Category Archives: The Actors

Jan 23 2012

“The Iron Lady” – 2011 Dir. Phyllida Lloyd


With Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent and Richard E. Grant

“What have we done Maggie, what have we done?

What have we done to England?

Should we shout, should we scream?

What happened to the post war dream?

Oh Maggie – Maggie what have we done?”

-Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut”

To me, Margaret Thatcher is arguably the most important woman of the previous century. She not only shaped the way women were viewed in politics, but also had a significant impact to the image of all women of the world. Along with Ronald Regan, Thatcher represented modern day “conservatism”, promoting only free markets and heavy handed slashing of social programs; directly resulting in the decay of Brittan’s Great Society.

    This film is a mixed bag. Meryl Streep, in the title role, proves to us that she may in fact be the greatest actor in cinema (obviously I’m omitting Daniel Day-Lewis). With every tilt of her head, gaze of her eye, every word spoken Meryl Streep is enchanting, allowing even a bleeding heart liberal (like myself) to create an emotional bond with Thatcher.

    Streep overshadows the film, which isn’t a bad film by any means, but perhaps a very light film, or a Cliff Noted version of what should have been a three hour brooding epic. It lacks the substance that a film about Thatcher deserves. It reminded me much of Oliver Stone’s “W”, which felt very light and didn’t show us anything more than a lampoon of a very interesting man.

    ”The Iron Lady” briskly pans over Thatcher’s life, showing us brief highs and lows. While this film doesn’t bash Thatcher, it certainly doesn’t go into enough detail of the problems she (and conservatism) brought to England, and how she nearly destroyed the country by cutting social programs, shutting down sections of the manufacturing industry because she refused to negotiate with unions. Starting an Atlantic skirmish with her financially cut military, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of British soldiers. One thing Thatcher was good at was never, ever compromising.

    Abi Morgan (co-writer of “Shame”) delivers an abridged screenplay, which moves quickly and doesn’t get bogged down too deep into Thatcher’s rein of power or her psyche, which actually was a mistake. Thatcher is a person who deserves a better film that has more meat and gravitas to it, showcasing her pitfalls as a leader. The one thing Thatcher did get out of this film was a heart breaking performance by Streep, which is more than Maggie deserves.

Rating: 8/10

Nov 22 2011

“The Descendants” – 2011 Dir. Alexander Payne

With George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer with Beau Bridges and Robert Forster

    Poignant, is the only word that I know that perfectly describes an Alexander Payne film. Payne has a unique ability to make our own feelings bubble to the surface as we watch the painful landscape of a family collapse in front of us. But Payne is very sly in his subtle use of humor that softens the life examining situations that arise. “The Descendants” follows in line with his previous body of tragic comedies that examine the core of the modern American Family.

A much deglamorized George Clooney guides us through this new epoch of Payne’s filmography and uproots us from the Midwest, where Payne has set his previous films, and takes us to anew and just as foreign place, Hawaii.

Clooney plays Matt King, a reluctant patriarch who has to come to terms with his wife’s lingering death, reaching out and informing his family, reconnecting with his daughters while juggling a multimillion dollar land deal where King is the sole trustee to his family’s legacy.

This land deal not only holds the financial future of his dead-beat extended family, most of which is made up of free spirited cousins who just live to straight up party, but also holds the fate of a Hawaiian island in the balance.

Oh, and his daughter informs him of his wife’s infidelity with a schmucky real estate agent played by Matthew Lillard. Yes. Mattew Lillard.

Fuck being Matt King.

    With Clooney giving a career best performance in this film, as well as giving his career best film with “The Ides of March”, you have to start to accept (if you haven’t already) that Clooney has inherited Warren Beatty’s mantle. Clooney gives a stripped down portrayal as an everyman who struggles with the extraordinary aspects of life.

Clooney’s persistent execution of continuously letting us forget that he’s not George Clooney, but Matt King is truly remarkable and is going to win him the Best Actor Oscar this year. His talent seems to not have any boundaries, as he constantly pushes himself with each new film he presses out.

The supporting cast firmly backs Clooney, and won’t allow his star power to overshadow their own performances. Veteran actor Beau Bridges shows up as a laidback trust fund cousin who is pushing a reluctant Matt King to sell off their family’s land. Bridges is very effective, and is able to counter King’s animosity and inner torment with his light and breezy demeanor.

    The great Robert Forster plays King’s hard barked father-in-law who is the pure essence of the “old school” alpha male. Seeing the frame filled with both Clooney and Forster is an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and awe. Just as Tim Burton’s “Batman”, the only believable boss for Jack Nicholson is Jack Palance, here the only believable father-in-law to Clooney is Forster, who deserves an Academy Award Nomination for his heartbreaking performance.

Alexander Payne is our most talented overlooked filmmaker who continues to put out touching and heartfelt films that never get wrapped up in themselves and don’t become soapbox films. I will continue to look forward to Payne’s films and his love for cinema, and for his terrific vision that he never lets get the best of him.

Rating: 9.5/10

And look! Tim Matheson agrees with me that Robert FORSTER should be nominated for an Academy Award, too. Just sayin…

Nov 13 2011

Deep Cuts: “The Last Rites of Joe May” – 2011 Dir. Joe Maggio

With Dennis Farina, Jamie Anne Allman, Meredith Droeger, Ian Bradford with Chelcie Ross and Gary Cole

    Fresh from the Tribeca and Chicago Film Festivals comes “The Last Rites of Joe May”. Dennis Farina stars as the title character who has been in Cook County Hospital for the past six months. May has spent his life being a short money hustler, always looking for the quick cash opportunities.

    After arriving back home, May finds that his apartment has been rented out to a Jenny Rapp (Jamie Anne Allman) and her daughter (Meredith Droeger). Joe May has to come to terms with his life, and how he had always thought there was something waiting for him in life, that big break that was always on the horizon. In reality, May finds that his six month disappearance hasn’t had an effect on anyone. No one missed him, no one visited him, and everyone assumed he was dead.

    This film is much like the archetypal story that we were shown in “Crazy Heart” and “Gran Torino” – a man who has lived a selfish life and is now looking for redemption, one last shot to prove their worth.

Farina is the pure definition of subtle good. He brings animation and life to a film, which without him would have been a drab, generic film. Its Farina’s Chicago background (he was a Chicago cop for 20 years prior to being an actor) that brings much command and authenticity to this film and especially to Joe May.

Chicago has never looked so good on film. Watching the film reminded me much of Michael Mann’s debut film, “Thief” – where the grittiness of the Chicago streets just adds to the character of the film. There aren’t glamorous shots of a Chicago skyline, or over-the-top pans of Chicago landmarks; instead director Joe Maggio films the streets of Chicago. He films the buses, he films the El, the beautiful dilapidation – it looks fantastic.

This film is very small, and very personal. Farina puts everything he has up on screen and its wonderful experience to soak up. Joe Maggio, who also wrote, is able to develop interesting characters around May, especially May’s “boss” Lenny who is perfectly played by Gary Cole, who is so apathetic to Joe May, it’s very embarrassing for us to watch.

While some of the film can be slightly lacking at times, it’s so culminating to watch Joe May fight for redemption. This film is now available VOD on Cable, Satellite, Amazon Prime and iTunes and is well worth the money to rent it.


Rating: 8.5/10

Nov 10 2011

“Beginners” 2010 – Dir. Mike Mills

With Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent and Christopher Plummer

“Well, let’s say that since you were little, you always dreamed of getting a lion. And you wait, and you wait, and you wait, and you wait but the lion doesn’t come. And along comes a giraffe. You can be alone, or you can be with the giraffe.”

    The quest for understanding who we are is not an easy feat. It makes us open doors that should remain shut, it causes us to accept truths that we don’t want, and it causes us to shine that magnifying glass of perception, which we so easily put over others, on ourselves.

Ewan McGregor gives his best performance as Oliver, an introverted artistic intellectual (PARADOX!) who struggles with the responsibility of life. His father Hal (Christopher Plummer) has recently died, but before he did he came out that he was gay when his wife of forty years died, and when he was diagnosed with cancer.

    While Oliver spends most of his time reflecting over the newfound relationship he had with his distant father, he meets Anna (Melanie Laurent) who is a traveling actress who is running from problems of her own. The film brilliantly cuts between real time with Oliver and his emotional ride with Anna, to Oliver spending time with his father, and his new gay friends, as well as taking care of him when he’s close to death.

“Beginners” is an incredibly touching and heartfelt film, and it is able to stand on its own merits, as opposed to being held up by a crutch of some real life event (I’m looking at you “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” – seriously, the audacity!). Mike Mills, who also directed, wrote an amazing semi-autobiographical screenplay of one man’s journey to find himself, and bring peace to his life while trying to understand it all.

What makes this film work, on such a high level, is not only the quality of the actors brought on board, but the quality of their craftsmanship in this film. McGregor who is a really good actor, when he’s given the right material shines as the broken Oliver, who masks his sadness so well.

Melanie Laurent is wonderful, and though I’ve only seen her in this film and in “Inglorious Basterds”, I find that she’s such a remarkable actress, everything she does just seems so effortless, and so real. She’s adorable and smart, but also just as broken and sad as Oliver.

    The Academy should just give Christopher Plummer the Oscar now for Best Supporting Actor. I’ve beaten the drum for Albert Brooks for “Drive”, and I’ll continue to do so, but Plummer is outstanding as the jovial man who has just liberated himself from a lifelong secret, but now faces his mortality. Plummer is such a wonderful actor, who always gives a good performance, even when he’s not at 100% (“Must Love Dogs”).

This film is very touching and sad, but don’t let that detour you because it’s also a very, very funny film. There is a scene in the film where Hal calls Oliver at three in the morning, and Hal is all excited because he went to his first gay bar. Hal is wearing a pink button down, with the top unbuttoned showing off his chest and his excitement grows as his tells a sleepy Oliver about the “wonderful” music that was playing the club.

“It was something I’ve never heard before. It was like “itsssss itsssss itsssss.”"

“That sounds like house music – Dad.”

Hal quickly puts on his glasses and reaches to the notepad next to the phone and he begins to write as he slowly repeats: “house…music…”

Rating: 9/10

Aug 3 2011

The Actors: The Top Ten Performances of William Hurt

I have always loved William Hurt.  One of the first things that I had ever seen him in was “The Big Chill”, and I was not only blown away by the film, and the themes of friendship and people changing, but I was really taken aback by Hurt’s dramatic powerhouse of a performance.

Ever since I saw that film, I had always sort of sought out films that Hurt was in.  He’s made some bad film (like most actors have), and he’s made some really great films – and given truly awe-some performances.

Exterminate all rational thought and countdown William Hurt’s ten greatest performances.

10.  Edward Walker in “The Village”

“The Village” is a film that’s been given an unfair shake over time.  I’ve always thought this was one of M. Night’s strongest films.  This film is balanced with a great story shrouded in mystery with a great cast that is held together by Hurt’s patriarch and ideal noble man, Edward Walker.

9.  George Gulden in “One True Thing”

In “One True Thing”, Hurt plays the husband of a dying Meryl Streep.  He brings much emotions: sorrow, guilt, love, hate to this role of a loving and understanding – yet humanly flawed husband.

8.  Harlon in “I Love You to Death”

William Hurt takes a change of pace in this dark comedy directed by frequent Hurt (and Kevin Kline) collaborator Lawrence Kasdan.  Here Hurt plays Harlon a stoner burnout, and along with his cousin Marlon (Keanu Reeves) get hired to kill an already half dead Kevin Kline.

7.  Ned Racine in “Body Heat”

This film marks Hurt’s first pairing with both Lawrence Kasdan and Kathleen Turner.  The trio would later reunite for “The Accidental Tourist”.  In this film, Hurt gets drawn into the very erotic yet dangerous web that Kathleen Turner spins.  I mean, you can’t really blame him.  And you would cry too, if it happened to you.

6.  Paul in “Smoke”

This is a very small and intimate independent film that is very special.  The scene that I’ve posted shows a highlight of the film between Harvey Keitel, who owns a tobacco shop that is the center piece of the film, and Hurt plays a damaged character who only allows himself one luxury in life, a cigar.

5.  Blake in “The Big Brass Ring”

This is another very small independent film that was made from an unproduced screenplay by the late Orson Welles.   This film is a mess, it’s incoherent and a little misguided, but it serves as a great look of how disjointed and incoherent modern politics have become.

4.  Tom in “Broadcast News”

In this film, which is now an excellent addition to the Criterion Collection, William Hurt plays “the bubble headed bleached blonde that comes on at five”.

3.  Richie Cussak in “A History of Violence”

This film served as a comeback for Hurt, and he was nominated for his forth Academy Award (first nomination for Supporting Actor) and he gives a beautiful showboat of a performance in his brief 15 minute scene.

2.  Nick in “The Big Chill”

Nick is the most damaged of the group of friends who reunite for the first time since college due to the suicide of one of their group.  They all have to come to terms with who they have become, and face the accusations and underlying truths of each other.

1.  Luis Molina in “Kiss of the Spider Woman”

This film garnished Hurt his Best Actor Oscar, as the imprisoned homosexual Luis Molina.  This is a very moving and compelling character study that is nothing less than excellent.