Sometimes I Just Don’t Like a Movie
January 27, 2012 · 0 Comments
By: Skip Sheffield
Call me a grumpy old man. Sometimes I just don’t like a movie.
I have two prime examples this week. I saw “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ over a month ago for awards consideration.
Director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth have attempted to bring Jonathan Safran Foer’s sprawling novel to life on the big screen. The story is about a young boy’s attempt to cope with the enormous tragedy of 9/11, which took the life of his father.
Oskar Schell (newcomer Thomas Horn) is a bright but very introverted- possible autistic- 11-year-old boy living in Manhattan. Oskar’s best friend is his father Thomas, played by Tom Hanks.
In fact Thomas seems to be Oskar’s only friend, and the only one who understands his convoluted way of communication. Dad devises elaborate games, scavenger hunts and fantasies to amuse Oskar. For instance, Thomas insists there was once a sixth borough of New York City, and you can find evidence of it in Central Park.
Take away an influence so strong and loving and you have one lost kid. The film begins with the funeral of Thomas. Oskar is not weeping. In fact he thinks it is a sham — empty casket and all.
Oskar’s mother (Sandra Bullock) does not know how to cope with her strange, distant child. Oskar has hidden his father’s last voicemail messages- delivered from the burning World Trade Center- from his mother by cleverly replacing the answering machine.
One day poking through a closest, Oskar knocks over and breaks a vase. Inside are a key and a piece of paper with one word: “Black.”
Oskar deduces Black must be the name of a person in one of the five boroughs who has the key to communicate with his father. So begins the ultimate treasure hunt. Oskar’s journey is hampered by the fact he refuses to use public transportation. Nevertheless he meets a string of colorful characters, all who contribute some piece to the puzzle.
The first is a quarrelling couple, Abby (Viola Davis) and William Black (Jeffrey Wright). It is interesting but rather unlikely that Oskar connects immediately and more closely with Abby than his own mother.
Oskar is closer to his Grandmother (Zoe Caldwell) than his mother. They have a kind of non-verbal communication, rooted in mutual suffering. Grandmother is a Holocaust survivor.
The ultimate non-verbal communication is with The Renter (Max von Sydow), who may in fact be Oskar’s grandfather. The Renter has taken a vow of silence, and it is wonderful seeing the mournful, whimsical great actor communicate with the needy boy.
The pleasures of “Extremely Loud” are few, and the two-hour, ten minute length does not help. A lot of people have been angered by this film, saying it is exploitative and manipulative. For me it was more disenchantment and then disinterest. That is not the way anyone should feel about 9/11.
Two and a half stars
For “Haywire” I have devised a new rating: WTF?
“Haywire” is a showcase for a gorgeous mixed martial arts fighter, Gina Carano.
Carano is poetry in motion as Mallory Kane, a special ops agent who is double-crossed in Barcelona and becomes a hunted woman.
Mallory faces a series of bad guys: Channing Tatum in upstate New York, Michael Fassbender in Dublin, Ewan McGregor all over the place and Antonio Banderas (in a comically brief cameo) in Barcelona.
There are other bad guys: Michael Angarano and the grey fox kingpin, Michael Douglas.
How they all figure into the plot. I honestly can’t say. Lem Dobbs’ (“Kafka,” “The Limey”) is so complicated and convoluted; it is difficult to say who is doing what to whom.
If you want to see an artfully choreographed series of fights in which a beautiful woman kicks the butts of a bunch of blithering blokes, than this is an action flick for you. I’m betting once Gina Carano gets some real acting under her belt, she could be a contender on the silver screen.
