Unbreakable (2000)
After reading some ridiculous opinions that this is M. Night Shyamalan’s best film, I thought I would check it out again since I hadn’t seen it in the better part of a decade. It is interestingly directed with long continuous takes, slow camera moves, and well-positioned props. But quarrelling married couples are never fun and the plot is too simple for a 2 hour film. It’s good for 1 hour max. Samuel L. Jackson thinks Bruce Willis has superpowers. Willis denies it, Jackson retorts, and Willis denies again. Back and forth for the entire running time with a ridiculous weight-lifting scene thrown in the middle. Shyamalan is a good director (and a good cameo role player), but he really needs to direct someone else’s script. B-
After Hours (1985)
Griffin Dunne works as a word processor during the day. After being allured by Rosanna Arquette at a diner, he travels to the SoHo district. But what begins as a midnight love rendezvous turns into a night of crazy characters and incredible coincidences. The eclectic cast includes Cheech and Chong, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Will Patton, John Heard, and Catherine O’Hara. But the real star is director Martin Scorsese. His trademark camera moves keep this Kafka-esque nightmare from sinking from the contrivances and overly colorful characters. You don’t have to be a Scorsese aficionado to like this film, but it helps. B+
Affliction (1998)
Paul Schrader’s unrelenting grim and unpleasant film has Nick Nolte investigating a deer hunting accident while battling personal demons about his abusive father. He’s in a custody battle with his ex-wife for his daughter and becomes increasingly crazed and abusive himself as the film progresses. Nolte, James Coburn (his father), Sissy Spacek (his girlfriend), and Willem Dafoe (his brother) give great performances and the wintry barren landscapes set the bleak mood perfectly. But like almost everything he does, Schrader seems unnecessarily intent on offending and alienating as many people as possible. I do love the “Jesus-freaks and candy-asses” line, though. B
Sunday, December 21, 2008
3 Recent Re-viewings
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2 comments:
Affliction (A) for me is the definitive 'cyle of abuse' family movie. Schrader captures all of the subtlety and emotions and the Coburn/Nolte stuff gives me chills. As Nolte gets belittled by everyone in town (as his father did), you can see his fragile psyche fraying. Coburn's neglect of his wife in life coupled with his aggressive defense of her in death is chilling to me. I love the way Schrader shows how each of the kids dealt with their father issues....Defoe cutting them off, the sister going Jesus, and Wade wallowing in them until he snaps. For the record, I saw this premier in Austin with a great Q & A with Schrader afterward. This is one that depresses me but (obviously) I can't forget.
I'll give Unbreakable a solid B for its mood and interesting story.
Reviews forthcoming for: Doubt, The Man From Snowy River, and Man on Wire (unless you want it, Doc).
Great point about how the kids dealt with the belligerence differently. I complain alot about film characters making bad decisions, and Wade makes a lot of them - right from the very beginning: abandoning his daughter to smoke pot with some friends when he knows her mother is on the way to pick her up. It's just tough for me to empathize with that. I love the performances and Dafoe's narration at the end is great.
B is fair for Unbreakable, but there's alot of filler crap stuck in between moments of greatness. The studio-forced freeze frames at the end are a joke. All the stuff about Elijah's condition (osteogenesis imperfecta) is medically accurate. Bruce Willis's medical condition - not so much.
Feel free to take Man on Wire - I'll double up when I see it- it wasn't selling at the local Best Buy and my Netflix is on hold. Maybe I'll get it in 4 days, maybe not. Speaking of doubling up, I've got Slumdog on the card for 3 pm tomorrow.
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