The 33 (7/10): A touching tribute to the 33 Chilean Miners

“That's not a rock, that's the heart of the mountain. She finally broke.”

Five years ago the eyes of the entire South American population were placed on a relatively unknown small mining town in Chile. When the San Jose mine collapsed in Copiapo, 33 miners were trapped under more than 2000 feet, and the news travelled fast. It isn’t uncommon to hear about these tragic mining accidents, but what stood out here was that the family members never lost hope and established camp near the site to force authorities to not give up and continue the rescue efforts. After two and a half weeks of uncertainty and against all odds, the rescuers managed to contact the refuge in the mine where all 33 miners reported to be alive and well. That was just the beginning of a long and exhaustive rescue effort that would last more than two months, and that every media channel covered 24 hours a day. The story is recent and we all saw it take place live on our TV sets, so the real question I had for Patricia Riggen’s film was wether or not she could make this captivating enough to hold our interest despite the familiarity of the story. Surprisingly she succeeded. The film is deeply flawed and for commercial purposes it had an international cast that spoke in English with a forced Chilean accent. I hate movies that do this (if you want to tell the story in english then just have the actors speak in plain english; you’re not more convincing because you do it with an accent), but despite that pet peeve of mine, the film managed to draw me in emotionally and I found it to be a beautiful and honest tribute. I can understand those who criticize the movie because it isn’t perfect, but there were several emotional scenes where I literally had goose bumps all over my arms, and that is always an indicator for me that the movie is accomplishing its purpose.   

One of the main characters in this film, the miner who kept the group together under those critical conditions, was Mario Sepulveda (Antonio Banderas). He never lost hope and promised the rest of his friends that he would keep them alive. His wife, Escarlette (Naomi Scott), was one of the supporters who decided to set camp outside the site to force authorities to continue their rescue efforts. The other main supporter was Maria Segovia (Juliette Binoche) who refused to believe that her brother, Dario (Juan Pablo Raba) was dead. Along with other family members and with the help of the media they put pressure on the government to save their lives. The Mining Minister, Laurence Golborne (Rodrigo Santoro), and mining expert, Andre Sougarret (Gabriel Byrne), were given the difficult task to come up with a plan to rescue these miners who were buried deep underground. Meanwhile under the heart of the mountain, Mario was in charge of keeping the group spirit alive and avoiding they end up driving each other crazy due to the lack of food and water. He lifted Alex’s (Mario Casas) spirit when he was falling into despair reminding him that his pregnant wife Jessica (Cote de Pablo) was waiting for him, he also protected the only Bolivian in the crew, Carlos Mamani (Tenoch Huerta), who was pushed aside by everyone else for being a foreigner, and he also encouraged Don Lucho (Lou Diamond Phillips), who felt had failed the team because he knew the security conditions were bad. Rigged delivers both sides of the story: the 33 miners struggling to survive from the inside and the family members and the rescue team fighting to save them from the outside.

I wasn’t really into the film during its first thirty minutes because I was upset the characters were speaking in English with Spanish accents (to make matters worse there is a scene where a famous Chilean TV star named Don Francisco shows up and gives a report in Spanish), but midway into the movie the emotional drama picks up. There is a superb scene in which the miners are imagining eating their last supper together, and it was one of the most touching scenes I’ve seen this year. The visual effects weren’t mesmerizing, but the collapse of the mine is believable. It takes a while to get used to the dark cinematography inside the mines where you can’t tell most of the characters apart from each other. I’d say there are only about five miners who you can recall from the film, the rest are just there and are given no personality whatsoever. Those are some of my minor complaints for this film, but other than that the material was handled respectfully and James Horner’s final musical composition helps build the emotional moments. Another memorable moment was when Cote de Pablo sings a beautiful song, Gracias a la Vida, while the families are awaiting for any news from the rescue team. Antonio Banderas delivers a great performance as Mario and he is one of the reasons why the dramatic moments worked so well. Despite knowing the story, it was still exciting and emotional to experience it in this flawed but touching film. There is also a funny and recurring gag on one of the miners (Oscar Nuñez) who had his wife and lover waiting for him in the camp. The film might not be entirely accurate, but it is still a well made film and a decent tribute.    

Focus (6/10): Will Smith and Margot Robbie's charismatic performances make this a fun experience

“It's about distraction. It's about focus. The brain is slow and it can't multitask. Tap him here, take from there.”

When Will Smith is on his game it’s hard to resist his films and Focus is one of those movies that benefits from his charismatic performance. The main problem with After Earth was that he was stripped away from all his charm, but in Focus Smith is back in full force doing what he does best. He plays Nicky, a con artist who is very good at what he does. When a young woman tries to con him, he picks up on it right away and decides to teach her a few things about being a successful con artist. Her name is Jess (Margot Robbie) and with her distracting good looks she seems to be a perfect fit for the job so he hires her as a sort of intern for an upcoming job he is performing along with his personnel in New Orleans during a major football sporting event. Romance blossoms but there are several unexpected twists that take the audience for a ride. Focus benefits from the strong lead roles and the fantastic chemistry between Smith and Robbie. Other than that there is really not much more worth recommending considering the film suffers from one too many plot twists. I do have to admit that I had fun during most of its running time and it’s light entertainment, but the movie does lose a bit of its appeal towards the end. It’s one of those films that are easy to the eyes, but forgettable in the long run.

Focus was written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa who had already worked together in other solid films such as I Love You Phillip Morris and Crazy Stupid Love. I would rank Focus below those movies but I still had a good time thanks mostly to the charismatic lead performances. Crazy Stupid Love is one of my favorite romantic comedies of the past five years so I have a lot of respect for these writer/directors. They have a strong sense of comedy and like to play with genre conventions at times. Focus feels like it is two movies in one because there is one strong segment taking place in New Orleans during the first half hour and then there is another segment taking place in Buenos Aires that despite being amusing, it keeps us guessing so much that it ultimately begins to lose its appeal. I had some issues with some of the character motivations and so on, but in a light breezy film like this it is easier to enjoy without thinking too much about it. It is similar in tone to the Ocean’s Eleven franchise and it is never dull to look at thanks to the dreamy cinematography. However when it comes to the con element I didn’t find it as witty or engaging as other films. Matchstick Men still remains as one of my favorite in this department and if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it. 

The highlights of Focus other than the strong performances from the good looking duo of Smith and Robbie are the early scenes where we are introduced to the con activities. There is a thrilling scene during a football game where Smith’s character is making some crazy bets with a millionaire played by BD Wong. It’s probably the highest point of the film, but I was still entertained throughout the movie. There are also some solid supporting performances from Rodrigo Santoro, Gerald McRaney, and Adrian Martinez, who has some funny scenes here. In the end it suffers a bit from being too self explanatory and taking some crazy twists and turns, but if you are bored you will be entertained for a couple of hours.  

My Review: 300: Rise of an Empire (6/10)

"Better we show them, we chose to die on our feet, rather than live on our knees!"

I was a huge fan of Zach Snyder's 300 when it was first released, but was later disappointed by Sucker Punch as well as other recent adaptations, so I wasn't expecting much from this sequel considering the novelty of these violent graphic novel adaptations had warn off a bit. Sin City still ranks as my favorite, but I did really enjoy 300 and Watchmen as well. In 300: Rise of an Empire there are some great scenes and strong visuals, but nothing we haven't seen before. The violence is once again stylized but after a while it feels repetitive and I felt the pacing began to drag despite all the action scenes. The characters weren't as interesting as the Spartans in 300, but the villain is much better here. Eva Green's performance is was ultimately makes this film worth a watch and I think this is one of her best roles yet. She is perhaps the best developed character in this film and gives an inspiring performance which allows us to forgive the sense of empty stylized violent action scenes we are overloaded with in this sequel/prequel. The writing also could have used some of those memorable dialogues from the first film that many of us still haven't grown tired of quoting. This film doesn't live up to the original, but it is entertaining enough to give it a mild recommendation. 

In 300: Rise of an Empire we get an extension of the events that occurred in the original film which focused only on one of the Greek states: Sparta. This time we get a glimpse of what is going on with the other states and the film opens with a narration from Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) of the Battle of Marathon when the Persians invaded Greece for the first time. The Athenian general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) manages to defeat the Persian king, Darius, by killing him from a distance with an arrow. Before he dies, he warns his son Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) that no human should ever attack Greece again. Darius's commanding naval officer, Artemisia (Eva Green), tells Xerxes that what his father really meant was that in order to defeat Greece he would need to become a god king. And that is how the legend of Xerxes actually begins. Ten years later Xerxes attacks Sparta (the events that took place in the first film), while Artemisia prepares her fleet to face the Athenians. The two brilliant naval officers, Artemisia and Themistocles, prepare their men for the bloody battle.

Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler, but thankfully the film relies heavily on the villain and Eva Green excels in her role. There is one strange scene she shares with Stapleton that sort of comes out of nowhere and felt out of place. The film does drag by abusing too much on the stylized violence, but the production design does make the film interesting and fun to look at. Director, Noam Murro (who also directed the 2008 drama Smart People), didn't seem to have a firm hand in the direction and some of the scenes didn't feel right either. It still manages to be entertaining and fun for the most part, but one can't help and wonder about how empty it really is and how little we know about the actual characters. It doesn't matter though because we get cool enough visuals and slow motion action scenes to make it enjoyable enough. It is yet another example of style over substance, but if these graphic violent action scenes are your thing you might enjoy it. 

My Review: What to Expect When You`re Expecting (4/10)

¨I just wanted the glow. The one that they promise you on the cover of those magazines. Well, I'm calling it - pregnancy sucks. Making a human being is really hard.¨

What we can really expect from this movie is pretty much the same thing we got from Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve: A lot of celebrities but no real characters. It is the exact same issue I had with the other films, except this is perhaps even worse with everything fitting perfectly together at the end. This is a chick flick and perhaps many will disagree with me for saying this but What to Expect When You`re Expecting is one of the worst movies of the year. The film is based on a very successful series of pregnancy guides written by Heidi Murkoff, which I haven`t read but am pretty sure has to be much better than the screenplay that Shauna Cross (Whip It) and Heather Hach (Freaky Friday) came up with. I can`t imagine the book being like this because it`s really incoherent and unauthentic. There is no honesty whatsoever in the film and it felt sugarcoated with all the celebrities. Director Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee and Everybody`s Fine) fails miserably in trying to portray a believable film. He follows the exact same clichés and formulas we see in almost every other chick flick. There is no originality whatsoever to this tale and by the end of the year even the people who enjoyed will have forgotten all about it. The film is all about pretty faces, unfunny dialogues, and relationships that aren't given enough screen time to develop. That is why I found it difficult to find believable chemistry between any of the five couples that the film was about. This film was a total waste of time and I can´t find anything positive to say about it. It makes Valentine`s Day and New Year`s Eve look like Oscar worthy contenders.

The story deals with five different couples which in some minor way interact or overlap with each other. First off we have celebrity fitness expert Jules (Cameron Diaz) who has fallen for her dance partner Evan (Matthew Morrison) in the Celebrity Dance Reality Show she`s participating on. Then there`s photographer Holly (Jennifer Lopez) and her hubby Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) who can`t have children and have decided to adopt. Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) is a baby-crazy writer who thinks she knows everything about motherhood but has had trouble trying to get pregnant along with her husband Gary (Ben Falcone). Gary`s father, Ramsey (Dennis Quaid), a former Nascar racer has remarried the beautiful and young Skyler (Brooklyn Decker). When Wendy and Gary discover that they were finally able to get pregnant they go to tell the news to Ramsey and Skyler who also surprise them with the news that they too are expecting. By this time Jules and Evan have already found out that they too are expecting a child, and Jules is trying to work around her busy TV schedule. If this seems a lot to take in, wait there is still more: Rosie (Anna Kendrick) shares a romantic night with a former High School classmate, Marco (Chace Crawford) and ends up pregnant as well. This is where the drama unfolds as we have each couple dealing with pregnancy in different ways. Alex who doesn’t feel prepared to be a father is sent by Holly to meet with a dad`s support group organized by Vic (Chris Rock). The support group is supposed to be the funniest thing about the film, but in my opinion none of the jokes worked really well.

There is not much more I can add about this movie, there was so much going on that it was hard to find any chemistry between any of these couples. They all played one dimensional and stereotypical characters. I don’t think I can say I had a favorite performance here because it all felt bland and fake. The ending is horrible, but I guess most couples were satisfied with this date movie. It has no other value to it, only enjoyable for a couple`s date night or a girls night out.

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My Review: I Love You Phillip Morris (7/10)

¨My whole life was nothing but a bunch of lies. Lies to make people give me their money, lies to make people love me, and lies to keep them from leaving me, and in the process I lost track of who I was.¨

Jim Carrey plays the love interest of Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) in this romantic comedy/drama directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The directors have worked together in the past writing the screenplay for Bad Santa and Cats and Dogs, but this is the first time that they actually direct a film written by them. This is not your typical Jim Carrey goofy comedy, the performance is a little more serious and it is a different type of comedy that isn`t afraid of taking risks and being original. Carrey`s performance is more like the ones he did in Man on the Moon, The Majestic, or The Truman Show. The screenplay is adapted from Steve McVicker`s book which is based on true events about a gay conman who meets the love of his life in prison and will do whatever it takes to escape from prison to be with him. Carrey is a good actor, but I think who really steals this movie is Ewan McGregor who plays a very different kind of role than what we have seen from him in the past. This movie hasn`t been released in the US yet, although it was previewed in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival. I don`t know why it has taken so long for this movie to find a wide release in the US, but it is a very original comedy that may have a little trouble at finding a target audience. This movie takes a lot of risks and therefore probably was never meant to become a hit, but more of a small and quiet indie comedy. It is the Catch Me if You Can movie for gays.

The movie is narrated by the main protagonist Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) who is lying in his hospital bed and telling us the story of his life. When he was a young boy his parents let him know that he was adopted and ever since he becomes obsessed with trying to find his biological mother. He is a happily married man living with his wife Debbie (Leslie Mann) and working as a police officer in order to try to discover who his real mother is. Once he finds the information he needs, he visits her and discovers she wants nothing to do with him. Steven doesn`t understand why she gave him up for adoption, even more since he was the middle son. From that point on he decides to quit the police force and tell his wife about the secret he has been keeping from her: that he is gay and has been for a long time. This confession sets him free and he begins to live life to its fullest, although this lifestyle he`s living is pretty expensive. He moves to Miami and finds a boyfriend Jimmy (Rodrigo Santoro), but their luxurious lifestyle together makes him become a conman and it is not too long until the police catch up to him and arrests him. But fate has a funny way of doing things and it is in prison where he meets his soul mate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Their romance blossoms in the prison and when they are released as well, but Steven continues to live a life of lies and sooner or later it will catch up to him again.

Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are one of the reasons this movie stands out. They give some good and strong performances and impress us by doing something different. The movie has its ups and downs, it is not an excellent film or a laugh out loud movie, it is more of a romantic drama that will make you smile at some points. Carrey`s character is so buried in a world of lies and frauds that one would think he would be impossible to like, but he creates a difficult character because it is hard not to sympathize with him. We find ourselves rooting for him each time he escapes from prison, impersonates a lawyer, or becomes a chief financial adviser for an important company. These are the people everyone hates in real life, conmen, but Carrey makes his character a likeable one while at the same time not trying to sugarcoat him the way Hollywood does with most thieves. Steven Russell knows his flaws, but we identify with him because we see his actions as some sort of addiction and issue he can`t surpass. He knows it will affect his relationship and his life, but he can´t help from being a conman because it is what he is good at. The film works combining all these elements very well into this sort of romantic comedy/drama. It is not a film for everyone, but I found it entertaining.

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