Jack Goes Boating

First Hit: At times it was well acted and engaging but overall the unevenness took away from its impact.

This is a sweet story of Jack (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) who lives his life in a quiet desperation. He would like a relationship and yet keeps his life in control and on a very short leash.

He’s a limousine driver, listens to the same cassette tape over and over again, has scruffy natural dreadlocks from not combing his hair and barely looks comfortable in any situation. His best friend Clyde (played by John Ortiz) is also a limo driver, is married to an edgy girl named Lucy (played by Daphne Rubin-Vega), and they both want Jack to be happy and settled in a good relationship unlike theirs.

Lucy and Clyde introduce Jack to Connie (played by Amy Ryan) who is a bit afraid of the world, is smart but hesitant, and has the vibration of having given up trying to have a relationship. The beauty of this film is in the moments when Jack and Connie are together and some of the best moments are when there is no dialogue.

The silences of both of them processing information and dealing with their own thoughts and insecurities are wonderful. Their dialogue is in tune with their experience of life and direct with a beautiful honesty.

They have a first date in early winter and plan a second date for the summer to go boating. You have to love that. However, they do figure out they can actually have dates in-between.

The downside of this it the film felt uneven in its execution. At times it had the pacing of a slower character study French film and at other times the pace was a bit too quick.

Hoffman both directed and starred. From an acting point of view he is solid as Jack and the deep smoldering anger that shows up in one particular moment is very defining and clearly in character. As a director the unevenness is directly related to an unsure way of how to direct this story in addition to plot difficulties that needed refinement. Ryan was exquisite and she also carried much of her role within and let it show evenly and with clarity. Ortiz’s character was difficult to understand and I don’t know if it was the role, him or the direction. Rubin-Vega was angry most of the film and it was within the character. But I wanted to know more as to why she felt so angry. Because of this her character felt constrained but key to the major dramatic moments.

Overall: A good film, some strong acting, and a story about people we might not see because they are hiding within most of the time.

Never Let Me Go

First Hit: Although well-acted, for the most part, it just didn’t seem believable.

From the get go I kept thinking, why didn’t someone take off their bracelet? Why didn’t someone leave the country? Where was the rebellion?

Despite the unbelievable story line, much of the acting was good and the cinematography was outstanding.

The story is basically that some children in rural England, who are said to be clones (although unproven in the film), are being raised in large homes to eventually give their internal organs up for donation. There is a sense of pride that the children, when they become old enough to donate, stay alive long enough to donate 3, 4 and even 5 times.

A smart, sensitive and big of heart young girl named Kathy (played by both Izzy Meikle-Small and Carey Mulligan) befriends a young boy (played by both Charlie Rowe and Andrew Garfield) who seems to have no athletic or art ability. Seeing Kathy befriending this young boy Kathy’s best friend Ruth (played by both Ella Purnell and Keira Knightley) decides to use her amorous nature to get the shy Tommy to be her boyfriend.

Kathy does not protest much against this move by her best friend and this is emblematic of the whole film. Why doesn’t anyone protest their life? Could the indoctrination of the school’s teachers be so oppressive that no one dares to protest? Even when the teacher Miss Lucy tells the kids that their life exists only to be the suppliers of body parts to other people, no one protests.

The only noticeable appearance that these children and young adults are being physically controlled is the metal bracelet which they wave over a box near a door entrance each time they walk in or out of their home recording their comings and goings.

Rowe and Purnell were very good as the young Tommy and Ruth respectively. However, Meikle-Small was outstanding as the young Kathy. She really shined. Mulligan as the older Kathy only makes the part work when she is playing a late 20 or early 30 year old person. Mulligan, as I’ve stated before, needs to play more chronologically correct roles for her actual age. Although she may look young, her eyes belie the age of the parts she is playing. She is too mature for them. Garfield does a good job of being Tommy, a boy and young man who is a little slow in the exterior but of beautiful heart. Knightley is OK as the mid-teen but becomes much better when she becomes the donor because there is a soulfulness she emotes which rings true for the part. Kazuo Ishiguro wrote the novel on which Alex Garfield based his adequate screenplay. I’ve not read the novel so I don’t know if the storyline problems are with the novel or adaptation. Adam Kimmel did an outstanding and superb job as cinematographer as the pictures of rural England are dead on perfect and created an outstanding reflection of the mood. Mark Romanek directed this and I wonder how it felt to film a storyline which had such a gaping hole in logic.

Overall: Outside of a hole in the storyline, the beauty of the pictures and some of the acting made this film watchable.

The Town

First Hit: Very well scripted, directed and acted. This is a very good film.

Ben Affleck did all three things, wrote, directed and acted in this dramatic film about Doug MacRay (Affleck) who has lived his entire life in Charlestown MA.

The opening credits indicate this town breeds a higher percentage of bank robbers than found anywhere else. Regardless, this isn’t really germane to the story. Doug and his buddies James Coughlin (played by Jeremy Renner), Albert “Gloansy” Magloan (played by Slaine) and Desmond Elden (played by Owen Burke) are expert bank robbers and in one of their heists grab a woman bank manager during their escape.

The woman Claire Keesey (played by Rebecca Hall) also helps in the community by tending a community garden and also works with disadvantaged children. The robbers let her go unharmed and have little worry about her recognizing them because they wore masks and covered most all their identifying marks.

Doug follows her and begins to engage with her by introducing himself in a laundromat. As he learns about her and her truthful kindness he begins falling for her. However, he is also looking for signs that she is cooperating with the FBI who are trying to solve the robbery case. As they date she tells him of the horrible experience she had during the robbery, including how they beat one of her co-workers up.

When James finds out that Doug is spending time with Claire he gets angry but he really explodes when Doug says he wants out of their robbery gang. However, in the end, Doug chooses to do one last job which creates additional problems with the cops and with Claire.

The feeling of this entire film has a sense of honesty of characters you don’t always find in a film. The camaraderie of the Doug and James is explored. The feeling of the neighborhood is sharpened as other characters shape and guide the film. It just felt like a very good film.

Affleck knows how to direct himself and not only shoots himself in a flattering way but also unflatteringly. He has grown as an actor and has really shown he knows how to work behind the camera as well. He kept tight reins on this story and the character and let them loose at the right times. Renner, as he did in “The Hurt Locker” gives an intense, no-nonsense, performance. He is truly open and believable. Hall is strong in her role showing both strength and vulnerability in equal measures.

Overall: Very entertaining and well thought out drama.

Mademoiselle Chambon

First Hit: This is a very sweet and telling story which shows that love can sneak up on anyone and shake their world.

Despite the clunky loud and distracting opening credits where there is a jackhammer sound in the background, the film falls quickly into being a very strong mood piece.

The film is about a couple, their son, and how close they are and what happens to their relationships when one of them is deeply moved in another direction. The couple, Jean and Anne-Marie (played by Vincent Lindon and Aure Atika respectively), is loving and attentive to each other and their son.

The opening sequence after the credits is precious. The family is on a picnic and the son is asking grammar homework questions. The parents are stumped but try to find the answer. The tone and mood is that they are a simple couple, she works in a factory, he is in construction and what kids learn in school is beyond their knowledge. Their life is about enjoying the simple things.

Their son, Jeremy (played by Arthur Le Houerou) is about 10 years old. His father picks him up from school one day and meets with his teacher Veronique Chambon (played by Sandrine Kiberlain). She invites him to speak at Jeremy’s school on the kind of work he does.

The scene is absolutely precious because you see her heart being slightly lifted from behind a deep veil of pain and he is slightly taken aback at the children’s enthusiasm for what he does. The relationship between Veronique and Jean grows and the tension of unsaid feelings of love are wonderfully etched in their faces but not in their words to each other.

Lindon is perfect as the lifetime construction worker who does his job well, treats his family with love and respect and despite his slightly gruff and restrained exterior, a sweetheart of a man. Atika, is beautiful and her work here, although limited, is wonderful and clear. Kiberlain is extraordinary. She gives enough information with only her eyes and expressions to allow you to know her deeply and intimately. Her pain and sorrow are deep and her violin is her only dear friend. Stephane Brize as director and shares writing credits created a wonderfully executed slice of life, real life.

Overall: Probably a bit slow for most US citizens, it is a wonderfully paced film about how one’s world can be rocked very quickly.

The American

First Hit: Settle in with the pacing and look closely at the details of this film and it comes across as very good, but if one is impatient the subtle features of this film will blow by and the film is slow and boring.

George Clooney can pick interesting films to be in. Generally, he gets about 80 – 95% of all the screen time and he will make it work.

We start with him enjoying an intimate moment with a beautiful girl in a very stark snow covered area of Sweden. You notice right away, that he says little with his mouth in this film, but he’s always speaking volumes with his actions and eyes.

They go for a walk and they notice a single track in the snow, he springs to action and hides them behind a rock just as shots ring as bullets explode next to him. He pulls a gun out and she is shocked. Within a few short minutes kills the perpetrator who is hunting him. He tells her to go call the police and as soon as she starts walking away he shoots her in the back of the skull, then he hunts down the shooter’s counterpart who is waiting in a car and kills him as well.

All of this is done with no emotion; just the coldness of a killer is reflected on his face. Yes there is a little bit of fear, but it is all under control. Clooney plays Jack or Edward as someone who has done this for years, is out of touch with his feeling for another person except a women or two who he meets in a bordello.

He is a loner. He is a hunter. He is the hunted. He is alone and doesn’t want to be. He goes to hide out in Italy and picks up a job to make a specific kind of weapon but, this time, he doesn’t have to be “the trigger”.

Clooney is effectively aloof and engaged as Jack/Edward. He shows just enough emotion through his eyes and tight mouth to say a lot through the film but he actually has very little to say. Violante Placido as Clara, a hooker he falls for, is excellent. Paolo Bonacelli as Father Benedetto is wonderful as the probing and interested man Clooney listens to while in Italy. Thekla Reuten plays Mathilde, an assassin like Cloony, and displays the same cold-heartedness very well. Anton Corbijn directed this film with a strong European hand by keeping the pacing even while creating an evolving level of intensity. The shots of this part of Italy were outstanding.

Overall: This was a slow but very well paced film with more movement than dialog to move the story along.