The Homesman (5/10): The female take on the Western Genre

“You are a poor specimen of a man, Vester Belknap!”

I want to begin with a few positive critiques of Tommy Lee Jones’s latest film, which happens to be his fourth behind the director’s chair (he also stars in all these films as well). The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was his only film released in theaters prior to this one since his other two films were made for TV. In The Homesman he returns to the Western genre, although it is very different. Instead of focusing on the macho cowboys we’ve seen perfectly represented by Clint Eastwood and John Ford, in this film we get the female’s point of view. The lead character is a singe woman who has battled the harsh conditions of the western wastelands on her own. This isn’t one of those macho western films, it is slow and tedious, focusing on the tension the women had to face in this period. In that sense, The Homesman is a fresh and original film. It also captures the harsh conditions of the wasteland extremely well. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto  is gorgeous and perhaps the main reason why I kept engaged with the film despite the tedious script. There are also plenty of surprises along the way and interesting twists that I didn’t see coming. The film definitely breaks several genre conventions and delivers something fresh, but it was just too bleak and grim for my liking. I had a difficult time staying awake and found myself dozing off in several occasions, but there are some great scenes along the way that brought me back in to the story. This is more of a western drama, but there are a couple action scenes that worked extremely well. Ultimately, there is a lot of interesting things that Tommy Lee Jones is doing here, but I just felt the tonal shifts and the melancholic setting were a bit too depressing for me. 

The screenplay for The Homesman was adapted by Tommy Lee Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, and Wesley A. Oliver from Glendon Swarthout’s 1988 novel. The story isn’t actually as interesting as the scenery and performances in this film. There are several tonal shifts and at times the film felt unbalanced. There were some funny scenes that worked well along with the action scenes, but other narrative elements didn’t resonate with me. This isn’t one of those films you will enjoy, but fans of the Western genre might appreciate this unique film. The Homesman is also elevated by the strong performances from Hillary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones. The two have an interesting chemistry and they deliver solid roles. Their characters are as sombre and grim as the scenery, but they still manage to feel authentic and believable. They take us to this period and remind us it wasn’t all about cowboys and indians. The emotional element is also present and they are perfectly captured by Jones’s low life drifter and Swank’s hard working independent and honest character. The supporting cast is also exceptional, including Meryl Streep, Hailee Steinfeld, John Lithgow, and James Spader, but none of their characters were given much screen time. Overall I had a difficult time staying awake because the narrative is tedious, but there are some positive elements about The Homesman.

My Review: The Family (7/10)

"I didn't kill him, I took him to the hospital."

Luc Besson is a director whose work I respect and tend to enjoy. The Family doesn't rank amongst his best efforts, but I still had a great time with this dark comedy. It isn't a film for everyone because it mixes some violent action scenes with comedy and has some major shifts of tone, but it worked really well for me. The Family counts with a very strong cast including lead performances from Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, and supporting performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, and John D'Leo. They were all great in this film and I especially enjoyed the small scenes between Tommy Lee Jones and Robert de Niro. The Family isn't exactly innovative, we've seen this sort of film before, and De Niro even starred in another similar movie: Analyze This. We've seen him make fun of the vary roles that made him such a huge star (Goodfellas and The Godfather II) and here he does it once again. Even Michelle Pfeiffer agreed to play the wife of a mobster once again. It was fun to see these Hollywood stars make fun of their stereotypical roles even though they'd done it before. Luc Besson did a great job adapting Tonino Benacquista's novel, and some of his classic trademarks can be found in The Family. Next to Leon and The Fifth Element, The Family really doesn't live up to its predecessors, but it still is an entertaining watch. The film is hit and miss and superficial at times, but it's still worth a watch thanks to some very exciting and funny scenes. Besson also pays homage to Scorsese's gangster films in his own satirical way. The cast makes this worthwhile, especially the beautiful Dianna Agron who is just menacing here. 

The Family focuses on the Manzoni's, a former Mafia family that has been relocated to the small french town of Normandy under the witness protection program. Fred (Robert de Niro) and his wife Maggie (MIchelle Pfeiffer) along with their two children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D'Leo) have had trouble in the past adapting to these new locations due to the fact that bad habits die hard. They always end up trying to solve the problems around them on their own and that makes CIA Agent Stansfield's (Tommy Lee Jones) job more difficult as he continuously has to relocate the family. They are under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob and therefore have many gangsters searching for them so they will have to be on their best behavior in this new town  if they don't want to attract attention their way.

The Family doesn't add anything new to the film genre and will probably not be mentioned in any of the actors' resume, but I still had a fun time and was entertained. The film never aspires to be an artistic one, it just puts its strength on the cast and lets them entertain us by playing with their stereotypes and tonal shifts. Besson relies heavily on the performance from the cast and in my opinion they make this film an entertaining one. They just bring so much energy into their roles that it comes through in the film. I even enjoyed the climatic final scene which most have criticized, and the film was energetic enough to make me care for these characters and their outcome. 

My Review: Lincoln (7/10)

¨I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I’m too lazy to stop.¨

Lincoln is without a doubt the most iconic figure in America’s history and for that fact alone this movie is worth checking out considering it is a well researched biopic directed by one of the best contemporary filmmakers: Steven Spielberg. Lincoln may not be as entertaining as it is informative, but none the less this is a film that will stick with you and help you understand perhaps a bit more why Lincoln remains such a beloved and respectful figure in our society today. This film will win several Academy Awards and perhaps even Best Picture thanks to a wonderful lead performance from Daniel Day Lewis, a great supporting cast, and a brilliant screenplay from Tony Kushner, who had previously worked with Steven in Munich. What stands out about this biopic is the way in which Spielberg presents it by deciding to focus on a specific period during Lincoln´s second term as President. The film doesn’t have flashbacks or tell us anything about Lincoln’s past life, but rather focuses on a specific period in time where the President is trying to abolish slavery by getting the 13^th Amendment passed in the Constitution. All this occurring while the Civil War is going on of course, as we see how Lincoln brilliantly manages to maneuver both things at once. By deciding to film the biopic this way we can focus on an important period in Lincoln’s life, without having to go through his entire life. I felt that this way we were able to learn much more about the President and his actions than we would have if we were given every specific about his entire life. By focusing on this specific period we really learn and understand the person that Abe is. I thought this was just a brilliant way to approach the film and it worked wonderfully.

The film takes place during Abraham Lincoln’s (Daniel Day Lewis) second term as president in 1865 while the Civil War is nearing its end. Lincoln knows that if he wants to abolish slavery once and for all in America he will have to do it before the Civil War is over. Concerned about the little effect his emancipation act will have on the slaves after the war he begins to push for the 13^th Amendment to be passed before peace is reached. The Senate has already passed the amendment, and now it is up to the House of Representatives to pass it. He knows he has the votes from the Republican Party, but he still will need about 20 Democratic votes in order to get the amendment passed. In this political game that Lincoln begins to play he tries to extend the Civil War as much as possible in order to get the amendment passed, although he knows that the longer he extends the War the more innocent lives will be lost, including that of his son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who has decided to join the War. This crisis of conscience that Lincoln faces begins to take a toll on him and his family, although he manages to maintain his serenity through these troubled times. Sally Field plays his wife Mary, while David Strathairn is William Seward the Secretary of State. Tommy Lee Jones is Thaddeus Stevens, one of the Republicans in the House of Representatives who highly favors the amendment.

From the moment that the film begins you get a sense that you really are seeing Abraham Lincoln, the icon himself come to life. Daniel Day Lewis immerses himself completely into his role in such a way that you forget that you are seeing a portrayal of Lincoln, and actually begin to see Lincoln himself. Daniel is a tremendous actor, he surprised us all in There Will Be Blood, and once again he outdoes himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins his third Oscar for his tremendous performance here. He is the highlight of the film. The rest of the cast is also brilliant: You have Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Hayley, and Jared Harris among many other great actors. The entire cast here is magnificent as they transport us into the past in such a way that you forget you are watching a film. Everything about this film works really well, but I felt it worked more as a history lesson than as a piece of entertainment. This is not an action film, it doesn’t focus on the Civil War, but rather it takes a more personal approach as to the persona of Lincoln and the strategic politic mind he had. This is a film that will help you understand more about the man and how he managed to end the Civil War while at the same time abolish slavery. This is perhaps the greatest historical American political film ever made. Unfortunately I’m not a fan of politics and I did find this film a bit heavy handed, but it was a wonderful experience and it helped me understand and learn more about the man Lincoln.

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My Review: Hope Springs (6/10)

¨He is everything. But I'm... I'm really lonely. And to be with someone, when you're not really with him can... it's... I think I might be less lonely... alone.¨

Hope Springs was one of those movies I wish I could´ve enjoyed a little more because it had some great performances and a decent story. The movie really felt authentic to me, but I did get bored during several points of the movie. Everyone knows how great and talented Meryl Streep is; she is one of the greatest actresses of all time in my opinion. Once again she is outstanding in her role here alongside Tommy Lee Jones who also gives an authentic performance playing her husband for 30 years. Whatever romance there might have been in the past, it is long gone now as the two live together but it might as well be like they are in two separate worlds. There are several funny moments in the film of course, but it`s also combined with a lot of drama and sadness. I can imagine some old couples relating to this story, but the film; I´m afraid, won’t attract a younger audience. Hope Springs was directed by David Frankel, who worked in the past with Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (one of my favorite performances from Streep). Frankel also directed more recently the heartfelt film Marley and Me. I would recommend any of those two movies over this one. What surprised me the most about this film was that it was written by the young Vanessa Taylor (who has written for several TV series such as Game of Thrones, Alias, and Everwood). I expected it to be written by a senior writer considering the material, but she did write a very good and believable script. Although I must say that Meryl Streep can make any script sound believable.

The plot is pretty simple: Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) have been married for over 30 years. They seem to have a stable relationship, but they sleep in separate rooms and have hardly any communication between each other. Arnold shows no affection for Kay anymore and he thinks everything is fine, but Kay feels alone and wants to reignite the spark of their marriage. Kay decides to sign Arnold and her for an intense one week marriage therapy session in Hope Springs with Dr. Feld (Steve Carell). When Arnold hears about it, he gets pretty upset at first but he decides to go anyway to comply with his wife, although he nags about it during the whole trip. Dr. Feld helps the couple discover where their love for each other has drifted apart and despite some reluctance at first, Arnold decides to go along with the therapy lessons. Things won`t be easy, but both must try their best to reignite the lost flame of their love before it´s too late. Thus the challenge for the couple begins.

The title in Spanish for this movie ¨¿Que voy a hacer con mi marido?¨ literally means What Am I Going to Do With My Husband? Perhaps a more appropriate and inventive title than Hope Springs. The truth of the matter is that Kay has put everything on the line in her marriage, and Arnold is the one who has held back. The challenge really is on him to rebuild the love he once had for her. Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep were great together; they really looked like a true couple. I give this film 3 stars out of five mostly because of their performance together. Steve Carell as the therapist had a different role than the one he usually plays. He did a decent job although he was outshined by the two stars of the film. Surprisingly he didn’t have a comedic moment in this film. Most funny moments come from the couple trying to rediscover their lost love for each other. This film isn’t for everyone. Younger audiences probably won`t enjoy this too much, but Streep fans will be pleased with her work. I still enjoyed the movie.

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My Review: Men In Black III (6/10)

¨I promised the secrets of the universe, nothing more.¨

It`s been 15 years since Barry Sonnenfeld directed the first Men in Black film paring up the unlikely duo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. This concept wasn’t entirely original as we`ve seen these sort o pairings in films like Lethal Weapon with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover playing similar characters. What I do remember about the first MIB is that it was very entertaining and had some incredible effects for the time. Now we have grown used to seeing these special effects, but I still enjoyed this movie thanks to the performance from the cast and it also brought back a nostalgic feeling. I remember that I started falling in love with movies during the 90`s and MIB was one that I enjoyed very much along with Independence Day so Will Smith was one of the first actors I actually knew by name. Of course today after seeing thousand of films I see those movies and I don’t find them to be as great as I first experienced them. I`ve grown into a more grumpy critic who expects more from movies, but MIB III brought back some of those nostalgic feelings so I ended up enjoying this movie despite it not being perfect, and rather silly at times. It`s been four years since Will Smith had last starred in a movie so I really was glad to see him back in action. He is a great actor and brought a lot of comedy to his role with his big loud mouth. Both Sonnenfeld and Smith were able to make a better film than the first MIB sequel, and it lives up to the original one thanks to a clever script from Etan Cohen.

Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) are still working together guarding Earth from all the dangers of the Universe. They face a new threat when a villain from K`s past named Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) has escaped prison and is looking for revenge after K shot his arm off and imprisoned him over 40 years ago. J had never heard about Boris until now and when he tries to do research about the event that happened that day he isn’t authorized to dig any further. Boris gets his hands on some sort of time device and goes back in time to kill Agent K. J wakes up the next day with a feeling that something has happened to K and when he arrives at work and asks about his partner nobody knows who K is. At first Agent J thinks it`s all a prank, but when Agent O (Emma Thompson) tells J that K has been dead for 40 years he realizes that Boris managed to go back in time and killed K. Now times have changed and Boris`s race is invading Earth to destroy it. Agent J is sent back in time to try to save K. He ends up back in 1969 where he runs into a younger version of K (Josh Brolin) and together they try to stop Boris once and for all in order to save the planet once again.

The highlight of the film is probably Josh Brolin`s performance since he plays a very believable young Tommy Lee Jones. His facial expressions and voice is really on the note and it is just so fun to see him imitate Jones`s character. This was really my favorite part of the film along with some of the cameos and the clever jokes and cultural references of the 60`s. Another highlight was Michael Stuhlbarg`s (from A Serious Man) performance as Griffin. He got most of the laughs in the movie. Tommy Lee Jones didn`t have a very big role in this sequel and he is getting very old, but he`s still fun to watch on screen. Men in Black III is not a perfect movie, but it`s entertaining and brings back some memories. I liked the whole back in time concept and it reminded me of other great films like Back to the Future. If you are a fan of Will Smith or the MIB franchise than you will really enjoy this movie, if not you might find it too silly. I really enjoyed Brolin`s comedic turn in this movie and he is the highlight of the film. MIB III is an enjoyable and well made sequel.

   

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My Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (6/10)

¨General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history, but every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier.¨

Summer is synonym of superhero action movies. It seems as if every week we get bombarded with new superhero films, whether it be from the Marvel universe or the DC comics (I know, I`ve said this before). This summer started off with Thor, then it followed with the X-Men Origins franchise, next came The Green Lantern, and now finally we approach the end of the season with Captain America. I don’t have a problem with this at all since they usually end up being pretty good and some of my most anticipated movies for 2012 are actually superhero films (The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises). The question is how long can the producers keep on making these films entertaining and fresh for audiences. Captain America seemed to suffer from some of this overexposure these comic heroes have been having on the big screen. It`s still a good movie, but it didn’t feel all that fresh and we`ve grown used to seeing these heroes do great stuff and fight some terrible villains. The visuals are great as usual, the characters are interesting (comic book characters usually are very well developed since they`ve been in circulation for years), the stories are well developed, and the performances are great (especially from the supporting cast). So the question still remains: why wasn’t I that excited about Captain America? I found it an average and forgettable film despite all these great factors contributing to the movie. I guess I`ve already answered this: it just didn`t feel fresh enough, and it didn`t bring anything new to the genre. I did however still have a good time with the movie although I don’t think I will be seeing it again, and it won`t even come close in comparison to some of the other great superhero films like The Dark Knight or Iron Man.

The story takes place during the Second World War in 1942. The United States is in the middle of recruiting new, young and strong men to fight with the military overseas. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is one of those guys who is desperate to serve his country. He has a great heart, but unfortunately his small size doesn’t help. He keeps on getting rejected, but he is persistent and doesn’t let anyone bully him around. His best friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan), has been called to serve with the 107 infantry and Steve wishes he could go along. Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) overhears a conversation the two of them are having and decides to give Steve a chance- due to his great passion- to serve the country on a special mission. Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) are in charge of this secret mission which consists of finding the perfect soldier and injecting him with a special serum that Dr. Erskine has created that will enable him to have greater powers. Steve is the chosen one and the project is successful, but somehow a Nazi spy has managed to sneak in on the experiment and destroys the entire facility. This spy works for Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) who is in charge of the Hydra division, which is sponsored by Hitler and is designed to build special weapons for the War. But Schmidt has something more in mind considering he wants to rule the world and uses science to build these special weapons. Steve Rogers, who becomes known as Captain America after undergoing the experiment, will now have to stop Schmidt before it`s too late.

One of the problems I had with this film was that Chris Evans played a very serious Captain America. He is a much better actor when he is allowed to be loose and funny. I know his character didn’t allow for that, but I guess the producers should have decided for another actor in that role considering Evans is a more charismatic and playboy kind of fellow. Hugo Weaving is usually great in his roles as villains, but in this case Red Skull wasn’t a very fearful one considering all he did was run away each time he had to face off with Captain America. This film could have used a much more intimidating villain. The best performances actually come from the supporting actors such as Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci who share some of the best scenes. In my opinion Evans didn’t have what it takes to be the lead character, but I expect he will be great in The Avengers as one of the supporting actors. He will probably be outshined by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Renner (or at least his Captain America film was by Iron Man and Thor), but that is ok because he always does well in those films where he just lays back in the supporting role. The best part of this film was by far the scene after the end credits where we get to see the trailer for The Avengers. The film looks so great and it will be interesting to see how all these actors work together. Hopefully audiences won’t be tired by then from all the overexposure and producers can maintain the freshness and originality alive.

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