March movie reviews

In reverse chronological order....

UNDER THE SAME MOON. Present-day Mexico and Los Angeles. A single mother has immigrated to East L.A., leaving her young son behind. Of course, she has done this so she can send money back home for him and he can have a better life. But it has been 4 years, and her son is starting to wonder if she loves him, because she hasn't sent for him. (She is trying, but she is having trouble getting legalized.) When his grandmother/caretaker dies, the boy decides to go to L.A. and reunite with his mother. Of course, a 9-year old on his own if bound to run into trouble, and he does when crossing the border into Texas. But he is resourceful and determined to make it to L.A., and people along the way help him avoid the bad characters. Meanwhile, his mother, who doesn’t realize he is missing, is considering marrying not for love, but so she can be legal. This is a charming movie that puts faces on the stories of illegal immigrants. The actors playing the mother and son are just wonderful. In the theater where I saw the movie, there was sobbing at the end. It’s a lovely movie.

BANK JOB. 1971 London. A group of less-than-upstanding working-class guys (including Jason Statham) get recruited by a former girlfriend to rob a bank. It's supposed to be an easy set up, and they get to keep the loot as long as they get the contents of a particular safety deposit box and turn them over to the guys making the robbery possible (by disabling alarms). Of course, in the course of the robbery, the guys also steal the contents of the many other safety deposit boxes, which can be a problem because people often put items in those boxes that they don't want anyone to see or know about. The robbers really get in over their heads, with corrupt cops, the criminal element, the radical chic, black power activists, and the highest levels of government getting involved. I like a good heist story with twists and turns, and this one is quite good. It's fun seeing if they can get themselves out of the mess they are in, and away from all various elements that are after them. Based on a true story.

HONEYDRIPPER. 1950 Alabama. Danny Glover runs a roadhouse in the rural South. His performers sing the blues, and he is losing customers to competitors who play early rock and roll. He is on the verge of being bought out, so he and his partner Charles Durning try to bring in "Guitar Sam", a big draw from New Orleans. He hopes that will bring in the crowds, and get him the money he needs to settle his debts. Of course there are complications, so story revolves around whether they can succeed in saving the bar. This was written and directed by John Sayles (Lone Star), who is a favorite of mine, but the first hour of this one moved like molasses, and the story isn't terribly original. I will say the acting was terrific.

MARRIED LIFE. 1949 New York. Harry (Chris Cooper) and Richard (Pierce Brosnan) are businessmen (the martini lunch kind). Harry is married and Richard is happily single. One day Harry confesses to Richard that he has fallen in love with a blond bombshell named Kay (Rachel McAdams). But Harry does love his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson), and can't bear to hurt her, so he hasn't told Pat that he is leaving her. He comes to think it will be kinder to kill his wife rather than tell her he doesn't love her anymore. Meanwhile, Harry has asked Richard to visit Kay and keep her company, since Harry can't be with her that often. And Richard starts becoming infatuated with Kay. The movie takes the concept that all marriages have their ups and downs and throws in some unexpected twists. This is a little like a 1950's melodrama, but with really dark humor, and I liked it.

THE COUNTERFEITERS. WWII Germany. A master counterfeiter is arrested and ends up in a concentration camp. At first he survives by painting portraits of the Nazis. But then a SS officer recognizes him, and he ends up being put to work counterfeiting foreign money (first the British pound, then the dollar). The goal for the Nazis is to destabilize the economies of their enemies. So the prisoners face a moral dilemma - do what the Nazis want, and survive while prolonging the war, or refuse to help, and die. This is the kind of movie where you put yourself in the place of the protagonists, and wonder what you would do in their place. Winner of Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars.

MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY. Late 1930's London. Frances McDormand is a nanny who keeps get fired (it's implied because she is a bit of a prude). Finally, her agency won't send her out to any more jobs. So she swipes a business card from the employer's desk, and shows up at Delysia's (Amy Adams) place. It turns out Delysia doesn't want a nanny, but a social secretary. And Delysia really does need one, because she is juggling three men. One man supports her in style, one can make her a star, and one is her best friend. Surprisingly, Miss Pettigrew excels at managing Delysia's life. And so they spend a madcap day, and become friends. Miss Pettigrew even meets an attractive man. Miss Pettigrew knows the war is coming, but the young people are oblivious to the meaning of it. Somewhat in the style of 1930's screwball comedies, this is mildly amusing but not spectacular. Fine for renting.

February movie reviews

IN BRUGES. I loved this movie. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are hit men working for Ralph Fiennes. When a job goes terribly wrong, Ralph sends the two men to Bruges (in Belgium) to lay low for a while. Brendan loves the medieval city, while Colin thinks it's the pits because there isn't any nightlife. They have a sort of father-son relationship. I don't want to say any more about the plot, because that would ruin it, but this movie is full of very black humor amidst some nasty violence. The three characters are well-drawn with some real depth, not just caricatures. It's not a comedy, really, but I was laughing like crazy. It's a little like PULP FICTION, with the mix of comedy and drama.

DEFINITELY, MAYBE. Ryan Reynolds is getting a divorce as the movie opens. His young daughter wants to know the story of how he and her mother met. So he spends the movie telling his young daughter about the three great loves of his life (changing the names), and tells the daughter she will have to figure out who her mother is. Each of the women (played by Amy Adams, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz) has real appeal, but also flaws. So the movie has a realistic take on relationships (other than every body being beautiful , of course). The movie is really well put together, so that the viewer also is guessing how the story will end up. I enjoyed it quite a bit. A excellent date movie, I would say.


THE BAND'S VISIT. Israeli movie. It involves a police ceremonial band from Egypt, who comes to Israeli to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center. But there is confusion about what town they are going to, and the band ends up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, with, as one local woman puts it, no Arab culture, no Israeli culture, no culture at all. They can't catch a bus until the next day, so the band ends up staying with local townsfolk. And getting to know each other a little. This is a very small film, not much going on, but OK enough.

FOUR MONTHS, THREE WEEKS, TWO DAYS. This Romanian movie involves two college roommates living in Communist Romania. One gets pregnant, and the other supports her in pursuing an illegal abortion. The friend has to borrow the money, get a hotel, contact the abortionist, etc. The pregnant girl seems to be paralyzed. And discovery could mean 10 years in jail. Although the movie does a fine job of showing what life must have been like during that era (getting goods from illegal black markets, living in cramped quarters, being required to carry ID documents at all times), I don't really need a movie to show me that getting an illegal abortion is a bleak experience that tests friendship. You think? Grim stuff.

CLOVERFIELD. This movie has been referred to as Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project. And that is really a perfect description. It involves a group of friends who having a going-away party for a friend, and videotaping the party. When New York starts exploding with a gigantic monster destroying the city, the friends run around trying to get out of harm's way, all the while taping themselves (and occasionally the monster). Where the monster came from or what it's motivations are aren't explained; it is just pissed off for no apparent reason. Some reports have said people have complained that the shaky camera work made them sick. I am very susceptible to motion sickness, but although the shaky camera work here annoyed the hell out of me, it didn't make me ill. The movie... it's not bad, but I was never much into Godzilla or monster movies, so [shrug].