The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji Henson, Julia Ormond

Rated: PG-13

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button moves around a bit like Forrest Gump.  The characters are certainly different, but more like a Biblical Story than English Literature - the characters are as defined by their actions as they are by their speech or descriptions.  This makes it enjoyable, at about 45-50 MPH.  B. Button was nominated for a number of awards; it deserved the nominations but maybe not to win.  Taraji Henson is fantastic, and Pitt and Blanchett are solid.  The historical swings are exciting, and the comedic stop-overs are worthwhile.

Overall Benjamin Button is what you expect given the hype.  The Father/Son issues are not plumbed to their depths, but they sit in front of you for a few minutes.  The curious case of a man growing younger as he grows older is fun, and might have some holes if it wasn't such a fanciful story.  The love story is interesting, highlighted by, "Sleep With me...  " (Blanchett)  "ABSOLUTELY" (Pitt), it seems like that line would be trite, but it isn't.  3.5/5 stars.

The Reader

The Reader
Director: Stephen Daldry 

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, David Kross
Rated: R

Based upon the book Der Voleser by Bernhard Schlink, the reader moves like a book.  The chronology moves from pre-WWII, to 1966, and then throughout the 80's a little bit.  Kate Winslet has already won a Golden Globe for her performance, and she deserved it.  Ralph Fiennes does an eloquent job as the older Michael Berg, and David Kross is able to succeed as an adolescent and then as a conflicted law student in the film.  

The Reader is very sexual at the outset - with the clandestine affair of Winslet and Kross.  The affair moves beyond the teenage fantasy when Winslet announces, "We're changing the way we do things kid.  First you read to me...  Then we make love."  However, as with most films that are overtly sexual at times - the Reader moves on to explore the two characters and the ethical culture following the Holocaust.  While some scenes are predictable, the acting transcends the screen-play in that regard and I found myself on the edge of my seat in the interim period of 1966.

The Reader is a very good movie.  On IMDB it is given a 7.8/10, and I agree with that.  Winslet steals the show and attempts to drag it into a 9/10 (which i have never seen), but the story itself cannot move to epic but only remain at solid and compelling.  If you liked Atonement you will like this even more I think.  If you are expecting a feel good story that happens to be near the Holocaust - probably go see something else.  But, if you are okay being tossed around by incredible acting, the intricacies of love, and the difficulties of life and the sneaky watershed moments we are never prepared for - then I would highly recommend the Reader.  4/5 stars.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight: PG-13

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman

This movie was very fun to watch, but at the end I was exhausted.  When the primary character is an anarchist the movie has to move in ways that made me simply slide further and further into my seat (both times).  The second time I watched it with my mom, and as we were talking I was sure she "got it" more than I did.  If you want a real superhero (meaning: an actual comic book that people know of - as opposed to Hancock) who has to begin to pay the dues of donning his cape and having just one rule - the you will love this movie.  If you enjoy medium-speed plot twists that you can follow - then you will love this movie.  If you loved the 80's and you're thinking 91 minutes and a clean ending...  You might be disappointed.

The Dark Knight definitely remains in the fold of (and probably surpasses) Batman Begins.  Christian Bale remains the playboy who masks his vigilante alter-ego that Michael Caine (who has remained at 68 years old for the past 30 years to my knowledge) suggested in the midst of Batman begins.  Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of  Rachel Dawes (previously held by Katie Holmes...  this seems to be a new Comic Book thing...  "you're replaceable"), and gives her a bit more substance and earthiness.  Aaron Eckhart takes over (can we include him next to Billy Dee Lando Williams???) as District Attorney Harvey Dent, and here I am biased - I really like Aaron Eckhart.  The acting was superb.  And, I'm not saying that with the added salt that, "hey, its a comic book movie" - the acting was superb.  

The Dark Knight has a lot of anthropology in it.  I suppose there is some hollow philosophy.  Many people are pounded into oblivion if you like beat-downs.  The movie is long - check the number of minutes and the time you start it (especially if you rent it).  But it is fun and enjoyable.  

4/5 stars.

Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road: Rated R
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates

At the beginning of one of their arguments Kate Winslet asks Dicaprio, "Who made these rules?" and he has no answer but to retreat to some sort of caricatured "rationality". The movie is dark and disturbing if you have ever struggled with the meaninglessness of life. Or the hopelessness of existence. At one point in the movie it seems as though the husband and wife (with two prop-children) are firing off their hollow philosophies/worldviews at one another with no confidence in themselves - Dicaprio's of "You can be happy here" which seems a mere response to Winslet's "Find what makes you happy, leave and you are more likely to find it."

The movie is set in 1955 (with some in 1948, and flashbacks). Dicaprio works at in an Initech-like position similar to the one his father held for years. Winslet is his Stepford wife who has no idea what happened to her dreams of acting and the husband who, "Just wanted to feel life." Michael Shannon plays a good then a bad Deus Ex Machina (I looked it up to make sure I remembered what my Shakespeare Prof had said about this), with a powerful near-concluding line, "Now you'll never have to know what you're made of..." to Dicaprio.

I am fascinated when directors and writers downplay sex. That is done well in this movie, it is taken down a notch. Their marriage seems surreal to me, but I was not alive (or married) in 1955. If Mad Men and Far from Heaven were accurate, then Revolutionary Road is simply more drastic. I recommend Revolutionary Road, but it is not a feel good movie, it is only funny in ways that you're not sure if you should be laughing at. Without having seen "The Reader" I think Winslet totally deserves the oscar. 4.5/5 stars.

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise: Rated R
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Before Sunrise is a brilliant film. It moves in realtime and explores the romance of Paris by an American and a French student. Linklater won two awards in the International category at the Berlin Film Festival for this one. The "sequel", "Before Sunset" won 11 awards, mostly on the back of Before Sunrise. Hawke and Delpy are magical, even as they are immature and awkward towards each other (made more funny in the second movie when they argue over their encounter in "Sunrise"). I think that I desire Before Sunrise when I watch romantic comedies, and I also fear it. Before Sunrise is dark enough that we don't feel transported into their world. I was nervous for them, I want their future plans to work out (have to see the second movie to find out), and yet the transience of their interaction is palpable from the beginning. What makes that work is that the characters are constantly aware of it, and work against it to varying degrees the entire movie.

4.5/5 stars. I don't know why I don't want to give it 5 stars. Seems like some movie should get 5 (maybe High Fidelity itself)! It is well written, well-acted, funny without distracting from the story, and funny in real ways. If I remember correctly even the sex is imperfect, in a perfect way.

Gran Torino

Gran Torino: R
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her

I remember reading that Miles Davis was able to change the face of music with his use of space. I am not sure Eastwood is going to change the face of films, but he definitely uses space and time and silence to full advantage in his movie. Gran Torino begins a bit like "About Schmidt", except Indugu is Eastwood's next door neighbor and he continually gets in trouble for his lack of masculinity and the brutal reality of sectarianism and gangs. The most compelling aspect of the movie is Eastwood's affection for the family while not losing the grunts that accompany every scene he is in.

Although I enjoyed Million Dollar Baby for many of the same reasons - this film moves differently. The priest is more interested, more respectful (which as a future man of the cloth - I appreciate), and he doesn't really mind - yea he learns from Eastwood's dressing down of him about life and death. I wanted more redemption in small ways, more legacy, but even as I write that I think I am actually more satisfied that the movie is sad but that it moves at a good speed, with character change - and not drastic change that tere can be no accounting for in reality.

4/5 stars for sure. And the gaps might actually make the movie better. Don't worry about laughing at the racism and series of grunts (especially at the beginning of the movie), if you're still laughing at the end... that might be a different story!