Kill the Messenger (7/10): A story worth hearing about.

“Some stories are just too true to tell.”

Ten years after their initial collaboration together in 12 and Holding, director Michael Cuesta and Jeremy Renner team up for this political thriller based on the true events surrounding the life of journalist Gary Webb and the investigation that led him to uncover  a conspiracy between the CIA and some Nicaraguan drug dealers with the specific purpose of arming the Contra rebels fighting the war against drugs in that country. It’s a shame the film didn’t do well at the box office because Jeremy Renner gives his best performance since The Hurt Locker. He does a convincing job portraying this journalist who during the first half of the film is doing some great investigative journalistic work and in the later half is trying to protect his family and convince people that he is telling a true story when he becomes the target of a smear campaign. 

Many people have claimed that the theme of the film is outdated considering the events took place during the early 90’s, but I have to disagree. With everything that has happened in the last couple of years with the Snowden whistleblowing incident I think we can learn a few things about government conspiracies and journalistic unbiased reporting. Having watched the Academy Award winning documentary CitizenFour recently, I have to admit the way he came out in public with the information was rather brilliant. There was no way he could leak this story to a journalist in the USA because what happened to Gary Webb would probably happen to him. It seems that the American government has a history of washing away their guilt by pointing the finger at someone else and smearing their image. That is what happened with Webb when all of a sudden the focus stopped being the story he reported and everything started centering on who he was and his past. That is why in the documentary Snowden is always concerned with getting the story out in the public first before coming out because he knew that as soon as his name was out there, the story would shift its focus on him. It is something that continues to repeat itself in history so forgive me if my faith in good journalistic reporting is a bit shaky. They simply shift the attention of the story and instead of digging into it and uncovering conspiracies they end up smearing the name of the person who is trying to expose the crimes of our country because it is much easier and convenient to do so.

The film works best during the first hour when the actual conspiracy is being investigated by Renner’s character. The journalistic investigation was thrilling and gripping as Webb began following each lead and ultimately unraveling a dangerous conspiracy. During this first hour there are a number of strong performances as we get cameos from Andy Garcia and Michael Sheen. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also delivers a solid performance as Webb’s editor while Oliver Platt convincingly portrays Webb’s boss. In the second hour the film does lose some of its grip when it begins to shift the focus of the journalistic story to the smearing campaign and some family issues that ensue. Rosemarie Witt however delivers a strong performance as Webb’s wife. Despite some issues with the pacing during the second half of the film, the brilliant cast makes up for it and keeps un engaged. Kill the Messenger is a solid entry into the investigative journalism genre. I’m glad the story got told, but it’s unfortunate that not many people went to see it.   

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My Review: Chef (7/10)

"I may not do everything great in my life, but I'm good at this."

Oh please don't be so humble Jon Favreau, you do everything pretty much great, and you proved it once again by directing, starring, and writing this charming and feel good family film. If there were ever a time where the term food porn could be applied to a film review, this is it because everything looked so tempting and delicious. Please don't watch this film on an empty stomach because you will be tortured by every single scene where Favreau is preparing food, whether it be a complicated dish for his fancy restaurant or a plain cuban sandwich from his food truck. But this isn't just a film glorifying food, it uses this passion people have for it and metaphorically shows us how it's never late to reinvent and discover ourselves. It is quite a change of pace for Favreau whose latest films were big budget productions (Cowboys & Aliens and the first two Iron Man movies), but this small family road trip film served its purpose in its own way for Favreau to reinvent himself once again and go back to his origins. Chef was an improvement from his last two films, but I still think Iron Man and Elf are Favreau's best ones. What Chef has going for it despite a pretty simple premise is how charismatic and natural the characters are in this film. The family drama feels authentic and it's never forced like so many films in the genre are. The film takes its time to introduce each character and doesn't simply rush things to the fun parts (the road trip). It's a feel food film but one that avoids cliches and forced situations and simply takes us along for a reinventing and natural ride. 

The premise is pretty simple, but the way in which Favreau presents each character is refreshing in its own way. He is likable in the lead role despite being a flawed character who remains friends with his ex-wife (played by Sofia Vergara) and is trying to balance out his time working in a respected restaurant while trying to connect with his young son, Percy (Emjay Anthony). He seems to have lost his creative freedom and is restrained by the owner (Dustin Hoffman) to continue serving the same dishes that have given the restaurant its fame (nice nod to the movie industry in Hollywood which restrains the creative instincts from its talented directors so that they continue to serve their audience the same dishes). But when a famous food critic (Oliver Platt) criticizes his dishes an online twitter war breaks out between them. Favreau decides it's time to move on and following his ex-wife's advice he travels with his son to Miami and buys a food truck. This is where their road trip begins and the two begin bonding. John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale play Favreau's assistants, and they both are the reason why the film is so charming. I was surprised with Anthony's performance as well. Having seen a couple of old films recently I can't help but realize how child acting has improved over the years. You never get the feeling that Anthony is ever acting or reading out his lines because every word and reaction felt completely natural. There were also plenty of funny and warm moments throughout the film. It was good to see Robert Downey Jr. and Favreau reunited once again although it was only for a couple of minutes. There was nothing groundbreaking about Chef, but it was so authentic and charming that it was hard to resist. The cast plays a key role in the success of this film and so does the food.

My Reviews: The Oranges (4/10)

¨I´m your ex girlfriend´s boyfriend´s wife.¨

I´d rather sit through an hour long episode of Dr. House, The OC, or Gossip Girl rather than watch this film starring some of the actors from the above mentioned series. The Oranges was directed by Julian Farino, who I had never heard of before this film. I actually went to see this film because I thought it had an interesting cast. The biggest flaw of The Oranges was its screenplay; written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss. The dramedy never quite manages to feel authentic and everything felt like a complete farce. The dialogue in this film felt very light considering the subject matter and the comedic moments weren’t effective. The relationships didn’t feel real either, although I must admit that the friendship between Laurie´s character and Platt´s was probably the strongest thing about this movie. Beside the three TV stars: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, and Adam Brody, the film also stars Allison Janney and Catherine Keener whom I always thought looked very much alike. These are all very likeable actors, but they were given some really underdeveloped characters and the film never really rang true to me. Other films have tackled this subject matter in much better ways. Examples that come to mind for me are The Graduate and American Beauty, but this movie doesn’t even come close to what those films achieved. Despite how much I wanted to like this movie because of the actors, I had a hard time watching this. I would pick any of their television series over this film anytime.

The film focuses on the relationship between two Jersey families. On the one hand, we have David (Hugh Laurie) and Paige Walling (Catherine Keener) who have two children: Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) and Toby (Adam Brody), and then we are introduced to their neighbors, the Ostroff´s, consisting of Terry (Oliver Platt) and Kathy (Allison Janney). Terry and David have been best friends for a long time, and their families get together often. The Ostroff’s have a daughter named Nina (Leighton Meester) who decides to return home after five years for the Holidays. Her presence will change things when she falls in love with David. The two begin seeing each other and it has a tremendous effect on both families. Nina convinces David that there are no rules to happiness, but at the same time his decision affects everyone around him. When Paige finds out about this relationship she confronts David and soon everyone’s life is affected by this relationship.

The film doesn’t seem to take sides on the moral issue, but it doesn’t ever feel like it takes things seriously either. The entire film felt like a complete waste of time. The relationship between David and Nina never felt authentic and there was no chemistry whatsoever between them. The film really suffers from a poor script and the likeable actors aren’t enough to save this film. The narration of the film didn’t work for me either and I felt like it was simply used to simplify things. The question the film seems to be raising is whether it is really worth doing whatever makes you happy without measuring the consequences and how it can affect the rest of the people around you. At first it seems as if it agrees with this premise, but later their consequences catch up with them. Some characters seem to be better off, but things never remain the same. I think I am getting a little too philosophical for a film that really didn’t take itself too seriously, but I definitely felt that something was completely off with The Oranges. It is an awkward film and one I wouldn’t recommend.

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My Review: Love and Other Drugs (6/10)

¨I don`t know – you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet that one person and your life is changed.¨

Love and Other Drugs is not a great film, but it is much better than most romantic comedies that have come out lately. I don`t know if you can call this a rom-com, it is much more dramatic and the comedy is left mostly for the supporting characters. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are both great actors and they have excellent chemistry together. They`ve worked together in the past when they played a couple in Brokeback Mountain, but this was a different type of film. The movie doesn`t just focus on the romance and comedy, it also tries to tell the history of how Viagra became such a hit in the 90`s for the Pfizer pharmaceutical industry. It`s in trying to balance these two separate stories that the film fails to connect with audiences in a higher level due to the time constraints of the film. We don`t have enough time to concentrate on either the drama or the romance and everything seems to lead to nowhere. It`s as if they tried to make two separate movies. The film is loosely based on Jamie Reidy`s book ¨Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.¨ The part that’s based on the book is the history of the blue pill. The romantic side of the story was added by the screenwriters, among them director: Edward Zwick (known for Glory, Legends of the Fall, and Blood Diamond). The romantic story is engaging, as is the dramatic side which in a way shows how corrupt the pharmaceutical system can be. It`s just not about saving people’s lives anymore, it`s about making a profit. That is why pharmaceutical companies spend so much money on a performance enhancing drug instead of trying to discover cures for Parkinson disease, which is a lot less demanding.

Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a charming young man who always seems to get his way with the ladies. He`s not searching for a relationship or anything serious, he just wants to have a good time and the females aren`t making his task any harder. Jamie worked as a salesman at an electronic store and he was pretty good at it thanks to his charm, but his trouble with the ladies gets him fired after he sleeps with the manager`s girlfriend. Jamie has no trouble at all finding a new job and he soon ends up working as a sales representative for Pfizer trying to convince doctors to recommend their medicine over other pharmaceutical companies. Apparently Pfizer wasn`t that big before Viagra, so they were having a hard time making it in the market. Jamie`s selling partner is Bruce (played by the very funny Oliver Platt) and together they dream of selling enough in order to get recommended for a bigger market like Chicago. Jamie begins to use his charm with the secretaries and receptionists in order to get appointment with doctors. One of his biggest clients is Dr. Stan Knight (Hank Azaria) who allows him one day to stick with him at the clinic where he meets one of his patients: Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway). She suffers from stage one of Parkinson disease and knows everything there is to know about pharmaceuticals. Jamie becomes obsessed over her and they soon begin a physical relationship without any of them wanting to become attached to each other. Jamie because he`s a womanizer and Maggie because she feels sorry for herself and has built an emotional wall over her in order to prevent getting hurt by love. At first the deal works well for both of them, but over time emotions begin to get in the way.

The romantic story is actually pretty believable and it feels real. Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have great chemistry together. There is a lot of nudity in this film and it isn`t your typical rom-com. It tries to be more raw and real, but I wasn`t too engaged with the story. There was just too much going on without anything actually happing. When the story seems like it`s going to focus on the relationship between both characters it jumps to the history of Viagra, and when it seems to get serious and focus on how corrupt the medical system has become (there is a particular scene where Dr. Knight tells Jamie that he got into medicine to save lives, but now the system has got to him) then it jumps back to the romantic side all over again. The highlight of this movie are the performances from both lead characters. The secondary characters are really all not that important and they never are developed very well. They seem to be there for the comedic scenes only, while the leads are in it for the dramatic roles. Jamie and Maggie are the only characters who are really developed in this story. Overall the film gave me the feeling that it could have been so much better, but they just didn`t manage to balance the drama with the romance well enough. They tried to make two separate movie into one and it didn`t work. I would recommend this for the strong lead performances only.

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