Nebraska - 4 smiles

Most of the Oscar buzz related to “Nebraska” is about Bruce Dern, who plays Woody Grant, an octogenarian who is short-tempered, stubborn, and mostly unpleasant. Dern presents Woody as someone who captures our sympathy but we don’t necessarily like him. As impressive as Dern is, however, equal praise goes to Will Forte, a Saturday Night Live veteran who plays a straight role and shows himself to be an excellent dramatic actor As Woody’s long-suffering son, David, Forte exhibits the complex feelings of an adult child whose father’s mental capacity is deteriorating. By its nature, Forte’s role is less showy than Dern’s but the performance is no less adept. Finally, there’s June Squibb, who, as Woody’s wife Kate, steals every scene she’s in. Brass, foul-mouthed and not afraid to speak her mind, Kate fuels a good deal of the film’s comedy. “Nebraska” is essentially a road movie, but the characters don’t bond the way Hollywood has taught us to expect. There is some coming together, but it’s mostly one sided because Woody has reached a point in life where he simply can’t change. Dementia or Alzheimer’s is eating away at him and, although he is mostly lucid, it’s clear he’s slipping away.

The plot is set into motion when Woody received a sweepstakes notice in the mail. It’s one of those magazine subscription things, where you ‘may’ have won $1 million if your unique number has been selected. Wood interprets the ‘may’ as ‘have’ and decides he must travel from his home in Billings, Montana to the office in Lincoln, Nebraska to pick up his prize. David knows his dad hasn’t won anything but agrees to drive him there anyway. Along the way, they stop off for a family visit with Woody’s brothers and their families and he tells anyone who will listen that he’s about to become a millionaire. When David tries to contradict him no one listens. And the vultures start to circle. Directed by Alexander Payne, who won an Oscar for Descendants, “Nebraska” is a moving story with just enough comedy to keep it from being depressing.  11/17/13

Philomena - 3 smiles

“Philomena,” starring Judi Dench, is based on the true story told in Martin Sixsmith’s 2009 book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. The movie recounts the journey taken by Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) from Ireland to Washington in the company of 60-something Philomena Lee (Dench) to search for the son who was stolen from her nearly five decades earlier. The film, directed with a minimum of emotional manipulation by Stephen Frears, is at times funny and uplifting, but the lighter elements don’t conceal the deep underlying tragedy of a mother and son desperately trying to find each other, stymied by people desperate to protect their secrets.

Although the screenplay contains samples of Coogan’s trademark dry (and often sarcastic) humor, it’s mostly a serious effort. “Philomena” is as much a detective story as a character-based narrative. The film also contains elements of the ‘mismatched buddy’ story, with Philomena and Sixsmith starting out as reluctant allies with very different views on religion before developing a strong friendship. Frears and Dench, exhibiting her range in a performance that will probably end up with her name on the Best Actress Oscar list, manage the difficult task of causing the audience to care about Philomena’s exhumation of the past and its occasionally surprising revelations. Frears isn’t subtle in the way he condemns the actions of the Irish Catholic Church during the 1950s and he is equally critical of the homophobia of the 1980s United States, especially for those with allegiance to the Republican Party. “Philomena” is a simple, well-told story and certainly worth seeing. 11/24/13

Best Man Holiday - 3 smiles

“Best Man Holiday” has a breezy charm that helps you overlook some of director Malcolm D. Lee’s manipulation with script and our emotions. The first half is an appealing mix of mostly understated humor and light drama, but in the second half, Lee tries to hit as many familiar themes as possible while striving to wring tears and cheers in equal quantities from the audience. This movie catches up with most of the characters from The Best Man about 15 years after the earlier film. Harper (Taye Diggs), the author whose book caused unpleasantness in the first movie, has fallen on hard times. He and his wife Robyn (Sanaa Lanthan), are expecting their first child, but he’s out of work, blocked as a writer and drowning in debt. He accepts a Christmas party invitation from his estranged best friend, Lance  (Morris Chestnut) and Lance’s wife, Mia (Monica Calhoun) in the hope that he might be able to nab the rights to pen Lance’s biography. An NFL star, Lance is approaching retirement with a change at breaking the all-time rushing record. Also spending the weekend with everyone are Harper’s ex-flame, Jordan (Nia Long) and her new boyfriend, Brian (Eddie Cibrian); couple Julian (Harold Perrineau) and ex-stripper Candace (Regina Hall); brassy and bitchy Shelby (Melissa De Sousa); and flamboyant, uncensored Quentin (Terrance Howard). Over the course of the few days spent under one roof, old wounds are re-opened, new injuries are created and a tragedy brings everyone together.

Although this is an ensemble piece, some actors have more screen time than others. Taye Diggs, Morris chestnut, Sanaa Lanthan, Monica Calhoun and Nia Long would be considered the leads, with the story being told from Harper’s point-of-view. Diggs plays him with warmth and respect; he’s a flawed man desperately trying to reclaim a past success while struggling to come to terms with impending fatherhood and unemployment. Likewise, Morris Chestnut’s Lance offers an atypical portrait of a football player: intelligent and compassionate. His portrayal is credible. Monica Calhoun gets all the best scenes and plays them with tear-inducing capability. Stealing scenes is Terrence Howard, who gets all of the best lines. However, Lee’s orchestration of Lance’s final game and the events surrounding it are designed to generate maximum impact even though they’re too obvious and melodramatic. Everything comes down to a 4^th-and-goal play in a close game with only a few seconds remaining on the clock. And by the end credits, we understand that family and friends are important. Nonetheless, “Best Man Holiday” is an enjoyable movie-going experience. 11/15/13

The Delivery Man - 1 smile

“The Delivery Man,” starring Vince Vaughn, is virtually a scene-by-scene, shot-for-shot clone of director Ken Scott’s 2011 French-Canadian comedy Starbuck, with only the language (English rather than French) and location (Brooklyn rather than Montreal) changed. Now you might wonder why Scott, who directs this remake, would not want to revise all of the plot problems with the original script. Unfortunately, he doesn’t and the movie suffers. David Wozniak is a congenial screw-up, going nowhere in his life. He learns that as a young man, his rampant sperm donations (all for a noble cause, revealed late in the picture) let to 533 women being impregnated. What’s more, over a 142 of David’s offspring are suing the errant sperm bank to learn David’s identity. The rest of the movie follows David as he anonymously gets to know some of his adult children. Each sketchy episode is designed to make us care for the man-child slacker. He saves one daughter from drug addiction. He helps a son realize his dream of an acting career.

David has no defining traits other than a loving heart and Vaughn plays him with a surprising lack of energy. Chris Pratt as David’s lawyer friend and Cobie Smulders as David’s put-upon girlfriend do their best to finesse the material. But a lot of the supposed humor just isn’t there. And a subplot involving David’s debt to mob thugs is dropped in, seemingly at random, and then easily dispatched. And, like the original, you never hear anything about the mothers who gave birth to these hundreds of kids nor their fathers. Scott is doing everything he can to wring an emotional response from the audience; he even resorts to a group hug at the end. Since I saw Starbuck,  “The Delivery Man” was too much been there, seen that. 11/22/13

Thor: The Dark World - 1 1/2 smiles

“Thor: The Dark World” delivers in a generic superhero fashion by offering a couple hours of diversion, but the overall experience is a little stale. The movie is pretty to look at (that includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor and all of the CGI) and it moves briskly along although the narrative suffers. And since this is the sequel to Thor, director Alan Taylor must have decided that characters were developed then and didn’t need further development here. The enemy this time around is Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), the King of the Dark Elves, who maybe the worst developed villain in any Marvel movie. His goal is to use the power of the indestructible Aether (pronounced ‘ether’) to blast the nine realms back into primordial darkness. Having failed once in the time of Thor’s grandfather, he’s back to try again. He has a henchman or two and drives around in a really big ship.

As a character Malekith is as one-dimensional as a villain can be. He’s not given much of a back story and he’s not given enough screen time to be more than passably menacing. He does, however, get to go one-on-one with Thor in a battle that has them popping through space from planet to planet. While Hemsworth’s performance is solid and likable, the two characters that standout are Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, who steals every scene he’s in as does Kat Dennings’ sharp-tongued Darcy. The energy on-screen drops noticeably when Hiddleston or Dennings are not the focus of the story. Natalie Portman, who plays Thor’s love interest, Dr. Jane Foster, is disappointingly bland. Although Portman is capable of delivering strong performances, this screenplay obviously isn’t the right material and the chemistry between Thor and Jane is tepid at best. Anthony Hopkins as Odin chews up the scenes he’s in, but he’s underused. “Thor: The Dark World” has a story that’s overly complicated and not that interesting, but the special effects are good. (Hmmmm. Faint praise?) 11/8/13

Last Vegas - 3 smiles

“Last Vegas” is a surprisingly crowd-pleasing movie with a focus on the value of friendship and the love and loyalty that accompany it. From the previews, this movie looks like Hangover for the geriatric set, but, thankfully, it’s not. It is entertaining with a script that gives its actors, all heavyweights and Oscar winners, meaningful moments and funny lines. It’s the story of four childhood friends who have moved to different parts of the country, but remain in touch. All are facing 70 and are reacting in different ways. Billy (Michael Douglas), who is a wealthy businessman, is about to end his long bachelorhood by marring a woman a third of his age. Paddy (Robert De Niro) is recovering from the death of his wife and can barely get out of his bathrobe. Archie (Morgan Freeman), having had a mild stroke, has to overcome his fear and resume life. And Sam (Kevin Kline) has lost his zest and can’t shake a mild depression. The friends reunite in Vegas for Billy’s bachelor party and the story takes place over the next couple of days. Mary Steenburgen plays a former lawyer pursuing her dream as a singer and she becomes the romantic interest of two of the men.

That a 60-year-old actress can be cast in a romantic role is welcome. Usually Hollywood will cast a 45-year-old, taking for granted that the audience will believe she would be interested in men old enough to be her father. And it’s even better that Steenburgen is so convincing in the role. Kline, Freeman, De Niro and Douglas demonstrate both the easy chemistry and excitable energy of old friends reconnecting after years apart and they all seem to be having fun. They are all great to watch, but Freeman’s work stands out. He is most often cast in such serious roles that it’s a pleasure to watch him cut loose. With “Last Vegas,” director Jon Turteltaub has created a congenial environment for his cast and a pleasurable move-going experience for the audience. 11/10/13

All is Lost - 2 smiles

There’s a brief voiceover in the opening of “All is Lost,” where Robert Redford’s character declares, ‘All is lost.’ Knowing that every effort will ultimately fail, the minutia of these efforts, the nuts and bolts of tasks the man undertakes, become tedious to watch rather than fascinating (as, I’m sure, the writer-director J.C. Chandor had hoped). The storyline is simple: a man discovers his sailboat has collided with a shipping container left floating on the high seas and he has a large gash in the side of his boat. Then it becomes a tale of man vs. nature.

The film contains almost no dialogue so you can only guess what Redford’s character (who has no name) is going to do. Redford gives a Herculean performance, but you wonder why his character isn’t better prepared. He has to read a manual on how to use a sextant. Wouldn’t you expect a man sailing by himself in the middle of the Indian Ocean would know how to use one? Or how to navigate using the stars? And you’d really like to know what he thinks he’s doing. Who is this guy? Why is he sailing by himself? You empathize with any human being staring at his own mortality. But Chandor has given us no background and we rarely know what Redford’s character is thinking. For a character to have complexity, he must resolve inner conflicts as well as outer and we have no insight into any of this. It’s just a man losing his battle with the sea. (And didn’t Hemingway do it better with Old Man and the Sea?) Although Redford is good (he’ll probably get an Oscar nomination), “All is Lost” is a gimmick with no dialogue.  11/7/13

Dallas Buyers Club - 3 1/2 smiles

Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto are the shining stars of “Dallas Buyers Club;” so much so that come Oscar nomination time, you’ll find their names on the list for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Sympathy for McConaughey’s real-life character, Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, is not immediate. He’s a good ol’ boy, full of profane language, racist and homophobic feelings and habits that promise an early grave. When he contracts HIV, he starts importing unapproved drugs, vitamins and proteins to illicitly treat himself and other AIDS sufferers. Eventually he becomes a hero to the afflicted and villain to outraged authorities and McConaughey, who lost some 40 pounds for the role, plays him with a perfect blend of sass and charm. The other hero in this tale is Woodroof’s transgender sidekick Rayon, played by Jared Leto. Rayon is a one-man Pride parade in his gaudy attire and by his sheer force of will and irresistible charm, he moves Woodroof (and all of us) to embrace love and tolerance. Leto never overdoes the campier elements of his character. Jennifer Garner is also good as a doctor who risks her career to help Woodroof’s wildly unorthodox crusade. The movie spans a lot of years, which French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée  handles well, but I still found it a bit too long.

Given 30 days to live by the doctor (Denis O’Hare) who delivers the diagnosis, the emaciated Woodroof becomes a self-taught expert who obtains drugs on the black market. He travels to Mexico another countries for treatments not then available in the United States. For the next seven years of his life, Woodroof tirelessly battles with the US medical establishment, which at the time had approved a single drug, the very expensive and highly toxic AZT, for AIDS. Woodroof also fights off efforts by the FDA and various other federal agencies to shut down his illegal, for-profit ‘club’ that provides unauthorized drugs for free to AIDS-stricken members to pay monthly ‘dues.’ “Dallas Buyers Club is a remarkable story, vividly and urgently told by Vallée from a script by Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack. 11/3/13

Ender's Game - 3 smiles

“Ender’s Game” is that rare movie that develops character and story rather than focus on just action. Some 50 years before the movie’s first present-day scene, we learn that Earth became the object of attack from giant ant-like creatures called ‘Formics.’ They would have conquered if not for a daring move by war hero Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley). The Formics were beaten but not destroyed and the population of Earth lives in fear of their return. So, over the past five decades, the military has developed a training program whereby the best and brightest children are put through rigorous training. Super weapons were developed and leaders honed in the hope that when it comes time for the final battle with the Formic, Earth will be ready. Into that situation comes Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), the third child of a family in a society that limits most families to two offspring. Military leaders see much potential in Ender to be the next great battle commander. But Ender must successfully pass through the various stages of training first.

Young star Asa Butterfield as Ender capably holds his own against veterans Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley and gives a solidly believable performance. The themes include the importance in a battle situation of thinking outside the box, the ethics of genocide and whether a commander will act the same way in a simulation versus real life-and-death war. If there’s a criticism, it’s that the first half of the movie is more enjoyable than the second. For most of the first half, director Gavin Hood does a good job of developing the main character and illustrating the sharpness and creativity that makes him a prized pupil of Colonel Graff (Ford). Ender doesn’t win; he dominates. During the second half, character development takes a back seat to the progression of story and while the big battle surprise works, there’s an element of anticlimax. “Ender’s Game” is a visual delight and certainly worth seeing. 11/1/13