MacFarland USA

First Hit:  Predictable yet an engaging and inspirational film.

Jim White (Kevin Costner) is a coach that has strong beliefs and he wants all the kids he coaches to have the determination, dedication, and drive to excel in high school sports. When they don’t, he gets upset and is reactionary.

He lost his previous three jobs through his reactionary ways and now the only job he can get is in MacFarland, CA. MacFarland is a farming community in central California and inhabited by Latinos who survive by picking produce in the fields. Most the kids are picking next to their family members before and after school - it's a family affair.

White, his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello), and his daughters Julie and Jamie (Morgan Saylor and Elsie Fisher respectively) are out of place in this community. Initially they hate it but, as you know, they begin to love it as they learn the culture and people. White decides that these high school kids can run after watching them run to and from work. He then challenges them  and attempts to recruit them for his newly formed cross-country team.

As you might expect he gets laughed at by the kids and the adults, but after recruiting the minimum 7 kids, this story becomes all inspiration. The story line is written in the history of MacFarland High School Cougars 9 all state titles in 14 years.

Costner is good as the guy who has lessons to learn and makes the right choices. Bello is very good as the supportive loving wife. Saylor and Fisher are both wonderful and effective as kids who learn to see the love in their community. Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz, Rafael Martinez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar, and Michael Aguero were all outstanding as the Cougars Cross-Country team. I loved their distinct personalities. Christopher Cleveland wrote this predictable and inspired script. Niki Caro captured the feel of the community effectively with her direction.

Overall:  This is a feel good movie and it works for that reason.

Third Person

First Hit:  Three intellectually and emotionally charged stories that become one in the end.

Liam Neeson plays Michael a successful Pulitzer Prize writer in Paris trying to write another book.

Flash - we’re in another story where we have Scott (Adrien Brody) making a deal to purchase stolen clothing designs – he’s a thief. Julia (Mila Kunis) is a young woman charged with intentionally harming her child. Although it wasn’t proven in court she cannot see her child.

Each story starts and is grown from here. In Michaels’ case he has a wife Elaine (Kim Basinger) who calls him from their home in the US and is worried about his welfare. There is pain in their voices when they speak. He also has a lover – Anna (Olivia Wilde) who is both loving and heartlessly mean. Scott hates being in Italy, goes to an “American” bar expecting something like home and doesn’t find it.

He meets Monika (Moran Atlas) at the bar and ends up getting mixed up with her trying to get back her daughter from some street thugs. Then there is Julia’s story of trying to see her son who is living with a famous artist Rick (James Franco) and his live-in lover Sam (Loan Chabanol). She is being defended by Theresa (Maria Bello) who really tries to help Julia see her son but Julia keeps getting in her own way.

As each story evolves the screenwriter slowly brings them together as a singularity. The film is long and at times, I wondered when it would end - and I also was staying engaged.

Neeson’s story is the focal point of the entire film as it begins and ends with him. My perception is that his character creates feelings about things for himself, through the creation of characters in the stories he writes about. His performance was strong. Kunis was amazing as a young woman who tries hard to do the right thing but gets in her own way almost all the time. Brody was divine, in the way he worked through the trials of his life. Wilde was very strong as a heartless woman who wanted to really be loved and cared about while learning to trust. Chabanol was very good and her scene with Kunis in the women’s restroom was very good. Franco was OK as the distant creative artist. Atlas was sublime as the Roma woman trying to get her child back. Her movement between hard and openly soft was amazing. Bello as Kunis’ attorney was very good and her franticness were perfect for the part. Basinger was very good as Neeson’s wife who holds his struggles with equanimity. Paul Haggis wrote and directed this film. He likes complex stories which require the audience to work to understand as well as touching on sensitive subjects – he does this in this film as well. Overall, it boarded on overly complex and trite.

Overall:  I was touched by the acting in this film.

Prisoners

First Hit:  Intense, beautifully shot, and engaged acting.

The opening scenes show a darkened winter climate, truck in the driveway, one family walking over to another family’s home for holiday cheer.

The Dover family’s patriarch Keller (Hugh Jackman) is somewhat of a survivalist, intense, appearing to have a quick angry trigger. However it is apparent he loves his family – deeply.

The Birch family’s patriarch Franklin (Terrence Howard) is mellow and somewhat thoughtful. Their wives are different as well. Grace Dover (Maria Bello) seems to be on the edge of falling apart while Nancy Birch (Viola Davis) appears to have more of hardened and strong background. Their daughters all of a sudden go missing.

Police Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is assigned to the case and he’s got a 100% crime solving record. He is methodical and follows his own path despite questioned interference from his boss Captain O’Mally (Wayne Duvall). The initial suspect Alex Jones (Paul Dano) is a grownup with a 6 year olds understanding of things. Loki doesn’t think Alex knows, or can articulate, enough about the missing girls to be really helpful. Keller thinks differently and imprisons Alex so that he can torture him to give up information about the missing daughters.

This film is hard to watch at times because the torture scenes are graphically displayed. The ending wasn’t suspected, but the pieces do come together and while walking out, I felt I’d been through a wringer.

Jackman was intensely focused and fully engaged his role. Howard was great as a man who was being led to do things he felt wrong. Bello showed a perfect weakness in her character, which isn’t her normal role. Davis was solid and showed a subtle rage against Dano’s character which was perfect. Gyllenhaal was sublime as the intense loner detective who prides himself on getting the answer right. Dano was beyond amazing. He embodied the character all the way and his eyes told the whole story. Melissa Leo was fantastic as Jones’ aunt and matriarch of a sick family life. Aaron Guzikowski wrote a powerful interesting script. Denis Villeneuve did an outstanding job of directing this deep dark script with both light and dark muted scenes.

Overall:  This was a very good and disturbing film.

The Yellow Handkerchief

 First Hit: A slow paced indie film that has a nice story to tell.

William Hurt is well cast as Brett Hanson, a loner who comes out of prison hoping to connect with his one and only true love May (played by Maria Bello).

Others who are leaving prison at the same time are met by loved ones while Hurt simply looks down a long empty road. Hanson walks into a small town, orders a beer and observes Martine (played by Kristen Stewart) having a disagreement with a young man. It is obvious that the young man took advantage of Martine and doesn’t want anything else to do with her.

He also watches Gordy (played magnificently by Eddie Redmayne), who appears to be a bit odd and goofy, ask a store owner for a disposable camera that has expired film. Martine sees something in Hanson that makes her curious about him. Each of begins to leave the cafe at the same time and they all end up together in Gordy's car heading "south." 

None of these people know each other but they are alike in that they are loners, lonely and are viewed as outsiders by others. This connection makes for a slightly uneasy ride in Gordy’s car towards New Orleans. On their trip, the stories of these three start to unfold with Hanson’s being the primary story. They learn how he ended up in prison and about his love for May.

His story is created in flashbacks with him and May learning how to embrace their love for each other. Hurt is perfect as the quiet lonely drifter who “has never made an important decision” in his life.

Bellow is sublime as May; a woman who’s made numerous important bad decisions and whom Hanson says, her "whole life" is in her face. Redmayne is wonderful as Gordy a very quirky, out of the box, kind of guy who follows his own path. Stewart is OK playing, yet another, sort of dark intense young girl who is barely finding her way. Udayan Prasad shoots this film with long slow moving scenes which, at times, takes life out of the film. However, it is clearly sensitive and can bring an emotional response.

Overall: I enjoyed the film; especially seeing Hurt and Bellow in their roles. They both brought strong characters which complemented their respective parts and created an engaging story.