Goodbye Solo [Bahrani] / Cheri [Frears] / The Brothers Bloom [Johnson]

All '09 theatrical releases.

Goodbye Solo

directed by Ramin Bahrani

[The Immigration Experience Pt. III. I kid, as Bahrani's third feature concerning both poverty and a male, non-white protagonist is actually the most different of these, for better or for worse. More clearly influenced by the brothers Dardenne than his first two, Goodbye Solo starts after the beginning of the story, and we're left to figure out all the pieces of the plot on the run. Bahrani's mix of close-ups and medium shots work well while this is his least narratively experimental picture, it's also his best script--including two layered characters with equally layered performances from Red West & Souleymane Sy Savane. My only major complaint about the picture is its ending, as I still think Bahrani has yet to figure out how to really nail it home. The earned suspense leasing up to its closing seems bound to disappoint, but Bahrani disappoints in an entirely different way, using a lofty flight attendant metaphor that isn't really satisfying. Still, the 75 minutes preceding it are entirely impressive and enjoyable, as Bahrani continues to prove he's one of the five or so (less, maybe?) most important voices in independent cinema.]

7.5

Cheri

directed by Stephen Frears

[Frears, what the fuck? I'm no expert on your oeuvre--I haven't even seen Dangerous Liaisons, embarrassing as it is to admit--but your last film, The Queen, was incredibly controlled and smart...two qualities Cheri does not possess. From its oppressively over-the-top score to the uncommitted accents to its occasionally amateurish editing (it was recut? no way!) to your awkward, practically spontaneous narration, its hard to believe this was directed by the same fellow as The Queen, or even High Fidelity. This is not to mention the sometimes ridiculous situational comedy, which I'd already seen and shrugged off in Dirty Pretty Things (though it worked better there because of Tautou and Ejiofor). Sure, there are some great one liners via Colette, and its both pretty and brisk enough that it's never quite boring, but I can't imagine anyone being moved by its unconvincing coup de theatre. Pfeiffer's really giving her all, which is probably the saddest part. And in the end, its exploration of the psychological effects of aging pales in comparison to that of Synecdoche, NY, despite essentially talking about for 96 minutes. This fall can't be weak enough that this nabs one of the ten Best Pic nods, can it?]

4

The Brothers Bloom

directed by Rian Johnson

[Can't believe I almost let the naysayers who wrote this off as a disappointing quirkfest nearly steer me away from catching it in theaters. Year for year (as opposed to pound for pound, get it?), Rian Johnson is perhaps the most talented young American filmmaker, and The Brothers Bloom lets all of his ambition run rampant. It's hard to say whether he's a greater writer or director, as the shamelessly clever direction (including a great coital visual metaphor, among many others including some I probably missed) are only out-clevered by its metafictional, unabashedly derivative screenplay. This is a mess of a review as the film is a mess of cleverness and raw talent, although only too messy for its own good in the admittedly disappointing final act (although by then I was so hooked that it's climax could have been that it was all a dream and I'd still be happy with the final product). The actors all give fine performances--especially the women (Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi)--and they seem to be having genuine fun, while not in a way that makes it feel for the audience like being the only sober one in the room. It's nowhere near perfect, but watching such a prodigious filmmaker operate with a large budget and freedom is truly something to behold.]

8.5

Sunshine Cleaning [Jeffs, 2009]

Sunshine Cleaning

directed by Christine Jeffs

starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt & Alan Arkin

Sundance '08 U.S. Theatrical '09

Not as bad as its detractors infer, nor good enough to be considered a success, Sunshine Cleaning works (somewhat) as a drama about two sisters' search for their identities, but is hindered by poorly written subplots including Alan Arkin phoning in a delusional grandpa (is that really acting..?) and an emotional climax using a set piece that would possibly work in a cute children's film...but this movie opens with a suicide and deals with far too mature subject matter to deserve such a stale a culmination.

Focusing on the good, Amy Adams is quite superb in a role that allows her to break free from the quixotic goodie-two-shoe that she's played in Enchanted and Doubt--she even gets nekkid (sort of)! It's as good a performance she's given since Junebug, and it's essential to the film's engagement of viewers. Clifton Collins Jr. adds a solid performance as a one-armed clerk who is probably the most believable character of all. Emily Blunt gets dealth a considerably weaker hand, and her storyline and climax are less momentous. She's at her best when on screen with Adams, which isn't often enough. The film is a relief in some sense because it's not as quirky as I was expecting, though the child character is by far the most irritating part of the picture, and I don't see any good reason he was given so much plot besides to arrive at the contrived emotional climax I mentioned earlier. 

Jeffs' direction isn't exactly daring, and she seems to aestheticize certain shots as if she's been studying Wes Anderson films. It's not as manipulative of color or as memorable as Little Miss Sunshine, but it's not completely forgettable either. That the film rises above other indie dramedy fare is owed mostly to Adams' fine performance and the script's refusal to shy away from darker subject matter (such as adultery and suicide).

6.0

Observe & Report [Jody Hill, 2009]

Observe & Report

directed by Jody Hill

starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta & Michael Pena

2009

How this film gained the supportive backing of a number of reputable critics, I'll never understand. Maybe it's because this is just about the most awkward, fucking strange film to get a wide release that I can think of? I described the direction of I Love You, Man to be awkward, containing plenty of dialogue that neither moves the plot forward nor garners laughter, but is kind of just there...as the camera lingers awkwardly. Observe & Report takes this kind of direction to the max, except it's rarely funny and seems to be dark for no better reason than to push the limits of mainstream dark comedy.

Glenn Kenny pretty much stole my review of the film (save for the fact that his is more insightful and better written than anything I'd have done), but I'll reiterate that this is a comedy that turns into a character study that turns into an aimless observation of a truly psychotic human being doing a lot of really stupid things. It rips a number of basic plot elements from Taxi Driver (one of my ten favorite films, ever, I might add), e.g. obsessive longing for a girl, a  disillusioned self-important protagonist, but doesn't have anything to say. Anna Faris isn't used to her potential as usual, and the wonderful man behind the camera, Tim Orr, is reduced to making (on-location) shots of the mall look as claustrophobic as possible. 

There's something going around along the lines of "just wait til the last 10 minutes!," but even the moderately shocking/well-shot ending is merely a minor highlight. This is audacious mainstream cinema, too bad its risks are for risks' sake.

4.0

I Love You, Man [Hamburg, 2009]

I Love You, Man

directed by John Hamburg

starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones

Colloquialisms like "bromance" and "mancrush" have become increasingly popular in the last year or two, as America slowly breaks down taboos of what's considered "gay" between male friends and what's simply heterosexually intimate. I Now Pronounced You Chuck & Larry explored  the line between homosexual and heterosexual male behavior, albeit offensively (or so they say), whereas John Hamburg's film simply skirts the line without really  attempting to comment on the underlying subject (Andy Samberg has a small role as Rudd's gay brother, but really only exists to show him how easy it is to meet men). 

Working off a script co-written by Larry Levin (Dr. Dolittle 1 & 2) and Hamburg (Zoolander, Meet the Parents), Rudd and Segel are both at their best. While the script is expectedly average (Judd Apatow is not involved), what's surprising is how quiet much of the humor is. It's fascinatingly awkward for a bit, and then just odd after an hour. It's difficult to tell whether Hamburg is simply confused in his direction of these scenes or not, but some "jokes" are presented as a strange comic realism (when the film begins to betray this relative realism, though, as in a ridiculous vomit projectile scene, its disappointing). 

The funny jokes are funny, though, and the film is unmistakably at its best when Rudd and Segel are together. Rudd is endless watchable as an awkward real estate agent (like James McAvoy's character in Wanted, consciously spewing Diablo Cody dialogue), and Jason Segel plays the confident alpha male with ease, shedding the desperation of his character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Although the two have much better exchanged in this film than Sarah Marshall, the weak scripting and Hamburg's bland direction (the most ambitious thing he does with the mise-en-scene is associate Jones' character with the color yellow rather incessantly) make it much less rewarding. It's a film that's certainly worth seeing (if you are generally a fan of Rudd/Segel), but won't lose much when its shown on cable in a few years. 

6.5

Must Read After My Death (Dews, 2009)

Must Read After My Death

directed by Morgan Dews

2009 U.S. theatrical release [2007 festival debut]

Playing like something of a devilish mash-up between Capturing the Friedmans and Revolutionary Road, Morgan Dews' feature debut strips itself of any talking heads or excessive text because, thanks to his grandmother, he doesn't need any of it. Leaving behind hundreds of hours of recordings and home video, Allis clearly wanted someone to know her family's troubled story.

What could have made for a cathartic self-exploration of the director's identity is instead presented as a detached string of Dictaphone recordings against home video that is at times symbolic (several key shots of puppies feeding off their mother) and narrative. Dews also adds a musical score that sometimes irritatingly drowns out the recordings. While the trouble revealed within is intriguing, if not shocking, Dews perhaps fails in one respect at providing context for the family, giving very little exposition about any of its subjects. It seems when doc directors place themselves in their works, critics are quick to call them vain, but what's missing here is the individualization--precisely what made Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary the triumph that it was. It's like watching a Douglas Sirk film stripped of the close-ups, the Technicolor and, by effect, the emotional wallop. 

Dews restricts the film to a very modest 70 minutes and reveals (obvious by that point) that he's the son of Allis' only daughter Anne, and gives a brief description of where each of the children are now.

5.5

Three Monkeys (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2009)

• Nuri Bilge Ceylan followed in prestigious footsteps when he won the Best Director prize at Cannes last year, an award won by Haneke, Schnabel, and Inarritu in the previous three years. 
• Indeed, Three Monkeys' direction is discernibly present, most noticeably in his manipulation of light and color, both inside the clammy flat, and out. As is obvious in the above pic, Ceylan captures the atmosphere above Turkey with such vividness that it becomes as melodramatic a character as any of the foursome that the film centers on.
• Opening with a trio of stunning nighttime shots, Ceylan's picture then moves at a leisurely pace, lenser Gokhan Tiryaki soaking up the tension between mother and son, and later, husband and wife, with an evenness of long shots and extreme close-ups. Captured on Sony HD (the same camera used for the one shot Russian Ark), Ceylan and Tiryaki let dark greens, blues and grays dominate the screen at all times, a spectacle that's admittedly more pleasurable than Fincher's digital Benjamin Button.
• The film's plot is quite simple (though I dare not spoil the opening segment), and allows for the mentioned visual meditations, though Ceylan's storytelling is not flawless. While he subtly touches on themes of guilty and infidelity, he fails to paint a complete picture of the film's most important character; although well-played by Hatice Aslan, Hacer is something of an empty slot. If we are to completely believe the totality of her actions, Ceylan must give us some hint of motivation--at the risk of coming off misogynistic. Also, the film's circularity is, at least to me, too neat, lacking the power to really hit 
• title refers to the japanese maxim: "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," but probably refers to the three central characters, reduced by guilt and incommunicability to primitive behavior.

8/beautifully shot study of alienation and guilt within a (three-person) Turkish family

The Headless Woman [Lucrecia Martel, 2009]

• debuting at Cannes in 2008 to mostly glum reviews, Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman has been picking up critical steam since, topping indiewire's "Undistributed 2008 Films" list.
  
• Martel's film is extremely disorienting--it mostly follows bourgeoisie MILF Vero in the aftermath of her running over something(/someone?) while reaching for her cellphone
• one could admire for Martel's dedication to plot dictating form--the viewer is certainly as disconnected with the story as Vero is with reality--but Martel forgot to give us a reason to give a shit about the woman we're constantly following. I spent most of the film wondering how people relate to Vero and why people kept telling her to wash her hair than worrying about Vero--or its apparent class commentary, which shows the stratification but doesn't have much to say.
• thank goodness Martel and D.P. Barabra Alvarez can compose interesting shots, edited very cleanly and rarely overstaying their welcome. in fact, the first few minutes are probably the most interesting as the camera follows three lower class boys and a dog in a friendly chase.
• at only 87 minutes, The Headless Woman isn't so much difficult for a lack of drama, but rather because it refuses to fill us in on its point

4/finely framed, but lacking in any apparent message to justify its form or your time