Get to the Theatre Before this Visitor is Gone

The Visitor
Written and Directed by Thomas McCarthy
Overture Films



Back in 2003, I saw a film that changed my life. It starred three marvelous character actors portraying three incredibly well written characters. The film was called The Station Agent and was written and directed by Thomas McCarthy, who has graced the world of independent cinema with a new film. In The Visitor, McCarthy has managed to, once again, hit on all cylinders by delivering strong characters and a touching story while also addressing the state of our immigration system.



The Visitor stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) as widowed college professor Walter Vale. Walter has manage to fall into a decade long rut, satisfied to teach the same course over and over again while pecking away at his latest book. When he is forced to attend a symposium in New York, he is surprised to find two illegal aliens staying in his apartment. Desperate for some sort of spontaneity in his life, he allows the squatters to stay until they are able to find somewhere else to live.

The young couple are Tarek Khalil (Haaz Sleiman from 24), a Syrian musician, and Zainab (Danai Gurira in her motion picture debut), an artist from Senegal. The two have managed to stay under the radar by avoiding encounters with the law but, in a post 9/11 America, they know that any slip up could mean deportation or worse.



Walter finds himself inspired by Tarek’s African drumming and strikes a fast friendship with the young Arab. Soon they are playing together in the apartment and Central Park drum circles. However, just as things seem to be picking up, Tarek is arrested in the subway and sent to a detention center for illegal aliens. When Tarek fails to contact his mother Mouna (Haim Abbass from The Syrian Bride) for several days, she arrives on Walter’s doorstep looking for answers.

In order to allow Zainab and Mouna to communicate with Tarek, Walter puts his life on hold to visit him daily, each time seeing the young musician’s spark weakened by desperation and depression. Zainab isn’t much better as she finds her own sense of hope extinguished as she tries to figure out where Tarek’s imprisonment leaves her.



As if things weren’t complicated enough for Walter, he finds himself falling for Mouna and the couple find comfort in one others’ arms. This is where the film finds its complex center as issues of identity, loss, fear, and outrage are explored both on screen and in the minds of the audience. We root for their romance to succeed despite the fact that the deck is stacked firmly and legally against them.

McCarthy is a master at creating characters with whom we genuinely identify. For example, as Tarek’s situation becomes more and more hopeless, I found myself experiencing the same sense of anger and despair that Walter feels. Jenkins’ subtle performance relies on facial expression and posture to express his character’s helplessness. There is pain here, and the script, directing, and acting make it real enough to draw tears from even my cynical eyes (but if you tell anyone, I will deny it!).



During a season of blockbuster epics, there’s a great gem playing at your local independent cinema. Get yourself to the theater and catch The Visitor before it goes away. If you miss it, rent The Station Agent and count the days until The Visitor's DVD release.



The Visitor is currently playing in theatres.

Fessenden's "Last Winter" is All Play and No Work.

The Last Winter
Directed By Larry Fessenden
IFC Films

This supernatural story centers around the human race's footprint on planet Earth and the soon-to-occur consequences. Mankind, or especially the U.S.A., is seeking to gain energy independence by sending a team of environmentalists into the Northern Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to determine if the area is prepared for oil drilling. Hitting a little close to home, isn't it? Well has Fessenden prepared a worthy cause and effect for you? You be the judge.



The above trailer leads you to believe many different things, which I will warn you, do not appear whatsoever in the film itself. And I doubt it was because of heavy cuts in the editing room. Its a disjointed attempt at a slanted message not striking its audience like a frying pan to the cranium, but more like a wave of chlorofluorocarbon-filled hairspray resting into someone's scalp; we know its up there but it isn't bothering us.



The latest X-Files movie is coming out this summer, so I didn't feel the need for this picture to provide a reminiscent prelude to one of my favorite television shows. And I doubt a basic audience was looking for a revision of The Shining packed with up-to-date events and controversies and Kubrickian dehumanization.



I'd like to pull out my "Ron Perlman Saved This Picture" card, but even he couldn't. I'll be saved by him in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army later this summer. James LeGros added a sincere, quasi-innocent approach to the mix A fresh cameo from the stiff-boarded Kevin Corrigan made the film bearable. I loved him from Grounded For Life, but I'll be the best to admit his performances are generated from the cookie-cutter. He's got that one performance down pat, and its provided him with steady work as of late.

This film suffered the same fate as Fessenden's Wendigo, which attempt to mix science, folklore legend and the supernatural all into one creature or situation. His message comes off as "Hey audience, you're ruining my planet. So stop or my creature will drive you crazy." I recommend driving past this exit on the movie rental superhighway. There's a smarter, more clever and certainly more polite way of getting your message to your audience - Fessenden just hasn't learned it yet.



I give this film a slate for the beautiful desolate scenics and the endless supply of white-covered helicopter shots. And an extra half-slate for the ethereal and haunting music.


The Last Winter is available on DVD on May 20th.

Bella: This Time The Winner Is... A Love Story.

Bella
Directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Lionsgate

Name me a film recently released that has so beautifully reintroduced family values, tradition and redemption to an audience all inside of two hours? No film this year has even chipped away at the emotional iceberg of Bella, a story of love that changes the lives of three people forever.



As of late, too many films have shown how far someone can go the edge of the emotional spectrum. In The Machinist, we saw Trevor Reznik go the nether regions of human guilt, while in Away From Her we witnessed a 40-year-old marriage dissolve into a distant memory on account of Alzheimer's Disease. But these characters never come back. They stay there, at the raggedy edge. There is a small element of resolve with the above-stated characters, but nothing close to the extent director Monteverde explores.



What astonishes me is the unflinching surface of the main character, Jose (Eduardo Verástegui). At the start of the film, he is clean-shaven and hopeful - but in ten minutes, his chiseled face is now bearded, setting up a barrier that only he can break down. But to watch a man punish himself on the inside is often a difficult task. Most flawed characters with skeletons in their closets have some form of visual downside; alcoholism, smoking, cussing, not paying rent; the list could go on. But Eduardo Verástegui's inner pain is felt every moment you see him.

Bella jumps here and there to build the plot through flashbacks, and does so with ease. The situation that Nina (Tammy Blanchard) has gotten herself into is one easily accepted by audiences. Her own personal journey throughout this film is one of accepting herself and learning that regrets are something you can never change.



We see a glimpse into a Latin-American family, who accept the cards they've been dealt and live life as life; not as a job, not as a hand-me-down lifestyle. It is their own life, and they run with it and with grace. Bella is another diamond in the rough film. It ran the festival circuit and has gained a lot of well-earned press. The best journey is the one you can take to your video store and pick up this gem!!




Bella is available on DVD May 6th.

Clichéd Maid...er, Made

Made of Honor
Directed by Paul Weiland
Columbia Pictures



As the leading lady of our humble filmic foursome, I find it my duty to get myself to the theater for the occasional chick flick, so as not to disappoint our feminine readers. We can't be ALL action, superheroes, and horror, now can we? Though I eagerly handed over my discount movie ticket to see Iron Man (see review below this one!) and though horror is my preferred genre, I decided to accompany my mother this afternoon to see the new Patrick Dempsey film My Best Friend's Wedding. No, wait, that had Julia Roberts. This one was The Wedding Planner. Nope. Wrong again. Have we seen this one before? Ye-ah...the understatement of the year. This go-round has been titled Made of Honor.



The film stars Dempsey as Tom, the inventor of "Coffee Collars" (those cardboard wraps around the Starbucks cups -- who knew?), who meets his best friend in college when he accidentally gets into her bed, thinking it's her roommate. It's actually not as funny as it sounds. Anyway, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) gives him quite a few pieces of her mind and ten years later, they're spending every Sunday and each of Tom's father's weddings (6, to be exact) together as the closest of pals. When Hannah travels to Scotland for work, Tom is lost without her for six whole weeks. Being quite the womanizer (complete with rules about not seeing girls on back-to- back nights), he tries to fill their Sunday ritual with alternate pals. Quite obviously, this doesn't work and, during a few heart-to-heart chats with the boys during, what else, basketball games, he comes to realize that he loves Hannah and wants to be with her. Unfortunately, when she returns, she brings with her Colin (Kevin McKidd) who is tall, blond, and accented - Scottish, of course. They're engaged and Hannah wants Tom to be her Maid of Honor.



What follows is Tom's plan to reveal his true feelings to Hannah while balancing his MoH duties - dress alterations for the bridesmaids (a short, chubby girl wants a size 8! Hysterical!), bridal shower (predictably ruined by the entertainment), and lingerie shopping with the bride ("No, Colin will hate that."...shocking). He travels to Scotland for the wedding and for more examples of why Colin is the perfect man all the while toiling with his desicion to tell Hannah he loves her.

As a whole, the movie is fluff. The acting is simply so-so, the writing is flat, and the plot is so clichéd, even die-hard romantic comedy fans who love this stuff will be unimpressed. Michelle Monaghan really does nothing for this film; Weiland could have cast anyone off the street and the acting quality would be no different. The supporting cast, including Kadeem Hardison (of Dwayne Wayne fame!) as Felix, Tom's married buddy, and Busy Philipps as Melissa, the cousin who wanted to be MoH and tries to foil all of Tom's good intentions, is simply that - support for a film that's about to drown in a Scottish lake of predictability.



Dempsey, the reformed geek of the 80s (remember Can't Buy Me Love?) and star of Grey's Anatomy, is capitalizing on his McDreaminess in this film. I just can't buy him as a womanizer with a heart of gold. It's too far-fetched and it's just not the Dempsey we're all used to seeing. Even McDreamy doesn't act this way. In Enchanted, Dempsey seemed more real, and THAT was a DISNEY movie. Here, the role seems forced and a way to get Grey's fans to pay $10.50 for a movie ticket. As a fan of the show, and of his earlier work, I'm very disappointed in his role here - though seeing him juggle china plates was rather cool, as he studied aspired to attend Clown College as a teen.

Overall, this isn't a movie to rush off to see. There are far too many more rom-coms out there with heart that are worth the price of admission. Dare I say, P.S. I Love You ? A film I loathed due to how far-fetched it was? Unlike Made, at least you cared for the characters in that movie. It's not surprising that Iron Man made over $80 million more than this romantic comedy. Honor your men, ladies, and please don't drag them to this one. You're better off renting Julia Roberts's 1997 version instead.



Made of Honor is now playing in theaters.

Yeah, He Can Definitely Fly

Iron Man
Directed by Jon Favreau
Paramount Pictures



May’s inaugural weekend has traditionally become a staple for the first big film release of the season. Last year, it was the awfulness of Spider-Man 3 that ushered us into a mediocre summer of films. The year before that, it was Tom Cruise’s last stand in Mission Impossible 3. This year, superheroes once again rule the celluloid jungle as the Jon Favreau-helmed Iron Man blasts its way onto the screen in a big (and I do mean BIG) way.

Before I get into the review proper, I want to back up to when I first heard rumblings that this film was in the works. The first rumor that Favreau was being tapped to direct a film based on Captain America (my all time favorite hero) hit The Net about two and a half years ago. As a fan of his work as a writer (Swingers, Made), an actor (Friends, Daredevil), and a director (Elf, Zathura), I was quite curious to see what he would do with old Winghead. As we all know, that was not meant to be as he traded movies with Nick Cassavetes and took the reigns of Iron Man instead, leaving Nick to pull together The Captain’s movie for 2009.



Next came the casting as the rumors started to fly. My biggest fear was that they would resort to casting this like the travesty that was Superman Returns two years ago. Remember that? We were treated to a 24-year-old Lois Lane with a Pulitzer and 5 year old super son? Ugh, my stomach hurts just typing those lines. Fortunately, Favreau is not an idiot and signed on Robert Downey Jr., the only man in Hollywood who could possibly understand addict Tony Stark’s journey because he has taken it himself.

So here we have it, Downey and Favreau, a powerhouse duo with a legendary story to tell. How did they do? In this fanboy’s opinion, I don’t think this movie could have been more perfect.



For those not in the know, the story of Iron Man is complex, yet simple. We have Tony Stark, millionaire playboy whose money comes from the weapons company his father founded at the tail end of World War II. Stark himself took over the company on his 21st birthday and topped his old man by creating even more awesome firepower for high paying government contracts. His success has earned him the distinction of being called the “Merchant of Death.” In his off time, he is an alcoholic, gambling, womanizing, egomaniac whose only real friends are Air Force Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) and his personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Everything changes for Stark when, during a visit to Afghanistan to demonstrate his newest and most deadly weapon, he is taken hostage by the Ten Rings terrorist group who force him to beef their firepower with his expertise. To make matters worse, he has a bunch of shrapnel in his blood that is working its way to his heart and only an electromagnet connected to a car battery is keeping him from having a fatal heart attack. Talk about a bad day.



Not to worry, though, because Stark and fellow prisoner Yinsen (Shaun Toub) fake out the bad guys and build a badass metal suit instead. Stark dons the armor prototype and uses it to not only escape but take out a bunch of the terrorists and their stockpile of weapons.

His near death experience serves as a turning point for young Tony and he decides to focus his attention on peace keeping efforts instead. He builds an even more streamlined version of the armor and uses it to go around destroying Stark Industries weapons that have fallen into the hands of nasty bad men all over the world. This, of course, gets the attention of a lot of invested parties, including his own business partner Obadiah Stane (a bald, bearded Jeff Bridges), and things start to get messy.

The movie is just about perfect from top to bottom. The story is well written and just faithful enough to the original story to keep the diehards happy while allowing newcomers to understand and appreciate the hows and whys of this tin plated vigilante. My personal favorite moments occur when Tony is in the design and testing phase of his flying armor. Check it out and get back to me.

As good as the story is, a poor cast can just screw it all up, but no worries here as Downey, Paltrow, Bridges, and Howard play their parts perfectly. Favreau allows them to create the perfect mix of humor and pathos. Most notable was Stark’s change of heart which doesn’t seem contrived largely due to Downey’s subtle, honest performance.



The effects are great but not overwhelming as we get the perfect blend of CGI with live action. I also like how Favreau gets around that directorial stumbling block of superhero masks (God forbid we don’t see our star’s face for ten full minutes) by inter-cutting extreme close-ups of Downey’s face while he is inside the suit to balance the computer animated action sequences.

Top to bottom, Iron Man is about as good a superhero movie as we can expect. The director genuinely cared about his character and story, the actors put forth excellent performances, and the story brings excitement and emotion without going over the top in either respect. It’s a great start to what I am hoping will be a top notch season of blockbusters.

Oh, and by the way, here’s a note for my fellow comic book geeks out there – be sure to stay through the credits and check out the “hidden scene” that follows. You won’t be disappointed.



Iron Man is now in theatres.

They Should Have Stayed at White Castle

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Directed by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg
New Line Cinema



Sequels are pretty touch and go as far as I am concerned. Most of them are usually not all that impressive, and by that I mean that they suck hard enough to pull a bowling ball through a length of copper pipe. Occasionally, though, Hollywood gets it right. Aliens, Spider Man 2, The Empire Strikes Back, and just about every Harry Potter sequel are all examples of films that managed to be as good at, and in some cases even top, the original films. Unfortunately, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay cannot be counted among these films.

In the film’s predecessor, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, we followed the exploits of the title characters as they attempted to navigate the night and get themselves some greasy sliders from an elusive fast food franchise. Picking up where they left off, Harold (John Cho, American Pie) and Kumar (Kal Penn, Superman, House) board a plane to Amsterdam in search of Maria, Harold’s hot new crush.



Naturally, getting there uneventfully would be a little too simple, so things quickly go awry for our heroes. Soon after the plane takes off, Kumar decides to try his own spin on joining the Mile High club by getting stoned on the plane using his new patented smokeless bong. Unfortunately, his ingenious device looks a little too much like a homemade bomb and he and Harold are mistaken for terrorist and apprehended by air marshals.

Enter Rob Fox (Rob Corddry, The Daily Show), a middle management idiot from The Department of Homeland Security, who sends the boys to Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba. As the title suggests, Harold and Kumar quickly escape and what follows is 90 minutes of us following them as they run into all sorts of troublesome situations in a quest to clear their names. To make things more interesting, Fox is hot on their heels, despite his obvious incompetence.



Now, I was a fan of the first film and had some hope that this film would at least live up to its memory. Unfortunately, most of the film fell flat, mainly due to what I see as the writers’ attempt to constantly top themselves. Everything that I loved about the first film was taken to the nth power here, creating a series of caricatures and parodies, and I am not so sure that’s what the filmmakers intended.

At the end of the first film, Harold had found his confidence and had gotten the guts to not only stand up to his bullying coworkers but also plant a kiss on the hot babe from his apartment building. In this film, all that quickly goes away as he once again becomes a whining coward in order to gain back the confidence at the end of the film.

Kumar, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have learned anything as his actions continually cause more and more serious trouble for the pair. In an attempt to add more depth to his character, they add a subplot about his ex-girlfriend getting married to a handsome, successful guy. Unfortunately, this simply telegraphs the ending and makes it obvious where we will be when the credits roll. Have you figured it out yet? I bet you have!

There’s one thing that really bothers me about films like this. I am so sick of the dynamic of “the selfish friend causing huge problems for the straight-laced friend.” Not only is this whole concept done to death (Kevin Smith did it best in Clerks and Clerks 2), it’s entirely unrealistic. If I had a friend like Kumar, I can guarantee that he’d have had his teeth kicked after the first time he screwed me over. At that point, we’d no longer be friends. In this film, Harold’s life is ruined repeatedly by Kumar and, yet, they remain best buds. Does every buddy comedy have to call upon these stereotypes to try to make a funny film? Shoot me now if they do.



Admittedly, there are a few chuckles floating around in this sea of ridiculousness. Neil Patrick Harris returns as himself to help the guys find their way to a brothel. Christopher Meloni, (Law and Order: SVU) who was the funniest guy in the first film, is also back in a cameo role as a KKK Grand Wizard. If I laughed at all during the two hours I was in the theatre, it was at these guys.

The plot is contrived, the characters are shells of their former selves, and the laughs come from bit players. All in all, I’d have to say that this film did little more than disappoint. If you are looking for comedic gold, look somewhere else. If you want a film to treat you to tons of toilet humor, some nudity, and flat performances, then, by all means, check out Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. If you actually want to be entertained, go rent the first film.



Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is now in theatres.

Un film très magnifique!

Le Scaphandre et le papillon
(The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Directed by Julian Schnabel
Pathé Renn Productions / Miramax Films



Looking back upon the Oscars, host Jon Stewart perfectly nailed it when he asked Hollywood if it needed a hug. Four of the five nominees for Best Picture were quite dark in tone, to say the least (and there were several other near-misses that could have qualified, too - American Gangster, Gone Baby Gone, etc.); only Juno had that sense of humanity to it. Now, don't get me wrong, the other films were fantastic, but generally speaking, there weren't many American films this year that really embraced both the tragedies and the joys of life. In fact, the foreign films over the last few years have been really producing some fine pieces of work in that regard: Amélie, Tsotsi, Les Invasions Barbares, etc., were wonderful testimonies to the power of the human spirit to uplift, to inspire, and to change themselves and connect with others. This French import, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is certainly no exception; indeed, I would be so bold as to say that this movie is the all-around finest film I've seen this year.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is adapted from the book of the same name. It is the remarkably true memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a man who, suffice to say, led the good life: three lovely kids, a sexy girlfriend, a sweet ride, a book deal in the works, and a position as editor at Elle magazine, which allowed him to hobnob with celebrities like Lenny Kravitz (who provides a brief cameo). His life of comfort, however, is forever altered when he suffers a rare and devastating stroke that leaves him completely paralyzed and unable to speak. Only his left eye remains functioning, and he uses that to communicate with his doctors and therapists. One of the therapists, Henriette Ducard (played wonderfully by Marie-Josée Croze) teaches him how to construct words and sentences through blinking, and Jean-Do, as his loved ones call him, begins to "dictate" his life-story to a writer named Claude (Anne Cosigny).



The directing of Julian Schnabel (who also did the excellent Before Night Falls) is truly outstanding. Much of the story is seen from Bauby's one good eye, so when he awakes from the stroke-induced coma, everything is blurry and out-of-focus. Also, there are times when the characters appear on the edges of the screen, to further accentuate the fact that Bauby cannot even turn his head to get a good look at them. The first-person POV is wonderfully executed, and really gives the viewer a better understanding of what it's like to be entombed in one's own body. Also, there is a definitive beauty to Mr. Schnabel's work. Much of the film was shot on France's north coast, and the beauty of the beaches and seaside villages is utilized quite well, as if to convey that M. Bauby can see all the beauty around him, but it remains quite literally outside his grasp. Indeed, even his nurses and therapists are strikingly beautiful (of course, they are French), and Schnabel cheekily makes Bauby's eye wander south a bit when the women are around. Indeed, it's through Bauby's eye that we truly understand who he was, who he is, and what he thinks of the world. It is simply excellent storytelling.

As much as the directing and cinematography are superb, it is the acting of the cast that really elevates this movie to new heights. Mathieu Amalric is wonderful as Bauby, from his memories and fantasies as a stylish, hip playboy to the surprisingly-expressive paraplegic (or, more kudos to Schnabel for making it appear so). Amalric perfectly conveys the emotions that one would likely face in a similar circumstance: panic, anger, despair, self-pity, and even mocking humor. It is a shame his portrayal was not given the recognition it deserved (hard to argue against this year's Oscar winners, though, I will admit). Also, all of the supporting cast is top-notch in their performances, from Croze as Henriette, who provides great strength for Jean-Do even in tough times, to Cosigny as Claude, who becomes closer to Bauby as she painstakingly takes his dictation, to his ex, Céline (Emmanuelle Seigner), who comes to the aid of the man she still loves. Of particular note is the great, if brief, performance of Max von Sydow as Jean-Do's elderly father. Von Sydow's performance, particularly when "talking" to his son over the phone, is equally astounding and heartbreaking. And yes, he does speak completely in French, and just as impressive, there was practically no accent (and I was a French major - I should be able to tell). Everyone's performance is nearly flawless, showing an expansive range of emotion without becoming melodramatic. Indeed, there is a fair bit of humor in the movie (mainly in Jean-Do's strikingly witty thoughts), which provides that sense of humanity that so often is lacking in today's cinema.

As one of Bauby's old friends tells him, "Hold on to all that is human inside you." This movie indeed embraces all of the human spirit - the pain, the passion, the humor, the sadness, the friendship, and the love - and delivers a beautiful (and true) reminder that even in the most trying of times, one is never truly alone, and nothing is truly out of reach. In an era when violence, scandal, and shocking plot twists are en vogue in Hollywood, it is truly inspiring to see a film that shows us that the best stories are the ones we create with each other.

Très bien fait, mesdames et messieurs, et m-e-r-c-i.



The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is now available on DVD.