October movie reviews

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. Lars (Ryan Gosling) lives in a small town. He is so pathologically shy he can barely even talk to his own family. His brother is understandably upset when Lars introduces them to Bianca, an anatomically correct blow-up doll Lars "met on the internet". But the town psychologist tells everyone that it would be best if they just went along with Lars' delusion that Bianca is real. And before you know it, the whole town is acting as if she is. And because they do, not only does Lars have this chaste "relationship" with Bianca, but he starts interacting with other people as well. I know this plot sounds weird beyond belief, and maybe a little sick, but this is actually a very funny and heartwarming movie that I wholeheartedly recommend.

THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE. Audrey (Halle Berry) and Brian (David Duchovny) are an upper middle class couple with two kids. They lead an idyllic life, and the only thing they argue about is Brian's continued friendship with his childhood friend Jerry (Benicio del Toro). See, Jerry has become a heroin addict, and Audrey doesn't want him anywhere near her, and can't understand why Brian just doesn't give up on him. But Brian never does; he has faith in the good in people. Anyway, when Brian gets tragically killed, Audrey has to invite Jerry to the funeral, and eventually invites him to stay at her place. She needs to have him around. It's not sexual, she just needs him - he helps her with both the grief and anger she feels. Great acting all around, this may be one of the most heartbreaking movies I have ever seen. It's really, really good.

GONE BABY GONE. In a working class neighborhood in Boston, a 4-year-old girl has been abducted from her bedroom. The police are working on the case, but the girl's aunt wants more, so she hires Casey Affleck, a private detective, to work for the family. Because he is a local boy, he quickly finds out that the mother isn't who or what the police believe. Casey can delve into the underside of the neighborhood in a way the police (including Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman) never can, and is instrumental in moving the case forward. The story is written by the same guy who wrote MYSTIC RIVER, and it has the same gritty feel, shady characters, and moral ambiguities. It's a movie that wants you to think about the choices the characters make, which I liked.

MICHAEL CLAYTON. Legal thriller. This one stars George Clooney, a once promising district attorney, who now works for a large corporate law firm as a "fixer". The situation he needs to fix in this case is with one of the company's lead attorneys (Tom Wilkinson), who has gone off the deep end during a deposition. Sure, Tom's a manic depressive, but maybe he isn't being crazy in this instance. The case has the law firm defending a large pesticide company that may or may not have poisoned farmers. This is a kind of John Grisham-like movie, not filled with any deep meaning, but it does have some nuances, and the characters aren't all stereotypes. I liked it a lot. And it has performances by Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton (as the pesticide company's CEO) that I thought were worth the price of admission.

INTO THE WILD. This is the based-on-a-true-story telling of Chris McCandless, who after graduating from college, gives his trust fund away and sets out to live on his own, separate from family and privilege. He works crappy jobs and hitchhikes around the country, trying to find himself. His dream is to go live into the wilds of Alaska, and he eventually makes it, but it isn't the dream he expected. I had some qualms about seeing the movie, because I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who throw away opportunities that are handed to them, but the movie won me over. I still don't idolize the guy, or think he was heroic, but the movie definitely fleshes out his story and gives him some depth. He wasn't an idiot, just a young innocent who could have gone on to really do something meaningful.


DAN IN REAL LIFE. If you want a break from meaningful movies, this is a good choice. Dan (Steve Carrell) is an advice columnist, but as a widower with three girls, he isn't doing so well at home. He takes the girls up to the old homestead for a family reunion, and when he is out buying papers, meets a woman (Juliette Binoche) he immediately clicks with (which hasn't happened since his wife died). But when he gets home, he finds that she is his brother's girlfriend. Which makes for a miserable weekend for him. Complications, etc., etc. But this isn't a cliche romantic comedy where you think that-would-never-happen over and over again. In fact I thought almost everything that happened was actually believable. So, while it's not a serious film, I'd say it's a cute date movie.