Dream House

Dream House - Dir. Jim Sheridan (2011)

Dream House sure sounded like a dream project. At the helm was Jim Sheridan, the Academy Award nominated director of My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father and In America. The cast had serious star power with Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts in the lead roles. Yet, Dream House turned into a complete nightmare. Sheridan clashed frequently with producer James G. Robinson. Their disagreements centered on Sheridan employing an improvisational style that deviated heavily from the script by David Loucka. Response from test screenings was disastrous and extensive reshoots were required. Robinson and Morgan Creek Productions took control and edited the move themselves. A displeased Sheridan attempted to have his name removed from the credits. Dream House was eventually released with very little fanfare. There was no gala premiere, no press screenings, and the actors refused to promote the picture. It seemed the only good thing to come out of the film was the fact that Craig and Weisz fell in love on set and eventually married.

Craig is Will Atenton, a successful book editor in New York, who quits his job to spend more time with his family. He's just bought a new home in a sleepy, snow covered New England town. He hopes to live a quiet life with his wife, Libby (Weisz), and daughters Trish & Dee Dee (Taylor & Claire Geare). But, that doesn't appear to be in the cards. The townsfolk are on edge around Atenton, especially his next-door neighbor Ann Patterson (Watts), who is in a bitter custody dispute with her ex-husband Jack (Marton Csokas). After chasing off a group of goth teenagers partying in his basement, Will learns the previous owners of his happy house were brutally murdered. A man named Peter Ward allegedly killed his wife and daughters and was committed to an insane asylum. As Will digs further into the mystery, he may like what he finds.

It's difficult to discuss the plot of Dream House any further without spoiling everything. That's assuming you haven't seen the trailer, which revealed practically the entire movie. Not that it really matters; the story is so trite and unoriginal that you will see every twist coming. For one thing, Elias Koteas is in the movie. When has Elias Koteas ever been cast in a role where he wasn't a creepy guy?

Despite all the finger pointing, there's plenty of blame to go around. First there's the hacky screenplay by David Loucka, whose most notable credit was as a co-writer on the Whoopi Goldberg comedy, Eddie. It's a safe bet that A-list talent like Craig, Weisz, and Watts signed on to work with Jim Sheridan. However, I don't think his version would have been that much better than the final product.

Dream House seems like the Exorcist prequel all over again. Not surprisingly that was also produced by Morgan Creek. Paul Schrader directed the original picture before the studio hired Renny Harlin was brought on to direct a retooled version. They were both eventually released into theaters and were both critical and financial flops.

Sheridan's cut may have been incrementally better than the theatrical version, but it surely couldn't have been on par with his best work. This isn't the same Sheridan who directed In America. It's the Sheridan who directed Get Rich or Die Tryin.' Sheridan is more than capable of telling personal stories about Irish immigrants, but he's not up to handling slick Hollywood fare.

Dream House might be Daniel Craig's worst performance ever. Perhaps, Craig was less than enthused about returning for reshoots and couldn't be bothered to give it his all. Sort of like Harrison Ford being forced to read the stilted narration for the theatrical cut of Blade Runner.

Dream House consists of so many half-baked contrivances that you'd think it was made by someone who went through M. Night Shyamalan's dumpster. The backstage drama during the production was far more compelling than the actual movie. This is an ineptly made thriller lacking in atmosphere or suspense.

Rating: * (*****)

Let Me In

Let Me In - Dir. Matt Reeves (2010)

It's rare when a remake equals the original and even rarer when it surpasses its progenitor. Unfortunately, most remakes just don't need to exist. Let Me In is just such a remake. The original film, Let the Right One In, is easily one of the best vampire movies ever made. Its only crime was apparently having subtitles, which means it doesn't exist in Hollywood's mind. Based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In examined the darkness inside humanity through a chilling, unconventional love story that puts the teenage soap opera pap of the Twilight Saga to dire shame. The rights for the American adaptation were picked up by Hammer Films, producers of many classic Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The reins of the remake were handed to Matt Reeves, the director of Cloverfield, a Blair Witch-style take on the giant monster movie. Despite talks that Reeves would re-interpret the Lindqvist's book, Let Me In is simply a rehash of its predecessor.

Let Me In is set in the far removed town of Los Alamos, New Mexico in the year 1983. The Road's Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen drifting through the awkward pangs of pre-adolescence. His parents are in the midst of a messy divorce. Dad is never seen and is only ever heard during one phone call. Mom is always working and when she's home, spends much of her time soused on the couch. To say Owen is being bullied at school is an understatement. He is being tormented by a trio of cruel bullies and the adults seem blissfully ignorant of it all.

Enter a strange young girl named Abby, played by Hit-Girl herself, Chloe Moretz. She moves into the apartment next door to Owen in the middle of the night with her "father" (Richard Jenkins). There's something odd about this little girl and not just because she walks around barefoot in the dead of winter. Owen comes to learn she is a vampire. The "father" acts as her Renfield stalking his prey and draining them of blood. Despite his initial fears, Owen grows closer to Abby as she encourages him to fight back against his antagonists.

Let Me In manages to be a surprisingly effective thriller by using the original film as its blueprint. Many of the best scenes are lifted directly out of Tomas Alfredson's version, including the climatic sequence at the gymnasium pool. Some scenes are ramped up for an American audience accustomed to blood or existential quandaries. One of the big changes in the remake is a harrowing auto accident as Abby's guardian attempts to take his latest victim. It is one of the few times in which Matt Reeves asserts his own identity as takes the camera along for the ride in the backseat. While Alfredson favored long shots to accentuate the loneliness of his lead characters, Reeves goes for close-ups to capture their alienation directly. He also excises the subplots involving Owen's neighbors thus turning them into faceless fodder for Abby's hunger.

Let Me In also lacks any of the subtleties of the original film. Abby doesn't simply feed on her victims, but practically mauls them. She climbs onto their bodies like a spider. Reeves heavily relies on unnecessary CGI for the attacks, which is blatantly obvious even though they are mostly hidden in the shadows. Reeves also hammers in the themes of good and evil. An unnamed detective (Elias Koteas) believes the murders to be the work of Satanists, the religious nature of Owen's mother causes the rift in her marriage, and everything is set under the specter of Ronald Reagan. Reeves further familiarizes the movie's setting by referencing 80's pop culture throughout. Owen's love of Culture Club and Now & Later candy belies the darkness that surrounds him, just as the cheesier aspects of the 80's served as a stark contrast to its Cold War politics. Reeves serves up a cute juxtaposition to Abby's vampirism when Owen introduces her to the gameplay of Pac-Man.

The film's young leads are both excellent and each brings a heavy soulfulness that isn't commonly found among actors of their age. The other main roles are filled by veteran character actors Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, the latter of whom is less creepy than usual.

Let Me In will surely serve as an enthralling thriller for those who have yet to see Let the Right One In, a truly unique twist on the vampire genre. However, the burden of knowledge will rear its head for anyone familiar with the original. The remake can't escape its feeling of 'been there, done that.'

Rating: **

Shutter Island

Shutter Island - Dir. Martin Scorsese (2010)


Martin Scorsese.

That’s all you need to know. Emblazon that name on the marquee and you’ve got my ticket money. He’s tackled gritty crime films, Merchant-Ivory style drama, and documentaries. Scorsese delves into new territory with the gothic thriller, Shutter Island, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane whose novels Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone have also been adapted to film. Shutter Island can best be described as Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor by way of M. Night Shyamalan.

Scorsese collaborates with Leonardo DiCaprio for the fourth time. Still hanging on to his Departed Boston accent, Leo takes the lead as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels. Along with partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), Daniels is sent to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient at Ashecliff, a former Civil War fort turned into an asylum for the criminally insane.

Daniels is still haunted by his service during World War II in which his unit liberated a concentration camp. Not to mention his wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in a fire caused by an arsonist who was once a patient at Ashecliff. Investigating further, he discovers clues leading to a deeper conspiracy involving the doctors experimenting on left-wing radicals.

There is no denying Scorsese’s abilities as a master filmmaker. He sets an uneasy mood almost immediately with a style that is a cross between noir and Hitchcock. Scorses heightens the creepy atmosphere by filling the supporting cast with several equally creepy actors. Really, nobody does creepy better than Jackie Earle Haley, Elias Koteas, and Max von Sydow.

Shutter Island essentially lives and dies by the twist ending. You either buy it or don’t. There’s no in between. Personally, I couldn’t. It was like the rug was pulled out from under me. Whatever I had invested in the film feels as if it had been a waste. Every other element of the picture is strong and Scorsese has created an uneasy, claustrophobic mood to the story, but the sharp left turn in the resolution undoes all the hard work.

Rating: **

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Dir. David Fincher (2008)


Benjamin Button will stand for years to come as a monumental achievement in technical wizardry. However, the film isn’t there to service the special effects; the effects are there to service the film. Director David Fincher, known for darker fare (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac), has created a vivid storybook tale of love and mortality.

Brad Pitt plays the title character for much of the film, usually hidden behind a layer of make-up and CGI effects. He is born at the end of World War I in New Orleans, except he is born with all the ailments of an 80 year-old man. His skin is wrinkled, his limbs are arthritic, and his eyes are stricken with cataracts. The baby’s mother dies giving birth and the father, Thomas Button (Jason Flemyng), leaves the baby at the doorstep of a nursing home. There, he’s taken in by Queenie (Taraji P. Hanson), the caretaker who names the baby, Benjamin. He begins life as a lame-legged old man, fitting right in with other inhabitants. Soon, he meets the red-haired Daisy (Elle Fanning as a child, Cate Blanchett as an adult), the granddaughter of another tenant. For Benjamin, it’s love at first sight while Daisy senses a kindred soul underneath his elderly exterior.

Benjamin devours life with a youthful exuberance. He explores New Orleans with a newly-arrived pygmy and gets a job on a tugboat with Captain Mike (Jared Harris). At sea, Benjamin sees more of the world and visits his first brothel. He travels to Russia where he has an affair with Elizabeth Abbot (Tilda Swinton), the wife of a British diplomat. Returning to the States, his relationship with Daisy goes through its ups and downs. It isn’t until the two reunite in their middle age that their love affair can finally begin. But, love is fleeting when Benjamin realizes he’ll grow younger and younger.

The script was co-written by Robin Swicord and Eric Roth who took inspiration from a 24 page short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald to create a near three hour masterpiece. Roth previously won an Oscar for his adaptation of Forrest Gump and you can clearly see echoes of that in Benjamin Button. Both films star a passive protagonist moving through the 20th century and a love that is doomed by circumstances worldly and physical. However, Button manages to avoid distilling almost an entire century of history into a series of contrivances and empty Hallmark platitudes. While this works great, there are two glaring omissions. Though Benjamin is raised by an adoptive black mother, the issue of segregation in the south is never mentioned. Sprinkled throughout the film are scenes with an aged Daisy on her deathbed as her daughter (Julia Ormond) reads from Benjamin’s diary just before Hurricane Katrina strikes. It feels like a superfluous addition when the tragedy isn’t truly addressed.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett give fine performances though not as strong as some of their other films. The romance between Benjamin and Daisy is at its strongest when they’re at their most miserable. It’s not nearly as interesting when they’re happy, frolicking in their sparsely furnished apartment as the Beatles play on The Ed Sullivan Show. The best performance belongs to Taraji P. Henson for her portrayal of Benjamin’s Butterfly McQueen-esque adoptive mother.

Rating: *** ½