The Homesman

The Homesman - Dir. Tommy Lee Jones (2014)

Judging by outward appearances, Tommy Lee Jones doesn't seem to be a jolly old fellow. No surprise that Jones has chosen rather dour material for his directorial efforts. His first film as director, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, was a somber modern-day Western about a rancher making his way to Mexico with the corpse of a ranch hand and the Border Agent who killed him. You could hardly call Jones' sophomore feature, The Homesman, a traditional Western. Sure, the period is appropriate, but white hats don't shoot it out with black hats and the hero doesn't triumphantly ride off into the sunset.

The Homesman takes place during the mid-1800's in the desolate territory now known as Nebraska. Life has been harsh, especially for three women driven insane by the rigors of the frontier and an overbearing patriarchal society. Arabella Sours (Grace Gummer) hasn't even hit her 20's and has already lost her three children to diphtheria. Gro Svendsen (Sonja Richter) went mad due to the death of her mother and repeated sexual abuse by her husband. Theoline Bellknapp (Miranda Otto) suffered such a nervous breakdown that she does something unthinkable. In the movie's most harrowing moment, Theoline stumbles towards an outhouse and tosses her newborn infant into the latrine.

The burgeoning town is hardly equipped to handle this pitiable trio, but a church in Iowa has agreed to care for them. When it's clear their husbands are either unable or unwilling to take them, Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) volunteers to embark on the journey. Perhaps, she feels a kinship to these women as she hides her own crushing loneliness. Cuddy is 31 and unwed, making her a spinster in everyone's eyes. She's been sharply turned down for marriage because she's too "bossy" and too "plain."

As strong-willed as she is, Mary Bee knows she cannot make the trip on her own. Due to happenstance, she comes across George Briggs (Jones), a buffoonish claim jumper left to hang. Briggs agrees not so much out of chivalry, but to get out of the noose along with $300 and a jug of whiskey.

The Homesman was based on a novel by Glendon Swarthout, who also wrote The Shootist, which was adapted into a film starring a grizzled John Wayne in what would be his final role. Of course, Jones brings grizzled to a whole new level. He's not exactly the most amiable of travel partners. The prim and proper Mary Bee does not end up falling for the gruff Briggs the way Katherine Hepburn did with Bogart in The African Queen. In fact, The Homesman never goes where you expect. The protagonists and their charges are outsiders in a rigid culture. They don't find redemption, happiness or sanity.

Jones turns in a fine performance that goes beyond his trademark surliness. He is able to go to dark place while playing the buffoon. Swank's success ratio hasn't been that spectacular, but her work in The Homesman ranks right up there with Million Dollar Baby and her breakout role in Boys Don't Cry. It's a fierce and heartbreaking performance.

The Homesman has been called an anti-western and a feminist revision of the genre. Jones' sophomore effort certainly has more in common with the existentialism of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and the beautiful bleakness of No Country for Old Men. He unravels the romanticism of the Old West by presenting its ugliness without restraint. One of the more underrated films of 2014.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Lincoln

Lincoln - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2012)

Lincoln opens with a Saving Private Ryan-esque scene of battlefield brutality. Men are impaled by bayonets and strangled in the muck and rainwater. From there, we cut to Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln seated as if he were the D.C. monument come to life. He’s addressed by two black soldiers, one of whom (Colman Domingo) looks up at him with awe. The other (David Oyelowo) is bluntly asking the President about equal pay for black and white troops. Two white soldiers (Lukas Haas and Dane DeHaan) arrive and, with great reverence, begin to recite the Gettysburg Address.  The scene feels lifted right out of a Frank Capra movie and it’s wise of Spielberg to get the mythologizing out of the way first.

President Lincoln is pressured to end the Civil War rather than focusing on the Emancipation Proclamation. Even his closest aides feel the issue will be dead upon arrival at the House of Representatives. Not everyone will be swayed by a heartfelt speech so a great deal of wrangling and backdoor deals is necessary. A trio of lobbyists (James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson) is dispatched to curry favor with opposition in the Democratic Party. This includes promises of jobs in the new administration or outright bribery. The House itself is a hotbed for filibustering and childish insults. Have politics really changed that much in the last two centuries? Kushner brings these sequences to life with a steady stream of Sorkin-like dialogue and a surprising amount of humor. Irony isn’t lost in the portrayal of Republicans as the more progressive and compassionate party. The vote for the Proclamation is the centerpiece of Lincoln and a textbook example of classic filmmaking. The outcome is already known, yet there is still palpable tension as each Representative is called upon to vote “Yay” or “Nay.” It’s also interesting to see everyday citizens traveling from far and wide to the White House to seek audience with the President.

Less effective is the delving into Lincoln’s personal life, particularly his rocky marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field). She has been left in a shaky mental state following the death of her son, Willie, at age 12. The scenes shared by Day-Lewis and Field are strong, but showy which means they’ll play well for the Academy voters. There’s also their eldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who feels a burning obligation to serve in the Union army, despite his father’s best attempts to keep him out of the war. While the presence of Gordon-Levitt is always appreciated, his part could have easily been cut from the film with little impact.

It speaks volumes for the A-list ensemble cast that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of its lesser components. The most noteworthy are Jared Harris as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Gulliver McGrath from Dark Shadows as Tad Lincoln, and Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, the leader of the Democratic opposition. There’s also Hal Holbrook, Michael Stuhlbarg, Walt Goggins, Gloria Reuben, Bruce McGill, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Gregory Itzin. In this sea of talented performers, Tommy Lee Jones has gained the most notice for his performance as the fervent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. His views on racial and gender equality brought him no shortage of enemies in the Democratic Party. A Best Supporting Actor nomination is almost a lock for Jones though James Spader shouldn’t be forgotten as the oiliest of the lobbyists.

Lincoln hinges entirely on the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis who has effortlessly transformed himself yet again. You wonder if his method acting required him to actually travel back in time to shadow the real Lincoln. Physically, he is everything we imagine Abraham Lincoln to be: tall and lanky with the weathered face of a president hard at work. His soft-spoken manner belies the booming voice that many have portrayed him to possess.  His folksy sense of humor leads him to tell several homespun stories to amuse his staff during dire times.

Each shot is beautifully realized by Spielberg’s superb direction and the gorgeous cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose work includes night scenes illuminated only by candle and the congressional floor backlit by hazy sunlight. The film is set to a score by John Williams that never drowns out the drama.

Lincoln is the film that Amistad should have been. It is Spielberg's best work since Munich and lacks the saccharine sentimentality that plagued War Horse.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Big Miracle

Big Miracle - Dir. Ken Kwapis (2012)

Big Miracle is based on the 1989 non-fiction book, Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event by Tom Rose, which in turn was based on the real-life events surrounding Operation Breakthrough. In the previous year, three gray whales became trapped by ice near the coastal town of Point Barrow, Alaska. The story went viral before there ever was such a thing as news programs across the country picked it up. Universal's Big Miracle is the largely fictionalized version of the international efforts to rescue these poor creatures.

John Krasinski stars as Adam Carlson, a news reporter in Barrow with aspirations of moving on up to bigger markets in the lower 48 states. He's the first to report on a family of whales, who have been nicknamed Fred, Wilma, and Bamm Bamm. The baby isn't Pebbles because he's a boy, you see. The whales are surrounded by ice and will die if they don't get free. When everybody from Tom Brokaw to Dan Rather run Adam's story, Barrow is flooded with journalists and folks from all walks of life hoping to lend a hand. Most of them have their own selfish reasons for joining in.

Oil executive J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson), who sees the rescue as good P.R. and a gateway to open a wildlife refuge for drilling. White House aide Kelly Myers (Vinessa Shaw) looks to polish the legacy of the Reagan administration while building momentum for a run by Vice-President Bush. Both have tasked Col. Scott Boyer (Dermot Mulroney) of the National Guard to tow a hover barge from one of McGraw's stations via helicopter. Boyer is just following orders and doesn't care much about the whales, especially since they aren't killer whales. One of the few to contribute out of the goodness of her own heart is Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), a Greenpeace activist and Adam's former girlfriend. Soon, the townsfolk, the people of the Inupiat tribe, and even the Russians form an unlikely alliance to save the trio of whales.

Big Miracle comes to us from director Ken Kwapis, who previously helmed the ensemble rom-com He's Just Not That Into You and the tween-lit adaptation The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, is used to juggling a myriad of storylines. He does so again to the detriment of Big Miracle, which is bogged down by too many superfluous subplots. There's a love triangle brewing between Adam, Rachel, and a big city reporter played by Kristen Bell as well as another love story involving Col. Boyer and Kelly Myers. Newcomer Ahmaogak Sweeney appears as an Inupiat boy named Nathan. His narration bookends the film, but he's a minor character at best.

Screenwriters Jack Amiel and Michael Berger have drawn their cast of characters in very broad strokes. Everyone is earnest and one-dimensional. John Krasinski fares the worst. The funnyman from The Office is a white bread bore as the lead protagonist. Ted Danson's oil exec seems as if he's mainly there as a counterpoint to the all the conservative pundits complaining about the portrayal of big business in films such as The Muppets and The Lorax. On the other hand, Drew Barrymore's Rachel represents all the worst of stereotypes of the granola munching eco-movement. She's a heartfelt firebrand, but also pedantic and myopic. She's more than willing to pain the Inupiat tribe as a bunch of whale slaughtering backwoods barbarians. According to the film, they're merely salt of the earth (or snow) people ready to dispense sage advice when necessary to plot advancement.

The true miracle of Big Miracle is the wealth of supporting actors that work diligently to keep the picture from completely sinking into the icy depths. Stephen Root plays the Alaskan governor, who is initially dismissive of the whale rescue until it captures the public eye. John Michael Higgins is funny as a smarmy anchorman. Rob Riggle and James LeGros are highlights as a pair of brothers from Minnesota, who arrive with a de-icing machine of their own invention. It's as if they made a wrong turn on their way to the set of Fargo. Also, be on the look out for Kathy Baker, Bruce Altman, Shea Whigham, Jonathan Slavin, and Tim Blake Nelson.

Big Miracle was released in February during the blasé months of the Hollywood release schedule where it earned a paltry $24.7 million worldwide. Perhaps, the world has grown too cynical for a simplistic, heartwarming tale. Is there anything miraculous to be found in Big Miracle? No, but it is wholesome, family-friendly entertainment.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass - Dir. Tim Blake Nelson (2010)

An actor playing his own twin is a tricky proposition. Some actors can't pull it off, for example Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Impact. Some pull it off with flying colors, Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers and Nic Cage in Adaptation come to mind. Edward Norton is more than capable of playing dual roles, even if the film isn't on the level of his talents.

Norton stars as Bill Kincaid, a professor of classical philosophy at Brown. He's a well-respected scholar and has an offer to head up his own department at Harvard. Bill's life takes a severe left turn when he receives word that his twin brother, Brady (also Norton), was murdered. Shot by a crossbow to be exact. Bill is actually from a Podunk town in Oklahoma called Little Dixie. He considers his background and family rather embarrassing.

Arriving home for the first time in years, Bill is shocked to find Brady is still alive, his fake death a ruse to lure him back. He may not act like it, but Brady is just as smart as his more articulate brother. While Bill has devoted his life to academia, Brady has devoted his life to marijuana. He grows copious amounts of pot using a high-tech system of hydroponics he designed himself. He needs Bill to go around town pretending to be him to establish an alibi. Brady is off to Tulsa to meet with a crooked Jewish businessman named Tug Rothbaum (Richard Dreyfuss), who is owed a substantial sum for financing Brady's operation.

Writer/Director Tim Blake Nelson co-stars as Bolger, Brady's right-hand man. The cast also includes: Susan Sarandon as Bill's estranged mother, Melanie Lynskey as Brady's pregnant girlfriend, Modern Family's Ty Burrell as a Harvard administrator, and singer/songwriter Steve Earle as a rival drug dealer.

As the twin leads, Norton is very good. He's more or less himself as the intellectual Bill. As Brady, he's more a caricature than a real character, but no less entertaining. Norton affects a cartoonish southern drawl and a quicker speech tempo to define him.

The film's failings lie not with the actors, but with Nelson's script, which attempts to merge disparate elements into a dysfunctional narrative. Leaves of Grass starts off as something akin to a quirky indie movie crossed with a stoner comedy. The story unfolds in a laidback manner as Bill reconnects with his family and friends. He engages in a sweet romance with the bubbly Keri Russell as a high school teacher who quotes Walt Whitman and wrestles 50lbs. catfish. Their scenes are some of the best in the film. The second half of the picture veers into darker territory with the introduction of death and violence. The dramatic turn doesn't gel with the light-hearted moments that were previously seen.

It seemed as if Tim Blake Nelson (who starred in O Brother, Where Art Thou) was going for a Coen Brothers feel with the black humor and criminal subplots. A dash of Fargo and a sprinkling of Raising Arizona, I suppose. As a fanboy, I thought it was cool that Norton was reunited with two of his Incredible Hulk cast members, but there's not enough to the movie to earn it a recommendation. The drastic tonal shifts make Leaves of Grass an uneven blend without potency.

Rating: * ½

Saint John of Las Vegas

Saint John of Las Vegas - Dir. Hue Rhodes (2010)

Next to Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi has to be my favorite character actor ever. His unconventional facial features and unique inflections make him stand out from the majority of actors working today. He's had so many memorable roles: Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, The Big Lebowski, Ghost World, and a dramatic turn in last year's The Messenger. No matter how bad a movie is, you can at least depend on Buscemi to be entertaining. Never has he had to work so hard to make such subpar material work than with Saint John of Las Vegas.

Saint John marks the feature debut of writer/director Hue Rhodes who took inspiration for the movie from Dante's Inferno. Buscemi plays John Alighieri, a former compulsive gambler now working as a claims adjuster for an insurance company in Albuquerque. He's engaged in a relationship with perky co-worker, Jill (Sarah Silverman), who has an infatuation with smiley faces and is carrying on an affair with their boss, Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage).

After bucking for a raise and a promotion, John winds up being sent on the road to investigate the claim of a stripper named Tasty D. Lite (Emmanuelle Chriqui), who lives outside of Vegas. She was supposedly left confined to a wheelchair with a neckbrace following a rear collision with another car. John is paired up with a veteran investigator in Virgil (Romany Malco). John is apprehensive about all this because he fears he will fall back into old habits the closer he gets to Sin City. While on the road, John and Virgil encounter all sorts of oddballs, such as a nudist colony of gun toting cowboys and a carnival worker (John Cho) sealed inside a flame-retardant suit. His scenes are as witty as the film gets to referencing Dante. No one can help the poor guy until the incendiary rig he's hooked up to, which engulfs him in flames every few minutes, runs out of fuel. Ironically, all he really wants is a cigarette.

Saint John has a hard time focusing on what it wants to be. The beginning of the movie has potential to be an amusing work place comedy ala Office Space due to the eccentricities of John and his co-workers. However, the rest of the film unfolds as a derivative indie road movie. The run-ins with all these strange characters are supposed to suggest the various Circles of Hell described by Dante, each one representing Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, etc. This is all well and good, if not for the fact that there is no flow in the story. The plot feels like a series of random vignettes tied loosely together without any sense of cohesion. There's not a strong enough character arc to carry the audience through the journey either. It's all just quirky for quirky's sake.

It's a credit to Buscemi's wealth of talent that he's able to make Saint John vaguely watchable. Peter Dinklage and Sarah Silverman are also very good in their supporting roles. Buscemi's sourpuss act contrasts well with Silverman's sunny disposition. But, they aren't enough to make Saint John of Las Vegas worth your time.

Rating: * ½

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk - Dir. Louis Leterrier (2008)


The Incredible Hulk doesn’t hit it right out of the park as Iron Man did, but it’s a respectable triple. Whereas Ang Lee’s Hulk was more talky, less smashy, this new Hulk is more smashy, less talky. Ed Norton pulls double-duty for this latest adaptation of the Green Goliath. He’s pitch-perfect as Bruce Banner and, though he got hosed on a writing credit, his rewrite of Zak Penn's script is an excellent melding of action and drama, which utilizes elements from the classic TV series, Bruce Jones’ seminal run of the comic and the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale miniseries, Hulk: Gray.

It’s a shame so much of the meat was plucked off the story's bones. It feels as if Marvel was a little too trigger happy in the editing room due to the backlash of the previous Hulk. Much has been made of the row between Norton and Marvel Studios over the final cut of the film. About twenty minutes of footage was trimmed from the movie in order to maintain a faster paced and more commercial cut at less than two hours. Scenes from the trailers such as Bruce’s one-on-one with Doc Samson and his trek to the Arctic (where we were supposedly to catch a glimpse of Captain America) are gone. You can definitely feel that there was something missing in the film, especially considering how thinly written characters like Blonsky and Betty Ross were written. Samson is relegated to little more than a cameo.

The Incredible Hulk certainly lacks the visual punch that Ang Lee brought to the previous film. The Hulk’s encounter with the army on campus doesn’t match up to the widescreen action of the Lee Hulk’s battle in the desert. The final fight between Hulk and Abomination isn’t too bad considering we're just watching two CGI cartoon characters punching each other.

I should stop picking apart the film as this was a damn, good time. As I said, Norton is fantastic in the lead role. He might not look as good in the part as Sam Elliot, but William Hurt equates himself well as Thunderbolt Ross, Marvel’s answer to Captain Ahab. Tim Roth is another great actor, but he doesn’t have much to do as Blonsky. There’s also just the right amount of humor sprinkled into the film. Liv Tyler isn’t the most nuanced actress around, but she’s best during those lighter moments, especially her scenes in New York City. Tim Blake Nelson probably puts in the most fun performance of anyone in the cast as Dr. Samuel Sterns. As any comic book fan worth his salt knows, he’ll return to plague the Hulk’s life as the cranially-enhanced supervillain, The Leader.

And that’s another element diehard fans will get a kick out of. The film packs in numerous Easter eggs and cameos (including a certain man of iron) for the geeks to squeal over. I spotted about 5 of them just in the opening credits. Stan Lee makes his obligatory appearance, but one that actually plays an integral part in the story. Lou Ferrigno is there and they even found a way to work the late-Bill Bixby into the movie.

If we could have just gotten Ang Lee to direct THIS version of the Hulk, that would have been a kickass comic book film. The Incredible Hulk doesn't have the innovative visual style of its predecessor, but it is a more faithful adaptation. Hulk isn't just a worthy follow-up to Iron Man, but it also continues to build the foundation for a shared Marvel universe to be brought to life on the big screen. It acknowledges the past while giving us a taste of the future where we'll find a star-spangled super-soldier and the phrase, "Avengers assemble!" becomes a distinct possibility. Let's just hope the behind-the-scenes tiffs aren't enough to drive Ed Norton away. I can't imagine a Hulk sequel or an Avengers pic without him as Bruce Banner.

Rating: *** ½