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2012
The end is very nigh in this global-scale disaster pic
If you like your cheesy entertainment on the apocalyptic, no-holds-barred scale, Roland Emmerich's film is for you! Tectonic plates out of order mean Billions dead, and all of planet Earth -- not just a few urban centers -- pulverized beyond recognition. Emmerich shoehorns in some silly human drama to pace out the jaw-dropping, effects-heavy destruction, but 2012 is just a two-and-a-half-hour amusement-park ride. It's hard to get invested in characters who mostly gape in horror and scream "Run!" But, as an unabashed fan of disaster pics, I left satisfied with what really matters: the scenes of geological meltdown. Emmerich clearly sat up late dreaming up unimaginable cataclysmic events, all lovingly depicted, that really raises the bar for the genre. What thrill is there now in watching even a major earthquake on screen, having already "experienced" the state of California dropping off into the ocean? In English, and various language, with subtitles. (AH) [2.5 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 19, 2009
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Precious
Standout performances highlight a thought-provoking drama about a poor teen-ager
Clareece Precious Jones is friendless, obese and illiterate. Tossed out of junior high for being pregnant with her second child, she finds no refuge at her home. Lee Daniels' drama follows Precious for a year or so, as she gradually gains self-respect, purpose and forward momentum. Feel-good inspirational film? Not quite. It accentuates the positive, but Precious' story is mired in so much institutional negativity that the big picture is depressing. Though the story is set in 1987, the questions Precious raises -- child abuse, generational poverty and identity -- are wholly relevant and worth exploring, even if the film leaves many open-ended. The film features gutsy performances from newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as Precious and comedienne Mo'Nique as her abusive mother. Sidibe has the tougher role, as the actress has much inner life to convey through Precious' numbed inertia, barely audible mumble and expressionless face. Director Daniels fills these gaps with such cheats as Precious' dream sequences and voiceovers, but Sidibe holds her own, drawing us in, compelling us to look. Starts Fri., Nov. 20. AMC Loews, Manor [3 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 19, 2009
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An Education
A coming-of-age story set in 1961 England is two-thirds of a wonderful movie.
Sixteen-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan)is bright and quick-witted -- and thrills to meet the older, charming David (Peter Sarsgaard). He takes her to concerts, to Oxford, and even Paris. For a while, An Education is a wonderful movie, the story of a girl who's done all of her reading and who's ready now to start putting it into practice. There's pleasure in watching Jenny react to her widening world with a mixture of credulity and confidence. Then An Education moves into a third act that I can best describe as miscalculated. It may all be true -- screenwriter Nick Hornby adapted Lynn Barber's memoir -- but the plotting is too clumsy to feel like it actually happened. An Education is only 95 minutes long, and director Lone Scherfig slights the more complicated and morally ambiguous elements of the drama. She does handle her two leads well, and Sarsgaard especially stretches here, keeping David's motives nicely shaded. Starts Fri., Nov. 20. Manor (Harry Kloman) [2.5 out of 4 stars]
By Harry Kloman |
November 19, 2009
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The Blind Side
A fresh start helps a troubled kid achieve success on the gridiron
A poor, struggling black teen-ager in Memphis is taken in by an affluent white family, who patiently teach him enough football and survival skills that he is ultimately drafted by an NFL team. It admittedly sounds like one of those hokey, inspired-by-a-true-story heart-swellers that Hollywood regularly churns out, except it's not quite. John Lee Hancock's film is the story of Baltimore Raven Michael Oher. But it's fairly low-key, opting to depict more day-to-day life than big dramatic moments. Its primary relationship is that of Oher (Quinton Aaron) and his take-charge, go-getter new mom, Leigh Anne Touhy (portrayed with brio by Sandra Bullock).
While I'm happy to be spared those over-the-top big games and artificially pumped-up nail-biting moments of decision, Blind Side could have used a little more tension and depth. It flirts with meatier fare -- race, class, religion, the focus on athletics over books, and what it might mean to a rudderless youth like Oher that his new family holds all his cards. Tellingly, we rarely hear from the quiet Oher, while the Touhys talk a lot.
Blind Side punts -- this is, after all, a story with a happy ending. (Sit through the credits for photos and film of the actual people.) Rather than dig into the contradictions and messiness that defines even successful lives, Blind Side finds its salvation in a lot of football-inspired pep talks. It's all very rah-rah, but something of a disservice to Oher's journey. Starts Fri., Nov. 20. (AH) [2 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 19, 2009
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Planet 51
Yikes! An alien planet is invaded by a human.
Jorge Blanco's computer-animated family comedy has a cute idea. On a distant planet that's vaguely Earthlike in both looks and inhabitants, the off-course American astronaut who lands there is perceived as a fearsome alien threat. The funhouse-mirror premise plays out as expected: The nerdy kids are thrilled; the military grab their guns; and before the intergalactic reconciliation, comic cultural misunderstandings abound. It's too thin a gimmick to sustain a full-length movie, so one's tolerance for cute, green rubbery creatures (instead of humans) going through familiar motions will determine one's enjoyment. (If you must identify with an Earthling, there's the affable, square-jawed spaceman, voiced by Dwayne Rogers.) The 1950s stylings of Planet 51 are charming, if occasionally undermined by oh-so-modern but unnecessary toilet humor. Starts Fri., Nov. 20. (AH) [2 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 19, 2009
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Volcanoes of the Deep
A very close-up look at the odd creatures who make underwater volcanoes their home
This languid IMAX feature from Stephen Low is not about lava-spewing eruptions; instead, it casts its magnifying lens on the bacteria, crabs and other sea creatures that move in after all the excitement. Under the premise of two aging scientists searching for the oldest living creature, Ed Harris narrates a journey into the depths of the Atlantic to a parasitic civilization that may or may not hold the key to human evolution. The implications extend further than the visually interesting -- yet needlessly large-formatted -- film's reach: Aside from some spectacular shots of iridescent disco jellyfish and a fantastic re-enactment of the Big Bang theory, the film is mostly a series of deep-sea shrimp having lunch, plus protracted shots of tubeworms. Those who want to see rolling fire ravaging the coral reefs, or who need their IMAX movies to feel like roller coasters, should stay away from this sedentary feature. Starts Fri., Nov. 20. Rangos Omnimax, Carnegie Science Center (Lucy Leitner)
By Lucy Leitner |
November 19, 2009
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Amreeka
A low-key dramedy about recent immigrants
Muna (Nisreen Faour), a Palestinian single mom living in the West Bank, leaps at the chance to provide a better life for her teen-age son, and emigrates to the United States. But the excitement of moving in with her sister's family in an Illinois town soon wears off. Muna can find only a low-paying job at White Castle -- and worse, the ongoing invasion of Iraq leaves the entire family open to harassment by the locals. Cherien Dabis' dramedy mines familiar turf: The grass isn't necessarily greener elsewhere -- or, as Muna explains to her frustrated son: "Life sucks everywhere." With the exception of an f-word or two, Amreeka could be a Hallmark TV movie: Its points are easily gleaned, and the themes are solid, if somewhat simplistic -- family, tolerance, perseverance and support from unexpected sources. Faour, though, gives a warm performance -- you can't help but root for Muna. In English, and Arabic, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Nov. 13. Manor (AH) [2 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 12, 2009
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A Christmas Carol
Too much comical mayhem makes Scrooge cartoonish
Santa's bringing you a mixed bag with this latest iteration of Charles Dickens' popular fable of a miserly old man redeemed at the holidays. The motion-capture animation on Jim Carrey as Scrooge is very life-like (this is a deliciously creepy old man), but all the other characters look like rubber dolls. It's grand that director Robert Zemeckis kept much of Dickens' florid prose and the story's darkness, but that doesn't need to be mitigated by appended scenes that seemed ripped from "Tom and Jerry's A Christmas Carol." The enduring tale is about the fight for the last scrap of a man's humanity -- from the inside out -- and thus should never involve tacked-on-for-the-kiddies crap like Scrooge being miniaturized, being shot into outer space on a candle snuffer, or riding an icicle across rooftops. In 3-D! (The most affecting parts of this film simply reminded me of the far superior 1951 black-and-white adaptation, which packed an emotional wallop with "only" actors.) More than anything, Zemeckis, having harnessed all this fabulous digital technology, can't help being "magical," when, in essence, A Christmas Carol is a long, dark night of the soul, not a herky-jerky, gag-filled carnival ride. (AH) [2 out of 4 stars]
By Al Hoff |
November 12, 2009
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The Men Who Stare at Goats
Comedy about the bizarre techniques of a secret military unit
Did the U.S. Army really have a secret division devoted to alternative warfare rooted in mind-control, telekinesis and other forms of harnessed paranormal activity? (Why not -- especially if the Soviets might have been doing it, too.)
Adapted from Jon Ronson's book, Grant Heslov's nonlinear film is a Cold War comedy somewhat awkwardly shoehorned into the current Iraq conflict. In it, a bored reporter (Ewan McGregor) hooks up with a glib ex-solider named Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) while in Kuwait. Cassady claims to have been among the best and brightest at the army's First Earth Battalion. While the two wander through the desert on Cassaday's undisclosed mission, the former mind-control warrior recounts First Earth's rocky history, depicted in flashbacks. (Some of this lunacy is rooted in fact -- you just have to guess which parts.)
Men could have harnessed some of its goofy energies to make a point or two about the literal idiocy of war, or how institutions brainwash workers, but it's simply too busy having fun. Clooney plays cheerfully rogue-ish to McGregor's straight man, while Jeff Bridges and Kevin Clooney round out the crew. They, too, tap familiar characters: Bridges is the hippie savant, while Clooney is peevish and calculating.
It's a fun if bumpy ride that unfortunately skids off the road in the last reel, with a few scenes that feel like rapidly scribbled exits. But you know what a hippie warrior might say: It's the journey, man, not the destination. (AH) [2.5 out of 4]
By Al Hoff |
November 12, 2009
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