Never Let Me Go review

Here's one of those times when I wish a film got wide, mass distribution. In a given year there are several movies that try their damnedest to invoke an emotion or general care out of the audience. Movies like "Remember Me" or "Life As We Know It" tact on as much fake emotion and tear jerking moves as they can so that when you walk out of the theater you just wanna go hug someone and tell them you love them. Then let them know that you never want them to end up in the World Trade Center on 9/11 or for them to die in a horrible car accident and leave you their 2-year old kid. Granted with that last one much piss poor hilarity might ensue... still... you'll be missed. No, "Never Let Me Go" is the real deal. This is a film that almost from moment one you begin to feel the subtle tinge in your gut that something is wrong. A few minutes after that it gets worse. And soon after that you witness a group of young child informed that they were created simply for harvesting and will never really live.

To place the film tone wise it's as if Mark Romanek decided to make a science fiction drama where the entire running time felt like the ending of "Blade Runner". For those of you who aren't aware the moment of me watching the ending of that film and understanding why Roy Batty saved Deckard and why he was telling him these stories of things he has seen, made a strong and emotional attachment to me. There's something about the will to live and it being out of your hands too soon just destroys me. Thus here's a film TOTALLY dealing with that subject AND the characters it directly effects from kids to adults. Simply put the entire film is utterly heartbreaking.

The donors we primarily deal with are Kathy (Carry Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightly). However it is through Kathy's voice do we get to hear the tale. They all grow up in what appears to be a large orphanage in England; tucked away in the country. They all have regimented diets and are scanned before leaving to play outside. They don't go beyond the crumbling fence however as they were told horrific stories about the child that did. This is something a young Ruth and Kathy informed one of the new teachers Mrs. Lucy. Ruth and Kathy appear friendly enough, but it somewhat seems like one of those uneasy friendships where it's more out of convenience than out of general connectivity. Tommy is a bit of an outcast who is artistic and kind, but has terrible tantrums. Most of the kids including Ruth tease Tommy, but Kathy sees something in him that's nice and takes a liking to him. Unfortunately Ruth seemed to as well and that relationship takes off. The complex world of love. It's a confusing thing isn't it?

As they become teenagers they move out and into a series of cottages in which they get to briefly experience touches of the real world before making their first donation. Generally speaking it seems like most donors make out two before completion (death), however some went on until there was nothing more to take. While living there Kathy has to deal with the two romantic relationships around her which includes sex. A topic she knew about and feelings she had to suppress as best she could. To help with that she begins training to become a caregiver; someone who comes to the aid of hospitalized donors and makes them feel comfortable as best they can. This gets her out of the house a lot and makes her ability to be a donor, but only for a while.

There's much in this little picture and far be it for me to spoil the ride with extra details and what not. Shit, I kind of feel like I may have said too much already. Then again there's a lot in "Never Let Me Go". There's a lot of feeling and care and love and pain. Carry Mulligan delivers another perfect performance which will no doubt get her a second Oscar nod (and hopefully win as I've seen NOBODY this good so far). Andrew Garfield's Tommy is terrific as well, but is easily overshadowed by his amazing work in "The Social Network" which is a stronger performance. Not for any specific reason, but simply he's given a bit more range in that. Keira Knightly is very much a supporting member of the cast, but she does a great job. She's given quite a bit of extended range with Ruth and every bit of it works.

After leaving "Never Let Me Go" I couldn't shake so much as a second of it from my mind. Within it short running time to places you through a gauntlet of emotions and brings you into the short lives of beautiful people who aren't allowed to live. Director Mark Romanek ("One Hour Photo") hasn't just made his second movie; he's crafted a classic. I don't say that often because a lot of times I see movies I absolutely love, but know that they'll fall by the wayside at some point and I'll have to see it pointed out to remember it again. But this is something I know I'll remember. If "Never Let Me Go" is near I urge you to see it. It won't leave you feeling like sunshine and daisies by any stretch, but it's a soulful and beautiful piece of work that needs to be experienced.

The American review

It's extremely rare for U.S. spy dramas or like-spy dramas to go with a lovely slow pace instead what's become the norm for the genre via the 'Bourne' or 007 movies. "The American" has more in kin with samurai dramas or thrillers of the 70's than it does with the current genre and it's made all the better for it. George Clooney plays Jack or Edward, we're never really sure; an assassin of sorts whose last job involves him hiding out in Italy and crafting a weapon for his successor. Right there is 90% of the film as he mainly walks about the town, occasionally meets and chats with the locals despite his somewhat cold demeanor. He gets close to a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) and something more begins to appear in the character. Something like love for her... however not too long after that so does something comes out of him too.

The other 10% of the film deals subtly with paranoia. I say subtly in the form in which Coppola used it in "The Conversation". The entire time you feel like something more is going on, but you can't quite get a grasp on it until it's right in front of you. The entire final act is a well devised tight rope of tension and character emotion that's accomplished through patience and skill. "Control" director Anton Corbijn does what ought to be an award nomination worthy job along with screenwriter Rowan Joffe of making Clooney's mostly silent character likable by the end of the picture; making us fully care what happens in the final minutes. It's also a film that I would call sexy; not a adjective I tend to use when referring to movies, but it is.

I'm not talking just for the nudity or the sex, but generally they've shot this movie in such a beautiful fashion and soaked it in mystery and drama to the point that if this was a person, you'd want to meet em', befriend them, bang them and have a picnic with them the next day. At the same time not everyone will feel as strongly about it all as I do. The one beef I have against it is Focus Features marketing of the film. The first trailer was around 1:30 and played up the drama and romance of the story rather than the action (which is probably the third or fourth important aspect). That trailer aired in theaters probably for a week or two before a 30 second cut came out which utilized Mr. Voice talking of assassins and George Clooney while just showing off the action pieces in the film. Thus several people will walk in expecting an action film where Clooney goes ape shit killing baddies for his final hurray. THIS AIN'T THAT MOVIE. This is a smart, quiet thriller.

"The American" might be considered one of Clooney's awardy type films by some, but I'm not so convinced. I'd love to see this get some real legs and viewers and nods come that time of the year, but it feels more like a film destined to be left behind somewhere in that race. Why,I'm not entirely sure yet. Perhaps it's the heavy European feel that could hurt it. The somber tone that concludes in a rather bleak fashion or the fact that there just isn't a much of money shots in the film. Either way it is a film that deserves viewers. It's one of the best films I've seen all year and also warrants many technical accolades as well.

Inception review

Christopher Nolan's "Inception" is a fully realized science fiction opus, in which Nolan goes to great lengths to completely convince us of this science of dream invasion and what not. To date I can fully say this is Nolan's most complex film and also most wonderfully misleading as far as what we're really dealing with. I think it's great to see that in addition to providing trailers that just give us nothing but money shots, he's also gave us a film that's got an action sense about it however isn't quite what I'd call an action movie because after a while it's no longer driven by action, but the emotion of the characters.

You probably know the players and what they do by now. You know DiCaprio's Cobb is a dream thief and he's given a chance to 'make it back home' with one last job of inception. Inception is the planting of an idea in someones mind; as opposed to extraction which is them going in and stealing an idea (what they primarily do since inception is said to be near impossible). Cobb's team is great and if ever there was an exciting group of young actors to come together on screen for something like this, you couldn't do better. Joesph Gordon-Levitt is Arthur (pointman), Ellen Page is Ariadne (the architect), Tom Hardy is Eames (the forger), Dileep Rao is Yusuf (the chemist) and Ken Wantanbe is Saito (the tourist). Their job is to planet an idea in the mind of Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) that would destroy his father's empire. This will involve many complicated devices to work including dreaming within dreams and so on and so forth. All matters that are made more sensible and interesting by Nolan in the film than little ole' me could ever make them seem.

The dream worlds are created a way that's fresh for film. They are fully moving cities, snow capped mountains with bases, cliff side retreats and so on. Sure there are a many elements of the fantastic that occur, but it's nothing like the fully fantasy dream worlds we're used to. There are rules and concepts that haven't been explored or visualized the way they are here. Furthermore there's a heavy emphasis on physical action (aka what things look like when ACTUALLY blow up and not just CGI blow up). There's a difference and it's always something more visually striking and dynamic about the right thing. Much like when they flipped the semi truck in "The Dark Knight". You can pick up on a few influences of Nolan including 'On Her Majesty's Service' and 'Blade Runner' to some extent as well as a few noir and heist movie elements. But all in all this is a very original piece of work.

But it's not all derived from Nolan's script or directing. Like I said a HUGE part of the film deals with emotion and just who these characters are. Cobb is a troubled man and getting into dream cons with him has it's ups and it's downs. The downs being his wife Mal (Marion Cottillard), who appears to sabotage missions if Cobb tends to know too much about the lay out of a location or even sometimes when Cobb is losing control of his own thoughts. Their story is perhaps the most important of any in the film and something that's been left quiet when discussing it. There's a reason and I'm not going to spoil that. In fact I'm not really going to spoil much more of the film because it's one of those rare occasions when the film has manged to advertise itself this much, but still provide a theatrical experience that you are unknown to until you're there watching it.

In the 142 minutes of "Inception" I found myself engrossed in the action, engrossed in the story and engrossed and invested in these characters. I'm not attempting to boast hype or spin any wheels, but it's quite something when a movie (especially in the summer) can really do all the things that have been done here. Hans Zimmer's score plays slightly counter to traditional summer action scores and has a much more dramatic and emotionally driven feel. I really love that Zimmer is experimenting more now that he did in the 80's and 90's; creating a different sound for these types of films that fits like a glove. Wally Pfister continues to shoot beautifully and is well on his way to becoming one of those cinematographers that's a go to guy for great imagery (like Robert Richardson, Robert Elswit, Roger Deakins etc). And finally the performances in the film run like clock work. Not one performer misses a beat and not one is unconvincing of who they pretend or proclaim to be. The entire final act becomes less about action and race against time, but about these people and what happened to them. I can honestly say the finale kinda killed him in that respect and I loved it. It's a feeling almost completely reserved for the good ole' end of the year Oscar movies that get their jollies by depressing the fuck outta you and then sending you home.

"Inception" probably won't convert non-fans of Nolan, but anytime something like this can get into that mass audience range and actually be successful, I'll take it. The hope is that other filmmakers will learn from what Nolan's been doing in the blockbuster range and perhaps others will go down that road. Start creating genre films for the summer season that have more to them then the usual bang-bang. It's definitely the best thing I've seen all summer and among the best of the year, although is WAY too soon to see how it stacks up among others I liked. What I'm trying to say is you should probably see it. If you're tired of enduring the same junky summer films we've been getting, the bland animated films or the lackluster action pictures... then here you go. Don't wait... just go and experience it for yourself and see how it grabs you.

(500) Days of Summer review

Very rare is it that I find a true blue romance movie that is perfect or often near perfect. Seriously it's a really short list with me and it's not because I don't watch any films like this because I have watched tons. Among my absolute favorites is Judd Apatow's perverted and charming "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (don't think it's a romance movie? Re-watch it). "High Fidelity" with John Cusack, which also has one of my favorite film soundtracks and ensemble casts of all time. And for diversities sake Tony Scott's "True Romance". Granted it's far from being an A-typical romantic film, it is still very much about a couples enduring love. It's more than a joy to say that "(500) Days of Summer" joins that small list and does reach a cosmic level of perfection in it's presentation.

In so many ways it's a simply story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back; but as it is in real life it's never that simple. Thus we jump through the 500 days between their meeting, splitting and what happens next. Perfectly casted for this is Joesph Gordon-Levitt ('Brick', 'The Lookout' and 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra') and Zooey Deschanel ('Elf', 'The Happening' and 'Yes Man') Tom and Summer. The two meet in a meeting where they both work, a greeting card company. Tom's a card writer and Summer is his bosses new assistant. From there they meet time and time again, signals are misinterpreted, tastes are exchanged and eventually a type of relationship is formed. I say this because Summer doesn't want something iron clad and Tom's feeling are notably different although while they're together it's rarely stated.

Impressively one of the best aspects of the film is it's ability to not make you feel awkward during the unpleasant moments, but to show them as they are. In reality sour moments in a relationship aren't usually awkward between the two people just unpleasant and disheartening, this is tapped into. Although with that there are the sequences of happiness and fun. These too are highly well done, believable and truthful in their exaggerations and glee. In between all that is a number of well done acting, reacting and beautiful storytelling. There are laugh out loud moments that don't necessarily have a punch line, they're just funny and great to watch. There near tear inducing pieces of pain that anyone who has loved someone as felt. In addition to that veteran music video director Marc Webb delivers these small, creative and beautiful scenes of the city and of these people that are done with the utmost artistry. This is the kind of skillful directing that belongs among the best work of this year by Tarantino, Soderbergh and Mann.

Finally it can be said that "(500) Days of Summer" is a real romantic film. It's never a comedy nor a drama. It successfully skates around genre pits and makes it all a believable movie experience. It lacks any sort of pretension unlike films like "Garden State" and it never cops out with something cheap. "(500) Days of Summer" is one of the films that will a near the top of my list of best films of the year and is easily one of the best romances of the 2000's.

"(500) Days of Summer" **** out of ****