The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) ***1/2
Short Take: An exquisitely filmed but overlong and very confusing look back at an Italian writer’s life on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
Reel Take: There’s lots of Oscar buzz surrounding La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) as the entry to beat in the Best Foreign Film category and by the time most of you read this review we’ll know whether it did or did not win. If it does win I won’t be surprised but it certainly wouldn’t have gotten my vote (I chose China’s The Grandmaster). It is art with a capital A and that’s always something that impresses Academy voters especially in a film not made by Hollywood.
I have nothing against art films with a capital A but I do object to them when storytelling (as in Russian Ark from a few years back) gets sacrificed for that concept. If you’re familiar with the Federico Fellini films La Dolce Vita and 8 then you’ll have a head start in knowing what to expect from this movie. However, since we are now living in the 21st century, a lot of technical “improvements” have been added to those basic storylines.
The story, if there can be said to be one, focuses on an aging Italian socialite on the occasion of his 65th birthday. He once wrote a highly regarded novel 40 years ago but nothing since then. After the novel’s success opened doors for him he became one of the “beautiful people” and spent the rest of his life doing nothing but being one of them. Now he is withdrawing from that world and looking back at his life.
Sounds straight forward enough but filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino borrows more than a page or two from the above mentioned Fellini movies and then shoots the film in a style reminiscent of Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge. It seems that the camera never stops moving either in or out and the editing is in the best music video tradition.
Combine that with a running time of 142 minutes (it was originally 190 minutes) and you have either a masterpiece of modern expression or a relentless exercise in style that doesn’t know when to quit. I did. I fell asleep about halfway through which forced me to watch portions of it again.
The nature of moviemaking being what it is, any exercise in style no matter how relentless, is not without some value. There are moments of great beauty in The Great Beauty, along with moments of real poignancy as the main character looks back with regret on an unfulfilled life.
The film opens with a quote which is either its raison d’etre or an excuse for excess. “To travel is very useful, it makes the imagination work, the rest is just delusion and pain. Our journey is entirely imaginary, which is its strength”. It’s up to you to decide for yourself which is which. I already have.
The film is currently not rated but it contains a lot of nudity and profanity.
Review by Chip Kaufmann
The Monuments Men ***1/2
Short Take: The true, and up to now, little known story of a team of art historians tasked with recovering and returning the stolen treasures of Western civilization, from the Nazis, during WWII.
REEL TAKE: As a History major, English minor in college I wanted, at one time, to switch to Art History and Anthropology curriculum (which my poor, already bewildered parents readily dismissed). Ironically, a few years after college, I ended up working at an art museum. The aforementioned museum in fact has significant ties with the real ‘Monuments Men.’ I tell you all of this because I guess I’m what you’d call a built-in audience.
With or without that personal connection however, and contrary to what you may have heard, The Monuments Men is entertaining and worthwhile. Is it a great film? No. And that’s the problem; with Clooney at the helm and a stellar cast, the world was anticipating greatness. Setting expectations aside, I think Clooney made exactly the film he wanted to make, and the result is a perfectly good, entertaining movie.
George Clooney co-writes, directs and stars in the film based on the book “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History” by Robert Edsel. Their names are fictionalized in the film so that the creative team could take a few artistic liberties, but the over all story is true. Founded in the belief that the preservation of art is paramount to the life of a civilization, FDR created a special unit to find, protect and repatriate artwork stolen by the Nazis.
Leading the effort is museum director Frank Stokes (Clooney). Stokes handpicks his team, a rag tag menagerie of museum directors, curators and art historians; enter Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Bob Balaban (a face you know from movies and TV; more recently he narrated Moonrise Kingdom), Jean Dujardin (you’ll remember him from The Artist) and Hugh Bonneville (TV’s Lord Grantham in Dowtown Abbey). They don’t spend much time delving into background. We get just enough information about each of them to know what kind of person they are.
From there they gloss through basic training (not a one of them being grade A soldier material), and begin the task of finding where the Nazis have stashed countless masterpieces and collections. It’s late in the war in Europe. Everyone is war weary. This is especially apparent when Damon’s character, James Granger, enlists the help of French curator, Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett), who has been forced to work for the Nazis during the German occupation. Simone seethes with stoic rage and mistrust as Granger tries to earn her trust.
To accomplish their mission the team must divvy up; this is both good and bad. While the film consequently suffers some disjuncture, it does allow for some interesting subplots and vital character building between the paired off teams, the best of which happens between Bill Murray’s and Bob Balaban’s characters in an unexpected, yet pivotal Christmas scene. Unfortunately however, Clooney never really succeeds in connecting us emotionally to his characters.
I think folks were expecting the Oceans 11 of WWII movies. Instead, Clooney delivers a film that could have come out of the era itself. There’s also a stylistic element and camaraderie a la Kelly’s Heroes, The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. It doesn’t quite balance with the overarching reverential and nostalgic tone, but it is fun and it lightens things up a bit.
The Monuments Men spends a little too much time telling us that art is important. But then again, in our superficial world where Kim and Kanye are continually ‘trending,’ arts education is continually devalued and its funding constantly threatened, perhaps we need the reminder. Unfortunately it’s a message that won’t be seen or heard by those who need it most.
For me, The Monument’s Men was definitely the best treasure hunt ever. It will appeal to people with an interest in WWII and art. If any of this sounds remotely appealing to you, I hope you see it and enjoy it.
Rated PG-13 for some images of war violence and historical smoking.
Review by Michelle Keenan
RoboCop **1/2
Short Take: Technically sophisticated, relatively well acted remake is the one thing RoboCop shouldn’t be…boring!
Reel Take: As Hollywood continues to reboot (to use the current word in fashion) material from the 1970s and 1980s, there are some remakes that are better than others. RoboCop isn’t one of them. There are a number of reasons for this but the primary one is that it shouldn’t have been remade in the first place.
Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 original, although a cult classic now, was not a box office success when it was first released. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the film initially carried an X rating. The X stigma (and yes it was still a stigma in 1987) kept it from reaching a wider audience even though it was quickly trimmed to an R.
Although full of jabs at the corporate and the militaristic mindset, the original was first and foremost an action picture with its graphic novel style violence (which earned it the X rating) deliberately meant to be over the top. It proved to be prophetic as it would influence numerous movies that followed in its wake.
The new version from Brazilian director Jose Padhilla (it’s his first English language film) comes with a PG-13 rating and a sincerity that doesn’t sit well with the material. The political and social criticism of the original is still there but it has been elevated to the front rank with the action sequences downplayed. This is a different approach but it frankly makes the film rather boring.
The core story is the same. Set in the near future, Detroit police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is seriously wounded and is transformed into the cyborg law enforcer RoboCop. This is done by OmniCorp, a multi-national company that has robot soldiers overseas. Americans don’t want these “drones” policing their streets so OmniCorp head Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) sets out to change that by using Robocop as a public relations coup. If successful his company will make millions.
The transformation of Murphy into RoboCop in the first movie took 30 minutes. It takes almost half the film to do it this time around and while CGI makes more things possible, it shows us too much in an attempt to make us care. By the time RoboCop swings into action it feels rushed and out of sync with the first half of the film. We know he’ll triumph in the end but it doesn’t matter.
One of the key elements missing from this new version is the relationship between Murphy and his fellow officer Lewis played by Nancy Allen in the original. Here Lewis is a man and plays a much smaller part in the proceedings, robbing us of that male/female dynamic that energized the first film.
It’s not a complete waste of time. It’s great to see Michael Keaton again and Gary Oldman scores as the doctor who creates RoboCop. There is also computer visual technology galore and you haven’t lived until you see Samuel L. Jackson as an African-American version of Glenn Beck.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, strong language, sensuality, and drug use.
Review by Chip Kaufmann
The Wind Rises ****1/2
Short Take: Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s last work is also one of his most personal and is aimed squarely at adults although children can see it as well.
Reel Take: The great Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, who will soon turn 73, has announced that The Wind Rises will be his last animated feature as a director. Unlike his previous efforts, which focus on the efforts of young protagonists showcased against a background of fantasy, this is an adult film meant for adults, although it has valuable lessons to teach children.
The Wind Rises tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, a real life engineer whose specialty was designing aircraft. It was he who came up with the design of the famous (and later infamous) Zero fighter built by Mitsubishi that was used by the Japanese during World War II although that was never Jiro’s intent when he created it.
It is the conflict of interests involved and how an initial concept can be transformed from its original intentions that interests Miyazaki. What was intended to be an example of beauty and grace becomes transformed by circumstances and is hijacked for sinister purposes.
In addition to the aircraft storyline, the movie also focuses on the relationship between Jiro and his wife Nakao from their chance meeting during an earthquake to their separation as adults because of his work and her recurring illness.
However it wouldn’t be a Miyazaki film without some elements of fantasy and here they are dream encounters that Jiro has with the great Italian aircraft designer Giovanni Battista Caproni. Together they share their love of flying and the belief that it’s more fun to design airplanes than to fly them.
As one has come to expect from Miyazaki there are several standout animated set pieces. The most notable is probably the recreation of the 1923 massive earthquake that struck Kanto, Japan. The animation is dazzling and recalls the fluid style of early Disney hand drawn masterpieces such as Pinocchio.
The dream encounters with Caproni are also beautifully realized. Not only is their creativity a joy to behold but the character of Caproni behaves in the manner of an omnipotent narrator urging Jiro to realize his dreams and then explaining them to him and to us.
Finally there are the war sequences which are heartbreaking as we see Jiro’s dreams of beauty and grace, achieved after countless trials, transformed into nightmares of death. The use of color here is particularly effective.
Whenever a Miyazaki film is released here the Japanese soundtrack is always dubbed into English. This was done to appease children and there was good reason for doing that but as this is an adult oriented film, it worked better for me in Japanese. However the English voiceover cast of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Werner Herzog (to name a few) is top flight.
It has been nominated for Best Animated Feature and it should win but if it doesn’t, don’t let that stop you from seeing it. If you love old school animation, then The Wind Rises is a prime example of the type of feature that they soon won’t make anymore. Hayao Miyazaki, you will be missed.
Rated PG-13 for some disturbing images and smoking.
Review by Chip Kaufmann
Winter’s Tale ***
Short Take: A young man has a date with destiny when he falls in love with a beautiful, consumptive, young woman.
REEL TAKE: In a nutshell Winter’s Tale is a romantic tale of destinies, fate and good versus evil. Unfortunately Akiva Goldman’s film adaptation of Mark Helprin’s expansive novel isn’t presented in a nutshell. It means well. It’s clearly a labor of love. Because of its earnest intentions, you can’t bash too hard . . .
The film is set in New York circa 1916, or maybe it’s a parallel universe version of New York circa 1916. Peter Lake is an immigrant orphan turned master thief. He’s on the run from the world’s worst boss (Russell Crowe). Unbeknownst to Peter, the gangster-style Pearly Soames is a demonic enforcer working for the big guy downstairs (and you thought your boss was rough?).
Meanwhile a mysterious and rather luminous white horse comes to Peter’s rescue. There’s more to this horse than Peter can possibly fathom; for that matter there’s more to the universe than Peter can possibly fathom. But everything changes when he meets Beverly (“Downton Abbey’s” Lady Sybil) while attempting to rob her family’s mansion. Beverly is a beautiful, feverish young woman, dying of consumption. They of course fall truly, madly, deeply in love.
The chemistry between Peter and Beverly is palpable and their scenes are wonderful, but unfortunately that whole good versus evil, date with destiny thing just won’t take a back seat. Eventually the story fast forwards to 2014 and Peter is still just as he was 98 years prior. By the end it was, “The Convoluted Winter’s Tale.”
To be fair, adapting this woo-woo tale of destiny among the stars is a Herculean task. Ironically for all its attempts at something much bigger, the real magic lies in good old fashioned love. Everything that deviates from that doesn’t work nearly as well. Akiva Goldman, who won an Oscar for his Beautiful Mind screenplay, seems to have focused more on his directorial debut than on his script.
I’ve not read Helprin’s novel, but if I had, I’m sure I’d be disappointed with the film. The idea of this novel on screen is beautiful. Visually it is a sumptuous feast. Unfortunately it’s one of those stories that should be left on the page. I give Winter’s Tale three stars on the merit of its stunning aesthetics and its heart.
Farrell and Findlay are lovely together and they alone keep the film above water. Russell Crowe digs in with a delicious ferocity, but without enough character development to really justify the bite. Jennifer Connelly does her best, but there just isn’t enough for her floundering character to do to make it worth her while. Will Smith has a laughably stiff cameo as Pearly’s boss, and Eva Marie Saint makes a cameo as the world’s best looking 106 year old woman.
I really wanted to like Winter’s Tale. I was prepared to suspend disbelief at the door and enjoy the magic, but ultimately Winter’s Tale is simply a hot mess, albeit a beautiful mess.
Rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality.
Review by Michelle Keenan