Movie Review - The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men (2014)

Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, and Bob Balaban

Directed by George Clooney

Director George Clooney's The Monuments Men definitely feels like a throwback to the days when "Hogan's Heroes" was on tv.  That show went straight for the comedic aspects of WWII, but The Monuments Men attempts to mix comedy and drama and Clooney and his fellow screenwriter don't quite mesh the two together.  Unfortunately, this creates a film that never finds its footing, feeling slightly off balance all the way throughout with the comedic aspects never quite being funny enough and the dramatic aspects never quite mustering up the emotion they likely should.

Clooney's trademark charm is evident throughout the film -- and not just in his acting.  The film itself feels deeply rooted in 1960s cinema, a time when things were perhaps more innocent.  Yes, The Monuments Men is a war movie, but this is no Saving Private Ryan in terms of blood, guts, and action.  Instead, the film focuses on a band of merry older men with backgrounds in art who are brought together to retrieve important European sculptures, paintings, and other artistic media that Hitler's Nazi army took upon their take-overs of various countries.  These men -- played by Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, and Bob Balaban -- have no military experience yet are thrown head-first into some war-torn parts of Europe where the Nazi regime -- although now retreating as the war comes to an end -- has not quite abandoned.

Unfortunately, Clooney's desire to create a more lighthearted romp with the serious subject matter doesn't work in the film's favor.  While I understand the drive behind the film and Clooney's inclination to imbue comedy into this tragic war, the humor waters down the serious moments whenever they pop up.  Rather than feel an emotional connection to several tragic occurrences that happen in the film, the relationship the audience has with the characters isn't there in the way that it should be which is a big detriment in the film's serious moments.  Perhaps a more deft director could have righted the ship, but Clooney doesn't quite have the chops yet.  I certainly appreciate the charming vibe he brought to the piece, but The Monuments Men simply doesn't balance itself out on the scale between humor and seriousness and this off-kilter nature is its downfall.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jean Dujardin, Joanna Lumley, Cristin Milioti, and P.J. Byrne 

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Much has already been said about the language, vulgarity, and loooong running time of The Wolf of Wall Street and I'll readily admit that it's full of f-bombs, various sexual proclivities, and rampant drug use throughout its 179-minute length.  However, I enjoyed the heck out of this one, finding myself constantly smiling at the sheer absurdity of the whole affair and almost being upset that my humdrum life couldn't hold a candle to the chaotic mayhem of Jordan Belfort's.  Granted, Belfort is a womanizing, scheming crook who contains nary a moralistic bone in his body and he's a horrific sleaze of a guy so my notion of trying to vicariously live like him faded really quickly, but thanks to a glorious performance by Leonardo DiCaprio and some vivacious direction from Martin Scorsese, this movie paints a vivid picture of the true story of the infamous stockbroker who duped thousands of people into losing boatloads of money.

While the overarching theme of the film is about the stock market and that aforementioned duping of the public by Belfort, Scorsese and screenwriter Terrence Winter wisely push that aside instead focusing on the wildly outrageous shenanigans of the rich Belfort (played by DiCaprio) and his cohorts as they spend their (well-earned or illegally earned?) dough on quaaludes, cocaine, prostitutes, yachts, extravagant homes, jewelry, flying dwarfs...I could go on and on.  Seeing the world of excess is admittedly at first a little exciting, but we all know that it's too good to be true.  This fantastical world is ripe for a breakdown and that certainly is the case here with Belfort's fall just as engrossing as his rise up the corporate ladder.

Front and center in nearly every scene of the movie is Leonardo DiCaprio, a guy who I've certainly come to appreciate in recent years for his acting prowess.  However, I've never seen him take on a role with such gusto and joie de vivre as he does here with Jordan Belfort.  With the perfect amount of sly charm, self absorption, self-confidence, financial smarts, and sex appeal, DiCaprio gives a performance that is loose, funny, and captivating.

While DiCaprio's Belfort certainly takes center stage, he isn't alone in shining onscreen.  Jonah Hill is quite good as a Long Island nobody whom Belfort grooms into his right hand man.  The jaw-droppingly gorgeous Margot Robbie plays Belfort's second wife and she's a stunning newcomer I can't wait to see more of in the future.  Additionally, Matthew McConaughey makes the most out of a mere ten minute scene as Belfort's first teacher in the stock trade.  He steals the show right off the bat (which DiCaprio then steals back from him) and sets the movie on a great path right from the outset.

All this praise I'm heaping on the film makes it seem as if this one's ripe for an "A" rating.  Well, that's not going to happen and the reason harkens back to that aforementioned running time.  This thing moves along at a fast clip for its first hour and its last hour takes us on a bit of a different journey with Belfort's world beginning to crumble, but that middle hour leaves a bit to be desired.  We've already borne witness to the hedonistic tendencies of Belfort and his crew and this middle act teeters on actually becoming a bit boring -- there's only so much coke snorting you can take.  Perhaps Scorsese was mirroring the excessive nature of Belfort with the excessive running time, but a trimming of maybe thirty minutes would've put this one right in the running for a top three spot of the year for me.  As it stands now, it's a very good film that could've been near perfect, buoyed by the best performance I've seen in 2013 in Mr. DiCaprio.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - The Artist

The Artist (2011)

Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Penelope Ann Miller, James Cromwell, and John Goodman

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Certainly one of my most anticipated films of 2011, The Artist had a lot of likely impossible buzz to live up to and, unlike The Muppets (which lived up to and exceeded my lofty expectations), French director Michel Hazanavicius' ode to early Hollywood falls a tiny bit short.  Don't get me wrong -- The Artist is a very good film.  It unfortunately lacks a little bit of emotional oomph I was longing for and stands more as a technical achievement and acting tour de force than a movie that tugs at your heartstrings.

In The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius has crafted a black-and-white silent film about the end of silent films.  Certainly borrowing heavily from films like Singin' in the Rain and Citizen Kane (to name only a few), this flick is a love story to cinema which is why I could easily see it picking up many Oscars at this year's Academy Awards.  As the flick opens, popular silent film actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) finds his star still on the rise.  Along with his adorable tag-along pooch, George is much beloved by the public.  It is at the premiere of his newest film where he first meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who accidentally bumps into him as he is being interviewed by the press.  Trying to make the most of her fifteen minutes of fame, Peppy becomes a "regular gal-turned-actress," and she and George begin a nice friendship that both wish could grow to something with more romantic undertones except that George is unhappily married to Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) who is constantly aggravated with her husband.

When the studio head Al Zimmer (John Goodman) approaches George to be in a newfangled "talking picture," George balks at the idea and leaves the studio that gave him his big break behind.  As he funds his own silent film, George finds his star power waning while Peppy's is on the rise thanks to her participation in sound films.  With George in the dumps and Peppy living large, their roles have reversed, but neither have forgotten about their suppressed love for one another despite the fact that their industry has attempted to push them apart.

The story is perfectly pleasant and certainly simple enough to be told with minimal title/dialog cards, yet it absolutely kept my interest the whole way through thanks in large part to some great performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo.  Dujardin, in particular, is kinda fantastic as the charmer George Valentin.  Obviously, acting in a silent film (and a silent film that pays homage to those that came before it) requires a bit of what we may nowadays call "over-acting," but Dujardin rarely stoops to that level.  Instead, he takes a simple eyebrow raise and clues the audience in to exactly what his character is thinking, walking the normally precarious line between melodrama and seriousness (both of which are requirements for his character to perform) with great ease.  Ms. Bejo, on the other hand, does tend to favor (or was told to mimic) the more dramatic style of acting most would likely associate with silent films.  Don't take that as a detriment, however, as Bejo is exuberant and quite a joy to watch onscreen.

There are several moments of ingeniousness by director and writer Michel Hazanavicius that to reveal here would ruin their effectiveness on film, but needless to say, there were several moments that had me smiling simply because of his directorial and screenwriting choices.  The film looks absolutely beautiful as well and his vision of creating a 1920s-style flick with all the conventions that entails -- those "sweeping" scene changes, a near-constant musical score, to name a few -- is absolutely successful.

However, the film lacks a little bit of that emotional oomph I was hoping for.  Ultimately, I think the reason falls on the fact that the film, even in its most dour of moments, is wholeheartedly a melodrama and because of that, it never quite takes itself serious enough for me to get serious about it.  Still, unlike what is often the case for me, The Artist is sitting quite well as it stews in my mind as I type out this review. In fact, as I've pondered over the flick, I've raised my grade by half a point (although you'll have to forgive me if 24 hours from now, I feel like changing it back...which [edited to add] I did...I'm still internally debating the B+/A- here).  In the end, The Artist is a charming film that can't help but elicit many smiles out of moviegoers who give this old-school, black-and-white, silent film a chance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+