The Namesake

The immigrant experience in America is always a relevant topic, but even more so today when our national discourse seems more isolationist than usual. Perhaps that made this sweet little film even more poignant to me; maybe I personally needed a reminder of what coming to America means to a great number of Americans. That The Namesake is about a Bengali family coming to terms with life in New York after life in Calcutta seems less important than remembering what America means to those who choose her, rather than to those of us who were simply born here.

The Namesake spans two generations of the Ganguli family; Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) have an arranged marriage and move to New York still strangers to one another - and coming to raise two very American children with no real touchstone to the life their parents left behind. As their son Gogol (Kal Penn) struggles to identify with the parents he doesn't understand and their alien culture, he moves farther and farther from his roots. This film calls into question the American dream - as Ashoke strives to give his son every opportunity for education and advancement does he sacrifice his traditions and values?

Lovingly directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding,) The Namesake makes us think about who we are, how well we know our origins and what they ultimately mean to us. Not a bad thing to think about, right about now. Calcutta and New York come become equally exotic under the care of cinematographer Frederick Elmes. And Kal Penn proves he has the chops for dramatic work. And you thought he peaked with Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle! See the website here.

No Country for Old Men

Long before I fell in love with the movies, I gave my heart to words. I am first and foremost a reader - and a serious one - and I DO consider Cormac McCarthy to be the American Shakespeare. His classic stuff is hard work to read, and worth every bit of the effort; however his latest offerings have been much more accessible to the average joe - his story lines more linear, his prose less poetic. No Country for Old Men may have been his most mainstream novel yet and was an engaging and fairly quick read, despite Cormac's disdain for punctuation.

Even so, the Coen Brothers had a Herculean task adapting this for the screen; did a fine job and won an Oscar for their efforts. This is a story about violent men doing what they do best and not for the faint of heart. When Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) comes across a nasty bit of mayhem in the desert chock full of corpses, drugs and cash, he opts to take the money. He considers himself a tough hombre, but he knows good and well that someone is going to come after that money. He just didn't bet on who.

The who won Javier Bardem a Best Supporting for playing the most believable sociopath recently on film. Tommy Lee Jones comes in as the savvy lawman and Woody Harrelson has a moment as another yet another violent type, but Bardem makes the picture, bad haircut and all. I followed the plot just fine despite the Bros. Grim leaving out chunks of story, but I read the book; must have been harder for those not up on McCarthy and unprepared for the sheer volume of killin'. The Coens' took home statuettes for Best Picture and Director as well as Adapted Screenplay. They probably deserved the latter just for attempting McCarthy. Don't know if I would have given them the other two. See the nifty website here.

Michael Clayton

I missed catching Michael Clayton pre-Oscar (my home town theater must rent 'em by the hour) so I was eager to catch the DVD. This was nominated for darn near everything, and I'm here to tell you, rightfully so. Smart, well written, with an all-star fabulous cast - I can't believe that only Tilda Swinton took home a statuette. I think everyone else may have been robbed.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney who only gets better and better,) is what the profession calls a "fixer." He cleans up the messes at his high profile law firm; from handling the high priced client who mows down a pedestrian to guarding the precarious mental health of a brilliant senior partner. When said senior partner (Tom Wilkinson) has a meltdown and decides to turn whistleblower on a multi-billion dollar corporate lawsuit and winds up dead, Michael realizes he may have a problem even HE can't fix.

Tilda Swinton is a nightmare of raw nerves and tattered sensibilities as the corporate lawyer way over her head and Clooney is priceless as a flawed man who has become comfortable with his weaknesses. Tony Gilroy wrote and directed, although Sydney Pollack has a supporting role as Clooney's boss. I don't know, but I think this was a better movie than No Country for Old Men... but you be the judge. See the website here.

The Amateurs

I don't know what happened here regarding a limited release gone haywire, but the first I heard of this film was when my hubby brought it home from Blockbuster. As you should know, he's rarely allowed there unsupervised so I was suspicious from the get go - but then I noticed something rare about a film my honey has favored. I actually knew the cast.

The Amateurs does indeed have a sparkling ensemble. Our hero Andy (Jeff Bridges,) is the unofficial leader of a 'Cheers' like group of losers in a tiny town in Nowhere. Andy is always looking for the deal that will finally work for him and has lost his wife and fears losing his son as nothing ever pans out. Then he hits on the no fail idea - he and his friends are going to make an amateur porn movie.

As Otis (William Frichter,) Some Idiot (Joe Pantolino) Moose (Ted Danson, the gay guy in denial,) and Andy decide on plot, try to locate talent, and shoot (backs turned, of course) their masterpiece, it just gets funnier and funnier. This has got to be the cleanest dirty movie ever made - relying on innuendo, cliche and really good writing to make us laugh. Don't know why it didn't make it in the theater; maybe we just want violence this year. But my sweetie did good. Don't miss this one. Almost nonexistent website here:(

The Sea Inside

The Oscars are tonight and so I felt inspired to let you in on the first time I laid eyes on Javier Bardem, who is very likely to win his first statuette this evening for Best Supporting in No Country for Old Men. He was nominated once before way back in 2000 for another foreign film, Before Night Falls. But now he's full fledged American movie star material at the ripe old age of 39, even though he's been working since he was 2. Go figure. Anyhoo, I fell in love with the guy when I saw him in The Sea Inside.

This is the true story of Ramon Sampedro, who after a terrible diving accident spent some thirty years of his life as a quadriplegic trying to legally attain the right to an assisted suicide. This may sound like dreary subject matter but Bardem is brilliant and director Alejandro Amenabar (The Others) managed to take Sampedro's Letters from Hell and morph it into a screenplay with unbelievable depth and nuance. Rather than being about death or a longing for it, it is instead a story about life and it's quality, and about love and transcendence over circumstance. Every perspective is respectfully explored and if the film should bring you to tears, it will also open your heart.

And so it won Best Foreign Film back in 2005 and began my unrequited adoration of its star. Bardem was 35 when he played Sampedro at 55 and endured hours of makeup and hours in bed immobile. He learned a dialect of Spanish that was unfamiliar to him and how to write with a pencil in his mouth. He is utterly believable in this role and although the film has many fine actors in supporting parts - he is what made it memorable. Long before he played a sociopath with a Buster Brown haircut in a distinctly American film, Bardem had genius. Check out the website here.

Even Money

Addiction is such a juicy subject. Gambling is even juicier. We are all a little tempted, after all, to wish for the brass ring - the winning lottery ticket - the longshot at ten to one. The movies have often glossed up "the life" in all the flash and finery of a fine Vegas showgirl - lots of sequins and feathers and not a lot of substance. If so, Even Money is a film that shows the scars from the nips and tucks.

Forgive the sappy "film noir" voice overs for a moment. The film follows nine people down that road toward self destruction - the housewife losing the family savings, the bookie trying to come clean for love, the basketball star asked to shave points for a sibling, the has-been waiting for the score that will make him a star again. There's a wounded old detective and an organized crime boss. There's the up and comers and the down and outers. It's not exactly a new story and it takes a while to get going, but then there's a little something for everyone and it's all gritty.

Add to that a pretty remarkable ensemble cast (Kim Basinger, Forrest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Danny Devito, Kelsey Grammer) and a decent director (Mark Rydell) and you have a pleasant evenings entertainment. Nothing to write home about, but you won't mind the price of admission. See the website here.

Sicko

It pleases me that Michael Moore has mellowed. He's not nearly as heavy handed as he used to be and I think he's learned that people may want to see the subject of his inquiry more than they wish to see his big, dumb guy shtick (even if big, dumb guy is why people always underestimate him and step in it.) If you hate him, go right ahead, but you have to admit he pokes his nose in some places that do deserve some poking. The health care system of the US of A is a train wreck that warrants some world class nose poking and he goes at it with his usual sarcastic gusto.

So Michael doesn't make his movie about the 50 million Americans who lack insurance altogether, but rather about the horror stories of those who do and are failed by a system rigged for profit. These stories will make you cry and he handles them with more courtesy and care than I could have imagined. He throws in a little trademark grandstanding for fun, but most of the film is real people who've lived the real tragedies of losing a loved one or the family home because of an inability to pay. He contrasts these stories with interviews with happy Europeans and Canadians who never have these worries. Okay, I didn't buy that either.

BUT, this is a film that makes one think. Maybe the fact that we have the world's most expensive health care system doesn't mean we have the best. Maybe socialized medicine is not something devised by Satan to deny people decent care. If you look at the systems of France (gasp) and the U.K. - there are some very viable solutions that we should be looking at and I had to wonder why we are so willing to believe that every other developed nation in the world has socialized medicine because it's such a terrible idea. Love him or hate him, Michael makes us reexamine ourselves. It's worth doing. Check his facts here.