The Fog
REVIEWED 10/05, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

The large bronze statues of Antonio Bay's four founding fathers that now stood in readiness on the Town Hall and Museum's manicured front lawn for this island community's Centennial celebrations was like a beacon in the night to the undying evil that awaited due revenge. One hundred years had passed since that terrible pact with the doomed, seabound passengers of the Elizabeth Dane had been sealed with blood and betrayal. They had waited. They had watched the land that they had purchased as their sanctuary be taken over by the progeny of the men who had stolen everything away from them all those years ago. The fire and the sea had taken what remained of their leprosy riddled mortality, but they bided their time in the fog, until this moment beckoned their rage to rise and mete out vengeful justice. Malone. Wayne. Williams. Castle. Those four men who had robbed them were long gone, but their children's children were still on the island. Their mere presence mocking Captain Blake and his colony of ghostly followers. They would be the ones who would face wrathful justice. They would be the ones who would die slowly. They would burn, helpless and bleeding, just as those of the Elizabeth Dane had suffered. Fear would strip bare their bones. Their pain would turn them to madness. Their fate was sealed. They would die, horribly, by the merciless hands of the victims who inhabit the fog that creeps towards that cursed island under a pale full moon. And, nothing will stop it from continuing until the contract is honoured by the slaughter of innocents bound in name to an ancient atrocity that cannot remain unpunished...

In a recent interview, director Rupert Wainwright ('Stigmata (1999)) explained that his remake of composer/director John Carpenter's ('In the Mouth of Madness' (1994)), 'Ghosts of Mars' (2001)) renowned 1980 cult classic wasn't actually a remake, because more can now be done with special effects to make natural weather conditions such as ghoulish fog inhabited by vengeful Undead lepers take on a life of its own. I'm paraphrasing, but, uh, okay. That's like saying this version of 'The Fog' isn't a remake of the original - which Carpenter reportedly conceded was partially inspired by 'The Trollenberg Terror' (1958) - because the principal characters Stevie and Elizabeth aren't being played by Adrienne Barbeau ('Swamp Thing' (1982)) and Jamie Lee Curtis ('True Lies' (1994)) this time around. Sure, a few names have been changed and the story has been awkwardly retooled in order to shift the focus onto the male cast members to the detriment of their female counterparts, but this is essentially a blatant remake. With better special effects. With more cash thrown at it. And, with very little going for it as a truly satisfying fright fest. 'The Fog' - not the twenty-five year-old 'John Carpenter's The Fog' - is lumbering and murky and aggravatingly dull for the most part. Clearly, Wainwright and screenwriters Cooper Layne and Carpenter were really excited about making this flick, but obviously had an excruciatingly unsuccessful time trying to nail down what they wanted to do with it, beyond tossing a glut of clichéd jolts and mild gore at a paying audience throughout. You sit through watching these panicked human finger puppets, led by Antonio Bay's hunky charter fishing boat owner Nick Castle (television's 'Smallville' star Tom Welling; 'Cheaper by the Dozen' (2003)), pretty well stumble around in the dark as an ominous fog bank rolls in from the sea to unleash Captain Blake's (Rade Serbedzija; 'Snatch.' (2000), 'EuroTrip' (2004)) Century-old crew of bloodthirsty ghoulies upon this small coastal town celebrating its Centennial year. Street lights flicker and die. Radio signals pucker out, and any attempt to Google the few clues afforded these crazy kids is immediately stalled by computer-killing power surges. Yawn. The ghosts of that betrayed shipbound leper colony are impressive-looking yet lazily presented here, to the point where you're never really sure why they're supposed to be so scary in the first place. Sure, they want revenge, but who cares? One victim is touched by a gangrenous ethereal hand and crumples into a morbid pile of ashen flesh and bone, but another person is tormented and grabbed, escaping with little more wrong with her than looking like a bad hair monday before hitting the morning drive-thru at the local Tim Horton's. 'The Fog' ends up being a hugely disappointing experiment in how many times this disastrously boring feature can either lull you into a coma or force you to wonder just what the heck is going on. There's a mystery, but you're never really invited to sleuth along. It's a horror show, but there's nothing presented that actually feels particularly horrific. Sorry, various bloodied people being chucked through break away window glass to a swelling soundtrack ain't scary. It's laughably silly. And then, there's the ending. Weak shades of Coppola's 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992) seep through during this festering turkey's final act but, again, what the heck happened? Why does the load of wimpy carnage suddenly stop? Did they run out of break away glass? It's never explained. It doesn't matter. Rent the original.

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The Family Stone
REVIEWED 12/05, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Wow. Admittedly, I was fairly skeptical about this hundred and two-minute Christmas offering from writer/debuting director Thomas Bezucha. The ads make it look like a weak retooling of 'The Stepmother' or 'Guess Who?' (2004) lazily cranked out for the holidays, but it's actually a fairly strong drama about workaholic pariah and bride-to-be Meredith Morton's (Sarah Jessica Parker; 'Mars Attacks!' (1996), 'State and Main' (2000)) tempestuous first time in meeting the Mulligan's Stew-like family of her secretly unsure fiancé Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney; 'My Best Friend's Wedding' (1997), 'The Wedding Date' (2005)) during what turns out to be a particularly difficult time for Everett's slightly oddball parents and his small brood of individualistic siblings. In a way, it's a brilliantly sneaky, baggage picture that wonderfully develops at a measured pace, as the broad stereotypical laughs settle into more sobering humour tinged with captivating human drama. Sure, a lot of the sight gags are still fairly lame, and 'The Family Stone' does feel pretty much like a chick flick, with a lot of crying and frayed nerves and overtly fluffy feel good moments, but Bezucha's surprisingly clever screenplay gives this all-star cast - which also includes Diane Keaton ('Annie Hall' (1977), 'Something's Gotta Give' (2003)) and Craig T. Nelson ('Poltergeist' (1982), 'The Incredibles' (2004)) as straight talking matriarch Sybil and patriarch Kelly, Luke Wilson ('Scream 2' (1997), 'Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde' (2003)) and Rachel McAdams ('The Notebook' (2004), 'Red Eye' (2005)) as Everett's dysfunctionally goofy brother Ben and pernicious sister Amy, and Claire Danes ('Romeo + Juliet' (1996), 'Stage Beauty' (2004)) as Meredith's far less uptight sister Julie - an enormous wealth of elbow room to flesh out each of these truly inspired and believable characters to the fullest. Keaton shines here as the fragile glue that holds this feature together, and Parker's role awkwardly transforming in the face of catty judgment and self-conscious jitters is an impressive testament to her on screen abilities. Yes, this one does feel vaguely familiar at times as it clicks along like something that a paying audience might have expected to see star Julia Roberts twenty years ago, but 'The Family Stone' definitely surpasses all expectations as a marvelously satisfying and entertaining contemporary ensemble piece that's well worth spending time with. Check it out for the great story peppered with a few memorably funny moments, but don't be surprised if this one mostly touches your heart at the big screen as a probable keep sake addition to your home collection of new favourites.

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Fun With Dick and Jane
REVIEWED 12/05, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Adapted from the same-named 1977 feature length "Me Generation" satire starring George Segal and Jane Fonda - itself a 'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967) inspired screenplay co-written by Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler that was apparently based on a story by enigmatic writer Gerald Geiser - this sporadically riotous drama set in the year 2000 is a captivatingly fun romp over-all. Like the first film, this one's title and main character names are borrowed from See Spot Run creator Zerna Addis Sharp's (1889-1981) famed 1930's Elson-Gray Readers series of basal primers for First Grade school children, but that's where any real comparisons to either flicks end. 'Fun With Dick and Jane' is purely intended for much older moviegoers, with co-star Jim Carrey ('Batman Forever' (1995), 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)) giving an outstanding performance that wonderfully blends his trademark wild comedy bend with his proven ability to insightfully flesh out his roles beyond the goofy faces and weird shenanigans, when given the opportunity to do so. He definitely succeeds here. Yes, there's a lot of expected playfulness thrown into the mix throughout, as Carrey's Dick Harper - nationally humiliated and newly unemployed vice president of communications for Southern California's recently defunct Globodyne Corporation - rapidly succumbs to financial desperation and awkwardly turns to armed robbery with screen wife Jane (Téa Leoni; 'Bad Boys' (1995), 'Spanglish' (2004)) in tow. However, director Dean Parisot ('Home Fries' (1998), 'Galaxy Quest' (1999)) is smarter than to simply offer a paying audience a contrived showcase for these versatile stars to mindlessly play in front of the camera for this flick's entire ninety-minute run time. Screenwriters Judd Apatow's, Nicholas Stoller's and Peter Tolan's story beautifully carries you through Dick and Jane's downward spiral, systematically stripping them of their dignity while they first try to eke out a legitimate living and then hilariously fail to make a quick dollar on the fringes of society, before the Harpers end up turning to creatively costumed crime. You're given clear reasons to empathize with their plight here, and some of the best scenes happen long before Globodyne's smug former owner and unscathed millionaire Jack McAlister (Alec Baldwin; 'The Hunt for Red October' (1990), 'The Aviator' (2004)) ever becomes the suspicious target of their big heist schemes. Sure, the ending feels like an overtly fluffy cop out by comparison, but 'Fun With Dick and Jane' is at its best at its core, drawing out the quirkiness from each disastrous scenario and then taking it to the extremes of ridiculousness. Leone is absolutely brilliant, also breathing life into her believably sarcastic character as the Harper family's situation steadily goes from bad to worse. Awesome. The few references to that time period as well as the vague nods to other Carrey movies are also a kick, but this is more a freshly entertaining team effort that's well worth the price of admission. Check it out as a great matinee that strikes a clever balance between surreal silliness and satirical human drama.

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Final Destination 3
REVIEWED 02/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Co-writer/director James Wong ('The One' (2001)) reclaims the helm in this second sequel to his acclaimed horror 'Final Destination' (2000), in which death - this time - viciously hunts down ten McKinley High School grads who cheat the doomed fate of a moon lit Devil's Flight roller coaster ride, thanks to a horrifying premonition experienced by Yearbook photographer Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead; 'The Long Road Home' (1999), 'Sky High' (2005)) moments before their cars trundle away from that platform. Admittedly, I never saw the R-rated original or it's first sequel, 'Final Destination 2' (2003), but from what I've heard and read, this one's both the goriest and silliest instalment. Wong's initial crack at depicting death as an unseen malevolent force that systematically picks off the ones who don't take Flight 180 from New York to Paris six years ago, truly seems like a fresh spin on the Centuries-old Grim Reaper fable. The second flick in this series apparently adds further clever ideas by having death go after everyone whose lives were effectively spared as a result of the first movie's dogged blood lust. 'Final Destination 3' starts fresh, without any reappearing survivors or cursed witnesses to rely on, forcing this new group of terror-stricken teens to look to a set of Wendy's photographs for fairly enigmatic clues as to how their interrupted ends are, uh, put back on track. Sounds familiar? If you saw the first two, it probably does. I kept being reminded of Brit actor David Warner's supporting role in 'The Omen' (1976), where his character's otherwise innocent snap shots showed how he and others would brutally die to make way for the child Anti-Christ Damien. This unintentionally goofy, hundred and fifteen-minute cinematic body count uses that exact same premise as its main arc. Don't get me wrong, it's a potentially compelling hook for a paying audience to have fun playing along with. The problem is, you're never really given a reason to care about any of these human finger puppets, while death uses basic physics fuelled by wildly robust cases of Murphy's Law against each inherently uninteresting victim. What ever enjoyment you might get is pretty well entirely the result of watching how these kids are gruesomely mashed or stabbed or incinerated. Yuck. Brampton, Ontario's Kris Lemke ('eXistenZ' (1999), 'Knockaround Guys' (2001)) gives the only measurably captivating performance here, as snarky Goth grad Ian McKinley, but his big scenes come far too late to save this nudity-tinged, forgettable mess. Yes, the use of nature and a certain reoccurring song are admirably refined touches that lend a nice creepiness to the entire picture. Cinematographer Robert McLachlan definitely captures quite a lot of spooky atmosphere as well. Nothing comes from that, though. Apart from the final scenario that's set months later, most of the noisy and gooey special effects seen throughout are so laughably cheesy that it's actually tough to maintain a tangible sense that this is supposedly a scary movie. And, that's a shame, because it could have been a wonderfully satisfying big screen chiller if Wong's and Glen Morgan's screenplay had simply strengthened the main characters, pared down the over-long scenes of unconvincing suspense, and had made better use of the amateur sleuthing angle as being more than a cruel tease that ends up being overly used as a source of lazy seguays. 'Final Destination 3' will undoubtedly find a keen following amongst armchair sadists, but I'm not convinced that anyone else - including diehard fans of the original - will be cheering for much more than the sweet release of the closing credits.

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Firewall
REVIEWED 02/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Technological prowess and a little bare knuckled ingenuity pretty well manage to keep the pacing tight in this over-all undemanding action/suspense movie, about blackmailed Seattle bank security honcho Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford; 'American Graffiti' (1973), 'Hollywood Homicide' (2003)) fighting to save his captive family while playing a psychological game of cat and mouse with malicious heist master Bill Cox (Paul Bettany; 'A Beautiful Mind' (2001), 'Wimbledon' (2004)), from director Richard Loncraine ('Brimstone & Treacle' (1982), 'Wimbledon' (2004)). This surprisingly formulaic, hundred and five-minute popcorn flick goes so far as to essentially tell you exactly what happens - from the beginning to its wildly pedantic mano a mano brawl ending - in the ad for it. So, a paying audience basically gets to sit through the details and plot unimportant side stories, already knowing most of the highlights. Making 'Firewall' a vaguely interesting rental, but nothing particularly special for the big screen. Ford plays the same Harrison Ford caricature that fans automatically expect to see, while Bettany's character probably could have been portrayed by anyone with a fiendish enough English accent. Same goes for the rest of this cast, which includes Virginia Madsen ('Dune' (1984), 'Sideways' (2004)), Robert Patrick ('Terminator 2' (1991), 'Walk the Line' (2005)) and Alan Arkin ('Catch-22' (1970), 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990)). They're all phone-in roles. Flat and predictable. Bullets fly, but nobody gets shot except at close range. Tempers flare, but it's all so neat and tidy. And, of course, a prerequisite spiky thing appears out of nowhere when one bad guy eventually outlives his usefulness to the story. Yawn. The true star here is the stuff of Hollywood fantasy: The gadget that Jack magically cobbles together out of fax machine parts, a personal mp3 player, and a palm sized circuit board that just so happens to be laying around in his thug guarded home office, that's used to scan the bank's mainframe monitor later on. It presents one of those truly sweet moments for any guy who considers himself to be even the least bit mechanically adept to nod and say, "It's plausible," without having any idea how that piece of scrap is actually a plausible device. It's like watching an old TV episode of actor Richard Dean Anderson's 'MacGyver' (1985-1992). Don't question it, it's just really cool. It's Guy Stuff (thumps chest). Writer Joe Forte's entire screenplay has that quality to it, where switching off above the neck and simply letting what plays out wash over you like it's a favourite covert themed rerun probably sets you up for the best possible viewing pleasure. It's fun, but empty and forgettable for the most part. 'Firewall' does have it's few brief worthwhile moments, but it's more the kind of simplistic feature that you'd want to rent after a long day of thinking too hard, so that you don't have to while being robotically entertained.

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Fateless
REVIEWED 02/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Adapted from Nobel Prize winner Imre Kertész's 1975 Hungarian novel Sorstalanság (published in English as Fateless in 1992, and as Fatelessness in 2004), this visually stunning subtitled 2005 film from Oscar nominated cinematographer turned debuting director Lajos Koltai traces the overwhelming desolation that suddenly ensnares fourteen year-old Budapest Jew György Köves (first timer Marcell Nagy) during Hitler's domination of Europe in 1944. Kertész - reportedly a Holocaust survivor - wrote the screenplay, and although he's gone on record stating that his acclaimed book isn't autobiographical, it's tough to believe that the depths of muted desperation saturating virtually every scene in this hundred and thirty-four minute picture aren't haunted by actual experience. The concentration camp at both Auschwitz and Buchenwald are depicted as being like post-apocalyptic landscapes from another planet, with their chilled skies choked by thick grey smoke belching from crematorium chimneys, and György's arduous trek by cramped cattle car has a surreal quality about it that's like that of a previously sheltered young mind made completely disoriented by the horrors of what transpires. Awesome. It's gut wrenching, how monstrously extraordinary sights are shown as ordinary every day things, but that's the true brilliance of this feature. However, where Gyula Pados' adept camera work wonderfully exceeds at capturing every slight and painful detail that inevitably seeps into your pores like a chalky poison, Koltai's vision tends to dwell on the somewhat artful and enigmatic moments of Köves' crumbling introspection throughout. The over-all power of 'Sorstalanság' (this movie's original title) feels damaged by long indulgent pauses of beautifully shot silence that do little to embellish upon the context or specifics of what's happening. For instance, György's leg swells up and becomes infested, but it's never clarified how that injury happened in the first place. Or, how it avoids amputation. The nuts and bolts of story telling seem traded in for theatrical staging at the camp gates, never to be reclaimed. So, there's an artificial distance that's maintained between you and pretty well all of these characters, unless perhaps you bring some sense of knowledge to the screening beforehand. This might be due to the subject matter being fairly extreme, but it's almost as though this barrier has more to do with Koltai's lack of faith in his actors to enhance each moment by them doing more than simply reciting their lines and correctly posing under the proper lighting. Or, maybe Kertész's script demanded too much internal monologue and was pared to the bare minimum for the final cut. I actually hate pointing out this flaw, but 'Fateless' (its international title) does play out more like a richly photographed cinematic picture book bound together by bits of acting and narrative, rather than a fully collective effort working hard in all aspects to portray a thoroughly insightful wartime drama during the majority of its run time. Absolutely check it out for the incredible cinematography if you're a shutter bug or truly need to see a personalized viewpoint of this tragic period in history, but don't be surprised if you catch yourself wondering what the heck is going on more than once.

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Freedomland
REVIEWED 02/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Novelist Richard Price adapts his 1998 book of the same title - which was reportedly inspired by the horrifying true crime case of South Carolinian Susan Smith, who in 1995 was imprisoned for life for the double murder of her sons; whose disappearances she'd initially claimed were caused by a Black man - for this incredibly captivating psychological drama starring Samuel L. Jackson ('Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' (2005)) as beleaguered Dempsey, New Jersey Special Investigations Detective Lorenzo Council attempting to coax the truth out of emotionally fragile, thirty-seven year-old single mother Brenda Martin (Julianne Moore; 'The Big Lebowski' (1998), 'Laws of Attraction' (2004)) regarding the alleged kidnapping of her young child Cody during what Brenda claims was a late night carjacking by an unknown man from the Projects of that town of predominantly Black residents. Samuel Jackson deftly makes this powerful feature his own, even though he's essentially an involved spectator trying to make sense of it all like every amateur sleuth sitting in the theatre following along. And, no. I haven't ruined anything by citing the real life Smith case. Jackson's character is almost immediately suspicious of what he's told about the missing boy in this story, and it becomes fairly obvious early on that pretty well everyone concerned is saying one thing while secretly coming to a different conclusion. That's where this hugely satisfying picture crackles from beginning to closing credits. Price's screenplay takes for granted that you have a brain in your head, and director Joe Roth ('Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise' (1987), 'Christmas with the Kranks' (2004)) thankfully latches on to that fact, beautifully drawing a paying audience in with every slight nuance and lingering pause as Jackson, Moore, and this outstanding supporting cast give every ounce of proven talent to their roles. Yes, 'Freedomland' is a tough one to sit through at times. It meanders slightly, and demands a lot from a paying audience by facing racial tensions head on as that corner of Dempsey is locked down by the local and neighbouring police, and tempers ignite in much the same way as seen in 'Crash' (2005), 'Malcolm X' (1992) and 'Do the Right Thing' (1989). It's great stuff, though. The fact that Moore actually manages to find a way to make Brenda consistently sympathetic, when this woman might possibly have killed her own son and then told a lie that unleashes complete chaos between civilians and law enforcement, is an absolute credit to this actor's abilities. Moore is spellbinding here, in what is probably the best role she's ever portrayed. Her dialogue and mannerisms ring so true that it's both invigorating and spine chilling just sitting through some of her scenes. Awesome. Television's 'The Sopranos' co-star Edie Falco ('Sunshine State' (2002)) also pulls in a riveting performance as Karen Collucci, an extremely intense semi-professional Searcher of missing children, who helps Detective Council meticulously undermine Ms. Martin's tenuous claims. Keep an eye out for when Karen points a particularly hypnotic bit of psychological manipulation at Brenda. This truly is an inspired piece of film making that likely won't be everyone's cup of tea due to the subject matter, and maybe for the way the story splits apart on separate paths towards increasingly jagged disorder. It's ugly and brutal, and doesn't fit into a neat and tidy little package. However, 'Freedomland' is quite frankly the freshest of the few worthwhile new movies to hit the big screen so far this year. Absolutely do yourself a huge favour and check out this incredibly compelling, phenomenally challenging detective story for its superior cast and a story that will likely stay with you long afterwards.

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Failure to Launch
REVIEWED 03/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Matthew McConaughey ('U-571' (2000), 'Sahara' (2005)) stars in the fairly flighty and surprisingly unromantic romantic comedy as thirty-five year-old free spirited and independent boat broker Trip, who happily lives in his exasperated parents Sue (Kathy Bates; 'Misery' (1990), 'Little Black Book' (2004)) and Al's (former Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Terry Bradshaw; 'The Cannonball Run' (1981)) house like he's done since he was three, until they hire freelance interventionist Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker; 'Mars Attacks!' (1996), 'The Family Stone' (2005)) to lure him from the family nest for good by simulating a series of romantic interludes that end up going too far. Quite frankly, as soon as I'd heard that this feature from director Tom Dey ('Shanghai Noon' (2000), 'Showtime' (2002)) was about a woman changing a guy who's got a great thing going, I figured that I'd be the only straight male at the screening who wanted to be there. More or less, I was right. 'Failure to Launch' is one of those Chick Flicks that completely and utterly panders to rather simplistic female fantasies for the most part. Yes, the dynamic created between Parker and her screen room mate Kit (well-played by Zooey Deschanel; 'Abandon' (2002), 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (2005)) is incredibly captivating and funny. It's just a shame that the males here aren't written as being believable enough males. Example: More than once, without a manicurist or hair salon in sight, Trip and his best buddies Demo (Bradley Cooper; 'My Little Eye' (2002), 'Wedding Crashers' (2005)) and Ace (Justin Bartha; 'Gigli' (2003), 'National Treasure' (2004)) share their deepest most inner feelings and emotions to each other, with Trip wondrously gushing about how terrific Paula is. Sorry ladies, this scenario is about as realistic as men thinking that their girlfriends and wives get together for private lingerie fashion shows to have giggly tickle fights and share secrets on how to please their men. I suppose that either are nice thoughts, but kinda ridiculous to believe. Sure, as a switch off above the neck and laugh at the stupidity as forgettable entertainment, 'Failure to Launch' is a mildly enjoyable bag of empty calories. But, only just. Prat falls and sight gags abound, with the curiously belaboured running joke being that Trip is attacked by otherwise docile creatures of nature, as the core idea that it's quite okay for McConaughey's trust to be betrayed throughout most of this ninety-seven minute sad farce continues to rattle on without any concern given to the consequences. Yawn. However, just when co-writers Tom J. Astle's and Matt Ember's screenplay seems as though it's got nothing else to offer but more of the same from this Dreamland of beefcake mindlessly fulfilling nonsensical whimsy, that's when this picture suddenly, unexpectedly becomes interesting. The party ends, and this otherwise proven cast actually gets to be actors. Of course, it happens during the last third, and is hardly enough to save the entire show after having a paying audience sit through a decidedly girly story that makes no sense and that features main characters who don't really fit the roles that they're being forced to play. But, it's a great ending to a disastrous affair. This turkey will undoubtedly attract hordes of Matthew McConaughey fans, but it's hardly worth the cost of a rental for the most part.

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Friends With Money
REVIEWED 05/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener ('Walking and Talking' (1996), 'Lovely & Amazing' (2001)) patiently explores the oftentimes quirky dynamics that bond and strain the relationships among longtime friends, in this somewhat demanding and yet memorably captivating low key drama where former teacher turned maid Olivia (Jennifer Aniston; 'Leprechaun' (1993), 'Rumor Has It...' (2005)) obsesses over a past boyfriend while cruising on emotional auto pilot with her wealthy pal Franny's (Joan Cusack; 'Working Girl' (1988), 'Ice Princess' (2005)) smarmy personal trainer, while writer Christine (Catherine Keener; 'Being John Malkovich' (1999), 'Capote' (2005)) and her grudgingly collaborative husband David (Jason Isaacs) reach a road block in their marriage, and fashion designer Jane (Frances McDormand; 'Raising Arizona' (1987), 'North Country' (2005)) falls victim to a sudden depression after her forty-third birthday. Well, it doesn't sound like much of a story, and 'Friends With Money' doesn't really offer up too many outstanding dramatic moments for a paying audience to become swept up in, but what Holofcener's screenplay does is carefully weave together four decidedly different stories about four completely dissimilar women who are all reacting to personal angst in their own individual ways. Sometimes that means a paying audience witnesses a cycle repeating itself, as with Olivia's self-destructive need to be with the wrong guy. Sometimes the expression of that angst is transferred, as in Christine's case, where she precociously and openly questions the rather effeminate tendencies of Jane's doting husband while ignoring the critical mass of her own situation with David. Or, angst is merely shrugged off in favour of focusing on more positive things, like Franny chooses to do. My pick would be Jane's dilemma, where she methodically becomes increasingly upset by relatively inconsequential incidences of rudeness throughout the course of her story, while quietly rebelling against what most would probably consider to be mundane hygiene. She stops washing her hair, which eventually repulses everyone, and yet Jane flips out if anyone ignores common courtesy. Yes, 'Friends With Money' is an inconspicuous examination of the human condition, featuring long moments of meandering dialogue and plot points that don't seem to lead anywhere in particular or feel as though they're obviously pushing things along towards a specific conclusion. However, these aspects are what make this eighty-eight minute picture fascinating at times, because it successfully attempts to mirror the fairly incongruous experiences of real life's subtle influences and sudden epiphanies. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of this type of cinematic story telling, because I normally find it to be indulgent and boring. However, undeniably accessible truths are touched upon and masterfully presented here. This movie kept me interested, because this incredible cast is given such a strong script to work with as their characters roll around in their own muck, before being nudged in the right direction that's suitable for each of them. And, that's one of the sweet pleasures of discovering small, relentlessly overlooked films of this high quality. 'Friends With Money' definitely won't be everyone's choice of flick, but if you love believable slice of life dramas that don't spoon feed you pedantic clichés or heavy punch lines, this one's well worth a deliberate rental.

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Fanaa
REVIEWED 05/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

A paying audience is treated to two entirely different movies presented back-to-back, in this sometimes outrageously scattered and yet over-all wonderfully mesmerizing Bollywood block buster from director Kunal Kohli ('Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' (2002), 'Hum Tum' (2004)) starring Aamir Khan ('The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey' (2005), 'Rang De Basanti' (2006)) as silver tongued New Delhi tour bus guide Rehan Qadri, who romances blind amateur performer Zooni Ali Beg (played by Kajol; 'Hulchul' (1995), 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...' (2001)) in a doomed love affair during her troupe's week-long Republic Day visit to that capital city, only to reunite seven years after surgery gives Zooni her sight and she no-longer recognizes the near dead stranger at her secluded cottage's snow swept door - her lost love Rehan - revealed to actually be a deadly Kashmiri independence operative on a mission to steal the last piece of a nuclear bomb destined to kill millions. Okay, the story line from beginning to closing credits is wildly bizarre in hindsight, as though Kohli and screenwriter Shibani Bathija set out to concoct a script that borrows bits from every movie genre except Horror and animal cartoons in order to attract and entertain the widest possible demographic of potential ticket holders. It wants to be contemporary but traditional, boldly exciting yet still delicately enchanting, as well as appealing to mature tastes while maintaining a strong level of family friendliness. However, apart from a couple of exasperatingly silly over-the-top action scenes where mid-air helicopters explode or cheesy knife fights erupt, 'Fanaa' predominantly works within its cinematic world as an incredible big screen passion play beautifully held together using an extraordinary wealth of small tender moments effortlessly shared between Khan and Kajol throughout. Insightful nuances of silence and slight gestures become immediately obvious and thoroughly intriguing during the first half of this hundred and sixty-eight minute subtitled flick, just as it's a refreshing delight to see various aspects of South Asian culture and history deliberately woven into the mix as being more than superficial flavourings here. As with the comparibly much poorer 'Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye' (2006), it's also fun watching these characters playfully mimic what appear to be old Masala hits. Of the five actual musical interludes, most are catchy crowd pleasers gorgeously captured as memorable fantasy sequences that easily stand on their own as music videos but also fit nicely into this effort for the most part. The second half of 'Fanaa' is where the cleverly constructed wheels seem to suddenly pop off while you're dumped into the middle of a surprisingly violent James Bond-like spy thriller involving trigger-happy, ski-doo riding soldiers and an anti-terrorist unit furiously tracking down Rehan immediately after the intended intermission. I did momentarily fear that the reels had been switched with a different Aamir Khan feature, until Kajol reappeared and the story somewhat got back on track. What's also notably enjoyable is how cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran deftly shoots in what looks like high definition video to create distinct atmospheres that coincide with this picture's shifting moods, saturating early scenes in a warm natural glow while others are appropriately chilled by muted tones later on. Good stuff. It's a far superior romantic journey that's well worth the price of admission thanks in large part to the pairing of its phenomenal starring leads, but 'Fanaa' is undeniably flawed at times and does require a certain amount of patience while it crazily flails around during the last half in search of continuity towards the ultimately satisfying climax.

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The Fast and the Furious 3
REVIEWED 06/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Delinquent teenaged loner Sean Boswell (Lucas Black; 'Sling Blade' (1996), 'Jarhead' (2005)) is given no choice but to avoid going to prison on a third strike arrest after a near fatal street racing accident, by leaving the United States to live with his estranged military man father in Tokyo, in this disappointingly pedestrian effort from director Justin Lin ('Better Luck Tomorrow' (2002), 'Annapolis' (2006)), where Sean's addiction to speed ends up embroiling him in that Pacific city's underworld of suped up cars and living on the edge under the wing of U.S. ex-patriot Han (Sung Kang; 'Mystery Men' (1999), 'Forbidden Warrior' (2004)), much to the chagrin of their urban turf's reigning gear head and burgeoning mobster Kamata (Brian Tee; 'We Were Soldiers' (2002)). It's fun seeing pro rally racer Keiichi "DK" Tsuchiya make a cameo appearance in this second sequel of 'The Fast and the Furious' (2001) that spotlights the adrenaline rush speedway maneuver reportedly invented by Kunimitsu Takahashi in the mid-Seventies and soon perfected by Tsuchiya. "Drifting" is basically a controlled tailspin that allows a car to take sharp turns without losing velocity, and 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' (its complete title) definitely exploits that impressive trick to the fullest throughout this hundred and four-minute screening. However, there's a problem with how that's primarily presented. Apart from the fact that most average Canadian drivers have probably witnessed or accidentally experienced close to the same thing on icy winter roads with oftentimes disastrous results, a paying audience is kept out of the loop regarding the specifics of how it's done here on the big screen. This is obviously an intentional oversight made to avoid inspiring copycats on city streets, but without you being shown the mechanics or physics that are specifically related to that stunt, it comes off as seeming magical and unbelievable. As though the special effects department cobbled together sets of tires made of soap for this flick - even though "drifting" has apparently been seen in many previous movies and television shows over the past couple of decades. Lin may as well have made those cars fly, learned how to achieve by these characters through an inexplicable process of osmosis, trial and error wrecks, and The Force, Luke. The subject that draws you into the theatre to see this feature ends up becoming a peripheral novelty, with you stuck on the sidelines as a wide eyed observer. What you are encouraged to tap into is the outrageously contrived and vapid story of young Sean having better luck infiltrating Toyko's underworld on his first day of high school there than the most experienced undercover NARC officer. Everyone immediately accepts this guy without question, leading him to secret raves where modified babe magnets on four wheels roar through makeshift parking lot race tracks and he's handed over a shiny new car to test his mettle against The Drift King himself. Maybe I'm just jealous, but I suspect that this isn't what most new kids go through after algebra class. It makes no sense, as depicted here. 'The Fast and the Furious 3' is pretty well a live action cartoon that's wildly inadequate, where this real human cast forgets to act like three dimensional people - they're fairly boring and inconsistently depicted when they're not behind the wheel, frankly - and the studio is too afraid to actually reveal any important details about this illegal form of street racing. Look, but not too closely. The Accent hatch back ad that ran before this film seemed more dangerous. It's aggravating, because most of these slick cars and the spins that they achieve are incredibly fine and well worth a wealth of lingering close ups that never properly materialize. What a wasted opportunity. It's tough to imagine who this flat cinematic turkey is supposed to entertain, but car buffs and stunt aficionados will undoubtedly feel ripped off - along with anyone else expecting to find a convincing enough story that's better than the lousy '2 Fast 2 Furious' (2003) or even worth the price of a rental.

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Fearless
REVIEWED 09/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Fueled by a childhood vow to never again see his beloved father's (Collin Chou; 'City of Darkness' (1999), 'The Matrix Reloaded' (2003)) ancient Wushu technique of Chinese Martial Arts ever be defeated, smug Huo Yuanjia's (Jet Li; 'Once Upon a Time in China' (1991), 'Unleashed' (2005)) arrogance far exceeds his eventually phenomenal fighting skills at winning every competition challenge as his city of Tianjin's champion shortly after the end of the 19th Century, in this curiously unremarkable and over-long, subtitled Period drama/actioner from director Ronny Yu ('Bride of Chucky' (1998), 'Freddy Vs. Jason' (2003)), where Huo's volcanic sense of justice ultimately destroys his honour and his family after a mortal fight against a rival master that casts Yuanjia into the wilderness and under the care of kindly blind and orphaned farm girl Moon (debuting Li "Betty" Sun) to unwittingly learn humility. It's strange that Li would choose this particular story for what's been hyped as his last Martial Arts movie. Sure, 'Huo Yuan Jia' (its original title) definitely offers up quite a number of compelling and entertaining action sequences throughout, while attempting to flesh out his character with moments of tangible human drama. However, writer Chris Chow's screenplay doesn't consistently hold together over-all, continually feeling unimaginatively familiar and tired for the most part. Yes, I do realize that this richly costumed and heavily choreographed hundred and four-minute epic is a loose interpretation of the real Jin Wu Sports Federation founder Huo Yuanjia's (1869-1910) seemingly tumultuous life before and during Japanese and Western semi-occupation that would eventually be pushed aside by the Communist Revolution in China. The problem is that much of what transpires during the course of 'Jet Li's Fearless' (its complete North American title) is so overtly highly stylized and cranked up for maximum impact that it resembles a cheesy live action comic book bloated with unnecessarily stereotypical caricatures that merely serve to deflate director Yu's clear interest in also focusing on this legend's smaller influences towards spiritual enlightenment. It's more a concocted fable than a believable biopic. Li and this main cast that also includes Hee Ching Paw ('Chai gong' (1993), 'Mong bat liu' (2003)), Yong Dong ('Chou jiao Boluo' (1988)) and Shido Nakamura ('Ping Pong' (2002), 'Be With You' (2004)) do work hard at bringing a certain amount of insightful elegance to their roles here, but all of that quickly becomes lost in an unfortunately amateurish miasma of clunky theatrics and noisily brutal pummelings. Even the non-violent, quieter scenes featuring Li with Sun suffer, playing out as being rather flat and uninteresting on the heels of those flailing fists and feet furiously crushing every opponent who crosses Huo's path. The transition is too sudden for a paying audience to switch gears and suddenly invest in the slow and methodical pace of Huo's new life as an emotionally broken labourer struggling to let go of his need to compete. 'Fearless' also tends to lack enough examples of how Yuanjia's arc is affected towards his transformation. You see him learn how to plant rice. He learns to appreciate the cooling breeze that wafts over the farm from the surrounding mountain forest. You notice vague evidence that he's absorbing Moon's softly spoken words of gentle wisdom. And then you're suddenly told with whiplash bluntness that many years have passed, and he packs up and returns home to make amends, reopen his father's school and fight a bunch more challengers. Nathan Jones' ('Troy' (2004), 'The Protector' (2005)) - still grunting and grimacing from the same script he used opposite Tony Jaa in 'The Protector' here - as hulking Western wrestler Hercules O'Brien, ends up becoming altogether pointless and unintentionally laughable. From a larger standpoint, the continuity of this feature is aggravatingly disjointed as presented in the final cut. It has aspirations of being more than a simplistic series of bare knuckled acrobatic matches used for the ads to fill theatre seats with Martial Arts devotees, but this effort really isn't capable of successfully rising to that challenge because of the way in which the story lazily relies on vapid short hand where a lot more depth and detail are required to help Li fully realize the breadth of his character. Rent this one for the great fight scenes, but don't expect too much more from it that's memorably enjoyable as being Li's supposed swan song to a genre that made him famous.

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Flyboys
REVIEWED 09/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Failed young Texas rancher Blaine Rawlings (James Franco; 'Spider-Man' (2002), 'Annapolis' (2006)) skips arrest to join France's Aéronautique Militaire during the last half of WWI as part of the newly formed Lafayette Escadrille, along with a small group of other untested volunteer Americans eager to prove their mettle fending off German air assaults as fighter pilots, in this hugely wasteful and riotously lame war drama from director Tony Bill ('Five Corners' (1987), 'Untamed Heart' (1993)).

Oh boy, here come the Americans to rescue poor weak Europe, in this trite revisionistic stinker for a new generation of moviegoers. yawn. It's tough to enjoy this hundred and thirty-nine minute picture as either a fluffy Americanized war fantasy typically bereft of appropriate nods to the other countries that fought most of Europe's Great War (1914-1918), or as an accurate enough general representation of actual events. 'Flyboys' is unabashedly neither - even if you just want to watch bygone planes in action and have never seen the vastly superior, recent WWI crowd pleasers, 'Joyeux Noël' (2004) or 'A Very Long Engagement' (2004). Apart from negating the Cavalry troops, and ignoring the early history of European war planes primarily being used for unarmed reconnaissance of enemy movement, and never really showing anyone else but these Americans fighting the enemy during WWI, this one hardly defines the era as being entirely different than that of WWII, except with inconsequential props and costumes. It's a hollow cinematic confection that does little more than use every potentially strong story idea as superficial context for the special effects that quickly end up becoming fairly boring. As an additional result, lazy anachronisms and weird plot holes abound throughout. For example, the Germans are shown from the start flying in squadrons of the notorious blood red Fokker triplane, inspired by the Brits' Sopwith "Tripe" and probably best recognized as the trademark plane of eighty kill Luftstreitkräfte top ace Manfred Albrecht Freiherr "The Red Baron" von Richthofen (1892-1918). Even though the Germans' tactic of flying several planes at once on raids seen here did introduce mid-air dog fights opposite the Allies by 1915, that particular Fokker aircraft reportedly wasn't mass produced until near the end of 1917, months after the United States finally entered WWI. Much of 'Flyboys' takes place before then. The Lafayette Escadrille's Neuport planes also seem to have the vertical lift capabilities of modern Harrier jets - as well as seemingly having an unmentioned cloaking device borrowed from television's 'Star Trek' - at another point here, where one Neuport miraculously lands in the middle of No Man's Land on the Western Front, unheard and invisible from German trenches mere yards away and unscathed by the heavily bombed terrain of mud and ruin, during a ridiculous daring rescue that shows pilots foolishly dodging enemy fire on foot as though they're running to safety from a swarm of mildly hungry black flies. Later, you see their Seminole Warrior emblazoned fighters attacking a Fokker escorted Zeppelin that's destined to bomb Paris, where an untethered man can somehow run along the outside of that moving airship high above the city. No crosswind that day, supposedly. The sheer lack of simple attention to basic physics or historical facts for the sake of mindlessly juicing up what struggles at passing for good action is mind boggling. There's more, though. It's even less likely that this ad hoc air force was untouched over-all by ethnic boundaries, as presented. On the outside, these are civilian American volunteers - not the real U.S. ex-patriots who served in the French Foreign Legion before transferring to fly for France - who the hardened British and French military men would have most probably shunned due to a deeply pervasive class structure and mistrust, as well as because these untested foreigners hail from a country that stubbornly remained neutral ever since WWI erupted. Within the ranks of that relatively small corps, race is also barely made an issue beyond tepid prejudice against its only Black volunteer, Eugene Skinner (Abdul Salis; 'Love Actually' (2003), 'Sahara' (2005)), despite America's shamefully wide spread Jim Crow legacy of grim racial hatred lasting until at least the 1950's. The real Eugene Jacques "The Black Swallow of Death" Bullard (1895-1961) of Georgia, a decorated casualty of skirmishes at Verdun who had two kills with the Escadrille and is actually credited as being the first Black fighter pilot in military history, wasn't permitted to continue flying after the U.S. absorbed the Lafayette force in 1917, solely because he wasn't a Caucasian. Skinner seems to be loosely based on Bullard and continues to fly in this movie after the States enters that conflict, but it's outrageous that this character sheepishly plans to hide in the skies as a post-war States side airmail pilot, where he says maybe nobody will mind that he's Black. Bullard stayed in France and married a Countess. Probably still in his twenties, Skinner also alludes that his father is a deceased slave, even though the U.S. Constitution's Thirteenth Ammendment outlawed slavery over fifty years earlier, in 1865. The selective ignorance demonstrated by Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans and David S. Ward's script is exasperating. I wanted to see a lot more of the real Bullard's fascinating true story in this film, since he obviously was an outstanding individual throughout his disproportionately unsung life as a prize boxer, WWI pilot, night club owner, WWII spy, and Chevalier. That's what this movie should have concentrated on, frankly. I guess it would have, if its darling blonde tipped star Franco was Black (and a far better actor). This is a cast of sleep walkers, bringing nothing to their live action cartoon roles that a handful of finger puppets couldn't have performed just as easily, unfortunately. Apart from French Captain Georges Thenault (Jean Reno; 'The Professional' (1994), 'The Da Vinci Code' (2006)) - who erroneously explains here that the Lafayette Escadrille has been fighting for three years, despite it being formed two years before the 1918 Armistice - and the "Escadrille Américaine" lion mascot named Whiskey, all of the others featured seem to be curiously fictional when they really shouldn't have been, if anyone connected to this production had bothered to apply worthwhile research to its potentially impressive yet dubiously amateurish script. In fact, the more you know about the real heroes of the actual Lafayette Escadrille, the more this feature feels like a glib and cheaply cobbled extended adaptation of the break neck, bullet riddled aerial stunts from 'The Aviator' (2004) - which basically reenacted bits of Howard Hughes' classic 'Hell's Angels' (1930). See that oldie instead. If a Hollywood studio is going to pour time and cash into an effort like this, why it's then allowed to become such a vapid mockery of real WWI heroics is beyond comprehension. As it stands, this silly flick's completely stereotypical characters are primarily forgettable in the air and agonizingly predictable on the ground. While the peripheral romance that blossoms between Franco's Rawlings and young French farm girl Lucienne (Jennifer Decker; 'Jeux de haute société' (2003), 'Jeune homme' (2006)) does offer up a couple of enjoyably charming moments, there's not a whole lot to the dramatic scenes that are notably imaginative or fresh. The only reason that 'Flyboys' apparently exists transpires in the air battles, that are almost entirely created using hyper realistic looking computer animation that feel lifted from a novelty flight simulation game and summarily tossed in as woefully confusing action. A contemporary audience will probably cringe at how these characters whoop for joy when ever their Vickers machine guns send each faceless enemy pilot plummeting to his fiery death, childishly aggrandizing impersonal violence in lieu of a tangible grasp of (I guess) such unimportant concepts as brave sacrifice or the horrors of war. Lest we forget, indeed... Cinematographer Henry Braham seems completely incapable of capturing anything of relevance about what it was like to fly those noisy and suicidal bygone machines that didn't have parachutes, communications or seat belts. What were they thinking? Were they thinking?

Do yourself a favour and simply rent 'Star Wars' (1977) or classic air battle movies if you're hoping for worthwhile entertainment, and let this unforgivably rotten turkey deservedly crash and burn unnoticed.

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Flags of Our Fathers
REVIEWED 10/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

As his elderly father John Bradley lays ill and weak in hospital, middle aged novelist James (Thomas McCarthy; 'The Guru' (2002), 'Syriana' (2005)) quietly begins a journey through the recounted and collected memories of a few remaining American WWII veterans who fought at the turning point Battle of Iwo Jima and who knew what had transpired during and after that bloody South Pacific raid against Japan that would most notably be immortalized by one photograph, shot atop that small strategic island's Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, called Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, in director Clint Eastwood's ('Play Misty for Me' (1971), 'Million Dollar Baby' (2004)) sobering yet overwhelmingly meandering film adapted from the real James Bradley and Ron Powers' best-selling 2000 book, where it's slowly revealed that the momentarily celebrated lives of young Navy corpsman John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillippe; 'Gosford Park' (2001), 'Crash' (2004)) - James' father - and Marines Ira Hamilton Hayes (Manitoba's Adam Beach; 'Dance Me Outside' (1995), 'Windtalkers' (2002)) and Rene Arthur Gagnon (Jesse Bradford; 'Romeo + Juliet' (1996), 'Swimfan' (2002)), who were the three remaining of the six men depicted in that famous photograph, seemed doomed to carry the lonesome curse of surviving the horror of war.

There are a couple of things that are particularly wrong with this hundred and thirty-two minute big screen biography, one of which isn't specifically apparent except in hindsight. Yes, 'Flags of Our Fathers' is definitely the latest in Eastwood's recent litany of cinematic examinations heavily fascinated with the emotional trauma of victims of violence. This time, most of the victims are also the perpetrators simply due to their circumstances of fighting as soldiers. Beach effortlessly takes centre stage as the most obvious example of consequential turmoil, in his consistently captivating performance as Arizona-based Pima Indian turned Company E, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment Private First Class Hayes (1923-1955), systematically tearing himself apart over his shame of being given far more than a hero's welcome back in the States when all he believes he did was avoid being killed. Bradford also pulls in an interesting depiction here as the dashing and subsequently rather attention grabbing Pfc. Gagnon (1925-1979) - reportedly the U.S. born son of French Canadian immigrants - who seems more interested in exploiting his unexpected fame unburdened by the shock of front line conflict, primarily because he didn't experience it. The real Gagnon unsuccessfully attempted to capitalize on his public notoriety and apparently did manage to briefly make it to Hollywood, when that Pulitzer winning photograph appeared in 'To the Shores of Iwo Jima' (1945) during his nation wide tour along with Hayes and "Doc" Bradley (1923-1994) as celebrity "heroes" soliciting war bonds in the final months leading up to America's dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ending WWII in the South Pacific. However, it seems that Hayes would be the only Iwo Jima survivor to be worthy of having a film made about him, when actor Tony Curtis ('Some Like It Hot' (1959)) later portrayed him in 'The Outsider' (1961). 'Flags of Our Fathers' seems to originate from that same well, where its screenplay by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis almost aches to relentlessly dwell on tenuously internalized pain in a stylized manner that doesn't really want to become too messy. No, I'm not talking about the actual battle scene of what was essentially suicidal trench warfare, where men were little more than cannon fodder for the enemy. Those moments are absolutely riveting and appropriately gut churning. However, what's predominantly left over doesn't really dig too deeply or go in any meaningful direction for a paying audience to feel as though this picture has brought anything substantially new to the genre. The script loses its nerve. It gets sidetracked by unimportant trivia, such as dealing with a rumour that Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima was staged for photographer Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) by Bradley, Hayes, Gagnon, Sergeant Michael Strank (1919-1945), Franklin Runyon Sousley (1925-1945) and Harlon Henry Block (1924-1945), when that picture was just taken while the first flag to be hoisted was replaced shortly afterwards. Knowing this, or that Block was initially wrongly identified as someone else, really doesn't matter unless you're somehow personally obsessed about such details and anecdotes that barely seem relevant to this story over-all. This effort also has a terrible time maintaining a steady momentum while losing itself in older flash backs of those three men, who seem to primarily live in a series of flash backs spurred by the aged service men who McCarthy's character interviews in the present. I suppose an argument could be made that this blurring of time and place mirrors the instinctive reactions of a veteran suddenly awakened by a loud noise that instantly puts him years in the past and grabbing for a rifle. From a story telling perspective, the seemingly never ending bouncing back and forth is merely disorienting and unnecessarily distracting. It feels lazily cobbled together out of desperation, with "Doc" Bradley first seen as an old man stumbling from what seems to be a heart attack while continually asking "Where is he?", nudging you into a bombed out crater where a panicked young "Doc" asks the same thing, like something out of 'Slaughterhouse-Five' (1972). Yes, Bradley's tale as an unsure battlefield medic who endures the limelight out of stoic obligation to his fallen buddies, and then goes back to that hell and becomes a hero by simply doing his job, is clear worthy of admiration and respect. It's the surprisingly loose way in which all of that and everything else is presented here that tends to diffuse its impact. It's tough to keep in mind that much of this actually happened. It's tough to empathize with what plays out, unless you've experienced it first hand, because 'Flags of Our Fathers' doesn't seep into your pores like it should. It asks a bunch of questions, yet the structure of Byron Smith's editing avoids all but the simplest of answers. And, that's where the final problem comes to mind in retrospect. This feature's focus slides into being a kind of fact finding journey of a man trying to understand what his veteran father experienced at Iwo Jima, felt as a "Hero of Iwo Jima", and perhaps came away with as a war worn veteran after WWII, but it never bothers to put you in the same mindset as either the father or the son here. You're left on the sidelines throughout most of it, hunting for clues and wishing for psychic pills as an ignored observer, while James' thoughts-as-monologue barely open any doors to how anything that he's discovered has affected him. That's probably the main reason why Beach's performance stands out so much, he's pretty well the only figure who lets you tap into his character's shattered, booze ignited feelings.

Relentlessly ambushed by belaboured empty moments that never reclaim the astounding and terrifying impact of its battlefield depiction, 'Flags of Our Fathers' feels more like a disappointingly aimless experiment made at the expense of the real men whose lives were worthy of far more.

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Flushed Away
REVIEWED 11/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

When the posh yet lonesome home of pampered Kensington Street pet mouse Roddy Saint James (voiced by Hugh Jackman; 'X-Men' (2000), 'The Prestige' (2006)) is suddenly invaded by grimy and rather crass sewer rat Sid (Brit TV's 'EastEnders' co-star Shane Richie), Roddy ends up being flushed down London's waterworks into a make shift underground duplicate of London inhabited by lovable vermin, singing slugs and seedy reptilian villain The Great Toad (Ian McKellen; 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001), 'The Da Vinci Code' (2006)), in this enjoyably raucous and wildly imaginative computer animated family friendly flick from Aardman Animations directors David Bowers and Sam Fell, in which Roddy quickly enlists the help of the Jammy Dodger reservoir barge captain Rita Malone (Kate Winslet; 'Titanic' (1997), 'All the King's Men' (2006)) to return home if they can evade The Great Toad's merciless goons Spike (Andy Serkis; 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003), 'King Kong' (2005)) and Whitey (Bill Nighy; 'Love Actually' (2003), 'Underworld: Evolution' (2006)), and the clutches of French cousin Le Frog's (Jean Reno; 'Ronin' (1998), 'The Pink Panther' (2006)) ninja-like henchmen, as well as stop a dastardly plot to rid that unsuspecting miniature metropolis of its friendly furry critters.

This is such a delightfully entertaining romp from beginning to closing credits. Sure, it takes a little getting used to recognizing the same character design style seen in the stop motion animation features 'Chicken Run' (2000) and 'Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' (2005) mirrored here although completely created using computer animation techniques, but 'Flushed Away' is definitely great looking throughout and it's clear that this cast had a blast in lending their voices to these unique characters. The story itself is undemanding enough for younger children to easily follow along with - especially if they loved 'Stuart Little' (1999) and 'Stuart Little 2' (2002) - yet, there are enough plot twists and humourous contemporary asides for older kids to stay interested in what happens. 'Flushed Away' also features plenty of cleverly amusing dialogue for adult kids at heart to laugh at, without really being concerned about the content reaching little ears. The pacing is phenomenal, hardly ever missing a beat as this adventure below street level unfolds in unexpected ways. Just when you think you've figured out what the dastardly plan is, this film hits you with another surprise. Awesome. Yes, as seems to be a thematic prerequisite with comedies from the UK, the French do take an elbow in the ribs here, with the appearance of Reno's snooty character Le Frog. It's self effacing, however, and fits in well with the continually irreverent light hearted atmosphere of this eighty-nine minute feature. The other thing that's probably worth mentioning is that there's a lot of British slang used, but there's nothing that's overtly esoteric or that the intended meanings aren't fairly clear for any paying audience to understand. Favourites also include most of the scenes involving the singing slugs, and make sure that you don't miss any of the wonderfully comedic opening sequence when Roddy takes over his owners' house.

Absolutely do yourself a big favour and check out this thoroughly captivating and consistently impressive movie on the big screen.

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The Fountain
REVIEWED 11/06, © STEPHEN BOURNE
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REVIEW:

Consumed by an eerie obsession to cure what he considers to be the disease of death while tortured by his beloved author wife Izzi's (Rachel Weisz; 'The Mummy' (1999), 'The Constant Gardener' (2005)) slow losing battle with brain cancer, unorthodox medical scientist Dr. Tommy Creo (Hugh Jackman; 'Kate & Leopold' (2001), 'The Prestige' (2006)) turns in desperation against the protocol of his boss Dr. Lillian Guzetti (Ellen Burstyn; 'The Exorcist' (1973), 'The Wicker Man' (2006)) to test an experimental compound derived from samples taken from an ancient growth tree found in the deepest jungles of Guatemala, where loyal Spanish Conquistador Captain Tomas (also played by Jackman) was dispatched centuries earlier by his endangered and beloved Queen Isabel (Weisz) to battle Mayan warriors protecting what the royal court's Father Avila (Mark Margolis; 'End of Days' (1999), 'House of D' (2004)) believed was the Biblical Tree of Life, in this visually stunning and artistically fascinating film from writer/director Darren Aronofsky ('Pi' (1998), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000)), where the twelfth and last chapter in Izzi's handwritten novel The Fountain remains unfinished long into a distant future that finds a haunted Tommy transporting the quietly sentient yet dying ancient tree that has sustained his tortured existence throughout this long journey of hopeful rebirth to a distant golden nebula that Mayan legend described as their underworld Xibalba.

Holy cripes, this is an absolutely astounding example of movie making genius from beginning to closing credits. Sure, there are aspects of reincarnation in this ninety-six minute feature that feel somewhat similar in premise to those seen in 'Being Human' (1994) and 'Zui hao de shi guang' (2005), where the primary characters seem doomed to relive the same patterns throughout the ages. Where 'The Fountain' clearly differs is that Aronofsky's brilliant screenplay carefully balances its focus as much on the differences of these lives as it does on the similarities. Queen Isabel faces execution at the hands of marauding Grand Inquisitor Silecio (Stephen McHattie; 'Beverly Hills Cop III' (1994), 'The Rocket' (2005)), Izzi faces death while in the grips of an incurable disease, and her ghost that accompanies Tommy is threatened with extinction if his mission fails before death takes the aged tree that he drifts through the vastness of outer space with in a biosphere enclosed within a huge transparent orb. It's not a cut and dry story regurgitated three times, and the subtlety in which each arc finds its own surprising conclusion is a pure joy to experience. I had read that this was one of the entries summarily booed by the audience at Cannes recently, so I'm guessing that I must have screened an entirely different and superbly exquisite version instead here. Virtually everything about this picture intrigues and effortlessly suspends any twinge of disbelief for a paying audience to almost immediately become completely mesmerized with. The seamless special effects - most of which are reportedly created without CGI wizardry - delightfully hearken back to the delicate simplicity of '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968). Cinematographer Matthew Libatique's lens deftly captures each robustly saturated scene of superior acting and thoroughly tangible atmosphere as though you're sharing the same air with these fictional people and their worlds. Awesome. The breath taking nuances and steady realizations of Jackman's lead performances easily rival anything he's done previously, beautifully defining various degrees of overwhelming emotional angst spurred to the core by slightly shifted causes. I don't remember ever being as impressed with the use of short cuts to quickly establish characters as I have with this hugely satisfying effort. They're not stereotypes, and yet you seem to know enough about them at a glance. The only notable flaw is composer Clint Mansell's grating repetitious violin score that feels a lot like a low end imitation of Phillip Glass' trademark sound.

Definitely not as demanding as expected going in, 'The Fountain' is an exceptionally superior human examination of delightfully sophisticated intertwining stories that's absolutely well worth seeing on the biggest screen possible for its similarly astounding visuals.

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Freedom Writers
REVIEWED 01/07, © STEPHEN BOURNE
www.ofrb.gov.on.ca | www.rcq.gouv.qc.ca


REVIEW:

Idealistic keener Erin Gruwell's (Hilary Swank; 'Million Dollar Baby' (2004), 'The Black Dahlia' (2006)) first year at Long Beach, California's Woodrow Wilson High School teaching a classroom of disruptive, "at risk" freshmen shortly after the 1992 LA riots of extreme interracial tension quickly evolves into a social experiment of healing and tolerance for her brutalized students, in this slightly familiar yet outstanding drama from writer/director Richard LaGravenese ('Living Out Loud' (1998), 'Paris, je t'aime' (2006)) inspired by the real life story that produced the 1999 book, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, where Gruwell uses her knowledge of Hitler's WWII legacy and of America's Civil Rights Movement along with her instinctive tenacity to beat the odds in giving these disenfranchised teenagers the opportunity to rise above their hatred and the ignorance that surrounds them.

Yes, shades of 'To Sir With Love' (1967) and 'Dangerous Minds' (1995) are easily recognizable throughout this hundred and twenty-three minute film, and yet 'Freedom Writers' - the title of which is a spin on that of the Freedom Riders, groups of ethnically diverse activists who bussed together against Southern US discriminatory and illegal segregation in 1961 - offers a far more lucid and believable sense of purpose. LaGravenese's screenplay gives this cast of predominantly first time feature performers enough information, scenes and elbow room to effortlessly flesh out their individual characters for a paying audience to empathize with. The racial tension that's created feels eerily real, as their stories are affected by Gruwell's uncanny respect and determined mentoring that would grow into the currently existing foundation you can find out more about online (www.gruwellproject.org). Another impressive aspect of this movie is that Gruwell's personal and professional life is touched upon, where her relationship with her skeptical father Steve (Scott Glenn; 'The Right Stuff' (1983), 'The Shipping News' (2001)) and initially encouraging husband Scott (Patrick Dempsey; 'Meatballs III: Summer Job' (1986), 'Sweet Home Alabama' (2002)) shift as the story progresses, and the dynamics between Erin and the school's narrow minded English Department Head Margaret Campbell (Imelda Staunton; 'Sense and Sensibility' (1995), 'Vera Drake' (2004)) underline the severe hurdles required for the sake of making a lasting difference in these young lives. Swank is phenomenal throughout, deftly furnishing her starring role with an appealing and unguarded intelligence that's only slightly singed by this school yard tinderbox of intensely defended racial borders that confronts an unsuspecting Erin. Later on, when Steve proudly tells Erin, "You're blessed with a burden, my daughter," you can't help but agree. However, my most favourite scenes involve a summer semester field trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, where Gruwell's gangland scarred students are exposed for the first time to the legacy of probably the most notorious gang in world history: Hitler's Nazis. How this effort captures and compares a contemporary mindset of pervasive intolerance with that of 1940's Europe is incredibly powerful and, unfortunately, chillingly relevent. Sure, there's a certain amount of shorthand and stereotyping in LaGravenese's script. It's tough to imagine that all of these traumatized, frightened and hardened teens would so readily pour out their hearts in the journals provided to them for an ungraded writing exercise, for instance. Or, that a neophyte teacher so openly rebellious regarding the school's rules and pecking order would manage to keep her job as depicted. I actually would like to have seen more of the peripheral moments not included here, where Gruwell manages to illicit help from local businesses for her unorthodox teaching program. You pretty well only see the kids raising funds to enable aged Miep Gies (played by Pat Carroll; 'With Six You Get Eggroll' (1968), 'The Little Mermaid' (1989)) - one of five people cited in the posthumously published 1952 bestseller Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, who risked their lives hiding teenager Anne Frank (1929-1945), her family and friends, in Amsterdam during WWII - to eventually speak at their school in person. All the same, 'Freedom Writers' definitely takes a notably fresh and inspiring approach with the over-all content from beginning to closing credits, wonderfully giving you tangible reasons to care about what happens to everyone involved.

Definitely do yourself a favour and check out this hugely impressive drama for its astounding cast and a remarkable story that will likely stay with you long after you leave the theatre.

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