Category: Based on a True Story

THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE – The Review

One of the first fictional works to exploit the idea of identical twins from different social backgrounds was Mark Twain’s ” The Prince and the Pauper”. Television would pick up on the twin idea in programs as varied as ” The Patty Duke Show” and more recent “Ringer”. And of course the movies have jumped aboard with many film versions of the Twain novel and a couple of PARENT TRAP flicks. Well if turns out something similar has been going on in real life, particularly with Middle Eastern leaders and their families. This new film by director Lee Tamahori ( THE EDGE ) turns the clock back over twenty years In this true story of doubles and deception.

Dominic Cooper ( CAPTAIN AMERICA:THE FIRST AVENGER ) plays Latif Yahia, an ordinary man serving in the Iraqui Army. One day he is scooped up and brought to the royal palace in Baghdad. There he is re-united with his old classmate Uday Hussein, the son of the country’s dictator Saddam. Uday has decided that Latif will become his ‘fiday’ or body double. Latif is hesitant but reluctantly agrees after his family is threatened. He undergoes plastic surgery, is fitted for a dental prosthetic, and memorizes Uday’s mannerisms and history while his family believes that Latif died in battle. Latif is eyewitness to Uday’s physchotic behavior,violent outbursts, and sexual perversions. Somehow Latif catches the eye of one of the “party girls”, Saraab played by Ludivine Sagnier ( SWIMMING POOL ) and the two decide that they will somehow escape the clutches of Uday and his minions.

Tamahori has crafted a terrific film that’s part horror movie and part true political thriller based on Yahia’s book. News footage from the first Gulf War ( including speeches by Dick Cheney and George H. W. Bush ) is expertly woven into the proceedings. Uday’s mother, brother, and father are also portrayed in the film. Mom’s indulgent while the other two look at him with disappointment and disgust. We see bit of Saddam’s use of body doubles during an odd tennis match scene ( Did Saddam or his ‘fiday’ win the match? ).  The film is full of tension as the unpredictable Uday acts on his every sadistic whim. Two memorable sequences involve one of Saddam’s friends who spouts off at a party and Uday’s disruption of a wedding reception for a young soldier and his bride. We also see Uday’s relentless pursuit of schoolgirls through the city streets as citizens look on helplessly. The sets and costumes are very effective in showing off the opulence of the privileged royal family. Sagnier is impressive as the sexy, sympathetic, and conflicted Saraab. But the movie squarely rests on the very capable shoulders of Cooper in a bravura acting performance. He must pull off the distinct personalities of the two men and then show you Latif attempting to impersonate Uday. Cooper gives a quiet dignity to the young soldier who must coldly observe the horror around him. There’s very little of Latif’s subtlely in Cooper’s take on Uday. At first he seems a clown with his long cigars, bowl haircut, and over-sized teeth ( he almost resembles a circa 1950’s Jerry Lewis ), but then the beast emerges. This unmerciful, petulant child man turns into a mad, rabid dog that must be put down before more innocents suffer. This assured work from such a young actor makes THE DEVIL”S DOUBLE one of the year’s best films. Let’s hope his next film roles can fully make use of his talents.

Overall Rating: Four and a Half out of Five Stars

TABLOID – The Review

Errol Morris may be best known as the maker of such hard-hitting, serious documentaries as THE THIN BLUE LINE, which helped free a man from death row, or THE FOG OF WAR, a look back at the Vietnam War, but occasionally he points his camera at subjects many consider light like his early film THE GATES OF HEAVEN, a look at the pet funeral business. Often Morris offers insight with this whimsical journeys-GATES is a great meditation on the interaction of people with their pets. Such is the case with his newest film TABLOID. A quick glance at it’s subject- a re-examination of 1970’s sex scandal- might strike you as a bit silly, but Morris delves deeper and brings forth a terrific portrait fo some eccentric characters and a look at media from many years ago.

The phrase ” You couldn’t make this stuff up” certainly applies to the infamous incident that became known in England as “the Mormon in manacles” case. In 1977 , an American Mormon missionary stationed in London, Kirk Anderson, reported to police that he had been kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to an isolated country cottage, chained to a bed, and raped by his ex-girlfriend Joyce McKinney, a former Miss Wyoming World beauty pageant winner. The arrest and trial became front page fodder for the competing British newspaper tabloids. For months every move of Joyce and her accomplice Keith were reported by the media. In this new film Morris has tracked down many the story’s principals and inter-cut footage form British TV news shows along with cut-out type animation using the newspaper graphics and headlines from that era. The real life people come up with lines that no writer could dream up as dialogue.

Most of the film is interviews conducted with Morris’s Interrotron system that allows the interviewee to look directly at the interviewer while speaking directly to the camera. We can hear Morris respond to his subjects and he sometimes chuckles at the responses. This is the case with the expressive, flamboyant Ms. McKinney, She refers to her drama training and uses these skills while relating her adventures. Morris does use some stock 1950’s footage to illustrate her domestic desires and later cuts in crude, 1970’s cell animation of Mormon beliefs. This woman’s life could esily be a TV mini-series. After her big scandal of thirty years ago, instead of retreating back into the shadows, she returns in the new century with another unusual story that attracts global interest. Watching her, the viewer’s feelings can go from pity to disgust to astonishment many times over the film’s running time. Odd and eccentric doesn’t begin to describe her.

Several other people involved in the incident and the reporter are interviewed ( in addition to a very verbose ex-Mormon ).  The most entertaining may be the pilot that Joyce and her partner Keith hired to fly them to England. His story of his first meeting with her-she’s attired in a very see-through outfit- is one of the funniest moments I’ve seen on film this year. The most informative pieces may be the interviews with two men who originally covered the story for rivals The Daily Express and The Daily Mirror. In these recent days of closing newspapers it’s great to return to that not so distant past when the competition for a scoop ( and bigger sales ) was so heated-before 24 hour cable news existed. The Mirror became the main cheerleader for McKinney and celebrated her exploits ( perhaps paid for by the paper themselves ) while The Mirror looked into McKinney’s somewhat seedy modeling past-she insists still that her face was placed on nude bodies in photos. The film then becomes an investigation into media ethics when The Express reporter states that he believes that McKinney may be ” barking mad”, but did not stop in exploiting her. A very serious topic for what had been a whimsical sex and religious farce.

Morris once again proves that a documentary doesn’t have to be dry and dreary to be thought provoking. The old talking heads interview is made entertaining  and often hilarious in the film. I’ve only a slight quibble or two about this, but they’re things out of Morris’s control. An interview with McKinney’s partner-in-crime Keith would have been very enlightening, but he passed away in 2004. I wanted to know why this man would dedicate himself to aiding her in her mission of seducing and rescuing Kirk ( many of those interview speculated on this unusual relationship). Speaking of Kirk, he’s still alive but refused to speak with Morris ( Kirk is still involved with the Mormon church ). Also, Morris was unable to track down a former boyfriend/agent ( perhaps manager ) of McKinney’s from the late 70’s. Now that scandals are the main fodder for magazines, cable TV, and the Internet, TABLOID is a well made look back at a time that people reached for the morning paper to keep informed ( and a bit titillated ).

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

SARAH’S KEY – The Review

This Summer the events of World War II have played a major role in the fantasy films CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER  and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.  Once again with the release of SARAH’S KEY we return to the 1940’s, but this time in a thought provoking drama. As in the recent ARMY OF CRIME we witness the occupation of Paris. It began with the round up of French Jewish citizens and then focused on several resistance fighters. Key uses that round up-the Vel’ d’Hiv- as it’s second timeline while flashing ahead to the modern day. Both films shine a light on a dark chapter in France’s recent past.

SARAH’S KEY begins in that older timeline-1943- as young Sarah ( Melusine Mayance ) plays with her younger brother in the bedroom of their Paris apartment. The quiet morning is shattered by the police pounding on the front door. The family-and many neighbors- is soon lead away on buses. The film then flashes forward to the present day as Julia ( Kristin Scott Thomas ) looks in on the workers remodeling the old apartment that has been in her husband’s family for many decades. The British born Julia returns to her job as a journalist at an international news magazine. She pushes for an article on the anniversary of the Vel’ d’Hiv and with the help of a younger staffer-who has little knowledge of the events-she begins her research. She learns that her husband’s family took over Sarah’s family apartment after they were taken away. Returning to the past we see the family being held at a bicycling sports area until they are transferred . Eventually they will be shipped off to German concentration camps. Battling illness and hunger, Sarah is determined to escape. Modern day Julia becomes a history detective as she tries to trace the story and find out what happened to that brave little girl.

SARAH’S KEY for most of it’s running time tells two stories. Unfortunately the modern day plotline of Julia’s marriage problems and family clashes seems fairly trivial compared to the life and death struggle in 1942. The brutal scenes at the sports arena ( as a young modern day staffer remarks that it was many times worse than the New Orleans Superdome after Katrina ) are very powerful. What stuns the 2011 characters is that these atrocities were inflicted on French citizens by French authorities before the German forces took over. Sarah’s journey is compelling while Julia’s arguments with her husband are not. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner is able to keep the tension going in those harrowing scenes of the past and gets a very strong performance from Mayance as the strong -willed young heroine. Thomas makes Julia a passionate, intelligent seeker of truth. This is the second French language film I’ve seen her act in and I was impressed how she effortlessly goes from her native tongue to fluent French. Another English-speaking actor, Aidan Quinn, shows up fairly late in the film as Julia interviews him during her research. I almost wish the film concentrated more on Sarah’s story, but the flash forwards to modern times doesn’t diminish it’s power. SARAH’S KEY is a journalistic detective story that  reveals a country’s shame while celebrating the  undefeated spirit of one of it’s youngest heroines.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars

THE LONG RIDERS – The Blu Review

Howdy fans of HBO’s recent series “Deadwood” and the Coen brothers’ TRUE GRIT! Look out! Galloping down the Blu Ray trail is the 1980 epic “oater” THE LONG RIDERS. It tells the story of several of the great outlaw gangs. You may have seen other films concerning the exploits of these desperados. Well this version is worth a look for two reasons. It’s directed by one of the great action film makers to come out of the 1980’s-Walter Hill ( THE WARRIORS, 48 HOURS ). The other reason, and the film’s big marketing point, is the casting of the brothers with real life siblings-David, Keith, and Robert Carradine play the Younger brothers, Randy and Dennis Quaid are the Miller brothers, Nicholas and Christoper Guest are the Ford brothers, and James and Stacy Keach are the James brothers. This might seem like gimmick or “stunt” casting, but the family resemblances and dynamics enhance the story. Davis Carradine’s a great, swaggering thug as Cole Younger and James Keach brings a sad, haunted quality to Jesse James. There’s several great supporting actors here, too. James Whitmore, Jr. is wonderfully smarmy as an over-confident Pinkerton agent who soon realizes that he and his men are in over their heads. Chris Mulkey and Harry Carey, Jr. score big laughs as victims of a stagecoach hold-up. James Remar is scary in a savage saloon knife fight with Cole. Fans of TV’s “Parks and Recreation” will be stunned to see the mother of Leslie Knope ( Amy Poehler ), Pamela Reed playing a very spirited and sexy Belle Starr. She almost makes the screen sizzle.

There’s no extras here beside the theatrical trailer ( doesn’t count as an extra, Hollywood! ), so let’s focus on the film transfer. THE LONG RIDERS  will really give your sound system a test. Some of the dialogue is soft, but the gun shots roar like cannons. The score by Ry Cooder sounds exceptional especially in a square dance scene. Picture quality is supurb except for a few interior shots which were slightly grainy. The scenery is stunning, and the gun battles are beautiful and brutal. Like Sam Peckinpah, Hill made good use of slow motion in the final action sequence. If the film had been made today I’m sure the bullet hits would have been added after filming with digital effects. Back then they used small explosive packs called ‘squibs’. I’d bet that the actors were pretty sore at the end of the day even if they were heavily padded. I’d not seen the film before and aside from Dennis Quaid’s ‘babyface’ ( wonder if that moustache was real ), you might  think it had been made a couple of years ago and not over thirty! THE LONG RIDERS  holds up very well indeed and deserves a spot on the shelf of any western or action film fan.

THE ROBBER – The Review

The stoic, determined , enigmatic loner has been the subject of many thrillers and action films. On either side of the the law, the single-minded protagonist has been a fixture in cinema perhaps best exemplified in the sixties and seventies movies of actors such as Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. In the new film THE ROBBER we get to see a character based on a real person from the Austrian director Benjamin Heisenberg.

We first observe Johann Rettenberger ( Andreas Lust ) running in circles around a small patch of grass. Soon we learn that he is in prison. Taking up most of the space in his small cell is a electric treadmill, which he immediately puts to use. Johann meets with his parole officer prior to his imminent release. Thr officer wants to make sure that he has a plan for the outside and does not become part of another bank robbing gang. Johann tells the man what he wants to hear. After his release he rents a tiny, dreary apartment close to the train station. He then goes to a job placement center and re-connects with a counselor Erika ( Franziska Weisz ). The talk a bit about his old gang. Soon Johann is back robbing banks, but this time he goes solo. He also continues his running regimin and enters a marathon race. Visiting Erika in the spawling apartment she had shared with her late mother, Johann is invited to live there in one of the empty bedrooms. The roommates soon become lovers as his crime spree continues. Can he keep his criminal activites a secret from her? And when will the authorities catch up?

THE ROBBER is a fairly simple story told with a great deal of energy by Heisenberg. You can almost feel the adrenaline rush doing the hold up sequences perhaps more than in THE TOWN since Johann has no partners. One robbery goes terribly wrong and Johannn must abandon his stolen car and flee on foot. This is a wonderfully suspenseful bit of editing and camerawork as he dashes through buildings with no idea where the exit doors are located. In another great chase scene he bolts out of a police station and eludes his pursuers in the dark streets. Lust portrays him as a mystery. We don’t understand why he makes no attempt at living a normal life. Is he addicted to the danger? There’s no back story that explains his behavior. Erika tries to break through his tough demeanor with no success. THE ROBBER is a tense, taut, little thrill ride that is an interesting European spin on the American crime noir classics.

Overall Rating: Four Out of Five Stars

MEEK’S CUTOFF – The Review

A staple of many classic western movies is the wagon train. Each wagon’s full of eager settlers about to begin a new life. There was even a TV show called “Wagon Train”. Most times these folks would arrive at their new home on the prairie and put sown stakes. But what happens when they don’t make it to their promised land? The most extreme case maybe the story of the Donner party. Things don’t quite get that desperate in Kelly Reichardt’s new film MEEK’S CUTOFF. but the new West isn’t the utopia depicted in many classic film portrayals. Here, the roughest part of the journey may be the conflicts within this small group.

The first images we see are the three wagons being pulled by their animals while the men and women ( and one young boy) trudge alongside over the barren landscape. Eventually we meet the travelers: newlyweds Thomas and Millie Gately ( Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan ), the White family-Thomas ( Neal Huff ), Glory ( Shirley Henderson ) and their pre-teen son Jimmy ( Tommy Nelson ), and Soloman Tetherow ( Will Patton ) and his much younger second wife Emily ( Michelle Williams ). They are being lead by a scout, Stephen Meek ( Bruce Greenwood ). Although the blustery Meek insists that they are going in the right direction, most of the group believes that they are hopelessly lost and are quickly running out of food and water. The women pressure their husbands to confront Meek, but they cannot bring themselves to it. Tensions mount as they trudge on. One day while gathering firewood, Emily encounters an Indian brave ( Ron Rondeaux ). She alerts the others and soon her husband and Meek ride ahead to capture him before he can contact his tribe. Eventually they return with the battered brave, Meek regales them with tales of his Indian battles and insists that they kill their prisoner. Emily steps forward to spare him, believing that the Indian will lead them to fresh water. Will he bring them to their new home or lead them into a trap?

Reichardt gives this old West tale a somber, quiet almost documentary feel. The desperation and weariness of these settlers seeps off the screen. The actors playing them give great understated performances with Williams standing out as the gutsy Emily. Her best scenes may be the ones opposite the bombastic, egotistical Meek played with gusto ( and an impressive overflowing beard ) by Bruce Greenwood. Like the travelers, we don’t know what his motives are. Reichardt generates a lot of tension in the encounters with the Indian and later in a harrowing scene where the wagons are guided down a steep hill using a crude pulley. Unfortunately the director may be too successful in showing the tedium and drudgery of life in transit over this desolate land. The ending may frustrate you, but you’ll go away with a greater respect for the pioneers you first saw in those old John Ford epics.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars

THERE BE DRAGONS – The Review

Often when film makers set a story around a certain historical period they will include many real people interacting with the fictional characters. This is the case with films as varied as RAGTIME and THE ROCKETEER ( which featured a young Howard Hughes ).  In the new film THERE BE DRAGONS writer/director Roland Joffe has done the opposite in creating several fictional characters to tell the real story of Josemaria Escriva, the Spanish priest who founded Opus Dei and, after his death in 1975, was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002. With this dramatic device Joffe is able to give a greater over view of the world events that affected this most recent Roman Catholic Saint.

The film begins less than a decade ago with Robert ( Dougray Scott ) a writer in Madrid who is researching the life of the new candidate for sainthood Josemaria Escriva. Although they are estranged Robert attempts to contact his aged father Manolo ( Wes Bentley ) who still lives in the city. While living a message on his father’s answering machine, Roberts mentions his research on Josemaria. Manolo picks up the phone and refers to his friendship with the priest  many years ago. The story shifts to 1911 when the two nine year old boys were fast friends. Unfortunately The business of Josemaria’s father fails and Manolo’s prosperous family ( they own a chocolate factory ) force him to stop seeing the now impoverished lad. Later the two boys are enrolled in the seminary where they come to blows in the courtyard. Manolo soon joins the family business while Josemaria ( Charlie Cox ) decides to enter the priesthood. Soon he proposes an idea to the church elders about establishing a religious commune he dubs Opus Dei. Meanwhile the stress of dealing with striking factory workers causes Manolo’s father to suffer a fatal heart attack. Josemaria meets with Manolo to console him, but the bitter man rejects him and his faith. Soon Manolo is contacted by the military forces attempting to take control of Spain ( aided by the Axis forces ). They want Manolo to join the freedom fighters and be a spy. There he falls for an Hungarian woman Ildiko ( Olga Kurlylenko ) whose heart belongs to their charismatic leader Oriol ( Rodrigo Santoro ). Meanwhile Josemaria must hide with her Opus Dei followers during the tensions of the Spainish Civil War when priests were killed on sight in the streets. After much soul searching the decide to leave Spain and make the trek through the Pyrenees mountains. During this time of unrest will the paths of the two men cross again? And can Robert and his father ever reconcile?

This is an epic story of courage and hardship told confidently by Joffe, who’s helmed many similar stories ( THE KILLING FIELDS,THE MISSION ). Argentna doubles nicely for war torn Spain. Cox portrays Josemaria as a dedicated young man occasionally wracked with doubt. I was surprised to see Bentley as the co-lead of this sweeping saga. He had made a big impression in AMERICAN BEAUTY, but quickly drifted to smaller roles and films. This role should bring him back to the cinema big leagues. Unfortunately the modern days scenes have saddled him with a scraggly grey wig and some mediocre old age makeup. Scott is compelling as the dedicated researcher and conflicted son. Geraldine Chaplin and Derek Jacobi shine in their short scenes. I didn’t know much about Josemaria, so I was surprised to hear see him create Opus Dei. I only knew that sect from THE DA VINCI CODE and there is a brief scene of self-flogging. Aside from that sequence, I found his story very interesting while Manolo’s fictional story of battlefield betrayal felt like a replay of FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. He’s  such a petty, bitter, cruel character that seems too much of an extreme contrast to the saintly Josemaria. Still if you wish to know more of this man of the cloth and of the Spanish Civil War, this film is a good place to begin.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars

MIRAL – The Review

With all the different conflicts in the Middle East in the news headlines the last few months, it’s interesting that we have this film just opening that examines one of the region’s longest controversies-the Israeli/ Palestinian situation. Artist /film maker Julian Schnabel ( THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY ) has made a film of the autobiographical novel by Rula Jebreal that examines this story over several decades before centering on one young woman’s involvement. It’s a difficult story with no easy solutions as we get to walk around this troubled land with these people during the course of this thought provoking film.

MIRAL is broken into chapters, each named for a female protagonist that carries the story forward. During Christmas of 1947 we meet Hind Al- Husseini ( Hiam Abbass ) at a Christmas party thrown by Bertha Spafford ( Vanessa Redgrave ) at a Jerusalem hotel. Hind strikes up a conversation with Bertha’s visiting American nephew Eddie ( Willem Dafoe ). Months later, while on her way to work Hind encounters dozens of children, orphans of the Arab-Israeli. Hind takes them to her mother’s home to provide food and shelter. When the dozens grow to thousands, Hind opens the Dar Al-Tifel Institute to feed, shelter, clothe, and educate them. Hind is tireless in her efforts to gain funds for it’s operations and at one point encounters Eddie again while he is working for the U.S. military. The running of the school leaves no time for them to re-connect. The story shifts with it’s next chapter subject, Nadia. She leaves her home after enduring the abuse of her stepfather and eventually works as a belly dancer at a bar. Nadia then deals with her troubled past by turning to drink. After getting into a fight on a public bus, she is sent to prison. There she meets her cellmate ( and new chapter heading ) Fatima, a former nurse now serving a double life sentence for attempting to blow up an Israeli movie theatre. She tells Nadia of her involvement with the underground Palestinian groups. Nadia is introduced to Fatima’s gentle brother Jamal ( Alexander Siddig ), a gardener at Hind’s school, during a prison visit. When she is released, Nadia and Jamal marry. Unfortunately her alcoholism and promiscuity continue even after the birth of Miral ( the final chapter ). When Nadia ends her life, Jamal finds that he cannot care for Miral by himself and enrolls her at the Institute during the work week. In her teen years Hind sends her and several students out to refuge camps to educate the children. There Miral ( Freida Pinto ) and her classmates are horrified at what is happening outside the school gates and become involved in demonstrations. She and a girlfriend soon attend meetings of the underground movement. The peaceful Jamal is horrified, but cannot stop his daughter. How far will she go and what will happen if she is discovered and arrested?

MIRAL tells these brutal stories with an unflinching eye. The sight of these desperate, lonely children is heart-wrenching. Schnabel tries not to paint either side in broad strokes of good and evil. At one point teenage Miral is sent away to relatives and gets to know ( and like ) the free spirited Israeli girlfriend of a cousin. When Miral becomes romantically involved with a rebel organizer she gets to witness the group’s petty infighting that soon turns deadly. Schnabel keeps the story moving and coherent through the decades even as he succumbs to art techniques with hand held cameras, intense close-ups, and center focus/hazy framed sequences. Pinto proves she’s much more than the beautiful princess who needs to be saved in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Her Miral is a complex young woman whose outrage sends her into dangerous territory. As an old Trek fan, it was a great treat to see Siddig deliver a touching nuanced performance as Jamal after enjoying his work as Dr. Bashir on TV’s “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” for some many years. the real anchor of the true story ( and film ) is Hind and Abbass shows her as a strong, compassionate woman. MIRAL is a different look at a divisive issue that tries to translate it into a very personal story. It may not change your opinions, but you’ll get a very well made perspective on an area that dominates so much of the daily news cycle.

Overall Rating : 4 stars out of 5

Geoffrey Canada Endorses THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13

Academy Award® Best Picture Winner THE KING’S SPEECH Is Now The Family Event Of The Year

The Weinstein Company Implements Youth Education Initiative
As THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13 Is Now In Theaters Nationwide

New York, NY, April 2011 – Geoffrey Canada endorses THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13, which opened nationwide this past weekend. Canada, president of Harlem Children’s Zone, went on record at the time of the MPAA hearing for Academy Award® Best Picture winner THE KING’S SPEECH, in support of making the film accessible to a broader and younger audience. Last week he spoke out about the benefits of the new release of the film. Canada, is the first major educator to publicly support THE KING’S SPEECH.

Canada said: “I feel that if young people can see the King of England struggle and ultimately overcome his personal challenges, it will help open them up to the rewards of hard work and persistence. I believe the film’s uplifting message and teachable moments far outweigh its minor use of vulgarities.”

The Weinstein Company (TWC) released THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13, the family-friendly version of its Academy Award-winning historical drama about King George VI, on 1,000 screens nationwide on April 1st. It’s the only version available in theatres.

In conjunction with the film’s release, TWC has collaborated with Young Minds Inspired (YMI) to provide a free education program for parents and educators. The program is designed to challenge students to examine the influences in their lives and encourage critical thinking using primary sources, in order to strengthen communication skills.

Canada added: “I know firsthand that the arts can teach children lasting lessons about life and have an immensely positive influence on how they develop into adults.”

Academy Award® winning director Tom Hooper responded: “The film tells a story that touches on so many issues related to childhood. There has already been an overwhelming response from children in the UK, who have positively connected to King George VI’s courageous and inspiring story. We are all very grateful to now have the opportunity to bring THE KING’S SPEECH to a family audience in the US.”

One of the year’s most celebrated, successful and beloved films, THE KING’S SPEECH was honored at the 83rd Academy Awards® with Oscars® for Best Picture, producers Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin; Best Director, helmer Tom Hooper; Best Actor, Colin Firth; and Best Original Screenplay, David Seidler.

To learn more about THE KING’S SPEECH PG-13 education initiative go to: www.kingsspeech.com

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE.  Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes, most recently Tom Hooper’s THE KING’S SPEECH, winner of four 2011 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture; Derek Cianfrance’s Academy Award®-nominated BLUE VALENTINE; and John Wells’ feature directorial debut, THE COMPANY MEN.  Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; I’M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD;  HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; and 2011 Golden Globe® Best Foreign Language Film nominee THE CONCERT. Upcoming releases include MIRAL, SPY KIDS 4, SCREAM 4, APOLLO 18, DIRTY GIRL, SUBMARINE, OUR IDIOT BROTHER, THE DETAILS, CORIOLANUS, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN and SO UNDERCOVER.   Recently wrapping is I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT.  Currently in production is COGAN’S TRADE.

TWC is also active in television production, with credits including the Emmy® Award-winning hit reality series “Project Runway,” and the critically acclaimed HBO comedy/crime series “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.” The company is producing two “Project Runway” spinoffs, “Project Runway: Masters” and “Project Runway: Accessories,” which are expected to debut in 2011.  The company currently has 15 series in different stages of development, including: “Mob Wives,” a reality series for VH1; “Marco Polo,” a scripted historical series about the great explorer; “The Nanny Diaries,” based on the hit book; and “The Mad Ones,” adapted from the Mafia novel of the same name.

OF GODS AND MEN – The Review

In most religious motion pictures the subject of faith is explored and discussed. Faith is at the heart of the new French film from director Xavier Beauvois OF GODS AND MEN based on real events in 1996. The faith of the men profiled is put to the ultimate test when a political uprising threatens their very existence.

The Trappist monks of the Tibhirine monastery lived in harmony with the mostly Muslim residents of the local Algerian village. These monks leds a simple life. Their days were spent dispensing medicine and medical advice to the villagers, bible study, worship, cleaning, tending the gardens and beehives, cooking, and selling their jars of honey at the local market. This life is disrupted by the emergence of a radical insurgent group, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria. These guerrilla forces first attack and kill a group of Croatians constructing a highway. Christian, the monk’s leader ( Lambert Wilson ), is contacted by local government officials about stationing soldiers at the monastery. He refuses the offer of military protection. Hearing of this meeting, some of the other monks voice their dissatisfaction at not being asked their thoughts on this. Finally late at night the men’s slumber is ended when the guerrillas burst through the gates and demand their medicine supply. At their next group meeting the monks discuss and vote on what to do about this threat. Christian, the doctor Luc ( Michael Lonsdale ), and two others wish to remain there and take their chances against the unrest. Others wish to leave for France immediately. They do not believe that their possible martyrdom would have any impact. Still others think they should gradually abandon the monastery. While the men mull over these ideas they are shocked when the military controlled government begins harassing the villagers in order to find the insurgents. On Christmas Eve the rebels again storm the monastery and demand that the doctor return with them. Christian and the monks stand their ground and refuse to comply. After being given some food and medicine, the rebels return to the countryside. The monks know that the fighters will eventually return. Will they be able to stand up to them or should they leave the monastery and the village?

OF GODS AND MEN is a very moving story told with great skill by Beauvois and all the actors involved. The men portraying the monks take great care to show their individual quirks and very different opinions. Kudos to Lambert as the strong, but conflicted Christian and Lonsdale as the compassionate healer, Luc. The photography of the region is stunning. The rocky desert suddenly erupts into green, rolling countryside. The film is leisurely paced,which helps make the sudden appearances by the rebels more tense and suspenseful. Lovely hymns highlight the soundtrack. This is a well made story that will leave you thinking about the power of faith and how it can be strong when tested by violence.

Overall Rating: Four Out of Five Stars