My Review: The Monuments Men (6/10)

"If you destroy their achievements, their history, it's like they never existed."

When I heard George Clooney was going to direct a film about a World War II platoon tasked by Roosevelt to rescue art masterpieces, and that Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, and John Goodman were all going to co-star with him, I was sure it was going to win all kinds of awards and was highly anticipating it. Then when the film release was changed to February my expectations for it lowered tremendously, so I wasn't expecting much from The Monuments Men by the time I went to see it. This allowed me to actually enjoy the film a bit more despite the fact that it didn't come close to reaching its potential. It's a slow building film based on a true historic and important event, and the film doesn't stop reminding us of this fact considering it keeps on stating its self importance through the main characters. The film felt forced during those scenes where we were constantly reminded why the mission was so important and worth the human sacrifice. Despite failing in its grand ambitions and never quite figuring out the tone of the film, it's still worth seeing for the great cast. There were also several scenes that stood out in this war picture that included some comedy, but overall the film felt incomplete at times missing something. The word disappointment comes to mind considering how much potential The Monuments Men had, but it was still entertaining despite some of the misfires in Clooney's film.

The script was adapted by George Clooney and Grant Heslov from Robert Edsel's book about the world's greatest treasure hunt in history. Frank Stokes (George Clooney) is tasked by President Roosevelt to form a platoon with the mission of going into Germany and rescuing art masterpieces from the Nazis who had stolen them from their owners (mostly Jewish collectors) for Hitler's collection. Frank quickly froms a team of seven guys consisting of museum directors, curators, and art historians with very little experience in war. The Monuments Men, as they called themselves, was conformed by Frank, James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). Despite their little military experience they began a race against time in order to rescue these valuable art pieces and return them to their owners before Hitler destroyed them all.

There are some fun moments in The Monuments Men thanks in most part to the incredible cast, but one can't help and think about how underused they were. The characters were all very poorly developed and they only served to move along the story. I still can recall several funny scenes that were enough for me personally to watch and recommend this film. It's too bad the movie never manages to deliver the importance of the subject matter despite repeating the message constantly. I don't think it did these men justice for their contribution to humanity, but at least we got to know their story and enjoy a light hearted film about them.

My Review: The Wolf of Wall Street (9/10)

"My name is Jordan Belfort. The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week."

How do you begin to write a review about a film that has so much things to comment on? The Wolf of Wall Street is an overblown energetic and hilarious film about these egocentric, greedy, immoral stockbrokers that we are supposed to hate, but ultimately end up rooting for because we have spent so much time laughing with them. These guys make Gordon Gekko from Wall Street look like a saint. Martin Scorsese is a genius; he can basically direct any movie he wants to and make it appealing. This is his follow up to Hugo (which was a brilliant family film) and he takes a 180 degree turn here with The Wolf of Wall Street and makes a comedy about these egocentric rich characters who have no moral boundaries, who spend their time getting high, objectifying women, and which should have been rated NC-17 because their excesses are constantly repeated over and over again on screen.  Many people criticize the fact that it's so long and overblown, but I think that's exactly the point Scorsese is trying to get across by repeating their excesses and debauchery. If there is one word I'd have to use to describe this film it'd be energetic. The film is so energetic and you get it through each one of the brilliant performances in the movie. This is a filthy dark comedy, but one that will stick with you and have you question yourself for having rooted for these characters. I understand the comparisons with Scorsese's Goodfellas in that the characters wrongful behavior is what we become attracted to and makes the film so edgy. I'm not supposed to root for these guys, they are the villains, they do terrible things, we are all their victims, but then why do we want them to get away with what they're doing? These are all questions that only begin to come up long after the credits have rolled and eventually you realize that these guys deserved far worse punishment and got away too easy (but wait that is what really happened with all these Wall Street stockbrokers that almost ruined the country), and that is why Scorsese is such a brilliant director because he is so subtle in getting his message across and does so in such an energetic and funny way.

The screenplay was adapted by Terence Winter from Jordan Belfort's autobiographical book about his rise to becoming a millionaire as a Long Island penny stockbroker. At age 22, Jordan (Leonardo DiCaprio) received early training from his boss Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) and eventually gets a stockbroker license, but the company melts down on his first day and he's left in the streets again. His wife, Teresa (Cristin Milioti), recommends him a job at Investor Center, which happens to be a very unprofessional small establishment that only deals with penny stocks, but has incredibly high commissions. Jordan is a natural and pitches sales so well that he rises to the top easily again. One day a neighbor named Donnie (Jonah Hill) comes up to him and asks him how he makes so much money, which leads him to decide to get into stocks and work for him. The two find a garage and set up their own business bringing along some of their friends: Robbie (Brian Sacca), Alden (Henry Zebrowski), Chester (Kenneth Choi), Nicky (PJ Byrne), Toby (Ethan Suplee), and Brad (Jon Bernthal). Jordan teaches them how to pith the sales and over the years the company grows at a very high rate and even gets marketing from Forbes Magazine where Jordan is nicknamed as the Wolf of Wall Street. These guys don't care about their clients and will tell them anything just to make a sale, and do a bunch of illegal things along the way which eventually gets them into trouble with the law, specifically FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) who begins to follow their every move. Along the way in the midst of all the parties, sex, and drugs, Jordan falls for the beautiful Naomi (Margot Robbie) and eventually divorces his wife and marries her. The film continues to follow Jordan's excesses as he becomes more and more addicted to drugs, the most powerful of all being money.

Scorsese makes several great statements in this film about the world of Wall Street, similar to what he did with the gangster world in Goodfellas. He doesn't shy away from their egocentric world portraying numerous scenes where the characters are getting high, having sex, and getting rich at expense of the rest of the world. He also makes it clear that money is the most dangerous and addictive drug of all, and these men don't know where to draw the line. There are several scenes that truly stood out for me like the scene where Mark teaches Jordan what the business is really about, or when Jordan and Donnie meet for the first time, or when Jordan meets with Agent Dunham in his yacht. In the midst of all the crazy debauchery, these small conversation scenes work so well giving the characters more depth. There are also hilarious scenes like the one where Jordan and Donnie suffer from a delayed drug side effect, mixed with some very dark scenes as well like when Jordan has a huge fight with Naomi portraying him at his lowest point. The performances in this film are also incredible, Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best and funniest performance to date, the scenes where he gives his employees pep talks are mesmerizing, Jonah Hill is also at his best and has some extremely funny and insane scenes, they both truly deserve Oscar nominations for their work here. Matthew McConaughey is no longer a surprise, he has been exceptional in his latest films, but he has a very small role here, Margot Robbie gives an outstanding performance in a world where females are completely objectified, Rob Reiner is funny as Jordan's father, and finally Kyle Chandler also stood out for me as the only character who seemed to be morally incorruptible. They all bring so much energy to this film making the three hours go by fast despite being overblown and repetitive.

My Review: The Artist (9/10)

¨Look at what you've become. You've become proud! You've become stupid! ¨

The Artist is a beautiful film that pays homage to movies from the late 20`s and early 30`s, the silent film era. In order to do so, French director Michel Hazanavicius decided to make this film almost entirely without sound and in black and white. Many producers would`ve probably thought he was crazy for trying to make a film like this in these days where viewers are used to seeing spectacular and colorful movies with great sound and even in 3D. However, The Artist works perfectly and is one of the brightest films of the year despite being in black and white. The cinematography is spectacular (perhaps only rivaled this year by The Tree of Life and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), the costume design and editing are among the best of the year, and the score is also amazing. This is truly a beautiful film that many film historians will enjoy for the nice tribute it renders to the age of silent films. Many famous actors during this era weren’t able to make the transition to the talkies, and that is exactly what The Artist is about, and it does it in a very simplistic but stylized fashion. The film has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Performance by a Lead Actor (Jean Dujardin) and a Supporting Actress (Berenice Bejo). It will probably walk away with the Best Picture title considering how appealing the subject matter is to the Academy, and how well the film was crafted. Please don’t be scared off because the movie is silent or in black and white because the story is really entertaining and despite being colorless it is brighter than any other film released this year. It is really worth a watch; you won`t regret it.

The year is 1927 and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is at the height of his artistic career. He is a very successful Hollywood actor and producer Al Zimmer (John Goodman) is very pleased with his work. After having succeeded together yet again in a recent film, they are already collaborating for their next project. During rehearsals for their next movie, George runs into an extra named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). They hit it off instantly sharing a dance number and George insists that Peppy should get the part. Pepper falls in love immediately with George, but he is married to Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) so their relationship is entirely professional. George gives Peppy the best advice she would ever receive: In order to make it in the industry she needs to be different and he paints a spot near her lip. This will be her trademark later on as she slowly begins rising to the spotlight during the arrival of the talkies. Valentin however, isn’t lucky and realizes his days as a successful actor are coming to an end with the advent of these talking pictures. People want to see new faces and hear their voices. Al Zimmer realizes this and breaks relations with George, so Valentin decides to produce, direct, and star in his own silent film. The movie is a failure as people want to see these new talkies, and as Valentin`s fame becomes to decline, Peppy Miller begins to grow into a superstar. Valentin is left with nothing except his faithful driver, Clifton (James Cromwell) and his Jack Russell Terrier named Jack. The times have changed for the great artists and fortunes are reversed.

The Artist is among my top ten favorite films of the year and it works really well, not only as homage to these silent films, but as a love story as well. Along with Midnight in Paris, these are perhaps the two best romantic movies of the year and would make for an excellent date. I`ve already mentioned some of the technical aspects, but now I would like to praise the performances from Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, and the dog (which was played in most part by Uggie). I can`t leave out the dog, because he plays an important role in this film, and in a way is Valentin`s faithful companion and savior. Jean Dujardin does deserve the Oscar nomination for his performance, he was terrific, and I think I enjoyed it over George Clooney`s. If he wins, it will be well deserved. My favorite performance of the film however, comes from Berenice Bejo, who was also nominated as a supporting actress. She is just terrific and shines every time she`s on screen. Her performance gives this black and white movie a lot of color. Both Bejo and Dujardin have worked together with director Hazanavicius in the past in the French spy spoof film OSS 117. I`ve never seen the movie, nor its sequel, but after seeing The Artist I`m very much interested in doing so. Overall this is a terrific film and one you won`t want to miss.

     

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