Review: "The Town"

The Town is only Ben Affleck's second film after 2007's Gone Baby Gone, which starred Amy Ryan (The Wire) and garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. His second feature is a less complex story but it has more focus and stronger direction than his first film, which I only recently saw. Ben Affleck's maturity as a director parallels his growth as an actor. I would compare his evolution to that of George Clooney in The American. He has cast three very talented actors whose careers have skyrocketed in recent years. Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) are the real treasures of the film, with two emotionally complex performances. It is a shame that Jon Hamm, who is unfairly trapped in our minds as Don Draper from Mad Men, was given the throwaway stock character of an FBI agent. The Town is a skillfully paced and terrifically acted film and my only complaint is that the action sequences seem forced and over the top. Ben Affleck is an actor's director and The Town is a good thriller that succeeds because its empathetic characters. I can only hope that Ben Affleck continues to mature as an actor and a director.

Doug MacRay (Affleck) grew up on the streets of Charlestown in Boston. The Town tells us that Charlestown has the highest concentration of bank robbers in the United States. Doug and his friends Jem (Renner), Gloansy (Slaine) and Dez (Owen Burke) have committed a string of robberies for their boss Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite). During a robbery at a bank they are forced to take the bank manager hostage. The manager, Claire Keesey (Hall), happens to live in Charlestown and the team is worried that she will recognize them on the street. Jem wants to be the one to confront her but Doug convinces him that he is better suited for the job. Unbeknownst to the team Doug begins having a relationship with Claire. Meanwhile the robbery has caught the attention of the FBI. Agent Adam Frawley (Hamm) is put in charge and eventually deduces that Fergie is the crime boss and the men work for him. Doug and his team are so good at robbing banks that the FBI is unable to arrest them due to lack of evidence. Doug wants to leave the crime world behind and after Fergie threatens Claire's life he is forced to agree to a major robbery that will put everyone's life in jeopardy.

The Town is a better than average thriller because the film makes and effort to develop the characters. This could have been just another action film dependent on action sequences and gunfights, but Ben Affleck and his cast have crafted a film about characters rather than action. Even Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) did a respectable job as a jilted lover and drug addict. Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner are still the stars of the film. Hall restrains her emotions and keeps them buried while Renner is decidedly more extroverted. There is such a contrast in their eyes. Claire's eyes show the pain that she is trying to suppress whereas Jem's eyes show us anger and resentment that is about to boil over. The Town does have some great thrills but it become a better film because of the incredibly talented cast. Lastly, I hope that Ben Affleck is eventually able to get out of Boston because it would be great to see some versatility.

My rating: 3 stars out of 4.

Review: "Black Swan"

Black Swan was the hot ticket at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Darren Aronofsky's follow up to 2008 The Wrestler is a visually stunning and powerfully acted film. Natalie Portman, who first graced the screen as a twelve year old in 1994's Léon (or The Professional), has consistently proven herself as one of Hollywood's most talented young actors but Black Swan is her bravest and most powerful performance to date. Darren Aronofsky is a visionary American director whose previous films are widely considered cult favourites. The visual styles of Pi (1998) and Requiem for a Dream (2000) were both critically praised. He has said that he sees Black Swan as a companion to The Wrestler and had originally conceived them as one film. There are obvious similarities between the two main characters but Black Swan's dark and uniquely provocative themes would have been hard to translate to the story of The Wrestler. Though Natalie Portman is deserving of every accolade she will undoubtedly receive, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey offer incredible supporting performances. Black Swan is an intensely powerful and provocative film about a young woman's search for her own dark side. It is a film that will rest with you long after it is over and Darren Aronofsky's direction is so strong that Natalie Portman has never looked so confident on screen.

Nina Sayers (Portman) has been cast as the Swan Queen in production of Swan Lake. She is replacing Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) after Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decided she is too old. Thomas believes that Nina is the embodiment of the innocent White Swan but that she will have to work very hard to discover the darkness of the Black Swan within her. When Lily (Kunis), a new member of the ballet company, begins to covet her starring role Nina's world begins to unravel. Her mother Erica (Hershey) was once a ballerina and has become obsessive and overbearing. With Lily's help Nina begins discovering more about herself and as she goes deeper inside her own mind she slowly loses the grasp of reality.

I was in love with the idea of Black Swan after I first saw the film's trailer. I had a similar reaction to Tom Ford's A Single Man last fall. Something must be said about a trailer that can lure you into a film with so much power without revealing too much about the plot. Black Swan is a complex story with that uses dark colours and imagery to mimic Nina's descent into her own mind. Natalie Portman has never shied away from a potentially controversial role and it is obvious from the very beginning that Darren Aronofsky gave her a lot of room to grow and create Nina Sayers. Mila Kunis' Lily deserves a lot of attention as well. The film's success depends a lot on the contrast between the two characters. Nina is the naive White Swan while Lily is the sensual Black Swan. While Nina travels deeper into herself the viewer begins to question Lily and her motives and Mila Kunis has grown a lot as an actor since her days on That 70's Show. Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky's most well-crafted film with incredible imagery and powerful performances. The film feels fluid and effortless and it is obvious that Darren Aronofsky considered the entire production while creating this film. He deserves just as many accolades as Natalie Portman.

Black Swan is the best film I have seen this year.

My rating: 4 stars out of 4.

Review: "Wasted on the Young"

Wasted on the Young is an Australian film that premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. Last year at TIFF I saw Visage, a film so unbearably pretentious that it prompted me to start my blog. The director and screenwriter, Ben Lucas, was present with most of the main cast after the screening. The film was loosely inspired by the events surrounding the 2006 Duke University lacrosse scandal when a student falsely accused three athletes of rape. Wasted on the Young shifts the focus from college to high school and lacrosse to swimming. The film is set at an elite high school and this makes the lack of adult involvement and pronounced drug use that much more disturbing. The film also offers a commentary on the perils of social networking. The central event in Wasted on the Young is the gang rape of a young girl prompting the entire school to attack her credibility using cell phones and Facebook. The film wonderfully juxtaposes the quiet singularity of swimming with the chaos of high school parties. These cinematography and the music of the film are mesmerizing but the film is grounded by the actors, all appearing in their first feature film. Wasted on the Young is often disturbing and thoroughly provocative and it is a film that requires an emotional response and will lead to hours of heated conversation.

Darren (Oliver Auckland) and Zack (Alex Russell) are step-brothers. Darren is a loner who spends most of his free time in front of his computer. Zack is popular and the star athlete of the school. Their only common interest is swimming. When Xandie (Adelaide Clemens) begins showing an interest in Darren it makes Zack and his friend Brook (T.J. Power) extremely jealous. Xandie goes to one of Zack's parties with hopes of spending time with Darren. After back and forth text messages the two are unable to find each other in the chaos and Xandie is cornered by Zack's girlfriend. Xandie is drugged and she is taken downstairs into a locked room. Darren, after finally seeing Xandie, tries to rescue her but he is pushed aside by Brook. The next morning Darren knows something is wrong. Xandie is missing and her cell phone was left in the basement. Adding fuel to his suspicions he finds that the security footage from the party has been deleted. At school everyone is discussing Xandie. Was she raped? Did she want it? Is she too scared to show her face at school? Much to the surprise of Zack and his friends she reappears at school a few days later. Darren is distraught and his hatred of Zack grows stronger. He and Xandie, with the help of two friends, concoct a wicked string of events that are violent and disturbing.

Wasted on the Young is reminiscent of the 2005 film Pretty Persuasion. It stars Evan Rachel Wood as a student who accuses a teacher of sexual harassment. Both films are provocative and often uncomfortable to watch. Wasted on the Young goes even further and creates a world that you hope is entirely fictional but part of you fears that it could easily mirror reality. Not even a week after seeing the film there was a report on CBC that videos of a teenage girl being drugged and gang raped had been posted on Facebook. It is frightening just how much social networking is impacting our society. We are often awed by the advances in technology but too often we turn a blind eye to the negative uses. I was impressed by Ben Lucas' direction. The rape was not seen on screen and he allows the viewer to imagine the graphic details. The film sucks you in with fantastic imagery and a pulsating soundtrack, but it is the young actors who control the film. After the screening Ben Lucas talked about melodrama and the complexities of the genre. I think he succeeded. Wasted on the Young toys with your emotions and forces you to have an opinion. It is a provocative film that will make you uncomfortable.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4.

Woody Allen: Day Thirty-One

I have accomplished my task. This summer I watched all forty-one Woody Allen films in chronological order, starting with What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966). Whatever Works is his most recent film, released in June of 2009. Part of my decision to begin this task was to prepare myself for the fall release of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, not to mention my love of Woody Allen.

Whatever Works marks Woody Allen's return to New York after four films in Europe. Anxious to finish filming before the writer's strike he used a script from the 1970s. This may be one of the major faults of the film because Whatever Works often feels dated. Another problem is the casting of Larry David. He is great at playing a fictionalized version of himself on the improvised Curb Your Enthusiasm but putting him in the role of an actor for an entire film is asking too much. Evan Rachel Wood performs reasonably well but the best performance is by Patricia Clarkson, who is always wonderful in every role.

Larry Davis plays Boris Yelnikov, a misanthropic older man who is surprised to find Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) lying at his doorstep. Melodie, a young runaway from Louisiana, invites her way inside and soon finds herself living with Boris. She is drawn to his intelligence and despite his resistance they get married. Their lives are disturbed when Melodie's mother Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) arrives with the belief that Melodie has been kidnapped. It turns out that Marietta is eager for a new life after her husband (Ed Begley, Jr.) left her. Marietta is not at all pleased with her daughter's choice of husband and constantly tries to set Melodie up with younger men. Things are further complicated when Melodie's father shows up and discovers how much his family has changed.

I believe that Whatever Works could have been one of Woody Allen's better comedies had he worked harder to refine the script and cast someone other than Larry David.

I have seen all the films that Woody Allen has directed and released thus far. I have ranked them in my order of preference and I am sure that the list will change at some point, though I know that Hannah and Her Sisters has a firm grasp on the top spot.

My list:
1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
10. Another Woman
11. The Purple Rose of Cairo
12. Broadway Danny Rose
13. Match Point
14. Love and Death
15. Sweet and Lowdown
16. Mighty Aphrodite
17. Interiors
18. Sleeper
19. Manhattan Murder Mystery
20. Zelig
21. Stardust Memories
22. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
23. Take the Money and Run
24. Deconstructing Harry
25. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
26. Bananas
27. Small Time Crooks
28. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
29. Melinda and Melinda
30. Alice
31. Cassandra's Dream
32. Shadows and Fog
33. Don't Drink the Water
34. September
35. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
36. Celebrity
37. Scoop
38. Whatever Works
39. Hollywood Ending
40. Anything Else
41. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Woody Allen: Day Thirty

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a wonderful film about the intricacies of relationships. The film highlights the beautiful city of Barcelona and the great performance of Penélope Cruz, who deservedly won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress -- the first Woody Allen film to win an Oscar since Mighty Aphrodite. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a reminder of Woody Allen's emotional dramas of the 80s and like many of those films it succeeds because of a great screenplay, wonderful performances and great directing. It is Woody Allen's best film since 1996's Everyone Says I Love You.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are spending the summer in Barcelona with Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and Mark (Kevin Dunn), family friends of Vicky's. Vicky is very practical and is engaged to Doug (Chris Messina) while Cristina is impulsive. One evening they meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who invites them to Oviedo for the weekend. Cristina is eager and Vicky is reluctant. In Oviedo Cristina becomes ill and Vicky is forced to spend time with Juan Antonio and there is instant chemistry. Vicky does not pursue her feelings and when they return to Barcelona Christina quickly moves in with Juan Antonio. Their relationship is threatened when Juan Antonio's volatile ex-wife Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz) comes into the picture. Cristina attempts to have a relationship with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena while Vicky struggles with her own identity.

Next up: Whatever Works.


1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
10. Another Woman
11. The Purple Rose of Cairo
12. Broadway Danny Rose
13. Match Point
14. Love and Death
15. Sweet and Lowdown
16. Mighty Aphrodite
17. Interiors
18. Sleeper
19. Manhattan Murder Mystery
20. Zelig
21. Stardust Memories
22. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
23. Take the Money and Run
24. Deconstructing Harry
25. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
26. Bananas
27. Small Time Crooks
28. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
29. Melinda and Melinda
30. Alice
31. Cassandra's Dream
32. Shadows and Fog
33. Don't Drink the Water
34. September
35. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
36. Celebrity
37. Scoop
38. Hollywood Ending
39. Anything Else
40. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Woody Allen: Day Twenty-Nine

Like Match Point (2005) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007) is a story of murder and morality. Unfortunately it often feels too forced and overly cliched. I first saw Cassandra's Dream at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. I expected a lot more from a cast that features Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Tom Wilkinson and Sally Hawkins. It is not an awful film but it is a lackluster effort from Woody Allen, who has twice proven he can do a better dramatic thriller.

Ian (McGregor) and Terry (Farrell) are working-class brothers in London. After Terry wins some money at the track they decide to buy a sailboat together, naming it Cassandra's Dream. The brothers are both financially strapped. Ian wants to invest money in hotels in California and Terry has amassed a considerable gambling debt. They turn to their uncle Howard (Wilkinson), a successful businessman, who has his own motives. Howard is in danger of going to prison and he wants his nephews to murder a former associate who is scheduled to testify against him. Ian and Terry must come to terms with their own morals and decide if financial gain is reason enough to commit murder.

Next up: Vicky Cristina Barcelona.


1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Everyone Says I Love You
3. Manhattan
4. Bullets over Broadway
5. Annie Hall
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Radio Days
8. Husbands & Wives
9. Another Woman
10. The Purple Rose of Cairo
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12. Match Point
13. Love and Death
14. Sweet and Lowdown
15. Mighty Aphrodite
16. Interiors
17. Sleeper
18. Manhattan Murder Mystery
19. Zelig
20. Stardust Memories
21. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
22. Take the Money and Run
23. Deconstructing Harry
24. Oedipus Wrecks from New York Stories
25. Bananas
26. Small Time Crooks
27. What's Up, Tiger Lily?
28. Melinda and Melinda
29. Alice
30. Cassandra's Dream
31. Shadows and Fog
32. Don't Drink the Water
33. September
34. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
35. Celebrity
36. Scoop
37. Hollywood Ending
38. Anything Else
39. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Review: "The American"

I have never been the biggest fan of George Clooney and my love of Up in the Air is in spite of him and I still think Michael Clayton would have been a better film with a more talented actor. In The American he gives one of his most controlled and delicate roles. Despite its title, The American is decidedly European. The film wonderfully photographs the Italian country side and the small town of Castel del Monte. The screenplay, with its limited dialogue and beautiful silences, gives George Clooney the opportunity to speak Italian. It would have been unrealistic for people in a small Italian town to speak perfect English. I love hearing foreign languages in film and I hate when studios make characters speak English in an effort to eliminate subtitles. The American is George Clooney's film and its success depends wholly on his restrained performance. The American is a sophisticated and well-crafted thriller that is less dependent on action than character and breathtaking cinematography.

George Clooney plays Jack, an American assassin currently working in Europe. After a violent stay in Sweden Jack flees to Italy. He finds himself in the beautiful town of Castel del Monte and takes a contract to build a specialized weapon for the mysterious Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). In the mountains of Abruzzo Jack befriends a local priest, Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), who is led to believe that Jack is a photographer but suspects something more dangerous. He has a severe weakness for woman and begins having a liaison with Clara (Violante Placido), a beautiful prostitute. Jack is tormented by his actions in Sweden and he fears retribution. He must deal with the wishes of his boss (Johan Leysen), his suspicions of Mathilde's real intentions and the dangers of his blossoming relationship with Clara.

The American is quite unlike many thrillers that are released today. It is such a well-crafted film that unfolds purposefully and deliberately, quite like Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer. The difference between the two films is that George Clooney gives us a sympathetic hero. I often feel that George Clooney's performances come with too much ego and I am thankful that he took a much more subdued route. The main cast of The American are very talented actors, particularly Thekla Reuten and Violante Placido, who are wonderfully cast against George Clooney. It is the second feature film from Anton Corbijn, a Dutch director who has built a career directing music videos for artists such as U2, Coldplay and Depeche Mode. I hope that his unique take on the thriller will be translated into further films. With superior cinematography and skilled actors The American is an intelligent thriller that uses character and story instead of action.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4.