“All I have the are the choices I make…”

The Adjustment Bureau: directed and written by George Nolfi
    
For a while I was confused between Source Code and The Adjustment Bureau. I vaguely remember seeing snippets of them at the beginning of the year and both seemed to tell a story about a dashing male lead a generally charming woman doing a lot of running holding hands. That sounds like a fairly snarky synopsis, but that IS what I remember. I’d hate to move into some bland platitude about how timing is everything and so on. The thing is, I’ve been having a terrible year movie-wise. My highest grade was the B I gave to Hanna and other than that it’s been fair, okay, and good-ish but nothing exceptional, or not even anything legitimately good. So, I wonder if that movie doldrums made me all the more anxious for something to latch on to. But, let me use my words…

I can’t help but roll my eyes when films try to take on larger than life issues and still be popcorn friendly and in theory that’s what The Adjustment Bureau aims to do. It’s about the age-old philosophy of Determinism. That, right there, is the impetus for thousands – perhaps millions – of literary pieces and The Adjustment Bureau immediately sets itself up for something like defeat because a film more interested in its romance arc is probably not going to do as much justice to the dilatation as it deserves. The story is David Norris (no relation to Chuck), a New York senator to be who on a fateful night meets a contemporary dancer Elis (played by the lovely Emily Blunt). It’s one of those “life-defining” moments and meeting her changes his outlook on life and politics. But, things go awry when he meets her – accidentally – some time later throwing the course of his life all track and giving the members of The Adjustment Bureau (a dubious organisation which ensures that everything happens “as it should”) decide that they shouldn’t be together.

It sounds a bit silly when I put the machinations of the film into a single paragraph and I know that my annoying habit to overanalyse would make me doubt the film if I keep ruminating on it, but The Adjustment Bureau, although not a particularly riveting stylistic entry, benefits not as much from the admittedly interesting concept as it does from a difficult-to-define mood of easiness that emanates from screen each time that Emily Blunt and Matt Damon pair up. The film is billed as a romantic thriller and it’s backed by an absolutely atrocious poster (really, what IS that?) and the film doesn’t quite make good on the thrilling aspects. It’s riveting, no doubt and Anthony Mackie spends a significant amount of time looking especially dour – but, few of his contemporaries make dour look so good, so I’m more than game.

In the end, I can’t quite surrender my over analytical brain to completely LOVING The Adjustment Bureau but I have no qualms about saying that it’s a completely enjoyable film. I’d have been more willing to buy in to its conceit if those last five minutes weren’t just too…bland? It sort of subverted what went prior, capping off a movie that seemed to be devoid of any agenda with a conclusion that isn’t woeful, but just feels tonally jerky. Which, of course, returns to the point that any film which flirts with such significant concepts must be willing to do what it promises. Still, The Adjustment Bureau thrives more than it doesn’t not only because Nolfi is in control of his story (for the most part) but because in the most innocuous of moments Damon and especially Blunt make some thrilling choices as actors that make characters we have no significant knowledge of into people we root for. Maybe I didn’t fall in love with it, but I fell in like…a lot.
   
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The bald identity: Matt Damon shaves his head for new tough guy role

By Daily Mail Reporter


New do: Matt Damon débuts new bald head as he wanders through Vancouver yesterday


He's known for his handsome leading man appearance, but Matt Damon unveiled a new look on a stroll through Vancouver yesterday.

The Bourne Identity star, who usually sports a full head of hair, displayed a freshly shaved head as he made a trip to the local post office in the Canadian city during a break from filming Elysium.

The 40-year-old actor looked casual in a khaki green T-shirt and jeans which he paired with simple black and white trainers while showing off his new bald look.


Matt appeared completely relaxed and at ease during his outing, a luxury he claims isn't afforded to all celebrities.

'I have friends who are like prisoners. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, for instance,' he told German television TELE 5 earlier this week.

'They can't just go someplace. If they go for a walk, it turns into an international incident.'

However his life has worked out slightly differently, despite his comparable super-stardom.

'I'm really lucky, because I have the best of both worlds. I do the work that I love and need, but don't need paramilitary troops to protect me when I walk out my front door.'


Spot the difference: Matt has always had a full head of hair


And he believes that his focus on things other than work have helped him retain a more private existence.

'Ever since I found my wife and we had children, my whole life revolves around that. It gave my life a dramatic change in direction,' he says.

'I'm not as crazy as most of the other stars. I don't really know why, probably because I married a woman who isn't an actress. And we live in New York,' he said.

'As long as we don't show up in typical tourist spots, we can walk the streets without being noticed. New Yorkers are very cool, they don't flip out if they see me.'

Matt and his wife Luciana married in 2005 and have four daughters.


source:dailymail

The Spin-off, Season One: Episode 2

It seems each time I start thinking about The Talented Mr. Ripley I get obsessed with writing about it. Watching it yesterday I still think that each member of the main quintet should have walked away with Oscar nominations – but I’m greedy like that. I gave you my pipe dream last week for a prequel about the life of Marjorie Mellor before she became wife to Jack and mother to Jenny and now I’m thinking about another sequel for The Talented Mr. Ripley. As brilliant as Gwyneth Palthrow is (and she really is) I can’t help being interested in Cate’s Meredith Logue whenever she appears on screen and Matt Damon and she have such good chemistry together. Earlier in the week I spoke of the ending and it’s implications for Ripley – a life of loneliness. Yet, what happens after? Does Tom (aka Dickie) ever meet Meredith again? Imagine the sort of film that could be.

Of course, Anthony Minghella is no more – he wrote and directed the actual film, but I’d still like to see Cate and Matt team up for a sequel picking up ten years after the credits rolled. I think Sam Mendes could do a nice job of handling it, even if he’s never done anything quite like that. Who knows what will happen? Perhaps Tom will eventually kill her too, but it’s sort of odd that Cate who seems to work with everybody hasn’t worked with Matt since. Maybe they’d go to another location, who knows? I just know I’d like to see more of Tom Ripley, and the actual book was a series of book so I’m sure there are loads of adventures he could get himself into.

             
Would you be interested in seeing more of Tom Ripley? Who would you put to direct?

Movie Meme, Day 26: Freakishly Weird Endings…

Freakishly weird…what exactly does that mean? An ending that was inadequate? One that I didn’t see coming, one that was bizarre…some endings deliberately try to shock you and make you go “a-ha”. Most often they fall flat, it wasn’t that I didn’t see this ending coming – I didn’t – the delivery of it was just eerie – brilliant – but weird.

SPOILERS – obviously (Haven’t seen it? Don’t read it)

Unlike the runaway for The English Patient Minghella’s 1999 masterpiece The Talented Mr. Ripley wasn’t wholly loved (REVIEWED). Based on the eponymous novel it tells the story of the nefarious body snatcher (not literally of course) Ripley, played excellently by Matt Damon in probably his best performance. Ripley is at first infatuated with Jude Law’s deliciously mean Dickie Greenleaf, but eventually he murders him when Dickie gets tired of his friendship. He adopts Dickie’s personality for some time before having to kill again. Along the way he meets Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett in a beautifully understated performance). After convincing most of his innocence in Dickie’s disappearance he makes his way out of Italy on ship with Peter, a mutual friend of Dickie’s who Ripley may, or may not, start a love affair with. Unfortunately, Meredith Logue is on the ship – she still think he’s Dickie, and so is Peter. He can’t kill her, she’s with her family – but he can’t be revealed so in the final scene Tom kills Peter. It’s more than a rote killing because he does love Peter, but he loves his freedom more so as Peter tells us all the great things about Paul Ripley we see him sitting in the dark and hear the murder as he begins to cry tearfully and the screen fades to black. No ending will be creepier, even if they try more overtly. I’m repulsed, fascinated and moved by Ripley’s plight, which he of course brought on himself – that ending is definitely something special.

      

Am I the only one who was creeped out by this?

(More of the MEME)

Forgotten Characters 2:12: Finale

I like to have my own weird ideas of continuity, so it makes sense that my final entry in Forgotten Characters* will be a continuation of the original entry. So many months ago I covered a performance that I would have given an Oscar nomination to from an excellent 1999 entry. It is weird how one exceptional could manage to have so many excellent – and forgotten performances. I’ve been having this woman on my mind for some time, so it makes sense…

                         
Gwyneth Palthrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley

 As Marge Sherwood

Gwyneth really impressed with that 1998/1999 one-two punch of Viola DeLesseps and Marge Sherwood. It’s also more than a little ironic that she was once again in direct contention with a certain Ms. Blanchett. Marge plays the girlfriend to Dickie – Jude Law in a performance for the ages. When the duplicitous Tom Ripley wheedled himself into the duo he becomes a contented confidante to both Dickie and Marge and it’s the portion of the performance where Palthrow thrives. With it’s obvious feeling of overt darkness in the latter portion, there’s something oddly enticing about the film’s first half and Gwyneth is a large part of that. It’s easy to think she’s doing too little but it’s just her character of Marge (an excellent one, I might add). She manages to make Marge’s inclination to Tom unromantic and believable and perhaps it’s this reason that her performance in the second half doesn’t hold up quite as excellently.

The only false note I can find in the performance is her hysterical confrontation of Ripley towards the film’s end which is not exactly her fault – it’s also Minghella’s only false note, and I forgive her for it nonetheless because she’s so willing to portray Marge as self-deprecating it ends up working even when it shouldn’t. Like Jose, I hope that Palthrow’s familial duties eventually subside so she can return to the big screen. She’s not given enough credit for her natural cadence and affability which is something that’s decidedly difficult to forge. Of course with Jude and Matt giving performances of their lifetimes it’s not difficult to forget Gwyneth (and her psychological doppelganger) but it doesn’t hurt to take a few moments of your time to recall her brilliance. Like her costar, she would have rounded out my Supporting Actress line-up that year with Jolie, Bonham Carter and either Keener or Diaz. But, oh well, such is life.

                   
*as the post title implies, Forgotten Characters will be in recess for the next few months. Next week I’ll debut a new feature.
  
Did you remember Gwyneth’s subtle performance? Or were you too caught up in the main duo?
            
Forgotten Characters: Season 1
Blanchett in The Talented Mr. Ripley
Richardson in The Hours
Hawke in Training Day
Monroe in All About Eve
Castle in The Lion in Winter
Bean in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Payne in Walk the Line
     

Forgotten Characters: Season 2
Mulligan in Pride & Prejudice
Law in The Aviator
Poehler in Mean Girls
Firth in The English Patient
Bates in Revolutionary Road
Farmiga in The Departed
Richardson in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Beymer, Tamblyn et al in West Side  Story
Ryan in Changeling
Friend in Pride & Prejudice

Green Zone

Matt Damon has a knack for being unassuming. It’s a talent that has been put to good use in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ocean’s Eleven. I’m never certain if Matt Damon, the actor, is just as unassuming or if he’s just that good of an actor. In Green Zone he plays Captain Miller, an American soldier intent on finding answers in Iraq circa 2003. Damon’s Captain is cool but not pushy. As he marches through the film I am aware that I’m watching Matt Damon, but I’m also willing to believe that I’m watching the actions of a real soldier. Paradoxical? Naturally. Maybe I started this review on the wrong foot, for Green Zone is a film that depends on factors that are not all Matt Damon.

I remember someone referring to Green Zone as a film from the “shaky cam” genre (a la The Hurt Locker or A Mighty Heart). The thing is, though, as accurate a definition as that would be, it marginalises the film. Green Zone, is not a film for the unfocused. Helgeland’s script is uninterested in spelling anything out to the audience and if you don’t know the story he doesn’t condescend to spoon feed it to you. It’s not that the narrative is particularly difficult to follow; but if you’re not willing to pay keen attention you could easily miss some important details. Then, there’s the fact that it all occurs amidst an overwhelmingly authentic sound design. If The Hurt Locker could have swept the sound categories (undeservedly, I might add) Green Zone should be a shoo-in for a nod, but of course that’s not likely.

Admittedly, the film is anchored by Damon’s performance, even though I’m well aware that the term anchored may be an overstatement. Damon’s performance is good, effective even. But Greengrass is not interested in turning this into the story of a David against the Goliath’s of the world (even if the poster suggests otherwise). Damon is obviously the lead of the film, but the supporting cast are important. Greg Kinnear avoids the stock characterisation his role could have implied, and in the process he creates a moderately impressive villain. Brendan Gleeson is similarly good and Eastern actor Khallid Abdalla lends the right amount of pathos to his conflicted character. I will admit, the purported presence of the lovely Amy Ryan was a major reason I was interested in seeing this film. As it turns out (I should have expected) her role is not big, but like her short turns in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and Changeling she carves a realistic being with just a few scenes to her name.

The unfortunate reality is, though, owing to the almost journalistic nature of Green Zone it has a tendency to come as decidedly ephemeral. As well intentioned as it is, there is a certain lack of profundity that pervades. As good an effort as it is I don’t think I’d be moved to see it again. But I think it’s worthy of being seen at least once…provided you go with your brain. 

          

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Forgotten Characters 2:6

Does anyone remember Diane Keaton when they think of The Godfather? I do; but I’m a big fan of hers., so it's probably just my nepotism. It’s sort of an occupational hazard for all the women in the movie even the good Talia Shire. The Godfather is a male dominated film, and it’s not difficult for the women to get supplanted from your memory. The same thing happened a few years back in 2006, even though I recall this role always with affection, I think many have forgotten in.

       

Vera Farmiga in The Departed

As Madolyn

Sometimes I wonder why it is that I like Vera Farmiga so much.- I have not seen her in much. Sure, she’s completely charismatic in interviews and such, but so are a number of actors that I don’t care for. I always remember Vera’s performance in The Departed with fondness. We first meet her with Colin the elevator. We sense her professionalism, but we don’t get much because it’s not until our second meeting with this woman that we really get to know her. We notice how she thinks in offhand statements, like on her date with Sullivan when he says. “You also do probation work, right? The bad guys.” I love Vera’s response, of “Not necessarily.” It’s not really that much ostensibly, but Madolyn is defined by her ethics. It’s like she says, “Sometimes, I want people to just forget about their personal bullshit and do their jobs.” It’s a bit ironic though when we take into account her subsequent meeting with Costigan. It’s easy for the audience to realise just how disconcerting it is for her to be flummoxed by a patient and as DiCaprio storms through the scene, Vera’s reaction is excellent. She’s reticent, but never overshadowed.

Of course Madolyn’s story, like the other characters, is capsized as the film continues. The call from Costello is obviously jarring to her. She’s smart, even smarter than we realise and as she observes Colin in the phone she knows things are more amiss than she’s letting on. The Departed never cares to condescend to giving the audience back stories, so we have to piece it together based on the excellence of the actors. Vera sells Madolyn’s attraction to Billy, though we see little of how it grew. It’s never tawdry (and not just because Costigan’s a “good guy”). She doesn’t get much leverage to end the relationship with Billy since it’s played out in just a short scene, but it always reminds me of the end of another extramarital affair. As the plot winds down she is given less to do, but I love when she finds out about Colin’s injudiciousness. Vera is good with her face and just her look of daggers to Colin is excellent. Our final shot of her is her look of anger at Colin. Sure The Departed doesn’t revolve around her, but Vera helps it to be brilliant.

               

What did you think of Vera in The Departed? Excellent, or overshadowed by the males? 

      

Previously Forgotten...

The Nineties Revisited: Ep 3

So continuing from the last two posts with the Supporting Males and the Supporting Females of the Nineties, I move on to the Leading Males. Here are the five Actors that made the greatest impression on me. One won the Oscar, two were nominated and the other two did not.

Which leading actors would you like to single out for recognition?

Invictus

Someone I read, I can't recall whom, recently remarked of a film It didn't need to be made. And that got me thinking. What films don't need to be adapted to bet put on screen. I think I may have found the answer with Invictus. It's a story about Nelson Mandela [Morgan Freeman]. He's the new president of South Africa, a nation divided. Through his ingenuity he hopes to reconcile the country with sports and the help of the rugby team captain played by Matt Damon.

           

Now would be the ideal time to reveal by hatred apathy towards Clint Eastwood. I'm just not a fan. That being said, I can't say that Invictus is like anything he's done before. But still, I'm essentially unmoved. It's not that biographical films shouldn't be made. But when we make a biography, something like The Aviator, or Schindler's List or Raging Bull or The Hours [and it's inexhaustive] something fresh is added. Sometimes, history is rewritten like in The Aviator, but there is that ecelctic feeling that this story must be told. As heartwarming as Invictus may try to be, I don't get that feeling from it.

The rugby that is so important to the film is never explained to the audience. What of those who don't play rugby? There isn't even a smidgen of explanation as to what's going on, and the cuts away from the actual game don't help.The first third of the film seems unsure of where it's heading, the second third seems unsure of why it's there and the last third is so predictable that you just aren't that invested anymore. I like Morgan Freeman a whole lot actually, but he does nothing for me here. It's the perfect example of an actor phoning it in, and the accent which comes and goes does not help. Actually, Matt Damon is the one who emerges as impressive here, in a stock role albeit. Where everyone is obviously acting I truly believe his performance.

              

Invictus main problem is its writing, but the direction and the action don't particularly help it's cause. I'm no fan of Clint, but this is a particularly underwhelming piece.

C