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Reviews
Here are the
show's weekly reviews of theatrical releases and DVD picks. The
films are listed alphabetically by title. Titles beginning with
numerical values (i.e. 16 Blocks) are listed in the Numbers
section. Foreign films are listed according to the American title
under which they were marketed.
V
V for
Vendetta
Vacancy (2007)
Vantage Point
Venus (2006)
The Village
The Visitor (2008)
V
for Vendetta
Directed by: James McTeigue
Premise: In a dystopian
future where Great Britain is now a fascist state, a masked vigilante
known only as V (Hugo Weaving) conducts guerrilla warfare and incites
the public to act against the government.
What Works: V for
Vendetta is a comic book adaptation and for this genre it is a
standout film. Its visuals are very well composed and its action
sequences are fun but never over the top. The film combines the look of
the future with the present in a way that makes the fantasy credible.
Hugo Weaving uses his distinctive voice talents to create a hero that is
unique to the genre but it is in Natalie Portman’s role as Evey, a
young woman who V rescues, that the story locates its real emotional
arc.
What Doesn’t: The story
of V for Vendetta has progressively greater problems. The second
act gets muddled in a conspiracy plot that has very little payoff. The
third act sabotages the drama by resolving too many things to easily and
killing the dramatic tension. The relationship between Evey and V starts
out wonderfully but in the end Evey’s transformation has no relation
to the main storyline. The film also suffers from an overbearing and
unsubstantiated sense of self-importance. V for Vendetta likes to
think that it is making a bold statement against tyranny but for all of
its political posturing, the film does not have very much to say and the
political ideas in it are very superficial.
Bottom Line: In the end, V
for Vendetta is a mixed bag. As a comic book adaptation and an
action film it works very well and shoots ahead of the curve. The
political ideas make it more interesting than the average film but V
for Vendetta is not as subversive as it would like to be. The film
aspires to Fight
Club, Munich,
or even The
Devil’s Rejects but instead it ends up being the Syriana
of comic book adaptations. Despite its faults, the film is still worth a
look.
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Vacancy
(2007)
Directed by: Nimrod Antal
Premise: A couple (Kate Beckinsale and Luke
Wilson) is stranded in an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras
and snuff films in their room. The couple soon realizes that the hotel
owner and others are planning to kill them on film.
What Works: Vacancy is a
surprisingly effective thriller that manages to achieve a high level of
tension. This film gives its characters and the audience their due
credit by not insulting them. The story takes its time setting up the
characters and gives the couple a real relationship with tensions and
conflicts that establish a sense of who they are before the thrills
begin. The cat and mouse game between the couple and the killers is
clever and unlike some low rent slasher films, the couple acts smart,
even when they make mistakes. Like Panic
Room and Wait
Until Dark, the film is able to use the limited geography of the
setting to create a sense of claustrophobia. Like the original Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, the film feels more violent than it actually
is by using editing and cinematography to create an impression of the
bloodshed and brutality. As the couple makes the terrible discovery
about the hotel, Vacancy carefully builds the tension and the
conflict, escalating it further and further in ways that demonstrate a
high level of cinematic and storytelling craft.
What Doesn’t: The ending is abrupt and
takes a turn for the optimistic. While it is a nice ending, it strains
the film’s credibility.
Bottom Line: Vacancy is a very
effective thriller. It is extremely intense and highly entertaining and
it is a successful crossover genre picture that ought to find an
audience both with fans of the horror film and with those who don’t
normally go to this kind of film.
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Vantage
Point
Directed by: Pete Travis
Premise: An assassination attempt on the
President of the United States is told from the points of view of
several different characters, including a veteran secret service agent
(Dennis Quaid), an American tourist (Forest Whitaker), and a television
news director (Sigourney Weaver).
What Works: Vantage Point is a very
effective thriller. The film raises what might otherwise be a glorified
episode of 24
into something more complex and more textured by splitting its
narrative, taking the action in each character’s story up to the
climax, and then restarting at the opening. The juxtaposition of the
stories is extremely well done, with each new incarnation of the event
leading to new knowledge about the previous version and building toward
a cohesive whole. At the same time, each story moves along progressively
faster, using smart editing techniques and the audience’s
pre-knowledge of what is going to happen to streamline the storytelling.
As the film enters into its final story, it gives the assassins and their
plot more intelligence and sophistication than is expected and features
a terrific car chase on par those seen in The
French Connection and The
Bourne Identity. Although Vantage Point is not Munich,
it does manage to include a little bit of depth in its characters and
themes, and give a few opportunities for the film to expand beyond just
a slam-bang action adventure.
What Doesn’t: The split narrative gets a
little frustrating because it repeatedly takes the action to the climax
and then returns to the beginning to track some other character’s
point of view.
Bottom Line: Vantage Point is on par
with last year’s The
Kingdom. It’s not a film about deep observations on terrorism
or West-Middle East relations, but it does make for a compelling ninety
minutes of action.
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Venus
(2006)
Directed by: Roger Michell
Premise: A waning actor (Peter O’Toole)
with a zest for life begins a romance with the eighteen-year-old niece
(Jodie Whittaker) of a fellow thespian (Leslie Phillips).
What Works: Venus is a terrific
meditation on love and lust at different ages. One
of the remarkable things in this film is its ability to make ordinarily
unlikable characters into empathetic beings. O’Toole plays a dirty old
man with some social grace, Whittaker’s character is a snotty,
manipulative teen, and Phillips is cast as a bitter old curmudgeon. Yet,
each character is given opportunities for personal frailty and in their
interaction with each other they are placed in situations where the
characters must face their flaws. O’Toole shines in this film and
gives one of the best performances of his career. His character’s
journey, facing old age and his mortality, is well done and the
decisions he makes in the course of the story and his reflections on the
life he has lived, for better and for worse, gives much more depth and
weight to the story than so many other films that deal with mortality on
a superficial level like The
Bucket List. As a love story, the film is able to take on the
idealization of youth and physical beauty, as epitomized by the Greek
goddess Venus, and use the story to shatter the illusions of love and
lust, differentiating between the two and getting to something much
deeper.
What Doesn’t: The editing gets a little
choppy in the middle of the film and it's difficult to discern where
O’Toole and Whittaker stand in their relationship. The ambiguity is
partly intentional but it disrupts the story in what is otherwise a
smooth ride.
DVD extras: Commentary track, featurette,
and deleted scenes.
Bottom Line: Venus
is a terrific film. It’s not the kind of scenario we’re used to
seeing where an old man is invigorated by a younger person, nor is it
the cliché of the young person who learns an important life lesson by
the wisdom of the old. Instead, they learn together and the result is a
sensitive and emotional trip through love and lust.
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The
Village
Directed by: M. Night Shymalan
Premise: A village is threatened
by mysterious creatures living in the woods that border them.
What Works: Shymalan is very good
at addressing big issues on a fairly intimate level. The Village
has some very powerful and thought provoking ideas about the need to
define ourselves by what we are against and the consequences of
isolation. Shymalan is also good at building in reversals--a change in
the audience's expectations--and there are a few in this film. The
sleeper performance of this picture is Adrian Brody as Noah Percy. It is
a subtle, funny, and tragic performance that may go unnoticed but
deserves some recognition.
What Doesn't: The ending of
Shymalan's pictures have always caused him the biggest trouble, and that
is true in this picture. The lead characters seem to have come to a
decision about the future, but it is unclear what that decision is.
Bottom Line: Shymalan continues to
be a director whose work is fascinating to watch. This film is bound to
get very polarized reactions, as I observed at the screening I attended.
Fans of his work will enjoy this picture and it comes highly
recommended.
Afterthought: Early in the
picture, Shymalan shows an ability to write humor and it would be fun to
see him try to make a straight comedy.
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The
Visitor (2008)
Directed by: Thomas McCarthy
Premise: Walter (Richard Jenkins), a bored
academic, has a chance encounter with Tarek and Zainab (Haaz Sleiman and
Danai Jekesai Gurira), an illegal immigrant couple. They become friends,
bonding over music, until Tarek is arrested and imprisoned in a
detention center.
What Works: The Visitor is a film
about the immigrant experience, which is a distinctly American genre. In
dealing with foreigners, The Visitor does a terrific job
characterizing people of another culture. Many films tend to portray
people of color in flat terms, either turning them into characters who
are otherwise white or making ethnicity an exotic other. Even well
intentioned pictures often fall into this, and when it happens, the
characters are robbed of real human dimensions. The Visitor
sidesteps these potholes, allowing its characters to retain their
culture but also give them a chance to live and breathe on screen. The
film makes a point about this through the drum circles that Tarek plays
in and the handcrafted jewelry that Zainab sells on the street, and
their interactions with white culture. This raises The Visitor to
a higher level of cultural awareness; it’s not very confrontational,
but it does make the point without bogging down the story. There are
some terrific performances in this film, especially from Richard Jenkins
as a man who is shaken out of his malaise and becomes conscious to the
diversity of the people around him. Equally good is Hiam Abbass as Mouna,
Tarek’s mother. As Walter takes in Mouna and begins a relationship
with her, the two actors deliver some quiet scenes with great sexual
tension. The Visitor is also a post-September 11th film but
it belongs in the same category as Reign
Over Me; the film is about American life in the post-September
11th world and it explores that specifically through the life
of immigrants.
What Doesn’t: If The Visitor is
lacking in anything, it’s conflict. None of the principle characters
really butt heads in the course of the story and the romance between
Walter and Mouna, as good as it is, lacks a substantive obstacle to
getting together.
Bottom Line: The Visitor is a great,
intimate little film. The story’s penetration into the immigrant
experience and its ability to deliver a lot of substance on a small
canvas is very impressive.
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