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February 2007

Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers 4.5 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

On February 23, 1945 photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped a picture that would come to epitomize the American hero of the Second World War. Five marines and a Navy corpsman hoisted a water pipe bearing the American flag on Mount Suribachi in a symbol of victory. Many who saw the photograph forgot that the flag was raised on the fifth day of what would become a grueling, bloody thirty day campaign for the island of Iwo Jima. The Pulitzer-award winning photo stemmed rumors that the country was on the verge of bankruptcy, convincing war-weary Americans that the Pacific conflict was as good as won.

Within days, three of the six men in the photograph were dead.

“Flags of Our Fathers” centers around the men in the iconic photo and the psychological price the three surviving men paid. The film effectively shifts back and forth between three plots: the horrors the men witnessed on Iwo Jima, the hypocrisy they were forced to live with as designated heroes, and the story of a son discovering his late father was a national hero.

When the photograph hits the front page appearing in more than 200 newspapers, the surviving flag raisers -- stoic Navy corpsman Doc Bradley, opportunistic runner Rene Gagnon, and traumatized front-line soldier Ira Hayes -- are shipped back to the United States to pump up the war effort by selling war bonds. Rene Gagnon (an appropriately starry-eyed Jesse Bradford), was never directly involved in the fighting and was lucky to be picked to raise the flag. He takes to the glamour and attention, savoring his fifteen minutes of fame, hoping to parlay his hero status into a cushy post-war job. Medic John “Doc” Bradley, (an understated Ryan Phillippe) has seen enough of war and would like nothing more than to settle down with his girlfriend and a lead a normal life. Ira Hayes (played to perfection by Adam Beach), once tormented by his fellow soldiers for being a Pima Indian, is now tortured by nightmarish flashbacks of those same men being torn apart in battle.

Hayes may have been called a hero, but he certainly wasn’t treated like one. At one of the endless fund raisers, a Senator with a peerless smile (David Rasche) asks Hayes: “Did you kill (the Japanese) with your Tomahawk?” Before another dinner, Hayes, seeking solace in drink, is turned away at a bar and goes into a rage, swinging a chair in the streets at a group of officers sent to subdue him. Only Doc’s intervention saves Hayes from a beating and incarceration. When Doc asks the bartender why Hayes was turned away, the bartender replies proudly, “We don’t serve Indians.”

Even his fallen comrades had callously referred to Hayes as “Chief.” Spotting him in his bunk looking at pictures before the invasion, one soldier teases him, saying “Is that your squaw Chief? Pictures of your wig wam?”

Back home and running late for yet another fundraiser even Gagnon, fed with Hayes binge drinking, turns against him:

Gagnon: You take out any machine gun nests, Ira?
Hayes: At least I fired my weapon.
Gagnon: You hit anything, or were you too drunk then too?

The three men must endure the added weight of knowing they weren’t even the first group of men to raise the flag raise the flag at Iwo Jima. The first flag had been taken down when Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal procured it as a souvenir. The President’s P.R. people find this out after Hayes, Doc and Gagnon are already stateside and have been publicly anointed as heroes. The confusion and misinformation over the two flag raisings means the first group of men, most of whom are dead, get overlooked altogether.

Hayes continues to get drink until he’s a staggering, puking, tragic figure. When Hayes meets Sgt. Mike Strank’s mother he openly weeps in the arms, much to the chagrin of the Army brass. Honor, irony and sense of the macabre accompany the survivors as they re-enact the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima at Chicago’s Soldier’s Field by scaling a mountain made of paper mache. Hayes is particularly appalled at the idea of staging the raising of the flag in front of 20,000 cheering fans. The hypocrisy of the tour becomes too much for Hayes, who continues to try and wash away the pain and guilt with alcohol. In a private moment, Hayes laments, “I’m no hero. I was just trying not to get shot.”

Hayes becomes “an embarrassment to the uniform” and gets his wish to be shipped back to the front. Doc and Gagnon continue the tour and when the government’s coffers are full again, they’re discarded like yellowing newspaper from a birdcage. After the war, Hayes attempts to right his life by speaking out for better Indian-Anglo relations, but flashbacks and alcoholism continue to plague him. But it’s also Hayes who sets out to right a wrong buried by the government. He walks 1300 miles to Harlon Bloch’s farm to tell the dead soldier’s family that one of the men in the photo was misidentified and that Harlon was indeed in the famous picture. Before Harlon’s father can thank him, Hayes is gone. Gagnon finds that all the promises made to him while he was in the spotlight were empty lies. Only Doc gets his wish. He marries his girlfriend, puts his medals and clippings in a trunk and never speaks about the war, not even telling his own son that he was once referred to as a hero.

Clint Eastwood is an expert at framing and direct battle scenes. No detail of the bloody conflict is spared, from the precise reproduction of the battleship Nevada lofting 12” shells at the shoreline to the damaged B-25 flying overhead. The battle scenes are shot in watery grays, blacks and whites, as if to mimic a nightmare. Whenever color is introduced – usually in the form of blood – the impact is substantial. The sequences of the massacre inland take Steven Spielberg’s battle scenes in “Saving Private Ryan” several gory steps further and bear his mark as the film’s producer. The destruction of human life, both American and Japanese, is incomprehensible and obscene and it’s Hayes who suffers the most. He relives the moment a Japanese soldier tried to jump him and he wound up shiscabobing him; recalls going on a recon mission into a cave to find that the dead enemy soldiers inside preferred disemboweling themselves with grenades over being captured; and remembers holding a fallen comrade torn apart by machine gun fire as the boy’s life ebbed away. In one of the movie’s unforgettable scenes, Hayes and another soldier are pinned behind a sand dune. “Is this a bad battle or what?” Hayes asks his fellow soldier. “It’s a slaughter,” he replies. Rising to his feet, the soldier prepares to charge the enemy -- and his blown apart where he stands. His head bounces off of Hayes’ helmet, landing behind him in the sand. Hayes turns to look at it and the disembodied head sighs, as if the soldier is surprised he was killed so easily. It’s a grisly, but unforgettable special effect.

There are many other gruesome images and scenes that will make viewers chant “War…huh...Good God ya’ll, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” Men are blown out of their boots, perforated with shells the size of Volkswagens, and suffer the indignity of having their dead husks crushed under the weight of their own advancing tanks. The battle for Iwo Jima is a flesh eating blender and no man is indispensable, as evidenced by a pre-invasion scene in which an exuberant marine falls overboard and none of the advancing transports stop to rescue him. “So much for no man left behind,” another marine comments.

The lead actors may not be readily recognizable, but give memorable performances. Ryan Phillippe’s Doc Bradley is the story’s moral compass. Unhappy at being used as a sales puppet by the government, he also understands that selling war bonds is a necessary evil. Phillppe’s character is an emotional cipher and the actor lends his character the right amount of restraint. Jesse Bradford (Renee Gagnon) salivates every time he sees a flashbulb, but Bradford manages to show that Gagnon wasn’t a villain, he was merely more willing to take advantage of the situation than the others were. Adam Beach gives the film’s top performance as the battle-ruined Ira Hayes. You can’t help but feel his pain, anger and humiliation, and you pull for him to find inner peace. John Slattery is solid Bud Gerber, the government P.R. man who must shepard the heroes around the country to raise money. Although he has his hands full with Ira Hayes, he understands Hayes’ pain and treats him with the delicate dignity he deserves. Dozens of familiar faces have scene-stealing cameos: Harve Presnell, who starred with Eastwood in “Paint Your Wagon” thirty plus years ago, captivates early on as an elderly Joe Rosenthal. George Grizzard plays a dying Doc Bradley and keeps the noble part of Doc’s personality – his concern for others – consistent with the way Phillippe portrayed him. Gordie Tapp (the beleaguered Detective Medavoy on NYPD) has only two scenes, but plays both to the hilt. Cast as General “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, he’s first seen screaming at central command for more shore bombardment before his troops invade the island: “If I don’t get ten days of shelling, I’ll be bringing these kids home to their mama’s in buckets!” Barry Pepper plays larger than life Sgt Mike Strank, showing it wasn’t so much Strank’s bravery under fire as it was his concern for his men that made him a hero.

“Flags of Our Fathers” has few flaws, but one problem is that some of the minor characters are underdeveloped and hard to keep track of, making it a little too easy to figure out who’s going to be awarded their medals posthumously. More disconcerting is the way Eastwood deals with their fates. He wipes out three or four of them in consecutive scenes, with each of the characters moving forward, getting blasted, then falling to the ground. Even the scenery around them looks the same. Their death scenes play out like a sniper winning prizes at a shooting gallery – okay, soldier number one, please step forward – BAM! Soldier number two, your turn – BAM! And so on. Their deaths are minimized for the sake of closure.

Don’t turn off the film before the closing credits -- the photos of the battle scene help put the film in a historical perspective. Shots of the real Hayes, Gignon, Doc, Strank and others remind us that many of the heroes of Iwo Jima were kids barely old enough to shave.

If you’re a fan of war movies, the men’s unflinching devotion to duty and the authenticity of the horrific battle scenes make “Flags of Our Fathers” a must see. Even peaceniks (like yours truly) will find themselves entranced by the actor’s concise performances and director Clint Eastwood’s honest and disturbing portrayal of government hypocrisy.

It’s time to enlist soldier. “Flags of Our Fathers” is an engrossing, moving film that demystifies war and shows there’s more to being a hero than living to talk about it.

Posted February 14, 2007 Permalink

Coastlines

Coastlines 2.5 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

Betrayal is at the heart of the plot of “Coastlines,” a low budget tale mixing action and revenge set in Nowheresville, Florida. The characters main concern in the tiny town is to screw each other around – literally and figuratively. Filmed in 2004 by Victor Nunez (who directed “Ulee’s Gold” and “Ruby in Paradise”), it’s not hard to see why the picture was held back for three years. The story, pat action, and lack of character development smack of a disposable made-for-TV adventure used to fill the air time between “The Tonight Show” and the morning news. It’s harmless, reasonably entertaining, and won’t strain your brain -- a recipe for box office mediocrity.

The slight plot revolves around a trio of child hood friends. The town is protected by respected, stalwart policeman Dave Lockhart (Josh Brolin, who tries hard to please). Dave is everyone’s safety valve, everyone’s protector. He’s happily married to Ann, a doctor at the local clinic. (Australian actress Sarah Wynter plays Ann with believable conviction, giving the film more credibility than it deserves.) Dave and Ann have two precocious daughters and an ideal, comfortable lifestyle. Enter, or rather, re-enter Sonny Mann (an ossified Tim Olyphant), Dave and Ann’s best friend, paroled early from a three-year stretch in the pen. He promises his hard-working fisherman dad he’s going to go straight. (Character actor Scott Wilson, who gave chilling performances in “In the Heat of the Night” and “In Cold Blood,” portrays Pa Mann as a laid-back backwoods philosopher. Like Wynter he’s a treat to watch.) Sonny promises himself he’ll go straight after he gets the $200,000 his former partners, (Fred and Eddie Vance) owe him for taking the fall. Fred Vance tries to lure Sonny back into drug peddling, but Sonny resists. All Sonny wants is his money and a fresh start. (Venerable character actor William Forsythe takes on the role of Fred, and Billy resists the urge to phone it in, despite the clichéd script). When Sonny refuses Fred’s offer, Eddie, Fred’s lunkhead nephew (Josh Lucas, who is phoning it in) notes: “He’s trouble. If not today, then tomorrow.” Instead of paying Sonny off and enjoying his hedonistic hobbies on his boat, Fred takes the advice of his Rhoades scholar nephew, suggesting they contact an associate “about some work.”

Out on the town, Sonny hooks up with local mattress-back Effie Bender (feisty Angela Bettis), who happens to work with Ann. Satisfied and sleepy, Sonny returns home. He changes his mind about going to bed at the last moment, deciding to take his dad’s dog out hunting instead. As he leaves, his father’s house is leveled by a blast big enough to shear off the top of Mount St. Helens. Sonny is left bruised, battered and bleeding twenty feet or more from where he stood, a betrayed orphan. The dog is none the worse for wear.

In the hospital, a dazed Sonny is attended to by Ann, who chick-blocks Effie by telling her Sonny needs his rest. She and Sonny lock lips, which Ann regrets, but doesn’t forget. Sonny knows who cremated his father before he was ready and vows revenge. He wastes no time in wasting Eddie, beating him around the floor of the Vance’s general store and in turn making himself a bloody mess all over again. (Olyphant spends much of the film smeared with fake blood.) Dave comes to his friends rescue, convincing Fred not to press charges, although Fred seems reluctant to completely let go:

Dave: Sonny likes to keep things to himself, but in this case he may be right. He might
like to open up a bit. You understand?

Fred: Tell Sonny we’re even.

Dave: Don’t you have enough?

Fred: There ain’t never enough. Even you know that Dave.

Recovering from his ordeal at Dave’s house, Sonny brazenly approaches Ann. She resists long enough to realize she can’t resist, then launches herself across the room at Sonny as if she was shot out of a cannon and he was a bull’s eye. Satiated and sitting on the kitchen floor, Ann asks aloud, “How could I do this to him (Dave)?” Sonny’s response summarizes his reckless personality: “I’ll be dead soon enough. You gotta go where life takes you.” Die young, stay pretty, Sonny.

Now it’s Dave who’s on the short end of the betrayal stick. Ann tries to hide her remorse, but now finds herself avoiding Dave’s touch.

Sonny visits Bob Johnson, the local body and fender man, (Robert Wisdom, taking over the role of spinning homilies now that Pa Mann is toast). Bob offers him a job and a place to stay. With Dave out patrolling the empty streets, Ann visits Sonny in his greasy backroom digs, prompting more lust and betrayal, but a lot less guilt. Now Ann views her perfect life with Dave as boring, predictable. Sack time with the dangerous, unpredictable Sonny has made life exciting again.

But Sonny’s primary concern is still revenge. He calls Fred, saying he wants to parlay with him. Bad guys have been falling for the “Let’s meet in peace” ploy throughout cinematic history, and you know Fred’s too proud and too stupid to resist meeting Sonny in a remote portion of the bay. Before you can say ramming speed, Sonny gets his revenge against the Vance’s. And Dave, Sonny’s protector, is there to lend a hand, in more ways than one. It’s a simple, unspectacular way to rid the film of the Vance’s that will leave you feeling betrayed.

The actors try hard, but their roles are sketches that you’ve seen in dozens of films before. Olyphant is the bad boy with the 1,000 yard stare women fall in love with; Brolin is the safe, steadfast good guy women marry and fall out of love with; Wynter wonders how exciting her life would be if she’d married Sonny and nearly ruins her life trying to find out, and Forsythe is the greedy villain who meets a textbook end. Olyphant looks uncomfortable throughout, occasionally affecting a deer-in-the-headlights look that makes it hard to believe an intelligent woman would risk everything to roll around on the kitchen floor with him. (This is the same Tim Olyphant who would don a moustache, a badge and a six shooter to portray Sheriff Seth Bullock, a classic western hero in HBO’s “Deadwood.” Well, everyone has to go school I suppose.) William Forsythe has made a career out of playing hard-nosed heavies, and knows how to convey a convincing New Orleans accent. Unfortunately, the action takes place in Florida. Try again, Billy. Bob Wisdom plays the standard issue jovial black guy/good friend role without embarrassing himself, and Lucas managed to pick up a paycheck for two memorable lines. Bettis’ tramp with a golden heart is unsurprising but well played, but it’s Brolin and Wynter who live their roles, making their martial tug of war believable. What’s that you say? You find it hard to believe that a man would sleep with his best friend’s wife? I played softball with a pair of lifelong buddies, one a footloose roofer, the other, an insurance salesman, married to a stunning kindergarten teacher, and the three of them lived this adulterous farce. Her husband went away to a convention – unfortunately, the first stop he made before he came home was his best friend’s house. I would have thrown the hormone happy backdoor man off his own roof, lifelong friend or not – but he did nothing. The insurance salesman and the kindergarten teacher are still together, and both men remain devoted friends. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction… Perhaps my insurance salesman teammate got his revenge the same way Dave does in “Coastlines,” discreetly and quietly, working out his anger and inhibitions by picking up a stranger in a bar and living in Sonny’s skin just long enough to see what makes him tick.

You might be able to fool yourself long enough to get through “Coastlines” by passing the time watching the performances of Brolin, Wynter and Wilson. More than likely, “Coastlines” will leave you wearing the same slack-jawed expression Olyphant wears from the first reel to the last.

Posted February 14, 2007 Permalink

The Illusionist

The Illusionist 4 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

Almost everyone like surprises, particularly if we think we’ve got a movie figured out and it turns out we don’t. The trick ending to “The Crying Game” sent many men running to the bathroom for mouthwash, while the moment of clarity Bruce Willis’ character experienced in “The Sixth Sense” is one of those great “gotcha” moments few films possess. “The Illusionist” is a period piece that is more of the later than the former, where everything you’ve seen is a convincing and engrossing lie.

The plot revolves around Eisenheim (a sleepy-eyed, dismal Edward Norton) a magician with an extraordinary and potentially dangerous talent. The movie begins at its mid point, with Inspector Uhl (Bluto look-alike Paul Giamatti) explaining what he knows about the magician to Crown Prince Leopold (a fearsome Rufus Sewell). Viewing Eisenheim as a threat, Leopold commands, “Put an end to it. You must have something from his past.” Cue the past. The film flashes back to when Eisenheim and Duchess Sophie von Teschen (a surprisingly talented Jessica Biel) were younger. Eisenheim, the son of a commoner and Sophie, a duchess, fall in love. It’s a tired but necessary plot device. In fact, it is the plot. Fearing discovery, Sophie begs Eisenheim: “Make us disappear.” The two lovers are separated, and the broken hearted magician travels the world to study his craft. And study he does, becoming a master illusionist who can perform simple tricks, such as guessing which hand you’re hiding a ball in, or more elaborate ruses, like making a seed grow into an orange tree. Writer Neil Burger even gives away the secret of the hidden ball trick, and the secret is so simple you’ll want to start an apprenticeship as a magician. The second trick, the “Orange Tree,” an illusion that fascinates Uhl, is one of the keys to the films 180 degree plot twist.

Flash forward several years to a scene with Eisenheim entertaining the audience in Vienna, including the Crown Prince and his fiancé. Eisenheim asks for a volunteer from the audience for one of his tricks. The Crown Prince’s fiancé volunteers – gee, what are the odds Sophie is the fiancé? Excellent in this movie. Unable to control their hormones, the couple begins an affair. Today it’s virtually impossible to be a member of high society and have a discreet relationship. (Just ask Paris Hilton. Okay, don’t.). Back in the nineteenth century it was even harder to be discreet, so it doesn’t take long for Inspector Uhl to confirm Leopold’s suspicions that Sophie is performing more than just tricks with Eisenheim. Having already embarrassed Leopold at a party in front of his royal guests, Eisenheim is hardly the Crown Prince’s favorite entertainer. Now they’re rivals for Sophie’s affection and the Prince doesn’t play well with others. Leopold pushes Uhl to make Eisenheim disappear. As for the Duchess, he decides to handle her affair with Eisenheim in his own way, confronting her in a drunken rage. Realizing he’s backed a madman, Uhl is torn between the power and prestige Leopold can give him, and his admiration for Eisenheim. Masking his actions as upholding the law to the audience and to himself, he shuts Eisenheim down.

Up to this point Eisenheim has been thrilling audiences with parlor tricks. He purchases a theater and begins performing a show that transforms him from a magician to a sorcerer as he starts communicating with the dead. He summons a variety of benign spirits, including a familiar spirit who is indicates it was Leopold who thrust her into the afterlife. Having uncovered evidence that the Crown Prince is a murderer and a traitor, Uhl informs the King of Leopold’s plans to overthrow him, sealing both their fates. With the deed done, Uhl and the audience realize both he and Leopold may have been duped. The clues are revealed to the audience in a series of flashbacks experienced by Uhl. Uhl’s epiphany and the cunning plot twist are rewarding and well worth the wait.

Paul Giamatti gives a superb performance as Inspector Uhl, a proper gentleman in an improper profession compromised by having to hitch his future to an insensitive despot. He successfully conveys the pent up look and mannerisms of a man struggling with his conscience. He wants the money and prestige Prince Leopold can give him, but if he can get them without having to destroy Eisenheim he will. Giamatti holds onto his Viennese accent better than the other actors and has the more difficult task of playing a wishy-washy fop. Rufus Sewell, the autocratic Crown Prince Leopold, is an acting force to be reckoned with. Resembling Russian ruler Czar Nicholas and sporting the same devilish moustache and beard he donned to play Agamemnon in “Helen of Troy,” Sewell is pure menace, as predatory as a shark. When Sewell loses his temper, spittle issuing from his lips like machine gun bullets, his eyes bulging wildly as of someone was stepping on his head, he’s frighteningly believable. So believable in fact that I’m convinced he got into a bit of method acting and actually slapped Biel with bad intent. Look closely and you’ll see the imprint of Sewell’s hand on fair Jessica’s face.

Kudos to Jessica Biel as well, who proves she’s much more than just a pretty TV actress (and she can take a hefty slap from Sewell without blowing the scene). She captures her characters intelligence, grace, and inner strength without being a damsel in distress or a screw. In short, she’s human. With his weary hound dog expression and slumped posture, Edward Norton is miscast as Eisenheim, a role that needed a dark brooding actor like…Rufus Sewell. Norton lacks the mystique associated with being a world class illusionist, and gives a one-note performance, silent, sullen, and withdrawn, when even a few words might help progress the story. When Eisenheim begins conjuring up the dead, the only transformation Norton goes through is slumping his shoulders and letting his heavy-lidded eyes droop to the point where he looks like he’s sleepwalking. His accent is all over the place, sounding like Jerry Seinfeld one moment and Boris Badinoff the next.

The film’s special effects are dazzling, particularly when the theater audience starts seeing dead people. When Eisenheim first makes contact with the spirit world, the blurry torso of a man appears. Several members of the audience, more curious than frightened, begin to ask the spirit questions. “How do you come to be here tonight?” one patron inquires. The spirit replies sadly, “I don’t know.” The spirit’s appearance convinces the audience that Eisenheim’s powers are genuine, not an illusion, and serve to elevate him to a level of popularity that exceeds Leopold’s An equally captivating scene is when a young boy, one of Eisenheim’s “illusions” leaves the theater, to walk the streets among the living. Returning “home,” to the theatre, the boy enters like a paying customer, wide-eyed and innocent, until a woman reaches out to touch him – and her hands go through him. It’s a truly stunning affect that’s all the more surprising because of the boy seems unaware he’s dead.

Extra tricks…

The extra’s for “The Illusionist” are sleight of hand in terms of time, but worth looking into. Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel share their thoughts on the script and their characters in “The Making of…” A bare-faced Sewell, looking like a young Ian McShane, comes at his character from an intellectual viewpoint: “The more the country believes in him (Eisenheim), the less they believe in me.” The bubbly Biel, happy to be involved in a meaningful project (she was a last-minute replacement for another actress) comes across as a delightful, talented trooper and an underestimated talent.

If you like creative plot twists, strong supporting characters and sleight of hand illusions, then let “The Illusionist” cast its spell over you.

Posted February 6, 2007 Permalink

This Film is Not Yet Rated

This Film Is Not Yet Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

The documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated” is a sarcastic insider’s look at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which rates films. The documentary centers around director Kirby Dick’s attempt to find out who the members of the MPAA are, and what constitutes their system for rating films (if they actually have one).

The MPAA is more of a secret, clandestine operation than the C.I.A. Its employees names have never been revealed to the public and only one member, board chair Joan Graves, speaks with the press. Jack Valenti, MPAA President while the documentary was being filmed (he finally retired in 2004 at age 82) is one of the film’s central characters, and its primary target. Valenti, who served as “special assistant” to Lyndon Johnson, is seen in video clips. He comes across as a two-faced megalomaniac in charge of his own private fiefdom. (No surprise here, he’s the bad guy.) He’s the J. Edgar Hoover of motion pictures, imposing his own antediluvian sense of morals on movie goers. One gets the feeling from Dick’s unflattering portrayal of him that Valenti knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried and what’s under lock and key at Area 51.

As if to further tweak the MPAA, Dick hires a pair of lesbian detectives and their daughter to shadow the staff as they leave work. (The MPAA seems to have a vendetta against non-heterosexual based films.) A fortuitous moment in the investigation occurs when a security guard abandons his post, allowing the detectives to photograph a list of employees, including names of the staffers who rate films. Dick and one of the investigators raid one of the reviewer’s garbage cans, sifting through her trash in search of vital information. They uncover several evaluations of upcoming films, which help Dick and the viewer understand what criteria the reviewers use to rate films.

Now that Dick knows who he’s dealing with and can better gauge the MPAA’s parameters for rating films, he reveals a humorous ulterior motive – he wants the MPAA to rate the documentary he’s made about them. Joan Graves calls Dick to explain why the film’s getting an NC-17: “For some graphic and sexual content.” Dick takes what could have been a boring exchange and turns it a side-splitting lampoon by using spilt screen images to recreate their conversation. What’s funny is Dick is seen in person while Graves is depicted as a life-like cartoon, complete with disapproving facial expressions. Ditto for the MPAA’s lawyer, who comes across as a bullying Cossack holding the censorship line.

“This Film is Not Yet Rated” does a good job in giving a crash course on Hollywood censorship, beginning with the Fatty Arbuckle-Virginia Rapp scandal, through the establishment of a “moral code” by Will Hayes, to the black listing of alleged communists in the 50s. The most enlightening and amusing moments are provided by the directors whose films have been slapped with R or NC-17 ratings. Wayne Kramer, director of “The Cooler” and actress Maria Bello discuss the scene that nailed the film with an NC-17, in which it’s revealed Ms. Bello is not a natural blonde. They point out that a similar and more famous exposure by Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct” made her career. Kimberly Pierce, who directed “Big Boys Don’t Cry” thinks the MPAA has a problem with female pleasure, citing a sex scene between Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny that was deemed verboten, while a rape scene and the scene in which Swank’s character gets shot in the head got the thumbs up. John Waters, the eternally strange director of “Cry Baby” and “Hairspray,” is aghast at the MPAA’s scattergun approach to ratings, but openly admits there’s a sexual act that scares even him, and Kevin Smith, director of “Clerks” is in fine shock-the-audience form. Matt Stone, who helmed “Team America” shows outtakes of the puppet sex scene and admits he put his marionettes in more positions than there are in the Kama Sutra, knowing the MPAA would censor most of the scene. I’ve never seen a human being render a golden shower (and worse), and now that I’ve seen it performed by puppets, there’s no way in this life or my next one that I’ll look at it again, so score one for the MPAA on axing that act of depravity from the film.

In a society where we’ve had to endure assassinations, wars, poverty and natural disasters, finding out who was helping Jack Valenti perpetuate an anachronistic film code isn’t exactly on par with discovering who killed President Kennedy, so the actual impact of “This Film Is Not yet Rated” borders on nice to know/who cares. After “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” received its NC-17 rating, Dick appealed the rating and the ensuing legal battle and surprising decision is another of the film’s likable facets. Dick set out to bag the king of the jungle and succeeded, and in the process created a droll documentary that’s fast and funny.

Posted February 6, 2007 Permalink

Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland 3.5 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

So he wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet after all.

“Hollywoodland” is the story of the tragic life and death of George Reeves (brilliantly portrayed by Ben Affleck), best known to millions of kids in the 50s as Superman. Was it suicide, as the police have concluded, or was he murdered, as all the clues suggest? It’s also the story of the dark journey taken by sleazy investigator Louis Simo (a pointless Adrien Brody), hired by Reeve’s mother to prove he was murdered. Along the path to the realization that he’s not the greatest investigator since Sherlock Holmes, Simo comes to understand that he needs to change -- he loses his girlfriend, has already lost his wife, and almost loses his son.

The film focuses on the Reeves’ affair with Toni Mannix (Diane Lane in a non-glamour puss role), the wife of MGM Vice President and self-appointed enforcer Eddie Mannix (a thuggish Bob Hoskins). Mannix encouraged Reeves affair with his wife because it allowed him to have affairs of his own. In one of the films most awkward moments, George and Toni go out to dinner with Eddie Mannix and his subservient Japanese mistress. As he tries to fish for an audition, Reeves realizes how much contempt studio heads like Mannix have for actors.

Mannix: “You under contract?”
Reeves: “Not anymore, I used to be with MGM,”
Mannix: “Tough business.”

Reeves becomes Toni’s kept man, and despite her gifts, including the expensive home he lives in, Reeves maintains his desire to be a leading man. Reeves first acting job was in “Gone With The Wind” arguably the greatest film of all time, and he’s been chasing stardom ever since. He reluctantly auditions for a role “Superman,” a Saturday afternoon children’s show, and is so unenthused about the job, he begins reading for the role of Jimmy Olsen at the audition instead of Clark Kent. He accepts the role because he needs the money and he’s convinced “No one in their right mind will ever watch this thing.” The show becomes a phenomenon and Reeves’ life and acting career become an ironic joke. He’s finally got the fame he desires, but he’s running around in red underwear, feeling like a fool. At a live performance as Superman, a drunken Reeves stops a pair of bank robbers, appearing to bend their guns with his bare hands. A young boy approaches Reeves, pointing an all too real gun at him.

Kenneth: “Can I shoot you?”
Reeves: “Why would you want to shoot me, Kenneth?”
Kenneth: “To see if the bullets bounce off.”
Reeves: “If you did that, the bullets might bounce off of me and hit someone else instead.”

Although this incident never occurred, the real Reeves was constantly poked, probed and kicked by children out to test his invincibility, which certainly served to send The Man of Steel into a state of depression.

Reeves tries out for a role in “From Here to Eternity” hoping to shed his TV image. At the screening, the audience mocks Reeves whenever he’s the on screen (“Great Caesar’s ghost!” “Faster than a speeding bullet,” etc…) Reeves laughs off the hecklers for Toni’s sake, but his disappointment is evident as he squirms in his seat. As a result of the audience’s reaction, Reeves is cut from the film, effectively ending his career.

Hopelessly typecast, Reeves forms his own production company after “Superman” is finally cancelled. Against Toni’s wishes, Reeves takes a two-week business trip to New York where he meets Leonore Lemmon (tough-as-a-gun-moll Robin Tunney). Lemmon is an aggressive, golddigging party girl who’s convinced Reeves has money. Reeves dumps Toni for Leonore, and Eddie Mannix, takes note of how depressed his wife has become. Reeves quickly becomes a caricature of himself, paunchy, hard-drinking and popping pain pills to numb the pain caused by a recent car wreck. Despondent over his failure as an actor, he supposedly shoots himself.

“Hollywoodland” offers three scenarios explaining Reeves’ death. No one theory of Reeves’ death is proven or disproven, ultimately leaving the audience to decide which scenario (as Superman himself would put it) stands for truth, justice and the American way. When Simo discovers two bullet holes underneath the rug near Reeves bed during his investigation, a clue not detected by the police, he asks a detective, “How does a suicide victim miss twice, put two holes in the floor, cover them up, and then try again?” Lemmon becomes his primary suspect, and Brody imagines how the two holes in the floor and the one in Reeves’ head came to be. Brody’s second suspect is Eddie Mannix, who may have sent one of his stooges to murder Reeves in retribution for breaking his wife’s heart. The third theory, that Superman killed himself, is as plausible Reeves winning an Oscar for lifetime achievement, until Reeves’ kindly manager (a sympathetic turn by Jeffrey DeMunn) gives Simo a home movie taken of Reeves and tells him to judge for himself whether Reeves was capable of taking his own life. What Simo sees – a paunchy, stumbling has-been trying and failing miserably to do calisthenics – makes Simo realize that any of the scenarios could be true, and he’d better wise up, or he’ll end up a pathetic wreck like Reeves.

Affleck’s portrayal of Reeves is more powerful than a locomotive. He sounds like Reeves, affects his leading man grin and effectively projects the personality of a man who wants to be a star but knows he never will be. His performance should revive Affleck’s career, which was headed down the same typecast pretty boy terrain as Reeves. Simo’s parallel storyline is far less cohesive and fails to entertain. Because Adrien Brody’s character is a fictional amalgam of several people, his storyline seems tacked on and every scene he’s in is like kryptonite. Either Brody’s character is as thin as Superman’s leotard or he’s in an acting slump. (Want proof? Check out Brody’s rote performance as a “challenged” townie in “The Village.”) Although Simo comes to realize what a sleazebag he’s been, you don’t empathize with him the way you do with Reeves, even after Simo is told to “Let it go” by Mannix’s men and get brained for his troubles. Simo’s also not the least bit likeable. He flimflams an obviously disturbed client into putting him on perpetual retainer, yet ignores the man’s claims that his wife is cheating on him, setting in motion a disastrous outcome. When Brody’s son nearly burns down his ex-wife’s home by setting his Superman costume on fire, he doesn’t have the patience to deal with the boy’s silence and frightens him. He ups the ante, traumatizing his son by showing up drunk at his school. Brody isn’t even good at his job anymore – it’s his girlfriend who uncovers a potential bombshell when she finds out that Reeves was in a car crash because someone drained his car’s brake fluid.

Diane Lane breathes life into a larger than life character that in a lesser actresses’ hands would have come off a caricature of a rich woman refusing to grow old gracefully. (Nora Desmond anyone?). Bob Hoskins makes the most of his screen time, portraying Eddie Mannix as an uneducated, bullish thug intent on perpetuating the studio caste system. Robin Tunney’s money-grubbing Leonore is also noteworthy. She’s tough and bitchy, a me-first kind of girl. Simo realizes first-hand that she’s a first class manipulator when he breaks into Reeves’ house and sees her ransacking the crime scene, taking anything of value she can lay her hands on. Simo threatens to turn her in, but she quickly reminds him he’s not a cop and he could be charged with breaking and entering, and she’d be willing to get the judge to throw in an a more serious charge by saying Simo raped her. “I’m gonna be on you,” Brody warns. “Not unless you drug me first,” she replies.

Look, Up in The Sky… It’s Bird, It’s A Plane ...It’s…
The Extras

“Hollywoodland”‘s extras are as enjoyable as the movie itself. “Old Hollywood” shows how the production crew perfected the movie’s late 50s look. “Hollywood Then and Now” offers a jaundiced look at what the contract system in Hollywood was like during Reeves’ career. Jack Larson, who portrayed reporter Jimmy Olson on the “Superman” TV show and was a friend of Reeves, laughingly remembers everyone in Hollywood talking as if they were reared in England, and describes New Jersey-bred Toni Mannix as “A broad with a lot of class, or as she would say, ‘closs’.”

Actor/ historian Jim Beaver (Whitney Ellsworth on “Deadwood”), Hoskins, Larson and Lane are interviewed for “Behind the Headlines,” a look at the fictional and factual aspects of the movie. It’s crammed with interesting anecdotes, including the observation that Affleck was so intent on giving an accurate portrayal of Reeves that he not only studied the “Superman” episodes and his movie career, he also listened to tapes of his voice on the set. Brody, on the other hand, avoided any link to the Superman legend or Reeves’ story, which may explain his disconnect from the movie.

By leaving Reeves’ murder a mystery, Director Allen Coulter and writer Paul Burnbaum have fashioned an enjoyable whodunit. (They may want to tackle another unsolved Hollywood mystery next: the murder of 30s starlet Thelma Todd.) If writer Burnbaum had trusted his instincts and focused the story on Reeves’ life alone, “Hollywoodland” would have been a much stronger picture. As it is, it’s worth watching for Affleck’s studied portrayal of Reeves.

Posted February 6, 2007 Permalink

Brokeback Mountain (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Brokeback Mountain Two-Disc Collector's Edition Brokeback Mountain- 2.5 out of 5 stars The Collector’s Edition Extras -- 3 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Mike Jefferson

I just took a bullet for every heterosexual male.

I watched “Brokeback Mountain” – and the extras.

And there were parts I actually enjoyed.

I consider myself an enlightened, open minded person. I took a lesbian to her high school junior prom back in the days when people thought the “L” word meant she was interested in acting. One of my best friends at work was gay – when he and I used to go to bars he’d critique the ladies and I’d tell him which men to avoid. So keeping in mind that people are people regardless of race, sex, or preference, and that the purpose of a film is to entertain, rather than preach, I hunkered down to watch a western that had grossed $160 million, and won Oscars for Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screen Play and Best Original Score.

As everyone knows by now, “Brokeback Mountain” is a love story between two men. Well, not really… The two male characters hide a twenty-five year-relationship from the outside world, but at the same time maintain relationships with wives or girlfriends. So maybe it’s the story of two bi-sexual men in love. It doesn’t really matter; it’s still a different kind of Hollwyood love story. But it’s not really a standard western either, because it takes place in 20th century rather than a hundred years before, and the main characters herd sheep rather than cattle. Anyone who’s ever watched “Bonanza” or “Gunsmoke” knows that cowboys treated sheep herders like pariahs (the sheep destroyed the land cattle grazed on) – and the irony here is that in 1963, when story takes begins, Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) represent modern day outcasts.

The two cowboys meet when they’re hired by grumpy Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid, who should have gotten more screen time), to watch over his herd of sheep on Brokeback Mountain. One cowpoke will watch over the sheep during the day while the other guards their base camp. Dependant on each other for company, the laconic Ennis and the loquacious Jack develop a friendship over meals, revealing conversations about their difficult childhoods, and long pulls of whiskey. After a heavy night of drinking, instead of returning to watch the sheep, Ennis stays in camp. Jack invites him into the tent to keep warm. Director Ang Lee shoots the ensuing love scene in shadowy darkness, so it’s hard to see what’s going on, but the grunting and heavy breathing leave no doubt. From what I could discern of Ledger’s grimacing features, love can truly hurt. (Time out for trivia: Ledger almost broke Gyllenhaal’s nose with his own during their passionate embrace.)

Soon after, Aguirre checks on the progress of his herd and sees the two men playfully wrestling. Aguirre abruptly ends the job a month early. Frustrated over the loss of work and their relationship, Jack and Ennis end up fighting, drawing blood. Jack and Ennis reluctantly separate, with Ennis returning home to marry his finance Alma Beers (played with superb country innocence by Michelle Williams). The couple struggles to raise two daughters in small town Riverton, Wyoming, and Jack quickly becomes part of Ennis’ past. Jack asks Aguirre for his job back the following summer and Aguirre gives Jack a taste of how people would react if they knew of his forbidden relationship with Ennis.

Aguirre: I ain’t got no work for you. You boys sure found a way to pass the time up there, Twist. You boys weren’t paid to let the dogs watch the sheep while you stemmed the rose.

Moving back to Texas to take up bull riding, Jack meets Lureen Newsome (a career performance by Anne Hathaway), an aggressive, rich, rodeo queen. The couple marries and has a son, and Jack becomes a salesman for Lureen’s father, who happens to hate him. Four years pass and when Jack passes through Wyoming on business, he contacts Ennis. When the two men embrace, seemingly out of view, Alma sees them. In the next moment, Alma’s world collapses. She becomes argumentative and distant, yet she continues to stay with Ennis, unable or unwilling to face what she’s seen. Using a camping trip as their ruse, the two men continue their affair. Jack tries to convince Ennis that they should face their feelings for one another and start a ranch together. Tormented by the memory of the torture of a gay man in his hometown, Ennis refuses.

Jack and Ennis return to living their lives as lies. Ennis and Alma’s marriage continues on a downward spiral, finally collapsing one night in the bedroom:

Ennis: If you don’t want no more of my kids I’d be happy to leave you alone.
Alma: I’ll have them if you support them.

When Jack learns of the divorce, he tries to convince Ennis to move in with him, but Ennis says he’s reluctant to move away from his children. They argue, and Jack seeks comfort with a male prostitute in Mexico and later, a fellow rancher. Ennis meets waitress Cassie Cartwright, but Ennis is non-committal, empty. When Ennis sees her with another man at a diner, he barely lifts his fork from his pie:

Cassie: Carl? Yeah, Carl’s nice. He even talks.
Ennis: Good for you.
Cassie: I don’t get you, Ennis del Mar!
Ennis: That’s alright. I was probably no fun anyway.
Cassie: Girls don’t fall in love with fun.

Months later, the post card Ennis sent to Jack to set up their next meeting is returned, marked “deceased.” Contacting Lureen, Ennis is told Jack died when the rim from the tire Jack was fixing killed him. Ennis can sense this isn’t the real story and travels to Jack’s parents house to fulfill his friend’s wish to have his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. There he encounters one last naysayer – Jack’s father, who insists his son will be buried on the family farm. Ennis is allowed to visit Jack’s boyhood room, where he finds the bloodied shirts he and Jack wore twenty five years ago -- the day they fought on Brokeback Mountain.

The provocative love story between two men is told with respect and with few clichés, but if this was a love story between a man and a woman, “Brokeback Mountain” wouldn’t even qualify as a movie for Lifetime. The fact that Jack is willing to risk exposure and Ennis isn’t helps make their story more compelling. Ennis and Jack’s early scenes on the mountain are beautifully shot; the mountains themselves, as the saying goes, are breathtaking. Because they’re the only two characters for an extended period, with one being a virtual mute, the early scenes move at a snail’s pace. When the two men begin their separate lives, the story line skips like a flat rock across the water, as if to make them inconsequential. One moment Ennis is getting married, the next he’s toting around two girls and four years have passed. It’s a shame, because the storylines with Lureen, Alma and Cassie are more interesting.

Ledger is a good actor, but he’s saddled (sorry) with a character that’s a virtual sphinx. An actor with a heavy British accent off screen, Ledger has mastered the economical, tight-lipped delivery that served Gary Cooper well. You have to judge his character’s emotions by how tight features get, or his shuffling gait. Because he conceals his emotions, Ledger’s character is more prone to meltdowns, which is logical, but whenever Ennis explodes there’s no build up, nothing in-between the calm and outrage. And straight, gay or neuter, would anybody carry a torch for a silent, self-avowed loser like Ennis for twenty five years? Fault the writers, not Ledger, who nails his character’s struggle between feeling passion or guilt over his relationship with Jack. Gyllenhaal’s character is more open, more of seemingly well adjusted wise guy, a predator of both sexes who’s better equipped to live with his lie. Gyllenhaal connects with his relationship with Ledger on an emotional and physical level, but not with Hathaway. They have little chemistry together. It helps in the later scenes when they’re supposed to be growing distant, but Gyllenhaal’s goggle-eyed expressions and slack-jawed reaction to Hathaway when they meet looks more like he’s being hit with a bad case of kidney stones instead of falling in love. Hathaway is a gem, transforming herself from a sexually aggressive daddy’s girl, to a business woman obsessed with success, to an embittered mogul disgusted with her husband’s lack of attention. And yes, she’s beautiful, even with the bad 80s Farrah Fawcett shag. The women in Ennis’ life all give sterling performances, particularly Michelle Williams, who plays the mousy, put-upon Alma. Williams doesn’t allow the bitterness of her betrayal to register when she’s with Ennis, but when she finally gets to confront him about his “fishing trips” with Jack, she’s far from the rube Ennis first married. When Cassie (Linda Cardellini) confronts Ennis, you can hear her heart break all the way into the street. Although Randy Quaid is only in a handful of scenes he steals every one – witness his “stemming the rose” line passing into the folklore of memorable Hollywood movie quotes.

The Extras

The expanded version of “Brokeback Mountain” includes a set of eight collectable post cards and a second CD of bonus features. The features include “Impressions From the Film,” a set of stills from the film presented in chronological order with music by Academy-award winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla. “Music From the Mountain” focuses on Santaolalla, who composed the beautifully sparse guitar-based soundtrack in just two weeks – before the movie was even shot. Stunt Coordinator Kirk Jarrett is the centerpiece for “On Being a Cowboy,” which follows the actor’s preparations for the film. Ledger, who grew up on farms in England was a natural horseman,(“He took to it real good”), but Gyllenhaal and Hathaway were sent to “Cowboy Camp” with Gyllenhaal also receiving lessons on how to ride a mechanical bull for his rodeo scenes. “Directing From the Heart: Ang Lee” profiles the Academy-Award winning director, and there’s also an interview with script writers Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, who admits he was skeptical about the movie’s success. “Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain” is an in-depth, behind the scenes look at the production of the film from start to finish, with interviews with the stars and Lee.

The cinematography is beautiful and the sets capture the back road desolation of Montana, but ultimately, “Brokeback Mountain” is about relationships. The forbidden relationship between Jack and Ennis may be the one that grabbed the headlines, but Ennis’ damaged relationship with Alma and Jack’s unfulfilling marriage to Lureen are the most interesting ones to watch.

Posted February 6, 2007 Permalink