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.
Here’s the trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln with Daniel Day-Lewis. It’s based on Doris Kearn Goodwin’s absorbing Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The film will be released on November 9.
The brilliant cast also includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Harris, Jackie Earle Haley, Hal Holbrook, Sally Field, John Hawkes, James Spader, Bruce McGill, David Straithern, Tim Blake Nelson, Walton Goggins (Justified) and Dakin Mathews (the horse trader in True Grit).
Because Lincoln’s prose is so exquisitely profound and because he is such an icon, he is often played on screen with a deep speaking voice. In fact, Lincoln’s voice ranged high, and I enjoy hearing Day-Lewis capturing that characteristic in the middle and end of this trailer.
Sleepwalk With Me leads our current crop of fine comedies. 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. The same holds for Bill W., the story of the reluctant leader of a movement, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.
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.
Now Google helps you play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Type into the Google search box “Bacon number” and the name of someone from the movies and you get that person’s Bacon number. I typed in “Bacon number Humphrey Bogart”, and this is what I got:
Humphrey Bogart’s Bacon number is 3
Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre appeared in Casablanca.
Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson appeared in The Raven.
Jack Nicholson and Kevin Bacon appeared in A Few Good Men.
Just about everyone who is working in films today has a Bacon number of 1 or 2, so I tried to confound the system with Fatty Arbuckle, whose movie career was killed by a scandal in 1921, and I got:
Roscoe Arbuckle’s Bacon number is 3
Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton appeared in Coney Island.
Buster Keaton and Patty McCormack appeared in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Patty McCormack and Kevin Bacon appeared in Frost/Nixon.
Next, I tried Warrren William, the King of Pre-Code from the early 1930s.
Warren William’s Bacon number is 3
Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon appeared in Cleopatra.
Henry Wilcoxon and Bill Murray appeared in Caddyshack.
Bill Murray and Kevin Bacon appeared in Wild Things.
Amazingly, these people each have a Bacon number of only 2: Klaus Kinski, Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz), John Wayne, Marcello Mastroianni, Mary Badham (Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird), Melina Mercouri, Francois Cluzet, Gloria Grahame, Raymond Burr, Woody Strode, Vivien Leigh and Bob Dylan. The highest known Bacon number is 7, held by William Rufus Shafter. This is an AWESOME time-waster! Love it! Thanks, Google!
The infuriating dramaThe Words does have a story to tell – a young man finds success by publishing a found manuscript as his own, and then the old man who really wrote the novel shows up. But no aspect of this story is left for the audience to figure out.
Take, for example, the initial writing of the novel. We see, in flashback, that a man’s baby dies and his wife leaves; he then bangs out the novel in a paroxysm of angry grief. Thanks to the actors, we understand that’s what is happening. But – just in case that we’re really dim – it is explained to us in voice over narration. In case we don’t know how to feel about this, there is an overbearing score of soap opera music. But wait – this story is a novel within a novel, so the actors playing the exterior story can explain it to us again. Just to make sure that we get it.
The ham-handed storytelling and the overwrought music combine to make The Words corny. The double and triple explanations of the story are just insulting to the audience.
One good thing about The Words – Jeremy Irons’ performance is superb.
