Slow West (8/10): A revisionist and inventive Western with an outstanding cast.

“A jack rabbit in a den of wolves.“

 

After their collaboration together in two short films, John Maclean and Michael Fassbender team up for the director’s feature debut in this originally fresh take on the Western genre. In Slow West we get a different glimpse of the West, avoiding the typical Americana style confrontation between cowboys and indians. Here we are introduced to a world where immigrants are trying to force their way through this lawless land. Surviving in this place has nothing to do with how well of a shot you are, it’s more about luck and being at the right place at the right time. The story, which was written by Maclean, follows the journey of a 16 year old boy named Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who has traveled from Scotland to the West in search of Rose (Caren Pistorius), the woman he’s in love with. Along with her father, John (Rory McCann), they had to flee from Scotland after an incident with Jay’s father. Jay is clueless about the West, but determined. He runs into a former bounty hunter named, Silas (Michael Fassbender) who offers his service as his chaperon realizing he will need protection if he wants to survive in this place. What Jay doesn’t know however is that there is a bounty for Rose and her father, and there are many people interested in collecting the reward. Among them there is the eccentric Payne (Ben Mendelsohn) who is an old acquaintance of Silas. 

What the film does extremely well in Slow West is balance the western genre with a dry sense of humor. There are plenty of surprisingly funny moments in this film that help build the story. Through a series of fortunate (and misfortunate) events we follow these characters through their journey. Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender share strong chemistry together and keep us hooked during the slowly paced scene. There is a memorable scene that takes place in a store/bar during the first half of the film and a fantastic final shoot out at the end, which stands out from most Westerns. The film has a unique taste to it and some interesting characters, but the gorgeous cinematography is what stands out in this immense landscape. It’s only 84 minutes long, but it is a perfect fit for this movie which ends in memorable fashion. It took its time to grow on me, but the more I think about it the more I end up liking this film. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Western genre, and adding Michael Fassbender to that mix only makes this an even more rewarding experience. 

Slow West is stylish and uses its gorgeous landscape very well (it was actually filmed in New Zealand), but it also includes a dreamy atmosphere and plenty of humor. There is a scene during the beginning of the film where Jay is looking at the night stars and pointing his gun towards them and as he imaginarily shoots at them, they light up. There are plenty of dreamy sequences like this one, but there is also plenty of dry humor as well. There is a narration over a camp fire about an outlaw who wants his very own wanted poster. Ben Mendelsohn’s eccentric coat is also a feast for the eyes which adds its comedic touch. Slow West has a great cast and it is a film worth recommending. 

Lost River (5/10): Gosling's ambitious directorial debut doesn't reach the high standards he was setting for the film.

“The wolves... if they're not already at your door... they're gonna be there very efin soon.”

Lost River has the potential of becoming a cult film in a few years because it is very artistic and far from being a mainstream movie due to its lack of a cohesive narrative structure and its nightmarish atmospheric approach. Ryan Gosling, who is one of my favorite actors, is the writer and director of Lost River, and for a first feature film I must say that he aimed extremely high. He borrows heavily from directors he’s worked with in the past or that he’s admired, so you can see some heavy influences from Refn, Noe, Cronenberg, and perhaps even more from David Lynch. These aren’t directors that are easy to imitate and therefor Gosling struggles to find his own voice although the result is rather unique. Being an actor that many people like the easiest thing for Gosling would’ve been to direct a mainstream film, but I give him credit for trying to make an artistic film that will be appreciated by a select group of people. I didn’t have any funny watching Lost River, but I did find some of the nightmarish scenes quite disturbing so it isn’t one of those movies you easily forget about. I’m not a fan of surrealism so I’m not the greatest judge for a film like this, but I think that it will find its audience with fans of movies like Enter the Void, Under the Skin or any of Lynch’s films. What Rosling is trying to get at under all the heavy imagery he uses is the desolation that the American Dream has on some people when its not achieved.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to do in a review for a film like this is write a plot summary because it would be easy to confuse the reader and make them believe there is some sort of narrative structure to the movie when in reality it’s more about setting a dreamy atmosphere. The story takes place in a fictional town named Lost River where most of the people have abandoned the place after a nearby flood destroyed the city. It is actually filmed in an abandoned town in Detroit and Gosling experiments by having some residents interact with the actors in a couple of scenes. A young teen named Bones (Iain De Caestecker) dreams of leaving the city knowing there is no future there, but his single mother, Billy (Christina Hendricks), refuses to leave the place where she grew up in. Billy is behind on the payments of her home however, and she is forced by a banker named Dave (Ben Mendelsohn) to accept a job at this sort of dark underground freak show that he owns. Bones’ neighbor, Rat (Saoirse Ronan), who lives with her mute widowed grandmother, tells him that the flood has left a spell on the town and that is why everyone behaves so strange in this city. The streets are owned by a violent man known as Bully (Matt Smith) who Bones gets into trouble with. Meanwhile Billy is introduced to the dark underworld where she works where audiences seem to have a fascination for gore. There she meets one of the performers, Cat (Eva Mendes) who shows her how the place works. The film basically follows these characters and introduces us to the nightmarish town accompanied with a vibrant electric score and neon lights. 

The performances in Lost River are solid with Ben Mendelsohn standing out as you can tell he’s having a lot of fun with his character. The film might be all over the place at times, but the talented cast delivers. Iain de Caestecker is the lead actor and his scenes were probably my favorite when it focused on his relationship with Rat and the tension between his character and Bully. Matt Smith is also having a lot of fun with his character and despite not being as menacing a villain his wacky and violent behavior is always hard to predict. As much as I enjoyed Christina Hendricks in the female lead role, the scenes of the dark underworld took me completely out of the movie. It was a freak show that I didn’t care for very much. Reda Kateb has some interesting scenes playing the nice cab driver. There is one scene where he talks to Billy about the American dream which is sort of the underlying message of the film. Overall I felt the movie didn’t balance the two main stories very well and there were scenes that felt disconnected with the rest of the film. Lost River isn’t an easy watch but I still admire Gosling’s effort.

Black Sea (5/10): A submarine thriller that fails to deliver on the thrills.

“I lost my family because of this job.”

A thriller that fails to keep me at the edge of my seat is always a bad sign, especially when it’s from a director like Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) whose work I’ve appreciated in the past (with the exception of The Eagle). I could forgive the lack of thrills if at least there was some investment in character development, but other than Jude Law’s lead character there wasn’t any depth in the rest of the cast. To make matters worse, there are several characters that seem to make terrible and unreasonable decisions. Everything seems to go wrong for the misfit crew members of the submarine during their quest in search for gold in the Black Sea and they don’t make matters easier by making dubious decisions. There is so much at stake for these men, but considering there was very little effort put to give them some depth I didn’t really care if they survived or not. Macdonald tries to make this a claustrophobic film about desperate men who are forced to these extreme conditions because they’ve been wronged by their employers, but it is hard to care for these people or even root for them and that is perhaps the main reason why I never felt the tension. The greatest dangers they face are themselves rather than the typical external conditions because there is a lot of suspicion and division. 

Jude Law is Robinson, a submarine Captain who has recently been fired by his employers after 30 years. One night at a bar, his friend tells him about a sunken treasure rumored to be lost somewhere in the Black Sea. Apparently during the Second World War, the Russians were sending Hitler several tons of gold to pay him off so that the Nazi’s wouldn’t invade their territory. The treasure never arrived and Robinson’s friend seems to know where it is. Funded by a wealthy businessman named Lewis (Tobias Menzies) he forms a crew to go in search of the gold. Of course since the gold is rumored to be under Russian waters he must hire several Russian crew members, which of course will affect the interpersonal relations between them. He also hires Fraser (Ben Mendelssohn), one of the best divers he knows although he is completely unreliable and Tobin (Bobby Schofield) a young teenager who Robinson has taken under his wings. Lewis also sends his personal assistant, Daniels (Scoot McNairy) to make sure they report all the gold to him, but he has no experience in a submarine and suffers from claustrophobia. It is implied from the very beginning that the misfit crew members aren’t going to get along too well, but if they want to find the gold they must learn to. 

I don’t know why the film failed to deliver that sense of tension that the trailers promised. I just never found the characters interesting. Jude Law has a strange Scottish accent that I honestly found distracting. Mendelssohn is a terrific actor, but his character makes so many unreasonable decisions in this film that it is hard to understand his motivations. Scoot McNairy is given the role of the nagging character who is always worried about everything. He is in charge of passing on the fear to the audience because everything he worries about ends up happening. His character is simply here in order for us to understand what is going on because he is the new guy who they have to explain things to. I simply wasn’t a huge fan of this thriller and I think that it had potential to be much better. It was tedious at times and I didn’t enjoy the ride as much as I thought I would. The cinematography however was solid and Macdonald does a great job of creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.    

Starred Up (8/10: The best UK film of 2014

“Starred Up means you're leader.”

Starred Up is unquestionably the best UK film of the year. It’s no surprise because the best prison dramas that have come out over recent years come from Europe (think Bronson, Hunger, and A Prophet). What surprised me the most about Starred Up is that the humanity of these prisoners is never lost. These are guys who do questionable things and constantly have anger issues, but somehow as an audience we are still drawn to them and care for them. It isn’t something easy to achieve but thanks to David Mackenzie’s solid direction and Jonathan Asser’s brilliant and realistic script we get an authentic prison drama with characters we can engage with and are worth investing in. Asser actually based the script on his personal experience when he worked as a voluntary therapist at a prison. It really comes through in the script because you have a sense that he sees these prisoners as actual human beings and not just stereotypical prisoners which we sometimes get from movies. He raises some important issues that most prison movies fail to do so and which concern him. There are two ways we can view prisons: as a place where we can set apart the criminals and keep them away from society or as a place where we send these criminals to be rehabilitated. He firmly believes in the second cause and that is why he includes a voluntary therapist in this film that is trying to rehabilitate some of these prisoners. These are issues that aren’t usually raised in films of this genre, but through this authentic portrayal of life behind bars we get a sense of it. That is why Asser is so concerned with humanizing the main character, Eric Love, played brilliantly by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), who has just been sent to prison after spending years in juvenile institutions for his violent behavior. He’s sent to the same prison where his father (played by Ben Mendelsohn) has been spending most of his life. Their hurtful relationship gives us a glimpse of why Eric behaves the way he does and it is ultimately what engages the audience with his character. However my favorite aspect of the film is the relationship he shares with the therapist (Rupert Friend) who is trying to help with his violent nature. The film is gritty and it also has a lot going on with the rest of the prisoners and guards as well. As opposed to what we feel for the prisoners, the guards don’t really view their humanity. Starred Up succeeds as an authentic portrayal inside a prison.

This is only the second time I have seen a film directed by David Mackenzie and he is back on my radar now. I had seen Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher, and I really disliked that movie. This film felt like it was directed by a completely different person. A lot of the credit has to be given to the screenwriter for writing such a compelling prison drama with scenes that you are completely invested in and have you at the edge of your seat. But of course one can’t leave out the brilliant performance from Jack O’Connell who delivers one of the most memorable prisoner characters I’ve seen. His physical performance is just inspiring. There are a number of secondary characters that will also be remembered. Ben Mendelsohn as Eric’s father is great and so is Friend as the therapist. I enjoyed many of the interactions Eric had with them and with some of his inmates. There are several things going on as we sort of get a slice of life of these prisoners life. I may have been describing this film mostly as a drama, but believe me there are several moments of incredible tension and gritty violence. It balances these themes very well and makes for a compelling watch.

Exodus: Gods and Kings (5/10): A disappointing Biblical adaptation from the talented Ridley Scott

“Follow me and you will be free. Stay and you will perish.”

Ridley Scott is always a director to look forward to when it comes to films. I know he has had his series of misses as of late, but with films like Alien and Blade Runner under his belt, you know his next film could become a classic. Alien is one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time and I even enjoyed Scott’s recent prequel, Prometheus, more than most audiences did. Exodus isn’t the first time Scott has tried to make an epic film because it is similar in scope to what he did with Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and Robin Hood. Unfortunately, Exodus is the weakest of the four in my opinion. Scott has also experimented with different genres and last year’s The Counselor was proof of that. He’s even made some smaller films which I really enjoyed such as Matchstick Men which I was a huge fan of. I appreciate these smaller scale films more than when he tries to make these grandiose and epic ones. My major issue with this film revolves around the pacing because it felt so long and dull for most parts. It was as if Scott was aiming to direct an ambitious epic film and was trying to make it so grand that he got lost with the production and visuals of it and left out the actual narrative. There are several things I’d like to get out of the way before I actually review this film. First of all, if you are expecting a faithful adaptation to the Biblical story then Exodus isn’t a movie for you because Scott and the screenwriters took several liberties of their own (especially in the way Moses interacted with God and the Pharaoh). This is the second big budget film based on the Old Testament to come out last year, after Aronofsky directed Noah, which both took liberties from the original source material but in my opinion at least Aronofsky did something fresh and unique with the material, while Scott never manages to do so. Second, I don’t understand why we complaint so much about the casting of white actors and forget about the fact that the characters are all speaking in English. What is the point of casting all Egyptian and Hebrew actors and have them speak in English? At least Scott went all in and just cast famous actors without considering anything else.

It took me a while to get over the silliness of the opening sequences. On the one hand, Scott made a huge effort of recreating the Egyptian empire with huge production sets, but on the other the familiar faces of the actors kind of took me out of the film. Having John Turturro playing the Pharaoh and Sigourney Weaver his wife was difficult to visualize. I think Joel Edgerton is a great actor, but he wasn’t the right man for the role of Ramses. Christian Bale delivers as Moses and Ben Mendelssohn has the most campy scenes in the film but I think they helped to break the tedious tone of the film. Aaron Paul and Ben Kingsley are inexplicably underused. Despite the nice visuals (I don’t think they were groundbreaking), the story was poorly written and that is perhaps why some of these incredible actors didn’t have much to work with. There are some moments in the film where Moses is given some humanity, but whatever depth they tried to give the characters got lost in the visuals and the narrative. We know the story and have seen it played out several times in films before, so that is perhaps why I found some of the engaging scenes rather tedious because Scott doesn’t really do anything unique with the material. By the time the plagues take place we really don’t care for the characters and aren’t emotionally invested in them either. Yes, the scenes look great but there is nothing more there. I also expected a lot more from the parting of the Red Sea, but it simply was a forgettable scene. The only moment I felt some sort of emotion toward this dull film was with the dedication to his brother Tony during the end credits, but the film didn’t actually do anything for me. I was more emotionally engaged with the animated film The Prince of Egypt than I was with this. Skip the movie, read Exodus instead. 

My Review: Adore (6/10)

"Now I feel really sinful."

Adore is an Australian film by French director, Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel) focusing on a taboo subject matter involving two mothers falling for each others sons. The premise may have been explored before in other films, but here it is the main focus of the movie and the entire drama centers on this dual relationship. For a character driven film, I felt that the film lacked some more chemistry between the characters. I was a little disappointed with this film because I was never drawn into the world of these people although I must say that the highlight of the film is the gorgeous cinematography thanks to the beautiful location where the story took place. The film looked great, but it lacked substance. I wasn't impressed with any of the performances although they weren't bad either. Naomi Watts comes from a superb performance in The Impossible, but here she was sort of the weak link because the chemistry she had with James Frecheville's character was nonexistent.   The film does kind of suck you in to this small Australian town, but it never fulfills or delivers anything interesting. Fontaine barely explores the Freudian psychological elements involved, but it never really delves deeper. Perhaps she is waiting for the sequel in which she will have the two fathers date each other's daughters. I felt like she never took any risks with this taboo subject matter. 

Lil (Naomi Watts) and Roz (Robin Wright) have been neighbors and best friends since they were young girls. They have spent their entire lives together in a small Australian beachside town. They both got married and had sons who also became great friends. Lil's husband died when her son Ian (Xavier Samuel) was still a very young boy. Roz and her husband Harold (Ben Mendelsohn) have had a great relationship along with their son Tom (James Frecheville). Tom and Ian spend most of their time surfing on the beach while Lil and Roz love to sunbathe. Their ideal life begins to shake when Harold is offered a job in Sydney. Roz and Tom don't want to leave, but Harold accepts the job. In Harold's absence Roz begins having an affair with Liz's son, Ian. When Tom discovers his friend with his mother he tells Lil about and they begin an affair of their own. The two couples fall for each other and seem to agree on continuing the unconventional affair against all odds. 

The film might not have worked as a drama in its pure form because the conflict between the immorality of the characters' actions never felt real, but in my opinion it worked as a sort of allegory in life as to how we accept certain actions once others commit them. We seem to justify our actions because other people around us do the same thing. That is how I felt about this movie once Tom sees Ian get involved with his mother. He feels justified to do the same thing and none of the mothers can say anything because they are doing the same thing. In their small ideal world everything was bliss because their actions were justified by each other, but once their world gets bigger and new characters begin to enter the scene their actions don't seem as conventional or right as they did at first. That is when everything begins to shake and there are consequences for their actions. So even though this film didn't work as a psychological character driven movie, it does sort of play out well as a metaphor on life and how we justify our actions by the actions of others.

My Review: The Place Beyond the Pines (9/10)

¨If you ride like lightning, you´re going to crash like thunder.¨

The Place Beyond the Pines is director Derek Cianfrance´s follow up to his critically acclaimed drama Blue Valentine which also happened to star Ryan Gosling. I personally never have seen Blue Valentine, so this was the first time I ever watched one of Cianfrance´s films and I have to admit that I was blown away by this epic drama. It may have its flaws, but the film is tremendously powerful and sticks with you long after the credits role. This isn’t an easy watch either as it is a 140 minute movie with a lot of character development, but it has some very entertaining and thrilling moments that make the film go by rather quickly. I never found a dull moment in this film and although it shifts gears several times each part of the film hooked me and left me wanting more. Cianfrance delivers one of the year´s best films thanks to some great performances from Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and newcomer Emory Cohen. Ryan Gosling give a similar performance to the one he gave in Drive, where his character doesn’t say much but acts really tough and cool. This time around he is an experienced motorcycle driver. This epic film can be divided in three parts, and in my opinion the first 40 minutes might be the best part of the film where Gosling absolutely shines and the film works more like a suspenseful thriller. In the second segment, the film focuses on Bradley Cooper and we get to see him play his useful charismatic self. This was probably the weakest part of the film for me, but it ends with a bang in the third segment where we are introduced to the main character´s sons 15 years later and we get to see how their family´s legacy influences their lives and decisions. Both Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan give some strong performances here. This last part might feel a bit rushed and I could have used some 20 more minutes of their story, but it was great nonetheless. I was really hooked with this movie and look forward to seeing some of Cianfrance´s previous work.

The story takes place in Schenectady, New York where Luke (Ryan Gosling) is just passing by along with the carnival as he works as one of the motorcycle drivers in the globe of death. He happens to share a connection with the small town as his former lover, Romina (Eva Mendes), lives there. They exchange a short dialogue after his act and he offers to take her home. He discovers that she has had his kid but is now living with another man. Growing up without a father has affected Luke´s life so he decides he wants to be around for his kid despite Romina not wanting him around. Luke quits the carnival and decides to stay in town working for a mechanic named Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). He wants to provide for his son, but the money isn’t enough so Luke is easily convinced by Robin to begin robbing banks. The two form a duo that involves Luke robbing the bank and driving off as fast as he can in his motorcycle while Robin waits for him in a truck where they can easily hideout and escape. They begin to have success, but Robin isn’t sure they should continue to do heists as often as they do. Luke decides to continue on his own and that is where his path is connected to Officer Avery´s (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious police officer who works in a department full of corrupt cops. And yes Ray Liotta plays yet another corrupt detective once again. The film shifts its focus in this second part on Avery and his relation with the police department and his family, specifically with his wife, Jennifer (Rose Byrne) and his supportive father Al (Harris Yulin). The final segment takes place 15 years later and it involves the relationship that Luke and Avery´s sons have with each other.

The film is ambitious but I think it manages to capture several issues in a very powerful away. Some of the things that the director is dealing with here seem to be the importance of a father figure (or lack thereof) in your life, and how the mistakes of our past continue to catch up with us in our generations to come. It is not an easy thing to tackle these issues in such a short time, but the film really felt like a novel and many of the images were left unsaid for the viewer to interpret on their own. The film has a very strong screenplay, some very powerful performances, and several dark dramatic turns. It is also very beautiful to look at despite the film noir look. I really found this to be a wonderful film and one I had to pay close attention to as the events unraveled before the screen. I especially liked the first 40 minutes of the film and the final 20, but I think it worked really well as a cohesive and connected story.

 

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