Tag: Julianne Moore

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’ brings franchise to an epic close

Jennifer Lawrence in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ends with Peeta (Hutcherson) trying to choke the life out of Katniss (Lawrence) who has become the Mockingjay, symbol of the rebellion against President Snow (Sutherland) and the capitol of Panem. Part 2 begins with Katniss recovering from that assault and the rebels attempting to undo what had been done to Peeta. He’d been tortured and brainwashed using the venom of tracker-jackers.

Alma Coin (Moore) is the leader of the rebellion and she has plans to take the capital. It involves destroying the capital’s weapons supply stored in District 2, followed by a direct assault on the capital. The game-makers who work for President Snow have made the second phase of this plan extremely difficult, hiding multiple pods all through the outer edges of the capital. These pods contain highly lethal, extremely diabolical booby traps.

Katniss’ role in President Coin’s plan is to be the face of the rebellion through shooting propaganda films while she is safely ensconced in District 13. But she sneaks out to get to join the rebel forces just outside the capital. She plans to somehow get through to where President Snow is and kill him herself. Once she reaches the rebel staging area, she finds herself attached to a squad with Gale (Hemsworth) and Finnick (Clafin). Led by Boggs (Ali) with Lieutenant Jackson (Phillips) as the second in command, the squad’s job is to shoot those propaganda films but within the capital. They are heavily armed and have a holo that has the most up to date map of the pods the rebels have. The question is, can they make it safely through the capital to the center of the city where President Snow’s palace lies. But much lies ahead for Katniss and her squad members as they try to move through the city.

Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’

For those who have read the book, they know the story and what happens in the city. The main plot points of the novel are present in the film. The action is intense and some of the violence may disquiet members of an audience who are a little more squeamish than others. Even if you haven’t read the book, you know that not all of the members of Katniss’ squad will survive the mission. The question is who will, and why. And what will happen at the climactic moment.

A dystopian future, a struggle between the haves and the have-nots and much more of what is here is typical of many films of the last ten years or so. What made these films different was the struggle of the annual Hunger Games, and here that is barely present in the battle of Katniss and her squad to battle through the defenses of the capital. The difference is that they are fighting machines and game-maker constructs, rather than other tributes. It isn’t as satisfying.

Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most talented actresses of her generation and she’s been recognized for it. Here she’s stuck with a role that’s already been defined by three prior films and is therefore somewhat limited. But she still makes the most of it. The acting by all is good, the visuals and special effects are extremely pleasing to watch and the running time of two hours and 17 minutes seems to fly by.

November 23, 2015
‘Freeheld’ tells an important story, but doesn’t do that story justice

Julianne Moore and Ellen Page in ‘Freeheld’

In the United States, only New Jersey labels its county legislators as “freeholders” and this is a film about what the freeholders who ran Ocean County did to one of its long-time county employees.

Laurel Hester (Moore) had been a detective with the county police force for more than two decades before she was diagnosed with late stage cancer. Laurel had met and fallen in love with Stacie Andree (Page) years earlier. The two had registered with the state as domestic partners. While the county’s negotiated contract with the police force did not call for domestic partners to be covered by any of their benefits programs, in 2004 the state legislature had enacted a domestic partnership act. It mandated such benefits for state employees and allowed other employers to grant these benefits.

Freeheld tells the story of how Laurel, a very private woman, met and fell in love with Stacie. How they came to live together and form their bond. In the film it is Stacie who notices Laurel grimacing in pain and insists she seek medical help. For Laurel, once she has been told she has Stage IV cancer in her lungs, she is on a mission to accomplish one thing. Gain equality of treatment, so that her pension will go to Stacie. This is the only way Stacie can stay in the house the two of them restored.

They are aided and abetted in this task by two very different men. One of them is her partner, Detective Dane Wells (Shannon) a very straight, very conservative man who doesn’t care that his partner is a lesbian. The other is Steven Goldstein (Carrell) a self-described “gay Jewish lawyer” who founded Garden State Equality, a group focused on equality for the LGBT community.

Steve Carell as Steven Goldstein in ‘Freeheld’

The five county Freeholders consider and deny Laurel’s request in a private meeting. Bryan Kelder (Charles) is the newest Freeholder and he wants to support the request, but is pressured by the others. Once the request is denied, Steven enters the picture and ratchets up the heat on the Freeholders by bringing in protesters. As Laurel’s condition worsens, time becomes their biggest enemy. Can they convince the Freeholders to reverse a decision for the first time in well over a century?

The cast all give wonderful performances. It is especially nice to see Skipp Sudduth, late of NBC’s Third Watch police procedural given a chance to show his talents on the big screen. Moore and Page are amazing, bringing two real people to life, near mirror-images of the real Laurel Hastert and Stacie Andree in the 2007 short documentary film on which this film is based.

Sadly, the film itself has very uneven pacing. The first two acts wander aimlessly, before the much better third act rescues what is left of the nearly two hour film. The true story of Laurel Hastert and her grace under the enormous pressure of her dual struggles with a terminal illness and the intransigent stance of conservative politicians deserved a better telling.

October 6, 2015
‘Don Jon’ is blunt, brutal and brilliant

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson in ‘Don Jon’

“Don Martello” (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a chip off of the old block in a number of ways. He is grounded. He cares about his family, his car, his apartment, his male friends, his church, the women he sleeps with and most importantly, his internet porn. This is a story of a man obsessed and how he chooses to deal with that obsession will shape his future.

He and his buddies frequent nightclubs in search of women and if they aren’t at least an eight on their rating scale, Don isn’t interested. Nor is he interested in anything more than a one night experience, especially since he finds masturbating to internet porn so much more satisfying than he does having sex with a woman. Except of course, as he explains in narration, whenever he’s close to the moment of climax and the porn clip he is using as inspiration cuts to a shot of the male actor doing it to the female that is the object of Don’s desire. Then he loses interest.

Scarlett Johansson in ‘Don Jon’

All is well until he meets “Barbara” (Scarlett Johansson) one night. She’s a solid 10 and for her, Don is willing to do things differently. Take it slow, go by her schedule. Of course once he’s nailed her he will move on, or so he thinks. But he’s fascinated by her as she slowly wraps him around her little finger. Eventually they begin having sex. Then she discovers him doing his porn thing and she makes him promise to never do it again. A promise he can’t keep; however, he rationalizes that lying to her about it is okay. As we see her exerting more and more influence over his life it is obvious that he’s going to get busted and soon.

One of his classmates at the local community college that Barbara convinced him to attend in order to improve his lot in life also catches him watching porn, on his smartphone. “Esther” (Julianne Moore) has no problem with it and the two begin to communicate just a bit. When Barbara discovers that Don has been lying about breaking his promise, she dumps him. The best part of the film is the journey of self-discovery that he goes on from this point, with some help from Esther.

Julianne Moore and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are classmates in ‘Don Jon’

It’s a solid debut for a first-time writer/director, even more worthy of note when you add in the fact he was in charge both in front of and behind the lens. Most actors can direct others but don’t do so well at directing themselves. The exceptions, like Clint Eastwood and Kenneth Branagh (there are others) tend to stand out and it looks like Gordon-Levitt may belong on that short list. Johansson is solid, Tony Danza memorable as Don’s father and Julianne Moore is exception in the most layered character in the film. A very promising initial effort from Gordon-Levitt and hopefully he will only improve.

November 1, 2013
‘Children of Men’

Clive Owen stars in a bleak future in ‘Children of Men’

I’m not sure what it says about this critic, but Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, a gloomy look at a dystopian future, is one the most exciting films I have seen in some time.

Children is loosely based (by no fewer than five scribes: Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby) on the P.D. James novel set in a 2027 London beset by illness, environmental ruin and infertility. (Yes, it sounds like a downer, but trust me — it picks up.) Clive Owen is perfectly cast as Theo, an erstwhile political activist who has turned silent when he is approached by his former lover, Julian (Julianne Moore). Julian is an underground agent, working to aid immigrants escape the myriad prison camps set up by the totalitarian state. Julian enlists Theo’s assistance to transport Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) across the country. Kee, you see, is carrying a very big secret. One that may significantly alter the human race.

Though there are echoes of Blade Runner, Brazil and The Road Warrior, Cuarón’s keen eye makes this a revisionist tale in every sense. Theo is as much of an anti-hero as can be (he wears sandals for half of the picture!) and no character, whether it be Julian or Jasper, Theo’s drugged-out friend (played marvelously by Michael Caine, who I presumed laughed all the way to the bank on this one) or Nigel (Danny Huston), Theo’s powerful cousin, fits in the story exactly as one might presume they would. Owen is terrific. Theo never has much of a chance to question the circumstances with which he finds himself caught up, he must simply roll with the punches, and Owen’s droll demeanor has a way of cutting right through the most perilous of sequences.

Cuarón’s visual choices are most daring when it comes to the work of his longtime cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. With them, what you do not see is as innovative from a cinematic standpoint as what you do. For example, there is not a single close-up in the movie. Instead, Lubezki balances out both character and setting in his shots. Other shots involve a great deal of sleight-of-hand, including one 12-minute scene involving a car ride that is easy enough to dismiss until one realizes that the entire scene appears to have been shot in a single take. A later scene that lasts almost as long in one of the refugee camps also looks as though it only took one take to shoot. Though they never call attention to themselves, these are achievements worth mentioning, and I imagine that they involved a good deal of improvisation on the part of Owen and the rest of the cast.

Dismal and futile as it is, Children is one great big booster shot to cinematic ennui.

January 28, 2007