"Waiting for Superman"

Runtime:1 hr. 42 min.

Rated PG for incidental smoking, some thematic material and mild language

Cast: Bianca, Anthony, Daisy, Emily, Francisco, Geoffrey Canada, Michelle Rhee, Randi Weingarten, David Levin, Mike Feinberg, Bill Strickland, Eric Hanushek

Director: Davis Guggenheim

Davis Guggenheim's searing documentary "Waiting for Superman" takes the crisis of education, plucks it from the plinth of knotty socio-political debate--where its enormity often invokes a feeling of surrender--and strips it down into digestible heartbreak.  Acquiescence is simply no option.

We're introduced to five young kids from different cities.  We hear their stories, learn their ambitions, and feel their pain as they struggle in the nation's underperforming schools.  The movie's climax has us bearing witness to a series of "lotteries" to determine whether they will be accepted into various charter schools.  It's sort of an anti-climax.  Not anti-climactic, mind you.  (The scenes are gut-wrenching as all hell.)  But as we're watching fate's fickle hand at work, we're taxed with the depressing reality that it shouldn't (and needn't) come down to a roll-of-the-dice to determine one's future. 

Interspersed throughout their stories are the perspectives of various administrators, teachers, authors, and so forth, as the film breaks down--to varying degrees--the causes and possible solutions to the problem.  The most tangible input comes from Geoffrey Canada, a teacher and administrator whose prescient view of the rapidly-intensifying problem's root cause led to the birth of several highly successful charter schools located throughout the country. 

Solutions often come from out-of-the-box thinking, and of course there are those who oppose such approaches, most notably teacher's union president Randi Weingarten.   She is shown here not so much in a pointedly negative spotlight, but a narrow one.  "We're opposed to anything that divides people and undermines education," she states in response to a radical proposal in regards to tenure.  It seems an oddly canned answer with objections that appear, to me anyway, cloudy at best and spurious at worst.

The most polarizing figure, however, is Michelle Rhee, who was appointed by former Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to the position of chancellor for the city's school system.  A fiercely-independent woman with no qualms about introducing the most radical of solutions, Rhee quickly became the target of vitriolic protests from parents, teachers, administrators, and the omnipotent union.  One proposed idea in particular was that teachers could choose to surrender their tenure for the chance to earn a larger sum of money through merit pay.  It was such a threatening concept to the union that a vote wasn't even afforded.  Individuals certainly had their reasons for contesting to the idea.  (One of the objections, I think, that people have with merit pay is the notion of who or what determines the "merit.")  Although the whole devil-you-know-versus-the-devil-you-don't thing can be a pretty jagged pill to swallow when your child's educational future is on the line.

A lot of people seem ambivalent in regards to Rhee.  I don't really have a problem with her for the same reason, I think, that the movie doesn't.  Unorthodox approaches need to be, at the very least, acknowledged regardless of what corner they originate.  Many questioned Rhee's qualifications, pointing to her lack of experience in administrative duties.  But to tackle problems successfully requires the full spectrum of learning and imparting.  We need people self-important but also important.  Knowledgeable but eager to learn.  Strong but empathetic.  I don't know if her ideas would have been the most effective, but I think it's unwise to dismiss said ideas based on whether you believe she has the "right" to express them.  Opinions are always better debated than suppressed.

The movie gazes into the abyss of various possible causes to the decline, some in more detail than others.  At one point, Guggenheim points out that part of the problem is something referred to as "The Blob".  It's when the federal government offers funding to schools based upon their own guidelines, yet individual states have their own guidelines as well, which muddies up the works and impacts how schools are funded.  Yet the film curiously doesn't go into greater detail on the machinations of this monetary quagmire. 

The most powerful sentiment that the movie offers is that ideas to fix the problem often lie near our doorstep but we need the cognizance and determination to take hold of those ideas, shape them, mold them, and reapply them in various ways.  Too often, the film argues, we rest at the mercy of theorists who dish out rhetoric on why certain approaches--while offering up morsels of hope--will never be totally effective in the long run.  Success stories like the charter schools started by Geoffrey Canada weren't brought about through rumination over how they might factor into the "long run."  He saw an approach that he thought could have an impact, and implemented it at the grassroots level.

Guggenheim draws an interesting parallel to when pilot and astronaut Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.  Theorists claimed it couldn't be done.  That the aircraft wouldn't be able to sustain the pressure... would disintegrate.  Many pilots, as a result, stayed grounded rather than attempting the feat.  We're shown a clip from an interview with Yeager, where he doesn't come off as some kind of mythic superhero who stared in the face of danger and laughed.  "I heard what the theorists said.  I just didn't see it that way," he stated in a refreshingly matter-of-fact way.

The movie argues the same thing.  The title doesn't reflect the answer, but the fallacy.  The solution needn't come from fictional heroics, the heavens, or some kind of deus ex machina.  Rather, it must be bred from intelligence, compassion, determination, a little out-of-the-box thinking, and from those who can stare into the cyclonic core of a problem as it demands surrender and say... I just don't see it that way.

* * * 1/2  out of  * * * *  stars

"The Eagle"

Runtime:1 hr. 54 min.

Rated PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images

Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, Tahar Rahim

Director: Kevin Macdonald

I think what gives honor its strength is that it requires no reason.  No logic.  No tangible end game to ignite its usage.  You either have it or you don't.

Honor and fear engage in a feature-length game of chicken in "The Eagle" about a young Roman warrior who ventures into the unexplored north Britain territory to recover his lost legion's most treasured symbol.  Fear dominates the region at a time (140 A.D.) when the unknown darkness was itself the most formidable of opponents.  But at a Roman outpost arrives its new leader... a young centurion named Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum) brimming with courage.  The fear of the undiscovered is palpable, but will undoubtedly blink in the face of such honor.

We're told at the outset about the Roman Army's Ninth Legion, whose unexplained disappearance in the Scottish Highlands has become such a humiliation to the Roman Army that Hadrian's Wall was erected along the northern edge of Roman-ruled Britain to protect the land from whatever lurked in the uncharted highlands of Caledonia.  The commander of the Ninth Legion was the father of Marcus Aquila.  Twenty years after the legion's fall, Aquila has just arrived at his new command post.  Still haunted by the events surrounding his father's demise, he throws himself into his command with unbridled fervor, eventually earning the respect of his soldiers.

After being wounded in battle, he is given an honorable discharge, which he greets with cries of personal anguish.  His servitude to the Roman Empire is his life, as are the questions that still echo in his psyche about how his father died.  Hero or coward?  The thought of a sedentary existence with little to do but ponder such queries is too painful to endure.  To restore his family's name, Aquila opts to venture out into the unexplored highlands to locate The Eagle, as well as the truth about how his father met his end.

The Roman political circle disagrees with this decision.  Why risk another life?  To what end?  But Aquila will not be deterred.  He is aided by a slave named Esca (Jamie Bell) who was awarded to him after Aquila ordered mercy during a gladiator spectacle.  We don't know exactly why he spared the young Brit's life but then again, neither does Esca.  That's key.  If the slave detected a specific motive in Aquila, he'd be more inclined to betray him.  Instead, he pledges his allegiance despite a background that imbues in him a pointed hatred toward everything Aquila stands for.  The two set out.

The goal is not only the Aquila family name, but the lost legion's golden emblem.  "What's so great about a piece of metal?" asks Esca.  "The Eagle of the Ninth is not a piece of metal," Aquila counters.  "It is Rome."  I did find it somewhat strange that Aquila seems to be the only member of the Roman Army who feels this way.  Perhaps the remaining centurions were more governed by fear than ignited by courage.  Aquila and Esca eventually find themselves face-to-face with a tribe of savages that may, in fact, be the same ones that slaughtered the Ninth Legion.

The movie is a serviceable adventure, though not quite as rousing as one would expect.  Plus, it loses steam right at the point in the story where it should be gaining it.  The director is Kevin Macdonald, a gifted documentarian ("Touching the Void", "My Enemy's Enemy", and the Oscar-winning "One Day in September") who has also ventured into the narrative storytelling arena ("The Last King of Scotland", "State of Play").  His documentaries are more effective, I think.  "The Eagle" is a solid, competent effort that somehow doesn't possess the rousing spirit someone like Ridley or Tony Scott could have injected into it.  That may seem like a cheap criticism toward an acclaimed director, but an adventure like this needs a less stolid approach to the material.

The movie is also hampered by the one-dimensional performance from Channing Tatum, a very likable young man though he is.  His job is twofold.  He must embody the spirit of a warrior, but also convey the emotional arc of the character through what he uncovers.  Tatum gets the warrior part right, but seems unable to connect to the character's emotional core.  Jamie Bell is a bit better at conveying the fluctuations in Esca's perspective despite not having as much dialogue.  (Bell also possesses an exceptional poker face.  There are stretches of time when we're never quite sure of his intentions.)

It's a close call.  The action scenes are handled with serviceable skill.  The pacing is decent, though the plotting gets a bit muddy in the second half.  Jeremy Brock's screenplay seems better at building up the tension prior to the journey than the actual journey itself.  I just can't quite bring myself to recommend the film.  I admired a majority of the craftsmanship, but never got swept up in the action.  The movie tells the story of a rousing adventure without every fully becoming one.

* * 1/2  out of  * * * *  stars

"Just Go With It"

Runtime:1 hr. 50 min.

Rated PG-13 for brief drug references, partial nudity, language and frequent crude/sexual content

Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Bailee Madison, Nicole Kidman

Director: Dennis Dugan

Adam Sandler has evolved from a raw, sometimes abrasive, often funny young comedian into a perfectly nice man.  So nice, in fact, that I feel a tinge of guilt whenever I see a Sandler comedy I don't enjoy.  He appears to be trying to display a softer side to his humor.  That's all well and good, but I don't watch comedies expecting one's personal evolution of character.  I just want to laugh.

I haven't laughed nearly as much in the last few Sandler comedies, and barely cracked a smile in "Just Go With It".  It's a comedy that expends much more energy in attempting to find the humor in the situation than it does actually delivering it.  Sandler has gone from living on the fringe of comedy to playing the straight man here, navigating a sea of borderline lunatic personalities.

The movie is based on a French stage play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy.  Movies like this can work, but they need to possess a rising tide of comic madness.  High energy.  Lunacy.  An undercurrent of desperation.  This version is D.O.A.  The characters seemed no more intrigued by the plot than I did.  A premise like this needs to hit the ground running.  You can't do that when you hit face first.

Sandler plays Danny, a successful plastic surgeon with an outlook on love so cynical that he has decided the best way to avoid a broken heart is to pose as a married man in nightclubs as a means to attract women he needn't call on again.  His method works for a while, until he meets the woman of his dreams... a tall, stunning, twenty-three-year-old N'Sync fan named Palmer (Brooklyn Decker).  He doesn't pose as a married man with her.  They spend a night on the beach but in the morning she finds his "ring" in his pants pocket, assumes he's married.  Uh-oh.  With a little quick thinking, Danny tells her he's getting a divorce.  Palmer wants to meet the wife anyway.  He enlists the help of his longtime assistant at the office, the kind-hearted single mother Katharine (Jennifer Aniston).  He wants her to pose as his wife.  She reluctantly agrees.  Through a series of plot developments, Danny, Palmer, Katharine, Danny's brother Eddie (Nick Swardson) and Katharine's kids (Bailee Madison and Griffin Gluck) find themselves taking a week-long vacation together in Hawaii.

(Out of sheer boredom, I began to calculate the amount of money Danny was spending.  Between the high-end designer outfits to make Katharine look more like "a plastic surgeon's wife", the plane tickets, the meals, the excursions, the $12,000 per night room... the price tag had to be nearing the six-figure mark.  That's a high price to pay for a happy ending.  Any happy ending.)

I know nothing about the material upon which this premise is based, but Allan Loeb and Tim Dowling's screenplay contains very few actual zingers.  It's more a cacophony of rambling dialogue in search of a punch line.  There's no real sense of urgency, either.  We never understand why Palmer seems so special, beyond the fact that she's played by Brooklyn Decker.  Sandler and Aniston do seem comfortable in their scenes together, though it takes an excruciatingly long time for their characters to catch up to their feelings.

I don't have a problem with Sandler being the straight man in a comedy so long as the comedy is funny.  I felt bad for him here.  Nor do I enjoy piling on the spotty-at-best movie career of Jennifer Aniston, as it seems tantamount to bludgeoning a puppy.  Acting-wise, she's pretty much tethered herself to her comfort zone.  Sure, she's likable.  But is it really asking too much for that likability to be at the service of something other than a comic crutch?

Nick Swardson and Bailee Madison have a little fun with the quirks of their characters, although said quirks do grow tiresome after a while.  The juiciest bits of humor come from Nicole Kidman as Devlin, a spotlight-stealing sorority sister of Katharine's who has an impeccable sense of bad timing, and Dave Matthews as her hubby, whose existence is to support Devlin's facade of vacuous success.

No points for guessing how the story plays itself out.  Danny overcomes his fear of heartbreak.  But if you ask me, he still has problems.  If you have the head-scratching temerity to dole out a six-figure dollar amount for a vacation to support a lie in an effort to win over a beautiful woman only to find out that the person you truly love is someone you've known a majority of your life... the potential for a broken heart is the least of your worries.

*  out of  * * * *  stars

Ten Movies about Love...

...that have stayed with me.

I know, I know... how can one possibly narrow down a category such as this.  You could reasonably argue that all movies are, in one way or another, about love...

When Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) chooses to go on the mission back in time to save Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in James Cameron's "The Terminator", he does so because he has fallen in love with her.  And in the adventure story "Rob Roy", when Robert MacGregor (Liam Neeson) finally engages in a sword duel with the vile, foppish Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth), he does so to avenge the assault on his wife (Jessica Lange) and regain his honor. 

There are tons of other examples like that.  So, what I've done here is compile a list of ten movies that deal, in various ways, with one-on-one romantic relationships.  But even that, I've discovered, is no easy task.  I mean, there are literally thousands of movies that could fall into this category, and trying to rank ten of them is borderline lunacy.  As a result, I've opted to leave out the most obvious selections.  The highest-echelon romances won't be included here.  No "Gone with the Wind", "An Affair to Remember", "Sophie's Choice", "Moonstruck" and on and on.  (There are so many that could be included here, so don't be shocked if your personal favorite romantic movie isn't listed below.)

Also, I've decided to leave out the most-well-known-but-not-quite-classics.  These can include everything from the very good romantic comedies ("When Harry Met Sally", "Say Anything") to the decent romantic dramas ("The Notebook") to more modest fare ("Titanic") to the downright overrated ("Sleepless in Seattle").

So what does that leave?  Well, I'm not saying what follows are the best romantic movies.  Or even the most romantic romantic movies.  These are ten selections that resonated with me for one reason or another.

Let us begin...

# 10 - "When a Man Loves a Woman"

A movie about the struggles of overcoming substance abuse, it's the love relationship between Michael (Andy Garcia) and Alice (Meg Ryan) that is the true driving force to the story.  The film is about more than one spouse's addiction to alcohol.  It's about how her recovery has a crippling effect on the way he views the marriage.  ("It was so much better in the old days, wasn't it, Michael?  I'd get drunk, I'd fall apart, and you'd put me back together.  That made you feel good!  And that's what hurts!")  This movie deals with substance abuse, but isn't really about it.  It's about a love relationship, through and through.  The film is so rich in its details... so effective at crystallizing the truth that even change for the best can be brutal for the journey itself. 

# 9 - "About Last Night..."

This movie hit theatres in 1986.  That's crucial, I think, to its success.  It was released prior to the romantic comedy being homogenized down into an Aniston-friendly-PG-fare.  The screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue was based on the David Mamet stage play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" which explains the healthy dose of terrific zingers...  "You know, Joan, if you didn't have a pussy, there would be a bounty on your head--" followed up by  "And you are a schizophrenic, psychopathic, maladjusted social misfit who is clearly in the middle of a very deep homosexual panic."  But "About Last Night..." is more than just funny.  It's also smart and honest.  I admired how it dealt with the relationships between the lovers and their closest friends and how those relationships altered as a result of their union.  Most movie romances too easily exist in a vacuum.  This movie is far more intelligent than most.

# 8 - "Brokeback Mountain"

I didn't know what to expect from this movie.  I didn't expect anything bad.  (I've always admired the work of director Ang Lee.)  I guess I just wasn't sure how I'd react to the impact of this type of story.  I myself am not gay, though I've never been put off by homosexual unions.  (Nor do I possess a suspiciously overzealous aversion to male nudity, though the film never quite ventures there.)  The movie does a nice job of walking a narrative tightrope between an honest depiction of homosexual attraction without presenting it in an overly self-aggrandizing manner.  The sex is dealt with, but not focused on.  This is more a story of a forbidden love that lasts for years and greatly impacts Jack and Ennis as their lives attempt to veer down more "traditional" avenues. 

# 7 - "Chasing Amy"

I'm a big admirer of Kevin Smith.  The main thing I take away from his work is that he is not cynical.  That's key.  It's what makes his "Chasing Amy" the best, in my opinion, of his Jersey Trilogy.  Yes, his dialogue is frank, explicit and funny.  Yet the characters he creates are not masters of irony.  They come right out with what they feel, warts and all.  Whether it's a gay black man detailing the veiled racism in the Star Wars Trilogy ("You got cracker farm boy, Luke Skywalker.  Nazi-poster boy, blond hair, blue eyes.  And then... you got Darth Vader.  The blackest brother in the galaxy.  We're talkin' Nubian God!")  or a comic book author debating the sexual preferences of Archie and Jughead  ("You're out of your mind, Archie is not fucking Mr. Weatherbee!"), Smith's characters revel in their respective passions.  But what makes "Chasing Amy" so effective are the blossoming feelings Holden (Ben Affleck) has for his lesbian friend Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams).  In the world of Smith, her sexual preference is no match for his feelings, and the movie is brave enough to explore what happens when he expresses those feelings.  Here is a movie far more interested in how these characters grow than whether or not they end up happy together.

# 6 - "Pride and Prejudice"

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
                      -- Jane Austen

As explained in the opening line of Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", marriage is a business yet the characters more often than not are unable to resist the temptation to treat it as a pleasure.  Joe Wright's film adaptation of the Austen novel has Keira Knightley as the vibrant, kind, lovely young Elizabeth Bennet.  She is smart, has strong opinions, can love but can be equally firm in her convictions and unforgiving.  Her introduction to the unassumingly handsome but not always charming Darcy (Matthew McFadyen) is fraught with misunderstandings, complications, and wrong impressions.  The feelings are there immediately, but it's only when truths are revealed and they see the goodness in each other do they fall into each others' arms.  This movie is a delight.

# 5 - "In America"

This one may seem like a stretch, as you could say it's more about an immigrant family struggling to build a life for themselves than about a romantic relationship.  It is, but the love between the husband Johnny (Paddy Considine) and the wife Sarah (Samantha Morton) is always vibrating beneath the surface.  Just prior to moving to America, they lost a son named Frankie to an illness.  They still have two beautiful daughters (Sarah and Emma Bolger) and Johnny spares no attempts to provide them with a better life.  Yet his struggles coupled with the still fresh feelings of grief from both him and his wife are beginning to erect an emotional barricade.  The wife and daughters befriend an artist in their apartment building dying of AIDS (Djimon Hounsou) and Johnny is resentful.  He confronts the man.  "Are you in love with my wife?" he inquires.  The answer is a lightning bolt into reality.  "Yes.  And I'm in love with your daughters.  And you.  I'm in love with anything that is alive."  The whole movie turns on that moment.  The emotional climax comes at the end, after his daughter defiantly orders her father to "say goodbye to Frankie, dad."  He asks his wife to join him on the apartment balcony.  The night is warm.  The moon glows brightly in the sky.  They gaze out at the stars, hold each other, and together... in each others' arms... they bid goodbye to their son.

# 4 - "Shadowlands"

"Shadowlands" tells the story of how famed "Narnia" author and religious apologist C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) lived a successful but passionless life as an instructor at Oxford University until he met a spirited American poet named Joy Gresham (Debra Winger).  The power of the story isn't in the romance between Lewis and Gresham, but in how that relationship opens things up for Lewis.  Their love points a spotlight on the manner in which Lewis has shielded himself from pain behind a facade of philosophical doubt and understated intellectual authority bestowed upon him by his profession.  The tragic events that unfold force Lewis to confront his feelings of grief, and imbues in him the strength and conviction to share that grief with her son, Doug (Joseph Mazzello) in a scene of remarkable power.  This is a love story that transcends generations.

# 3 - "All the Real Girls"

David Gordon Green's thoughtful, introspective look at a small town romance between a known "womanizer" named Paul (Paul Schneider) and his best friend's sister Noel (Zooey Deschanel) is modestly-paced but rich in detail, as the characters grow, emerge from their respective shells, shed attitudes and learn things about themselves through the perceptions of others.  Not a single false moment.  The characters are shown in full dimension, resulting in a variegated array of opinions from viewers.  After I first saw the movie, I overheard debates from other patrons about whether the feelings and attitudes conveyed by different characters were genuine, honest, and true.  That's rare.  Most movies demand you view their characters a specific way by the time the end credits roll.  This film observes its relationships the way a documentary camera observes its subject.

# 2 - "Before Sunrise"

I love this movie.  It contains my single favorite romantic movie moment.  (A lovely scene in a record store listening booth, as both young lovers-to-be steal glances at one another while Kath Bloom's "Come Here" livens up the atmosphere.)   There's absolutely no melodrama in Richard Linklater's film.  There are no betrayals, no forced sentiment, no grandiloquent speeches.  Taking place over the course of an afternoon and a night, it involves little more than two young travelers who meet on a train, strike up a meaningful conversation, agree to disembark in Vienna and spend some time together.  Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are both young, full of opinions, eager about the future, untouched by cynicism and fate's fickle hand.  Of course, this leads them to the mistaken belief that once they part ways, they can simply agree to meet in a year at the same location.  Naturally, life intervenes, the follow-up meet never takes place, and...

# 1 - "Before Sunset"

...they don't meet again until nine years later in Paris, when Jesse, now a writer on tour, encounters Celine in her favorite obscure book store.  I was originally going to put these two movies as one, but that would have been grossly unfair.  The situations are similar... both movies involve two characters deep in conversation, but their life situations are so vastly different that the movies cannot be lumped together.  What began nine years earlier as attitudes empowered by possibility and unencumbered by the relentless ticking of life's clock, has now become more complex.  More thoughtful.  Optimism has been replaced by emotional complexity and a greater sense of wisdom.   Their lives didn't turn out like they had planned.  (Whose does?)  But they do have a sharper view of what they want at this very point in their lives.  She takes him to her apartment.  He agrees to stay a while, yet we know he has a plane to catch.  Nine years earlier, he made sure to get her back on the train and on to her destination.  Now?  "Baby," she says to him.  "You're going to miss that plane."  He smiles.  Doesn't move a muscle.  "Yes, I am."

Yes, love rules in the movies.  Happy Valentine's Day, readers!

My Top 10 Films of 2010...

Top Ten lists. 

I love 'em and I hate 'em.  They're enormous fun to put together, until you realize there are so many good movie releases in the past year that not all can make the list.   

Anyway, here it is... the most subjective of cinematic lists.

 # 10  --  "True Grit"
When the Coen brothers veer from quirky independent to mainstream movies, they do mainstream movies a favor.  Not a Coen classic, but to demand such is a pretty tall order.  "True Grit" is a very entertaining Western with a unique style all its own, aided by standout performances from Bridges, Damon, and Hallee Steinfeld. 

# 9  --  "Winter's Bone"
The story of an Ozark girl's attempts to locate her crystal meth cook father before her family loses their home is a powerful movie that works more as a mystery than a thriller.  Family secrets bubble to the surface and painful truths are revealed.  The unforgiving Ozark landscape is almost a character in itself, choking any efforts to uncover the truth.  Jennifer Lawrence's central performance is a curious mix of subtlety and intensity.  A most deserved Oscar nomination.

# 8  --  "The Kids are All Right"
Lisa Cholodenko's film about the upheaval of a lesbian marriage when the sperm donor re-enters the picture is a terrific blend of humor and drama, with two of the most spot-on performances lighting up the screen from Bening and Moore.  I can think of no higher compliment than forgetting I'm watching actors at work and feel like I'm seeing life unfold.

# 7  --  "Rabbit Hole"
A perceptive examination of grief that even manages to find humor in the situation. This isn't merely a story of a couple grieving a loss, but finding their own individual paths toward coping.  One of Nicole Kidman's best performances. Based on the stage play by David Lindsay-Abaire.

# 6  --  "Blue Valentine"
Not all endings are happy ones.  If they were, love wouldn't be considered a risk.  Derek Cianfrance's deliberately-paced, introspective look into the psychological machinations of young love embraces the notion of risk with unbridled ardor.  Stellar performances from two of the best actors of their generation in Williams and Gosling.

# 5  --  "Black Swan"
Darren Aronofsky's half-drama, half-thriller, all-wicked story of a young ballet dancer's descent into her own paranoia of Hell takes enormous pride in its over-the-top zeal.  Portman is tremendous in the lead role, struggling to realize her dreams amidst a claustrophobic cloud of jealousy, debauchery, and others' competitive spirit.

# 4  --  "The Social Network"
The silly little "Facebook" movie?  Hell, yes.  I loved this film.  Director David Fincher takes a break from serial killer movies and reverse-aging storylines to helm this Aaron Sorkin-scribed gem about the meteoric rise of Facebook and the complicated relationships involving founder Mark Zuckerberg. 

# 3  --  "The King's Speech"
What begins as a story about overcoming a speech impediment transforms into a remarkable tale of friendship, loyalty, love, and leadership.  It's not only about finding one's voice, but about unsheathing the courage to follow that voice.  Anyone in a position of leadership jousts with insecurity at some point.  Those who don't?  Those who are allegedly "born to lead"?  We have a name for them... tyrants.

# 2  --  "127 Hours"
A trapped limb vs. the human spirit in Danny Boyle's amazing film about the true life horror experienced by Aron Ralston deep in a crevasse in the desolate Utah country.  Not for the faint of heart.  James Franco brilliantly captures the mental progression from disbelief to contemplation to personal reflection to the ultimate decision to free himself and return to his loved ones.

# 1  --  "Inception"
Christopher Nolan has been credited with reinventing the "Batman" franchise.  He's done more than that.  The British visionary has reinvented the Hollywood Blockbuster altogether.  So much for all big-budget movies being categorically "brain-dead."  This film is more than just smart.  It's perhaps the most challenging type of story told this year.  Nolan continues to push the boundaries of what we think is possible in the art of cinema.  "Inception" is perversely brilliant filmmaking.

Let's hope 2011 offers more of the same quality.  Fingers crossed.

"Sanctum"

Runtime:1 hr. 43 min.

Rated R for language, some violence and disturbing images

Cast: Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Wakefield

Director: Alister Grierson

"Sanctum" is sort of like one of those forty minute IMAX documentaries that has been lengthened by an hour and given modestly-developed characters.  The end result is a movie about an hour too long with modestly-developed characters we couldn't give a rat's ass about.  Some things are better left to the Discovery Channel.

I must admit, however, that I was curious about this movie.  The idea of cave-jumping seemed intriguing to me, though I know it wouldn't be for everyone.  One person's interest in parts of the earth where no human being has explored is another person's view of a movie about halfwit daredevils jumping into a hole.  Still, my curiosity was aroused...

...until the realization set in that this was going to be nothing more than a cliche-ridden survival romp through 3D land. 

The first half-hour is a diarrhea of exposition, as we learn all sorts of routine tidbits about characters who may or may not meet their demise in creatively gruesome ways.  We have the veteran grizzled explorer (Richard Roxburgh) who growls through his dialogue.  The explorer's rebellious son (Rhys Wakefield) who learns responsibility and comes to an understanding with his absent father.  The obligatory female (Alice Parkinson) who possesses a tough exterior, though seems to become squeamish on cue.  ("I'm not wearing the body suit that's been on a dead person!")  And of course, there's the eccentric billionaire (Ioan Gruffudd) who is funding the expedition.  Gruffudd is a fine character actor, but he opts for a bizarre line delivery, enunciating every syllable like he's trying to drive his dialogue through the other actors.  I don't expect acting nuance in this type of movie, but this guy is about as subtle as a hammer to the face.  They may as well have cast Jon Lovitz in the role.

We are presented with a few mundane details about the location and the cave itself.  We're even shown an animation display mapping out the entire maze of caverns.  But unlike the animation near the beginning of "Titanic" that actually served a purpose, as it helped us to understand what was happening as the ship sank... the animation here is meaningless.  We're unable to make heads or tails out of what's happening once the protagonists venture into the darkness. 

The explorers find themselves in danger when the cave begins to flood from the rain waters above ground.  This development had me scratching my head.  Upon learning the cave is flooding, one explorer contacts the surface... "What's going on?  The cave is flooding!"  The reply?  "We've had an unforeseen development.  The massive thunderstorm has turned into a cyclone!"

Unforeseen development?  The massive thunderstorm has turned into a cyclone?  Okay... yeah... but... see... it was already a massive thunderstorm.  Rain is, after all, still rain is it not?  I mean, how could these guys not predict the possibility of rainfall during a massive thunderstorm?  And even barring that little bit of sea-level logic, couldn't these guys tune into a weather forecast?  Seems they ought to have the equipment available.  But I digress.

In any event, the escape route collapses, the adventurers are trapped, many die in jaw-droppingly sick ways, others turn on one another.  You get the idea. 

The one positive thing I can say about the experience is that, unlike "The Green Hornet", the film isn't migraine-inducing.  It doesn't obliterate your senses.  Yet once again, the added dimension offers nothing to the story.  3D, by its very nature, causes the images on screen to become fuzzier, darker, less distinct.  Those unfortunate traits are exacerbated when a good portion of the movie takes place in enclosed darkness where the benefits of the third dimension are unable to be detected.  Hate to say it, 3D fans, but the effect is proving itself to be pointless in film after film. 

The most disappointing thing for me, though, was the lack of wonder.  Sadly, the potential of giving the audience a firsthand look at parts of the world untouched by man has been subjugated by a routine storyline involving the exchange of platitudes by even more routine characters. 

Did my expectations play a role in my reaction?  I'm sure they did, but expectations are a part of the movie-going experience, whether the filmmakers want to acknowledge it or not.  The bottom line is, I went into "Sanctum" hoping to be overcome with a sense of awe.  What I got was a movie about a bunch of halfwit daredevils jumping into a hole.

* *  out of  * * * *  stars

"The Roommate"

Runtime:1 hr. 33 min.

Rated PG-13 for violence and menace, sexual content, some language and teen partying

Cast: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Alyson Michalka, Danneel Harris

Director: Christian E. Christiansen

Common sense is anthrax to a movie like "The Roommate."  It's one of those paint-by-number thrillers where the characters are absolutely forbidden to exercise even the smallest modicum of independent thought.  If our heroine would pull her pretty little head out of the clouds at the most obvious signs of danger, there might not even be a movie.

The film is essentially a remake of the 1992 Barbet Schroeder thriller "Single White Female", even though it is not credited as such.  (The two movies were based on different books... John Lutz' "SWF Seeks Same" and Francine Pascal's "The Roommate".  But the books had almost identical plots.  Lutz' book was released first.  So, putting the whole connect-the-copyright-dots thing aside, let's just call the movie what it is... a remake.)

"Single White Female" was not a stellar movie but it was more interesting, just plausible enough, and benefited from a creepy performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh as an obsessive personality whose dependency seemed bred from the depths of true madness.  The character in "The Roommate" played by Leighton Meester is creepy only because the plot needs her to be.

Meester plays Rebecca, a cute co-ed with a dark side.  The newfound object of her obsessive desire is Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly), her new college roommate.  Sara has just broken up with her boyfriend and as a result, has chosen the west coast for her educational pursuits over Brown University.  (The first of many unwise decisions.)  They immediately bond, and Sara wastes no time in inexplicably offering up details about her background, including the death of her sister.  Rebecca is noticeably obsessive right off the bat, but the plot needs Sara to remain oblivious even though her friends catch on to her roommate's true nature.

Rebecca is instantly needy, and threatens those she deems "bad influences" on Sara.  She does this employing methods that can only be seen in the movies.  In one eye roll-inducing scene, Sara's best friend is taking a shower in the dorm washrooms.  She hears something, turns off the shower.  The sound of another shower several stalls away is heard.  She races to that shower.  "I know it's you, Rebecca!" she declares.  She pulls open the curtain to that stall... empty.  She turns off that shower, but another shower can be heard.  She races to that one.  Empty.  Turns it off and... yep, another shower is heard.  And on this ridiculous sequence goes.  (This chick makes Wile E. Coyote seem measured in his scheme preparation.)  The friend is finally attacked and her life threatened.

Other acquaintances are put in harm's way, including the new love in Sara's life (Cam Gigandet), her fashion designer friend (Danneel Harris), and a lecherous professor (Billy Zane).

By contrast, "Single White Female" was set in New York and what made it believable was Bridget Fonda's insecurity and feelings of isolation in the confines of an unfamiliar city.  As a result, she opted to put out an ad for a roommate.  That movie dealt, at least on some level, with the theme of dependency.  She didn't catch on to the obsessive tendencies of the Jennifer Jason Leigh character right away because she felt a sense of security in having a familiar face close by.  Plus, there was a kind of sibling kinship before things started to turn sour.  No such kinship exists in "The Roommate."  One character is stupefyingly oblivious while the other is just plain weird.

I was also bothered by something else.  It's a trend developing in modern-day thrillers.  That is the movie's need to dilute itself down to PG-13 level.  In an effort to obtain that ever-elusive MPAA rating, films are refusing to be daring.  Barbet Schroeder wasn't afraid to make "SWF" disturbing, strange, and uncomfortable.  For example... in one scene, Jennifer Jason Leigh enters the room of Fonda's fiance late at night.  He's asleep.  She passes herself off as her roommate, removes her clothes, climbs into bed with him, performs oral sex, forces an orgasm, then in a heated confrontation, she jams the heel of her shoe into his eye socket.  It wasn't art, but at least it was something.  I don't like to think of myself as depraved, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't holding out hope for a hint of nudity or some creative death scene that could get me through "The Roommate".  No such luck.

Are my comparisons to "SWF" unfair?  I don't think so.  In the end, it doesn't matter.  Regardless of any comparison, "The Roommate" was afflicted with the absolute inability to garner my interest, and the only antidote was the end credits as they mercifully began to scroll up the screen.

* 1/2  out of  * * * *  stars

"Rabbit Hole"

Runtime:1 hr. 31 min.

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, language and some drug use

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, Miles Teller, Tammy Blanchard

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

From all outward appearances, the couple seems to be living a normal life.  They appear to be working hard to convey that normalcy... not just to those in their immediate environment, but to each other.  When they're alone, however, we see the pain and longing break through the emotional fissures in their being.

The husband never misses a day from his job, maintains a healthy social rapport with his friends and colleagues, exercises daily... but stays up late at night in the emotional confines of the living room, watches cell phone video of his four-year-old son.

The wife works tirelessly around the house, spends a copious amount of time perfecting the appearance of her garden.  Although she does spend a chunk of her alone time trailing a school bus, awaiting a youth's disembarkment.  He was the unfortunate soul behind the wheel when her little boy was struck and killed mere months ago.  She isn't overcome with anger.  Looks more curious.  Needs a connection of some sort.

They have lost a child.  "Rabbit Hole" is a movie about grief, though not so much about overcoming it.  It's too intelligent and perceptive for that.  If there is a resolution here, it's more in the accepting of their fate in a manner that allows them to maintain an acceptable lifestyle.  Seldom do we see a movie where the final verbal exchange includes: "Then what?" followed by: "I don't know.  Something."

The struggle to get there is a colossal one.  The film is set eight months after their son's accident.  (He chased his dog into the street, was hit by a car.)  That time frame is crucial to the story.  It marks what the husband Howie (Aaron Eckhart) seems to think should be some sort of turning point.  Trying to have another child, perhaps?  The wife Becca (Nicole Kidman) isn't ready.  They do, however, strive to keep up appearances, including attending a nightly bereavement group.  Becca tries accompanying Howie, but the piousness of the other members weighs too heavily on her secular side.  (After listening to platitudes like "God took our little daughter 'cause He needed another angel," Becca jumps in.  "So why didn't He just make another angel.  I mean, He is God, after all.  Right?  Just putting it out there.") 

We learn Becca has experienced previous loss in her life.  Her drug-addicted brother died eleven years ago, leading to a somewhat strained relationship with her mother (Dianne Wiest), who consistently imparts unwanted bits of advice to her daughter.  Her brother's self-destruction also contributes to Becca's loving-yet-tricky relationship with her a-little-too-free-spirit sister (Tammy Blanchard), now pregnant with her first child. 

Strangely, the only solace Becca receives is from afternoons sitting on a park bench with Jason (Miles Tenner), the young man behind the wheel when little Danny was hit.  Becca and Jason are kind to one another.  They need these quiet moments to deal with the circumstances, even though they only discuss it sporadically.  "I want you to know that the speed limit was thirty, but I may have been going thirty-one or thirty-two," the boy confesses, straining to keep his voice crack-free.  "If I see myself going too fast, I usually slow down."  Your heart aches for this kid.

Howie continues to attend the support group meetings, and becomes close with another member... a kind, recently-separated woman named Gaby (Sandra Oh).  His struggles at home give rise to the possibility of an extramarital affair with his new friend, but changes his mind at the last minute.  A lost soul fighting for her own sense of inner-peace, Gaby is a decent woman.  Her reaction to his change of heart is interesting... she opens herself up to the possibility of a physical connection to Howie, yet remains open enough to understand his reasons for not going through with it.

The screenplay is by David Lindsay-Abaire, based upon his stage play.  Remarkably, director John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch") has somehow created a film that doesn't feel at all confined the way most stage-play-to-movie conversions do.  The narrative landscape isn't dotted with grandiloquent speeches common in stage productions.  Instead, there's a fluidity to the story that imbues the viewer with a slice-of-life feel while maintaining the palpability of the emotional tension between the couple. 

Mitchell also manages to not paint the story outlines with an overly-melancholic brush.  He and screenwriter Lindsay-Abaire are able to grasp a surprising amount of humor from the situation.  I liked the exchange when Becca's mother recalls an inexhaustible family friend who would spend her entire afternoons in her presence, offering to "share her grief."  "Share my grief?" her mom recalls thinking.   "She'd plant her fat ass in my kitchen chair, eat all my cinnamon rolls, drink my coffee, then leave.  Where was this alleged 'grief' she was supposed to be taking with her?" 

I don't know what it's like to lose a loved one in such a manner.  And I haven't a clue how close a representation of loss this film is.  But I admired its ability to convey the notion that grief, while never able to be overcome, does come embedded with a reminder of one's capacity for unbridled love with no conditions.  The description of loss that resonated most with me came from Becca's mother, when asked if the grief ever ends...

"No.  Not really.  It's something you learn to live with.  Even something you can occasionally crawl out from under.  You carry it with you, like a brick in your pocket.  You even manage to forget it for a short time.  Then you reach in there for something and...

... oh, right.  That."

* * * 1/2  out of  * * * *  stars

"The Social Network"

Runtime:2 hr. 1 min.

Rated PG-13 for language, drug and alcohol use and sexual content

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer Jr., Max Minghella

Director: David Fincher

NOTE:  Because I started this blog late in the year, I've opted to go back and review movies currently up for multiple Academy Awards.

"The Social Network" begins and ends with two assessments of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  The first is of the pre-billionaire Zuckerberg, after his college girlfriend breaks up with him following a verbal confrontation in a Harvard night club.  ("You're going to go through life thinking girls don't like you because you're a nerd.  But you're wrong.  It's because you're an asshole!")  The second is from an associate for the law firm representing Zuckerberg in two separate lawsuits.  She offers a different perspective.  Not a polar opposite take, but a different one nonetheless.  What takes place in between is a fascinating exploration into Facebook's meteoric rise, and the tribulations that too often defined the relationship between Zuckerberg and those in his immediate circle.

Based upon the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, the film follows the journey of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) from the remarkable on-the-fly creation of "FaceMash" in the confines of his dorm room...  a site where Harvard students could rate the "hotness" of undergraduate girls.  Born the result of a post-break-up-anger-plus-alcohol binge with the assistance of his roommate Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazzello) and his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the site accumulated 22,000 hits off the bat, crashing the school's internal network. 

That stunt raised the ire of virtually the entire female undergraduate body but caught the attention of Porcellian club elites and champion rowers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played by Armie Hammer) who have an idea for an online social network.  Zuckerberg listens to their pitch, agrees to help with writing the necessary program code, but soon after stops correspondence with the twins, opting instead to work on his own project.  He enlists the financial assistance of Eduardo, and the new site is born.  They call it "The Facebook."

Upon learning of Zuckerberg's creation, the twins are irate.  Was the idea stolen?  The movie seems to hint in that direction, but stops short of stating it.  Zuckerberg's actions are suspicious, but he stands by the originality of his creation.  When questioned about it by Eduardo, he swears he didn't use the same code utilized in the Winklevoss' concept.  "If someone builds a really nice chair, do they have to pay everyone else who builds a chair?" he asks rhetorically. 

The site gains popularity, to the point where Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) sits up and takes notice.  A slick young entrepreneur with wicked smarts offset by an even more wicked tendency to not work and play well with others, Parker offers his own input regarding the possible future for the newly-created social network in a meeting with Zuckerberg and his associates.  Eduardo is immediately suspicious.  He'd rather attempt to acquire advertisers in New York City.  Parker says California is the way to go.  "You know what's better than a few million dollars?" he says.  "A billion."  Zuckerberg is won over.  Eduardo is eventually forced out.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher have managed something quite remarkable... a fully engrossing movie about characters who do little more than sit in a room and talk.  I have a few friends who scoff at the concept here, dismissing it as a "silly Facebook movie".  What can I say?  I've seen it twice now, and have been enthralled both times. 

The main reason is the depiction of Zuckerberg himself.  Is it accurate?  It's pointless of me to muse on such things.  I have no idea of its legitimacy, and I'll never know.  All I can say is that I was pulled in immediately.  Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a brilliant, driven yet socially awkward young man at the mercy of his own emotional reactions.  (Show me one insecure college kid who isn't.)  He doesn't come off as deliberately underhanded.  At one point, the plaintiff's lawyer opens up the possibility that Zuckerberg was obsessed with the notion of exclusivity and became jealous of Eduardo Saverin's acceptance into the Phoenix social club, and that was what led her client to be forced out.  Zuckerberg argues convincingly against this.  ("You're trying to establish that I was planning to force him out of a company I hadn't started yet.")  Zuckerberg's rift with Eduardo came, I believe, when Eduardo froze the funds needed to run the site because of his suspicions about Parker. 

Zuckerberg does seem guilty, however, of an inherent desire to stick it to anyone he believes holds a higher social status.  It's hard to say definitively if the Facebook concept was lifted wholly and directly from the Winklevoss twins because Zuckerberg himself appears convinced it wasn't.  He wastes no time in claiming the reason for their lawsuit is because "for once, things didn't work out exactly as they wanted it to."  It's that insecurity and veiled paranoia that links him, I think, with Parker and draws him away from Eduardo.  His affiliation with Sean Parker certainly made him richer, but fed his insatiable appetite for mistrust and widened the gap between himself and his former inner-circle.

The testimony against Zuckerberg certainly takes its toll, but does result in kind advice offered by the junior law associate (Rashida Jones).  She tells him to settle the lawsuit.  That it's "a speeding ticket" in the grand scheme of things.  But there's another reason.  She senses his loneliness, and sees that being on the receiving end of this suit is forcing his hand in ways that continue to isolate him.  "You're not an asshole, Mark" she offers.  "You're just trying so hard to be one." 

The long day of testimony has ended for him.  Everyone has gone home.  He sits alone, his laptop open upon the table before him.  He has nowhere to go.  No one to see.  He logs on to Facebook.  Calls up the profile page of the girlfriend who dumped him years ago.  The torch still burns.  He's not destroyed.  He has simply come to an understanding that faces all of us during our lifetime.  That social insecurity cannot be circumvented.  Before we can place our acceptance at the mercy of those around us, we must first accept ourselves... with all our flaws in tow.  That's a mighty tall order, regardless if you're a student, employed and living paycheck to paycheck, or the creator of an enterprise worth over twenty-five billion dollars.

* * * *  out of  * * * *  stars

"Conviction"

Runtime:1 hr. 47 min.

Rated R for language and some violent images

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, Ari Graynor, Loren Dean, Conor Donovan, Owen Campbell, Tobias Campbell, Bailee Madison, Clea Duvall, Karen Young, Talia Balsam, John Pyper-Ferguson, Juliette Lewis

Director: Tony Goldwyn

NOTE:  The following review may contain spoilers for those who aren't familiar with the true story of Betty Anne Waters. 

One of the tragedies of the human condition is the almost seductive tendency to deny oneself peace and contentment.  It's all too easy for an individual to convince themselves they're not worthy, especially if they come from a broken home. 

"Conviction" tells the true story of Betty Anne Waters, a single mother who put herself through law school for no other reason than to represent her listless brother... a man convicted of a crime he didn't commit.  But it's also about how Betty Anne's endeavor helped to expand the potential for meaning in a life that until then offered little in the way of hope.

Betty Anne (Hilary Swank) and her brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) grew up under dire circumstances.  Neglected by their mother (Karen Young), they took solace in the comfort of each other's company.  True, they would never have been mistaken for well-behaved adolescents, but they loved one another without reservation.  One of their favorite pastimes as children, we're shown, was to break into homes... not to steal, but to imagine a life better than the one bestowed upon them. 

Cut to years later.  Betty Anne has just become engaged and works as a waitress.  Kenny is already married and has a little girl.  Neither one has the most glowing reputation in the town of Ayer, Massachusetts.  Yet Betty Anne appears to be building some semblance of structure in her life.  Kenny, meanwhile, is known primarily as the town hellraiser. 

A murder is committed.  Katharina Brow has been stabbed and brutally beaten to death in her home.  Signs point to Kenny as a potential person of interest.  Investigating officer Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo) arrives at Kenny's residence.  He may not have been guilty but he sure was reckless.  Without an understanding of the possible charges that could be levied against him, he responds to Taylor's request for questioning in an unwise manner.  ("Easy there, Angie Dickenson.")  He is taken in for questioning, but later released.  Two years pass.  One day out of the blue, he is again taken into custody and officially charged with the crime.  His response is unsettlingly cryptic.  ("You guys let me off for that two years ago!") 

He is convicted, sent to prison for life.  Upon learning of Kenny's suicide attempt in jail, Betty Anne sets about studying the law and the specifics of her brother's case.  With the help of an eager schoolmate (Minnie Driver) and ultimately the assistance of the Innocence Project led by famed lawyer Barry Scheck (Peter Gallagher) she overcomes a plethora of obstacles to win Kenny's freedom. 

The film is better than the tv-movie-of-the-week description makes it sound.  Screenwriter Pamela Gray skillfully weaves the siblings' childhood emotional neglect with Betty Anne's ultimate need to offer hope to her despondent brother.  It's interesting how she somewhat backs into her decision to enter law school.  Consider the scene where she first informs Kenny of her intentions.  She tells him, "it may take eighty years and even then I might not have the answer."  An intriguing approach to the conversation; it invites the notion that she herself doesn't believe she can accomplish it, but needs to find some way to ingest even the most embryonic molecule of hope into Kenny's predicament.  There's no courtroom grandstanding here.  Gray has smartly taken a grassroots approach to the script.

The story lends itself to big screen adaptation, and director Tony Goldwyn knows it.  He has a confident, laid back approach to the material, allowing it to unfold through the power of the central performances.  An actor himself (he was Patrick Swayze's double-dealing best friend in "Ghost" and most recently the antagonist in "The Mechanic") he wisely places the fate of the story in the hands of his actors, rather than attempting to marry the performances to an unnecessarily distinct visual style.

Swank seems to gravitate toward these kinds of roles.  They have won her two Oscars, although the dice don't always come up sevens.  ("Amelia", anyone?)  What impresses me, however, is that she tackles roles that could easily slip into a cacophony of over-the-top, grandiloquent speeches about injustice, yet she consistently resists the temptation to do so.  She portrays Betty Anne as a tireless, dedicated, loving sister... but a curiously non-confrontational one.  Her goal isn't just to free Kenny from prison, but to free him from the mental pain inflicted as a result.  Playing a polar opposite personality, Sam Rockwell matches her performance step-for-step.  He imbues Kenny with a cynicism that works like legal quicksand to his dilemma.  There's no condoning what officer Nancy Taylor did, but Kenny really helped make himself a target.  (In a cruel twist-of-fate, Kenny died after falling from a wall while taking a short cut en route to a Chinese restaurant a mere six months following his release.)

At one point in the story, Betty Anne's two sons debate whether they'd be willing to sacrifice their lives in attempting to rescue the other from a predicament like the one faced by their uncle.  "You think I sacrificed my life?"  she asks earnestly.  By the end of the movie we learn she did the opposite.  Not only because she was successful in earning Kenny's freedom, but her quest threw open a whole new chapter in her life.  (She now works for the Innocence Project.)  Her efforts netted her two prizes... her brother's freedom and the notion that those dreams of a better life were, in fact, possible after all.

* * *  out of  * * * *  stars