The Kid With a Bike

How can you miss with a French film about a boy with a bicycle? The answer is: you cannot. Director Jean-Luc Dardenne and co-creator Luc Dardenne filmed a minimalist script with a heart wrenching core and come out with a tight, terrific film that moves quickly, makes its points, shows you its story and ends on a high note. Mostly well acted by Cecille de France and young Thomas Doret, you will quickly be drawn in by exactly what the dialogue relates. You only have to deal with the emotional fallout as it happens. A young boy is rejected and clings to the first people that take him in, shown to us in moving juxtaposition. This film could never be adapted for an American version. That could not happen in this universe. Go see this for the story. Go see a caring side to France. Go see a story about a young boy and his bike. It is well worth your time. It will renew your faith in the ability of cinema to tell a story.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Ewan McGregor's movie's are not known for being edgy or thought-provoking. They are more pure entertainment. That's what I expected to see in "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen". Unfortunately for Ewan and the movie, somebody pulled the plug on the writing just beyond the halfway point in the movie. The first twenty minutes had some clever romantic comedic moments. But somebody decided they had to make a jingoistic statement by throwing in an unlikely muslim assassin attempting a low percentage shot and being foiled by an even lower percentage fishing cast. Emily Blunt is her lovely ingenue self, but is given nothing to stretch any acting talent she may have. But I should say some upbeat things about this movie I really wanted to like. You cannot fault Lasse Halstrom's direction and choice of locations. I do not fish, but he made me want to go to Scotland to, at least, walk along side of the stream. Sadly, instability in the real Yemen made filming there, impossible. Morocco stepped in for those locations. Let me just say, forget the plot. Go to watch Ewan and Emily. Go for Lasse's direction. And yes, see it in a theatre and save your iPad for lesser movies.

George vs. George

Just a quick word about George Clooney's two big movies of 2011, "The Ides of March" and "The Descendants".  "The Descendants" is very family friendly, if somewhat depressing while being big, lush, and visually pleasant, particularly in the winter.  Hawaii is much more realistically portrayed than usual in cinema.  George's performance is understated if self-conscious.  This will sound bad, but the story is very feminine, in a way that will automatically appeal to many women.  I'm not dismissing it, just making an observation.

Don't wait until March 15th to see "The Ides of March",  a directorial piece by George.  He has a small part that is crucial to the plot, and probably required a lot less "acting".  This story is much more masculine, a political thriller. I also have to like it because several scenes were filmed in the Cincinnati area.   Ryan Gosling, the upcoming George, is surprisingly good and deserves any attention he gets from this role.  Marisa Tomei shows off some decent acting skills but is miscast as a national newspaper reporter.  The role is a tad underwritten or over-edited.  I'm not sure which.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is his usual intense and thoroughly believable character.

See both movies.  Go to the theatre for "The Descendants".  "The Ides of March" works fine on the small screen, unless you are a fanatic about George or Cincinnati.  They are both worth the time investment.

"The Descendants" http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedescendants/

"The Ides of March" http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/theidesofmarch/

Hanna

While Hanna left me yearning for more, watch for its star Saoirse Ronan, to go places in the cinematic world.  Eric Bana is a
 dropout CIA agent who raises the product of one of his assignments. 
 The story left me regretting what I did not teach my daughter, i.e
aggressive self-defense, multiple languages, primitive survival skills.
(My daughter turned out rather well, if I may say so.)  Cate
Blanchett, one of today's premier actors, dons a convincing 
Southern accent as a ruthless CIA agent hunting father and daughter. 
Fair to middling action sequences mix with diverting scenery 
for a so-so film, overall.  
Nevertheless, I liked young Ronan and will watch for her later work.

Top Films of 2010

Check out The Fighter http://www.TheFighterMovie.com and King's Speech http://www.Kingsspeech.com. These two movies have it all, good writing, directing, and acting. If you only go for entertainment, they will both satisfy.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

My wife agreed to go to see "The Men Who Stare at Goats" because it stars George Clooney. I like Clooney because he's a capable comedic actor and because he is a local boy (Northern Kentucky son of Nick, nephew of Rosemary). Ewan Mac Gregor also puts on a fun performance as as n'er-do-well American cuckolded newspaper reporter tracking down a secret Army unit that uses paranormal military skills to defend the country. Jeff Bridges supports as the commander of the secret unit. The film tells a good story but doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a wacky twist of an ending that is satisfying. I see a series blossoming from this movie. You heard it here first. http://www.themenwhostareatgoatsmovie.com/

Duplicity

The trailer for "Duplicity" is either an abject failure or surprising success. By taking a couple of scenes out of context and presenting them as typical of the movie, the trailer nearly dissuaded me from seeing the movie, at all. On the other hand, the trailer left me with low expectations, pleasantly surprising me when the movie was much better than the trailer suggested.

Julia Roberts gives a maturely restrained performance as she embraces a refreshingly middle-aged character who, clearly, has been around. She outshines a seemingly put-upon Clive Owens, who comes off as a bit whiny. The dialogue is zippy and fast moving, as is the out of sequence time scheme. While it left me wanting more, you won't fall asleep at this one.