I've been monstrously busy, so I've got a backlog of films I haven't done reviews for, but once again I'll just have to give a brief impression and grade for each.
Venus (Roger Michell)
O'Toole is great and I'm glad they let his character have some darker, creepier edges than one might have thought going in. He plays a version of himself, had he not been an international success but managed to hang around the margins of the industry but still has similar notorious appetites for drink and women. Sadly apart from O'Toole's wonderful presence, there is nothing to this movie. It's fine, but completely forgettable. I think Peter's Oscar nomination was well deserved and any fan will definitely want to see his work, but it's just too bad the movie around him isn't anywhere near as magnetic and special as the legendary O'Toole.
GRADE: B-
The Good German (Steven Soderbergh)
Big disappointment. On a technical level, the cinematography and set design are pretty frickin' cool. I think Clooney is an underrated actor and Cate Blanchett is always a joy to watch on screen. Unfortunately the script is witless and the meandering narrative never becomes at all interesting, much less compelling. Toby Maguire has a very limited range and he is embarrassingly bad in this, totally miscast. But what a let down. I was hoping for a modern remix of
The Third Man and
Casablanca, but it doesn't come anywhere close to that standard. A real misstep from a great filmmaker.
GRADE: C-
Breach (Billy Ray)
Really well made combo of
The Falcon & the Snowman and
Donnie Brasco, based on the true story of FBI traitor Robert Hanson. Ryan Phillippe is turning into a decent actor, but this is Chris Cooper's movie all the way and he's fantastic. It probably underachieves a bit in that it doesn't go as deep into its characterizations and motivations as
Falcon & the Snowman, but it's still a good movie. And Cooper rocks.
GRADE: B+
Reno 911!: Miami (Ben Garant)
I'm not a huge fan of the TV show, but it can be fitfully amusing in spurts. For me it's a case of the same joke getting tiring after a while with no variation. The movie version is the same problem. There are laughs, to be sure, though most of the best ones are in the trailers and TV commercials. It's also raunchier than the TV show and definitely earns its R-rating. There are a bunch of celebrity cameos, from The Rock and Danny DeVito on down, and they clearly had a bit of a bigger budget to play with. But compared to the best comedies of recent years, it's not even close to being top notch. This is only for hardcore fans of the TV show.
GRADE: C-
The Portland International Film Festival also just ended this weekend, so I've got a whole long list of films from that one. But I'll be making a separate thread for them.
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