Quickie: Adam
Adam (2009)–*** Quickie Review A man with Asperger’s, left mostly alone after his father dies, develops a relationship with a woman who moves into his building. A touching story about two people who find each other when they need each other, this dramedy avoids the sentimentality that we’ve come to expect from similar (though not quite comparable) stories. Hugh Dancy has plenty of time to shine as Adam because of what I sense is the film’s commitment to an accurate portrayal of a person coping with Asperger’s. The rest of the film, however, is overwrought and lacks depth by comparison. Also starring Rose Bryne, Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving. Adam is now playing in select...
Read MoreMovie Review: Cut From Home
Cut From Home Cut From Home, a bare-bones indie shot in Savannah, is a hard film to talk about. The characters aren’t people you would encounter in any other film. The subject matter is something that could easily lend itself to melodrama but doesn’t. It does everything it sets out to do. And it does it very well. Almost too well for the cast that the film relies on. I wouldn’t hold that against Cut From Home, though. Sam (Sam Mallo) and Dani (Dani Niedzielski), two lost souls struggling to stay together as they drift around southern Georgia, would be difficult characters to portray for even the most well-trained actors. They are, as the promo material so aptly puts it, damaged people. We are thrown into their story when they are at a breaking point, and we are only...
Read MoreMovie Review: The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker (2009)–**** The eagerness to embrace Kathryn Bigelow’s film The Hurt Locker may seem like a direct response to the almost universal rejection of the clumsy, overtly political Iraq War films that we saw hit the screen two years ago. It’s true that The Hurt Locker is not a Lions for Lambs or an In the Valley of Elah. Instead, Bigelow’s tense psychological thriller, set the second year of the Iraq War, will be the picture by which all other Iraq War films are judged. The film follows an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team on a series of missions in Baghdad in 2004. When the original team leader (Guy Pearce) is killed in an IED blast, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) comes on to lead Sgt. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldriged (Brian Geraghty) into tense situations...
Read MoreMovie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)–**1/2 So the old saying goes, “It’s the journey, not the destination.” With J.K. Rowling’s book series now complete and most audiences at least tangentially aware of the ending, it’s more important than ever for a Harry Potter film to pay heed to that timeless wisdom. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince does not. While the world—both Wizarding and non-Wizarding—is falling apart outside the walls of a heavily guarded Hogwarts, young wizards and witches are still going to class. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who in the previous films faced ridicule for warning that Lord Voldemort was back, is now being called the chosen one. He’s the only wizard who can take down the most powerful dark wizard of all time. But he still has to pass Potions. When Potter picks up a well-worn...
Read MoreMovie Review: (500) Days of Summer
(500) Days of Summer (2009)–** You should know up front this is not a positive review. It’s not a negative review either. But if you take (500) Days of Summer seriously, I guess you could say it’s a “real” review. This Marc Webb film longs to find something genuine in its tale of two lovers while wrapping the picture in a tired faux-indie package. It’s a romance made for middle-class hipsters, people who are smart enough to recognize a nod to Bergman but who would rather not experience his films. If that’s you, then you’ll probably love this movie. For most audiences, (500) Days of Summer) is a film with some good times and great moments, but it’s certainly not the one movie we’ll be spending the rest of our lives with. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Tom, a young...
Read MoreQuickie: Outrage
Outrage (2009)–***1/2 Quickie Review Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick investigates the media conspiracy to keep closeted politicians in the closet at the expense of all gay Americans. A documentary that evokes equal parts anger, empathy and sadness, this latest Dick film takes aim at gay politicians who vote against gay rights and the institutional policy in mainstream media to ignore a gay politician’s sexuality. Interviews with alternative news journalists illuminate the media’s complicity in keeping the secret lives of gay politicians out of public view, while one-on-ones with activists and out politicians show just how harmful the actions of powerful gay people who don’t stand up for gay rights can be. An essential documentary for our time. Featuring interviews with Barney Frank, Jim McGreevey, Michael Rogers, Andrew Sullivan, Tony Kushner, and more. Outrage is now playing in select cities. Visit...
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