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05 Jan

The Ultimate Gift

Grade: B-

The Ultimate Gift features mostly unknown actors, with brief appearances by Lee Meriweather, James Garner, and Brian Dennehy.  But the draw, and what got me in to see it, is our recent academy award nominee (for Little Miss Sunshine) Abigail Breslin.

The story is corny, and sweet.  It is something that would have been right at home on Lifetime Television or The Hallmark Channel.  Rich, spoiled slacker is offered an undisclosed inheritance, if he can pass a series of challenges.  Each challenge ends up being a gift – something the young man is supposed to learn to make him a better person, someone worthy of this undisclosed inheritance.  The guy is reluctant to get involved, but his curiosity gets the best of him and he goes along with it.

When it comes to the gift of friendship, he meets Emily (our cute Abigail!) and her young, single mother.  At first he things he can just use them, but as he learns more about their lives, he gets drawn in, and starts to care.  These two women end up changing his life, his attitude, and his perspective.

Drama, sadness, lessons learned and the requisite happy ending prevail.  A little preachy, but if you like an extra lump of sugar this just might be your cup of tea.
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05 Jan

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Grade: B

We’ve been lucky to see some really good documentaries this year. “The U.S. vs. John Lennon” is another one. I like that we get a history lesson, a biography and some really great music with this movie. John Lennon may be British, but he is an American icon – he is part of our culture for so many reasons. We get to see how he lived, and learn more about how he thought. He was definitely an original, clearly a genius. I was left wondering what John Lennon would be singing today if he were alive.
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05 Jan

The Town

Grade: B+

Ben Affleck directs and stars in “The Town” based on the novel “Prince of Thieves.” A group of guys who all grew up together in a small town just outside of Boston have figured out how to rob banks and get away with it.  But how long will this last?  Jon Hamm is the police detective on the case.  His star witness, the beautiful and gifted Rebecca Hall, was taken hostage after the last job, and though she was blindfolded, she has evidence.  So Ben takes it upon himself to figure out what she knows – and falls in love in the process.  He wants to be good, to quit, but he’s in too deep with his buddies.   Great cast, good script, compelling movie.  Rated R for gun violence.
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05 Jan

The Tourist

Grade: B

The Tourist is a fun, light, date movie.  Stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie are beautiful to look at, as is the incredible scenery in Venice.  The story is interesting, even if the characters are not very deep.  Even though it’s a spy thriller, there’s not a whole lot of violence, and there’s really just a couple of kissing scenes, nothing more than that.  Love the jewelry, and the clothes!  A nice distraction from some of the heavier fare out this time of year.
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05 Jan

The Theory of Everything

Grade: A-

The Theory of Everything is likely to be a big winner during awards season this year. Eddie Redmayne is all but guaranteed a nomination in the Actor category – and even without seeing all of the other performances, I can easily say that he’s going to be a tough one to beat. Absolutely flawless, heart-wrenching performance as Stephen Hawking.

And then there’s the amazing Felicity Jones is remarkable and refreshing and captivating as Stephen’s wife Jane. She has to be rewarded with a nomination as well.

This is the story of the two of them. This couple, who found love and who fought for love and life together despite the struggles and obstacles put in their way.

It’s amazing that this is a true story, and that Stephen Hawking has contributed so much to science, and to the world. And now we can see that Jane Hawking as made an equal contribution to the world in keeping this man alive when his life expectancy was so short.

Exceptional film.

 
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05 Jan

The Switch

Grade: B+

With Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman as co-stars you might think this is a chick-flick, but it’s really not.  The story here is really the man’s.  Wally has commitment issues, and ends up best friends with the woman he really loves, Kassie. Years go by and he’s not happy, and she moves on. She decides to have a child, and finds a suitable donor.  At the “getting pregnant” party (this part is pretty silly) Wally gets drunk and ends up “switching” the samples. He’s so drunk that he can’t remember what happened afterwards, and Kassie moves away. Cut to years later, Kassie moves back to NY with son in tow, and reconnects with her BFF Wally.

This is a sweet movie, made that much sweeter by the little guy who plays 6 year old Sebastian. Jason Bateman turns in a warm and funny performance, and Jennifer Aniston plays pretty much the same range she usually does. Jeff Goldblum is charming as Wally’s friend and sounding board, and Juliette Lewis is Kassie’s kooky gal-pal.
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05 Jan

The Spirit

Grade: D

Is it too early in 2009 to pick one of the worst movies of the year?  Big star names like Eva Mendes Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johanssen may draw some movie-goers.  But just a few minutes in and you’ll be rolling your eyes.  The Spirit is based on the comic book series.  The Spirit is a policeman who died, only to be brought back to life by a bad guy who is kind of a mad scientist.  Now he is impossible to kill, at least for the time being – he doesn’t know when the effect will wear off.  Samuel L. Jackson is the bad guy, the Octopuss, and Scarlett Johanssen is his sidekick.  Gabriel Macht is The Spirit and Eva Mendes is his former flame turned jewel thief.  Very campy, over the top.  Interesting graphics, and shots – mostly played for laughs, but overall, just really dumb.
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05 Jan

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Grade: B-

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has a great premise – and so much potential.  Unfortunately, the whole movie falls short.  The story is good, and the effects are fun.  But I think part of the problem lies in the casting.  Nicolas Cage is the sorcerer, and he lacks the magic that we expect from someone with such power – he’s droll and tired throughout much of the film.  And his apprentice is appropriately nerdy, but he doesn’t grow or change as he learns from his experiences.  He’s pretty much the same nerdy guy he was when he starts.  Alfred Molina lends much-needed pizazz to the ensemble cast – he’s an over-the-top villain – delighting in his dastardliness!

The silliness gets too silly, so we lose any semblance of a believability factor.  It just all takes to long to resolve.  It could have been so much better!
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05 Jan

The Soloist

Grade: A-

In “The Soloist” Robert Downey Jr. plays Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez.  This is a true story based on columns that Lopez wrote about his experience with a homeless man, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers.  The two meet when Lopez follows beautiful violin music in the streets and finds Ayers playing the instrument with just 2 strings.  He finds out that Ayers attended Juliarrd, and becomes intrigued with how this talented musician ended up living this sad lifestyle.  Despite Ayer’s mental illness, and Lopez’s commitment issues, the two develop an awkward friendship, and grow as a result.  Catherine Keener plays Lopez’s boss and ex-wife.  Well done.
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05 Jan

The Social Network

Grade: A

The Social Network is based on the real story of Facebook.  No matter how much we might know about it, since we all kind of experienced it from the beginning as this is very recent history, this film will open your eyes.  It is compelling from the first scene where we meet Mark Zuckerberg as he’s challenging his girlfriend and she ends up breaking up with him.  In one of the many great lines from the movie, she says “You will always think that girls are not attracted to you because you’re a nerd, but that’s not the case, it’s because you’re an asshole.”

The rest of the movie continues to prove that point.  Zuckerberg is not a likable character, but his portrayer, Jessie Eisenberg, gives him a vulnerability in his near desperation for acceptance. Andrew Garfield, who is super hot right now since it was just announced that he’s the new Spiderman, plays Zuckerberg’s best friend Eduardo.  He’s very good in the part.

Justin Timberlake comes in as Sean Parker, the guy who founded Napster, and he brings the sleaze factor to these Harvard boys as he tries to cut himself in on what he sees as a billion dollar idea.

The whole film is cleverly written and very well executed.  We’ll hear about it alot come awards season.
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