Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - (1997) Not sure how I missed this one. Kevin Spacey and John Cusack are on my list of modern actors who I'm willing to watch in pretty much anything. Based on a true story of murder in the high society of Savannah Georgia it's as much about the character of the city as it is the character of the characters. Spacey plays an art dealer to the best of the city. He kills a violent, unpredictable young man who works for him and as it turns out is his sometime lover. Cusack plays a NY writer who comes down for one story and ends up following another. Directed by Clint Eastwood it does a wonderful job of weaving together all of the madness that surrounded the original. Some folks complain that the story has been streamlined for the screen. I can only assume they don't see many movies. This is an astounding story and includes deft turns by all the principals. The movie will suck you in, keep you twisting and turning and spit you out at the end.
Rating - **** Gotta See It
Inside Man - (2006) A modestly clever whodunit bank robbery movie featuring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodi Foster. The story line is pretty straight forward with a tiny little twist at the end. Spike Lee takes a good cast and a fun script and turns it into something quite satisfying. You're not going to confuse this with a great movie but the actors make the characters interesting enough and the interplay between them is just enough fun to carry you along. Owen plays the mastermind of a bank robbery where the robbers refuse to play the game by the rules. Meanwhile Foster is a high priced and high power "fixer" who has been called in to take care of a secret that the bank's founder(Christopher Plummer) wants kept secret. Caught in the middle is Washington as the police negotiator who knows something isn't right but can't quite figure it out. This isn't anyone's best work but it's a fun piece of movie popcorn to wile away a free afternoon.
Rating - *** Worth a Look
A History of Violence (2005) You take a decent premise, a competent director and a better than average cast, mix them all together and get a worthless piece of crap. Seriously. What a waste of time and energy. Here's the deal a Philadelphia psycho mobster decides he wants to leave what is commonly know as "The Life" (don't ask why, it's never explained) so he goes to the desert (don't ask why it's never explained) re-creates him and moves to Indiana (don't ask why it's never explained) where he falls in love, gets married, has kids, runs the local diner and becomes a pillar of the community. One night a couple bad guys come into the diner and decide to start killing people (don't ask why it's just what they do). The reformed mobster kills them both and becomes a media hero. The boys back in Philly see him and come to drag him back to face the music. So he kills them. Then goes to Philly anyway. Where he kills everybody there. He comes home, sits down to dinner and exchanges the most idiotic, indecipherable look with his wife you can imagine. Fade to black. Finis. Yes I just totally spoiled this movie for you. You can thank me later.
You never care about the characters. They do illogical things. There's a totally superfluous sub plot involving the nerdy son. Who apparently has the psycho killer gene. There's plenty of gratuitous sex and violence (I loved the one interview where director David Cronenberg says he edited out some of the violence because he's against violence. Has he ever watched his own movies?). This is every thing that's wrong with graphic novels (movie is based on one). Shallow characters, minimal plot, lots of blood, sex and nudity. For some reason William Hurt got an Oscar nomination for his role in this movie. He's a cartoon character. The only thing I'll remember from this is the brief full frontal nudity of Maria Bello.
Cast includes Viggo Mortenson, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt.
Rating - * Don't Waste Your Time
Collateral - (2004) - Now in comparison to the movie above this one just blew me away. Solid director (Michael Mann), good script and two actors (Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise) who just nail their roles. Foxx got an Oscar nomination for his work as a cab driver who picks up a hired killer (Cruise) and gets sucked into a series of contract hits when the first one goes bad. Mann brings his trademark visual style that is stunning as always. There's an early scene in the cab between Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith that is just a beautiful piece of movie making. Mann doesn't rush it. The conversation is allowed to unfold at the tempo of a cab ride. But the real treasure in this movie is the relationship between the killer Vincent and the cabbie Max. Vincent isn't a cookie cutout psycho killer. He is professional, intellectual and engaging while still being cold and focused on his work. The interplay between the two is funny, chilling and completely enthralling. The tempo of the movie picks up speed as it goes along to an exciting end. It was so good to have this wash the bad taste of the previous movie out of my mouth. I am definitely considering adding this one to my library.
Rating - **** Gotta See It
The Queen - (2006) - Helen Mirren scored an Oscar for her astounding performance as Queen Elizabeth II living through what the real life queen has called "the worst week of my life". The movie walks the thin line between all the issues surrounding the death of Princess Diana. The older royals were products of a different day and age. They were completely unprepared for the huge emotional tsunami that swept through England. Meanwhile new Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to find his way through the maze of his great respect for the Crown and his certitude that they are getting it wrong. It was a moment of great crisis for the Queen, her heir, her government and her people. The end result is a movie that won't let you walk away. 103 minutes flew by. I came away with a different and more complex feeling for Her Majesty and the challenges she continues to face. Like Tony Blair I think I've fallen for The Queen.
Rating - **** Gotta See It
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