Role Models (2008)
Dir: David Wain
Principles: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bobb’e J. Thompson
Usually Seann William Scott sets off bad movie alarm bells in my head, thanks to his brilliant work in second rate efforts like Bulletproof Monk and the American Pie sequels. But here, he and Paul Rudd strike up a rather formidable comedy duo. Judd Apatow cronies appear left and right, and though Judd himself didn’t direct the film, his thumbprints are all over it. Snappy dialogue, characters learning life lessons, and an “everything is A-OK” ending permeate the film, but it is genuinely funny throughout, with great gags and hilarious one-liners.
Scott and Rudd are forced to work with children for their community service, and the kids do steal the picture. Superbad’s “McLovin” and Bobb’e J. Thompson provide entertaining foils for each other and their “bigs”. Though the novelty of an eight year old swearing at adults does lose its luster, the film is too smart to depend on that. We get some depth in these characters, and though the film is rather formulaic, it’s been so enjoyable that we don’t mind the sappy ending.
B+
Milk (2008)
Dir: Gus Van Sant
Principles: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco
Sean Penn is absolutely terrific in this biopic of the late San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Penn is being considered for a Best Actor Oscar nod, and it’s easy to see why. He perfectly conveys the manic, hopeful energy of the real Harvey Milk. There’s a constant gleam in Penn’s eye, even when things are apparently at their bleakest. Milk knew that the gay civil rights movement was bigger than he was and that it would carry on long after he was gone. Penn does a fantastic job of bringing that to the forefront.
The story is interesting mostly because it’s actually true. It gets a little repetitive at times, with the film following a “struggle-triumph-struggle-triumph” pattern until Milk is ultimately assassinated by a rival politician. I would have liked to see a little more evolution in the Milk character. At about the twenty-minute mark he largely becomes the gay rights crusader that he remains as until the end of the film. Penn is the one to watch here, but the other principles (Hirsch, Brolin, Franco) and the story do enough to make this truly enjoyable.
B+
Zodiac (2007)
Dir: David Fincher
Principles: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards
Another true story, also set in San Francisco, following the story of the infamous serial killer and the various attempts to discover his identity. There are some strong actors in Zodiac, but the shame is that Robert Downey Jr., the best actor in this, isn’t given enough to do. Downey plays Paul Avery and Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, San Francisco Chronicle reporters who attempt to solve the Zodiac mystery.
The film does a nice job of chronicling the Zodiac killings and the ensuing investigations into them. Some of the best moments in the film are the murders themselves, which are simulated dramatically and faithfully. Mark Ruffalo plays a nice part as the lead detective on the case.
Gyllenhaal takes it on himself to attempt and solve the killings, long after everyone else gives up, but we never really see his motivation for it. I understand it may wear on his mind that there is still a killer on the loose, but his character loses his sanity and puts his family in harm’s way in an attempt to solve the mystery. He’s just not fleshed out enough and believable enough to do this. The movie is a little long, too, clocking in at over 2 ½ hours. Not bad, not great.
C
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Dir: Wes Anderson
Principles: Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson
Despite being a big Wes Anderson fan, I had never seen this before. The Royal Tenenbaums is off-kilter and oddly humorous like all of Anderson’s films, but this one might be the richest he has made.
The Tenenbaum family is brilliant, with each troubled child, parent and family friend wonderfully constructed. Gene Hackman plays family patriarch Royal Tenenbaum, and the flashbacks to his early days of parenting are hilarious. Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ben Stiller, as the Tenenbaum children, all perform their roles with gusto. Each has had their problems stemming from Hackman’s poor parenting and abandonment, and they all do well to convey that through their characters. Angelica Huston plays the loving but often clueless mother who is saddened that she couldn’t successfully raise the kids by herself.
Anderson has a flair for creating cheerfully strange moods in his movies, and Tenenbaums finds him in his prime in this department. The music, sets, and scenery all contribute to it, but the characters are the film’s bread and butter.
There is some confusion about Hackman’s motivation when he decides to get involved in his family’s lives again. This is never adequately explained, and there are points when you may yearn for a major plot point to develop. I think what I enjoyed, however, is the voyeuristic nature of the film. We’re not only watching a dysfunctional family, we’re also watching the individuals in it put their lives together. It’s a interesting experience.
B
Boffo! Tinseltown’s Bombs and Blockbusters (2006)
Dir: Bill Couturie
Principles: Various Hollywood actors/lowlifes
If you want to see a wankfest of epic proportions, you have to see this. A “documentary” put together by HBO, this promises to be a revealing look at the ins and outs of making a movie. I was drawn to watch it because I’ve always been fascinated by Hollywood flops and I thought this might delve into that territory.
It didn’t. What I got was Hollywood executives patting each other on the back for the great “risks” they took in putting together some of the biggest hits in history.
Example: Apollo 13 producer Brian Grazer goes on and on about that film. Apparently, they only expected it to take in $30 million, and they had “no idea” it would succeed. Sounds reasonable: after all, you only took the most bankable actor of the 1990s (Tom Hanks), shot him into space in a feel good family movie, surrounded him with dependable actors (Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinice, Ed Harris), and spent tens of millions of dollars to put it together. That’s a bomb if I’ve ever heard of one. Later, we see one of the producers of Titanic echoing these sentiments with a straight face.
I expected insightful commentary on movie-making. This was anything but. An absolute waste of time.
F
John Lacey
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