Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths - Dir. Martin McDonagh (2012)

Irish playwright Martin McDonagh garnered critical acclaim for his feature film debut, In Bruges, which was one of my favorite films of 2008. It also marked a career best performance from Colin Farrell. In Bruges was a dark comedy about two hitmen hiding out in Belgium that could best be described as Tarantino crossed with Fellini. McDonagh’s sophomore is more like Tarantino meets Charlie Kaufman, a violent comedy titled Seven Psychopaths.

Farrell plays Marty, a struggling alcoholic screenwriter, as if there is any other kind. He’s working on a screenplay for a movie called Seven Psychopaths. All he has is the title and stories about two psychopaths. One is a Quaker exacting his own unique brand of justice against his daughter’s murderer and one about a former Viet Cong on a mission of revenge for the My Lai Massacre. Marty’s best friend is Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell), an aspiring actor. When he’s not punching out directors at auditions, Billy runs a dognapping operation with Hans (Christopher Walken), an elderly eccentric, who dutifully visits his wife at the cancer ward.

One day, Billy kidnaps a little Shih Tzu named Bonny, who belongs to a volatile gangster named Charlie Costello. He’ll do everything necessary to get his beloved dog back including shooting Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) in the face.

Seven Psychopaths unfolds through a twisting meta-textual narrative. It’s no coincidence that a movie starring an Irish screenwriter was written and directed by one too. Throughout the film, McDonagh comments on his own work while also lampooning Hollywood conventions. The unsophisticated Billy thinks Marty’s script would be improved by an over-the-top climatic shootout, which leads to a wild fantasy with double fisted gunplay and heads literally exploding upon the impact of a single bullet. But, Marty wants to make something deeper without all the mindless violence. Yet, the movie does end with a final shootout though it doesn’t go as Billy imagined. For the most part, McDonagh successfully has his cake and eats it too though it doesn’t work when it comes to the women in Seven Psychopaths. Hans chastises Marty for his poorly written female characters, a critique levied on McDonagh, one that is certainly valid here.  Though Olga Kurylenko and Abbie Cornish are featured prominently, they get barely a handful of lines. The latter randomly shows up in wet t-shirt. While that scene is meant to represent Billy’s adolescent indulgences, does calling attention to his underrepresentation of women really excuse it? The one actress who does get any sort of meaty role is Linda Bright Clay as Hans’s wife, Myra, though she’s mainly there to be put into peril in order to spur on her husband.

This is clearly a guy’s movie and the men of Seven Psychopaths are wildly entertaining. Farrell mostly plays the straight man to the zany characters around him. Rockwell is hilarious as the off-kilter ringleader while Christopher Walken gets one of his most Christopher Walken-y roles to date. Yes, he’s weird and menacing, but Walken is the heart of the movie with a tenderness that you don’t expect from the King of New York. Woody Harrelson is terrific as the unhinged Charlie Costello, plus he has noted character actors Kevin Corrigan and Zeljko Ivanec as his henchmen.

The real star of Seven Psychopaths is McDonagh’s dialogue that sparkles off the page and energizes the interactions between his characters. McDonagh tackles his words with a stylish flair in the vein of Tarantino and Mamet. The picture sets it all up in the opening sequence with a pair of loquacious hitmen (Michael Pitt and Michael Stuhlbarg) discussing their jobs and John Dillinger before a sudden and deadly exclamation point. The dialogue helps to take your mind off the fact that McDonagh is stuffed his film to the gills with a myriad of sub-plots such as a masked vigilante known as the Jack of Diamonds. One of the most intriguing asides belongs to Tom Waits as a mysterious rabbit owner, who tells Marty his past as a serial killer who targeted other serial killers.

Seven Psychopaths could also be called Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Adaptations. It’s a messy comedy that manages to come together thanks to a talented ensemble and well-written dialogue.

Rating: *** (*****)

Men in Black III

Men in Black III - Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld (2012)

The Avengers has been an unstoppable juggernaut since its release on May 4^th. There was only one super-powered being capable of knocking Marvel's magnum opus off its box office perch and that would be Will Smith. The former Fresh Prince is a guaranteed draw though I'm sure everyone would like to forget about Wild Wild West. But, Smith hasn't starred in a film since 2008's overwrought Seven Pounds and it's been a decade since the forgettable Men in Black II. Smith and Tommy Lee Jones slip comfortably back into the suits and sunglasses for a $55 million Memorial Day opening.

An intergalactic biker assassin named Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) has escaped from a maximum security prison on the Moon. Agent K (Jones) was the one who not only apprehended Boris, but blew off his left arm back in 1969. K also thwarted an invasion by Boris's people, the Boglodites, which lead to their extinction. Boris plans to travel back in time and prevent all this from happening. Agent J (Smith) literally jumps back to the 60's by leaping off the Chrysler Building to team up with the younger K (Josh Brolin).

Men in Black III was making headlines within the industry for the all the wrong reasons. The script by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) went through multiple drafts by David Koepp and Jeff Nathanson, both of whom went uncredited. This is nothing new for a big budget blockbuster, but going into production without a completed screenplay is a rarity. With only the first act set in stone, MIB3 went into production in the fall of 2010 to take advantage of lucrative NY tax breaks that were feared to expire by the end of the year. A scheduled two month break was stretched to three as the rewrite process dragged on while some crew members continued to be paid. All told the budget was rumored to have ballooned to $300 million.

After viewing Men in Black III, it is clear the beleaguered writing process took its toll on the threequel, which is rife with plot holes. The fact that J still remembers the proper timeline is glanced over with a single line. Yet, it's never explained how J is with MIB since the man who recruited him no longer exists or why the aliens waited forty years to invade the Earth. MIB3 rehashes the fish out of water story from the previous installments as J deals the culture shock of the 60's. Don't expect any deep contemplation about Vietnam or political turmoil. Race relations are dealt with in an amusing sequence where J is pulled over by a pair of prejudiced cops. J is also befuddled by the primitive technology employed by the department back in the day. The 60's section is where the film shines thanks to the retro-futuristic production design by Bo Welch and the practical effects by make-up wizard Rick Baker, who was obviously inspired by the drive-in classics of the yesteryear. But, inconsistency raises its ugly head once more. The MIB are hampered by portable neuralizers attached to cumbersome battery packs and clunky looking jetpacks. Yet, they utilize gyroscopic monocycles that resemble the 'It' from South Park that would still be considered high tech in the future. While K's stoic demeanor has been an accepted personality trait, the filmmakers saw a ridiculous need to explain how he became this way. Never mind that K had lighthearted moments in the other pictures. Thus, the film builds to a final denouement that makes little sense.

One of the reasons the original Men in Black succeeded was the chemistry between the smart alecky Will Smith and the straight laced Tommy Lee Jones. Here, Jones is reduced to an extended cameo with the bulk of the picture shouldered by Josh Brolin, who does an uncanny impersonation of No Country for Old Men co-star. Brolin's vocal mimicry is so good you'd swear they dubbed Jones's voice over his. Bill Hader brings a much needed breath of fresh air as Andy Warhol, who happens to be an undercover MIB agent. A spinoff featuring the adventures of K and W in the seventies would have been more interesting than what we actually get. Will Smith is in full quippy Will Smith mode even if some of his humor ("I got no problem pimp slapping the shiznit out of Andy Warhol.") is as outdated as the vintage MIB gadgets. My goodness, he doesn't even sing a goofy theme song.  Luckily, the movie has a strong villain in Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. It helps that speaks like Tim Curry and looks like "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Michael Stuhlbarg is also a great addition to the franchise as a nebbish extraterrestrial with the unique ability to see all possible timelines.

The perfect sequel should feel like a necessary continuation of the series along with whetting the appetite for further films. Men in Black III didn't need to be made and didn't make me clamor for Men in Black IV. If you can look past a plot rife with clichés and plot holes, you'll find an acceptable piece of popcorn entertainment. The demographic that will enjoy Men in Black III the most will likely be the kids who weren't even born when the first picture hit the screens.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Hugo

Hugo - Dir. Martin Scorsese (2011)

Martin Scorsese has become synonymous with crime films and gritty urban dramas. When he has ventured outside his wheelhouse, it was to make pictures like The Age of Innocence or The Last Temptation of Christ. Needless to say, Scorsese is one of the last names you’d expect to direct a children’s movie, let alone one shot in 3D. But, he does just that with Hugo, based on the illustrated novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.

Set in post-WWI Paris, the film follows an orphaned boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield), whose father (Jude Law) died in a museum fire. Hugo was sent to live with his alcoholic uncle (Ray Winstone), who worked at the Montparnasse train station. There, Hugo was taught how to maintain the clocks until his uncle’s disappearance. On his own, he survives by stealing food and avoiding the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). One of Hugo’s few possessions is a mechanical man left abandoned in his father’s museum, which they attempted to restore before his death. It has the ability to write and once repaired, Hugo hopes it will lead to some message from his dad. In order to do so, he steals parts from a toy store run by a man referred to by his granddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) as Papa George (Ben Kingsley).

Spoiler alert.

I knew almost nothing about Hugo aside from a trailer depicting a boy living in a train station where something vaguely magical happens. That is where the film seems to head in the first act until Hugo learns Papa George is actually Georges Méliès. The former stage magician saw the potential in this newfangled contraption known as the movie camera. Méliès was the first to create elaborate sets and special effects in his pictures. He was the first to make fantasy and sci-fi movies. Méliès could even be considered one of the earliest victims of piracy as Thomas Edison exhibited his most famous film, A Trip to the Moon, in the States without giving Méliès a dime. Méliès made close to 500 silent pictures, but the majority has been lost over time. As depicted in Hugo, his studio eventually went bankrupt and most of his film reels were recycled into boot heels. The real-life Méliès really did work as a toy salesman in the Montparnasse station though he never met an ingenuous boy. Together, they forge an unlikely friendship as kindred souls lost in the clockwork machinery of a modernizing society.

Hugo acts as a love letter to early cinema and an impassioned plea for film preservation. Isabelle, who has never seen a movie, is introduced to the medium by Hugo with wide-eyed wonder. Together, they learn everything they can about Papa George and try to repair fix his broken spirit as Hugo has been doing with his automaton. Through Hugo and Isabelle, Scorsese looks to introduce a new audience to silent film. He makes sure to sprinkle in plenty of references to many of the most renowned works, such as Harold Lloyd's famous clock hanging sequence from Safety Last. This is when Hugo really shines, but it takes a while to get there. With a runtime of over two hours, Hugo is about twenty minutes too long with a first half that is meandering and unsure.

The train station becomes Hugo's movie screen as he observes the lives of the other workers in the station, such as the awkward flirtations between an elderly couple played by Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour as well as the one between the Inspector and a flower girl (Emily Mortimer). This is when Hugo gets bogged down with subplots that don't really add anything to the overall narrative. The Inspector himself is portrayed alternately as a foreboding villain and bumbling comic relief. Though he's played wonderfully by Sacha Baron Cohen, Scorsese never strikes the right tone for the character. Scorsese may have mastered many aspects of filmmaking, but physical comedy isn't one of them and most of the slapstick gags and wacky chases fall flat.

Visually, Hugo is nothing short of a masterpiece. Scorsese has immaculately crafted the world of Hugo with long-time collaborators like cinematographer Robert Richardson, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and production designer Dante Ferretti. Scorsese's vision is so detailed that he even throws in background cameos by actors resembling James Joyce and Django Reinhardt. The movie's opening tracking shot that glides through the station platform and inside the clock tower will immediately bring to mind the iconic tracking shot from Goodfellas. Scorsese also makes better use of the 3D process than any other film aside from Coraline or Cave of Forgotten Dreams, even if it isn't essential to tell the story. He has created an immersive environment with a clear range and depth of field while adding a sense of wonder to all the moving gears and machinery. Even some of the subtler moments are given a little extra oomph thanks to the 3D, such as a sequence in which Sacha Baron Cohen's enormous head emerges from the screen to symbolize how the Inspector has grown a new awareness of the happenings around him. There's also something very strange about watching A Trip to the Moon in 3D.

Chloe Grace Moretz adds another fine performance to her resume as Isabelle and she often overshadows Asa Butterfield as the titular lead. The adults are all great with Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, and Michael Stuhlbarg as a film historian (and Scorsese's stand-in) all rounding out the excellent ensemble. However, the film lives and dies by the commanding and heartfelt performances from Ben Kingsley as Georges Méliès and Helen McCrory (better known as Narcissa Malfoy) as his wife Jeanne.

Hugo has received glowing reviews from many critics. Unfortunately, I don't share the same love for the film, which I found to be moving, yet uneven and overlong. As a tribute to silent cinema, Hugo, might have appeal more to adults and cinephiles than children.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

A Serious Man

A Serious Man - Dir. Joel & Ethan Cohen (2009)


Joel and Ethan Coen grew up in suburban Minneapolis as the sons of academics. So it is that the Coen Brothers took inspiration from their own pasts to create A Serious Man. Much like O Brother, Where Art Thou? was inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey, Serious Man was likely inspired by The Book of Job.

The film opens with a strange prologue set in the 1800’s where a Jewish-Polish couple encounter a rabbi who the wife believes is a dybbuk, a spirit highjacking the body of a deceased individual. She believes they have been cursed and it appears that curse manifests utterly in the life of one man in 1967. Stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry Gopnik, a Physics professor who has always tried to do the right thing and act as a good man, a “mensch,” if you will. So why is it that everything suddenly seems to go wrong in his life? His wife, Judith (Sari Lennick) asks for a divorce in order to marry her lover, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed). Ableman is an unctuous man who acts like Larry’s best friend while he steals his wife and boots him out of his own home.

Larry’s kids are selfish and self-involved. His daughter, Sarah (Jessica McManus), spends all her day washing her hair and stealing money from her parents in order to pay for a nose job. His son, Danny (Aaron Wolff), pays no attention in class instead listening to Jefferson Airplane on his transistor radio (the iPod of its time). While his dad deals with a painful divorce, Danny bugs him about being unable to get good reception for F-Troop. He attends his bar mitzvah completely stoned. Larry’s quest for tenure is endangered by anonymous letters slandering his integrity even as a South Korean exchange student simultaneously bribes and blackmails him over a bad grade. Larry’s shiftless brother, Arthur (Richard Kind), crashes on his couch and hogs the bathroom in order to drain a cyst on the back of his neck. Larry’s neighbor, Mr. Brandt (Peter Breitmayer) is a hunting aficionado who is encroaching on Larry’s property in order to build a tool shed. Brandt appears to have no love for Jews though he does have Larry’s back when confronted by the student’s father. Most likely he cares for Asians even less. Larry is also receiving incessant calls from the Columbia Record Club demanding payment for a subscription he has no clue about. He’s got doctor’s appointments, legal fees piling up, and a nude sunbathing neighbor tempting him off the righteous path.

Poor Larry is mostly a reactive individual. He hardly ever initiates action and avoids conflict whenever he can. He’s such a passive viewer of his own life; he may as well be sitting in the audience with us. It’s no coincidence that Larry’s wife left him for a fellow named Ableman.

All these problems lead to Larry questioning God’s purpose for him. His attempts to consult a series of Rabbis yield nothing. The first (Simon Helberg) asks him to admire the beauty of a parking lot, but poor Larry can only see desolation. The second (George Wyner) tells him a long story about a dentist who finds a message from God in the teeth of a patient. The story (like the film) has no ending. The third and most prolific, Rabbi Marshak (Alan Mandell), can’t even be bothered with him.

As the gods of Larry’s world, the Coens seem to delight in tormenting their hapless creation. They pile it on and on to the point where we can’t help but feel pity for Larry Gopnik just as we laugh at his misery. The Coens’ flair for irony and dark humor is fully on display. The film’s dialogue is written with deft precision. There’s incredible wit and multiple layers behind every word. The Coens have also utilized a cast of unknowns rather than their usual troop of actors making it easier for us to buy these people AS people and not just actors in roles.

A Serious Man is the Coen Brothers’ most idiosyncratic film since Barton Fink. It is likely to be their most polarizing as well. Serious Man combines the bleak isolation of No Country For Old Men with the oddball humor of Fargo. If you thought the ambiguous ending of the former was aggravating, the non-ending to Serious Man might have you demanding a refund from your local theater. However, in real life there are no easy, pat answers. Everything isn’t wrapped up in a neat, little bow and neither is A Serious Man.

Rating: ***