Movie Reviews

(first: video proof that God shares my sense of humor: Charo on Martha Stewart)

Cameron Crowe's ELIZABETHTOWN
Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Serandon
i didn't plan on seeing this movie, because i do not like Kirsten Dunst. i think she is one of the select actors that go so far as to fully embody overrated. i still do. That being said, i liked this movie alot. i like Cameron Crowe movies, even when they include Tom Cruise and even when the critics yawn, as they did with this movie.
i won't summarize too much, since this film has been out for a while, but it's about Drew (Bloom) who hits rock bottom, career-wise, in a spectacular way, only to have to fly to Kentucky and retrieve his estranged father's body after a heart attack. Sounds depressing as all get-up, but Cameron Crowe never neglects those funny/bizarro moments in life that keep your head above water if you glance their way. The supporting cast is fantastic: Judy Greer and Paul Schneider, especially. Susan Serandon plays wife/mom, like she seems to do alot these days, but she brings her Susan Serandon panache to it, and her tap dancing scene had me bawling. Orlando Bloom did a good job being a steady center around which the rest of the story and cast could swirl and tumble. Kirsten Dunst wasn't as annoying or dsitracting as she usually is, but was still her snaggle-tooth lazy-eyed self. Really, she was the only flaw in an otherwise impeccable film. And with Cameron Crowe, with the story or acting starts to drag, there's ALWAYS a killer soundtrack to compensate. 4.5 out of 5 Free Birds.

AN UNFINISHED LIFE
Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, Bart the Bear
J.Lo opposite Big Red? i was intrigued. And i loves me some good Robert Redford, who actually flexes his mean bone in this film by Lasse Hallstrom (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Cider House Rules). Redford plays Einer, a Wyoming rancher who lost his adult son Griffin in an accident 10 years ago and still carries the wound. It made him drink and made him mean, but he still cares for his friend Mitch (Freeman), who used to help him on the ranch until he was mauled by a bear (Bart) and now just kinda hangs out. La Lopez is Jean, Einer's estranged daughter-in-law, who unbeknownst to Einer, was pregnant when Griffin died and said baby is now Einer's granddaughter Grif.
After Jean's boyfriend Gary decides to step up his theory of "love means never having to say you're sorry for beating the tar out of Jenny From the Block," Jean and Grif run away and have to crash with grumpy Einer until they can scrape up the cash to get farther away. It took me a while to get used to a mean, angry Robert Redford, who usually plays more likeable characters, and i was waiting for the mystery of Griffin's death to be something really big and icky, but it wasn't at all. Camryn Manheim has a small role and in a very simple and painful scene, explains to Jean why Einer isn't able to move on. It's a credit to the film that the reveal of the accident and the stuff that follows isn't a letdown. It's just life. As Mitch puts it 'They call 'em accidents cause it's nobody's fault.'
The strange and lovely relationship between Mitch and 'his bear' continues throughout and underneath everything going on with the humans and is an obvious metaphor for the stuff going on with Einer and Jean, but Freeman's one scene with his nemesis/friend makes it worth it.
This movie got panned by critics, and i understand why, but i still liked it. i liked how the story made no apologies for being simple and not controversial. Nothing new from Redford or Freeman, and Lopez doesn't seem to want to get out of the 'pretty' box. In this film, it's 'hurt and pretty,' which is boring. Yell! Grunt! Do something unpretty! Even when she gets mad at Einer, it's in a low, pretty whisper. Oh well. At least she got out of the romantic-comedy spiral of death. Becca Gardner, who plays Grif, was very good and was refreshingly unlike typical kid-actors. The scene where she asks Redford and Freeman if they're a gay couple was a fantastic surprise. Great shots of 'Wyoming' (probably Canada) and anything with a bear is good stuff. 3 out of 5 steadycam shots.