Movie Reviews: Recent Viewing Round-up

by Tim Van Schmidt

***** Excellent
**** Good
*** Average
** Poor
* Not Recommended

The Iron Lady *****

As much as "The Iron Lady" is about the career of controversial British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, it is also about aging. A lot of the movie is couched as flashback memories, mixed with hallucinations and mental drifting as an old woman slowly comes to grips with the details of her life- including her career, for sure- but also her family and marriage. Everything crowds together in her mind while diminishing capabilities make things more confusing.

This is all rendered with skill by Meryl Streep, who is not only able to express the drive and dogged insistence of the younger Thatcher, but also the deeply personal troubles of the old woman. It's a masterful performance, blending facts and conjecture realistically. This blend, coupled with a brisk edit and plenty of material to cover, makes "The Iron Lady" a rich intellectual and surprisingly emotional experience.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd...2011...105 min...featuring Meryl Streep (as Margaret Thatcher,) Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Susan Brown, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd.

My Week With Marilyn ****

Actress Michelle Williams is a treat playing Marilyn Monroe in this engaging - and ultimately uplifting- production. Everything she does- from pouting to primping- to become Monroe makes her a bright spot on the screen. Williams is skilled for sure, but more, I think this indicates that Monroe had something unique and dazzling going on. Even an actress trying to be like her succeeds fifty years after her death. What Monroe had was complicated too, according to "My Week With Marilyn," as the young fellow finds out who gets mixed up in a film shoot with her in London- the 1957 film "The Prince and the Showgirl," directed by Sir Laurence Olivier.

Directed by Simon Curtis...2011...99 min...featuring Michelle Williams (as Marilyn Monroe,) Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh (as Sir Laurence Olivier,) Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, Michael Kitchen, Judi Dench.

Aftershock ****

An earthquake devastates a city in China and forces a woman to decide whether to save her son or her daughter. She chooses the son, but the decision tortures her soul for the rest of her life. The daughter, left for dead, survives but falls into the hands of foster parents, decent people and avowed Maoists.

There's a lot of weeping and hand-wringing here as well as cultural ticks that are hard to understand, however the movie in general is beautifully made. The beginning sequence of dragonflies moving en masse through the city is mesmerizing to start with. The earthquake sequence of scenes is truly intense- inspiring one of those jaw dropping how-did-they-ever-film-that moments- and the after effects are heart rending both in the smoke and dust of the broken buildings and the scars the survivors carry with them the rest of their lives.

Directed by Xiaogang Feng...2010...135 min...featuring Daoming Chen, Chen Li, Yi Lu, Fan Xu, Jingchu Zhang, Jin Chen.

Kiss of the Spider Woman ****

With the intensity of a stage production, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" slams together two completely disconnected world views- one of a hard-line revolutionary and the other of a homosexual. The revolutionary is being held and tortured to extract information about his group. The homosexual has been convicted of consorting with "boys." At first, the revolutionary keeps the homosexual at a distance, but after numerous acts of kindness, lets down his guard. The homosexual, simultaneously caring for his cellmate while working a shady deal with the prison warden, ends up changing as well.

Performances by both lead actors- William Hurt as the homosexual Molina, and Raul Julia as the revolutionary- are strong indeed, supported by lines that swing from the hard realities of living in a totalitarian society to the fantasies that end up keeping both men alive.

Directed by Hector Babenco...1985...120 min...featuring William Hurt (as Molina), Raul Julia, Sonia Braga.

Primal Fear ****

A hot shot lawyer takes on a high profile case- an altar boy accused of brutally murdering a priest- but gets a surprise as a result. Actor Richard Gere has arrogance down to a science, offering nothing new here, but Edward Norton creates a memorable character as the alleged killer.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit...1996...129 min...featuring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand, Terry O'Quinn.

The Ides of March ***

When the preferred political candidate in this movie, played by George Clooney, is in the spotlight with the cameras on and an audience responding, he is inspiring and righteous in all he says. However, the moral here is that what you see is not necessarily what you get. Apparently politics is a rough business when balancing public opinion, media scrutiny, keeping a professional and volunteer staff in place and fending off attacks from the opponent. But that's not all- it gets darker and deeper than that.

Despite all of that, "The Ides of March" is a somewhat restrained production. Maybe that has a lot to do with featured actor Ryan Gosling's poker faced expression throughout the entire movie. But there's a certain lack of oomph to Clooney's character too. It also might have to do with the subject- the long timers in politics here have all developed a hard cynical shell that allows them to do despicable things as everyday business.

Directed by George Clooney...2011...101 min...featuring Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei.

Midnight in Paris ***

Just look at the guest list for this movie: Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Luis Bunuel, TS Eliot, Henri Matisse and many more. Apparently director and writer Woody Allen wanted to meet them all, so he concocted this light fantasy in order to do that.

The famous people come and go quickly in this thin story about a young writer vacationing in Paris. He gushes about the city's artistic history and the general vibe while his intended bride just wants to go shopping. He obsesses about it so much that one night, at the stroke of midnight, he somehow time travels back to 1920s Paris and is readily accepted by the creative population. From there, his time travels become much more interesting than real life.

It's all a clever mechanism to dig deep into the storied creative history of Paris and to try to bring the major denizens of a particularly productive era to life- with some pleasing results. The Hemingway character is amusingly straight forward while the Salvador Dali character is strange indeed. What's weak here is actor Owen Wilson as the protagonist, who has the dazed look and nervous stuttering of Woody Allen down, but not much else. It is interesting to note that while Allen does not appear in the movie, you can clearly hear his voice in the writing and this, at times, tends to limit the actors, who end up sounding like mimics.

Directed by Woody Allen...2011...94 min...featuring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Kurt Fuller, Michael Sheen, Alison Pill, Corey Stoll, Adrien Brody.

Mao's Last Dancer ***

Reaching triumph over very long odds, a Communist Chinese dancer defects to the United States and becomes a star. It certainly feels good as far as the success of the human spirit is concerned since hard-line politics also hang heavy in the balance. Colorful stage scenes help flesh out the story and warm-hearted emotional triggers are generously pulled.

Directed by Bruce Beresford...2009...117 min...featuring Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan.

Trust ***

A 14-year-old girl develops an online relationship with who she thinks is a teenaged boy, but turns out to be a sexual predator. She meets with him and the results tear her family apart.

Despite the grave seriousness of the crime, this is a lackluster production for the most part. The mother and father characters, played by Catherine Keener and Clive Owen, could have been any other actors really, neither bringing much substance to the table except a lot of raised voices and crossed brows.

However, Liana Liberato plays the teenaged girl with plenty of passion, basically carrying the whole thing on her shoulders. One element of invention here is the flashing of text messages across the screen as the action, such as it is, ramps up.

Directed by David Schwimmer...2010...106 min...featuring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato, Viola Davis.

Leaving ***

A passionate romance sparks between a bored French housewife and a workman. Love may rule, but it is unbelievable how quickly the housewife is willing to abandon her family and cushy life for the affair. The guy isn't all that attractive either, so maybe this isn't so much about a love affair but about mental illness. Melodramatic and ultimately unsatisfying.

Directed by Catherine Corsini...2009...85 min...featuring Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi López, Yvan Attal.