Category: Reviews

  • Make ‘The Call’, you’ll be really glad you did

    Make ‘The Call’, you’ll be really glad you did

    Halle Berry as "Jordan" in 'The Call'
    Halle Berry as “Jordan” in ‘The Call’

    Originally titled The Hive, The Call is the story of an emergency services dispatcher who makes a decision that she believes led to the death of a young woman and how she copes with it when a similar situation takes place later on.

    “Jordan Turner” (Berry) is an experienced dispatcher who is considered to be good at her job.  She dates a LAPD cop “Paul Phillips” (Chestnut) and seems to handle the high-stress level of her job fairly well.  Until the fateful day she takes a call from a young woman who is home alone when a man breaks in.  The connection is broken after Jordan has told the woman to hide under the bed, and she hits “re-dial” to get her back on the line.  The man hears the phone ringing and it being answered promptly just as he was about to leave.  He turns around, finds the girl and out of the audience’s view, kills her.

    Six months later, Jordan is no longer working the dispatch console.  Instead she’s training newly hired dispatchers and taking them on a tour of the “Hive”.  One of her former trainees has “Casey Welson” (Breslin) on the line and isn’t able to handle the situation.  She’s calling on a “burn phone” which can’t be easily traced.   Jordan takes over the call and things start happening.  It turns out that Casey is in the trunk of a car being driven by the man who kidnapped her from the parking structure of a mall.  She is very scared and panicking.

    A terrified Abigail Breslin in a scene from 'The Call'
    A terrified Abigail Breslin in a scene from ‘The Call’

    The search is on.  Officer Phillips and his partner “Jake” (Otunga) seem to be anywhere and everywhere as things happen.  The shot from the trailer where Casey pushes out the taillight of the car is paid off, and eventually the kidnapper is forced to switch vehicles.  Eventually his identity is uncovered, but no one has any idea where he is taking Casey.

    Most of what happens in this film is derivative of other films; Cellular in particular, and the influence of other movies can be seen.  It is also fairly predictable.  The presence of the same two patrol officers all over the entire Southern California area requires serious suspension of disbelief.  But that’s all forgetabble because director Brad Anderson manages to inject a surprisingly strong amount of tension into The Call.  For almost the entire film, the audience is held firmly in the film’s grip, wondering when the predictable will take place.  This predictability isn’t helped by too much of some of the key shots involving people other than Casey having been revealed in the film’s trailer.  The resolution is surprising and the one unexpected thing in this thriller.  Berry and Breslin are both very good in this, as is Roma Maffia in her role as Jordan’s supervising dispatcher in the Hive.

    You will want to make The Call.

  • ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’ is sweet candy for the eyes

    ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’ is sweet candy for the eyes

    Mila Kunis and James Franco in 'Oz: The Great and Powerful'
    Mila Kunis and James Franco in ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’

    Not quite 113 years ago, a name named L. Frank Baum saw his novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” published. In 1939, the story was made into a movie that has remained a classic for more than 70 years.  The scene where the Wizard of Oz departs in a balloon near the end is indelibly etched into the collective consciousness of people who began viewing this film as children.  Now, a ‘prequel’ has come to the big screen.

    Oz The Great and Powerful tells the story of just how the famed Emerald City came to be home to a wizard.  The story begins at a carnival in the early 1900s where “Oz” (James Franco) is toiling away as a magician who has some imaginative illusions for the era.  However he makes little money, has no real goals, and spends much of his time and effort engaged in womanizing.

    He is forced to flee in a hot-air balloon due to some of that womanizing and encounters a storm of epic proportions.  When his balloon finally crashes, he finds himself in an amazing land that bears no resemblance to the only world he’s known to this point.  It is there that he meets “Theodora” (Mila Kunis), who is one of the daughters of the land’s former ruler.  There has been a prophecy that a great wizard will come to the land and free the inhabitants from the tyranny of an evil witch.  Once he has killed the witch, he will become ruler of the Emerald City, which has uncounted riches locked away in its treasure room.

    An avaricious sort, Oz isn’t eager to tangle with a witch; but following a conversation with Theodora’s elder sister “Evenora” (Rachel Weisz), he’s off to kill the witch.  He’s accompanied by a flying monkey “Finley” (Zach Braff), whose life he saved, and a “China Girl” (Joey King), who Oz and Finley found in the wreckage of the China village.

    Only things aren’t as they seem.

    It turns out that “Glinda” (Michelle Williams) is a good witch and also one of the three daughters of the king.  Evenora is the evil one and she wants to be the ruler of the land.  Glinda is the last obstacle in the way.  Thus far neither can overcome the other, but when Evenora convinces Theodora that Oz has betrayed her, they join forces.  Now it will take an enormous effort by the Munchkins, the Tinkers and the Quadlings to defeat the vastly stronger army of the Emerald City.

    Franco makes a decent Oz but it is the three women who provide prodigious performances in their juicy roles.  The transformation of Theodora’s nature is where Kunis shines brightly.  Bill Cobbs, a talented actor some may recognize from his reoccurring role on the TV show JAG, makes an excellent “Master Tinker”.  Sam Raimi’s influences can be seen in the film and they make what would have been just a good film better.

    But the real stars of this film are the amazing visuals.  Gorgeous colors, amazing effects and more will captivate the audience.  Pay the extra money and see this in IMAX 3D. It is definitely worth it.

  • ‘Dead Man Down’ might have survived if the script had died first

    ‘Dead Man Down’ might have survived if the script had died first

    Colin Farrell as "Viktor" in 'Dead Man Down' checking out a new weapon
    Colin Farrell as “Viktor” in ‘Dead Man Down’ checking out a new weapon

    “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, first you dig two graves” – Confucius

    Dead Man Down is a tale of revenge.  It is actually the story of two people, both seeking vengeance.

    “Viktor” (Farrell) is a hired gun who works for “Alphonse” (Howard), who runs a criminal enterprise that is never fully defined for the audience.  We learn that he manages buildings that are home to illicit enterprises, but who the actual owners are, or more specifics about what goes on in these buildings (and more that are being sought out) remains a bit of a mystery.

    Someone is trying to drive Alphonse crazy with fragments of photographs and other mind-games, before the body of one of his closest associates turns up in a freezer in his house.  That leads to a visit to a drug dealer Alphonse now suspects of being behind the messages.  The visit goes bad and turns into a shoot-out and just when it seems certain Alphonse will die, Viktor saves him.   In doing so, he earns the gratitude and trust of Alphonse.

    Noomi Rapace is a woman with a dark past in 'Dead Man Down'
    Noomi Rapace is a woman with a dark past in ‘Dead Man Down’

    Viktor lives alone and across the way he often waves to a pretty girl standing in her window.  She is “Beatrice” (Rapace), whose face was badly damaged by a drunk driver.  She and Viktor go out to get to know one another, but it turns out she knows a lot about him.  Including the fact she has video of him killing someone in his apartment.  She offers him a difficult choice.  Kill the drunk driver who damaged her, or she will inform on him.  He agrees.  But he says it will take time and she doesn’t appear to be patient.

    Who Viktor really is, and what he really wants to do with Alphonse, becomes apparent somewhat early on, removing most of the suspense.  It remains only to identify all of the players, the specifics of Viktor’s grievance and how his relationship with Beatrice will resolve itself in light of his fatalistic approach to achieving his objectives.

    This is a first rate cast.  Isabelle Huppert provides some welcome relief from the usual dreary background of revenge stories, portraying “Valentine”, the hearing-impaired but highly amusing mother of Beatrice.  But aside from her, the characters in Dead Man Down are not well-developed or thought out.  Nor is their lack of development helped by the ho-hum storyline and fairly unimaginative action sequences. Considering that The Mexican was a much better script, this follow-up from screenwriter J.H. Wyman is a disappointment.

    Stu Bennett, much more familiar by his ‘ring’ name of Wade Barrett, is wasted in a thug role.  Farrell, Rapace and Howard give it their all and do some fine work but it simply isn’t enough to overcome all of the flaws.  The brilliant F. Murray Abraham is wasted in a very minor role that he delivers with his usual panache.

    Sadly, Dead Man Down died before arrival in theaters.

  • ‘No’ is a film that you should definitely say YES to

    ‘No’ is a film that you should definitely say YES to

    Gael Garcia Bernal fights to end General Pinochet's reign in 'No'
    Gael Garcia Bernal fights to end General Pinochet’s reign in ‘No’

    In 1973, General Augosto Pinochet seized control of Chile in a coup d’etat and seven years later attempted to give his dictatorship a legal framework and a modicum of legitimacy through a 1980 plebiscite that put a new Constitution into effect.  There have been questions about the legitimacy of that vote ever since, but the new Constitution gave Pinochet eight years to rule before another plebiscite would be held.

    No is the story of that 1988 election and the campaign that was created to get people to vote for No, and bring Pinochet’s rule to an end.  Based on an unpublished play, No is a superb drama that manages to evoke laughter at just the right moments.

    Gael Garcia Bernal is “Rene Saavedra” a marketing genius working for an agency in Chile.  His employer “Lucho Guzman” (Castro) doesn’t like that Rene is going to put his considerable talents in using media to send a message to work for the “No” campaign.  He dislikes it so much he ends up working for the “Yes” campaign.  He also keeps tabs on Rene’s activities for the government.

    Gael Garcia Bernal in 'No'
    Gael Garcia Bernal in ‘No’

    The various factions that have united to support “No” can’t agree on much.  But many of them agree they don’t like Rene’s methods and the messages he wants to use to convince people to vote No.  He wants “happy” advertisements.  He doesn’t want to use sobering, graphic illustrations of what the Pinochet regime has done to the people and how they’ve suffered greatly under his rule.  After all, while the economy improved during his regime, the human rights violations that Pinochet were responsible for were horrific.

    Bernal is brilliant in his portrayal of Rene.  His passion for what he is doing shows in his words, in his actions and in his facial expressions.  It’s a tremendous performance that stands out, even in a filmography as distinguished as his.  The writing is excellent and the use of humor is done with a very deft touch.

    No is a fictionalized account but the enormity of the victory the “No” campaign enjoyed cannot be overstated.  Even in the aftermath, which is not shown in the film, Pinochet and his minions pushed through legislation to keep the regime that would succeed them from engaging in prosecution of Pinochet and his followers.  Worse yet, they made sure that Pinochet would be appointed “Senator for Life”.  Still, it was a tremendous victory for the people of Chile and a major step forward.  No captures this quite well.

  • ‘Greedy Lying Bastards’ – the story the mainstream media won’t tell

    ‘Greedy Lying Bastards’ – the story the mainstream media won’t tell

    Writer/director Craig Scott Rosebraugh in a field devastated by drought in 'Greedy Lying Bastards'
    Writer/director Craig Scott Rosebraugh in a field devastated by drought in ‘Greedy Lying Bastards’

    Greedy Lying Bastards is part of a story that the U.S. “mainstream media” refuses to report, or has no interest in reporting.  It is about climate change, but more importantly, about how those who profit from the status quo environmentally are engaged in a systematic campaign to deny that climate change is taking place.

    Directed by first-time director Craig Scott Rosebraugh and executive produced by actress and noted environmental activist Darryl Hannah, Greedy Lying Bastards shows very graphically how climate change is altering the landscape of our lives.  Drought, wildfires, systematic increases in the numbers and strength of tropical cyclones are on the rise.  Meanwhile, one arm of the media gives a bully pulpit to those trying to claim that the real scientists are wrong on the issue.

    Now the moment the film makes mention of the Koch Brothers, some will leap to the conclusion that the title is pointed squarely at them.  Rosebraugh told Tail Slate that it is actually aimed at everyone involved in and profiting from the effort to deny climate change is occurring.  “I don’t know if it’s advertising revenues or just a case of ideology, but Fox News gives lots of air-time to the people who offer theories about these issues that were debunked long ago by real scientists.

    The New Jersey shore was left in ruins after Hurricane Sandy
    The New Jersey shore was left in ruins after Hurricane Sandy

    In fact, three of the leading climatologists out there appear in the film.  Dr. Peter Tans is a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Michael Mann is the director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center and Dr. Kevin Trenberth is a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.  Their credentials are impeccable.  The same cannot be said of the talking heads that the oil industry and others who want to argue that our climate is not changing.  They lack credentials.  They lack a scientific basis for their claims.  And they do not lack in money from the Koch Brothers and big oil.

    Those who would lose money from any real effort to deal with this problem are willing to spend to maintain things as they are.  The Koch Brothers have spent nearly $70 million in the last 15 years supporting phony groups that claim to be working to preserve the environment while in fact doing the exact opposite.  Exxon-Mobil has spent nearly $30 million on the same agenda.  Greedy Lying Bastards documents all of this and does so with a tremendously effective visual presentation.  It makes excellent use of graphics, charts and would have been an excellent primer for H. Ross Perot prior to his abysmal use of such things in his presidential campaigns.

    A house is left in ruins in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, as seen in 'Greedy Lying Bastards'
    A house is left in ruins in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, as seen in ‘Greedy Lying Bastards’

    Viewers may agree or disagree about the film’s take on one of the major U.S. Supreme Court decisions thus far this century, Citizens United v FEC, but the film offers an effective argument to overturn it.  It also makes the point that as long as elections are “for sale” in this nation, people are always going to be trying to buy them.

    Mr. Rosebraugh also took the mainstream media to task during his interview with Tail Slate.  When asked why they don’t really report much on this issue he said “we made those three leading climatologists available to the press for interviews when we started promoting the film.  No one wanted to interview them.  They only wanted to talk to Darryl Hannah or me.  I think they’ve abdicated their responsibility to report on this subject and only public pressure, by films like this and the people themselves will get them to cover climate change.

    Documentary films often have an agenda and may sometimes be a bit edgy in promoting that agenda.  That’s not the case here.  To borrow a phrase, Greedy Lying Bastards presents a “fair and balanced” look at the issue of climate change and is a film that everyone should see.

  • ‘Phantom’ is a surprisingly strong submarine story

    ‘Phantom’ is a surprisingly strong submarine story

    Ed Harris and William Fichtner on the sub dock in 'Phantom'
    Ed Harris and William Fichtner on the sub dock in ‘Phantom’

    Whenever the legend “Inspired by actual events” opens a film, viewers will wonder just how much of what they are about to see actually happened.  We’ll get to what’s actually known about the real life event on which this film is apparently based later.  First the particulars.

    Ed Harris is “Demi” a Soviet submarine captain in the late 1960s.  He is being forced to retire because of something that happened long ago.  Only his father’s standing in the Soviet Navy and the Party kept him from being forced out right then and there.  He is under the command of “Markov” (Henrikson) who bears a long-standing grudge against him.  Demi and his crew are just back from an extended mission at sea and were looking forward to several weeks of rest.  Markov says that will not be the case, as they are being ordered back out.  Demi’s sub needs major repair work, but Markov has another sub for him.  It’s a broken-down diesel sub that has had some secret modifications.  Demi goes to where his officers are gathered to celebrate the wedding of “Sasha” (Gray-Stanford) and gives them the bad news.

    Not all of his crew can be located in time to sail as scheduled, so replacements are found for them.  First officer “Alex” (Fichtner) discovers that only one of the replacements appears to have personnel records and that man was listed as dead.  Then things turn dark when “Bruni” (Duchovny) and “Garin” (Magyar) come aboard to oversee the “classified” component of the mission.  Clearly they have served in the Soviet Navy, but now work for some secret arm of the KGB or GRU.

    David Duchovny (right) and Derek Magyar in 'Phantom'
    David Duchovny (right) and Derek Magyar in ‘Phantom’

    As you’ve probably seen in the film’s trailer, at one point we hear Demi saying “there are only two reasons why a boat would go rogue.  One is to defect and one is to start a war.”  It’s obvious from the beginning that what Bruni and Garin are planning isn’t to defect.  They are far too patriotic for that.  They are planning to test a piece of secret equipment and then react in a paranoiac way to some intelligence about U.S. capabilities they’ve come into possession of.  They take control of the ship and lock up the Captain and his crew.

    Sound familiar?  There are a number of things in any submarine-themed movie that will be derivative of the films that preceded them in the genre.  It’s unavoidable and it isn’t a flaw.  Just that there are only a certain number of directions some of the elements of a movie where 95% of it is shot inside a sub.  There is more than adequate tension and some superb acting by Harris and Fichtner that elevates the script to a higher level that might have otherwise been achieved.  The ending is a bit hokey but understandable.

    Now on to what really happened.  K-129 was a diesel-powered, ballistic-missile submarine that disappeared while on a mission in 1968.  It was assigned to the base portrayed in the film’s opening sequence.  A massive search was conducted that year by the Soviets but they didn’t find it.  The U.S. did and you may have heard of the CIA’s special ship “Glomar Explorer”.  It was built specifically to try to salvage the K-129.  What happened with the actual salvage operation remains classified to this date, which lends credence to the theories of many that there is little connection between Phantom the film, and what really happened.  Odds are good we will never know.

  • ‘The End of Love’ is the beginning of something special

    ‘The End of Love’ is the beginning of something special

    Mark Webber stars in the film he wrote and directed, 'The End of Love'
    Mark Webber stars in the film he wrote and directed, ‘The End of Love’

    “The end of our journey marks a new beginning for us” – commonly heard in one form or another in speeches by high school valedictorians.

    INTERVIEW: Mark Webber talks about making ‘The End of Love’

    Writer/director/producer Mark Webber also stars in his second feature film The End of Love with his real-life son Isaac and it is a winning combination.  The story of a man dealing with the sudden, tragic loss of the mother of his child has some parallels to Mark’s real-life story; but because the film’s story is so well-crafted, the line between the fiction of the movie and the reality he lived through cannot be determined.  Unless of course you know the specifics of what really happened.

    In the movie Webber is just “Mark” a single dad, struggling in the aftermath of the loss of the great love of his life.  His career as an actor is on the wane and he’s not sure how to re-ignite his prior success because he’s far too busy being a father to the adorable Isaac.  He’s able to land a coveted audition with Amanda Seyfried but had no child care available.  As a result, he blows the audition.

    Mark Webber's real-life son, Isaac, plays his son in 'The End of Love'
    Mark Webber’s real-life son, Isaac, plays his son in ‘The End of Love’

    He and Isaac share a home with two friends of his but he’s so far behind in paying rent he will probably never catch up without landing a major role.  So he fabricates the fact that he was just cast in a film with big-time director P.T. Anderson.  The problem is, his agent had just told him he was out of the running for the part.

    INTERVIEW: Shannyn Sossamon talks ‘The End of Love,’ comedy and her favorite film

    His good friend “Jason” (Jason Ritter, with whom Mark did a Neil LaBute Play in real-life) gives him some money to help bail him out, but yet another problem crops up to put Mark even further behind the eight-ball.  The positive is that he’s managed to meet a woman who seems interested in him.  “Lydia” (Shannyn Sossamon) is smart, attractive, and has her life together.  She invites Mark to bring Isaac to dinner, where he can play with her own daughter, but when the adults are alone and begin to kiss, things go awry.  Mark’s just not ready for this and tries to move too fast.

    Mark Webber writers, directs and produces 'The End of Love'
    Mark Webber writers, directs and produces ‘The End of Love’

    Trying desperately to feel hope and optimism, he decides to go to a party at a friend’s (Michael Cera) house.  He revels in being back in that environment but this also does not go well.  He’d promised the brand new babysitter he’d only be a few hours and what actually happens is just more evidence of how things are spiraling out of control for him.

    What makes The End of Love so good is that we don’t see ‘acting’ from Isaac, who manages to steal every second of every scene he is in.  Webber knew this would happen and made sure the cast was aware of it before filming began.  The reality of what Isaac is doing, with the fictional film being staged around Isaac’s normal life makes for a very pleasing visual narrative that communicates real emotion without any artificiality.  In spite of the fact Webber is doing just about everything involved in this movie except handling craft service and security, he gives a compelling performance as an actor.  Few actors who are helming their own movie can do this well, but add his name to the list of those who can.  Shannyn Sossamon delivers the good and the only knock on her role here is that there isn’t enough of it.

    But the real joy to watch is Isaac.  Especially since Webber found a way to integrate home video that is not big-screen quality into the film without making it a jarring transition back and forth.  Better still is that music is under-utilized rather than over-utilized, letting the story dictate the emotions the audience experiences.  I look forward to his next film with great anticipation.

  • ’21 and Over’ is lowbrow comedy… for better or worse

    ’21 and Over’ is lowbrow comedy… for better or worse

    From Left to Right: Miles Teller, Justin Chon and Skylar Astin in '21 and Over'
    From Left to Right: Miles Teller, Justin Chon and Skylar Astin in ’21 and Over’

    If you judge a lowbrow comedy like 21 and Over strictly by how many laughs and how much box office it generates among its target audience, this is going to be a very successful movie.  That doesn’t make it a great film, merely a profitable one.  In fact, by the time the opening weekend is over, someone will be making storyboards for Way Over 21 or 22 and Really Over.

    Justin Chong is “JeffChang” (it is said as though it is just one word throughout) and he’s a senior at Northern Pacific University (the University of Washington campus providing a perfect backdrop) who has just turned 21.  His birthday is the day before a potentially life-altering event, his interview with a doctor from the medical school his physician parents want him to attend.

    However, since it IS his 21st birthday, his two best friends from childhool, “Miller” (Teller) and “Casey” (Astin) make a surprise visit with the stated goal of getting him totally wasted to celebrate the event.  After all, turning 21 means you can now legally do all the drinking you have been doing anyway for the past four or five years, so it is a very important life-event.

    They arrive at JeffChang’s place to find “Dr. Chang” there, reminding JeffChang his suit is pressed and he will be picking him up at 7 in the morning to take him to the interview he pulled strings to arrange.  But once he’s gone, Miller twists JeffChang’s arm (figuratively) and gets him to agree to go out and have one beer.

    "JeffChang" at the 'peak' of his 21st birthday celebration in '21 and Over'
    “JeffChang” at the ‘peak’ of his 21st birthday celebration in ’21 and Over’

    But it isn’t only one beer.  After a period of extended debauchery, Miller and Casey have an unconscious JeffChang on their hands and no idea how to get him back to his apartment.  They did meet JeffChang’s friend “Nicole” (Wright) and they know she’s in a sorority.  The new plan, find Nicole and get JeffChang home in time to grab some sleep, some sobriety and be ready for the interview.

    The rest is just more excuses to engage in staging events that will appeal to the target demographic and make them laugh at the trio’s adventures.  Along the way they encounter “Randy”.  They had problems with him in the first bar they were in and the situation only gets worse.  There’s a bit in a Latina sorority, encounters with a white man in an American Indian headdress and much much more.

    Lowbrow, raunchy comedy appeals to the lowest common denominator and this hits that mark square on.  Comparisons between 21 and Over and The Hangover are inevitable, however a better vehicle for comparison/contrast is the classic Animal House.  With the exception of the vomiting and the penis jokes, the humor is similar.  Drinking to excess, at least one protagonist pre-occupied with getting laid and an uptight adult trying to gum up the works.  But Animal House’s humor is smart.  21 and Over’s humor evokes laughter from the target audience, but the non-target audience will only chuckle a few times.

    Sarah Wright dazzles with her smile in '21 and Over'
    Sarah Wright dazzles with her smile in ’21 and Over’

    That’s a shame because writer/directors Lucas and Moore have a great underlying theme to explore here.  How the close friendships between young men fade as they get older, because they simply don’t communicate well with one another.  More exploration of this theme, and a lighter touch with the raunch might not have generated quite the same number of laughs but it would have been a better film for that non-target audience.

    Sarah Wright and Justin Chon are great in this.  Miles Teller seems to be channeling a younger version of Vince Vaughn (which wasn’t helped by the dialogue) while Skylar Astin is the cliché of the goody-two-shoes type, wanting to break out of the mold his parents have forced him into.

    There are spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warmed.  There is some serious implausibility here that the bulk of the audience won’t care about but they are worthy of note.  There are laws that govern bartenders in every state and JeffChang’s level of intoxication reaches the point where no one would serve him any more booze early on.  Yet the bartenders continue to lubricate him to excess.  We learn later on that he is actually close to flunking out of school, which means no medical school would be interviewing him.  Competition to get into med school is particularly fierce and they do look at grades.  Movies that encourage drinking and a certain level of debauchery among college students aren’t offensive for the most part. But making the frequent dropping of “acid” look attractive and ‘normal’ is not necessarily a good message for this film’s demographic audience.

    Had the creators of 21 and Over eased up on the over-the-top humor and focused on the dynamic of three very close male friends trying to rekindle the bond between them in one wild night; this could have been a great film.  But it must be recognized that such a film probably would not find a mainstream audience.  When it comes to making a movie that will fill auditoriums and make the box office numbers go ‘cha-ching’ at a fast pace, the makers of this film have hit a big home run.

  • ‘The Sweeney’ brings an old Brit TV copper show to the big screen

    ‘The Sweeney’ brings an old Brit TV copper show to the big screen

    Ray Winstone leading members of "The Sweeney" as they chase bad guys
    Ray Winstone leading members of “The Sweeney” as they chase bad guys

    Starting in 1975, British fans of ‘realistic’ police drama on television would tune in to ITV to watch The Sweeney.  It was the first such show in the UK that showed police officers as being human and fallible.  After its initial four season run, it continued in reruns well into the 1980s.  Now that television series has been updated and brought to the big screen by writer/director Nick Love.

    Starring Ray Winstone as the iconic “Jack Regan” and Ben Drew as “George Carter”, The Sweeney is about a team of detectives from the so-called Flying Squad of London’s Metropolitan Police.  They’re called that because they observe none of the borough policing lines of demarcation.  They chase the worst criminals and make the big cases.  Their boss, “Frank Haskins” (Damian Lewis) overlooks Regan’s methods because he produces results.

    Until Regan and Carter, along with the rest of their squad get into a shootout with thugs trying to steal a load of gold bars.  All of the thieves are arrested without serious injury to any of the squad, but some of the bars wind up missing.  “Ivan Lewis” from Internal Affairs suspects Regan of taking the bars and oh yes, sleeping with his wife “Nancy” (Haley Atwell) who happens to be a member of Regan’s squad.

    The investigation by Lewis is of little interest to Regan, who has his mind wrapped around an informant’s tip about an upcoming robbery of millions in cash at a private bank.  Surveillance is established on the bank but has to be pulled to deal with the armed robbery of a jewelry store where an innocent bystander is killed execution style by the robbers.  Regan suspect “Francis Allen” (Paul Anderson) who he has dealt with before, but he has a solid alibi.  He was out of the country and his passport scanned elsewhere at the time of the robbery.  Now Regan is suspended and has to get Carter to help him try to clear his name.

    Ray Winstone is "Jack Regan" in 'The Sweeney'
    Ray Winstone is “Jack Regan” in ‘The Sweeney’

    Winstone, who actually appeared briefly in an episode of the original series when he was in his late teens, was perfectly cast as Jack Regan.  Tough, unflinching and totally committed to catching bad guys, while he lives with his own imperfect ethical actions.  Once he sets his sights on a bad guy, nothing will stop him from ‘nicking’ him.  Drew hits the right notes as Carter, the family man who has his sights set on a successful career and must choose between making sure he achieves those goals, or puts them at risk by helping the man who lifted him up to a chance at a better life.

    The action and violence hits just the right tone, brutal and to the point without being overly grotesque.  Love and co-writer John Hodge the audience a plot that is plausible and does not require any suspension of disbelief.  Authentic dialogue and good acting throughout the cast work together to keep a firm grasp on the viewer’s attention.

  • Open ‘The Gatekeepers’ and learn about Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet

    Open ‘The Gatekeepers’ and learn about Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet

    Avraham Shalom, former director of Shin Bet in 'The Gatekeepers'
    Avraham Shalom, former director of Shin Bet in ‘The Gatekeepers’

    The Mossad is famous the world over as the foreign intelligence service of Israel.  Munich was a film about how the Mossad was tasked to hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible for the murder of Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.  Mention the Mossad and the average person will say “that’s Israel’s CIA”.

    But if you mention Shin Bet, they will probably have no clue what you’re referring to.

    Shin Bet is actually an acronym in Hebrew for Sherut haBitachon haKlali (it represents the S and the B) and is responsible for Israel’s internal security, including preventing and responding to domestic terrorism.  Aside from the name of the director, everything about Shin Bet is secret.  Now we get a look inside a number of the agency’s activities over the last 30 years in The Gatekeepers, a documentary film that contains some astonishingly candid interviews with six former heads of Shin Bet.

    Avraham Shalom in an undated image from 'The Gatekeepers'
    Avraham Shalom in an undated image from ‘The Gatekeepers’

    Director Dror Moreh, whose directorial debut was a 2008 look at Israel’s former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, interviews the six men.  They are Ami Ayalon, Avraham Shalom, Yaakov Peri, Carmi Gillon, Avi Dichtler and Yuval Diskin.  Diskin was still leading the agency when he was interviewed, but left in 2011.

    This is more than a historical review of Shin Bet and what it did and didn’t do from 1981 through 2011.  It explores ethical issues involving torture, targeted assassination and collateral damage.  It uses archive footage and images, along with some excellent computer animation to show the real events being discussed in these fascinating interviews.

    Moreh has stated in interviews that it was Ayalon’s assistance that was critical in getting in touch with the other five men, and that all were reluctant at first to discuss certain operations.  In particular, Shalom said he would not discuss the events surrounding the terrorist takeover of a bus and what happened to the terrorists.  But eventually, he did talk about it on the record.

    Ami Ayalon today in 'The Gatekeepers', and below that in an undated photo from his time with Shin Bet
    Ami Ayalon today in ‘The Gatekeepers’, and below that in an undated photo from his time with Shin Bet

    The film is of course in Hebrew, but with clear and good-sized subtitles.  It deals with Shin Bet’s activities in the Occupied Territories and the strategies and tactics used in hunting terrorist leaders, while the audience is being shown efforts at bringing about peace (there is footage of Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Bill Clinton at the time the Oslo Accords were signed).  The six former directors seem to be unafraid of answering any question asked of them, although it is natural to wonder if there were questions they refused to answer where their responses are not present in the finished film.

    What kind of recommendation can I give this film?  I’ll say this.  Had I been fortunate enough to have seen it during 2012, I would have included it on my list of the 10 best documentaries of the year.  It is nominated for an Oscar for Best Feature Length Documentary and by the time you read this, it may have won.