Deja Vu

Denzel Washington is seriously one of the sexiest men in Hollywood. Jerry Bruckheimer makes more action flicks than Hershey makes kisses. Tony Scott directed Denzel twice before (with mixed results in my humble opinion - Crimson Tide and Man on Fire.) They managed to capture a stand up supporting cast including Val Kilmer and Jim Caviezel. Everything's in place for a blockbuster, no? Did anyone think to hire a writer?

Deja Vu starts with a bang and a truly terrific fx sequence of a New Orleans ferry blowing sky high, pretty much vaporizing, cars going into the drink, flaming bodies and all that. Enter ATF agent Carlin (Washington) who's way smarter than most, quickly leaving the other official types in the dust and discovering this is an act of terrorism. With me so far? With lightening speed, he connects the burned body of a murdered woman to the crime - she washed up inconveniently before the explosion. So far so good. Then Carlin is invited onto a "special team" for this investigation. And everything goes stupid.

Maybe it's me. Anytime some bright screenwriter says, "let's do the time travel thing, yeah, we'll create a wormhole, you know, by accident, and then they can go back to the past and stop blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada," someone needs to taser the guy until he comes to his senses. Time travel simply does not work. Somewhere along the way you're going to screw up. And although this is certainly not the worst of this variety, it is also not the best. It's a tremendous waste of talent and a whole lot of money. If you're still curious, website's here.

Hard Candy

Viva Vigilante! Ever since Charles Bronson did Death Wish it's been a genre all its own. Who doesn't want to see the tables turned - sniveling prey snarling into predator? The Collective We (downtrodden regular folks) just love to see somebody take the situation in hand, and give the bad guy, or The Man, not just the finger but the whole fist. Pretty formula stuff, usually involving men's men and guns and bad guys complete with do-rags/tattoos/insert your creepy fetish here. But how about a vigilante story with a charming, 30-something photographer and a sweet-faced 14 year old girl?

Hard Candy is a nifty little film that could have been a nifty little play. From the moment our baby Hayley (Ellen Page) agrees to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson,) the older guy she met on the internet, you know something's just not right. Misgivings continue - flirtatious wordplay at the coffee shop, his home/studio adorned completely with photos of nymphets, alcohol. But just when you know what's going to happen next, the film veers off into another dimension. Little Hayley has a dark side, and a mission. Suddenly you find yourself wondering - is Jeff a pedophile about to get what he deserves or the victim of a teenage Lizzie Borden?

Page and Wilson play off one another nearly perfectly. She delivers just the right note of teenage righteousness and invincibility. Wilson, a trained stage actor, sweats and screams, and is equal parts frightening and pathetic. Two people, four rooms and I dare you to look away or guess the ending. A little bonus - a haunting original score. See the website here.

Alpha Dog

THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Notice the capital letters? If you cannot tolerate a whole bunch of that one particular word that fills in for adjectives and adverbs, or girls being referred to as "bitches," rap music, or constant images of drinking and casual drug use and/or sex, this film is a big NOT FOR YOU. Which is not to say that I didn't find it interesting. But I have a high tolerance for bad adolescent behavior. I recently had adolescents.

What makes the film interesting is that it is based on an actual kidnapping/murder that happened in 2000. Nick Cassevettes wrote and directed and used the notes of one of the prosecutors and caused a bit of a stir since one of the perps had not been tried when the film was released (three others were already doing serious time.) hmmm. What makes the film troubling is the lifestyle portrayed very nicely by a swarm of young actors (Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Hatosy, Anton Yelchin.) Southern Californian disaffection is not pretty. The acting is very natural - Cassevettes had the boys weight train together for weeks to get that sense of homeboy. And as much as I hate to say this, Timberlake is good.

Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone manage some interesting moments as well. Yes, Bruce and Sharon. Weird little film for either of them. The inevitable conclusion is heartbreaking. And if you're interested, that angelic voice singing "Over the Rainbow" during the opening titles is Eva Cassidy. See the official website here.

Breach

"Inspired by the true story of the greatest breach of security in US history." That is the tag line of Breach, and although I tend to get nervous whenever I read inspired by, (as in mostly fiction) this is an interesting and mostly accurate take on the last days of Robert Hanssen. If you were on some other planet seven years ago, Mr. Hanssen is doing life in a super max prison for some 20 years of espionage for the Soviet Union.

Bob Hanssen was a brilliant weirdo of the first order and Chris Cooper, just one of my favorite underrated character actors ever, does him justice in every way. I got the distinct impression of the always overlooked loner, smarter than most of those around him, growing more jaded and ego maniacal by the day. Although they spare us the years of back story, Cooper imparts us with a sense of the oddness of the man - who didn't drink, went to mass every day, and had a taste for strippers and porn. (If you're curious read more of the story here.)

Ryan Phillippe plays the eager young wannabe sent to spy on the spy and the always impeccable Laura Linney rounds out the cast as the lead on the investigation. Phillippe was better than expected (another baby face who's just going to get better.) Even though I knew the ending, this is a taut little thriller, leaving you to wonder how this kid is going to outwit someone who's generally two steps ahead of him. The answer is inevitable. Human ego gets 'em all in the end.

See the interactive website here, and take the actual FBI entrance exam.

Blood Diamond

Movies that try to educate are almost always on shaky ground. No matter how noble the cause, it can be an interesting juggling act to try first and foremost to entertain your audience, introduce them to something they know nothing about, and then sway their opinion on it. This movie just smacks of good intentions, but makes the usual mistake of trying to do too much - anything written about Africa tends to do that. It's an unfortunate failure with Blood Diamond.

The story unfolds with the stereotypical white mercenary (Leonardo DiCaprio) joining forces with the stereotypical noble, but dim, savage (Djimon Hounsou) to locate a priceless pink diamond. They are, of course, constantly bumping into the stereotypical white journalist (Jennifer Connelly,) hordes of deranged insurgents, and deranged government soldiers and there will be lots and lots of explosions, and executions, and bullets raining. (Extra credit will be given for somehow avoiding the inevitable mercenary/journalist bedroom romp.) It all ends with the stereotypical solemn government hearings on the evils of insert your cause here.

Although it's entertaining enough for action fans and garnered six Academy Award nods (including Best Actor and Best Supporting for the two guys above,) this screenplay deserved a rewrite or a better edit. The African continent has enough content to drive anyone mad, but trying to squeeze in storyline about how conflict diamonds are funding terrorism AND how they're acquired (slavery) AND moved (smuggling) AND how they brainwash kids into soldiers AND the continuing genocidal violence AND the politics of all of this is a bit much. They lost me early on. AND DiCaprio was better in The Departed.

See the website here.

Little Children

When you know going in that a film is based on a novel, the chances are good that you're in for a disappointment. If you read the book and loved it, the film won't live up to what went on in your head. When the film resorts to a non-character voice over of description from the novel, whether you read the novel or not becomes sort of moot. If they need to read to you from the book - the book was better. That said, this is an interesting film, probably because author and director (Tom Perrrota and Todd Field) collaborated on the screenplay and most likely created a different animal altogether.

Little Children is a study of homo sapiens suburbia from the handsome football star who peaked in college, the housewife with a masters in English Lit and a husband addicted to porn, to the pedophile back from prison. And I do mean study, as in it shows all their bumps and scars and wobbley bits in all their human glory. Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Kate Winslet) and Best Supporting Actor (Jackie Earle Haley), this is an actors dream film - there is no real story only pages and pages of character development. Even so the film does pull you along to a dramatic climax as you anxiously await the disaster or near miss that humans inevitably create.

I'll go on the record that I believe Kate Winslet is one of the great actresses of her generation, but every performance in this film was on the mark. Be prepared for lots of lousy judgement and a fair amount of nakedness and sexuality. I personally did not have a problem with loads of sweaty Patrick Wilson booty, others might.

View the lackluster website here.

The Queen

I really wasn't interested in seeing this film as I generally find the whole celebrity phenomenon boring. When the film got six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Frears,) and Best Original Screenplay I was forced to say, well, best take a look. But of course, my curiosity was most piqued by the fact that everyone sort of drooled, and went on and on about Helen Mirren, and she did win Best Actress just as the masses had foretold. For playing Elizabeth II? How do we get this kind of outpouring of worship for playing a person so... dull?

I was pleasantly surprised. The film of course, concentrates on the royal reaction to the death of Princess Diana, (another person who's ability to fascinate leaves me utterly stumped, but I digress.) Being on the other side of the camera, in the quiet chambers of a family, you are deftly shown the private side of a public tragedy. The film is sympathetic without being sappy, and asks us to consider the pressures of duty, the power of tradition, and the prison of a station in life that leaves you few real choices.

Mirren imbues her Queen with strength and dignity, while giving us a peek at her self doubt. She is glorious. But a strong supporting cast, including James Cromwell as the caustic Prince Philip and Michael Sheen (no, he's a Brit) as a young, idealistic Tony Blair, carry their load. The story's been told to death, I know, but this is a more human version and worth an evening.

See the website here.