April movie reviews

HOAX. In 1970, Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) is on top of the world. He has one non-fiction book published, and his novel is on the verge of being published by McGraw-Hill and serialized in Life Magazine. But then everything falls apart when the publisher backs out of the deal. Because he is desperate to make something of his life, Irving tells the publisher that he has something better, that he can bring them an autobiography of the reclusive Howard Hughes. His con gets more and more ridiculous, but Irving did his research (along with an assistant, played by Alfred Molina) and he fooled people for quite a long time. Based on the true story, it's an amazing tale (especially the Nixon-Watergate connection), and a lot of fun to watch.

BLACK BOOK. Despite its setting during WWII, this is a terrific action & espionage movie. Rachel Stein is a young Jewish woman in hiding in Holland in 1944. Her hiding place is destroyed and she, along with her family and several others, tries to escape Holland by boat. But they are betrayed and shot down. Only Rachel escapes, and she starts working with the Resistance to fight the Nazis. It turns out she is good at it, calm as a cucumber when need be. Which includes infiltrating the Gestapo, even literally sleeping with the enemy. This is a long movie, but I never felt that it was too long. There are crosses and double crosses. Although it's not all believable, it's still entertaining. In Dutch, German, and English.

DIGGERS. This is one of those slice-of-life movies that I enjoy because it brings you into the lives of people you don't know anything about. In this case, it's 1970's clam diggers off the coast of Long Island. The movie follows four young friends, one a photographer (Paul Rudd) who probably does the work because that's all he's ever known, an angry family man just trying to keep afloat, a ladies man, and a philosopher drug dealer. The work they do is on the verge of dying out, and life is a struggle. They are all believable characters, and there are supporting characters that are also good. Although the movie doesn't have a huge arc, I liked it. It invokes the 70's really well.

FRACTURE. Anthony Hopkins is a wealthy man whose wife is cheating on him. So he shoots her in the face, calls the cops, and confesses. Ryan Gosling is the prosecutor, and he thinks this case will be a slam dunk on his way to corporate America. Problem is, even though Anthony never left the house, no one can find the murder weapon. So ensues a cat-and-mouse game between the two. Trouble is, neither one is all that likable, so although I want the murderer to get convicted, I didn't care that much. And the trickiness of the plot falls apart the more I think about it. The movie is OK, but not as clever as I would like a movie of this genre to be.

WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY. 1920 Ireland. Two brothers are fighting the British, who are a bunch of thugs occupying their country. One brother joined early, has been a leader in the guerrilla warfare, while the other has tried to live a normal life, becoming a doctor, and only becomes a militant when circumstances push him that way. The latter brother is much more sensitive to the horrors of war. So they fight, and then, a compromise with the British is signed, and the two brothers are on different sides. The older more militant one actually takes the side of those who want the truce, even though they don't like parts of the settlement, and the younger brother takes the side of those who refuse any accommodation with the British. This movie was a good history lesson into the Irish troubles, but I really hated how the movie deals with the Civil War that erupts after the truce is signed. Talk about heavy-handed!

HOT FUZZ. This English comedy is a parody of American action movies. It begins with a young policeman in London, who is a real hot shot. In fact, he is so good at his job that he is making everybody else look bad. So his superiors decide to send him to the country, to a small English village. The policeman is pretty appalled when he gets there, both with the seeming incompetence of the police force, and with the idyllic village where nothing big seems to happen. But of course, there is more to the village than meets the eye. There are some laughs in this movie, and lots of critics think it's very funny, but I thought it was only mildly amusing overall, so I wouldn't recommend it.

BLADES OF GLORY. Although his movies are usually pretty silly, I also think Will Farrell can be quite funny. In this one, he plays a figure skater who is kicked out of competing in male figure skating, along with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite). After being reduced to skating in kiddie shows, Will and Jon find a loophole in the rules, and realize they can skate together in pairs competition. Trouble is, they don't really like each other, but have to figure out a way to skate together. Figure skating is ripe for parody (the costumes alone!), and there are a couple of laughs, but this one is basically a stinker. I should of known I was in trouble when the opening credits indicated Will Farrell didn't write this one.