Entertainment Value: Movies I Saw This Week - June 10, 2013

I've decided to post opinions about the movies I've watched during the week.  They aren't necessarily new ones, but they are to me!

(descriptions and information gathered from IMDB.  opinions rendered are mine.)

The Clearing***  - 2004
As an executive is held captive by an employee, it's up to his wife to deliver the ransom.
Director: Pieter Jan Brugge
Writers: Pieter Jan Brugge, Justine Haythe
Stars: Robert Redford, Helen Mirren, Willem Dafoe

A great cast and a very compelling, though dark story.   There’s some time play involved, but it works and keeps you attentive and involved.

Veronica Guerin*** – 2003
An Irish journalist is assassinated by drug dealers she wrote about in a series of stories.
Directed by Joel Schmacher, starring Cate Blanchet, Ciaran Hinds, and Brenda Fricker

This is very well done, visually and directorially, with a lovely score.  All the acting is superb and the dialog goes deep, but it is still the true story of someone who dies.  It feels like an over large chunk of the movie is spent on her death rather than on the story around her actions.  The most important part, what her death led to, was simply written up on a black screen at the end.  That seemed a shame.  It’s still a pleasure to watch, however, just because the story that is told is rendered so well by everyone involved.

Un Pacte Du Silence* - 2003
A priest who is also a doctor investigates the mysterious illness of a young nun who shares a dark secret with her twin sister who is a convicted child murderer.
Director: Graham Guit
Writers: Marcelle Bernstein (novel), Rose Bosch
Stars: Gerard Depardieu, Elodie Bouchez, Carmen Maura


Though the story is interesting and there’s a pretty good twist, though it is compellingly shot and edited enough to make one watch it all the way through, and though it stars the incomparable Gerard Depardieu, in the end it’s not one I recommend.  There are a number of errors committed in following the movie’s own artifice, which feels like a betrayal since we are clearly expected to pay attention to the premise and the rules set forth early on.  Add to that the cringe producing age difference between the leads, a bad, inexplicably violent ending, hyperbolic scoring and undeveloped characters, and you end up with not much.

Away From Her**** - 2006
A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man.
Director:  Sarah Polley
Writers: Sarah Polley, Alice Munro (short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”)
Stars: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy

I decided to watch this, finally, because I had been so very impressed with Sarah Polley’s film, “Stories We Tell”.  I continue to be impressed (though a bit behind the times as I move backward through her films).  This is a gorgeous film, cinematically and emotionally.  The story is a difficult one, which is why I hadn’t watched it until now, but not without merit and pleasure.  Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent delve deeply and the camera registers the strata of emotions they are both traversing.  All the characters say and do things that real people would say and do, which is refreshing and entertaining on a deep and moving level.  What a treat, as well, to see Julie Christie, again, and more kudos to Ms. Polley for writing this movie with her in mind.


Savages***
Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Director: Oliver Stone
Stars: Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Selma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta

The grisly violence and humorous  narration bring to mind the work of Quentin Tarantino, but this is no opera.  Instead, it’s a just a compelling story with strong and interesting characters that isn’t easy to watch, and maybe shouldn’t be given the environment being examined.  I very much enjoyed the complexity of the characters, particularly the two lead females, and the weaving of the story.  The gimmicky ending is truly self-indulgent, but setting that aside, unless you are squeamish about gratuitous violence and extremely evil characters,  it’s a mostly entertaining and absorbing film experience.