Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

The Names of Love ***1/2

 

In a tribute to Woody Allen The Names of Love (Le Nom des Gens) stars a “political whore” who seduces one man at a time to create social change. Director Michel Leclerc’s dark romantic comedy stars Sara Forestier.

Forestier won a Cesar (France’s Oscar) as bawdy Baya in this Annie Hall-like take on love and identity. Baya is the daughter of an Alergian immigrant (Zinedine Soualem) who pours his heart into his paintings, and a former French radical (Carole Franck). Her half-Arab roots are her secret pride. An avid left-winger, she’s out to convert one “fascist” at a time.

Forestier traipses nude as Baya plies her body like a perky, bombastic tool. Wardrobe malfunction moments are oddly amusing and over-the-top. In a memorable performance, Forestier flits bird-like from one lover to the next. Baya was seduced by her piano teacher at age 12.  Since then, she’s never been the same.

Jacques Gamblin stars as straight-arrow Arthur Martin, Baya’s newest love interest. Arthur is a veterinarian who performs necropsies on dead animals. He cautions citizens to guard against the H5N1 virus. Baya bursts into the sound studio in protest while he’s speaking on a radio show.

Arthur’s French Catholic father (Jacques Boudet) runs a nuclear power plant and fought in Algeria. His mother (Michele Moretti) suppresses her Jewish identity and Auschwitz memories. The truth often bursts out, especially when she loses her papers one day.

Arthur travels back in time, but fails to change his parents’ decision to name him Arthur Martin. They masked his half-Jewish heritage by naming him after a line of washing machines. Deadpan Arthur is efficient and reliable, just like the appliances. Everyone he meets says so.  

 

The Names of Love plumbs identity while it weaves dark comedy around two taboos, childhood sexual abuse and The Holocaust. The film's mood is reflective, sad and occasionally amusing.

Arthur’s inner teen appears to chat with him about Baya. The adult wants to capture her free spirit for his own, but wonders whether it’s possible or even wise. Arthur’s dead grandparents return, urging him to remember them. In one scene, the son delightfully reimagines his mother’s past as she rides in her father’s taxi.

When Arthur introduces his parents to Baya, their dinner party erupts into near mayhem. Suppressing herself is not Baya’s strong suit. When her parents arrive for dessert, interesting complications arise.

Leclerc, who co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Baya Kasmi, mentions Woody Allen in the dialogue as he adapts the famed director’s “free love” style.

Watching the film can be challenging. White subtitles sometimes appear on a white background. Certain scenes are blurred for effect in a distracting manner.

A cameo by Arthur’s idol Lionel Jospin, a former French prime minister and Socialist presidential candidate, is featured.

The treatment of immigrants and non-Christians in modern-day France was also explored poignantly and tenderly in the romantic drama Welcome.

Baya and Arthur consider the future. How safe is it to be oneself in any culture or country? “We’re half-breeds,” Baya declares. “The day there’s nothing but half-breeds is the day there’ll be peace.”

If you like The Names of Love, you might enjoy: Midnight in Paris; Barney’s Version; 35 Shots of Rum; Welcome.

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The Names of Love (Le Nom des Gens)    2010  /  R  /  1 hour, 42 min

Cast Overview:  Sara Forestier, Jacques Gamblin, Carole Franck, Zinadine Soualem, Michele Moretti, Jacques Boudet

Director:  Michel Leclerc

Genre:  Romantic Comedy, Dark Comedy, Foreign Film

Language:  French with English subtitles

 

Miral ***1/2

 

A schoolgirl flirts with terrorism and falls in love in the controversial drama Miral. Jewish American director Julian Schnabel directs this film from a Palestinian perspective.

Miral follows four generations of Jerusalem-born Muslim women beginning in 1948, before Israel was formed. Hiam Abbass (The Visitor; Lemon Tree) plays Hind Husseini, an affluent woman who converts her father's estate into an orphanage for war refugees. Graceful Abbass conveys matter-of-fact compassion, especially in a scene where she finds children, huddled and dirty, abandoned on a street.

The character of Hind is based on the real social activist who founded the Dar El-Tifl El-Arabi orphanage and school. Hind meets quirky, charming Col. Edward Smith (Willem Dafoe) at a holiday party. The two sparkle together, but she chooses to devote her life to displaced Arab youth. Vanessa Redgrave shines in a very brief appearance.

The film also depicts the life of Nadia (Yasmine al Massri), beginning with a rape by her father. Schnabel (Before Night Falls; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) reveals the scene by focusing on a bed frame moving up and down. Nadia flees home. Later, we see Nadia’s belly in slow motion, dreamlike, as she performs at a club. By the time Nadia gives birth to Miral, she is full of self-hate and drowns herself in the ocean.

Thrown into prison for punching a heckler on a bus, Nadia meets her compassionate cellmate Fatima (Ruba Blal), a nurse who helped a Palestinian prisoner escape from a hospital, and later left a bomb in a crowded theater.

After her mother’s death, Miral will live at Hind’s orphanage but will be allowed to visit her father Jamal (Alexander Siddig) every weekend. Siddig (Syriana) is wonderful as a devout Muslim.

Indian actress Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) brings depth and complexity to the role of Miral. Following the Intifada in 1987, Miral is asked to teach Palestinian children in a refugee camp. She becomes radicalized and begins to fall in love with revolutionary Hani (Omar Metwally). 

 

Miral is detained for 24 hours, questioned and whipped. After the girl is released, Hind urges Miral not to get involved in politics, for it might endanger the orphanage. Jamal forbids Miral to hang out with Hani and his crowd. She screams at him, “You just don’t understand anything!”

Jamal sends Miral away to her aunt’s home in Haifa, where she meets her cousin’s Jewish Israeli girlfriend Lisa (played by Schnabel’s daughter Stella). As the friendship unfolds, Miral asks, “How can you love an Arab man?” He is a good man who "kisses like an angel," Lisa says. 

Can a budding terrorist reform? Miral comes full circle by the end of the film. Metwally (Munich; The City of Your Final Destination) is convincing as his idealism ultimately leads him in the direction of peace.

Miral is a moving study of personal transformation set in geopolitical turmoil. It is worth seeing despite numerous flaws. The project is marred by occasional preachiness, weak dialogue, uneven editing, odd musical score, and poor makeup to simulate aging for Hind.

Produced by the Weinstein Company, Miral’s screenplay was adapted by journalist Rula Jebreal from her own semi-autobiographical novel.

If you like Miral, you might enjoy:  Lemon Tree; Ajami.

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Miral  2010  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 52 min

Cast Overview:  Hiam Abbass, Freida Pinto, Alexander Siddig, Omar Metwally, Yasmine Al Massri, Ruba Blal, Willem Dafoe, Vanessa Redgrave, Stella Schnabel

Director:  Julian Schnabel

Genre:  Drama, Foreign, Drama Based on the Book

Language: Arabic and English with English subtitles

In a Better World *****

 

 

A father becomes a peacemaker in the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning drama In a Better World.

Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier explores violence, courage and responsibility in this rich, mature drama, her tenth feature. She’s known for complex, well made films including Open Hearts (2002), Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006).

Mikael Persbrandt (Everlasting Moments) stars as Anton, a surgeon working in a Kenyan field hospital. While he treats refugees, he’s interrupted by bloody emergencies as a local thug, Big Man, butchers pregnant women for sport.

Anton struggles to rescue his marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), also a doctor, who lives in Denmark with their two sons. Often away from home, Anton spends quality time whenever possible with 10-year-old Elias (Markus Rygaard), a gentle boy who wears braces.

Elias is viciously bullied at school by Sofus (Simon Maagaard Holm) and his followers, who make anti-Swedish comments. School officials misread the dangerous situation and seem unable to take effective action. Anton urges his son to ignore Sofus. Fighting would accomplish nothing except to lower him to the bully’s level, he says.

Elias is befriended by Christian (William Johnk Nielsen), a quiet, intense boy who moves to the area after his mother dies of cancer. Christian advises Elias to fight back so others won’t dare pick on him.

Christian corners Sofus in a school bathroom one day, beating him with a bicycle pump and holding a knife to his throat. Horrified Elias looks on. Police are called, but charges are dropped when they are unable to find the knife.

It’s attack or be attacked, Christian tells his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). He accuses the man of wanting his mother to die. Claus tries to explain his complex emotions during his wife’s painful decline.

 

At the park one day, Anton breaks up a fight between a boy and his youngest son as Elias and Christian watch.   Suddenly Anton is insulted and slapped by the boy’s father Lars (Kim Bodnia).

Anton walks away and attempts to forgive. He swims off his anger later in the cold lake of his summer home. Elias asks his dad why he is such a wimp. Anton next tries to craft a teachable moment, revisiting Lars with the boys.  He speaks out and is slapped again.

Christian builds a pipe bomb using internet instructions, planning to blow up Lars’ van. Outwardly calm and serious, he urges Elias to accompany him. The explosion will happen early Sunday and no one will be hurt, he promises. Reluctantly, Elias agrees.

Back in Kenya, Big Man has been seriously wounded and is brought to the hospital.  The warlord orders Anton to save his leg, and offers him a bribe. The surgeon treats him because he must. When villagers take matters into their own hands, Anton is a helpless witness.

A flawed man struggling to live his truth, Anton chooses peace and surrenders the satisfaction of being right. He can’t change the world, but he can be present and loving. In a Better World suggests that all children belong to us.

Bier skillfully manages many story elements to craft a majestic film. Morton Soborg provides stunning camerawork. Screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, composer Johan Soderqvist and editor Pernille Bech Christensen lend their talents.

If you like In a Better World, you might enjoy:  Win Win; The Kids Are All Right; Precious.

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In a Better World     2010  /  R  /     1 hour, 53 min

Cast Overview:  Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William Johnk Nielsen, Bodil Jorgensen, Elsebeth Steentoft, Martin Buch, Anette Stovlebaek, Kim Bodnia

Director:  Susanne Bier

Genre:  Drama, Thriller, World Cinema

Language:  Danish and Swedish with English subtitles

 

 

Green Zone ****

 

Matt Damon plays a tough, smart American soldier trying to do right under dubious circumstances in the war action thriller Green Zone.

Damon delivers a strong performance as soldier-turned-investigator in this frenzied, intelligent drama. Think All the President's Men set within the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The soldier's viewpoint is key in Paul Greengrass' film. Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) leads a unit on hazardous missions.

Searching for Saddam Hussein's WMDs (weapons of mass destruction), they secure empty warehouses and even a toilet factory. Wherever they go, they find nothing - "a doughnut." Miller alerts the higher-ups that "There's a problem with the intel."

WMDs were never discovered in Iraq. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland succeeds in drawing on historical records while simplifying and adding fictional elements to achieve true-to-life drama.

 

Green Zone confronts the question of why we go to war, unlike other war films. "The reasons always matter," Miller insists.

Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker) expertly films chases and firefights with handheld cameras.

Greengrass' action-under-pressure genius shows Damon holler complex orders which he and his team execute with swift precision. Dangerous double-crosses create even more havoc. "Have a nice war," Miller quips to an interloper.

After a strategy meeting where Miller's concerns are dismissed, he is approached by CIA operative Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson). Brown agrees that something is awry, and gives Miller his business card.

Spouting the official White House line (which contradicts CIA intelligence) is Pentagon official Clark Poundstone (effective Greg Kinnear). Poundstone wields broad authority and instantly makes decisions, seeking to shut down Miller as a threat.

"Demoncracy is messy," is Poundstone's rebukes to any challenger.  

Bickering continues within American and Iraqi camps. Freddy (outstanding Khalid Abdalla of The Kite Runner) becomes Miller's informant and translator. Igal Naor portrays ruthless Baathist General Al Rawi, who pays a price for official lies and deceptions.

The "green zone" refers to a posh American enclave within Baghdad where officials relax by a pool and drink beer. As Miller visits the mecca within a war zone, he is struck by its languor and back-stabbing. "I thought we were all on the same side," he says. "Don't be naïve," chides Brown.

In this green zone Miller meets Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan), who has published false accounts of WMDs based on misinformation from a Deep Throat source. Dayne's character is based on former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who wrote inaccurate stories that helped sell the war in America.

As "mission accomplished" is declared for Operation Iraqi Freedom, bitter debate breaks out among Iraqis regarding a new puppet leader. Supporters of the war cite democratic reforms within Iraq, including national elections.

Damon continues to pick Jason Bourne-like leading roles with a conscience.  Greengrass helmed both The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004).  He also directed  United 93 (2006).

If you like Green Zone, you might enjoy: The Hurt Locker; The Messenger.

Green Zone 2010 / R / 1 hr, 55 min

Cast Overview: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla, Igal Naor, Jason Isaacs

Director: Paul Greengrass

Genres: War Drama, Action, Thriller

The Other Woman ***1/2

 

Natalie Portman sinks her teeth into everyone around her in The Other Woman, an indie exploration of birth, death and rebirth.  Made in 2009, it was released just in time for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards where Portman won Best Actress.

As gorgeous Emilia, Portman plays a newly hired, up-and-coming attorney who brags about her judge father, from whom she is estranged.  Soon she sets her gaga gazes on married Jack (Scott Cohen), a partner at the firm.

Emilia’s interest seems one sided. Suddenly Jack asks her to join him on an out-of-town case.  The two make their way to her room. Jack’s decision to leave his physician wife (alluring, vicious Lisa Kudrow) seems too abrupt. The lovers’ chemistry is never fully realized in rushed flashbacks and awkward dialogue from director and screenwriter Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex).

Tragedy gives the film traction. The Other Woman is anchored in Portman’s powerful turn as new wife and mother to a neurotic, eight-year-old stepson William (remarkably good Charlie Tahan). In order for the marriage to work, she realizes, she’s got to win over the kid.

The SIDS death of baby Isabelle leaves the new family reeling.  Teary tirades follow.  Emilia tries too hard, urging precocious William to enjoy an ice cream sundae even though his mother has pronounced him lactose intolerant.  Jack warms up to Emilia only as William gradually lets her into his world.  

Emilia shows genuine motherly skill as she ignores the boy’s tone-deaf comments and listens to what is beneath them. She sees the world through his eyes.  One gets the sense that Portman (currently expecting with her fiancée Benjamin Millepied) will be a great mom in real life.

Kudrow’s Carolyn certainly doesn’t want Emilia to succeed, seizing every opportunity to cut the legs off her young competitor. Via William, she lets Emilia know that Isabelle “wasn’t a real person under Jewish law.”  Carolyn’s icy insistence on having William apply to prestigious Ivy League-track schools are for his own good, she’s convinced.

Emilia helps William more than she helps herself.  Secretly he reads a book from her about Central Park, here a metaphor for life.  Like Lyle the Crocodile, he learns to maneuver, adapt and trust.

Denying her own pain, Emilia scoffs at the urgings of her friend Mindy (excellent Lauren Ambrose) to “take an active role in your own grief.”  Mindy too is a survivor of infant loss. Emilia is good at lashing out, but not so good at going within.

 

Suddenly Jack insists that they participate in a Memory Walk in Central Park with other grieving families. Cohen lives inside his character Jack only fleetingly, and is so withdrawn that he never seems fully committed to the role.  Reluctantly Emilia lets herself be dragged along on the silent walk. Pink, blue and white balloons waft overhead.

When her father Sheldon (Michael Cristofer) shows up at the ceremony, Emilia explodes.  She’s never forgiven him for his dalliance with a Russian stripper. It galls her that her mother (Debra Monk) has invited him back.  She rips William away from him, angry at herself and everyone else.

Finally it’s Carolyn and Sheldon who help Emilia come to terms with Isabelle’s death. “She just stopped being,” Sheldon proclaims. Life comes, life goes.   

The Other Woman slithers through mud and among thorns.  For Portman, this definitely seems like a training run for her stellar work in Black Swan.

The film is based on the book Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman.

As William sails his model boat at the Conservatory Pond, he seeks to make sense of his sister’s brief life. “I’m gonna be a Buddhist,” he proclaims.  Emilia doesn’t believe in reincarnation, she tells him, but if Isabelle ever does return, she wants to know. 

If you like The Other Woman, you might enjoy:  Rabbit Hole; Black Swan; Greenberg.

The Other Woman  2009 /  R   /  1 hour, 43 minutes

Cast Overview:  Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Charlie Tahan, Lauren Ambrose, Lisa Kudrow, Michael Cristofer, Debra Monk, Mona Lerche, Anthony Rapp, Kendra Kassebaum

Director:  Don Roos

Genres:  Indie, Drama