In Enemy Hands

In the age of the large scale World War II movies in the 1950s and 1960s, some of the most popular war films with audiences were those set on submarines in both the Atlantic and the Pacific theaters of war. Like any genre though, that success died down eventually. So where's that leave us? With the throwback film! Here's 2004's In Enemy Hands.

It's late in 1943 and the tide of WWII has officially shifted to the Allies. In the Atlantic, the tide has turned as the powerful, dangerous U-boats are being summarily hunted down and sunk. One American submarine, the U.S.S. Swordfish, has a new commander, a young, inexperienced officer, Lt. Commander Sullivan (Scott Caan), with his experienced chief, Travers (William H. Macy), trying to ease the transition for his new commander. After months on patrol, the Swordfish finally sees some action, sinking a German ship, but gets hit in the process and sinks. The German U-boat, commanded by Captain Jonas Herdt (Til Schweiger), goes against regulations and picks up the survivors rather than let them drown in the middle of the Atlantic. One of the American survivors is holding onto a secret though, one that could kill everyone on board, both American and German unless they reach a port soon.

If this movie was released in theaters -- the Internet says it happened so it must be true -- I don't remember it. Apparently it was an ultra-small release, 'Enemy' earning about $64,000 in theaters. From director Tony Giglio, there is a distinct feel of a 1950s/1960s WWII submarine movie like Run Silent, Run Deep or The Enemy Below or countless others. It adds an extra layer by adding the German submariners into the story as well. It isn't a straight American or German story but a solid mix of the two sides. 'Enemy' definitely has the feel of a smaller budget movie that just barely avoided going straight to DVD and instead got a release in theaters for about 3 hours. That small scale isn't a deal-breaker. Almost the entire movie is set on two submarine sets so that's definitely a bonus.

There's a reason submarine movies do so well. There's a familiar formula that....well, was submarine warfare in WWII. These underwater merchants of death cruised through the ocean looking for targets whether it be other subs, merchant vessels transporting materiel, or any type of wartime vessels. What happened after the attacks? The subs were often chased back across the ocean, ships above dropping depth charges in the water that would literally rock and tear the sub to pieces if it exploded near enough. Those moments are always at the crux of submarine war movies. The crews wait in silence for an explosion to tear the ships apart as the depth charges fall through the water. The tension, the impending doom, even a small scale movie like 'Enemy' doesn't need a huge budget to get the job done.

No big stars here, but the cast is uniformly solid. William H. Macy is one of my favorites, and although he's an unlikely casting choice to play the Chief of boat, he does a good job with the part. His Travers must balance out his responsibilities to both the crew but also the captain. Caan is feisty, arrogant and trying to prove himself in an underused part. As for their German counterparts, Schweiger does an excellent job as the German U-boat captain. Seemingly always typecast as a dastardly villain, Schweiger doesn't disappoint with a chance to play a decent human being, an officer struggling with news from back home while trying to get through the war alive. His friendship with his executive officer, Ludwig Cremer (Thomas Kretschmann), provides the movie's strongest moments. It's actually the German half of the story that I found far more interesting in the vein of Das Boot. Go figure!

As for the supporting American parts, look for Clark Gregg, Jeremy Sisto, Ian Somerhalder, and Sam Huntington on board the Swordfish. On the German U-boat, there's Rene Heger and Connor Donne. Wrapping things up in some painfully awkward and truly forced scenes, Lauren Holly plays Travers' wife, worrying away at home about him coming back to her.

I'll give credit where it's due. 'Enemy' uses familiar territory but doesn't settle for the status quo. It features some genuinely surprising twists and a couple departures for characters you wouldn't expect. The American/German angle provides a fair share of those new moments with the ending building to another solid twist. It's only in the finale that 'Enemy' tries to deliver a message about war that I thought things fell short. Men in war are capable of good things -- and horrific things -- but the war movies that try to hit you over the head with that message are less than subtle. Still, it's an interesting movie with that enjoyable throwback feel. Not great, but worth a watch.

In Enemy Hands (2004): ** 1/2 /****

Into the Blue

It seemed like one of those fake celebrity death stories that seem to pop up more and more over the last couple years. No, this one was real. A star of the Fast and the Furious movies and many other flicks, Paul Walker died in a car accident November 30th. He was just 40 years old. I was and is a huge fan of Walker -- mostly because of the F and F movies -- but I realized I hadn't seen many other movies he was in. Let's try and switch that, starting with 2005's Into the Blue.

Living in the Bahamas, Jared (Walker) is a bit of a beach bum, doing odd jobs and living with his girlfriend, Sam (Jessica Alba). He moves from job to job, living out of a little trailer and working on his beaten-up old boat, hoping to one day find some sunken treasure that will provide for himself and Sam for the rest of their lives. After losing a scuba diving job, Jared gets a visit from his old friend, Bryce (Scott Caan), and his recent babely pick-up/hook-up, Amanda (Ashley Scott), the quartet partying it up at an immense villa Bryce's firm has taken control of. While partying out on a yacht and scuba-diving, Jared lucks upon a huge find waiting for him on the ocean floor, the long lost remains of a shipwreck that has grown to mythical proportions over the years. Now, they just need some money and equipment to lay claim to the treasure, but there's one more problem. Not far from the wreck, they find a crashed plane with dead bodies inside and more dangerously, hundreds of kilos of cocaine. What to do? What to do?

While I thought this John Stockwell-directed film looked interesting when it first came out, I never sought it out. Over recent years, I even watched a movie from the 1970s, The Deep, that looked like 'Blue' tried to duplicate almost to a T. But soon after Walker's sudden passing in November, it popped up on MGM-HD, giving me a chance to catch up with it. What's the appeal? Well, for starters just look at the poster up above. It's pretty people being pretty having crazy adventures in beautiful, exotic places. Do you really need anything else? This isn't a movie that's going to strain any brain cells while watching. Clocking in at 110 minutes, it's an exciting, action-packed story with some twists along the way that keep in interesting. Sit back with some popcorn and enjoy it, just don't overthink it.

Let's face it. Paul Walker is a good-looking guy. This was a movie made for his fans who like him for his....physical talents? Like the entire cast, Walker spends much of the movie in board shorts, swimming around and generally being dreamy. More importantly though, he does what he does best. Walker was an underrated action star, more than capable of handling his own in any number of action sequences. It sure looks like he's doing most of his own stunts, on land and underwater, giving a sense of authenticity to the action (more on that later). On top of that, I also liked Walker's Jared character. If it sounds simple, so be it, but he's a good guy who has a good life if not a glamorous one. When he's presented with a chance to provide for the rest of his life, he's conflicted on what to do, knowing that those crashed drugs he finds were meant to be somewhere and someone is going to come looking for them. An underrated actor with the right script/character, Walker does a strong job leading the way in this Bahama adventure.

The rest of the cast is more hit or miss. Alba was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actress, but I won't go that far. I thought she did a good job at Walker's side, basically the perfect girl....well, ever. Her Sam is the most conflicted morally about what they should do, the $ only blinding her momentarily. While I normally like Scott Caan, this isn't a great part for him, his Bryce beyond annoying and beyond stupid, making one stupid decision after another. The same for Ashley Scott who seems to be around as eye candy and little else. Because he was originally typecast as a villain, Josh Brolin is the villain, Bates, a boat owner with a huge reputation, and some tricks up his sleeve. There's plenty of other villains around including James Frain as Reyes, the slimy drug dealer, Tyson Beckford as Primo, a Bahamian thug who rocks a mohawk so you know he's a bad guy, Dwayne Adway as Roy, a Bahamian cop who may be pitting all sides against each other.

You wouldn't know from watching, but this PG-13 flick sure seems more like an R-rated flick. The action isn't graphic, but it sure is brutal. As the twisting story throws one nasty bad guy at Jared and Co. after another, the story takes a particularly brutal road to the finish. Let's just say John Stockwell's film has some interesting ways to dispose of some villains. It does get a little silly toward the end, but it's never dull so I'll give credit where it's due. At a most basic level, this is about showing scantily clad individuals -- male and female -- cavorting around the Bahamas.

Seriously, if you muted this movie, you may think it's a porno. The camera lingers a whole lot (and in slow motion) on Jessica Alba and Ashley Scott, and to a lesser degree Paul Walker and Scott Caan. That's what is worth mentioning. It's an easily digestable, fun, action-packed movie with some truly stupid characters in their swimsuits making some truly stupid decisions. How can you wrong?

Into the Blue (2005): ** 1/2 /****

Varsity Blues

So everyone loves football, right? Professional, college, high school, Pee-Wee, it doesn't matter, fans love their pigskin. How about little towns dotted across America that live and die with their high school football teams? I'm looking at you, Texas, but there are obviously others. How about a guilty pleasure look at a small Texas town like that. Yep, it's a lousy movie, but I remember it fondly, 1999's Varsity Blues.

In the Texas town of West Canaan, coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) reigns above all else. In his 30-plus years on the sidelines of the West Canaan High School football team, Kilmer has won 22 district championships and two state championships to the point he is a local hero that can do no wrong. Gunning for his 23rd district title, Kilmer seems to have the perfect team to pull it off, especially with Florida State-bound quarterback Lance Harper (Paul Walker) at the helm. But with his team rolling and the end of the season in sight, Lance goes down a horrific knee injury, forcing backup quarterback Johnny 'Mox' Moxon (James Van Der Beek) to step in at QB. Mox doesn't think much of Kilmer's bullying, manipulative ways and buckles at any sort of authority. How will the season come to an end? Can coach and backup quarterback figure something out in time?

When this movie from director Brian Robbins came out in 1999, I was the ripe old age of 14. I was a freshman in high school, and although I didn't see it in theaters, I clearly remember watching it on VHS/DVD when it came out. Is it a good movie? Hell no, it's the definition of a guilty pleasure. For me, there's a bit of nostalgia in it now some 14 years later. It plays like one big cliche -- one piled on top of each other -- but it is entertaining throughout. From MTV Films, it is a sports movie aimed clearly at teenagers. We get lots of crazy high school shenanigans from football game on Friday nights to postgame drinking parties, the immaculately cool QB, the slutty head cheerleader, the misused black running back, the crazy receiver, and the general goofiness of high school. It's not a great script, resorting back to cliches, the genre conventions of the sports/underdog movie.

So go figure then.........but I like the movie just the same. The shame is there's some real potential for a legitimately good movie. I call that movie 2004's Friday Night Lights, the true story of the Odessa-Permian football team during the 1988 season. Where 'Night' delivers, 'Varsity' almost gets there. In telling the story of a small town that lives and dies each week with its football team, we get some spooky, realistic glimpses of a town bordering on crazy. Voight chews the scenery like nobody's business (and does it well), ruling West Canaan with an iron fist because...........well, because he wins football games. The town shuts down for Friday night games, the players are heroes around town, fathers who used to play for Kilmer now live vicariously through their sons, and the weight of a town rests on their shoulders. It's all a little too much in execution, lacking a little thing called subtlety, but the potential is there for the picking.

Rewatching this movie for the first time in years, I came away with a new opinion on 'Varsity.' I've never been a huge fan of Van Der Beek -- I avoided Dawson's Creek like the plague for years -- but his leading part as very intelligent but very rebellious backup QB Johnny Moxon is one of the most unlikable lead characters I can think of in a movie. I guess we're supposed to be rooting for him, but he comes across as this pseudo-intellectual, preppy doofus who wants out of West Canaan. He's overly confident to the point of being cocky, and I was never really in his corner. Thrust into the starting QB position, it seems fair that any high schooler would embrace the spotlight. Sound fair? Yep, but star QB or maligned backup, I never actually liked the character..........so it's got that going for it. His scenes with girlfriend, Jules (Amy Smart), also provides some low-quality, painful after school special-esque scenes.

Thankfully, the rest of the cast picks up the slack. They're all ultra-cliched parts that could be cardboard cutouts from other sports movies, but what are you expecting from an MTV Films football flick? Walker shows that in 2013, he has significantly improved as an actor since 1999. The other players include Billy Bob (Ron Lester), the morbidly obese but fun-loving booze machine offensive lineman with concussions, Wendell (Eliel Swinton), the talented running back who Kilmer doesn't let score because he's black, and Tweeder (Scott Caan), the boozing, sex-obsessed, goofy, crazy screw-up and star wide receiver. Also look for Ali Larter as the slutty cheerleader (and her infamous whip cream bikini), Thomas F. Duffy as Mox's football-obsessed father, and Tonie Perensky as Miss Davis, the sex ed teacher with a secret. 

If I didn't know better -- and that's highly debatable -- I'd say looking back on the review that I'm not much of a fan the classic film that is Varsity Blues. That isn't true of course. Yes, the football scenes are laughable with some awfully dumb decisions made. It's easy to look past that though. We need an excuse to have a slow-motion football scene set to Foo Fighter's My Hero. Stupid? Yes. Awesome? FOO FIGHTERS! SLOW MOTION!  It's all ridiculous, capping with an expertly well-written 'Where does everyone end up?' narration. That's sarcasm by the way. It's an awful movie, but a fun one.

Varsity Blues (1999): ** 1/2 /****

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

My usual stance on remakes is pretty simple; if the original is good, why bother? If the original is awful with some sort of potential, okay, go ahead with it. Of course, there's exceptions to every rule. A minor classic in its own right based solely on entertainment value, 1960's Ocean's Eleven didn't need to be remade. If you're going to remake a quality movie, you better improve on it, and 2001's Ocean's Eleven is the rare remake that's better than the original.

After being released from prison following a four-year sentence, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) has plans...huge plans. A thief and con man, Danny heads to Los Angeles where he signs on friend and fellow thief, Rusty (Brad Pitt), to join him. What's Danny's plan? He's going to do what no one has ever done; rob not one, not two, but three Las Vegas casinos and their impregnable vault on a fight night when over $160 million will be waiting if the job can be pulled off. The owner of the casinos? Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the cutthroat businessman now going out with Danny's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts). To pull the job though, Danny's going to need help so he starts assembling a team of con men, thieves and specialists. Impossible for this group? Nah.

This is a fun movie. There, that's all I really need to say. Everything else is just fluff. This 2001 remake is the definition of what a fun, entertaining, popcorn movie should aspire to. It's smart but not condescendingly smart. It's funny but it doesn't try too hard. It's ridiculously unrealistic, but who cares?!? Look at that cast! Director Steven Soderbergh made one of the most polished, stylish caper movies ever, improving on the groundwork set up by the 1960s Sinatra version. Las Vegas is a crazy, over the top place and that translates well to the movies. A score/soundtrack from David Holmes is a funky, cool retro mix of music, as fun and energetic as the story itself. HERE is the main theme. I defy you to not bob your head, tap your foot as you hear it.

The script is great here, the thing that keeps it all moving. It sounds so simple, a well-written script in a dramatic but not heavy drama film. It is a smart script without being in your face smart. Putting the team together, Danny asks Rusty "You think we need one more?" Rusty's face is buried in his arms, and he says nothing. Danny answers "You think we need one more," a statement now. He finishes "We'll get one more." The script gives a very talented cast a chance to shine and interact, especially Clooney and Pitt, but there's not a single character who isn't given a chance to shine. What came first in a chicken or the egg scenario? Does a good script boost a cast, or does a great cast make a script better? Short answer....who cares? The movie's great either way.

An ensemble-cast worthy of a 1960s epic, I still wonder how a cast this big was assembled. Clooney, Pitt, Roberts and Garcia would be enough for most movies but not here. Danny's crew includes Frank (Bernie Mac), the inside man working in the casino, Reuben (Elliott Gould), the former Vegas casino owner and bankroll, Virgil (Casey Affleck) and Turk (Scott Caan) Malloy, two brothers providing transport, Livingston (Eddie Jemison), the tech specialist, Basher (an uncredited Don Cheadle), the explosives expert, Saul (Carl Reiner), the aging con man, Yen (Shaobo Qin), the acrobat, and Linus (Matt Damon), a young pickpocket and thief on the rise. You couldn't ask for a better cast. The scene post-heist is a gem too, the team standing in front of the Bellagio fountains to Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune. Watch there <---- and listen HERE.

Fun and entertainment value aside, this is a heist film, and the casino vault heist doesn't disappoint. Now anyone who's been to a casino knows how ridiculous security is, but that's the fun of it. Could a job like this ever really work? No, but I'm sure Clooney, Pitt and Co. could pull it off nonetheless. A full 45-minutes, the heist goes down on a fight night, the 11 pulling a long list of cons and tricks to take down the vault. Things have been hinted at but nothing specific so seeing the twists and turns provide a great ride. Even on repeated viewings, the twists still work. How often can you say that? It's a great movie, one you can watch over and over again.

Ocean's Eleven <---trailer (2001): ****/****   

Boiler Room

One of my favorite things to stumble across on a DVD after all those pointless making of features and director/actor commentaries is the all-knowing, all powerful alternate ending.  Sometimes it's interesting to see what else a director thought about an ending, how they originally intended to shoot it.  Then, a studio can veto it, or a test audience doesn't like it, and a new ending is shot that hopefully will please the masses more.  As a member of the downbeat, surprise ending fan club, I'm all for those original endings that doesn't make everyone happy. I liked 2000's Boiler Room even if the actual ending disappointed.  The alternate, original ending? Much better and much darker.

Now as a fan of sports I can explain how to figure out a pitcher's ERA or WHIP, as a movie fan I can explain the aspect ratios or how the western changed from the silent era through the spaghetti western transformation to the folksy 1970s movies.  But I just can't wrap my head around big business, stock markets, and anything to do with inordinate amounts of monopoly money. Boiler Room deals with all three of those so a fair amount of the time I was quite a bit confused, but never enough to dislike the movie.  It can be too flashy, too stylish at times, but an interesting if not always clear story is aided by some strong performances from an underrated cast.

A college dropout with no interests in school, Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) runs an illegal casino out of his home in New York City.  The money is flowing in, but it's only a matter of time before the authorities catch on and shut him down, sending him to the slammer.  His judge father (Ron Rifkin) disapproves and is about to completely cut ties with his son when Seth is approached by an old friend (Jaime Kennedy) who works at an investment firm as a broker.  Seth gets a job as a trainee at the high stakes firm, JT Marlin, and quickly rises through the ranks under his boss Greg (Nicky Katt).  But right on the verge of hitting the big time where he can bring in accounts of his own, Seth starts to smell a rat.  Things just aren't adding up as the unexplainable amounts of money start to roll in, and customers start complaining.  What should he do though? Shut up and go along for the ride, or blow the whistle and take everyone down with him?

As someone who would need a "Dummy's Guide to Business," I'll freely admit that much of the movie that really delves into business, rips, stocks, the market, went over my head.  I tried to keep up as best I could, but never really had a complete grasp of what's going on.  I was never completely baffled at the goings on, but I've got to point that out.  Maybe some business majors would keep up better than me, who knows?  Saying that, the firm's owner (Tom Everett Scott) is up to some shady dealings that just don't make a lot of sense to me.  Wouldn't the SEC, the FBI, and the government have caught on to these guys long before Seth shows up?  How have they managed to keep up this scam all this time?  Plot holes for sure, but the story does it's best to move along at a lightning pace past those holes.

The biggest challenge director Ben Younger has working against him is that his characters are basically the biggest assholes you've ever met.  They are arrogant, homophobic, loud for the sake of being loud, passive aggressive, maniacally greedy, violent, and they'd stab their mother in the back if it earned them some extra dollars.  I thought I was in trouble after the opening scene because with barely any introduction at all to these guys (all the brokers are male), I H-A-T-E-D them.  They are presented as the type of guys you wouldn't bat an eye at before kicking them in the crotch.  Thankfully, Younger offers at least a few glimpses of humanity in them, especially action star Vin Diesel as Chris, Seth's mentor but not his boss, proving once again he can act no matter how bad his movie selections of late have been.  Nia Long plays Abbie, a secretary at the firm who starts seeing Seth and gets caught up in something bigger than she ever figured.  Also look for Scott Caan as the ultimate type-A personality broker, the one you'd like to punch if you got a chance, and Ben Affleck as the firm's top recruiter who uses 'fuck' as a noun, adjective, verb and a lot more.

Through the good and the bad we see two main characters separate themselves from the pack, Ribisi's Seth and Katt's Greg.  Seth quickly realizes how good he is at basically lying to anyone and everyone, but even as he does it knows he's not exactly on the straight and narrow with his new career choice.  Ribisi is a phenomenal actor who I wish would do more mainstream roles, and his lead performance is the highlight of the movie.  At times vulnerable and others ultra-sensitive, he's the heart of the movie, and despite his flaws I found myself rooting for him, especially to mend the strained relationship with his father.  Greg on the other hand is basically evil incarnate.  He's well-dressed, charming, and looks like a gentleman but bubbling just below the surface is a seething, possibly lunatic of a man.  He's smooth in his badness, producing this great villain capable of violence and outbursts that catch everyone by surprise.

Then there's the ending, which works in terms of Seth's character and the identity he develops, but it left me feeling empty.  It's the right choice for the character, but that's about it.  SPOILERS STOP READING SPOILERS  You want to see the brokers get taken down at JT Marlin, especially Greg and Scott's boss man.  We never get to see that process though.  On to the original ending Younger intended for, wrapping up a subplot between Seth and one of his "accounts," a family man (Taylor Nichols) who ends up entrusting all his money to Seth in a money scam.  Like the ending in the movie as is, it doesn't show anything, leaving the viewer to wrap things up for themselves, but it works much better.  There's a touch of irony thrown in, and a strong element of shock and surprise, maybe more so because we don't see the end result.  I still liked the movie, but it could have been a notch higher if the original ending was left in untouched.

Boiler Room <---trailer (2000): ***/****