Drama

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2010)
  • IMDB: link

The Secret Life of Walter MittyAs was true of the 1947 film starring Danny Kaye, the new version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is loosely based on the short story of the same name by James Thurber about an otherwise unexceptional man who daydreams heroic realities rather than deal with the far less exciting truth of his humdrum existence. As with Kaye’s film, the lesson of the film is Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) finally having a real adventure and learning up to stand-up for himself in the world outside of his imagination.

Set in the final days of Life Magazine‘s print edition, Walter spends most of his time daydreaming about what he’d like to actually say to his ridiculously-bearded new boss (Adam Scott) and a fellow co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) whom he’s fancied from afar for some time. The loss of the negative for the magazine’s final issue forces Walter out of his comfort zone, with a little prompting from Cheryl (both the real and Walter’s imagined versions), to seek out the photographer (Sean Penn) and find the missing negative.

…

The Secret Life of Walter MittyRead More »

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Read More »

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
  • IMDB: link

Mandela: Long Walk to FreedomAdapted by sreeenwriter William Nicholson, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a solid biopic based on the autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba). After a brief montage of his life as a child and a glimpse at his role as an attorney in Johannesburg, the film focuses primarily on the events that led to his involvement with the ANC as a leading voice in the fight against apartheid (without getting too specific about his exact role when the organization moved away from nonviolent resistance) and his eventual imprisonment of 27 years for his crimes.

The highlight of the film is the performances, particularly Elba taking on such a daunting role and Naomie Harris as Mandela’s wife Winnie who we see faced several of her own hardships. During the early part of Mandela’s imprisonment the film’s focus momentarily shifts to Winnie’s various battles against the government including her own incarceration. The film introduces the idea of how Nelson and Winnie both react differently to their situations but, as with other aspects of the story, the theme is presented but never fully developed.

…

Mandela: Long Walk to FreedomRead More »

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Read More »

Inside Llewyn Davis

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Inside Llewyn Davis
  • IMDB: link

Inside Llewyn DavisOver the years the Coen Brothers have used setting, music, and tone to tell a variety of tales. Lacking the broad comedic strokes of Burn After Reading or the darker undertones of No Country for Old Men and their True Grit remake, the brothers’ latest is a more straightforward and personal character study of life of a struggling artist. Thinking over their filmography you can say the Coens have produced funnier, stranger, more disturbing, and perhaps even more memorable films, but this immersive drama ranks as one of their best.

Set primarily in the Greenwich Village folk music scene of 1961, Inside Llewyn Davis follows the life of Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a known and liked (or at least tolerated) folk singer in his small circle and a real son of a bitch to nearly ever single person he knows. Over the film’s 105-minute running-time we witness Davis nomadically travel with his guitar, a carton of unsold records, and a friend’s cat as his only prized possessions.

…

Inside Llewyn DavisRead More »

Inside Llewyn Davis Read More »

Saving Mr. Banks

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Saving Mr. Banks
  • IMDB: link

Saving Mr. BanksWritten by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, and based off pieces of the life of P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), Saving Mr. Banks is half of a really good film. The story is broken into flashbacks of Travers’ childhood and decades later when Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) was attempting to buy the rights from the author’s children’s books to make Mary Poppins.

Although there is much to enjoy in the later Disney years (despite the oversimplification of Travers’ stubbornness) the film gets bogged down in the weight of the constant flashbacks which may offer a peek at the real story that first created Mary Poppins on the page but ignores much of the life story of the woman who wrote her.

The scenes involving the young Travers’ () drunken but imaginative father (Colin Farrell), troubled mother (Ruth Wilson), and larger-than-life aunt (Rachel Griffiths) fall in the realm of Dinsey-ized melancholy, but the scenes in California between the equally stubborn Disney and Travers provide its magic.

…

Saving Mr. BanksRead More »

Saving Mr. Banks Read More »

American Hustle

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: American Hustle
  • IMDB: link

American HustleFor this 70’s tale of con men (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) in over their heads writer/director David O. Russell reunites with Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Part character study, part insane and over-the-top adventure, American Hustle offers audiences one of the year’s best films.

After a brief introduction to Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his mistress and co-conspirator Sydney (Adams), the pair are busted by up-and-coming FBI hot-head Richie DiMaso (Cooper) who decides to use the pair to pull in even bigger fish. Regardless of danger or consequences, and against the orders of his boss (Louis C.K.), DiMaso pushes Irving and Sydney into going after both the mob and local politicians, beginning with Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) who is interested in rebuilding Atlantic City.

…

American HustleRead More »

American Hustle Read More »