At this writing this little blog of ours is sitting at 235 views, so I figured I'd do an entry to push us past 250. So if you're reading this, thank you for caring about us and what we write, if you aren't reading this, you must be a wizard, on to the review...
Rabbit Hole tells the story of a young couple whose lives start unravelling after they lose their 4 year old son Danny. In the film Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play the aforementioned couple in this gripping drama about life, death and how to deal with both, based upon the Pulitzer winning play of the same name.
The film begins with the couple mourning the death of their 4 year old son who was killed after being struck by a car driven by a teenager after running out into traffic chasing after his dog. Each parent takes a very different stance when it comes to mourning however which leads to troubles in their relationship, not only with others, but with each other.
Eckhart's character chooses to hold on to the memory of their son by keeping old clothes and belongings of him, as well as his room the exact same way it was, all the while trying to get his wife to agree to trying for another child.
Kidman's character on the ther hand is not so submissive with the suggestions of her husband, especially the notion of having sex. She also wants to get rid of all her son's clothes, and gets presented with the perfect opportunity to do so that when she discovers her younger sister Izzy is expecting her first child. Her family tells Kidman that it's innapropriate and Izzy even let's her sister know that if she has a boy she doesn't want to see him running around in Danny's old clothes because it'll bring back too many painful memories.
The couple also start going to a group for parents that have lost their children, Kidman resents everything about it whereas Eckhart finds it helpful. After a while Kidman decides to stop going leaving Eckhart flying solo where instead of going to the group he starts hanging out with a friend from group (played by Sandra Oh) acting childish together whether it's going to the arcade or smoking pot in the car. Kidman however isn't acting much better however as she starts meeting secretly with the driver of the car that struck her son and flipping out on her mother for comparing her loss to that of her mother when she lost her then 30 year old son.
This movie was all I could have hoped for and more. I expected a story that wouldn't be all that spectacular with great acting considering all the press Kidman got and given Eckhart's terrific track record. The acting did not dissapoint as the dialogue between the characters was always fiery and passionate which made it a pleasure to see. The story was the surprise as I expected a more downer story given the plot but some of the scenes were rather pleasent especially the ones revolving around Nicole Kidman and the comic book "Rabbit Hole"
I would highly recommend this movie to be watched. It can be seen at anytime, movie night with your family (providing the family is all 13+), date night or relaxing alone on a sunday night at home. The acting was as advertised with the story keeping you entertained enough to bridge the gaps between the scenes of beauty mined from self-depressive behaviour from the two leads just trying to move on from tragedy without forgetting their pain of the life they can't leave behind.
Next up on this movie review docket is 50/50 starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick in a coming of age tale about a young man struggling to deal with life after he finds out he developed cancer.
In 50/50 Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays a 27 year old, hardworking radio producer living in rural Seattle named Adam. Adam's life is turned upside down after he goes to the doctor complaining of back pain and leaves finding out he has cancer in his spine. As if Adam doesn't have enough enough on his plate he has to deal with an over-emotional mother (played by Anjelica Huston), a girlfriend who's cheating on him (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), a best friend who wants to use his cancer to get him laid (played by Seth Rogen), and a psychiatrist, who isn't even a real doctor and is younger than he is (played by Anna Kendrick).
SPOILER ALERT: Bring tissues to this movie.
The movie starts out with us seeing Adam's everyday life; he wakes up, hangs out with his girlfriend before meeting up with his best friend Kyle to go to work at a local Seattle radio station, where they both act as producers. After Adam gets diagnosed with cancer, his life begins to spiral out of control as we see him struggle with everyday things. And poor Adam, everytime he seems to begin to cope with one aspect of his cancer (or it's treatment), something happens that makes him rethink everything and you as the viewer can't help but feel for this 27 year old going to 4 hour chemo treatments and to leave the hospital just to find he has no ride, since his girlfriend stood him up and doesn't arrive until hours later.
Now although this movie seems like a tragedy, or a drama it's really quite lighthearted and funny a lot of the time. The title 50/50 comes from Adam's cancer survival rate (50%) but it might as well be the percentages for how serious this movie is (50% of the time). Now making a movie about cancer is not easy.... Making a funny movie about cancer is damn near impossible! However director Jonathan Levine pulls it off in a way only a great director with a great script can, by surrounding themselves with great actors who don't only care about the movie but believe in the director's vision. This is exactly what 50/50 does, this is a bunch of indie kids banning together to make a mainstream indie film, might I suggest Jonathan Levine's "The Wackness" JGL's "Brick" and "The Lookout" and lest we forget Anna Kendrick's small but awesome role in "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World".
The one thing that surprised me the most about this film was the absence of Seth Rogen's character throughtout the film. In my opinion this movie was marketed as a buddy film about cancer so I was definitely surprised to see that Rogen wasn't on screen anymore than Anna Kendrick or even Bryce Dallas Howard. However it worked well in that regard because Rogen played his usual pot-headed, sex loving self that seems to pop up in most films starring him.
Kendrick's character is probably the most memorable, aided by her strong performance in the role, even when her character of psychiatrist in training Katie McKay you keep thinking back to her and think to yourself what would she say if she seen this? What would she do if Adam does this? And so on.
So overall this movie is a feel good story that pulls at your heartstrings just enough to not make it sappy. Just funny enough to not make you question if you should be laughing this much at cancer, so in short it's funny and sentimental but doesn't beat you over the head with either emotions. You admire the whole cast from JGL going from breakdown to breakdown as depression sets in, to Rogen proving he has a softer side as he struggles with his best friends possible impending death and Kendrick's inexperience in therapy which makes her and her techniques more forgivable in the end and because of that she makes us happy she graced us with her presence in every scene she's in, including an impromptu car cleaning at the side of the road.
In closing, you should see this movie, probably in theatres because you shouldn't wait, but if you're the emotional type stay home, close the windows and lock the doors, grab a box of kleenex and just watch until the credits begin to roll. At this point I'd like you to count how many tissues you used when you cried and how many you used when you laughed so hard you cried and see what side of the 50/50 ratio you came out on.
I've been excited to review this movie, I cannot tell a lie. Those who know me, know that I love baseball. So I've obviously read Michael Lewis' book to which this film is based. Don't fret however, I'm not one of those people that can't seperate the book from the movie, I won't sit here and complain that the film doesn't even mention the draft which is what most of the book focuses on or that the Ray Durham and Cliff Floyd deals weren't mentioned even in the slightest. No that's not my thing the book is a book and the film is a film related only by the title they both hold.
Moneyball, tells the true story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics team, and their controversial GM (at the time anyway) Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt). After a 2001 season that saw the A's lose in the postseason to the New York Yankees, 3 of their best players leave for free agency in leadoff man and stolen base threat Johnny Damon, Power bat with a .477 OBP Jason Giambi and closer Jason Isringhausen. So Beane has to find a way to replace them, working within a constricted budget, the A's spent 41 million that season, 7 of which went to Jermaine Dye.
Moneyball was directed by Capote director Bennett Miller and stars the previously mentioned Brad Pitt as well as Phillip Seymour Hoffman as A's manager Art Howe and Jonah Hill as Peter Brand, a fictionalized composite of Beane's assistants, mostly based upon Paul DePodesta, Beane's assistant GM. In the film Brand is the one that brings the Moneyball strategy to Beane's attention after the youngster impresses the A's GM when he goes into a meeting with Mark Shapiro, GM of the Cleveland Indians, and Brand's then employer, and single handedly talks Shapiro out of a trade. Shortly thereafter Brand is hired by the A's and moneyball takes over.
Quick side note about moneyball. It's a baseball strategy that values wins and runs above the players themselves, it was always about the player's statistics and not what they brought to the team. This allowed the A's to field a competitive team despite a low payroll because everyone undervalued these players thus allowing the A's to grab them at a low price.
So after Beane and Brand carry on with the moneyball strategy they decide they can not replace a player like Giambi so they take the collective on-base-percentage of their 3 departing free agents and replace them with 3 new players, in this case Scott Hatteberg, the catcher turned 1st baseman; David Justice, aging slugger whose best days are behind him; and Randy Verlade, an underacheiving 3rd baseman.
After a rough start to the season by the A's, Beane is definitely feeling the pressure. All the old school baseball scouts on the A's staff shun Beane and his ideals, the owner is peeved at his inability to put a winning team on the field and the manager, angry about his own contract situation, doesn't field the team Beane wants (including not having Scottie H. at first). Prompting Beane to clean house and hope that his team can turn it around, somehow, someway.
At this point in his career you know what you're going to get with Brad Pitt, he's charasmatic and definitely the best choice of all the big name celebs to play the role of the unorthodox and unpredictable role of Billy Beane. I didn't expect much from Jonah Hill given what I've seen of his forays into the serious roles. He was okay, but unspectacular and the whole movie is kind of centralized on him, so it's hard to overlook, but you still manage to do so thanks to Aaron Sorkin's brilliant scripting.
The baseball scenes looked realistic, which is generally hard to pull off in sports movies, let alone baseball, the most fundamentally sound sport in the athletic stratosphere (*Bias). Mind you that's thank to the casting of ex-MLB players in the less prominant roles. Thus the baseball looks real without having the movie dragged down by terrible acting. The only real problem I had with this movie was the character of Art Howe, being Hoffman's character I expected him to be the scene stealer but really he just stood there most of the time. I've grown to expect better from an actor of his caliber but it's as if his Capote cohort begged him to be in the movie because the other guy the got dropped out at the last minute.
So apart from some minor flaws this movie turns out to be a good time, it's got enough baseball in it to attract those who are fans of the game but the movie doesn't overly focus on statistics that the casual fan or people new to the sport will get lost in. Bonus points given out to any of you that can succesfully explain WAR, UZR and DIPS. Never in the last 20 years has there been a baseball movie with so much emotion and depth that Moneyball brings to the sport. It's clear the days of Major League, Bull Durham and Eight Men Out are long gone but one can only hope the success of Moneyball brings back the trend and allows more baseball movies to be greenlit by studios. The success only hinge's on a couple Oscar noms for a well deserved crew behind the camera headlined by the adapted screenplay Sorkin has wowed us with, and the sharp wit Brad Pitt lends to Billy Beane's character.
What a crazy weekend we've put together for you here on The Melancholy Club, I hope you haven't fallen too far behind with the film reviews, so for those of you who haven't let's keep the train rolling with my review of Fair Game...
Fair Game is a biographical film based on the true story of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson as outlined in the latter's book "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House"
Valerie Plame (played by Naomi Watts) is an undercover operative for the Central Intelligence Agency married to a former US diplomat, who most recently served as an ambassador to African nation Gabon. He also has ties to the nation of Niger, and this is where the story really takes flight.
Plame and her CIA cohorts, as it were, are investigating the alledged WMD (that's weapons of mass destruction for our friends that are globally unaware of everything) manufacturing that is believed to be happening by Iraq. The only problem is, the United States Government has absolutely no proof of this other than the fact that Iraq had purchased some aluminum tubes that could possibly be used for nuclear weapon fabrication, but most likely will be used for rocket powered artillary. But the american people are still feeling uneasy about the transaction so they opt (after some convincing to Plame) to hire her husband Joe Wilson (played by Sean Penn) to go to Niger and investigate a possible yellowcake uranium purchase by Iraq from Niger since Wilson has ties to the Niger government from his time there.
After his investigation Wilson notes that there is no possible way that Niger can sell the amount of uranium required to Iraq without some sort of paper trail cropping up (They'd need 40% more uranium than Niger is used to mining.) To his surprise however, mear months after his journey to Niger the president brings up the very opposite at the State Of The Union adress, stating that Niger is selling large amounts of uranium to Iraq. After some digging and investigating by Wilson, he finds out that they have no new evidence of a uranium sale since his trip to Niger. So he takes matters into his own hands by writing an article in the New York Times stating the president is lying to everyone and there is no uranium. Now this doesn't sit well with the heads of state, so they begin to look for a way to discredit Wilson.
Now the tactic they use, isn't what we would call "legal" as the government writes an article of their own saying Wilson was never on a mission by the CIA, but rather a vacation paid for by the CIA thanks to his wife's work as a spy. Now this revelation doesn't sit well with Wilson and Plame, Wilson for being discredited as a liar and Plame because well her life as she knows it is over as she is under constant surveillance, she's removed from her position at the CIA, receives daily death threats and has a strain placed on her personal relationships (especially with her husband.)
Now this movie is good, not amazing, not even super good, but it's worth a watch. There is just enough thrills to keep you entertained, while at the same time not being overly political to lose the audience that is less than savvy when it comes to politics. The acting is stellar, as the supporting cast is your usual white house cast of characters, and those who know me know that I hardly ever have a bad thing to say about Naomi Watts, even in her bad movies, she's the best of a bad situation and that makes her one of my favorite actress's. Sean Penn's character comes off as a whiny bitch most of the time, which is odd, it's not until near the end of the film that we see some diverse emotions coming from him. That's not to say that Penn's acting is bad, because Sean Penn is such a good character actor that I'm pretty sure he can pull almost anything off.
The end result however, comes down to Doug Liman's directing. As far as I'm concerned he is one of the most underrated directors in the business as he continues to be able to direct all different types of films (The Bourne Identity, Swingers and Jumper) although he's very likely to never replicate the awesomeness that was Go. Overall you should watch this movie, it's old enough that you can likely find it on the cheap at your local video store, or you can download it or watch it online somewhere I'm sure (Legal warning: I do not condone movie piracy... So long as no one knows...)
This is where I put that this review may contain spoilers, I will try to make them minimal... But this film is based on a true story so I shouldn't be telling you anything you didn't learn in grade 10 History.
So The King's Speech is based on the true story of King George VI, father of current Queen, Queen Elizabeth. I realize this movie came out what seemed like ages ago but I just got around to watching it, I'm not going to lie going in I didn't expect very much, I know it won the Oscar for Best Picture, but generally I dislike the films that do, but end up watching them anyway since I consider myself a minor movie buff. That's probably why I took so long to get to this film, anyways I'm rambling. On with the film itself...
The film takes place between 1925 and September 1939 (Those who didn't sleep through History should know the significance of that final date) and it follows King George VI, known as Prince Albert, Duke of York at the beginning of the film, path to the throne. Prince Albert was not first in line for his father's throne since he was the 2nd born son to Prince David, Duke of Windsor. So not only does poor Bertie have to live in the shadow of his father, King George V, but also his brother and his "bloody stammer" doesn't help things.
At first Prince Albert and his wife hire the royal physicians to help him with his speech problems, the only problems are their methods involve sticking 7 marbles in your mouth and speaking with them in to help with enunciation, smoking because the smoke is good for your larynx and gurgling liquor. He makes his wife promise that there will be no more speech therapy but that's when she meets Lionel Logue.
Lionel doesn't care who you are, when you're with him it's his world, his game, his rules. The king and him are equals whether Bertie, as Logue affectionately calls him, likes it or not. Following the passing of King George V and the crowning of Prince David, now King Edward VIII, as King Prince Albert begins to see Logue as more than a speech therapist, but as a friend. It is revealed that Prince Albert was treated poorly, abused even as a child, and it went unnoticed by his parents and his brother tortured him to no end about his stammer, all of which was not only condoned by his father, but encouraged. However not all is perfect as the two friends both say some things either are proud of but they make up after a while when it is learnt that King Edward VIII will concede the throne to his brother so he can marry the women he loves, a two time divorcee that the church will not condone having as their queen. The film reaches it's conclusion on an evening in September when King George VI must make the declaration of war broadcast to Britain and the Empire.
Although the above sounds like your typical period drama, it is actually far from, as it wanders onto the ligh-hearted and humourous side, more so than the dramatic prepare for Hitler that most expect, following is an exchange King George VI had with Lionel Logue during one of their speech therapy classes [Source: IMDB]:
King George VI: All that work down the drain. My own brother, I couldn't say a single word to him in reply. Lionel Logue: Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me? King George VI: 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen. Lionel Logue: Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl. King George VI: St... stop trying to be so bloody clever. Lionel Logue: What is it about David that stops you speaking? King George VI: What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time? Lionel Logue: Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear. King George VI: Oh, bugger orf! Lionel Logue: Is that the best you can do? King George VI: Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard. Lionel Logue: Oh, a public school prig could do better than that. King George VI: Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Lionel Logue: Yes! King George VI: Shit! Lionel Logue: Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue! King George VI: Because I'm angry! Lionel Logue: Do you know the f-word? King George VI: F... f... fornication? Lionel Logue: Oh, Bertie. King George VI: Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse! Lionel Logue: Yes... King George VI: Balls, balls... Lionel Logue: ...you see, not a hesitation! King George VI: ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.
Although the British humor is a high point I think what works so well I think the thing that really makes this film work (outside of the amazing score) is the cast.
King George VI is played by Colin Firth (Perhaps best known as "that guy" from those terrible Renee Zellweger movies) he was okay in the role, perhaps the fact it wasn't written for him and he was visibly older than all the other actors including his "older" brother Prince David played by Guy Pearce (Memento, The Hurt Locker). This film was carried by the 2 main supporting roles the one of King George VI wife played by Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club, Harry Potter) and that of Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush (Pirates Of The Caribbean, Shine). Their charisma and acting chops outshine all the other actors (And Dumbledore was in this movie!) while not making them seem so miniscule and unimportant.
Now this film will not be for everyone but if you enjoy period pieces and british humour I would go out and rent it now, if you don't think it's your cup of tea (see what I did there?) but are still intrigued I'd keep an eye out for it on cable and PVR it, I myself wouldn't go out and purchase the film, but it should definitely be watched at least once in a lifetime and I certainly won't be turning the channel if it comes on TV... Unless something better is on.
