It’s nice to see another solid film from Mr. Wright.  The after-school-special fee of The Soloist, plus the bad reviews, couldn’t get me into the theatre, but Atonement was a really great film.  Saoirse Ronan was, of course, the best part of the WWII film, and just so happens to be Hanna.  She’s paired with Eric Bana as her father (who is also named Eric), and Cate Blanchett who drops her vowels to play CIA Agent Marisa Wiegler. For reasons that are not immediately apparent, Hanna and Eric are living close to the arctic circle in the middle of nowhere in Finland.  In the disturbing scene that opens the film, Hanna shoots a deer with a bow and arrow and chases the wounded beast for what feels like a very long distance.  Standing over the animal, she says coldly, “I just missed your heart.”  She then pulls out a gun and kills it.  This emotional detachment is somehow enhanced by how ghostly pale she is, almost albino.  While Hanna seems detached, her father does not.  He’s training her for something, teaching her all sorts of ways to defend herself.  And while he’s hard on her, he’s haunted by emotions just below the surface.

The time comes when Eric can no longer keep Hanna living like they are, and he releases her into the world, a place she’s clearly never been.  The few directives Eric gives her before they separate include to kill Marisa Wiegler, and meet back in Berlin.  Hanna is picked up by the CIA quickly, as they’re on the hunt for her father who is a rogue asset.  This is where most of the action takes place, and it’s pretty freaking awesome.  She escapes, leaving a very long trail of dead bodies in her wake–she’s now in Morocco.  It’s here the film looses a bit of tight pace.  The clever editing and camera shots that Wright uses take a backseat to a more human story.  Hanna befriends a British family traveling in a minibus.  Her, the fighting machine learns to love.  Or, at least make a brief friendship.

The rest of the plot is as predictable as this sort of movie almost always is.  A cat and mouse game between those on the lam and those chasing them.  More and more information is revealed until we finally get the whole picture.  You won’t quite be able to guess how and why things are, but still…  Regardless, Wright really shows a bit of dazzling direction in Hanna. There are some genuinely cool moments and some beautifully choreographed fight sequences.  And had can anyone ignore the score by the Chemical Brothers.  It far outshines the highly publicized Daft Punk soundtrack for Disney’s TRON.   Call me greedy, but I wanted more than just these individual qualities, as awesome as they are.  I was hoping there would be characters with some real depth.  Instead, I got a very entertaining, if soulless, action flick.

3 out of 4 stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one long-ass movie.  Let’s break it down into three parts, each one hour long. The first act is where the movie shines (and it’s probably the only part the Academy voters will remember when awarding those little statues in February).  Brad Pitt plays Benjamin, the new-born old man.  He’s left on the steps of a retirement home, where he’s adopted under the guise of her nephew by a worker there named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson).  Despite the fact he’s growing young, he fits right in among the oldies.  The special effects are remarkable in this first act, this is where the film actually merits attention from Oscar.  Well done on this count.  Benjamin meets a kindred spirit in Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the granddaughter of one of Ben’s roommates.  They start this on again off again thing that drags out over the following two hours, but really only manages to keep your attention for less than half that time.

Daisy gets seduced by New York life, and becomes one of those self-congratulatory Manhattanites, a very successful ballet dancer, and, well, kind of a ho.  In the meantime, Ben is off experiencing the world by means of a tug boat, visiting ports all over the world.  This travelogue teaches Benjamin a lot of important things.  He has his first love affair (with a watered down Tilda Swenson), his ship and crew are commissioned into the Navy where he’s confronted with a lot of death, and finally, he returns home a man.

It’s here, when Benjamin and Daisy are coming close to the same physical age, that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button just gets dull.  It’s not Blanchett’s fault, who shines bright.  It’s not Swinton, or Henson who did what they could with Eric Roth’s script.  It’s not the cinematographer’s fault, who made most scenes look like beautiful paintings.  The problem is simply that the story just goes way to long, much longer than even Fincher can sustain, and way longer than Pitt can.  Pitt seems to loose all gusto once the make-up and special effects go away.  I don’t know (and I don’t really care) if it was big studio demands that made Fincher water this story down to a tame PG-13, but it definitely seemed to restrain some of his artistic capacity.  What’s most frustrating is this film is leading the Oscar-buzz race for Best Picture.  And it’s just not worthy.  Benjamin Button is too long, rambles too much, and leaves you let down after months of promising hype.  Even so, it has some shining moments and probably merits a viewing before Oscar night.

2 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 76% – Cream of the Crop: 79%

The film is directed by Tom Tykwer, the wicked talented guy who brought us Run Lola Run.  It takes place in Italy, where a woman named Philippa (Cate Blanchett) plants a bomb in the office of a business man who’s money really comes from selling drugs.  Philippa’s husband died from the drugs sold by this man, and as a teacher, has watched her pre-teen students enter rehab for the same reason.  She’s sent letters, made calls to the police, letting them know about this man’s illegal doings, but after more than a year of ambivalence, she takes matters into her own hands.  The bomb is unknowingly removed by a maid, and goes off in an elevator, killing a small family.  Philippa is arrested, and begins interrogations, for which Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) serves as translator (Philippa, insists on testifying in English).  He falls in love with her and decides to help her escape.

The film is incredibly beautiful.  We’re shown an idealized Italy, that everyone wants to exist.  The problem comes with the story, which lacks the knowledge of where it’s going most of the time.  This is the film’s weakest link as it drags a little, and is somewhat underdeveloped.  At certain points, the plot defies logic, and doesn’t offer any explanation of why.  However, in my opinion, it doesn’t need to.  It’s so stunning to look at, Heaven has a surreal feel, that almost makes it seem like a fairytale.  A gorgeous score, and the somewhat open-ended final scene supports this theory.  For some this is a problem, for most others, they’ll be carried away by the beauty of the piece.

Don’t let the synopsis fool you into thinking this is fast-paced action piece where the two main characters run from the police the whole time.  This is competent meditation on morals, guilt, and what love is worth.  If you enjoy thinking, you’ll be pondering this film for days after you see it.  Ribisi performs well (he’s required to speak Italian much of the movie, but he does well enough that this doesn’t distract).  However, it’s Blanchett who steals the spotlight.  Her performance will shake you to your very core.  This is another piece of evidence for the argument she’s one of the greatest actors of her generation (move over Streep).

3.5 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 73% – Cream of the Crop:68%

This is the only trailer I could find, and it makes it look like a retarded kid made the film.  Don’t believe it.

The Gift was released in 2001 and was directed by Sam Raimi.  Since then, Raimi has disappointed us with films like Xena: Warrior Princess – A Friend in Need (Director’s Cut), The Messengers, and Boogeyman 2.  That being said, the plot really wasn’t that horrible, nor was the acting or directing.

The story follows Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), the local tarot card reader and psychic in a southern town, as she’s asked to help the police investigate the disappearance of a local girl (Katie Holmes).  The town is full of seeming psychopaths, played by terrific actors: Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank.  And not-so-terrific actors: Holmes, Keanu Reeves (it turns out he can play a wife-beating redneck really well!) and Gary Cole.

While the film has a supernatural aspect to it, it is mostly a ‘whodunnit,’ that actually leaves you guessing until the very end.  The Gift affords a few good scares, and more than just a little good acting. Check it out when you’re in the mood for something light.

2 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 57% - Cream of the Crop: 62%