Gemini Man

Gemini Man (2019)

Starring Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Ralph Brown, and Linda Emond

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Bourne Identity

***Movie #1 of BOURNE Week***
The Bourne Identity (2002)

Starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Julia Stiles

Directed by Doug Liman

It had been a long time since my last viewing of any movie in the Bourne series, so much so that I couldn't quite remember how many of the films I had actually seen.  With the latest film hitting theaters in 2016, I figured I'd revisit the series to determine if my lackluster feeling towards the films (so far as I could remember) was warranted.  After rewatching the first flick, The Bourne Identity, "lackluster" may be too strong of a negative word, but I will say that the flick was a surprisingly low-key affair, lacking the pivotal action sequences we've come to except from films in this "spy-ish" genre.

Granted, I'm all for reinventing the wheel, but The Bourne Identity doesn't really do that either.  What is unique about it is that is gives us a main character who doesn't know anything about himself -- who he is, what he does, what he's done -- when he is found lifelessly floating in a European sea and picked up by a boat.  Shot multiple times, one of the crew members nurses him back to health, discovering an embedded laser chip that seems to reveal the location of a safety deposit box.  Giving the chip to the nameless man upon arrival at a port, upon locating the box in Zurich, the man discovers that this name is Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), but he still doesn't know anything about himself.  However, he continues to have horrific violent memories popping into his mind of him seemingly committing crimes and he is surprisingly adept at fighting, using weapons, and thinking quickly on his feet.  Add to that, upon removing his items from the safety deposit box, he finds himself on the run from operatives who seem to be chasing him down for some reason.  Hoping to elude them, Bourne convinces a German woman named Marie (Franka Potente) to drive him to Paris where he believes he will uncover the truth about who he really is.

The Bourne Identity is certainly a solid piece of cinema and a decent film in the spy genre.  However, in director Doug Liman's hands, the film feels a little bland.  It doesn't take any chances visually and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn't ever feel special because of it.  The minimalist action sequences all work, but I surprisingly walked away from the film wanting a little more oomph and drive from those particular cinematic moments.  The character of Jason Bourne himself is an interesting one, though, whose story could easily be followed for subsequent films particularly due to his pre-amnesiac involvement in the CIA (which is revealed very early in the film, so no spoilers there).  While I didn't particularly love The Bourne Identity, things were looking up as I headed into the second film in the series...but would the Paul Greengrass-directed sequel continue my "This isn't as bad as I remember" mindset?

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Words and Pictures

Words and Pictures (2014)

Starring Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison, Navid Negahban, Amy Brenneman, Valerie Tian, Adam DiMarco, Josh Ssettuba

Directed by Fred Schepisi

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Although I hadn't seen the preview for Words and Pictures in over a year (the film was released in Spring 2014), I could tell by the pictures on Netflix that I was in for a romantic comedy.  Had Words and Pictures instead decided to eschew that angle, I think it would have been a better flick, but as it stands now, this tale of two warring English and Art high school teachers is good, though it's hampered by the romance angle thrown at it in the final half.

When English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) first meets famous artist-turned-art teacher Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) upon her arrival at an expensive private school in Maine, they don't hit it off.  Dina's deadpan seriousness won't stand for his bombastic and cocky personality.  After multiple romantic refusals, Jack decides to take Dina to war and use his students as pawns setting up a battle of words versus pictures.  Is the written word more important in the grand scheme of things than art or is a picture really worth a thousand words?

As someone with an English degree (I know...sometimes it's not easy to believe that with this blog), I found the faux war surprisingly intriguing.  There's a lot of somewhat intellectual talk on the gravity of words and the emotions of art that played nicely against each other thanks to what Owen and Binoche bring to their characters.  However, as I mentioned, during the film's final hour, it shifts to a typical "opposites attract" romance that admittedly the film had been telegraphing from the get-go, but I had hoped it might bypass.  The depth of the battle between Jack, Dina, and their students is infinitely more thought-provoking than the very basic and obvious puppy love between the two teachers.  While this aspect certainly isn't a reason to completely dismiss Words and Pictures, the courtship is a bit of a detriment.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Intruders

Intruders (2012)

Starring Clive Owen, Carice von Houten, Ella Purnell, Pilar López de Ayala, and Izán Corchero

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

What we imagine can oftentimes be much more frightening than anything realistic and that's the case in Intruders, a horror flick that had a limited release earlier this year.  The movie tells two parallel stories -- one set in Spain and the other in Britain -- about two kids imagining a creature named Hallowface, a faceless entity who prowls the night for faces to remove from people to take as his own.  As the two children are forced to confront this creature from their nightmares, their families find themselves being drawn into the horror much to their dismay.

I will admit that I watched this on my computer and the whole thing looked awfully dark and almost incomprehensible at times.  I fully understand that the director -- like most helmers of horror flicks -- was going for a shadowy tone, but it was much too under-lighted to even see what was going on.  [Then again, as I pointed out, perhaps not viewing this on a larger screen hurt.]  Still, beyond the visuals, there's simply not a lot going on here.  While the story is fine and the acting is certainly better than expected, I couldn't help but think there wasn't really enough here to warrant a feature-length film. Unfortunately, both parallel stories are essentially telling the same tale without enough to differentiate them beyond the subtitles in the Spanish half.  Yes, the movie ends with an interesting enough twist to make me feel that I didn't waste my time, but it's not enough to warrant a glowing review.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Trust

Trust (2011)

Starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Chris Henry Coffey, Viola Davis, and Liana Liberato

Directed by David Schwimmer

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

There is no denying that David Schwimmer's (yes, the same Schwimmer of Friends fame) 2nd directorial effort, Trust, is a difficult film to sit through.  But this intense look at the aftereffects of a fourteen year-old girl's rape by a pedophile she meets in a chat room is simply riveting in that Schwimmer (and the screenwriters) focus not on the heinous crime itself (although that is uncomfortably witnessed in part as well) but on the repercussions the event causes both the victim and her family.  Certainly aiding in this portrayal is a riveting performance from newcomer Liana Liberato in her first feature film who, as the young victim Annie, manages to create an amazingly complex character whose emotions and actions never seem forced or faked.

There's a naive innocence (or perhaps, looking at it from another angle, an advanced maturity) to Annie when we first see her in the film.  She's well aware of other girls her age sleeping around (or at least saying that they do), but when confronted with situations that make her uncomfortable, she has the smarts to get out of them.  For that very reason, it hurts us to see her begin to walk down the path she does with her online buddy Charlie.  When she first begins chatting with the guy in a volleyball chatroom, Charlie tells her that he's fifteen, but then soon reveals he's a sophomore in college which then becomes a first year grad student.  Annie's angry that she's being lied to, but she appreciates the attention Charlie is giving her seeing as how her parents (Clive Owen and Catherine Keener) are somewhat preoccupied with getting her brother prepared for his first semester of college.  Eventually, Annie agrees to meet Charlie (at a mall - a conspicuous location which further shows Annie's got a decent head on her shoulders) which is when she discovers that Charlie (Chris Henry Coffey) is probably veering closer to thirty-five than twenty-five.  Uncomfortable with the situation, but somewhat charmed by his smooth talking and feeling that she can trust him, Annie heads with Charlie to a local hotel and the unthinkable happens.

But that's just the first act.  What follows is a complex look at a girl who feels as if she's been betrayed by everyone around her.  Not only do Annie's parents and friends begin acting differently around her after the crime is discovered, but the man who said he loved her refuses to return her texts and calls.  Seemingly alone in the world, young Liana Liberato gives a rather brilliant performance as Annie and that alone is worth the price of admission here.  Liberato is intelligent, sympathetic, tough, sarcastic, humorous, heartbroken, and a bunch of other adjectives, but she takes this kitchen sink of emotions thrown at her and excels at every single moment shifting through them with ease.  My heart broke for this character multiple times and ultimately that connection is what you hope for in a movie.  [There's one scene in particular towards the film's conclusion in which Annie realizes that she's fooled herself into thinking this was "love" rather than "rape" that is just gutwrenching and Liberato is simply remarkable in it.]

One can't help but feel for the parents in situations like this as well and Clive Owen and Catherine Keener give some of the best performances I've ever seen from them.  Keener's Lynn is devastated by the news, but is also angry that her husband Will seems hellbent on finding the rapist and punishing him himself.  Despite his best efforts at leaving the crime-solving to the FBI, Clive Owen's Will is just as tortured as his daughter in a certain respect.  This notion that he let down his family and failed to be the protector devastates him and proves to be harrowingly emotional in the film's final moments.  But, if the film falters a bit, it is in the character of Will whose vengeful father sometimes seems to take things a step too far.  Adding to this is the fact that Will is an advertising exec whose firm is finalizing a deal with a clothing company that sexualizes its young models and it feels like sometimes the character (via the screenwriters) is hitting us over the head with preachiness.  Still, to me, these issues prove to be moderately minor qualms in the midst of the other overwhelmingly positive aspects.

With additional help from screenwriters Andy Bellin and Robert Festinger and some nice supporting performances including one from the calming and understanding Viola Davis as a psychiatrist helping Annie, Trust never stoops to exploiting the crime itself but instead explores its aftermath and the incredibly complicated plethora of feelings that a young victim such as Annie goes through.  Congrats to director David Schwimmer.  One can only hope that people will discover this film as time goes on.  Not that the subject matter would have led to boffo box office, I can't help but think that it's a shame this one fell by the wayside completely as it would have been wonderful to have young Liana Liberato's name being mentioned as awards season rolled around in the upcoming months.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - The International (2009)

Starring Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, and Armin Mueller-Stahl
Directed by Tom Tykwer

After watching all the movies I've watched this year, I can't help but think that they don't really make "smart" movies in Hollywood anymore. Sure, your indie filmmakers may produce small gems like In the Loop or Surveillance or Jerichow, but big studios seem to shy away from adult-oriented flicks anymore (not completely...but these flicks are few and far between). It's unfortunate because I feel like there's a market there (and maybe I'm the only person in that market), but they don't produce that stuff anymore...and when they do produce flicks that fit into that category -- like The International -- it's even more unfortunate (to me) when the flick can't deliver the goods.

Now, this movie wasn't bad by any means...it's just a little bit too convoluted for its own good. The story's too complicated to go into detail here, but essentially there's this European bank that is providing third world countries with weaponry and Clive Owen's Louis Salinger from Interpol and Naomi Watts's Elle Whitman from the NYC District Attorney's office are going to take them down (don't ask me why the NYC District Attorney's office is involved...it was explained at the beginning of the flick, but there was much too much unnecessary information thrown at me since then and I can't remember for the life of me the reasoning). On the whole, the plot is intriguing, but like I said, the writers throw in too much for their own good.

The movie took a while to get started. Thirty minutes in, I honestly was bored out of my mind. However, the film picks up steam at about the 45-minute mark and is certainly intriguing the rest of the way. There's some really great scenes -- one of which involves the Guggenheim Museum in NYC that was incredibly tense and wonderfully shot -- and these scenes make the film come alive in its second and third acts. I must say that even in the boring first act, the film always looked good...the film made great use of its European and New York City settings.

I found Clive Owen and Naomi Watts to be quite good here. Watts isn't really given a whole lot to do except stand around, but I'm starting to like Clive Owen more and more as an actor. He brings a machismo to the screen (you believe him when he's holding a gun), but he's absolutely a talented actor as well. And supporting actor Armin Mueller-Stahl (a name you may not be familiar with, but you'd recognize his face) was impressive.

There's certainly good here, but the lackluster story brings the flick down. It's going to fall into the "recommended for some" category...if you watch it, prepare yourself for a long initial 30-45 minutes before it picks up some steam.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Duplicity (2009)

Starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Wilkinson

Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy


Despite the fact that there are four really good actors in Duplicity (and, yes, I am including Julia Roberts in that bunch), this spy "comedy" just sits there onscreen, not really doing a thing to engage the viewer.

Roberts and Owen are Claire and Ray, two corporate spies who, after meeting and falling in love, team up to try and swindle their bosses (Wilkinson and Giamatti) out of as much money as possible. But are they also playing each other in this game, or do they truly care for one another? The answer: I really didn't care.

Personally, I liked the way the film was set up, bouncing back and forth between present-day and flashbacks to the past. Eventually the two come together for the "big reveal," but, like I've said above, instead of being this crazy revelation, it lands with a thud.

Problem #1 was that this film tried to be a light comedy in addition to being a spy thriller and it should not have tried to do that. The laughs fell flat. There's a scene over the opening credits that is supposed to be funny, but it ends up being simply too forced and winds up just being silly. Problem #2, which branches off of the flat comedy aspect, is that Roberts and Owen had zippo chemistry. In their previous screen pairing, Closer (which I certainly recommend), they definitely both exuded a sex appeal, but in this film, I never got that they were connected in any way. They were simply Julia Roberts and Clive Owen instead of Claire and Ray. In a movie like this, sexual tension is absolutely necessary in order for the sly humor to work and there was no tension here at all.

I initially came out of this thinking that I'd give it a 'C' simply because I liked the way it looked (director Gilroy employed some cool, retro split screens) and the supporting cast was quite strong, but after thinking about it some more, I'm knocking it down a degree. Certainly disappointing.

The RyMickey Rating: C-