Underrated Films, Un-Prolonged Reviews: The Tourist (2010)

Plot (from IMDB): Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path.

I really don’t see what all the hate here with this film is about. Oh, of course, the boy who tries to find at least one tiny little positive thing he likes about each and every movie he sees doesn’t get the hate, but I digress. I think the biggest problem with this movie is that it was marketed as a “romantic comedy-thriller”, which is a tad misleading. Thrilling? Yes, infact the spy-thriller ingredient to this movie, along with the gorgeous scenery and well-timed action sequences were the film’s best portion, reminding me somewhat of the underrated Bond flick “License to Kill”. The romance element of this film wasn’t as bad as i’ve heard, while their chemistry wasn’t always the greatest I think Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie worked fairly well together, playing off of each other admirably. However, this movie shouldn’t really be classified as a comedy. Sure, it had some nice comedic moments sprinkled throughout, but I think this film works much better when it plays itself straight as an espionage movie. I think it worked marvelously as a modern day spy-thriller, not enough that I give it my most substantial of recommendations, but I believe it works well enough that I should say give it a chance. You might end up liking it.

My Rating: 7/10

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Staff Picks #12: Somewhere (2010)

Plot:

After withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.

Why It’s A Staff Pick:

“Somewhere” gets very high marks on my Staff Picks section for three huge reasons; Number One, and very importantly, is because of Stephen Dorff’s incredible, at times near-heartfelt performance. Not only does he have the looks and physique to play a character like Johnny Marco, but he also has the redeeming likeability that a character like Marco sometimes needs and he definitely has the depth and acting ability to perfectly play this challenging role. Number two, and arguably most important, would be Sophia Coppola’s terrific screenplay and delightfully crafted story, which faultlessly mixes emotions of loss and longing with strong subjects like fatherhood that are all the while sobering and rang genuinely true. The third reason for recommendation is the minimalist, almost dense tone in which the scenes of the film were crafted. While some scenes go on and out without much notice and others seem to linger on without too much happening, the strong emotions displayed throughout and the pensive depth of Dorff’s character pierce the heart and senses all across the entire movie.

My Rating:

8.5/10

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Blue Valentine (2010) Review

 

Third review posted of the day, though this was originally written in May of 2011 for my Rotten Tomatoes account. Just felt like adding more content as I was slacking the last few months a bit.

I, personally, was expecting a mix between Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Basic Instinct, but I was very surprised when the film turned out to be a beautiful, fresh breath of life into the marriage drama sub-genre.

The film focuses on a “happily” married couple, charting the evolution of the relationship, from the meeting to the demise of passion, by cross-cutting between time periods.

 

The script was really immaculate and compassionately written by Derek Cianfrance and Cami Delavigne. Everything was fit perfectly snug together: brilliant dialogue, excellent characters, an amazing amount of detailed character development, and the situations that befall the characters. Also, I love the whole moody structure, how it can go from nuanced, to bold, to hard to watch in some scenes.

 

The performances were just truly unbelievable. I was really shocked at how much consideration went into making a film about a failing marriage. I’ve heard before by people and critics that Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are pretty talented, but to really see that you need to see this movie. Plus, they work very well together and the chemistry between them is impeccable.

 

The direction was probably one of my favorite elements of this film. The direction was done by Derek Cianfrance, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It just wouldn’t let up, with the brilliant structure, sweeping cinematography, and an in-your-face unsettling quality to it. Not to mention the very well done, haunting score.

 

To conclude, I couldn’t praise this film anymore than I did. It’s practically a modern romance/drama masterpiece. Everything and anything about this film is quite elegant and top-notch. You can trust me when I say that you NEED to see this movie as soon as damned possible, it’s very moving and lifelike and must be seen by all!

My Rating: 9.5/10

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Holy Rollers (2010) Review

This would’ve turned out brilliantly if the writer wouldn’t have taken the easier way out.

Plot: In Brooklyn, a youth from an Orthodox Jewish community is lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by his pal who has ties to an Israeli drug cartel.

This movie is actually partly based upon a true story that happened sometime during the late 90’s; Hasidic Jews were recruited by a group of drug dealers to act as mules to easily be able to smuggle ecstasy from Europe to the United States.

Jesse Eisenberg gives an exceptional performance as main character Sam Gold, a young man studying to become a Rabbi who gets mixed up into the lucrative ecstasy trade by his best friend’s brother. It was an excellent role for him, and being one of my favorite actors I had to see this movie. And I’m glad I did, if the plot doesn’t intrigue you enough see this movie for his wonderful performance. He not only looks the part, but makes the character his own and turns it into a real person so to speak. Justin Bartha was also very good as Josef, the brother of Sam’s best friend Leon who gets the two of them wrapped up in drug dealing. He too gives an incredibly realistic performance, and is, along with Jesse, the highlight of this film.

Now for the writing. The screenplay was an original piece written by newcomer Antonio Macia, and was equally well written and equally shoddy in the same measure. The story was well developed, nice dialogue, but was extremely slowly paced at the beginning. By the time the movie fully caught up with itself it was nearly halfway over. Another thing about this that could’ve been improved was the running-time; 89-minutes is hardly enough time to fully develop a story. The short running time works pretty well here, but I still feel it could’ve used an extra 10-20 minutes. The characterizations of some of the characters, however, were a bit ridiculous and the writer turned a few of them into walking cliches.

The direction was done by another newcomer, by the name of Kevin Asch. For his first film, he really develops a nice stylish take on the modern biographical crime drama, and expertly directs his actors. And I loved the composed score from MJ Mynarski, very well composed and fitting!

In conclusion, “Holy Rollers” is certainly not the movie it could have been, but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome; the result was a tense, well acted, and expertly directed modern crime film that is certainly beyond underrated. I can’t give it the highest recommendation, but it is very very very much worth checking out at least once.

My Rating: 7.5/10

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