Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Wrestler

Director by Darren Aronofsky

Writte by Robert D. Siegel


Mickey Rourke ... Randy 'The Ram' Robinson
Marisa Tomei ... Cassidy
Evan Rachel Wood ... Stephanie Robinson

Rated R
Runtime: 1 hr. 55 mins.


Thinking on this movie makes me profoundly sad. But that's on me. The characters in the movie make choices that I'm not sure are right, that may in fact cause themselves more hurt, but I'm not sure that they're unhappy with these choices. I suppose that's what life is. A bunch of people trying to find their way. And who can tell someone else which is the best path to take?

Just ask Mickey Rourke. He turned his back on a, well, it was more than promising, it was a flourishing career. For what? To box. Regrets? Now, yes. Perhaps at the time it needed to be done. It brought him to this moment, and if I can be selfish, I am so glad. It's rumored that the studio wanted Nicolas Cage in the role. I'm not going to judge whether he would have done better or worse. That performance isn't the one on screen, so how could I? What I can say is I can't imagine any other actor in this role.

It's pointless to try and say how much and when Rourke draws on his personal story. Only currently do we have that luxury. When I first saw The Verdict, I immediately knew Paul Newman gave an incredibly brave, incredibly vulnerable performance. Only later did I learn that he had struggled with alcoholism, certainly informing his role. I believe Rourke's performance will stand in a similar way.

This role is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler. Professional in the strictest sense: he's getting paid. For his wrestling? Ostensibly, yes, but in reality, it's for his past glories. Which is OK because he hasn't been able to leave them behind. He's never left the profession. In a sense, he's ageless. In one of the film's most heartbreaking scenes, we watch as he looks around and it dawns on him just how long ago those days might be.

During the week, he does autograph "conventions" which are little more than wrestlers sitting at folding tables in V.F.W. halls. He also works in a storeroom at a grocery store. He's having trouble making rent and asks the store manager if there are more hours. Only on the weekends, he's told. But that's when he's wrestling. In his free time, he plays Mike Tyson's Punch-out with the neighbor kids in his trailer park. Occasionally, when funds allow, he visits the strip club and his favorite dancer, Cassidy (Marisa Tomei).

This tenuous, strung-together life crashes when he has a heartattack. He's told by his doctor he'll have to quit wrestling. Where does he turn? To the only person whom he sees fairly regularly: Cassidy. He tries to bring the intimacy shared in the strip club to the outside world. She sees a hurting man, but she's seen them before and she needs to keep her job.

I'd like to pause and recognize Marisa Tomei. Rumors still abound that she didn't actually win the Academy Award for My Cousin Vinny. That her work after "proved" she didn't deserve it. I hope that this third nomination and her excellent work in last year's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead can finally put this to rest.

Cassidy too has been in her profession for too long, another profession that hinges upon perceived wear-and-tear, and is beginning to see that perhaps it is passing her by. However, where The Ram is trying desperately maintain, Cassidy's stuggle is questioning, "What's next?" It's this inner struggle that Tomei is so effective at conveying. And the little moments, like when she makes a wrestling doll speak for her. It's an adorable, girlish moment from someone whom we hadn't thought of in this light. Perhaps those are her glory days.

Ruminations, ruminations, ruminations. The movie invites them, asks them to stay and talk over coffee.

Evan Rachel Wood, also often written-off (that Aronofsky, I think he knew what he was doing) as a wildchild and Marilyn Manson's ex, once more displays the chops so evident in Thirteen. She plays Randy's daughter whom he tries to reconnect with, a part of his life he abandoned. She only has three scenes, but they are incredibly raw and powerful.

With this movie, Aronofsky establishes himself as a master filmmaker. Pi and Requiem for a Dream are incredible, but their success was more dependent on nailing the technical aspects. While the brutal fights are well-done and an incident when The Ram works in the deli reminds us of Requiem's climax, it's Aronofsky's handling of the subtler aspects (casting, acting, story) that demonstrate how skilled he is. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment is keeping the film from being overwrought, a trap for a story that can be described as a melodrama. It can't hurt that your movie has three of the best performances of the year.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Che

Che: Part One

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Peter Buchman
Based on the memoir "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War"
by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

Che: Part Two

Directed by
Steven Soderbergh

Written by Peter Buchman and Benjamin A. van der Veen
Based on Bolivian Diary by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

Benicio Del Toro ... Ernesto Che Guevara
Rodrigo Santoro ... Raúl Castro
Demián Bichir ... Fidel Castro
Catalina Sandino Moreno ... Aleida March

Rated R
Runtime 4 hrs. 23 min.


The revolution began at a dinner party. Ernesto “Che” Guevara sits as a guest at a dinner table in an apartment in Mexico, waiting for Fidel Castro. We hear he is always late. He arrives and dinner is served, conversation and alcohol flow and cigar smoke fills the room. The conversation turns to the problems in Cuba. As I sat and watched these opening moments, my initial surprise at how mundane this all was gave way to the thought, “How else is a revolution supposed to begin?”

This opening scene sets the tone of the next 4 hours. Jokes have been made about this being a t-shirt biopic. In others’ hands, it very well could have. I mean, really, he’s a revolutionary, how much do you need to tell us? Just show us some guns and the rising up of those oppressed, some pretty speeches. Boom! Movie magic. Oscar gold. What Soderbergh understands is that these are short cuts. He’s not interested in telling us a good story as much as he is in presenting us with a fascinating individual.

Before I go further, I should let know that I was able to see the Special Roadshow edition which presents the entire 4 hr 23 min movie with a 15 minute intermission. Soon, the movie will be released as two parts. I don’t know that it will affect my review, but just know that you probably won’t have the opportunity to see it in this fashion.

The first part is concerned with both the Cuban revolution and Che’s visit to the UN in New York City. As much as I responded to the opening dinner scene, I still expected Che to find his footing in the jungles. To become the revolutionary we all expect to see. Soderbergh knows we expect this. One of the first images we see of Che in the jungle is him leaning on his rifle, wheezing from asthma. It’s these details that not only undercut the myth that has come to surround Che, but also to humanize him. One of my favorite details was Che’s seeming fascination with pockets. I don’t know how else to describe it. About halfway through the first part, I noticed that his shirt pockets were significantly fuller than they had been at the beginning. At the end of the second part, I noticed he had sewn pockets onto his pants that were stuffed as well.

The early scenes in the jungle show us a Che growing into a revolutionary. We see him bumble, lacking in confidence, being chastised by Fidel. Is it because he’s Argentine? Does he wonder what he’s doing there? It’s after the first significant battle, taking on a Cuban military base, when Che comes into his own. Fidel wants to move on. Che, a physician, wants to take care of the wounded. Get them to somewhere safe. He does so. It is at this point, as he states in the movie, that he becomes a revolutionary. When he realizes that the romance attached to the word is not always the reality. Or even necessary.

In an interview, Soderbergh has said his focus was originally Che’s time in Bolivia. It feels this way. Though the first part is longer, because of its divided and somewhat episodic nature (excepting the climactic battle in Havana), we get the sense this is prologue. We learn, through Cuba, what he did, and through the UN, we learn what he believes.

It leads us to Bolivia. For Fidel, the success of the revolution was enough. For Che, it had gotten into his blood. He tells Fidel he wants to bring revolution to the rest Latin America.

The second part is much more headlong in its execution. We know Che, we know how this works. We are immediately immersed in Bolivia, aware of the similarities. And more importantly, aware of the differences.

It’s difficult for me to sum up how I feel about the movie. Both parts begin with what is essentially an overture while maps of Cuba and Boliva, respectively, are highlighted, showing us regions and cities, giving the impression that these are places that will be important to the story. If this is the case, I’m not sure it was successful. I wasn’t always aware of where the rebels were in relation to anything. As I write this review, however, I feel that matters very little. So many biopics show us scenes hoping that they add up to a life. The problem is that the subjects are barely characters in their own stories. Where so many others have failed, Soderbergh succeeds. The logistics may have been lost on me, but I came away with an incredible picture of a man, Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

The House Bunny (2008)

Directed by Fred Wolf

Written by Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith

Anna Faris ... Shelley Darlingson
Colin Hanks ... Oliver
Emma Stone ... Natalie
Kat Dennings ... Mona
Hugh M. Hefner ... Himself
Christopher McDonald ... Dean Simmons
Beverly D'Angelo ... Mrs. Hagstrom

Rated PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr. 37 mins.


I like to be thought of as one who has good taste. I don't know if I'm thought of that way, but we're talking about what I'd like which has little to do with reality. I try to seek out things that are considered by others to be "the best." I still watch movies I "should" watch, hence my attempt at trying to figure out Bergman for myself. I've always been this way. It's why I started reading movie reviews. It's since broadened into books, food, beer. Basically anything that can be qualified. But I've got to be honest with you. Every once in a while, I love a good PBR from the can. It kind of clears the senses, gets you thinking simply about "beer," don't need to worry about "savoring." You just drink it. Happens with movies, too. Usually comedies that make me laugh in spite of myself. Most recently (oh the shame!) it's Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Before this, The House Bunny. I can't speak on Paul Blart yet, but I have seen The House Bunny. I'm sorry, I apologize, but I liked it.

Much of the credit rests with the two leads, Anna Faris and Emma Stone. Ms. Faris plays Shelley, the titular house bunny. (After several seconds of consideration, I will let that sentence stand.) It's a bimbo role which is how Anna Faris plays it, but she imbues Shelley with an innocence that makes her incredibly charming. Every situation is new and fascinating. It also doesn't hurt that Ms. Faris was gifted with incredible comedic timing. What?

Shelley's a resident of the Playboy Mansion until she's kicked out before her dream of posing for Playboy can be fulfilled. If Shelley had posed nude, there may have been more options for her. As it is, she's at a loss as to how to function in the real world. That's when she happens upon sorority house row. Thinking they look like a bunch of mini Playboy Mansions, she feels right at home. Until she tries to join, by, you know, asking the most stereotypically snobby sorority. Told she's too old to be a member, she learns of being a house mother and that the sorority down the road has a vacancy.

You know where we're headed now, right? Shame on you if you don't. It's at this point that the movie begins to click. The leader of the sorority is Natalie (Emma Stone). Stone's performance is the other key to the movie's success. Her Natalie is awkward and shy but doesn't quite know it. The sorority needs 30 pledges before-Dum, dum dum!-and she buys into Shelley's shtick before she really knows what it is. I guess that's what makes both actresses so successful. They fully commit to these characters being out of their respective elements that when they stumble, it's much funnier than perhaps it has any right being.

For instance. Shelley decides a carwash may be a good idea to get some pledges. It certainly brings the boys over which seems to be a part of getting pledges. I think. Anyway, Shelley tries to encourage Natalie to be sexy. Natalie obliges by uorposely pouring water down the front of her pants. Not let's break this down. First off, again, the actress fully commits with a husky voice saying "sexy" things. Secondly, the pouring of the water is done purposely, which is a lot funnier than ye olde accidentally wetting pants and meeting someone creating an embarrassing situation. Three, it's something that if someone didn't know what "sexy" was, they might think pouring water on the front of your pants might be.

OK. I've probably driven everyone away. I don't know what to tell you. This is not a good movie. The male characters...you can't even use the word characters to describe them. They are physical manifestations of plot points. The plot itself is telegraphed before you even start the movie, but I can't say we ever arrived at any of the required points because there isn't really a journey. I'd say we're apparated there. Poof! Here we are! The end is typically cloying. The beginning, awkward. All that said. I'd watch it again in a heartbeat. It's funny. I laughed out loud. That's what I can say.