The Critical Filmmaker

Film:   Little Fish Starring :  Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Dustin Nguyen, Sam Neill, Martin Henderson, Joel Tobeck Director:   Rowan Woods   Screenwriter :  Jacqueline Perske Based on a short film by Rowan Woods called Tran the Man , Little Fish is about a woman trying to turn her life around after beating her drug habit, but no matter what that life keeps rearing its ugly head and she must take extreme measures to start fresh. Cate Blanchett is Tracy, a manager at a local video store who dreams up the idea of expanding the business to the internet.  Sadly, she doesn't have the money to do it.  Her brother, Ray (Martin Henderson) meanwhile, is still involved in drug dealing, despite her best efforts to steer him otherwise.  Then there's Lionel (Hugo Weaving), an addict who finds himself cut off from his supplier (Sam Neill) who claims to be retiring from the business.  Tracy as a thing for Lionel, but his drug habit gets in the ...

Film:   Pope Joan Starring :  Johanna Wokalek, David Wenham, John Goodman, Ian Glen, Edward Petherbridge Director: Sönke Wortmann   Screenwriter :  Donna Woolfolk Cross (novel), Heinrich Hadding (screenplay), Sönke Wortmann (screenplay) Although not released in the US yet, I was able to obtain a DVD from Germany and see this film.  Mired in controversy, Pope Joan is about a woman (played by German actress Johanna Wokalek) who apparently became Pope without anyone realizing that she was female until she gave birth to a child. The film and the novel carry the story a bit further by introducing a love interest named Gerold (David Wenham), who would do anything for her, including keeping her dark secret. The film depicts Joan's life from childhood through to adulthood where she is often met with resistance from her peers when she demonstrates her knowledge for the Catholic teachings.  The idea of a female going to school, especially a Catholic one,...

Film:   Angel-A Starring :  Jamel Debbouze, Rie Rasmussen, Gilbert Melki, Serge Riaboukine Director:   Luc Besson   Screenwriter :  Luc Besson French with English Subtitles Luc Besson is one of those filmmakers who can really surprise you.  Some of his films are truly amazing, while others feel a little flat.  One thing's for certain, he always experiments with this work and never restricts himself.  Angel-A is one of those films. Angel-A is a fairly recent film (2005) shot entirely in black and white, giving it a 1940's film noir appeal to it. The film is about a man whose at the end of his rope and in debt to the mob when out of the blue a woman enters his life and changes it.  And we soon learn why.  As the title suggests, she's an angel, but it's not as easy as all that as the movie reveals. Jamel Debbouze is terrific as the troubled André.  I found his first scene amusing, because as he's trying to buy himself f...

Film:   City Island Starring :  Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Steven Strait, Dominik García-Lorido, Ezra Miller, Emily Mortimer, Alan Arkin Director:   Raymond De Felitta   Screenwriter :  Raymond De Felitta Sometimes before I write a review I'll troll around the internet to read others views of the film.  It doesn't influence what I write about.  Instead it inspires me to forge ahead with my own views. A few critics complained that this film was too overloaded.  I disagree.  When you have a dysfunctional ensemble cast, and when the plot synopsis tells the audience that each family member has a secret, you're bound to have to follow a lot of subplots.  In this day and age of Lost , Heroes , Flash Forward and all the other ensemble works out there, this is an inevitable path to be taken. Ironically, I had a much harder time getting into the TV shows above than I did this movie.  The multiple characters and their stori...

Film:   Winter's Bone Starring :  Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Shelley Waggener, Lauren Sweetser, Ashlee Thompson, William White, Casey MacLaren, Isaiah Stone, Valerie Richards, Beth Domann, Tate Taylor, Cody Brown, Cheryl Lee Director:   Debra Granik   Screenwriter :  Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini Novel: Daniel Woodrell There's a sense of desolation watching Winter's Bone, but also a strong determination and a feeling of solidarity and community in this back country area, where people keep to themselves, but still lend a hand when one of their own is in need. Rees, a seventeen year-old who is left raising her two siblings and ailing mother, while her father has disappeared after putting up her home toward his bail, which means that if Reese doesn't find him, her family will be homeless. So she must track him down for the sake of her family, finding herself deeper and deeper into the seedy world w...

Film:   Lucky You Starring : Drew Barrymore, Eric Bana, Robert Duvall, Robert Downey Jr., Deborah Messing Director: Curtis Hanson   Screenwriter : Eric Roth and Curtis Hanson Why?  What prompted Drew Barrymore to play yet another naive innocent in some vacuous film?  I ask this question of Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. although neither of these two were naive innocents, and the latter Robert's role was only about 5 minutes long. The premise of the film is the analysis of the life of Huck (yes, as in Huckleberry) Cheever (Eric Bana), a full-time gambler who can win successfully, but doesn't know when to stop.  Compulsive is the word.  He falls for Billie (Drew), who is in town visiting her sister (Deborah Messing), who warns Billie against Huck.  She falls for him anyway, thinking him a lost soul who can be changed. It doesn't matter that when she tells him that she got a job and he offers to celebrate, he takes her $1,000 in traveler...

Film:   Solitary Man Starring :  Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg Director:   Brian Koppelman and David Levien   Screenwriter :  Brian Koppelman Do you ever get the feeling that if films didn't have a moral, they'd be totally different? Solitary Man is the story of a man whose indiscretions lead to loads of problems.  This is what they want us to believe.  This sixty year-old, divorced man, who prefers his women of the late-teens-to-early-twenties variety, is a true charmer.  He's charmed his entire family, his work contacts and - of course - any woman that he sees as a potential sex partner.  Unfortunately for him his actions cause him to lose all the things that once meant something to him. The problem is that by the middle of the film, despite his steady decline, I sat there asking myself if rather than being shown the repercussions of Ben Kalmen'...