Charlie St. Cloud

First Hit: This was a good film which held together well.

A number of films which deal with the loss of a loved one, life after death, the space between life and death, and the dealing with death don’t do it very well.

Some films, like Sixth Sense, Heaven Can Wait and even Ghost, do it in interesting and thoughtful ways. Charlie St. Cloud can be added to this list.

The story is about a young man who, through his sailing abilities, gets a scholarship to Stanford. His single mother, Claire (played by Kim Basinger), has worked extra shifts at the local hospital to support Charlie (played by Zac Efron) and his very close younger brother Sam (played by Charlie Tahan).

Because Charlie is a good 6 years older and they have no father, Sam looks up to Charlie and Charlie reciprocates by teaching Sam what he knows about sailing, life and baseball. Charlie gets in a car accident and Sam dies in that accident. Charlie cannot forgive himself and forgoes his life at Stanford to keep the memory of his brother alive.

Five years after the accident we see him as the caretaker of the local cemetery. One evening out he wanders down to the dock and starts admiring a wonderful sailboat. He discovers that Tess Carroll (played by Amanda Crew), an acquaintance from high school, owns the boat and is preparing to sail around the world in a solo race.

Through a confluence of events of which I won’t go into detail here, he saves both their lives in different ways. What works about this story is that it is well crafted. It doesn’t waste time with over long setups. It doesn’t telegraph the ending, the script is clean and it stays on target all the way until the ending.

Efron is a good looking young man and he can act. It was great to see Basinger again; it has been a long time. Tahan is wonderful as the hell bent younger brother who is both feisty and thoughtful. Crew is wonderful and fits especially well with Efron. Ray Liotta has a small but key part in the film which was good as well. Craig Pearce and Lewis Colick wrote a good script and Burr Steers directed this film with a clear vision.

Overall: Yes it is a romantic drama between very young people and it works very well.

The Kids Are All Right

First Hit: Very good performances but felt the story lacked something.

The basics are this; a gay marriage between Jules (played by Julianne Moore) and Nic (played by Annette Bening) is shaken when their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska) makes contact with her and her brother Laser’s (played by Josh Hutcherson) sperm donor.

She does this at Laser’s insistence who, perhaps, feels like he’s missing something by not having a father. The donor in this case is Paul (played by Mark Ruffalo) who happens to live nearby, is a restaurant owner and a bit younger than the mothers.

What didn’t work for me in this film is I didn’t think Laser’s character was fleshed out enough to know why he wanted to meet the sperm donor. I didn't think that it was probable that the donor would live within a few miles of the kids. I didn’t quite think the aging differences of Jules, Nic and Paul worked well.

Nic seemed too old for Paul and Jules but the director tried to fix this by having a Joni Mitchell discussion at a dinner table. By having Nic and Paul get into a long discussion of Joni’s musical work tried to make them equal in age but it fell short for me.

I also didn’t like how we were left with nothing about what happens to Paul towards the end of the film. What did work about this film was Nic’s and Jules’ relationship, its ups and downs, and how they had gotten lost with each other. I thought Joni and Laser’s relationship with their mothers, each other and with Paul was effective and true.

A lot of the dialogue was really well developed and created effective scenes. I also liked Jules character a lot.

Moore was really good as the more female role of this couple. Her letting Bening know that she felt controlled was a good reflection of what happens in many relationships. Bening was very strong as the breadwinner and person who sets the tone of the family. Wasikowska was the real surprise for me. I thought she held her own with the two aforementioned actresses. She effectively portrayed a young woman who was just learning about her own boundaries and strengths as a human being. Hutcherson was good as the brooding younger brother and son. He was on target with his actions and reactions to the things going on around him. Ruffalo was good as the sperm donor dad. However, I’m not sure his character fit fully into the film. Was it important that he was a skirt chaser? Did he really make the transition to wanting a true partnership with Moore? However, this was probably more of poor story cohesiveness than Ruffalo’s acting ability. What was on the screen was well directed by Lisa Cholodenko, however she and Stuart Blumberg missed some important stuff in the writing, mostly with Ruffalo’s character.

Overall: This was a good film, there were some great funny and dramatic scenes but overall it didn’t quite hit the mark.

Cyrus

First Hit: Disturbing, insightful, funny and well-acted film which surprised me.

I’m not a Jonah Hill fan; however as Cyrus he is dead-on perfect. He plays a character who is disturbed, overly protected by his mother Molly (played by Marisa Tomei), intelligent, and very shielding of his relationship with his mother.

However, the film is really a vehicle for John C. Reilly to display both his comedic and dramatic talents. John (played by Reilly) is lost after his divorce 7 years ago. His ex-wife Jamie (played by Catherine Keener) is getting married but spends a lot of time trying to get John better adjusted because he is floundering. She makes him go to a party where he makes some funny and very awkward attempts to make conversation with some of the guests.

Then he meets Molly who sees him and accepts him immediately. They spend the evening together and eventually he meets her son Cyrus who pretends to like him, but really is plotting to get him out of the house. There is nothing hidden from the audience but it doesn’t matter the characters are strong enough to make it work.

Reilly is very good as the lonely guy who thinks of himself as Shrek with no hope of meeting someone as amazing as Molly. He is able to show a multitude of feelings and expressions without it being forced. He is natural in this role. Tomei is wonderful. Seeing her in a role reminded me about how good she is and why I like seeing her in films. Hill, as I stated before, is very good in this role and embodies Cyrus, a boy/man who is lost but talented and intelligent.

Overall: I liked this film and thought that writers and directors Mark and Jay Duplass created a wonderful, thoughtful and insightful film.

Winter's Bone

First Hit: An extremely thoughtful, well and evenly paced film of the life of a young girl in a crank addicted section of the Ozarks.

Her father gone, her mother either crazy or numb to the core, and two young siblings she has to care for, Ree Dolly (played by Jennifer Lawrence) has to find a way to keep the family together, fed and housed.

This is a dark film focusing on how life can succumb to a darker side when crank is the currency of the day. This section of the Missouri Ozarks is hill country with families scattered about the land living in run down houses with stuff strewn about their yards. Life is hard and many of the men have taken to cooking, dealing and taking crank.

The women are hard as well living by their own code of family blood and the law is seen as the enemy. There are moments that both men and women show levels of compassion which contains their hope. One of the lines that stayed with me was; “you don’t ask for what should be offered.”

A sheriff informs Ree that if her daddy doesn’t show for his court date the bail bond company will take over their home and land and she, her two siblings and her mom will be thrown off their land with nowhere to go. Ree says she’ll find him.

This starts the story of discovering what family lines mean along with the spoken and unspoken code of these hills. At one point Ree realizes that her father is dead, and with her father’s brother Teardrop (played by John Hawkes),they set out to find the body because with a body, the house and land won’t be taken from her and the kids.

One of the best things about this film is the consistency of character with the land, color of the sky and the grayness of the woods. This film sets its tone from the beginning and carries it through to the end.

Debra Granik directed and co-wrote this film with a knowing authenticity. Lawrence was extraordinary in her role as Ree the 17 year old girl holding it all together. Hawkes was powerfully brilliant as Teardrop. The choreography of this film was beautifully laid out as we go from one scene to another, creating an edge of suspense but not beating the audience up with surprises, noise and violence.

Overall: This was a very strong film of people doing what they have to do to survive.

The Karate Kid

First Hit: A little long but overall satisfying enough as a remake.

I enjoyed the original Karate Kid film. The acting was good enough, the story was sweet and the interaction between Ralph Macchio and Pat Moritat was priceless.

In this new version the premise is the same, new boy in down, this time it’s Beijing China and the local kids beat him up because he invades their territory. The new young boy is Dre Parker played by Jaden Smith and the wise teacher, Mr. Han, is played by Jackie Chan.

What made this film work was Jackie Chan. He was steady, provided a solid base and kept the story in perspective. The shots of China were beautiful and accurate. The constant haze of Beijing reflects a major issue with all major cities in China, rampant pollution.

The pristine shots of other Chinese locations display the immense beauty of the country. The chases through the small markets, stalls and tiny alleyways were effective in showing a flavor of Dre’s new home.

The film felt long and I’m sure there is about 15 – 30 minutes of celluloid that could have fallen to the floor and would not have hurt the story. The lengths of the fights could have been shortened, the segment where Dre gets back at his antagonists by throwing dirty water on his antagonists could have been shortened, or maybe part of the scenes where Dre and Meiying (played by Wenwen Han) explore Beijing could have been cut.

However, the overall story hangs together good enough and just like the first version it is the interaction between the primary actors which makes it work.

Smith, in his first starring role, is good but young. I felt his acting was uneven, yet there is a strength of presence indicating he will improve. He shows an ability to display multiple emotions and stay in character while making it fun to watch him. Chan is the true pro in this film and without his solid performance and immense presence this film and the characters would have become caricatures. Han is adorable as the one true friend Smith makes in the film. Her smile and presence in front of the camera were wonderful. Taraji Henson plays Smith’s mother Sherry Parker and unfortunately I didn’t feel as though she was part of the film, it was more as if we needed to know that Smith had a strong demanding yet loving mother.

Overall: It was enjoyable, the scenes of China were fantastic, and the story although well known was fresh enough to keep my interest.