The Walk

First Hit:  This film kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Yes there are parts of the film I wanted a fast forward button so that I could see Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) walk the wire between the twin towers, however all the parts are necessary and they provide a great lead up to "The Walk".

In fact, I almost felt as though there wasn’t enough information in the film to make me feel sure that he’d practiced walking the wire enough to meet the challenge and goal he wanted to complete:  To string a high wire between the World Trade Center (WTC) towers and walk between them.

There’s enough biographical information to set the stage that Philippe marches to his own drum – regardless of the circumstance. He meets Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) whom he connects with, romances, and she becomes his muse. There are wonderful scenes with her and Philippe, but my favorite is when they come out of the subway and she sees the twin towers for the first time and says:  “woha" - it was perfect.

The team Petit put together to assist him were perfect, and each had their beliefs, strengths, and foibles. As they prepare for “The Walk”, it is easy to get engaged with the challenge. To provide expertise, Philippe seeks out wizened senior wire-walker Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) who teaches him the most important aspects of rigging and safety. Their interaction and mutual respect is obvious.

The use of 3-D is absolutely perfect. This film must be seen in 3-D. The magnificence of the feat, the view of NYC, and the view down from the wire is almost too hard to watch. This film is about courage, single mindedness, and commitment. This film is so filled with tension that there were times I had to close my eyes.

Gordon-Levitt, despite the slightly odd French accent was fantastic. He held single mindedness and the air of invincibility, perfectly. Le Bon was sublime. She was perfect as a muse, friend, lover and believer, all wrapped into one person. Kingsley was very good as the mentor and guide. Everyone in the support team was fantastic. The NYC policemen were amazing as were the WTC construction workers. I also loved that the writer and director included the mysterious visitor that came to the top of the tower viewed what Petit was doing and left. The use of voice over was also very effective. Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne wrote a wonderful screenplay and Zemeckis’ direction was perfect.

Overall:  This was a jaw dropping, interesting, and powerful film.

99 Homes

First Hit:  Great and disconcerting story delivered by very strong acting.

The real estate game and crisis is highlighted in this film.

This film highlights families that are not able to continue paying their mortgage and get foreclosed upon. The person who takes charge of the eviction is aggressive real estate agent Rick Carver (Michael Shannon).

When he forecloses on Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield), his mother Lynn (Laura Dern), and son Connor (Noah Lomax), Dennis finds a way to earn some money back and he hates the way he’s doing it. He now works for Carver as his right hand man.

Dennis likes the money, he likes that he’s able to provide for his son and mother, and he hates what he’s become. The film ensures the audience can, at a visceral level, relate to the people evicted from their homes. This is truly an American story.

Garfield is magnificent. He carries the greed and guilt perfectly. Shannon is perfect as the guy who has one focus, money and more of it. Dern and Lomax are great as Garfield’s mother and son. Ramin Bahrani both wrote and directed with film with a deft touch. He was able to create the sadness of loss and the greed of getting more perfectly through this screen play.

Overall:  I thought this was a really good film because it reflected a true American tragedy and the acting was great.

Sicario

First Hit:  A strong drug war film that digs into ways the government is bending rules to gain some control over Mexican cartels.

I liked this film more the day after (the day I’m writing this) than I did watching it.

I’m not sure why, except maybe the jurisdictional confusions created by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) of the CIA and Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) of the FBI and assorted other agencies like the DOD and local and Mexican police agencies continued to process in my brain through the night.

While watching it I wanted more clarity about why Mercer was involved, why Graver’s associate Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) seemed so cold, perverse and with purpose.

The story revolves around a way that the US Government is trying to control the influx of drugs from Mexico along with the mindless killing of Mexicans that come across the border into this country. The initial scene is what sets this tone.

Blunt is wonderful. She plays the rule following toughened agent very well. Brolin is good and at times I thought he was too flippant to be a government agent. Del Toro was superb. His steely resolve in this character was perfect. Daniel Kaluuya (as FBI agent Reggie Wayne) was very good and a great co-companion of Blunt’s character. Taylor Sheridan wrote a script that, at times, seemed overly complex or confusing. Dennis Villeneuve did an excellent job of directing this story, through the complexities as well as the more direct violent scenes.

Overall:  This film grew on me after seeing it, which is a good thing.

The Martian

First Hit:  Matt Damon is wonderful in this interesting and engaging film.

With the latest news indicating that there is water on Mars, this film will have even more interest from audiences.

I cannot speak to the science demonstrated in the film and I will say the story is compelling mostly because of the acting. We have a crew on an extended mission to Mars but because there is a huge storm, they have to leave early leaving behind one of their team.

Mission Botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) was thought to be dead when the crew led by Captain Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). NASA led by Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) decides to not tell the crew heading back to Earth that the person they left behind is still alive. The reasons he uses are valid from one point of view but, the on Earth, person responsible for the crew, Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean) decides to inform the crew about Mark’s survival on Mars.

This works well as a plot device to set up an attempted rescue by this same crew later in the film. A good portion of the film is about how Mark solves the dilemma of being in a place where his food won’t last until a possible rescue mission comes back for him. He solves this problem with great verve, humor, ingenuity.

There is a bit more focus on the music he’s left with (disco era music) by Captain Lewis and it got old to me. I know it was used a clever plot device to created amusement and it wore thin. I’ve no idea if NASA works the way the film portrays but it was believable.

Besides the wonderful acting by Damon on Mars, the mixture of other characters helping to rescue him was also very good.

Damon was really strong as “the greatest botanist on the planet”. He does well at showing a positive outlook, intelligence, and fortitude to take this difficult situation and survive. Chastain was good as the mission leader, showing compassion, strength, and willingness. Daniels was very good as the no-nonsense NASA leader. Sean Bean was good in his small yet pivotal role. Donald Glover was probably the most interesting minor character. His portrayal of a certified genius able to solve the problem of identifying a rescue plan was perfect. Drew Goddard wrote a wonderful, interesting and, at times, amusing script. Ridley Scott did a great job of creating great sets (spaceship scenes were reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001) and getting some very strong performances from his actors.

Overall:  Although a little long it was an enjoyable and entertaining film.

Pawn Sacrifice

First Hit:  Fascinating story about a complicated fascinating man.

I learned chess because of Bobby Fischer in the late 1960's early 1970's. I had heard about this young man who was lighting up the chess world and wanted to know what this game was about. Learning more about chess I immediately saw the complexity of the game and wondered about the minds of people who played this game for a living.

In this film Fischer (played by Tobey Maguire) grows up in a household he found confusing and distracting. His solace – chess. He played all the time - day and night and early on he was out in the streets playing in the public parks in Brooklyn. He then started playing multiple people/boards at one time, winning most all the time.

This film follows the story from his youth until he plays Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) in Reykjavik, Iceland, then follows up with pictures and information as to what happened to the reclusive Fischer. Although the American public was supportive of the way he defeated “The Russians” in an intellectual discipline the Russians excelled in; Fischer spouted anti American and anti-semitic remarks to media through his paranoid nature which caused him to be at issue with both the government and many of the public.

As his friend and fellow chess coach Father Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard) said, Bobby went down the rabbit hole and would never come out. The mixture and use of real video/film of the time in this film was very good and added to a realistic view of this story and joy of these performances.

Maguire was really good at flipping from appearing sane and then being unstable. Schreiber was great as Spassky, his command of arrogance and humility at his loss to Fischer was perfect. Sarsgaard was really good as his friend, coach and understanding priest. Steven Knight wrote a very strong script while Edward Zwick’s directional use of old footage as well was excellent.

Overall:  I loved seeing this film because of the memories of the time, the memories it sparked within me and getting to learn something about a very driven person.