Category: Reviews

  • Sign up for ‘The Internship’

    Sign up for ‘The Internship’

    Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in ‘The Internship’

    Vince Vaughn?  Check.  Owen Wilson?  Check.  Playing two slackers who don’t have successful relationships?  Check.  Will Ferrell playing a character with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all (in an uncredited cameo)?  Check.  No, not the sequel to the brilliant Wedding Crashers, but instead we have The Internship.  How do they differ?  The new release has much less raunchiness and isn’t about all about getting laid.

    Vaughn is “Billy McMahon” and Wilson is “Nick Campbell”.  They’re salesmen who have few other skills and find themselves suddenly unemployed.  As their lives crumble around them Billy has the bright idea of the duo trying to land internships at Google.  He was very impressed with what the Google campus looked like.  The fact they have no skills in computer science was a mere detail he could easily bullshit his way through.

    They get the internship and find themselves somewhere that may well surpass Disneyland in wonders and delights.  Aasif Mandvi is “Mr. Chetty”, the Director of the Intern Program and he seems to be convinced Billy and Nick don’t belong there.  They wind up teamed with team leader “Lyle” (Brener) and the others who weren’t picked to be on a team.  They are “Stuart” (O’Brien), “Neeha” (Sircar) and Yo-Yo (Raphael).  It’s also clear that their closest competition is the team being led by “Graham” (Minghella) who would crawl beneath a pregnant insect to gain an advantage in the competition.

    Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in ‘The Internship’

    For the internship is just that, a competition.  The team that wins will be the only ones guaranteed to be offered employment.  Billy and Nick seem to be a drag on their team, who are actually brilliant, but lacking confidence.  It’s easy to see they will become the team’s leaders and mentors but both the old folks and the youngsters are going to learn from one another.

    As is often the case with comedies in this era, most of the best laughs were shown off in the trailer.  At least they were paid off and not left on the cutting room floor, something audiences always seem to find extremely disappointing.  There are also a few surprises along the way, one of the best being who that guy in the headphones who almost never speaks actually is (in the film, not in real life).

    This is a film that could not have been made without the cooperation of Google.  Does that mean that the criticisms of the film as not painting an accurate picture of what life for interns at Google is really like, are valid?  It doesn’t matter.  No disclaimers accompanying the film say anything about “based on a true story” or anything else even remotely in that area.  It’s a fictional film made to induce laughs, not show the underbelly of a corporation.  You want a documentary, go see one.  This is for laughs and while there could have been more, there were enough for me.

  • ‘The Purge’ disappoints

    ‘The Purge’ disappoints

    Ethan Hawke fights to survive 'The Purge'
    Ethan Hawke fights to survive ‘The Purge’

    Welcome to the United States in the year 2022.  We have new “Founding Fathers” here in the good ole USA and they have almost completely solved the issue of crime.  364.5 days of the year that is.  But during that 12 hour period that takes place in March, The Purge takes place and it’s anything goes, anywhere, with only one limitation.  Government officials are exempted and safe from harm.

    For the affluent, no problem.  They lock themselves in behind elaborate security systems.  That’s even more necessary than one might think because during the 12 hours of the Purge, police and other emergency responders don’t answer the phone.  They don’t respond to anything.  They’re probably hunkered down in their secure buildings, or perhaps they are out hunting.  Because that’s what some people like to do.  They hunt.  Often it’s the affluent who want to kill the poor because “they don’t contribute to society”.

    The need for those security systems has made life sweet for the Sandin family.  “James” (Ethan Hawke) sells security systems and he has done quite well at it.  So much so, that he and his wife “Mary” (Lena Headey) have been able to build on a large addition to their home.  This hasn’t gone over well with his neighbors, all of whom bought their own security systems from him.  Their son “Charlie” (Max Burkholder) is an introvert who delights in sneaking up on his mother with his robot.  Daughter “Zoey” (Adelaide Kane) is seeing an older boy and it is driving her father crazy.  “Henry” (Tony Oiler) has his own plans for the night of the Purge and they do not involve staying home.

    Masked maniacs rule the night in 'The Purge'
    Masked maniacs rule the night in ‘The Purge’

    When Henry confronts Mr. Sandin, things go badly.  They get much worse when Charlie sees “Bloody Stranger” (Hodge) outside on the monitors.  He’s bleeding and crying out for help.  No one is responding.  Charlie wants to help and so he opens the security door long enough to sneak the stranger into the house.

    But the group of people who were hunting him are determined to get the stranger.  He resisted their attempt to purge him and killed one of them before getting away.  They learn that he is hiding in the Sandin home and their leader, “Polite Stranger” (Wakefield) knocks on the door.  He lets the Sandins know that if they don’t send his target outside, when ‘resources’ apply, he and his band will enter the house and purge everyone.

    The basic concept of a society that is divided into haves and have-nots, where one night a year of unbelievable murder and mayhem results in another year of freedom from crime is intriguing.  Unfortunately this promising beginning disappears into a cacophony of limited performances, clichés and unoriginal violence.  A few of the action sequences are adequate and the one thing going for The Purge is that it does manage to evoke a nice level of tension.  It isn’t awful, but it isn’t all that good either.

  • ‘Rapture Palooza’ just may enrapture the audience

    ‘Rapture Palooza’ just may enrapture the audience

    Anna Kendrick stars as "Lindsey Lewis" in 'Rapture-Palooza'
    Anna Kendrick stars as “Lindsey Lewis” in ‘Rapture-Palooza’

    Rapture Palooza from writer Chris Matheson (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and director Paul Middleditch (Separation City) is a lot like the old “Donny and Marie” TV variety show from the late 1970s.  The difference is that Donny and Marie were “a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll” and Rapture Palooza is a little bit Dogma, a little bit of Shaun of the Dead, with some stoner comic relief stirred in.

    Starring Anna Kendrick as “Lindsey” and John Francis Daley (“Bones) as her boyfriend “Ben” this is a story of what happens when those who get to church every single Sunday are finally rewarded by being ‘raptured’ up to Heaven.  Roughly a billion of them are.  Including Lindsey’s mother “Mrs. Lewis” (Gasteyer) who winds up being sent back.  Soon the entire world is yet again a dystopian nightmare where the “Anti-Christ” (Robinson) rules, sends profane crows and extremely annoying insects out to torture the remaining people.

    Craig Robinson stars as "The Beast" in 'Rapture-Palooza'
    Craig Robinson stars as “The Beast” in ‘Rapture-Palooza’

    Lindsey and Ben decide they’re going to start a little business, save some money and move out of the homes of their parents (although Ben’s mom managed to stay in Heaven), into their own place.  But those flaming rocks that fall from the sky seemingly at random ruin their plans.  No problem says Ben’s father “Mr. House” (Corddry), who is now working for the Anti-Christ.  He will secure employment for them with his boss.

    Yes, the Anti-Christ has taken up residence in Seattle and he is instantly smitten when he sees Lindsey.  He wants to marry her, so she can give him evil children.  Many evil children.  Lindsey wants nothing to do with the idea, but when he threatens to kill everyone she knows if she doesn’t marry him, she stalls for time.  Then she and Ben come up with a plan to prevent the marriage and as a bonus, save the world.  It involves using the fact that the Anti-Christ’s wraiths are extreme pot-heads, and his other guards can be distracted by the neighbor “Mr. Murphy” (Lennon).  He’s now a zombie but he doesn’t go around eating people’s brains.  Instead he has an amazingly single-minded focus on one particular task.  The question is, will the plan work?

    There are moments of Rapture Palooza that are riddled with brilliance.  Very well-written satire and the players execute those moments flawlessly.  There are also moments (only a few) where the material is nowhere near as good.  Wild inconsistency is the only reason this film doesn’t earn a rating of 4.  It’s a bit short at roughly 84 minutes and more exposition would have improved some of the characters.  It isn’t laugh out loud funny either (with a small number of exceptions), but it is smart and fun.

  • ‘The Hangover Part III’ ends franchise with a thud

    ‘The Hangover Part III’ ends franchise with a thud

    Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms in 'The Hangover Part III'
    Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms in ‘The Hangover Part III’

    In retrospect I don’t feel I came down hard enough on The Hangover Part II, but I won’t make that mistake this time. The Hangover Part III does do a couple things that the previous film should have, but at this point it’s much too little and far too late.

    The plot takes a Die Hard with a Vengeance direction. Alan (Zach Galifinakis) is being driven to a mental health treatment facility in Arizona by Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug (Justin Bartha) when they are pushed off the road and kidnapped. They are then brought before Marshall (John Goodman), a gangster who’s the boss of “Black” Doug (Mike Epps). Marshall has a score to settle with Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), who stole millions in gold from him. Chow has just busted out of jail, and with Doug taken hostage to ensure their cooperation, our trio is tasked with hunting him down.

    As Alan has maintained contact with him, they locate Chow in Tijuana. Some hijinks ensue, and he gets by them. They then track him to Las Vegas, more hijinks.

    Ken Jeong in 'The Hangover Part III'
    Ken Jeong in ‘The Hangover Part III’

    Something about the first movie that I don’t think receives enough notice for making it all work is the mystery aspect. That is to say, the various puzzle pieces they wake up to after the binge. Of course the changed plot setup doesn’t lend itself to exactly that, but there was still a chance to see them sleuth around. It never takes them any real effort in finding Chow, any of the times. This should have been the endgame the same way that finding Doug and making sense of the previous night was for the first.

    And this all leads primarily into the next problem: Chow himself. No longer used sparingly like in the previous two movies, spending more time with this character makes one realize just how annoying and grating he is.

    Usually the high point is the Alan character, and while they do try to give him some more emphasis, such emphasis really betrays the appeal. He could have been funny again, but the film makes the critical error of trying to explain him. Sure, there was always something “off” about him, but to distinctly know that he’s mentally ill and off his meds is just unnecessarily unpleasant. Remember that this is a character who is exclusively laughed at, never with.

    John Goodman in 'The Hangover Part III'
    John Goodman in ‘The Hangover Part III’

    Heather Graham comes back, and it is nice to see her again. However, after being so unceremoniously dumped from the story in Part II, there is really nothing for her to do here. Nor is there much for Melissa McCarthy, who could have made a decent surprise had the trailer not already shown her. Goodman is the diamond in the rough here, but it’s a whole lot of rough.

    Oh yeah, no Mike Tyson this time. And if he didn’t want to come back, that should really tell you something.

    We can only hope that the advertisements aren’t lying when they say that this is last movie in a trilogy that should never have been. People do know that Arrested Development just came back, right? Watch that instead.

  • ‘Now You See Me’ is definitely something to behold

    ‘Now You See Me’ is definitely something to behold

    Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco are the "Four Horsemen" in 'Now You See Me'
    Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco are the “Four Horsemen” in ‘Now You See Me’

    The Four Horsemen were/are:

    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as described in Chapter Six of the Book of Revelation.

    A group of four football players for Notre Dame in 1924 known as the Four Horsemen.

    A group of professional wrestlers that referred to themselves as the Four Horsemen.

    There are many more potential answers but none of them fit this movie’s story.  That’s because in Now You See Me, four magicians working on their own are mysteriously brought together in a dank New York City apartment and one year later, they are about to perform an astonishing illusion on one of the biggest stages in Las Vegas; and are being billed as “The Four Horsemen”.

    Mark Ruffalo as Special Agent Rhodes in 'Now You See Me'
    Mark Ruffalo as Special Agent Rhodes in ‘Now You See Me’

    There is “J. Daniel Atlas” (Eisenberg), “Henley Reeves” (Fisher) who was once his assistant, “Merritt McKinney” (Harrelson) who is more of a mentalist than a magician, and “Jack Wilder” (Franco) who idolizes the work of Atlas.  They’ve gone from obscurity to fame and now on the big stage they execute what turns out to be the first of three great illusions.  They invite an audience member chosen at random to come onstage.  He is teleported from Las Vegas into the vault of a bank in Paris, France, and suddenly three million euros in cash rains down on the audience.  They’ve robbed a bank via magic.

    Now Special Agent “Dylan Rhodes” (Ruffalo) of the FBI is called on to investigate and he gets some unwanted help in the form of an Interpol agent named “Alma Dray” (Laurent).  Also on the scene is famed debunker of magic, “Thaddeus Bradley” a former magician who has achieved much more fame exposing the tricks of other magicians.  Bradley shows them how the trick was done and now they’re off to see what will happen next, in New Orleans.

    Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine talk business in 'Now You See Me'
    Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine talk business in ‘Now You See Me’

    Michael Caine is “Arthur Tressler”, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who is producing the shows of the Four Horsemen.  He has no idea what is in store for their second big illusion in New Orleans, and no one has a clue about what the final trick, to be held in New York City will involve.  This is a good film that could have been a great film.  One problem is that the plot is so complex that it takes almost the entire 115 minute running time to make the audience understand all of what has gone on.  Add in the excellent action sequences and there is just no time for any serious amount of character development.  We know so little about the Four Horsemen other than they are on a quest and they don’t know who or what is actually behind it.  The star-studded cast still does a terrific job of overcoming these one-dimensional characters, so much so that you actually care if they succeed or not.

    It also manages to reinforce one of the truisms of magic.  The closer you look, the more easily you are deceived.  Don’t be fooled here, Now You See Me is definitely worth seeing.

  • ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ fails horribly by not boldly going somewhere new

    ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ fails horribly by not boldly going somewhere new

    The U.S.S. Enterprise burns and falls to Earth in 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
    The U.S.S. Enterprise burns and falls to Earth in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    The Star Trek series of films has become known for having an even-odd rule.  If it’s an even-numbered entry, it’s a good one. If not, then no such luck. Into Darkness is the 12th in the franchise. According to my calculator, 12 is divisible by 2 with no remainder, which would mean that it’s an even number.

    Except this one is no good.

    Star Trek Into Darkness provides nothing to justify its existence. It’s a sequel for the sake of a sequel with no desire to boldly go where none have gone before.

    PHOTOS: Stills and poster art from ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    I really cannot address why this film is terrible without spoiling things. So if for some reason you don’t want to be spoiled, well, you see that single ticket icon at the top of the page, right? That’s all you need to know. The movie sucks, stay away, thanks for reading, see you next time.

    Alright, now for those of you still here, this is the big faux pas that pretty much unravels it all: “John Harrison”(Benedict Cumberbatch) is Khan. As in Khan Noonien Singh, as in not a white guy. Oh yes, I’m about to go there again.

    Benedict Cumberbatch plays Khan in 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
    Benedict Cumberbatch plays Khan in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    Even though Ricardo Montalban – the actor for whom this is arguably his best-known role next to Fantasy Island – was not Indian, the choice for him in casting made it clear that this character is a brown man. The casting of Cumberbatch in this iconic role is flat-out horrifying. This franchise has had social progress and diversity as a central part of its very foundation. The original show made history with the first interracial kiss on television, in case you didn’t know.

    I’ll link out to a great piece if you want to hear some more on this (http://www.racebending.com/v4/featured/star-trek-whiteness/), but suffice it to say Gene Roddenberry has to be rolling in his capsule.

    It’s worth noting here that this character was the adversary faced in the franchise’s second film The Wrath of Khan (1982) (and appeared in the Original Series‘ episode, “Space Seed”), which is regarded as the best of the series (at least for the original crew; how it stacks up with First Contact is a discussion for another time). So anything even attempting this territory is not going to come out well by comparison. And unfortunately, the similarities don’t end there.

    Ricardo Montalban played Khan in the Star Trek episode, 'Space Seed,' then later in 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'
    Ricardo Montalban played Khan in the Star Trek episode, ‘Space Seed,’ then later in ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’

    They didn’t just rip the bad guy from The Wrath of Khan, but the whole final act. Seriously. It all plays out virtually the same, save for one alteration that feels like a mere gimmick to change it up a little, especially when whatever emotional impact it could have had is undone. Not to mention the signature moments (that “Khan!” yell is back, big shocker there) being pathetically retreaded in what can only be a very poor idea of fan service.

    As for what preceded to setup this redundancy, nothing special. It mainly concerns a corrupt Starfleet Admiral (Peter Weller) playing both sides to set into motion a war which he thinks was bound to happen anyway. Yawn. By the way, what is up with the Admiral speaking with an American accent, but his daughter Carol (Alice Eve) speaking with a British one? No wonder they fouled up the rest if they couldn’t even catch that.

    I don’t know what possessed the filmmakers to try to redo one of the franchise’s shining moments so shamelessly. But be it severe laziness, severe arrogance, or severe stupidity, they failed. It’s alarming that the director is the guy being trusted with the next Star Wars. Is Episode VII just going to be a dumb repeat of The Empire Strikes Back? Is a white guy going to play Lando Calrissian?

    Back to the numbers rule, we can only hope that that has reversed and the inevitable number 13 will prove to be lucky and we’ll get a film that shows respect for and understanding of Roddenberry’s vision. Choosing not to blatantly rip off a much better movie helps too.

  • ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ shines new light on the franchise’s rebooting

    ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ shines new light on the franchise’s rebooting

    Zachary Quinto returns at Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk in 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
    Zachary Quinto returns at Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    For those who love the Star Trek universe, there is good news and bad news.  The bad news is that writers Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof are going where others have gone before.  The good news is that it worked and in fact, it works well.

    Star Trek Into Darkness, unlike the 2009 reboot of the film version of the franchise, gives us a villain from TOS.  It brings back all of the principal cast from the reboot, although the alternative timeline that reboot established has progressed a bit.  Captain Kirk is now in command of the Enterprise, with Spock having chosen to be his first officer.  They are involved with a difficult mission and as usual, Kirk ignores the Prime Directive in order to serve what he considers a more important goal.

    PHOTOS: Stills and poster art from ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    As a result, he is removed from command and Admiral Pike is given “the chair” back, although he has insisted that Kirk serve as his first officer.  Spock has been transferred to another ship and it seems like Kirk will get a second chance someday.  Then a tragedy takes place.  A library archive in London is blown up by a Starfleet officer, only not everything is as it appears.  The archive isn’t an archive and “Admiral Marcus” (Weller) holds a meeting of all starship commanders and first officers currently on Earth at Starfleet HQ in San Francisco.  The meeting is brazenly attacked by “Commander John Harrison” (Cumberbatch) although eventually his real identity will be unveiled.  Kirk is given back command of the Enterprise, Spock is reinstated as first officer and they are sent to kill Commander Harrison who has hidden somewhere that Starfleet should not be going.

    Alice Eve strips down as Dr. Carol Marcus in 'Star Trek Into Darkness'
    Alice Eve strips down as Dr. Carol Marcus in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

    A new science officer “Carol Marcus” (Eve) transfers aboard the Enterprise just before it departs to hunt down Harrison. The question is will Kirk do as he is ordered, or will something else happen?

    Were this not a science-fiction film, which are almost universally overlooked during the process of choosing the winners of Oscars, Benedict Cumberbatch would be a serious contender not just to get named one of five.  He might well have a chance of taking home the gold.  Considering the iconic actor whose role he is taking, he manages to not just make it his own; but to shine like a supernova in it.  Newcomer to the series, Alice Eve is excellent in her somewhat limited role and Peter Weller shows he still has the chops that made him be “Robocop”.  The core cast are just fine, perfectly chosen for their roles as they were in the reboot.  The film is taut and J.J. Abrams can always be counted on to deliver edge of the seta action.  There are things I could nitpick about, but this is Star Trek in its only current incarnation and that alone gives it a lot of slack.  Especially when it comes to minor things.  See it on a big screen, where the visual and audio experience will be on display at its finest.

  • ‘White Frog’ is an interesting look at Asperger’s

    ‘White Frog’ is an interesting look at Asperger’s

    Booboo Stewart, Joan Chen and B.D. Wong in a family moment in 'White Frog'
    Booboo Stewart, Joan Chen and B.D. Wong in a family moment in ‘White Frog’

    White Frog is the story of a young teen with Asperger’s Syndrome and how he deals with his condition in the wake of a family tragedy.  “Nick Young” (Booboo Stewart) struggles with his condition but thanks to his very close relationship with his brother “Chaz” (Harry Shum, Jr.), he gets by.  Chaz watches out for Nick and cares for him very much.

    There is an incident where one of Chaz’s friends insults Nick and as a result, Chaz doesn’t go with his friend to their usual Friday night festivities.  Instead he stays with Nick until he has calmed down and then heads out to join his friends on his bike.  Suddenly we’re at a funeral and Chaz is being laid to rest.  His mother (Joan Chen) falls apart which is not surprising.  We live in a world where no parent should outlive a child.  His father (BD Wong) doesn’t seem to be doing as badly although he seemingly finds solace solely in his faith.

    But Nick is crushed.  Chaz always had his back.  Chaz treated him like a big brother would treat his little brother, with much love and affection.  Now that’s gone.  When his mother rids the house of any reminder of Chaz, Nick has an even more difficult time.  Fortunately, “Doug” (Tyler Posey), one of Chaz’s friends sees that Nick is not doing well and responds by doing something he wouldn’t do before.  He invites Nick into his world, the world where Chaz hung out with Doug and friends; a world that Nick had always wanted to enter and was never able to.  Nick also finds some healing energy at the “Firehouse”, a ‘safe place’ that Chaz spent a lot of time at.

    Director Quentin Lee makes interesting films (Ethan Mao, The People I’ve Slept With) but this isn’t his best work.  Asperger’s is a powerful theme to explore in a film; however, perhaps seeing how a person with this condition deals with the emotional trauma of losing a loved one isn’t the best way to delve into the topic.  The added complication of Chaz’s “secret” being revealed and how his family reacts on learning about it is a nice touch and the dry language and guidance of “Dr. King” (Amy Hill) is very effective.  But stellar talents like BD Wong and Joan Chen are mostly wasted in their relatively minor roles.   Stewart is excellent in portraying the emotional distance and inability to communicate and form relationships with people that those who are born with this still mysterious affliction.   The film is a bit slow but given the emotional gravity of the subject matter, that’s understandable.

    This isn’t a bad film but it is a movie that could have been a lot better.

  • ‘The Great Gatsby’ comes to the big screen…again

    ‘The Great Gatsby’ comes to the big screen…again

    Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in 'The Great Gatsby'
    Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in ‘The Great Gatsby’

    The Great Gatsby is actually the fifth time that the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel has been adapted as a motion picture (history of the other four later).  Any conversation about “the Great American novel” must include Fitzgerald’s most successful tome, although many will offer other possibilities for that particular label.

    Writer/director Baz Luhrmann brings his particular brand of spectacle and visual excess to this story that is almost mandatory reading for any American high school student.  In case no one is familiar with the story, “Nick Carraway” (Maguire) has come to fictional West Egg, New York (a NYC location on Long Island) to become a bond trader on Wall Street in the pre-Wall Street crash 1920s.  He moves into a small house next door to the enormous and well-appointed mansion of one “Jay Gatsby” (DiCaprio).  Nick’s cousin “Daisy Buchannan” lives across the bay in East Egg with her husband “Tom” (Edgerton) who comes from old money.

    Everything seems hunky-dory and Daisy wants to fix Nick up with her good friend, “Jordan Baker” (Debicki) an amateur golfer who is known for being a “fast” woman who is also somewhat loose with the truth.  But there are layers and layers of secrets.  Tom is having an affair with “Myrtle Wilson” (Fisher), the wife of the garage/gas station owner “George Wilson” (Clarke) and it turns out that Jay Gatsby bought this mansion because it had a view of his long-lost love, Daisy.  He wants her back and he needs Nick’s help to arrange a meeting.

    Tobey Maguire and Elizabeth Debicki in 'The Great Gatsby'
    Tobey Maguire and Elizabeth Debicki in ‘The Great Gatsby’

    For the most part, the acting is superb.  DiCaprio doesn’t channel the performance of Robert Redford, who portrayed Gatsby in 1974, but instead puts his own stamp on the character.  While Luhrmann’s script may have over-used Gatsby’s catchphrase of “old sport” a few times too many, it doesn’t detract from the acting on display.   Mulligan, who wowed us in 2009’s An Education, is perfectly cast in the role of Daisy, giving the audience both the vulnerability and ultimately fickle nature as Fitzgerald wrote the character.  Toby Maguire is bland, but since Nick Carraway is supposed to be bland, he works well in the role.  And Joel Edgerton is terrific as the blunt, crass Tom Buchannan.

    What doesn’t work is that Luhrmann provides an interpretation rather than an adaptation of the novel.  Parts of the story that are important are not to be seen and he adds things that were not in the final version of Fitzgerald’s work that was handed to his publisher.  I read somewhere that Luhrmann had access to an earlier draft from Fitzgerald and maybe the changes came from that draft.  I just know they didn’t work for me.  Further, the “spectacle” that marks his films is a bit much here, detracting from the tenderness of the love stories that involve people married to people they would rather not be married to.

    Personally, I prefer the 1974 version, and am not a fan of the 2000 made for TV version that was quite unremarkable in its presentation.  The first film version of the story was actually released in 1926, only a year after the novel’s publication.  It was a silent film and today the only trace of its existence that remains is a trailer for the movie at the National Archives.  Another version was done in 1949, starring Alan Ladd and Shelley Winters, but it is presently almost impossible to view.

    However, I can recommend this version, as the acting alone makes it worth seeing.  Plus, if you like Luhrmann’s penchant for excess, you will enjoy his version of The Great Gatsby.

  • ‘Erased’ seems derivative and generic, but deserves a deeper look

    ‘Erased’ seems derivative and generic, but deserves a deeper look

    Aaron Eckhart and Liana Liberato are father/daughter in 'Erased'
    Aaron Eckhart and Liana Liberato are father/daughter in ‘Erased’

    A fan of espionage thriller films will see a lot that is familiar in Erased.  Echoes of Bourne, Taken, Three Days of the Condor, and more can be found during its fast-paced 100 minutes.  An unoriginal story, with generic villains, it would be easy to dismiss this as just another failed thriller.  That would be wrong.

    Director Stolzl (North Face) and first-time writer Amel make this a tight, tension-fraught thriller where a man’s moral convictions must be faced in order to save the daughter he loves without reservation.  Aaron Eckhart is “Ben Logan”, an expatriate (the film’s original title was “The Expatriate”) living in Belgium and working as a security consultant for a division of the large arms dealer conglomerate Halgate.  His daughter Amy is now living with him after a long period during which they were estranged.

    He works in a nice office and one day arrives there to find everything gone.  Totally gone.  All records of his employer have been obliterated.  So have many of his co-workers, whose bodies he eventually finds in the morgue.  An attempt on his life forces him to go on the run in order to protect himself and his daughter.

    "Ben Logan" and his daughter "Amy Logan" looking for any sign that his former employer ever existed
    “Ben Logan” and his daughter “Amy Logan” looking for any sign that his former employer ever existed

    The already difficult relationship between the two is strained much further when Ben is forced to admit to Amy that he was really a highly-trained assassin working for the CIA before he realized what he was doing was wrong.  The efficient way at which he dispatched the bad guys trying to kill them had told her something wasn’t quite right and now she knows his deep dark secret.  “Anna Brandt” (Kurylenko) works for both the CIA and Halgate and is dispatched to Brussels to help bring Logan in.  She knows him very well as they have a past.  Ben must locate the information Halgate is willing to kill for, in order to have a chance at survival for himself and Amy.  Brandt will use her knowledge of Ben Logan to help deliver him into the arms of Halgate in order to cover up her involvement in the scheme that Ben might unravel.

    Aaron Eckhart is an actor with great range.  Having just done a role in Olympus where he did very little in terms of physicality but delivered a very large range of emotions, in Erased he portrays the role of lethal deliverer of death with a cold, calculating manner that is very realistic.  He gave up killing because his conscience would let him kill no more, but to save the life of his daughter, he will stop at nothing.  Liana Liberato was only 15 when this was filmed, but she portrayed the maturity of a teen who lived through a long period of separation from a parent with conviction.  There scenes together ring true.

    The action is intense and frequent.  But Ben Logan isn’t a superhero who never gets hit and always wins his fights easily.  He is more of a Timex type, taking a licking but keeps on ticking.  He wins every fight in the end, because he has more to fight for.  That is Erased.  It’s tough enough to be worth the choice to see it.