Thursday 12 November 2015

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S COMING?)

[The last of the long delayed draft posts, this bust was prompted by a fantasy sequence from another movie, in which Ben Stiller imagines himself and Kristen Wiig enacting a confused scene from this movie, despite their not having seen it. You just know when comedians make a joke about not having seen a movie, there's something worth busting there ;)

Unfortunately, it's another example of a film that presents the problem of how best to refer to characters when they're portrayed by various actors, at different stages of their lives. On this occasion I've decided to fudge the answer, because the principals are so iconic, by performing an ultra-bust.]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) is an American fantasy drama film directed by David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

In the end, a hospital bed-bound, former dancer mother, Cate Blanchett, gets distraction from an approaching hurricane and the end-of-life care she is receiving, by persuading her daughter to read to her from a hand written manuscript, stuffed full of postcards, letters and mementos, that recount what is either a very tall tale or the extraordinary life-history of her real father, Brad Pitt, a man the daughter once met briefly and who apparently lived his life growing younger.

Always on the periphery of landmark American events spanning the end of the Great War, to the devastation of hurricane Katrina, it is the Grim Reaper's ever-presence that overshadows Pitt's life, begun as a prematurely geriatric foundling, after his mother dies in childbirth, raised by a woman with the motto "you never know what's coming", amongst the residents of the elderly care home she runs, and ending with him shuffling off this mortal coil, despite the appearance of a perfectly healthy infant, in the very same home, some eighty years later, in the arms of his first love and eventual wife, Blanchett, who he met there as a "man-boy" when she was a girl, many years before.


It's hard not to read this allegorical muse on the fleeting nature of human existence, as one of a few, so far rather unconvincing attempts, on David Fincher's part, to prove that he is more than just a thrill-master par excellence.

Bookended by the story of a blind clockmaker (surly a reference to an argument against the existence of God) who constructs a municipal time-piece that runs backwards, strangely mirroring the inverted life of the eponymous hero, perhaps not since the Bible, has there been a narrative so packed with stuff that just doesn't make sense, even overlooking the story's central conceit of a man who ages in reverse, and seems strangely apart from his surrounding, despite award winning special effects and make-up. And it's not just the set that Pitt is detached from, perpetually out of step with the changing times around him.

Okay, Pitt does learn life lessons from a succession of colourful characters, including a womanising pygmy, a self-tattooed boozing tugboat captain, the loose-knickered wife of a British spy, and a seven-time victim of lightening strikes fellow care home resident. But none of them amount to much more that "life's short, make the most of it." And all that in just a minute over two and three quarter hours!

Clearly, however you care to slice it, what's coming is death!

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Walter_Mitty_(2013_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Case_of_Benjamin_Button_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Watchmaker

Friday 6 November 2015

Source Code (2011)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW IF THE GUY GETS THE GIRL?)

[Now for a bust of a movie that isn't quite what it says on the tin.]

Source Code (2011) is a French-American science fiction/thriller/romance film directed by Duncan Jones, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.

In the end, the concious remnants of an American military helicopter pilot, declared dead-in-action, Jake Gyllenhaal, escapes the confines of the repeatedly reconstructed events of a terrorist attack, with one of its victims, Michelle Monaghan, who he has become romantically attached to.

Unwitting participant in a secret US military experiment designed to investigate the circumstances immediately preceding terror incidents using the afterglow of brain activity of their victims, Gyllenhaal, whose last memory is of flying a mission in Afghanistan, wakes to find himself on a Chicago bound morning commuter train, opposite school teacher, Monaghan, who is under the impression that he is a friend and colleague, minutes before it is destroyed by an explosion.

Alone and disoriented, Gyllenhaal finds himself trapped inside an unfamiliar capsule, receiving confusing instructions via a video link with a command centre, from a uniformed controller, Vera Farmiga, who explains that he is on a mission to find which of the train passengers is responsible for the bombing, as they have apparently threatened to carry out further attacks.

So Gyllenhaal is forced to re-experience events on the train a number of times in order to search for clues, during the course of which, it becomes apparent that there is no hope of his surviving beyond the life support system of the experiment and its disconnected existence.

Realising the grim prospect of his situation, Gyllenhaal exacts an undertaking from the program's architect, Jeffrey Wright, that he be detached from the system and allowed to die, should he meet with success.

However, when Gyllenhaal eventually tracks a mobile phone attached to the bomb he discovered hidden above a wash-room ceiling, to a man he sees deliberately planting his wallet in a carriage compartment to cover his tracks, before alighting at a station in order to collect a van containing what he describes as a dirty bomb that he intends to detonate in the city, Wright reneges on the deal.

Reasoning that Gyllenhaal is too valuable an asset to discard now that he has proved the program works, Wright orders Farmiga to wipe his memory, in preparation for his next mission.

But Farmiga, recognising Gyllenhaal's despair at being unable to effect the outcomes of the lost commuters and the future torment he is likely to suffer as a continued part of the program, defies the order, agreeing to allow Gyllenhaal one last pass through the event, before switching the system's life-support off.

This time Gyllenhaal has all the information he needs to quickly disable the bomb, restrain the bomber, and alert authorities to his intentions.

Then, with the time he has left, he leaves Farmiga a text message, consoles his estranged father by cellphone, and, paying a stand-up comedian to entertain the other passengers, embraces Monaghan in a passionate kiss, something she has clearly been anticipating, just as Farmiga pulls the plug on him, and against all expectations, Gyllenhaal and Monaghan's alternate reality persists.

The commuter train arrives at its destination, and they decide to ditch work for the day and enjoy a long promised coffee together, as Farmiga receives Gyllenhaal's message predicting the thwarting of the bomb attacks and his part in the top secret project on which she is engaged.


The cod-science underpinning the premise of this movie doesn't bear up to even the most cursory examination. But never mind that, what we have is a Groundhog Day (1993) for geeks, science fantasy romance, that plays to all of Gyllenhaal's guy out of his depth trying to solve complicated puzzle and catch the bad guy while sweeping the princess in peril off her feet strengths, even winning the heart of his let's keep this professional operator. Once again, Duncan Jones demonstrates a talent for successfully balancing mystery, drama, and emotion, with the occasional flash of humour. There is much to enjoy. Though this might very well prove to be the last good movie he is responsible for, having taken up the poisoned Warcraft chalice. Let's just hope he hasn't drunk too deeply from it. (A whole year after this post was originally penned, and there's still no sign of it. (Apparently the release has been pushed back not to compete with J.J. Abrams's Star Wars! Like that was ever possible :P))

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_Code
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Force_Awakens

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Mean Girls (2004)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT DESPOTS.)

[Now for a bust of a breakthrough movie for a couple of stars whose careers have since seen wildly divergent fortunes.]

Mean Girls (2004) is an American teen comedy film, directed by Mark Waters, starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The screenplay was written by Tina Fey, who also co-stars.

In the end, high-school queen-bee contender, Lindsay Lohan decides there is more to school life than teen machinations (maybe.)

Recently repatriated to the States after a sheltered upbringing in remote Africa, intelligent but socially naive sixteen year old Lohan is thrown into the deep-end of American teenage life when she attends school for the first time.

Totally unprepared for both the demands of education and teenage (mostly female) social cliques, she is offered a lifeline by a pair of student outcasts, in the form of a map that lays bare the prevailing high school pecking order.

As a result of suffering the unwanted innuendo laden attentions of the boyfriend of its leader, Rachel McAdams, Lohan finds herself unexpectedly welcomed into the circle of girls at the pinnacle of the hierarchy.

Sensing an opportunity for revenge against their principle tormentors, Lohan's outcast friends persuade her to sabotage McAdams's group from within, but in the process Lohan becomes just as superficial and venal as the girls themselves.

However, realizing Lohan's treacherous betrayal, McAdams uses the Hoover-esque dossier she has compiled to frame Lohan as the source of all rumour and scandal against everyone at the school, leading to a complete breakdown in order.

Authority is only restored during an assembly when the plot against the universally derided McAdams is confessed by the students, after which a fleeing and distraught McAdams is run down and almost killed by a school bus.

Atoning for the responsibility she feels, the guilt-ridden Lohan gradually manages to recover her sweet personality and shake off her pariah status.

And after triumphing in an inter-school math competition, is sufficiently rehabilitated to be elected end-of-year dance queen, clearing the way for a new intake of wannabe queen-bees, who she fantasizes will also be hit by a bus.


Much of the comic enjoyment on offer here is, perhaps, more easily appreciated by those, like writer Tina Fey herself, with some age perspective on proceedings. For those still ducking the psychological crossfire raking eleventh grade trenches, Mean Girls can read very much more like its self-help survival guide inspiration. Nevertheless, even if the eventual message is a bit pat, there is more than enough sweet badinage to help the teenage medicine go down.

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_Girls

Tuesday 3 November 2015

The Tree of Life (2011)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHETHER THE EMPEROR IS NAKED?*)

[Now for a bust of a movie so critically acclaimed, you might even be tempted to watch it for yourself. Just don't say I didn't warn you.]

The Tree of Life (2011) is an American existential narrative film written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain.

In the end, middle-aged grown-up eldest son, Sean Penn, of religiously observant parents, Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain, experiences a dream-like, shore-line encounter with the people he knew as a child, one of whom, his younger brother, died aged nineteen.

Scenes depicting the creation of the universe, the formation of the stars and planets, and the emergence and development of life on Earth, are inter-cut with those of a young Christian couple struggling to stay together while raising three sons, confused and frightened by the abuse their loving and compassionate mother, Chastain, suffers at the hands of domineering and disillusioned father, Pitt, in what appears to them to be an arbitrarily cruel world.


This movie is crammed full of symbolism, some of which even I needed Wikipedia's help spotting!

Partly raised and currently resident in Texas (where they like to do things differently) Terrence Malick has spent a career making movies that are more art than entertainment, loved by the critics and loathed by practically everyone else. That he is held in such high regard by those either in the film industry or engaged in reporting on it, probably says more about their desire to demonstrate sophistication and erudition, than it does about Malick's work.

Don't be fooled by the Malick's courtiers, though. The best that can be said for this, and his other movies, is that they look good on the big screen, because he does have an eye for a pretty picture. Or rather, in this case, the people who he got to do his potted histories of creation and evolution special effects have.

When left to his own devices, Malick's tendency is to use unusual camera angles, wide-angle lenses and uncomfortably extreme close-ups to fill the screen with actors or objects he finds interesting. Whether you find them interesting probably depends on whether you enjoy watching other peoples' home-movies, which is exactly what this film feels like, albeit one with Hollywood stars and production values.

What Malick does manage to achieve, though, with a combination of image and sound, is a sense of what it feels like to be alive. Whether you need a film maker to tell you what it feels like to be alive, is another matter.

Wikipedia describe this film as an "experimental drama". I'm not sure whether that's because they don't know what a drama is, or can't spell existential or are just being polite? Whatever, if you approach this movie hoping to be entertained, be prepared for disappointment. Unless, that is, your idea of being entertained is a two hour, twenty minute tour of an art gallery filled with someone else's holiday snaps.

*[The spoiler alert refers to the Hans Christian Andersen tale of The Emperor's New Clothes. You can decide for yourself, if you really want to, but, for me, the Emperor is definitely starkers ;)]

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tree_of_Life_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

Monday 2 November 2015

Stardust (2007)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHO LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER?)

[Busting justice can sometimes seem tough, especially when the innocent line up alongside the guilty.]

Stardust (2007) is a British-American romantic fantasy film directed by Matthew Vaughn, starring Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, and Robert De Niro.

In the end, unwitting heir to a magical kingdom, Charlie Cox, lives happily ever after, shining brightly for eternity, next to fallen star, Claire Danes, returned to her home in the night sky, after a long and happy reign together, once she saved both herself and him from dreaded witch, Michelle Pfeiffer, who, along with her two scheming sisters, intended to consume the star's heart for the immortality and supernatural power it would confer on them.

Menial shop boy, Cox, learns how to be a hero from a reputedly blood-thirsty closet cross-dressing captain of a flying lightening trawler, Robert De Niro, and in the process, falls in love with a star knocked from the heavens, Danes, his recovery of which, from within an enchanted realm, contested over by seven princely sibling, he hoped would prove his devotion to a girl he mistakenly thought he loved, eventually discovering he is the only son of the rival princes' long-lost sister and, therefore, rightful heir to the throne.


This perfectly demonstrates the short-comings of busting a movie that represents more than the sum of its parts, as much of the pleasure of the dense and entertaining plot-line is lost, because it involves characters who only affect the eventual outcome indirectly. So the contribution of the excellent ensemble players hardly gets a mention, compared with that of the principals, two of whose casting represented such a colossal miscalculation as to have almost sunk the whole endeavour.

Though convincing as a naive, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed pretty boy, Cox's transformation into a hero and resulting romance with Danes, that lie at the heart of the story, could not have been less convincing.

Even so, his short-comings in that role pale into insignificance, when compared to the un-believability of De Niro as a mincing aesthete.

Rightly renowned for his portrayals of psychopaths, and for the comedy roles in which he sends up such portrayals, he completely fails to sell the role of reluctant pirate, in which he just embarrasses himself and all those around him, required to pretend he is doing a good job.

Fortunately, Pfeiffer, Danes and everyone else do such good work covering for these two, that the result is well worth the price of admission, especially to anyone who enjoys revisionist fairy-tales.

Perhaps George Lucas might be persuaded to work some of his digital-replacement magic on a print?

Fingers crossed ;)

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(2007_film)