Sorry... These Are Both Good, Too
I know it probably isn't as interesting to read so many positive reviews (if reading ANY of these reviews can be called "interesting")... unfortunately, seeing fewer movies these days means taking care that the ones I do see are more likely to be ones I enjoy. That, added to the fact that I don't review movies I see at the second-run discount theatres (which is over half of what I see)... as a result, you get a higher level of recommendations. It just doesn't seem right, I know, that a movie reviewer writes so many positive comments. Well, at least I managed to do "P.S. I Love You" this week. Let's hope for some more turkeys soon. In the meantime, here are two more good ones. And the fact that they both have Minnesota connections has nothing to do with that. Really.
1. "No Country For Old Men". Even long-time Coen Brothers fans could be forgiven for beginning to doubt they still hadvewhat it takes after movies like "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers". But now we have evidence they haven't forgotten how to do it right.
Cormac McCarthy's novel about a man's discovery of a suitcase full of $2 million in cash next to a bloody shoot-out, and what happens when he makes off with it (hint: other men who were looking for it aren't happy and want to find him very badly) has the outlines of a conventional crime thriller, but its strange, poetic style would seem just about impossible to duplicate in a film... you could imagine an adaptation being done accurately and still being a very standard commercial picture. But the Coens have long been among the more literary film makers (and their screenplays READ better than just about anyone's). They actually manage the seemingly insurmountable task of turning McCarthy's twisty narrative into a proper film, while maintaining the unique approach and style that made it so distinctive as a novel.
It should perhaps be stated that this is NOT the Coen Brothers of "Big Lebowski" or "Raising Arizona". Anyone searching for their legendary arch comic outlook will be very surprised. Probably the closest comparison in the Coens' filmography would be "Blood Simple"... this is an uncomfortably close look at the dark, sinister side of life and human nature. Good guys don't always succeed, bad guys aren't always punished, and things don't always work out the way they're supposed to. But movies don't always have to be the equivalent of comfort food to be good, and in the tradition of classic film noir (and some of the darker 1970's dramas) the Coens have given us a fascinating examination of some of the less savory aspects of humanity.
The film makers are considerably aided by the work of a stellar cast, in particularly Javier Bardem as just about the ultimate personification of evil, and Tommy Lee Jones as a dedicated, upstanding sheriff trying desperately to make sense out of the evil and bloodshed he sees more and more of each day. "No Country For Old Men" may not be what most people have in mind when they think of "Holiday Movies", but a good movie is a good movie whatever time of the year it is. And, dark as it is, "No Country For Old Men" is most definitely a very good movie.
2. "Juno". Written by former Twin Cities resident Diablo Cody (whose byline appeared so many times in "City Pages"), "Juno" has been getting so many rave reviews virtually everywhere that I was fully expecting to dislike it... after all, nothing with that much hype could be as good as all that. Just goes to show that as Chuck Berry once said, "You never can tell." For once, all the hype is 100 percent correct.
Juno is a sarcastic, snarky 16-year-old who discovers after her very first sexual experience that she is pregnant, and decides that rather than getting an abortion she'll have the baby and give it up for adoption to a couple who can't can't have children but really want them. This leads to an extended series of comic complications that virtually never take the easy-to-figure-out route... when you think the movie is going to go one way, it turns around and heads off somewhere else. And just when you think you've at least figured out that the movie as all about snappy, quick-paced dialogue and "smart" remarks, it turns out to be ultimately sweetly sentimental... but an HONEST and not overly sappy sentimental.
Cody obviously likes all of her characters, and nobody comes off as the cardboard bad guy deliberately set up to be one because the movie requires it... even Juno's parents (the wonderful J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney) are kind and understanding. And Jennifer Garner & Jason Bateman as the baby's prospective adoptive parents turn out to be much more fully-rounded characters than most writers would feel the need to create. But it's Juno herself who is the most memorable character... even just on paper she's a terrific character, but Ellen Page's performance in the role lifts both it and the movie to another entire level.
It's understandable, after seeing so many huge popular favorites turn out to be favorites because they pander to the lowest common denominator, to assume that any film so almost universally well regarded has to be full of stereotyped characters, predictable plot developments, and a minimum of actual creativity. But "Juno" has enough creativity for several regular movies, and makes you all the more eager to see what Diablo Cody will come up with next. And after making his directorial debut with last year's terrific "Thank You For Smoking", director Jason Reitman looks to have an equally promising career ahead. More and more major studio comedies in recent years have become increasingly "by the books" productions, by film makers going through the motions. "Juno" gives us an idea of what genuine fun they can still be with a little originality and enthusiasm thrown into the mix. It's enough to give you hope for the future of Hollywood comedy.
1. "No Country For Old Men". Even long-time Coen Brothers fans could be forgiven for beginning to doubt they still hadvewhat it takes after movies like "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers". But now we have evidence they haven't forgotten how to do it right.
Cormac McCarthy's novel about a man's discovery of a suitcase full of $2 million in cash next to a bloody shoot-out, and what happens when he makes off with it (hint: other men who were looking for it aren't happy and want to find him very badly) has the outlines of a conventional crime thriller, but its strange, poetic style would seem just about impossible to duplicate in a film... you could imagine an adaptation being done accurately and still being a very standard commercial picture. But the Coens have long been among the more literary film makers (and their screenplays READ better than just about anyone's). They actually manage the seemingly insurmountable task of turning McCarthy's twisty narrative into a proper film, while maintaining the unique approach and style that made it so distinctive as a novel.
It should perhaps be stated that this is NOT the Coen Brothers of "Big Lebowski" or "Raising Arizona". Anyone searching for their legendary arch comic outlook will be very surprised. Probably the closest comparison in the Coens' filmography would be "Blood Simple"... this is an uncomfortably close look at the dark, sinister side of life and human nature. Good guys don't always succeed, bad guys aren't always punished, and things don't always work out the way they're supposed to. But movies don't always have to be the equivalent of comfort food to be good, and in the tradition of classic film noir (and some of the darker 1970's dramas) the Coens have given us a fascinating examination of some of the less savory aspects of humanity.
The film makers are considerably aided by the work of a stellar cast, in particularly Javier Bardem as just about the ultimate personification of evil, and Tommy Lee Jones as a dedicated, upstanding sheriff trying desperately to make sense out of the evil and bloodshed he sees more and more of each day. "No Country For Old Men" may not be what most people have in mind when they think of "Holiday Movies", but a good movie is a good movie whatever time of the year it is. And, dark as it is, "No Country For Old Men" is most definitely a very good movie.
2. "Juno". Written by former Twin Cities resident Diablo Cody (whose byline appeared so many times in "City Pages"), "Juno" has been getting so many rave reviews virtually everywhere that I was fully expecting to dislike it... after all, nothing with that much hype could be as good as all that. Just goes to show that as Chuck Berry once said, "You never can tell." For once, all the hype is 100 percent correct.
Juno is a sarcastic, snarky 16-year-old who discovers after her very first sexual experience that she is pregnant, and decides that rather than getting an abortion she'll have the baby and give it up for adoption to a couple who can't can't have children but really want them. This leads to an extended series of comic complications that virtually never take the easy-to-figure-out route... when you think the movie is going to go one way, it turns around and heads off somewhere else. And just when you think you've at least figured out that the movie as all about snappy, quick-paced dialogue and "smart" remarks, it turns out to be ultimately sweetly sentimental... but an HONEST and not overly sappy sentimental.
Cody obviously likes all of her characters, and nobody comes off as the cardboard bad guy deliberately set up to be one because the movie requires it... even Juno's parents (the wonderful J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney) are kind and understanding. And Jennifer Garner & Jason Bateman as the baby's prospective adoptive parents turn out to be much more fully-rounded characters than most writers would feel the need to create. But it's Juno herself who is the most memorable character... even just on paper she's a terrific character, but Ellen Page's performance in the role lifts both it and the movie to another entire level.
It's understandable, after seeing so many huge popular favorites turn out to be favorites because they pander to the lowest common denominator, to assume that any film so almost universally well regarded has to be full of stereotyped characters, predictable plot developments, and a minimum of actual creativity. But "Juno" has enough creativity for several regular movies, and makes you all the more eager to see what Diablo Cody will come up with next. And after making his directorial debut with last year's terrific "Thank You For Smoking", director Jason Reitman looks to have an equally promising career ahead. More and more major studio comedies in recent years have become increasingly "by the books" productions, by film makers going through the motions. "Juno" gives us an idea of what genuine fun they can still be with a little originality and enthusiasm thrown into the mix. It's enough to give you hope for the future of Hollywood comedy.
posted by Joe Bunce at
12:20 PM
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