Review: 'Black or White' starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer

Let's be frank about Mike Binder's interracial dramedy, Black or White; it's absolutely ridiculous in just about every way imaginable. Whether as a vehicle to talk about race relations or as a courtroom film about a tangled custody battle, the film is utterly preposterous and pretty damned insulting. Coming on the heels of a comedy like Dear White People, which used comedy to ask serious and contemporary questions about race, Black or Whiteseems manufactured to show why an alcoholic white man is always better than triflin' ass black people.

Binder's pal Kevin Costner, who he worked with on the enjoyable but heavy-handed The Upside of Anger, stars as lovable drunk Elliot, a powerful but curmudgeonly attorney whose wife (Jennifer Ehle) has just died. That leaves him alone to take care of 8-year-old Eloise (the excellent Jillian Estel), the interracial granddaughter born to his daughter who died in childbirth. The father, Reggie (Andre Holland), is one of those triflin' ass black people; a crackhead who disappeared and has barely been in the girl's life. When he does show up it's usually to ask for money because...well, he's triflin'. Eloise's paternal grandmother Rowena (Octavia Spencer) thinks she should spend time with their side of the family, which is a fair request. She's not so bad, but she runs a bunch of sketchy businesses from her garage and enables Reggie's triflin' ass. So naturally Rowena and Elliot don't get along, and the custody dispute starts to get ugly when she hires her sleazy brother (Anthony Mackie) as the attorney.

On the face of it the whole thing is silly, but it gets worse as Binder puts down every single African-American in the film just to make his point. The depth of Reggie's personal demons unfolds any time Elliot's stability as a guardian comes into question. For instance, Elliot hires Duvan (Mpho Koaho), a dorky African tutor to help with Eloise's studies, but he ends up just being the driver for when he's too drunk to drive. Hardy har har. Elliot's alcoholism is merely a gimmick but is never portrayed as a detriment to his value as a caretaker. Even when he drops the dreaded N-word at one point it's barely an issue. On the other hand, Reggie's drug abuse is just the gateway to deeper issues that rule him out as a father-figure outright. Need him to be a shady grifter? Sure, there's that. Need him to be violent, too? Okay, got it. It wouldn't be so bad if Rowena, or some other character with melanin, had the opportunity to express their side of the debate. There are plenty of natural reasons why Eloise should at least split time with her families, but we never get to hear them. Any time a serious examination of race threatens to break out Binder either hides behind lame jokes (usually involving the super lame Duvan) or ugly stereotypes.

Costner gives a stern but engaging performance, though, and his scenes with Estell are marvelous. She's a real talent, and yes the character is a bit pre-packaged perky, but there's nuance as Eloise begins to play both sides of the family against one another in a bid for attention. In the midst of all their squabbling, the families kind of forget what the fight is really about. And of course, everything leads to a chance for Elliot to give a rousing speech on race, the kind that's supposed to tie up a complicated issue with a neat little bow. What's interesting about it is how frank Elliot gets in explaining his own prejudices, admitting that he recognizes race first. But then he judges people by what they do, and of course that's how it should always be in reality. However, it's only the African-Americans whose actions are in question, and of course they all come to see things as Elliot would have them see it because their opinions don't truly matter.

The worst thing about Black or White is that it's just simplistic enough that people who don't want to think too much about race relations will "get" where it's coming from. They may even think it profound. But it's not. Given the problems with race this country still has to contend with, Black or White isn't just bad it's completely ignorant.

 Rating: 1.5 out of 5

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Review: 'Black Sea' starring Jude Law and Scoot McNairy

They say in space no one can hear you scream, but the same can be said of the inky ocean depths. The best submarine movies tap into the visceral tension and paranoia of being trapped in a metal tube hundreds of feet underwater, but despite a number of classics such as Das Boot, Crimson Tide, and Run Silent Run Deep the genre is pretty much a dying breed drowning in homage. While Kevin MacDonald's Black Sea doesn't go far enough in trying to break the mold, it's a lean, mean old school sub thriller that could bring these movies back to the surface.

MacDonald has had a rough go of it since the acclaim he earned with The Last King of Scotland, and much like it Black Sea explores social ills under cover of a genre flick. Jude Law, who seems to have fully embraced the aging ruffian look (remember when he used to be a pretty boy?), takes on the role of Robinson, a submariner who just got laid off by his company and given a rather pathetic settlement. Drowning his sorrows in a British pub with other laid-off losers, each looking at a pathetic life of embarrassing fast food jobs, Robinson decides it's time to fight back. Fight back against what? The crippling effect of crony capitalism on the working class, that's what. Why should these fat cats get richer while he and others like him get kicked in the teeth? What were all those years of work, blood, and sweat really worth? There's a confrontational spirit to Dennis Kelly's screenplay that is immediately engaging, and Law seems to tap into that energy early on despite a wobbly Scottish accent.

Hearing from a friend about the possible discovery of a sunken Nazi sub full of gold in the Black Sea, Robinson decides it's time for the big payoff. With funding from a mysterious American backer, he buys a crusty old Russian sub and hires an even crustier crew of mates. Half the team is made up of angry old Russians, necessary to pilot the sub, while most of the others are comprised of volatile Brits and Aussies. There's Robinson's best friend Blackie (Konstantin Khabenskiy); Irish Navy pal, Reynolds (the great Michael Smiley); a handful of angry Russians with invaluable technical skills; and to give the film a touch of heart there's Tobin (Bobby Schofield), an 18-year-old rookie who is about to become a father. Between the Russians and the Brits the ethnic tensions are already at a fever pitch, and the spark to set them off is the psychotic Australian diver, Fraser (Ben Mendelsohn), who always seems to be on edge. There's also a shifty money guy (Scoot McNairy) sent to safeguard the investment.

The ship goes off without a hitch, but from there it's an all-too-quick descent into madness. Within minutes problems arise when Robinson explains that each crewmember is to receive an equal share of the loot, which drives Fraser dangerously over the edge. The simmering tensions are never given enough time to properly reach a boiling point, and most of the men are sketched out in the briefest of strokes. Even for Robinson, all we really know about him is learned from occasional flashbacks to a happy past (Jodie Whittaker plays his wife in these scenes but never utters a word), but that's it. The rest of the crew fare even worse and it's hard to gauge their personalities when allegiances begin shifting.

But there's also something pleasing in watching a bunch of roughnecks play out their personal vendettas in such a confined space. The Russians are superstitious (they think Tobin is a virgin, which is bad luck apparently) and stick to themselves, which drives Fraser even crazier until something terrible happens. Everything stems from the paranoia found in men on the verge of untold wealth; if all shares are equal then the shares get better when people die. The level of obsession driving these men, and the tensions that arise, don't stray far from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, only presented in a more workmanlike fashion. That extends to MacDonald's functional direction which keeps the pace moving and the anxiety building, although the visual effects are less than impressive. A brief walk across the sea floor is poorly lit and confusingly shot, but choreographing action has never been strength for MacDonald. At two hours in length audiences may start to feel enclosed in by the rusty metal surroundings in Black Sea and wish it would stop and come up for air. MacDonald has assembled a great collection of veteran character actors and watching them muscle in on one another is what the film does best, although it's Mendelsohn's mercurial performance that stands out from the rest. When it comes to playing the resident hot-head few can do it better.

While Black Sea makes for a solid popcorn thriller about tough men driven by greed, that it explores larger societal issues is a powerful torpedo in its arsenal.

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'Mississippi Grind' starring Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds

Maybe we're witnessing the rebirth of the modern gambling movie? Just weeks after Mark Wahlberg's remake of The Gambler, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are giving us another look at those who like to risk it all in Mississippi Grind, a film about two guys teetering on opposite ends of Lady Luck's scale. Fleck and Boden, who excelled with the Ryan Gosling-led character drama Half Nelson, won modest praise for the documentary Sugar, and were completely ignored for the underrated It's Kind of a Funny Story, have dealt out an enjoyable but not entirely successful road trip story of second chances and the fickle whims of fate.

The ever-busy Ben Mendelsohn stars as down-on-his-luck Gerry, a guy who seems basically born to lose. It's like he's got William H. Macy's character in The Cooler (another great gambling flick) hovering over his life at all times. "I'm bad with money" he admits mournfully, but there's a cheeky smile when explaining that he owes money to "everybody". His losing streak comes to an abrupt end when Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) sweeps into a poker match and wins everybody's admiration, most of all Gerry's. Who is this cool cat, anyway? Curtis is a total pariah but he's slick, charming, funny, and always seems to know the right thing to say. He's got confidence in spades, something Gerry may have once had but hasn't for a very long time. After a thinly veiled threat from his bookie (Alfre Woodard in a surprising turn), Gerry convinces Curtis to go on the grind from Mississippi to New Orleans, hitting all of the action on the way to a high-stakes finale.

While the film has elements of buddy road trip comedies, it owes a much larger debt to the shaggy dog gambling films of decades past, from California Split to James Toback's original The Gambler. To emphasize the point, Toback even shows up in a brief cameo and the scene has all of the musculature one would expect if he were writing the screenplay himself. While we see Gerry and Curtis bond on their journey, ultimately the film is about their self-destructive qualities, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Curtis travels the country on a lark, stopping to visit the prostitute girlfriend Simone (Sienna Miller) he can't admit to loving. Meanwhile, Gerry is just a complete degenerate. At first we find his sadsack qualities somewhat endearing but that fades as he lies, cheats, and steals to feed his habit. Fleck and Boden fight to make him sympathetic again, but by the time Curtis has had enough of him it's a wonder he hadn't folded already.

The bromantic chemistry between Mendelsohn and Reynolds goes a long way, though, and the film is always worthy of our attentions. The gambling scenes have the energetic spark of high-risk action, and the dialogue runs fast and free like the spin of a roulette wheel. It's the somber, reflective moments that don't quite ring true. We keep hoping they'll find another poker tournament to enter when the guys start wallowing in their self-pity. Backed by a wonderfully bluesy soundtrack and smoky barroom cinematography, the film's aesthetic touches put you right in the moment waiting for the turn of the river and the roll of the dice.

Of course there's the promise of a huge payout at the end of Gerry and Curtis' journey, but Fleck and Boden don't seem to know when to cash out. Instead the film continues to play hand-after-hand, hitting the same themes repeatedly and passing on every natural point to wrap up. Perhaps they were waiting for the big score of a crowdpleasing finish, but it doesn't really mesh with the film's somewhat downbeat tone. Mississippi Grind has a number of strong cards in its favor but barely manages to play a winning hand.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'Slow West' starring Michael Fassbender and Kodi Smit-McPhee

There's no place for love in the harsh, barren landscape of the Old West, but apparently there's plenty of room for humor. John Maclean's inventive, witty Western Slow West is an odd stab at an oft-deconstructed genre. Certainly a good deal funnier and smarter than A Million Ways to Die in the West without making much of an effort to be so, the film also has the violence and bravado we've come to expect from the genre.

Kodi Smit-McPhee leads this Wild West oater as Jay Cavendish, a lovelorn young man traveling the merciless frontier to find his lady love, Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius). Along with her father (Rory McCann), Rose has fled to escape the law after a murder. But Jay has no clue the woman he seeks is a fugitive, he's just following where his heart leads him. Jay isn't built for the dangers he'll face and would probably die a horrible death if it weren't for Silas (Michael Fassbender), a gunslinging outlaw he encounters totally by chance. They strike a deal: Silas will accompany Jay and keep him alive for a fee, if they manage to survive.

If you've seen True Grit or any one of many Westerns about mismatched pairs on the dusty trail, then it won't be a surprise to learn Jay and Silas don't exactly start off as best buds. Silas is a killer, a shoot-first type and Jay takes issue with his approach even as it saves their lives time and again. But Silas is nothing compared to what's on their tail, including a gang of thugs led by Payne (Ben Mendelsohn), and other bounty hunters looking to collect.

Maclean slyly comments on familiar themes in the Western genre, from the inherent evil within man to the cultural devastation done to the Native Americans as this country was built. Using an economy of dialogue and striking visuals, Maclean tells a simple but soulful story that hits you with bursts of bloodshed and sharp gallows humor. Gun fights are frequent but short-lived, and each death has a certain impact on both Jay and Silas' journey. While not truly a story of redemption, as most of these "trail" movies tend to be, Slow West dispels notions of what it means to be a hero in the Old West.

Fassbender does most of his talking in narration, waxing poetically on the "jackrabbit" Jay while treating him gruffly in actual conversation. Mostly he's a man of action with a commanding countenance that meshes well with Smit-McPhee's naivete. And of course it's always great any time Mendelsohn gets to play the bad guy, although his role here is more patriarchal than flamboyantly villainous. Jed Kurzel's score fits the mercurial tone of the film, bounding between dusty guitar riffs and lightly comedic chords.  While some may complain about the movie's pacing, it's an extremely linear narrative...plus nobody can argue about false advertising. It's called Slow West for a reason.  At barely 90 minutes in length you won't care for long that the film takes its time getting where it needs to go, and that's one final, epic gunfight that again bucks our every expectation. For his directorial debut, Mclean has chosen a tough genre to crack successfully, but Slow West works on just about every level and is worth making a journey to see.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'Dope' starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, and Zoe Kravitz

Having grown up in the '90s and been deep into the hip-hop culture, I have a pretty good sense for those who have a genuine feel for the era. It was a time when hip-hop was at its creative peak from a musical and fashion sense, but also in the way rappers expressed themselves as individuals. Being "real" is at the core of Rick Famuyiwa's kinetic comedy Dope, a fast-paced throwback that is a little like a mix of House Party and Boyz n the Hood. At the time of this review Dope is the big winner of the Sundance Film Festival, sparking a bidding war that ultimately scored a whopping $7M. Normally the financials are the last thing one should be concerned with, but in the case of Dope it's an indication of the film's wide crossover appeal that may surpass last year's breakout comedy, Dear White People.

But is Dope worth all of the attention it's getting? Absolutely, but to say it isn't a little overhyped would be lying. The film's greatest hook is in the opening 30 minutes as we're introduced to geeky best friends Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori), and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Although the film is set in contemporary Inglewood, CA in the tough part of town known as "The Bottoms", Malcolm and his crew are old school. He rocks a high-top fade, wears Cross Colours, and indulges in other "white things" like Donald Glover and manga comics. They even speak in the slang of the time which everybody thinks is pretty wack.  Growing up in the 'hood is tough enough with the ever-present threat of street violence, but Malcolm and his crew are obvious targets for bullies.

The charm comes in the nostalgic hip-hop packaging with beats by Naughty by Nature, Nas, along with original tracks by Pharrell. And at least through the opening minutes as Malcolm and his crew establish themselves as 'hood outsiders, the film is incredibly entertaining and hilarious. Malcolm is a smart kid with dreams of graduating high school and going to Harvard, but kids from "The Bottoms" rarely get that far. Famuyiwa has plenty to say about the tough circumstances for those growing up in a neighborhood where there is little hope for success, and those who strive to better themselves are looked at as weak. If Malcolm is going to go to Harvard, it's going to take a move of legendary proportions to do it. Fortunately that opportunity arrives after a chance encounter with Dom (A$AP Rocky), a local hood who needs Malcolm's help hooking up with Nakia (Zoe Kravitz), who is hoping to earn her GED and escape to a better life.

Things start to get serious when Malcolm gets involved in a drug deal involving Dom and some rival gangsters who bust up in a nightclub ready to kill. For a good stretch of the film it becomes, essentially, a crime movie as Malcolm is stuck with a huge stash of drugs and no good options for getting rid of them.  The film is all about making the best of a bad situation, and Famuyiwa cleverly weaves in all of Malcolm's various subplots into one. Showing that he's got a handle on modern technology, Famuyiwa's screenplay includes references to the underground currency Bitcoin, Snapchat, and more. One of the funniest sequences involves a viral campaign, a drug nicknamed #Lily for a slutty chick Malcolm encounters, and a hilarious use of the word "poundcake".  The film remains entertaining throughout but the lengthy drug selling plot takes away from what worked best which is Malcolm and his friends just hanging out. That they never really try to conform is also one of the story's finest qualities, and the film works best when it doesn't try to fit into any specific genre, either. That makes a closing speech by Malcolm, done in the badly-overused "college application" trope, all the less effective. While what he says about race factoring into his future prospects is powerful, it's a little too serious and on-the-nose to fit with the tone of the rest of the film. That he then immediately takes a symbolic action that contradicts his non-conformist personality also doesn't make sense given the message Famuyiwa had spent the entire film sending.

When Dope refuses to fall into any direct labels it's one of the smartest and funniest urban comedies we've seen in a long time. Even when it's less than perfect, Dope is pretty fresh.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl' starring Bel Powley and Kristen Wiig

The indie scene is chock full of films about female sexual awakening, and most attempt to tell the  same edgy story. Few pull it off; either they're too soft or exploit the subject in ways that can be considered ugly. Marielle Heller's assertive directorial debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl does what many other films attempt which is push the limits in exploring the unchecked sexual desires of one atypical girl in 1976 San Francisco.

Anchored by a raw, untamed central performance by British actress Bel Powley, the film grabs your attention right away as 15-year-old Minnie reveals she just had sex for the first time. Against the backdrop of the west coast hippie and feminist movement there's an endearing spirit of rebellion against societal norms, and Minnie is swept up in it. But for all her hope that she's made the transition into womanhood, she's still very much an immature child. Blabbing into her tape recorder she reveals that her lover was Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard), the boyfriend to her mother Charlotte (Kristen Wiig), an alcoholic with trouble holding on to men. That Charlotte perceives her daughter as a rival isn't lost on Minnie, but it actually drives her to pursue the relationship further. She begins to revel in the danger of it, but also the feeling of being sexually attractive to men because she always perceived herself as ugly and fat.

The road Minnie travels is a familiar one of sexual experimentation bordering on nymphomania. There's of course sex with Monroe, but also sex with strangers, group sex, and a disturbing bout with prostitution that nearly crosses the line into bad taste. Hellner's unflinching portrayal of it is refreshing but Minnie's story is also consistently predictable. Based on the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, Hellner attempts to weave in brief, American Splendor-esque animated sequences that are beautiful but seem divorced from the narrative. While the case isn't completely made that all of Minnie's questionable behavior will build her into a confident woman, it does celebrate that she'll always be true to herself without the need for male validation. At a time when Hollywood is often and rightly criticized for its negative portrayals of women,  The Diary of a Teenage Girl sends a valuable message message about the value of self-worth.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'I Am Michael' starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto

If it's Sundance, then James Franco probably has two or three movies there and this year is no different. When not indulging in stoner comedies with his pals, Franco's drive as an indie filmmaker and actor has seen him exploring themes of sexual identity, especially when it pertains to homosexuality. Franco's latest film, I Am Michael, is easily the most thought-provoking work he has done in this milieu yet as it deals with the true story of a formerly gay man who renounce his homosexuality.

This isn't just any ordinary man, though, as Franco plays rabble-rousing gay activist Michael Glatze, former editor of popular gay magazine 'XY'. When we first meet him it's much later on during his time as a Christian pastor, warning a young man not to give in to his homosexual urges. As a mocking counterpoint, of which the film has many, we are jumped back ten years to 1998 San Francisco when Michael was a very different man. Then he was energetic, young, and very gay; living in domestic bliss with his architect boyfriend Bennett (Zachary Quinto) and running 'XY' as the editor and lead voice. A move to Halifax puts a strain on their relationship, but it is soon bolstered by the presence of Tyler (Charlie Carver), a young college student who shares their bed. Michael continues to fight for gay causes and even embarks on a road trip to mount a documentary on gay youth. After once encouraging homosexuals to be loud and proud about who they are, he begins to adopt the notion that labels of any kind are misguided. It's a fair assessment to make, but Michael soon begins to question everything he thought he knew. Despite the evil acts committed by Christians against gays, such as the Matthew Shepard murder, is it fair to label all Christians as "evil"?

When a series of health problems arise, Michael finds himself turning towards God in a way he never has before. He's consumed with the desire to be reunited with his late mother and to be seen favorably in the eyes of the Lord, and this change naturally has a dramatic effect on Bennett, as well, who openly wonders where the Michael he knew has gone. But Michael insists that he's still only trying to break through stereotypes and go beyond the labels, even as his increased use of extreme fundamentalist dogma says otherwise. It isn't long before Michael has pulled away from the life he knew completely, renouncing his homosexuality and proclaiming that he is and always has been a heterosexual with "homosexual problem".

For writer/director Justin Kelly, Michael's evolution, if one can call it that, is clearly a confused one filled with contradictions. The film begins mostly in biographical fashion, free of judgment as Michael lives his life as a gay rights activist. Kelly is quick to show how truly happy Michael was during this time as a contrast to the somber, conflicted man he appears to be later on after his conversion. But Kelly also manages to consider Michael on an even level for the most part, taking great pains not to ridicule his choices no matter how ridiculous some of them may seem. His transformation is depicted honestly, if curiously, as an alienated man simply trying to find some sense of belonging. All of the babble he piles on about reaching Heaven and earning God's favor comes off as slightly disingenuous, and it's during those brief, somber moments when he reaches out (usually by phone) to Bennett that he's truly himself again. When Michael joins a Bible school and forges a romantic heterosexual relationship with a young classmate (Emma Roberts), it's perhaps the surest step in the new direction he is going. If the screenplay is perhaps a bit simplistic and laborious at times, it's kind of understandable because Michael is a constant work-in-progress. To completely understand him is impossible given that he barely seems to understand himself.  Franco is in charge of practically every scene and it's one of the most textured performances he's ever given considering the world of difference between the vibrant young Michael and the mysterious, closed-off individual he becomes later on.

I Am Michael isn't a feel-good story by any means. It's not the story of a man who came to discover his true place in the world. Instead it's a sad but fascinating look at a man who was unable to see that the one thing he wanted most in the world, acceptance, was already in his grasp and he threw it all away.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'Z for Zachariah' starring Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine

In 2012 Craig Zobel's impressive but difficult to endure directorial debut Compliance looked with dim-colored glasses at the ways power can be used to control others. His follow-up, the sci-fi flavored Z for Zachariah also looks at authority, albeit a much higher one, and how one's faith can be manipulated by others to achieve their ends, but also how we use it to lie to ourselves about our own desires.

Only three characters occupy space in this intimate but gripping thriller set in the wake of a disaster that has destroyed the human population and rendered much of the planet uninhabitable.  Margot Robbie trades in the glamorous characters we're accustomed to seeing her in for the role of Ann, the lone survivor in a pocket of unaffected land. More than capable of surviving on her own, although her trusty dog is by her side, Ann hunts and farms to eke out a meager, lonely existence.  That changes when she encounters Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the first human she's seen in ages and a lifeline out of her despair. It's clear he's been in much the same boat, and after an accident leaves him sick with radiation poisoning the two set aside their mutual mistrust to take care of one another.

Anytime two lonely people are placed in such close proximity the spark of romance is probable, but it's inevitable given the extreme nature of their circumstances.  And while Zobel slowly builds to that passion through their work to build a sustainable life, he's more interested in the ideological differences that could derail everything.  She's driven by the power of her religious convictions, believing to the core of her being that God has done all of this for a reason. Loomis, while not an outright atheist, is a scientist who has no qualms about tearing down her father's old church to build a power source to survive a harsh winter. While there are no pointed, heated debates, the film is too elegantly constructed for that,  it's never far out of mind as new temptations creep into their lives. The arrival of a shady but charming drifter named Caleb (Chris Pine) awakens the passion in Ann, while also providing her an outlet to express her faith. Naturally it doesn't please Loomis to nearly the same degree, and soon the pressure builds between both men as they subtly one-up each other to win Ann's love.

Rich with themes of jealousy, contempt, and lust, Z for Zachariah explores the internal conflict between the needs of the flesh and of the soul. It's a powerful follow-up for Zobel, and he's proving to be a director capable of pulling the best from his actors. It's refreshing to see Robbie in a complicated, vanity-free role like this as she was already getting pigeonholed as a screen vixen. As Ann she gets to show a vulnerability we've yet to see from her before, and at this point one has to recognize how integral she's been to the success of every film she's been in. Ejiofor is simply amazing once again, and perhaps has the most complicated, wide-ranging role to play. Once again Ejiofor is placed in the role of a man forced to endure hardships, both great and small, for a chance to live the life he imagined. Pine's role is less defined than the others but its good to see him outside of a larger ensemble for once.

While predicting which films will go on to greater things outside of the festival is always tricky, Z for Zachariah is a masterfully done film of deep complexity that everyone would be wise to seek out.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'Stockholm, Pennsylvania' starring Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Nixon

The return of a kidnapped child should be a happy thing, and in the movies or some TV drama perhaps it is. But the reality is that's only the beginning of the story and the road to recovery for the victim and her parents alike. Nicole Beckwith's directorial debut Stockholm, PA begins as a powerful look at a family whose lives were ripped apart by such a tragedy and the continued pain of reforming that familial bond once it has been severed, but then the film devolves into ugly, useless histrionics that are more laughable than meaningful.

Saoirse Ronan stars as Leia, although her actual name is Leanne. That's what her parents (Cynthia Nixon as Marcy and David Warshovsky as the barely-present father) named her, before she was kidnapped from them 18 years earlier. Now she's suddenly returned, but having lived a life under the "loving" care of her captor  (Jason Isaacs), trapped in a basement with no exposure to the outside world, Leanne is basically beginning again from scratch.  She has no memory of her life before; all she's ever really known is the life she had in that basement, taught oddly-cultist teachings about the universe and the supposed destruction of humanity.

At first it looks as if Beckwith intends to take a We Need to Talk About Kevin-type look at what happens when the maternal bond is either nonexistent or destroyed. Both women have no idea how to move on beyond the tragedy, and being stuck in the past has left them incapable of coming together. Marcy sees the daughter she loved as a child and treats her as she used to, but Leanne sees her parents as complete strangers.  Complicating the matter is that Leanne's abductor was never cruel; he loved her as his own child, and her feelings for him haven't dimmed even as he rots away in prison. She doesn't understand why others think of him as a monster. As the two women fail to connect, a schism forms between Marcy and her husband who doesn't understand why everybody can't just move on. It's not that simple, and Beckwith  treats the issue with the nuance it deserves.

But then...it's like a light flips and the whole thing goes skidding over the cliff. Perhaps Beckwith didn't have faith in the material, or didn't know how to resolve it, but soon Marcy becomes increasingly demanding and possessive. Locking Leanne away and basically keeping her captive, her mental state spirals out of control until she becomes kind of a joke. Fed on a strict schedule and kept away from the prying eyes of others, Leanne becomes prisoner to an entirely new captor, but another who claims to do so out of love. There's an ugly cycle being spun and Beckwith's attempts to explore that are lost as the film becomes a complete joke of cornball theatrics and angry tirades, the kind of which you'd see on some bad telefilm. Nixon, looking thin and twitchy and less Miranda than ever, is forced to match the incoherence of the screenplay. For Ronan it's at least the fourth time she's played a character with a limited view of the world (Atonement, Hanna, The Host being the others) and she again taps into that innocence in another great performance.

Stockholm, Pennsylvania deals with complicated subject matter, and while there was no easy path to finding a satisfying resolution it doesn't excuse the crucial mistake in tone Beckwith commits.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: David Robert Mitchell's 'It Follows' starring Maika Monroe

Chances are if you want to survive pretty much any slasher film the wisest course of action is to keep your pants on. The familiar patterns of sex-crazed teens meeting a grisly doom in horror movies is given a fresh twist in David Robert Mitchell's buzzed-about horror, It Follow, which has been the talk of genre fanatics since debuting at Cannes last year. While some of the chatter amounts to a great deal of hype, there's no denying the ingenious premise that plays around with genre conventions. It's just a question whether horror enthusiasts will find it scary enough to fit the bill.

The film begins in disturbing and confusing fashion as a young girl races from her suburban home, chased by some kind of spirit. Her grisly fate is basically a giant warning against running in stiletto heels, but before we have time to fully process what just happened we're introduced to another beautiful young woman. Jay (Maika Monroe) is extremely popular with the boys, or so suggests her younger sister Kelly (Lili Sepe), and it's easy to see why. She's gorgeous, fun, and the kind of girl her poor, lovelorn pal Paul (Keir Gilchrist) would love to be with. But she's got a new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), and after having sex with him for the first time he does worse than become distant like many guys do. Instead he chloroforms then kidnaps her, tying Jay to a chair so he can explain that he has just given her what amounts to a sexually transmitted haunting. Basically, she will be forever followed by some kind of demonic spirit, always seen walking towards her in slow but determined manner. If it reaches her, it will kill her, and it can take any human form it wants, usually one that will cause the most emotional torment. The only way she can help herself is to have sex with another and pass it to them, just as Jay did to her.

Naturally, Jay thinks this is all a bunch of b.s., even as she begins to see strange people following her in places they shouldn't be. At first it doesn't seem like a big deal because the entity moves so slowly, but the steady persistence of it is what can be so unnerving. But that's about as far as Mitchell takes it as the film rarely aims for outright scares. Much of the time is spent with Jay, Kelly, Paul, well-read buddy Yara (Olivia Lucardi), and the sexy neighbor boy Greg (Daniel Zovatto) as they lounge around waiting for something terrible to happen. It takes some convincing, like the entity's physical assault on Jay and Paul, for them to believe any of this is real but even afterwards they seem at a loss to do anything about it.  The slow pace of it will turn many off but the nerve-racking, surreal cinematography by Michael Gioulakis is enough to cause a mental breakdown. Rarely has the long camera shot been used to such great atmospheric effect, and when paired with Rich Vreeland's fantastic ear-splitting score it makes one wish there weren't so many lulls in the action.

Fortunately the strength of the concept and the aesthetic touches are more than enough to carry it through. The idea at it's core is simple genius and explores all of the ways sex can be a nightmare in and of itself. One could easily draw parallels between the haunting and the spread of STDs, but also the social stigma that follows when one's sexual endeavors become common knowledge. That reputation can follow and spread to others like a disease, with no real cure in sight. Mitchell touches upon these themes expertly but doesn't always seem to have the entity completely figured out. Is it real or some kind of phantom? Ultimately the plan they hatch to defeat it is divorced from the paranormal realm and thus is completely unsatisfying.

With moody atmospherics, an ingenious premise, but shaky execution as a true horror, It Follows is a lot like sex; even when it's kind of bad it's still pretty good.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'The Witch' starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Ineson

There's a reason why the Salem witch trials remain such a frequent touchstone in the horror genre; religious paranoia and hysteria is terrifying in its resonance. While Robert Eggers' directorial debut The Witch  is set some years prior to the trials themselves, it expertly uses genre tropes and ancient folklore to create an ominously detailed backdrop upon which those future horrors will be committed.

Set in 17th century New England, the film is largely set on the wooded outskirts of a Puritan village where William (Ralph Ineson) and his family have been banished . The reasons for it are kept a tantalizing mystery, but the religious schism between him and the church is clear.  Building a life in the blight-ravaged farmland proves more than a typical hardship. Something, possibly supernatural,  is amiss that defies the bounds of common logic. William uses scripture as strength to persevere but his harsh wife Katherine (Kate Dickie) is spiraling slowly into madness. Full blown panic ensues when the youngest son Samuel vanishes while in the care of eldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). Whispers of a terrible witch living in the woods don't take long to be confirmed as we see the child's bloody and disturbing fate.

While Katherine makes Thomasin the target of her rage, the family's situation grows more dire, with Eggers piling on threats both real and imagined to keep them and us off balance. Their strong, brave son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), nearing the age of sexual desire, encounters a beautiful woman who is not as she seems. Between his sudden, deathly illness, the foreboding cries of witchcraft by twin siblings Jonas and Mercy, plus the worsening living conditions it becomes a test of their faith against the evil right in front of their eyes. As the family begins to turn on one another, crumbling that foundation by which faith takes root, Eggers ratchets up the tension more while piling up the body count. With its use of religious imagery and paranormal thrills, plus the icy chill of Jarin Blaschke's cinematography, it combines some of the best aspects of The Crucible and The Exorcist while a tense musical score always keeps you on edge.

Bringing it all together is the strength of the performances, most notably Taylor-Joy as the blossoming but tormented Thomasin. Dickie brings a similar mental fragility as she did as Lysa Arryn on HBO's Game of Thrones, and chances are those who follow that show will feel the same about her character here. Eggers remains ambiguous throughout until a questionable conclusion that threatens to be a little too on-the-nose, but The Witch remains a frightening look at what happens when one's unshakable faith collides with a frightening reality.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Sundance Review: 'The Bronze' starring Melissa Rauch

Women's gymnastics is a cutthroat sport; not like figure skating where the ladies occasionally bash one another with lead pipes, but it's still pretty ugly. The girls, because that's what they really are, get worked to death in order to attain a measure of perfection that must extend to their daily lives. Win and you'll be a hero...for awhile, but you're considered old long before the age of 20 ever hits. And then what? In Melissa Rauch's dark comedy The Bronze it leads to a case of terminal arrested development worthy of a gold medal, although the film itself is maybe funny enough to earn...well, a bronze.

Rauch, who stars on CBS' The Big Bang Theory, plays Hope Ann Greggory, a gymnast who snapped her achilles during the 2004 Olympics and hung in there, Kerri Strug-style, to stick an impossible landing and earn a bronze medal. It made her an instant celebrity and national hero, but years later she's bitter as Hell with nothing to show for her past accomplishments. She lives at home with her lonely father Stan (Gary Cole) and basks in her former glories. The well-worn tape of her Olympic feat is masturbation material for the most part, and Hope cashes in on her fame for cheap sex and free food. Worst of all, she's a complete snot to her father and everyone she knows, which includes Maggie Townsend (Haley Lu Richardson), the hot young gymnast expected to be an Olympic champ.

While the show pony world of gymnastics is begging to be ripped in satirical fashion, Rauch's screenplay doesn't analyze the sport so much as use it as a backdrop to explore a life in a comical state of crisis. The problem is that Hope's life isn't all that humorous, it's just kind of pathetic, and too often Rauch goes overboard in trying to find laughs where there are none. When Hope's former trainer commits suicide, she's compelled to become Maggie's new trainer all the way through championships and earn $500,000. Does she train Maggie and see her position as town superstar supplanted? Or does she sabotage her efforts and risk losing the money? A few dozen hamburgers and milkshakes later and Hope is well on her way to derailing Maggie's career, which is funny to watch but doesn't exactly endear her to you in any way. The redemptive course she embarks on, because there inevitably has to be one, is complicated by the arrogant Lance Tucker (Sebastian Stan), a past champ and fling who Hope shares a love/hate relationship with. The two share one fantastically bizarre sexual encounter that must be like every gymnast's wet dream. The gym rings have never been put to such good use. It's a great scene that shows director Bryan Buckley's visual inventiveness and Rauch's commitment to a pretty raunchy role. The problem is that it never quite becomes engaging until she sparks a genuinely sweet but rocky romance with Ben (Thomas Middleditch), nicknamed "Twitchy" because of frequent and unexplained spasms. Middleditch gets some good mileage out of Twitchy's condition but he finds some solid chemistry with Rauch and gives the film a hopeful touch it sorely needed.

The Bronze never quite comes together as the laugh-out-loud riot some had pegged it to be heading into Sundance, and while it stumbles through the routine much of the way it just manages to stick the landing.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Review: 'Song One' starring Anne Hathaway and Johnny Flynn

 NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from last year's Sundance Film Festival. 

Coming off Anne Hathaway's unforgettable, heartbreaking cries in Les Miserables, one might expect that seeing her in a film titled Song One would promise a similar emotional tenor. Nothing could be further from reality, other than the many chirpy contrivances in this airy story about a folk musician and an anthropologist who find love in the midst of sudden tragedy.

Henry (Ben Rosenfield) is one of those passionate sub-indie musicians plying his trade in the New York subway system, playing for pennies so that he can afford to upload his music to MySpace or something. Pursuing his dreams put him at odds with his sister Franny (Hathaway), who is off studying the native tribes of Morocco for her PhD. Their last conversation was heated and hurtful, and they've been estranged ever since. When an accident lands Henry in a coma, all she can recall is how angry they had left things, and decides to do something about. Hoping sensory recall will bring him back, Franny captures all of Henry's favorite sounds and smells, spending every waking moment by his bedside along with their mother (Mary Steenburgen), who resents her daughter's distance. Rifling through things, Franny discovers a concert ticket to see Henry's favorite musician, James Forester (real-life musician Johnny Flynn), and is instantly smitten with both the man and his brand of coffee house folk.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the two hit it off and soon they are inseparable. Franny brings him to Henry's hospital room to perform for his greatest fan, and she becomes James' top groupie attending all of his concerts. After a hit album five years earlier, James has been touring the clubs of New York, but is now due to return home in a matter of days. Will Henry come out of his coma in time? Will Franny drop her boring career path and embark on a life of musical creativity with James? Will your teeth rot out from this sickeningly sweet extended meet-cute?

Snark aside, there are a few genuine moments between Franny and James as she discovers her own love of music and he is all too happy to share his. Hathaway doesn't get to let the pipes ring out too much, other than a few lines here or there, but Flynn gets multiple opportunities on stage. The film really counts on you digging his sound to help bolster the fairly common love story, but the tracks are rather flavorless and indistinct. Written and directed by first-timer Kate Barker-Froyland, the film has more than its share of tonal misfires. It's always going to be weird when people are chatting away and playing music around a comatose patient, but that awkwardness extends out of the hospital, as well. Hathaway isn't stretching herself too much playing the grieving sister, but Flynn is about as vanilla bland as they come. It's hard to believe this guy has such a commanding presence he's surrounded by a throng of devotees at all times. A film like this should have no problem rounding up an audience looking for an easy, romantic tune to follow, but those hoping for something more will find Song One is a little out of rhythm.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Review: Xavier Dolan's 'Mommy' starring Anne Dorval and Antoine Olivier Pilon

 

NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Virginia Film Festival.

The first film by Canadian auteur/enfant terrible Xavier Dolan came at the age of 19, titled I Killed My Mother for reasons that would become startlingly clear. Essentially a primal scream of pure rage with Dolan himself in the lead role, it was an exploration of an incredibly complex mother/son relationship, one fueled by betrayal, disappointment, and hate. At only 25 years of age, Dolan's fifth film Mommy shows not only an emotional maturity beyond his years, but his evolution as a filmmaker. Brimming with energy, this intoxiciating, vibrant film is filled with the stuff that makes life....life.  Heartbreaking, joyous, sad, and glorious, Mommy is pure exhilaration, the kind of film that will have those unfamiliar with Dolan racing to find his other work.

How good is this film? Let's just say I never thought Oasis' "Wonderwall" would fill my heart with the kind of happiness it does in Mommy, during what can best be described as a montage. Dolan uses them to tremendous effect here, not as a time-saving plot device but in a way that captures real emotional growth. Dolan shows blossoming technical acumen in his use of sound, score, and even the 1:1 aspect ration, which is used through at least 95% of the film, only changing at moments best left discovered for oneself, but boy are they grand. Dolan stays behind the camera for this, with the incredible Antoine Olivier Pilon playing his surrogate as Steve, a violently ADHD-afflicted 14-year-old in Montreal. The title character is Diane or "Die", played by Dolan favorite Anne Dorval. From the moment we meet Die we think we have her pegged. Middle-aged former beauty, arrogant, provocative, and certainly profane; and yes she's all of those things but so much more. She's also a widow of three years, and at the outset she's being informed her teenaged son Steve (Pilon) is being kicked out of the detention facility for setting a fire that badly burned another person. At first we think her initial hesitation at getting her son back is that he'll cramp her style, but then we meet him and find out the real reason. Steve is a handful; unpredictable, given to moments of genuine kindness one moment, deadly violent outbursts the next. Socially he's pretty much unviable, capable of extreme racism, sexism, and cruelty at the slightest provocation. He'd be too much for a mother with all the time in the world, but not for Die who is barely capable of taking care of herself it seems.

Immediately we're enthralled  by the nature of their high-wire relationship. They argue, fight, make up, reveal kindnesses, resembling siblings more than a mother and son. And their battles are intense, abusive and often frightening, but there's a deep love in there that Dolan never keeps too far out of reach. Into this volatile situation enters a calming influence in their mousy neighbor, Kyra (Suzanne Clement), on "break" from her job as a school teacher for what we are left to assume is depression. Whatever the inciting incident, it's left her introverted and stuttering, which Die and Steve are more than happy to make fun of...at least initially. But the two women get along better than either could have expected, quickly becoming sisters with Steve as their emotional anchor. Kyra agrees to home school Steve, and while we think he'll bully her into submission she shows an unexpected fire that puts him flat on his ass in one especially memorable scene.  The entire film is full of surprises, with characters we've grown comfortable with revealing new layers as the story progresses, keeping us gleefully on our toes.

It all sounds like the plot of some sitcom: "A mom, her boy, and the shy neighbor", but this is too audacious of an effort by Dolan to ever be simplified in such a manner.  Beyond just the bold music choices, which include a number of glossy pop hits you'd never think to have genuine emotional heft, but also in the messy and uncomfortable relationship between Steve and Die. Of course he's dangerously possessive of his mother while idolizing his late father, and his energy around her borders on incestuous. Naturally this means any man trying to date her is due for a rude awakening, which causes a huge rift between the pair. He needs her love to survive, achingly telling her "I'm afraid you'll stop loving me". For all his bravado and swagger, Steve is still a child, with all the fears that come with it. And Die, who has shirked her maternal responsibility for so long, comes to realize that a mother's love for her son isn't something that just goes away. Her every action, no matter how devastating, and trust that there are some decisions she makes that are truly heartbreaking, is done out of love for Steve. There are some incredible highs, and when the trio are together expanding one another's horizons Mommy is a film that absolutely soars.  But it's just as quickly a punch to the gut that will leave you doubled over with anguish, a lot like life.

 Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Review: 'Cake' starring Jennifer Aniston, Anna Kendrick, and Sam Worthington

Oh quiet down, Team Jennifer fans: your favorite Friends star wasn't snubbed by the Oscars for her grief-stricken performance in Cake. That's not to say she isn't deserving of some measure of kudos for taking on a role much darker than we've seen since she was briefly an indie darling for The Good Girl. Aniston does deserve credit for that, but the film itself is an inelegant look at misery and depression that holds her back from reaching real emotional depths.

The oddly-titled Cake is just as odd of a nut to crack. At times it's so bleak and humorless that to watch it can be a real drag, but then the next moment it resembles a snarkier version of Spanglish, which is about as lame as that sounds. Aniston takes a break from the lame rom-coms and gives an intermittently powerful performance as Claire Simmons, a woman scarred in just about every way imaginable. Both physically and emotionally she is a damaged woman, who hides her pain by the constant taking of prescription pills and a "who gives a crap" attitude about everything. That includes her treatment of loyal housekeeper Silvana (Adrianna Barrazza), who functions as a sort of cheerful enabler to Claire's negativity. Claire is so terrible she's lost just about everyone: her husband (Chris Messina) has long since moved on; her support group wants her to seek help elsewhere; and even her physical therapist (Mamie Gummer) thinks she's given up.

While the story of an extreme depressive's turn towards redemption can be a powerful one if told with an honest accounting of struggles involved, Cake takes an unnecessarily quirky route and never quite recovers. After nearly killing herself on drugs, Claire begins to see visions of and have combative conversations with Nina (Anna Kendrick), a former member of her self-help group who committed suicide. Nina becomes obsessed with Nina's life, visiting her former home and encountering her widowed husband Roy (Sam Worthington), who seems remarkably open to being stalked by an unstable woman. He doesn't seem to mind that she keeps showing up out of the blue, and Claire doesn't mind using him to make herself feel better. She doesn't mind using anybody, for that matter. Claire is a user, first and foremost.

Claire is also not especially likable. She's not nearly as funny as the screenplay wants her to be, and every attempt to make her so comes across as mean-spirited and selfish. There isn't enough consistency in her character to make us pity her, and it's a complete disservice to Aniston who dives into Claire's grief with both feet. We've never seen her play a character this unhappy, this sour, this defeated by life, and it's startling given the sexy comedic roles she's had of late. While it doesn't rank with some of the more challenging female performances that did get Oscar nominations, Aniston has set herself up for greater dramatic roles in the future. With the warm, comforting Barrazza they make for an interesting oil & water duo to watch when not tripped up by shapeless screenplay. Unfortunately, Cake is an unsatisfying meal too unsure tonally and lacking in any serious revelations on breaking free of despair.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Review: 'Son of a Gun' starring Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites, and Alicia Vikander

The basic components of a great crime movie are pretty simple as for as I'm concerned: clever crime, dynamic personalities, and preferably some kind of energized sexual component from a hot femme fatale. On paper, Julius Avery's Australian crime flick Son of a Gun would seem to have some of those pieces in place with a cast that includes Ewan McGregor, rising star Brenton Thwaites, and Alicia Vikander. Is there plenty of action? Yes. Is it sexy? Sometimes, yeah. But clever it isn't, and the film comes across like any number of generic crime movies you might find on late night cable or On Demand.

Thwaites and his model good looks plays JR, a teenager we first meet as he's strip searched before starting a 6-month prison bid. This isn't going to be an easy stint, either, as the joint he's holed up in resembles the brutal confines of HBO's Oz or the gritty Brit drama Starred Up. JR's no wimp, but he's too pretty for a place like that and becomes the instant target of those looking for an easy mark. Fortunately he makes friends with Brendan (McGregor, scruffy and in full Scottish mode), a prison heavy who offers him protection....at a price. Brendan's not getting out any time soon, but when JR is released he aids in a ballsy prison escape involving helicopters and a wild shootout guaranteed to make the evening news. But that's not all, once on the outside Brendan enlists JR's help in another scheme; a heist that could net them $4M.

The expected complications arise in the form of their shady backer, Sam (Jacek Koman), who is a double-cross waiting to happen. And then there's the gorgeous Tasha (Vikander) who JR gets close to even though he knows it may upset Sam who is also close to her. You won't be surprised to learn she has aspirations of something better than being a crime boss' side piece, and JR is her ticket to it. Their relationship doesn't exactly calm Brendan's fears about being caught, either, since she's the kind of girl that grabs attention.

Avery, another in a growing line of talented Aussie filmmakers, has an eye for choreographing action but struggles with tone. There's an edge to the prison scenes that is curiously lost on the outside, and you can't help but wish they'd stayed behind bars and maintained a sense of unpredictability. The crime itself isn't especially inventive, and thus little tension in how it plays out. Where Son of a Gun excels is in the performances by McGregor and Vikander. McGregor may not be the perfect fit for a role like this, playing the bruising criminal, but that's exactly why it's so much fun to watch. He overpowers Thwaites in pretty much every scene, but the same can also be said for the excellent Vikander who finds moments of depth in a familiar role. It doesn't hurt that she's pretty good on the eyes, as well. Thwaites has the look of a movie star but is too vanilla to be memorable, and that is pretty much what could be said about Son of a Gun. It looks the part of a great heist movie but doesn't compare to those that that truly are.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Review: Michael Mann's 'Blackhat' starring Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis

Hey, who wants to watch a movie about hackers sitting around punching keys on a laptop? Hacking may sound awesome when Anonymous is issuing manifestos in Guy Fawkes masks, but the actual work of it is pretty damned dull. So who wants to watch a movie about hackers sitting around punching keys on a laptop? I do! At least when the director is Michael Mann and he can bring as much energy, flair, and action as he does in the cyber-thriller Blackhat.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first: none of it makes a lick of sense. We don't know what the heck these people are doing or talking about because hacking is over most of our heads.  A lesser screenplay and a less experienced director wouldn't know how to connect the audience with all the technical mumbo-jumbo. So Mann draws us in through actions and ever escalating ramifications, both on a global and personal scale. It begins when some kind of virus, shown sweeping through a Chinese computer system, causes a nuclear power plant to meltdown. America was hit by a similar attack but managed to catch it in time, so China's top security analyst Chen Dawai (Wang Leehom) teams up with FBI agent Carole Barrett (Viola Davis) to track down the "blackhat" responsible. To do it, Chen gets his buff hacker pal Hathaway spring from prison to help out. There's also Chen's hot hacker sis Lien (Tang Wei) who we know will hook up with Hathaway because....well, somebody has to. He's a hacker who looks like Thor! Somebody's definitely going to hook up with him and it won't be Viola Davis.

Tracking down the global terrorist takes the team to some of the slummiest hotels all around the world where they set up shop and start mashing keys. But this is Michael Mann and the whole thing is more of a visual exercise than one would expect it to be, and the immediacy he brings to each scene is palpable. Using a grittier digital look than we saw in Public Enemies, Mann works in some intense firefights on the city streets of Malaysia, Jakarta, and Hong Kong. He knows better than to waste a physical force like Hemsworth, putting his character in the thick of every battle and foot chase, and of course the occasional steamy sex scene. It's not a great performance by Hemsworth; he tends to mumble his lines and comes off more enigmatic than charismatic, but he gets to kick ass and crack high-level security codes, sometimes within moments of each other. That's a pretty sweet gig. Davis doesn't get to do as much as she probably should, while Tang Wei and Wang Leehom (both appeared in Lust, Caution) has an appeal that hopefully will cross over to U.S. shores.

The techno-babble Mann piles on is informative yet dull, but he makes up for it with an abundance of beautifully-staged action. Pretty soon Blackhat stops resembling a cyber-thriller and that's perfectly okay. Not everything about Blackhat is designed for us to understand, but like most of Mann's best work it hits you on a gut level. 

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Review: 'American Sniper' starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller

At what point does a Hollywood biopic delve so far into dramatization that the subject is completely lost? It's a delicate balance that is weighed frequently, and we've seen movies like Selma and Unbroken deal with the issue in different ways. One can either strip away the gloss to reveal the human core, which is what Selma does; or go Angelina Jolie's path and pump up the theatricality of an extraordinary life. But Clint Eastwood has something different to tangle with in American Sniper, which is based on the life of Chris Kyle, recognized as the most lethal marksman in military history. The film is taken from Kyle's own book, which details his multiple tours of duty in Iraq and the exploits that made him enemy #1 to insurgents. It's also one giant pat on the back; a self-congratulatory screed about how awesome Kyle sees himself. The book is also packed full of so many falsehoods that the adaptation can do nothing but be a fairly generic look at Kyle's life. To go any deeper would be to expose him as a fraud.

Apparently screenwriter Jason Hall, who previously wrote the terrible Ashton Kutcher flick Spread, didn't bother to look too deep into who Kyle was. Or perhaps he did, and that's why none of his lies are in the movie.  He's claimed a number of things that have been proven to be completely phony; from gunning down looters in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina to finding material for WMD in Iraq. With so many lies to his name it's a wonder anybody believes in his rep as such a lethal sniper, a claim which is mainly verified by the shooter himself. Without his reputation there's little that makes Kyle's story any different from every other modern story about war and the plight of soldiers returning home to find they no longer fit in normal society or with their families. Those who care will find it tough to reconcile the Kyle in the movie with the reality; others will find it a familiar, occasionally moving, but ultimately directionless peek through the crosshairs at the personal costs of war.

Bulked up and with a thick scruff of facial hair, the gleaming Bradley Cooper is barely recognizable as Kyle. Behind a thick Texas drawl we're introduced to the marksman as he peers through the scope at a suspicious Iraqi woman who has just handed something that looks like a bomb to a child. If he takes the shot and is wrong he'll be crucified for it; but the alternative is just as bad. Does he shoot? The wait is tense, excruciatingly so. Unfortunately it's at that moment we're taken into a flashback to Kyle's childhood hunting bucks with his father and revealing his "gift" for shooting. Later, Kyle has a brief stint in the rodeo before news reports of a terrorist attack drive him to enlist as a SEAL.  A sense of duty was something Kyle had in spades, but through the grind of SEAL training he found camaraderie, loyalty, and the need to protect his brothers-in-arms.

Okay, so now he's a soldier, but what's the movie about beyond him just gunning people down? Not long after training he meets the beautiful Taya (Sienna Miller, stuck in an endless string of "wife" roles) in a bar. They hit it off even though she's against dating self-involved soldiers. He takes offense to her comments but wins her over with his surprisingly disarming charm. They get married soon after, only to have the reception interrupted by "the call" that he's being deployed to Iraq.

There's the emotional hook we'd been waiting for. Every deployment seems to unravel Kyle a little bit further. The best scenes are the ones you'd expect from Eastwood and they mostly involve just Kyle alone with his rifle peering through the scope making life and death decisions. He's not portrayed as some glory hound or adrenaline junkie, he sees killing as simply a patriotic duty that needs to be fulfilled. But the toll on him is great, and each trip back seems to widen the emotional distance with Taya.  The problem is that she never really registers as a full character in contrast to Kyle. She gets pregnant, has a couple of kids with Kyle, but that's it. In one tremendously overdone and ridiculous moment, she's screaming with joy about having a baby while he's getting shot at on the other end of the line. And yeah, she's basically wailing in the front of the hospital while he's trying to duck for cover. That level of unbelievable histrionics happens far too often in the homestead scenes.

It's been awhile since Eastwood has made a true action movie but the intensity and immersive nature of the war scenes show he's still got what it takes. There's nothing flashy about most of it; a scope, the shattering bang of a shot, and the brutal consequences. Eastwood has been dabbling in dramas and musicals for far too long and he seems to revel in the chance to get dirty again. A crazy battle in the midst of a raging sandstorm is one of Eastwood's most impressive visual sequences ever. He should do more of it. Problems arise with the creation of a fictional rival for Kyle, an Iraqi marksman who leaps across rooftops like a cat and snipes American soldiers with ease. He's there to help give the film more purpose than it actually has, but his presence doesn't really make sense. It always feels shoe-horned in and that's because it was. American Sniper needs the help; it needs the boost of a made-up villain because ultimately it doesn't seem to be about much. The family scenes don't carry the weight needed to balance out the war scenes and truly reflect the price Kyle paid in service to his country. And without that, what's the point of this film? Is it to portray Kyle as a great war hero and stone-cold killer? The kind of guy who wrote in his book that the only thing he regrets is not killing more? The reality is that American Sniper has its own patriotic duty, and that's to sand down the edges of who Chris Kyle was. Doesn't make for the most interesting character to follow, and it prevents us from truly learning about the man or the truth about the effects war had on him. Perhaps it was dealing so much death and getting praised for it that transformed Kyle into the man he turned out to be, but American Sniper isn’t interested in exploring any of that.

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Review: JC Chandor's 'A Most Violent Year' starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain

There are many different ways a person can be tested, but not all of them make for good movies. With only three movies to his credit, J.C. Chandor has taken audiences through three very different fights for survival, each more gripping than the last. Margin Call, for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, took us through an intense economic meltdown; All is Lost depicted a physical battle for survival against Mother Nature. Chandor's latest, the gripping crime-thriller A Most Violent Year is his most perceptive yet and looks at one man's quest to achieve the American Dream while enduring the moral pitfalls at every turn.

A Most Violent Year is something of a cross between The Godfather and Macbeth; it's about power, the corrupting influence of it and the constant need to attain more of it. But the film is also about the choices made along the way. Does having power matter if the road to getting it is littered with moral and ethical compromises? Oscar Isaac, looking more like a young Al Pacino than ever before, plays Abel Morales, a heating oil magnate in 1981 New York. It's the most violent year in the city's record and Abel is dealing with a dilemma. He's just put down a hefty deposit for a prime piece of land that will completely evolve his business, but the balance must be paid within 30 days or the deal is off and the down payment lost. However his trucks are being hijacked at an increasing clip and the drivers are looking to arm themselves, which would be illegal. Oh, and the District Attorney (David Oyelowo) is in the midst of dogged investigation into the business for possible violations.

Making for a fiery, well-dressed instigator is his wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), the daughter of a mob boss who happens to be the business' original owner. She has her husband's back through thick and thin but she's got a dangerous edge that he simply doesn't. She's her father's daughter, that's for sure, and is willing to cross boundaries that Abel won't. As his pride clashes with her ambition the sparks ignite in unexpectedly gripping ways without fully crossing over into a murderous gangster movie. While there are brief bursts of violence you keep waiting for some kind of turf war to erupt but that never happens. Chandor instead thrills us with the choices his characters make and the implications of them. When Anna breaks out a gun for the first time we know it's going to be trouble. When hijackers seem to be targeting a weak-willed driver (Elyes Gamble) it turns into a situation that could destroy everything Abel has built. And through all of this Chandor keeps the tension on a slow boil, feeding us just enough action to keep us on the edge of our seats. A close-quarters shoot-out in the city streets followed by a dangerous foot race into the bowels of the city pay off in spades. Not every subplot pays off as satisfactorily as they could as Chandor tries to juggle a bit too much for everything to wrap up neatly.

After only dealing with Robert Redford in All is Lost, Chandor has gathered a superb and very large ensemble for A Most Violent Year. Isaac can add another must-see performance to his impressive resume as the calculating, simmering Abel. Chastain gets the flashiest role and the flashiest outfits as Anna, nailing a Brooklyn accent and Brooklyn swagger like a pro. Albert Brooks, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Oyelowo all bring their A-game to the table as Chandor proves again how good he is at pulling forth the best from his stars. Meanwhile cinematographer Bradford Young evokes the gritty street-level feel of early Martin Scorsese and Sydney Lumet, which when paired with Chandor's sharp screenplay makes A Most Violent Year one of the best crime movies in recent memory. Ultimately it's a film about doing whatever it takes to survive without losing one's sense of self in the process. They don't make movies like this much anymore when they used to be commonplace. A Most Violent Year is truly a rare breed.

 Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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