Quintet, Part Two

Sorry about that. I don't know what key I pressed there. I REALLY didn't mean to post only a partial version of that column. Anyhow, as I was saying...

This is still a totally Japanese film and very typical of Miyazaki's gentle, magical style, and it takes you to the same mystical realm you expect to go to in one of his films, with a somewhat lower key approach. The characters are as fully-developed as usual (that is to say, far more than in most live action films) and even the English dubbing doesn't damage the film, as actors such as Emily Mortimer (young Sophie), Jean Simmons (old Sophie), new Batman Christian Bale (Howl) and Lauren Bacall (the Witch of the Wastes) contribute expert voice work. It's too bad that American studios don't seem to be able to give us the kind of amazing animated films that Studio Ghibli does (only Pixar even comes close), but we can all at least be thankful that every couple of years, a new Miyazaki release will be distributed by Disney. It's almost enough to make you forgive Disney for everything else. ALMOST.

5. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star as a husband and wife, who, unknown to each other, are both assassins in the employ a secret government agencies. One day, each gets the assignment of eliminating the other. Then the fun REALLY begins.

This movie cleaned up ath the box office this past weekend, but AI can't help but suspect that this was because of all the tabloid publicity Pitt and Jolie have been getting. It certainly can't be because of Pitt's smug non-performance, or Jolie's blank semi-acting. It also doesn't seem likely to be because of the movie's patchwork blend of elements from both "The War of the Roses" and "Prizzi's Honor" (both much better movies) or the way the film drags on a good 20 minutes longer than is good for it.

If Vince Vaughn's role as Pitt's mama's-boy best friend were larger, I might be tempted to credit the film's success to that... he really is a hoot... but it's actuallyjust a small supporting role. And the way the film abandons any attempt at wit or characterization as it goes on and degenerates into an endless series of car crashes and chases (which probably contributes to that excess length) doesn't help either. I had to check the end credits to make sure that Jerry Bruckheimer had nothing to do with this movie. In case you're wondering, that's not a compliment.

So in the end I really can't think of anything else to account for the success of this movie than the cheesy publicity its stars have gotten. behold: the power of the tabloids. Now, if only they could have given some cheesy publicity to the stars of "Crash"...