movie reviews

A woman who has an elaborate scheme to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, an Irish tradition which occurs every time the date February 29 rolls around, faces a major setback when bad weather threatens to derail her planned trip to Dublin. With the help of an innkeeper, however, her cross-country odyssey just might result in her getting engaged.

Directed by Anand Tucker

Starring:

Amy Adams as Ana
Matthew Goode as Declan

The Review

Apparently romantic chick-flicks with talented actors and bad lines are not in this season. Who knew.

There's been so much bad stuff said about this movie that I feel like I need to play the devil's advocate here and give it a positive review. There's nothing inherently bad or awful that you're going to see here. It's a story about a girl with a personality that closely resembles OCD, but isn't quite, who goes to Ireland after her boyfriend. Wait, I'm not done. After an unfortunate set of events she gets stranded in a little town, conveniently placed days away from Dublin, where the boyfriend is. In this little town, there's only one inn. If only all small town inns in Ireland were owned by tall, dashing, green-eyed men, we'd all spend considerably more time thinking about visiting said fair country. Then again, PS I Love You is a stone's throw away from my previous statement. If you've seen it, you'll know. What we are to take away from putting these two movies together is that, basically, if you're a girl who goes to Ireland and gets lost while wearing a skirt you're bound to meet a handsome man you can fall in love with. But I digress.

There's this moment in the film when Ana first arrives at the inn, with her heels tap-tapping, and asks around for a bus. Nothing's really happening at this point, but we see Matthew Goode trying to make himself small (not a insignificant feat for someone standing over 6ft) while Ana unleashes her perky conversation on a couple of old men. Some Irish stuff happens and then - he speaks. Gasp! He sounds awfully Irish, but Goode looks good in a flannel shirt and a goatee, so let go and enjoy every octave. There's nothing like the first line of the male protagonist - not even chocolate ice-cream, and that's saying something.

Like all good movies of its kind, Leap Year does something really well: the beginning and half the body. Sure you know what's going to happen after the first 10 minutes, but that's OK. Everything's fresh in the beginning. Ireland is a little damp, I'll admit, but it'll take a breath away once you couple it with Matthew Goode as Declan and a little red car. Oops, did I say something dirty?

Anyway, onto some serious stuff. The real reason why I wanted to write this review is because of the cast. Despite the bad, cliched lines and the even more cliched Louis Vuitton bag Matthew Goode and Amy Adams are a delight. I've praised Adams before and I'll do it again because unlike many of her contemporary peers, she has a real presence on screen. It's not an uncanny Northern European beauty or a pair of long legs and some honey-colored curls that make you want to look at her. It's the very real performance that she gives. Her act is fully baked and well crafted. Goode doesn't really belong in the same praise paragraph as her but hey, I'm feeling generous. Yes, I'm letting him be here mostly because he was utterly charming as the bitter-for-a-reason Declan, inn keeper. Declan is a man of a few words and as such, most of what Goode has to work with comes in the form of amused stares and mildly exasperated shrugs. He does those shrugs very well and he looks good in the meantime. Nothing wrong with that.

Don't expect any out-of-this-world romance from Leap Year. I thought it was cute but most definitely not astounding. Good movie for a rainy day.

A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.

Directed by Grant Heslov

Starring:

George Clooney as Lyn Cassady
Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton

The Review

I've done some homework on this movie and I have discovered that most critics have been less than impressed with it. It's satire is dry, or so they say. I generally do not agree with movie critics on a lot of things, but I did happen to agree with this bit. The satirical elements in this film are quite weak. It's funny, though not in a ha-ha sort of way. A lot of people seem to be bugged by the fact that this didn't make them laugh. Then again, those same people didn't find Ocean's 13 entertaining, either. So I would say that the funniness is really in the eye of the beholder on this one.

What really bugged me, though, was the fact that this made me think too much of Burn After Reading at times. I happen to think that Burn was a fantastically awful movie. So to be reminded of it every so often isn't exactly a good thing. I am inclined to blame Mr Clooney's performance, which bore many of the elements Burn's Harry Pfarrer had. Maybe he's getting tired of putting up new acts, so he's recycling some of the others. As a Clooney admirer I think I am allowed to not praise him, just this once, so try not to stone me. I do think he's a very talented actor, there's no denying that but he is, after all human and prone to error. I am willing to consider this performance as one of those errors and to forgive him for it.

Now, speaking of actors and performances, there was also Ewan McGregor. He is our narrator throughout the movie, as well as the only character who actually develops as the story progresses. He's the unbaked cookie. Everyone else is ready to be served. Unfortunately, McGregor's character is also, quite frankly, the weakest one. Soon after I figured out what was going on the plot I found myself wondering why the hell I should care about Bob Wilton (McGregor's character) and his broken marriage. Unfortunately, and this is probably why I didn't like the entire movie as a while, by the end I found myself wondering the same thing. What did I discover about him that was so interesting? So he found himself, big deal! Many movies are about people who find themselves, so I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that basic premise. But those movies make you, as the audience, care about what happens to those characters. Men Who Stare at Goats failed miserably in that regard, which is why I envision it getting buried deep in movie history and never resurfacing. At least I hope that's what will happen, anyway.

The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.

Director: Stephen Frears

Starring:

Michelle Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval
Rubert Friend as Cheri

In a game of seduction, never fall in love.

The Review 

One thing that did not disappoint me about this movie was the music. Absolutely exquisite! Of course, it was a little while later, while I was listening to the score independently of the film when I realized that it made me think of circus tunes. Is the picture itself circus-like? In a few ways, undoubtedly.

There's one particular relationship our heroine (if you can call her that) comes in contact with that brings about circus motifs. It is an old friend of Mme Peloux who was herself, at some point or another a prostitute. We see her with a very, very young beau (he can't have been much older than 16) and their performance is altogether ridiculous. The lady is a freak who's lost her marbles. Lea (our heroine) is so appalled and disgusted by the perverted ex prostitute that she makes a hasty excuse and flees from Mme Peloux's. Her reaction is like that of a lady spectator who identifies so strongly with the bearded woman or the 400lb lady (two figures which no circus circa pre millenium would lack) that she cannot stand the sight of herself embodied in such a way.

Or perhaps Lea simply missed her own young beau so much that she had to flee from any reminders of their time together. Who knows... The film certainly doesn't make much of a show of putting those particular puzzle pieces together.

Cheri is a love story, filtered through talks of wealthy prostitutes. I expected very little from a movie of this sort, but in the end I was surprised. It had some moments of genuine charm. Though I'm afraid none of those moments came from Cheri himself. He was, I'm afraid, a generally disappointing character with very little to offer. Rupert Friend is not that charming. Indeed, I'm afraid no one would be charming enough for this role (not even Robert Pattinson). It becomes very obvious very early in the movie that only Lea herself could truly love him. No one else but the maker herself could understand him.

Did I find this worth watching? Yes. It has insight into human feature. Reminded me of Flaubert's writing, except that Mme Bovary had to hide who she really was from the world. These women do not, and they live well because of it.