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Reviews
The End of the Affair (1999)
Surprisingly Weak
A surprisingly weak adaptation of fairly strong novel Graham Green.
Much of the strength of Green's novel lay in its unsentimental, almost stark prose. This movie, on the other hand, is all violins and histrionic embellishment. (The lovemaking scenes border on the comic by the third or fourth round). I guess the clipped, wooden dialog is supposed to reflect Green's austere style. Unfortunately the film misses the mark on both points.
The cast is good with the usual cinematic liberties - Henry (Stephen Rea) is supposed to be somewhat corpulent. Julianne Moore seems like an odd choice for the captivating Sarah, but she does her best. Ralph Fiennes is a good choice for Bendix and Ian Hart almost singe- handedly saves the movie. Almost.
Unfortunately, a major character who provides significant influence on the plot is completely absent from the film. As a result, Sarah's path and the eventual outcome stray a fair bit from the novel's intent.
I like character driven movies as much or more than the next guy, but this one doesn't seem to have much gas. Please don't judge the novel based on this film
Note: I always check the spoiler box because I'm never sure when discussion of plot is considered "spoiling". Seems to me it's difficult to have a worthwhile discussion of a film without touching on plot at least a little.
American Psycho (2000)
Stylish thriller that ultimately doesn't add up
This is one of the those movies I like less the more I think about it. I gave it a 7 shortly after I saw it. Not a great movie, a little gratuitous, but with a lot to recommend it. I boasts a top notch cast led by a compelling performance from Christian Bale. It's visually beautiful if at times grizzly. And, for those of us who survived the era, there's a certain perverse nostalgia for New York in the '80's.
Having slept on it, however, I had to come back today and pull my vote down to a 6. The strong parts remain, but the weak ones grow more blatant with reflection. I have two major complaints:
1) The portrayal of men in the movie is predictably dismal. They're all shallow and horrible and the movie is not without the faintest hint that the men only differ from the homicidal protagonist in the degree of their violence and contempt. I don't know many men like this. In a movie purportedly about the human psyche, such a skewed understanding of the "norm" is a substantial flaw.
2) Ultimately, it stretches credibility too far. How can he possibly get away with all this? Perhaps I missed something. There's a mistaken identity thread that runs through the movie, but even that doesn't seem sufficient to explain the movie's ultimate outcome.
If it wasn't for this site's obsession with "spoilers', I could go into more detail, but many aspects - large and small - just don't ring true.
American Psycho is a stylish thriller worth seeing if only for the magnificent transformation of Bale. He is very good. But if you're looking for a deep probing of the human psyche - or even a plausible one - look elsewhere.
Volver (2006)
Truly disappointing
Truly a disappointment. Having heard nothing but raves about this movie, my expectations going in were fairly high. "Volver" features excellent performances, interesting glimpses into Spanish culture, and the stunning cinematography we've come to expect from Almodovar. Unfortunately the storyline - and the writing in general - are extremely weak and unpersuasive.
Alas, it's difficult to write a review or discuss a movie without the "spoilers" this web site seems to deem so evil. This is particularly true when the film's flaws, as in this case, stem primarily from false, lazy and contrived story lines. Suffice it to say "Volver" isn't worth your time. Try the vastly superior "Talk to Her" instead.
Agnes Browne (1999)
A Little False and Cartoonish
Flipping channels the other night, I came upon the opening frames of AGNES BROWNE on the Sundance channel. It looked charming and I was intrigued by Angelica Houston playing against type as a working-class widow struggling to support her seven children in the hard-scrabble word of 1960's Ireland. Ultimately, however, the movie proved disappointing.
There were faint warning bells almost from the onset. As Agnes and her best fried Marion make their way through the halls of Irish bureaucracy just hours after the death of Agnes' husband, the dialogue is just a little too clever, the emotional tone just the slightest bit false. But these concerns are slight and we're willing to put them aside for the moment and see what's to come. A few scenes further on, when the mourners at Mr. Browne's funeral realize they're at the wrong grave site and make a crazy, rollicking dash through the cemetery to the correct one, we realize we're in serious trouble. There's a cartoonish broadness to AGNES BROWNE. Something about the film just seems a little off.
Angelica Houston, for all her appeal, is miscast as the lead. She simply doesn't do "earthy" convincingly. The emotional stakes throughout seem false. The crisises, such as Marion's collapse from cancer, seem forced. The script's machinations are ham-fisted and obvious. But most disturbingly, the depictions of the Irish and of Irish life are chock-full of cliché and stereotype. Here are the Irish having a rollicking good time at the pub. Here are the Irish banning together to help one of their own. Here are the Irish being moved and touched. Here are the Irish dancing a jig. Here are the Irish bouncing back with wit and tough humor. And at all times, they are very, very IRISH! The film comes off more as someone's fantasy of what Irish people are like more than anything real.
One of Agnes Browne's dreams is to attend a Tom Jones concert.Two-thirds of the way through, I was simply persevering to get a look at Mr. Jones He does show up eventually, but even that seems a little odd (that's not a spoiler, he's in the credits, you know he's coming one way or another). He remains a phenomenal performer but, after the film's haphazard attempts at a gritty realism, watching the 60-ish Jones portray his 20-something self is just bizarre.
Thankfully the children make AGNES BROWNE bearable. Each a quirky individual in his or her own right, they provide the film with some of its truest moments and best performances. AGNES BROWNE is not without its charms, but in other hands - and most importantly, with better writing - it could have been a much better movie.