Tag Archives: new york

Blue Jasmine

Posted on by

blue jasmine

Director: Woody Allen

Writer: Woody Allen

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale

Tomatometer: 85/80/79 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Jasmine has lost everything – her homes, her jewels, and her Ponzi scheming husband.  Desperate for some stability, she moves in with her formerly estranged sister.

Two Cents: I don’t think I could name a director, nor a writer, with a more distinct style than Woody Allen’s.  If I showed you E.T. for the first time, would you be able to name Steven Spielberg as its director, without hesitation?  I’d counter with Saving Private Ryan, and you’d have to rethink your position.  Would you bet your life on the assumption that Martin Scorcese directed The Departed?  Not if Hugo were the only other Scorcese movie you’d seen.

Even when he’s not acting in his movies, Woody is still very much the star.  Each line of dialogue drips with Allen’s trademark wit and sarcasm.  I am not, by any stretch, a Woody fanatic, but I’ve seen enough of his films to know what a Woody Allen film is.  And, Blue Jasmine is undoubtedly a Woody Allen film.

As one of my friends put it, Woody Allen is played by Cate Blanchett.  Her Jasmine is the broken and scorned widow of a financial schemer.  Plainly, Jasmine is Allen’s version of Ruth Madoff.  Her husband, Hal, a WASPy version of Bernie, is played by the brilliant Alec Baldwin.

Blanchett, like Woody often does, moves effortlessly between cynicism, self-loathing, and preachiness.  Though Jasmine’s own life is a complete mess, she always knows best how to fix the lives of those around her.  She is the paradigm of what everyone thinks would happen to a billionaire who loses everything.  She’s completely lost her bearings, she has no plan of action, and she’s been shunned by her “friends”.  However, because she once had a house in the Hamptons, she believes she’s still more intelligent and righteous than everyone with whom she interacts.  In a way, Blue Jasmine is a revenge fantasy for anyone who’s ever secretly (or not so secretly) craved the downfall of a person of means.  Let’s be honest.  How badly do you want to see an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians after Kris loses all her money?  Sure, it sounds cruel, but that would get a better rating than the Super Bowl.  

As he always does, Allen put together a stellar cast for this film.  Each performance is commendable, but Blanchett’s stands out.  Sally Hawkins was good enough that, from now on, I’ll actually care if Sally Hawkins is in a movie.  Andrew Dice Clay was surprisingly convincing as the representative for The Working Man, and I only wish he had more screen time.  Bobby Cannavale did a nice job as Hawkins’s boyfriend, but I don’t think I’ll ever be impressed with Cannavale again, after his phenomenal performance on the 2012 season of Boardwalk Empire.  Louis C.K. was fine in a small cameo, but that’s really all it was.

Should I/Shouldn’t I: You’d think that, after 49 films, all with a very similar and distinct voice, we’d be over Woody Allen.  Apparently, we’re not.  This past Sunday morning, I arrived early to the theater, which is a rare occurrence.  To my surprise, there was a line around the corner.  I’ve never seen such a long line for a movie that was not about a superhuman.  Granted, the average age of the line’s inhabitants was north of 70, but that only proves Allen’s staying power even more.  These people have already seen the other 48!  No, Blue Jasmine is not a great movie, but it’s a good movie that will certainly satisfy Woody’s fans.  Blanchett is the story, but since she really is just playing Woody, she only gets partial credit for her performance.  If you like Woody Allen, in general, you’ll enjoy this one.  If you’re unfamiliar with his work, this film will serve as a fine introduction to his portfolio.

Sundae Rating: Two scoops

The Great Gatsby

Posted on by

gatsby

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Writer: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

Based On: Novel (The Great Gatsby) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton

Tomatometer: 48/32/84 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Nick Carraway moves to Long Island, across the bay from his cousin Daisy and her wealthy husband, Tom.  Nick’s next-door neighbor, and eventual bossom buddy, is a reclusive millionaire named Jay Gatsby.  Gatsby often throws lavish parties and spends much of his time with celebrities and politicians.  For some reason, though, Gatsby takes special interest in Daisy.

Two Cents: Baz Luhrmann can’t see the forest for the trees.

A few years ago, I had an argument with a writing partner over a screenplay on which we had been working.  He wanted the screenplay to read like a Mitch Hedberg routine – one-liner after one-liner.  Eventually, I successfully explained that he was getting caught up in the details.  The two most important elements of any movie are its story and its characters.  If you’ve got a good story, with intriguing plot points and developed characters, that story can be greatly enhanced with a well-timed joke, the perfect song, an authentic costume, or a unique camera angle.  However, it doesn’t work the other way around.  A laundry list of fancy details can’t save a weak story with insipid characters.

Baz Luhrmann has always strived to blend filmmaking with other artforms.  He’s clearly a fan of music, theater, architecture, dance, fashion, and loads of additional creative pastimes.  Unfortunately, in his re-imagining of Fitzgerald’s classic tale, Luhrmann has completely forgotten to tell the story.  He’s focused all of his energy on the artistic details of his film, almost as if he assumes his entire audience has already read the novel, letting him off the hook of bothering to retell it.  The costumes are gorgeous, the set pieces are stunning, and the artistry is top-notch (Expect a few Oscar nominations, including one for Luhrmann’s wife, costume designer Catherine Martin.), but Luhrmann has fallen far short of his (presumed) goal of making a great film.  On the other hand, if I’m mistaken, and his goal was to make an eye-popping, yet mind-numbing, waste of time, then bravo!

The cast doesn’t help Luhrmann out too much, either.  Leo is a god.  If he were a woman, he’d have Meryl Streep doing his laundry.  Although his performance as Gatsby doesn’t rank as one of his best, he clearly outshines the film’s other stars.  Joel Edgerton and Carey Mulligan seem to be trying their best, but Luhrmann spends no time at all developing their characters (some of that blame can be placed on Fitzgerald’s shoulders).  Edgerton also needs to take a lesson from Leo on pulling off an accent.  Tobey Maguire is as boring as he always is, but he throws in his signature angry face a couple of times, prompting the viewer to consider the possibility that Maguire’s friendship with DiCaprio isn’t the only reason he’s in the movie.  It probably is the only reason, but, at least, there’s a shred of doubt.

Finally, we come to Jay-Z.  Lots of hype surrounded the announcement that Hov himself would be compiling the soundtrack for Gatsby.  Luhrmann had the idea of making Gatsby’s parties seem more enticing to people who are actually alive by combining the culture of the 1920s with today’s music.  If you’re looking to mix anything with hip-hop, Jigga is a good person to have in your corner.  However, Luhrmann probably could have knocked a few million dollars off the budget, had he just handed a production assistant a note that read, “Download some Jay-Z and Beyoncé songs.”  Yes, the music is great, and the soundtrack will sell nicely (If you’re one of the six humans who has purchased a soundtrack in the last 15 years, you’ll probably buy this one, too.), but the soundtrack isn’t more front-and-center than the soundtrack in any other movie.  Some “live” performances of the songs would have gone a long way.  You got Andre 3000 to cover an Amy Winehouse song, but you didn’t put him in the movie?  The guy was born to play a ’20s entertainer!  That’s like asking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help you get something off the middle shelf at the supermarket.  Jay-Z may be a musical genius, but even the self-proclaimed Michael Jordan of rap couldn’t save this mess of a movie.  Thanks to Gatsby‘s scores on Rotten Tomatoes, Mr. Carter is now a member of the 40/30 club, as well.  

Should I/Shouldn’t I: If you’re curious, I understand.  However, there’s really no reason for you to see this movie.  If you download the soundtrack and flip through some still photography of the sets and costumes, you’ll get the point and you’ll save two hours.  You can spend that time reading the Cliffs Notes, instead.

Sundae Rating: One scoop

42

Posted on by

42 poster

 

HAPPY JACKIE ROBINSON DAY!

Director: Brian Helgeland

Writer: Brian Helgeland

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford

Tomatometer: 76/70/89 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: This one isn’t spoiler-free, but I don’t feel bad about it.  Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, helps Jackie Robinson, a young athlete from California, become the first African American to play in Major League Baseball.

Two Cents: Racism is so uncool.

Obviously, Jackie Robinson’s is one of the great stories in American sports history.  As such, there wasn’t really much of a chance for this movie to disappoint.  Still, I applaud Brian Helgeland for taking on the incredible burden of telling such a monumental story.

In general, Helgeland does a wonderful job, handling Robinson’s journey with respect and admiration.  However, I am disappointed with certain aspects of the movie.

For the first hour or so, I couldn’t help but wonder why no character was saying anything inappropriate to Jackie Robinson.  Sure, there were a few stink-eyes, and a slur here or there, but there was nothing that seemed “authentic”.  I don’t want to use the word “thankfully”, so, I’ll say…Appropriately, the racism picks up, halfway through the movie.

I understand that Branch Rickey was a great man, and a champion for civil rights.  In Helgeland’s version of the story, though, Rickey is portrayed as the true hero of the story, instead of Robinson.  Unfortunately, there’s no question that it took a white man to desegregate baseball, but I don’t think it’s fair to compare Rickey’s role in  the phenomenon to Robinson’s.  After all, Rickey makes no effort (at least, during the portion of his life that is covered in this film) to desegregate the bleachers of Ebbets Field.  It just feels wrong to make a white man the hero of a black man’s experience with segregation.  To his credit, though, Helgeland does acknowledge that Rickey (and other MLB owners) had quite a bit of money to gain from desegregating baseball, thereby admitting that, in addition to being a moralist, Rickey was just your average capitalist.

One element in the Jackie Robinson saga, which I found sorely lacking in Helgeland’s film, is the most important element of all – Robinson’s legacy.  Helgeland spends only a few seconds touching on two other African Americans who joined Robinson on the Dodgers in 1948 and 1949.  At no point does Helgeland mention Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., or any of the other baseball superstars of whom we’d never have heard, had it not been for Robinson’s bravery.  A few statistics, or even a list of names, before the end credits would go a long way.

The acting in this movie is not particularly noteworthy, as Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford are really the only actors with a considerable amount of screen time.  Each lead actor does a good job, although, at times, Ford’s portrayal of Rickey crosses the line between acting and impersonation.

Side Note: If you love spotting actors from other movies and television shows, this film is a gold mine.

Should I/Shouldn’t I: I realize I’ve been harping on the negative, a tad, but this movie is very good.  The story is well-known, but you’ll certainly learn something knew about an incredible man and athlete.  If you’re looking for a movie with the triumph and exhilaration of Remember the Titans or Miracle, you won’t find that here, as it’s difficult to capture Robinson’s success in one victorious moment.  You will, however, be uplifted by the courageous and exemplary life of Jackie Robinson.

Sundae Rating: Two scoops with whipped cream