Everest (6/10) The Magnificent mountain imposes over the characters.

“Human beings simply aren't built to function at the cruising altitudes of a seven-forty-seven.”

Based on the true events that took place in Mount Everest on May 1996 during a climbing expedition to reach the summit of the mountain, this disaster movie directed by Baltasar Kormakur stands out for its fantastic and impressive visuals. However what it has in its visual department, it lacks in character development. The only strong character here is Jason Clarke’s Rob Hall who is the heart and soul of a story that is a bit overpopulated with characters who don’t get enough screen time for us to really identify with them. The narrative could’ve worked better with fewer characters, but the magnificent mountain does end up taking center stage and the visual style makes up for all its flaws. Some patience is required as we are introduced to each character at the beginning of the film, but once the preparation for the climbing begins its hard not to fall in love with all the beauty surrounding them and the passion these climbers had for reaching the summit. Kormakur does manage to establish the harsh conditions these men would have to endure to reach the top while they acclimatize to the region, which makes the approaching menacing storm during the second half of the film even more dreadful. Including so many characters and trying to remain true as possible to the real life events may have hurt the narrative arc of the film, but the scenery more than makes up for it.

By 1996 the climbing expeditions to reach the peak of Mount Everest had become a sought out tourist attraction. The nearly impossible task wasn’t only achieved by professional climbers, but now amateurs could achieve their dream by paying for the service of well trained expedition companies that facilitated the acclimatizing process. One company is being led by experienced climber, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) who is preparing his new crew for the upcoming adventure. He leaves his pregnant wife, Jan (Keira Knightley) at home and heads off to Nepal to meet the team. This year the clients are Doug (John Hawkes), a returning customer who hadn’t been able to reach the summit the previous year, Yasuko (Naoko Mori) who has climbed 6 of the 7 highest peaks of the planet and is hoping to complete her adventure, Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) who is so immersed in the experience that he’s forgotten to call his wife, Peach (Robin Wright) for their anniversary, among many others. Rob is worried about the growing amount of expeditions that are heading to the summit around the same time so he asks other experienced leaders like Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) to team up with his people. Other employees working at the mountain include Helen (Emily Watson) who is in charge of communications from the base camp and Guy Cotter (Sam Worthington) another experienced crew member who is a friend of Rob’s. As hard as they were working to give their clients a memorable experience, there was nothing they could do to anticipate the storm that was heading their way. 

Kormakur had previously directed two very different action flicks starring Mark Wahlberg (Contraband and 2 Guns), but this is more of an epic disaster film with some tense moments of human drama. The cast is brilliant, but as I mentioned before there isn’t enough time to get to know them all. Jason Clarke is the actor who is given more depth and he is allowed to flesh his character, but the rest are simply there as recognizable names: Worthington, Gyllenhaal, Knightley, Hawkes, and Watson don’t have much moments to shine which is a shame because they are talented actors. Perhaps the only other actor we truly get to know beside Clarke is Josh Brolin who gets some more screen time as well. But despite all the big names, the truly breathtaking character here is the Mountain which imposes an immense threat for everyone, even for the professionals who think they are part of it. I was a bit underwhelmed with the movie because I wanted to care more for these characters, but I did enjoy the breathtaking visuals and the marvelous landscape.    

The Princess Bride (7/10): Inigo Montoya saves the day!

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

   

I know, I picked the most quotable line of this epic fairy tale (sorry for being such a cliche), but it was honestly the scene I enjoyed the most in this movie. Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride is one of his most revered films and it has become a cult favorite over time. I didn’t fall in love with it however, but I can understand the appeal this romantic fantasy has on so many people considering it has it all: a tale of true love, adventures involving pirates, sword-fights, fantasy creatures, and a princess who is forced to marry against her will. The premise is no different from that of your typical damsel in distress fairy tale, but the way the film seems to be mocking and honoring those familiar elements at the same time are what makes it stand out. It has a unique innocent quality to it while remaining funny, charming, and sweet. Perhaps I would’ve benefited from watching this at a younger age, but having waited so long to experience it for the first time was a bit of an underwhelming experience. I wasn’t swept away by its magical and fantastic elements and the love story didn’t stand out from other romantic tales. There are several fun scenes and unexpected character interactions, but during most of the film I felt a bit bored. The satire works in parts and so does the fantasy, but it just felt too familiar to win me over entirely. 

The screenplay was adapted by William Goldman from his own novel of the same name. Although for this film he uses a grandfather (Peter Falk) to narrate the story as he is telling it to his sick grandson (Fred Savage). At first the grandson isn’t too keen about having his grandpa read him a story, especially because it starts off with kissing, but once the adventure begins he’s hooked. There are occasional interruptions that bring us back to the kid’s room, but most of the film takes place in this fantasy land where we are introduced to a very beautiful woman named Buttercup (Robin Wright) who falls in love with her farm boy, Westley (Cary Elwes). The two have found true love, but having no money to marry he embarks on a trip and promises to return to her. Buttercup is shattered when she hears that Westley was killed by a fearful pirate named Roberts. With nothing more to look forward to, eventually she gets engaged with Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) of Florin who promises to turn her into a princess. On the eve of her wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by a man named Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) and his two hired henchmen, Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) a skilled swordsman who has promised to avenge his father’s death, and the strong but gentle giant Fezzik (Andre the Giant) who really doesn’t know no better. While holding Buttercup ransom and fleeing from the site, they discover that they are being followed by a mysterious man in a black mask. He catches up with them soon and the adventure begins as these men face off with one another and new revelations are made.

Allowing for the story to take place through this narrative style was one of the better decisions because it gave the film its unique dreamy style and it wasn’t necessary to deliver realistic visuals. It was all part of the fantasy, although I would’ve preferred less interruptions, but I guess they had to give Fred Savage and Peter Falk some more lines. The relationship between Elwes and Wright was believable, but it didn’t stand out because it was too familiar. However, they were both the perfect casting choice for these roles. It was Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya who stole the movie for me. I absolutely loved his character and the sword fighting scene was the highlight of the movie for me. It included a brilliant homage to Douglas Fairbanks (which I’m sure gave someone the idea that Elwes would be the perfect choice to spoof his Robin Hood character in a later movie). Montoya was probably the inspiration for Antonio Banderas as well when he was cast to play the Zorro. This character has become an icon and he was the saving grace of the film for me. The rest of the characters were OK, but he stood out. The exception and I think I’m in the minority here was Vizzini. I found Wallace Shawn’s portrayal of him rather irritating and I couldn’t stand him. There is also a hilarious scene with Billy Crystal playing a miracle doctor, who you’d only recognize due to his voice because he is heavily covered in make up to look like an old man. The Princess Bride had its strong moments, but somehow I never managed to fall in love with the fantasy and wouldn’t consider it one of Reiner’s best films. It does prove however what a versatile director he is because the film is very different from his other works. I’m still a bit shocked that the film is so widely loved, but I can’t argue it isn’t a good movie.    

My Review: A Most Wanted Man (7/10)

“To make the world a safer place.”

Director Anton Corbijn followed up his slow paced thriller, The American, with this spy thriller which requires the audience’s full attention if they want to understand what is going on with the plot. It is a film driven by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s lead performance (which also happened to be his last one) which makes up for some of the minor flaws of the film. Despite being a slow film, this character kept me engaged with the story. Comparisons with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy came across my mind about fifteen minutes into the film due to the overall tone and pacing of the story along with the cynicism surrounding some of the characters and the double crossing that takes place between the different agencies. It’s a sort of cat and mouse tale that takes its time to establish itself. I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, but A Most Wanted Man is a very solid thriller which could have benefited with a little more suspense and tension. I later discovered that the film is based on John le Carré’s novel, who also happened to write the novel for TTSS so I wasn’t entirely crazy when I was comparing the two films. John le Carré was a former British spy so he really knows what he is writing about and his novels have proven to be great source material for films. The characters and the spy stories have a genuine and authentic feel to them. It didn’t hurt either that Philip Seymour Hoffman was chosen for the lead role because he drives the entire film from the opening scene to the very end (and what a great scene that was). 

This isn’t your average procedural spy film, it is more interested in portraying how the system works. Each agency despite trying to work together seems to have different agendas. We also get a glimpse as to how the bureaucracy functions in these type of situations. Some are looking for quick fixes while other try to dig a little deeper and are more concerned with looking for the bigger fish and protecting the innocent. We see these differing view points through the main characters of the film who all do what they believe is right. So we get real characters who aren’t simply painted as good or bad people. Through the way they operate we discover their philosophy and the way they are thinking. As interesting as these characters are at times the film does lack to build more tension and tends to alienate the audience. 

As I mentioned above, Philip Seymour Hoffman drives this film with his powerful yet subtle performance as this German security agent who is trying to avoid another 9/11 disaster. It is a cynical world in which he lives in and his physical performance translates how exhausted he is feeling. It is such a genuine performance and he never misses a note. The cast is very strong as well, with solid supporting performances from Robin Wright, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, and Nina Hoss. I was disappointed that Daniel Bruhl was underused because he has proven to be a great actor and he should have been given a more substantial role in this film. Despite the strong cast no one seems to be at the same level as Philip Seymour Hoffman was in this film. His scene in the end was one of the best performed I've seen all year.

My only major complaint with A Most Wanted Man is the use of German accents. I understand that they would speak to American agents with these heavy accents, but it took me out of the movie when they would speak amongst themselves in English as well. I wonder why audiences seem to think it is more believable if they speak english in their german accents, when in reality it doesn’t make much sense, you might as well just let them speak plain english. But that is just a minor issue I had here because the film delivered strong performances and it was a solid and intelligent spy thriller. 

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: Moneyball (10/10)

¨There are rich teams and there are poor teams, then there's fifty-feet of crap, and then there's us. ¨

Moneyball was among the best films I`ve seen this year. It really caught me by surprise since I`m not a big baseball fan and wasn`t expecting much considering the subject matter. Baseball and economics seemed like a bad combination for me, but since Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were all starring in this film I had to see it. It`s impossible not to fall in love with the Billy Beane character and the relationship he had with his young assistant Peter Brand. They are really the center of this movie so if you`re doubting wither or not you should see this worrying about the subject matter all I can say is go see it anyways because it is much more than simply another baseball movie. There are some very strong and emotional scenes where I couldn’t help but get goose bumps over a team and a sport I really didn’t care for. That is how good this film is. Moneyball is directed by Bennett Miller, who also directed Capote in which Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his lead performance as Truman Capote. Miller has proven he can make some great films. The movie was adapted from the book written by Michael Lewis (Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game) which focuses on the true story of the Oakland A`s General Manager, Billy Beane, who managed to put together the 2002 team on a very low budget by using computer-generated analysis to draft his players based on a formula which was perfected by his young assistant. This would change the game forever. Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network and Charlie Wilson`s War) did a great job at adapting the screenplay for the big screen.

The movie begins with real footage from the last 2001 divisional series game between the Yankees and the A`s. The A`s were winning the series two games to nothing, but the Yankees came back to win the final three games and leave the A`s out of the Championship Divisional game for a second year in a row. The bad news for General Manager, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), is that he`s going to lose his three star players for the next season. The A`s don`t have the kind of budget that other rich teams like the Red Sox or the Yankees have. It`s just impossible to compete against those teams, so it`s time to think outside the box. Billy meets with his talent scouts to see how they can replace these key players without any money, but finds no solution. He decides to hire a young Yale Economic graduate who was working as an advisor for the Cleveland Indians. His name is Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) and he uses statistical data to analyze each player and decide which one has a better value based on their batting average and price. Beane and Brand go against all odds and decide to build their team entirely on these computer statistics. The scouts are outraged by the decision, but Beane believes this is the only way he can compete with the big budget teams. Beane also has some arguments with manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) over whom he should start, but the main focus of the film relies on the relationship between Beane and Brand. There are also a few scenes dealing with Beane and his relationship with his young daughter Casey (Kerris Dorsey) who lives with her mom Sharon (Robin Wright) in California as well.

Moneyball works as both a sports film and a biographical movie, but it is really much more than that. It works thanks to a very strong performance from both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill who shine in every scene they are together in. Since Beane doesn`t like to watch the games for fear of jinxing the team we don`t really get to see a lot of baseball. There are several conversations revolving around baseball, but it really isn`t that central to the film. The true heart of the film is Beane who we all want to see succeed and silence the critics. We want his system to work because he is such a charismatic character and he believes in what he is doing. The scene where the streak begins is very inspiring and one of the best moments in sports film in my opinion. I really got a lot of goose bumps during that twentieth game winning streak. I also enjoyed the side story revolving around Billy and his daughter Casey. Kerris Dorsey has little screen time, but she is great opposite Brad Pitt. As for Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright they really don`t have much to work with and don`t bring anything to the story really. It`s a shame because Hoffman is a great actor and he could`ve had a better role in this film. In my opinion the ending is perfect as well and the soundtrack was also great. Moneyball was one of the most emotional experiences I`ve had with a movie all year and I really recommend this inspiring film.

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