Black Mass (6/10): Dealing with the devil

“If nobody sees it, it didn't happen.”

Black Mass is Scott Cooper’s follow up to his dark thriller, Out of the Furnace. This gangster film centers on the true story of one of Boston’s most wanted criminals, Whitey Bulger, an Irish mobster who served as an informant for the FBI against the Italian Mafia for many years, during which time he used the special treatment to get away with committing several gruesome crimes of his own and rise to the top. The film is extremely slow paced and it focuses on the small details of Whitey’s crime life, but it is also a breath of fresh air for its realistic portrayal of the gritty criminal life without sensationalizing these gangsters. The violence is real and gruesome and not something worth celebrating here. It does however prove why audiences love the more fast paced fictitious portrayal of these criminal, because it can become a dull exercise at times to portray these characters as real people. The greatest strength of Black Mass is without a doubt Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Whitey because it was exciting to finally see him play a straight role once again. He’s menacing without going over the top. The prosthetics were a bit distracting, but it was worth it to get to see Depp playing this older man. Black Mass tries too hard to remain authentic to the real life events and by doing so it becomes a dull procedural at times, but Depp’s performance makes it worth recommending. 

The film centers on Whitey’s relationship with a Boston FBI agent named John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) who struck a deal with him during the course of several years. Whitey was asked to snitch on the Italian mafia which would lead to more arrests for Connolly while Whitey was allowed to get away with his criminal undertakings. It was a win-win situation for both of them. The story then closely follows how Whitey went about doing his business with his entrusted men, Kevin (Jesse Plemons) and Steve (Rory Cochrane), performing gruesome executions while the police looked the other way. Meanwhile, Whitey’s brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) was rising to the top of the Massachusetts Senate, but he doesn’t play a major role in the story. Other characters who are simply introduced but not given much to do are Whitey’s partner: Lindsey (Dakota Johnson), Connolly’s right hand man in the agency: John Morris (David Harbour), and Connolly’s wife: Marianne (Julianne Nicholson). The film uses these characters to explore some of the family dynamics and when it does it works to its advantage, but the film feels like it is missing some cohesiveness between each separate individual. Take for instance a scene where Whitey is sharing a meal with Lindsey and their son while he is explaining to him how to get away with hitting a boy in school who is bullying him. The scene works perfectly to give us a sense of how Whitey thinks and acts, but it doesn’t do anything for the film narratively and it feels like a separate scene all together. There are several moments like this that seem to be presented only as facts, but these facts don’t add up to much and it drags out the premise making us lose interest in the story.   

There are some great scenes where Depp is allowed to shine, but other than that the film does miss a lot of its targets. The talented cast is mostly wasted with Benedict Cumberbatch, Juno Temple, and Kevin Bacon given very little to do. Depp and Edgerton stand out since the primary focus of the film is on their relationship, but the side plots don’t work. While the film tries to focus on other characters it never feels connected to the main relationship that is so central to the story. Johnny Depp might garner some attention for his performance, but the film will quickly be forgotten come award time. 

My Favorite Collection: Mystic River (10/10)

“We bury our sins here, Dave. We wash them clean.”

     

Mystic River and Unforgiven are my two favorite Clint Eastwood films and depending on which one I see last I tend to put in first place. Right now I’m inclined to declare Mystic River as Eastwood’s best film, but that is subject to change anytime (perhaps even before I finish writing this review). Nominated for six Academy Awards, the film won two: Sean Penn for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Tim Robbins for Best Supporting Actor. I was rooting for Brian Helgeland’s wonderful screenplay adaptation from Dennis Lehane’s novel, but it lost out to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Helgeland had previously won an Oscar for his adaptation of L.A. Confidential, which is another wonderful thriller. Lehane’s novel adaptations have always translated well to the big screen and I recommend each one: The Drop, Shutter Island, and Gone Baby Gone. So when putting these two great writers together you are guaranteed an intriguing story with rich characters, which is one of the reasons why I love Mystic River. On a side note I just want to say that Lehane’s novel, Live By Night, is being directed by Ben Affleck and will be released some time next year. It’s already my frontrunner for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards without knowing anything else about it. 

Mystic River’s underlying theme is the loss of innocence. The story centers around three childhood friends whose life is forever changed when one of them is abducted and molested for several days before he manages to escape. The film centers on these three characters now that they are adults. Dave (Tim Robbins), the victim, is now a married man, but he is clearly traumatized by the abuse he received. Sean (Kevin Bacon) has become a homicide detective, while Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con who is now a loving father of three. When Jimmy’s daughter goes missing and is found dead, Sean takes over the investigation, but Jimmy is not going to let whoever committed this terrible crime go unpunished. 

Mystic River stands out for its clever screenplay, and that usually translates to fantastic performances. Sean Penn delivers one of his best performances and the scene where he finds out his daughter has been murdered is heart-breaking. Tim Robbins is also fantastic playing a traumatized man whose life was changed by that terrible event during his childhood. Sean Penn is perhaps given the most straightforward scenes as the detective, but even he shares some powerful scenes with Sean Penn. Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden also have some intense dramatic scenes. The film stands out thanks to its powerful performances and the surprising dark reveals along the way. It could even stand out on its own for the detective story, but it is carried to another level thanks to the impressive performances and Eastwood’s solid direction.

“The last time I saw Dave…That was twenty-five years ago, going up this street, in the back of that car.” That quote left me with goosebumps all over my arms and a quick chill run through my spine.

My Review: Super (4/10)

"Actually, the guy's kinda got a point. I mean, I wonder all the time why no-one's never just stood up and become a real superhero."

Before getting excited about James Gunn's upcoming superhero film, Guardians of the Galaxy, I decided to check out his earlier work which also happened to be a superhero movie, although it counted with a much lower budget. Super is a gritty film that suffers from being over the top and extremely violent at times. The major weakness of this film is that it never quite manages to balance the comedic moments with the drama. The entire film felt cheap and cheesy and I just never fell for this dark comedy. This proves once again that what Quentin Tarantino does isn't easy at all, and films like this end up feeling like they glorify violence too much. I was actually more of a fan of Kick Ass which actually managed to balance these themes, but in Super the violence never works. From the opening cheesy credits this film just felt completely out of place and the only thing that redeems Super are the strong performances from Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. I'm a huge Page fan, and she was hilarious in this film, but it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the dark humor. The shaky camera didn't work for me either as it has in the past with other films like Cloverfield or The Bourne Supremacy. I was disappointed with this film considering I had heard great things about it. 

The films centers on a cook named Frank (Rainn Wilson) who has felt like a loser most of his life until he found his true joy when he met and married Sarah (Liv Tyler). Sarah is a former junkie who fell for Frank right after being rehabilitated, but after a while she had a relapse and ended up leaving Frank for a drug dealer named Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Frank becomes depressed once again, but after having a vision he decides to become a superhero to fight evil in the streets and try to rescue Sarah from the evil men that have seduced her. Frank becomes a street vigilante who wears a red mask and uses a pipe wrench as a weapon calling himself the Crimson Bolt. A clerk from a comic book store who he befriends becomes his sidekick. She calls herself Boltie (Ellen Page) and due to her eccentric personality and her thirst for blood she is excited to team up with The Crimson Bolt. Together they decide to fight crime and bring justice back to the streets.  

Super suffers from having a split personality and not really knowing what tone it should have. At times it feels cartoonish and extremely violent, while at other moments it begins to take itself seriously and is more dramatic. This is a film that suffers from what I like to call a bipolar disorder. Despite some great performances the story never is executed correctly and at the end I felt completely disappointed with this film. It is funny at times, but then you realize it is actually a one joke movie as it beats you over the head with the same joke over and over again only shifting in tones dramatically at random moments. Nathan Fillion does have a funny small role here as the Holy Avenger who inspires Frank to become The Crimson Bolt, but it wasn't enough to save this movie. I really didn't like the tone of the film and felt uncomfortable watching this.

My Review: R.I.P.D. (3/10)

"Until they pop, they look like regular people, so no one except us knows they're monsters inside."

The trailers made me think RIPD could be the MIB of this generation, but this film is nowhere near it. The comedy never delivers much laughs and the action scenes were mind numbing. RIPD is almost so bad that it is good, but it doesn't quite reach that level either. Director, Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife, and RED), failed to bring Peter M Lenkov's Dark Horse comic to the big screen despite having Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds in the lead roles. These are two actors I really enjoy watching on screen, but they have made some terrible movies in the past as well. I haven't seen Reynolds in The Green Lantern, but this is probably on that same level. For Bridges this is probably by far his worst film although some people enjoyed his performance. He seemed to be making fun of his own performance in True Grit. The story was a little too wacky for my taste and the characters were all formulaic. We've seen these partners in hundreds of other films who are forced to work together but eventually grow on each other despite their differences. There are few surprises in this buddy comedy, which easily makes it one of the worst Summer movies of 2013. 

I will try my best to explain this whacky plot. Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is a Boston cop who is murdered by his partner, Hayes (Kevin Bacon). Upon his death he is recruited by the Rest in Peace Department. Proctor (Mary Louise Parker) explains to Nick what his new role is and introduces him to his partner, Roy (Jeff Bridges) a veteran in the force who has been dead since the 1800's, which explains his Wild West cowboy looks. The RIPD is responsible for hunting down dead souls who have escaped judgement and refused to leave the living world. Their job is to hunt them down and bring them back for judgement. These souls are disguised as regular people, but Roy teaches Nick how to discover and reveal their monstrous side with some Indian food. Nick and Roy aren't seen in the living world as their normal selves, they have avatars so no one they knew in their past lives can recognize them. Roy is a beautiful blonde (Marisa Miller), while Nick is given the body of a middle aged Chinese man (James Hong). This prevents Nick from making any contact with his widowed wife, Julia (Stephanie Szostak), whom he desperately wants to reach. Nick and Roy uncover an apocalyptic plot and will be forced to stop the monsters responsible before they achieve their goal. They will have to leave their differences behind and work as a team.

I feel like this is just way too much writing for such a dumb and mind numbing movie, but I can't quite figure out how the producers were willing to spend over 130 million dollars in this film without trying to come up with a better script. The villains in RIPD look way too cartoonish and the action scenes are extremely over the top. The funniest moments in RIPD have to do with the revelation of Nick and Roy's avatar bodies. The only problem is that you can simply watch it in the trailers and avoid seeing this movie. RIPD could've been executed better by a more talented director. I could forgive the stupid plot if the characters were better developed, but not even the talented actors could engage the audience with the material they were given. RIPD is one of those movies that you don't even worry about trying to get your time and money back; you simply hope that you can forget all about it and erase those cheesy images and dialogues from your head.

My Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love (9/10)

¨I`m so mad at you; I`m really mad at you for what you did, but I`m mad at myself too; because I should not have jumped out of that car; I should have fought for you, because you fight for your soul mates.¨

Once every year out of the dozens of formulaic romantic comedies that come our way, one or two manage to stand out above the rest. Crazy, Stupid, Love is one of those films that manages to remain fresh and original, and balance the comedy and romance well enough without relying on the usual rom-com formula. It is one of those films where the chemistry between the actors feels real, and love is actually depicted like it can be in real life. It is one of those movies that manages to surprise us by remaining fresh and never letting us know for sure what direction it is going to take on every turn. You can predict how most romcoms are going to end from the very opening sequence, and even if you might do the same in Crazy, Stupid, Love; you will definitely not expect some of the twists that come your way. It also has the perfect emotional balance that will bring you to tears at some points and laughter at others. The cast is absolutely amazing and everyone does a terrific job. This is Glenn Ficarra and John Requa`s second feature film after last year`s critical success with I Love You Phillip Morris. That film was very risky, and in a way so is Crazy, Stupid, Love because it doesn’t follow the basic formula that other romcoms do. There are several scenes that could have been a total disaster, but really worked because they served as transitions from comedy to romance to drama and so on. The script by Dan Fogelman (Cars, Bolt, and Tangled) is another highlight of the film because the dialogue in this movie was great. The actors were given great characters to work with so every piece seemed to fit in perfectly for this film.

Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore) have been married for 25 years; they live with their two children: Robbie (Jonah Bobo) and Molly (Joey King) and they seem to be living the perfect life. That is until Emily asks Cal for a divorce because she seems to be going through a sort of mid life crisis. She tells Cal that she slept with another co-worker, David (Kevin Bacon), and that is more than enough to end the marriage. Cal moves out of the house and begins frequenting bars and moping about his miserable life. At the bar Cal meets Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a playboy who always gets the girl due to his charm. Jacob promises Cal that he will help him recover his manhood with a few lessons. The first thing they do is change Cal`s wardrobe, then he teaches him how to pick up girls in the bar, and pretty soon Cal becomes an expert on seducing women. Jacob meets Hannah (Emma Stone) one night in the bar and can`t seem to get his eyes off her. Hannah doesn’t fall for Jacob`s charisma at first, but Jacob will soon discover what being in love is really about. All the characters seem to intertwine with each other at one point or another making the movie all the more hilarious. For example we have Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), the 17 year old babysitter who has a crush on Cal, but at the same time Robbie, his 13 year old son, is in love with Jessica.

It`s these love triangles and confusions that actually prove that love can be crazy and stupid at times, but wonderful at others. There is a great amount of time dedicated to each character, and the focus isn`t solely on Steve Carell and Julianne Moore. There are several more relationships that the movie deals with, but it never loses the main thread. The film balances the romance with the comedy really well, making this a very emotional film. I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The entire cast was just brilliant. I loved the mope performance from Steve Carell, although we`ve seen it before in other films like Dan in Real Life. Julianne Moore is always a talented actress and she brings her game. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are very talented young actors and the chemistry between both of them was really believable. Gosling has to be one of Hollywood`s best modern young actors around. The actors who really surprised me however were the relatively unknown ones: Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo; they share the funniest scenes in the film. Marisa Tomei also has some screen time, and she is great as always. Crazy, Stupid, Love is just a complete film that manages to deliver on all levels. It is my favorite romantic comedy of the year so far, and will probably be on my list of best films of the year. This is a movie you will want to go see.

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My Review: X-Men: First Class (8/10)

¨We have it in us to be the better man.¨

I will be honest with you guys: I didn`t think this movie would work without Wolverine, after all he was the heart and soul of the previous X-Men films. Hugh Jackman was the reason why I had enjoyed the other movies so much and I thought this film would suffer without this main character (it would be like a Pirates of the Caribbean movie without Jack Sparrow). I was wrong! X-Men: First Class works really well as a prequel/reboot to the franchise for one main reason: The casting of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy as the two lead characters: friends turned archenemies Magneto and Professor X. The relationship between these two characters and the two outstanding performances these talented actors give are what make X-Men: First Class the best superhero film since The Dark Knight. I know we have been bombarded with superhero films lately, and they are actually all pretty decent thanks to the strong background and depth these characters have been given in the comics, but this one is really worth your time. I loved the direction that Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, Stardust, and Snatch) took with this film by letting the center of the plot revolve around the relationship between Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) and Charles Xavier (Professor X). We really come to care for these two friends who we know will become enemies in the future, but can´t help but root for them to get along in some way. Fassbender and McAvoy really deliver outstanding leading performances and the scenes between them are the heart of the movie. X-Men fans won’t be disappointed.

The movie begins during World War II as the Nazis are trying to separate young Erik from his parents. While they are taken away Erik begins to bend the metal fences with his mind until a soldier knocks him out. One of the Nazi officials named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) questions Erik before killing his mother in front of him since he is unable to move a metal coin. Later Sebastian discovers that Erik`s powers only work when he is angry and therefore begins to train his prisoner. The movie then jumps to the present: it is 1962 and the world is at verge of another World War. Tension between the United States and Russia is high; the Cold War is at its boiling point. Sebastian is trying to take advantage of the situation and wants a nuclear war to begin. By his side he has some mutant friends: Emma Frost (January Jones) and Azazel (Jason Flemyng). On the meantime Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is after Sebastian and wants revenge. Erik isn’t the only one after Shaw, an FBI agent, named Moira (Rose Byrne) discovers that he is trying to start a nuclear war and sees the mutants therefore she decides to investigate and discovers that a young student has done some extensive research on human mutation, his name is Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). Charles knows that there are many mutants with special powers like his in the world. He even adopted one and began to teach her how to deal with her power: Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), alias Mystique. Charles begins working with Moira in order to stop Shaw. He also befriends Erik and together they begin to round up other young mutants with special powers: Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Havok (Lucas Till), Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Banshee (Caleb Jones), and Darwin (Edi Gathegi).

It was very interesting to see how the X-Men story began. The scenes where Erik and Charles teach the young mutants how to deal with their powers and master them remind us that these two guys are in a way very similar to each other. They both have great respect for one another; they are both excellent teachers and want to help their fellow mutants, but Erik never was able to deal with the pain of losing his parents and has grown resentful towards humans. This is what separates the two: one is motivated by hate, the other by grace. The same happens with the young mutants and there is no denying the fact that some will go along Erik`s path, while others will follow Charles`s. We all know that Magneto`s brotherhood will be in constant battle with Professor Xavier`s X-Men, but what we didn`t know (at least film wise) was how the two groups went their separate ways. It is this friendship between the two main characters that we know will end, what builds the tension for a very satisfying finale. On a side note I really didn’t care for the rest of the mutants. They were just that: secondary characters. What made the movie work entirely were these great scenes between McAvoy and Fassbender. The rest was just unremarkable in my opinion. Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon gave good performances, but the truth is that the movie really revolved around Erick and Charles, and these two actors did a great job to make up for a somewhat mediocre script. I really enjoyed this reboot/prequel and it has taken the franchise to a whole new level.

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