Directed by: Susan Stroman
Starring: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Farrell
Rated:PG-13 for sexual humor and references
Parental Notes: There's plenty of vulgar humor here, which makes it somewhat inappropriate for youngsters. However, it's still Mel Brooks: it's sweet, funny, and lighthearted. Like "Spaceballs" and his other films, kids 12 and up will probably enjoy it, but unlike his other works, they'll like it more if they've seen a few old musicals.
Mel Brooks made his directorial debut in 1968 with "The Producers," starring Zero Mostel as the slimy Broadway producer Max Bialystock and Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom, his mousy accountant. In 2001, a musical version of the film opened on Broadway with Nathan Lane as Bialystock and Matthew Broderick as Bloom and won a record-setting 12 Tony awards. Now, that musical has been turned into a film starring Lane and Broderick in the same roles.
The story, of course, is unaltered: sleazy Broadway producer Max Bialystock cooks up a scheme from an offhand comment of his timid accountant, Leo Bloom: a producer could, in theory, make more money from a Broadway flop than from a success. Bialystock talks Bloom into helping him, and together they find the worst play every written (a Nazi musical called "Springtime for Hitler"), the worst director living (Christopher Hewitt's Roger De Bris, who is a walking cliche), and hire the worst actors they can find (including casting the author of the script, Will Farrell's Franz Liebkind, as Hitler). When a sexpot Swede, Ulla (Uma Thurman), turns up on their doorstep, they hire her to be their secretary/receptionist and cast her in the musical as well. So far, everything is on track for their production to flop. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a comedy if things didn't go wrong, and they do indeed go wrong.
The dialog has stayed virtually the same through the three versions. Those who, like this reviewer, have seen both the original film and the Broadway musical may find themselves mouthing the dialog along with the actors. All the most quotable bits are present nearly unaltered, and the musical numbers flow effortlessly into and out of the spoken exchanges. This is a re-envisioning the way it should be: it has all the good stuff from the original and has added something new. This isn't just a musical version of a comedy, it's a satire of 1950s musicals in its own right.
There's the romantic falling-in-love song (complete with a dress conveniently changing so that it will look flowing and pretty for the dance number), the Busby Berkeley-inspired choreography during Bialystock and Bloom's musical (with a mirror angled over the stage so the audience can see the designs from the top), even the design of the sets and costumes evokes "Guys and Dolls" and "Singing in the Rain."
Lane, Broderick, Thurman, and Farrell leap into their parts with unabashed gusto, and the results are wonderful. Those who are fans of the original film may well observe that the new cast is no Mostel and Wilder, but of course they aren't. That cast was so perfect that they will haunt the present film if you let them. Fortunately, the new cast don't try to relive the original performances. They put their own stamp on the parts and are a blast to watch. Even Farrell, an actor I freely admit to finding about as appealing as a rabid opossum in his other films, is hilarious. Broderick and Lane have excellent timing and chemistry together, as well as being solid singers. Thurman, whose casting caused more than a few raised eyebrows, is transformed as Ulla and proves herself a surprisingly good dancer.
If you've seen the original film time and time again, you may find yourself playing it in your head and comparing the new film to it. I know I did. But that's unfair to the new version; this isn't a remake, it's two generations away from the 1968 film, and the new cast bring a wonderful freshness to this 37-year-old story. This is just as delightfully over the top and gleefully vulgar as the original film, but in a new way, and that alone makes it worth seeing. Provided, of course, that a gleeful satire of '50s musicals and showbiz in general is what you're in the mood for.
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Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal,
Rated: R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence.
Parental Notes: This film is a sensitive but brutally honest look at the difficulties of homosexual love in the 60s and 70s. The sex scenes and violence are no more explicit than those in most R-rated films, but they are very emotionally affecting. This is a film aimed at adults, but mature teens may find it well worth watching.
Ang Lee has made a collection of stunningly beautiful and often deeply moving films. He's as adept at creating humor ("Sense and Sensibility," "The Wedding Banquet") as sorrow ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The Ice Storm"). With his new film, "Brokeback Mountain" he is in full-on tragic form, and this story of love between two cowboys is so well-crafted that its inevitable unhappy ending is horribly wrenching.
The film opens in Wyoming, in 1963. It's a quiet-feeling place, full of open sky and run-down buildings. Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) both show up at the same foreman's office looking for work. They're given jobs looking after hundreds of sheep up on Brokeback Mountain with orders that one of them is to stay in the Forest Service-approved campsite while the other sleeps in an illegal pup tent up near the sheep. They take the jobs, and are soon up on the mountain surrounded by sheep. Lee has a fine eye for natural beauty, and the landscape of the film is stunningly beautiful. He also knows better than to tell us what to think of it all with overbearing background music, and keeps that to a minimum.
Jack and Ennis are two very different men -- Ennis is quiet and reserved while Jack is boisterous and energetic. However, the pair soon develop a deep friendship, and that friendship explodes into a sexual affair one cold night when they both stay in the lower camp. All alone up on the mountain, they think they can have "this thing," as Ennis calls it, without complications. And indeed, the film is devoid of long relationship talks or even much in the way of pillow talk. They show their affection in the way they roughhouse together, and their passion comes through in the handful of physical love scenes scattered through the film. More importantly, Gyllenhaal and Ledger are able to show it in the way the men behave around each other and around the other people in their lives.
While they're relaxed and happy together, they're much more grim and serious (particularly Ennis) when they go back to the outside world. Jack has dreams of the two of them buying a ranch somewhere and living happily ever after, but Ennis squashes that notion early on. He knows from firsthand experience as a child just how intolerant the world of rural 60s America can be of men like them, and he has no intention of winding up beaten to death in a ditch somewhere. They both get married, Ennis to the quiet housewife Alma (Michelle Williams) and Jack to the rodeo girl Lureen (Anne Hathaway). They have children, and try to put fulfilling lives together.
But they can't stay away from each other. Soon they're taking "fishing trips" together away from their families, trying to keep their relationship secret. It takes a toll over the years. Ennis hardens as he tries to reconcile the way he was raised with his overwhelming love for Jack. He's not much of a talker, and one gets the feeling that he's not much of a thinker either; he lives instinctively and now his instincts conflict with one another. Meanwhile Jack becomes a salesman for his father-in-law's tractor company and takes occasional secretive trips down to Mexico, where the rent boys tide him over during the long waits between trips to see Ennis.
By the time the men are middle-aged, their lives are twisted by their relationship. Although I won't spoil the ending, I will say that Lee respects the subject matter and the original story enough not to try and make a happy ending out of a homosexual relationship in a time when two men in love were breaking the law and in danger of vigilante justice. What makes it all the more wrenching is that Jack and Ennis win our compassion and sympathy. Lee, Gyllenhaal, and Ledger have created them so fully and fearlessly that it is impossible not to feel the torture of their situation.
"Brokeback Mountain" is a wonderful film, and shows that Lee is back in fine form after the mish-mash that was "Hulk". This is the story of a love driven into hiding by the disapproval of others, and the terrible effects on not just the lovers but all those around them. It's not an easy film to watch, at times, and it shouldn't be. Ang Lee has created a beautiful, wrenching film that will haunt you long after you've left the theater.
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Directed by: Andrew Adamson
Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Liam Neeson (voice), Tilda Swinton.
Rated: PG for battle sequences and frightening moments.
Parental Notes: Although the violence in the film is not graphic, there are many frightening moments (the bombing of London, battles between armies, the children are chased by wolves, etc.) and the battle sequences are sweeping and intense. This film will likely enchant older children, but preschoolers and Kindergarteners may find it too scary.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis are widely considered to be classic volumes of children's fantasy literature. "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" was the first book published in the popular series, and it is now a film from Disney featuring a number of live actors and countless computer-created mythical beings. It stays true to what this reviewer remembers of the book (which, it must be confessed, was last read well over a decade ago) and is thoroughly impressive from both visual and storytelling standpoints.
The heroes of the tale are four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy (William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley respectively). They are sent out of London for their own safety when repeated bombings during the first World War put them in danger. They find themselves living in a huge old house owned by the reclusive Professor (Jim Broadbent). Lucy discovers an old wardrobe which serves as a portal to Narnia, a world of mythical creatures populated by talking animals. The other children don't believe Lucy's tales at first, but when they use the wardrobe to hide from the Professor's housekeeper they all wind up in Narnia.
Narnia is in a century-long winter imposed by the White Witch (Tilda Swinton). The siblings learn that they are apparently the four humans foretold by a prophecy, and are destined to help Aslan (voice by Liam Neeson), the lion who is true ruler of Narnia, overthrow the Witch. They are reluctant to help until Edmund is captured and the only way to save him seems to be to side with Aslan and his army of fauns, centaurs, and wild animals.
Any film adapted from a children's fantasy novel faces the challenges of child actors, a well-known book-length storyline, and realizing fantastical creatures. Director Andrew Adamson has risen to the challenge, and all three issues are handled well. The four main actors do their jobs wonderfully. Henley in particular is very good -- doubly so when you consider that she was eight years old during filming. Their characters are not terribly complex, it is true, but one does not have to look far to find examples of agonizing performances from children in other films.
The storyline has been well-adapted to the film. It includes all the incidents that I remember from reading the novel as a child, and is thoroughly engaging. Although the decision of the children to stay in Narnia and fight for Aslan is set up a little poorly, this is, after all, a fairy tale. The action sequences (battles, chases, and tense face-offs between heroes and villains) are interwoven with the exposition so that neither seems forced and the film's pacing is just right, and that is what matters most.
The action sequences are mind-boggling, and it is no surprise to see WETA Workshop, the special effects studio which created the effects for "The Lord of the Rings," in the credits. Aslan is absolutely stunning, and although at times he betrays the tell-tale unreality of CGI for the most part it is easy to forget he is a computer creation and relate to him as a character. Some of the background creatures in the film occasionally look artificial, but the film is overwhelmingly impressive in visual terms. Backgrounds, creatures, costumes, props -- all are wonderfully designed and draw the audience into the film.
"The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" is a terrific family film. While it may be a little too intense for the pre-school set (although the battles aren't graphic, they are frightening), it will no doubt evoke nostalgia for grown-up fans of the novels and sheer wonder for adults and children alike.
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence and sexual content.
Parental Notes: Aeon Flux is a fairly standard PG-13 film. There's little explicit sexual content and the violence is not particularly graphic.
"Aeon Flux," loosely based on the cartoon series which ran on MTV in the 1990s, is a visually stunning but otherwise deeply flawed film. Like all too many science fiction films, it emphasizes form over function, and although it's fun to watch, it doesn't offer much beyond that.
The story takes place 400 years in the future, after a virus has wiped out nearly all of humanity. The survivors live in Bregna, a city ruled by the descendants of the scientist who found a cure for the virus. However, the rulers are oppressive, and there is a growing underground rebellion against them. Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron, "Monster") is a member of this group, a highly trained assassin and secret agent. She is assigned to kill Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas, "Kingdom of Heaven"), the current dictator. However, when she finds herself face to face with him, there is a strange connection between them. She is unable to kill him and sets out to discover what exactly is going on. Meanwhile, Trevor's brother Oren (Jonny Lee Miller, "Dracula 2000") is growing dissatisfied with his brother's rule, and attempts a coup. Over the course of the film, Aeon learns that nothing is quite what it seems, including herself.
The underlying concept of the film (which, unfortunately, cannot be thoroughly discussed without revealing plot twists) is also rather intriguing. It's a classic dystopic, science-gone-wrong storyline, with a healthy does of the "nothing is what it seems" theme, and in a better-thought-out film it would have produced a fascinating science fiction story.
All of this takes place in a futuristic atmosphere. Hairstyles, clothing, and technology are all somewhat alien and oddly beautiful. Nearly everything on the screen looks as though it was designed to make the audience gasp and whisper "Cool!" to themselves. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only goal of much of the visuals. Aeon's hairstyle is beautiful, but utterly impractical -- surely no assassin worth her salt would cut her hair so that it falls into her face all the time but is too short to tie back. Cloning, a subject generally handled poorly in science fiction films, is butchered yet again -- here, clones somehow retain the memories and personality of the original source of their DNA.
The fights, fortunately, are fairly well-done and more a means to an end than the sole purpose of the film. Aeon is a crack shot and good at hand-to-hand combat, and most of her encounters with guards are over quickly but impressively. The extended fight sequences are also solid, and one of them, involving some sort of a transporter harness, is rather creative.
Most of the characters are incredibly cool -- both in the sense that they have exciting and interesting jobs or attributes and in the sense that they project a very low- temperature personality. Aeon is unflappable, Trevor is virtually emotionless even when describing his long-lost wife, and Oren resentment toward his brother manifests suddenly out of nowhere. It is very difficult to be interested in characters who show little or no emotion. Consider the world of "Star Wars", a classic of science fiction: the heroes display longings, fear, wry humor, and passionate love. Luke is new to the wide world most of the film takes place in. We can identify with these people because they feel the same things we do, even if their lives are very, very different from ours. Here, we don't have that link to help us care about the people on screen.
These are all-too-common problems in science fiction films. It's a pity, really. Science fiction is a genre full of possibilities. Some recent films have been quality sci-fi, without the common stumbling blocks ("Serenity," for example), but for the most part, science fiction films these days are muddled and disengaging, and "Aeon Flux" is no exception. If all you're looking for is a visually entertaining hour and a half, it may please, but if you want something more, look elsewhere.