As you can see from the trailer, this story of aged Brits seeking a low-budget retirement in India looks like enjoyable fluff with a great cast. I was expecting a fish-out-of-water comedy, but found much more than that. Besides dealing with the culture shock issues (which are plenty funny), the characters each forge their own journeys of self-discovery.
Of course, the cast is a superb collection of British acting talent: Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey). Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire is their genial and scattered host.
Nighy is especially brilliant as a guy trapped too long by his own profound decency. Dench delivers an equally outstanding performance as a woman determined to make her own way for the first time. In another acting gem, Tom Wilkinson follows a thread from his secret past and uncovers a moving revelation.
But those are just the highlights. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is justifiably the biggest indie hit of the year.
My top movie pick so far in 2012 - THE KID WITH THE BIKE
Here’s a pre-autumn check in with my running list of the year’s best films – Best Movies of 2012 – So Far. I’ve included six foreign language films, from Belgium, France, Quebec, Iran, Russia and Turkey, and five American and Canadian independent films. That’s par for the course, because I usually call out 23-28 movies on my end of the year list.
The Kid on the Bike and A Separation had very limited US theatrical runs at the end of 2011 to qualify for the 2012 Oscars. But they weren’t available to most Americans until this year, so they’re on my 2012 list.
And guess what – there are zero Hollywood movies on the list. That’s not a huge surprise because Hollywood generally releases its Oscar bait in the fall. The hyped Hollywood fare coming up in 2012 includes Argo, Cloud Atlas, The Sessions and Hyde Park on Hudson (being released by the prestige arms of major studios). The other promising prestige movies (Killing Them Softly, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, etc.) are being released by mini-majors such as The Weinstein Company and Touchstone (the prestige arm of Dreamworks) and by the smaller indie distributors.
Here’s another surprise – there no documentaries on my list so far. Last year at this time, Project Nim, Buck and Tabloid were all on the list. There are several promising documentaries yet to be released (Paul Williams Is Still Alive, Undefeated, The Gatekeepers, Stories We Tell, Mea Maxima Culpa, ), but, as of now, it’s a down year.
Incidentally, you can still find Beasts of the Southern Wild in theaters. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Rampart, A Separation and Monsieur Lazhar are already available on DVD. Detachment, Moonrise Kingdom, Elena and Take This Waltz will become available on DVD in October.
The best of the new movies is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre. Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia. The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.
We still have a couple of fine comedies in theaters, most recently Sleepwalk With Me. Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older.
It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.
The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.
I haven’t yet seen the screen version of the coming of age best seller The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the sci fi hitman thriller Looper or the campus comedy Liberal Arts, which open widely this week. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD pick this week is Bernie, a very funny dark comedy by Richard Linklater, shows off Jack Black’s talents in a whole new light. Berniemakes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.
End of Watch is a top notch thriller of a cop movie. Two cops, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, patrol a hell hole beat in South Central LA. They are well-intentioned cops, but they are testosterone-fueled young guys. They are always looking for action, and this neighborhood has plenty of action. They ultimately bite off more than they should try to chew.
Writer-director David Ayer (Training Day) has made a movie that rises above the genre because of the well-written main characters and their relationship. We watch them chiefly from a camera on the dashboard of their squad car. We learn that they are both decent guys and both adrenaline junkies, but one is more aspirational and one is more settled. They are both funny, and the multiracial theater audience at my screening was howling at the ethnic ball-breaking.
There are also some impressive chases, often filmed with the dashboard camera facing forward. It’s thrilling stuff. There’s a lot of shaky cam (which I usually hate), but here it works well to enhance the chaos of the setting as well as the action.
The rest of the cast is excellent, most notably Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) as the love interests, David Harbour, America Ferrera and Frank Grillo as fellow cops, and Diamonique as a fierce gangbanger.
And here’s a shout out to Michael Peña. In End of Watch, Peña nails both the humor and the action; he’s on-screen almost the whole movie and has an engaging presence. He has played so many Latino cops, and he really deserves a chance to show what he can do with a different type of role.
This is one very funny movie. Playing against type, Jack Black is Bernie, an assistant funeral director who is the kindest, most generous guy in a small East Texas town. Bernie becomes entangled with the most malicious town resident, the rich widow played by Shirley MacLaine. We are used to seeing Black playing venal and devious characters, but Bernie is utterly good-hearted. He has built up so much good will in the community that when he snaps and commits one very gravely wrong act, he is still locally beloved. Black also gets to show off his singing voice on some heartfelt gospel hymns.
But the real main character is really the East Texas town of Carthage. Director Richard Linklater has the local residents (some played by actors) tell the story in capsule interviews. Through this chorus, we see how the locals view Bernie and the widow, and we learn a lot about the local values, customs and colorful language. Linklater is from East Texas himself and clearly revels in sharing the culture with us. It’s very, very funny.
The plot takes one improbably funny turn after another – but it’s a true story, which makes it even funnier. You can look it up in the New York Times [major spoilers in the article]. During the end credits, we even see Jack Black conversing with the real Bernie at Bernie’s current residence.
(I’m not embedding the trailer, because it doesn’t make clear that Jack Black’s character is not the winking, edgy guy that he usually plays. Just see the movie.)
This ultimately unsatisfying film is a visual masterpiece with an extraordinary performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It’s also a brilliant depiction of alcoholism. But the story fizzles out like a spent Roman candle. With all of its achievements, it’s hard for me to imagine The Master pleasing more than the narrowest audience.
The story is about an emotionally troubled WW II vet (Joaquin Phoenix) who drifts through post-war America, leaving social carnage in his wake. His only success is in making moonshine out of available ingredients ranging from torpedo fuel to paint thinner. He happens upon the charismatic and manipulative author of a new path for seekers (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and the two men forge a bond. The leader enjoys the drifter’s moonshine and, when he needs a thug, harnesses the younger man’s rage. The drifter finds someone who seems to care about him, who offers a place and a sense of belonging.
Phoenix’s performance as Freddie Quell is one of the best of the century. Phoenix took some risks with the physicality of the performance, employing a hunch and a scowl that could have been too much, but instead help create a flawless performance. Freddie can stand quietly at the back of a room filled with people and fidget just enough so you absolutely know that he’s trouble.
Freddie is a damaged soul who self-medicates with alcohol. Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of his compulsion to drink and the inevitably unhappy (and sometimes lethal) consequences makes for one of the best ever movie portraits of an alcoholic.
(Two scenes of Freddie’s experience at a military hospital for battle traumatized vets are lifted directly from the brilliant John Huston documentary Let There Be Light, which I have written about and which you can watch for free on-line.)
Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the charismatic charlatan. Amy Adams and the rest of the cast give uniformly excellent performances.
Every single shot has been carefully composed, framed and photographed in especially beautiful 65 mm. The story takes place in the early 1950s, and every period detail is perfect. You could use any 100 shots from this film and make one glorious coffee table book.
The Master has been perhaps the years most awaited movie for two reasons. First, the Philip Seymour Hoffman character is inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of controversial and ever litigious Scientology. But the movie is really the story of the young transient (Phoenix’s character), and the cult created by Hoffman’s character is merely the setting.
Second, it was written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood). Since the fun and accessible Boogie Nights, Anderson has been specializing in critically anointed films that are not that audience-friendly. This time, Anderson has done his best job of directing, but the movie fails because his screenplay peters out.
I would happily invest two hours and 17 minutes into a good story that looks this good and is about a character this compelling. In the first half of the movie, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering “What will Freddie do next and what will happen to him?”. Unfortunately, the last half of the film takes Freddie a few thousand miles with very little dramatic payoff. So, like a boat inexpertly tied to the dock, the movie drifts in and out and bangs against the pilings. This could have been a masterpiece, but you need a good story to make one of those.
There isn’t a surprising moment in Trouble with the Curve, but as predictable as it is, the fine performances and the setting in an often obscure part of the baseball world combine to make it an enjoyable time at the movies.
It’s a story about a dad-daughter relationship. The dad (Clint Eastwood) is a crusty geezer whose failing eyesight threatens his job as a Major League Baseball scout. The daughter (Amy Adams) is an overachieving, workaholic lawyer who is unsatisfied with a relationship that her dad keeps as superficial as possible. They are improbably forced together on a road trip.
Now you know that she is going to run the pool table at the hick roadhouse. You know that the unlikely kid will turn out to be the real MLB prospect. You know that the geezer’s insight will be proven right in the end. And you know that the daughter will find closeness with the dad and a new boyfriend along the way. As I said, there are no surprises.
Nevertheless, Eastwood and Adams are just perfect in their roles. Eastwood’s graveside monologue and song are particularly moving. Justin Timberlake and John Goodman are excellent, too. Matthew Lillard is dead on perfect as a frat boy turned know it all baseball exec.
And then there’s the baseball setting. The movie had me with the gaggle of elderly scouts traipsing through South Carolina from one high school baseball field to another, breaking each others’ balls at dive bars every night. The Wife, who does not lapse into baseball reverie, didn’t enjoy it as much.
Lauren Ambrose and Mike Birbiglia in SLEEPWALK WITH ME
There are some very promising fall movies coming out this weekend (see below) to add to our our current crop of fine comedies, led by Sleepwalk With Me. The zany French odd couple comedy The Intouchables is a crowd pleaser – and an attendance record breaker in France. Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older. Celeste and Jesse Forever is a smart and authentic comedy of best friends too perfect for each other to fall in love at the same time. Ruby Sparks is a hilariously inventive romance that probes whether realizing a fantasy can bring happiness.
It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.
Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in New York is a rollicking light culture clash comedy. The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.
I haven’t yet seen The Master, Trouble with the Curve and House at the End of the Street. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
My DVD pick this week is The Salt of Life, a gently funny and insightful Italian comedy about men of a certain age.
The Salt of Life (Gianni e le donne) is a gently funny and insightful comedy about a certain time in a man’s life. In the lives of men who are not rich, famous or powerful, there comes a time when attractive young women no longer see them as potential lovers. This is painful for any guy, and our contemporary Roman hero Gianni, with the help of his portly lawyer/wing man, sets out to deny that he has reached this plateau.
In a standard movie fantasy, some adorable young hottie would come to appreciate Gianni’s true appeal and find him irresistible. But in The Salt of Life, the story is more textured, complex and realistic.
The Salt of Life stars and is written and directed by Gianni Di Gregorio, just like the very fun Mid-August Lunch. It is definitively a movie for guys of a certain age and the women who tolerate them, as well as the younger guys who will become them.
Sorry, no subtitles yet on the trailer embedded here. You can watch the English subtitled trailer on IMDb.
Autumn is here, and so are the first major film releases for this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.
One of the most anticipated is The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love). A charismatic writer spawns a new religion (like L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, perhaps?). The Master stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams and got good but not great reviews at Toronto.
Stephen Chbosky directs the screen version of his novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A shy high school freshman is adopted by two unapologetically misfit seniors, played by Harry Potter’s Emma Watson and Ezra Miller (very different here than in We Need to Talk About Kevin).
In Trouble with the Curve, Clint Eastwood stars as an aged baseball scout who takes his daughter (Amy Adams) along on one last scouting trip. The cast also includes Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.
I don’t go to many shockers, but House at the End of the Street, with Jennifer Lawrence and Elizabeth Shue, could be good.
Here’s the trailer for The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
