Movie Review

  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, October 2015) Sometimes, you have to let go of narrative and embrace the atmosphere.  Despite it being a murder/courtroom drama, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is best appreciated as an atmospheric look at a southern-US Savannah and its unusual characters.  It’s digressive, tangential, occasionally supernatural, almost uninterested in its own plot.  It lives when it allows its characters to do their own thing, and grows weaker when it gets down to the business of narrative closure.  This is a kind of film made for a particular kind of audience (director Clint Eastwood is often best at ease while idling), but even narrative-driven moviegoers may appreciate the unhurried pace at which it unfolds, almost as if it was an invitation to spend some leisurely time visiting Savannah.  It also helps feature capable actors: Kevin Spacey is essential as a local mogul accused of murder and whose defence essentially rests on being a community pillar.  John Cusack is fine but unchallenging as the audience’s stand-in to the local madness, but The Lady Chabis turns in a great performance by playing herself.  If I had more time, I’d check out the book to confirm that this atmosphere is developed even more fully on the page – and I’d re-watch the film in English to get the fullest Southern-accent experience.

  • Spy (2015)

    Spy (2015)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Video on Demand, October 2015)  By now, the Bond spy film formula has been spoofed, lampooned and deconstructed so often (even within the Bond series) that Bond-parodies have become a sub-genre in themselves.  Spy arrives in this crowded field with a few advantages: Melissa McCarthy may have a divisive comic persona, but she’s absolutely shameless in getting whatever laughs she can, and when you have the production budged to get both Jude Law and Jason Statham as comic foils, it’s already a step up from the usual B-grade effort.  So it is that director Paul Feig tries his damnedest to deliver a polished Bond parody, and does score a good number of laughs along the way.  His action scenes may not be as good as they could be (although there is a pretty good kitchen fight late in the film) but Spy does have a reasonable veneer of big-budget polish.  McCarthy isn’t entirely annoying as a CIA desk agent compelled to become a field operative, but Jason Statham steals the show as an insane and ineffective parody of the kind of action hero he often plays.  (Rose Byrne and ‎Peter Serafinowicz also shine in smaller roles.)  Otherwise, Spy gets a lot of mileage out of combining puerile humor with its spy subject matter, although the deconstruction/reconstruction mechanism is very familiar by now.  It does feel a bit long (something that probably wasn’t helped by seeing the slightly-longer and more digressive “unrated version”) but there is a decent amount of plot to go with the improvised jokes.  While Spy doesn’t break as much tradition as it thinks it does, it remains a decent comedy, a fair showcase for McCarthy and a step up for Feig, whose direction seems to improve slightly with every film.

  • Home (2015)

    Home (2015)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, Video on Demand, October 2015)  By now, the conventions of animated kids movies have been codified in an industry standard that only the daring or the foolhardy dare to ignore.  You can recognize the average middle-of-the-road animated feature by how well if hews to that formula: imaginative concept involving a bit of fantasy or science-fiction; a resolutely cheerful tone that still allows for a few moments of terror or sadness; a younger protagonist with fantastical friends; high-energy musical number and action sequences; and celebrity voices.  Home checks off all of these items twice.  It’s about a curiously dim-witted alien invasion that relocates all humans to dense custom suburbs in desert Australia, but it’s mostly about how a young teenager quests to reunite with her mother and understand an alien outcast who becomes her best ally.  Cats, broken syntax, the Eiffel tower and another alien race all complicate the plot, but by and large Home is about a girl trying to get back to her mom.  Having seen the film in French, I missed out on Jim Parson’s voice acting as the alien, but a few of Rihanna’s songs are featured in their original language.  (The broken language jokes are valiantly translated in French –although a few of them have to be back-translated in English to make sense.)  It’s an amiable and colorful film, definitely quirky enough to be interesting for adults, while being good-natured and funny enough for the younger set.  I’ll note that alien invasions are, by now, such a familiar SF concept that the film can dispense of the invasion sequence in a few minutes and then take place entirely after the event. (The film also gets to play a bit with the idea of alien invaders, all in the service of a non-violent film)  The standout sequence of the film is an imaginative action sequence featuring a levitating Eiffel tower being thrown off-balance and scratching a bit of the Parisian landscape.  Home does not manage to make enough of its elements to propel itself in the front-row of animated features: it’s a by-the-numbers affair, amusing but unremarkable.  That’s not necessarily bad, but there are plenty of other similar features to take up your time if you’re in the mood for that kind of thing.

  • How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

    How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015)  Comedies about unlikable protagonists are a tricky act to keep up: There’s a limit to the amount of bad behavior that audiences will tolerate before tuning out, and at times it looks as if How to Lose Friends & Alienate People isn’t afraid to test this limit.  Reportedly based on the true story of Englishman Toby Young working for American magazines, this film features Simon Pegg playing one of his most unlikable character: a fame-obsessed smarter-than-thou obnoxious shmuck, gifted with the ability to annoy people almost instantly.  He’s surprised when the fights he picks come back to haunt him, while the audience rolls their eyes.  Much of the film seems aimless, jumping from one set-piece to another without much connective tissue.  When How to Lose Friends & Alienate People does remember that it is a romantic comedy, it’s almost too late to care.  Similarly, the film goes from a prickly but interesting comedy to a far more conventional romantic vehicle as it goes along, although it is far from being the only such movie to suffer that fate.  I suspect that Toby Young’s autobiography is far more interesting, and that the film fell victim to the adaptation-standardization process. There are, fortunately, a few intermittent bright spots here and there, particularly in taking a look at celebrity journalist and the New York magazine scene.  Pre-fame Megan Fox shows up as an object of desire, while Kirsten Dunst shows up for an undemanding role as the hero’s true love.  Still, there’s a sense of missed opportunities, of pointless unpleasantness here that prevent How to Lose Friends & Alienate People from leaving a better impression.  At least Pegg gets to play a real cad for once, and doesn’t screw it up.

  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

    The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, October 2014)  The root of the problems with Mockingjay 1 (or Hunger Games 3a) is the business decision, well before the movie had started shooting, that the third volume in adapting Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy was to be split in two separate movies.  While there is some justification to the split (the book itself does feel as if it has separate halves), it means that this first half isn’t much more than seeing the lead character mope around despondently for a full hour and a half, with much repetitive material thrown in, over and over again.  The pacing isn’t just off: it’s the entire point of the film that’s dulled by this decision.  Fortunately, Jennifer Lawrence continues to be better than the material she gets: even a relatively low point like Mockingjay 1 showcases how much the series relies on her performance.  It’s not as if the other actors stand there doing nothing (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s pretty good as a manipulator working against his former masters and Natalie Dormer gets a meatier part than usual here), but she remains the foundation on which the series is built.  While there’s something encouraging to be said about the film’s production values, its jaundiced view of revolutions and the vulgarized exposition of propaganda techniques, Mockingjay 1 isn’t a whole lot of fun to watch – and if the producers stick to the book, Part 2 won’t be a bag of happy puppies either.  But then again, I’m comfortably older than the target audience for this trilogy.  At least it’s a bit better than most of its emulators have managed to be so far.

  • Semi-Pro (2008)

    Semi-Pro (2008)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, October 2015)  As much as I have in my mind the notion of a quintessential “Will Ferrell movie”, I’m not sure which Will Ferrell movie that I’d designate as the most representative one.  Old School, maybe?  Semi-Pro may also fit the bill: It’s nothing more than a dumb sports comedy in which Ferrell gets to grandstand with idiotic set-pieces.  As the none-too-bright owner of a minor-league sports team who may get a shot at an NBA franchise, Ferrell’s character gets to play ball, propose dumb audience-pumping schemes and somewhere along the way become (not much of) a better person.  The plot itself doesn’t really amount to anything more than an excuse for various comic set-pieces, but the surprise is how many of them don’t stick in mind.  The bear wrestling sequence works, granted, but much of the rest of the film just lies inert beyond Ferrell’s usual man-child screaming.  Considering Semi Pro as quintessential Ferrell, and then seeing it fail to make an impression, may tell us much about Ferrell’s chosen comic persona.

  • Freezer (2014)

    Freezer (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015) I have a certain fondness for low-budget, high-concept thrillers that try to do much with little.  Thrillers like Freezer, for instance, a micro-budgeted Canadian film that sets most of its action in the confine of… a restaurant freezer.  Dylan McDermott stars as a seemingly-ordinary man accused of thievery by Russian mobsters.  But as they come in to beat him up a little more and ask for more information, it becomes obvious that there’s something else going on.  And sadly, that’s where Freezer leaves me cold: It spends a lot of time creating a reality in which our hero is an ordinary man trying to figure out what’s happening and remaining alive against all odds.  Revealing otherwise, especially after repeated affirmations to the contrary, feels like a cheat.  The film itself is a bit dull, and some of the banter between the protagonist and the film’s lone female character feels far too forced.  While there are a few surprises along the way, the film struggles to maximize the assets at its disposal.  Freezer’s strengths are perceptible enough to raise it above the morass of other cheap straight-to-VOD films, but it won’t become even a minor recommendation in the genre.  Too bad; I was hoping for more.

  • Murder at 1600 (1997)

    Murder at 1600 (1997)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2015)  The nice thing about viewing films of a certain vintage is that they can often capture qualities that even skilled admirers can’t quite get.  1997 is now far away enough from 2015 to accumulate a nice patina of historicity, and viewing thrillers of the era can bring back great memories… especially middle-grade examples of the form such as Murder at 1600.  I still remember the over-the-top tough-guy trailer narration (“An address that changes all the rules.”) and seeing it today, the silliness of its best/worse moments (as in: shooting at a helicopter with a handgun and actually managing to hit it) is more charming than infuriating.  Wesley Snipes is, bluntly, not the best choice as the tough cop who gets to investigate a murder at the White House: He’s got the machismo down pat for the action sequences, but it’s hard to actually believe him as a top-notch detective.  But if you think that’s a problem… then you don’t understand the panache of the film.  Murder at 1600 is ridiculous, but unapologetically so, and more than fifteen years later this becomes endearing.  I’m not sure, though, that I would have said the same had I reviewed the film back in 1997.

  • Foxcatcher (2014)

    Foxcatcher (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015)  I wish I liked this film a bit more.  On some level, it’s a fascinating take on the American dream, filled with ironic use of America-the-great rhetoric, presenting Masters of the Universe (Olympians, Billionnaires) as pathetic lost souls.  That’s the kind of contrarian message that appeals to me, and using that kind of thematic material to showcase dramatic performances by Steve Carell (unrecognizable), Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo should be enough.  But that’s not counting on the slow and dreary tone used by the film: From the first few minutes onward, it’s obvious that Foxcatcher can’t be bothered to make its points in thirty seconds if it can make them in sixty: the film is dark, bleak, slow and almost insufferable in how it seems determined to revel in misery.  The crime on which this true story revolves is presented almost as an afterthought.  It is, quite consciously, not a pleasant film to watch and by the end I felt as if life itself had been sucked out of me.  Good film?  Maybe.  Something I’d recommend?  Almost certainly not.

  • Magic Mike XXL (2015)

    Magic Mike XXL (2015)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Video on Demand, October 2015)  I’m repeating myself, but the key to enjoy the Magic Mike films if you have no interest in male stripping is to see the series as a particular kind of dance film, complete with good music and exceptional choreography.  Through this optics, Magic Mike XXL actually becomes fun to watch, whether it’s Channing Tatum’s character giving himself an impromptu dance treat alone in his workshop, Joe Manganiello’s character charming the smile off a convenience store clerk, or a very clever final mirrored-dance number.  It helps that this sequel isn’t as self-consciously showy as the first film: Steven Soderbergh here remains rather discreet as the film’s director of photography and editor, but the film itself seems far more accessibly directed by long-time Soderberg associate Gregory Jacobs.  The road-trip format also seems like a natural fit for a series of stripping numbers loosely held together; the interlude at a very particular strip club owned by Jada Pinkett Smith’s character is a bit of a highlight in how it presents an intriguing take on the female gaze (albeit one filtered through a male screenwriter and director) in a film consciously made to appeal to women.  It is, in other words, both a fun and fascinating film, minimizing conflict and presenting a unique take on males bonding over art.  No, it’s not quite as good (objectively speaking) as the first film.  But Magic Mike XXL is entertaining, warm, occasionally joyful and a bit of a welcome change of pace.

  • Belle (2013)

    Belle (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015)  There is often a tension, in modern-made period films, between the most idealized aspects of the era being presented and the modern values we wish they’d embody.  Classic examples include Victorian Britain, as confronted with their terrible record on human rights; Antebellum Southern United States and slavery; the suburbs of the nineteen-fifties and the place left to women.  (Heck, any historical period in Western history featuring anyone who wasn’t a straight white male.)  But it’s occasionally possible to find a topic that manages to address both kinds of wish-fulfillment, and that’s something that Belle accomplishes quite well.  The story of a half-black woman raised as an equal in a rich British families in the late 1700s, Belle builds its dramatic tension based on what we expect from such an era, and resolves them by showing ordinary people acting decently.  Here really isn’t much more to that: the film’s big conflict is solved by revealing a panting (a real-life painting, as it turns out).  As far as progressive-values film go, it’s basic but enjoyable – the period garb look fantastic, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is lovely in the lead role, director Amma Asante does well and Tom Wilkinson continues a highly successful string of good supporting roles.  Belle doesn’t need to be much more than be amiable and look good, and it does that well. 

  • Blue Ruin (2013)

    Blue Ruin (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015)  It takes a while to warm up to Blue Ruin.  The near-wordless beginning, after all, sets up a beach bum undertaking revenge against the killer of his parents.  The micro-budget aesthetics of the film can be rough, and it’s clear that writer/director Jeremy Saulnier isn’t interested in telling the kind of story we’re used to: the protagonist is singularly inept at any kind of revenge, and even when he manages to kill his target, it turns out to be the wrong person.  But almost imperceptibly, Blue Ruin draws viewers in and makes strengths out of its initial hiccups.  In time, the careful rhythm of the film becomes an asset, and the protagonist’s struggles become real.  More crucially, Blue Ruin is about how revenge fantasies can go wrong and spin out of control, creating an even bigger mess along the way.  That’s almost a daring idea at a time where revenge movies are a dime a dozen, some wronged shmuck reinventing themselves as pure killing machines in time for a satisfying justice right before the end credits.  Blue Ruin consciously avoids that kind of power fantasy by making revenge messy, unpredictable, ugly and filled with consequences.  The script is remarkably clever, managing to deliver its anti-vengeance message while providing a relatively satisfying ending.  The stripped-down low-budget cinematography becomes satisfying after a while, and the result in an unexpected success.  Blue Ruin is well-worth seeing, especially if revenge fantasies are starting to grate.

  • The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

    The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015)  Young Adult contemporary fantasy has now entered its degenerate phase.  I’m not talking about the now-uncountable examples of “first film in the franchise” that will never lead to a second installment.  But I am talking about the way they grind up the same material, recycling plot lines, structure, character archetypes and story beats until they all blur into an undistinguishable mush of sameness.  Furthermore, what I’m definitely trying to avoid is discussing how I’m trying to write this review a few weeks after seeing The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones without remembering much about it.  The Wikipedia synopsis of the plot vaguely brings up a few images but I’m not sure if they’re from this film or any of the other similar films in that subgenre.  Lily Collins is fine as the protagonist, but the role is so generic that any other thin brunette under the age of 35 should have been able to do just as well.  What I definitely remember is that The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is too long in the way that dull movies simply last forever without a point.  Cynically assembled and executed without particular flair, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is headed straight for memory oblivion.  The process is already well underway in my own mind.

  • Citizenfour (2014)

    Citizenfour (2014)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2015) The Edward Snowden saga is still fresh enough that it doesn’t quite seem worthy of a documentary just yet.  But Citizenfour is something slightly different: It doesn’t try to propose an all-encompassing theory as much as explore a pivotal moment in time.  Documentarian Laura Poitras was actually there when Snowden first physically met with journalist Glenn Greenwald to explain his cache of documents.  The documentary itself is raw, presenting an intimate you-are-there account of the meeting between the two men.  It’s not meant to be an all-encompassing exposé of the current surveillance state, but it’s certainly eloquent in doing so by small moments, whether it’s Snowden typing a password under a cloak to defeat visual surveillance, or having their meeting disrupted by mysterious interruptions.  Snowden himself comes across as a smart, humble, justifiably paranoid young man, driven by strong moral principles.  Reaction to Citizenfour will probably hinge on viewers’ opinion of the Snowden leaks, but at this time, while Snowden is still effectively exiled in Russia and the full magnitude of his revelations still have to be felt, Citizenfour is a great first draft of history.

  • The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

    The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, October 2015)  I didn’t start liking Wes Anderson’s films until Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom, and my exasperation at his first few films had led me to skip The Darjeeling Limited until now.  Alas, it turns out that The Darjeeling Limited owes a lot more to Anderson’s first few films than the latter, more accessible ones.  Here, we’re back to the precious twee sensibilities of his early career, with an overly complicated family relationship being overshadowed by showy cinematography and a strange sense of humor that feels odd if you’re not in on the joke.  It does actually work, albeit in occasional moments: The camera works is especially good in comedy scenes, whipping from one character to another.  Occasional lines are droll, while the Indian scenery is different enough to be interesting.  The film also has the good sense to end on Joe Dassin’s insanely-catchy “Les Champs-Élysées”, which is good for a few days’ worth of sporadic humming.  On the other hand, it’s hard not to feel that the film runs too long, especially during the third act as the characters disembark the Darjeeling.  But tight accessible films weren’t (and maybe still aren’t) Anderson’s specialty — it would take until his last few efforts for other qualities to take over and make for great films.  Hopefully, The Darjeeling Limited is the last time Anderson’s bad quirks would overwhelm his better ones.  Bilingual viewers may want to note that seeing the film in French makes an odd film even more delightfully odd given the original’s script’s francophilia.