The Meddler

First Hit:  The film had funny bits and it was Susan Sarandon’s performance that held it together.

When the film opens, Marnie (Sarandon) has been a widow for over a year. Her husband left her with enough money that she doesn’t have to worry about any financial matters and she's not dealt with her husbands ashes yet. She's moved out to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne) who has just broken up with her boyfriend Jacob (Jason Ritter).

Lori is devastated by the breakup and therein-lies one of the downfalls of this film, we really don’t know why. And even in the short scenes those two have together, there are no clues.

Because we know nothing of their relationship, we  are expected to believe that the depressed malaise Lori carries around is valid. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy it. This could be the issue of the screenplay, director, or actor.

With her daughter being depressed, Marnie is ready, willing and able to meddle in her daughter's life. She calls Lori at least 15 times a day and leaves long meandering messages, tries to tell her daughter what to do with her life, and shows up at her house unannounced. She smothers her daughter and appears clueless that she is acting this way.

When Lori heads to New York for work, Marnie suggests going with her. Lori says no, so Marnie starts to meddle in Lori’s friends lives. The difference is that they like it, although some of the attraction is that she has money and seems willing to spend it on them, including a wedding for a lesbian couple.

She also transports her Apple Genius Bar helper Freddy/Fredo (Jerrod Carmichael) to his school classes. All the things she does are for other people, and it's clear she’s not facing her own deep sorrow. She happens to meet Zipper (J.K. Simmons) who is a retired police officer and his accepting kind nature helps her begin to see a next step, which means moving along with her life.

Sarandon is very strong and effective as the meddling Marnie. Sarandon gives Marnie a strength of character and disarming charm that works well in this film. Byrne is OK, however I never bought her devastation from breaking up with Jacob. It seemed more like she was acting as a character versus playing and embodying the situational circumstance of the character. Carmichael was very good as the Apple Genius Bar guy who wants to improve his life. Simmons seemed to channel his best Sam Elliot with the mustache, deep voice and calm demeanor. Not that it was bad, but it just seemed like Elliot could have been substituted with little difference. Lorene Scafaria wrote and directed this film and it would seem she has had some experience with a “meddler” in her own life.

Overall:  Despite some of the film's faults, it was entertaining and at times very funny.

The Last of Robin Hood

First Hit:  Interesting and somewhat provocative, yet it didn’t really probe the controversial aspects of Errol’s behavior.

Kevin Kline was a great pick for the Errol Flynn character. He’s got the subtle charm, sly smile, and eye sparkle that would make him a great ladies man which Errol was known to be.

This film begins at the end of Errol’s career. He’s gazing out of the window of a studio’s office and sees Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning) walking to a set. He sends his emissary over to find her and invite her to his office. She is 15 years old but passing for 18 and he’s over 50.

His charm has her going to dinner with him and then to his home where he pushes himself on and in her. Afterward, Beverly ignores Errol but he is persistent, tracks her down, and convinces her that he really cares for her. In the background, Beverly’s mother Florence (Susan Sarandon) is pushing her daughter to be a movie star and seems to allow or ignore risking her daughter’s reputation and safety for fame.

To give an air of proper propriety, Errol devises a plan for Florence and Beverly to go with him everywhere, but it’s when they go to New York that Florence faces the intimate relationship Beverly and Errol are having. The rest of the film is more about what happens to them as a twosome and threesome.  Errol’s has been burning the candle at both ends and this lifestyle brings about his early demise.

The 1950’s was very well represented in both clothing and outdoor scenes in LA and NYC. The automobiles were beautiful and seeing the John Wayne movie marquee was great. What this film was missing was more about Errol’s previous issues which were only talked about and delved into once with a stern talk between Errol and his lawyer.

Kline was really good as Errol and it was a pleasure to watch him be in this character. I think the script let him down. Fanning was incredible, she was able to be the various ages her character was pretending to be allowing her experience to give her the air of being much older than she was. Sarandon was wonderful as the mother choosing blinders when she needed them, yet opportunistic as all get out. Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland both wrote and directed this film. It lacked some of deeper more controversial aspects of Errol’s behavior but what it did was bring light to the man who has long since passed.

Overall:  I admired Fanning’s portrayal of Beverley and liked Kline’s version of Flynn.

The Company You Keep

First Hit:  I liked it because it effectively reminded me of the subject events, how they happened, and how it affected me.

The Weather Underground made a splash in 1969 when they grew out of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and announced they would fight violence with violence.

The SDS focused on trying to stop the Vietnam War through non-violent means. The Weatherman decided that maybe our government would only hear the mood of a majority of its citizens, which was “to stop the war” and to “stop the killing” if they brought violence to make their point. In other words will the government only hear the will of the people if they act as the government acts, violently.

Many younger people may not understand or “get” what it was like when government troops attacked (not just tear gas, they shot and killed) students on campuses in our country.

Being in Vietnam at that time I realized, first hand, the reason for their protest. We were in a foreign country killing people we “thought” we should kill because our government said we should kill them. The reality is that we were bullying our beliefs in another country. Sound familiar?

Our government can and will create stories to make their decisions right. That is what this film is about. It is about Jim Grant/Nick Sloan (Robert Redford) hiding and running away because the government “believes” it is right about thinking that Sloan and another Weathermen Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) killed a bank security guard in a bank robbery back in 1970’s.

The beginning of this film Solarz turns herself in after 30 years. This causes a small town reporter Ben (Shia LaBeouf) to dig out the truth. Grant is quickly identified as Sloan so he goes on the run again. While on the run he connects with his fellow Weathermen. These were the most interesting parts of the film.

Sloan knows who killed the security guard, wants them to turn themselves in so he can raise his daughter. He won’t turn them in because that is the code of the weathermen. Mimi Lurie (Julie Christie) was this person and through the underground network they meet to discuss the dilemma. At their meeting they also talk about the girl they parented back then which plays on their decisions then and now.

Redford seemed a little old for the role especially when he is shown in the film with a 10 year old daughter. However, I could sense his belief in the subject and he brought that belief and intensity to the role. Sarandon also seemed to embody her role with belief, sadness, and truth. Christie was wonderful and embodied the role of a strong rebellious woman. LaBeouf was good as the reporter and vehicle to move the story along and he mixed well with the older actors. Richard Jenkins as Jed Lewis was really good as the radical who found a way to present his material to younger people. Lem Dobbs wrote a strong (at moments) screen play. There are lines sharing the philosophy of the Weathermen and those times that were great. Redford directed this with an understanding of the times and it worked.

Overall: This was a good/not great film and it touched some of the difficult thoughts I have about our country that haven’t died.

Snitch

First Hit:  That Dwayne Johnson didn’t break out into a fist fight and violent rage added to this films intrigue.

Johnson  has shown in numerous films he has some range. Here, because of this size and build, I expected him to beat the crap out of his antagonists, but he didn’t.

Playing John Mathews in this film as a once divorced father of two children. His son Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron), by his first wife, gets into trouble and his integrity won’t let him rat out someone else for a lighter prison term. Seeing his son beaten from an altercation while in prison, Mathews decides to assist the government’s prosecutor Joanne Keeghan (played by Susan Sarandon) catch a bigger fish so that he can get his son’s sentence reduced.

To do this he befriends Daniel James (played by Jon Bernthal), an employee who has a felony history. Through this connection he finds himself in the think of a drug deal. How he decides to make the deal work for everyone requires him to create his own plan to save his family.

Johnson does a really good job of not using his size and bulk to make the role work; he uses his head and heart to make his character real enough. Gavron does a very good job of being the forgotten son that also wants to do right. Sarandon is OK as the prosecutor. Bernthal is really good as the guy who’s trying to do right for his family. Barry Pepper is wonderful and powerful as a federal agent. Melinda Kanakaredes is almost a bit over dramatic as Johnson’s first wife. Justin Haythe and Ric Roman Waugh wrote a fairly strong script from what based as a true story. Waugh also directed this film and generally it was well paced.

Overall:  Entertaining and shows Johnson’s willingness to continue to grow as an actor.

Arbitrage

First Hit:  Although not much about how the finance business works, the character study, at times, was pretty good.

While we are still coming out of a huge financial meltdown and with Europe continuing to have financial troubles, I would have liked to see more about how the financial system works, doesn't work or gets manipulated.

There have been some films, like Margin Call, which have done this recently. What this film does, is give you a look at how a man named Robert Miller (Richard Gere) deals with a mistake he makes with an investment judgment.

At first there is a sense that the film’s main character Miller is like Gordon Gekko, arrogant and the only important thing is MONEY. But then Miller's character shifts a bit and seems more like Bernard Madoff with his family tied into the family business but not knowing how he kept a separate set of books.

The film takes place over a week and if he can’t find anyone to buy his company by Friday it all blows up. Miller’s wife Ellen (played by Susan Sarandon) seems to know all of what is going on, but stoically carries on with her charities.

Brooke (played by Brit Marling), Miller’s daughter figures out the problem, that her father is cooking the books, and is shocked and dismayed. Their dialogue was some of the best in the film. I also enjoyed the dialogue between Miller and the potential company buyer James Mayfield (played by Graydon Carter). Although their conversation was, at most, 5 minutes, it was riveting.

The side story about Jimmy Grant (played by Nate Parker) helping Miller out of a jam when he gets into a car accident, which kills his lover, and leaves the scene (think Kennedy and Chappaquiddick) carries much of the film. This is unfortunate because what could have been a great financial thriller ends up being a poor film about bad character.

Gere’s beady small eyes are great for his sneaky ways as a financier. Outside of this he does a pretty good job of emoting his calm, in charge, exterior while his total world falls apart. Tim Roth as Detective Michael Bryer is too laid back, lazy, and filled with spite to be good. Sarandon was next to horrible and un-emotive as Miller’s wife. She didn’t portray her character in a way that would make her remotely desirable by Gere. Laetitia Casta, as Gere’s girlfriend Julie was neither interesting, attractive or worth watching. Marling was a joy to watch in her role as a daughter whose trust of her father falls away with her own discovery. Carter in his brief part was very effective. Parker as the young man who assists Miller was very good. Nicholas Jarecki wrote and directed this poorly constructed film. Instead of it being called Arbitrage it needed to be call “dilemmas”.

Overall: I think the full-theater audience I was sitting with was interested in a financial thriller but ended up seeing a standard film about a man in a dilemma.