Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

The Descendants: Clooney braves hell in paradise - 5 stars

Crisis breaks George Clooney’s heart open in The Descendants, a family movie where deepening tragedy is touched by gentle humor and grace.

Hawaii’s no paradise for Matt King (Clooney), a real estate lawyer whose wife Liz (Patricia Hastie) lies in a coma after a waterskiing accident. “Hell, I haven’t been on a surfboard for 15 years,” he gripes.

Matt has been busy earning a living. He also serves as trustee of his family’s 25,000 pristine acres on Kauai’s South Shore.

Clooney is intelligent, vulnerable and charming as “the back-up parent, the understudy” who now must step up for his daughters. Alex (Shailene Woodley) is an angry 17-year-old who finds compassion. Scottie (Amara Miller) is a tender, volatile 10-year-old eager to grow up.

Director Alexander Payne weaves the trouble in paradise theme into a personal journey that embraces family and community. With satisfying plot twists, the story shows Matt, Alex and Scottie begin to live more from the heart, and less from the mind.

When Alex tells her dad that Liz was cheating on him, horror and disbelief are accompanied by upbeat ukulele music. He dons his flip-flops and runs to a neighbor’s house to find out “who my wife was … seeing.”

Elizabeth is never going to wake up, Matt learns. He must transform his own pain and sorrow, and guide his daughters through their impending loss. Sometimes falling flat as a parent, he perseveres. He genuinely loves his girls.

Urging extended family and friends to say goodbye to Liz, Matt hatches a plan. He and Alex track down Elizabeth’s lover, realtor Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard). They discover the unexpected. Matt confronts Brian.

Clooney’s fully dimensional character is wounded but spunky. He reveals our own foibles and makes us laugh at them. It’s an impressive progression for the actor, who played a “termination specialist” in Up in the Air; a repentant assassin in The American, and an escaped con in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Matt presides over motley relatives who vote to sell the family land. Hippie cousin Hugh (Beau Bridges) urges him on. Among the bidders are a ritzy condo chain and a Hawaiian developer. A local mother asks Matt not to move forward with the sale.

Hawaii is a land of natives and newcomers, of privilege and struggle. Matt’s ancestors were among the islands’ first white settlers. Surveying the family photos on his office wall, you realize that his actions reflect on all of them, including a Hawaiian princess by marriage.

Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) is memorable as rebellious Alex. Slowly she begins to accept her dad and take better care of herself. Nick Krause is engaging as Alex’s dude friend Sid. Matt must come to terms with Sid and see him as more than a loser. It’s one way he learns to grow as a father.

The excellent cast includes Judy Greer, heart-tugging as Brian’s wronged wife Julie. Robert Forster plays Elizabeth’s belligerent father.

Payne last directed the film Sideways (2004). He’s also known for Citizen Ruth, Election and About Schmidt. His next project is a father-son drama Nebraska.

Payne, along with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, wrote the first-rate script based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel. Cinematography by Phedon Papamichael and editing by Kevin Tent marry drama and comedy. Voiceovers, so easy to overdo, are well executed as Clooney delivers choice observations.

“My family seems exactly like an archipelago, always drifting apart,” Matt observes. By the end of The Descendants, Matt, Alex and Scottie achieve wholeness.

If you like The Descendants, you might enjoy:  Win Win; The American; Up in the Air.

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The Descendants    2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 55 min

Cast Overview:  George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel, Patricia Hastie 

Director:  Alexander Payne

Genre:  Dramedy, Drama, Family

 

The Way: Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez heal heartbreak - 5 stars

Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez heal a father’s heart and find wholeness in the sensitive drama The Way. Set along the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) from France to Spain, the film is directed by Sheen’s son Estevez, who appears as a ghostly muse.

The most powerful movie is sometimes the simplest. Sheen’s deep, rousing performance and Estevez’s minimalist, mood-centered direction fill The Way with meaning. Cinematographer Juanmi Azpiroz captures action along the breathtaking pilgrimage route.

Daniel (Estevez) has died in a freak accident in the Pyrenees, known for unpredictable weather. He was nearly 40 when he decided to postpone doctoral studies and walk the 500-mile-long trek.

Tom Avery (Sheen) just lost his wife a year ago, so losing his son is devastating. The conservative ophthalmologist travels from Ventura, California to identify Daniel and have him cremated.

The Way is the best father-son drama I've seen in years. It's nothing less than a healing for the male heart.

With Daniel’s backpack and provisions, Tom decides to complete his son’s journey. He will walk to the cathedral where the Apostle James is said to be buried. Local police warn him about the dangers. Tom is stoic. He has nothing to lose.

Sheen’s intensity and talent are mesmerizing. A winner of Emmy and Golden Globe awards, he’s played presidents and generals, fathers and coaches. Sheen evokes manhood with strength and sensitivity.

Tom scatters Daniel’s ashes at especially beautiful vistas. He remembers how his son pissed him off. “You don’t choose a life, Dad. You live one,” Daniel once told him. Tom speaks little, but you can feel his brokenness.

Tom sees Daniel wherever he goes. The son becomes father to the man. Tom appreciates the wordless visits. Still peace eludes him.

Empty but determined, Tom surrenders. Three travelers gravitate around the angry American. Numbness gives way to fury for the grieving dad.

Deborah Kara Unger plays Sarah, a sharp-tongued Canadian who wants to quit smoking. Yorick von Wageningen plays Joost, a friendly Dutchman who’s desperate to lose weight but loves regional cuisine. James Nesbitt is engaging as Jack, a bombastic Irishman with writer’s block who begins to chronicle Tom’s story.

His companions irk him, but Tom discovers himself by being around the others. Each traveler has wounds to heal. Finally Tom empathizes. He begins to understand why the journey was so important to Daniel.

Each must resolve personal issues and find truth. Gently insistent spiritual undertones never become overbearing. An encounter with a young gypsy thief (Omar Munoz) and his father (Antonio Gil) is especially moving.

A sense of community grows among the four and extends to others who walk. With references to cell phones, The Way also meditates on how disconnected we have become in the information age.

The Way allowed Sheen and Estevez to explore their Spanish culture and Catholic religion together. Charlie Sheen, the star’s other son, battled publicly with drug addiction as this film was made. The mystical bond between fathers and sons is tempered by real life frustration in this vision quest. 

Estevez has directed a dozen television shows and films. He starred in The Breakfast Club and Young Guns. Estevez and Sheen have made other movies together, including The War at Home and Bobby. 

The Way is a memorable exploration of manhood, heart and healing. Nature’s fearsome beauty unleashes a majestic resolution.

If you like The Way, you might enjoy:  The Music Never Stopped; In a Better World; Beginners; Thor.

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The Way    2010  /  NR  /  1 hour, 55 min

Cast Overview: Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Deborah Kara Unger, Yorick van Wageningen, James Nesbitt

Director:  Emilio Estevez

Genre:  Drama, Independent

The Big Year: Steve Martin & friends hunt birder bliss - 3 stars

Three birders chase their heart’s desire in The Big Year, a quirky comedy about true success. Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson star as three oddballs who follow bliss, value freedom and appreciate nature. The film is reflective and gently funny.

The competitive birders postpone their everyday lives to chase birds and status. Nature and animal lovers will enjoy dozens of “aha!” moments in this film from David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada). Seen for a just a few seconds each, dozens of birds – many rare and unusual – make cameo appearances.

In one stunningly beautiful scene, a pair of American Eagles plummets in a sky-high, dramatic mating ritual. Birders nationwide are hailing this film for featuring the quietly thrilling sport and pastime.

You could say that Stu Preissler (Martin), Brad Harris (Black) and Kenny Bostick (Wilson) are embracing their gentle, feminine sides. Each yearns to fill a deep need within that goes beyond family and material success. They long to be fully human. For Kenny in particular, birding becomes a spiritual path.

Successful CEO Stu longs to retire and do what he loves. Birding and spending time with his expected first grandchild top the list. Martin develops real depth and interest in his character despite brief screen time.

Software tech Brad lives with his mom and dad after a divorce. He’s the oddly beautiful soul personified. Brad maxes out credit cards to finance his participation in the contest. His mom (Dianne Wiest) pledges her support, while his dad (Brian Dennehy) tells him to get a real life. Brad falls for another birder Ellie (Rashida Jones) who’s already spoken for.

World record holder Kenny, who spotted 732 birds last year, is intent on staying number one. As the admired and resented champion, he plays some dirty tricks to mislead his competitors. Kenny’s wife (Rosamund Pike) yearns to start a family. He keeps promising her that each Big Year will be his last.   

Doing a “big year” can be exhausting, uncomfortable, expensive and even dangerous. Competitive birders travel at a moment’s notice, just one step ahead of the violent weather that will drive the birds’ migration. The movie swings between different locations, bird sightings, and scenes from the birders’ lives.

The contest helps and hurts The Big Year. The initial excitement fades as the birders race to spot the most wild birds in North America within one year. The movie doesn’t focus enough on its three gifted comic actors. I wanted to spend more time with these characters.

The film captures a sense of community with nods to renowned, real-life birders. Anjelica Huston’s Annie Auklet is modeled on the pelagic guide Debi Shearwater. Kenny visits Phoebe’s Diner, a reference to the late Phoebe Snetsinger, who recorded over 8,000 lifetime sightings.

CGI effects jarred my attention away from the narrative, especially in a strangely funny scene out of Hitchcock’s The Birds. CGI is used to show details such as the Xantus’ Hummingbird’s gorget, and the Great Gray Owl’s “bow tie.”

The three main characters seem to star in their own separate movies. Only frenzied jaunts to spot wild birds connect them. Stu and Brad join forces to defeat Kenny, but their friendship doesn’t feel fully developed.

Howard Franklin’s screenplay is based on Mark Obmascik’s book The Big Year. A similar contest between three men really did happen in 1998.

After a heart attack, Brad’s dad begins to appreciate his son’s ambition. As the two trudge over a hilly trail to find an owl, Brad has an epiphany of his own.

The Big Year is less than successful, but its aim is true.

If you like The Big Year, you might enjoy:  Shopgirl; It’s Complicated; Midnight in Paris.

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The Big Year    2011  /  PG  /  1 hour, 40 min

Cast Overview:  Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Brian Dennehy, Anjelica Huston, Rashida Jones, Tim Blake Nelson, Rosamund Pike, Dianne Wiest, JoBeth Williams

Director:  David Frankel

Genre:  Comedy, Dramedy

Moneyball: game changer Brad Pitt hits home run - 5 stars

 

Brad Pitt brings Billy Beane to life in the exciting drama Moneyball. Not just for baseball fans, the film tells a true sports rebel story. Beane, the Oakland Athletics general manager, changes the sport and recruits a winning team on a tiny budget.

Bennett Miller (Capote, Doubt) directs with a fantastic script from Oscar winners Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network).

After 11 losses, the team sets a major league record during the 2002 season. Actual game footage from the A’s 20-game win streak adds excitement. Moneyball sweeps you up with an inside look at managing a ball team. I didn’t glance at my watch for over two hours.

Teamwork is built on and off the field. Business deals are wrangled. Underdogs are valued and given a new start. Players give their best – and sometimes not.

Beane shocks back room baseball elders and know-it-all sports commentators by reinventing baseball. His street smarts and out-of-the-box thinking will thrill you. On a personal note, he’s a divorced dad who wants to be his daughter’s hero.

All these themes center around the GM as heroic everyman. Beane recognizes whiz kid Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, perfect here) instantly, enticing him to become his right hand man. It’s a bold decision that will change everything.

Beane must rebel by trying a new approach. His best players get poached by the big money teams all the time. “Adapt or die” becomes his motto.

With the help of the Yale-trained economist, Beane upsets multi-million dollar teams by using sabermetrics in baseball. Brand tells him, “You aren’t trying to buy players. You want to buy wins.”

Brand loves baseball as much as he loves numbers. He identifies standout players based on their runs and on how they fit into an equation. Talent isn’t enough. The players must perform in ways that make major league success likely.

Beane forges ahead with courage and gut instinct. The film is based on the ground-breaking book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis.

A former baseball prodigy, Beane decided to become a professional talent scout. He always wondered why he didn’t have more success in the majors. With sabermetrics, he understands why.

Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffmann is convincing in his brief but weighty role. Ornery Art Howe, the Oakland A’s coach, doesn’t trust Beane or his new boy wonder one whit. Other great performances include Kerris Dorsey as Beane’s daughter (impressive singing and guitar strumming here), and Robin Wright as Billy’s ex-wife.

 
 

There’s a turning point where Beane trades several players to overcome a plateau. Brand advises against this, but the GM takes charge. Pitt excels in a very funny scene where he and Brand juggle calls from general managers calling back.

This is one of Pitt’s best performances. Billy Beane is as gutsy and street smart as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds, and Mr. O’Brien in The Tree of Life. Pitt has worked with directing legends like David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino and Terrence Malick.

Pitt also produced Moneyball. The star often produces his own movies. He’s backed spiritual genre greats such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Eat Pray Love. Lending his sense of fun and box office appeal to B movies, he played Rusty Ryan in Ocean’s Eleven and John Smith in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Academy Awards are likely because Moneyball transcends the screen. It’s a movie for our time where humanity triumphs over big money. It speaks to our fascination with science, but stays grounded in heart and soul.

More than anything, Beane wants to change an unfair game. He builds success with an unlikely group of misfits. Even when you know how this story ends, his victory is no less impressive and sweet.

If you like Moneyball, you might enjoy:  The Blind Side; Hoosiers; Win Win.

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Moneyball     2011  /  PG-12  /  2 hours, 13 mins

Cast Overview:  Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Reed Thompson

Director:  Bennett Miller

Genre:  Drama, Biopic, Drama Based on the Book

 

 

Higher Ground sinks in Vera Farmiga's lukewarm drama - 3 stars

 
 
 
Vera Farmiga fans eager to see her directorial debut Higher Ground may be disappointed. Farmiga plays a religious fundamentalist who has a crisis of faith and leaves her husband, then hovers between fundamentalism and God.

Higher Ground tries to do too much. In exploring one woman’s faith, the screenplay dwells on her childhood, her family, and members of a congregation. A full half hour (about one-third of the movie) passes before we even see Farmiga.

Farmiga’s performance is remarkably wishy washy. She scarcely seems like the actor who played passionate Sophie in Never Forever, or earned an Oscar nomination as frequent flyer Alex in Up in the Air. Even Officer Colleen Goodwin in Source Code has more chutzpah than Corinne Walker.

Farmiga told The New York Times Magazine in 2006 that she was seeking good, strong roles. It’s disappointing that she doesn’t command this one.

Young Corinne (McKenzie Turner) half-heartedly attends Bible school. As a teen (Taissa Farmiga, the director’s sister) she’s smitten with her classmate Ethan (Boyd Holbrook), a rock singer. Soon she’s with child, and the two marry.

Nearly losing their baby daughter in a tour bus accident, the couple gives thanks to God. In 1979, adult Corinne and Ethan (Joshua Leonard) are baptized in a lake as they join an unspecified evangelical group.

Shying away from conflict, the director surveys too many cast members who, collectively, don’t make much of an impression. Great actors like John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone) are wasted here.

Compounding the problem is the washed out color palette. Like the drab house dresses that the womenfolk wear, this cinematic choice makes a dull story duller.

There’s a scene where Corinne’s best friend Annika (Dagmara Dominczyk in a rousing performance) sustains permanent damage after brain surgery. It’s an overt plot device that I found offensive, “divine punishment” for the sexy, outspoken Polish wife and mother.

A surreal, sensual scene between the two friends feels awkward and goes on too long. The film can’t decide whether Corinne’s crisis is more feminist or spiritual, and falters in both areas.

As Corinne receives the news about Annika at the hospital, her deer-in-the-headlights stare into the camera is worse than silly. It didn’t move me at all.

“You are worshipping at the altar of yourself,” a Bible-quoting shrink chides Corinne when she confesses her need for sexual satisfaction. Even here, Farmiga is tentative and unconvincing. The character’s quest to explore sex, literature and intelligent conversation is never fully realized. She just seems like a woman who got married too soon for the wrong reasons.

Corinne whines about “feeling nothing,” but never transcends that funk. After leaving her husband, she goes to a library to explore new thinking. She flirts with a literary Irish mailman (Sean Mahon), only to discover that he is married.

Corinne is most passionate when she’s speaking to the congregation. Women aren’t allowed to preach, as the pastor’s wife reminds her. No wonder Pastor Bill (Norbert Leo Butz) feels threatened. Corinne speaks honestly from her heart and experience. He hides behind preachy sermons.

Strangely, Corinne returns to the church after leaving Ethan. Now an outcast, she takes up the microphone and shares. Pastor Bill barely protests. Emotion stirs in Annika’s eyes, and sorrow fills Ethan. The others ignore her numbly. Sheep show more emotion than this.

Two revelatory moments barely register. While young Corinne lies impassive under Ethan, a big black pig looks on, his eyes filled with kindness and intelligence. Late in the film, Corinne gazes at crosses atop the church. A nearby dog approaches the edge of the woods, gazing back at her.

Nature here symbolizes the wilderness and mystery of following the Divine. Corinne stays tethered to what she knows, a belief in suffering and sacrifice. Higher Ground is based on This Dark World by Carolyn S. Briggs.

Directing a film is a great opportunity to explore human growth and drama writ large. Movie characters say and do things that many of us wouldn’t dare say or do. Like a lost soul, Higher Ground circles and loses its way.

If you like Higher Ground, you might enjoy:  Another Earth; Source Code; Up in the Air.

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Higher Ground     2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 49 min 

Cast Overview:  Vera Farmiga, Norbert Leo Butz, Dagmara Dominczyk, John Hawkes, Bill Irwin, Joshua Leonard, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Donna Murphy, Taissa Farmiga, Boyd Holbrook

Director:  Vera Farmiga

Genre:  Drama, Spirituality

 

 

The Robber: Bourne-like drama chases thoughtful thrills - 4.5 stars

 
 
A record-breaking marathon runner (Andreas Lust) chases his endorphin rush to extremes in The Robber, Benjamin Heisenberg’s real-life drama with Jason Bourne's heart. It's now streaming online.

The rush of marathon competition and victory would thrill most of us. Quiet, intense Johann Rettenberger (Lust) robs banks. He’s hooked on the thrill of a double life. Winning championships seems like his day job. Daring heists are his true passion.

This is a chase film and cinematic exploration of movement, darkness and light. The runner hones his crimes as carefully as his cardio training. Like Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley in Heat, Rettenberger is compelled to pull off big heists. Like McCauley, he vows never to return to prison.

More myth than character, Rettenberger lives on the edge, fully alive. He has little use for the money. Wearing a Ronald Reagan mask, the real crook (Johann Kastenberger) robbed up to three banks a day, earning the nickname Pumpgun Ronnie.

The Robber is based on Martin Prinz’s novel On the Run, which tells how the marathoner terrorized Austrian banks in the 1980s. Prinz co-wrote the screenplay with Heisenberg.

Rettenberger loves solitude. He has no family ties or real friendships. This is his fatal flaw and his fascination.

The love of Erika (Franziska Weisz) entices Johann. In spite of herself, she is mesmerized by criminal life. The two see a crime movie on their first date. Erika gushes over a shootout scene. Johann smiles knowingly to himself.

Erika and Johann knew each other in childhood. Even then he was stealing treats from her mother. She offers Johann in an extra room in her flat. One day she finds a cache of bills stuffed under his bed. Johann discovers Erika sitting on the carpet in his room, wearing the bank robber’s mask, her eyes teary.

 
 

Lust (Revanche) fascinates even in a spare story with little dialogue. Cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider evokes chase and race scenes with Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner fascination. The low-budget film achieves great suspense. In one scene, Rettenberger leaps out of a window at police headquarters and flees.

The characters shape shift as Vorschneider films dark scenes with tremendous depth, color and visual interest. As Johann and Erika make love, the two come alive with the tentative commitment of those on the run.

Exquisite images abound. There’s a surge of runners before dawn, headlamps bobbing. Later, police flashlights close in as Rettenberger takes refuge in a dark forest.

Dialogue is another great treat in The Robber. “Jealous?” Erika asks Johann. “For a second,” he answers. “That’s nice,” she replies.

In a plot twist, Johann veers into violence. The runner’s face and whole body congeal when his parole officer (Markus Schleinzer) dogs him after a championship. This sets off the trophy-bearing Rettenberger.

Carefully crafted and executed, The Robber is a fine film that could have benefited from deeper character development. At least Heisenberg has given us more food for thought than the famous Bourne films.

The Social Network's Andrew Garfield is set to star in an American remake of The Robber, according to Filmofilia.

Clutching desperately to love and freedom, the anti-hero fascinated me until the film’s end under gray skies on the autobahn. Sony has purchased the rights for an American remake.

If you like The Robber, you might enjoy: The Tree of Life; Missing Pieces; The Debt.

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The Robber     2010  /  NR (violence, sex)  /  1 hour, 28 mins

Cast Overview:  Andreas Lust, Franziska Weisz, Florian Wotruba, Johann Bednar, Markus Schleinzer, Peter Vilnai, Max Edelbacher

Director:  Benjamin Heisenberg

Genre:  Drama, Crime, Sports, Biopic

Languages:  German with English subtitles

 

 

Round Ireland with a Fridge: Hawks' excellent adventure - 5 stars

 
 

When comedian Tony Hawks’ career tanks, a pal bets him 100 pounds that he can’t tote a refrigerator around Ireland within one month. Round Ireland with a Fridge stars Hawks and is based on his bestseller of the same name.

Comedy director Ed Bye depicts a creative response to tough times. The light-hearted film starts slowly but gains momentum. Hawks can’t find his groove. Audiences only laugh at his old jokes and sight gags (like tapping a golf ball aloft 20 times in a row).

The Englishman surrenders and goes with the flow as he hitchhikes around the Emerald Isle. Beginning in Dublin, he visits Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Cork and Wexford. The film sends up Irish stereotypes as Hawks trudges along the countryside, visiting pubs and boarding houses.

A friendly salesman (Sean Hughes) gives Tony a lift, and alerts national radio host Dylan Dale (uproarious Irish comedian Ed Byrne). Dale roasts Tony publicly as he tracks his progress. Soon, Tony is hailed by strangers and new friends.

Hawks meets a pretty, wisecracking reporter Roisin (Valerie O’Connor, with snarky-good delivery). Although Tony makes a disastrous first impression, she is still attracted to the amiable bumbler.

Roisin is convinced that her being a single mom will turn Tony off. Fulfilling her own prophecy, she snubs him before he can reject her. Winning Roisin’s heart becomes his quest.

 

When life looks bleak, Tony talks to his fridge. Round Ireland with a Fridge becomes an existential gem, a heartfelt response to loneliness.

Hawks dubs the fridge Saoirse, the Gaelic word for freedom. She is autographed by well-wishers, becoming a “work of art.” In some of the funniest scenes, Saoirse goes surfing, and is “christened” by a couple of nuns.

Round Ireland with a Fridge reminds me of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s impromptu comedy The Trip.

“Hitchhiking is a rather noble pursuit,” the “Fridge Man” tells Roisin. “You set your ego to one side, plop yourself by the side of the road and wait for someone to come along and help you. And you know what? People do. ‘Cause they’re quite nice.”

Bye captures the feeling of a safe and trusting world for 90 minutes. Genuine human connection, warmth, and jolly mayhem prevail.

Hawks will star in the 2012 dramedy Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, which he also wrote, co-directed and produced. According to Wikipedia, Hawks lists The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle as “the book he would take with him to a desert island.”

If you like Round Ireland with a Fridge, you might enjoy: Cedar Rapids; Our Idiot Brother; The Trip.

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Round Ireland with a Fridge     2010  /  NR  /  1 hour, 30 min

Cast Overview:  Tony Hawks, Ed Byrne, Josie Lawence, Sean Hughes, Valerie O’Connor, John Burke

Director: Ed Bye

Genre:  Comedy

  

The Whistleblower: sex trafficking exposed in dark thriller ****

 

If you are able to watch sex trafficking, cruelty and torture, see The Whistleblower. Rachel Weisz stands up to sex traffickers in this fact-based thriller about human rights violations in postwar Bosnia. Director Larysa Kondracki relays horrible truths using noir and cinema verite in her feature debut.

The Whistleblower does not let you look away from war atrocities. With a docudrama feel, it is suspenseful, violent and jarring. There is a graphic rape scene. Female slaves are kept in filthy, torture-chamber barracks. Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac is the real whistleblower.

In the opening, Ukrainian teen Irka (the director’s sister Rayisa Kondracki) urges Raya (Roxana Condurache) to travel with her to a job opportunity in Bosnia. Neighbors and even family members lure young women like these. Desperate to escape struggle and poverty, Raya accepts.

A divorced mom, Bolkovac arrives in Sarajevo in 1999 for a six-month contract. The $100,000 tax-free paycheck will allow her to move closer to her daughter. Soon Bolkovac finds herself confronting police, local thugs, and even her fellow United Nations peacekeepers-for-hire.

Bolkovac is outraged to find that her co-workers are complicit or participating in the prostitution slave rings. Diplomatic employees have full immunity, and locals are unlikely to be prosecuted. Bolkovac’s employer at the time, security contractor DynCorp International, works for the United States today in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Best supporting actress Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) conveys the soul of the film. Bolkovac is urged to look the other way. She refuses.

Glib acceptance reigns. “Those girls are whores of war. It happens,” an agency commander says.

The ferocious activist faces off against peacekeepers and investigates brothels in the night, often alone. Unafraid, Bolkovac does her job. It’s a portrait of a true hero with no need for a costume or special effects.

 

Bolkovac backs the first successful post-war court decision for a domestic violence victim. She gets noticed. Vanessa Redgrave appears briefly as the real Madeleine Rees, then head of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Rees offers Bolkovac a position in the U.N. Gender Affairs Office, where she will investigate sexual assaults. Bolkovac accepts as her peacekeeping contract runs outs.

Other U.N. officials ignore Bolkovac’s revelations about the international sexual assault on girls. The activist eventually was fired from her U.N. position. She won a wrongful termination suit in 2001. Bolkovac co-wrote the screenplay with Eilis Kirwan based on her book The Whistleblower: Sex Trafficking, Military Contractors, and One Woman’s Fight for Justice.

David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) is brooding and shifty as Peter Ward, an internal affairs officer who offers to help the whistleblower. Monica Bellucci plays a diplomatic burnout who sees a bit of herself in the idealistic American.

The Whistleblower is a Third World Erin Brockovich. It provokes questions that demand answers. It shows the war within war, violence against women, on a massive scale.

In a respite from violence, Bolkovac has an affair with one of her co-workers Jan (Nikolaj Lie Kaas). In real life she later married her co-worker.

This film conveys important information. I felt honored to watch a woman dare to stand up for justice. I also noted that The Whistleblower does not depict forgiveness from any party. Leaking information to the BBC seems to be Bolkovac’s only option.

Spiritual teachers including Marianne Williamson advocate brief meditation while surrounding horrific situations with light and love. Personal power can be exercised by imagining and intending a better world.

The Whistleblower is roughly hewn in a way that suits its ugly subject. It was filmed quickly on a low budget, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.

One important scene feels staged. The screenplay is choppy and sometimes preachy. Yet great performances from Weisz, Strathairn and others animate this relentless movie. Plato’s Cave comes to mind during a particularly tragic turning point.

A twisty ending provides little relief. The film closes with statistics about continued sex trafficking worldwide.

According to Foreign Policy’s Turtle Bay blog, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon invited Kondracki to show the film at U.N. headquarters “to top U.N. officials and representatives of governments that supply peacekeepers to U.N. missions.” The screening is scheduled for the week of October 10.

If you like The Whistleblower, you might enjoy:  A Call Girl; Miral; Lemon Tree.

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The Whistleblower     2010  /  R  /  2 hours

Cast Overview:  Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn, Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci, Roxana Condurache, Rayisa Kondracki

Director:  Larysa Kondracki

Genre:  Drama, Thriller, True Life, Drama Based on the Book

Languages:  English and Croatian with English subtitles

 

Sarah's Key: Kristen Scott Thomas stars in Holocaust drama ****

 
 

An American journalist living in Paris (Kristen Scott Thomas) is obsessed with a Holocaust story. Sarah's Key is a thrilling search for truth about France’s role in the Holocaust seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Sarah (Melusine Mayance). The film is based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel.

French director Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s film exposes the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup during World War II. Many moviegoers will learn about the incident for the first time here.

In the roundup, thousands of Jews living in Paris’ Marais neighborhood were forced into a sports stadium, torn away from family members, and shipped to concentration camps. Julia Jarmond (Thomas) convinces her editor to let her write a 10-page article documenting the 60^th anniversary of the roundup.

Two parallel stories unfold. Julia pursues leads and interviews witnesses. She discovers that she is personally connected to the Starzinski family, Polish Jews living in Paris during the German occupation.

 

Sarah Starzinski’s story is told in flashbacks. Police arrive one day. Sarah dashes to protect her young brother Michel. She locks him in a closet for safekeeping, sure that she will return soon. Days pass in the crowded stadium. Panic and disease spread. Desperate to return and rescue Michel, Sarah falls ill.

Under Nazi order, French police arrested 13,000 Jews in July 1942. The prisoners were forced into the Velodrome d’Hiver, an indoor bicycle racing track. With no access to running water or toilets, they slept in their seats or on concrete floors. Families were separated and herded into trains bound for French internment camps.

Thomas (The English Patient; I’ve Loved You So Long) and Mayance play off each other beautifully with moving character studies. Past and present feel immediate and urgent. Thomas is intent and driven as she speaks both French and American English. Her brilliance shines despite a script that often emphasizes the obvious. Mayance is a talent to watch, lively and convincing here.

Julia learns that Sarah escaped from the Beaune-la-Rolande camp in Loiret. She tracks down a farm couple (Niels Arestrup and Dominique Frot) who sheltered the girl from Nazi soldiers. The mystery of Sarah’s life deepens as Julia locates her surviving relatives, including William (Aidan Quinn).

Julia travels abroad to pursue the story. She argues with her French husband Bertrand (Frederic Pierrot) and reassures her teenage daughter Zoe (Karina Hin). In one of the film’s contrived moments, Julia learns that the Starzinski’s apartment was acquired by Bertrand’s family in 1942.

The director relates a powerful chapter of history. Tellingly, it is a French soldier who helps Sarah escape from the camp.

In real life (and beyond the scope of Sarah’s Key), other roundups followed. Prisoners were eventually deported to Auschwitz. In 1959, fire destroyed much of the Vel’ d’Hiver. Apartments and a Ministry of the Interior building stand on the site today.

Julia’s part was over-written and weighs down the narrative. Emphasis on Julia’s pregnancy and failing marriage is distracting. The epilogue feels too neat and becomes trite. Yet Sarah’s Key brings history to life with personal revelation. Paquet-Brenner has made a daring, important film.

If you like Sarah’s Key, you might enjoy:  Winter in Wartime; Of Gods and Men; The King’s Speech.

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Sarah’s Key     2010  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 45 min

Cast Overview:  Kristin Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Frederic Pierrot, Michel Duchaussoy, Dominique Frot, Gisele Casadesus, Aidan Quinn

Director:  Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Genre:  Drama, History, Books on Film

Languages:  English, French and German with English subtitles

 

The Help: women speak out, cross color lines in Deep South drama ****1/2

 

Women unite when a black maid (Viola Davis) tells her story to a young, white journalist (Emma Stone) in The Help, a drama set in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi. Based on Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, Tate Taylor’s film is made vivid by an impressive, diverse female ensemble cast.

The Help looks selectively at the segregation era in the Deep South, stepping gingerly around the land mines of racial hatred and violence. While wife beating is mentioned, and the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers is reported on television, this film is about women: boss ladies and maids, saints and sinners, competitors and collaborators. Among them are quiet leaders.   

Oscar-worthy performances abound. These movie legends and young talents clearly cared about the project and shared a rapport that is evident on-screen. Taylor, who adapted the screenplay, employs a lively pace and an upbeat tone even as anger ferments. He takes a big risk by using humor to upend fear and separation.

The maids earn 95 cents per hour with no Social Security benefits. The boss ladies live in beautiful mansions, play cards and gossip as the help raise their children and do the housework.  

Aibileen Clark (Davis) first agrees to help Skeeter Phelan (Stone) with her housekeeping column for the Jackson Journal. When Skeeter tells her she’s writing a book from the perspective of black women, Aibileen is speechless. Stone (Easy A) is outstanding as an earnest young reporter who remains true to herself. Allison Janney plays Skeeter’s anxious mother. Mary Steenburgen plays a profit-minded publisher.

 
 
 
Aibileen’s wisdom has been honed by indignity and tragedy. A writer at heart, she journals every night. Skeeter travels secretly to Aibileen’s kitchen to interview her for the controversial book. Aibileen can barely speak about her own son, who died after he was denied prompt medical attention following a work accident.

Oscar nominated for her supporting role in Doubt, Davis captures the soul of understatement. Aibileen is stoic and polite, a churchgoer who genuinely lives by Christian principles. Her best friend Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) speaks out loudly. “We livin’ in hell,” she tells Skeeter. “Trapped.” Spencer delivers a breakout performance.

Minny’s boss Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard, bracing and relentless here) is crusading for a Home Health Sanitation Initiative. Blacks are ordered to use separate, outdoor bathrooms where they work. When Minny dares break the rule out of necessity, she’s promptly fired. She has no choice but to work for the town’s social outcast Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain, marvelously batty in this role). Chastain and Spencer forge a fascinating dynamic of respect and momentary equality. Sissy Spacek plays Miss Hilly’s senile, defiant mother. Cicely Tyson is regal as Skeeter’s mammy Constantine.

There’s a “Real Housewives of Jackson” feel to The Help that’s soon transcended. Aibileen’s voice is central. “No one ever asked me what it feeled like to be me. Once I told the truth about that I felt free.” When Elizabeth (Ahna O’Reilly) scolds her daughter harshly, Aibileen has the girl repeat a positive message that just might sustain her: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

"I know those women,” Viola Davis told ComingSoon.net. “Those women are very specific in my history. My aunt Joyce, my mom May Alice, my grandmother . . . . I didn't even have to search. I could just have emotional recall."

The Help ends on several feel-good notes. When a crisis rocks the community, a host of women step forward to share their stories. This is the film’s transformative moment. Social change begins where it always must: within each of us.

 If you like The Help, you might enjoy:  Precious; The Blind Side.

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The Help     2011  /  PG-13 /  2 hours, 17 min

Cast Overview:  Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Anna Camp, Aunjanue Ellis, Mary Steenburgen, Ahna O’Reilly, Eleanor Henry, Emma Henry

Director:  Tate Taylor

Genre:  Drama, Period Piece