Four new movies angle for your money this week, and two of them are worth a full price evening ticket. One would make a nice bargain matinee.
The sound I heard while exiting the theater after a preview screening of "Tropic Thunder" was the sound of energy and joy. The crowd was exhilarated. And why not? The satire about egocentric actors, militaristic directors, crude producers and vile agents is the funniest movie in years. The audience at the screening actually cheered at the end of the feature. Take that, Jude Apatow. Trust me pal, you've got a lot to learn.
Not since "Borat" have I laughed as much as I did while watching "Tropic Thunder." The story revolves around three pampered actors (played by Ben Stiller, who also directed and co-wrote the script, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jack Black), along with two up-and-comers (acted by Bandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel), who are tossed into contemporary Southeast Asia to make a film based on a memoir by a Vietnam veteran (a gruff, grizzled, gonzo Nick Nolte). While in the jungle doing their ego-massaging, some are taken hostage by drug dealers who think the actors are DEA agents. You end up with a picture that's comedy nirvana.
The gist of the movie is whether or not the actors will escape the clutches of the nasty little leader of the drug pushers, who is barely a teenager. Throughout, we get grisly scenes of fake war, confrontations among the actors as to who's better at their job (how big is your Oscar shelf?) and a rapid-fire take-down of what seems like every Hollywood stereotype that director Stiller and his co-screenwriters (Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen) could toss into the pot. The thrill of "Tropic Thunder" is that it kicks political correctness on its ass.
Downey's character, an obnoxious white Australian with five Academy Awards to his credit, is so sure of himself that in the movie that's being made, he takes the role of an African-American. It's a conceit that works because it's played straight and Downey is brilliant. None of this crosses the line; it creates its own line.
Also along for the ride is Tom Cruise as mega-producer Les Grossman, and if Cruise weren't already a star (albeit a battered one), you'd call his performance a star-making turn. It's sheer genius. And in case that's not enough enticement, Matthew McConaughey is Stiller's character's agent. He's known as The Pecker and his obsession with TiVo is icing on a wonderfully lunatic cake.
"Tropic Thunder" is about moviemaking, but it's not so inside that general audiences won't know what's going on. The jokes are easy to get and are hilarious. Moviegoers have seen enough silly star behavior on those tabloid television entertainment shows to understand the spoofing that's on-screen. Stiller's character is an action star who wants to be respected. He's called Tugg Speedman, but a killer comic moment here results from his having played a "retarded man" in a failed movie he hoped would earn him an Oscar. His riff with Downey's Kirk Lazarus about playing "mentally challenged" is the stuff of legend.
The movie is wild and edgy and an absolute must-see.
Including "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," his latest peek at the sexual insecurities of humankind, Woody Allen, who will be 73 years old on Dec. 1, has directed 37 original feature films. He also has a slew of short films, TV-movies, tribute pieces and the hodgepodge "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" in his portfolio. His directing, screenwriting and acting easily put him in that great tradition of the best filmmakers, people for whom making movies seems to be part of their genetic makeup.
His new film stars an excellent Javier Bardem as a smooth-talking Spanish painter for whom one form of art is seducing sexy women who he believes are ripe for the plucking. He's a gigolo with turpentine on his hands and lust in his heart. It's impossible for him to think that he's not irresistible. Fortunately for the audience, his rakishness is not annoying. In the architecturally rich city of Barcelona, which exists under a golden glow, Bardem spots two attractive American women. He zeroes in on them and the movie flows from there. Allen, who also wrote the screenplay, keeps everything level-headed and adult and the potential threesome seems downright possible.
The ladies, Vicky (who is wonderfully acted by Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (the always interesting Scarlett Johansson), are in Spain for the summer. Hall's character is about to be married and she's smart and clever and determined not to let Bardem get the best of her. On the other hand, Johansson's character is drifting intellectually and emotionally. She's a little less sure of herself and is willing to give a promised weekend whirl of sightseeing and sex a chance. Over time, she will discover that love and creativity can get mighty messy, especially when Bardem's ex-wife, the furious and fanatical Maria Elena (sharply acted by Penelope Cruz) wants to help things out. When Cristina and Maria Elena kiss, it's an act of passion, trust and belonging.
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is solid and believable. There are moments of light comedy as well as flashes of dramatic fury. The acting is superb, including solid turns by Chris Messina as Vicky's fiance, and Patricia Clarkson and Kevin Dunn as married friends of the American women. I am a fan of Woody Allen's movies. Yes, even of the unfunny ones. There's something refreshing in his determination to keep on creating well-made, highly structured, gorgeously shot pieces of entertainment. His films do have a moral. And Allen believes the audience is smart enough to figure that out.
"Brick Lane" is about a Bangladeshi woman named Nazneen who moves to a slum-ridden area of East London, England, in the 1980s, only to discover that arranged marriages can be uncomfortable. The thoughtful film is about a stranger in a strange land and takes the disillusioned bride through a series of life's ups and downs until she meets a handsome man who alters the way she thinks about a female's role in society. Eventually, the events of 9/11 will affect how immigrants are treated in London and will determine how Nazeen's life will change to confront extreme prejudice from both the British masses and her own East Indian neighbors. She wants to change people's perceptions, but her own class-conscious friends may be her biggest deterrent.
The low-key movie is carefully directed by Sarah Gavron and is based on Monica Ali's popular novel. Tannishtha Chatterjee is excellent as Nazneen, and Christopher Sampson as Karim adds some spice to the goings-on.
Luke Wilson is the titular character in the comedy-drama "Henry Poole Is Here," in which the face of Jesus appears in the stucco siding of a small house in Los Angeles, much to the tizzy of some people in the neighborhood. Poole, a man with a lot on his mind (a possible illness, an emotional emptiness, a strange wanderlust), wants none of the attention the house in which he lives is getting. He has recently bought the place, but his intentions are to stay for a bit and then move out.
Directed by Mark Pellington, in what can best be described as lackluster style, and with a screenplay by Albert Torres that sets up a lot questions but doesn't really answer them, the film is a fable that has so little energy that it seems to fall asleep. I have no idea what audiences will do.
Radha Mitchell is Poole's next-door neighbor, and there's a flicker of romance, but she's got a horror movie-style child, a little girl who won't talk and records conversations she overhears. George Lopez plays the priest who has to referee the battle between Poole and another neighbor, an annoying religious woman played by Adriana Barraza. Overall, the acting is dull and lifeless. The quirky movie is a wisp of an idea that might have made a nice short.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Aug. 19 2008 |