Archive for February, 2004

Miracle

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted February 26, 2004 at 5:48 pm

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating:RATED PG
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich
Directed By: Gavin O’Conner

Final Grade:

When I was a young boy, I was proud to be an American. Knowing that I lived in “the land of the free” meant something to me, and Old Glory proudly hung on my bedroom wall. But then I grew up, and the shine started to fade. Life in the US became more about national debts and presidential scandals than anything that meant much. Sure, 9/11 brought a little togetherness, but something still seemed to be missing.

From the images and words in the opening of Miracle, I assume there was a lot more that felt missing leading into the decade in which I was born. Something was needed to bring our nation together. That something came to our people, at least momentarily, in the Winter Olympics of 1980. It was carried to them by a tough-as-nails group of young men and a grizzled coach on an ice rink. The story of the Miracle is indeed one worth telling.

Like most triumphs that deserve to be lauded, the events behind “The Miracle on Ice” are hardly believable. A coach, 20 years removed from his chance at Gold as a player, brings together 20 youngsters who may not be the best individuals, in hopes of building the best possible team. You know where it goes from there. If you’re going to watch Miracle for suspense, you’re going to be disappointed.

This movie needs no suspense to create drama, thanks to the work of an excellent group of actors and some wonderful writing and direction. It’s nothing groundbreaking by any means, but that’s not the point. Director Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Eric Guggenheim deserve a lot of credit for their work here.

The film’s most powerful emotions come from its cast, every member of which is perfect when the right opportunity is granted them. Numerous close-up shots reveal every grimace, every smile, and every ounce of energy they give. The members of the team, mostly comprised of hockey players turned first-time actors is an excellent group.

As with any film he’s in, the primary reason to love this film is the work of star Kurt Russell. A year removed from the release of his best performance (Dark Blue), he’s back, and as commanding as ever. He becomes Herb Brooks, the legendary coach who tragically died not long before the film was released, giving every speech or personal chat with vigor and power. To call it an Oscar-worthy performance would be absurd, but to call it a near flawless one would be just right.

Sure, there are problems with Miracle. More could have been done with the relationship between Brooks and wife (Oscar nominee Patricia Clarkson, who gets little screen time and fewer lines), and the film does tend to dip into cliché, a downfall of nearly every sports film.

But those minor quibbles are excusable. This film is all about heart, and it’s got all of that that it needs. It’s not a Miracle like its events were, but I do know I’ll wake up tomorrow morning with a bit more care for the country I live in, and a future classic still stuck in my mind. Like those that saw these events occur in the early months of 1980, I believe.

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Filed under: Drama, Movies, Sports

The Passion of the Christ

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted February 25, 2004 at 1:55 am

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating:RATED R for brutal violence and gore
Starring: Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci
Directed By: Mel Gibson

Final Grade:

N/A

What can I say about The Passion of the Christ that can do both it and the film community justice? This movie is the event of the year so far, possibly the event of the last decade, and here I sit, a 22 year old in the middle of Iowa, garnered with the load of telling you what to think of it. To be honest, it’s not a task I’d prefer undertaking. The best thing I can say about is this: You’ll get what you want out of it.

I walked into the film having been raised as a Christian, and having a strong belief that the events I was about to watch were more than just a movie. So, to be honest, I could care less about the cinematography, the editing, or the script, as long as they weren’t sticking out like a sore thumb for me to scrutinize. They weren’t.

As for acting, well, for the most part I didn’t even consider the fact that there were actors. Only two cast members were previously known to me, and they both appeared almost unrecognizable. Probably a good decision, as it added greatly to the reality feel of the film. It’s also hard for me to critique the acting of people speaking a language I don’t know, because the delivery of the lines is not easy to discern. The people looked the parts.

This is especially true of Jim Caviezel in the lead. When I first heard that the burden of the film was set to be on his shoulders, I was worried. I didn’t see him as an actor with enough presence to pull it off. But, he manages to emote everything we’d expect from this tortured character, and he brings the passion to life, with results that feel real.

I keep noting the film’s “reality” aspect, and the thing is, that’s exactly how I looked at it. The Passion of the Christ, to me, is more of a documentary than a drama. It’s like a visualization of a historical tale, only it’s a historical tale that has great significance to me. I can see the story that’s been taught to me much more clearly now than I did before.

If you’re going into the film from another perspective, I can’t tell how you’ll feel about it. I would hope you could at least feel the power of the story and the character, even if you don’t believe in them. If you’re going to look at it more for its technical aspects, then maybe you’ll find it overly gruesome and lacking in style, or maybe you’ll just find it poorly written (although, I hope you understand Latin if you’re making that complaint).

But I can’t relate with those perspectives, and hence can’t allow myself to saddle this film with a letter grade. I can say, however, that I personally found a great deal in this film. It moved me more than any film I can recall, and when the final credits rolled on it I felt a chill run through my mind. I realized in that moment that what I had just experienced was an event I will remember forever, and I certainly hope that you, whoever you are, can see it the same way.

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Filed under: Drama, Movies

Eurotrip

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted February 23, 2004 at 2:41 am

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating: R for NUDITY, Langauage, Sexual stuff, Drug stuff, and nudity.
Starring: Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Michelle Trachtenberg
Directed By: Jeff Schaffer

Final Grade:

If there’s one thing that’ll never go out of style, it’s the teenage sex comedy. Sure, they’re all the same, moronic characters overcoming obstacles while making fools out of themselves in search for love/sex, but they always seem to make money. The genre’s evolved with time, from 80’s hits like Porkys and Revenge of the Nerds to today’s hits like Road Trip and it’s new follow-up Eurotrip.

As you can probably guess from the title, Eurotrip follows a group on a trip through Europe. The group consists of four standard teen caricatures: A lovelorn guy looking for his German pen pal, A wisecracking and unintelligent comic relief dude, a sister who’s looked at as “one of the guys”, and her brother, the dork. Like I said, standard.

The clichés aren’t limited to the characters. The story is filled with the same kind of silly situations that we’ve seen kids in these type of films be saddled with for years. The lover does desperate things, the comic relief dude says stupid things, and the dork says dorky things. Only the sister seems to get any originality, but she’s often left to the side for adventures by the other characters.

So, as standard as it is, is Eurotrip doomed? Can it even resemble entertainment? As many other films in this genre have proved with less original or intelligent ideas, it can still manage to be funny.

How is this possible? It’s the same formula as every other comedy of its sorts out there! But still it does, do to many factors.

Firstly, it relies on the same kind of jokes that make this genre a hit. No, that’s not a good thing in general, but the success of a film like this has always been reliant on execution. Eurotrip, though predictable and lowbrow, hits as often as it misses, and often hits hard. Especially in the “robot fight” scene, which had me cracking up in hysterics, and still makes me laugh thinking about it.

The characters, in some cases, are also better realized than you’d expect. Scott Mechlowicz’s hero and Travis Wester’s dork are standard, but Michelle Trachtenberg looks and acts great as the sister, who’s a good voice of reason and a nice piece of eye candy, often at the same time (Which is creepy when we remember her as Harriet the Spy back in the day). The real star, however, is Jacob Pitts, whose Conrad is one of the funniest teen comedy figures of the last few years. His timing is perfect, and his retorts are often hilarious (“This isn’t where I parked my car!” had me howling often, and repeating it even more afterwards). This is his first big role, and I hope to see more of him in the future.

Thanks to some good acting, some funny bits, and a slew of cameos (Matt Damon even!), Eurotrip ends up being a much funnier film than any film of its moral ineptitude should be. I can’t really say it’s a good movie, but I can say that I laughed quite a lot, and will remember it longer than most movies I’ve seen so far this year. Like most trips, it took me on ups and downs, but it reached its destination without losing my interest, which is all I asked.

Oh yeah, and watch out for the nudity, which is frequent and non-gender specific. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Filed under: Comedy, Movies

Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted at 12:20 am

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating:RATED PG
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Adam Garcia, Carol Kane
Directed By: Sara Sugarman

Final Grade:

You know the old cliché “I’m not sure whether I’m laughing with you or if I’m laughing at you”? Well, it’s the prefect way to explain the latest teen comedy from Disney, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, starring Lindsay Lohan. There are moments throughout the first act of the film that had me howling at the ludicrous plotline. But, that’s kind of the movie’s point.

The film revolves around a girl who insists on being called Lola, despite her birth name of Mary. She’s a dreamer, who aspires to be an actress, and practices her craft in real life. When her mother moves her and her sisters out of New York City and into suburban New Jersey, Lola considers her chance ending and her life descending into normalcy. For Lola, nothing can be too glamorous, too dramatic, or too important as long as it brightens the events she lives through. Everything becomes an elaborate event that she must conquer, whether it’s the breakup of her favorite band or the competition for the school play’s lead.

Lindsay Lohan proved herself last year in the surprise hit Freaky Friday, and continues her charismatic young career here. With proper maturing, she has what it takes to be a Hollywood star for years to come. She seems VERY comfortable in the role, which could be a bad sign for her maturing future, but I think she could pull through with flying colors. Her supporting cast is excellent as well, with great bit parts from Carol Kane as her drama teacher and Glenne Headly as her mother. She shares the most screentime with her friend Ella, who’s played by Allison Pill, a young character actress who also appeared in Pieces of April last year. She too, could have a bright future in film. But, the film’s best comedic moments come late in the film, when Lola and Ella meet the drunk lead singer of their favorite band, played by Adam Garcia with great comedic timing.

The script, for what it is, is pretty funny. Lola is an over-the-top drama queen, as the title obviously tells, and thus the role sometimes seems ludicrously overacted by Lohan. But, when viewed in context, it makes sense. Kane hams it up as usual as the teacher, perhaps representing what Lola could become if her acting career doesn’t take off. The interactions between Lola and the older characters, especially Garcia’s inebriated rock star, who hits with perfectly timed zingers, are perfectly representative of her nature, and at times border on cuteness.

Of course, the film comes with the standard teen movie flaws. The direction is substandard at times, and a few of her hyper-colored daydream sequences are painfully executed. And it also, of course, comes with the standard teen side characters, and predictable plot twists that lead to a Hollywood ending. Is it a good movie? No.

But, it is good for the audience it’s meant for, and has a little crossover charm as a straight comedy for all. As a genre picture, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen hits all the right notes, and Lindsay Lohan holds her own once again. If nothing else, it’s a good showing of what could be one of Hollywood’s upcoming superstars.

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Filed under: Comedy, Family, Movies

Against the Ropes

  • Written by Box Office Boredom
  • Posted February 20, 2004 at 4:01 pm

A Film Review By The Mike

Rating: PG-13 for violence and some language
Starring: Meg Ryan, Omar Epps, Tony Shalhoub
Directed By: Charles S. Dutton

Final Grade:

Sometimes, a film can survive despite touting a character that doesn’t deserve our sympathy. But when the film tries to tell us that a woman who cares only about her self-image and whom we gradually grow to hate for eighty percent of the film deserves our praise is too much for me to accept.

Almost ironically, that woman is played by Meg Ryan, who’s built a career off of her looks and her spunky little charm. She plays Jackie Kallen, a woman so driven toward success that she doesn’t bother to care about anything but her own appearance and approval. Like a train wreck, her story follows a horrible train of events.

Firstly, we’re bombarded with twenty minutes of every possible analogy of feminism. Yes, they treat women like gum on their shoes, and the only way to get ahead is to do it yourself, and everything else. We get it. Once we get past that stage, Kallen hits the “growing and working to become the woman she’s been stopped from being stage.” This is where the film really fails.

In this time period, we obviously notice that Kallen is simply a woman trying to prove herself. This would work, if the story wasn’t about her helping a young boxer (Omar Epps) succeed. But for the next hour, we see her mugging for cameras, pushing herself beside her fighter, and helping him, mostly so he can help her. The film builds to the realization that she’s too busy with herself, but I realized this about an hour before the film decided to reveal it.

The story should focus more on Epps’ character, the one who’s actually fighting and growing. Granted, that’s been done before and better by films like Rocky, but that doesn’t mean his character should be entirely undeveloped. Epps is a solid actor, who seems to be making a career out of sports movies (Major League II, The Program, Love & Basketball, and now this), and deserves more in what was supposed to be a breakout role. The film, which is a first time directing effort for actor Charles S. Dutton (who also plays Epps’ underdeveloped trainer), was supposed to be a lot of things that it failed to become, as evidenced by the fact that it sat on the shelf for over a year collecting dust. But the fault is not Dutton’s, nor Epps’, nor even the annoying Ryan. The fault is in the script, which seems to think it’s far more important than it really is.

Feminism’s been done, been done about 80 years ago, and been done in many films. Against the Ropes, while trying to prove something, ends up a rehash of all that’s been said before. It’s not going to inspire many, and the ignoramuses that are feminists aren’t going to see it and be moved. Against the Ropes, in the end, is nothing more than a poor attempt at a good cause, a film that wastes the talents of those involved on a lousy script that’s full of more preaching than storytelling.

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Filed under: Movies, Sports
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