Tower Heist
Tower Heist (2011)
★★ / ★★★★
Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a Wall Street kingpin and the owner of a posh high-rise condominium, was arrested for fraud which left Josh (Ben Stiller), the building manager, and the rest of his staff shocked and angry. It turned out that Shaw invested their pensions in various schemes and lost it all. Eventually, though, an idea scurried into Josh’s head. There was a safe in Shaw’s penthouse which contained about twenty million dollars. With the help of Charlie (Casey Affleck), Josh’ brother-in-law, Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), one of the residents who was recently bankrupt, Dev’Reaux (Michael Peña), the establishment’s recent hire, and Slide (Eddie Murphy), one of Josh’ neighbor with a criminal background, they could purloin the money and distribute it to the staff. “Tower Heist,” directed by Brett Ratner, was uneven in tone and pacing with strong but often inconsistent laughs. The exposition was slow but necessary because it allowed us to see Josh’ pride in his work. As a building manager, he was more than a guy in a suit who bossed people around. He was determined to perform his job well. In order to be successful in his occupation, he needed to be liked which meant that he was required to get to know the residents beyond their superficial needs and to have a certain insight in terms of his co-workers’ personal lives. Since he was familiar to details and habits, when he did eventually decide to plot the heist, we were able to believe that he could succeed. The funniest parts of the picture were found in the middle prior to the actual break-in. In one of the scenes, Slide was not convinced that Josh and his friends would be able to go through with the heist. In order to be convinced, he assigned the tyro thieves to shoplift fifty dollars worth of items at the mall. There was joy and energy in the way each of the characters had to summon the courage to take something without paying for it. I just lost it when the store attendant walked away to get a catalogue and Charlie tried to pick up a pair of earrings with his mouth. I’ve never stolen anything from a store so I think that if I was dared to do it, I’d make a mess of things out of anxiety. Another very funny scene was a discussion about lesbians and why their breasts were better than heterosexual women’s. Just when I expected that the screenplay by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson might turn mean-spirited, I was surprised that there was always a light-heartedness in the material. What didn’t work for me were the more serious scenes. In a more solemn movie about a person losing his entire savings, Lester (Stephen Henderson), the hotel’s doorkeeper, walking toward a moving train and trying to jump in front of it would have had more emotional impact. When the picture attempted to be more serious, it felt rather cheap. Like the most engaging heist movies, getting to the object of interest was the easy part. There was a running theme about playing chess. When Josh and company broke into the building, I thought it was more like watching people playing checkers–while some strategy was involved, it was straightforward. I was underwhelmed. The nearly impossible task was getting away with it. It was the point where, finally, I felt like I was watching a chess game. There were always unforeseen forces that threatened to destroy the operation. I wish there were more scenes of Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), one of the hotel’s cleaning ladies, being sassy and having her way with men. “Tower Heist” gave a few laugh-out-loud moments but it could have been more snarky, therefore funnier. Poke fun of the more improbable physics employed, for instance. By being a step ahead of the audience who think they know better, the picture can appear smarter and get the last laugh.
Drive
Drive (2011)
★★★★ / ★★★★
The man with the scorpion jacket had three part-time jobs, not one of which fully described his isolated existence in the City of Angels. By day, he was a stuntman for action movies and a car mechanic for Shannon (Bryan Cranston), the man who gave him a job when he didn’t have any. By night, he was a getaway driver for criminals who needed the money for their own reasons. Driver (Ryan Gosling) only had one rule when it came to the heists: his clients had exactly five minutes to ransack the place and get back into the car. Whatever happened within the five-minute window, he was on their side no matter what. However, once the allotted time ran out, he was just another person in the street who kept his head down. “Drive,” based on a novel by James Sallis and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, was similar to Ethan Coen and Joel Coen’s “No Country for Old Men,” despite sporting vastly different milieus, for its control of visual style to highlight the bubbling disposition of a seemingly unemotional and reticent protagonist, punctuated use of violence, and sublime characterization through critical decision-making. When Driver met Irene (Carey Mulligan) and Benicio (Kaden Leos), her son, who lived a couple of steps from his apartment, something inside him couldn’t help but be drawn to them. Driver and Irene eventually got closer through small gestures but what they had was more friendship than romance. Driver hoped to change that. On the way to a dinner date, Irene revealed that her husband (Oscar Isaac) was about to be released from prison. As they pulled over to a stoplight, the emanated red light covered Driver’s face. Though he remained emotionless, as if the husband’s presence was no real threat to what he, Irene, and Benicio could have, the red, acting like a black light, revealed what he attempted to cover up. The return of the husband could’ve taken the picture on a cheaply maddening route by allowing Driver and Standard to become rivals, sneering at each other and testing one another’s masculinity when Irene wasn’t looking. There was none of such sitcom-like set-up. Their relationship, as tenuous as it was, surprised me because Standard seemed to really appreciate what Driver had done for his family. And he should. But his freedom had a price which thrusted the film into bloody violence. Although the violence was mesmerizing, almost having a poetic lyricism feel to it, there was an understated sadness in having to inflict pain on others for the sake for information and, if necessary, take their lives. Hossein Amini’s screenplay was admirably paradoxical. Although Driver’s motivation was to protect Irene and her son from crooks, it seemed that with each kill, he grew further from his dream of being with them rather than toward. Thus, the violence, though necessary, did not feel at all glamorous. The violence was ugly and Gosling’s angelic face, coldly calculating at times, provided an excellent contrasting template. Lastly, I admired the film’s elegance in connecting every character. Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks), Shannon’s longtime pal, and Nino (Ron Perlman) were allowed to shine in the latter half. Unlike the masked bandits that hired Driver at night, their motivations were more than just about money. Like Driver, they fought for what they considered to be very important to them. And that made them as lethal as scorpions.
The Town
Town, The (2010)
★★★ / ★★★★
An adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s book “Prince of Thieves,” writer-director Ben Affleck hemled “The Town,” a story about four bank robbers (Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Slaine, Owen Burke) in Charlestown pursued by a determined FBI agent (Jon Hamm). In the opening scene, the four criminals did what they normally didn’t do: take a woman (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage because someone tripped the alarm. Later, in an attempt to ascertain if she knew of their identities, Doug “accidentally” met the woman they took hostage and the two fell in love. I’ve read reviews comparing this film to Michael Mann’s “Heat” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” but I don’t think “The Town” is quite at the caliber of those two. While it did make an entertaining commercial heist film, I didn’t think it was as gritty as it wanted to portray. I wished the material had dug its nails into the characters a lot deeper. By putting more pressure on them, I think it would have been more successful at showing us who these characters really were. I really thought about the importance of character development in this picture because in one of the scenes, Doug and his crew used police uniform as a disguise to successfully steal money for their boss (the fascinatingly menacing Pete Postlethwaite). It meant that cops and criminals were essentially the same, their similarities are (or should be) more pronounced the more we looked into them. But, no matter how hard I tried, that’s not what I saw or felt while watching “The Town.” I thought it spent too much of its time focusing on the romance between Affleck and Hall which I understood as necessary because Doug was the conscience of his crew. In the end, I felt uneasy rooting for Doug because the film tried to sell that he was a good guy when he was really not. There’s a difference between sympathizing with a bad guy and masking the bad guy into a good guy. I believe “The Town” crossed that line. However, I recommend “The Town” because I was always interested in what was happening on screen. Aside from some stupid decisions done by smart characters, such as Doug choosing to be a bystander at a critical time instead of running away as fast as possible, I felt something for each of them. Furthermore, I noticed that the acting was strong and I was surprised with some performances, especially by Blake Lively’s. Despite not having many scenes, whenever she was on screen, I was magnetized toward her and I couldn’t believe she was a glamorous rich girl on “Gossip Girl.” Lastly, the three heist scenes became more exciting as they unfolded. What “The Town” needed was less romanticism because crime is anything but. It would have been nice if it tried to do something different with its subgenre. Instead of sticking out as an example, it simply blends in with the others.
Snow Angels, Brand Upon the Brain!, The Italian Job
Snow Angels
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
This film is deftly crafted into three parts: the way the characters are prior to a life-changing event, the life-changing event, and the way the characters are after the life-changing event. As unoriginal as that sounds, writer-director David Gordon Green is able to do something different–may it comes to different camera angles, unexpected twists in events and character development, or fusing genres together in some scenes. This film definitely reminded me of “The Ice Storm” because of its setting, “Gone Baby Gone” during its most emotional moments, and “No Country for Old Men” during the heart-pounding scenes. Green was able to take all of these things, make it his own, and tell a poignant story about relationships, flaws, and the virtue of forgiveness. I’ve never seen Kate Beckinsale so natural and powerful as she is in this film. Out of all the characters, I thought she excelled most when it comes to being vulnerable yet scathing at the same time. Sam Rockwell’s transition from being a wounded bird to an unstable venomous python is a revelation. But it’s also shocking mixed with a little bit sadness. Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby are great character foils for Beckinsale and Rockwell. It made me wonder whether the two teenagers will end up as miserable like the two adults or whether they’ll take the opposite road and be happy, healthy people. Thirlby surprised me in this picture because she knew how to be subtle at the right moments so she dominated each scene she’s in. As for Connor Paolo, I’ve mostly seen him in as a clean-cut good younger brother in “Gossip Girl” and a psychologically damaged criminal/victim in two episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” so I was kind of disappointed that his character here wasn’t as developed as I liked for him to be. I waited for his character to add to the drama but it never happened so it made me question his role in the overall scope of things. Undeveloped characters like Paolo definitely made this picture less powerful but it’s still touching and devastating in its own right. Green has a certain talent that I look for in a director; this film made me want to check out his filmography and watch his other films.
Brand Upon the Brain!
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
The only movie I’ve seen from Guy Maddin so far was “The Saddest Music in the World” back in 2003 and I thought that was really weird. “Brain Upon the Brain!” is on an entirely different level. Even though this film may seem to be about everything–from homosexuality/bisexuality, child abuse, incest, voodoo, quest for identity, to the dangers (and madness) of science–when one takes the time to step back and tries to figure out the commonality among such disparate subjects, one will conclude that it’s basically about childhood memories. But what Maddin does different is straying as far away from Hollywood and totally embracing surrealism mixed with the strangest images of the imagination. Even though I didn’t understand everything in the story, I was with it pretty much the whole time because I’ve never seen anything like it. Despite its strange way of telling the story, I could tell that this project is very personal and I wanted to know which parts of it actually happened to Guy Maddin (since the main character is named after him played by Sullivan Brown as the younger version and Erik Steffen Maahs as the older version). I liked that the story was told in a silent movie technique because it makes the film look and feel more mysterious. The love triangle between Brown, Maya Lawson, and Katherine E. Scharhon reminded me of the noir films back in the 50′s because each of the character involved is keeping a secret from one another which culminate at the end of the picture. As for the soundtrack, it’s pretty much used throughout the movie and it’s nothing short of mesmerizing. “Brand Upon the Brain!” inspires me to look up Guy Maddin’s other pictures because (from what I’ve seen so far) they are able to offer unique experience that Hollywood cannot provide.
Italian Job, The (2003)
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
I saw this movie back in 2003 but I find it amazing that I don’t remember anything about it except that one tunnel scene near the end. So, I decided to watch it the second time and was reminded of how much I liked it the first time. I like that this isn’t the kind of caper film that takes itself too seriously. The tone of the picture is very light–it has that laid back, vacation feel that makes me want to go outside and frolic with nature. The characters of Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, and Mos Def are very funny in their own ways (I loved the Napster jokes!) but also very smart which makes them that much more interesting. I don’t know if I completely bought Edward Norton as the villain but I felt that he had fun with his character so I played along with it. And I must say that I’ve never seen MINI Coopers look so cool prior to this film. There were two highlights: the heist in Italy and the battle between the Wahlberg’s group and Norton on the streets (and underneath!) Los Angeles. Those scenes were so exciting, I tried not to blink. There were definitely scenes that made me think, “Wow! That’s so smart!” so not only was I interacting with it, I was also having a good time. I’ve always been a sucker for caper movies that involves gathering a group of people with disparate abilities with one goal at hand so it wasn’t at all hard for me to embrace this film. Luckily, this one is entertaining and fast-paced.
Save the Last Dance, Tears of the Sun, The Bank Job (2008)
Save the Last Dance
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit even though I’m not much into dancing because it’s a deceptively typical coming of age film. While we get some of the familiar set-up that involves interracial relationships and being a minority in a predominantly black neighborhood, the picture is able to focus on all of those issues and comment on them in a thoughful way. There’s a brilliant scene with Julia Stiles and Kerry Washington while they wait in the doctor’s waiting room. Even though what Washington tells Stiles hurts, in a way it’s very true. Moments like that makes this film above average and worth watching. With most movies, I have a problem whenever there’s too many characters because focus is mostly sacrificed. I didn’t have a problem with this one because each character or side-story is interesting and worth analyzing. Lastly, I’m glad that the film had the time to tackle the issue of achieving someone’s dreams even though it’s a familiar territory. I thought the final big dance scene is inspiring and made me feel like I, too, could reach my dreams if I just work hard enough.
Tears of the Sun
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
The movie started off a little too slow for my liking but it got so much more interesting during the second half so I am ultimately recommending it. Before the half-way point, I didn’t see the point of the movie because it seemed like the story was going nowhere. I mean, the Special-Ops team, led by Bruce Willis, had a plan and all but none of it was actually executed right away because there were too many scenes where the people being rescued were shown crying and saying goodbye. That said, there were also too many scenes where the filmmakers tried to make the audience care. I feel like they didn’t need to do that because we can see what was happening; most audiences will care, whether they like it or not, when they see refugees trying to escape from murdering rebels. Most critics didn’t like the fact that toward the end the film took the “Hollywood” path and had a typical war action sequences. I liked it because it’s a complete opposite of the first half. There was a huge build-up throughout the movie and if those action sequences didn’t happen, it would have been a big disappointment. Also, kudos to Bruce Willis for keeping me engaged. Just looking at him makes me feel like his character has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Overall, this is not a good movie at first glance, but once it reaches the middle portion, it functions on a whole other level.
Bank Job, The (2008)
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
This is one of the best heist films to come out of recent years. Instead of being another polished caper movie like “The Italian Job” (which I liked a lot), this is more gritty and more realistic, which makes it that much more interesting. There were a lot of scenes where I found myself either nearly falling off the couch or biting my nails because the characters are always placed in some form of danger. I’m surprised by the pace of this picture: the actual bank robbery was already done fifty minutes into it; the real drama comes after the crime–which is a bold and quite brilliant strategy of storytelling. Each of the character that robbed the bank was featured in some way before the job so the audience got to know them at least a little bit so we care what would happen to them later on. It’s funny how more complications arise after they get all their shares than before breaking into the vault. Jason Statham made this picture that much more interesting because, once again, he’s the guy who’s tough on the outside but is really kind-hearted inside; he’s very conflicted so he’s not exactly saintly either. Pretty much all of the elements here worked for me (especially the twists and turns) so I’m giving this movie a very enthusiastic recommendation.
Flawless, Cassandra’s Dream, Dedication
Flawless (2007)
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
I didn’t expect a lot coming into this film because I haven’t heard much about it so I was surprised that it held my interest from beginning to end. I was actually interested in the characters and their motivations, the actors’ portrayal of their roles, and the mysteries that the story had to offer. I thought Demi Moore was really good because she was able to play a smart, elegant woman who had a lot of things to hide behind her body movements and eyes. As for the caper aspect, it’s not as explosive fun as the “Ocean’s” saga; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Although different because of its observant attitude, it managed to find its own footing regarding its tone and pace. There was no slow moment, just constant build-ups–which I admired. I thought the explanation regarding the heist was smart and surprising. I’m definitely recommending this film to people who are already sick of summer flicks or to those that just want to watch something that is humble and rewarding.
Cassandra’s Dream
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]
I really wanted to like this film because everyone’s been saying that Woody Allen has lost his touch. I simply don’t believe such statements because once a great director is always a great director. Nonetheless, I think this is one of his weakest recent pictures because it was just so dull and the material felt recycled. With his masterful modern film “Match Point” that has the same premise and moral conundrums, there is absolutely no need to go that path again. Therefore, “Cassandra’s Dream” was unnecessary and felt more like a nightmare; for a film that’s about an hour and fifty-minutes, it felt much, much longer. I really like Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell but the characters they played made one stupid decision after another, not to mention they were difficult to empathize with because they claimed to “have to” do certain things when they really could have just walked away. The middle was bogged down with blase scenes to the point where it got distracting and almost glaringly frustrating. Overall, forty minutes into the film, I just wanted it to end and forget that Allen was directing the film. In fact, I don’t remember much about what happened in the movie and I just saw it about three hours ago. Here’s to hoping that Allen will stop the whole “morals and murder thing” and direct something fresh, something funny and insightful.
Dedication
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
I really like this film because it’s a big jump from typical romantic comedies out there. Instead of being too sweet and “too indie” or having that devil-may-care tone, this one tries to be a little darker and edgier (which sometimes showed a bit too much). Usually, I don’t like movies that try too hard to impress but overall, this picture feels more organic than forced. I thoroughly enjoyed Billy Crudup and Mandy Moore’s multi-layered performances. They were funny in their own self-pitying way, snarky, intelligent, and quirky to a flaw. Whenever both characters were interacting, it’s like watching two damaged warriors battle: it was exciting as it was somewhat enriching. Moore is really good in this and I prefer her playing unlikeable women because she has that angelic look on the outside but could be conniving inside. As for the story, it does not follow a typical romantic comedy, which was a good move. But for me, its weakest point was the ending because it kind of surrendered all the deviance it accumulated. Still, there are a lot to recommend from this movie. It’s so much better (and more depressing in a good way) than the likes of “Garden State” and “The Last Kiss.”
