Movies I've seen recently...
The Wrestler (2008) A-
Would you still be working in your profession of choice, if you are clearly past your prime for the job, and why? That's the scenario brought up in "The Wrestler," starring Mickey Rourke in a career defining performance playing Randy "The Ram" Robinson as an aging professional wrestler. "The Ram's" life has clashed between a profession where he happily gets to relive his wrestling glory days of the '80s, and the real world where he is barely making ends meet, is estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), and the only person he feels close to is an aging stripper (Marisa Tomei). This movie written by Robert D. Siegel and directed almost documentary style by Darren Aronofsky feels as alive and real as can be, causing me to really feel for Randy's trials and tribulations. There are some very memorable powerful scenes in this movie, be it a bloody painful wrestling match to watch, to simply a father trying to reconnect with his daughter. "The Wrestler" is overall a great movie with a lot of heart, but a few plot holes and the simplicity of the plot might be detracting to some.
Gran Torino (2008) B+
The trailers for "Gran Torino" makes it look like some hard boiled successor to the Dirty Harry franchise, but the movie itself turns out to be very intimate and dramatic, which is not a bad thing at all. Ofcourse the main reason to watch this film is to see Clint Eastwood in another great work as actor and director. As an actor, Eastwood has created another iconic character as the grumpy Korean war veteran Walt Kowalski, who isn't afraid of anybody, and has the racist attitude plus the "colorful" language of somebody who is clearly not politically correct. The film is admirably about tolerance, respect, and about being a hard worker, with the main emphasis on having Walt try to understand the Hmong culture of his neighbors (which produces some funny moments). My main problem with this film however is that it's play on the stereotypes of ethnic, youth, and gang culture can get so over the top, that it makes some scenes come off as embarrassingly cringe worthy. The supporting cast themselves show their amateur beginning as actors, and that will be distracting to some. The story moves along well though, and there are definitely some moments in the movie that I'm not going to forget anytime soon. It's been said that this is probably Clint Eastwood's last movie as an actor; if not director, but at least he is capping off this career with a strong and memorable entry in "Gran Torino."
the Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) A
How a movie with a fantastic premise of a man who ages backwards, contain mostly simple scenes capturing everyday regular life, seems so unexpected to me and will probably be a turn-off to many. In "the Curious Case of Benjamin Button" though, I thought that contrast works wonderfully as directed with finese by David Fincher. This movie isn't just about a man with an unusual condition, this is about living life to it's fullest, by appreciating the simple things, by seeing what makes any person special, and by giving youself and others second chances. Despite the simple plot progression encompassing the whole life of Benjamin Button, screenplay writer Eric Roth (of Forrest Gump fame) still manages to create an epic-like tale of discovery, love, life, and death. I thought that the simplicity of it all is what makes this story even more personal and endearing, than just throwing in a lot of historical pop cultural moments at us as the time era goes by. The makeup and CGI work done to change the ages of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett was a stand out to see as well. While the running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes might be too much for some viewers, by the time the end credits started, I actually wanted to see more. Despite a few minor flaws, I honestly fell in love with this movie, and thought that "Benjamin Button" was a great merger of poetry and art to film.
The Reader (2008) B-
Mostly shown in flashback by the memories of Ralph Fiennes' Michael Berg, "The Reader" starts off as some forbidden romantic relationship between Kate Winslet's mid-30-ish Hanna Schmitz and David Kross' teenager Michael Berg. The first half of this movie revolves around scenes where Michael ignores his friends and family, goes to Hanna's apartment, reads to her (because she wants him to do that), have sex (lots of nudity from Winslet and Kross), and repeat. Then halfway through the movie, the story changes unexpectedly into a moralistic, historical, almost melodramatic tale, that did make the story more interesting, but frustrating as well. I probably would have been more invested in the film, if it wasn't for the fact that I honestly did not care for the characters on screen. While acted well as can be, Hanna Schmitz was simply not likable enough, and Michael Berg was much too introverted for my taste. Ofcourse there's a reason for why they are the way they are, involving a theme of how shame and secrecy can ruin a person, and how sometimes one cannot atone for sins of the past. The story and concept of "The Reader" is interesting, dramatic, and thought provoking, but I just wished that I could have cared for the movie more. Maybe "The Reader" works much better as the book the movie is adapted from.
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