The Firm

So this John Grisham fella, he's a pretty decent writer I hear. A specialist in legal thrillers, Grisham has a long list of bestselling books to his name. Growing up though in the 1990s, I was at that age where neither the books nor the film adaptations really appealed to me. In 1995, 10-year old me wasn't too interested in the world of law. Go figure. The positive? 20-something me has gotten to catch up with both the books and the movies! Today's flick is 1993's The Firm.

Graduating from Harvard Law School, Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) has the world at his fingertips. Job offers from countless impressive, prestigious law firms are flowing in, and Mitch is able to make the decision on his own. He accepts an offer from Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a small, tax/accounting firm in Memphis. Their offer blows the others out of the water, and everything about the firm seems too good to be true. The family-like atmosphere appeals to Mitch so with his wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), he moves to Memphis with his new house, new Mercedes and new job. He fully commits himself, a talented lawyer pushing himself to his absolute limit and testing his marriage with Abby because he's so committed to making this job work. His goals are pure, but maybe the job isn't? Mitch begins to suspect there's far more going on behind closed doors than he's being told. What secrets is the firm holding?

I'm a book nerd too on top of my movie nerdiness. If there's a book available of a forthcoming flick, I'll typically try and read the book first, and this Grisham novel/adaptation combo was no different. One of the author's most famous books, The Firm was an excellent read. Well-written, good story, cool/interesting characters. The film adaptation from director Sydney Pollack has all those ingredients and for the most part, works pretty well. It was filmed on-location in Memphis with the city serving an excellent backdrop to the story. The characters are fascinating, and the cast is impressive in its depth and talent. I don't usually criticize soundtracks, but I thought this Memphis blues (with a lot of piano) infused score was a big flop overall as well, to the point the score becomes a distraction because it didn't fit with the tone and rhythm.

Now onto one of my movie theories. Ah, screw it, theories in general! I call it the Christmas Eve theory. Do you want to know what your presents are or is the mystery and the build-up and the anticipation the best part? The mystery here works in a big way -- we're talking epic SENSE OF DOOM -- and the payoff does too. No Spoilers here though, sorry. It's the execution after the reveal that didn't work as well for me. The screenplay takes some giant liberties with Grisham's novel, making changes that severely alter characters, the entire story, the motivations and the payoff in the end. It's a long movie to begin with at 154 minutes, but I found myself drifting in the second half. There's some really intense, life and death chase scenes that are exhilarating to watch but things get disjointed in a big way. The ensemble gets lost in the shuffle, and the scene with the payoff feels almost laughable. Talk about a disappointment in the finale.

With all that said, the movie is still worth watching. Starting with Cruise, the cast is pretty impeccable. In quite a string of successful movies, Cruise is an excellent lead. Reading the book, he wasn't what I thought Mitch would look like, but the casting works. Cruise brings the right amount of confidence and smarts and then intense terror to the character. This isn't a flawless character -- thankfully -- but an interesting one. Of the supporting performances, I thought Gene Hackman was the best. Go figure, Gene Hackman being good at acting! He plays Avery Tolar, a partner at Bendini and Mitch's mentor who's supposed to take the young lawyer under his wing as he preps for the BAR exam. Their scenes as they meet and get to know each other feature some of the movie's strongest scenes. It's two actors going toe to toe, one holding the firm's secret, one trying to carve a niche out for himself.

Who else to look out for? LOTS of folks. Start with Hal Holbrook and Jerry Hardin as two heads of the firm who recruit Mitch to join Bendini. Wilford Brimley and his impressive mustache are quite imposing (and unintentionally funny at one line) as DeVasher, the firm's head of security. Helping Mitch figure out exactly what's going on are Gary Busey as a private detective and Holly Hunter as his sexy Southern secretary. Pushing Mitch to make a life-altering decision are some government officials -- cough FBI cough -- in the form of Ed Harris (with a shaved head and angry demeanor) and Steven Hill (taking a break from Law and Order). And also, look for David Straithairn as Mitch's brother, Ray, who has a secret that could cripple them all. Last but not least, also look for Paul Sorvino, Tobin Bell, Dean Norris, Margo Martindale, and Joe Viterelli in some other key supporting parts I don't want to give too much away about.

I wanted to like this movie more than I did. All the potential is certainly there from the cast to the novel to the directing (Pollack is a favorite of mine). It just never quite lives up to that potential. The first half is better than the second half, but the ending disappoints, limping to the finish. I sound like that guy, but the book is better than the movie. Oh, and Tom Cruise runs for his life around Memphis a lot so there's that.

The Firm (1993): ** 1/2 /****

Glengarry Glen Ross

Where do you stand on cursing/swearing in movies? Do you blush if someone drops an F-bomb? Do you laugh when profanity is used as a noun, verb, adjective, even a preposition? Well, let's say this. If you're easily offended by swearing -- and I mean a lot of swearing -- then 1992 Glengarry Glen Ross may not be your type of movie.

At a small real estate agency in Chicago, the four-man salesmen staff is about to get a little shock. They're called in one night for a special meeting, a representative from their big boss arriving with a message. That rep, Blake (Alec Baldwin), delivers a simple ultimatum. The salesmen have exactly one week to prove themselves, selling as many units as humanly possible. At the end of the week, the one in the lead will be awarded a car, the second will receive a set of steak knives, and the other two? They'll be looking for work. Doesn't get any simpler than that, does it? Already working on a day-to-day basis with questionable leads to follow and a tough sell, this group has their work cut out for them. Let the hijinks begin.

This is a movie that sat in my Netflix queue for quite awhile. The cast was ridiculously talented, the story certainly interesting, and the reviews were almost uniformly glowing. Well, I caught up with it, and I can honestly say it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. That's not a negative, just a surprise on my end. I had a picture of high-end real estate, an agency in downtown Chicago dealing with huge deals of millions of dollars and gazillionaires. What is it? A far smaller, low-end agency with a cramped, cluttered office where the salesmen use all sorts of underhanded, duplicitous means to finish off a sale. These four salesmen are truly desperate, knowing their jobs and livelihood depend on one week of being able to do their jobs. Talk about pressure.

From director James Foley, 'Ross' is based off a play from David Mamet (who also wrote the screenplay). It clocks in at 100 minutes and generally has the style and feel of a stage-based play. The story takes place over a span of maybe 12, 18 hours and is based in only two locations, the real estate office and the Chinese restaurant across the street where the salesmen go for a bite to eat and get a drink. The rhythm develops like a play, the cast getting a chance to show their stuff in extended scenes of dialogue, setting things up and then letting it all develop. This is a movie about the dialogue, no doubt about it, Mamet's script a gem. The dialogue is fast and furious, the talented cast delivering it in almost machine gun succession, rapid fire that never slows down. 'Ross' isn't a movie about the effects or the style. It's about the acting, the chemistry, the script and the dialogue. Straightforward in its objectives, it's the better for it.

How about that for a slow burn? I haven't even mentioned the cast beyond Baldwin's one-scene, scene-stealing appearance. Haha take that! Foley is working with quite the cast in terms of pure acting power. The real estate salesmen include Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), the fiery, criminally smooth operator and frontrunner for the award for best salesmen, Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon), the oldest salesmen in the group and maybe the most desperate because of a recent cold streak in sales, George Aaronow (Alan Arkin), the tag-along of sorts, worried about the challenge but letting everyone else lead the way in opinions, and Dave Moss (Ed Harris), the most heated and the one maybe most willing to do something desperate for the job. As the circus master of this crew, Kevin Spacey bides his time as Williamson, their boss who tries to keep them in check while taking an almost constant barrage of criticism from his employees. Also look for Jonathan Pryce as a possible customer working with Roma who has a serious issue with a sale.

Each character gets his chance to shine, none of them disappointing. I was most impressed with Pacino and Lemmon, but that's like saying which pizza is the best. They're all really good, but some are just slightly better. The dialogue crackles from the get-go and never slows down. It can be uncomfortable at times, this crew just ripping each other apart for any number of reasons, from lack of sales to botching a call. Baldwin's cameo gets things going at a 100 miles per hour, demanding that these salesmen 'Always be closing.' It never really slows down. The dialogue is always going, but the camera just follows the conversational acting, letting the conversations and arguments and fights breathe and develop on their own. The movie is 100 minutes long, but it flies by.

I really liked where this one went about the halfway point. You think you know where it's going, and it pulls the rug out from under you. The ending especially caught me by surprise. Oh, and random pop culture tidbit, Lemmon's excellent performance as aging Shelley Levene was quite the inspiration for Gil Gunderson, the disheveled salesmen on The Simpsons.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992): ***/****

Pain & Gain

There are stories you see on the news, in the newspapers, on the Internet, on the radio, and you just shake your head. There's no way it could possibly be true. It's just too ridiculous to be based in any sorts of reality. That's what I kept thinking while watching 2013's Pain & Gain, a mismarketed film that isn't what it is was made out to be. It's got its positives and negatives with an interesting cast and a generally schizophrenic tone. I think I liked it. Think.

Working as a personal trainer at a Miami gym and fitness club, fitness nut and budding bodybuilder Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) wants more. He wants to be successful, to have some money, a house with a lawn. He wants the American dream, and he's willing to work for it. There's a problem though. There's just no easy way to do it....until now. One of Daniel's clients, Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub), is a self-made man and a bit of a condescending, arrogant idiot at that with lots of money. Lots of money. Daniel comes up with a plan to not only kidnap Kershaw for a ransom, but have the businessman sign over all of his empire; houses, businesses, money, offshore accounts. Daniel enlists the help of two fellow bodybuilders, Paul (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian (Anthony Mackie), to pull off the kidnapping/robbery. After several bumbled attempts, the trio does it, capturing Kershaw, but these amateur crooks don't know what they've gotten themselves into.

From director Michael Bay, this is a movie that defies any real description, a straightforward one at least. What defies logic the most is that this....actually....happened. Read more about it HERE with some obvious spoilers. In Miami in 1995, a gang of three bodybuilders actually kidnapped a businessman and held him captive for almost a full month. I don't want to give too much away, but the story takes some surprising twists following the kidnapping that I definitely didn't see coming. 'Gain' has everything including kidnapping, ransoms, blackmail, strippers, drugs, murder, extortion and probably a whole lot of other things I'm forgetting. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was all made up, the twisted ideas of some warped screenwriters, but no, THIS HAPPENED. Keep that in mind as one bad plan turns into another one here in this bizarrely twisted true story.

Michael Bay has never struggled to cast his flicks, and it's no different here. It's not that the cast is assembled, it's that the script gives them a chance to flex their muscles (pun fully intended). Wahlberg's Daniel Lugo is a very interesting if not at all sympathetic lead character. It's not your typical Wahlberg. He's fiery and over the top and charismatic, desperately wanting something more out of life. It's almost unfathomable the depths of how far he'll go, but that's just another layer in the surreal quality of this flick. I was equally impressed with Johnson as Paul Doyle, an immensely large muscle-bound bodybuilder with quite the checkered past. He balances out his desire to do what God and Jesus wants him to do....with his love of fighting, punching, strippers and snorting cocaine. It's a darkly funny part, especially the surprising friendship he develops with Shalhoub's Kershaw. Mackie rounds out the crew, his Adrian searching and working for the perfect body, falling for a nurse (Rebel Wilson) who helps him with his steroid-induced erectile dysfunction. Quite the trio, ain't it?

Playing the equally shrill, annoying Kershaw to balance out our intrepid heroes, Shalhoub is perfectly whiny as the perpetually shrill, horny motormouth. You can't decide who's dumber as the story develops. Ed Harris plays Ed DuBois, a retired private investigator who gets caught up in the kidnapping, one seemingly decent person amidst all the shenanigans. Also look for Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong, Bar Paly and Michael Rispoli in key supporting parts. 

As a director, Bay has a reputation for flicks that are usually far more style than substance (the Transformers series, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon among others). This 2013 comedy-drama manages to find a balance between the two. There's some hyper-fast editing, a visual look full of color and flash, slow motion galore at times, on-screen messages popping up to introduce people, places and ideas, all that good stuff. Maybe it's because of the frenetic style, but all those different elements worked surprisingly well together. It's not overdone like so many previous Bay ventures. I thought the best stylized element was the narration, all the characters getting a shot at it at different points during the story. It gives the ensemble a good chance to step into the limelight, none of them disappointing.

You really need to know what you're getting into here. The truth behind the film is ridiculously stupid, sinister, idiotic and incredibly dark. Sometimes just within a scene we see all of those elements. It is darkly funny and takes an out of left field turn near the halfway point of the movie. It's easy to see this Michael Bay-directed movie offending a lot of viewers. I take pride in my really awful sense of humor so I was able to go along with things as they developed. I recommend it, but do your research and brace for a movie you really don't like.

Pain & Gain (2013): ***/****

Gravity

You sit at the box office at the movie theater, the question hanging there in the air. Would you like a ticket for the 2-D or the 3-D version? For me, it's always been an easy question. I just want to see the movie, I don't need any number of cheap, cheesy gimmicks "thrown" at me. Well, I've found a film that's worth forking over the extra cash for to see in a 3-D format, a film currently tearing it up at the box office, 2013's Gravity.

Assigned to a mission on the space shuttle Explorer, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical officer/engineer experiencing space for the first time. The small crew includes veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a likable, little goofy astronaut on his last space mission before retiring. While the crew attempts to repair a panel outside the shuttle, Mission Control warns them of debris hurtling through space, the result of a Russian missile strike on a defunct satellite. In a flash the news changes, the debris is heading straight at them. With only minutes to spare, maybe only seconds, the crew must try to get back into the Explorer and get away, but it's too late. The shuttle is ripped to shreds by the debris, killing everyone but Stone and Kowalski. They are now floating in space, Kowalski outfitted with a thruster pack, their only hope lying in reaching other nearby satellites and shuttles. They are truly alone though with no hope of rescue from anyone other than themselves.

In 2006, director Alfonso Cuaron received some much-deserved acclaim for his Children of Men, one of the best movies of the decade. Well, seven years later, here comes his follow-up, an equally impressive film that he co-wrote with his son, Jonas Cuaron. It is a good example of a brutally simple, incredibly uncomfortable story that rises above its relatively straightforward roots. Deep space is a hellish place with no gravity, hellacious temperatures and for lack of a better description....countless horrific ways to die. If something goes wrong, you're on your own. There's no cavalry to come and rescue you. That's what I'm going for in describing its simple roots. It's a survivor story unlike anything we've seen prior. Survivors of a plane crash, trapped in the freezing mountains with little supplies. Sure, it's terrifying to think of, but how about you transport that do-or-die situation to deep space? Profound in its simplicity, it works on an epically successful level.

I had issues with this movie that I'll get to later, but one thing here cannot be even remotely criticized in my opinion. This is one of the most stunning visual movies I've ever seen. It totally lives up to expectations in the 3-D department. My biggest takeaway is this; I'm assuming I'll never get to explore deep space. This is the closest I'll get to that experience. It's incredible. The opening tracking shot sets the tone, an almost 14-minute scene where the camera doesn't have an edit, simply following Stone, Kowalski and their mission outside the Explorer. It breathlessly follows the action in a sequence that is truly amazing to watch. That is the entire movie, the sense of the immensity of floating through space paired with the incredibly close, ultra-personal experience of being right there in the spacesuit with Dr. Stone. Obviously, it's CGI for the most part, but it is seamless/flawless. It never stands out, looking as natural and realistic as possible. You never question that you're watching something that isn't happening in actual space.

'Gravity' plays on a simple notion here concerning survival. Instead of falling off a cliff or drowning in the ocean, the 'death option' here is far scarier in my mind. In several instances, Stone and Kowalski's life depends on one or the other grabbing a piece of the space station as they throttle past it. A door, a handle, a piece of equipment, anything. Grab it, and you've got a slim chance of survival. Miss it? They will float on and on with no rescue until finally their air runs out, and they die a slow, painful death. Survival is one thing, this is another, something most -- if not all -- of audiences will never experience.

So here we sit, I'm five paragraphs in and haven't mentioned much about the acting. It's basically a two-person movie -- Bullock and Clooney -- with the focus exclusively on them. We see some other members of the crew (briefly, very briefly) and hear a couple voices (Ed Harris plays Mission Control). This is Sandra Bullock and George Clooney's movie. We get little snippets about who they are, their background, how they came to be on this mission, but not too much, just enough. Clooney is Clooney, calm, collected, smooth and a huge presence. I didn't think of highly as Bullock who is drawing some rave reviews for her part as the tortured Dr. Stone. I think it is a good performance, not a great one. Obviously being in the situation would produce all sorts of panic and chaos, but I thought the performance/part was a tad too whiny. We're rooting for her to make it though regardless, one individual struggling to survive.

There it is, a movie that's raking in ridiculous amounts of money three weeks into its theatrical run. The reviews are uniformly positive for a reason. While I have some issues with it, none of them are deal-breakers. I'm not ready to call it an all-time great, but it is a good, even really good movie. It offers a chance to experience deep space at its most primal, survival or death hanging in the balance.

Gravity (2013): ***/****

Phantom

Okay, it's official. If you believe the movies (and I do), there is nowhere worse you can serve in any country's military than a submarine. Betrayals, mutinies, drowning, claustrophobic conditions, horrific food, how can you lose? If you're a Russian submariner I suppose. Hunt for Red October, K-19, and now 2013's Phantom, ever so briefly in theaters and another horrific experience for the Russian navy.

A longtime veteran of the Russian navy, submarine captain Demi (Ed Harris) is approached by an old friend and rival to complete one last patrol and mission he knows little to nothing about. Demi will be serving on a sub he commanded in the past, much of his crew assembled for the patrol and the rest filled in with available sailors. At the last minute, he is stopped by two officers and Russian commandos, including Bruni (David Duchovny), who instruct Demi that they must follow their every order. Already wary and quite suspicious of the mission, Demi nonetheless goes along with it...until he finds out their true intention. Then, it's a matter of time to who among his crew will side with him and if they can stop a quickly escalating problem that could result in a global nuclear war between America and Russia.

Now I must have blinked and missed this one, but this based on true events submarine thriller from director Todd Robinson (who also wrote the script) was actually in theaters in early March. Debuting in over 1,000 theaters, it made a whopping $508,000 and was quickly pulled from theaters taking a huge hit against a $18 million budget. I actually thought this was a straight-to-DVD release and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't. 'Phantom' has touches of a good movie from the claustrophobic on-sub look of the movie to a worthwhile score from Jeff Rona. The threat of a nuclear missile being fired at America/Russia right in the midst of the Cold War is usually all a good sub thriller would need, but something is missing here. It's unfortunate because the early goings is pretty good.

It's the mystery vs. the knowledge here. The first 45 minutes does a really good job building up the tension and throwing out that sense of mystery out there. Harris' Demi is clearly a tortured individual, suffering from hallucinations and occasional seizures that cripple him out of the blue. What drove him to that point? As for Duchovny and his commando/KGB agent partner (Derek Magyar), what exactly is their mission? What do they hope to achieve? Do we want to know or is it more effective dramatically to not know? For me, the build-up is typically better than the actual reveal. When we don't know and question everything, the mystery makes it better. The revelation here is weak at best and things get more and more convoluted following the reveal. Wasting a strong start, 'Phantom' limps to the finish line.

While it's easy to rip a lot of different things about this flick, the cast is the biggest positive to take away here. Harris is always good no matter the role or quality of the film, and he doesn't disappoint as the tortured Russian sub captain. His explanation for how he ended up where he is -- pawned off in the drecks of the navy -- is a moving, emotional monologue. His Demi decides he's had enough and wants to do the right thing for a change. Duchovny as Bruni is a mixed bag, good when there's mystery, not so good when his intentions are revealed. William Fichtner is excellent in a very strong supporting part as Alex Kozlov, Demi's friend, second-in-command and upcoming replacement. Lance Henriksen even makes a brief appearance as Demi's old friend, now an admiral asking him to undertake this last mission. As for the rest of the crew, look for Johnathon Schaech as Pavlov, the sub's political officer, with Sean Patrick Flanery, Jason Beghe, and Jason Gray-Stanford as key officers for/against completing the "mission."

There's not much more I can say without giving too much away here. When the tension and nerves should be ratcheted up to an almost unbearable level, the story becomes convoluted and distracting. One conversation after another muddles things to the point I wasn't even sure what was going on. The final scenes go for a stylistic choice that I thought bordered on pretentious and artsy. Moral of that story? It is a style choice I thought fell short of its moving intention. A disappointing final review mostly because submarine movies are usually so good. A talented cast is wasted with a story that had potential but derails about halfway through.

Phantom (2013): **/****

Man on a Ledge

Released in 1951, Fourteen Hours is a tense, straightforward story of a man standing on a ledge high above the streets of New York City and the consequences as crowds watch below and the police try to save the man. Fast forward some 60 years, and we've got 2012's Man on a Ledge, a movie that uses the same premise, adds a whole lot of unbelievable background before degenerating into a stupid action movie. Yeah for ridiculous!

Just days since escaping from prison and a 25-year sentence, ex-cop Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) rents a room in the Roosevelt Hotel and promptly steps out onto the window ledge some 20 stories up. He's almost immediately spotted by someone on the streets below and within minutes there are police and fire department on-site to talk him down. Cassidy requests a specific negotiator, Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks), and the stand-off begins. Questions immediately arise though. What are Cassidy's intentions? What exactly is his end-game? Across the street, Nick's brother, Joey (Jamie Bell), and his girlfriend, Angie (Genesis Rodriguez), are using the distraction to break into a heavily guarded vault owned by real estate mogul, David Englander (Ed Harris). How does it all tie together though?

What's good about this movie? For starters, the premise alone for its originality. It has tones of the original Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and that's never a bad thing. A media circus and how people respond? It's hard to mess that up. From high up in the Roosevelt Hotel, Worthington's Cassidy looks down on somewhat organized chaos. Crowds gather, on-lookers taking pictures and filming video, some willing him to jump, others hoping he steps back into the hotel room. From director Asger Leth, those are the parts that work. A guy pushed to his limits deciding to jump or not to jump? The most basic of premises that does add a layer of tension, questioning and worry.

What's bad about this movie? Basically everything added on top of that story. There's just too much going on that tries to top off the premise of a man standing on a ledge about to jump. SPOILERS STOP READING SPOILERS Cassidy was set-up as a dupe in a "robbery" gone wrong, his goal a multi-million dollar diamond belonging to who? Harris' Englander of course. Cassidy obviously claims his innocence and is trying to do so in the most ridiculous, convoluted way possible. His brother and his girlfriend -- amateur thieves apparently? -- break into Harris' building and manage to break into his supposedly impregnable vault. END OF SPOILERS It's just all too much, ruining an at least somewhat interesting premise. Unfortunately, it gets dumber as the story goes along.

I like Sam Worthington. I do, but his selection in movies could use with some brushing up. He just isn't given much to do -- literally standing on a ledge much of the movie -- and leaves little impression. As the negotiator coming off a negotiation gone horrifically wrong, Banks is fairly solid as Lydia Mercer. Bell and Rodriguez are painful to watch, a young couple fighting like a bunch of teenagers. Oh, and they're robbing an impregnable vault with heavy security at the same time. Rodriguez is not a strong actress, and seems to be there to wear a low-cut shirt that shows off her cleavage in a red push-up bra. Not a complaint, just an observation. Harris is wasted as he sneers through his part with Anthony Mackie playing Cassidy's former partner, Edward Burns as Mercer's fellow negotiator, Titus Welliver as the on-site police commander, and Kyra Sedgwick as a story-seeking field reporter.

Even through all the holes in the storyline, I still had hope for this story as it developed. But by the end of the story -- and pardon the pun -- but this one falls off the cliff. What was mildly believable becomes ridiculous quickly. People start jumping from building to building and ledge to ledge, chasing from kitchen to stairwells and hotel rooms, and then BAM! Twists galore! None of it really comes together though, leaving the premise a somewhat enjoyable but ultimately disappointing end result. Too bad.

Man on a Ledge <---trailer (2012): **/****

The Way Back

The timing of this review wasn't intentional to go back-to-back on prisoner of war movies, but that's just my bad luck or planning I guess.  To call 2010's The Way Back a prisoner of war movie isn't quite fair though because that only serves as a jumping off point. More than the POW angle, this is a story about survival, about man testing his limits in the hopes of getting back home, trudging through hell and back to get there.  Appropriately enough, it is a good movie (if flawed) and was in theaters for about an hour and a half.  The DVD was released recently, and I was able to finally catch up with it.

As the special features on the DVD point out, the atrocities committed by the Germans in concentration camps during WWII have been well documented.  To the east though in Russia, similar atrocities were committed...we just don't know about it.  It is a little slice of history generally forgotten by the masses as hundreds of Russian gulags kept thousands of people imprisoned through the war.  'Way' is based on a non-fiction book by Slawomir Rawicz called The Long Walk documenting his story of escaping from one of these gulags with six companions and their desperate, even unbelievable, 4,000 mile walk to freedom. The book's accuracy and general honesty has been called into question ever since it was released in the 1950s, but true or not, the story is one worth telling.

Accused of spying and sabotage against Stalin, a young Polish man, Janusz (Jim Sturgess), is sent to a Russian gulag buried deep in Siberia. There he finds hellacious conditions where even the strongest struggle to survive. Seeing no hope, he escapes with six companions, including mysterious American, Smith (Ed Harris), and a Russian criminal from the streets, Valka (Colin Farrell). Short on supplies, food and water, their plan is desperate, but they figure what worse could happen to them back in the camp?  Knowing if they're caught they will be executed, Janusz and his group head south, even picking up a young Polish refugee, Irena (Saoirse Ronan), along the way. As they put hundreds and eventually thousands of miles behind them, they wonder, can they actually escape to some sort of freedom?

On a purely visual level, this is one of the most breathtaking movies you will ever see.  Janusz and his fellow escapees end up traveling over 4,000 miles from deep in Siberia to freedom in India.  Actually look at a map and see how far that is.  It's insane what he accomplished (or claims he accomplished).  We start in the snow-swept mountains of Siberia, wind whipping around at all times, and then move south into the green, rocky hills surrounding Lake Baikal.  Continue on into the wastelands of Mongolia and the Gobi Desert into the Himalayas, one of the biggest mountain ranges in the world.  'Way' is an incredibly beautiful movie to watch, shots composed with an eye to impress and leave that lasting impression. Consider the movie a big winner on that account.

Survival stories are movies and stories at their most basic.  No extra, unnecessary plotlines, no wasted departures, just putting one foot in front of the other and keep on moving. Keep on breathing even though you want to give up. Director Peter Weir has a bare-bones type of story here, men already pushed to their limits forced to go even deeper into their mind, heart and soul to keep going, to push on.  That's good for awhile, but at 133 minutes it isn't always the most interesting story.  By a certain point, you're either rooting for these characters or you're not. I assume it was Weir's intention to beat you over the head, to exhaust you with this survival trial the same way the characters are going through it.  Mission accomplished because at times this is an exhausting story.  I won't say tedious because things don't repeat themselves, but seeing a man plunge to his absolute lowest can only be done so many times.

Before the movie even starts, a title card says that in 1942 three men walked into India having survived a 4,000 mile trek to get there.  I thought it was a poor decision to give that much information away from the get-go, especially because seven people escape the gulag.  We now know four aren't going to make it. It's just a matter of which ones.  Character development is not high on the list of things going for this movie.  Sturgess as Janusz simply isn't given enough information to be a real human being.  He felt like an idea of a character to me.  Harris and Farrell are the scene-stealers, Harris' Smith the most mysterious but also most sympathetic while Farrell's criminal Valka is the most interesting.  SPOILERS When he departs a little over halfway through the movie, my interest level went down END OF SPOILERS  The other four are fairly interchangeable, including Dragos Bucur as Zoran, the funny man and complainer, Alexandru Potocean as Tomasz, the artist, Gustaf Skarsgard as Voss, the priest, and Sebastian Urzendowsky as Kazir. Mark Strong is also very good as Khabarov, but his character gets left behind at the gulag.

Where does this movie fall then?  Above average for sure, but not a classic or one I'd revisit anytime soon.  With on-location shooting in Bulgaria, Morocco and Australia, it would be worth it just to watch the movie as a visual travel guide.  I'm unfamiliar with his other work, but composer Burkhard von Dallwitz does a subtle score that is memorable in its simplicity, its ability to match up so well with the visual. My only suggestion would be to cut about 20 minutes from the movie.  There is so much positive here that I have to recommend it, including a beautiful ending, moving in its execution as everything comes full circle.

The Way Back <---trailer (2010): ***/**** 

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Ah, the sequel, where movie studios go for what they hope is a sure thing with audiences. But with a few exceptions, like Empire Strikes Back and Godfather II, the sequels are never on par with the originals which are often enough classics in their own rights. Now I won't go as far as saying the first National Treasure movie is a classic, but it sure was entertaining. So 3 years after the original, NT: Book of Secrets came was released to even bigger business.

Looking at successful sequels, the key has to be doing just enough new stuff while keeping the spirit and casting of the original intact. 'Secrets' tries to improve on a lot of things while still dealing with a historical subject as Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) once again tries to unravel a mystery that could lead to a supposedly mythological treasure. Along with Cage, all of the cast from the original is back, something that's always nice to see. And why wouldn't they come back? It's a sure thing in terms of the $, but for whatever reason, actors/actresses always want to branch out from successful franchises.

As for the additions, director Jon Turteltaub follows the Bourne movie formula, when you have a new character, cast one of the best actors available in Hollywood. So here we get Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, Academy Award nominated Ed Harris, and always reliable Bruce Greenwood joining an already impressive cast and blending in seamlessly. These are the types of roles that will never add any awards to the trophy cases, but instead the roles that the actors are clearly having fun with. It's the type of thing that shows so clearly on-screen and helps bring the movie up a notch.

Several years since the original discovery of a huge historical treasure, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) is on the touring circuit talking about his ancestor, Thomas Gates, and his involvement with the Lincoln assassination and his chance meeting with John Wilkes Booth. But at one presentation, Mitch Wilkinson (Harris) presents a missing page from Booth's diary claiming that Thomas was the architect of the assassination plot. So teaming up with sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), his dad Patrick (Jon Voight), and ex-girlfriend Abigail (Diane Kruger), Benjamin goes about proving his great-grandfather's innocence.

The trail once again takes them all over the world with pit stops in Paris, London (including sneaking into the Queen's study at Buckingham Palace), George Washington's home at Mount Vernon, Washington D.C. and even Mount Rushmore. Benjamin figures the only way to prove Thomas' innocence is to find the treasure he kept from falling into Confederate hands, but some key evidence could be in the 'book of secrets,' a book passed down from President to President with essential info, things like Area 51, the Kennedy assassination, and Watergate. Hot on their trail, FBI agent Sadusky (an underused Harvey Keitel) gets involved, especially when Ben's plan involves kidnapping the President (Greenwood) at a party.

Much like the first movie, 'Secrets' moves along at a break-neck pace that never allows you to slow down and comprehend how ridiculous the whole thing is. This time around, Benjamin does seem to figure out the clues a little quicker, a little bit more outlandishly, which can be annoying and a little too coincidental for me, but not enough to take away from the enjoyment of the story.

Wearing an odd-looking toupee or some sort of hair extension, Cage reprises his role as treasure hunter Gates. Over-the-top and scenery chewing, he's at his best, including a scene in Buckingham Palace where he must make a scene to attract the attention of security. Bartha is perfect again as Riley, now trying to step out of Benjamin's shadow with his own book. Kruger unfortunately has been made into a whiny movie girlfriend, but her character is still a good fit because she counters Ben so well. Voight gets some very funny lines with Mirren as his estranged wife. The two veteran actors give a sense of history between their characters without saying much at all. As the villain, Harris isn't at his best, but come on, it's Ed Harris. He's awesome even if he was just reading a telephone book.

Comparing 'Secrets' to the original is where the problems come up. Not major problems but certainly enough to be noticed. At times, the story just feels like a rehash as we get clue, Benjamin figuring out clue, chase scene, and then finding another clue. Of course, that's not a bad thing because the first movie worked so well with that formula, but it's not great either. So it's not enough to force me to give a negative review, but at least enough to bring it down a notch, just a little notch. Still a movie that's worth seeing if for nothing else so that you're ready for National Treasure 3, due out in 2011.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets <----trailer (2007): ** 1/2 /****