The Film Junkie

I was hoping everyone was wrong.  I hoped that the ending would not be as predictable as they said.  I was let down.

It is the story of Charles (Clive Owen) and Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) who meet on a train and begin an affair when their lives are spun out of control due to a robber and rapist who comes into their lives.

I saw it coming.  I don’t know what else to say.  Owen is a fantastic actor, but the material was beneath him.  Aniston’s part was limited and thus dull.  Vincent Cassel is creepy and devlish and I love him as LaRoche, the bad guy. 

The ending of the film was silly and unnecessary considering that the predictable real ending had already happened.  I felt let down by the script and the actors were too good for the material.

Grade: C

There is just no better rush than a movie that totally pulls the wool over your eyes.  When you find out who Kaiser Sose is in ‘The Usual Suspects’ or when Chris Cooper’s repressed dickhead of a man finally reveals his true desire in ‘American Beauty’.  These are the moments we want to live over and over again and thus we must watch that movie a few more times to dissect the mystery.  I can’t tell you how many times I have seen ‘Fight Club’.

Here, Spike Lee creates the perfect caper flick.  We watch a perfect bank robbery being pulled off and are riveted by the fascinating cast of characters and the amazing structure of the thing.  We are cheering for the robber (Clive Owen is fantastic) to get away scot-free, begging that Denzel Washington and Chiwetel Ejiofor don’t find him out.  Jodie Foster also gives one of her most memorable performances as, to quote the film, a “magnificent cunt” of a woman who is pulling the strings behind almost everyone involved.

This is a film about race relations in post 9/11 New York; it is a film about capitalism versus morality; about politics and the true power grid of the US.  This is a film about deception of all kinds.

I have now seen this film twice and I love it even more the second time.  It is like watching a great ballet, you just want to understand how the hell they do that.

Grade: A+

Based on the novel by P.D. James and directed by Alfonso Cuaron (’Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban’, ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’), one of the most talented directors of this new generation, comes this story of a future where every society except Britain has fallen and fertility ended eighteen years ago in 2009.  This 2027 is a bleak world of intolerance, military dictatorship and no hope.  The plot follows the first woman to be pregnant in eighteen years and those who are trying to protect her from the collapsing world.

The film stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and Chiwetel Ejiofor with newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey as Kee, the pregant women.  Owen is remarkable as the depleted and still Theo, he becomes a leading man with this role and the entire film rests on his desparate portrayal.  Moore and Caine step out of their usual roles in this film, Moore as the leader of a resistance movement and Theo’s ex seems more fresh and younger than ever before; Caine as Jasper the pot-smoking hippie is delightful and obviously relishes the role.  Ejiofor remains one of my favorite actors working today as the angry and passionate Luke.  Finally, Ashitey is one to watch in her difficult role as Kee.  She shines through her dire circumstances and gives the film the hope it is searching for. 

‘Children of Men’ is a metaphor for the downfall of societies that are taking place all around us.  The military occupation and resistance movements are reminiscent of the current Iraq War, while the refugee camps and caging of immigrants recalls the current United States’ policies as well as WWII and the genocides that have taken place for hundreds of years.  This is all about how much people can blindly detest each other and fight for causes they don’t understand.  It is about corruption and hate, love and faith, and what one does when there seems to be nothing left for them.

A brilliant, breath-taking, stirring and realistic film.

Grade: A