December movie reviews

ENCHANTED. This movie takes off on Disney princesses, their true loves, and wicked stepmothers. Giselle (Amy Adams) lives in an animated wonderland, about to marry her Prince Charming. But his wicked stepmother doesn't want the match, and sends Giselle down a well, whereupon she ends up in New York City. And of course, her wide eyed take on the world doesn't quite fit in Manhattan. She does meet someone who takes pity on her (Patrick Dempsey), although he is a dedicated non-romantic. His daughter, however, is delighted to meet a princess. As you might expect from a movie of this kind, Patrick gets changed. But Giselle does too. There is a very funny satirical take on the romantic worldview found in those old Disney movies. It actually builds a bridge between the romantic and practical, and sees the positive sides of both. I can't describe the movie well enough, except to say I thought it was absolutely adorable.



JUNO. Juno (Ellen Page) is a 16 year old girl, very precocious, who thinks she is wiser than she actually is. She likes a boy (Michael Cera from Superbad), and I think out of curiosity, has sex with him. When she finds herself pregnant, she first seeks an abortion, but decides against it. With the support of her father and stepmom, she goes about finding adoptive parents for her baby. With the help of the local PennySaver, she finds the perfectionist Jennifer Garner, and her not-ready-to-grow-up husband, Jason Bateman. This is a very witty movie, and sweet too. All of the characters are really well written and acted. Roger Ebert named it best move of the year. I wouldn't go that far, but it is hugely entertaining. One complaint I have is that the previews are showing far too much of the movie.


CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR. Tom Hanks stars as a Texas congressman in 1980. He is a womanizing, hard drinking, don't-do-much kind of politician. But, somehow, he becomes interested in the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Spurred on by a wealthy right-wing socialite (Julia Roberts) who wants the US government to do way more against the commies, he visits the area and sees with his own eyes how brutal the Russians are. Along with a CIA agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he really rises to the challenge to get funding for a covert action against the Russians. Written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), this is a very smart, witty, and entertaining history lesson. Hoffman especially is terrific. Well worth seeing.


ATONEMENT. Based on an Ian McEwan novel, this movie takes place in 1930s England, among the upper classes. Keira Knightly is the rich girl, and James McEvoy is the housekeeper's son (although he has done well for himself and is headed to medical school). Keira's little sister, Briony, is an imaginative 11 year old, with a slight crush on James. James and Keira are in love, though, and Briony keeps coming across signs of their secret affair, but she is young and misinterprets what she sees. Finally, something bad happens and again, Briony is seriously mistaken, and her mistake separates the lovers and sends James to jail. James goes into the military in exchange for prison, ending up at Dunkirk, and Keira becomes a nurse when WWII breaks out. Briony, meanwhile, grows to realize her mistake, and wants to bring the lovers back together. It becomes her mission to atone for her sin. I thought this was a beautiful, tragic, love story, but because the movie is made by the ending, I don't know that anyone who has read the book will like it as much as I did.


THE KITE RUNNER. Again, I haven't read the novel this is based on, so the movie was all new to me. It begins before the USSR invasion of Afghanistan, and revolves around two boys who are close friends. One is upper class, the other is the son of the servant of the house. They are inseparable, but one day something awful happens to the lower-class boy, and the upper class boy is so wracked with guilt that he did nothing to stop the horrible event that he poisons their friendship. They eventually lose touch when the upper class family escapes to Fremont after the Russian invasion. But there is a reconnection years later. Although I thought the movie slowed down a bit in the end, it was a wonderful look at a country and culture that most of us don't know much about. And it's a heartbreaking story, with issues of class, guilt, oppression, emigration, etc. Not a great movie, but good.


THIS CHRISTMAS. A typical holiday movie, with a family getting together for Christmas. There are all the usual complications, including a bad marriage, a prodigal son, crime, infidelity, arguments over the family business, etc. And of course everyone in the family is remarkably attractive. But as the genre goes, I liked this one; it's heartwarming and funny and I felt happy coming out of the theater. Plus some good music. Nothing wrong with a feel-good movie around the holidays!


SWEENEY TODD. Johnnie Depp takes on the role of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street in 19th century London. This is based on a musical by Stephen Sondheim. Todd has been unjustly imprisoned and lost his family, and when he returns after 20 years, he takes vengeance on the middle class by slitting their throats (lots of gushers in this movie) in the barber's chair. Helena Bonham Carter is Mrs. Leavitt, in love with Sweeney, who takes the bodies and make meat pies of them. To say this is a dark topic for a musical is an understatement. I have mixed feelings about this: Depp is good, Carter not so much, there are beautiful songs, too much blood letting, I go back and forth on whether to recommend. I guess it would just depend on your taste for the macabre mixed with music.


THE GREAT DEBATERS. Denzel Washington directed this based-on-a-true-story movie about a debating team from a historically black college in 1930's Texas. Denzel is the college debate coach (and labor organizer on the side), and he has a team composed of a smart but undisciplined young man, a young woman (when women didn't debate), and a brilliant 14-year- old (whose preacher father is played by Forrest Whitaker). They face racism, a corrupt sheriff, etc. In the tradition of sports movies, the underdog debating team takes on all comers at other black colleges, defeating them until the final big debate against Harvard. Will they win against the prestigious white university or not? This is an OK example of the genre. For me, not even as entertaining as REMEMBER THE TITANS, though. Debating is hard to make as watchable as a sports contest. I did like the end credits showing what the debaters went on to do with their lives.


I AM LEGEND. Classic story, where a virus meant to cure cancer instead kills most of humankind, leaving a few mutant vampire-like creatures, and even fewer who are totally immune to the virus. The mutants only come out at night, and they are very fast and very scary. Will Smith is immune and tools around a deserted Manhattan during the day looking for food and DVD rentals. He is also a doctor, and spends some time trying to find a cure for the virus. I thought the movie was a tad slow, and wasn't really impressed by the CGI effects. I liked 28 WEEKS LATER, with a plot along similar lines, a lot more.



THE MIST. Based on a Stephen King short story. In this one, a bunch of people in small-town Maine (of course) are stuck in a grocery store when a dense mist falls over the town. And there is something in the mist that is snatching people up. So the people in the store try to figure out what to do, before everyone goes crazy from listening to the bible-thumper (Marcia Gay Harden) who is convinced that the mist is God's vengeance for their misdeeds. So there is danger outside the store, but also inside, because she might be able to convince people that someone has to be sacrificed to appease God. I was OK with this one for a while, but I really hated the end. I got the feeling the movie was trying to be deep, but I didn't go along with it.



WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? Documentary on Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir. He's got a good gimmick (preaching against shopping just like a evangelical preacher), and some of the choir's songs are quite funny. Still, as a movie, I thought this was weak. Quite disjointed. I don't think the movie would convince anybody.