Movie-a-Week: 14 to go
The Brothers Bloom (imdb.com)
I’m not sure why this fell flat for me. Clever dialogue. Has two of my favorite current actors (Weisz & Ruffalo). Beautifully shot. But somewhere the story didn’t work. Maybe I like my con movies with just a little less “Rushmore” irony. Or maybe the cons themselves were less imaginative or interesting than the people carrying them out. Not sure, but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would.
The Fighter (imdb.com)
Enough’s been said about it – a terrific film. Exceptional acting. Only thing I’d point out is that the last quarter of the movie is further proof, much like “The Natural,” that a good story will make a sports movie’s action scenes irrelevant. The boxing sequences were “Rocky III”-bad on the believability scale. And I’m not sure Russell even cared about shooting them very realistic. They were still effective because we actually cared about the people involved. (Also effective because I didn’t know how much I missed Larry Merchant.)
Charlie Valentine (imdb.com)
Seemed like a can’t-miss premise. I think I was hoping for something along the lines of the terrific Terrance Stamp film, “The Limey.” But despite two lead actors that I really liked, the movie regresses to a film that could only have been appreciated in those few years immediately after “Reservoir Dogs” was released. I feel like I’ve seen this “look at all the shooting” ending a dozen times. A really disappointing film.
Inside Job (imdb.com)
Great documentary on the financial crisis. And even though there was no shooting, it definitely plays as bloody as “Charlie Valentine.” An unrelenting set of interviews, with key participants stammering and sweating – they often note who wouldn’t agree to be interviewed and it’s hard to not say, “good choice!” by watching those that did. Also deserves credit for extending the conversation past sub-prime and the overly-simplified “lender vs. homeowner” debate that hides some of the especially-egregious crimes. The ten minutes they spent on the role of higher ed and the self-fulfilling cycle that exists when academics and policy cross paths (or never diverge – as the same individuals move from one to the other cleanly, leaving crumbling messes in their wake)…that was some great dot-connecting. You don’t have to be right or left (Clinton’s years are taken to task as much as anyone’s) to find the information affecting. It’s a smart, goose-bumping, tick-you-off account that’s made me think about some things differently.
