Burn After Reading (2008) October 24, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , 2 commentsDirected by: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Take two Oscar winning directors, a cast that would make any financier weak at the knees, a heavy dose of intentional stupidity, and a pinch of ignorance towards convention. Chances are you’d end up with a bit of a mess, albeit a well regarded, critically anticipated mess. No prizes for fitting that particular recipe to Burn After Reading, the follow-up to contentious filmmaker duo the Coen brothers’ most revered work: No Country for Old Men [review]. As an undeniably ‘wacky’ addition to their cannon, and with opinion varying so wildly on their past similar efforts, it seems rather ill-advised to grab the Oscars and run straight back there. Ill-advised, yet entirely Coen-esque.
In this circular caper comedy, it all starts with one man: Osbourne Cox, a government analyst, who is fired for having a drinking problem and thus begins writing his memoirs. Unfortunately, his scheming wife, Katie Cox, steals all the information from his computer in a pre-emptive divorce strike, and then promptly loses the disc. The controversial memoirs end up in the hands of numbskull gym trainer Chad Feldheimer, who, along with his colleague and only-slightly-wiser friend Linda Litzke, promptly blackmail Osbourne for what they believe to be sensitive top secret information.
Meanwhile, Linda is also searching for romance, and ends up dating serial love rat Harry Pfarrer, a slightly clueless federal marshal who happens to be conducting an affair with none other than Katie Cox. The coincidences and bizarre happenings continue to spiral out of control, with all five hapless contributors never discovering the links that bind them. It’s a fairly involved story, and not entirely well formatted for film, although it seems the Coens are happy to admit a one-sided approach to their process: “We’re fond of stories; movies are a way of telling stories. We found out that we had some facility for writing them and we got an opportunity to actually make one. It’s not as if we have some mystical attachment to film.”
Maybe it’s their lack of adulation for the format that leads to such consistent disregard for convention in their films. Here, in particular, the brothers jump between genres on a scene by scene basis, often wrong-footing the audience over whether it’s a comedy or a work of dramatic intent. Some will say they have seen this before; that the Coen’s most definable attribute is the sly humour injected into even their bleakest movies. But this is different. Its reach covers both laugh-inducing stupidity and rather dark turns of violence, usually changing tack in a blink. It’s a hard tone to adapt to, and one which might leave you less than comfortable.
Of course, comfort is not what the brothers want you to feel. I think they take pleasure in detaching an audience from their true intent. No Country for Old Men took you ‘on the run’ for most of the film, before slamming on the brakes 
and leaving Tommy Lee Jones to pick up the pieces. The ending here is similarly curt, although by no means comparable to the dead-air discomforting experience of No Country. It neatly wraps up its story and poses the question “what did we really learn?”. What, indeed?
And yet, for all the irresolution and unbalanced tonality, the Coen’s script and characterisation helps pull the film out of the gutter and give you a reason to watch. It takes a little while to pick up, pretty much holding out until Brad Pitt arrives to steal all the funniest lines. His boneheaded performance might not be an artistic highpoint, but it’s hard not to find him humorous, especially when paired against John Malkovich’s standard hard-nosed intellectual. Then there’s Coen-favourite George Clooney, doing his below-the-curve loser enough justice to be watchable, if not entirely believable (nobody would ever give him a gun, for example). Tilda Swinton dials up the weirdness, and at times it’s a little too much, but then there’s Frances McDormand neatly managing her emotional spectrum without the pantomime delivery.
With its twisting narrative, Burn After Reading is comic exuberance unhindered by the ‘rules’ of comic filmmaking. My concern about previous Coen productions was that their tendency to lean towards the bizarre meant I always felt at arms length from the film. For all its joviality, this is a similarly cold affair. It can be lively and it can be fun, but it can’t be meaningful as anything other than an observation of stupid people and their silly coincidences. No Country had pretensions towards a wider point, yet here, the pointlessness is the point. You could say that maybe the Coen’s have earned it, but really, they probably haven’t. One Oscar success does not a legend make, and yet, you get the feeling that as long as they can keep telling their off-kilter stories, neither of them really cares.
Burn After Reading is currently on UK general release.
The Rocker (2008) October 12, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: Peter Cattaneo
If you think ‘rock comedy’ then chances are the first thing that springs to mind is Spinal Tap, the seminal Christopher Guest mock-umentary that didn’t dismantle rock pretentiousness so much as shatter the entire idea, leaving little behind for future attempts. It’s from that same overblown, theatrical genre of music that this watered-down version takes its cues, albeit with an internet-age twist. Complete with liner notes about growing up and being yourself, The Rocker is loud, proud, and here for one Dwight only.
The story centres on Robert ‘Fish’ Fishman, a former drummer with rock outfit Vesuvius, he was dropped from the band at the request of a record company twenty years previous. The subsequent time has seen Fish work numerous unfulfilling day jobs, while Vesuvius have become hugely successful. It’s not until his nephew Matt is suddenly in need of a drummer so that his band, A.D.D., can play the school dance, that Fish takes his place behind the drum kit once more. After a video clip of the band goes viral on the internet, A.D.D. suddenly find themselves the subject of professional interest, taking the band to new heights, and giving Fish his second chance at living the life of a rock star.
As much as The Rocker might aspire to be a creation of original thought, there’s no denying that most of its elements are pilfered from other, similar movies. For example, it primarily operates using the same man-child approach to failed, middle-age rockers that Jack Black utilised in the vastly superior School of Rock. The difference is that Black made it convincing – for evidence why, you need look no further than his band, Tenacious D, who seem to exist primarily to bridge the gap between audacious rock posturing and comedy. Here we get actor Rainn Wilson, one of the stars to emerge from the US version of The Office, in the lead role, and desperately trying to keep up.
Rainn himself is actually pretty strong, playing Fish with enthusiasm and boyish charm that helps justify his character’s copious screen time. Meanwhile, the fellow band members are made up of a rather unlikely mix of personalities, the likes of which only come together in the world of movies. Emma Stone plays the angst-ridden chick, while Josh Gad puts in a favourable performance as the shy, insecure one. Least fitting is Teddy Geiger, who plays the slightly too good-looking but still troubled singer/songwriter of the band, Curtis. With his unsubtle abandonment issues, you’ll spend an early part of the film just hoping he’ll just cheer up a bit – which he does, just in time to almost break up the band.
If you’re smart though, you won’t be watching these central figures at all, but rather the impressive array of supporting roles that fill out the picture. Some of the best scenes are those involving Will Arnett’s rock superstar, Demetri Martin’s quirky music video director, and Jeff Garlin’s rock-wannabe father. The most expanded of these though, is the band’s manipulating, superficial record company manager, played by Jason Sudeikis. He’s another stereotype character, sure, but at least he’s consistently funny.
The story is probably the weakest single element, amounting to little more than a plod through all the usual story points. If you think that you’ve already got it plotted out from the synopsis, then you probably have. The small references to films like Almost Famous are welcome, but undercut by the fact that this ‘kids on the road’ flick would probably like to generate the same kind of coming of age sentimentality that Cameron Crowe lent to his semi-autobiographical picture. My love of Almost Famous aside (which, incidentally, Rainn Wilson made a small appearance in), it’s safe to say that The Rocker is way too conventional to come anywhere close, especially when it tags the feel good ending from School of Rock on there as an encore.
I guess the blame for this, as well as a marginal concentration of jokes and a somewhat heavy reliance on slapstick, comes down to screenwriters Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. It’s most surprising to learn that the former wrote and produced on The Larry Sanders Show, while the latter has held the exact same roles for The Simpsons. Given this employment history, we may well be forgiven for expecting much more. Director Peter Cattaneo also seems to be chasing better days, having directed the popular British working-class comedy The Full Monty, his work here is perfunctory, although whether better direction could really have aided this project is debatable.
After a lukewarm reaction and a weak taking at the US box office, it would be unfair to say that The Rocker is particularly hateful or offensive. Its light-hearted disregard for how conventional it actually is may well help take you along for the ride, and at 102 minutes, it falls well into the boundaries of a casual comedy night in. But without any significant bite to its humour, and only light pokes at the music industry acting as its point of satire, it’s also a hard film to recommend. The sharpest send-up comes when Fish meets his old bend members; now multi-millionaire rock stars, they’ve all adopted fake British accents. And that’s The Rocker really, a film posing as a modern music comedy, but too clueless to see how formulaic it is.
The Rocker is on UK general release from October 17th.
Tropic Thunder (2008) September 29, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: Ben Stiller
At a cost of $92 million, Tropic Thunder is a juggernaut in comedy terms, pairing big budget action with a powerhouse comic cast. Billed as a kind of Full-Metal-Apocalypse-Now via Platoon, it makes some scathing attacks at Hollywood stereotypes, and especially the performers who work within that system. Strangest of all though, is seeing all this done by some of the system’s most successful stars.
Its ridiculous plot sees failing action star Tugg Speedman out in the tropics making a Vietnam War movie with first-time director Damien Cockburn. When everything seems to be going wrong, the film’s army advisor convinces Damien to up the stakes for his actors - to make it real. The director takes Speedman, along with the other stars: crude comic Jeff Portnoy, method actor Kirk Lazarus, rapper Alpa Chino, and youngster Kevin Sandusky, deep into the jungle, where they can experience war first hand. With hidden cameras, he plans to recreate a battle environment, but of course, it isn’t long before the movie cast find themselves caught up in a real stand-off with a dangerous jungle-dwelling, heroin-producing gang. Taking it all as part of the movie, the actors stumble into a deadly environment, and give the performance of their lives.
With such a large and varied cast, it’s no wonder that director Ben Stiller has called upon some of the best current comic talent to fill his roster of character types. He himself plays the fallen action hero, desperate to reclaim former glories in a constant succession of stupid sequels. We get Jack Black as the heroin addicted slapstick star, who plays every character in an overweight family comedy that is a non-too-subtle nod to Eddie Murphy’s recent output. Also topping the poster is Robert Downey Jr. in a role as the ’serious’ actor who takes his method to the extreme when he undergoes pigment augmentation in order to play a black soldier.
This bizarre racial twist has potential to be the most offensive thing in the movie, but he is sparingly paired with Brandon T. Jackson, who plays the rapper / actor / entrepreneur of every industry. Then there’s the failing director, played by British comic Steve Coogan, as well as Jay Baruchel levelling everyone else out as the new kid. And that’s just the principal cast. The film also features parts for Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, and, strangest of all, a bullish, foul-mouthed studio head played by non other than Tom Cruise. The more cynical (like me), may see this as a much-needed publicity stunt for Cruise, but on the basis of his performance, it just may have worked.
So, there’s no lack of potential, but how does the film manage that potential alongside a rather silly premise and a multi-million dollar effects budget? Well, for the most part, okay. While it seems redundant to mention the effects of having money on your side, unlike the comparatively low budget action comedy Pineapple Express [review], the visual spectacle here is much more polished and cinematic. In a way, it is almost too clean, often coming off as the glorified Hollywood blockbuster that it is trying to parody. Maybe that’s a credit to the accomplished visual style, which is shown no better than during the fake trailers that form the prelude to the movie.
And it is these trailers, serving as rather inspired character introductions, that form the high point of the film. Complete with relevant studio credits they are quick, satirical and very funny, to the point where they end up creating high expectation for a movie that then struggles to deliver. The script by Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, contains a peppering of witty lines, so while there’s something to make you laugh at regular intervals, it never quite holds up as the rip-roaring comedy it should have been. There’s so much going on at times, the film can seem messy, cluttered even, and it has to work twice as hard to push its comedy to the fore.
With this kind of atmosphere, it’s no wonder that Jack Black is a little wasted in his role, and no more than the sum of his Murphy-baiting parody. While the much-hyped Downey Jr. role is of such ludicrous extremes that it steers itself well clear of offensiveness, and often just ends up being incomprehensible - especially in a audio sense, where the emphasised accents (both in and out of ‘character’) sometimes fail to clearly convey the dialogue. It’s not a huge problem, but since he has most of the funniest lines, you’d be missing out on maximum entertainment if you don’t pay attention.
Tropic Thunder is actually quite an ambitious action comedy, mainly because it doesn’t skimp on the spectacle contingent inherent to the format. Nor is it ever afraid to cross some rather controversial lines - confronting both racial issues and those related to the on-screen depiction of the mentally handicapped. There’s always the risk, of course, that this lack of financial and satirical boundaries will lead to over-indulgence and a reliance on easy laughs, which sometimes occurs during the film’s hour and fifty minute running time. Mostly though, it has done exactly what a comedy juggernaut is supposed to - pull in the audiences, provide some mindless entertainment, and remind you that movies, inherently, are a bunch of stupid nonsense. A point well made.
Pineapple Express (2008) September 11, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: David Gordon Green
Where stupidity and ineptitude meets underachieving and misguided, that’s where you’ll find the characters of a typical stoner comedy. Often concerning male friends who are usually on the run from, or to something, the whole genre can seem like a grab at an easy audience and even easier laughs. Pineapple Express changes little of the archetype, because it already has its biggest pulling factor built in: the failsafe comic teaming of producer Judd Apatow and star Seth Rogen. Two gentlemen for whom these are high times indeed.
Its story concerns two stoners: one a process server named Dale Denton, the other his lazy dealer named Saul Silver. Their relationship is one of mild acquaintance, until events conspire that Dale witnesses a murder by a cop and the biggest drug pusher in town – a guy who, according to Saul, is “crazy about murdering”. The two bumbling losers then try to go on the run, but are forever bumping into the wrong people, be it drug middle-man Red, or working thugs Budlofsky and Matherson. The one consistent link between them all: weed, specifically a potent strain that goes by the name of Pineapple Express.
Looking back on the comic legacy of this genre we find movies such as Up In Smoke, Dazed & Confused, and Half Baked, along with more recent additions like the Harold & Kumar films. All fairly safe tales of comic intent and, depending on where you stand, all successful in their own way. What the Apatow crew have added into the mix is a healthy dose of action, in order to make Pineapple Express unlike any stoner movie ever attempted. And it’s certainly present, although you may argue that their interpretation of ‘action’ seems to mean rough and tumble violence more than anything else.
So what we get is 111 minutes of fairly foul-mouthed comic banter, punctuated by moments of wild gunfire and no-holds-barred punch ups. It’s an odd mix, especially when done with such a strong intent on showing people getting injured, but apparently that’s exactly what the writers wanted. Superbad [review] writing team Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are behind the script, which sees our two protagonists bounce around Los Angeles with rather too little focus, bumping into other characters along the way before reaching the natural showdown conclusion. While the story is fairly simple, it’s not terribly engaging, and so it’s the moments between the moments that provide the film’s strongest laughs.
As always, there’s a heavy emphasis on improvisation, which the cast are presumably chosen based on their ability to participate in. Interestingly though, because of all the down time in Pineapple Express, I actually found the improv somewhat intrusive – a first for any of Apatow’s movies. 
Stripping the dialogue back might have made it seem less desperate, and while its true that most of the humour comes out of the random exchanges between characters, there are times when you want people to shut up and move on. It’s a difficult line to tread, but where these movies have succeeded before, this one pushes its ad-libs a little too hard.
Having said this, the cast itself is completely solid and play perfectly into their characters. Expect to see all the old Apatow faces, namely Seth Rogen as the hapless Dale Denton and James Franco as the drug dealing Saul Silver. While we get this kind of thing from Rogen all the time, it is Franco who particularly stands out here, taking a break from his more serous work to show that he still has the funny side that got him his job on Apatow’s Freaks & Geeks series eight years ago. Also worth mentioning is rising comic talent Danny McBride, who is part of the “he’s everywhere” contingent that also currently consists of Craig Robinson and Bill Hader – both of whom have parts in the movie.
It’s a strong comic cast, and their already existing friendships only make the on-screen relationships work even better. That’s maybe why it’s a surprise to see David Gordon Green in the director’s chair. Even though he has ties with some of the cast, this isn’t his typical job at all. As the director of All The Real Girls, Undertow and, most recently, Snow Angels, he is known for his drama more than his humour; he’s even been nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice. And yet, here he is, throwing himself into this stoner action / comedy combo with as much intent as ever. Unfortunately, intent doesn’t always equal results.
While he equips himself for the genre appropriately, shooting the comic stuff exactly as expected, there’s something lacking in the action sequences that shows up the holes in this supposedly kick-ass stoner flick. What hangs over the movie is the ghost of Hot Fuzz [review]; Edgar Wright’s action comedy that held its action in as high a regard as its humour. A scene in Pineapple Express which shows the rapid cocking of various guns looks lame in comparison to the Tony Scott-inspired visual aesthetic that Wright managed to adopt to do exactly the same thing.
That’s pretty much where this movie stands – as a fantastic idea that never quite lives up to expectations. Notably, the trailer for Pineapple Express was a superbly put together piece of editing that brings together the humour, the action, a great piece of music, and some of the best cinematography, in a way that never occurs in the final film. It’s still a fun movie and one that has so many gags that you’ll undoubtedly be laughing at some point, but maybe the film works best fulfilling the typical role of a stoner flick – as a secondary stimulus. One of the funniest scenes comes right at the end, as the main characters sit around and discuss the events as if it was a movie they just watched. That, I feel, is exactly how audiences will get the most enjoyment too.
Pineapple Express is on UK general release from September 12th.
The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008) September 7, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , add a commentDirected by: Chris Carter
Returning to a series as seminal as The X Files should bring with it a sense of purpose and meaning, yet this seemingly standalone instalment arrives as more a product of timing than anything else. Lead actors were willing, series creators were interested, Vancouver was open for business, and six years since the TV show ended had left a void that was, apparently, waiting to be filled. But without real impetus or reason, isn’t this just a supernatural thriller trading on the X Files name? Quite possibly, and yet there’s still something very watchable about it.
This particular ‘X-File’ takes place in rural Virginia, where women are mysteriously going missing on a regular basis. The only lead the FBI has is a disgraced priest, who claims to have psychic visions of the women. His supposed ability seems to herald results, but not without scepticism from those working on the case. And so, ex-paranormal agents Mulder and Scully are dragged back into the thick of an investigation, using their vast experience to find out one more time, if the truth is really out there.
What X Files mastermind Chris Carter has done here essentially boils down to a ‘Monster of the Week’ storyline with some extra time for Mulder and Scully to pontificate about their rather fragile relationship. On paper, it’s not the best outline for a feature-length return, 
yet its finished form is more entertaining than you might think. Firstly, the fantastical element of the story develops itself quite nicely, dropping question marks as it goes and instilling the plotline with a nice sense of mystery. It never feels ‘important’, like the best mythology episodes of the series, but Carter has no problem making throwaway content that holds your interest.
His script is a little ponderous at times and there are moments where inspiration seems lacking, especially during the conclusion which, in both story and thriller terms, is quite flat and comes as a bit of a disappointment. Yet there are some rewarding parts too - scenes that see Scully fight a cause outside of the investigation and have her battling her internal scepticism, are among the most effective. Where things eventually fall down is through the loose tying of its two storylines, and a role for Mulder that sees him do little outside of be his usual self.
It’s character issues like this that highlight the rather weak links between I Want To Believe and the rest of the X Files universe. In all honesty, this would have been a perfectly acceptable thriller even without the well-known characters and six-note whistle. We are told enough to understand that there is a history between the leads, and as only a casual watcher of the series, I had little problem catching up on the few past events that were mentioned. Sure, there are some sly references for fans to pick up, but shouldn’t a six-year wait hold more for The X Files most dedicated followers?
The biggest coup, of course, is the return of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in their career-defining roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Both have gone on to have solid careers, and I’ve especially enjoyed Duchovny’s performances in both the good and the mediocore. Each actor falls neatly back into character and there’s certainly a credibility to their relationship that exudes from years of working so closely. Holding the supporting roles are Amanda Peet as a trusting FBI agent, Xzibit as an untrusting FBI agent, and Billy Connolly as the visionary, paedophile priest (yes, you read that correctly).
I Want To Believe has struggled at the box office, maybe a little undeservingly so, but with no real draw for fans outside of a quick catch up with Mulder and Scully, it was never going to be enough to drag people back into theatres. Its biggest mistake comes down to the fact that it doesn’t escape the ‘extended episode’ accusation that is so easily attributable to feature films upgraded from TV shows. If there’s one saving grace, it’s the involvement of Chris Carter, who still has the ability to spin an interesting yarn, even though he’s the only one with the belief that his characters alone can hold the whole thing together.