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February 9, 2010
Terribly Happy
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Reviews for February 5th, 2010
Dear John
Eyes Wide Open
Red Riding Trilogy
Terribly Happy
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The Red Riding Trilogy
With the kidnapping of another young girl, Detective Maurice Jobson notices a number of powerful similarities to the abduction cases he had investigated back in the ’70s – and for which a man was convicted and sentenced. Meanwhile, a reluctant local solicitor, John Piggott, decides to take up the condemned man¿s cause.
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Jackie Chan in Shinjuku Incident
Set in 1990s Tokyo, centers around the lives of Chinese immigrants in Japan.
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Fresh after his painful buffoonery in The Spy Next Door, Jackie Chan tacks the opposite direction in this tough yet conventional Tokyo-set crime melodrama. Star as well as producer, he plays a destitute Chinese peasant called “Steelhead” who washes ashore with other unwanted boat people during Japan’s booming ’90s. These undocumented outcasts fill a vital roleâcleaning sewers, etc.âbut they’re also squeezed by the yakuza and the cops, permanently relegated to the black market economy. When it turns out that Steelhead’s ex has married into the mob, he reluctantly agrees to become an assassin in order to secure a work permit and spread the wealth among his fellow immigrants. Chan, unwilling to muss his screen image too much, casts himself as a principled protector (”How can I take advantage of my own people?”) who’s betrayed by his greedy gang and feckless younger brother. It’s a mostly reactive role, well suited to Chan’s tired stoicismâor call it “limited acting range,” if you prefer. At 55, Chan wisely eschews elaborate stunts or choreographed fight scenes. The killing and the brawling between rival Japanese and Chinese gang factions are spasmodic and unruly; there’s no glamour to this mobster’s rise and fall. Despite its Hong Kong pedigree (veteran Derek Yee directs), Shinjuku Incident forgoes flashy action scenes in favor of old-fashioned moralism. Warner Bros. could have made it in the 1930s, and that’s a compliment.
Frozen
A typical day on the slopes turns into a chilling nightmare for three snowboarders when they get stranded on the chairlift before their last run. As the ski patrol switches off the night lights, they realize with growing panic that they’ve been left behind dangling high off the ground with no way down. With the resort closed until the following weekend and frostbite and hypothermia already setting in, the trio is forced to take desperate measures to escape off the mountain before they freeze to death. Once they make their move, they discover with horror that they have much more to fear than just the frigid cold. As they combat unexpected obstacles, they start to question if their will to survive is strong enough to overcome the worst ways to die.
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From Paris With Love
Through the neighborhoods of Paris, love is veiled, revealed, imitated, sucked dry, reinvented and awakened. A group of internationally renowned directors rediscover the city of Paris in a collective work about love.
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Posted: Dec. 10, 2009
In the Paris of “Paris,” filmmaker Cédric Klapisch’s awkward valentine to the City of Light, people with real problems bounce off people with none at all, as if the resulting energy is what makes the French capital go.
Maybe it does. But just as often, that energy overloads the circuits, shorting out one subplot while sending another racing to the end.
At the center of “Paris,” nominally, is Pierre (Romain Duris), a stage performer who learns that his heart ailment could be fatal. He finally confides in his sister, Elise (Juliette Binoche), a single mother of three struggling with her sense of self-worth.
As he thinks about his mortality, Pierre watches the people in his neighborhood and tries to imagine their narratives. “They become the heroes of my little stories,” he tells his sister.
As characters, those heroes have their own dramas: the professor of Parisian history (Fabrice Luchini) who agrees to do a television show but can’t stop thinking about a luminous student (Mélanie Laurent, the movie theater owner in “Inglourious Basterds”); the professor’s brother (François Cluzet), a builder with a model marriage and a fear of the future; a produce vendor (Albert Dupontel) separated from his wife but having to face her every day because they work at the same outdoor market; and an immigrant from Cameroon, fighting the odds to make it to the Parisian promised land.
Along the way, they agonize, they grapple with their feelings, they miscommunicate. The professor sends texts to his student, trying to romance her with lines from Baudelaire; she misinterprets them as disturbed messages from a pervert.
When these Parisians actually do connect, the city’s magic finally begins to shine. Binoche, in particular, positively glows when things finally go right for her.
Still, such moments seem a long time coming, and often feel, well, a bit rushed.
“That’s Paris,” Pierre says to a cab driver as he watches the characters in the story pass by. “No one’s ever happy. We grumble. We love that.â.â.â.âThey don’t know how lucky they are.”
But when they do, “Paris” becomes a destination that’s worth the trip.
Paris ** 1/2
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, François Cluzet, Mélanie Laurent, Karin Viard, Gilles Lellouche, Zinedine Soualem
Behind the scenes: Produced by Bruno Levy. Written and directed by Cédric Klapisch.
Rated: R; language, sexual situations. In French with English subtitles.
Approximate running time: 134âminutes
Dear John
A soldier home on leave falls for a conservative college girl. Instead of returning home to her, he reenlists after the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Time and distance begin to take a toll on the young lovers.
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Out-Pick the Critics (A.O. Scott) Contest
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to permanent legal residents of the fifty states of the U.S. and D.C. who are 21 years of age or older as of the date of entry. Starts 2/26/2010. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm PT on 3/6/2010. Click Here for the Official Rules. Prize restrictions apply.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to permanent legal residents of the fifty states of the U.S. and D.C. who are 21 years of age or older as of the date of entry. Starts 2/26/2010. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm PT on 3/6/2010. Click Here for the Official Rules. Prize restrictions apply.
Out-Pick the Critics (Michael Phillips) Contest
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to permanent legal residents of the fifty states of the U.S. and D.C. who are 21 years of age or older as of the date of entry. Starts 2/26/2010. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm PT on 3/6/2010. Click Here for the Official Rules. Prize restrictions apply.
Ajami
Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Sensitive 13-year-old Nasri and his older brother live in fear after their uncle foolishly wounds a prominent clan member. Naive young Palestinian refugee Malek works illegally in Israel to help pay for the surgery that will save his mother. Wealthy Palestinian Binj dreams of a bright future with his Jewish girlfriend. And Jewish policeman Dando seeks revenge when his brother is found murdered in the West Bank.
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By Joe Neumaier AND Elizabeth Weitzman
DAILY NEWS MOVIE CRITICS
Friday, February 5th 2010, 4:00 AM
District 13: Ultimatum
3 stars
Action sequel about a rogue cop and his partner. At the Village East (1:41). R: Violence, language, drugs. In French with subtitles.
Here’s an odd coincidence: The 2004 French thriller “District 13″ came from Pierre Morel and Luc Besson, who also made this week’s “From Paris With Love.” And “District 13’s” sequel, “Ultimatum,” happens to be out today, too (though directed by Patrick Alessandrin).
Which to see? If you want authenticity, go for the energetic “Ultimatum,” which reunites Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle, charismatic masters of parkour, the French martial arts discipline. Their vigilantes team up once again to help a grim housing project abandoned by the government.
There’s little difference between the first and second movies â both written by Besson â so the perfunctory story line will feel familiar to fans. But the action, and the head-spinning stunts of those agile lead actors, will never get old.
The Red Riding Trilogy
5 stars
Corruption, murder and immorality engulf northwest England in the ’70s and ’80s. Directors: Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker. At the IFC Center. Three films â “1974″ (1:45), “1980″ (1:36) and “1983″ (1:44). Not rated: Violence, sexuality.
These three films (adapted from David Peace’s novels by different directors), each a singularly gripping work, together form a towering and emotionally complex achievement.
The first, set in 1974, involves a crime reporter (Andrew Garfield) delving into child abductions in Northern England. The second begins in 1980 and details an investigator’s (Paddy Considine) analysis of the case of the Yorkshire Ripper, who terrified the county’s West Riding district for half a decade. The last follows an attorney (Mark Addy) in 1983 as he interviews a mentally damaged man convicted of earlier crimes, while a cop (David Morrissey) eyes the shadowy connection the police force has to a land developer (Sean Bean).
No one in “The North” is unaffected as a dozen characters weave through the narrative. Though David Fincher’s “Zodiac” is an easy comparison, each “Red Riding” film has a different style â and all contain haunting, mesmerizing performances. Simply stunning.
Ajami
4 stars
Violence infects an Israeli neighborhood. At Film Forum (2:00). Not rated: Violence, drugs. In Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles.
The work of Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani would be notable under any circumstances, given that this, their first film, was just nominated for an Oscar. That Copti is Palestinian and Shani Jewish simply adds to the weight of their partnership.
The Yellow Handkerchief
Brett Hanson is an ex-convict, just released from prison after serving six years for manslaughter and now adrift in a world of new freedoms and responsibilities. Finding initial difficulties in reconciling himself to a troubled past, Brett crosses paths with lonely and troubled teenager Martine and her new ‘ride’ Gordy. The trio head out in the same car and direction–Martine to cut loose and get away from her family, Gordy to get closer to Martine, and Brett who must decide whether he wants to return to his troubled past and an uncertainty with May, the woman that he left behind. Once on the road, the trio find their relationships forging and changing in myriad ways, but it is Brett’s story and his need to reconcile his past to his future that drives the two young people to reassess their own passages as well.
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I’m starting to dislike films that sell themselves with the tagline: “Love is where you least expect it.” Isn’t it about time we retire that line? Yellow Handkerchief arrives as yet another indie road flick featuring characters very different from one another on the outside, but similar on the inside. It’s pretty to watch (thanks to great camerawork from Chris Menges), but the film never really soars above “That was a nice moment,” and into must-see territory. However, superb performances from the four leads lend Handkerchief enough charm to leave those watching with a smile … and an odd desire to visit Louisiana.
William Hurt stars as an ex-con named Brett, who, after six years in prison, stumbles back out into the world with a sense of purpose. Soon after his release, Brett winds up hitching a ride with Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), a kind-of-slow outcast heading down to New Orleans. Joining the men, after watching last night’s fling hook up with another girl, is Martine (Kristen Stewart) — a fidgety gal with massive father figure issues. Because of her sour relationship with Pops, Martine desperately attempts to latch onto men who show the slightest interest, and when Gordy fires up a conversation with her, it’s enough for Martine to forget about the last guy and jump into a convertible with the next one. Thus, our three strangers head out for a ride to escape their problems — and jaded pasts — but ultimately wind up banding together to confront the purple elephant in the corner and wash away their damaged souls.
While Gordy and Martine are fascinating (yet familiar) characters to watch, the real story centers on Brett. Why was he in prison? What is he running from? Who is he running from? Through well-shot and well-placed flashbacks, we learn Brett was romantically involved with a woman (Maria Bello) who may or may not have something to do with his prison time. Needless to say, by the time the flashbacks work up to the present, we’re presented with one pretty good reveal and an ending that’s a tad too forced, but warm and welcoming at the same time.
Hurt is excellent in his role, and he’s what really gives this film a good go at “above mediocre.” His ex-con is one that’s bitter, quiet and respectful — but you wouldn’t want to cross him in any way, shape or form. He takes the kids under his wing, acting as the father figure neither has — while they take the place of the children Brett wanted, but didn’t get. And this entire story plays out while the three meander through Louisiana, though we never know where they are in relation to where they started, nor do we know where they’re heading. A clear and distinct target — something to help out those of us not familiar with Louisiana — might have helped reign in the story’s loose ends a bit. Additionally, not enough time is spent on fleshing out Martine and Gordy, the latter of which really deserves his own film (he reminded me of a Forest Gump-type kid who finds himself in one adventure after the next).
Yellow Handkerchief marks director Udayan Prasad’s first American film, and he definitely proves enough skill to continue churning out the English-language fare. Then again, he’s given some tremendous help in Menges’ camerawork. From the lush landscapes of Louisiana to post-Katrina disaster to the urban jungle, the locations change as our characters grow. The film would’ve benefited from a leaner script and more concrete goals, and as it stands, Yellow Handkerchief is just another quiet character piece that may make its way to theaters in limited release, but won’t cause any waves.
