The Music Never Stopped

First Hit: I fell in love with this film because of the music and the power of its ability to connect the dots.

What would you do and how would you feel if your 17 year old son stormed out of your house and life because of an argument and then you receive a call 20 years later that he is in the hospital suffering from a large benign tumor?

This is that story and the story of how the father, Henry Sawyer (played by J.K. Simmons) and his son, Gabriel (played by Lou Taylor Pucci) begin to repair their relationship even though the son has no long term memory.

The film begins with the young family enjoying music together with the father quizzing his son on the song titles, who composed them, and what that song means to the father. The father is innocent enough in his zeal to connect with this son in this way. But what isn’t happening, as the son enters his teenage years during the sixties, is that the son is creating memories of his own to the music of his time.

After the son has the operation to take out a significant part of his brain, the father tries to help his son regain some memory through music therapy as practiced by Dianne Daley (played by Julia Ormond). Daley discovers that with certain songs of the sixties; exact memories are brought forth for Gabriel and he’s totally lucid when the song is playing.

The memories which are brought forth are sometimes painful and other times joyous and fun. During the lucid moments Gabriel talks about the pain of not being understood by his father. In one painful memory is the story as to why he left home some 20 years earlier.

In a beautiful telling moment Henry’s wife Helen (played by Cara Seymour) tells Henry that his son’s memories are correct and exactly how she saw them and that as long as he refuses to see this truth, she will not sleep in the same bed with him. This hits Henry straight in the heart and he sets out to learn his son’s music and learn about his son through the music.

Simmons is dead on perfect for this role. He carries the belief that Nixon team was right, yet humbles himself beautifully when he learns that he was wrong. He carries the joy of connecting with son so fully that one cannot simply let a tear or two fall from one’s eye. Seymour is fabulous as the fifty’s wife who decides to step out of that role and become a more prominent figure in the family. Pucci, is amazing as the almost brain dead person who comes to life when the music is played. Ormond is very good as the music therapist who helps guide both Gabriel and his father back together again. The music – was great to hear and fortunately for me it was my music as well. Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks wrote a stunning script. Jim Kohlberg created a wonderfully paced magical film with a little help from some wonderful musicians which gave him music.

Overall: This was a surprisingly wonderful film which reminds people how much we associate our life to the songs we heard and remember.

Jane Eyre

First Hit: Beautifully shot, well-acted, but there was something dramatically missing.

This story has been done many times and this version was one of the most beautifully shot of all of them.

The feeling of the cold moist damp rain of England, the moors, the stone floors, the heavy drapes, the wavy glass windows, the candle and fire lit rooms were all visually arresting and felt true to the time. Here the director got it right.

The film begins with Jane (played by Mia Wasikowska) running away from the home of Mr. Rochester (played by Michael Fassbender) where she had been governess to his child ward. Her journey there began as an unwanted child (played by Amelia Clarkson) by her guardian Mrs. Reed (played by Sally Hawkins). Reed ships her off to a boarding school where she is treated poorly but becomes educated.

Unfortunately there is no resemblance between the actresses of the young and older Jane and this obvious mismatch was troublesome. Although there was a consistent feeling of Jane through these two actresses, and both were very good, the obvious physical discrepancies (mouth, lips, eyes and nose) were disconcerting to me and kept me from buying the story.

When the older Jane arrives at Mr. Rochester’s home she is greeted by Mrs. Fairfax (played by Judi Dench) who guides her into the role as governess. Mr. Rochester is intrigued by Jane and her direct fearless openness towards him and compels him to want to marry her.

In the rush to get the wedding done, a relative of his first wife barges in to object to the marriage. Jane is heartbroken and runs away (the opening scene). She makes her way to St. John Rivers (played by Jamie Bell) and his two sisters. They take her in and give her the opportunity to begin life again as a teacher in a small countryside school. But Jane’s heart yearns for Mr. Rochester and eventually she finds her way back.

Wasikowska is very good and endearing in this role, however I don’t know if it was something her acting, in the direction or in the lack of chemistry between her and Fassbender that left me unconvinced of this story. Fassbender was good as the troubled wealthy man looking for love and peace. But as previously stated something didn’t work in this film. Clarkson was wonderful as the young Jane and despite the obvious physical dissimilarities between her and the older Jane she did a wonderful job. Bell came off as fully untrustworthy from the get go. Whether his was supposed to come off this way or not, I don’t know. But the moment he picks up Jane from his front door, he felt creepy and it bothered me that Jane didn’t see it. Dench was strong as the house head housekeeper and guiding light for Jane. Moira Buffini wrote a good script from the Charlotte Bronte novel. Cary Fukunaga shot this film exquisitely, however there was something missing, a compelling chemistry, to make this version the best ever done.

Overall: I like this film, but left the theater wanting something more compelling.

Limitless

First Hit: The concept is very interesting and the execution was a little uneven.

The opening camera sequence is one long camera moving shot which travels down streets, through cars through signs, walls and finally into a brain where we see a rendition of a brain cell firing.

This opening sequence provides a great foundation as to the speed and vision in which this film is going to move. Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper) is attempting to be a writer, has some great ideas, has an advance, but cannot get anything on to paper.

He’s depressed, looks almost homeless in appearance, and in an opening scene his girlfriend Lindy (played by Abbie Cornish) is dumping him because the relationship is no longer working. He runs into his former drug dealing brother in-law Vernon (played by Johnny Whitworth) who turns him on to a pill. He says this pill will allow him to use 100% of his brain instead of the 10% we normally use.

In a fit of depression and hopelessness he takes the pill. In a matter of 30 minutes he starts being everything he can be. Writes most of his book, cleans his house, and gets his act together. The next day he feels the way he felt before he took the pill so he seeks out Vernon for more pills. Vernon sends him on an errand and when Eddie returns Vernon is dead and his apartment is trashed out because someone was looking for something, the pills.

Eddie figures out where the pills are and takes them. He begins taking them regularly and becomes an innovative investor. He ends up getting the attention of a powerful investor named Carl Van Loon (played by Robert De Niro). 

Van Loon has him assist in creating a takeover deal of a financial rival who, as we discover, is also using the pills but has run out. The pills have a side-effect which includes physical debilitation, reverting to a prior limited way of thinking, and death.

Cooper is very good as Morra. He has the ability to come off as very intelligent as well as grounded at the same time. Cornish has a limited role but is solid as Eddie’s girlfriend. De Niro is pretty good as the high level financier who gives Eddie a chance for success. Leslie Dixon wrote the screen play and although it was overdone at times, it worked in the end. Neil Burger directed this film with some effective shots however, at times it felt a little lost and could have been tightened up.

Overall: Conceptually this was a very good film and in execution it was good but not great.

Lincoln Lawyer

First Hit:  A wonderfully acted rendition of a Michael Connelly novel.

When a film begins it is important that the audience becomes quickly engaged in what is happening on the screen.

Lincoln Lawyer sets us up with a slightly stubbled Mick Haller (played by Matthew McConaughey) in a nice suit sitting in the back of an older black Lincoln Continental being followed by a group of bikers. Pulling over he is in his element, part street smart, part smart aleck, and overall trusted lawyer to help the biker's man in jail; for a price.

A bail bondsman named Val (played by John Leguizamo) hooks Haller up with a rich young man named Louis Roulet (played by Ryan Phillippe), who has been accused of killing a prostitute. We learn early that Haller has a history of getting people off and this reputation for getting guilty people off is why the police department doesn’t like him and his former wife, a DA, left him.

Marisa Tomei plays his former wife with which Haller shares a child and she has to excuse herself from prosecuting Roulet because Haller is his lawyer. As Haller learns more about his client he also realizes his isn’t as innocent as he claims but what pisses him off more is Roulet’s lying and manipulation.

As Haller has his investigator Frank (played by William H. Macy) find out more about Roulet, Frank is all of a sudden killed by Haller’s own antique gun. Tension builds, what will Haller do? He applies his craft and out thinks his client to make his life more right.

McConaughey is fantastic as Haller. He carries his intelligence in a suave, street savvy way. In this film you can clearly see McConaughey can act. Leguizamo is good in his small, yet critical part. Phillippe is naturally good as a slick rich boy who thinks he’s entitled to be above the rest of the people. Tomei has a small yet effective part in providing a viable backdrop of a life for Haller. Macy is wonderful as Haller’s right hand man. John Romano did an excellent job of writing a screen play from the Connelly novel. Brad Furman did an outstanding job of directing this fine cast through this well written script. He kept the film moving, crisp, and suspenseful.

Overall: A nicely done film and one worth seeing.

Battle: Los Angeles

First Hit: A poorly constructed commercial for the Marines.

In 2009 “District 9” gave us an outstanding film about an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth.

In “Battle: Los Angeles” we get an aggressive alien which wants our water but, besides landing in the Pacific Ocean, there is nothing associated with water during the rest of the film.

What we have here is a story of an aging, near retired Marine named SSgt. Michael Nantz (played by Aaron Eckhart) who, on the brink of retiring, gets pulled into duty to assist in finding some civilians who are holed up in an abandoned police station. They must pull them out within a few hours because the US Government is going to carpet bomb everything in Santa Monica as a way to stop the aliens.

As you might guess, they find the civilians; a young boy named Hector (played by Bryce Cass), his father Joe (played by Michael Pena) along with others. The Marines are tentative under Nantz because it is rumored he left a group of men in Afghanistan to die with him being the only survivor.

The film is supposed to be about survival, intelligence, and redemption of character but what I found was a film which was a continuous commercial about the prowess of the U.S. Marines. Quite frankly this was the worst intention and path the film could have taken.

The screenplay was mixed and when the veterinarian and Nantz dissect an alien to figure out the weak point and the way to kill an alien's body this film dove into the ridiculous. Then of course there is even the worse sub-plot of TSgt. Elena Santos (played by Michelle Rodriguez) and Nantz figuring out how to destroy the drones by destroying the alien command centers.

Eckhart is a good actor and here he gives his best shot but his talent is wasted. Cass is alright as the hero struck child who loses his father. Pena is mediocre as the father who tries to make lessons for his son during the time of crisis. He spends his time having his son honor Marines. Rodriguez is in her standard role as tough girl carrying a gun. I would like to see if she can act as a different character in some other type of film. Christopher Bertolini wrote this story and did a poor job of combining the intent of the Aliens (our water) with the story (how great the Marines are). Jonathan Liebesman directed this and I can’t help but think he was outside his skill set as this film is too loose and needed a lot of tightening up and focus. His first mistake, letting us see the invasion; then backing up the start of the film to before the invasion. For some films this works, for this it destroyed the point of the film, the invasion.

Overall: This film was one long ineffective, boring, and lousy commercial for the U.S. Marines.