"TRON: Legacy:
Richard's Review: 3 1/2 stars
"Tron: Legacy" is a 2D script presented with glorious 3D visuals. The long awaited sequel to 1982's "Tron" with its cheesier-than-a-gruyere-fondue story, so-so acting and dialogue that sounds ripped from a bad 1980's action movie could have used a gigabyte or two more storyline to go along with the mesmerizing computer generated visuals.
When Sam Flynn's (Garrett Hedlund) father Kevin (Jeff Bridges), the genius software programmer and former CEO of ENCOM International, disappeared when the boy was just a tot, no one had any idea what happened to him. So 20 years later when a mysterious page comes from Kevin's old office Sam decides he must investigate. Poking around his dad's old desk he is suddenly transported to The Grid, a wild digital world fraught with danger. Partnering with Quorra (Olivia Wilde), Sam is reunited with his father but also must battle Clu (played by a digital Jeff Bridges), the bio-digital embodiment of Kevin's original hacking program.
"Tron: Legacy" works more as an experience than it does as a movie. It's kind of like going to see Laser Floyd. It's an immersive experience that doesn't rely on the story to keep you entertained. It's essentially a sci-fi chase movie -- Sam chases the memory of his father, then is chased on The Grid before chasing Clu -- and because those sequences are so hypnotic and eye popping it makes you forget how silly and exposition heavy the story is.
As the older Kevin Jeff Bridges seems to be channeling "The Big Lebowski's" Dude more than any traditional sci-fi character. As the younger, computer-generated version of the actor, Clu, is only about 95 per cent convincing. He's meant to be a computer program come to life, I get that, but the technology used to bring him to being has the same fault as seen in the Robert Zemeckis films that use "lifelike" computer generated characters: dead eyes and a too-fluid way of walking.
Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde aren't the main attraction, here, and they all seem to know it. Only Michael Sheen as the albino Ziggy Stardust character Zuse tries to upstage the wild graphics, and very nearly succeeds. A flamboyant mix of the MC from "Cabaret" and Kim Jong-il, he delivers the film's liveliest performance and almost steals the show from The Grid.
I don't think "Tron: Legacy" is destined to be a classic, but let's face it, the original isn't a masterpiece either. It's little more than a fondly remembered relic from the 80s that seemed ripe for an update. It got it's update and then some, but let's hope if they make another one they spend more time to craft an interesting story to go along with the astounding look (and sound, courtesy of soundtrack creators Daft Punk) of the movie.
"How Do You Know"
Richard's Review: 2 1/2 stars
Normally I'm not a stickler for punctuation. I've been known to drop a comma or two and throw in an inappropriate semi-colon here and there, but the lack of a question mark at the end of the title "How Do You Know" really bugs me. Does director James L. Brooks not have Spelling and Grammar check on his computer? Was star Reese Witherspoon sick the day they taught question mark use in school? What could possibly be the excuse for such an egregious and flagrant abuse of the English language?
In the film Witherspoon is an aging pro athlete at the end of her career. For 12 years she was the star of the USA Woman's Softball Team, but when she gets cut she finds herself adrift in life. Caught in a love triangle between two men --Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson -- who love her for completely different reasons, she must choose one of them but first has to learn how to know when she's in love.
Even though I was in a bad mood because of all this question mark business, "How Do You Know" still managed to mostly win me over not because it is great, because it isn't -- it rises to the level of good, but not much further than that -- but because of its appealing cast.
Witherspoon has been absent from the big screen for two years -- her voice work in "Monsters vs. Aliens" doesn't count -- and in that time many have tried and failed to find the rom com sparkle she so effortlessly brings to this movie.
Rudd, as the slightly awkward suitor being investigated for fraud, brings the funny and the mushy and Owen Wilson's immature pro-ball player is a very funny throwback to his "Zoolander" days.
A big surprise is Kathryn Hahn, as Rudd's empathic assistant. Best known for roles on television in shows like "Crossing Jordan" and "Hung," she's a live wire who brings much to the movie, including its most moving scene. A bigger surprise is Jack Nicholson as Rudd's devious father. He's worked with Brooks before, earning two Academy Awards in the process, but here he's wasted in a role that gives him little to do. For the first time in years Nicholson barely registers on screen.
"How Do You Know" suffers from a weird rhythm, unnecessary minutes in the third act and a major unresolved plot point but is rescued by the enthusiasm of its cast.
"The Fighter"
Richard's Review: 3 1/2 stars
"The Fighter," a new film starring Mark Wahlberg about a real life welterweight named Micky Ward, plays like a mix of "Raging Bull" and "Rocky." It borrows the tough street grit from the Scorsese classic and mixes in the heart of Stallone's crowd-pleaser to create a movie that isn't quite as satisfying as either of its inspirations, but should get some notice at Academy Awards time.
Directed by David O. Russell, "The Fighter," is based on the true story of boxer, "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg), and his older half-brother Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale). Dickie is a local legend in their rough neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts, having once knocked Sugar Ray Leonard to his knees during a high profile boxing match. But now his best days are behind him. Now he's a crackhead, a charming one, but a crackhead nonetheless, who allows his addiction to get in the way of Micky's training. To advance his career Micky must make some tough decisions; more brutal than anything he's ever had to do in the ring. He must choose between his family and his career.
Wahlberg is at the heart of "The Fighter" and hands in a convincing performance, but it is Bale, in the showier role of the tormented and addicted Dickie who steals the movie. Pulling another of his amazing physical transformations -- it can't healthy to lose this much weight, but it is effective in the movie -- he's almost unrecognizable as the skeletal ex-boxer. It's the first time in some while we've seen Bale really get under the skin of a character in a drama -- forgive me, but the "Batman" and "Terminator" movies are more about the effects than nuance -- that it is a treat to be reminded of how good and risk-taking an actor he really is.
The fight scenes in "The Fighter" are good, and the characters are compelling -- Melissa Leo as the controlling mom is great and where did they find the seven harridans who play the sisters? -- but the form is a bit too traditional to be really grabby. The underdog sports movie has been done to death and despite adding in a twist or two, like a crack head brother with a god complex, the movie pulls too many punches to be truly memorable.
"Rabbit Hole"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
"Rabbit Hole," the new film starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest, is about what happens when the natural order of things is disrupted. Just as summer always follows spring and two plus two always equals four, some things are immutable. The sad premise that lies at the base of "Rabbit Hole," however, is a natural law that unfortunately isn't as absolute as the others. What happens to parents when they outlive their children?
Howie and Becca (Eckhart and Kidman) are a couple trying to deal with the death of their four-year-old son Danny. They are at different stages of their grief, but they share a couple of things; a terrible sense of loss and an inability to know how to deal with it. On the surface he wants to move on but at night secretly watches videos of the toddler. She is angry at the world, a bubbling cauldron of resentment and hurt that could boil over at any time. Healing comes slowly, and from some unexpected sources, leading up to a climax that is quiet and inconclusive yet starkly effective.
"Rabbit Hole" is the kind of film Nicole Kidman needs to make to remind us why we liked her in the first place. After nondescript performances in big budget stiffs like "Bewitched" and "The Golden Compass" it is a relief to see her sink her teeth into the role of the devastated mother. She avoids the cliches and melodrama a lesser actor might have brought to the role and delivers a masterfully subtle examination of grief and loss. The iciness that sometimes creeps into her work melts away here as she reveals her vulnerabilities.
Kidman leads the cast but fine performances abound. Eckhart connects (and disconnects when appropriate) with Kidman while Wiest hands in a beautifully modulated performance as a woman who has known much sadness in her life but has moved on. Each character in the film is flawed, yet in their own way sympathetic.
Up until this point director John Cameron Mitchell -- of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and "Shortbus" fame -- hasn't been known for his restraint, but with "Rabbit Hole" he takes a melodramatic premise and reins it in until all that's left is real human emotion. Highly recommended.
"Yogi Bear"
Richard's Review: 3 stars
Yogi Bear, the brown bear with a huge appetite for pic-a-nic baskets, has been in hibernation on the big screen for almost half a century. The last time the "smarter than the average bear" and his sidekick Boo-Boo played in movie theatres Lyndon D. Johnson was president and The Kinks were about to release their debut album. The intervening years have been kind to the big brown bear, who is up to his old tricks in a new self titled film starring (the voices) Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake.
Set, as all great Yogi Bear stories are, in Jellystone Park, the beginning of "Yogi Bear" finds the park teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Attendance is down -- mostly because of Yogi's habit of stealing food from any guests silly enough to try and pic-a-nic at the park -- and if Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) can't figure out a way to raise $30,000 the corrupt mayor of the town (played to smarmy perfection by Andrew Daly) will rezone the land and sell it off to loggers. When Ranger Smith gets reassigned to another posting Yogi must use his smarts to help save the park and his home.
"Yogi Bear" -- both the film and the character -- is hard to dislike. At an economical 75 minutes the film's goofy slapstick doesn't overstay its welcome and will even provide a nostalgic kick for anyone old enough to remember the original cartoon series. The big bumbling bear is a classic character -- apparently based on another classic character, Art Carney's Ed Norton from "The Honeymooners" -- and the movie does him justice. They don't try and reinvent the wheel here, this is a very simple kid's flick that stays true to the spirit of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
The audience of kids I saw the movie with weren't howling with laughter, but they were engaged with the characters. Aykroyd and Timberlake take pains to do actual character voices, unlike most celebrity voice work which just plays off of the actor's already established persona, they do bang on impressions of Yogi and Boo-Boo.
"Yogi Bear" is a movie for the whole family but will appeal most to very young kids. It has gentle humor and action, larger than life characters and good messages about loyalty, perseverance and (of course) saving the environment. It may not be smarter than your average kid's flick but for what it is, it's enjoyable.
