Snap Judgments - a Quick Review of 5 Movies

(500) Days of Summer

My man Priest fell for this film hard during its theatrical run and I basically agree, but I don't find Zooey Deschanel quite as irresistible as he does. Joseph Gordon-Levitt certainly impresses, but even more impressive is director Marc Webb who holds things together when they really should fall apart. And just when the film is about to become redundant, Webb (with the screenwriters) pulls out all the stops with the split screen expectations-reality scene, followed by the charcoal sketch, followed by the 1/2 day scene, and on and on and on. The ending line with JGL's reaction is absolutely perfect. One of the year's very best. B+

Adoration

A teacher gets fired when she encourages a student to fabricate a story about his parents. This leads to interesting observations about religion and technology's effect on personal interactions. The cerebral Atom Egoyan directs and his usual mixed timeline is used well to explore conflicts and resolutions. It's too politically correct for my taste - (after all, every airline hijacker in the world for over 2 decades has been Muslim) - but there's a lot to think about here for the patient viewer. See The Sweet Hereafter first, and if you like that, see this. B

Terminator: Salvation

Not nearly as bad as you've heard. It never had a chance to reach the quality level of the first 2 Terminator films with McG at the helm, but there are some OK ideas rolling around about what it means to be human. Still, it's overly referential and reverent toward Cameron's first 2 Terminators with virtually no new interesting characters. Christian Bale's John Connor is too serious and the whole thing is in desperate need for Cameron's sense of humor. B-


G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra

Essentially a video game without an ounce of drama, believability, or honesty throughout its 2 hour running time. And not disastrously bad enough to be remembered. Who the hell goes to a funeral on a motorcycle wearing a leather jacket when it's raining? What about all those underwater fiery explosions? Idiots. C

What Doesn't Kill You

Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke play small time Boston hoodlums who go their separate ways after some jail time. Ruffalo gives his usual great naturalistic performance, but Hawke's gold tooth-capped tough guy is as scary and menacing as Paul Blart. It's based on writer-director Brian Goodman's early life and he should be commended for rising out of the ghetto. But this is on the bad side of all the Goodfellas ripoffs - and they've all been pretty bad - except Casino. Hawke was never meant to play Denzel's part in Training Day. Ruffalo is always flawless in support, but has yet to find a great leading part. C