DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Eijofor, Josh Brolin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Carla Gugino
THE PLOT: In 1970's America, a detective works to bring down the empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan.
BEN'S VIEWS: The crime lifestyle is one of the more commonly covered territories in American cinema. And it's been a long time since we've seen a film in the genre light up the screen with so much force as American Gangster. This was one of my most hotly anticipated film sof 2007. With a director like Ridley Scott and a pair of acting aces like Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, how could it not have been. The film doesn't disappoint. Although not quite at the level of such classics as Goodfellas and The Godfather reminds us of those masterpieces with its period detail and moments of crushing violence. The film has an epic feel to it as well, covering over twenty years of time. It hops back and forth nicely between the gangster and the cop lifestyle. It is never less than entertaining and is often thrilling. One of the high points is watching two of todays best actors do more stand-out work. Are these guys ever bad? Washington has the flashier part but Crowe holds his own and then some. The film is 157 minutes long but it flies by. That's always the sign of a great film.
DIRECTOR: Peter Berg
CAST: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Danny Huston, Ashraf Barhom
THE PLOT: A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.
BEN'S VIEWS: The Kingdom is a film suffering from schizophrenia. The first part of the film is a political drama that follows an F.B.I task force's attempt to get access to look for terrorists in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The second part is a balls-out action film. One part is better than the other and it's the latter. The politics portion of the film is at times intriguing and certainly relevant with the current relationship between the United States and the Middle East. But it also tends to drag. This portion could have been tightened up a bit. But the action proceeding it is extremely exciting and non-stop for nearly the last half an hour. Sure there are some contrivances but they don't become too apparent until the end credits roll. So The Kingdom ends up being a good film, but the chilling last lines of the movie hints at the great film it could have been.
DIRECTOR: Michael Winterbottom
CAST: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman
THE PLOT: Based on Marianne Pearls account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Daniel Pearls life and death.
BEN'S VIEWS: A Mighty Heart is an honorable film that respectfully tells the true story of journalist Daniel Pearls kidnapping and his wife Mariannes courage. The problem is that it's not all that entertaining. We know what the end result of the film is so there is no suspense to be drawn from that. But great films about true events are able to keep us entertained by portraying how it happened in an interesting manner, such as All the Presidents Men or Apollo 13. A Mighty Heart doesn't do that. The police efforts to find and interrogate all the Pakistani contacts that Pearl had is tedious on film. The film is effective when it focuses on Daniel and Mariannes relationship as husband and wife through flashbacks that are heartbreaking. But this is all of about ten minutes of the films 108 minute running time. Much has been made of Angelina Jolie's performance. It is a good one but not a great one. This film plays best to those that were close to Pearl such as his family, friends and colleagues. To the rest of us it's just clockwork.
