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Not Fade Away (2013)
It's fairly clear early-on that Not Fade Away is a true labour of love bordering on cinematic autobiography for director and screenwriter Chase. It captures specific moments in American history from a baby boomer music-lover's very personal level, and Magaro impressively takes his character through this journey of awkward self-discovery and hero worship of The Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan. His performance is often stunningly underplayed, making Doug completely believable here as a kid just trying to make his life worth something. Kudos also go to Bella Heathcote (previously seen in Dark Shadows), stepping in as Doug's upper class hometown love interest Grace. Unfortunately, all of the great acting seen in this 112-minute picture really isn't enough to distract you from how undercooked and uneventful Chase's screenplay is. Sure, there's some interesting dialogue sprinkled throughout. Doug wondering aloud about the Brits knowing the Blues and bringing it to the States - where the Blues came from - is a priceless moment. Yes, the soundtrack is amazing. Leadbelly. Bo Diddley. The Stones. Awesome. Paying moviegoers will likely want to love it, but probably won't because nothing particularly memorable happens to any of these characters. It doesn't even matter if you accept Not Fade Away as Chase's take on his early years as a wannabe rock star or not. Aside from the peripheral high points already mentioned, this is an unnecessarily boring small movie over-all. There's not much served up at this flick's official website, either: A gallery of photos, a videos section, story and cast info, links to Facebook etc, and the soundtrack available on iTunes. Forgettable. While it's easy to predict big things from John Magaro in the near future after seeing this movie, the same can't be said for the movie itself. Wait a couple of minutes for Not Fade Away to appear on the IFC channel, if you're interested in taking a mildly novel wander through this tumultuous decade in US music history. Otherwise, you're better off saving your time and cash letting Not Fade Away do just that: Fade away. Yawn. Reviewed 01/13, © Stephen Bourne Not Fade Away is rated 14A by
the Ontario Film Review Board for coarse language, slurs, sexual
references, partial or full nudity in a brief sexual situation,
illustrated or verbal references to drugs, alcohol or tobacco,
crude content, substance abuse, embracing and kissing, fondling,
implied sexual activity, tobacco use, and restrained portrayals
of non-graphic violence, and is rated G by la Régie du
Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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Now You See Me (2013)
From acclaimed French director Louis Leterrier, Now You See Me also stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco. Respectively, they play The Four Horseman: Former street magician J. Daniel Atlas, charismatic hypnotist Merritt McKinney, escape artist Henley Reeves, and sleight-of-hand hustler Jack Wilder. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine also appear in a handful of fairly superficial scenes, with Freeman playing smug famed debunker Thaddeus Bradley opposite Caine's deep pocketed Four Horsemen backer Arthur Tressler. Unfortunately, the bigger Now You See Me gets, the less you see in the way of memorable entertainment value. It feels empty, beyond the smoke and mirrors. This US/France co-production has everything going for it: A creative premise penned by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt, and an otherwise capable director. Leterrier helmed such memorably enjoyable action flicks as The Transporter (2002), Unleashed (2005) and Clash of the Titans (2010). Plus, Now You See Me has a great cast. Ruffalo is amazing here, effortlessly shouldering through his role playing a visibly frustrated lawman persistently told he's floundering one or two steps behind the truth. Top marks also go to casting Eisenberg and Harrelson. They're perfect here, and completely believable. Sadly, awkwardly handled contrivances, lazy editing and a self-defeating reliance on bloated CG effects relentlessly sabotage the potential impact of this feature throughout. In the movie, Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher, and Franco's characters are brought together by an unseen figure to perform a trio of elaborately staged magic shows. You're never told why or who's behind the scheme until the last scenes. That's fine, but the actual pay-off at the end is dumb. The first show is a glitzy live act at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 3.2 million Euros - that's a little over $4.3 million Canadian - disappear from a bank vault in France as a result, and The Four Horsemen are hauled in for questioning by the FBI. Enter Rhodes and Dray. Turns out they can't pin the robbery on The Four Horsemen because there's no direct proof of guilt without US law enforcement appearing to believe in magic. So, the show goes on, in New Orleans for Act Two. That's around the time when a major case of plot hole erosion digs into this already wobbly story and its initial stylish momentum. You soon realize the over-all script aspires to be far more clever than the movie is capable of being. It's a failing that reaches the point of silly absurdity half-way through. Lame post-production panic then kicks in - several times - filling the screen with pointlessly abundant CG eye candy that kills any willing suspension of disbelief primed by the cool trailer. Before seeing Now You See Me, I don't remember ever screening a movie that simultaneously oozes such hipness while falling flat over such a startlingly weak screenplay. Remember a few years ago when those fainting goats in Tennessee were in the news? The breed is called the Myotonic Goat. They freeze up and fall over when startled. This movie is myotonic. In a bad way. By the time Act Three rolls in to Long Island's 5 Pointz graffiti art complex for a wildly cheesy finale, there's barely any reason given for a paying audience to particularly care anymore about what happens, why it's happened, or who the shadowy mastermind is. You've just spent the last hour frowning at this weird novelty act, thinking about how it could have been better while begrudging the hole in your wallet. I hate when that happens. Beyond the usual stuff at the official website, you'll find links to the site's Magical Heists Throughout Time page as well as The Diamond Heist Challenge game. The first cites crimes that have (possibly) used illusionist tricks such as lock-picking and hypnosis. The game involves using a free download phone app called Blipper and a series of clues to find playing cards. The premise seems dubious, but have fun if you try it. Turning to the official poster, BLT Communications designed a crisp and visually stunning layout for this movie. The poster is the coolest thing about this movie, frankly. The illusory quality of how the typography and actors are woven together would make M.C. Escher proud. Sure, Now You See Me does have its clever moments of character insight (thanks to Ruffalo) and snappy dialogue (thanks to Eisenberg and Harrelson), but those jolts of life are sporadic at best and hardly worth the price of admission. If you're still interested in seeing it, save your cash and wait a couple of seconds for this unimpressive and forgettable mess to darken a small screen near you. Reviewed 06/13, © Stephen Bourne. Now you See Me is rated PG by
the Ontario Film Review Board, citing use of expletives, mild
sexual references, embracing and kissing, mild sexual innuendo,
and restrained portrayals of non-graphic violence, and is rated
G by la Régie du Cinéma in Québec. REFERENCE:
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Stephen Bourne's Movie Quips © Stephen Bourne. Moviequips.ca and moviequips.com are the property of Stephen Bourne. All content of this website is owned by Stephen Bourne, unless obviously not (such as possible reference links, movie synopsis and/or posters featured under the terms of fair use) or attributed otherwise. This website is based in Ottawa, Canada. |
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