Boy Erased

Boy Erased (2018)

Starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Joe Alwyn, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan, Britton Sear, Flea, Cherry Jones, and Russell Crowe

Directed by Joel Edgerton

Written by Joel Edgerton

Summary (in 500 words or less):  When Jared (Lucas Hedges) comes out to his parents after a semester at college, his preacher father (Russell Crowe) enrolls his son into a gay conversion program. 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Mummy

The Mummy (2017)

Starring Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, and Russell Crowe

Directed by Alex Kurtzman

Written by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman

Summary (in 500 words or less):  When Army sergeant Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) unwittingly unearths the tomb of an ancient banished Egyptian princess, a great evil is released wreaking havoc on London after the tomb is shipped there to be examined.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys (2016)

Starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, and Kim Basinger

Directed by Shane Black

***This film is currently streaming via HBO Go/Now***

Director/co-writer Shane Black has created a film in The Nice Guys that perfectly captures the retro 1970s feel of low budget flicks of that era.  This humorous, light-hearted, and slickly seedy vibe along with the chemistry of the film's two stars -- Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling -- help to elevate a film that unfortunately doesn't quite flow as well as it should, overstaying its welcome by a good twenty-five minutes.

With a much more convoluted plot than is typical of comedies, The Nice Guys revolves around the case of two missing girls.  One is popular porn star Misty Mountains and the other is Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley), the daughter of the Los Angeles District Attorney Judith Kutner (Kim Basinger) -- somehow these two disappearances wind up connected through an intricate web of deceit.  It's up to beleaguered (and alcoholic) private investigator Holland March (Gosling) and fellow dick (who's also quite a dick) Jackson Healy (Crowe) to try and figure out exactly what happened.  Along with the help of Holland's tween daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), the trio delve into the seedy world of porn, the unethical business practices of the auto industry, and the perhaps criminal LA law enforcement to try and find out why Misty and Amelia have gone missing.

While I appreciated the intricate plot, it's a bit too complicated to find its footing, although admittedly the kitschy tone helps create an overarching amusement throughout.  Gosling and Crowe are perfect comedic adversaries to one another and their biting repartee is undoubtedly the best part of the piece. Gosling is charmingly rotten, Crowe is bitterly humorous, and together these two men not known for their comedic roles shine where most may doubt they could.  Still, Shane Black's film goes on too long with the aforementioned lengthy plot proving to be a bit too serpentine for its own good.  The Nice Guys is aesthetically pleasing and well-acted, but in the end it's a disappointment.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Winter's Tale

Winter's Tale (2014)

Starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint, and Will Smith 

Directed by Akiva Goldsman

Savaged by critics and ending up on many "Worst of 2014" lists, Winter's Tale doesn't quite reach levels of awful offensiveness in terms of how bad it is, but it certainly misses the mark as an adult morality tale/fairy tale/fantasy/romance.  As the film opens, we see a foreign couple in the early 1900s being refused entrance into the United States because they have consumption.  Sent back to Europe on a boat, they leave their infant son behind in hopes that he'll have a better life.  The son grows up to be Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) who was raised on the rough New York City streets by Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) and the two men couldn't be more different.  Despite rather oddly burying this lede and causing a bit of unnecessary confusion in the film's opening scenes, Pearly works for the Devil, while Peter is a bit more angelic and apparently has been granted the ability to truly help one person in his lifetime.  As Peter ages, this sets up conflict and Pearly sets out to take down the man whom he hoped at one time would be his successor.  This battle between good and evil is set against the backdrop of romance as Peter falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a rich young woman who is dying of consumption.  And I haven't even begun to discuss the time jump that a little over halfway through the film moves the plot into modern times nor the mystical white horse that sprouts wings and saves the day multiple times.

There's simply too much going on in Winter's Tale to allow an audience to appreciate any aspect of it.   Based on a book that has had praise heaped upon it, I have to wonder if the fantastical meanderings work better on the page than played out visually on the screen.  This is Academy Award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman's first feature film directorial gig and he can't formulate a singular vision here which is perhaps due to the fact that his screenplay feels haphazardly crafted.  The acting is okay, but that's admittedly faint praise.  Crowe is hamming it up at times although not necessarily in an awkward way as he is essentially playing an employee of the devil.  Farrell is fine, although he's a bit of a blank slate in some of the film's pivotal moments.  The rest of the cast makes do with what's given to them.

While Winter's Tale certainly isn't the worst film I've seen from 2014, it certainly isn't a winner by any means.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Man of Steel

Man of Steel (2013)

Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, and Kevin Costner

Directed by Zach Snyder

To me, "Superman" has to come with a little bit of fun attached.  Maybe it's the fact that I grew up with the somewhat tongue in cheek Christopher Reeve version or the very tongue in cheek Lois and Clark tv series (a must-watch every Sunday night for me growing up), but Zach Snyder's Man of Steel was so über-serious that it sucked all the joy out of a fun character.  Granted, we never get to see the journalist "Clark Kent with Glasses" in this movie -- I assume that's being saved for the sequel if the film's final minutes are to be the fodder for what is to come -- and we're forced to endure yet again another origin story which are two factors leading to the lack of frivolity.  Seriously, do filmmakers not realize that these iconic characters don't need their early life stories told over and over again (I'm looking at you Spider-Man)?

After we're told how Superman makes it to Earth from his home planet of Krypton (therein setting up the villain's plotline as well -- which I'll discuss in a bit), we jump ahead in time about two decades and find that the US government is investigating some strange scientific readings in the Arctic.  Intrepid news reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is on the scene and does a little digging on her own one night, coming upon a Kryptonian space ship wherein she meets Superman (Henry Cavill) who was doing a little digging of his own trying to find his origin.  While on the ship thanks to some weird outer space science, Superman is able to "meet" the holographic image of his father (Russell Crowe) who tells him that Krypton's military commander General Zod (Michael Shannon) is hellbent on finding a way to Earth in order to take it over since Krypton was destroyed decades ago.  Although Superman flies away, Lois is intent on finding out who this man is and discovers that he grew up as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas, with a mother and father (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner) who raised him as their own after they discovered his spaceship in their barn.  Eventually, General Zod arrives on Earth and the ultimate showdown begins.

Although I'm certainly no expert on this, Man of Steel certainly feels like it must hold the record for most deaths in a movie.  Granted, we don't see many of these deaths, but during the nearly hour long battle between Superman and General Zod, huge swaths of cities are destroyed and one has to think that the casualties were astronomical.  During this lengthy tête-a-tête, boredom ultimately set in for this viewer.  I was along for the ride for a bit, but then director Snyder just seems to try and want to top himself over and over again with ludicrous one-upmanship.  It begins to wear thin particularly thanks to the drab color palette he conjures up for the piece.

With the exception of the over-zealous (and over-acting) Michael Shannon and his evil minions who chew up the scenery whenever they make an appearance, the acting helps Man of Steel achieve a naturalness that we admittedly don't see in Superman pieces.  Henry Cavill (with whom I'm really not at all familiar) has the down-to-earth All-American Clark Kent-ian vibe to him, but also carries the gravity of the strength of "Superman" quite well.  Although this film didn't really give him the opportunity, I also think he's got the sly comedic chops in him that are needed for the adult Clark Kent journalist role so that's certainly a plus.  Amy Adams brings an intelligence to Lois Lane that I hadn't seen before (sorry Teri Hatcher) and it is somewhat refreshing.  She's still much too intrepid of a character for her own good, but Adams doesn't play her as a damsel in distress (although she is often just that throughout the film).  Nice turns from Diane Lane and Kevin Costner round out the cast.

Man of Steel is decent, but much too dark and serious for its own good.  The Marvel universe has at least latched onto the fact that a little bit of humor has to be instilled into their films in order to poke fun at the ridiculous nature of some of the goings-on.  Man of Steel is just itching for that same dry humor and instead it languishes in a world that's devoid of any joy.  I'd look forward to a sequel out of Zach Snyder's hands, but he unfortunately appears to be back at the helm which doesn't bode well for things to come.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Noah

Noah (2014)

Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Douglas Booth; with the vocal talent of Frank Langella and Nick Nolte

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

I go to church.  

I also go to movies.  

When I go to movies, they don't need to reflect any of the teachings that are espoused in the church, but if they do, I prefer not to be hit over the head with them.  I'm an intelligent enough guy to read between the lines and grasp any philosophical or religious undertones.  You won't ever catch me heading to the insanely (though perhaps dubiously) popular God's Not Dead for this very reason.  Blatant religious proselytization is a complete turn-off to me perhaps because it's not how I live my religious life.  (I'm one who you'll never find preaching my beliefs to others -- which perhaps makes me a bad Catholic, but I can't help but feel my beliefs are my own.)

The reason for that preface is to illustrate the point that those who are ragging on Darren Aranofsky's Noah for "taking liberties" with a Bible story that is two pages long don't know what they're talking about.  The criticisms lobbed at this one are utterly unfounded and quite honestly paint "religion" in a bad light.  Then again, I'm one of those religious folks who believe most aspects of the Bible are simply "stories" that present "how to live one's life" as opposed to "actual happenings."  But you Noah-complainers can go on believing that Noah lived to be 950 years old...

Noah is a beautiful film told by a talented director headlined by a movie star giving what could very well be the best performance of his career...and it espouses the overall tone of the biblical story of Noah to boot.  All of those reasons are why Noah is a success.  Granted, the film doesn't quite hit all the right notes -- Aronofsky (who also co-wrote the film with Ari Handel) throws in a "bad sheep" subplot revolving around one of Noah's sons Ham that proves to be the biggest issue -- but I greatly appreciated the film's attempt to display a man's religious convictions and how they shape his life.  While it's true that Noah may "go off the deep end" a little bit in the film's third act as he attempts to bring an end to all mankind as he feels that was God's plan for him, the film more than justifies that stance while also supplying an appropriate ending and epiphanic-type moment for the title character to realize the error of his interpretation of God's word.

Everyone knows the story of Noah (played by Russell Crowe) and his ark, but Aronofsky and Handel expand upon the short tale in great detail and with significant "free reign."  I'm pretty certain the Transformers-like Watchers -- six-armed stone creatures who protect Noah as he builds his ark -- didn't make an appearance in the Bible.  Nor was there an epic battle between Noah and the descendants of Cain headed by Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) who desperately want to find refuge on the ark to live through the water apocalypse.  Personally, I found that this expansion of the biblical Noah story added depth, heart, and even strengthened the religious aspects of the tale.

Noah is a man who wants nothing more for his family to live a life at peace with the Earth and the creatures and humans who inhabit it.  When we first meet Crowe's Noah, he's a humble, quiet man who we can tell deeply cares for the well-being of his family and has a strong faith in the Creator.  (This "Creator" nonsense is perhaps the biggest "uproar" the movie caused.  With only one mention of the word "God," opponents of the film are up in arms.  This criticism is utterly unfounded.)  However, when he "hears" God speak to him, telling him to build an ark to safely shepherd his family and two of every creature through the approaching storm, his calmness shifts to diligence and steadfastness to the Creator.  However, upon seeing the Creator's wrath upon humanity, Noah admittedly starts to go off the deep end, feeling that this horrific event imposed upon humans must mean that God doesn't want them to inhabit the Earth anymore.  (This religious fervor that Noah feels is essentially mirrored in the religious folks who don't want you to see this film.  To me, they're eerily similar in that they both feel they are fully aware of what God would want from them.)  Nevertheless, Aronofsky's Noah character is a tricky one and Crowe absolutely succeeds at portraying every aspect of the complicated and thought-provoking character.

Jennifer Connelly as Noah's wife Naameh and Emma Watson as Noah's adopted daughter Ila also provide powerful performances in a film that also heavily focuses on the women in Noah's life.  In fact, it's when the film attempts to shift to the trials of Noah's two oldest sons Shem (Douglas Booth) and Ham (Logan Lerman) that the film falters.  Their "love triangle" of sorts with Ila is disappointingly trite and Ham's attempts to undermine his father oftentimes feel cheap and overly dramatic.

As far as the cinematic aspects of the film are concerned, despite the subject matter this is most certainly Darren Aronofsky's most "mass appeal" film to date.  After the quick cuts of Requiem for a Dream, the somewhat erotic Black Swan, and the inward "simplicity" of The Wrestler, Aronofsky allows the story to take center stage (despite having a much bigger budget for this one than any of his other features).  That isn't to say that there aren't some typical trippy moments -- the "creation" story Noah details in the third act is beautiful in that it stands in such stark contrast to the rest of the aesthetic of the film while still feeling like it naturally belongs in the piece -- but this is the "least Aronofsky" Aronofsky film I've seen.  Personally, I love what he brings to the table and I think he created a very thoughtful big budget flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Broken City

Broken City (2013)

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey Wright, and Kyle Chandler  

Directed by Allen Hughes

Broken City is one of those films that makes you ponder how in the world the producers snagged such big names to attach themselves to it.  It's not that it's mind-numbingly bad (although it certainly isn't any good), but it's so utterly generic that it becomes painful to sit through.  There's a corrupt [Republican] New York mayor up for reelection (Russell Crowe), his possibly philandering wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the good cop who's forced into doing bad things (Mark Wahlberg), the police chief who may not be running things by the book (Jeffrey Wright), and the upstart [Democratic] opponent who wants nothing more than to bring down his competition (Barry Pepper).  We've seen all these characters' stories before scripted, acted, and directed better, so without Broken City doing a thing to differentiate itself from its predecessors, there's little to recommend about it.

And with that, I'm pretty much done with this one.  However, I will add that as I was watching this, I came to the realization that Catherine Zeta-Jones probably should retire from acting.  I'm not sure she was ever all that good, but her Academy Award win at least gave her some respect from the public and from this blogger.  Perhaps that respect was ill-informed, however, as with last year's Rock of Ages (which garnered her a Worst Performance of the Year award) and this year's Broken City (and even Side Effects, a film that I truly liked, but found her performance lacking), she's more than proven that it may be time to snuggle up with her Oscar, spend some time with Michael Douglas, and bid the acting world adieu.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Les Misérables

Les Misérables (2012)

Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, Isabelle Allen, Daniel Huttlestone, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by Tom Hooper

Goodness, there really isn't any modicum of happiness in Les Misérables.  The title is certainly apropos, hinting about the miserable existence of the characters we'll meet, but I still expected maybe a hint of joy.  However, you certainly don't feel uplifted walking out of the film.  That being said, I mean that not as a slight towards Tom Hooper's adaptation of the long-running and tremendously popular musical version of Victor Hugo's lengthy tome.  Many claim that Hooper stole away David Fincher's Best Director Oscar when he triumphed over The Social Network with The King's Speech back in 2010, but my RyMickey Awards crowned Hooper the winner that year and Les Misérables does show that The King's Speech wasn't just a fluke.  More on Hooper later, though...

***Moderate spoilers ahead only if you've lived under a rock during this awards season***

The epic Les Mis is overarchingly the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a man imprisoned for over a decade for stealing a loaf of bread in early nineteenth century France.  When released, Valjean is told that as a parolee he must periodically check in or else face heading back to prison.  Valjean, however, wants to leave his past behind him and manages to find himself a successful businessman running a factory of sorts that employs a bunch of lower income women, one of whom is Fantine (Anne Hathaway).  It is soon discovered that Fantine has a young child which I guess implies she's a whore (although I found myself questioning this whole plotline), throwing the other ladies into a tizzy causing Fantine to be fired and thrown out onto the streets unbeknown to Valjean.  Forced to do whatever she can to provide for her child whom she has sent to live with others, Fantine sells all that she can (her hair, her teeth, and her body) and eventually dies, but not before Valjean meets up with her again and promises her that he will take care of her young child Cosette (Isabelle Allen).

Time passes and Cosette grows up (and is now played by Amanda Seyfried), but Valjean still finds himself constantly on the run from his former captor, Officer Javert (Russell Crowe) who is on a mission to get Valjean back behind bars for breaking his parole.  Every time Javert discovers their location, Valjean and Cosette are forced to move, but when Cosette sees the dashing Marius (Eddie Redmayne) across a crowded street, she instantly falls in love with him (and he with her), wanting to stay with him rather than travel elsewhere with Valjean. Marius is quite politically minded, wishing to overthrow the French government to provide a better environment for the lower classes (or something like that...it's probably a pretty important part of French history that's glossed over in terms of depth here).  We then add Eponine (Samantha Barks) into the mix who secretly loves Marius and also happens to have a connection to Cosette in that Eponine's father and mother (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) were the ones who watched after young Cosette over a decade before.

Whew...that seems like a lot to take in...and it is.  However, with all that story and character connections, you'd think there'd be more depth and weight to the story.  Unfortunately, the fact that this is a musical takes away a bit of the gravitas that I imagine is present in the novel.  I am certainly someone who appreciates musicals and am definitely aware that most musicals utilize their songs in order to advance the story.  Because of this technique, oftentimes the plot in musicals is simplified, but Les Misérables is a story that shouldn't be simplified.  The songs, while beautiful (though perhaps not as memorable as I expected them to be seeing as how I was not familiar with this musical at all), made this heavy story seem more one-note than it should be.

For the most part, the performances were fairly solid.  Mr. Hooper did a smart thing considering the operatic nature of the piece in having his actors sing live rather than lip sync as is the case in most musicals.  This allows for quite emotional, real, and true moments to be present, best exemplified in Anne Hathaway's showstopping number "I Dreamed a Dream."  Utilizing one long take with the camera focused solely on Fantine, Hathaway won herself the Best Supporting Actress Oscar with a riveting and heartbreaking rendition of the only song I'd heard from this musical prior to watching the film.  For some reason or another, I had never listened to the lyrics clearly enough to comprehend the utter sadness and devastation that Fantine feels while singing this song, but Hathaway made me fully understand the pain of her once hopeful character.

The other standout to me in the ensemble was Eddie Redmayne who has a lovely voice and is also granted a Hathaway/Fantine-like moment at the film's conclusion with "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" as he looks back on the revolution of the lower class and the many friends he lost in the battle.  There is also nice work from West End performer Samantha Barks in her first film role.  Hugh Jackman has been a bit overpraised for his work here, but it was still perfectly acceptable, and, on the other end of the spectrum, Russell Crowe has been a bit too harshly criticized as I thought his gruffer voice suited his part fine.

Tom Hooper has done a nice job filming this operatic musical, but even he is unable to assist the hefty story not coming across with the importance it likely should.  That's just an inherent flaw of the musicalization of a work such as this.  When French Revolution aspects are thrown aside for a love story between characters simply because it suits the music better, there isn't much Hooper can do.  Yes, the film has a murky, grayish-brown quality that does grow a bit tiresome as it heads into hour two, but I fully respected Hooper's hand-held, close-up style that he's actually been taken to task for.  It does allow for the focus to be placed on the characters rather than their surroundings, bringing more emotional power to the songs.  Still, despite some nice music, I can't help but think Les Misérables shouldn't have ever been made into an opera as the story seems to call for much more plot than a simplified musical can allow...then again, millions upon millions of theatergoers will disagree with me on that one.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Movie Review - The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days (2010)

Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, and Liam Neeson

Directed by Paul Haggis

A wife and mother is accused and convicted of murder.  A husband and father believes in his wife's innocence.  When judicial appeals fail, he takes matters into his own hands and plots an escape plan for his jailed wife.  

The blandness of those three sentences above sums up my feelings towards the dull The Next Three Days, a movie that has a plot that should have elicited some modicum of excitement, but instead never achieves any bit of tension.  Instead, director and co-screenwriter Paul Haggis presents a rather heavy-handed drama featuring a one-note performance from Russell Crowe as the beleaguered husband.  Crowe, however, comes off much better than Elizabeth Banks, typically known for her comedic roles, who is featured here in an unexpected dramatic turn.  Banks is never once believable as a convicted felon and she isn't very convincing as a mother either.

Considering that the film skips over the entire trial of Banks' character, one would think that the film would move rather quickly, but instead it's hampered with some silly subplots (including a silly unnecessary cameo by Liam Neeson as a convict who escaped multiple times from jail) and the story itself just fails miserably.  Unfortunately, there's really nothing to recommend here and it's certainly not worth even a rental.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Robin Hood

Robin Hood (2010)

Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, and Oscar Isaac 

Directed by Ridley Scott

There was much talk when this version of Robin Hood was released in theaters last May.  People felt like the Robin Hood story had been told one too many times.  While that may be true, I was willing to give this version a chance.  The first act of the film had me decidedly won over and I was actually quite intrigued.  That fervor didn't last, however, as the film drifted into a silly romance about thirty minutes in that bored the heck out of me and had me itching for the thing to be over.

The basic old standby summary of Robin Hood is that he's a guy in medieval England who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.  In Ridley Scott's version, while Robin certainly assists the poor, he's not stealing from the rich.  When the film begins, we discover that Robin (Russell Crowe) is aiding the Crown in a fight against France on the foreign country's soil.  When England's king is killed in battle, Robin and three of his friends decide to skedaddle back home -- they've fought for a decade and long to get back to regular life.  Along the way to the French coast, they encounter the English royal guard who, while attempting to get back home to announce the death of the king, get attacked by French soldiers who just so happen to be assisted by English traitor Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong).  Robin and his men manage to stop the attack, but the entire guard is killed, so Robin must bring word of the king's death to their compatriots.  

And it's at this point that the film loses me.  Robin ends up traveling to some village where he meets Marion (Cate Blanchett).  They end up falling in love which leads to a ridiculously silly final battle scene when Marion takes up the sword and, like the stereotypical way in many films, causes more havoc than good, forcing Robin to put himself in more danger because of her.

The film isn't an overwhelming letdown -- there are positives.  Crowe portrays Robin as both powerful and caring and he was actually pleasant to watch.  I often find him quite boring and unemotional, and while that's kind of the case here as well, it worked for this character for some reason.  Also good is Ridley Scott's direction of the battle sequences.  The opening thirty minutes are one battle after another and they're all staged rather well.  While he's not averse to using the quick cuts of many of his contemporaries, he doesn't employ them too often to become annoying.  Additionally, the final battle is quite good, too, although it's marred by an absolutely ridiculous last shot involving a impossibly perfectly shot arrow that had me laughing when it certainly wasn't supposed to.  For that I fault both Scott and the incredibly silly screenwriter for somehow thinking that would play well onscreen.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the film is the reliance on the romance between Robin and Marion to carry the film's plot.  There was not a moment where I believed that Crowe and Blanchett had any inkling of chemistry.  Sure, that's partly their fault, but this lack of connection between the characters is also due to screenwriter Brian Helgeland.  Their romantic "journey" was laughable and not the least bit interesting or surprising.

You could certainly do worse than this version of Robin Hood, but there's not enough here for me to recommend it.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - State of Play (2009)

starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, and Jeff Daniels

Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Tony Gilroy

Directed by Kevin MacDonald

I really want to like movies like State of Play. Smart thrillers are my favorite genre (I can thank Alfred Hitchcock for that). Because of that, I'll be the first to admit that I'm sometimes overly critical of thrillers. That being said, this one was a bit of a let-down.

Russell Crowe is Cal McAffrey, a reporter for the Washington Globe, who gets put on the story of the murder of Congressman Stephen Collins's aide. The Congressman (played by Affleck), who was having an affair with the aide, happens to be Cal's buddy from college. Although they're friends, there's a somewhat shaky history there as Cal has slept with Rep. Collins's wife (Wright Penn) long ago. Afraid that Cal will be unable to fully focus on the story because of the personal connection, the Globe's editor (Mirren) puts budding reporter Della (McAdams) on the case with him. There's a whole bunch of deception and a few twists here and there to keep the audience on their toes.

The acting, for the most part, was all well above average. Crowe was quite good (the role was originally supposed to be Brad Pitt's, but he dropped out a week before shooting...I can't imagine Pitt in that role). Affleck is decent as well. I could stare at Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren all day (yes, I know Helen Mirren has to be at least 60, but I think she's hot..sue me...and I've been crushing on McAdams since Red Eye). Despite their attractiveness, only Mirren succeeds in this flick as the bitchy, powerful editor. McAdams was given a stereotypical role and she wasn't able to rise above it...some of her line readings and body language were laughable. There's also a great cameo from Jason Bateman as a sleezeball who holds a key to unraveling the mystery of the aide's death.

It's a shame that with the great acting, there couldn't be a great script for them to work with. The film starts out promisingly enough, but the middle 45 minutes are filled with nothing but leads that turn out to be red herrings for our two reporters. And the end twist...I didn't really care. Even though I didn't really see it coming, it was obvious (if that makes sense...it doesn't, I know). Which, in one respect is a good thing because the writers weren't trying to twist the story into something implausible. But on the other hand, there didn't really need to be any twist at all. It kind of fell flat instead of being a "Holy crap!" moment. I will give the film credit, however, for being neither too simplistic nor incredibly confusing. In a lot of these thrillers aimed at adults, writers feel like they need to be constantly be testing the viewers' memories...and then I feel stupid for not remembering peoples' names or how they fit into the plot. This film found a very good balance at being neither too easy nor too difficult to follow.

Still, despite the somewhat lower rating below, I'd recommend this movie solely for the acting chops on display. Add to that, it's a smart adult thriller and I'd rather see more of them than most of the junk that's out in theaters today.

The RyMickey Rating: C+