Country Strong

Dir. Shana Fest
Starring. Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund

It's no secret that we are fascinated by celebrity. I, for one, almost crapped my pants when I saw Keira Knightley at a bar the other night. So, by now, we're all pretty accustomed to the classic tale of the once great celeb who suffers an alcohol/drug induced meltdown, gets arrested, goes to rehab, makes a heartfelt apology, and then attempts a comeback. Everyday it's plastered on the magazine shelves, the internet, and television. The point is, we get it. Therefore, in order to justify a 2 hour movie on the subject, you better bring something new. And Country Strong is about as recycled as it gets.

Gwyneth Paltrow stars as fictitious famous country singer, Kelly Canter, who is pulled out of rehab early by her manager husband, James (McGraw), to start her comeback tour. She agrees but insists on an opening spot for rehab worker and part time lover, Beau (Garrett Hedlund), who is a talented singer/songwriter known only to those who frequent the sleaziest of bars. But James has another opener in mind: former beauty queen and peppy youngster, Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester). Eventually, they all head off on tour together, providing the catalyst for a sloppy melodramatic love square to develop. Tensions rise; hearts are broken; songs are sung; hair is teased ever higher, but none of it makes for very good entertainment.

Maybe the filmmakers thought the film would survive on the novelty of Paltrow debuting her vocal talents (nobody actually saw Duets, after all), but then Glee beat 'em to that. Maybe they thought they could feature a few good country songs and that'd make the film worth seeing. Well, despite the Oscar Nom for "Coming Home," that didn't work either. You may get a few country music fans who will pick up the soundtrack when it goes on a half price special sale at Wal-Mart, but that don't mean y'all got yerselves a decent movie.

There is rarely if ever an honest moment in this film. Every scene feels contrived and cliche. It's hard to actually care about the relationships because they are so poorly developed. None of the characters actually seem to care that much about each other, so why should we care that much about them? It's like watching a 2 hour recap of a soap opera you've never actually seen before, but with a lot less plot. If you can believe that.

Paltrow gives a decent performance, as does McGraw, but no amount of convincing crying would be enough to save this sinking ship of a script. As if half the world didn't already think country music was shallow and insipid. Now we've got a whole film to prove it. Thanks. "Coming Home?" More like "Going Home"...from the movie theater after about 20 minutes of this sap-fest and asking for my money back. I'd rather just spend it on the latest OK! magazine.

The Tempest

Dir. Julie Taymor
Starring. Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Russell Brand

Shakespeare's The Tempest is the thrilling tale of a mysterious island, conjured storms, magical spirits, illusion, betrayal, love at first sight, and sorcery. You would think with the cinematic technologies of today, that would make for an epic adventure of a film. Especially when said film includes a talented cast and a visionary director. So...what was it that I just saw?

The film's script sticks closely to the Bard's narrative in all but changing the main character of Prospero to the female Prospera, played by Helen Mirren. Thus it is the story of the exiled Duchess of Milan, who has raised her daughter Miranda (Felicity Jones) on a mostly deserted island, with naught but a beast called Caliban (Djimon Hounsou) and a magical spirit, Ariel (Ben Whishaw) as their sole companions and servants. Prospera is learned in the magical arts, a talent that brought about her exile, and she manages to summon a great tempest to bring down a ship carrying her enemies. She then strands them about the island and through a series of manipulations and illusions, she tests her foes, eventually taking her revenge.

The decision to change Prospero's gender proves successful, as it adds a new dimension to her exile via witchcraft, a fate many powerful and intelligent women have suffered in the past. Also, the character's treatment of daughter Miranda becomes more understandably maternal, rather than oppressively patriarchal and mildly creepy as it would have come across with Shakespeare's original father figure. Helen Mirren shines in the role as well, and it becomes hard to imagine anyone else, let alone a man, filling those shoes.

So the question remains: What went wrong? Why was my only real emotional investment in the film trying to figure out whether or not Ariel had breasts? Let's pretend for a second that I'm not a product of the proverbial "MTV generation." Let's pretend that I do have an attention span long enough to focus throughout a film of entirely Shakespearean dialogue. Try as I did to follow every line, never having closely studied The Tempest, I think much of the nuance and allusion in the text might have been lost on me. Methinks I shall not be the only poor sod in the audience wondering what the fen-sucked codpiece they were all on about.

But let's assume that's not the biggest issue here. Honestly, there was just no common thread of an idea, evidence of pacing, or entertaining factor to the film at all. I suspect with different direction, Shakespeare's words could have been better brought to life. Director Julie Taymor has been so heralded for her innovative use of staging in theatre (i.e.The Lion King), but it's clear she's not the slightest idea how to navigate a film set. Her direction is so heavy handed, you really have to work to avoid it in order to appreciate the story and the strong performances from the cast.

The terrible visual effects (namely the annoying spirit lady/bloke, Ariel) look like they were merely stamped onto the film as a consideration after the fact. Taymor probably put the same amount of thought into them as she did the safety regulations for her Spider Man musical. Even the beautiful production design and the extremely creative costumes only serve as distractions from the blandness of the rest of the film.

Try as it does to be visually exciting and original, this mess of a film is just too unfocused and too dull to make Shakespeare's tale accessible for today's audiences.

Biutiful

Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Starring. Javier Bardem

Sometimes life is just too good. Sometimes you walk down the street thinking, "Gee, the world is really a great place and I'm happy to be a part of it." If you find yourself afflicted with such unfortunate thoughts, I urge you to take a nice big dose of Biutiful, a film guaranteed to remind you that the world is a horribly, disgracefully, absurdly, inexplicably mean, angry, heaping pile of shit. Fortunately however, the film is not. (A pile of shit, that is). In fact, despite it's depressing nature, it's utterly captivating; a deeply moving portrait of the often ignored darkness and desperation of life. It's a film that should be seen (even if you can only manage just the once), because it universally and realistically addresses themes of death and spirituality and love and survival and redemption; all of those big ideas that are constantly looming over us wishing we gave them the attention they deserve.

These themes are portrayed through the story of Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a (mostly) single father with a strong connection to the spiritual world. As his own health begins to fail, he goes through what any person would when faced with the harsh reality of their own mortality. He struggles to find peace within himself and with those around him as his time slowly runs out. But this is no "Bucket List" or "Last Holiday" (which, in case you've forgotten, is that movie where Queen Latifah gets diagnosed with a terminal illness and goes on one last holiday with LL Cool J. I know, I too wish I hadn't brought it up). His world is a harsh one, living on the margins of society in Barcelona, surviving on various illegal dealings, and desperate to support his two children despite his conflicted relationship with their bipolar mother. Is it possible to make things right in such a complicated world and does it even matter once we are gone? It's a difficult question and one that Uxbal must face before it is too late.

I can't deny the hold that this film had over me, and as difficult as it was at times to watch, I felt that somewhere in the story there was an undercurrent of hope. Perhaps this was in the father's unwavering dedication and love for his children, a part played with such depth and force by Javier Bardem, you'll find it hard to believe he has ever acted as anything else. There were several supernatural moments in the film that I found to be a bit superfluous as everything else was so grounded in a gritty, seedy realism. Other than that, the dramatic elements of the story and the conflicts of each character entwine effortlessly at the guiding hands of writer/director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who proves that he can still tackle major themes without the use of an ensemble of characters and stories. The simplicity and the focus of one man's journey is really what sets Biutiful apart from Inarritu's other works and makes it a truly engrossing film to watch.