Stone

Robert De Niro is surely one of the greatest actors of his generation (think Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and forgive him the paycheck for Little Fockers.) Edward Norton may be one of the most gifted actors of his generation (think Primal Fear and American History X and forgive him the paycheck of The Incredible Hulk.) So why hadn't I heard of a film with them both? My guess is that this indie film was royally screwed on distribution, because if you want to watch two great actors do what they do best - you're going to love Stone.

"Stone" Creeson (Norton) is a fast talking low life doing time for arson to cover up the murder of his grandparents and when he comes up for parole he has to convince hard-case parole officer Jack Mabry (De Niro) that he's a changed man. He enlists the considerable talents of his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to the cause of breaking Jack down. But Jack and Stone have more in common than a lust for Lucetta, and as events unfold, the true nature of each man comes into question. In the end, redemption is in the eye of the beholder....

Norton creates a stunning portrait in Stone - and how his character emerges is brilliant and heart wrenching. De Niro is in top form (just when I thought he was destined to follow Nicholson and Pacino down the comedic road to the seventh level of acting hell.) But the real surprise was Milla Jovovich who held her own here and then some. Who knew that thirteen years after the band aid costume and orange hair of The Fifth Element, she'd become an actress? Sad that this film got lost in the process... see the website here. Interesting footnote here.

127 Hours

There are films that will change you. There are films that will entertain you or educate you or amuse, to be sure, and a great many that will cure your insomnia. But occasionally a film is made that has the power to do more - a film that sort of lifts us out of the ordinary and makes us very, very aware of what it means to be human. Danny Boyle is the kind of director who tries to make those kinds of films. Last year he earned an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. This year he offers 127 Hours.

This is the accounting of five days in the life of Aron Ralston - a rugged self sufficient sort of fella - who in 2003 took off for a weekend of fun in the canyons of Utah and staggered out 127 hours later missing his arm. Perhaps you remember the headlines? Not only did Aron endure the elements, dehydration and blood loss, he cut off his arm that was trapped by a fallen boulder, rappelled down a cliff face and walked eight miles to be rescued. Just try to make this stuff up.

So how do you make a feature film around one guy? You get James Franco. Ninety four minutes of essentially one guy? Yep. James Franco. Of course he was nominated. This guy may be a complete douche for all I know, and there are rumors to that effect, but he sure can act. So he gives us an Aron that is all that and a bag of chips - so cocksure of himself that he takes off without telling a soul - and then shows us what real life, and mortality, brings to us all. It's a freak accident. And then denial. And then fear. And then survival. It's an amazing true story of the human spirit. Did it seem long? From the standpoint of chewing off my fingernails, maybe a little. But it wasn't slow. Was it grisly? Briefly and appropriately. Did it change me?
I think I'm a little more appreciative today, a little less hurried. And I'll NEVER give my kid a knockoff Leatherman for Christmas.... website here.

The Town

Ben Affleck. Well, he has those sort of classic old Hollywood good looks doesn't he? And he and Matt Damon were so darn cute accepting that Oscar for Good Will Hunting. And then.... welllll, things kinda went down hill to the tune of ... wince... Pearl Harbor. But then 2007 and Gone Baby Gone comes around and YAY, it seems Ben is back writing and belongs in the Directors chair after all and we can forgive all those tedious movies and be glad he found his true calling and we'll just let Casey be the actor in the family. Apparently wishful thinking. Cuz Ben not only co-wrote the screenplay and directed The Town. He acts in it.

The Town refers to Charlestown, a neighborhood of Boston notorious for producing thieves... and most specifically the sort who specialize in bank robbery and the like. Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the leader of a gang of loyal thugs who, like their daddies a fore them, rob banks. Pursuing some loose ends after a not so perfect job, Doug falls for the bank manager, but of course his buddies need him for the BIG SCORE. Car chases and shootouts ensue. yadda yadda yadda.

Despite the decent Boston accents that everyone handles acceptably - despite great character actors Pete Postelwaite and Chris Cooper in tiny underutilized roles - despite the fact that somehow Jeremy Renner managed to snaggle a nomination for Best Supporting (ensuring that he will continue to be typecast as a sociopath ad infinitum,) this is a predictable heist movie with extraneous amounts of foul language and unnecessary violence making up for anything close to character development. By the time the inevitable happens, I couldn't care less who was going to make it out alive. See the self congratulatory website here.