Frozen - 4 smiles

“Frozen,” Disney’s latest animated movie offers interesting mythology, rich, vivid animation and songs that are both memorable and charming. A re-imagining of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, ‘The Snow Queen,’ the film starts off with two young princesses. The older girl, Elsa (Indina Menzel when she grows up) has the magical ability to freeze things and produce ice and snow. Unfortunately, this leads to an accident in which her sister Anna (Kristen Bell) is injured. Her parents are afraid of what people will do when they know, so Elsa is isolated and the sisters are kept apart. But when a grown Elsa loses control of her power at her coronation and freezes the kingdom, she fears she’s become a monster and flees into the mountains, where she builds herself an opulent castle of ice. Anna sets of to rescue her sister. Along the way she teams up with a rude mountain man, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and he reindeer pal, Sven. And then they also enlist a come-to-life absurdly optimistic snowman named Olaf (voiced by scene-stealer Josh Gad).

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, the film’s crisp look comes as no surprise. It’s a Disney film, but it’s produced by Pixar’s John Lasseter and the visuals are superb throughout. It also helps that the underlying themes – isolation, fear of one’s abilities, devotion, freedom and sacrifice – are reflected so beautifully in the songs. Menzel and Bell duet about their sense of release in ‘For the First Time in Forever,’ and then Menzel displays her magnificent voice and range with ‘Let It Go,’ my favorite song in the movie. “Frozen” is a warm-hearted movie that both adults and children will enjoy. Be sure to see it. 11/29/13

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - 2 smiles

“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” like many biographical films, would have made a better mini-series. There’s so much crammed into this 139-minute movie that it often leaps from one event to the next too swiftly to make much of an emotional impact. Touching only briefly on Mandela’s childhood in a tiny village, it races quickly to his time in the early 40s as an attorney in Johannesburg and moves swiftly to the moment he becomes disillusioned with the effectiveness of peaceful protests against the increasingly repressive white government. In response he and his colleagues in the African National Congress, a liberation movement demanding equal rights for blacks, grow more militant and are forced into hiding. Ultimately, Mandela is caught and sentenced to life in imprison.

Idris Elba is a good choice to play Mandela: He is both physical and thoughtful, a man of passion who comes to understand the need for practicality. As his fiery second wife Winnie, a revolutionary in her own right, Naomie Harris comes close to stealing the movie. Oppressed, imprisoned, humiliated, she only grows angrier and more militant as the years pass. Upon his release after 27 years in prison, Mandela espouses a more peaceful solution, while Winnie continues to support violence in the name of change. That their complicated relationship is only touched upon is one of the many problems with the movie. Superior acting aside, “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” does not have the emotional impact that it should. 12/20/13

Her - 2 smiles

Essentially, “Her” is formulaic: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy loses girl. The quirk is that the girl is an operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The story is too thin for its two-hour running time and the pace is leisurely. But the biggest obstacle is the protagonist (Joaquin Phoenix), a man we know almost nothing about. He’s just some average guy in the near future, totally bland, someone with no obstacle to overcome and no goal to achieve. Phoenix mumbles too much and seems so wrapped up in his role that he fails to connect with the audience. (What makes him even harder for me to like is the fact that he is one of my least favorite actors.) Johansson’s voice is the movie’s saving grace; Samantha is the one character who seems to be having any fun.

Writer/director Spike Jonze is tackling a growing problem: we can’t go anywhere or do anything without checking our phones. Theodore (Phoenix) is using technology to avoid the pain of real human connection. And that’s the problem with the movie, too. Jonze is so entranced with his central conceit that he can barely move beyond it. Theodore knows, just as we do, that real-life relationships are messy. It’s much easier to embark on a relationship with Samantha (Johansson) where he can put his hand-held device in his pocket and have her with him at all times. Unfortunately for Theodore, he’s in love with an illusion. “Her” is a lot more interesting to think about than watch.  12/26/13

Wolf of Wall Street - 1 frown

“Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is meant to be an entertaining, even meaningful representation of the life of Jordon Belfort, the penny-stock maestro. But, at three hours, it’s overly long, excessive and I couldn’t wait until it was over. While I will admit, DiCaprio throws himself into a character with deep ethical deficits with skill and verve, he’s not a likable enough protagonist to care about what happens to him.  Jonah Hill, with phosphorescent teeth and manic behavior, is more irritating than funny as Jordan’s partner in the sleazy firm of Stratton Oakmont. Director Martin Scorsese does justice to all of the characters’ devotion to cocaine, Quaaludes and heroin. But, eventually, the pandemonium wears thin and there’s still two hours to go. Any meaningful perspective on the greedfest of the period is lost in the gleefulness of the depiction. “Wolf of Wall Street” is relentless, aggressive and, ultimately, not worth the investment of time. 12/29/13

47 Ronin - 1 smile

“47 Ronin” is a dull epic from Universal that attempts to fuse Japanese historical legend with generic CGI-heavy action fantasy and the result is far from satisfactory. While the reported $175 million budget is evident in the handsome production values, it falls short on character development, emotional involvement and narrative drive. And although the preview clips focus on Keanu Reeves, he is not the central character. The opening voiceover explains that the 47 Ronin saga dates back to early 18^th century feudal Japan. The disenfranchised samurai avenged the disgrace and death of their master, Lord Asano, by killing Kira, the villain responsible for his dishonor, in direct defiance of the ruling Shogun’s orders to refrain from retaliation. Their quest of loyalty and sacrifice would cost them their lives, either in the battle or in enforced ritual suicide as punishment for their transgression. Arguably the biggest problem with this retelling is the screenplay, which strives to be respectful to its source material while at the same time, juicing up the story for Western audiences raised on action, video games and melodrama. And, of course, providing something for Reeves to do.

Reeves plays Kai, a slave with a mysterious past who lives in a shack behind the lord’s castle. Tormented by the 46 prejudiced samurai who will reluctantly fight beside him and loved by the lord’s colorblind daughter, Kai is eventually revealed to be the only one capable of defeating the villain’s sorceress (Rinko Kikuchi), who slithers across the screen like she’s the only one having any fun. Perhaps aware of how troublesome it is to suggest that a foreigner played the hero’s role in ‘a story of Japan,’ the film tries to have it both ways, clearly identifying Kai as the protagonist while also isolating him from the central plot. Hiroyuki Sanada plays the ronin leader, Oichi, and he dominates the first third of the movie. The fights are often hard to follow and the fantasy element of colossal beasts and dragons seem more at home in a video game. “47 Ronin” is overly long and disappointing, certainly not worth the extra price to see it in 3D. 12/25/13

Saving Mr. Banks - 3 1/2 smiles

As an exploration of the ‘making of’ process associated with Mary Poppins, “Saving Mr. Banks” offers engaging material, but the film gains emotional heft through a series of (sometimes too many) flashbacks that unveil why the characters in Mary Poppins possessed great meaning for its author, P. L. Travers. Moving back and forth between 1906 Australia and 1961 Los Angeles, the film provides a full portrait of the author, who is played as a child by Annie Rose Buckley and as a 60-something woman by Emma Thompson. The movie’s other standout performance is Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Just a warning: it’s almost impossible to watch this movie and not feel the urge to seek out a copy of the Julie Andrews/Dick Van Dyke musical. And coincidence of coincidences, Mary Poppins is being released in a restored Blu-ray version with a number of special features to commemorate Mary Poppins’ 50^th anniversary. Remarkable marketing, that.

The bulk of the movie transpires in the early 1960s. Disney has flown Travers to Los Angeles in a last-ditch attempt to convince her to sell him the rights. He allows her to meet the would-be screenwriter, Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford), and the Brothers Sherman, Robert (B. J. Novak) and Richard (Jason Schwartzman), who have been hired to write the songs. He gives her a chatty driver (Paul Giamatti), allows her to critique the script and expresses to her what Mary Poppins means to him. History tells us that Travers relented but “Saving Mr. Banks” shows how difficult a process it was. Flashbacks to Travers’ early life in Australia are interwoven and they tell of eight-year-old Ginty as she and her family settles in an isolated ramshackle home. Her father, Travers Goff (Colin Farrell), views this as a great adventure and you can see how his daughter adores him. Unfortunately, he is an alcoholic and this proves to be his downfall. No fewer than ten of the Sherman Brothers’ songs are used in one form or another and a highlight occurs when Travers hears ‘Let’s go Fly a Kite’ for the first time, the song that ‘saves’ Mr. Banks. Coupled with the nostalgia of Mary Poppins, “Saving Mr. Banks” proves to be more than a ‘based on a true story’ tale. 12/16/13

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - 2 1/2 smiles

It seems logical to make three movies out of the three books that comprise the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s masterful story of Middle Earth, but to make three movies out of one story, The Hobbit, seems like pure avarice. That being said, I liked “The Desolation of Smaug” more than I liked the first, An Unexpected Journey, because so much of that movie was filler. Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen’s Gandalf the Grey are back along with the 13 dwarves led by Richard Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield, who are all on a quest to help the dwarves reclaim their kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. The dwarves are being chased by evil Orcs and they must pass through the enchanted forest of Mirkwood, where they tussle with giant CGI spiders. Then they’re imprisoned in the stronghold of the woodland elves. Their escape, in barrels carried by churning river rapids, is one of the movie’s great action sequences. Finally, they get to the village of Laketown, where they prepare for their confrontation with Smaug. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time getting here.

Much of this movie has the intensity of a good video game, but there’s also a thematic subtext here, of good vs. evil and honor vs. treachery. And Bilbo spends much of this movie trying to resist the temptation of the ring he found in An Unexpected Journey, which holds both power and corruption. Jackson has also added Legolas (Orlando Bloom’s character from LOTR) and added a female elf named Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lily. These two add a lot to the action sequences. The film’s greatest strength is its lavish visuals, from the richly realized architecture of elves and dwarves to the vast treasure hoard of gold that Smaug so carefully guards. Unfortunately, like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “The Desolation of Smaug” ends with a cliffhanger. 12/13/13

American Hustle - 4 smiles

When a movie is as entertaining as “American Hustle,” you have to give a lot of the credit to the director, David O. Russell, who has always shown a fondness for characters that are on the brink of imploding. And here, he’s assembled a cadre of stars from his last two films: Christian Bale and Amy Adams from 2011’s The Fighter and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from Silver Linings Playbook. He also manages to find a side to them that we haven’t seen before. Co-written with Eric Singer, Russell’s latest is based on the Abscam sting operation of the late 70s and early 80s, in which a con artist helped the FBI catch members of Congress taking bribes. ‘Some of this actually happened,’ an opening card playfully informs us at the film’s start, just before Russell introduces us to Bale’s paunchy Irving Rosenfeld plastering a horrendous hairpiece onto his shiny dome. To play the swaggering Rosenfeld, the owner of a small chain of Long Island dry cleaners who makes his real money through fake art and fraudulent personal loans, Bale packed on some 40 pounds. At a pool party, he meets Adams’ Sydney Prosser, a scrappy young woman from Albuquerque with dreams of reinventing herself in high style. It’s Sydney’s idea to don a fake accent and take on the alter ego of the posh Lady Edith, a Londoner with elite banking connections. With her help, Irving’s cons swing into high gear.

They become partners in crime and love, but, Irving also has a young son and a wife: Lawrence’s needy, vulnerable and spectacularly passive-aggressive Rosalyn. With her big hair and blood-red nails, Rosalyn is a force of nature. She knows just enough to be dangerous, which may make her an even bigger threat to Irving and Sydney than the federal authorities who are closing in on their operation. She’s fascinating to watch – she’s just unhinged enough to think she’s the voice of reason – and Lawrence is an absolute scene-stealer. Cooper’s Richie DiMaso is a hotheaded FBI agent who’s eager to make a name for himself with a big bust. Richie moves in on the conning lovers and forces them to help him net even bigger fish to get themselves out of trouble. But he also finds himself falling for the sexy Sydney, er, Lady Edith, and she may feel the same way. Or does she? Part of the fun of “American Hustle” is that it keeps us constantly guessing who’s scamming whom. It’s really enjoyable to spend time with these characters, and Russell creates such an infectiously zany vibe around them that even if you notice the running time (129 minutes), you probably won’t mind. For all of its brash personalities, this movie is an exploration of dissatisfaction and drive and the lengths we are willing to go to pursue it….and the illusions we often mistake for reality.  12/13/13

Out of the Furnace - 1 1/2 smiles

“Out of the Furnace” is a slow-moving movie with a central character that’s hard to care about. Part of the problem is the script, which is confusing in many places; however, the main problem is the underdeveloped Russell Base, played by a somnambulant Christian Bale. Russell is a tragic figure in the classical sense. His life, at least what we see of it, is full of pain, disappointment and sadness. Nonetheless, he is a hard-working man who puts in his daily shift at the steel mill in order to make ends meet. His brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck), has endured several tours of duty in Iraq and is having trouble adjusting to life away from the army. He’s deep in debt to a local bookie and loan shark (Willem Dafoe) and becomes involved in back-alley bare-knuckle boxing matches to make a little cash, which he then gambles away. Desperate to make a big score, Rodney accompanies Petty to New Jersey, where he’s introduced to Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), a sociopath with a short fuse and a love of violence.

The one reason to see this movie is Harrelson’s DeGroat. He is so good at being evil that it’s difficult to remember that his career began with him playing the good-hearted, naïve bartender in Cheers. One the other hand, Bale’s portrayal is so low key that it’s almost nonexistent. And hard to believe that, physically, Casey Affleck is capable of winning bare-knuckle boxing matches. There’s a scene where Russell and his uncle (Sam Shepard) go deer hunting where director Scott Cooper is trying to show how literate he is by using this scene as a metaphor for what is to come. It doesn’t work. “Out of the Furnace” has a lot of atmosphere, but it never achieves its goal of being a compelling drama. 12/11/13

Homefront - 2 smiles

“Homefront” is a movie for Jason Statham fans. It does nothing surprising or remarkable, moves briskly and generates a moderate level of suspense. It includes the requisite number of fights and shootouts and finds time for a car chase. The child in danger aspect of the story is a bit manipulative, but you know she isn’t going to get hurt, just as her cat survives its ordeal. And Statham is suitably heroic, for all his steely eyes and ability to shake off pain and James Franco as the bad guy is appropriately menacing. The most appealing performance, however, comes from young Izabela Vidovic, who plays Statham’s character’s daughter. Although she isn’t given much opportunity to develop her character, she is likeable.

The movie opens with a stock situation: an ex-military/ex-cop, Phil Broker (Statham), recently widowed and with a 10-year-old daughter, Maddy (Vidovic), relocates to rural Louisiana to start anew. He immediately runs into trouble with some aggressive locals, including the bitchy mother (Kate Bosworth) of a local bully. She asks her brother, Gator (Franco), a meth cooker, to ‘scare’ Phil, which sets off an unfortunate chain of events. Gater’s sleazy biker girlfriend, Sheryl (Winona Ryder), makes contact with a drug kingpin Phil put behind bars and he orders a hit. All hell breaks loose when the goons come for Phil and his daughter. If you’re an action movie junkie, if you’re a Jason Statham fan, you’ll enjoy this paint-by-numbers screenplay and directing by Gary Fleder. Nov. 27, 2013