Burden

First Hit: This is a compelling true story about racial change in a small South Carolina town.

The movie documents this story about how Mike Burden (Garrett Hedlund), who was part of the Ku Klux Clan, decides to change his beliefs and makes amends because of his love for a woman.

In this small town, the Klan is still alive and well. Tom Griffin (Tom Wilkinson) is the head honcho in more ways than one. He’s on the verge of opening a Ku Klux Klan museum in an old movie theater, and the most impoverished people in town rent furniture and televisions from him. His repossession rate for his rentals is high. He intimidates the town with this control.

Burden works for Griffin and is his prime repossessor. Griffin treats Mike like his own son. On one repossession, Burden meets Judy (Andrea Riseborough), whose current boyfriend is behind in his payments, and Burden takes the television. Judy throws a temper tantrum and storms out to the car. She attempts to drive off, but the car won’t start and Burden gets the car started for her. The looks they give each other show that there is going to be a connection.

Judy has a young boy whose best friend is a young black child. The relationship between the young boys is a reminder that when Burden was young, his best friend was Clarence Brooks (Usher Raymond), a black person. Clarence is working but having trouble making payments on a rented television. Mike has arrived to repossess the tv. Seeing Judy’s boy playing with Clarence’s son brings up memories of their past friendship, and conflicting feelings based on his current beliefs as a Klansman.

The town has a large black population that comes together at the church that is led by Reverend Kennedy (Forest Whitaker). Kennedy preaches love, forgiveness, and bringing people together non-violently. As you might expect, with the KKK museum opening in town, the black community is upset, and Kennedy leads the non-violent protest.

At one point, Judy puts it to Burden that he has to pick between her or his continuing to be part of the Klan. This choice begins Mike’s transition from his being Klan-oriented to seeing how it is hurting the community and people he cares about.

Hedlund was amazing as Burden. The way he talked, scattered his gaze when communicating with anyone, and how his walk embodied someone who was doing little to further himself was well done. As he found his voice, he showed subtle ways to make his character believable as he evolved. Whitaker was wonderous as the town’s reverend whose goal was to create a peaceful difference. When he brings unexpected guests home, the way he tries to make it right with his family was perfectly portrayed. Riseborough was terrific as Judy. She captured a young woman who stood for her beliefs and had enough compassion to let Burden find his way to her. Wilkinson was excellent and utterly horrible as the town’s Klan leader. He made me believe he was a Klansman. Andrew Heckler wrote and directed this true story. I loved seeing the real people at the end of the film as the credits rolled.

Overall: This was a wonderfully presented story about how racism tears communities apart and how love, forgiveness, and acceptance can put them back together.

Denial

First Hit:  A strong and heart felt story about a truth.

Has anyone ever denied something you and everyone else you know to be true? For me it is deflating and hurtful to have the truth be ignored by ignorance or ego driven insensitivity. I can only imagine what it might have felt like when Deborah Lipstadt (the real person), a noted historian and writer, was challenged by a denier that the Holocaust had actually happened. Being Jewish historian, she wrote a book called “Denying the Holocaust” in which she indicate that Irving was a liar by denying the holocaust had happened.

This film attempts to share this powerful story when Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) was confronted by David Irving (Timothy Spall), a holocaust denier, while she was teaching a class. Irving said that he'd give anyone $1,000 if they could prove that holocaust had taken place. She was so incensed that she called him a liar in public along with a few other assorted things which gave Irving the forum he needed to have Lipstadt sued for libel thereby having his cause heard. By having his cause heard, he would become more famous, validated, and rich. The forum he chose was the English court system. In this system, the defendant (Lipstadt) had to prove that Irving was a liar, which is different than the US court system where the prosecutor has to prove they were libeled. Living in the US Lipstadt didn’t know this and took the case straight on.

Her English Barrister (the person doing the lead research) was Anthony Julius (Andrew Scott) and her Advocate (the person arguing the case) was Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson). Together they spent years and millions of pounds detailing out a case, in front of a judge, to hopefully show that Irving was lying.

The arguments on both sides were interesting. One of Irving’s beliefs that stood out reminded me of the OJ Simpson trial. In the Simpson trial Johnnie Cochran came up with a catch phrase that swayed the trial, “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit”. In this film, Irving and the press came up with, “No holes, no holocaust”. What it referenced was the issue that no one had been able to show that were holes in the ceilings of the gas chambers where the poisonous gas materials were dropped into the chambers. If there were no evidence of holes in the ceilings, then how could have gas pellets been dropped into the chamber?

On the other side arguments brought forth by Rampton were aimed at having Irving box himself into a corner showing that he knowingly lied about his research. By doing this, he would be admitting that he was a liar on his own accord which would then support Lipstadt’s original statement, that he was a liar. This was a difficult challenge and Rampton, who threw himself fully into the task. But one thing he insisted on was to ensure that the arguments were not emotional. Therefore, he insisted that neither Lipstadt nor any survivors take the stand to make an emotional case. He wanted the case decided on logic and true information so that this issue wouldn't ever again be questioned.

With this set-up , the film deftly brings this story to light. The English Court system, the pain of the holocaust, and a way to commit to the truth without the display of emotions.

Weiss was very good as Lipstadt. Her drive and dignity of the character were well delivered. Wilkinson was wonderful as the Advocate. His humanness and logical drive were strongly present through the entire process. Spall was amazing in this unlikeable role. The ability to take on a role like this despite your beliefs is challenging and he did it extremely well. Scott was good as the Barrister who wanted to right the wrong. David Hare created a wonderful and intense screenplay. The dialogue exchanges between Lipstadt and Rampton were wonderfully written. Mick Jackson did a wonderful job of directing this courtroom thriller. Some of the scenes at Auschwitz were amazingly and deftly shot.

Overall:  This was a strong film about a deeply emotional piece of history.

Snowden

First Hit:  Oliver Stone is on his game – excellent film about a man who wanted to let us know that the US Government has been spying on us without our permission.

I won’t often get political in film reviews, however, nearly two years ago I saw a film called “Citizenfour” which was a Laura Poitras documentary film about Edward Snowden. I indicated then that I thought everyone needs to see how the US Government could use their existing technology to spy on anyone they wanted to.

This new Stone film uses the filming of the Poitras’ documentary as it’s center point plot device to fill in the picture in a fuller way. Stone tells the story leading up to Snowden (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) making the choice to copy data files from the NSA’s database and share them with the media (Briton’s "The Guardian" newspaper was the first) from his hotel room in Hong Kong. This hotel room is where most of Citizenfour was shot and those events were effectively reproduced here by Stone.

Playing Poitras in Oliver's film was Melissa Leo, “The Guardian” correspondent, Ewen MacAskill, is played by Tom Wilkinson and Zachary Quinto played Snowden’s lawyer Glenn Greenwald. These were the people Snowden entrusted with the absconded data.

The film traces Edward’s path from a young man trying to get into the “Special Forces" because he wanted to do something for his country after 9/11. However, because of his weak and broken leg bones, he receives an Administrative Discharge from the Army. He then interviews with and joins the CIA. After joining the agency, he begins to date Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) who teaches a creative dance, is a photographer and is very liberal.

This relationship is important to Snowden and it is a key to his seeing the everything more openly. The film has to tell a convincing story and, in my book, effectively does so. It provides enough information about how the data collection systems work. It gives you Snowden slowly realizing that what he’s doing, in his mind, is wrong. It gives you the struggle Edward and Lindsay have about his secret work, and how their love helped him make his decisions.

The sets of where Snowden worked were wonderfully constructed and gave the sense of the power behind computer data gathering. And although this film is 134 minutes long, I cannot think of where one scene could be cut to reduce the running time. Yes, this film is weighted towards Snowden’s view of the world and the rightness of the data he collected and distributed. And in my view it needs to push this view because the US Government is one hell of a spying machine and you do not know if you’ve been in their sites.

Gordon-Levitt was a perfect Snowden. And during the end and in the credits, where the real Snowden appears on the screen, you can see why Gordon-Levitt was selected. He not only looks like him, but he got Snowden’s speech pattern down as well. Leo, Wilkinson and Quinto were wonderful as the team supporting Snowden in the Hong Kong hotel room. Woodley was sublime. It was her that created the chemistry that made the relationship and much of the film work. I also appreciated Nicholas Cage as Hank Forrester an older, one-time coder, instructor to Snowden and one who fell out of grace with the CIA and was left to manage their cyber museum. Kieran Fitzgerald and Oliver Stone wrote an effective screenplay which wonderfully bounced from period to period without losing momentum. Stone did a fantastic job of bring this story to life in a way that made it interesting. Scenes were set up beautifully. I suggest that everyone see this film and Poitras’ film "Citizenfour".

Overall:  This was a fully engaging film about someone who has bucked our government and made them think (and blink).

Unfinished Business

First Hit:  Funny, long winded at times, and a convoluted story that didn’t quite work.

Story starts with Dan (Vince Vaughn) leaving the company he works for because the person he works for, Chuck (Sienna Miller), is reducing his commission again. He storms out of the building and meets Timothy (Tom Wilkinson) who has been let go because of his age and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco) who is a challenged employee.

They agree to form a company together and go into direct competition against their old company. They believe they've scored a great contract but have to go to Germany to close the deal. When they get there they find out they are a fluffer (a company that is part of the bidding process to make a competitor, his old boss, look good).

However they decide they can win the contract and work to close the deal. What I thought was the funniest situation in this film was Dan having to stay in a museum as part of an art installation. His bed, everything, was able to be viewed through glass by the museum attendees. The name of the artwork he was installed in was American Businessman #42. Another funny scene was the steam bath scene.

There are also some very touching scenes of him and his son and daughter as they talk through life situations.

Vaughn was typical Vaughn and he’s really not a character in a movie but more of himself in a particular role. Fast-talking, occasionally intelligent, and mostly a wise ass. Miller has a minor role and was OK. Wilkinson was really pretty good in his role as the old codger who’s trying to get a little more out of his life before he dies. Franco was funny and carried off the naivety required with aplomb. Steve Conrad wrote an amusing script. Ken Scott’s direction was adequate.

Overall:  There were some funny bits, but overall it was a let-down.

Selma

First Hit:  Not as engaging as I had hoped.

The Selma, Alabama march was a seminal moment in our nation’s history.

The film follows Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) through the process, thoughts and actions leading to the successful decision by President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to push an equal vote for all while King led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama securing the rights for blacks to vote.

Although I loved the story and remember it fondly, the portrayal of this story was only good at times. I thought there were long moments of waiting and indecision by the director which created a slowness in this film that wasn’t needed.

To set up the issue, the film begins with Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) trying to register to vote. The voter registrar clerk, finds ways to reject Cooper’s form. The point is the unreasonableness of the registrar’s office against blacks.

The film spends a little time with King being at home with his family. Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) is strong willed, supportive of her husband, and also keeps the family together with her strength. There are a number of historical characters in this film from Andrew Young (Andre Holland), Presidential Advisor Lee White (Giovanni Ribisi) to Gov. George Wallace (Tim Roth) which give a fair amount of context to the story – especially Wallace.

Pacing of this film was methodically slow and, to me, it made this film much longer (by 20 – 30 minutes) than needed.

Oyelowo was good as King, but I never felt moved by the documented speeches as spoken by David. Wilkinson was good as LBJ, however I’m wondering about the dialogue used to represent him. For some reason it didn’t ring true with the same person who pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Winfrey was solid as Cooper, however in two of the closing still pictures, she seemed to be the focal point by being in the center – seemed a bit egotistical. Ejogo, as Coretta, provided the strongest acting of the bunch. Holland was good as the young Andrew Young. Ribisi was OK as White. Roth was powerful as Wallace. Paul Webb wrote a good script, but needed some trimming. Ava DuVernay directed this film which had pacing problems. However, the look and feel of the time was wonderfully represented.

Overall:  I was disappointed in the result of this film.