Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale
Director: James MangoldProducer: Stuart M. Besser, Ryan Kavanaugh, Cathy Konrad, Lynwood Spinks
Release Date: September 7, 2007
Running time: 117 minMPAA Rating: RDistributors: Lions Gate Entertainment“You all spared no expense this time, Byron. I gotta say, though, it's probably cheaper just to let me rob the damn thing.”
- Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma
“If it's between you and some poor guy whose wife you're gonna make a widow... brother, you are going down.”
- Vincent Hanna in HeatThe Skinny:
A remake of the 1957 film of the same name adapted from a short story by Elmore Leonard.The Review:
I don’t see that many Westerns. When you say it out loud it’s kind of appalling considering most of the ones I have seen (and my experience is embarrassingly limited) are generally pretty good. They appeal because of basic thematic fundamentals: enforcement of the law, honor and cowardice, and good old fashion good guys vs. bad guys. The good ones are more than just cowboys and Indians; they are studies in character that take place in a simpler time. Well, maybe not simpler, but definitely a time that is more uniquely American than any other film genre.
Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a rancher and veteran of the Civil War who is down on his luck. He lost his leg in the war and his barn has just been burned down in the middle of the night. He is living with the fear his sons don’t respect him and that he is not providing for his family. Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is the leader of a gang with over twenty robberies on the Southern Pacific Railroad on his resume. He has charisma and intellect beyond the borders of his gang and his evil actions. Yet, you still want to see him get his just dues.
Evans and his boys stumble on a robbery in progress by Wade and his gang. Wade takes their horses but lets them go. Later in town, Evans crosses paths with Wade again and stalls him long enough for him to be arrested. He agrees to help escort Wade to prison train in Contention (the 3:10 to Yuma) for desperately needed reward money. In its most basic form, the plot of the movie is simple; get a man to the train on time. But the plot is not what drives this movie. It is the interaction between Wade and Evans while they are on the journey to Contention.
Remember the scene in Heat where DeNiro and Pacino discuss the discipline of their chosen professions and reflect on their ultimate intentions while having coffee? Of course you do. It is a great movie and that scene stays with you long after you finish watching it. Although they come from the opposite sides of the law, they are civilized amidst the chaos that has, and is about to ensue. They go so far as to kindly let the other know that when push comes to shove, civilized or not, neither of them will hesitate to let instinct take over and do what they think has to be done.
This movie is a lot like that scene. It is essentially a long conversation between two men who seem to exist only in each others universe. Even though they will ultimately both do what they have to in order to serve their own interests, they will be civilized about it, even if they are pushed to violence. You get the feeling that if Wade has to be sent to prison, there is no one else he would rather accompany him on his journey than Evans. They interact with each other as if no one else is around, and the movie is all the better for it. The whole movie we are lead to believe that Evans is only doing this for the reward money, but during the final 20 minutes the movie comes full circle because we come to the realization of his true motivations at the precise moment that he does, even if Wade knew it all along.The Rub:
3:10 to Yuma is a great movie that tells a simple story that flourishes from the performances of Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, both as individual performances and the way their characters interact. Even though both men keep their own agendas in play, there is a civility in their actions that forges a stronger connection and makes the movie all the better for it.
And there’s the rub.*** 1/2 out of ****
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Sean William Scott, Susan Sarandon, Amy Poehler, Ethan Suplee
Director: Craig GillespieProducer: Bob Cooper, David Dobkin
Release Date: September 14, 2007
Running time: 97 minMPAA Rating: PG-13Distributors: New Line Cinema“Well, I am known for my meat.”
- Jasper Woodcock in Mr. WoodcockThe Skinny:
Childhood fatty gets tormented by his gym teacher, grows up and writes a book only to find out the object of all his motivations is now dating his mother.The Review:
6th grade. Third period gym. Coach Stange.
Everybody knew all you had to do was show up and dress for class and you’d get an easy A; so that I did. Yet at the end of the first semester I had to explain to my folks why I got a C- in gym class. I argued over and over that Coach Stange flat out hated my guts. Mom even went so far as to call the school to find out. Why the low grade for a whole semester? According to him, it was because I forgot my gym clothes one time and I needed to be taught some discipline. It took her until the next year of seeing A’s in gym for her to finally believe me that he did actually hate me. I didn’t let my distaste for him ruin or guide my life, but God I hated that guy. Mr. Woodcock tell a similar, albeit slightly more colorful version of that same story.
Growing up in small town Nebraska, John Farley (Sean William Scott) was one of the many child victims tormented by their gym teacher, Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). He has since grown up to be a successful writer, penning a seemingly worthless self help bestseller Letting Go: Getting Past Your Past. Farley returns home to claim a local prize only to find that the source of all of his childhood frustrations and adult motivations, Mr. Woodcock, is now dating his mother.
I don’t know why, but the fact that Woodcock looked exactly the same 13 years later made me laugh. Out loud, even. Beyond that, watching Thornton chew the screen was about as good as this movie got. He must’ve typed in Bad Santa into his flux capacitor and hit cruise control because he’s basically doing the same character. The only thing is, like that bad joke you like so well no matter how many times you hear it, it never really gets old. It is widely understood that Billy Bob Thornton is arguably one of the greatest working actors today, and I love seeing him get down and dirty in his dramatic best, but watching him verbally berate people on screen never ceases to be funny to me. At least not yet. I typically like my Sean William Scott cocky and idiotic (see: the American Pie films and The Rundown), so his sniveling, whining, Farley didn’t play that well. Ethan Suplee as Farley’s childhood friend Nedderman, adds another dopey sidekick to his resume and Amy Poehler continues to be as annoying as ever as Maggie, Farley’s agent. I wouldn’t mind it if she was funny, but only being there to forcefully interject her stock one-liners grew tiresome very quickly. Susan Sarandon plays it straight as Beverly Farley, but does it really matter in a movie with the title Mr. Woodcock?
The movie is one joke stretched as thing as it can without breaking. To say this is a good movie, or even a funny one is pushing the limits of my honesty. There are a few laughs here and there but for the most part, it isn’t really worth anyone’s time, cast included. Woodcock plays it all badass until the end somewhere and tries to pull a cowardly lion by finding a heart. I would have preferred him either having all heart or none at all. This isn’t the type of character where I expect to see growth. And the oh-so-predictable ending does what you would expect any one note joke of a movie to do, try to teach us a lesson. And that lesson is this: If you and your mother are sitting in a hospital waiting room, her in her 1970 Corn Cob Queen gown, and you in your high school wrestling tights, both holding on to the past, your best bet is to just go with it because Woodcock is about the most entertaining thing either one of you have going for you. And that’s not saying much. Coach Stange, if you’re out there, had you been remotely funny like this I wouldn’t have thought you were suck a prick all these years.
The Rub:
Mindless and predictable, Mr. Woodcock is the kind of movie that works best when you’ve seen everything else, there is nothing on TV, and you have nothing else to do. Don’t expect gut busting Superbad type laughs, but Billy Bob Thornton is good for a few chuckles, and about the only thing worth seeing. It’s not really good at all but I didn’t completely hate it only because it served its purpose - to help me kill a few hours, even if it had to take a few brain cells with it.
And there’s the rub.** out of ****
Starring: Jodie Foster, Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard, Mary SteenburgenDirector: Neil JordanProducer: Susan Downey, Joel Silver
Release Date: September 14, 2007
Running time: 119 min
MPAA Rating: RDistributors: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name. But what’s puzzling you, is the nature of my game.”
- The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the DevilThe Skinny:
Jodie Foster turns vigilante after the murder of her fiancé.The Review:
Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are like two peas in a pod. She does a show on a New York talk radio station and he is a doctor. They are blissfully in love and planning their wedding. They fake-cute argue over things like invitations and what type of wedding they should have. On a walk through Central Park one night with their dog, they are brutally attacked. She is beaten within an inch of her life, and him six inches further. She wakes from her coma three weeks later to find that David’s funeral has already been held and she is left with nothing to do but pick up the pieces and try to move on.
Going in to this movie seemed like dangerous ground to tread so soon after seeing Death Sentence just two weeks ago. Another movie about an average Joe turned vigilante killer after the death of their (blank)? And even if there will always be a spot reserved in my movie loving heart for her because of Silence of the Lambs, Foster kind of fell off the map for me some time ago. This movie surprised the hell out of me.
There are three reasons it works so well. First, the performances by Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard are incredible. Foster finally jumped off that one trick pony she had been riding through her last few movies roles and added back some of the spunk that made us love her in the first place. She’s pretty much been sleepwalking for the past five years, so it’s great to see she still possesses the talent and chops that made her famous. Watch the scene where Erica does her first radio show after the attack. She gets on air, freezes and restarts three different times. It is painful to watch. Not only do you hear the fear in her voice, but you feel it for her. You just want to reach through the screen, take her out of the room and end the discomfort. Not many actors could pull it off, and even fewer with such haunting effect. Howard adds the perfect counterbalance to her performance. He plays the rare good cop who still believes in the system he fights to protect, even if he has any number of reasons to have become jaded by it.
Two, the direction from Neil Jordan is very solid. Nothing is overplayed. Even when Erica is in full on vigilante mode, the movie doesn’t just move from one kill scene to the next. They aren’t elaborately staged scenes full of blood and carnage; they all serve the story and illustrate the conflict she is going through. There is restraint in his direction that really sets the tone for everything, and gets it perfect. Even toward the end when the movie walks dangerously close to becoming a cliché cat-and-mouse thriller, he has the sense enough to pull it back and ride the horse that got him here.
Finally, the movie sort of throws conventional revenge movie wisdom out the window. The basic structure is in place, but this movie takes the time to dig deep into the emotion behind Erica’s transformation. This isn’t someone who lives through a brutally violent act then just decides out of thin air she wants to go on a killing spree. She is not a superhero, she is a real person. When she gets out of the hospital she becomes so paralyzed with fear and paranoia that she is a prisoner in her home. She can’t sleep and is afraid to even leave. When she finally forces herself to get out of the house, there is a level of fear to be expected, but we watch it consumer her. She tries the conventional route of gaining some much needed normalcy (going to the cops, getting back to work, etc). She goes to the same places she has been to a thousand times but sees things in a completely different light since the attack. There is a slow burn to her transformation that feels not only justified, but necessary without being righteous.
By definition The Brave One is a revenge movie, but dealing with the idea on such an emotional level is what sets it apart from some of the more mundane features from the same genre. The entire movie barrels on a path toward an expected conclusion but at the end, throws you for a loop by doing the opposite of what you expect. It doesn’t quite feel like cheating, but it does come out of nowhere. The Rub:
Typical revenge movie conventions be damned - this movie primarily deals with the emotional transformation Erica goes through after her attack. Don’t let the boring and obvious title fool you, this is a fantastic movie carried by the strength of its direction and excellent performances. Everything here is played at just the right tone and we haven’t seen Foster this good in some time. Hopefully it will allow us to see more of the Jodie Foster we have come to know and love watching.
And there’s the rub.*** 1/2 out of ****
Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale
