October 22, 2007
NEW THIS WEEK:
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
In 1585, Elizabeth I's (Cate Blanchett) 27th year as England's ruler, her imprisoned cousin Mary (Samantha Morton) and Spain's Philip II (Jordi Molina) conspire to usurp her throne. The Virgin Queen's personal life is just as messy, as she becomes smitten with adventurer Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), while he falls in love with her handmaiden Bess (Abbie Cornish). In revisiting the role that first made her a star in 1998's "Elizabeth," Blanchett is stunning as she exposes the vulnerable woman beneath the austere, steely surface. Supporting turns, particularly from Morton, Owen, and Geoffrey Rush as the court's spymaster, are equally intense. But the opulent drama never rises to the performances' dizzying heights, as the romantic triangle's soapsuds swamp an otherwise riveting historical thriller. B
Kinsey Scale: 1.5 (Blanchett received an Oscar nomination for her role in "Notes on a Scandal," and she plays a gender-bending Bob Dylan figure in queer director Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There." Owen starred in "Bent" and "Gosford Park." Rush had roles in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Lantana." Morton appeared in the homoerotic "Enduring Love," as did co-star Rhys Ifans. Co-star Tom Hollander was in "Gosford Park" and "Stage Beauty.")
We Own the Night
Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) manages a popular nightclub where the Russian drug trade flourishes out in the open. When the club is raided by police – including Bobby's brother Joe (Mark Wahlberg) and their father Burt (Robert Duvall) – and hit men strike the family not once but twice, long-simmering family tensions come to the fore. That's when Bobby is forced to take extraordinary steps to try to save his family from a world he previously inhabited. The brothers-on-opposite-sides-of-the-law story isn't new, but what keeps this addition to the genre from sliding into dull mediocrity are the performances from the three leading men, tense action sequences, and moody, grim atmosphere from writer/director James Gray. The film is nowhere near approaching the artistry of the currently in release "Eastern Promises," but as genre films go, it's definitely not a Hollywood lock-step thriller either – a welcome change from business as usual. B
Kinsey Scale: 1 ( Phoenix starred in gay director Gus Van Sant's "To Die For." In his former life as an underwear model, Wahlberg was a pin-up idol for gay men; he also appeared in "The Basketball Diaries" and "Boogie Nights.")
ALSO IN THEATERS:
3:10 to Yuma
Director James Mangold does not stint on the often visceral action, but the emphasis is on character. Christian Bale's performance is too timid, rendering Dan Evans as wooden as the character's prosthetic leg, but Russell Crowe invests Wade with a cocky charm that does not quite conceal simmering rage. B
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Casey Affleck and the supporting cast are strong, but Brad Pitt delivers a leaden performance, and his celebrated charisma is missing in action. More disastrous is the voiceover narration that attempts to fill plot holes and enhance James' legend, but only succeeds in irritating. C-
The Brave One
As a pure revenge fantasy, the film succeeds on a gut level, but as a meditation on the morality of that retribution, it gets mired in go-nowhere hand-wringing. With luck, this will end Jodie Foster's run of action-hero films, and she'll move in a smarter direction. C
Eastern Promises
Anna is a weak link, since some of her actions defy logic, but the rest is so fascinating that it scarcely matters. Nikolai's tattoos and the story they tell are worth the price of a movie ticket by themselves. A-
Good Luck Chuck
Chuck longs for love and true connection with one-and-only-one true love. It cuts this potentially hilarious, almost-raunchy sex comedy off at the knees, promising to provoke only unintentional laughs from its too-knowing teen target audience. D
The Heartbreak Kid
Many of the jokes are scatological, but they cannot be classified as humor since not a single one of them is actually funny. The women's roles are demeaning, while charm-free Eddie is simply vile. F
The Jane Austen Book Club
Feeling like a Lifetime movie that somehow made its way into a theater, this is a sweetly dull, romantically banal film, but it gets points for taking the lives of women as seriously as the characters' 19th-century literary heroine did. Just don't expect Austen's Mr. Darcy to come in and sweep the film off its feet. B-
The Kingdom
The politics, as well as the committed performances from Jamie Foxx, Ashraf Barhom, and a solid-gold cast that includes Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman, are only window dressing for a standard action flick that is moderately suspenseful until undone by a ridiculous climax. B-
Michael Clayton
There are holes in the logic of this handsome, low-key thriller, but writer/director Tony Gilroy holds to a relentless pace that effectively bulldozes through the story's deficiencies. George Clooney is charming, and a supporting cast that includes Tilda Swinton as a corporate weasel is terrific, but it is Tom Wilkinson that delivers a truly resonant and awesome performance as the film's fragile moral center. A-
Mr. Woodcock
As throwaway sitcom-level cinema goes, it's inoffensive and occasionally witty (especially when "Saturday Night Live" star Amy Poehler pops up as a bitter publicist), guaranteed to attract an undemanding audience based on its winking, innuendo-filled marketing campaign alone. But its talented cast deserves better – and so do thinking audiences. C-
