After seeing the trailer, I thought that I knew everything about this movie before walking in, but I was wrong. Amy, Jack, and I laughed out loud many times all the way through this story of a divorced couple who have an affair even though the man has remarried. This is the fifth feature directed by Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998), What Women Want (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006); she wrote the screenplays for all 5) and I enjoyed them all. Before those, she co-wrote with her then-husband Charles Shyer, who directed their scripts for Father of the Bride I-II (1987, 1991), Baby Boom (1987), and, a personal favorite of mine, with reservations (loved the Shelly Long-Ryan O'Neal parts, didn't like the Drew Barrymore parts), Irreconcilable Differences (1984). Meyers knows comedy and her timing is excellent. There was only one line that bugged me (ask me and I'll tell you privately--it's near the end). Meryl Streep, about whom I wrote many words for Julie & Julia, can be funny, and she is here. Alec Baldwin is just a good actor; comedy, drama, he's got it (my faves are listed in Lymelife), and, apart from a few too many cuts back to him glowering with pursed lips, he is perfect in this role. Steve Martin is best known for comedy (from writing for the Smothers Brothers TV show, to The Jerk (1979), to Saturday Night Live in the 70s, to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Father of the Bride I-II, Bowfinger (1999, which he wrote and I also loved), Parenthood (1989), and much more), but he can do dramatic as well (Grand Canyon (1991), David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Novocaine (2001), Shopgirl (2005, adapted by Martin from his own novel)). He gives his character warmth and depth and only really cuts loose in one sequence, which is a favorite of many. John Krasinski's (Away We Go) part was particularly well-written. Many have said it's too much like his character Jim from The Office, but we had no problem with that. Krasinski is going to have a hard time shedding that one, and we're in no hurry for him to quit the series to see if he can.
Next, the music was great, soundtrack by my hero Hans Zimmer, this time with guitarist Heitor Periera, and the nice use of songs (we really liked Gladys Knight's version of Since I Fell for You). There's a music cue called iSight Surprise--after you see the movie, you'll get it. Cinematographer John Toll (won Oscars for Legends of the Fall (1994) and Braveheart (1995), also shot The Last Samurai (2003)) made beautiful pictures with sweeping Santa Barbara vistas and luscious interiors.
My post about Away We Go brings up the chick flick issue. As always, Jack attended of his own free will. He now says it is, indeed, a chick flick, but he did, indeed, enjoy it (what a guy!). Baldwin and David Letterman had fun with that discussion the other night, with Letterman pretending to be outraged that something he liked was thought to be only for women.
All in all, this is an entertaining bit of fluff, worth seeing on date night (if you have/are a great guy), girls' night out, or with your family and grown children (rated R for the infidelity/adultery plot, and Baldwin's rear end--he told Letterman he had a "butt double"). Jack said "It's no Zombieland [our pick for funniest of 2009], but still..." ...it's got a lot of laughs.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
I suspect Arthur Conan Doyle purists will be heading for the door within the first 10 minutes, but Jack & I sat happily in our seats for two and a quarter hours (plus a plethora of previews). The collaboration between director Guy Ritchie, his modern writers, and star Robert Downey. Jr. delivers action, suspense, humor, and a little beefcake (sorry, boys, we did not see in the final cut the scene from the trailer when Rachel McAdams drops her robe to reveal her corset). Ritchie's early action movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) were great fun and recommended for anyone who enjoys this one. Of the writers, Lionel Wigram, credited with screen story, and Michael Robert Johnson, screen story and screenplay, are newcomers; Anthony Peckham (screenplay) adapted John Carlin's novel for Invictus and Simon Kinberg wrote the action movies Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), and co-wrote X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Jumper (2008); and Sir Arthur is responsible for certain character details only. But Ritchie's style, with slo-mo action alternating with real time, is paramount. I especially liked the cinematic illustrations of Holmes' inner dialogue during his fight scenes (recalling writing teachers who instruct: say what you're going to say, then say it). Sally often tells me that there are some actors she would pay to see read the phone book. I feel that way about Downey (some of my faves: Chaplin (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Wonder Boys (2000), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Iron Man (2008), and Tropic Thunder). His Holmes is a buff, dissolute, fist-fighting ninja in olde England (nice that we saw the boxing on Boxing Day, December 26th). Jude Law's (first came to my attention as Oscar Wilde's lover in Wilde (1997), also good in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), the inscrutable I Heart Huckabees (2004), Closer (2004), and more) Watson is a Felix to Holmes' Oscar (different Oscar--that's an Odd Couple reference). More scenes with the love interest, Irene Adler (I've seen McAdams in Mean Girls (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), and State of Play) would have been nice, but the movie didn't need any extra length. I have written about three of the supporting actors in other posts: Mark Strong (Body of Lies) is a suitably creepy villain; Eddie Marsan (Me and Orson Welles) is the befuddled Inspector Lestrade; and Kelly Reilly (also Me and Orson Welles) the patient Mary.
So far the only nominations have been Critics Choice for the score and Golden Globe for Downey, but I expect more for visual effects and the music from the reliable Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack was released digitally a few days ago (here's a long and thoughtful review) without 3 songs (I particularly liked the Irish jig during one boxing scene). Costumes were good, too. I winced watching the luscious silk trains dragging on the cobblestone streets, but I guess they had to put up with that in those days of bustles and parasols. As Holmes used his sense of smell to find clues I was grateful we didn't have smell-o-vision. Oh, and listen for the line, "I haven't a clue," somewhere; it made me smile. Plenty of crooked and stained English teeth are in evidence; I'm grateful not to have any of those either. About 5 minutes before the end Jack turned to me and said, "Here comes the sequel," which was confirmed at the end of the credits. And, of course, the movie was preceded by a trailer for Iron Man 2, which we will be seeing this summer.
When we saw Nine on Christmas day, there were lines for this movie and not for that. They were very different but I'd have to say that this one is better as long as you don't mind all the hitting. You know what Sylvia says is the definition of a chick flick: Too much talking and not enough hitting.
So far the only nominations have been Critics Choice for the score and Golden Globe for Downey, but I expect more for visual effects and the music from the reliable Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack was released digitally a few days ago (here's a long and thoughtful review) without 3 songs (I particularly liked the Irish jig during one boxing scene). Costumes were good, too. I winced watching the luscious silk trains dragging on the cobblestone streets, but I guess they had to put up with that in those days of bustles and parasols. As Holmes used his sense of smell to find clues I was grateful we didn't have smell-o-vision. Oh, and listen for the line, "I haven't a clue," somewhere; it made me smile. Plenty of crooked and stained English teeth are in evidence; I'm grateful not to have any of those either. About 5 minutes before the end Jack turned to me and said, "Here comes the sequel," which was confirmed at the end of the credits. And, of course, the movie was preceded by a trailer for Iron Man 2, which we will be seeing this summer.
When we saw Nine on Christmas day, there were lines for this movie and not for that. They were very different but I'd have to say that this one is better as long as you don't mind all the hitting. You know what Sylvia says is the definition of a chick flick: Too much talking and not enough hitting.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Nine (2009)
This is the fourth year in a row that Jack, Amy, and I have gone to a musical on Christmas day (last year, Cadillac Records; Walk Hard in 2007, Dreamgirls in 2006). Yesterday we enjoyed the spectacle, the smoke, the mirrors, the dancing, the costumes, the eye makeup, the vistas, and the high production values in a story about a Federico Fellini-type director in 1965 with writer's block. Some have called this a sequel to Fellini's 1963 autobiographical movie 8½, but I would call it an homage (and there is a recurring gag that made me think of the recurring gag from Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980), where Allen's fans say, "We love your movies, especially your earlier, funnier ones."). Anyway, as far as we were concerned, the songs Cinema Italiano (danced and sung by Kate Hudson) and Be Italian (Fergie) were worth the price of admission.
In an interesting coincidence, Amy and I had watched the Glee episode about "hair-ography," choreography with flying hair, the night before, and Nine has lots of hair-ography, including in those numbers. I also appreciated the use of the big stage set for dancing and climbing and jumping. We had an inkling that this was based on a Broadway production but knew nothing of the source material. Today I bought the soundtracks to the movie and the 2003 Broadway version (after reading complaints on some websites that the songs from the movie weren't all in the play and vice versa) and will do that research later.
Speaking of research, imdb's trivia page for this movie has a lot of details of the sort I usually put in, so thanks to them for saving me time. You should especially read the big long bullet point about the cast and pretend I wrote it (I will add that La môme (2007), also known as La Vie en Rose, which won Marion Cotillard her Oscar, was a bio-pic about Edith Piaf, but Cotillard did little of the singing). I can't believe that Nicole Kidman had recently delivered a baby when this was shot--her waist is miniscule (perhaps that was part of the visual effects department's job). Black suits and skinny ties look great on Daniel Day-Lewis (in addition to his big hits I really liked The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), written/directed by his wife, Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Henry), and I was surprised that he's not bad as a singer.
I was going to mention that this was the third 2009 number nine movie, after 9 and District 9, but imdb beat me to it and added a fourth that was new to me: $9.99 (2008). I like numbers, particularly nines and eighteens, so I was glad I didn't hate this one. It doesn't really have much of a story but is accumulating nominations and one should see those coastlines on a really big screen. If you keep your expectations reasonable, you won't be disappointed by spending a couple of hours with Nine.
I was going to mention that this was the third 2009 number nine movie, after 9 and District 9, but imdb beat me to it and added a fourth that was new to me: $9.99 (2008). I like numbers, particularly nines and eighteens, so I was glad I didn't hate this one. It doesn't really have much of a story but is accumulating nominations and one should see those coastlines on a really big screen. If you keep your expectations reasonable, you won't be disappointed by spending a couple of hours with Nine.
Me and Orson Welles (2008)
Jack, Amy, and I enjoyed this based-on-a-true-story tale, about the famed director's Broadway production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, taking place at the time Amy's grandmother/my mother was a freshman in college, autumn 1937. Fabulous but realistic costumes, sets, and motorcars decorate the mostly sepia cinematography by Dick Pope, who shot the lush period pieces The Illusionist (2006) and Topsy-Turvy (1999), as well as many of Mike Leigh's movies, including the dark 1950's Vera Drake (2004) and the brightly-colored Happy-Go-Lucky. Director Richard Linklater was first known for his quirky, independent work (Slacker (1991), Dazed and Confused (1993), Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004)), then his rotoscoped animated features Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006), as well as his more commercial Jack Black vehicle, School of Rock (2003), all contemporary, so this is new for him. Also new for him is working from a script that is not his own. Vincent and Holly Gent Palmo have no other writing credits besides adapting Robert Kaplow's historical novel for this movie (before this they worked in production offices and sets, occasionally for Linklater).
I asked Amy what she thought of Zac Efron's other work. She replied that she was "mad" that she paid money to see 17 Again (2009) and "he did what was needed" in High School Musical (2006) and Hairspray (2007). In this one, again, he did what was needed. He's a cute boy with lovely blue eyes, but I didn't care about his character, the "me" in the title. Perhaps that's why we liked it rather than loved it. The rest of the cast, though--that's another story. Contrasted with 22 year old Efron's dozens of credits, 36 year old Christian McKay is just beginning his career, and his dynamic portrayal of the mercurial Welles is turning heads and winning awards and nominations here and in his native England. Claire Danes (TV's My So-Called Life, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996), Shopgirl (2005), written by and starring Steve Martin) plays her usual beautiful girl who is so down-to-earth she doesn't know or care how lovely she is, and gets top billing with McKay and Efron. The supporting cast, Ben Chaplin (worked with Danes in Stage Beauty (2004), and has been in many dramas, but I so liked him in The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)) as George Coulouris/Marc Antony, Zoe Kazan (I wrote about her relatives because she had a pivotal part in Revolutionary Road) as Gretta, Eddie Marsan (won British Independent Film Awards for Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky, and has been in many other first class movies, e.g. Gangs of New York (2002), 21 Grams (2003)) as John Houseman, Kelly Reilly (the wonderful L'auberge espagnole (2002) and Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)) as Muriel Brassler/Portia, and James Tupper (all 36 episodes of Men in Trees and a few of Samantha Who?) as Joseph Cotten/Publius, are all essential in this ensemble. There's a reference to The Third Man (1949), which starred Cotten, when a cigarette glows in the shadows towards the end (of the movie and the cigarette).
Most of the movie was shot across the pond, with the Gaeity Theatre on the Isle of Man sitting in for the 1937 Mercury Theatre in New York, and other English locations playing old NYC. A nice regular length holiday entertainment that you can enjoy with your family of all ages (as long as you're not forcing them to go), this has music of the 1930s in original and cover versions.
I asked Amy what she thought of Zac Efron's other work. She replied that she was "mad" that she paid money to see 17 Again (2009) and "he did what was needed" in High School Musical (2006) and Hairspray (2007). In this one, again, he did what was needed. He's a cute boy with lovely blue eyes, but I didn't care about his character, the "me" in the title. Perhaps that's why we liked it rather than loved it. The rest of the cast, though--that's another story. Contrasted with 22 year old Efron's dozens of credits, 36 year old Christian McKay is just beginning his career, and his dynamic portrayal of the mercurial Welles is turning heads and winning awards and nominations here and in his native England. Claire Danes (TV's My So-Called Life, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996), Shopgirl (2005), written by and starring Steve Martin) plays her usual beautiful girl who is so down-to-earth she doesn't know or care how lovely she is, and gets top billing with McKay and Efron. The supporting cast, Ben Chaplin (worked with Danes in Stage Beauty (2004), and has been in many dramas, but I so liked him in The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)) as George Coulouris/Marc Antony, Zoe Kazan (I wrote about her relatives because she had a pivotal part in Revolutionary Road) as Gretta, Eddie Marsan (won British Independent Film Awards for Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky, and has been in many other first class movies, e.g. Gangs of New York (2002), 21 Grams (2003)) as John Houseman, Kelly Reilly (the wonderful L'auberge espagnole (2002) and Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)) as Muriel Brassler/Portia, and James Tupper (all 36 episodes of Men in Trees and a few of Samantha Who?) as Joseph Cotten/Publius, are all essential in this ensemble. There's a reference to The Third Man (1949), which starred Cotten, when a cigarette glows in the shadows towards the end (of the movie and the cigarette).
Most of the movie was shot across the pond, with the Gaeity Theatre on the Isle of Man sitting in for the 1937 Mercury Theatre in New York, and other English locations playing old NYC. A nice regular length holiday entertainment that you can enjoy with your family of all ages (as long as you're not forcing them to go), this has music of the 1930s in original and cover versions.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
New York, I Love You (2009)
Delightful. This artfully edited series of short films about love in the big apple by 11 directors, 18 writers and a host of stars does not proceed from start to finish, yet hops seamlessly from story to story and concludes satisfactorily. Jack and I both hated to see it end (it's 1:43 long). Many walks of life and ethnicities are represented. Almost as good as its blissful companion piece, Paris, je t'aime (2006), it will be followed, according to the credits, by Shanghai, and there will be Jerusalem and Rio as well, in the "Cities of Love franchise."
Natalie Portman (I wrote about her in Brothers) is in the Paris movie and, in this one, as I mentioned before, she directs one segment (her debut) and stars in another (Mira Nair's) as a Hasidic jewelry buyer. I knew Portman was Jewish but forgot she was Israeli (she is expected to be in the Jerusalem project). Here's an interesting anecdote about the Hasidic segment. We recognized little Taylor Geare from Brothers, even more adorable here (this was clearly shot before Brothers, as Ms. Geare is missing some baby teeth in the Portman-directed Central Park sequence). Emilie Ohana is also in both Paris and New York (she plays the videographer in NY, is somewhere in every sequence, but is not the star), and will be in Shanghai.
Natalie Portman (I wrote about her in Brothers) is in the Paris movie and, in this one, as I mentioned before, she directs one segment (her debut) and stars in another (Mira Nair's) as a Hasidic jewelry buyer. I knew Portman was Jewish but forgot she was Israeli (she is expected to be in the Jerusalem project). Here's an interesting anecdote about the Hasidic segment. We recognized little Taylor Geare from Brothers, even more adorable here (this was clearly shot before Brothers, as Ms. Geare is missing some baby teeth in the Portman-directed Central Park sequence). Emilie Ohana is also in both Paris and New York (she plays the videographer in NY, is somewhere in every sequence, but is not the star), and will be in Shanghai.
Some of the featured actors: Rachel Bilson (played the other woman in Zach Braff's The Last Kiss (2006) and Hayden Christensen's g.f. in Jumper (2008)), Orlando Bloom (speaking of franchises: Lord of the Ringses and Pirates of the Caribbeanses), James Caan (The Godfather I-II, Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), much more), Christensen (Life as a House (2001), Shattered Glass (2003), Star Wars II-III), Julie Christie (my faves of many: Shampoo (1975), her Oscar winning Darling (1965), and her Oscar-nominated McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Afterglow (1997), and Away From Her (2006)), Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, He's Just Not That Into You), Drea de Matteo (best known as Adriana on The Sopranos), Andy Garcia (among many: Godfather III (1990), Hero (1992), Ocean's 11-13, and a personal favorite, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)), Irrfan Khan (I keep telling you all how much I loved Nair's The Namesake (2006), and he was featured in Slumdog Millionaire, among many others), Shia LaBeouf (both Transformers movies, a third coming up), Cloris Leachman (I could write a whole column just on her; for this I will choose TV: Mary Tyler Moore (1970-77), Malcolm in the Middle (2001-6), as the evil grandma; and movies: The Last Picture Show (1971), Young Frankenstein (1974), Spanglish (2004)), Olivia Thirlby (delightful in Juno (2007), Snow Angels (2007) and The Wackness), Eli Wallach (his segment is with Leachman and he also deserves a whole column, but he's getting The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966), Godfather III, The Two Jakes (1990), and Mistress (1992)), and many more.
Directors were: Fatih Akin (from Germany), Yvan Attal (an Israeli who lives in France, My Wife is an Actress (2001)), Allen Hughes (one of the (American) Hughes Brothers, Dead Presidents (1995)), Shunji Iwai (Japan), Wen Jiang (China), Shekhar Kapur (India, directed Cate Blanchett in both Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007); he filled in here for Anthony Minghella, who, before his death in March 2008 personally asked Kapur to take over the Christie segment), Joshua Marston (U.S., Maria Full of Grace (2004)), Nair (India, The Namesake, Salaam Bombay! (1988), Monsoon Wedding (2001), and a segment of another brilliant collection of shorts called 11'09"01 - September 11 AKA 11 minutes, 9 seconds, 1 image), Brett Ratner (U.S., three Rush Hour movies, Family Man (2000)), and Portman. Randall Balsmeyer, a title designer and visual effects guy, is credited with directing the transitions, and, from a look at the cast members, that was more than a little work. All of these directors except Balsmeyer, Hughes, and Nair are also actors.
Apparently, when this was shown at The Toronto Film Festival in September 2008, it had two more segments. One was another directorial debut, by actress Scarlett Johansson, starring Kevin Bacon, and the other was directed by a Russian, Andrei Zvyahintsev, with Carla Gugino and Goran Visnjic (ER), but they didn't make the final cut. We can unreservedly recommend seeing this, perhaps more than once.
Directors were: Fatih Akin (from Germany), Yvan Attal (an Israeli who lives in France, My Wife is an Actress (2001)), Allen Hughes (one of the (American) Hughes Brothers, Dead Presidents (1995)), Shunji Iwai (Japan), Wen Jiang (China), Shekhar Kapur (India, directed Cate Blanchett in both Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007); he filled in here for Anthony Minghella, who, before his death in March 2008 personally asked Kapur to take over the Christie segment), Joshua Marston (U.S., Maria Full of Grace (2004)), Nair (India, The Namesake, Salaam Bombay! (1988), Monsoon Wedding (2001), and a segment of another brilliant collection of shorts called 11'09"01 - September 11 AKA 11 minutes, 9 seconds, 1 image), Brett Ratner (U.S., three Rush Hour movies, Family Man (2000)), and Portman. Randall Balsmeyer, a title designer and visual effects guy, is credited with directing the transitions, and, from a look at the cast members, that was more than a little work. All of these directors except Balsmeyer, Hughes, and Nair are also actors.
Apparently, when this was shown at The Toronto Film Festival in September 2008, it had two more segments. One was another directorial debut, by actress Scarlett Johansson, starring Kevin Bacon, and the other was directed by a Russian, Andrei Zvyahintsev, with Carla Gugino and Goran Visnjic (ER), but they didn't make the final cut. We can unreservedly recommend seeing this, perhaps more than once.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Three Monkeys (Üç maymun - 2008)
This Turkish movie won Nuri Bilge Ceylan the Best Director prize at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or but we found it just a bit difficult to follow. In film school they taught us to throw out some of the exposition because our audience is smarter than we think. Maybe Jack & I aren't smart enough to follow the Turks, or, at least, this one. The story tended to jump ahead from time to time, and then there were (possible) fantasy sequences, leaving us scratching our heads and saying wait, what? Perhaps if we had seen this on the big screen in a theatre we would have concentrated better, but streamed from netflix onto the laptop, then hooked up to the TV, with pixillation in the dark scenes, and the cat wandering in and out (and then an interruption of 3 hours when we had to leave) was too much. The title comes from the monkeys who hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil; but the people in the movie all had their evil ways. The online reviews have mostly been good (78% at rottentomatoes, 7.4 on imdb) so I guess we were just too distracted to enjoy it. I imagine the cinematography would have been great on a proper DVD on in a proper theatre. Turkey has submitted this as its entry for Oscar for foreign film (I have no idea how many contenders there are). This played for one night at the university in the fall--one night when we were unavailable--and I had been wanting to see it ever since. I think you serious film lovers should see it and tell me what you think, please.
The Vicious Kind (2009)
I don't know why imdb lists this as a comedy. It's pretty good, but not one bit funny! It's intense and cruel, with a few similarities to Mike Nichols' Closer (2004): there's a lot of mean-spiritedness, there are four main characters, Natalie Portman wears a pink wig in Closer and I'm pretty sure Brittany Snow is wearing a jet black one in Vicious Kind. Snow has come a long way from the Aryan princess Amber von Tussle in Hairspray (2007) and other teen roles, and here she plays Emma, the apparently vapid girlfriend of Peter (Alex Frost, who was featured in Gus Van Sant's Elephant (2003), an ensemble piece set in a high school on the eve of a Columbine-type event). J.K. Simmons (I just wrote about him in Up in the Air) is great as always as Donald, Peter and Caleb's father, and gets more to do in this movie than usual. But the heavy lifting goes to Adam Scott (half of one of the unhappy and desperate couples in HBO's Tell me You Love Me, plus a long list of more credits), whose unhappy and desperate Caleb is a misogynist and misanthrope--he just hates everyone, particularly himself.
This is writer/director Lee Toland Krieger's first feature. He started as an assistant to Neil LaBute, who, to me, is a master of mean (In the Company of Men (1997), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), The Shape of Things (2003), Lakeview Terrace) and served as an executive producer on this one. It won 4 film festival awards and has been nominated for two Independent Spirits, for Scott's acting and for Krieger's screenplay. Shot on location in snowy Connecticut, I was moved to look up that state's smoking laws, as Caleb always has a cigarette in his mouth. Either it was shot before October 1, 2003, or they decided to ignore the trends and have him smoke on private sets. Not a happy holiday picture (perhaps the title was a tip-off?), this is a slice of a seriously dysfunctional life and I suggest you arrange to do something fun after you see it, if you do.
This is writer/director Lee Toland Krieger's first feature. He started as an assistant to Neil LaBute, who, to me, is a master of mean (In the Company of Men (1997), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), The Shape of Things (2003), Lakeview Terrace) and served as an executive producer on this one. It won 4 film festival awards and has been nominated for two Independent Spirits, for Scott's acting and for Krieger's screenplay. Shot on location in snowy Connecticut, I was moved to look up that state's smoking laws, as Caleb always has a cigarette in his mouth. Either it was shot before October 1, 2003, or they decided to ignore the trends and have him smoke on private sets. Not a happy holiday picture (perhaps the title was a tip-off?), this is a slice of a seriously dysfunctional life and I suggest you arrange to do something fun after you see it, if you do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)