt Debra (Hope Davis of “Arlington Road”) and Uncle Marvin (James Rebhorn of “Independence Day”), but only for a price. Charlie negotiates with Marvin for $100-thousand, with half of the loot up front. The catch is Charlie must take care of Max for three months, while Marvin and Debra enjoy a second honeymoon.
Initially, neither Charlie nor Max has much use for each other. Charlie squanders Marvin’s cash on a second-hand World Robot Boxing league automaton, ‘Noisy Boy,’ who predictably gets the robotics beaten out of him by another bot called ‘Midas.’ Charlie tucks his tail between his legs along with the ‘Noisy Boy’s’ remains, and Max and he slink away. Later, they sneak into a robot junkyard which Charlie plans to plunder for anything worthwhile. During their search, Max literally stumbles upon a Generation 2 robot named Atom that saves his life when the youth stumbles off a ledge. Reluctantly, Charlie helps Max unearth what is nothing more than a sparring robot. Actually, this bot bears an amazing resemblance to “Star Wars” bots on planet Tatooine. Our protagonists cannibalize ‘Noisy Boy’ and convert the scrap-heap android into a contender. Actually, Atom emerges as a “Rocky” type because it can absorb as much punishment as a sadomasochistic maniac. After Atom wins several bouts that nobody thought it would survive, Max challenges the WRB’s undefeated champ Zeus. This sinister black android is the property of a wealthy Russian babe, Farra Lemkova (Olga Fonda of “Little Fockers”), and an arrogant Japanese designer, Tak Mashido (Karl Yune of “Freezerburn”), who abhor having terms dictated to them. Initially, they ignore Max’s challenge, but pressure forces them to cave. During the big fight, Atom is battered so badly that our heroes cannot communicate with him, so they have to fall back on visual communication. Literally, Charlie must show the underdog bot when and where to land his blows for maximum impact.
The chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo is so genuine that you believe they are father and son. Not since Mickey Rourke played a similar role in “The Wrestler” has a hero so risen from the depths of degeneracy. Basically, Charlie deserves everything rotten that wrecks his life until he meets Max. Indeed, the last thing our hard-bitten hero learns is that he is a sucker for his long lost son. Of course, anybody who has seen this kind of melodramatic nonsense knows that it is strictly formula from fade-in to fade-out: father finds son, father loses son, father wins son back. Atom brings these two together for a common cause, and they respect each other as equals while they struggle to make their bot the best. Surprisingly, the Generation 2 robot that they rebuild as they rebuild their own relationship never acquires sentience. In one scene, Atom seems to recognize itself as it gazes into a mirror, but Levy does nothing with this subplot. Meantime, he undercuts the romance between Evangeline Lilly and Jackman because "Real Steel" concentrates on Charlie, Max, and Atom. Kevin Durand stands out as the villainous Rick who eventually gets his comeuppance. “Real Steel” will keep you rooting throughout its exhilarating 127 minutes.
Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman of “Swordfish”) is a washed-up pugilist who is his own worst enemy. He owes gambling debts to more people than he can remember. Charlie makes bets that he cannot cover with his robot named ‘Ambush’ because he believes “Ambush” will triumph. Naturally, Charlie has to dodge obnoxious louts, especially Ricky (Kevin Durand of “Legion”), a shady promoter, who lures our hero to a rural country fair. Charlie pits ‘Ambush’ against Ricky’s prize bull Black Thunder. Imagine Charlie’s incredulity when Black Thunder pulverizes ‘Ambush.’ Not only is Charlie out of a bot, but also he owes Ricky $20-thousand that he doesn’t have. If things weren’t appalling enough for him, Charlie must contend with another problem in the person of his 11-year old son Max (Dakota Goyo of “Thor”), who he walked out on when he split from his wife. Max lives to play video games and chug Dr. Pepper. Yes, “Real Steel” features some of the most blatant product placement in a long time. Irresponsible as Charlie is, the former heavyweight is prepared to sign away custody of Max to the latter’s Aunt Debra (Hope Davis of “Arlington Road”) and Uncle Marvin (James Rebhorn of “Independence Day”), but only for a price. Charlie negotiates with Marvin for $100-thousand, with half of the loot up front. The catch is Charlie must take care of Max for three months, while Marvin and Debra enjoy a second honeymoon.
Initially, neither Charlie nor Max has much use for each other. Charlie squanders Marvin’s cash on a second-hand World Robot Boxing league automaton, ‘Noisy Boy,’ who predictably gets the robotics beaten out of him by another bot called ‘Midas.’ Charlie tucks his tail between his legs along with the ‘Noisy Boy’s’ remains, and Max and he slink away. Later, they sneak into a robot junkyard which Charlie plans to plunder for anything worthwhile. During their search, Max literally stumbles upon a Generation 2 robot named Atom that saves his life when the youth stumbles off a ledge. Reluctantly, Charlie helps Max unearth what is nothing more than a sparring robot. Actually, this bot bears an amazing resemblance to “Star Wars” bots on planet Tatooine. Our protagonists cannibalize ‘Noisy Boy’ and convert the scrap-heap android into a contender. Actually, Atom emerges as a “Rocky” type because it can absorb as much punishment as a sadomasochistic maniac. After Atom wins several bouts that nobody thought it would survive, Max challenges the WRB’s undefeated champ Zeus. This sinister black android is the property of a wealthy Russian babe, Farra Lemkova (Olga Fonda of “Little Fockers”), and an arrogant Japanese designer, Tak Mashido (Karl Yune of “Freezerburn”), who abhor having terms dictated to them. Initially, they ignore Max’s challenge, but pressure forces them to cave. During the big fight, Atom is battered so badly that our heroes cannot communicate with him, so they have to fall back on visual communication. Literally, Charlie must show the underdog bot when and where to land his blows for maximum impact.
The chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo is so genuine that you believe they are father and son. Not since Mickey Rourke played a similar role in “The Wrestler” has a hero so risen from the depths of degeneracy. Basically, Charlie deserves everything rotten that wrecks his life until he meets Max. Indeed, the last thing our hard-bitten hero learns is that he is a sucker for his long lost son. Of course, anybody who has seen this kind of melodramatic nonsense knows that it is strictly formula from fade-in to fade-out: father finds son, father loses son, father wins son back. Atom brings these two together for a common cause, and they respect each other as equals while they struggle to make their bot the best. Surprisingly, the Generation 2 robot that they rebuild as they rebuild their own relationship never acquires sentience. In one scene, Atom seems to recognize itself as it gazes into a mirror, but Levy does nothing with this subplot. Meantime, he undercuts the romance between Evangeline Lilly and Jackman because "Real Steel" concentrates on Charlie, Max, and Atom. Kevin Durand stands out as the villainous Rick who eventually gets his comeuppance. “Real Steel” will keep you rooting throughout its exhilarating 127 minutes.
Monday, October 17, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF ''THE THING" (2011)
First-time Danish helmer Matthijs van Heijningen’s remake of the legendary 1951 creature-feature “The Thing from Another World” qualifies as formulaic but respectable nonsense. The original “Thing” preserved only vestiges of author John W. Campbell’s vintage 1938 short story “Who Goes There?” Instead, producer Howard Hawks, “His Girl Friday” scenarist Charles Lederer, and Hawks’ long-time editor Christian Nyby created the conventional alien-on-the-rampage plot at an isolated, snow-swept, scientific outpost in the Arctic. Not only did “The Thing from Another World” constitute one of Hollywood’s earliest epics to depict extraterrestrials, but it also was the first with a hostile alien devoid of compassion. The original “Thing” alien was a towering homicidal humanoid with the cellular structure of a vegetable who gave the scientists and the U.S.A.F personnel a royal headache before they manage to isolate its weakness and electrocute it.
In 1982, “Halloween” director John Carpenter and writer Bill Lancaster produced a sequel where survivors from the initial tragedy encountered a nearby community of scientists. The shape-shifting alien invader entered their camp as a Yukon husky and mayhem ensued. Instead of contending with a humanoid creature, the guys in “The Thing” confronted an ugly beast with tentacles, huge teeth, and a bad attitude that absorbed its victims and then impersonated them. The monster remained in one body until he shifted to another host. Consequently, nobody trusted anybody. Trapped in a remote outpost in Antarctica, the characters suffered from extreme paranoia. Principally, they suspected that one of their own had been cloned and threatened to not only kill them but also clone them. Van Heijningen and “Final Destination 5” scenarist Eric Heisserer have appropriated the complicated Carpenter and Lancaster approach rather than the straightforward, single alien invasion plot. Nevertheless, Heijningen and Heisserer have altered a thing or two. First, the hero of the new “Thing” (*** out of ****) is a woman. Second, the way our heroes test to determine the presence of the alien differs. Third, no equivalent to Dr. Carrington in the original exists in the group of scientists. If you recall, Dr. Carrington represented the fraction of scientists who did not want to destroy the Thing. Instead, they wanted to reason with it and learn from it. Mind you, the new “Thing” isn’t as creepy as Carpenter’s masterpiece with its abundant atmosphere, memorable Ennio Morricone score, and charismatic cast. Nevertheless, Heijningen and Heisserer deserve recognition for their fidelity to the source material and the sequel. Of course, it doesn’t hurt matters that two of the producers on Carpenter’s “Thing” also produced this remake.
“The Thing” takes place in Antarctica during the winter of 1982. Arrogant Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen of “Season of the Witch”) persuades a top-notch graduate student, American paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead of “Black Christmas”), into joining his Norwegian geological expedition. She accepts and finds herself freezing her toes off while the guys show her their top-secret discovery. They have found a gigantic alien spacecraft entombed in the ice for possibly a hundred-thousand years. The first scene shows how they plunged a snow-plow into a crevasse and found it. Unlike the original film, these scientists stumble onto the spacecraft deep in the ice, but they do not blow it up accidentally. Like the original, they locate the mysterious body of an alien that ejected from the crashed spaceship only to freeze. Carefully, they remove it from the ice and stash it in their research facility for examination. Eventually, the ice thaws, and the monster escapes. Our heroes realize that they are contending with a deadly alien and wield flame-throwers. They start to worry during an early autopsy when it becomes apparent that the creature can spit out replicas of their colleagues. Things reach a crisis point, and nobody trusts anybody, until the savvy Kate figures out that the alien cannot replicate inanimate objects. If an individual wears jewelry, has metal appliances surgically attached to their bones, or/and silver fillings in their teeth, the Thing cannot replicate these items. Unfortunately, some of the scientists don’t have silver fillings. They have porcelain ones. Ultimately, everything boils down to a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Happily, Van Heijningen and Heisserer drum up an adequate number of scares to keep you poised on the edge. Moviegoers who don’t do horror movies might find “The Thing” a bit more demanding. In one scene, a gash appears in one character’s face, runs down his chest toward his stomach as both open wide like a mouth and elephant tusk-sized teeth sprout accompanied by a hideous howl.
Creature designer Michael Broom of “The Mist” and “Predators” has conjured up several memorable creatures. At one point, the alien absorbs two men so that it looks like a two-headed transplant walking on its arms and legs like a wolf. During another scene, a forearm detaches from one individual and attaches itself by the forearm to another fellow’s face and starts to graft itself onto the man’s face! When the monster is in its own ghastly form, it can project a slimy-looking tentacle that penetrates flesh and bone like a spear. Once the tentacle has perforated an individual’s back, its tip emerges from the chest and deploys into a four-pronged, grappling hook that retracts its victim into its voracious maw. The worst thing that you can say about the new “Thing” is that nobody delivers any memorable lines of dialogue, and the cast lacks the charisma of the first two movies. Suffice to say, all those Norwegian fellows look and sound identical with little individuality among them. Happily, they don’t turn Mary Elizabeth Winstead into a sexy Ripley from “Alien” clone. Joel Edgerton plays a resilient helicopter pilot who is reminiscent of Kurt Russell’s hero in the sequel. Shrewdly, Heijningen paces the appearance of the alien for maximum impact and predictably ratchets up the action in the final quarter. Like the Carpenter classic, the remake shuns humor. Ultimately, although it is a remake of the 1951 “Thing,” the new “Thing” shares more in common with Carpenter’s “Thing.” Despite the sense of déjà vu that accompanies this polished production, “The Thing” lacks the turbo-driven fright of Carpenter’s sequel, but it scores major points with its impressive CGI creature designs.
In 1982, “Halloween” director John Carpenter and writer Bill Lancaster produced a sequel where survivors from the initial tragedy encountered a nearby community of scientists. The shape-shifting alien invader entered their camp as a Yukon husky and mayhem ensued. Instead of contending with a humanoid creature, the guys in “The Thing” confronted an ugly beast with tentacles, huge teeth, and a bad attitude that absorbed its victims and then impersonated them. The monster remained in one body until he shifted to another host. Consequently, nobody trusted anybody. Trapped in a remote outpost in Antarctica, the characters suffered from extreme paranoia. Principally, they suspected that one of their own had been cloned and threatened to not only kill them but also clone them. Van Heijningen and “Final Destination 5” scenarist Eric Heisserer have appropriated the complicated Carpenter and Lancaster approach rather than the straightforward, single alien invasion plot. Nevertheless, Heijningen and Heisserer have altered a thing or two. First, the hero of the new “Thing” (*** out of ****) is a woman. Second, the way our heroes test to determine the presence of the alien differs. Third, no equivalent to Dr. Carrington in the original exists in the group of scientists. If you recall, Dr. Carrington represented the fraction of scientists who did not want to destroy the Thing. Instead, they wanted to reason with it and learn from it. Mind you, the new “Thing” isn’t as creepy as Carpenter’s masterpiece with its abundant atmosphere, memorable Ennio Morricone score, and charismatic cast. Nevertheless, Heijningen and Heisserer deserve recognition for their fidelity to the source material and the sequel. Of course, it doesn’t hurt matters that two of the producers on Carpenter’s “Thing” also produced this remake.
“The Thing” takes place in Antarctica during the winter of 1982. Arrogant Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen of “Season of the Witch”) persuades a top-notch graduate student, American paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead of “Black Christmas”), into joining his Norwegian geological expedition. She accepts and finds herself freezing her toes off while the guys show her their top-secret discovery. They have found a gigantic alien spacecraft entombed in the ice for possibly a hundred-thousand years. The first scene shows how they plunged a snow-plow into a crevasse and found it. Unlike the original film, these scientists stumble onto the spacecraft deep in the ice, but they do not blow it up accidentally. Like the original, they locate the mysterious body of an alien that ejected from the crashed spaceship only to freeze. Carefully, they remove it from the ice and stash it in their research facility for examination. Eventually, the ice thaws, and the monster escapes. Our heroes realize that they are contending with a deadly alien and wield flame-throwers. They start to worry during an early autopsy when it becomes apparent that the creature can spit out replicas of their colleagues. Things reach a crisis point, and nobody trusts anybody, until the savvy Kate figures out that the alien cannot replicate inanimate objects. If an individual wears jewelry, has metal appliances surgically attached to their bones, or/and silver fillings in their teeth, the Thing cannot replicate these items. Unfortunately, some of the scientists don’t have silver fillings. They have porcelain ones. Ultimately, everything boils down to a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Happily, Van Heijningen and Heisserer drum up an adequate number of scares to keep you poised on the edge. Moviegoers who don’t do horror movies might find “The Thing” a bit more demanding. In one scene, a gash appears in one character’s face, runs down his chest toward his stomach as both open wide like a mouth and elephant tusk-sized teeth sprout accompanied by a hideous howl.
Creature designer Michael Broom of “The Mist” and “Predators” has conjured up several memorable creatures. At one point, the alien absorbs two men so that it looks like a two-headed transplant walking on its arms and legs like a wolf. During another scene, a forearm detaches from one individual and attaches itself by the forearm to another fellow’s face and starts to graft itself onto the man’s face! When the monster is in its own ghastly form, it can project a slimy-looking tentacle that penetrates flesh and bone like a spear. Once the tentacle has perforated an individual’s back, its tip emerges from the chest and deploys into a four-pronged, grappling hook that retracts its victim into its voracious maw. The worst thing that you can say about the new “Thing” is that nobody delivers any memorable lines of dialogue, and the cast lacks the charisma of the first two movies. Suffice to say, all those Norwegian fellows look and sound identical with little individuality among them. Happily, they don’t turn Mary Elizabeth Winstead into a sexy Ripley from “Alien” clone. Joel Edgerton plays a resilient helicopter pilot who is reminiscent of Kurt Russell’s hero in the sequel. Shrewdly, Heijningen paces the appearance of the alien for maximum impact and predictably ratchets up the action in the final quarter. Like the Carpenter classic, the remake shuns humor. Ultimately, although it is a remake of the 1951 “Thing,” the new “Thing” shares more in common with Carpenter’s “Thing.” Despite the sense of déjà vu that accompanies this polished production, “The Thing” lacks the turbo-driven fright of Carpenter’s sequel, but it scores major points with its impressive CGI creature designs.
Monday, October 3, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF ''ABDUCTION" (2011)
You know a movie is in trouble when its title has no relevance to its subject matter. Webster’s defines abduction as “to carry off (as a person) by force.” The second part of the definition clarifies abduction as “the unlawful carrying away of a woman for marriage or intercourse.” For the record, nobody abducts anybody in the straightforward but derivative John Singleton pursuit procedural thriller “Abduction.” “Twilight” heartthrob Taylor Lautner carries the picture on his shoulders as a sympathetic hero who takes it on the lam when he discovers his parents are not related to him by blood. If you’ve seen the “Abduction” trailers, you know that our handsome high school hero discovers his face at a missing persons website equipped with software which enables users to see what the person would appear now as an adult. Our heroine and the heroine realize their worst fears when the resemblance between the computer generated image and he are virtually identical. Not only does “Abduction” (** out of ****) qualify as a lackluster white-knuckled suspense saga, but also it is far less entertaining than a similar thriller “Hanna” about an adolescent girl on the run. Furthermore, the Taylor Lautner hero is far from being a lethal weapon. He doesn’t kill as many people as Hanna, and he isn’t as comfortable with his transient lifestyle as Hanna. Lautner the actor manages to hold his own around a substantially heavyweight supporting cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Alfred Molina, Maria Bellow, and Michael Nyqvist. The target audience for this PG-13 rated road trip ranges between ages 10 and 16. Lautner sheds his shirt often enough for his female fans, and he acquits himself adequately in all his close-quarters combat scenes. Nevertheless, “Abduction” will not carry you away.
Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner of the “Twilight” franchise) feels like something is wrong with his parents. They strike him as being strange, but he has no clue about how strange that they ultimately turn out to be. Otherwise, Nathan is no different than any other high school junior. He is the kind of athlete who never loses a wrestling match. He lives across the street from a drop-dead-gorgeous cutie, Karen (young Elizabeth Taylor look-alike Lily Collins of “The Blind Side”), who he has not dated since the eighth grade. Currently, Karen is involved with a college-age clown, but she eventually gives him the boot. Meanwhile, when Nathan isn’t in school or partying hardy at a neighbor’s house, he attends therapy sessions with his shrink, Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver of “Alien”), who seems genuinely concerned about his welfare. Nathan has trouble sleeping. He has had a history of violence, but the authorities haven't had to take him into custody. Further, he has a recurring nightmare about seeing a woman in a Parisian motel being killed. Nathan witnesses this cold-bloodied murder as a child beneath a bed. No matter what Nathan does, however, he cannot seem to please his pugnacious father, Kevin (Jason Issacs of the “Harry Potter” franchise) who constantly picks fights with him. Little does poor Nathan know that his mixed martial arts clashes with Kevin will come in handy.
One day his high school teacher, Mr. Miles (Roger Guenveur Smith of “American Gangster”), assigns Nathan to research a project involving missing persons. The catch is that Mr. Miles assigns Karen as Nathan's partner. Initially, they begin their project at Nathan’s house in his bedroom. They stumble onto a website with a juvenile photograph of a kid who is the dead ringer for Nathan. Nathan is troubled when he finds a shirt that corresponds with the one that the kid is wearing in the picture. Karen tries to argue that the shirt is merely similar to the one in the photo, until Nathan points out that the stain on the shoulder is identical. Nathan discusses the subject with his mother, Mara (Mario Bello of NBC-TV’s “Prime Suspect”), and she breaks down and confesses that neither Kevin nor she are his blood relations. No sooner has this cat slipped out of the bag than two plainclothes government agents invade the premises and gundown Kevin and Mara. Karen walks in while all this mayhem is transpiring, and Nathan struggles to protect her from these lethal louts. A dying assailant warns them about a bomb in the oven, and an obvious CGI explosion blows their house to smithereens and hurls our hero and heroine into a swimming pool. Later, Nathan catches a television news story about the explosion, and the newscaster reports that nobody died. Apparently, according to the authorities, nobody was at home during the explosion. Nathan calls 911 from a pay phone. Before he grasps what is happened, he finds himself talking to CIA agent Burton (Alfred Molina of “Spider-Man 3”) who wants to help him. Nathan and Karen do their best to dodge the CIA, but the company catches up with them after Nathan kills an assailant on an Amtrak train. Freshman scenarist Shawn Christensen raises the stakes even higher as a group of foreigners armed with sophisticated gear and exotic sniper rifles arrive as if on safari to locate him.
Sadly, the twists and turns in the Christensen screenplay won’t have you performing impossible contortions like a first-rate thriller would have you do. John Singleton makes this realistic but far-fetched thriller into a tolerable potboiler. Beyond that “Abduction” is not very abducting. There is a fight on an Amtrak that has been compared with the Sean Connery & Robert Shaw brawl on the Orient Express in “From Russia with Love.” There is no comparison. The finale at the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium is nothing special. Indeed, one villain calls it quits too easily while another is simply shot down in the street. “Abduction” is the first film that “Boyz n the Hood” director Singleton has made in six years. Singleton’s last movie “Four Brothers” was misfire remake of the John Wayne classic “The Sons of Katie Elder.” The way that Singleton is going, he may not make another movie is another six years. Taylor Lautner should be happy playing third-string in the “Trinity” franchise.
Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner of the “Twilight” franchise) feels like something is wrong with his parents. They strike him as being strange, but he has no clue about how strange that they ultimately turn out to be. Otherwise, Nathan is no different than any other high school junior. He is the kind of athlete who never loses a wrestling match. He lives across the street from a drop-dead-gorgeous cutie, Karen (young Elizabeth Taylor look-alike Lily Collins of “The Blind Side”), who he has not dated since the eighth grade. Currently, Karen is involved with a college-age clown, but she eventually gives him the boot. Meanwhile, when Nathan isn’t in school or partying hardy at a neighbor’s house, he attends therapy sessions with his shrink, Geraldine Bennett (Sigourney Weaver of “Alien”), who seems genuinely concerned about his welfare. Nathan has trouble sleeping. He has had a history of violence, but the authorities haven't had to take him into custody. Further, he has a recurring nightmare about seeing a woman in a Parisian motel being killed. Nathan witnesses this cold-bloodied murder as a child beneath a bed. No matter what Nathan does, however, he cannot seem to please his pugnacious father, Kevin (Jason Issacs of the “Harry Potter” franchise) who constantly picks fights with him. Little does poor Nathan know that his mixed martial arts clashes with Kevin will come in handy.
One day his high school teacher, Mr. Miles (Roger Guenveur Smith of “American Gangster”), assigns Nathan to research a project involving missing persons. The catch is that Mr. Miles assigns Karen as Nathan's partner. Initially, they begin their project at Nathan’s house in his bedroom. They stumble onto a website with a juvenile photograph of a kid who is the dead ringer for Nathan. Nathan is troubled when he finds a shirt that corresponds with the one that the kid is wearing in the picture. Karen tries to argue that the shirt is merely similar to the one in the photo, until Nathan points out that the stain on the shoulder is identical. Nathan discusses the subject with his mother, Mara (Mario Bello of NBC-TV’s “Prime Suspect”), and she breaks down and confesses that neither Kevin nor she are his blood relations. No sooner has this cat slipped out of the bag than two plainclothes government agents invade the premises and gundown Kevin and Mara. Karen walks in while all this mayhem is transpiring, and Nathan struggles to protect her from these lethal louts. A dying assailant warns them about a bomb in the oven, and an obvious CGI explosion blows their house to smithereens and hurls our hero and heroine into a swimming pool. Later, Nathan catches a television news story about the explosion, and the newscaster reports that nobody died. Apparently, according to the authorities, nobody was at home during the explosion. Nathan calls 911 from a pay phone. Before he grasps what is happened, he finds himself talking to CIA agent Burton (Alfred Molina of “Spider-Man 3”) who wants to help him. Nathan and Karen do their best to dodge the CIA, but the company catches up with them after Nathan kills an assailant on an Amtrak train. Freshman scenarist Shawn Christensen raises the stakes even higher as a group of foreigners armed with sophisticated gear and exotic sniper rifles arrive as if on safari to locate him.
Sadly, the twists and turns in the Christensen screenplay won’t have you performing impossible contortions like a first-rate thriller would have you do. John Singleton makes this realistic but far-fetched thriller into a tolerable potboiler. Beyond that “Abduction” is not very abducting. There is a fight on an Amtrak that has been compared with the Sean Connery & Robert Shaw brawl on the Orient Express in “From Russia with Love.” There is no comparison. The finale at the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium is nothing special. Indeed, one villain calls it quits too easily while another is simply shot down in the street. “Abduction” is the first film that “Boyz n the Hood” director Singleton has made in six years. Singleton’s last movie “Four Brothers” was misfire remake of the John Wayne classic “The Sons of Katie Elder.” The way that Singleton is going, he may not make another movie is another six years. Taylor Lautner should be happy playing third-string in the “Trinity” franchise.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
FILM REVIEW OF THE REMAKE OF "STRAW DOGS" (2011)
Imitation, Mohandas Gandhi said, is the sincerest form of flattery. The ghost of Sam Peckinpah would be flattered by the new tricks that “Deterrence” writer & director Rod Lurie has taught the old “Straw Dogs” for contemporary audiences. Although it isn’t a carbon copy of the volatile 1971 melodrama, the new “Straw Dogs” (*** out of ****) replicates the original in many respects. Mind you, nobody could set aside Peckinpah’s gritty epic which still sparks controversy for its misogynistic sexual politics for feminists. Nevertheless, Lurie’s politically-correct remake polishes off the rough edges and makes everything objectionable in this frightening story palatable. In the process, he sacrifices some of the ambiguity that made Peckinpah’s messy masterpiece a more memorable movie. Naturally, the new “Straw Dogs” lacks the rabid ferocity of the Peckinpah picture. Nevertheless, the original and the remake both wound up with an R-rating for violence, sexuality, nudity, and profane language. Like the original, the remake features a vicious rape sequence, but Lurie depicts the assault with virtually no nudity. Specifically, the heroine’s private parts are not displayed. What may sicken some otherwise stout-hearted spectators more than the man versus man violence is the mysterious strangulation death of a white cat. Yes, the original had a similar scene where our protagonists found their pet cat dangling from their closet light cord. Otherwise, the new “Straw Dogs” boasts a gripping story, interesting characters, and some surprises that ought to keep audiences guessing throughout this unsavory saga. Along the way, Lurie has implemented some alterations. First, he shifted the setting to rural Mississippi and takes advantage of the tradition of southern violence. One of the few problems with the original was the lack of familiarity with the English setting. Hollywood has not made as many movies about sadistic English vigilantes as it has about xenophobic Mississippi racists. Second, the hero is a film scenarist rather than an astrophysicist. Third, the mentally handicapped supporting character is not as unsavory. Fourth, David and Amy have a stronger marriage. At the end of Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs,” the husband abandoned the wife because she had betrayed him during the home invasion.
Hollywood scenarist David Sumner (James Marsden of “X-Men”) and his gorgeous young wife Amy (Kate Bosworth of “Blue Crush”) return to her hometown of Blackwater, Mississippi. Sumner has to pen a screenplay about the landmark twentieth century battle of Stalingrad, one of the turning points of World War II, and he wants to write it in the bucolic backwoods of the south. David and Amy met during a television series that he wrote for her, but the show has been canceled. Unfortunately, the Harvard educated David isn’t prepared for the reception that he encounters. Essentially, David is a fish-out-of-water. Not only does he discover that his debit card is worthless, but he doesn’t share the same relish for fried pickles as a delicacy that Amy’s friends do. One of Amy’s friends, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård of HBO’s “True Blood”), wants to resume their former relationship as lovers. She was a cheerleader, and Charlie was the star football quarterback under the guidance of old school coach Tom Heddon (James Woods of “Ghosts of Mississippi”) who made his players grovel. When he meets Charlie at the local watering hole, David makes the mistake of hiring Charlie and his redneck hillbilly pals to rebuild a garage on Amy’s property that Hurricane Katrina ravaged.
Charlie and his pals start work too early for David and things deteriorate from that point. One of Charlie’s crew, Bic (Drew Powell of “The Marine”), ambles into Amy’s house without an invitation and helps himself to a beer from the fridge. Amy thinks coming home is a vacation, but David is serious about his work. Amy aggravates matters when she jogs around the property without a bra. She reminds David that she dresses for him and he reminds her that he knows what she looks like without a bra. Meantime, Charlie interprets Amy’s behavior as solicitation, and he invites David—who knows little about firearms—to join them for a hunt. Charlie slips away and rapes Amy while David is occupied in the woods. Later, one of the town citizens, a mentally challenged man, Henry Niles (Dominic Purcell of “Prison Break”), accidentally kills Tom Heddon’s daughter. All chaos breaks loose. David shields Niles from a vengeful Heddon who demands that David relinquish him. Heddon persuades Charlie and his friends to help him storm the farmhouse and take Niles. Suffice to say; what ensues isn’t a picnic for anybody.
Lurie has done a splendid job of fleshing out the heroes and villains in a different locale. He lets the antagonism smolder, and then he orchestrates a savage finale where our hero takes no prisoners. One weapon that our hero wields was not available to the English yahoos who assaulted Dustin Hoffman. James Marsden wields an automatic nail gun with devastating results. Similarly, the English yahoos didn’t smash through the farmhouse with a pick-up truck. Comparatively, the Englishmen were armed with only one shotgun rather than an arsenal of high-powered hunting rifles. Marsden plays a different kind of nerd from the Hoffman hero. Lurie rewrote the Kate Bosworth damsel-in-distress role so that she possesses more maturity than Susan George’s petulant Lolita-like wife. Unlike the Hoffman-George marriage that strained credibility, everything about the Marsden-Bosworth union seems believable. As a couple, their characters seem far more compatible. We are told more about their back story than Peckinpah revealed about the Hoffman-George marriage. Meantime, Alexander Skarsgård and James Woods emerge as stronger villains than Peter Vaughn and Del Henney in the original. While the film relied on Gordon Williams’ novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm” for its source material, Lurie derived most of his inspiration from the David Zelag Goodman & Sam Peckinpah script. Lurie lifted several lines straight from the original, though he left out Hoffman’s memorable line: “I will not allow violence against this house!” For the record, although the action occurs in Mississippi, the filmmakers lensed the story in Shreveport, Louisiana. Nevertheless, as remakes rate, “Straw Dogs” qualifies as a breed apart.
Hollywood scenarist David Sumner (James Marsden of “X-Men”) and his gorgeous young wife Amy (Kate Bosworth of “Blue Crush”) return to her hometown of Blackwater, Mississippi. Sumner has to pen a screenplay about the landmark twentieth century battle of Stalingrad, one of the turning points of World War II, and he wants to write it in the bucolic backwoods of the south. David and Amy met during a television series that he wrote for her, but the show has been canceled. Unfortunately, the Harvard educated David isn’t prepared for the reception that he encounters. Essentially, David is a fish-out-of-water. Not only does he discover that his debit card is worthless, but he doesn’t share the same relish for fried pickles as a delicacy that Amy’s friends do. One of Amy’s friends, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård of HBO’s “True Blood”), wants to resume their former relationship as lovers. She was a cheerleader, and Charlie was the star football quarterback under the guidance of old school coach Tom Heddon (James Woods of “Ghosts of Mississippi”) who made his players grovel. When he meets Charlie at the local watering hole, David makes the mistake of hiring Charlie and his redneck hillbilly pals to rebuild a garage on Amy’s property that Hurricane Katrina ravaged.
Charlie and his pals start work too early for David and things deteriorate from that point. One of Charlie’s crew, Bic (Drew Powell of “The Marine”), ambles into Amy’s house without an invitation and helps himself to a beer from the fridge. Amy thinks coming home is a vacation, but David is serious about his work. Amy aggravates matters when she jogs around the property without a bra. She reminds David that she dresses for him and he reminds her that he knows what she looks like without a bra. Meantime, Charlie interprets Amy’s behavior as solicitation, and he invites David—who knows little about firearms—to join them for a hunt. Charlie slips away and rapes Amy while David is occupied in the woods. Later, one of the town citizens, a mentally challenged man, Henry Niles (Dominic Purcell of “Prison Break”), accidentally kills Tom Heddon’s daughter. All chaos breaks loose. David shields Niles from a vengeful Heddon who demands that David relinquish him. Heddon persuades Charlie and his friends to help him storm the farmhouse and take Niles. Suffice to say; what ensues isn’t a picnic for anybody.
Lurie has done a splendid job of fleshing out the heroes and villains in a different locale. He lets the antagonism smolder, and then he orchestrates a savage finale where our hero takes no prisoners. One weapon that our hero wields was not available to the English yahoos who assaulted Dustin Hoffman. James Marsden wields an automatic nail gun with devastating results. Similarly, the English yahoos didn’t smash through the farmhouse with a pick-up truck. Comparatively, the Englishmen were armed with only one shotgun rather than an arsenal of high-powered hunting rifles. Marsden plays a different kind of nerd from the Hoffman hero. Lurie rewrote the Kate Bosworth damsel-in-distress role so that she possesses more maturity than Susan George’s petulant Lolita-like wife. Unlike the Hoffman-George marriage that strained credibility, everything about the Marsden-Bosworth union seems believable. As a couple, their characters seem far more compatible. We are told more about their back story than Peckinpah revealed about the Hoffman-George marriage. Meantime, Alexander Skarsgård and James Woods emerge as stronger villains than Peter Vaughn and Del Henney in the original. While the film relied on Gordon Williams’ novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm” for its source material, Lurie derived most of his inspiration from the David Zelag Goodman & Sam Peckinpah script. Lurie lifted several lines straight from the original, though he left out Hoffman’s memorable line: “I will not allow violence against this house!” For the record, although the action occurs in Mississippi, the filmmakers lensed the story in Shreveport, Louisiana. Nevertheless, as remakes rate, “Straw Dogs” qualifies as a breed apart.
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