My Review: August: Osage County (5/10)

"I thought we were having a funeral dinner not a cockfight."

Based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer winning play of the same name, August: Osage County is a dark comedy about a dysfunctional family that are reunited for their father's funeral and several secrets are revealed along the way. This is director John Wells' follow up to his 2010 film The Company Men, with Letts adapting the screenplay of his own play. Add a very talented cast to the mix and you have all the right elements for a successful film, but somehow it failed to engage me. The characters in this film are so unlikable and they treat each other so terribly that I just found this film hard to enjoy. This is one family I would like to stay as far away as possible, and therefor I never felt comfortable watching this. This is an extremely verbally violent film which proves the point that words can hit harder than stones. August Osage County does have several positive things going for it beginning with some terrific performances from Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. It also has a very witty and sharp screenplay as several secrets revealed along the way come as a surprise. It is a powerful film, but one that I never felt comfortable watching due to the fact I despised the way these characters treated each other. It was a depressing film, much like Lett's previous adapted play, Killer Joe. Despite having some fun moments I still felt like I'd be better off keeping away from this depressing story.

The film opens with Beverly (Sam Shepard) interviewing a young Native American woman named Johnna (Misty Upham) for a position as a live-in maid. He tells her about his wife Violet (Meryl Streep) who has been diagnosed with cancer and her addiction to pills. He and his wife have made an agreement, he doesn't say anything to him about her addiction and she doesn't bother him for being an alcoholic. It's just the way they deal with each other and their problems. Violet interrupts the interview and seems disturbed because she doesn't think she needs anyone taking care after her. Several days later it appears that Beverly has gone missing. The first to arrive at Violet's home providing support are her daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) and Fae's husband Charlie (Chris Cooper). Violet spends most of her time drinking pills and criticizing her family, especially Ivy for still being single. Violet's oldest daughter, Barbara (Julia Roberts) arrives with her husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their fourteen year old daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin) just around the moment that they discover Beverly's boat is missing. Later that afternoon, the local sheriff arrives and announces they have found Beverly's body, saying that he committed suicide and drowned himself. Several days later the funeral is held and the rest of Violet's family arrives, including her other daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis) with her fiancé Steve (Dermot Mulroney) . The stage is set as they gather together for diner after the service and chaos ensues as secrets are revealed and horrible things are said to each other.

Meryl Streep may have just played her meanest role to date. She is a paranoid and dysfunctional woman who clearly has affected her children in the way she raised them. Julia Roberts also holds her own against Streep as they share some very powerful scenes together. The dialogue is witty and funny at times, while revealing some surprises along the way, but it's just the way these people treat each other that makes you want to stay away from them. The performance from the entire cast was above par, and the film succeeds in portraying them as these despicable and hateful people. Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Cooper being both perhaps the most sympathetic characters in the film, although they do have their flaws as well. Despite all the strong performances I do believe Roberts and Streep steal each scene they are in. They deserve all the recognition they've been receiving, but I just had a hard time watching this movie and getting through the entire thing. This is one of those stories that seem to have worked better as a play than in the big screen.

My Review: Killer Joe (5/10)

¨You ever hear of Joe Copper? He's a cop. A detective actually. He's got a little business on the side.¨

Director William Friedkin is mostly recognized for his work in the 70`s in The Exorcist and The French Connection. He hasn’t had another critically acclaimed movie since then although some of his movies have received a small fan base. Killer Joe is a neo-noir film with some excellent performances from the cast that critics have enjoyed and therefore put Friedkin on the map again. His film was adapted from Tracy Letts play of the same name. Letts worked with Friedkin in 2006 in the film Bug which didn’t receive too much attention. Killer Joe has made the top ten list of many critics favorite film of 2012 and I can see why. It is a very dark film, with some sadistic violence and dark humor as well. Several scenes, especially the ending, will leave you shocked and disgusted. Most critics found this film to be well crafted, but it hasn’t received as much love from audiences. As much as I wanted to like this movie, I was really disappointed with it. It was just too dark and sadistic for my taste. I don’t have a problem with violent films, I am a huge Tarantino fan, but this film is just an example of how difficult it really is to mix dark humor with violence, and although Tarantino makes it look really easy, it isn’t because Killer Joe is proof of that. I can see why many critics liked this movie, but I can`t say that I agree with them. It just wasn’t my taste. What I can agree on is the performance from the cast which is truly great, but I will get to that later.

The film takes place in a small Texas town where we meet a redneck family living in a trailer. Chris (Emile Hirsch), a drug dealer, has got in a fight with his mother after she stole his stash and now he is in a huge debt with some thugs. In order to pay off the debt he comes up with a plan that involves killing his mother and collecting her insurance money. Someone has told him that the insurance money would go to her younger sister, Dottie (Juno Temple) who lives with his father and step mother. Chris shows up at his father`s house one night and shares the plan with him. Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) who`s very naïve agrees to listen to the plan. Chris tells him about the insurance money and that he has heard of a contract killer named Joe (Matthew McConaughey) who he is planning on contacting. Together, Chris and Ansel meet up with Joe who happens to be a police detective during the day and a killer at night. He agrees to kill the mother as long as they pay him 25,000 thousand dollars up front. Since Chris doesn’t have the money and can`t pay him in advance, Joe decides to take innocent Dottie as his retainer. Chris and Ansel agree as well as Ansel`s wife, Sharla (Gina Gershon). The family is completely dysfunctional and they make it really easy for you to believe they would accept and do such a thing. Well of course something goes wrong in the transaction and all hell breaks loose in this pulpy dark film.

As good as Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, Emile Hirsch, and Juno Temple are in this movie they are outshined by Matthew McConaughey`s performance as this sadistic but charming detective. He is that kind of guy who on one side seems really nice and charming but on the other you know he`s dangerous and won`t want to mess with him. This is perhaps one of his strongest performances although I really preferred his work in Magic Mike. There is no doubt this has been a great year for him as he has received a lot of recognition for his work in these films. It was good to see Gina Gershon back in a strong role as well as it had been a long time since she could prove her artistic talents. Emile Hirsh and Thomas Haden Church are always great and have found them pretty much dependable in everything. Juno Temple perhaps gets her best role here as well. The performances were my favorite part of this movie, but I really can`t say I enjoyed the story. I was shocked by several scenes and really found some difficult to watch. This isn’t one of those movies I would like to watch again and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It will not be among my favorite films of the year, and I hope to forget all about it by tomorrow.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com