TONY PORCO’S MOVIE REVIEW NEWSLETTER–NEW YEAR 2006 EDITION

Hey, folks–welcome to the new issue, in which we introduce what might become a new feature (at the end). While we’re at it, we’ll review some of the very few movies we’ve had the time to see lately (our schedule has been very busy). Note that the review of Good Night and Good Luck is by Jill; I haven’t had a chance to see it yet.

ON FILM:

GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (reviewed by Jill): David Strathairn’s brilliant portrayal of the cantankerous, chain-smoking CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow alone makes Good Night and Good Luck worth seeing. Yet this film has much else to recommend about it. One reviewer says of this movie that it is as much about the making of television news as it is about the downfall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who accused Americans of being Communists without hard evidence during the early 1950s in Congressional committee hearings. These hearings occurred at a time when paranoia about the Cold War and Communist infiltration in the United States was at its height. The man introducing the film at the theater where I saw it (at the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, for you DC-area residents reading this) said that the film was first shot in color and then digitized to grayscale, giving it a uniquely sepia look. It was fitting that the movie was done this way, because the sepia tones match the film’s dark intensity and subject matter. Also, the film’s look is in keeping with director George Clooney’s good decision to show actual television footage of McCarthy in action rather than casting an actor to portray him.

Director Clooney co-stars as the charismatic CBS producer Fred Friendly, who worked with Murrow to expose McCarthy. Other memorable cast portrayals include Ray Wise, who gives a touching performance as Murrow’s on-air colleague Don Hollenbeck, as well as Robert Downey, Jr. and Patricia Clarkson as other CBS executives with their own secrets. (Personally, I’m glad to see that Downey is working again; I haven’t heard of him doing anything for almost ten years now.–Ed.)

I find this film compellingly relevant in our age when the American government has not always been honest about the actions of its officials, or about its curtailing of individual civil liberties in its pursuit of its war on terrorism.

The film’s title, Good Night and Good Luck, comes from Murrow’s signature sign-off line in his news show, “See It Now.” This film is a must-see that grabs you by the neck from the beginning and doesn’t let go. RATING: 8.

ON TAPE:

THE WEDDING PLANNER: Jennifer Lopez plays Mary Fiore, a professional wedding planner. According to (the probably inaccurate depiction in) this movie, this means that snooty rich people hire her to be a sort of uber-manager/dictator for every phase of their ridiculously extravagant ceremonies. By day, she does this and is good at it; by night, she sits at home and eats her single-person TV dinners (oh, the irony of it all!) This shows some signs of changing when a

handsome young pediatrician (Matthew McGonaughey) saves her from a fast-moving dumpster (yes, seriously) after one of her heels gets stuck in a manhole cover. It's too bad he can't save us from this insipid dumpster-wreck of a movie. Lopez and McGonaughey aren't always that bad--he was great in Amistad, and she was decent enough in Maid in Manhattan, a mediocre film that was nevertheless much better than this one. In this movie, they barely seem to care about what they are doing. McGonaughey sometimes affects a Southern accent, and other times forgets to even bother to affect it, which says a lot all by itself. They aren't helped by a script with holes that you could drive a dumpster through, propped up even more than most Hollywood movies by handy coincidences. The supporting performers don't support much of anything, either. Judy Greer, playing Mary's assistant, thinks she's channeling the spirit of Diane Keaton, but she's really just channeling the spirit of annoying pseudo-actresses who think they are Diane Keaton. Kathy Najimy and Bridgitte Wilson are equally annoying as Mary's boss and current client, respectively. Not that I'm sexist, or anything; Justin Chambers is just as tiresome playing an Italian childhood friend (don't ask how he gets involved with the plot) who is pursuing Mary while forgetting, like McGonaughey, to use his fake accent consistently (I guess it's contagious). As if all this weren't enough, the movie indulges in stereotypes, with Fred Willard playing the standard-issue gay ballroom dance instructor. The movie's few good points (a clever opening montage and a moving scene between Mary and her father, played well by Alex Rocco) add insult to injury by being wasted in this film. I could forgive all this if there were some of the laughs that a romantic comedy is supposed to have, but alas, moments of mirth are few and far between, except for the ones the movie unintentionally generates, in true MST3K fashion. That's pretty much the only joy anyone should expect from this movie; you'll end up laughing at it, not with it. RATING: 2.

ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS: A whole cast of characters–a young minister with a troubled recent past, an awkward young cashier at a bakery, a pleasant hotel manager, a restaurant manager (best described as a cross between Harvey Keitel and Randal from the movie Clerks) who seems to be unable to say anything other than what is on his mind at the moment, a troubled hairdresser, an ex-con rehabilitating herself in the church, and a shy young Italian waitress–are brought together in this movie by two slender threads; they are all dealing with personal problems of varying seriousness, and they are all taking an Italian class at their neighborhood community center in Copenhagen. The movie captures well how much fun it can be to learn a new language, or learn anything else new, in the company of other people who are as interested in it as you are, something I experienced myself ten years ago, when I was taking my sign language classes (and something I relived a bit when watching this!) The script also has the fun complications of any Shakespeare-derived romantic comedy, but without multiple pairings and mis-pairings; interestingly, who is after who (or is it whom?) is pretty clear from the beginning, but we still enjoy seeing the whole scenario played out. The whole cast is great, but my favorites were the minister (Anders Berthelsen), the Italian woman (the amazingly gorgeous Sara Indrio Jensen), and the restauranteur (Lars Kaalund), whose character seems to be intended to prove the old adage that people should think before they speak. While it’s true that the film does deal in cliches (reserved Danes versus free-spirited, full-of-life Mediterraneans), it more than makes up for this by presenting us with so many characters that seem so real; in fact, Kaalund’s character is the least inhibited of the lot (for better or for worse), while the shyest character is actually the only Italian one! The only real complaint is technical--the editing is strangely off, in true Blair Witch fashion, and good lines and scenes are sometimes cut off too early, or allowed to drag on too long. I wouldn’t have brought it up, but it is actually bad enough to make the film less fun and more annoying to watch. (As a final note, I should mention that the movie implies that religion, or at least Christianity, is still alive in at least some parts of Europe, which is contrary to what we often read and hear. It would be interesting to know how accurate that is. Also, I loved the ending, especially the end credits.) RATING: 8.

HAIKU MOVIE REVIEWS

A few years ago, I came across a web site that had movie reviews written in the style of haiku poetry, and encouraged readers to submit their own. (For those of you who don’t know, a haiku is an ancient style of Japanese poem that imparts a single image or metaphor in a very short format, usually three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each. Haikus normally have nature-oriented, seasonal, or humorous subjects. Many haikus have been translated into English, and most translators keep the three-line, seventeen-syllable format in the target language.) That web site folded before I was able to submit these, so I thought that the newsletter would be a good place to share them. I think it would be fun to do a newsletter consisting only of reviews like these, with readers submitting their own; if anybody feels inspired to write their own haiku reviews, please send them to me. Interestingly, some of these relate to movies for which I was not able to write normal-length reviews, like American Beauty and Riding in Cars With Boys.

AMERICAN BEAUTY

Mom, Dad, daughter's friend,

And creepy drug-dealer--form

follows dysfunction.

RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS

Aspiring author,

Knocked up, can't write stories--why?

Busy living one.

ON THE WATERFRONT

Brando and mobsters

Face off on the docks; not just

Contender--winner.  

PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

Even characters

Jumping out of screens cannot

Replace self-esteem.

HIGH ANXIETY

Even fear of heights

Is a source of bawdy fun

If you are Mel Brooks.

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN

Naked rich people--

You say insightful story,

I say TMI.

BIRTH OF A NATION

Too bad D. W.

Gave so much time and love to

One long ethnic slur.

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Oh, Che, can you see

The dogma’s early light in this

Young radical dude.

.... I hope you enjoyed these, and that you get to watch lots of movies in 2006!

Tony