Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Your (Almost) Typical Messed-Up Family Gets All 4 Acting Nominations at the Academy Awards

Silver Linings Playbook is the Oscar-winning cake you get when you mix the following ingredients: Harvey Weinstein's production skills, David O. Russell's directing technique, and a terrific multi-generational cast (from Robert De Niro to the thrilling comeback of Chris Tucker). Today being the US-release of the DVD, I had to celebrate by reviewing this universally acclaimed movie. This story adapted from the novel The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick has already helped and will help so many misfits. Unlike most of the audience, I don't think the characters portrayed in this movie are nuts. I found a lot of myself in both Pat (Bradley Cooper) and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who have just been damaged by life. SLP is a simple story about families and the constant struggle it is to maintain relationships. O. Russell focuses on many kinds of relationships. From parenting to friendship, love, or sibling tension: whatever your problem is, you will find an answer in SLP. I adore the O. Russell technique that reveals his actors' talent. The movie was nominated in all 4 acting categories at the Academy Awards which hadn't happened in 31 years. Jacki Weaver does a mean Philadelphian accent. Robert De Niro in the role of a father with affection and addiction issues is captivating. Weirdly enough, Cooper and Lawrence is an on-screen couple that works. I actually forgot that she is too young for the role because she delivers such an intense performance. She is the only one who came back home with a well-deserved Oscar. I was delighted by Cooper's radical mood swings or Lawrence's defying monologue to De Niro's face. It's a pleasure to see Tucker as Pat's friend from the institution and Julia Stiles as Tiffany's control freak of a sister (and now we can all agree that Stiles is a much better dancer than Lawrence). SLP will speak to the common folk because you can relate to the characters. It is about family issues, coping with loss, football, addiction, dancing like 'dad at prom', and fitting in. Silver Linings Playbook is about life.

1 reason to watch: If you find yourself misunderstood by your relatives, this will give you hope and give them insight.

Ted (2012)

Sex, Drugs, & Fenway Park: a Recipe for Friendship

I did not want to watch Ted when it came out because of the commercials that were harassing us every 10 minutes with the trailer. I felt like the whole movie was shown in it. Plus, the prepubescent humor did not make me smile. Peer pressure finally overcame me and I played it with a Bud in my hand (you might as well lean into it). I finally changed my mind about the movie: it is hilarious! For starters, the whole movie isn't in the trailer. Ted is kind of a UFO gathering different genres: scary scenes with a borderline psychopath? Check. The mandatory love story? Check. Action-packed scenes, sex, or comedy scenes? Check. It is a nice blend of everything that the screenwriters could think of and of what could appeal to the largest audience. It's an entertaining movie for sure with adult-only humor. In my opinion, the best part was all those references to Boston and its people because I used to live there. I don't know how much it speaks to others but the locations and the accents were delightful. Mark Wahlberg is obviously a good pick for the lead part since he is from Boston... I mean Bahstun. Seth MacFarlane proved he could direct one of the best American comedies in the recent years before showing us he could also be a great Oscar host. Is this guy ever gonna stop? I certainly hope not. I want more Boston stories! If you thought your kids might enjoy it because it features a teddy bear, please reconsider. This X-rated bear smokes pot, gets drunk, has sex with prostitutes or co-workers in places you don't want your food to be. This movie is politically incorrect, crude, and morally questionable: in other words, it is 'wicked' cool! 

1 reason to watch: if you are from Boston, you won't stop laughing. If you're not, you'll laugh at Bostonians anyway.

Carnage (2011)

4 neurotic parents trapped in a Brooklyn apartment reveal their true self under their respectable yuppy covers in order to defend their son's honor.

I wanted to watch Carnage because I usually like when Roman Polanski makes movies behind closed doors. And of course, I couldn't wait to see this impressive cast trapped in a Brooklyn apartment: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly. Sorry Seth (MacFarlane and his tribute song to actresses' upper parts from the 2013 Oscars ceremony), you won't see Winslet's boobs in this movie! Waltz' character is a first class a-hole and Foster's is totally nuts. Carnage is the story of 2 couples dealing with their sons' fight and its consequences. I was honestly a bit disappointed with the movie. It's not as subtle as I hoped it would be (when Winslet pukes on Reilly and Foster's hardwood floor I wondered 'who does that? You feel like throwing up and you don't run to the bathroom? You stay here in the living room and puke on the books?). Plus, it hardly comes to a conclusion. The characters are complete unbridled maniacs from the start. It made me laugh a few times as it underscores the ridicule of those neurotic yuppies. Carnage is based on a play and it's often the case for characters to be infinitely more intense and overplayed on live theater. I would have liked Polanski to re-work the screenplay entirely to adapt it more easily to the different feel of cinema. If you want a much better Polanski claustrophobic piece, I'd recommend you watch Death and the Maiden (with Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley): on a stormy night, a man has to find shelter at a neighbor's whose wife is convinced the man once tortured her while playing Schubert.

1 reason to watch: the incredible cast

1 reason NOT to watch: you'll find much better Polanskis

 

 

 

The Believer (2001)

 

A Jewish neo-Nazi conflicted between his respect for the Torah and his vendetta against his people.

I recently came across The Believer (directed and written by Henry Bean) starring Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling in one of those tortured roles that fit him perfectly. Ryan is Danny Balint, a former yeshiva student that turned into a neo-Nazi. Directly based on the true story of Daniel Burros, this psychological struggle mastered by the intense performance of Ryan Gosling will pin you to your seat. Henry Bean managed to capture the raw emotions of his main character authentically played by Gosling. There is definitely more than abs to the former Disney child star. I was struck by Gosling's performance as a clever but psychologically-troubled mind. His intensity is captivating and the tension he builds within himself is somewhat close to insanity. In The Believer, I witnessed the brutality of Danny's words and actions but I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor guy and the deep struggle he has to face. At first, I obviously hated the character for being such an inhuman monster but when I discovered his demons and his love/hate relationship with his own God and religion, I had trouble being that resolute about his fate. The monologues made me clench my jaw and the constant violence of his deranged self challenged me as a passive viewer. This movie treats a topic not necessarily well-known by everyone: self-hatred in the Jewish community. If you think of starting a collection of neo-Nazism-related movies: The Believer is the one to put right next to the brilliant but different American History X.

1 reason to watch:  The mesmerizing performance of Gosling on the intense paradox that is self-hatred in the Jewish community of contemporary New York City.

Persécution (2009)

Yes, it was THAT disappointing

 

100 minutes of questions with no answers

It had to happen at some point: a review of a movie I did not like! It's my job to also present you movies you should not watch and tell you the reasons why... There I was, in my favorite DVD store, when I saw this French movie I haven't heard of before. The mysterious and intriguing cover with 3 very good actors (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Romain Duris, Jean-Hugues Anglade) and such a powerful title caught my eye and I thought I couldn't go wrong. Oh little did I know... This movie was both a waste of my time and money. I won't even bother watching the bonus DVD. What happened to the movie? Did the editor think he knew better and deleted the end of it thinking we would be clever enough to guess what this is about? Was it a poor screenplay to begin with? How come such actors signed up for it... Were they that desperate to pay the bills? Surely, the editing just changed the whole story... Right? The worst part of Persecution is that you do not get bored watching it because you are sure that the tension between the characters will end up being explained by a final twist. The suspense builds up when Daniel (Romain Duris) confesses at the kitchen table that his grandfather... went to church everyday! Jesus, what a twist! For 100 minutes you are evolving in a gloomy Parisian atmosphere but Romain Duris overplays and he becomes soon enough extremely annoying. You leave the room not knowing if Daniel is bipolar or has a douchebag disorder that forces him to treat people like fecal matter. This movie sure is independent and European and somewhat artsy but it forgot one essential thing: making sense!

1 reason NOT to watch: Uh... There is no end!(?)

The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

The unfortunate meeting of an oddly-tattooed biking Ryan Gosling and the tortured rookie cop Bradley Cooper.

Derek Cianfrance strikes again with The Place Beyond the Pines. After releasing his masterpiece Blue Valentine, an analysis of the natural evolution of the on-screen couple Gosling-Williams, Cianfrance worked with his friend and acting muse Gosling for this story on 2 father-and-son relationships. Gosling is Luke, a stunt biker for a nomad amusement park. When he learns he had a son from a previous one-night-stand with Eva Mendes' character, he quits and tries to do his best to help raising the kid. Even if this implies robbing a few banks on the way. On one of his illegal rides, he crosses the path of rookie cop Bradley Cooper who will put an end to it all... Let's talk about the stunning cast for a minute. Luke will certainly become soon enough the idol of a generation like De Niro's Taxi Driver back in the day. With his odd tattoos, special skills and strong will to change his life for his son, it is again a truly intense and honest portrayal worthy of Gosling's talent. Eva Mendes has rarely been so true and raw: we definitely want to see more of her in such roles. Bradley Cooper doesn't stop surprising us either. After Silver Linings Playbook and his remarkable role as Pat, this is yet another milestone in his career. Let's hope he will stop acting in rubbish Hollywood blockbusters like The Hangover and stick to roles worthy of his skills. Derek Cianfrance is an astonishing director. Dealing with real-life topics and minimizing the glamor of his actors to focus on emotions, he's definitely one of the best things that has happened to 21st-century US cinema. His shots are often genius but simple. He doesn't rush or complicate plots and leaves an open door to improvisation. Cianfrance's tales are never intricate: he bases the development of his movies on his characters' psychology and behavior. Whoever said that 'less is more' was probably talking about such movies.

1 reason to watch: Derek Cianfrance's epic long takes

Ex-girlfriends (2012)

Only 2 nuts for Poe's first feature film

Noble Lies and Failed Relationships.

Don't expect a typical Hollywood happy ending or a passionate love story out of this Alexander Poe movie. It is an endearing and basic indie movie about what failed relationships are made of. If you have an hour to kill and you don't feel so good about yourself, you might like to know that you're not alone. Lost in Graham's thoughts for an hour or so makes you feel like you're this lonely New York student yourself. Poe's characters are as real and miserable as anyone else: they're juggling with 'noble' lies, burning memorabilia from their exes, getting cheated on, and they stay pretty positive about it. So far, a good start for Poe and his first feature film: I'd like to see what he has to offer in the next few years. It's also the occasion to see Jennifer Carpenter in another role than the foulmouthed detective sister of the infamous serial killer Dexter that she's been royally mastering for 8 years. Kate (Jennifer's alias in this movie) has trouble getting rid of the foulmouthed side of Deb (Jennifer's alias in Dexter) which is a bit disappointing. We would have liked to see her trying on another register even though her curse words are instant classics that we cannot get enough of. Ex-Girlfriends is a movie worth going through especially if you are tired of seeing Mr. Handsome dating Mrs. Successful. It is a short relaxing unpretentious movie that will make you smile and then move on.
 

Two Mothers (2013)

I nibbled 4 out of 5 nuts for this movie

The simple but powerful tale of a 2-in-1 anti-moral love story.

Anne Fontaine's adaptation of the semi-fiction by Nobel-Prize winner Doris Lessing (The Grandmothers: Four Short Novels) has shocked the Mormon crowd of Utah for its premiere at Sundance. Fontaine took a very hard topic to discuss for her first English-language movie (the love story between 2 middle-aged women and each other's twenty-something son) and managed to turn it into a brilliant and beautiful movie. But the uncommon story has as little to do with incest or cougarism as Pop Tarts has to do with gastronomy. It is a very sensitive and passionate portrayal of a clusterfuck of impossible feelings. The touchy topic is so well directed that you can't help but root for those two controversial couples and their greatly disapproved relationship. The audience will catch more in the actors' eyes and attitude than their words. Even though the tale could have turned this movie into a dark secretive drama, the picture is very poetic. The peaceful score, the light and angles in addition to the day-dreaming landscapes of the Australian coast make you wonder why the characters couldn't live happily ever after. After all, Robin Wright and Naomi Watts are naturally charming women... No wonder why the boys played by Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville fall for them. The actors admirably succeeded to transcribe the spirit of the screenplay using simplicity and mixed feelings about it all.

1 reason to watch: The talented cast delivers a forbidden love tale without artifice.