America Sucks! – On DVD!

This week brings not 1, not 2, but 3 new DVD releases - all critical of America(ns) - that completely tanked at the North American box office, bringing in a total of 16.6 million combined. (Fool’s Gold topped that in its first 2 days). The “best” has already been reviewed here.

In the Valley of Elah stars the great Tommy Lee Jones as a military father who investigates his son’s death (with Charlize Theron) shortly after his son returns from Iraq. Jones and on-screen wife Susan Sarandon are convincing in their tough roles as the grieving parents. And the movie is a fairly solid police procedural until the last 20-30 minutes when writer-director Paul Haggis decides to pander to the far left. Haggis knows just enough about film/plot/dialogue to be dangerous, creating classic situations and set-ups that he knows how to work back into the movie. But the messages of his movies from Million Dollar Baby to Crash to Elah are simplified to say the least. The title seems to refer to the theme of overcoming your fears to excel and succeed (completely opposite of M$B where Haggis encourages one to “always protect yourself” – how predictably inconsistent). How that theme applies to Jones and his journey elude me. Maybe it refers to Americans to overcome your fears and speak out against the war. Not sure – don’t care. I’ve had the honor of meeting several Iraq War veterans and they don’t deserve to be dehumanized in this way. B- (Click below for 2 more bombs)

Rendition has two parallel stories; the one that was advertised has Reese Witherspoon’s Egyptian husband suspected of a terrorist connection. After his flight from South Africa lands in Washington DC, he’s deported back to North Africa for an interrogation. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a CIA operative who does not approve of the tough methods (torture). The second parallel story is a routine teenagers-in-forbidden love tale (spoken in Arabic) where a young Muslim woman rebels against her father for the one she really loves. Blecch. Most parallel story movies tend to comment on each other (Godfather II comes to mind) or at the very least have an interesting conceit (The Clearing). These two stories end up connecting but are essentially unrelated and could have been told in sequential fashion. The writer and director get the subtlety award for making the grieving, screeching, Reese pregnant – just in case you didn’t think wrongfully imprisoning and torturing a guy is unjust - he’s also a father-to-be. Hey guys, everyone basically agrees we shouldn’t torture innocent people. The real challenge is making the unconvinced see why we shouldn’t torture guilty people. C-

Last and least is Redacted, maybe the most unpleasant film experience of the year, all the more depressing since it was directed by the once-great Brian De Palma, who still had some stuff in the tank not that long ago (Femme Fatale (B) – 2002). The movie is based on an actual incident where American soldiers raped a teenage Iraqi girl and murdered her family. The use of multimedia is unique and occasionally quite creative. The use of the internet, night vision, and security cameras mix up the action. Languages shift back and forth from English to Arabic to French. There’s a film within a film. But all the smoke and mirrors in the world can’t hide horrible acting. And not enough time is spent with the Iraqi rape and murder victims to get the full emotional effect it deserves. Thanks for making me feel like crap for not caring, De Palma – bastard. And lay off the Barry Lyndon music, you hack. “Here endeth the lesson.” D+