Furious on Film 06.07.07: Issue 92
Posted by Arnold Furious on 06.07.2007
Peter Weir’s career, Idi Amin, Will Ferrell gets serious, Kelly Reilly gets naked, Dane Cook gets my ire and Kevin Smith is cheap!
Furious on Film 06.07.07: Issue 92
Peter Weir's career, Idi Amin, Will Ferrell gets serious, Kelly Reilly gets naked, Dane Cook gets my ire and Kevin Smith is cheap!
Fuck the intro. You know what I'm about by now. With just 8 weeks to go until the epic release of Furious on Film #100, already in the writing stage, this week will see a preview of the format via the medium of the honourable mention. A contender for the top 100 who came up a little short. Let me know your thoughts via the usual email address; arnold.furious@virgin.net.
Warning – could well contain minor spoilers throughout. Films are rated on a ***** scale. This week we have…
Last King of Scotland, Stranger than Fiction, Mrs Henderson Presents and Employee of the Month
The Furious 100: Directors
Honourable mention #3
PETER WEIR (Australia)
HONOURS – Nominated for several Oscars. For directing he got nominated for Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, the Truman Show, Dead Poet's Society and Witness. He also received a writing nomination for Green Card. I personally think he could have easily won for Dead Poet's Society. Oliver Stone edged him out that year with Born on the 4th of July. The same films, bar Green Card, also got him Golden Globe nominations. AFI (that's Australian Film Institute) were more generous though and gave him best director for Gallipoli in 1981. At the BAFTA's he's won the David Lean Award twice and won best film with Dead Poet's Society in 1990. He was nominated for the Palm D'Or at Cannes for Year of Living Dangerously.
TOP FILMS – The Truman Show, Dead Poet's Society, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, Witness, Gallipoli and the Mosquito Coast.
OPINION – Peter Weir has had one hell of a career. You must be a good director to get four Academy Award nominations. Things like that don't just happen by accident. I remember being deeply effected by Dead Poet's Society growing up and even remember watching it in school for English Literature. It probably helped that Robin Williams picked one of his moments to suddenly go from being slightly unfunny in a film with a bad script to acting everyone off the screen that comes anywhere near him. He has a bad habit of slipping in and out of this ability, which is quite frustrating. Weir also benefited from an acting hungry Jim Carrey turning in one of his better performances in the Truman Show. It was a film that needed a big central character and Carrey provided that. Weir's calm hand in directing allows careful pacing in a world where that normally doesn't happen. It's perhaps his patience that gets dramatic rewards from actors not usually recognised for their acting abilities. If you think about it he not only launched the careers of Carrey and Williams as serious actors but also did no harm to Harrison Ford's portfolio with the Mosquito Coast and Witness. The latter being the first film he really shows any kind of range. In retrospect you could probably look at Harrison Ford and think he'd have become a big crossover star and a successful actor anyway but there was Peter Weir taking the risks and making it happen. With four Oscar nominations he now ties Sidney Lumet for the most nominations without winning, of those directors still alive to complain about it. Maybe Shadow Divers will be his Oscar film in 2009. You heard it here first!
Last King of Scotland (2006)
EXPECTATIONS – I didn't intend to end up with any week where every film is from the past two years but sometimes Lovefilm.com likes to do that to me. So here we are in modern times throughout this week's column. Last King of Scotland got quite the buzz surrounding it after Forest Whitaker won an Oscar for best actor with his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Whitaker's wonky eyed quietly spoken personality has seen his star rise over the years but this is his first real recognition. It could have been Bird as far back as the late 80's. It could easily have been Ghost Dog in 1999 but it's good to see him finally get plaudits for a fine performance. The director here is Kevin MacDonald stepping out of his usual comfort zone. He's a documentary film maker who made a real splash with the narrative inclined feature length docu-drama Touching the Void. It was clear he knew his cinematic dos and don'ts and was lined up for this film. It's also the big break out film for James McAvoy who's had small parts in the likes of Wimbledon and the Chronicles of Narnia movie. Since this he's been cast opposite Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie in back to back films. Things are looking up. Although he has Kerry Washington in this film so he'd already arrived on the babe scale.
TRAILER –
PLOT – Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) has just become a doctor. Instead of following in his father's footsteps and working in Scotland he opts instead to go to the first place on the globe his finger lands on. It ends up being Uganda and he quickly finds himself at home there flirting with his employers' wife Sarah (Gillian Anderson) and playing football with the locals. As he's arriving a military coup takes place and a new leader is installed in power; General Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Through a series of events Garrigan becomes the personal doctor and chief advisor to Amin. At first he enjoys the thrills of the experience but it becomes quickly apparent that something is very wrong in Uganda.
OPINION – Well you can see what the Academy was thinking when they voted for Forest Whitaker. I've not seen any of the other films with nominated actors but Whitaker's performance is exceptional. It seems that imitating a celebrity will do you well when it comes to the Oscars. Just in the past four years Jamie Fox won for his uncanny impersonation of Ray Charles and then Joaquin Phoenix came close for his take on Johnny Cash. The thing about playing someone who's famous is that everyone knows whether you've done a good job from one line of dialogue. Helen Mirren was much the same as The Queen. Forest nails Amin from scene one. He has that wild eyed insanity that must have been so hard to replicate. Forest genuinely looks insane in at least two scenes. His passionate and bipolar performance echoes the madness of Amin himself. Amin trusted no one. That's reflected by Whitaker's performance. Amin had such a lack of trust that he started killing people so they couldn't overthrow him. To begin with this was subtle and took place in the shadows, which is why McAvoy's doctor isn't aware of the true level of horrors being committed. But eventually Amin didn't bother to cover it up. He wanted people to fear him. His reign of eight years saw at least 10,000 people die every year because of him. Amnesty International suggest the figure may be much higher than the minimum estimate of 80,000 claiming that it could be as a high as 500,000 people as so many went missing during Amin's years in charge. When you're dealing with a dictator who has this level of control mixed with a huge amount of paranoia it'll be a big performance from whoever steps in front of the camera. But Whitaker keeps control over Amin. He's just as entertaining when he's telling stories and turning on the charm as when he's consumed by mistrust. Having seen interviews with Amin I can happily say he's done a great job with the character. Shooting in Uganda was very helpful to the cause because it supplied a backdrop full of people who'd survived Amin's regime. They were there so could provide expert historical analysis for the film makers. The bizarre thing about Amin is he was a normal guy who gained so much power so fast it just sent him over the edge. You look at his career in the army and at times his rise was meteoric. He originally served the British as a soldier before being appointed an officer and by the time the British withdrew there weren't many home grown talents in the army. He was just handed the army. He was also the boxing champion of the army for nine years. This was a well respected and powerful man before he decided to overthrow the government. That's how he was able to do so. In the Last King of Scotland we see the locals celebrating as he takes over power. If there's one thing people in general enjoy it's a changing of the guard. The system doesn't work so we fire the guy at the top. In England we always seem to be baying for the head of whatever is wrong. England football manager. Head of the home office. Top judge. It seems every week is a new campaign to oust someone in power for their failings. In Africa it's the head of the country. They just turf them out! Milton Obote was in power before Amin overthrew him and he'd only had four years in charge. The country just couldn't wait to get rid of him because there was a promise of something better. Nowadays when someone turns around and says "I'll do it better" we seem far quicker to say "yeah? How?" rather than "you can? Super. Get in there and get cracking". I've gone off on a tangent there. Last King of Scotland is an excellent thriller with some fine turns. Kerry Washington was surprisingly good as the love interest and turns in a piece of accent work on a par with the superb accent work of Forest Whitaker. It's a less showy role so the Academy didn't really notice but she's as good as Whitaker. For McAvoy it's a breakout performance. He's vulnerable as an action hero. He's a hero because he has so much to overcome. He has a huge battle. While it's not a great performance it's the kind of role and showing that could confirm him as a big star in years to come. He can play a lead. As soon as Ewen McGregor showed he could do that he was raking money in and waving a lightsabre around. McAvoy has similar potential. After all, everyone likes Scottish people.
BEST BIT – The girl on the bus asks Nicholas if they have monkeys in Scotland. His response is that if they did they'd probably deep fry them. That set the vibe for the film with Garrigan feeling a sense of freedom and enjoyment in his new world.
RATING - ****. Some of the plot is a bit of a reach and it's not perfect to set a dramatisation against actual events (it's a bit like Titanic in that respect) but generally it's an enthralling and satisfying thriller. The main roles are all filled with actors who felt they had something to prove. As a result every major role delivers. Whitaker, McAvoy and Washington are all very good and play their parts well. MacDonald does a great job with his first entirely dramatic film as well. Great stuff.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
EXPECTATIONS – There are several ways in which a film makes it's way onto my rental list. Mostly I just pick out stuff I want to see. Secondly I go after films that received critical acclaim. And finally I add films that are recommended to me. Stranger Than Fiction was, sort of, recommended to me by a reader called Tom N. He emailed me about 4 weeks ago to talk about Hollywoodland and added in an interesting comment about Stranger Than Fiction. Here's his comments; "I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Stranger Than Fiction. Personally I'm torn as to whether I liked it or not... interesting concept and solid acting, but somewhere I felt the movie kind of fell flat." Now that's the kind of thing I can get into. Even after watching the movie he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. I get that sometimes. So I put it on the rental list and four weeks later it arrived through my front door. Oddly enough right after I saw a trailer for it on another rental (don't ask me what film, I really can't remember) and I was drawn in by the concept. The director here is Marc Forster. That should ring some bells. He directed Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland. While he's perhaps a touch too sentimental he does do sentimental very well. Not quite as good as Spielberg but getting there. Meanwhile it's the first dramatic starring role for Will Ferrell. In the past comedians have crossed over into serious acting when they felt they'd taken comedy as far as it was going to go. Not every move is successful. Robin Williams actually did quite well for himself before a series of misfires put him back at the bottom. Eddie Murphy took several attempts before getting the formula right on Dream Girls. Jim Carrey is the most recent guy to jump from comedy to drama and do it successfully. He's done some surprisingly good work on Man on the Moon, The Majestic and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That's probably what Will Ferrell was thinking when he signed on to do this.
TRAILER –
PLOT – Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is just an ordinary guy. He lives alone. He works for the IRS. He's boring. That is until he discovers his life is being narrated by a novelist Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson). He seeks advice from literary expert Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) and accidentally falls for baker Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal). As he finds out more about his fate it appears less and less likely he can change it.
OPINION – The word ‘original' is not often thrown around these days. It's rare that something original comes along and when it does it tends to be in a language very few people understand starring no one of any consequence. For major Hollywood people to get behind something as bizarre as Stranger Than Fiction is quite pleasing. Of course the hardest thing to sell in movies is the hard to explain so Stranger Than Fiction made no money. It didn't lose any money either though, which is a very promising sign. Forster has clearly learned from his two major films experiences and Stranger Than Fiction is more rounded a viewing experience than his previous work. There's not such a heavy reliance on the actors. That said Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson pull out their usual strong performances. Thompson's chain smoking novelist with the megalomaniac complex is quite entertaining and her character is helped along the journey by the presence of her new assistant (Queen Latifah). The trailer seems to give away quite a lot about the plot but there are more twists and turns in first timer Zach Helm's screenplay than originally thought. He makes an effort to make Crick instantly unlikeable. A blank slate with little ambition and then Will Ferrell does a phenomenal job of changing our opinion of his character throughout the film. He's set up as a loser but even as a taxman he's not that bad a guy. Ferrell just strips away his usual nature and becomes this calm and dull little man. For a man born with no inhibitions it's weird to see him put those back on. Like he covered himself in mental armour to prepare for this role. While it's not a crossover that compares to Jim Carrey's success I hope it'll encourage Will to choose scripts like this more frequently. Hey, I like Anchorman as much as anyone but there are only so many films you can do like that before you're making Liar, Liar. Stranger Than Fiction marks his first real go of something different. And it's commendable that's it's something SO different that it's impossible to pigeonhole. And he stuck to his guns. His little occasional rants at the heavens are controlled. They're not Will Ferrell-esque. Part of me still knows we're watching a lovable man-boy but not a big part. Ferrell has really accomplished something here and I hope he walked away from this film thinking it was a very positive experience. True, Dustin Hoffman totally overshadowed him but that was the nature of Hoffman's character. To be a true leading man you sometimes have to do less. Look at Daniel Craig as Bond. He barely changed his facial appearance and his emotions for the entire film and he was terrific. Ferrell could have learned an important lesson making this film. Back to Tom N though as he felt the film fell flat somewhere. Well, Tom, I know where. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Nothing against her personally. I think she's a decent actress who's made some fine films. But she wasn't right for Will Ferrell. She wasn't right for this character. And the romance that blossoms forth from their innocent banter feels really forced. Most of the casting decisions on Stranger Than Fiction were great. This one wasn't. She created a good character but it was living in a separate universe to everyone else. Apart from the guitar sequence I never felt like they had any kind of attachment and even after that scene I didn't feel they worked well together at all. But despite this I did like Stranger Than Fiction because the plot was original and it paid off. Plus along the way we got three fine characters. Two of which go through emotional development. If I found something to complain about beyond the failed romantic aspect I'd be being picky.
BEST BIT – Harold Crick's little tally count of whether he's in a comedy or a tragedy. This plays out particularly well as he fouls up with Ana once again and checks off another in the tragedy column. The page shows many tallied off on the tragedy side and only a few on the comedy side.
RATING - ***3/4. I've heard it called Charlie Kaufman-lite, which is probably fair because it's not as good as a Charlie Kaufman script. Adaptation is way better than this. That's not to say this isn't a fine film though. It probably needed a better ending, which I felt was coming and never did, and a better romantic aspect and slightly less sentimentality but despite all this it's still a decent film. Watch it to experience to beginning of Will Ferrell's serious acting career, which may turn out a lot better than most people thought.
Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)
EXPECTATIONS – I really like the UK. England in particular and I feel like we're losing our cultural identity. Increasingly the UK feels like America Jr. I remember discovering all sorts of wonderful things about the States on my visit there (I was about 15 so we're talking 1991) including TV shows I'd never seen, sports I didn't understand (baseball was a totally foreign concept to me at the time) and an assortment of pop culture and music I had no idea even existed. Now the last time I visited the US there were very few things that I feel are now different between America and England. We've become very similar. We watch the same films. We read the same books. We listen to the same music. We have the same haircuts. We have the same fast food joints. The only difference between the UK and USA now is our history. And the accents but if I'm really honest and think about it my accent has become gradually more and more American over the years. When I'm over in Texas, where my brothers live, I find my accent gains a slight drawl to it so local folks can understand me. Which you need where you're ordering pitchers of cerveza or a fine steak or some chicken enchiladas. My point is that I'm trying very hard to re-establish my connection to England. And to do that I'll need to watch more British films. It's not like British culture has been lost on me. I'm a fan of Black Books, Spaced, and erm, that's about it. Oh, and football. I watch that religiously. The rest of my pop culture is American. Apart from a few comics. But this isn't a column about Preacher (although maybe one day it will be) it's about films. So here's a British film. A new one. That's a little different to what you'd expect (either Merchant Ivory, those fucking horrible Hugh Grant/Notting Hill set movies or something a bit more base).
TRAILER –
PLOT – Mrs Laura Henderson (Dame Judi Dench) is recently widowed and looking to pass the time in her old age. With people depressed and upset with the trouble in Europe at the time (late 30's) she opts to open a theatre in London. Knowing nothing about theatre she hires Vivian Van Dam (Bob Hoskins) to run it for her. When the theatre's initial concepts struggle to get it off the ground Mrs Henderson brings nudity to the stage to draw in the punters.
OPINION – I'm really glad I saw this film. I initially thought it'd be very one dimensional. We'd get a bit of plot development then head into the nudity full force (and I still rented it…heh) but that isn't exactly the case. The film spends far more time looking at the tumultuous relationship between Henderson and Van Dam. How they quarrelled and disagreed but were ultimately very close. The main players are both very good. Judi Dench is widely recognised for her acting skill but Hoskins is often overlooked. You think Bob Hoskins what do you think of first? British Telecom adverts? Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Jet Li's Unleashed? Probably not Mona Lisa or the Long Good Friday. It's quite irritating that he's that talented and keeps making bad films. Long Good Friday is an absolute masterpiece and one of the best British gangster films ever made. If not the best and Hoskins is the main character. The best thing about his performance in Mrs Henderson Presents is that he plays against type. He's upper middle class European Jew with a very proper English accent. Not like his usual cockney accent. Mrs Henderson Presents has a decent little storyline and some solid accompanying nudity that I'm sure all the gents will sign up for. "But honey, it's an English film. It has Dame Judi Dench in it. A dame can't appear in anything smutty. It's a law or something". Yeah, I hear ya. The main problem is a lack of supporting cast to help drive the plot forward. The assortment of actors signed up are largely unknowns. Kelly Reilly is quite pleasant as the lead naked girl but doesn't have the experience to be bouncing off Judi Dench and ends up getting shown up in most scenes they share. Compare that to the accomplished Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. The rest of the cast is ok apart from a strong and funny cameo from Christopher Guest as Lord Cromer. It's his decision that allows the show to go nude. As long as the models don't move. This leads to another funny little skit where a member of the audience throws a mouse on stage to get the girls to run around naked. The lack of cast hurts the film though because every time that it's not about either Hoskins or Dench the pacing starts to slide. There's a bit where homosexual pop star Will Young takes over and starts singing. Oh God, what a horrific couple of minutes that was. To be fair to the lad he's willing to send himself up telling Mrs Henderson he "isn't that way inclined" when she asks his opinion of some nubile young lady. It's amusing and witty in a thoroughly old fashioned British way, which is exactly what I wanted to experience from the film. Something a little more highbrow than the Jackass generation and yet still not afraid to snigger at the word "titties". I enjoyed this film. Probably more so than I would have fifteen years ago when I was just experiencing America for the first time. Now it's nice to get back to something a little closer to home. While Kidulthood is all well a good there are times where experiencing history is very fulfilling.
BEST BIT – "Why Mr Van Dam…you really are Jewish".
RATING - ***1/4. Charming period piece with a little something for everyone. Luckily the central characters (Dench & Hoskins) totally overshadow everything else in the film with their back and forth odd couple arguments. I say "luckily" because they're the best things about the film. In particular the musical numbers are a missed opportunity and all suck quite horrifically.
Employee of the Month (2006)
EXPECTATIONS – This would be the fault of Trev, who I work with. He recommends films he thinks I might be interested in sometimes. I tend to recommend far more the other way. His taste in films is intolerably lowbrow but that does allow us to quote Bill & Ted back and forth. And Robocop. And So I Married an Axe Murderer. And Dumb and Dumber. And American Psycho. And Transformers: The Movie. And Commando. And…you get the drift. But he's a music guy and I'm a film guy. So when he recommends a film I should immediately realise what level it's at. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a dumb movie as much as anyone else as long as it's good. Anchorman and Dodgeball for example. I was fond of both films. Team America. But increasingly I'm watching a better class of films and my attachment to dumb movies is being limited to ones that are really, really good. Just being dumb isn't enough anymore. It has to be really good. There are perfectly good films out there that people don't see. People will watch Joe Dirt or Cheaper by the Dozen 2 without good reviews. This will never change. I feel the need to take a slightly higher stance. Like I used to say in my introduction I'll slip sometimes. Because Trev wouldn't shut up about how much he liked this movie I ended up renting it.
TRAILER –
PLOT – Zack (Dane Cook) is a slacker who's spend ten years working as a box boy in a bulk buying supermarket (UK readers think Macro). Meanwhile the guy he joined with, Vince (Dax Sheppard), has become the head cashier and through a series of flashy displays at work has become employee of the month…17 months in a row. If he gets to 18 he gets a brand new car. Obviously that, and healthy contempt for how much of a jerk the guy is, is enough for Zack to sabotage Vince's bid for 18 in a row. He aims to take Vince down but then gets the added distraction/bonus of new cashier Amy (Jessica Simpson) being the kind of girl who might be interested in the employee of the month.
OPINION – I work in a supermarket. I know, I know. I work with all the same guys that Zack does. I work in the back. In the warehouse where the customers don't see the fun little things that happen. Like mock lightsabre fights and assorted other stuff I can't go into for legal reasons. So there should be an immediate connection to a guy like Zack who goes in to work and has himself some fun. But he doesn't have fun. He's not half as creative as we are in my store. It seems his hijinks go as far as arriving late for work and making fun of the guy who does all the work. Wow, what a rebel. Where are the pranks? We once taped this guys bike to the racking six feet off the ground. Just for kicks. Another time I locked one of my buddies in the alcohol back up and left him a little escape route that would take time and energy to use. Then videotaped him struggling away on my phone. That's just off the top of my head. Then there's dropping stuff off the top area of the warehouse onto suspecting passers by or making someone's coffee with Bovril just to fuck with them. There's none of that here. They're just lazy and unmotivated. So they sit around doing nothing all day. It's not exactly a thrilling watch nor does it make me empathise with this guys plight. He's fucking lazy. He either needs to shit or get off the pot. Or find a better script. Employee of the Month is like Clerks. With the jokes taken out. Ok, you want an example of unfunny this film is? The manager's name is Glen Gary. And his brother's name is…Glen Ross! Yeah. What a zinger. The final thrilling comedy ending would be a contest where the two guys scan stuff through the checkouts and see who can do it the fastest. During which there isn't one single gag. Where's the KY Jelly? The enormous pack of condoms? Again, this is just stuff that off the top of my head I've seen done for real and it got, marginally, more comedy. I went in hoping for something worthwhile. A film with maybe a handful of gags that I could recycle in my own workplace perhaps. Or at least the odd memorable one liner. What I got was nothing. This is a film about nothing. The three lead characters have one personality trait between them. The supporting cast are a waste of time. Oh, there is one laugh in the movie…
BEST BIT – Blind optometrist Lon (Andy Dick) ad-libs walking into a wall. Yeah, a prat fall. But it was a really well executed one.
RATING – DUD. 103 minutes I'll never get back. Don't make the same mistake as I did. The only thing I enjoyed about watching the DVD was skipping through the deleted scenes and finding one with Eva Longoria in. She has an ass that makes me go weak at the knees.
I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR – Building your DVD collection for you. This week; Kevin Smith. On Play.com you can get almost everything Clerks for a tenner. Clerks the X edition triple disc set. That's a fiver. Then Clerks 2 on double disc. That's also a fiver. So ten quid gets you both films and three discs of extras. The only thing you're missing is the animated series and you can't get that in England without importing it. I know. I imported it. Although if you're looking for a TV series on the cheap that will totally own you and every other TV series ever then you can get Firefly, the complete collection, for £12.99. Not that I'm advertising Play.com or anything. I'm just spotting bargains here.
Will Helm tackles Super Fuzz in Misunderstood Masterpieces. I don't know how he does it. I think I'd have gone nuts a long time ago watching these flicks.
Jason Chamberlain looks at Big Trouble in Little China for Casting Call.
And maintaining the Kurt Russell/John Carpenter love is George Sirois who takes a gander at Escape from New York this week.
NEXT – Cars, the DiVinci Code, Grizzly Man and the Sin of Harold Dibblebock. Plus another near miss on the Furious 100 Directors column. See you in seven.
