Gran Torino

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang & Ahney Her

Clint Eastwood delivers an enjoyably grumpy performance in his latest directorial effort which is an enjoyable drama featuring themes of atonement, violence in society and also an unlikely yet touching friendship.

Atonement has been a regular theme in the films of Clint Eastwood, living with things you’ve done, living with things you’re about to do. It was a major theme in Unforgiven, and was again in Eastwood’s more recent films like Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers and atonement appears again as a major theme in Gran Torino. Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is a man forever living with the burden of the actions he had committed fighting in the Korean War. More than fifty years later, he’s never allowed himself to be absolved of his sins and find peace despite marrying and having a family. Now, with his wife recently deceased and his children distant and more concerned with their careers than with family, Walt is left alone, and bitter, living in a neighborhood and a country that is very different from the one he fought for. As the local priest points out to Walt, in efforts to persuade Walt to give confession, Walt knows a lot more about death than he does about life

When a family of Hmong move in next door, Walt initially sees it as a further inconvenience to his life especially when, forced by a local gang, a boy from next door attempts to steal Walt’s car, an antique Gran Torino. When the gang return to threaten the boy, Thao (Bee Vang), for failing and Walt intervenes when the fight carries onto his property. When he finds himself being treated as hero afterwards by the Hmong community who feel he acted to save Thao, Walt is reluctantly forced to accept their gifts, at the further urgings of Thao’s sister Sue (Ahney Her) and to allow Thao to work off his dishonor for attempting to steal Walt’s car. Despite an initial dislike of the boy and his family and the trouble they have brought him, Walt soon sees potential in both Thao and Sue to go on to do good in their lives and that their attempts to good by Walt and in the community which makes them better people than Walt’s own family and also sees the threat the local gang represents to them being able to have a good life which, after a few incidents of violence against his neighbors, leads Walt to decide to solve the gang problem and perhaps absolve himself of his own past sins.

Clint Eastwood gives a highly enjoyable performance as Walt Kowalski. Always grimacing, talking with a growl and delivering threats and insults regularly towards his neighbors and others he encounters, Eastwood’s Walt could easily be a retired Harry Callahan from Dirty Harry or William Munny from Unforgiven in his temperament though, while the performance sometimes strays close to a caricature of Eastwood’s earlier roles, Eastwood knows when to show restraint and even vulnerability making Walt a truly enjoyable, if unlikeable, character. In addition to Eastwood, there are strong performances from Bee Vang as Thao, who carefully and impressively portrays Thao’s development from the reclusive character he begins the film as to the more confident man he is on his way to becoming by the end thanks to Walt’s influence. Ahney Her is good as Thao’s sister Sue, smart, confident and kind and the force that opens Walt up to accepting his neighbors and Thao and there is also good support from Christopher Carley as a young priest who is persistent in trying to get Walt to accept forgiveness for his past despite the tirade of insults Walt directs at him at every opportunity.

Eastwood sucks in the audience through the characters and the careful, touching relationship he builds between Walt and Thao and Sue and despite a build up to a confrontation between Walt and the local gang that seems predestined, the ending itself surprises you by being different than expected yet far more satisfying. Overall, while sometimes not subtle, and following a path that might seem predictable, Gran Torino succeeds in entertaining with strong performances and an interesting ending that subverts expectations with strong results.

Rating: 4/5

Push

Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning & Djimon Hounsou

An entertaining, low budget sci-fi/action film that mixes a comic book-style plot and characters to satisfying results.

Whilst on the surface, Push’s world of psychics and their powers, of a shadowy organization trying to turn them into weapons and the attempts to fight back of those they target could come across as yet another comic book adaptation. However, despite the characters’ powers being presented like super-powers and despite the film having a comic book adaptation in publication, Push is an original concept taking a superhero sensibility to an old sci-fi concept with lashings of intense, kinetic action for good measure.

In the world that Push inhabits, there are people living among us with psychic abilities. There are many kinds, amongst them include “Movers” who can move objects telekinetically, “Watchers” who see the future, “Pushers” who can alter memories or implant subconscious commands into people, “Bleeders” who emit high-pitched sonic screams and “Shifters” who are able to alter the shape and appearance of objects. With a shadowy organization called Division looking to use or experiment upon people with psychic abilities, those that possess them are faced with just a few choices: join them and either work with them or die, fight them or go into hiding. Nick (Evans), a “Mover”, is a man in hiding after witnessing his father being killed fighting Division when Nick was a child. Now living in Hong Kong, using his abilities to cheat at gambling, he is approached by a young girl Cassie (Fanning), a “Watcher” who claims to see a future where Division can be defeated and her own mother freed but requires Nick’s help and that of an escaped “Pusher” named Kira (Camilla Belle) who is the only psychic to survive a drug devised by Division to amplify psychic ability.

While Push follows a fairly straight-forward course of people on the run having to fight off Division agents pursuing them, led by a “Pusher” named Carver (Hounsou), and a psychic Hong Kong Triad group and then choosing to fight back, mixing in a macguffin, a briefcase containing Division’s drug, some colorful allies in Cliff Curtis’ “Shifter” and enemies in Xiao Lu Li’s Triad “Watcher” and a destiny to be fulfilled, it is helped by some good performances from its cast, some exciting and inventive action sequences that make the most of the film’s limited budget and a world that is well-developed in its 110minute running time.

Chris Evans manages the leading man role of Nick very well, delivering his lines with a mix or wry charm and weary cynicism, Dakota Fanning handles a lot of exposition explaining the plot and Push’s world very well whilst effectively portraying her character as one that is wiser than her years suggest due to the futures she has seen and the life she has led. Hounsou is convincingly intimidating as the ruthless Division operative hunting down his escapee test subject while the supporting cast is filled with satisfying, if sometimes brief, performances from Cliff Curtis, Ming Na and Nate Mooney. If there’s one role that is less convincing, it is that of Kira, performed by Camilla Belle whose role changes frequently with different twists and turns in the plot with Belle sometimes struggling to keep up or convince in portraying the effects upon her character.

While there is a lot of set up in Push for potential sequels to develop further, Push itself stands alone far more effectively and satisfyingly than some other recent attempts at starting a sci-fi franchise such as 2008’s Jumper or Babylon A.D. With some entertaining action sequences and performances and an interesting world and characters, Push has enough to recommend it that, despite a somewhat predictable plot, still places the film above average.

Rating: 3/5

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson & Rebecca Hall

Woody Allen’s best film in years which, while far from his most celebrated pictures, is still intelligent, funny and enjoyable.

After a few recent flops, Scoop and Cassandra’s Dream, Woody Allen’s latest effort relocates the action from the London locales of his last three films to sunny Barcelona. It is a wise move as the lush, warm location and culture enhances his latest looks into romance and relationships and is further bolstered by performances by local, Spanish talents Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

The Vicky and Cristina of the title refers too two tourists visiting Barcelona. Vicky (Rebecca Hall), is sensible, engaged to be married, knows what she wants and feels she’s found it while Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is more impulsive, less certain of what she wants or who she wants. Whilst visiting Barcelona, the two are approached by a local artist, Juan Antonio (Bardem), attempting to seduce them. Cristina accepts, wishing to see the sights of Barcelona and Juan Antonio’s attempts to charm her, and Vicky is dragged along. What occurs is an unexpected romantic encounter that shakes Vicky’s certainty over what she wants from life and Cristina finding a life that might be what she was looking for all along which takes further interesting turns when Juan Antonio’s ex-girlfriend Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) moves in with Cristina and Juan Antonio.

The story of Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an entertaining one. The characters are well written, the courses of their relationships and feelings taking unpredictable yet natural paths and takes advantage of the rich Catalan culture of the area. The film is also helped by several strong performances. Rebecca Hall, still a relative newcomer, gives an impressive performance as Vicky. Vicky’s progression from a woman confident in her identity and desires and cynical of more spontaneous, wistful lifestyles such as that of her friend Cristina to a woman shaken by a romantic encounter that makes her question her previous lifestyle choices, becoming very nervous and uncertain is portrayed very effectively by Hall. Vicky’s character arc, and Hall’s performance, is perhaps the most complex and interesting in the film. Javier Bardem is also impressive as Juan Antonio, an artist who embraces love, sees it as something to enjoy even if he feels it is more romantic if left unfulfilled. Bardem performs the role with warmth and charm and wins over audiences, despite his non-traditional approach to relationships, as he charms Vicky and Cristina. Another stand out performance is Penelope Cruz as Juan Antonio’s talented, yet unstable, ex-girlfriend and fellow artist Maria Elena. Full of energy, of love and of anger, Cruz commands attention in her every scene and her interactions with Bardem prove how perfect, yet also how wrong, their characters are for each other.

If there is a weakness in the performances of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it lies with Scarlett Johansson. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is Johansson’s third film with Woody Allen however this is likely her most demanding role of the three. Whilst Johansson does perform quite well, capturing the indecisive, impulsive nature of her character, when sharing scenes with performers such as Bardem and Cruz, her performance feels somewhat flat in comparison and far less memorable than that of her co-stars, even in scenes with Hall, her performance and character comes over as less than the equal of Hall’s Vicky. Whilst the performance is occasionally distracting, it satisfies more often than not. More distracting and less satisfying is Woody Allen’s choice of narrator for the film. While the narration in Vicky Cristina Barcelona serves a purpose in allowing the story to skip past unnecessary scenes of exposition and getting to heart of the story, the choice of narrator (Christopher Evan Welch) results in a voice that feels intrusive to the tone of the film and too often sounds bland and clinical whereas another choice, perhaps even Woody Allen himself, would have been warmer and delivering moment of wit with more success.

Overall though, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an enjoyable film. Smart and featuring a dry wit that Woody Allen’s fans will appreciate and featuring several strong performances. It has some flaws and is less satisfying as Allen’s earlier films, but there is still much to enjoy and recommend to audiences.

Rating: 4/5

Doubt

Director: John Patrick Shanley
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep & Amy Adams

A very strong drama that succeeds due to the impressive performances of its three lead actors and in its ability to do just what the title suggests and plant doubt, doubt over the accused’s innocence and doubt over the accuser’s righteousness.

Based on his own stage play, John Patrick Shanley brings his story of how doubt and scandal can affect the appearance and appropriateness of a priest’s relationship with a young boy. Deriving its drama and tension from real scandals with frequent instances of molestation between priests and young boys in the church, Doubt begs the question whether any relationship between priest and child can be trusted or should be trusted. When a new priest, Father Flynn (Hoffman) is witnessed grabbing a boy’s hand in a courtyard to the boy’s disapproval and then later witnessed taking a private meeting with another boy who later re-appears emotionally distraught, questions are raised as to whether Father Flynn is acting appropriately with these children or whether, in spite of his warm and friendly demeanor, he could be a predator. Having already decided what the truth is, despite no actual evidence, Sister Aloysius (Streep) takes it upon herself to challenge Flynn and the priesthood and force a confession and resignation from Father Flynn with Flynn protesting innocence throughout though holding back information of his own.

With a third character, the young and innocent Sister James (Adams), caught in the middle between Flynn and Aloysius, the audience, like Sister James, are the ones left with the questions over whether Flynn is innocent and being unfairly persecuted by Aloysius due to differences in their attitudes or whether Aloysius, in spite of her attitude and cruel manner, is right and Flynn is guilty. Doubt asks whether real evidence is needed if your feeling are certain, Doubt asks whether you choose to side with or against someone because you like or dislike them or whether it is based on looking at the evidence, Doubt asks whether you can be so certain on the truth if everyone is against you. Doubt asks a lot of difficult questions and, fortunately, leaves the audience to answer them and ponder upon them long after the film has ended. Could Flynn be innocent? And, if so, why is holding some information back that could exonerate himself? If he is guilty, why does it sometimes feel wrong to root for Aloysius when her conviction is based on little evidence while her methods to get a confession are so cruel and unlikable?

The performances in Doubt are also excellent and add to the overall effect of the story. Hoffman portrays Flynn as a very warm and friendly individual and depending on your perspective, could be interpreted as all the evidence you need to exonerate him or could also be seen as merely a guise to protect himself and his actions to others. Streep is even better as Aloysius whose cold cruelty, supported by her religious conviction that she is right makes her difficult to root for even if you suspect her to be right to pursue Father Flynn and Amy Adams as the innocent and kind Sister James who has doubts about both Flynn and Aloysius but is also swayed by their personality speaks out to the audience as many should share her uncertainty. Individually all three are strong but together, especially in scenes shared between Hoffman and Streep, the performances and scenes are electrifying and full of tension.

Overall, while the ending remains open and evidence planted to point in either direction, Doubt certainly impresses and leaves the audience to ponder important questions. Whether you are left uncertain over who was right or wrong or whether you come away convinced on what the truth is, Doubt leaves you to ask yourself why you feel the way you do about its characters and their actions. It leaves doubt.

Rating: 4/5

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett & Jason Fleming

While not David Fincher’s finest film, in spite of its Oscar nominations, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is still a very rewarding drama and featuring much of Fincher’s visual inventiveness.

It might seem, on the surface, that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has much in common with other films that have been awarded critical accolades; Beginning with an aged Cate Blanchett on her deathbed while the story of her relationship with her one true love is told through flashback is a device that bears echoes of Titanic and that the film’s title character is a witness to events that effected America and the World through the use of special effects also recalls Forrest Gump; however, while such similarities are evident, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is much more than them and certainly more satisfying than either. That the main hook of the story, a man born old yet grows physically younger as he ages, is not exploited as a gimmick but used to make poignant statements on the nature of youth and old age as well the role they play within relationships makes the film more satisfying on an emotional level. There are definite similarities between the physical and emotional dependencies one has upon others when young and also when nearing the end of their life and the nature of Benjamin Button’s story highlights this well and also highlights how the appearance of age can effect how a person can interpret the nature of a relationship between two people.

The use of special effects to depict, near flawlessly, the appearance of extreme age upon Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button, works very well in the film. The young Benjamin, in the body of frail old man, is both clearly old but also still clearly Brad Pitt underneath the wrinkles and as the character gets older and his body younger, it becomes difficult to identify where the aid of CGI stops and the start of Brad Pitt in just make up begins. That the CGI and make up is so effective adds a significant amount of believability to Pitt’s performance as it does again in later scenes where his body regresses physically to that of a teen. However, the effectiveness of the CGI does raise questions as to how strong Pitt’s performance truly is. The character of Benjamin soon becomes a witness to the actions of other, more colorful, characters that he meets throughout his life as well as being witness to events in history during his lifetime such as WWII and the beginnings of America’s space flight programs. Playing witness so often leaves the character something of a blank canvas which shows through in Pitt’s performance. Pitt, while good, is satisfied with watching others, narrating the scenes, but demonstrating little emotional response on screen when responding to anything he does or sees.

Even though Brad Pitt does give a good performance as Benjamin Button, his role is more memorable due to the nature of the character and the visual trickery used to achieve it but it is the supporting roles in the film that are the most memorable. Cate Blanchett gives quite a strong performance as Daisy who cares for Benjamin but whose appearance becomes a barrier to them both in their relationship allowing them only a brief moment together where Daisy’s age and Benjamin’s regression in age allows them to “meet in the middle” making subtle commentary on the effect age and physical appearance have on relationships. Also impressive is Jason Fleming as Benjamin’s father who abandons him when he is born but keeps a distant eye on him; Taraji Henson as Queenie, a worker at a nursing home who raises Benjamin in spite of his appearance; Tilda Swinton as a somewhat cold, married woman who becomes a brief love interest for Benjamin and Jared Harris as Captain Mike, a tugboat Captain who teaches Benjamin to embrace life.

Overall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, through telling the tale of a man whose life is clearly different than anyone’s, serves to remind us that we all have our own view of the world and of life as highlighted in Pitt’s narration over the film’s final scenes. With strong performances, an interesting story, impressive visuals and some complex themes of life and age, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a film worthy of attention and should satisfy most audiences.

Rating: 4/5