Review: ‘Reservation Road’

Zac:

This Oscar hopeful unfortunately falls short. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo star in this serious drama about the effect of a hit and run can have on the two parties involved; the grieving family and the runner. Ruffalo plays the runner and i good as always. Playing the tortured soul to a great effect, we can buy into his pain and struggle with carrying on with the guilt or facing the music and turning himself in. The major hitch in his dilemma is that he loves his son and wants to be the good father to him that he never had; he also wants to watch the Red Sox win the World Series. Phoenix also plays his part well with the obsessed father doing anything to seek “justice” for the loss of his son. Phoenix’s wife in the movie is played by Jenifer Connelly who turns in some great work as the grieving mother that is trying to move on with life without losing her husband.
As for the story, everything is there. Grief filled family, check. Fighting parents, check. Tortured soul, check. It’s the other elements that make things kind of fishy. The fact that Ruffalo ends up working on the case for Phoenix is a bit of a stretch, even for a small town, and is a bit convenient. Ruffalo is also able to doop everyone fairly easily by renting a car as well. The arc’s for the Connelly and Phoenix are also a bit amiss. Phoenix falls into revenge mode in a hurry and isn’t very deep beyond a couple shades of change. While Connelly goes through the grieving process a bit fast for my tastes, especially since the movie takes place over the course of the Red Sox 04 playoff run, which in itself is an interesting backdrop.(How can we make this great moment wrapped in sadness to stick it to Boston)
Overall it is a very heavy movie, that has solid performances all around. The movie’s logic might be a bit off at times but there are some great scenes sprinkled through out, usually with Ruffalo dealing with his guilt, but in the end the movie fails to take it to that next level of being anything more than, ‘it was good’.

[rating: 3/5]

Review: ‘Gone Baby Gone’

Zac:

Another movie dealing with the loss of a child, this one excels on pretty much every level. Gone Baby Gone is an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane(Mystic River) novel by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. I have always been a fan of Affleck and I am glad that he does a great job here which is supported by his great cast.
Leading the cast is Ben’s brother Casey who, along with Jesse James, is having a breakthrough year. Casey is just as good here as he is in Jesse James but is playing a completely different animal. As a private investigator contracted to help with the “neighborhood” investigation of the disappearance of a little girl he is a great as the evolving investigator gaining experience on the job. Affleck is accompanied by his girlfriend, Michelle Monaghan who helps with the detective work; though Affleck is usually figuring out most of the turns. As Affleck moves through his investigation we find twists and turns and fall onto some unexpected paths with some amazing tense scenes that get the blood rushing and wont let up.
The rest of the cast is rounded out by a couple of legends, Morgan Freeman as a police captain and Ed Harris as the cases detective. Freeman is more in the background, but good as always, while Ed Harris is fantastic as the rough detective willing to do anything to get the girl. He gets so intense and so scary with some of the investigated sometimes you are glad you don’t have to deal with his tactics.
Another great turn is by, Amy Ryan, as the mother of the missing girl. You completely forget she is some actor and totally buy into her as this horrible druggie mother that is lost in the trash and underworld of Boston. You just don’t really like her, might even hate her, yet she maintains some sympathy. But when you really hate a character, you know the actor is doing a pretty damn good job.
Ben Affleck does a great job at making this movie feel real as well, which makes it easy to buy into the world. No one is really attractive in this, its gritty and dirty, and it’s a place I wouldn’t want to be in. Even Amy Ryan and Michelle Monaghan some how manage to be not very appealing for being beautiful women. As the rest of the directing duties go, Affleck has some great moody scenes and shoots tension incredibly well and crafted a story that for the most part stays entertaining; rarely slowing up at all.
The movie is carried by a good story with great actors doing what they are supposed to do for a fantastic debut for Ben Affleck as a director. I hope he gets behind and in front of the camera a lot more in the future and that is brother becomes the star that he deserves to be sooner, rather than later.

[rating: 4.5/5]

Review: ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’

Zac:

What we have here is an amazing, gripping, and fantastically produced piece of cinema, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of, if not the best, film I have seen all year. Now there is a lot of time left in the year, and a lot of good looking movies on the horizon, but this one will be tough to beat in my eyes.
The film looks at the life of Jesse James (Brad Pitt) after his last heist and his interaction with a new gang member Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) and the people that surround their two lives. The long title is more than appropriate for this film which looks into each of these men’s souls as we follow them toward there infamous last meeting.
The production on this movie is superb; there are countless beautiful shots through out this film with some menacing gun shots piercing the eerie silence that fills this movie with tension. From scene to scene the quality of this film rarely drops, and is usually besting the previous as it goes along. Director Andrew Dominik has set himself as a potential great of the future with this being only his second film, and his American Debut.
Dominik’s second effort is fueled by the incredible acting troupe he has on hand. The supporting players are just wonderful, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Garret Dillahunt, do great work as the supporting gang members with Paul Schneider getting special mention for some charismatic and best work of the supporting roles as Dick Liddil.
Rounding out the supporting roles, Sam Rockwell is magnificent right in the middle of the happenings of the story, and adds a bit of lightness to the proceedings while also playing the drama as good as he ever does. It’s nice to see such a great actor like Rockwell get out of the goof ball role, mostly, he tends to fall into often and just turn in a great performance as the older brother Ford, Charlie.
Next we have Casey Affleck who comes out of left field and smacks you in the face with how good he can be. We feel him wrestling with his emotions towards Jesse and feel the struggle he’s has gaining approval from anyone. Affleck is so convincing with the moodiness and cockiness of Ford that makes us feeling sorry for him to hate him over the course of a scene. Ford, a truly tragic character, is just as big a star here as James, and their two paths are wholly connected and intertwine and their fates are both in the hands of each other. Pitt and Affleck, and the rest of the cast as well, play off each other so well and work so great together which I think wouldn’t be possible without these guys being friends from the Ocean’ films before hand.
And let’s let that poor transition bring us to Pitt. Amazing work here, he hasn’t been this good sense Fight Club, and this might top Tyler Durden. I won’t have that argument here because that would take time, but all that matters is that he is great. Jesse James was a bad man, but not seem evil devil spinning his mustache, he fits in, he has a family he loves, enjoys being with friends, but he is always on guard and menacing when he needs to be. Pitt is terrifying at times but you trust him all the same, you almost half to, because to cross him, is a death sentence. I could go on about how great he is here, but just know that Pitt and Affleck are worth the price of admission alone and that there is a great story for them to work around.
A magnificent and beautiful movie, this will be one of the year’s best when it’s all said and done. Fair warning though, the movie’s length might be an issue for some, 2 hours and 40 min, but if you know going in that this about the men in the story, and the story will engage, you will not disappointed.

[rating: 5/5]

Review: ‘ Into the Wild’

Zac:

Sean Penn directs his first movie in six years and knocks it out of the park. Into the Wild follows the post graduate life of Christopher McCandless, an Emory graduate that decides to give up everything he has and set off on a life of tramping around the country in an attempt to rediscover himself.
When the movie opens we find the Magic Bus in Alaska with Chris or Alex Supertramp his adopted name after leaving everything behind, who is played wonderfully by Emile Hirsch. Hirsch really dives deep into the role, is extremely likeable, and we can believe him as some one who is capable of leaving everything behind to live this life. Hirsch is full of energy and carries the movie easily by keeping us constantly engaged and entertained along his journey to the Magic Bus.
Hirsch gets some pretty good help from his supporting roles as well with his stops along the road. Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker play a hippie couple that brings perspective into Supertramps’s life, as well as returning the favor back to them.
Vince Vaughn plays a grain farmer that befriends Supertramp and becomes a pen pal and a source for some of Supertramp’s thoughts that get scrawled across the screen, a narration trick that works very well and I liked a lot.
Kristen Stewart plays young hippie teen and really lets you into her character in her limited screen time, while busting out a pretty good singing voice.
Hal Holbrook becomes an “adoptive” Grandfather of sorts and assists Supertramp with his final preparation towards Alaska.
Jena Malone shares some narration duty with Hirsh as his sister, and does it well, while William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden turn in some amazing performances as the cause of all that happens.
All of these supporting roles do a fantastic job and are all equally likeable, or not likeable, and help the movie to continue moving forward and never really dull.
The last start to mention, and not the least, is nature itself, which is captured beautifully here by Penn and his crew. There are some shots and moments that seem out of a nature doc, and Hirsch is always right up in all the action making it all the more breathtaking and never pulling you out of the moment with a moment like, ‘that’s not him.’
And I can’t give enough credit to the crew and filmakers for making such a potentially horrible subject matter, guy walking around, into a fantastic film by keeping up the pace, not wasting any of the viewers time, superb editing, and rarely leaving us wishing they showed more; just right.
A fascinating story about a fascinating person that is brilliant translated to film carried by Emile Hirsch and orchestrated by Sean Penn, definitely worth your time and money if you love nature and adventure.

[rating: 4.5/5]

Review: ‘We Own the Night’

Zac:

This cop drama is pretty much standard fare across the board story board with nothing we haven’t seen before. I think one thing that took a bit away from me on this movie was that the preview gave way too much away. But anyways, the lead, Joaquin Phoenix, does some great work here and is a character you can easily get behind and relate with. Wahlberg also turns in a subdued and under the radar performance as well and it’s nice to see him play something other than the tough guy badass role for a change. Eva Mendes also looks pretty like she is supposed to and does some pretty good work through out.
Robert Duvall on the other hand just got on my nerves, I feel like he dialed in his performance, and it’s the same one he as been doing for years. But his acting isn’t what holds this movie back, not by a long shot. What holds this movie back is that about halfway through the movie, nothing is happening for a reason, it is just happening because it has to, to move the story forward. Some characters also take some drastic turns in thought, that aren’t all that believable either, but oh well. The movie remains engaging despite these short falls, and is entertaining, with the highlights being the drug house and the rain chase. It’s just not the greatest movie; good, not great.
If you like any of the acting leads, you will find something here to like, and if you like a stereotypical cop story, again you can’t complain, but if you are looking for something remotely different and original, you might want to look elsewhere.

[rating: 3.5/5]

Review: ‘Michael Clayton’

Zac:

This is the kind of movie we need more of, intelligent thrillers, that keeps you guessing, constantly engages you in the picture, and doesn’t take the audiences knowledge for granted.
Tony Gilroy, writer of the Bourne movies, makes his directorial debut here and does a fantastic job and he made his job a lot easier by getting an amazing cast. George Clooney leads the way and is absolutely fantastic as the title character.
Clooney plays the character perfectly and we believe his struggles with all of the aspects of his life. The title character is such a breath of fresh air because he isn’t just a one note song, there are layers to this guy, and we don’t just deal with only one problem in his life, we see everything that is going on with his life over the course of the four days of the film and each story is equally engaging and Gilroy’s script weaves them all together so well.
Tilda Swinton also does some good work here as the executive that might be a bit in over her head but willing to do anything for the company from losing the class action law suit that the movie revolves around.
Sydney Pollack also has some great work, and a couple of good one liner’s, as the Firm CEO that is in the middle of all of the drama unfolding on all sides. For a director he is one pretty good actor as well.
Tom Wilkinson is also fantastic as the defense attorney that loses it and sets all of the events in the film into motion. He plays a great sympathetic crazy man that starts to seem not so crazy as the movie progresses.
I can’t reveal much without giving things away, but Gilroy’s script is deliberately paced and engaging, which weaves in and out of itself very easily while remaining clever and thought provoking. And the movie finishes on one of the best notes in a movie in a while, just a fantastic ending.
Anyways, if you’re looking for a great movie to go see, this is it. A great, adult drama that is well worth your 8 bucks for two hours.

[rating: 5/5]