Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Spanglish



James L. Brooks' "Spanglish" is told via voice-over by Christina, who is in college and given the task of writing a report on the most influential person in her life. That would be her mother, she says, and the rest of the film explains why.

Christina's mother is Flor (Paz Vega,) and hard-working Mexican woman whose husband leaves both she and her young daughter. To keep an eye on Christina (played as a child by Shelbie Bruce,) Flor moves the two to America where she hopes to get a less time-consuming job.

That's how Flor comes to work as a maid for the Klansky's, an affluent family consisting of a couple, the two children, the Grandma and a pet dog. As soon as she comes into the house, Flor bangs her face against the spotless sliding glass separating the living room from the deck. This gives one a good idea of the struggles that of each different culture understanding the traits of the other.

John (Adam Sandler) is the low-key and retiring patriarch, who works as a cook at a popular restaurant. Bertie (Sarah Steele) is the overlooked and underappriciated pre-teen daughter. Her younger brother, Georgie (Ian Hyland) fades into the story's background among the presence of the others, as the alcoholic grandmother (Clovis Leachman) tries to keep things in check. The deeply bored lab, Chum, simply waits desperately for someone to drop what they're doing and play ball.

The center of the chaos is mom Deborah (Téa Leoni,) a manic manipulator who rushes frantically around the house as if she's a twitch away from a nervous breakdown. She resembles a caricature of people one knows whose pitiable and desperate antics make you wonder how the people close to them remain out of the psych ward.

Deberah, intentionally or not, puts her family on edge and emotionally degrades her daughter, as well as treating her bewildered husband as if he is the sole cause of her neurosis. Most bewildered of all is Flor, who folds herself placed directly in American familial dysfunction.

Leoni, whose character feels the need to have constant attention, must do good job, since the viewer wants someone to force a couple valium down her throat at the worst of her depressive episodes.

The film's strong point is the dynamics between the two families, but the script has a problem with subtlety. One example of this is a a scene preceding Deborah's grotesque manipulation of Bertie, which she rationalizes as motivation rather than abuse.

In the next part, Brooks insults our intelligence by having Sandler's character yell loudly and dramatically the exact thing the audience is thinking, as the relationship with Flor is awkwardly developed.Spontaneous character-viewer reactions can be funny, this was only frustrating. Did the director add moments of surprising unsubtltey because he felt the audience was not clever to draw their own conclusions?

The acting and the interactions were interesting, as was the surprising use of humor combined with the drama, but the final stand over our country's consumerism unsettled me. I am not an American with a chip on my shoulder, nor does this have much to do with America at all.

Vega's character was strong and good-natured, but her fierce pleading for her daughter to be culturally "Mexican" did not seem heroic. It was may have been ultimately for the good, but in a way seemed almost similar to Deberah's creepy attempt to coddle her 'ideal' daughter.

Do you fight manipulation toward children by trying to make them feel bound to their parents, to pushing them in the opposite direction toward where your morals stand? Do you tearfully beg them to be their 'mother's daughter?' Whether her moral stance is best for her or not, the way she got there was disturbing to me, and didn't seem so different from Deborah's manic cries for respect.

"Spanglish" was worth watching, but ultimately too obvious to get a very high review. I consider Brooks' other movie, "As Good as it Gets," to be the superior film. Both have interesting characters, but "As Good as it Gets" has an easier time slipping moral lessons into the viewer's brains carefully (Rated PG-13.) ***

Note: I get the impression that "Spanglish"'s director has a special fondness for dogs. Between "as Good as it Get"'s ewok-like Verdell and the supremely playful lab Chum, his canines have more screen time and personality than the average character's pet.

Recommendation- For another look at the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship set within the latino culture, watch Real Women have Curves.











Friday, August 14, 2009

Stardust


When it comes to genres, there's always a market for fantasy. directors of kitchen-sink realism and dark dramas do not appeal to the masses as fantasy does, because- let's face it- the majority doesn't so much care to watch troubled people go on with their lives, which is too real. The multiplexes are crowded with tickets to see cool FX effects, epic battles, and computer-generated wonders galore.

If you are one of those people, please avoid the crappy blockbuster sequel to "Transformers" and rent this instead. "Stardust" is no longer at theaters, but go to the rental place and get it. Make your own popcorn and invite your family. People will thank you (Well, Michael Bay won't) and the story itself has more inspiration than "Let's see how many toys we can sell to boys under the age of 10."

The story revolves around Tristan (Charlie Cox,) a young man living in the British village of Wall some years back. He is completely infatuated with Victoria, a manipulative young woman his age. Actually, Victoria is in love with herself- but since solo courtships are generally not custom, she has settled on the equally egotistical Humphrey, who has a tendency to bully his girlfriend's admirer.

When he discovers that Victoria and Humphrey are preparing for nuptuals, he, in a desperate attempt to stop the upcoming marriage, promises to bring her a star she has seen falling across the sky. She could care less about him, but she is intrigued by the prospect of having her own servant boy to do her bidding, and agrees that he leave to fetch it for her. With dreams of romance with the self-obsessed but pretty neighbor, Tristan sets off.

After a bizarre sequence of events, Tristan discovers two reasons to cross the legendary spot that lies on the other side of his village; as well as getting the wayward star, he is told by his father that his biological mother lives there. The space beyond Wall, however, is seen as a blank area of land by onlookers, and is guarded by a elderly but pysically able villager with no patience for lovelorn young men. As luck would have it, however, his mom left him a babylon candle, a magical device used for transporting the user at their mind's will.

With his brain caught between Victoria and his mother, he lands himself in a crater and discovers, in fact, that the 'star' is not a inanimate object at all but, rather, a living woman. This is smart-alecky Yvaine (Claire Danes,) who is not in any way pleased to be suddenly thrust out of the heavens. Moreover, he has put himself in a magic land where there is a long-going feud between princes and some very nasty witches, lead by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer.)

The witch sisters are obsessed with youth, malevolent, and they do things involving animal entrails that would give a PETA member a panic attack. Their main goal, however, is to fetch Yvaine's heart in order to rid themselves of their decrepid bodies and prolong their life. That is how the inexperienced, incompetent Tristan becomes the protector/captor of Yvaine, who is unaware of the witch's presence and miffed at Tristan's kidnapping of her as a 'present for Victoria.'

Naturally, a romantic attraction develops between the two, and Tristan begins to consider the idea that running errands for Victoria may not be his ideal. Meanwhile both ruthless prince Septimus and Lamia have their own agendas for finding Yvaine, and they find themselves the captives of Shakespeare (Robert De Niro,) a seemingly sadistic captain of a flying boat that distributes lightning to shady dealer Ferdy (Ricky Gervais.)

Roger Ebert is correct when he says that there are a lot of people and situations in "Stardust-" it takes several veiwings to get used to everything that's going on- but so it is with many fantasy films; a enormous stack of ideas crammed into a several-hour format. But one can hardly complain when the ideas are good ones. The whole enterprise is chock full of funny situations and lines, interesting characters, and the pure joy of the fantasy world it has created.

One of the more unexpected of the humorous scenes is the one involving De Niro's character, which is funny without being cruel. I will not reveal this plot point, and it should be a surprise to those who have not read too many reviews (including Ebert's) or are unfamiliar with the original Neil Gaiman book.

I have found that despite my recent interest in dark psychological dramas, I still have a place in my heart for imaginative fantasy movies, as "Stardust" and the slightly superior "The Fall" prove. As plot points and characters unfolded abound, I enjoyed a story that hardly took itself seriously. One knows, to some extent, where the plot is going (especially with Yvaine and Tristan, will they be love interests? hmm...) but the cast, and the viewer, has fun getting there (Rated PG-13.) ****

Note: This is probably a good movie for kids twelve and up that aren't too sensitive. I think the occasional violence and weird imagery may be too much for the kindergarten set.

Recommendation- If by any chance you have not watched the film at least once in your life, rent The Princess Bride.

Also try Tarsem's The Fall for a more subtle fantasy movie (which has no special FX! My God, do they do that anymore?)












Wednesday, August 5, 2009

All the Little Animals


British filmmaker Jeremy Thomas made his debut with this adaptation of Walker Hamilton's novel. A young Christian Bale, in his pre-Batman days, was cast as Bobby, who is mourning the death of his mother. Bobby narrates his story from the beginning, signaling that something life-changing occurred some time after her death.

Bobby lives with his coarse step-brother Dean and step-dad Bernard, who quickly changes from merely cruel to sadistic. They seem less than fond of his presence, though his step-brother seems less so than Bernard.

Bobby has been mildly retarded since he was hit by a car as a child, and Bernard sees his vurnerbility as a way to convince him to sign the family business over. Bobby, however, remembers that his mom told him that the company should not be given to her husband.

He refuses, even when threatened with a mental institution. So, in retaliation, his little pet mouse Peter is killed. After discovering the creature's fate Bobby makes a run for it and leaves his family's estate, planning to head somewhere Bernard can't find him.

The level of Bale' character's retardation is never made clear. His speech skills seem good, and amounts of time can pass where he almost seems normal. It is not as much his intellectual abilities, it seems, as it is his difficulties in treating difficult situations with the mind of an adult.

When he cannot handle his step-dad's torrents of abuse or something else, he simply throws himself on the floor and has a crying fit. He is more childlike than lacking in cerebral skills, and his immaturity effect his reactions to life.

After running away from home, a strange sequence of events leaves a fatal truck accident and Bobby quite arguably the cause. He is picked up by Mr. Summers (John Hurt,) an older man with a dispassionate look on the human race.

He has dedicated his life to picking the corpses of animals off the road a giving them proper burials. With the fervor of a manic-depressive PETA member, Mr. Summers lives as a hermit and has no purpose in his existence but treating deceased road kill with the respect he feels they deserve.

Mr. Summers does not feel the need for human connection, but after much begging on Bobby's part he is allowed to live in the old man's shack and help him with his work. But Bobby's new friend is not telling his whole story, and catastrophe strike when the two decide to settle the problems between Bernard and Bobby once and for all.

"All the Little Animals'" dark story is elevated by Bale's impressive performance, which is intense, emotional, and utterly real. While he and his step-dad's positions of 'good' and 'evil' are relatively defined, Hurt's character, Mr. Summers, is harder to read. He veers in the eyes of the viewer between eccentric and simply insane. Even as the answer to this becomes clearer, we still, to some extent, understand Bobby's trust in him.

The whole film's story is very interesting, and the switch in atmosphere from the dark rooms of Bobby's family's home to the shack in the middle of the woods, with walls covered in ocean shells and pebbles, is pleasingly defined.

The films is so adept in it's beginning half, in fact, that I continued to admire it as the minimalist plot turned to a violent revenge melodrama. The end result is not as plausible, but hardly impossible, and though I agree with the Netflix reviewer who said 'things got weird' I don't think this is nearly enough to destroy what it had created. At the end, I was puzzled by some aspects but wanting a copy of the Walker Hamilton novel to discover the details behind the story.

Sure, "All the Little Animals" is manipulative, but it's a well-done kind of manipulative, genuinely original and well-acted as well as being often overtly melodramatic. It will leave people who are somewhat tolerant of the 'emotional' factor more moved than cheated. Although hardly anybody's heard of it, they probably should (Rated R.)

Movie Recommendation- For another example of animal rights gone amok, watch writer/actor Mike White's directorial debut, Year of the Dog.

For another sensitive portrayal of a young man with mild mental retardation, watch Dominick and Eugene.











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