True Grit (2010)

Punishment comes one way or another.

A very entertaining film, mainly because of the remarkably gutsy nature of the 14-year old protagonist, Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), and her single-minded quest to bring her father's killer to justice and how this determination drives the story forward across a wintry Arizona landscape into a succession of encounters, each potentially life-threatening, propelling the audience along in a transport of expectation and (sometimes audible) delight.

Even people who normally avoid westerns might well enjoy this tale, as it is less a genre piece than a human drama in a historical setting.

Key to this film's success is a master-class in building indirect characterisations through action, down to the Coen brothers' expert scripting. From the moment Mattie Ross steps off the train, her interactions with people build a character of sharp-tongued wit, precocious hard-headed business sense, determination and courage.

The man she is hoping to hire to pursue her father's murderer, US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), is artfully introduced under cross examination in a courtroom trial, painting a picture of a tough, capable but dissolute man, and leaving unresolved the question of whether or not he's a heartless killer of men.

Later, in a brief, almost throwaway, scene (as in Robert Altman's revisionist take on Chandler's classic tale of loyalty and betrayal, "The Long Goodbye", where in an apparently trivial prologue to the main story, Elliott Gould's Philip Marlowe's negotiations with his cat provide in microcosm the key theme of the film), Cogburn and Mattie come across a couple of kids torturing an animal, and the nature of Cogburn's response, funny in isolation, serves to add not insignificant dimension to his character.

The interplay between US Marshall Cogburn and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) as they compete for Mattie's attention and admiration, highlights the debauchery and pragmatism of the former, and the prissy correctness and high-mindedness of the latter, with Mattie left to decide which, if either, is better suited to her purpose.

The film feels absolutely authentic, partly due to the unsanitised grubbiness of some of the more unsavoury characters (unlike the 1969 version, I heard on a podcast, in which John Wayne's Cogburn appeared in relatively well-laundered clothes), but mostly due to the apparent verisimilitude of the dialogue, delivered at speed and without any contractions, and laced with old-fashioned, often biblical, expressions. One of the Coen brothers, speaking on a Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's film review podcast, said at least 90% of the dialogue was from the original source novel.

I have only vague memories of the 1969 version of the film with John Wayne, so l wasn't distracted with mental comparisons between the two versions, and thankfully, the plot was as new for me. Steinfeld is fantastic in the role; Jeff Bridges is marvellous; the supporting cast are uniformly good, notably Dakin Matthews as the double-dealing horse-trader that Mattie outwits.

My only doubt is about Matt Damon: he portrayed a proud man of prissy high-minded nobility well, but I wonder if another actor, perhaps with a more expressive face (Tobey Maguire? James Franco? Andrew Garfield?) could have added more insight. Montgomery Clift, up against Wayne in Red River (and plenty tough in From Here To Eternity), would have made a good contrast to Jeff Bridges.

Wonderful to hear, during the end credits, the unmistakable and eminently suitable voice of Iris DeMent singing the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms", from her 2004 album, "Lifeline".

For me, this is certainly an excellent film: at least full price, maybe higher.

• Rating: Exceptional
• When seen: 24 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Cinema
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Broken Lance (1954)

Fury of the West's Most Lawless Feud!

A Western drama that successfully integrates two important American themes into a powerful story of family conflict. One theme is the passing of the old West. At a time when the old lawless West was being subsumed, a rough-hewn pioneering cattle rancher, Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy), well used to battling for his rights face-to-face with fists, gun and whip, finds his life’s work under assault from various quarters, including a new breed of men in suits armed with property rights documents and other legalistic weapons.

Who will stand with the old man, at risk of livelihood, liberty, even life? Can he count on the three sons (Richard Widmark, Hugh O'Brian and the excellent Earl Holliman) from his first marriage, grown up now, disgruntled, but still working on the family ranch for a monthly wage, with little interest in carrying on their father’s legacy and a passion for city living? What about his devoted native American second wife (Katy Jurado) and their capable but "half-breed" son (Robert Wagner)? Surely not his native American ranch hands?

The other theme is that of the question of discrimination against native American "Indians". Specifically, how well accepted in polite social circles is Devereaux's second wife, politely classed as "Mexican" by more squeamish townsfolk? Will their son's good looks, good sense and easy charm be sufficient to smooth his path in society?

The bulk of the story is an extended flashback middle section with bookends in the present. The film begins well, with minimal dialogue, with a lean, dark-skinned sharp-looking Wagner being released from prison, and riding alone to his father's ranch. As the story develops, there is some great outdoor cinematography, and a very good climactic outdoor fight sequence, brutal, believable, almost as good as the end of Anthony Mann's The Naked Spur with James Stewart.

As with many other Westerns, there's a strong historical angle. In this case, it is of cattle ranchers being pressured by mineral developers, and in general, of the passing of the old West and the emerging power of city-based people in suits.

Spencer Tracy is excellent in the role of hard-nosed patriarch, facing a mixed harvest of sons, including the oldest (Widmark, always good value), a young refreshingly tough Wagner, and a convincing portrayal of the weak-headed youngest son by Earl Holliman.

• Rating: High matinee
• When seen: 20 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: corrected spelling from Spencer "Tracey" to "Tracy". Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Starman (1984)

In 1977 Voyager II was launched into space, inviting all lifeforms in the universe to visit our planet. Get ready. Company's coming.

Heart-warming story of a visiting alien, knocked out of the sky by the trigger-happy US military, far from his rendezvous point three days hence, who takes the form of a dead man, press-ganging the man's grieving widow into chauffeur duty, as the US military machine gears up to track him down.

Excellent portrayal of the alien by Jeff Bridges, cleverly making it seem as if he is inhabiting a body whose workings are unfamiliar to him.

In a film underpinned by sentiment, Bridges manages to win our sympathies without falsely anthropomorphising his character. Karen Allen gives a luminous performance of a woman torn by contradictory feelings of attraction and repulsion. Good supporting performances by Jaekel as the head of the US military task force, and by Martin Smith as the SETI specialist.

Along the way, there is some fun to be had of the "stranger in a strange land" variety, with Bridges having to cope with a variety of new human experiences.

Parallels with the more common type of "alien" in the southern states of the USA are there for those who wish to see them. Bridges and Allen travel in the margins of society, hitching rides in the back of trucks and riding the rails at night like illegal immigrants who have just snuck across the border: a transient procession of diners, truck stops, motels, long dusty roads. The people they meet are the salt of the earth: generally kind (especially the waitresses), without thought of personal gain, though sadly not without a proportion of thick-headed red-necks.

Religious parallels are also present, but are included tastefully and appropriately, serving the story.

Special effects are relatively few, interestingly, strength of plot and acting performance being the primary sources of credibility.

• Rating: Full price
• When seen: 22 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

The Rare Breed (1966)

This is a pretty entertaining film, with a good story, entertaining characters, and an interesting historical slant.

The premise is great: drop a couple of well-brought up English ladies and their well-cared for hornless Herefordshire bull into the harsh wilds of Texas, with its brutal survivalist ethos and its famously hardy longhorn cattle. Will the bull prove unfit for such a harsh environment and fail to breed? Will the English ladies be too delicate and have to escape back to England?

The women's need for funds forces them to sell the bull, and their concern for the longterm welfare of the bull provides sufficient motivation to take them to Texas. Along the way, the women experience pretty much the whole gamut of western tropes, from lusty barroom brawls to life-threatening cattle stampedes, ruthless armed robbery and the stench and squalor of an isolated cattle baron's accommodation.

The standout performances are those of the two female leads, Juliet Mills (daughter Hilary), and even more so, Maureen O'Hara (Martha). The latter is magnificent, dominating every scene.

The film introduces James Stewart's character, Sam Burnett, as an archetypal American male: tough and unafraid, quick to defend his friends with his fists, and literally taking bulls by their horns. From the outset, the plot endeavours to make Stewart's employer, rancher Taylor, unsympathetic, so as to bring us more on side when Stewart's character later contracts to cheat the man - a key plot point. However, I was distracted by the idea of Stewart wrestling a powerful longhorn bull to the ground, wondering if the filmmakers were seriously going to expect us to believe that a middle-aged man would be up for such athletics. As is often the case, James Stewart (here 58) is really too old for the role (you can clearly see the use of thicker-bodied stunt doubles in the action sequences) and too intelligent to play such a simple-minded cowboy (John Wayne, anyone?). I've seen a documentary that included modern "bull-grabbers", and they were all fit young men. Stewart's role is rather subdued for most of the story, only once or twice rising to the thrilling intensity of one of his conflicted characters in the Anthony Mann westerns. Arguably, Stewart does not play the lead but rather a supporting character, and it's really an O'Hara movie.

One strange character choice was to portray cattle rancher Bowen (Brian Keith), Stewart's rival for O'Hara's affections, for all the world like a traditional Scottish laird in a ranch-house styled like a dark high-ceilinged Scottish Highland castle, and first seen in squalor, filthy furs piled all around, tearing meat from the bone with his teeth, with the dogs allowed on the table, snatching meat from the master's platter. According to Wikipedia, the story is loosely based on the life of rancher William Burgess, so maybe this was true to life. In any case, the inclusion of the ex-Scot, Bowen, allows the film-makers to pit a Briton against Stewart's archetypal American in a struggle for O'Hara's affections.

The outdoor snow scenes feature some stunning photography, notably when Stewart's horse is trying to force its way through very deep snow drifts. But on the whole, this is not a very naturalistic film. There are some poorly realised overlay shots where the colour palettes of the foreground characters and background scenes jar. The women maintain a high degree of enhanced photogeneity throughout, and apart from Bowen, the men remain fairly presentable. The fight scenes are generally of the comic bar-room brawl style, where fists connect with jaws with impressive sound effects, nobody gets seriously hurt, and nobody is even asked to pay for the extensive damage!

So, all in all, worth catching, but without the intensity of interest of an Anthony Mann western.

• Rating: Matinee
• When seen: 19 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Splice (2009)

She's Not Human... Not Entirely.

This film updates the Frankenstein trope of man creating life to the present day, and poses the question of what would happen if instead of one man, the creators were a childless husband and wife team, incubating the monster from a foetus in an artificial womb. This is an interesting angle, allowing the film-makers to address issues relating to parenthood - especially, Polley's character being the prime mover, motherhood - and allowing for an unusually wide gamut of responses, ranging from revulsion to devotion.

A neat plot device allows for a telescoping of time, and the story develops swiftly.

The story, in toto, is clearly quite fantastic. In order to keep the audience on board, the characters of the protagonists must be credible enough to drive the plot forward in an apparently inevitable succession, as inevitable as a line of falling dominoes. This is achieved pretty well, partly by scripting in certain character attributes, partly through the great casting of beak-nosed thin-as-a-rake Adrian Brody as nerdy scientist, partly through the strong grounded but intense presence of Sarah Polley, whose character is the prime mover behind most of the key plot points.

For me, the actor Sarah Polley was in fact the main attraction. In the film Go, she was really something special, giving a brave bloody-minded completely unglamorous performance, the standout performance of the film. Her IMDB entry says she is "[b]lessed with an extremely expressive face that enables directors to minimize dialog due to her uncanny ability to suggest a character's thoughts..." Exactly: her intelligence shines through.

The monster, when it comes, is very well realised, especially later on in the film. This is a crucial point: if the monster lacks credibility, the film crashes. Fortunately, the FX are good, and the portrayal of the monster is one of the high points of the whole film.

Others have criticised the finale for being too action-oriented, and dumbing down from the intelligence of the majority of the film. Maybe, but the film's final coda is pretty smart.

• Rating: Full price
• When seen: 18 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Crazy Heart (2009)

The harder the life, the sweeter the song.

Unfortunately, as with so many DVDs watched at home, under less than ideal conditions, I didn't see this all at once, but saw the last 15 minutes some days later. It wasn't easy to find the right occasion to watch the last part of the film, and now, sadly, I can't remember much of what I thought and felt about the film.

The story is very simple, and is told in a straightforward fashion. An aging country singer/songwriter with a failing career and a drinking problem meets a woman who he really likes. How will it all turn out? Can a person like him find happiness?

Bridges, of course, is very good, though so method (or mumble-core in modern vernacular) that it is sometimes difficult to make out what he is saying, at least for my poor ears, and I'll admit after a while I resorted to subtitles. (Apparently in True Grit, he's even more incomprehensible. Don't suppose they'll let me run subtitles at the cinema!)

Gyllenhaal too is fine, but at the risk of being ungallant, I don't really understand why she is chosen for lead romantic roles. I can't understand her appeal. Farrell is good as the face of new country.

I read on Wikipedia that The New York Times said the novel, written by Thomas Cobb, "also functions as a shrewd and funny running critique of contemporary country music." Sounds great. This film doesn't really achieve that, to my mind, although it does indicate that if you live the kind of hard-drinking life rhapsodised in many country songs, you'll be unsuited for a career in country music.

The story line with the Gyllenhaal's son is interesting and well done.

I remember thinking the country music was pretty good, and that Jeff Bridges sang well (bought a couple of the songs off the soundtrack album from iTunes). Made me wonder about other similar singing actors, like Joachim Phoenix in Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash story, Kris Kristofferson in A Star Is Born, Bob Dylan in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and in the shower I've been singing Lee Marvin's Wandrin' Star (which I really like - unlike many, apparently) from Paint Your Wagon, while wondering about Clint Eastwood's A side song (was it Talk to the Trees?) and thinking I should check out other stuff by him.

Clint Eastwood has a pretty good voice, and composed the music for a number of his films, if I remember right. So why hasn't he been praised for doing the whole shebang - the way Chaplin was? Could it be because country music is considered too low-brow?

• Rating: Full price
• When seen: 17 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Added genre tag "romance"; deleted a reference to a family member who objected to having their opinions aired in public. Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

It's Complicated (2009)

Divorced... with benefits.

I wouldn't normally have chosen to watch this film. It was lent to me, impromptu, by a colleague with whom I had been talking - positively - about Meryl Streep, praising her for her ability to pull off strongly contrastring roles in Mama Mia and Doubt. But then I thought, why not give it a spin: Xanthe and I can watch it on Valentine's Day!

So, it's clearly a chick flick - which is to say a film proceeding within or alongside a set of audience expectations relating to the loose conventions of the romantic comedy genre - but with such well-seasoned protagonists, definitely one for middle-aged chicks. I have mixed feelings about the film, but it does have some strong comic moments.

The plot plays with an interesting premise: given the opportunity to have a second chance at a relationship with your ex-husband or wife, who previously left you for a much younger partner (to whom they are still married), what happens? Where does happiness lie? Is it with the old familiar partner or might a new love interest win out?

Meryl Streep is in Mama Mia rather than Doubt mode: laughing, smiling, twinkling, chortling, cavorting; doing her winsome best to keep the proceedings light and frothy.

Alec Baldwin very good value as the ex-husband. Steve Martin, the new man on Streep's horizon, looking strangely well-preserved, so that Xanthe was sure he'd had some "work" done, especially as this was an topic raised early in the plot.

The attitude towards physical love-making is quite positive: two key protagonists get very excited about all the great sex they are having and behave very impulsively. By contrast, the young people in the film are all nicely dressed and behave quite demurely.

I was annoyed by the "Greek chorus" of girlfriends Streep's character, Jane, gets together with on occasion, who presumably function partly as our on-screen surrogates (or is it peers?), egging her on. Likewise, I felt that her therapist took a wrong turn in their meeting, in a way that stretched credibility.

The wealth of the main protagonists rather reduced for me the urgency of their personal stakes. At times I felt I couldn't care less about the petty emotional issues of such well-to-do, over-fed people.

Xanthe and I were stunned at the size and opulence of Streep character's home and garden, and couldn't understand why she needed to extend the building, which already seemed quite large enough. We also wondered where the money to pay for it all was coming from. I had thought she was just an employee at the bakery where she worked, but to have acquired so much disposable income, she must surely have been the proprietor.

• Rating: Matinee
• When seen: 14 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Heartless (2009)

The darker it gets the more you see.

Like a British Donnie Darko - a psychological horror film where the reliability of the protagonist's POV is questionable. How much of what happens is a projection of the protagonist's imaginings and how much is objectively true?

A good true psychological horror story emerging from the protagonist's curiosity about the activities of hooded youth gangs with horrible masked (or not masked?) faces.

Interesting parallel between the reason the protagonist hides his face beneath a hood when out in public, to hide a prominent birthmark, and the reasons young hoodies choose to hide their faces.

Another theme is the question of evil: is evil consuming the world? What leads people to commit evil acts? Is intrinsic internal goodness sufficient defence against temptation?

Along the way, there are some events that stretch credibility somewhat, that we can choose to go with or not, to suspend our disbelief. But overall, the story evolves in a reasonably psychologically credible way.

This means that there's a lot of suspense, and fewer outright thrills, but that's preferable.

The performance by Sturgess is excellent, presenting a shy, inherently good and pure young man.

• Rating: High matinee
• When seen: 13 Feb 2011
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

Katyn (2007)

Harrowing story about the massacre of the cream of Polish society men by the Soviet forces at the start of WWII. Very effective plot, dividing its time between the captive Polish officers, moving further into jeopardy, and the wives and survivors back in Poland, culminating in the shocking reality of mass execution, with all its logistical issues to be solved.

Great performances by actors new to me. Huge stakes, obviously, it being very much life and death, and also, whether or not to capitulate in the nation-wide cover-up, with tragic loss of life and liberty by unsung heroes and heroines refusing to capitulate.

• Rating: Full price
• When seen: 19 Sept 2010
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.

300 (2007)

Spartans, prepare for glory!

Based on a Frank Miller comic. Pretty good but not as compelling as Sin City. Fantastic visuals, especially the ravishing colour palettes used, and the gorgeous highly contrasted graphic scenarios, clearly owing a great deal to the powerful vision of the comicbook artists.

Some excellent action scenes. Good sound. Good performances by all. The casting is spot on, with Gerard Butler doing a Russell Crowe-alike performance as King. Lena Headey is very credible as the queen.

All in all, pretty good, it's just that it was all so macho and testosterone-charged and glamorous in its way, with much display of men's naked torsos and muscled stomachs and in general a great deal of rippling male muscles. Homo-erotic? Sure.

• Rating: Matinee
• When seen: 3 Oct 2010
• Where seen: Home
• More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia

Posted using Blogo from my MacBook Pro

Amendments: Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.