Category: Film Review

Under normal circumstance, this review of “Hours” would simply note that this is the fourth picture for actor Paul Walker in 2013, following his work in “Vehicle 19,” “Pawn Shop Chronicles,” and “Fast & Furious 6.” However, “Hours” will be forever remembered as one of his last movies, after his death late last month at the age of 40. I’ll admit, I was never a true believer when it came to the acting ability of Walker, who built a career around his good looks and enthusiastic physicality, yet “Hours” truly represents a change of pace for the performer, who delivers some of his best work in this odd thriller, which somehow transfers the bomb-on-a-bus concept of “Speed” to an infant-on-a-incubator ride of suspense and heartbreaking stakes. Walker’s clear limitations remain, but baby steps toward his maturation as a leading man were made here, sadly never to be realized in full. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Last Days on Mars” has enticed a few very talented actors to participate in a production that’s essentially a DTV detour playing into current zombie-everything trends, with a dab of “Alien” flung into the mix as well. It’s derivative and thinly sketched, yet with lowered expectations, the picture has its moments of suspense, articulated by a cast that seems eager to take part in a sci-fi/horror hybrid, allowing them to stretch professionally. “The Last Days on Mars” isn’t going to rock anyone’s world, but accepted as a slightly more refined B-movie experience, and it’s engaging, refreshingly simplistic work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been three years since we last saw a John Sayles film hit the screens, with the moviemaker taking his time between projects, maintaining a dramatic concentration that’s evident in his work. While Hollywood scrambles to adapt best sellers for the cinemas, Sayles creates literary experiences with his features, with his latest, “Go for Sisters,” another patient, layered viewing event marked by its interest in character nuance and the detail of storytelling. A tale of rekindled friendship wrapped up in a mystery, “Go for Sisters” doesn’t bring out the best in the helmer, but it remains an absorbing picture with two exceptional performances from LisaGay Hamilton and Yolonda Ross, who bring sublime presence to an effort that often needs their conviction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While watching “Expecting,” I couldn’t help but feel there was something more to Jessie McCormack’s screenplay at one point. It’s a film determined to submit distinct characterizations, pushing idiosyncratic people into a plot of whirlwind circumstances, including pregnancy, marital distress, and post-rehab addiction recovery. There’s a concerted effort to communicate a fullness of behavior, yet the story carries no weight, floating along like a particularly unmotivated sitcom that can’t quit quirk. “Expecting” starts off promisingly enough, but editorial compromises soon eat away at the viewing experience, changing what appears to be a deeply felt journey of empowerment into a soggy parade of wackiness and hazily defined subplots. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Out of the Furnace” is a rough picture about desperation and grief. It’s the second film from Scott Cooper, who turned heads back in 2009 with the Oscar-winning “Crazy Heart,” his portrait of country music misery. “Furnace” eschews the comfort of song, taking viewers into the bowels of America’s Rust Belt, where jobs are drying up, dreams are dying, and the police have no control over the escalating violence. Channeling the austerity of 1970’s cinema with a touch of folksy poetry, and Cooper builds an impressive engine of aggression with his latest endeavor, flattening and refolding a common tale of revenge to emphasize powerful moments of introspection and trigger-stroking deliberation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cyclist Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven consecutive times, amassed a fortune in endorsement deals, and started his own charity. He almost married a rock star, rubbed elbows with world leaders, and became a sporting celebrity with a face and a brand recognized on a global scale. He also cheated to help achieve victory, using performance-enhancing drugs to help himself conquer competitors, only admitting to this deception in 2013, after a decade of denials. It’s difficult to sympathize with Armstrong’s manipulations, but it’s a little easier to understand his delusion after watching “The Armstrong Lie,” director Alex Gibney’s eye-opening condemnation of the athlete and exploration of his staunch refusal to accept responsibility for his destructive, dispiriting actions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The romantic and political sweep of “Twice Born” feels out of step with today’s moviegoing interests. It’s a throwback picture to a time where thinly glazed global weariness could pass for the recognition of worldly woe, eased along by a heaping helping of melodrama to make the medicine go down. Cinematic tastes have changed, yet director/actor/co-writer Sergio Castellitto clings to the Duraflame fires within for “Twice Born,” a handsomely crafted but empty feature hoping to recreate Eastern European horror and soap opera intimacy, stumbling along with a few less than inspired performances and a script that hopes for tight-jawed sophistication, but can only muster feeble cliche. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are moments in “A Perfect Man” where the material appears to be headed in an unusual direction. These teases of imagination are quickly diverted into formula, making the movie a frustrating sit despite convincing performances and an atypical setting. Director Kees Van Oostrum can’t decide if he wants to manufacture a gritty look at the dissolution of a marriage or a twinkly Hollywood-style romantic comedy, keeping the film trapped in a middle ground of unpleasant behavior and toothless characterizations in dire need of a more robust story. It’s a confusing, awkward picture, though “A Perfect Man” has its fair share of compelling incidents. Just not nearly enough of them to make the effort shine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Huffing Fellini fumes until he’s blue in the face, co-screenwriter/director Paolo Sorrentino attempts to revive a shimmering Italian atmosphere of pure cinema for “The Great Beauty.” He’s largely successful, constructing a valentine to one of the great filmmakers, but also finding his own themes and obsessions to follow. It’s a gorgeous picture with a few baffling events, though it rewards a lengthy sit (140 minutes) with an impressive tour of Roman architecture, an exhaustive exploration of deep-seated fears and desires, and an unexpectedly potent view of mortality, with Sorrentino generating a full-blooded mood of life in motion facing a lead character who’s uncomfortable with the forward momentum. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Some movies shouldn’t be remade. The 2003 Korean film “Oldboy” is practically a religious experience for some cinephiles, making it a curious choice for a do-over, especially one from director Spike Lee. Reheating the plot for American audiences, Lee seems lost here, staying true to the highlights of the original work while rushing through the toxic connective tissue that made the initial picture such a disturbing, distressing tragedy. While toning down his typical stylistics, Lee is the wrong choice for the material, unable to make any sense out of action sequences and character relationships, making his “Oldboy” more of a flip book version of the 2003 production, stripped of its merciless tone and throat-punch conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Reviewed at the 2013 Twin Cities Film Festival

Director Alexander Payne has explored the Midwest experience on a few occasions, perhaps most pointedly in 1996’s “Citizen Ruth” and 2002’s “About Schmidt.” “Nebraska” is Payne’s submersion into the sights and sounds of his homeland, coming off his Oscar-winning hit “The Descendants” with a small-scale comedy about fathers and sons, junk mail and stolen air compression equipment. Shot in black and white and sparingly scripted by Bob Nelson, “Nebraska” continues Payne’s streak of delightfully human stories with heavy cultural seasoning, exposing quirks, exploring cantankerous personalities, and generally remaining unafraid to make a rural movie without resorting to caricature. The picture is an absolute treat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s impossible to doubt Judi Dench, but it’s easy to underestimate her. The acclaimed actress and former M in the 007 franchise, Dench rarely, if ever, gives a bad performance. She’s just one of those talents that’s confident and concise. However, in “Philomena,” she’s extraordinary, performing at such a level of emotional communication, it’s startling to witness, making a simple, minor mystery riveting as she commands the screen with her subtlety. Co-star Steve Coogan makes a fine partner in the movie, with the pair developing a sense of intimacy and trust that helps the story find its footing as a tear-jerking, eye-opening journey of a broken heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After trying to locate some dramatic range in the summer effort “Redemption,” Jason Statham returns to fist-first material with “Homefront.” Although the film is an adaptation of a book by author Chuck Logan, the picture plays more like an old Jean-Claude Van Damme endeavor, only there’s a community of characters to pay attention to instead of the one-man-marauder scenario. As junky, B-movie entertainment with an emphasis on explosions, the feature is passably entertaining, submitting a decent amount of growly escapism and chewy performances. However, “Homefront” doesn’t live up to its potential, relying on Statham’s gifts with stone-faced intimidation instead of trying to manufacture a suspenseful atmosphere that could challenge the bruiser, inspiring the rest of the work to achieve a higher level of engagement. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After flirting with musical interests with 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog” and 2010’s “Tangled,” Walt Disney Animation furthers the Broadway mood with “Frozen,” which seems even more calculated to reignite the blockbuster energy that fueled studio hits from the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Filled with tunes and elaborate sequences, “Frozen” is Disney playing it safe, packing the film with adorable characters, broad villainy, and a marketable landscape of snow and ice. It’s far from revolutionary work, but there’s undeniable charm to be found in the movie, which features wonderful singing, dazzling animation, and some cheeky Nordic humor, helping to enliven what’s often a disappointingly routine picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Black Nativity” takes its title from a 1961 Off-Broadway show written by Langston Hughes, but it doesn’t have much in common with the source material. Instead of slavish recreation, writer/director Kasi Lemmons creates her own take, mixing theatrical staging and broad performances with cinematic intimacy, trying to convey a faith-based story in an unusual manner. She’s marginally successful, establish a raw, low-budget energy to the feature that keeps it surprising, while performances are generally accomplished, selling the morality of the story without dissolving into a puddle of amens. Straightforward but convincing, “Black Nativity” is refreshingly restrained, making it a nice counterpoint to other, noisier holiday entertainment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last few years haven’t been kind to actor Vince Vaughn. Once a firecracker of a comedic talent, Vaughn hasn’t really charmed audiences in a significant manner since 2005’s “Wedding Crashers,” spending subsequent years trying to land his own holiday perennial (“Four Christmases,” “Fred Claus”), survive indie films (“Lay the Favorite”), and slog through disastrous comedies (“The Internship,” “The Watch,” and “Couples Retreat”). Looking to dial down his rapid-fire persona for a bit of Thanksgiving warmth, Vaughn saunters up to “Delivery Man” as quietly as possible, hoping to come across appealing in a picture that’s programmed to tug at heartstrings. It’s an interesting change of pace for the star, but the movie doesn’t work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A little over a year ago, “The Hunger Games” made its cinematic debut, wowing audiences delighted to see the work of author Suzanne Collins brought to the screen. For those outside the circle of fandom, the picture was a difficult sell, slowed by tremendous exposition, disrupted by an absurd use of shaky-cam cinematography, and cursed with a deflating climax that promised nail-biting situations of survival, only to gradually slow to a crawl. Now there’s a sequel, “Catching Fire,” and a change in the director’s chair, with Francis Lawrence taking over for Gary Ross. Although the narrative continues down an established path to dystopian revolution, there’s renewed purpose to this part two, finding “Catching Fire” skillfully communicating beats of unrest and despair, finding a way to help the ongoing franchise settle in as an energizing story of an underground uprising. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Heartache and harmonies help shape the experience of “The Broken Circle Breakdown.” It’s not an easy film to summarize, but few Belgium-born bluegrass tragedies are, arriving in a time-scrambled manner that’s fluidly realized, shaping an unusual take on the arc of a combustible relationship hit from all sides by woe. Co-writer/director Felix Van Groeningen manages this unusual vision with exceptional care, creating a kind of cinematic poetry out of disorientation, with music the glue that holds the picture together. “The Broken Circle Breakdown” is a stunning, poignant feature that deals with troubling examples of mourning and fractured communication, yet holds as a vivid statement of love in all its forms. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although it’s being marketed as a tearjerker, “The Book Thief” is far stranger than it appears. Perhaps fans of the 2006 novel by Markus Zusak won’t be unnerved by the oddity contained within the film, but newcomers to this tale of wartime perseverance and the joys of literacy might find themselves baffled by a few of the elements that define this story. For example, “The Book Thief” is narrated by Death, who provides a running commentary on the extraction of individual souls and the beauty of expiration. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? Surprise is a valuable weapon in this otherwise familiar tale, keeping viewers alert enough to make it through this overlong but sincere coming-of-age saga. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’m not sure what screenwriter Matt Drake (“Project X”) originally had in mind for “Charlie Countryman,” but in the hands of director Fredrik Bond, the picture is turned into a mess of ideas and motivations sliding around the screen under the guise of youthful impetuousness. It’s the cinematic equivalent of somebody rubbing their bottom on shag carpeting to work up a static electric charge, working furiously to build a sense of excitement that never comes to fruition, despite admirable aspirations to work the effort into a tizzy. Although gifted colorful locations and glossy HD cinematography, “Charlie Countryman” is too manic and meandering to achieve the emotional authenticity it’s searching for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com