Let Me In

You won't hear me speak very highly of the horror genre or Vampire movies in this blog very often. The genre has become ugly with gore or sex-crazed soap opera (Twilight, True Blood). But last year there was a film from Sweden that really transcended the current confines of the genre. It was called "Let the Right One In" and it got a lot of attention from critic's groups, many of whom awarded it with "Best Foreign Film" honors. It was a master stroke to set the film in the icy landscape of urban Sweden, besides which those Swedes are some pasty-pallored mo-fo's---perfect for Vampire movies. But the real strength of the movie wasn't about spewing blood or chewing on necks. It was about loneliness and isolation and alienation-the underpinnings of all good horror.
So when they decided to do an American version of this great vampire flick, my stomach sunk. The horror.
Turns out that my trepidation was misplaced. The American version, "Let Me In", stays true to the original in some very important ways. It's not as good as the Swedish version, but it ain't bad. Here's why:
At the heart of both the original and this version is the relationship between a lonely adolescent boy and a really lonely adolescent vampire. When the boy asks the young female vampire how old she is, she answers "I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a very long time". How these two children from different worlds come to live in a creepy symbiosis, feeding off each others emotional and physical needs is what gives this story such a unique slant.
The American version does however come up short in some key ways. The boys relationship to his divorcing parents is given short shrift and curiously some of the grisliest visions from the original are softened or ignored. This version instead focuses on the young boy's adolescent voyeurism and his mother's religious obsession. Sex and God-- America's favorite pass-times. It makes the American revival a lesser film by far. So rent "Let the Right One In" unless you're one of those that has no patience for subtitles. If that's the case, you'll still find a lot to like about "Let Me In".

Stone

Stone is a psychological thriller without the thrill. That's sad because the script attracted talent like Robert DeNiro and Ed Norton. The premise sounds promising. A parole officer working in a prison meets an inmate who will not only say anything to get out but will do anything, including recruiting his wife to seduce the old guy. And when the old guy (that's DeNiro) gets a look at the wife (a sexy Milla Jovovich) well, why not? Who cares if he goes to jail, or screws up his pending retirement, or loses his family, or pisses off a psychopath? The behavior in this film by every single character just doesn't make sense. If anyone in this movie made one logical or honest choice at any point the movie would have been over a half hour in. That would have been a mercy.
The phrase of the day for "Stone" is heavy-handed. Ed Norton (a great actor) is over-the-top and annoying right from the get-go. DeNiro (beyond a great actor) ladles on the guilt-ridden angst with a trowel, and the incessant drone of conservative religious radio in almost every non-prison scene is as irritating as listening to that crap in real life. By the time "Stone" comes to its unsatisfying conclusion, I wanted to beat my head in with....well, a stone. Wasting talent like this should be a parole violation.

Conviction

The unjustly convicted prisoner has been the basis for a ton of Hollywood dramas. Generally the stories provide ready-made conflict and plenty of pathos. It is, however, a sub-genre that is a bit familiar, bordering on completely overdone. These stories need something to set them apart, a fresh angle. I thought that "Conviction" had a stand-out premise. Turns out the recipe for this true story isn't that unique and the film is as familiar as a TV Dinner.
We start out pretty well. Hillary Swank and her brother (Sam Rockwell) have a tight bond forged by a less-than-picturesque upbringing in a small Massachusetts town. He's not an angel but a local murder is pinned on him with flimsy evidence. With no cash for a decent lawyer, he gets life without parole. No lawyer, no justice. Solution? Become a lawyer, which is exactly what Hillary Swank's character does. Impressive considering the first step is for her to get a GED.
Well, the good start ends up being squandered, as scene after standard scene unfolds to an inevitable conclusion. It's all really....ummm...okay in a predictable sort of way. Director Tony Goldwyn does a competent job and Swank is good, as is Minnie Driver in a supporting role. Fine. Good. Competent. Blah. The script fixates on Swank's negatives, her losses and obsession. Her triumphs are given short shrift. How the hell did she get through law school anyway? This film is a dish with no spice---with one notable exception.
Sam Rockwell provides a rapid pulse to an otherwise cadaver of a movie with a brave, almost arrogant portrayal of the unjustly convicted. Rockwell is always really good but here he's even better as he navigates the roller coaster of a justice system determined to take him for a ride. He's terrific and I suspect that you may hear his name announced in one of those nomination ceremonies. It's possible anyway. But for the rest of the movie...sigh....shrug.

The Town

Beginning writers always get the same advice: "Write what you know". Ben Affleck must have listened to his writing teachers. Affleck returns to the Boston neighborhoods that served him well in his directing debut, "Gone, Baby Gone". This time it's for the story of a quartet of skilled bank robbers led by Affleck and Jeremy Renner who have to stay a step ahead of the FBI on the mean streets of Boston in "The Town". The complication in this Beantown story? A girl. And not just any girl. This girl is a former victim of the crew who may or may not be the key to their downfall. As played by Rebecca Hall (who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite ingenues)the victimized bank manager begins a relationship with Affleck and as every good bank robber should know, the mix of love and criminal enterprise seldom ends well (footnote: Bonnie and Clyde).
The strength of this entry into the crime genre category lies in the authenticity of its character, its dialogue and its setting. Affleck knows Boston streets and Boston people. Yeah, "authentic" is a good word for this film.
My major objection is the choice to rob Fenway Park. Really? Steal two million dollars from the Red Sox? That's enough cash for a utility infielder or a decent reliever (which Lord knows they need). Affleck of all people should know better.

127 Hours

There aren't very many Man vs. Nature movies that make a big splash around awards time. "Into The Wild" comes to mind and, uh........hmmmm, not many at all. Well, here's one for ya--"127 Hours". The man in this case is a gung-ho outdoorsman played by James Franco. The Nature part of the equation comes in the form of a big-ass rock. A big-ass rock that pins said man's arm in a fissure somewhere out in the Nevadan desert. After 127 hours, the man in the aforementioned Man vs. Nature conflict must literally remove himself from the situation, well... manually. How he does this makes for great cinematic storytelling, gut-wrenching and compelling to watch. Compelling to watch? Yes. Easy to watch? No. And the fact that it's based on a true story doesn't make it any easier.
Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) uses a tautly paced, kinetic style to tell this story in a breezy 93 minutes. An intense 93 minutes. James Franco gives his best performance to date as a daring, charming but somewhat self-absorbed adventurer who gets himself into trouble. How he gets himself out makes for some of the best cinema this year-if you've got the stomach for it. Man vs. Nature films will be well represented on the awards circuit this year.

Black Swan

In films like "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Wrestler", Director Darren Aronofsky puts a magnifying glass on the dark side of human nature. He isn't interested so much in what makes us noble as what keeps us from nobility and how we strive to rise above our dark selves. You don't really think about that kind of duality in the graceful world of ballet but it turns out that those skinny ballerina's are a pretty cutthroat crew. Who knew that toe shoes could kick that kind of ass?
Natalie Portman lives up to the demands of a difficult and internalized role as Nina Sayers, an up and coming dance world star who has been cast as the Swan Queen in "Swan Lake". It can make her career if it doesn't destroy her first.
Using "Swan Lake" as the vehicle that frames his movie is a brilliant maneuver by Aronofsky because as it turns out The Swan Queen dances as two different characters-the virginal White Swan and the shadier Black Swan, a seducer with a dark spirit. Pretty convenient metaphor, huh? And Aranofsky gets the most out of it.
Nina has the White Swan covered but as she is pushed to delve into the psyche of the Black Swan her own demons emerge and threaten to destroy her both physically and emotionally. Aronofsky sets up a rival, Lily (Mila Kunis)as a catalyst to the destruction, but watch carefully. Kunis' character never actually does anything overtly evil or underhanded. It's only in the eyes of the increasingly paranoid Portman that evil is perceived. Who is out to get whom?
Sound complicated? Actually it is. This is a film-goers film, not really for the casual movie fan. It's more Dostoevsky than Stephen King, that's for sure. But it's a film you'll want to talk about, to delve in to. But be warned, it doesn't have the likable central character that "The Wrestler" had. Natalie Portman's performance, though difficult to watch, is a masterwork of psycho-sexual drama. Good film.

Somewhere

If the doctor will no longer write you a prescription for Ambien, by all means buy a DVD copy of Sofia Coppola's new film "Somewhere". I guarantee you, you'll sleep like a baby. This pointless character study (I think it's a character study because it's really not anything else) follows a mega-star actor (Stephen Dorff) through his pointless life doing pointless things. The point? Well, I guess it's that being rich isn't all it's cracked up to be. Boo hoo. Trouble is that he's a nice guy, eats well, lives in a hotel, gets laid a lot, has a daughter who is pretty cool, and is generally pampered. He just can't "find himself". Again, boo-freakin'-hoo. All of which would be fine if it was presented with anything resembling story-telling skill. There is no dramatic tension anywhere near this film. Nothing happens in the beginning of the movie, very little in the middle and even less in the end.
Sofia Coppola has a famous father and an Oscar. The former is an accident of birth, the latter a travesty. The criteria for being a director should be that you have something important to say with moving pictures not, "My Daddy directed 'The Godfather'". Sofia Coppola is grossly over-rated and her latest film sucks.