Catch-up Post: Movies

I've been feeling really lazy to write blog entries lately. If I were the blaming sort, I'd say it was a combination of writer's block and too much Starcraft 2 and then too much Plants vs. Zombies (both awesome games BTW). Aaaaaanyway, to get into the spirit of writing once more, I present three short reviews of some of the movies I watched recently.

RED

The trailer for this movie looked fun and it wasn't false advertising. Featuring an ensemble cast of familiar names headed by Bruce Willis as Frank Moses, the movie has humour and action and while not a great film by most standards, it's a good bit of harmless fun.

Frank is a retired CIA agent living quietly at home, flirting with a pensions department employee Sarah  (Mary-Louise Parker) by constantly tearing up his cheques and claiming they never arrived. Sarah dreams of travel and adventure and her wish comes true one day when Frank shows up at her apartment after having survived an assassination attempt by some old enemies. Suspecting a deeper conspiracy, Frank kidnaps Sarah to protect her being chased down by a CIA assassin, William Cooper (Karl Urban) who does not know why he has been tasked to kill an ex-CIA agent but follows orders like a good little assassin. Frank enlists the help of aged former intelligence agents like himself including former partner Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), the slightly crazy Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), ex-MI5 agent Victoria (Helen Mirren), and Russian agent Ivan Simanov (Brian Cox). The group embarks on a quest to clear Frank's name and discover the conspiracy to kill him.

The action sequences are well executed and it's nice to see Bruce Willis can still do an action movie although with less energy than usual. The supporting cast are suitably amusing as well. The plot involving an arms dealer and the Vice President is muddled at best so, don't go into this movie expecting a strong plot and good storytelling.


Buried

Buried presents a familiar premise - being buried alive - but distills it to its purest form in a surprisingly good thriller. The movie opens in total darkness and silence for a good minute, prompting the audience to suspect if there has been a projector malfunction. Then some breathing is heard for some time. Then finally a lighter flickers to life and we are introduced to Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds). Finding himself in a small wooden box, Paul rails against the small space, screams, and tried to claw his way out but to no avail. Calming down, he finds a functioning cellphone and tries to call for help. Meeting with the most unhelpful people ever, he grows increasingly frustrated. Eventually he gets a call from his kidnapper who demands ransom for his release. Paul tries to negotiate with the kidnapper and the embassy representative he eventually gets in contact with. As the audience learns bits and pieces of information concerning Paul's circumstances and life, time is running out for Paul.

With admirable realism, no other characters are seen apart from Paul, with the others only heard as voices on the telephone. Such a minimalist film requires a strong performance from the actor and Ryan Reynolds delivers this in spades. Formerly of sitcom Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place and mostly seen in romantic comedies and the recent Wolverine movie, this role may spark off a promising career as a more dramatic actor.

As much an experience as it is a movie,  Buried succeeds greatly in conveying a claustrophobic feeling to make the audience feel Paul's discomfort. Despite taking place in a box, there are thrills to be found and never feels boring. One small gripe concerns the appearance of a snake. I imagine it must have been thinking Oh hey a box! I will explore it! An attempt to inject extra drama perhaps, but I found it a little awkward. Still, apart from that one little flaw, Buried is a fine piece of film-making and should be seen (unless you're claustrophobic).


The American

Falsely marketed as an action thriller, The American is in reality an art-housey film starring George Clooney as 'Jack', a mysterious assassin-ish man on the run from other mysterious assassins. The opening set on a snowy backdrop is promising enough and features a shocking act of violence. The rest of the movie is much less shocking, unless you count being shockingly boring.

After the initial encounter with the Swedish assassins, Jack goes on the run to a tiny town in Italy on the advice of his handler Pavel (Johan Leysen). Posing as a photographer, Jack gets a job from a mysterious woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) to produce a gun to her exacting specifications. While slowly realising the weapon, Jack carries on a romantic relationship of sorts with local prostitute Clara (Violante Placido) and a friendship of sorts with local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli). During all this, the Swedish assassins start to catch up with him.

George Clooney turns in a technically strong performance as a weary assassin desperately struggling to find love and attachment and looking for a way out of his chosen path in life. Nothing is revealed about the plot and the motivations of Mathilde and Pavel or even the Swedish assassins. Nothing is revealed about Jack's background either. The movies trudges on at an incredibly slow pace and lingers on scenes for long silent periods. I could have forgiven all this as an artistic film if the ending had made any sense whatsoever. Many critics have reviewed this film positively but I can't say I share their enthusiasm despite the technically good film techniques and lovely cinematography.

I was strongly reminded of the similarly-themed In Bruges which also featured assassins hiding out in a small European town. Unlike this one however, that movie contained an actual plot and an ending that made sense. It was even kinda funny. I strongly recommend staying away from this movie unless you really really like George Clooney or you've got insomnia.