My Review: Short Term 12 (10/10)

"You need to get ready because it's so unbelievable it's going to seem fake, but I promise you it's not, Grace will vouch for me...It's a storytellers wet dream."

Every once in a while a surprising film like Short Term 12 comes around reminding me why I love cinema so much. This is only my second five star review from 2013 and this small indie absolutely hit all the right notes with me taking me through a wide range of emotions thanks to its perfect balanced mix of comedy and touching drama. I was drawn to these characters from the very opening scene and was completely engaged with the story. Having visited a foster care facility a couple times last year and spent some time with kids going through similar situations, this film really hit home and helped me empathize more with them. In a way I kind of felt like Nate, the new counselor in this film who didn't connect right away with the kids and there was not much he could do to help considering he had no idea where they were coming from. On the other hand, the two other counselors, Grace and Mason, really connected with the children because they came from similar backgrounds and understood how they were feeling. Short Term 12 writer and director, Destin Cretton, uses this film as a vehicle to let the viewer have a better understanding of the social situation these kids go through. I don't know if this would've worked so well if it weren't for the incredibly touching performances from the cast. Brie Larson is so great in this film, she hit all the right notes, and in some way she reminded me of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. She has that same potential and her career will definitely take off after this. She deserves an Oscar nomination because she's that good. Her co-lead, John Gallagher Jr. also delivers a terrific performance and if we haven't heard much about him it's because Larson steals most of the thunder here. Even the kids in this film were terrific and that's why I'm giving this film the highest possible grade because it does everything right.

Grace (Brie Larson) is one of the young counselors at Short Term 12, a foster care facility for at risk teenagers. Along with Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), with whom she's in a relationship, they look after these kids who have come from a troubled past. The film opens with Mason welcoming a new counselor named Nate (Rami Malek), and he shares a story with him about his first day which didn't go too great. Then they introduce some of the kids to him: there's Marcus (Keith Stanfield) who's about to turn 18 and therefor will be leaving the facility soon, Sammy (Alex Calloway) who's going through a deep psychological trauma, and Luis (Kevin Hernandez) who's easygoing but enjoys bullying Marcus. A few days later a new teenage girl named Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives at the foster care center who seems to be deeply scarred. Grace begins to connect with her and realizes they have come from a similar past. Grace and Mason are both excellent counselors, mostly because they have come from a troubled past themselves, and despite helping these kids they also have to deal with their own scars in life if they want their relationship to work. 

I loved the way that Cretton decided to open the film with Mason telling Nate a story, and then deciding to end it with another one. The structure of this film was just perfectly executed and I loved the balance it maintained. There were several different plots going on as each kid was going through different problems. The final scene in this film literally gave me goose bumps all over my body. Many people had an issue with it ending with such a positive note, but I thought it was perfect. Larson is a major reason why this film worked so well, her character Grace is just that: a graceful person who is doing her best to help these kids while at the same time trying to deal with her own demons. Dever and Stanfield also deliver powerful secondary performances and each one of them shares a memorable scene with one of their counselors as they try to express their feelings through different ways: Marcus does so by rapping and Jayden by reading a story. These two scenes are extremely powerful and emotional and they stand out in the film without feeling forceful or manipulative at all. This film just has so much heart and it's no surprise it has such a high rating (99% on Rottentomatoes) because it really is a vivid portrait that draws us in to these characters troubled lives in the pursuit and need of healing. Brie Larson's Grace has just become my favorite heroine of the year. That octopus story will stick with me forever, there was a lot of powerful stuff in this film.

My Review: Get the Gringo (9/10)

¨If I was going to survive in this place it was time to do what I was good at.¨

People in Hollywood need to stop boycotting Mel Gibson`s movies because Get the Gringo is the best film I`ve seen this year. Gibson is back doing what he does best: mixing sarcastic comedy with lots of action. Gibson starred in Foster`s surprisingly good film The Beaver last year and everyone ignored it, and now this film gets a direct to DVD release. This movie is a lot better than most films playing in the theaters now and I found it to be the best one of 2012 so far so by all means go see this because you won`t be disappointed. Some people are even saying this works as sort of a sequel to Payback, but I think it is actually a lot better. Mel Gibson is at his best once again and never ceases to entertain as he`s narrating his experience in a unique prison in Mexico called ¨El Pueblito.¨ Gibson hasn`t starred in many films in the last decade (since his work in Signs he`s only been in three films including this one) and he seems to choose his roles carefully because each one has been great. He also co-wrote the film alongside first time director Adrian Grunberg who had previously worked as a first assistant director with Gibson in other movies. Stacy Perskie also co-wrote the screenplay which I happened to find very inventive and funny, I really liked the sarcasm and comedy in this film. Perskie and Grunberg had both worked together as assistants in Man on Fire, a movie I found very similar to this one in many ways.

Mel Gibson plays the gringo whose name we never really hear (following the same tradition from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and last year`s Drive starring Ryan Gosling). The film begins with a car chase between two men dressed up as clowns and police officials who are opening fire on these men. One of the clowns happens to be Mel`s character and he has just stole a lot of money from some sort of a mafia king. With no other escape the gringo has to cross the border to Mexico where a couple of police officers are also waiting to make the arrest. Seeing all the money in the car, the Mexican officials don`t allow the Americans to enter and so keep the money for themselves and put the gringo in prison. This prison happens to be very unique since it is controlled by an inmate name Javi (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). His family, including his brother Caracas (Jesus Ochoa) helps him run the place. The prison works like a small town where you can buy things at a store or even rent your own room. Prisoners also have their family living with them so you see a lot of kids around the place. The gringo meets a nine year old kid played by Kevin Hernandez, who he befriends. The kid teaches the gringo how the prison works. The kid`s mom (Dolores Heredia) doesn’t like Mel`s character at first, but after seeing how he cares for her kid she realizes that he`s a good person. The gringo realizes that everyone treats the kid well in the prison and will soon discover why. He not only has to learn how to survive in that dangerous prison, but also try to recover the money that he stole, and help the kid get out as well.

Get the Gringo is a really entertaining film with good amount of laughs and action sequences. It has some Man on Fire elements and I would even go as far as to saying that it has the classic Tarantino setting. There is one scene where we see a shootout that reminded me a lot of his films. I really enjoyed this movie and thought Mel Gibson was great in it. The kid, Kevin Hernandez was also really good and had great chemistry with Mel. The movie not only works as an action film, but it also has some elements from the buddy comedy genre. This unlikely duo between the kid and Mel is what makes the film stand out even more. We root for Mel`s character because even though he`s a thief he`s better than the rest of the criminals and corrupt officials. This is my favorite film of the year so far and I really wish more people had the opportunity to see it because it is a lot of fun. Please give Mel Gibson a break and let him do what he does best: make movies without judging him for his personal life.

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