Category Archives: Drama
Drama
Flash Movie Review: The Invisible Woman
The couple sitting next to me either thought the armrest between us was radioactive or rigged to explode. No not really, they were heavy into performing public displays of affection, known as PDAs. I do not have an issue with a kiss, hug, neck massage, tickle or the holding of hands; but when 2 people are intensely trying to invade each other’s body in a public area like the aisle of a grocery store or on a crowded train, I have to wonder what is going on that they need to show the world they are in love that much. Honestly, I interpret it to mean there is something lacking in their relationship and they are overcompensating for it. On the flip side when a person does not want to be out in public with their significant other, I usually make the assumption there is something they are hiding or embarrasses them. Based on the biographical book of the same name, this romantic drama revealed a side of Charles Dickens that was unfamiliar to me. Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter franchise, Red Dragon) directed and starred as Charles Dickens. Upon meeting the young daughter of Mrs. Frances Ternan, played by Kristin Scott Thomas (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, The English Patient), Charles Dickens became enamored with her to the point where his wife Catherine, played by Joanna Scanlan (Notes of a Scandal, Girl with a Pearl Earring), knew something was afoot. The first thing I have to tell you is how surprised I was about the story. Witnessing the actions of Charles Dickens in this Oscar nominated film I could easily see him play one of the characters in his novels. The scenes in this richly detailed film went from sparse open expanses to muted fully appointed rooms. Each aspect of this movie was well thought out. Felicity Jones (Hysteria, The Tempest) as the young woman Nelly did a beautiful job of acting as did the other actors. If I separate each part of this film I had no complaints about them individually; however, what failed for me was the directing. This story was so dragged out; I had a hard time staying focused. One of the comments I heard a fellow viewer say afterwards was if he saw the back of Nelly’s head one more time he was going to scream. I am sure Ralph is proud of this film, but if I had done this picture with the same results I would have tried to keep it hidden away from my friends.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Gimme Shelter
Always following quietly in my shadow is the child of my youth who lives inside of me. I never hinder him when he comes out to play. There are things he feels he never had the opportunity to do when we were one and the same, whether from his own fears or the environment around him that kept him dormant. But now he can experience the excitement of exploring a new place in the city with his friends or be able to take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood he grew up in, without having to race home to the safety behind the protective security door in the apartment building he called home. I never take for granted this little child that accompanies and helps me in my fitness classes, letting me feel that youthful spirit I kept hidden away for so many years. Being so familiar with my inner child would explain why it pains me now when I see a child who has been forced to be an adult, never getting the chance to experience what childhood was meant to be. Vanessa Hudgens (Spring Breakers, Beastly) played 16 year old Agnes “Apple” Bailey. Transferred from one foster home to another due to her abusive addict mother June, played by Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Seven Pounds), Agnes ran away to find her absent father Tom Fitzpatrick, played by Brendan Fraser (Furry Vengeance, The Mummy franchise). She only knew of him because of an old letter she had in her possession. The first thing that struck me about this movie based on a true story, was the surprisingly good acting job Vanessa did with her character. It was not an easy role; a couple of times I found myself cringing in my seat. Rosario was excellent, I only wish there would have been more scenes with her in them. In a couple of decent supporting roles there was James Earl Jones (Finder’s Fee; Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins) as Frank McCarthy and Ann Dowd (Side Effects, Compliance) as Kathy. The story had a natural grimness to it where I felt the writer/director accentuated it, giving the movie more of a soap opera melodramatic feel. I felt the movie was a little too preachy and predictable; but luckily the acting and the fact that this was a true story kept me interested. Sitting in my seat during the credits that showed the actual people this movie was based on, I realized I was hearing the sound of sniffling coming from the people around me. I had to wonder how much of it was due to the movie or to them missing their inner child.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Sound of Music Live!
It is not fair when the odds have been stacked against you. For me it would be the time when 4 kids jumped me when I was walking home from elementary school. Maybe for you it was when your boss did not promote you but your co-worker instead, because their wife was best friends with your boss’ wife. All I can say is sometimes life is just not fair. When I watched this musical I felt bad for American Idol and Grammy winner Carrie Underwood; the cards were really stacked against her. Grant you, she has a wonderful voice and I give her credit for even agreeing to perform this classic Rodgers & Hammerstein score live on television. In addition, you hear the title The Sound of Music and who does not think of Julie Andrews who starred in the original film? The next issue was putting Carrie in a cast of Tony award nominees and winner. First there was Tony winner Audra McDonald (A Raisin in the Sun-TV movie, Rampart) playing Mother Abbess. One of the most gifted musical actresses of modern time; we essentially are talking theater royalty here. Next there was Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti (Meskada, Take the Lead) who played Elsa Schrader. How many of you knew she already had performed in The Sound of Music on Broadway? Lastly there was Stephen Moyer (Priest, True Blood-TV) who had performed in musical theater before, who played the pivotal character Captain Von Trapp. I ask you, how could Carrie hold her own versus these trained actors? So where does that leave us? If you already are a fan of musicals and you can put aside the Julie Andrews memories, this drama was perfectly enjoyable to watch. I will say Carrie’s performance was stiff and wooden, glaringly so when any adult actors were with her in the same scenes. Carrie’s singing was fine, though I sensed she had to struggle to keep her country roots hidden as she was playing an Austrian nanny. If there is anyone who is not familiar with the story, it is about an innocent young woman torn between what she thinks she should do and what her heart tells her. She takes a temporary position as a nanny in a strict, disciplined Austrian household just as war is about to break out. The acting from the Broadway veterans was outstanding; Audra was perfect in her role. Unless you are not a fan of musicals, there is no reason I can think of why you would not want to see this good effort of a show. Instead of climbing mountains, think of this film more like climbing hills.
2 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: August: Osage County
A great line a former boss of mine used to say was, “I came loaded for bear.” I know this implies a hunting reference, but that is not the intention. They would use the loaded bear line when they knew a meeting was going to be an intense verbal struggle. Aware they were going to be grilled about an issue or procedural operation; they had studied up on all their facts, ready to answer any questions that would get volleyed at them. I prefer using that perfect bear line when it comes to attending a variety of friends or family functions. If I know there is going to be a guest at a dinner party who wants to pick a fight with me, there is nothing wrong with me preparing for any possible antics on their part. There have been family dinners where I have seen sisters fight or cousins yell at each other and all I am interested in is if we are still going to have dessert. If you know you are going to be in a toxic environment there is nothing wrong with insulating yourself from it aka come loaded for bear. I believe in preparing for the worst but even I would not have been ready for the ferocious fighting done by this Oklahoma family. Based on Tracy Letts’ (Killer Joe) Pulitzer Prize winning drama, the story takes place as family members come together due to a death in the family. Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, The Iron Lady) played the widowed matriarch Violet Weston. Julia Roberts (Notting Hill, Closer) played her daughter Barbara whose husband was contemplating divorce. Those of you who have seen the play will have a different reaction than the ones who are not familiar with this story. I saw the play and enjoyed it more than this dramatic movie. Everyone in the cast was excellent with their acting. Meryl was not a surprise to me, but Julia Roberts and Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek into Darkness, Atonement) shined in their roles. Tracy wrote the screenplay to this film and though there was nothing negative about it, I felt some of the energy dissipated when the focus was taken out of the house. Some viewers will become tired by all of the verbal fighting; if I remember correctly the play had more humor. Either way this multi-nominated movie is worth seeing; just come prepared for one heck of a fight.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Lone Survivor
Before the majority of the world became wired, broadcast news provided us with a recap of noteworthy events. We would see the aftermath to a variety of events that spanned from a car accident to an earthquake. Unless there was a personal connection to the story, most of us would not feel an emotional attachment to what was being shown. When broadcasters report about traffic jams on the highways I travel to get to work, it causes a reaction in me, albeit a negative one. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have not had a personal connection to any traumatic news stories. The only thing I can recall is when I was at friend’s house back in the 70’s; everyone became quiet when there was news about Vietnam. My friend’s older brother was sent over there during the war and the family always listened for a familiar town or place they had heard about from him. When one has a personal reference to the news it has more of an impact. With movies based on true stories, having information being told from one of the real life characters creates an accessible emotional bond to the story. Based on his best selling book, I was acquainted with this story due to seeing news clips of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell discussing his 2005 failed operation in Afghanistan. Mark Wahlberg (Pain & Gain, Boogie Nights) portrayed Marcus in this biographical film. The rest of the team sent out with Marcus to capture or eliminate a vicious Taliban leader was Michael Murphy, played by Taylor Kitsch (Savages, Friday Night Lights-TV); Danny Dietz, played by Emile Hirsch (Killer Joe, The Girl Next Door) and Matt “Axe” Axelson, played by Ben Foster (The Messenger, Contraband). This action drama was essentially split into 2 stories. The first half of the movie showed the Navy SEALs while stationed on base. The second half was all about the mission and this is where the intensity exploded open. I have seen war films before but the fight scenes in this intense section were bloody real looking and I do mean bloody. Some of them were handled a bit heavy by slowing down the motion. I cannot call this entertaining per se; however, for an action scene it seemed to be one long continuous fight. The acting was good, though I still have an issue with Mark Wahlberg’s acting. I never forget it is Mark playing a character. This story was amazing simply because there was an individual who lived to tell it. Many scenes had violence and blood in them.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
There are some movies where the story carries the characters, while others have the characters carry the story. Films such as The Wizard of Oz or Sink the Bismarck are story driven. Movies where the character makes the story would be something like The King’s Speech or Captain Phillips. I am especially fond of cinema where the character was an actual person. Though he was before my time, I was fascinated with the film The King’s Speech about King George VI. Learning about the character’s life in visual form created an extra layer of understanding from what I already learned in history books. Now when the main character is someone of my time, I feel like I am witnessing history, that I am part of it. For some reason the idea of future generations reading about a noteworthy individual from my lifetime gives me a charge. I do not really know why; I just like the idea of being able to tell someone about events on a personal level. In regards to this biographical movie, the main character was the driving force. Luckily the main character of Nelson Mandela was impressively played by Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, RocknRolla). This dramatic picture covers Nelson’s life from childhood through his 27 years of prison to becoming President of South Africa. After my first initial recognition of Idris as a current movie and television star, I quickly forgot it and believed I was watching Nelson Mandela; that is how good Idris was in the role. My knowledge about Nelson’s 1st wife Winnie Madikizela was limited; but not only did I think the actress Naomie Harris (Skyfall, 28 Days Later) did a wonderful job portraying her, but I felt I gained an understanding of what happened to the relationship of the two. With the wonderful acting I felt the story suffered here; there was so much history to cover that some parts of it went by too quickly. Here was a case where I think making two movies would have been better. I found myself not being engaged as much when Nelson was not in the scene. It was a disappointment because I saw this film soon after Nelson’s death. With all the newscasts and special reports that came out, I was already invested in his life story. This Golden Globe nominated movie covered a lot of ground; it just did not dig deep enough for me. Several scenes included the Afrikaans and Xhosa languages with English subtitles.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Hours
I was saddened with the recent reported news about the father who was driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. With his young child not buckled in the back seat, the man crashed into a road barrier. He drove away not aware his child was thrown out the back window. It was not until he was pulled over by the police that he realized his toddler was missing. From this news and my recent memories recalled for a recent review about parenting, I was happy to see a movie that had a positive parental role model. Let me first tell you there was some sorrow regarding this film due to the recent death of actor Paul Walker (Fast & Furious franchise, The Lazarus Project) who stars in it. In this dramatic thriller Paul played Nolan Hayes, who became a new father when his baby was born prematurely just as Hurricane Katrina was set to hit New Orleans. As disaster took hold of the city, Paul would not leave his child alone in the hospital since she was placed in a neonatal incubator. Writer Eric Heisserer (The Thing, Final Destination 5) wrote the screenplay and made his directional debut with this film. I know there has been a variety of stories based on the tragedies caused by Hurricane Katrina, but I found this interesting story compelling due to its personal aspect. Paul was convincing in the role, having to handle most of his scenes by himself. Genesis Rodriguez (Identity Thief, Man on a Ledge) played his wife Abigail. The problem with this movie was the directing and the script. Though I liked the idea of the story, I felt it went for cheap thrills. There were scenes that were easy to predict along with some being just odd. For example, in the scenes where time was a factor, they did not always seem to be accurate in their duration. Also, I do not have medical training but one of the baby monitor’s readings did not seem right to me. Due to this I had to wonder if the movie studio rushed out the film; the thought of it makes me uncomfortable. Despite these faults, I still was interested enough to keep watching. If in fact this is the last completed movie made by Paul Walker, it was not the worst film I have seen. I just wish it would have been stronger as it did depict a positive role of a parent who would do anything for their child.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Inside Llewyn Davis
Hope is such a funny thing. In some circumstances it is the life preserver that keeps you afloat during the rough choppy waters of doubt and fear. When one has to wait for test results, hope is there to carry them through the days. There are times though where hope drives us crazy as if it greased the wheels of one’s reasoning, making them skid across the roads of reality and sanity. Checking one’s email account for an email or voice messages for that one call, hoping the person you just met keeps their promise to contact you for a date, as you refuse to make any plans yet for the weekend. This would be the wicked side of hope. The dictionary defines hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It says nothing about it helping or hindering us. In this latest dramatic film from the writing and directing team of Ethan and Joel Coen (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) hope was the only thing musician Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood, Drive), had as he tried to make it in the New York folk scene back in the 1960’s. This Golden Globe nominated black and white movie was meticulously filmed down to each detail. The set pieces and scenes had the Coen Brothers’ special way of evoking emotions out of both the characters and viewers. I do not believe everyone will be familiar with the Fred Harvey rest stop oasis, but it was priceless to see one of them in a scene. If I am not mistaken they were in only one state in America where they spanned across the highway. Besides the outstanding acting from Oscar, I thought the acting was equally well done by Carey Mulligan (An Education, The Great Gatsby) as Jean and John Goodman (Argo, Roseanne-TV) as Roland Turner. In fact, I think John is one of the best character actors working in movies today. As for the story I enjoyed most of it, though I felt at times it was meandering about, leaving uncertain conclusions. The ending left me a little cold. I am not sure this film festival winning movie will please everyone. Music lovers will certainly enjoy this musical movie; at least I hope so.
3 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: American Hustle
One would think with my love of movies I would see a favorite film more than once. In all honesty it happens very rarely. If there is a movie I just have to own, I will see the film again when I buy the DVD. As far as I can remember, I think there are only 4 movies I have seen twice while they were still playing at the theater. One of those films was The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. If I were reviewing movies back then I would have given this film a 4 star rating. Everything from the acting to directing to the music was as close to perfect as possible. Now the reason I brought up this film was because this crime film reminded me of The Sting. From writer and director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) this film festival winning movie was loosely based on the ABSCAM scandal from the 1970’s, which was an FBI sting operation against public corruption. Forty pound heavier Christian Bale (Out of the Furnance, American Psycho) and Amy Adams (Man of Steel, Enchanted) played con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser. Forced into service by ambitious FBI agent Richie DiMaso, played by Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, The Words), they discovered their lives could be at risk when some dangerous individuals suddenly became involved. The first thing in this Golden Globe nominated movie that reminded me of The Sting was its story. Besides both being about a sting operation, the story had several twists and surprises. The next thing that was similar was the unbelievable, amazing acting. Everyone in this film held their own with their terrific acting skills. One of the youngest actors in the cast gave such an astounding performance that she should get nominated for an Oscar. That actress was Jennifer Lawrence who played Irving’s alcoholic wife Rosalyn Rosenfeld. I thought her young age would be a hinderance in playing this role, but that was not the case. However, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, North Country) who played Mayor Carmine Polito looked too young for the part. His acting was first rate, but I felt he needed to look older for the part. Everyone in this dramatic film had equal amounts of screen presence which carried me through the couple of parts I found to be slow. With a little more editing the already fantastic dialog would have been ideal for me. The music and sets were perfect for the times. This movie certainly will get a couple of Oscar nominations and is definitely worth seeing. Now that I have seen it I have this urge to see The Sting again.
3 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Carlos
I do not want to see the aftermath of a major accident. A car crash, where the vehicles are crinkled and smoking, with the flashing lights of police cars all around is nothing I want to slow down and stare at as I drive by. It is hard for me to watch the news when they show the aftermath of a terrorist attack with people strewn about like limp broken dolls. Even in movies I am not fond of seeing the scenes that show realistic bloodshed. If a character gets shot with a ray gun it does not bother me; but if it is a sawed off shotgun, I would rather not have to see the outcome. Just to let you know as a movie reviewer I never look away from a film no matter how gruesome it may be. When a movie is made about a situation that actually took place there is a distinction that has to be made. If the film is a documentary I expect to hear real facts and see actual footage. Now if the story is done as a dramatization I understand the writers may take certain liberties to enhance the story and make it more entertaining for the viewer. In the case of this biographical crime drama, I understand it may not be exact factual information and for that reason I am reviewing it as an entertainment piece not judging the acts shown or the political statement. First aired as a television miniseries, this tense thriller was about the infamous terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez aka Carlos the Jackal. A Venezuelan revolutionary, one of Carlos’ famous acts was the 1975 raid on the OPEC ministers during their annual meeting. Edgar Ramirez (Vantage Point, Wrath of the Titans) was incredible playing the intense, egotistical terrorist Carlos. Even when his scenes required him to speak in a different language he was seamless in the way his character interacted with a variety of foreign individuals. The length of this Golden Globe winning series was 5 hours and 33 minutes on multiple DVDs and I was never bored as I watched it. My remembrances of the actual events depicted in this drama were vague, but due to the tightly written story and excellent direction I found myself staying engaged with every scene. This was an extremely well done, provocative dramatization of a person who, whether he liked it or not, was famous with a larger than life reputation. There were several brief scenes that showed blood. English subtitles were used during the scenes that had Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Japanese or Russian dialog.
3 1/2 — DVD
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