Movie Review - The Little Prince

The Little Prince (2016)

Featuring the vocal talents of Mackenzie Foy, Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Riley Osborne, James Franco, Benicio Del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Albert Brooks, Paul Giamatti, and Paul Rudd

Directed by Mark Osborne

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

2016 was a lukewarm year for animation and I was hoping this little flick -- which was supposed to be released in theaters, but was then shopped to Netflix -- would be a quirky venture that I could latch onto.  Unfortunately, the lack of a theatrical release for The Little Prince was probably the correct assessment as it proves to be much too talky and philosophical for a kids' film, but a little too childish to really engage adults.

I don't think I've ever read the popular children's book upon which this film is based so its resemblance to the source material is completely unknown to me.  However, the film revolves around The Little Girl (Mackenzie Foy) whose Mother (Rachel McAdams) forces her to live a very regimented life focused squarely on education rather than having any modicum of fun.  When The Mother and The Little Girl move to a new home, their next door neighbor ends up being a bit of a handful.  The elderly man (Jeff Bridges) was a former aviator who spends his time piecing together an old plane in his backyard.  Much to her mother's chagrin, The Little Girl ends up befriending The Aviator as he regales her with stories of his youth where he met The Little Prince (Riley Osborne) who traveled to Earth and taught him about being a better man.

The Little Prince looks lovely, there's no denying that.  The mostly typical Pixar-esque computer animation is interspersed with some charming paper-y looking stop motion work that is aesthetically appealing.  The voice acting, for the most part, is also quite good (although there are a few performances - Ricky Gervais, James Franco - that seem more celeb-driven than story-driven).  Unfortunately, it's not enough to help the philosophical mumbo jumbo that drives "The Little Prince" segments of the story which take over as the film progresses.  The film really appears to be unsure to whom it's marketing itself -- is this a kiddie film (as the first half would have you believe) or is this some deeper adult presentation about hanging onto the past and never losing the memories of what came before?  The flick isn't sure of that and it shows in its muddled nature.  Still, it's lovely to look at, but a bit boring to watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Macbeth

Macbeth (2015)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, David Thewlis, and Sean Harris

Directed by Justin Kurzel

***This film is currently available on Amazon Prime***

I've always said that you have to be in the mood to watch Shakespeare and I thought I was when I started director Justin Kurzel's iteration of Macbeth...but the heaviness and gloom combined with whispered and sometimes unintelligible dialog (which is never a good thing in a Shakespearean adaptation since the Bard's words are sometimes difficult to grasp) make this adaptation quite a slog.  Truth be told, Macbeth isn't one of my favorite Shakespeare dramas so that may have something to do with my displeasure here, but I had hoped that this cinematic piece would've enlightened me a little bit into Shakespeare's tale of a good guy turned very bad and with one exception that simply isn't the case in the slightest.

Quite frankly, the storyline here, particularly at the beginning, is incomprehensible.  If this were one's first venture into Macbeth, you could never be admonished for not understanding what in the hell is going on.  The heavy Scottish accents, mumbled words, and whispered verse are difficult with which to acclimate oneself.  I tried for forty minutes, but then had to give in and turn on the subtitles -- oh, well.  About an hour in once our title character (played by Michael Fassbender) really takes control of the fiefdom and his wife (Marion Cotillard) begins to recognize the monstrous man she's created, I began to gain interest, but it was too little too late as the dour heaviness of the production just weighs down any modicum of interest.

What the film does do right in terms of the story -- and the few times that the otherwise unemotional and cold Fassbender and Cotillard really shine -- is showcasing the impact that the loss of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's infant son had on them.  The film's most powerful moments revolve around paternity and lineage, and my eyes are actually newly opened to this aspect in Shakespeare's work.  Kudos in that regard to Justin Kurzel, but while his film contains some beautiful stark cinematography which is admirably shot, that aforementioned dirge-like atmosphere never ends.  The bleak and dismal environment isn't the least bit entertaining or captivating and makes this Macbeth an aggravating failure.

The RyMickey Rating:  D 

Movie Review - The Immigrant

The Immigrant (2014)

Starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner

Directed by James Grey

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

It's a shame that the nice, reserved performance from Marion Cotillard as Eva, a Polish immigrant arriving to the States in The Immigrant isn't matched in quality by the film itself.  Instead the onerous bleakness of James Grey's film creates a heaviness that's almost impossible to climb out from under, providing a none too pleasant experience that lost me about halfway through.

When Eva is turned away from entering the US after an erroneous claim is made that she willingly subjected herself to prostitution while on the ship to the mainland, she is forced to await return to Europe.  Separated from her sister who was quarantined upon arrival, Eva is devastated until Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix) sees her plight and, noticing her beauty, decides to help her out.  However, Bruno's seeming benevolence isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Bruno runs a burlesque hall which also happens to serve alcohol -- a hot commodity in 1921's prohibition era times -- and Bruno convinces Eva to use her feminine wiles to make money to help get her sister out of quarantine to see a legitimate doctor.  The strong-willed, former nurse Eva finds her steadfastness wear down quickly as she sinks into a world unknown to her.

I was with The Immigrant until this point about forty-five minutes in.  Sure, it was a bit depressing, but I could accept the interesting story and the solid performance from Ms. Cotillard.  However, the film then shifts into a love triangle between Eva, Bruno, and a magician named Orlando (Jeremy Renner) and the love story feels ominously uncomfortable and restrictingly heavy.  For the next seventy-five minutes, no one's happy, there's a lot of talking about how no one's happy, and this viewer wasn't happy either, finding himself zoning out and caring very little about any member of this trio.

Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for such a hefty piece.  That's entirely possible.  However, I can't help but think part of the issue lies in James Grey's direction which plods the film along at a glacial pace and becomes a bit unsure of itself in terms of what kind of film it is when the romantic triangle rears its head.  As mentioned, Cotillard is good here and is positively the only reason to watch.  Renner tries, but his character often seems like a caricature -- not as much as Phoenix's Bruno, however, which feels like a mash-up of typical 1920s gangster-y stereotypes.  Unfortunately, Phoenix doesn't bring anything new to the table from an acting perspective either.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) (2012)

Starring Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, and Corinne Masiero

Directed by Jacques Audiard

I was expecting the two hour length of French drama Rust and Bone to be dreadful, but right off the bat, I'll state that the film moves along at a nice clip considering this is a small, intimate relationship story between two people whose chance meeting one night at a club links them together after a tragic moment strikes one of them.  While I was engaged in the film, I must admit there's something missing here -- the film strikes me as wanting to be deep and meaningful, but it failed on that front.  While Rust and Bone presents a good story, its pieces don't quite come together in the end in order to create a cohesive and emotionally riveting tale.

As I began to describe above, Rust and Bone tells the tale of Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) and Stéphanie (Marion Cotiallard) -- two people who meet by chance at a popular French dance club where Ali works as a bouncer.  When Stéphanie is punched in the nose during a fight, Ali agrees to take her home where he discovers that she's living with a significant other which he finds a bit odd considering that she was alone at the club seemingly looking for some form of hook-up.  While he may have entered her apartment with romantic intentions, Ali leaves and doesn't really plan on ever hearing from Stéphanie again.

A few months later, Stéphanie is involved in a horrible accident at a local marine park (reminiscent of Sea World) where she works as a killer whale trainer.  After waking up from a coma after the incident, Stéphanie heartbreakingly discovers that both her legs have been amputated below the knees.  Homebound and feeling destitute, she calls up Ali on a whim and he agrees to come and see her.  A friendship is formed almost immediately and the relationship between the two of them grows into something quite surprising for both parties.

The story is fine here and the time spent focused on Stéphanie and her recovery from her accident are actually quite touching and very well acted by Marion Cotillard.  However, ultimately, the film doesn't quite click because the arcs of the characters of Stéphanie and Ali don't quite mesh together.  Stéphanie's character grows in an obvious way (and I mean that not in a negative manner) as she learns to cope with her new way of living.  Ali's character, though, is an enigma to me.  At the beginning of the film he's a down on his luck guy who moves to his sister's home with his young son (Armand Verdure).  He's rough around the edges and hasn't spent much time with his kid, so he's learning the ropes as he goes.  Without any money, he takes jobs in security positions -- bouncer, nighttime guard -- until a friend convinces him to start fighting in a "fight club"-type street tournament.  This character background is all well and good, but it doesn't take the character of Ali anywhere worth going.  Yes, we find out he has a heart at the end when tragedy strikes him as well, but I feel like the writers simply didn't know what to do with his character and it blatantly shows onscreen.  The unfortunate thing is that Ali is actually the main character here -- the film starts and ends with his story -- whereas we in the audience are much more invested in Stéphanie and her struggles.

Rust and Bone is not a bad film, but the potential for more was evident and not realized.  The performances all around are quite good (with Marion Cotillard giving the best performance I've seen from her...but I should say that I haven't really been a fan before this).  If it shows up streaming on Netflix, I'd say it's worth a watch, but I wouldn't exactly be going out of my way to see this one.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Starring Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine

Directed by Christopher Nolan

I've been avoiding reviewing The Dark Knight Rises for nearly a month now and the only reason I can think of is that after concluding this film there was just a sense of apathy that has only increased as time as passed.  It's not that this final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is bad -- it's slightly better than the Batman Begins origin story, but not nearly as good as The Dark Knight -- but it's really just feels most genericly superhero-ey of the three flicks.

We've got our good guy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale whose teeth-gritting toughness as his alter ego has worn out its welcome by this point) who has put Batman to rest after the masked vigilante took the blame for killing Harvey Dent in the prior film.  However, evil rears its ugly head again, this time in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy) who vows to fight the capitalistic rich pigs of Gotham by taking all of them down and suppressing the poor himself.  Throw in a petty thief named Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who will later turn into the slinky Catwoman (although I'm not sure that name is ever uttered in the movie), a new love interest for Bruce in the form of Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda (Marion Cotillard), and a young cop named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who tries to be the voice of reason to motivate Batman to come back to Gotham after Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) almost resigns himself to the fact that the masked man won't return and the cast for this one is pretty much complete.

The problem is that despite the film's nearly three-hour runtime, the cast isn't given a whole lot to do. Bane as a villain is a disappointment especially coming after the one-two punch of Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent in the last film.  The motivation of taking down the upper class is fine (despite it sort of feeling like a retread of Ra's Al Ghul's evil plans in the first film), but the screenwriting duo of the Nolan brothers fail to make the story resonate even in these heightened economic times.

Gordon-Levitt and Hathaway were certainly welcome additions and it was nice that ample time was spent on their storylines since (as I mentioned above) Bale's incredibly one-note performance while in his Batsuit had worn out its welcome.  Unfortunately, Tom Hardy fails to really make an impression as Bane.  After the whimsically evil performance of Ledger's Joker, having Hardy behind a mask for the whole film and failing to see a single facial expression from our central villain is a bit of a letdown that isn't his fault in the slightest.

In the end, Nolan's Batman trilogy is solid, but it's not nearly as fantastic as fanboys and critics would have you believe.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Contagion

Contagion (2011)

Starring Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, John Hawkes, Sanaa Lathan, and Elliot Gould

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Contagion is a modern-day version of those 70s "classics" like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno.  Let's put a bunch of well-known actors into a plot, throw in a natural disaster, and see who makes it out alive.  Unlike those special effects-laden films of a few decades ago, however, Contagion is actually good.  

Really good.  

And genuinely frightening.  I do think that, in the end, Steven Soderbergh's thriller about a new strain of deadly virus wreaking havoc on the world hopes that it feels "important."  And while it certainly paints a rather grim picture of what would happen should such an incident occur, I can't help but think it seems more "fluffy" than "substantial," but that's certainly not a bad thing in this case because it still succeeds at nearly every level.

The film opens on a black screen with the sound of someone coughing.  And already the mood is ominous.  We discover (thanks to a subtitle on the screen) that we are in Day 2 of this new viral outbreak and we see the young and vibrant Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) sitting at an airport bar talking on the phone with a man whom she just slept with.  All seems fine...except then we realize that Beth is the person whom we heard coughing mere seconds ago.  And Soderbergh makes it very clear via his directorial choices that Beth is passing this thing along to others -- the close up of the bowl of peanuts that she just ate from, the handing of a credit card to the bartender.  We're in for trouble and Soderbergh isn't hiding that from us.  The very fact that he makes these incredibly mundane things manage to appear so scary is a credit to him.

From there, the film branches off into various storylines -- some following "normal" citizens like Beth and her husband (Matt Damon), with others focusing on members of the Centers for Disease Control and their attempts to discover the origins of the virus (which is where folks like Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and Marion Cotillard come into play).  Never staying with any of these plotlines for extended periods of time allows the viewer to never tire of any of them and always keep them longing for more.  Much like the disaster flicks of the 70s, no one is safe here.  Big stars (all of whom perform very well here) are going to bite the dust and this certainly increases the nerves that the viewer feels.

Admittedly, the film is bogged down with the character of Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), a blogger who says that he will show the public the truth behind the secrets that the government and the CDC are hiding.  Anytime the plot veered into his territory, I kept wanting it to head to someone else.  His conspiracy theories just didn't seem well developed and, quite frankly, bored me (as most ludicrous conspiracy theories do).  Fortunately, as stated, the film doesn't stay on any one character for long and we find the plot quickly shifting to others.

Still, despite that one fault, I couldn't help but find myself absolutely enthralled by Contagion.  On the edge of my seat thanks to Soderbergh's creative direction, this is a completely believable real-life horror story the likes of which I hope we never see actually happen even though it positively could.  Time to grab that hand sanitizer...

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Nina Arianda, Kurt Fuller, and Mimi Kennedy

Directed by Woody Allen

It should be noted that there are moderate spoilers below...I call them spoilers in the broadest sense of the word because the trailer, rather ingeniously, did not give away what this movie is about in the slightest.  Perhaps rather foolishly, my fellow moviegoer and I had no concept of a completely major aspect of the plot because of a lack of reading reviews for this and only seeing the trailer.  While I don't reveal any major plot points, just be aware that I'm "giving away" more than you'd see in the commercials.

UPDATED 2/15/12 -- I don't know if it's the fact that now that it's garnered Oscar nominations, I'm looking at the film differently and perhaps a little more critically, but I recently rewatched Midnight in Paris and boy, was my "B" rating way too high.  I found the whole flick this second time around rather pretentious.  While lovely to look at and acted fine by the leads (although Kathy Bates is really painful), it was almost a chore to sit through it a second time.  My adjusted rating will appear below.

Midnight in Paris is pleasant to watch...and that's simply it.  It's a pleasant film that doesn't try to be anything more than that.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  But all this talk about how it's one of writer-director Woody Allen's best films in ages seems rather unwarranted to me.  It's a satisfying romantic comedy, but the awards buzz surrounding this film boggles my mind.  Heck, Allen's Whatever Works was a more satisfying film and failed to get any traction in the Oscar race two years ago.

When the film opens, we meet former screenwriter-turned struggling novelist Gil (Owen Wilson taking on the "Woody Allen" role, but in a thankfully much less neurotic manner than is typically characteristic of Allen's films) who is visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents John and Helen (a somewhat scene-stealing Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy).  After hanging out for several days with two friends of Inez's, Paul and Carol (Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda), Gil grows tired of Paul's know-it-all, booksmart, and arrogant nature and finds himself separating from the group walking the streets of Paris alone at night.  While contemplating both his career and his relationship, a clock in a small Parisian square strikes midnight and Gil finds himself magically transported back in time to the 1920s where he finds himself trading one-liners with folks like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali.

Owen Wilson is one of the biggest reasons Midnight in Paris garners the "pleasant" moniker.  He's in nearly every scene and his Gil is a guy that you can't help but root for.  Oftentimes, the "Woody Allen doppelganger" is such a nebbishy whiner, but here Wilson dials down the crankiness...and it's much appreciated.  Wilson is evenly matched by Rachel McAdams who takes on a slightly different persona from the sweet gals we've seen her play recently (think back to her Mean Girls days as a reference point for this role).  With the exception of the overrated Marion Cotillard (an actress whose appeal I just don't get in the slightest) as Gil's 1920s muse, all of the supporting performances (including the aforementioned comedic chops of Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy as the conservative-skewing parents of Inez) are pleasant surprises and help elevate the flick.

Nostalgia is really a key plot point and overarching theme of Midnight in Paris.  Unhappy with his current state of affairs, Gil can't help but think that the Paris of nearly a century ago is the solution to all of his problems.  But is it?  In the end, I'm not sure the film answers that question and it kind of left me feeling a bit empty at its conclusion because of it.  I'm honestly not sure whether I'm supposed to be thinking "Yes, the past is better than the present" or "Learn from the past and shape your present with that knowledge."  (It should be noted that there's a rather interesting read on this conundrum here.  Finding myself confused by what I was "supposed to feel" at the end of this, I tried to do a little research and found that essay that doesn't really answer the question either and contains quite a few points I'd disagree with including calling Gil "anti-nostaligic," but at least is rather intuitive.)

Still, Midnight in Paris is a pleasant watch, and as I mentioned before, there's nothing wrong with simply being pleasant...just go into it trying to suppress the "Oscar talk" and you'll be fine.

The "Original" RyMickey Rating:  B
The "New" RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Inception

Inception (2010)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Marion Cotillard

Directed by Christopher Nolan

There are major spoilers ahead here...This isn't so much a review as a discussion of my thoughts a day after watching the film...If you haven't seen the film yet and don't want some key plot points to be ruined, don't read any further.

In the end, some magnificent "parts" of Christopher Nolan's newest film, Inception, don't quite add up to a fantastic "whole."  Now, fair warning -- I'm going to be overly critical here.  A creative film like this wants me to question it...so I'm going to do so.  But, as you'll notice by my rating at the end, I enjoyed myself thoroughly while watching it.  I simply wish it was something I could have loved.

This movie is about Leonardo Dicaprio's character Cobb.  It's about his need to be forgiven for what he considers to be the "crime" of causing his wife's (Marion Cotillard) death.  Being absolved of this sin will allow him to not only return to his children, but also to return to a more peaceful existence with himself.  If this is the main point (which, to me, there can be no argument that it isn't), why does it fall to the wayside for so much of this film's 150 minutes?

The final hour-long act of the film -- the dream within a dream within a dream within a dream where the key players are attempting to complete the inception in Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) mind -- hardly focuses on Cobb's emotional part of the story at all.  Not until we reach the "limbo" stage does Cobb really come into play.  Granted, this whole segment of the film was really amazing -- I truly enjoyed all of the levels within the dreams and that hotel scene is just a gigantic WOW -- but it's really just a huge McGuffin (sort of).  I can't help but think something could have been trimmed here or there (or something even added, if necessary) to bring the focus back to Cobb.  Yes, there were the occasional images of his children, but a larger emphasis on Cobb would have been much more powerful in terms of character development.

Speaking of character development, where was it?  Beyond Cobb, there's nothing.  I guess that could be because "this is all a dream" (an idea which I'll touch upon in a bit) and in dreams, character development is nonexistent, but that seems like a cop-out.  So, if the film's not a dream, that makes it real -- well, "real" in terms of the fact that we're watching a film.  And if this is a film, I'd like to know something about these people I'm watching.  Unfortunately, I know nothing beyond the fact that the girl from Juno is the Architect, the guy from (500) Days of Summer is Cobb's right-hand man, and the guy from Bronson (yes, I know you've never heard of it, but you should watch it anyway) is like some fancy X-Man that can change his form.  Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy are all very good, but they're not really given anything to do beyond what their job requires.  It's like a much more intelligent Oceans 11 film in that sense.

So is the whole thing a dream?  Is the reason that I don't know anything beyond the outer surface of these characters because I'm watching Cobb's dream?  I can't buy that (even if in the director commentary Christopher Nolan tells me that is the case).  For starters, if this is all a dream, how the heck is the story so linear?  Yes, I may have some dreams that follow a general storyline, but for the most part, the restraints are gone when one dreams and logic bears no importance.  Yes, I may be dreaming about work and it may seem perfectly straightforward, but I could change my thoughts within seconds and be some place completely different.  That never really happens here.  Yes, I'm sure there are things that point to this being a dream, but if that's the case, I'd be utterly disappointed simply because things are much to logical here for that to be the case.

Plus, it seems obvious to me that at the end of the film Cobb's spinning top is beginning to wobble.  When a top begins to slow down, the change in aural tone that it begins to make is blatant -- and it does that during the final scene (plus, it starts to wobble).  Yes, one could certainly make the statement that the top was never Cobb's token, but instead was Mal's, so it was never his "way back"to reality.  While that's certainly true, I always felt that the top was his connection to her and since she was so connected to the top, he, in turn, can be taken out of the dreamscape by the top as well.

Okay...enough rambling.  Let's get to a tiny bit of general thoughts here.  Inception was a treat to watch, without a doubt.  The more I sit and think about it, the more I appreciate it.  It's not a perfect film, but it's a more than admirable effort (I still say that its biggest fault is that first point I make above in that the emotional connection for Cobb's character is pushed to the sidelines for too long in the final act).  Nolan (a director and writer who I appreciate, but don't find myself fawning over) once again proves that he's a smart guy with an eye for some special set pieces.  The rotating hotel scene which was shown in the previews really blew me away.  Even though I knew it was coming, I was amazed while watching it.

Additionally, kudos to Nolan for making what could have been a convoluted mess of a film perfectly coherent.  Before going into this, I heard so much about how you "really have to pay attention," but I found the film to be easily comprehensible.  Little asides that in some movies may have made the viewer feel stupid (or made the viewer feel that the filmmaker thought they were stupid) proved to be quite natural and justified in their existence.  (This was actually a very impressive aspect of the film...and the whole point of Ellen Page's character.  Her Architect was "us," the audience, and since she was an intelligent character, whenever she asked for an explanation or elucidated on a certain topic, it was never done in a manner that talked down to the viewer.)

Still, the problem with the lack of character development is that Nolan doesn't allow any of his actors to shine.  None of the actors are problematic or detrimental to the film in any way, but they're not allowed to really add anything to the final product either.  Leo and Ellen and Marion and Joseph and Tom are all fine, but never given much to work with.

Yes, yes, this "review" was perhaps overly negative, but I enjoyed Inception and the more I think about it and the more I discuss it with others, the more I appreciate the film.  Do I wish it was a little better?  Absolutely.  A little trimming of the Fischer dream storyline could've done wonders to the film as a whole.  A bit more character development for anyone beyond Cobb would've been wonderful.

Still, Inception is no nightmare...it's just not the fantastical dream of a film that others say it is.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Nine (2009)

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Sophia Loren
Directed by Rob Marshall

As of this writing, Nine (not 9, the other 2009 release with the same title) is a conundrum to me. The more that I think of it (it's been settling in for about four hours now), the more I like it. In fact, I'm beginning to truly appreciate Rob Marshall's take on the Broadway musical which itself is a take on Frederico Fellini's 1963 film 8 1/2 (which, like most Italian cinema, I haven't seen...I'm not remotely familiar with the Broadway musical either). There's something really good here -- I think a huge chunk of the "good" lies in Marshall's direction. Unfortunately, there's some bad here, too, and that lies in the music behind the musical. When the music in your musical is lukewarm, it casts an unfortunate pallor over the whole affair and that seems to be the case here.

Guido Contini (Day-Lewis) is a famous Italian film director in the 1960s. He's in the midst of directing his latest film, the ambitious Italia, when he begins to have a mid-life crisis-type occurrence. The film he's making is somewhat autobiographical -- his take on how great women can affect a great man -- and Guido begins to think back on seven important women in his life (why not nine women? I have not clue). For some reason or another (this is a musical after all), all of these flashbacks occur with the ladies singing a song about their relationship with Guido.

Similar to Marshall's previous big screen musical, Chicago, in which the musical numbers were figments of characters' imaginations, all of the songs in Nine take place in Guido's mind. While this theatrical device works, I must admit that it took me a bit to warm up to the technique, but three songs in or so, I was on the bandwagon with Marshall. It helps that Marshall utilizes a variety of techniques during these flashbacks. While he overuses the quick cut, I appreciated how a few flashbacks were in beautiful black-and-white, really creating that old Italian film look (or that old Italian film look I've seen in clip retrospectives since, as I mentioned above, I'm quite unfamiliar with Italian cinema).

The burden of the film seems to be that the music just isn't all that good. Black-Eyed Peas singer Fergie actually has the most memorable and catchy song by far -- "Be Italian" -- and she performs it with zest. Kate Hudson sings "Cinema Italiano" which was apparently specifically written for the film and this number is also upbeat, whimsical, and enjoyable. I must admit that I never really got the love affair with Penélope Cruz's looks prior to this film, however she was completely sexy and alluring in her song (it's unfortunate that she's burdened with a silly subplot throughout the film). Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, and Nicole Kidman unfortunately come off the worst here, with Loren and Kidman being stuck with the worst songs by far in the flick (both of which come towards the end of the film, bringing the film to a halt after it had been on somewhat of an uptick).

By far, the shining star of the women here is Marion Cotillard. As Guido's wife, she gets to sing two songs, both of which, to me, contain the heart, soul, and emotional center of the film. As she longs for her husband to be faithful, she realizes that she's probably fighting a losing battle. Her "My Husband Makes Movies" was just heartbreaking and she sells it.

Daniel Day-Lewis is perfectly adequate and believable as the man-slut of the film. While I don't really think he learns his lesson in the end, I bought Day-Lewis as this sleazy director. But even though the film's center is his Guido, the film really belongs to the women in his life and Marshall rightly puts the focus on them.

I really think that this is a film that I will grow to appreciate more on repeated viewings. For now, though, I'm going to say Nine's a flawed picture. Rob Marshall certainly moves the episodic film along, but, in the end, it's really just that -- an episodic film that goes from woman to woman in Guido's life, giving each of them a song to sing with several of those songs being lukewarm at the very best.

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Movie Review - Public Enemies (2009)

Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, and Billy Crudup
Written by Ronan Bennett and Michael Mann & Ann Biderman
Directed by Michael Mann

I don't even know where to begin. There's hardly anything I liked about this movie.

The acting felt phoned in by all. Depp is notorious 1930s bank robber John Dillinger, and Bale is the government guy that wants to stop him. Cotillard is the annoying, irritating girlfriend of Dillinger, who, for some reason falls in love the bank robber despite the fact that the movie doesn't explain why. All three of these stars were bland beyond bland. While Depp and Bale were okay, Cotillard was awful (and she's the one with the Oscar!). Any scene between her and Depp made me want to fall asleep.

The movie is just so incredibly flat. Nothing really happens over 145 minutes. The final climax is a complete dud...and it drags on for an eternity. You would think that bank robbery scenes would be exciting, but every single robbery scene was shot in the same exact way by director Mann and his cinematographer, Dante Spinotti. Now, I don't usually call out anyone other than the director or the writer in my posts, but the cinematographer in this deserves a beating and Mann deserves one, too, for allowing this travesty to be shot this way on film. The modern-day handheld shooting may have been a "cool" juxtaposition against the 1930s story, but seemingly EVERY SINGLE SHOT is either (a) shaky or (b) an extreme close-up. I'd like to see whole faces to see facial expressions sometimes, not just an eye, folks!

Pretty much everything about this I hated...the musical score by Elliot Goldenthal was horrendous. The editing by Jeffrey Ford and Paul Rubell was heinous. The only thing that saves this movie from complete failure (yes, I hated it that much) is the stuff like the costuming, set design, and art direction. And even then, they were nothing special.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this, but this is far and away the most disappointing flick of the summer for me. I've seen worse, but at least Year One knew how bad it was...at least I think it did (how can it not?). This one thought it was something special, but it disappointed me how awful it was.

The RyMickey Rating: D-