Killing Me Softly

First Hit:  The not so subtle killings, the state of the economy, and a thugs life are oddly displayed here.

Three dumb smart guys think they’ve got a way to crash and rob a mob protected card game of about $30 – $50K. Because Markie (played by Ray Liotta) is hosting the game and it is believed he had previously robbed his own game, the three dumb smart guys Frankie (played by Scott McNairy), Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), and Johnny (Vincent Curatola) think that robbing the game, the mob will think Markie did it again, kill him and they’ll get off scot-free.

At first they think they are in the clear but then the mob catches on. Jackie (played by Brad Pitt) is the lead hit-man for the mob and is assigned to kill the perpetrators of the robbery because these games need to be trouble free and the mob's money protected.

In the background during this film there are multiple snippets of Bush talking about the instability of the economy as well as Obama talking about what he would do to change the economy along with how unprotected our money is.

All this is to give the audience an impression that mob life and their freedom to control the safety and free flowing-ness of their ill begotten money is as sacred and reflects the trouble and required for the safety of our money in the economy. Jackie doesn’t want to “do” all three of the dumb smart guys so he hires Mickey (played by James Gandolfini) who appears to be at the end of his usability. He spends all his time and money drinking any alcohol he can find, screwing as many whores he can hire and is fatalistic in that he thinks his wife is going to leave him and he’ll end up back in prison.

His scenes are strong, very powerful and watchable, but you can’t help but think this guy is on the fast track to death. With this new problem, Jackie also has the issue of working with new mob hierarchy which he requires approval from the mob HQ to make these hits and the price must be negotiated to make each hit. But Jackie being and "in charge guy" takes care of all the problems as quickly as he can.

I’m not really clear about the point of this film, because of the pointed background dialogue about the economy, community, and how hard it is to make changes within the economic community in America and how it is congruent with the difficulty of getting permission and getting the right price for wacking someone who steals from the mob.

It might have been better without this twist. But the tagline was suppose to set the audience free: "In America you're on your own."

Liotta is clearly sufficient as guy who got away with something once but probably should be wacked anyway. McNairy is very good as the guy trying to be a smart dumb guy. Mendelsohn was fantastic as the smart dumb guy who is so stoned but believes he’s got his game together. Pitt is good but he felt restrained in this role for some reason. Gandolfini is fabulous and the hit man who has run his course and running out of gas. Andrew Dominik wrote and directed this film and neither were great, although some of the scenes were shot very well.

Overall:  This was a mediocre film and boarding on being less than mediocre, but the few outstanding performances keep it from totally failing.

Argo

First Hit:  Ben Affleck knows what he is doing behind the camera – excellent film.

The attention to detail in this period piece was outstanding. The hair styles, facial hair, cars, airplanes, interiors, and exteriors – all done with meticulous detail. Affleck even had the “Hollywood” sign in disrepair as it was back then.

Ben Affleck also is the lead character Tony Mendez, an analyst and specialist in getting US Government employees out of countries when they are trapped. In Argo the film is based on a true story to extract 6 people out of Iran after students took over the Iranian US Embassy in 1979.

These 6 people snuck out the back and made their way to a Canadian Embassy employee’s home. Tenseness is generated partially because the Iranians are taking stock of the embassy they’ve taken over but don’t yet know 6 people escaped. The race is to get them out of country before the Iranians learn whose missing where they are hiding.

Jack 0’Donnell (played by Bryan Cranston) is supporting Mendez’s plan to fake scouting for exotic locations in Iran and the 6 escapees become part of the scouting crew and then all leave on a plane. The plan, although absurd is better than all the other plans which Mendez disses as mindless and stupid.

Affleck creates an immense amount of tension during the film and does this in a sweet, slow and creative way. As part of the fake US based film team, Lester Siegel (played Alan Arkin) and John Chambers (played by John Goodman) create both comic relief and developed a strong sense of Hollywood.

One of the best things about this film is that there is no one dominating performance – it is the performance of the entire team that makes this film work really well.

Affleck as Mendez is very good and shows that Affleck doesn’t have a huge ego when directing – he keeps himself in check and this makes his subtle yet effective performance excellent. Arkin is beyond funny and perfect as the guy who makes this fake film a fake hit. Goodman, who is a makeup artist but substitutes as a producer is definitely in his swim lane – exquisite performance. Cranston is very good as Affleck’s boss who believes in his man. Chris Terrio wrote a an excellent script from Joshuah Bearman’s article. Affleck is extremely competent as a director and has a long career behind the camera giving the audience excellent stories. He will be nominated for an Oscar.

Overall:  This is an excellent film – a must see and will give younger people an excellent view of early 1980 history.

Taken 2

First Hit:  Almost as good as the original film which many follow-ons cannot claim.

With Liam Neeson getting older, I wondered if he’d be able to deliver on another intense action thriller.

As divorced CIA agent Bryan Mills, he’s about to go to Istanbul for a short 3-day protection job. Before his trip he's spending time with his daughter Kim (played by Maggie Grace) and assisting her with her driving test. He’s, as you might imagine, very controlling and deliberate.

When he goes to pick up his daughter he gets the chance to talk with his former wife Lenore (played by Famke Janssen). She is unhappy and Mills is sensitive to her unhappiness. Yes, he misses her. When he discovers she and Kim cannot go on their trip to China together, he offers them a trip to Istanbul. They take him up on his offer and that is this film's set up.

The people he killed in the previous Taken film because they stole his daughter are after him and his whole family. They are revengeful – this, for me, is the stupid part of the film. However without this revenge there is no film.

Once the killers take Mills and his wife, then the game is on and here is where Mills skills and Kim’s insistence to help her father create a way to kill the perpetrators and save their family.

The action is swift and precise and this alone makes this film come together.

Neeson is wonderful and believable as both a father and action agent. He can do both very well. Janssen was very good as his lost former wife. Grace was great as the daughter willing to help her father. Rade Serbedzija as Murad the primary perpetrator was excellent at embodying the philosophy of revenge. Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen wrote a good screenplay. Oliver Megaton directed the action in an adequate way, although the fight scenes were a little too staccato to watch to make them feel real. It is a way to hide poor action choreography.

Overall: The action was good. And as a follow-on to the original film, this one bodes well.

End of Watch

First Hit:  Very well acted film about the bond between two police officers in South Central LA.

One of the very best things about this film was that it wasn’t about a huge crime event, or the solving of a particular crime.

This film is about the relationship of two very different people, Officer Brian Taylor (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and Officer Mike Zavala (played by Michael Pena) and the trust they have with each other.

The film walks us through the antics of the officer’s headquarters meetings, the different personalities on the force, and their dialog in the car as they cruse South Central. Officer Taylor is a bachelor, has identified his dating process from beginning to end and that it seems endless.

Officer Zavala has married his high school sweetheart and he is completely happy in his home life. Zavala has a child on the way, while Taylor only wishes about having a meaningful conversation with a woman after the third date.

Together they complement each other in how they do their job, their special skills, and how they can accept and embrace each other. When Officer Taylor meets the woman of his dreams Janet (played by Anna Kendrick), it is great to see and watch his subtle shifts as he realizes much of what Officer Zavala has told him about what love and marriage is really about.

As Police Officers, they are heroic (house on fire scene), ballsy (walking into the large party scene), and brave (as they work themselves out of a fire fight scene).

The best thing about this movie is that they show these things as to demonstrate their characters as people and police officers, not as crime solvers and preventers.

Gyllenhaal was very very good as the officer who learns what is really important in his life. Pena was excellent as the officer who knew his place and what was important in his life. Natalie Martinez (as Gabby) was wonderful as Pena’s wife and support system. Kendrick was really very good as Taylor’s girlfriend and wife. Her scene in the bedroom with the video camera was excellent. Dominique (as Wicked) was strongly wicked and took over her scenes. David Ayer wrote a very strong script which highlighted the characters differences in a very natural way. His direction was spot on and using Officer Taylors hand-held camera for some of his shots was a good choice.

Overall:  What I liked about this film is that it put the crime in perspective to their lives and not the other way around.

Looper

First Hit:  A film that had me thinking about the story the morning, which bodes very well for it.

While the film attempts to draw one in about time-travel, it is the strong acting and inventive story that makes it work well.

Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) puts aside any feelings he has about assassinating people because; it makes him a good living, the people are from the future – so they’ve already had a life (30 years more than if he were to kill them in real time), and it pays for his drug habit, which is one way he escapes caring much about his actions.

The way this works is that only organized crime, which lives 30 years in the future, has the ability to send people back to the past to be killed. The future world sends notice to Abe (played by Jeff Daniels), who is in the present (or past world) to have a “Looper” (one who assassinates) ready to kill whoever arrives at the designated spot from the future.

The Looper's payment for the kill comes with the person killed in the form of silver strapped to their backs. As a film viewer, you could get caught up in the time dilemma by wondering how the film explains both the past and future existing in the same moment of time, but I strongly don’t recommend bothering with it, especially if you wonder why only crime organizations uses time travel. 

If you buy into the story as the film presents it, the time travel phenomena the director takes us through is used to share meaningful parts of the story. And the meaningful parts of the story are about loving someone and how that love drives us to act in ways of honor and dishonor.

The future or Old Joe (played by Bruce Willis) comes back to change his future destiny because of love and Young Joe finds love with Sara (played by Emily Blunt) and her son Cid (played by Pierce Gagnon) and wants to see them live on.

Gordon-Levitt once again shows why he is being a frequently sought after actor – he’s excellent here as Young Joe and carries just enough of Willis’, Old Joe, look and feel to make it believable. The one thing that did bug me was Willis’ ear lobes and Gordon-Levitt’s ear lobes are very different (but they got the injured top part of the ear just right). Willis, is as he does of late, provide an intelligent, relaxed performance that is believable. He’s very good. Blunt, despite a wobbly accent, is outstanding and continues to show me why she is one of my favorite actresses. Daniels in a limited role is perfectly wonderful and takes scenes over when he is in them. Gagnon as Blunt’s child is creepily and charmingly fantastic. Piper Perabo (as Suzie) is wily and wonderful as Young Joe’s favorite hooker. Rian Johnson wrote a strong character script and although the requirement of parallel realities existing at the same time wasn’t handled real well – this film isn’t about time travel and he directed this cast in a strong story about love and redemption.

Overall:  The title of the film detracts from a film that is full of excellent acting and an intriguing story.