Zany Romantic Action Comedies

I know they're formulaic, with impossible situations and silly action, but this genre blending the action movie with the romantic comedy makes for fun viewing.  Blending the male fantasy of being dashing, handsome, living a heroic, adventurous life battling evil, and the female fantasy, of romance, being swept off her feet by a dashing, heroic man, these movies have broad appeal, with happy couples leaving the theaters smiling, as they return to their boring lives.

That life is typically boring provides the starting point for each of these movies.  I accept that reality.  The cool thing about these movies is that they don't demean the boring, domestic life.



Poor Phil is a bit intimidated by Claire's buff client.



Date Night features the most boring couple of all.  Stuck in their rut of work, kids, and home, Phil Foster (Steve Carell) decides to take his wife (Tina Fey) out to dinner, not to the usual neighborhood restaurant, but to a trendy hot spot in Manhattan.  Of course they can't get a table, but when someone's name is called, Phil decides they'll claim that reservation.  Unfortunately, the no-shows have key evidence that the bad guys want to get their hands on, and the Fosters, mistaken for the other couple, can't convince the bad guys that they're just the Fosters from the suburbs.  Now, why this other couple, who live in a shabby apartment and appear to be poor, petty criminals, would have a reservation at a trendy, expensive restaurant, and why they would make the reservation in their own names when they're running from the bad guys, I don't know.  But it makes for good fun as the Fosters enter the underworld.  Guns, fast cars, corrupt politicians, seedy clubs, it all adds up to that fantasy life.  When Phil works it all out in the end, he doesn't have to win the girl--he already has her--but he sure is her hero!  And he affirms to Claire, "I'd do it again, you know?  Us, you, me, the kids, all of it.  I'd do it again.  I'd choose you every time."  Boring wins.

"My husband has a gun!  And he's shooting it!"

Killers starts with the beautiful Jen, who recently broke up with her boyfriend, on vacation with her parents.  She runs into the buff, handsome Spencer, another American on vacation.  A professional assassin, Spencer's unhappiness in his career coincides with his falling for Jen.  He decides to quit and take on the boring married life with Jen.  Boring wins again!  Three years later, with a baby on the way, Spencer's old job comes calling.  The boss, who had discouraged Spencer from quitting, wants him to take a job, but Spencer refuses.  Inexplicably, people all around him start trying to kill him.  He has no choice but to let Jen know about his former life as they run around dodging bullets.  That's pretty much the whole movie: dodging bullets and banter between the couple.  But in its stark simplicity, Killers is still pretty fun to watch, with silly action sequences and a surprising ending.  I was glad because for a little while I was thinking, this is stupid, why are all these people trying to kill him?  But they tied it all up nicely.  By the way, Tom Selleck is great as Jen's dad.  I haven't seen him in anything in forever.

This scene was pretty ridiculous, in both senses of the word.

The most high-octane movie of these 3, Knight and Day, definitely plays up the action, but doesn't skimp on the comedy.  Tom Cruise plays himself--OK, I guess he's played this type of role often enough that it seems like he's just playing himself--as a rogue FBI agent who's being hunted by the FBI.  He falls in with Cameron Diaz, a boring single girl who restores classic cars.  Cruise's hunters think she's his accomplice, and she has to decided whether Cruise is a good guy or a bad guy.  The best humor is Cruise's calmly coaching Diaz through their various crises, with Diaz playing the nervous, on-edge blond.  Inevitably, the romantic sparks fly and the truth (about who are the good guys and bad guys) wins out.

Sexist?  Maybe.  Good fun?  Absolutely.  These three movies provide a great mix of action, comedy, and romance.  Bottom line:

Date Night, 2 1/2 stars
Killers, 2 1/2 stars
Knight and Day, 3 stars

Invictus

The worst examples of human depravity can sometimes yield the best stories in human courage and inspiration.  The twentieth century has no shortage of depravity and oppression on a large scale.  Apartheid may not have been the worst social ill of the century (after all, it had tough competition from the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot), but the breadth of apartheid made it somewhat unique.  Invictus demonstrates perhaps apartheid's most unique characteristic, the way in which it ended.

The rise of Nelson Mandela from long-time political prisoner to president of South Africa shocked many around the world and dismayed many whites in South Africa.  The prejudices against blacks, ingrained as they were, did not instantly fall away.  But rather than reverse the lines of oppression, like Mugabe has done, oppressing whites in Zimbabwe, Mandela worked for reconciliation among all South African people.  He caught a vision for a means of uniting the people: rally around the national rugby team.

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Freeman is taller than Mandela; Damon is shorter than Pienaar.

Invictus tells the story of Mandela's stubborn, quiet leadership, and his championing the Springboks, the national rugby team, in spite of their less-than-stellar performance.  Mandela inspired the Springboks, and they together inspired a nation.  Morgan Freeman portrays Mandela perfectly, overshadowing Matt Damon's adequate performance as the Francois Pienaar, the Springbok captain.

As with all post-apartheid literature and movies, the themes of forgiveness and reconciliation dominates.  I loved the scene in which Mandela's security detail is met in the presidential offices by the white presidential guard detail, carried over from the previous administration.  Mandela has invited them back to their old role.  When his men object, reminding Mandela that these men and their cohorts had beaten them and their neighbors.  Mandela calmly insists that this is a time of reconciliation and forgiveness, and that it will start in his office.

Invictus, an inspiring sports movie, goes way beyond the underdog to championship tale, but tells the story of a broken nation being brought back together under the leadership of one of the most remarkable statesmen of the century.  Watch this movie.

Bottom line, 4 stars.

Japanese Monster Movies

(Movie glutton's note: One of the dangers of being a movie glutton is watching movies at a faster rate than I am able to blog about them.  I only posted once in December, and have only posted 3 in January so far.  From now on, when appropriate, I will be posting some of these in groups of loosely related movies.)



A loving father playing with his son.

 One of my favorite movie-going memories is lining up around the theater, waiting for what must have been hours with my dad and brother, to see the latest Godzilla movies.  These cheesy Japanese imports with terrible special effects surely were bad back then.  Even though my 7-year-old brain loved them, surely my dad hated them.  After watching Son of Godzilla, I gained a new appreciation for what dads tolerate for their sons.

I don't remember if Son of Godzilla was one that we saw in that Corpus Christi theater.  This 1967 release was 8th in the series that started with Godzilla in 1954.  I have to believe it was a low point in the series.  Baby Godzilla's midget in a rubber suit is worse than Godzilla's man in a rubber suit.  Godzilla's training sessions with his son are wonderful, if low, comedy (especially if you're 7).  The scientists living on this remote island get caught in the battle between Godzilla and the giant spider, but manage to escape the mysterious island. 


You don't want a hug from the Strangling Monster.

One of the great things about the Japanese monster movies is their self-referential mocking comedy.  Big Man Japan, a mockumentary about a man who grows to giant size when called on to fight monsters, mixes a little bit of monster action with reality-show-type interview with the big man.  He's past middle age, not too thrilled about his lot in life, and does not get much respect from the community.  To maintain his career, his agent sells ad to wear on his body; she is more concerned with ad placement than fighting monsters.  The monsters themselves are stranger than what I remember seeing on any monster movies.  Unfortunately, they take a minor role.  I would have enjoyed more monsters, less interview.  The ending seemed tacked on and a bit out of character with the rest of the movie.  Nevertheless, it's still a funny movie.



The third Japanese movie isn't really a monster movie; in fact, it's not a Japanese movie--it's Korean--but it fits well with these others.  Save the Green Planet has the silly title going for it--you know this isn't going to be an art film classic.  Well, maybe it is.  This was surprisingly dark and had some heavy social themes, not of which is revealed by the silly picture on the DVD cover.  Byeong-gu is an everyman who believes aliens are plotting to attack the Earth.  He kidnaps a prominent businessman whom he believes is an alien.  Byeong-gu tortures him and thwarts his escape attempts, revealing his insanity.  As more was revealed about Byeong-gu, I almost began to feel sorry for him.  But the more he tortured the businessman, my sympathy declined.  Sure, the businessman is a bad guy, and was directly or indirectly responsible for some bad stuff, but no one deserves that kind of insane treatment.

I have to admit, half-way through this movie, I was thinking it was a waste of time.  I kept watching, simply because I rarely turn off a bad movie.  By the end, it had totally redeemed itself with a satisfying, if bizarre, climax and a surprise ending that made me want to watch it again.  Save the Green Planet was strange and sometimes disturbing, but the dark comedy, the social commentary on labor disputes, corporate greed, and medical research, and the unpredictable pacing makes this one worth watching.

Bottom lines:
Son of Godzilla, 1 star, but only if you're a Godzilla fan.
Big Man Japan, 2 1/2 stars
Save the Green Planet, 3 stars

Frozen

This movie seems absurd on its face, setting up an impossible scenario with a ridiculous premise--so I thought!  Three college kids have gone to ski and try to get in one last run before the ski area shuts down.  Through a series of mishaps, they are stranded on a chair lift on a deserted ski mountain.  Of course the ski area only opens on weekends, so the trio faces the possibility of being stranded there all week.  Then a storm comes in.  Desperate to get out of there, one of the kids jumps, hoping to walk to get help.  He breaks both legs.  Soon comes along a hungry pack of wolves. . . .

I watched this movie a few weeks ago, before the ski season had begun.  Then I started noticing these headlines:

• "200 skiers stranded on Mountain High chair lift" (California)
• "Stranded Skiers Rescued from Alpine Valley Chair Lift" (Ohio)
• "Boyce Park Lift Open After Ropes Used to Rescue Stranded Skiers" (Pennsylvania)
• "Skier Dangles 25 ft from the Ground as Six are Injured and 200 Stranded When Chair Lift Derails at Maine's Highest Resort"

There are all in the first few weeks of this winter's ski season!  And there are more. . . .

So Frozen might be a bit over the top.  In all the cases above, skiers were rescued; there was never a chance that someone would be stranded overnight or without help from the ski area itself (and I suspect the ski areas in question bent over backwards to compensate the stranded and injured skiers).  But is it really that much of a stretch to think that someone might get stranded overnight, after everyone goes home?

Frozen is a low-budget, high-intensity thriller.  Given the frequency of ski lift incidents indicated by the above headlines, the premise of Frozen is all too real.  Like Open Water, the 2003 movie that depicted scuba divers who were left behind by their boat, Frozen takes what should be a fun situation and turns it into a nightmare.  The viewer thinks, "That could happen to me!" and wonders what in the world he would do to survive. 

Bottom line, 2 1/2 stars

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Here's a movie with some pretty good actors, remaking an old movie from the 1950s, twisting and twisting the plot until you get a crick in your neck, and definitely requiring you to suspend disbelief completely.  The popularity of shows like CSI have upped the bar for realism and accuracy in crime movies and TV shows.  Beyond a Reasonable Doubt has one foot in that ethos and one foot in the 1950s. While not a complete waste of time, it makes me wonder if I should have, instead, picked up the original, which was directed by the great director Fritz Lang.

Michael Douglas is a creepy, power hungry DA.

The concept is intriguing: a young reporter suspects that the popular, successful DA plants evidence to bolster his record.  He develops a scheme by which he'll frame himself for a murder, allow the conviction to proceed, then have his co-conspirator reveal the evidence that he is innocent and that the conviction is proceeding on false evidence, planted by the DA.  Just when it looks like the plan is going to work, the reporter's friend is killed in a car accident.  In the meantime, the reporter has to convince his girlfriend, who works for the DA, of his innocence, and bring her into the plan after the fact.

If it all sounds confusing and unlikely, you're right.  The twists at the end only add to the groan factor.  "Yeah, right,"  I thought.  The whole thing was just too unbelievable.  The final product was sort of entertaining, though.

Bottom line: 1 1/2 stars.

Extraordinary Measures

At my Reading Glutton blog, I have written about John Crowley's book, Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope, and Joy, and Geeta Anand's account of the Crowley family's journey in The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children.  Besides having really long titles, these books tell the remarkable story of John Crowley's role, as a biotech executive, spearheading the development of a drug to treat Pompe syndrome.  I'm sure a cure or treatment would have eventually been developed, but Crowley made it happen much sooner than it ever would have, if ever.

Brendan Fraser plays Crowley, even though he's about a foot and half taller than the real Crowley.  Harrison Ford plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, the cranky, but very committed medical researcher who joins up with Crowley.

This story captures the hearts of anyone who hears it.  Geeta Anand brought it to many people's attention with her Wall Street Journal articles, which formed the basis of her book, and various media appearances spread the family's fame.  It was inevitable that their story would be made into a movie.  Extraordinary Miracles captures much of the essence of the Crowley's story, but, of course, abbreviates it and alters it in the dramatization.  A Notre Dame Law School graduate with a Harvard MBA, Crowley had the wits, the will, and the connections to carve out a lucrative place for himself in American business.  He used all of that to focus on the highest priority of his life: finding a cure for the disease that was killing his children.  (And, incidentally, became a multi-millionaire in the process!)

Give the complexity of the disease, of the business deals, and of the people affected, both in the family and in the research and business community, the story had to be greatly simplified for the movie, but they also sanitized it a bit.  Great family though they are, the movie made them seem even more happy, cheerful, and optimistic than is likely.  Not a big deal, but it robs the Crowleys of their humanity, giving Extraordinay Measures a Lifetime Channel movie of the week fairy tale feel, cheapening a great story.  And this is a minor quibble, but why did they move the research facility from Oklahoma to Nebraska?  Did OU refuse to cooperate?  Did the state of Nebraska bribe them to do so?

Quibbles aside, Extraordinary Measures brings the Crowley's story to a much wider audience than the books or WSJ articles could.  More than that, it brings attention to the importance of research for rare diseases.  The drug companies may not deem it cost-effective to research cures for diseases that affect a very small number of patients.  The Crowleys remind us that we don't have to sit around and wait for a cure; even an ordinary guy like John Crowley with no medical background can make something extraordinary happen.

Bottom line, 3 stars.

Edge of Darkness

Thomas Craven has been pushed to the Edge of Darkness.  A dedicated Boston homicide detective, Craven, played by Mel Gibson, in his first lead since Signs in 2002, lives for little besides his daughter, who comes home for a visit.  Shortly after she arrives, she is gunned down on his doorstep.  Investigators assume Craven had been targeted by someone he had investigated, but Craven begins to wonder if in fact his daughter was the intended target after all.  As he digs into her past, he learns of her activism against a large corporation.  He suspects that they know something about her death, and ends up in a web of deceit involving his own department, corrupt politicians, and evil businessmen. 

This is a perfect Mel Gibson role: the grieving widower, the honest cop, the beacon of integrity, the passionate pursuer of justice in an unjust world.  Any parent can relate to his deeply felt grief over the loss of his daughter.  He finds a compassionate ear in an unlikely place: the mysterious British operative who is his hunter, informant, foe.  It's not giving anything away to say that ulitmately justice is done in a satisfying (though tragic) way.

I don't mind badmouting corrupt politicians; they're all corrupt, some more than others.  Ours is a sick political system rife with perverse incentives.  But I do get tired of the businessman as the enemy.  Granted, there are evil, corrupt businessmen; every walk of life is manned by fallen people who do bad things.  But rarely are business people portrayed as heros, as people who contribute to society by employing people, investing in their communities, and enriching people's lives.  Hollywood loves the evil businessman.  Edge of Darkness is an enjoyable movie but it feeds into the destructive anti-corporate, anti-business mentality.

Bottom line, 2 1/2 stars.