Drama

The Rum Diary

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Rum Diary
  • IMDB: link

the-rum-diary-posterIn the 1950’s Hunter S. Thompson would pen a novel that wouldn’t see the light of day for more than 40 years. Its path to the theaters wasn’t much smoother as it languished in development hell for the better part of a decade before writer/director Bruce Robinson and Johnny Depp (Thompson’s original choice for the role) were attached in 2009. The story follows the exploits of Paul Kemp (Depp), a struggling novelist, who leaves New York to accept a job no one else wants at The Daily News in Puerto Rico. The film also stars Amber Heard who the camera doesn’t so much love as continuously lust after in every scene she appears.

The film follows the misadventures of Kemp including his friendship with the paper’s lead photographer (Michael Rispoli) and his reluctant involvement in a land grab scheme by a buisness man named Samuelson (Aaron Eckhart). Kemp’s part in the scheme is made more difficult by his inability to stop drinking and his instant fascination to Samuelson’s girl, Chenault (Heard). Did I mention how pretty she was?

…

The Rum DiaryRead More »

The Rum Diary Read More »

The Ides of March

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Ides of March
  • IMDb: link

ides-of-march-posterThe loss of innocence is the theme for George Clooney‘s latest directoral effort which centers around a high-ranking political staffer whose idealism is shattered over the course of the two-hour film as he learns just how dirty a business politics really is.

The youthful Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) has worked on more campaigns that most staffers twice his age but he believes he’s finally found the real thing in Governor Mike Morris (Clooney). Morris is one of two front-runners for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. With Myers help he might even make it, if he’ll agree to make the backroom deals to get him the delegates needed to sew-up the nomination.

Myers is approached by the campaign manager (Paul Giamatti) for Morris’ opposition who attempts to woo the wunderkid over to his campaign. Although he declines the offer, Myers’s hyper-paranoid boss (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is angered over his protege’s willingness to meet with the enemy.

…

The Ides of MarchRead More »

The Ides of March Read More »

Moneyball

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Moneyball
  • IMDB: link

moneyball-posterIn the early 2000’s the Oakland A’s had just lost three of their big name stars and the small market team was in trouble in terms of continuing to compete in a league where they could be outspent by more than $100 by the likes of the New York Yankees. A’s General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) knew something had to change.

Hiring an assistant (Jonah Hill) who believed the team could compete by relying on sabermetrics (created by Bill James) rather than traditional models of building a team, Beane became an innovator by showcasing how a small market team could compete against the big boys.

The film begins with the playoff loss to the Yankees in 2001 and follows the rocky course of Beane instituting a completely new way of thinking to the old school baseball front office scouts and staff. The film highlights the early struggles and eventual success of the team over the 2002 season as well as focus on Beane’s relationship with his daughter (Kerris Dorsey).

…

MoneyballRead More »

Moneyball Read More »

Warrior

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Warrior
  • IMDb: link

warrior-posterIn 1976 a struggling young actor and writer starred in a film he had penned. The tale of an unlikely underdog from the streets going the distance with the champ made critics and audiences take notice and transformed Sylvester Stallone into a star. The next year Rocky would take home three Oscars including Best Picture. And Hollywood has been trying to remake it ever since.

Much like last year’s critically acclaimed The Fighter (a film others liked more than I did), Warrior begins as a broken family drama concerning two brothers and ends as a typical Hollywood underdog tale complete with training montages and a final showdown in the middle of the ring. Warrior is certainly a little more polished than The Fighter, and presented in a more mainstream Hollywood fashion, but the results are (not surprisingly) very similar.

The film follows the lives of two estranged brothers, both in need of an influx of cash, who separately begin fighting in local MMA matches and are chosen to take part in the sport’s biggest payday ever where 16 fighters will fight to earn a purse of $5,000,000.

…

WarriorRead More »

Warrior Read More »

Soul Surfer

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Soul Surfer
  • IMDB: link

soul-surfer-posterBased on the experiences of Bethany Hamilton (played here by AnnaSophia Robb), Soul Surfer tells the story of a young girl who lost her arm to a shark attack which threatened to end a promising amateur surfing career.

The main focus of the film is Bethany’s struggle, and that of her family and friends, to come to grips with with what has happened and her attempt to move forward. It’s a little too Hallmark Hall of Fame for my tastes, and more than a little formulaic, but there’s definitely an audience for this type of movie.

The young protagonist faces hardship, learns something new about herself and the world, has her faith tested and then renewed, and eventually comes out stronger for the experience. Sound familiar? That’s because it is.

Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid star as Bethany’s parents, and both do well to present the emotion called for in each scene, even if at times the dialogue lets them down. The movie does get the feel of the entire family, including Bethany’s best friend (Lorraine Nicholson) and her father (Kevin Sorbo), just right.

…

Soul SurferRead More »

Soul Surfer Read More »