May movie reviews

UP. This is the latest animated feature for Pixar, and it's wonderful. It begins with a young boy who wants to be an adventurer. He finds the adventurous girl of his dreams, and they marry, but then they settle into a life not filled with the adventures they dreamed of. Still, they are happy. When she passes away before they can fulfill their dreams, he becomes a grumpy old crank (voiced by Ed Asner, who is great at it). When a major development is being built all around his house, he decides that it is time for him to seek adventure and follow in the footsteps of the explorer he idolized as a child. So he ties a bunch of helium balloons to his house and (along with the young scout that inadvertently was on his porch), off he goes. Beautifully animated, with a heartwarming story and humor (hysterical talking dogs!), this movie has it all for the whole family. (P.S. I saw it in 3D, but I would have preferred 2D, I think.)

STAR TREK. The first "summer" movie of 2009 tells the story of how the USS Enterprise crew first came together. There is a battle with the Romulans, but I think that is secondary to the great job the movie does introducing and staying true to each of the major characters (although one makes a surprising choice that differs from his personality in the original TV show). Lots of fun for most anybody, I would think, and especially for fans of the original TV show, as there are a lot (a lot) of references to that earlier show that make it even more entertaining for those in the know.

AMERICAN VIOLET. Based on an actual event, this movie revolves a Texas single mother of four. One day while she is working at her waitress job at a diner, she is arrested and dragged off to jail. To her surprise, she is charged with selling drugs near a school. She knows she is innocent, but the best her attorney can do for her is to offer her a plea deal. She'll avoid prison time, but with a felony conviction she'll lose the government benefits she needs to take care of her kids. She bravely fights the establishment, even though the District Attorney (an evil Michael O'Keefe) does what he can to make her life miserable. (In their small town, everybody is too scared to hire her after she loses her job). She toughs it out, though, and agrees to allow the ACLU (led by Tim Blake Nelson) to bring a suit in her name, fighting the drug task forces that sweep up innocent individuals in order to get plea-bargain convictions (which win local enforcement agencies money). As a result of her case, informants can no longer be used in Texas as the sole evidence in criminal cases. This is an OK movie, but I saw a terrific PBS documentary on the small Texas town where this really happened to more than 40 people (almost all black) who were rounded up and had their rights trampled. I thought that documentary was more powerful than this movie, but my opinion of the movie might have been skewered a bit because of my previous knowledge of the story based on that documentary.

IS ANYBODY THERE? The movie begins with William, a preteen who is living with his parents in an assisted care facility with his parents. He is not happy about it and wants his room back. At the same time, he is obsessed with death and finding out what happens after we die. So much so that he sticks a tape recorder under dying people's beds to hear their last moments. That's pretty creepy. Into the house moves Clarence (Michael Caine), a retired magician who is a pretty hostile character. William and Clarence crab at each other a bit, but eventually become kind of buddies. William doesn't quite realize that Clarence has moved in to the home because he has dementia. So yeah, this is a cheery movie. Although the acting is fine, I just didn't buy the premise, especially the young boys' obsession with what comes after death. Not that interesting.

EVERY LITTLE STEP. This documentary follows a group of mostly young dancers / singers / actors as they audition for a part in a 2006 Broadway revival of A CHORUS LINE. Since that play is about the hopes and dreams of young performers as they audition, the real life story mirrors the fictional play. There are also clips from the creators of the play when it first opened in the 1970s. I am a fan of documentaries about the movie making or theater process, so I enjoyed this movie. It didn't have much dramatic tension, though, I think because there are so many auditioners that it is hard to be terribly involved in any one story. So I would guess this has somewhat of a limited audience.

RUDO Y CURSI. Rudo and Cursi are the nicknames of two bickering brothers, working on a banana plantation in southern Mexico. Their lives are pretty limited. One day a soccer scout drives through their town and discovers the brothers' talent for the game. Eventually they both end up playing in the big leagues in Mexico City. Only slightly about soccer, the movie is more about how two unsophisticated men adapt (or not) to sudden wealth and fame. One tries to use his fame to follow his true passion - being a musician. I have seen reviews that say the movie is a comedy, but I didn't find it particularly amusing. I just thought the two guys were dolts. Usually subtitles don't bother me, but in this movie there is a lot of dialog, and it's quite possible that a lot was lost in the subtitles. (Same writer and stars as in Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN.)

BROTHERS BLOOM. Adrian Brody and Mark Ruffalo are two brothers, going through life conning others out of their money. Adrian wants out, because he wants to live a real life, not one scripted by his brother. But Mark is not ready to quit. Of course, in all movies of this sort, there is going to be one last Great Con. This one involves Rachel Weisz, a very wealthy and eccentric orphan. The movie isn't awful, but for some reason the movie never grabbed me. I was too busy wondering who was conning who, and there were too many twists that seemed to me to be there just for the sake of having twists, not because they were particularly clever.

EASY VIRTUE. This is an updated version of a Noel Coward play. Jessica Biel plays Larita, an American Grand Prix driving divorcée, rather wild, who marries a British boy with a wealthy background. When he takes her home to meet his parents (Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth), Mom is not pleased. Mom is staid and old-fashioned, and wanted her son to marry the neighbor's daughter. Dad is emotionally wounded by his experiences in WWI, and pretty much checked out. There are also two sisters that have issues (one appears to be obsessed with death). Larita brings some vivaciousness into the house, but Mom hates her on sight and would love to break the young couple up. Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth are great, but I just found something not quite right about the movie. I think it was Biel - I didn't quite get the character. But still, this is a decent lightweight movie, OK for TV watching or renting.