Spanglish
It turns out that the makers of this film chose quite an apt title. The word "Spanglish" refers to the pidgin that native Spanish speakers often use before they become proficient in English. It's not quite English, but it's not Spanish either. Similarly, this film couldn't seem to decide what it was. The overall structure of the movie makes it clear that it's about cultural identity and heritage, a juxtaposition between Mexican and American life. Yet we only really see this at the very beginning and very end. The entire rest of the film seems to be about relationships and parenting. The problem is that too much of the story is told from Adam Sandler's character's point of view, or his wife's. The characters that should be in focus--the Mexican housekeeper and her daughter--are kept distant by the fact that the housekeeper doesn't speak English and nothing is ever shown from the daughter's perspective. So we are left with what we think is a somewhat odd love story--or, rather, two odd love stories in parallel--that remains completely unresolved. Even so, the film was not completely without redeeming qualities. Adam Sandler was good as a benevolent father, though not so believable as a romantic figure. Téa Leoni was very good as Sandler's neurotic wife, to the point where I almost began to dislike Leoni herself. And Paz Vega was probably the best of all; I'm somewhat interested to see what else she's done. The movie, for the most part, kept me entertained. But that really only serves to make the ending that much more disappointing.
Viewed: 2004-12-23 | Released: 2004-12-16 | Score: C
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
I should preface this review by stating that I have not read any of the books upon which this movie is based; everything I know about the books comes secondhand from my wife and brother-in-law. Apparently, this film covers the events in the first three books in the series. My wife thought the movie did an excellent job of capturing the spirit of the books. My brother-in-law did not. For my own part, I think the movie was very entertaining. It was light enough to be fun (and funny), but with a dark quality that provided a certain depth to the story. In that respect it was somewhat reminiscent of a Tim Burton film. All of the actors did a good job, even Meryl Streep, who I usually can't stand. Jim Carrey was, of course, the real star of the show. (You could tell that from the trailers though, couldn't you?) He managed to be simultaneously hilariously hammy and truly sinister. I hope that this won't become a giant Hollywood franchise, though. I enjoyed the film, and with eleven books in the series there is clearly more to cover, but the film as made is neatly self-contained, and I just don't trust the studios to make a sequel that wouldn't be repetitive and boring.
Viewed: 2004-12-25 | Released: 2006-12-16 | Score: B
Ocean's Twelve
I disapprove of the recent Hollywood trend of only producing remakes and sequels, but even so, I couldn't help wanting to see this film. And I wasn't disappointed. The producers of this film knew that simply recreating the first episode wouldn't be enough. So, while the heist is still a big part of the plot, it's somewhat less prominent in the overall story than in the previous installment. What really makes this movie fun is that the cast has such great chemistry. Much of the humor banks on that fact and you really get the feeling of camaraderie that exists between a bunch of people that have known each other for a long time. There's no point in singling out any one of the crew for praise; they're all great in their roles. The one weak link is Catherine Zeta-Jones--who still can't act to save her life--but I can forgive the film that one flaw.
Viewed: 2004-12-11 | Released: 2004-12-07 | Score: B
Closer
Despite the fact that I didn't particularly like any of the four characters, I really liked this movie. Closer tells the story of four people--Alice, Dan, Anna, and Larry--and the complex web of relationships that connect them. It's a movie about love, sex, adultery, passion, honesty, and deceit that could be the same as every other movie about broken relationships out there except that it's done so well. Every scene is so charged, so intense, so full of subtext. In this way it's easy to see the play on which it was based underlying the movie. The acting more than bears out the script. Normally I don't particularly care for Julia Roberts, but this was one of her best performances. Still, the movie was not entirely without its problems. For one thing, long periods of time pass between scenes, which is not immediately apparent, especially in the beginning. And while Natalie Portman continued her recent streak of excellent performances for most of the film, I just didn't believe her as a stripper; she's a little too soft, a little too innocent. She didn't completely commit to that part of the role. Despite these flaws, though, the film as a whole is well worth a look.
Viewed: 2004-12-09 | Released: 2004-12-02 | Score: A
Finding Neverland
I'm not sure exactly what I expected when I went to see Finding Neverland, but it turned out to be a very heartfelt and moving film. The movie tells the story of Sir J.M. Barrie, who we all know as the author of the beloved play Peter Pan. The preview makes it look as though the movie is about the process by which Barrie wrote his famous play, but while that is a major plot point, the overall story is much more about Barrie himself, and the relationships he has with his wife and the members of the Davies family. While the fact that the Davies family provided Barrie with the inspiration for Peter Pan did hold some interest for me, what really drives the film is the love that Barrie develops for Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (played by Kate Winslet) and her children. If I had to come up with a complaint about this film, I can only think that it was rather slow for much of time. But for some reason that never bothered me. Possibly, the wonderful performances were what held my interest. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet are always good, but of particular note to me was Freddie Highmore, who played Peter Llewelyn Davies. The role of Peter would have been really flat if played by the wrong actor, but Highmore brought out all of the nuances of the character in a very powerful way. I am really looking forward to seeing Highmore as Charlie Bucket in next year's remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Viewed: 2004-11-18 | Released: 2004-09-03 | Score: A
The Polar Express
When we first heard about this movie, my wife wondered how they would stretch such a short book into a feature-length film. The answer, of course, is that they added a bunch of filler that, while designed to increase tension and excite the audience, nevertheless left me bored. I'm sure most of you have read Chris Van Allsburg's wonderful children's story that this movie is based on. In my opinion, much of the beauty and power of that story comes from its simplicity. The book didn't have roller coaster rides and children jumping to safety just in the nick of time. It didn't have cheesy, overproduced songs or even other "speaking" characters. It didn't need any of that. The movie is good where it sticks to the book, but all of the filler is just that. I give it two stars because it is an undeniably pretty movie. In fact, I have to say that the filmmakers did a very good job of capturing some of the feeling of Van Allsburg's paintings. Unfortunately, it seems like they thought that the illustrations were the only important thing about the book. I will admit, though, that I'm not necessarily the best audience for Christmas movies, especially newer ones. You might even like this one; I'm pretty sure it moved the woman behind me to tears.
Viewed: 2004-11-12 | Released: 2004-10-20 | Score: C
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
The tagline for the new Bridget Jones movie reads, "Same Bridget. Brand new diary." I think that sort of encapsulates my problem with this film. You see, it's not so much that it's a chick flick--it is a chick flick, but I like a lot of chick flicks--or that the jokes aren't funny, it's that it's just too much like the first movie. All of the themes are the same, all of the characters are the same, and even many of the plot points are the same. To top it all off, a good portion of the humor involves what I call "The Part of the Movie That I Can't Watch." I know a lot of people find it funny to watch characters get themselves into embarrassing situations and then flounder around looking for a way out, but I actually experience physical discomfort during those scenes. It makes it difficult to watch most sitcoms, too. Anyway, whatever you felt about the first movie, this one is similar enough that you'll probably feel exactly the same way.
Viewed: 2004-11-13 | Released: 2004-11-11 | Score: C
The Incredibles
My one-word description of this movie? Incredible. OK, OK, I'm sorry for how cheesy the last two sentences were. I just couldn't help it. Seriously, though, The Incredibles was a great movie. Not that it's any surprise to anyone who has seen any other Pixar film. As usual, the animation was brilliant. (Those of you who are CGI buffs, check out the hair in this movie. It's really well done.) But these days brilliant animation just isn't enough. What Pixar brings to the table every time is a well-crafted story with excellent voice characterization. Some people go to a movie looking for action, others for laughs. Some people want characters with emotional depth. Some people want cool visuals, and some just want superhero meta-humor. The Incredibles has all that. But, look, you already knew you wanted to see it. So just go see it.
Viewed: 2004-11-06 | Released: 2004-11-04 | Score: A
Ray
If Jamie Foxx doesn't get a Best Actor nomination out of this, I will take that as final proof that the Academy Awards are totally and completely meaningless. Looking back over the films I've seen this year I can't find a single one that has a performance that's even in the same league as Foxx's Ray Charles. It was just amazing. I didn't even feel like I was watching an actor; it just felt like I was watching Ray Charles. Now, a lesser actor might get bogged down in the physical details, the way Charles' moves. To be sure, Foxx got that right, from the way Charles walked to the way he moved his lips and fingers. But where someone else might have hoped that would be enough, Foxx gave us the whole package--at least as far as I can tell, not having known the man personally. The rest of the movie held up to Foxx's strong performance as well. It did tend to treat Ray Charles as something more than just a man, but we still saw all his human foibles. And above all that was the music. Of course we would expect a biography of one of this century's greatest musicians to have an excellent soundtrack, and it does. To me, though, seeing Ray Charles' music in the context of his life and times just made it that much better for me.
Viewed: 2004-10-29 | Released: 2004-10-13 | Score: A
I Heart Huckabees
How can I describe I Heart Huckabees? I could tell you that it's about an existential detective agency, but that's a little inaccurate, and, besides, it's more confusing than revealing. It's a film about connectedness and separateness and people trying to understand. That makes it sound serious. In a way, it is, but it's also ridiculous. It's a silly movie that will make you laugh. I Heart Huckabees was written and directed by David O. Russell, who also wrote and directed Three Kings. You can see some similarities in the directing style, but the subject matter in this one is much more off-the-wall. The acting was, across the board, excellent. I always enjoy Naomi Watts and Dustin Hoffman, and Jason Schwartzman and Lily Tomlin were also fun to watch. Surprisingly enough, Mark Wahlberg was also very good. In fact, I think this role was perfect for him. It's a weird movie. I loved it.
Viewed: 2004-10-09 | Released: 2004-09-30 | Score: A