Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina - Dir. Joe Wright (2012)

Joe Wright is no stranger to adapting literary classics. He made his feature film debut with a big screen version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. Wright followed that up with an adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. After delving into sappy Hollywood territory with The Soloist, Wright went off the beaten path with Hanna, an action film with elements of Grimm fairy tales and Jason Bourne espionage. Now, he's returned to his bread and butter with Anna Karenina, based on the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy.

Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) is a wealthy socialite living in St. Petersburg with her older husband, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law), an influential statesman, and their son, Serhoza (Oskar McNamara). Anna reluctantly leaves her boy for the first time for a trip to Moscow in order to mend the broken marriage of her brother, Stiva (Matthew McFadyen), and his wife Dolly (Kelly Macdonald). Dolly has thrown Stiva out of the house after learning of his affair with their governess. While in Moscow, Anna becomes instantly smitten to a handsome cavalry officer named Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The attraction is mutual and the two engage in an illicit affair that is doomed from the moment they lock eyes. The passion is heated, but the once respectable Anna becomes the subject of catty gossip and sneering glances from her fellow bluebloods.

What sets Joe Wright's Anna Karenina apart from other cinematic versions is the director's use of stylized theatrical sets. The production was unable to afford shooting on location in Russia or the numerous locales that the story called for. Instead, Wright renovated an old theater outside London and dressed it up with help from production designer Sarah Greenwood.

As Shakespeare once wrote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Wright truly takes that to heart as the theatricality works to enhance the idea that Tolstoy's characters are forced to play roles to conform to societal mores. Wright makes no attempt to hide the floodlights, curtains, or pulley ropes. The aristocracy lives on stage and in the seats while the servants and lower classes exist only backstage or in the rafters. The film sometimes transitions from one scene to another by opening stage doors. Anna's trip to Moscow is depicted by a toy train chugging past model homes and miniature snow banks. Only rarely does the story venture into an actual exterior such as during sun-lit picnic shared by Anna and Vronsky. Wright has become known for his tracking shots and he doesn't disappoint here. Wright glides the camera around the stage as extras move to and fro while stagehands alter the set. The intricate choreography will recall Alexander Sokurov's technical marvel, Russian Ark.

The sumptuous costumes and set design are almost enough to distract from the overwrought drama that is almost emotionally devoid. It's a difficult proposition to distill Tolstoy's prose into a palpable movie. Even at over two hours, the screenplay by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) still shortchanges the various storylines.

Anna Karenina is one of the great tragic figures in classic literature, but without fully developing her storyline, she doesn't come off in a sympathetic light. Meanwhile, Jude Law's Alexei isn't portrayed in stereotypical fashion as a brute. He's stodgy, yet caring and ultimately forgiving. The love triangle entrapping Anna, Alexei, and Vronsky run parallel with two other love stories that have generally fallen to the wayside in other adaptations. Cultural hypocrisy is highlighted by the contrasts between Anna's ostracizing and the lack of consequences for Stiva's frequent dalliances. While Dolly is asked to absolve her adulterous husband, Anna is allowed no such courtesy. Yet, Stiva is played up as something of a buffoon and most of his scenes have the manic energy of a screwball comedy, which never gels with the tragedy that is about to come. The third storyline focuses on Stiva's sister-in-law Kitty (Alicia Vikander) and her courtship by the meek Konstantin Levin (Domhnall Gleeson), a nobleman who has chosen to live in the countryside away from big city life. Levin was an analogue for Tolstoy who shares his creation's humble nature. The shy Levin and Kitty share a tender moment as they attempt to communicate with each other by using building blocks. However, their romance would mean a lot more had the filmmakers found a better balance between each love story.

Joe Wright's Anna Karenina is a bold re-imagining of Tolstoy's novel that is aesthetically pleasing, but lacking in emotional weight.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers - Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson (2011)

Paul W.S. Anderson is a name feared by all right-thinking film critics. Much like Michael Bay, M. Night Shyamalan, and Uwe Boll, when Anderson's name appears in the credits, nothing good can come of it. Anderson takes time away from video game adaptations for The Three Musketeers, in which he turns Alexandre Dumas's seminal swashbuckling adventure into a garish and modernized thrill ride.

The story begins in Venice with Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans), and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) breaking into the vault of Leonardo da Vinci in order to steal blueprints for an airship. They are betrayed by Athos's paramour, Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich), who steals the plans for Lord Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) in order to build a fleet of flying war machines.

A year later, the Musketeers are now living in disgrace. Athos has become a drunkard, Aramis is relegated to being a glorified meter maid, and Porthos lives off richer women. Along comes the hotshot D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) who hopes to follow in his father's footsteps as a Musketeer. They band together and uncover a plot by Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) and Milady to plunge France into war against England by fabricating an illicit affair between Buckingham and the Queen (Juno Temple).

The Three Musketeers lives up to the reputation of its director as a mindless spectacle that is light on intelligence and heavy on action. There's plenty of lavishly choreographed swordfights such as when the Musketeers face the Cardinal's guards with the odds ten to one. These clashes are broken up with slow motion flourishes in the vein of Zack Snyder or the Wachowskis. Anderson's wife, Milla Jovovich, gets her chance to shine once again performing Resident Evil-style stunts while wearing ornate 17th century gowns and tight corsets. Her Milady is part-Mata Hari and part-ninja assassin. It's all so ludicrous, but the movie is pushed into absurd boundaries when a steampunk element is introduced through the use of flying pirate ships armed with turrets and flamethrowers. And just when all this action builds to a crescendo, it sinks like the Hindenburg thanks to a non-ending that shamelessly sets up a sequel.

Matthew Macfadyen and Luke Evans give solid performances as Athos and Aramis while Ray Stevenson follows Thor by once again playing the boisterous member of a trio of warriors. Logan Lerman is far too white bread to leave any impression as D'Artagnan and his romance with Gabriella Wilde as one of the Queen's ladies in waiting is equally bland. Christoph Waltz is never given the chance to really shine as one of the movie's many villains. As the Cardinal's henchman, Rochefort, Mads Mikkelsen is easily the best thing in Musketeers, playing a one-eyed man for the third time after Casino Royale and Valhalla Rising. Orlando Bloom is the worst thing in the movie. His attempts at playing an over-the-top bad guy are awful and thoroughly unconvincing.

As he did with Resident Evil: Afterlife, Anderson shot The Three Musketeers in 3D, but the process hardly adds anything to the experience aside from a dimmer picture and the occasional blade pointed at your face.

The Three Musketeers cost $75 million and has so far barely scrapped together $20 million in box office gross. Surely, Summit Entertainment can find better uses for all those piles of Twilight money. Even with a strong ensemble cast, Musketeers can't offer the empty excitement expected of shallow popcorn fare.

Rating: * (*****)

Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice - Dir. Joe Wright (2005)


The works of Jane Austen have been translated for film and television numerous times. Some of which include: Ang Lee's Sense & Sensibility and Clueless, a modern update of Emma. Of all her novels, Pride & Prejudice is the most often adapted. There was a 1940 version starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, a Bollywood version called Bride & Prejudice, and several BBC miniseries, the best of which is the one from 1995 with Colin Firth. It was Firth's performance in that particular version that lead to him being cast in the Pride & Prejudice-inspired Bridget Jones's Diary, in pretty much the same role, no less.

This latest attempt casts Keira Knightley in the role of Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest of five sisters. Elizabeth is intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind, unlike most of the women of her time. Her oldest sister is Jane (Rosamund Pike), who is considered to be the most beautiful. Mary (Talulah Riley) is the quiet, middle sister, more concerned with books and the piano than socializing. The youngest of the bunch is Lydia, played by Jena Malone, one of the few Americans in the production. Lydia is, perhaps, too fun-loving for her own good and she's always followed around by Kitty. Their mother, Mrs. Bennet (Brenda Blethyn), spends her day trying to find suitable husbands for all her daughters, especially in light of their financial situation. Without a son, the estate of Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland) will be passed onto a cousin, leaving the Bennet women without a home.

Things look up with the arrival of Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods), who hits it off right away with Jane. The same can't be said for Elizabeth and Bingley's friend, Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden), his arrogant and curt attitude rub her the wrong way. Elizabeth confesses, "I swore to loathe him for eternity." Of course, this is movie talk for, "I am madly in love with him and we will be together before the credits roll."

Darcy isn't the only one to get underneath Elizabeth's skin. Much to her dismay, she is courted by the diminutive Mr. Collins (Tom Hollander), the cousin that stands to inherit her home. Despite her mother's wishes, Elizabeth has no interest whatsoever in Mr. Collins. Spurned, Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas (Claudie Blakely), who agrees as her family needs the money and at the age of 27 (a spinster in her era), she cannot expect another offer as good. It's an emotional moment that could have been more effective had her character been developed more.

Even at a length of over two hours, Pride & Prejudice isn't able to devote the time it needs to the multitude of characters and subplots. While it's hard to keep things straight sometimes, it's a small gripe considering how well-made the film is. This is, by far, the most gorgeous looking of all the Jane Austen movies which culminates with a rendezvous at dusk between Elizabeth and Darcy. This is a great accomplishment for director Joe Wright, who had previously worked in TV before making his feature film debut with Pride & Prejudice.

Wright uses a moving master shot at the start of the film to introduce us to the Bennet household. He uses an even better one during a ballroom scene. The camera seamlessly moves throughout the mansion as it follows one character to the next and so on. It's no wonder that Wright has garnered some impressive accolades for his work. He was chosen as Best New Filmmaker by the Boston Society of Film Critics, British Director of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards, and won the Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the BAFTAs.

Speaking of awards, Keira Knightley has gained her own recognition for her performance as she snagged nominations for Best Actress at the Golden Globes and Oscars. As Elizabeth, she continues playing the tomboyish characters that she's done so often. Yet, at the same time, she is able to do more than the superficial macho posturing that was done in King Arthur or Domino. There's a splendid scene where the camera pans around Elizabeth as she comes to the realization of how much she truly loves Darcy, while she is staring at a bust of him. And I think it goes without saying that Donald Sutherland and Judi Dench are wonderful in their roles.

Pride & Prejudice is a solid film enhanced by a cast of great actors and a talented, young director.

Rating: ***

Robin Hood

Robin Hood - Dir. Ridley Scott (2010)


”Rise and rise again until lambs become lions.”

Was there a dire need for yet another Robin Hood film? There have been dozens and dozens of iterations about the famed archer on film and television. One of the most well-regarded versions is The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn in a light-hearted, Technicolor adventure film. The garish color palette of the 1938 picture is in stark contrast to Robin and Marian with Sean Connery as an aging, world weary Robin Hood returning to England and his love Marian (Audrey Hepburn in her first film after a 9 year absence) who has since become a nun. A grimier and grounded approach was taken with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner as the blandest version of the title character. Despite Costner’s vanilla performance and sad attempt at a British accent, Prince of Thieves was buoyed by the mere presence of Morgan Freeman and a deliciously over-the-top Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Notthingham. You can also toss Disney’s animated Robin Hood and Mel Brooks’ parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights into the mix.

So where does Ridley Scott’s vision of Robin Hood stack up against the competition? Even with a $200 million budget, this Robin Hood sinks to the bottom of the barrel.

Russell Crowe teams with Ridley Scott for the fifth time. They originally paired up in the historical epic Gladiator and surprisingly followed that up with the romantic comedy, A Good Year. Their collaboration continued with the gritty crime film, American Gangster, and the spy thriller, Body of Lies. Robin Hood is closest in spirit to Gladiator and acts as a pseudo-companion piece to Scott’s Crusades picture, Kingdom of Heaven. This is a down and dirty rendition with nary a buckle swashed.

The film kicks off during the tail end of the 12th century with Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) attempting to make his way back to England following the folly of the Third Crusade. King Richard is killed by an arrow through the neck while ransacking a French castle. Among the king’s army is a skilled bowman by the name of Robin Longstride (Crowe) who quickly deserts the battlefield with his friends Little John (Kevin Durand), Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes), and Alan A’Dayle (Alan Doyle). Meanwhile, Richard’s right hand man, Sir Robert of Loxley (Douglas Hodge) leads a small band of knights to return the king’s crown to England. They are ambushed by the evil Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong) who conspires with King Philip of France (Jonathan Zaccai) to weaken England with civil war.

Robin and his Merry Men (though they are never called as such) come across the aftermath. Donning the knight’s chain mail, Robin poses as Loxley upon his return to England. He arrives at Loxley’s estate where Robert’s father, Sir Walter (Max von Sydow), requests that he continue the masquerade much to the chagrin of Robert’s widow, the Lady Marian (Cate Blanchett). While Robin undertakes the charade, Godfrey brutally and relentlessly gathers taxes from the people under the orders of Richard’s brother, the petulant King John (Oscar Isaac), a near-copycat of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus.

The main cast also includes: William Hurt as the royal regent William Marshal, Mark Addy as Friar Tuck, and Matthew Macfadyen as an utterly inept Sheriff of Nottingham.

If that sounds like a lot to digest, it’s only the appetizer. There is a helluva lot more to come during the film’s daunting two and a half hour runtime. Robin Hood’s biggest strength lies in the spectacular production values. Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson (who also first collaborated on Gladiator) have created a gorgeous looking film that captures the majesty of the English landscape belonging to royalty and the squalidness of the world of the lower classes. CGI is effectively used to lend an added layer of authenticity. The acting isn’t particularly noteworthy, but the actors are fine in their roles. Honestly, the majority of them are capable of performing these parts in their sleep.

The weak link of the movie lies solely in the story. The screenplay was originally written by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris who also wrote Kung Fu Panda and…ugh…Bulletproof Monk. Working under the title of Nottingham, the project was intended to portray Robin Hood as the villain while his arch-enemy, the Sheriff, would be shown in a more sympathetic light. Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) was brought on board to rewrite the script. Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) was hired later on to perform script polishing while on-set. The filmmakers settled on telling the origin story of a character who has no definitive origin story. Thus, Scott has stripped Robin Hood of nearly everything that makes him Robin Hood.

The names and places may be the same, but the romance between Robin and Marian is only just blossoming. Robin doesn’t live in Sherwood Forest yet and he only robs from the rich and gives to the poor once. The film does postulate an interesting premise in making Robin, who has always been portrayed as a nobleman, a humble peasant and conning his way into the higher classes. However, that subplot is dropped soon after. See, Robin never knew his real father, but Sir Walter conveniently knew Daddy Longstride and reveals all to him. Oh, and Robin’s father apparently came up with the Magna Carta.

Therein lays another weak point in the script, the uneven hodgepodge of historical fact and fiction. Real-life figures and events feel shoehorned into the legends and myths of Robin Hood. The movie maintains a self-serious tone which is completely undone during the climactic battle when the transport ships from Saving Private Ryan arrive. It only gets more ludicrous when Marian arrives in battle armor with an army of wild boys who look like they wandered off the set of Lord of the Flies.

Imagine going to see Batman Begins only to discover Bruce Wayne doesn’t don the Bat-costume until the final minute of the film. Robin Hood makes us sit through a 140 minute prologue that ends at the exact moment when it should have begun.

Rating: * ½

Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon - Dir. Ron Howard (2008)


”I’m saying that if the President does it that means it’s not illegal.”

Just like Doubt, Frost/Nixon is an adaptation of a well-received stage play and much like W., the film takes a controversial president and breaks him down into a sympathetic figure overwhelmed by the power he fought so hard to gain. Writer Peter Morgan adapted his play for the big screen himself. Frost/Nixon focuses on the behind-the-scenes happenings that went on during the nearly 30 hour filming of an interview between Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and television personality, David Frost (Michael Sheen).

What transpires is an intellectual battle for supremacy. Once a serious journalist, Frost is now relegated to doing little-seen, fluff pieces. Nixon, still shattered by the Watergate scandal, is looking for a way back into the political circles he had been ostracized from. Two men seeking a career resurrection that only one can achieve. Nixon and his camp see Frost as a pushover and agree to the interviews to the cool sum of $600,000 plus 10% of the profits. Meanwhile, Frost assembles his own team of researchers in order to ask the former president the hard questions. However, when the two finally sit down, Nixon runs circles around the interviewer. Frost has been spread thin by financial issues and the constant rejection by network execs and advertisers. Anytime the man tries to drop a bombshell (the Watergate tapes, Cambodia) on President Nixon, he evades the questions with long-winded, rambling stories that eat up huge chunks of time. It is only during the final interview session (after being drunk dialed by Nixon) that Frost hunkers down in an effort to finally nail Tricky Dick on Watergate and the subsequent cover-up.

Unlike Doubt, Ron Howard manages to expand on the source material into a fully realized cinematic experience and not just a talking heads picture. Howard, not exactly known as a visually stimulating director, faithfully recreates the look and color palette of the 70’s. He fills the frame with Nixon’s hulking, hunched-over body playing into his larger-than-life personality. At the same time, he’s pressed against the edges, uncomfortable in his own skin.

Langella is certainly getting the lion’s share of credit for his portrayal of our 37th president. His performance avoids the pratfalls of mere SNL impersonation. Langella conveys Nixon from raw rage to bittersweet confession (”"You have no idea how fortunate that makes you: liking people and being liked.”) while giving us a glimpse of a sly wit Nixon wasn’t readily known for. Both Langella and co-star Michael Sheen reprised their stage role. Sheen brings the same smug, self-assuredness that he did as Tony Blair in The Deal and The Queen, also written by Morgan. The supporting cast each get their own chance to shine for the brief moments they are on-screen. Of particular note are the always-entertaining Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr., Frost’s lead researcher (and biggest anti-Nixon proponent); the beautiful Rebecca Hall as Frost’s glamorous girlfriend, Caroline Cushing; and Kevin Bacon as the straight-laced ex-Marine who acts as Nixon’s right-hand man and confidant. Not faring so well is Toby Jones, a fine actor who can’t seem to hit the right notes in recent bio-pics. He made a great Truman Capote in Infamous, but his Karl Rove in W. was lacking and his Swifty Lazar (the high-powered talent agent) here is hampered by an unconvincing accent.

Rating: *** 1/2