Trance

Not many directors have the guts to do what Danny Boyle does. Check out the British director's list of films. There's a ridiculous variety of films there, and the scary part? With one exception I'm seeing, there isn't a weak flick in the bunch. Even his less highly regarded movies are still pretty decent. How about hypnosis and amnesia though? Can Boyle even pull that one off? Let's see with 2013's Trance.

An art auctioneer working for a high-end auction house, Simon Newton (James McAvoy) has become involved with a gang of crooks led by Franck (Vincent Cassel). Their target? A rare Francisco Goya painting, Witches in the Air, that will soon go up for auction. The job goes relatively smooth until Simon inexplicably trying to stop Franck who punches him in the face, knocking him out. Franck discovers later that Simon switched out the paintings, just leaving the frame in the case. In the meantime, Simon has become a hero for trying to stop the robbery, but there's a problem. Simon can't remember what happened after Franck's punch, can't remember what happened to the painting. Even after some torture, Simon still can't remember so Franck knows he genuinely can't remember. He comes up with an out of left field solution, sending Simon to a hypnotist, Dr. Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson), who will help him remember and net him a lucrative payday in the end.

Another movie to add to the list of "I was bored so I explored Netflix" finds, 'Trance' was given a limited theatrical release in the U.S., seeing the light of day in a sprinkling of theaters. Let's say this...it's a doozy of a flick, one Boyle had wanted to bring to the big screen for years having read Joe Ahearne's script in the mid-1990s. Is it a good or bad doozy though? I'm still deciding there. The problem is simple, Ahearne's script is interesting but its goal is to deceive. It is a movie meant to confuse and baffle as it develops, and then when the finale comes along, it comes as a complete surprise. That's fine, right? Yeah, surprises are good, but this one feels very forced, very contrived and completely lucky. So many things (sssssssso many) need to happen for it to work that it passes any sort of reality -- even movie reality -- and leaves it in the rear view mirror.

The catch to it all is that because Boyle is a very talented director, he still makes it work even in spite of its flaws. As a visual director, Boyle has few rivals currently working. His movies are polished, stylish and quite the visual treat. The cinematography from Anthony Dod Mantle is a gem, scenes full of color from the white, clean look of Elizabeth's office, to Franck's dark, poorly lit and sparsely decorated house to Simon's cluttered house. Even when the story may be a tad confusing -- and it is -- watching the movie is still a treat. There's little to no action, instead scenes of dialogue and hypnosis replacing them, so Boyle and Mantle work to make those scenes visually interesting. We're watching the hypnosis as it happens through the individual's head, seeing what they see, those listening "appearing" in the hypnosis as if they were really there. The score from composer Rick Smith is solid as well (listen HERE), driving the story forward with a mix of electronic/trance-like music that fits well.

The cast is limited basically to the three stars, McAvoy, Cassel and Dawson. Obviously, the focus is on this trio of characters in just about every scene. What works well is that the three of them all have a development over the course of the movie, and all in surprising fashion. McAvoy does a very solid job as Simon, the art auctioneer who becomes a participant in a heist after taking a serious punch to the head. He does a good job as the tortured individual trying to figure it all out (and with a twist). Dawson is excellent too, her soothing voice providing the good backdrop for the hypnotist who also has ulterior motives. Cassel does what he does best, a scheming, sneering intimidating villain who just looks like a bad guy. I don't want to give too much away about where/what these characters become, but all three performances are certainly interesting. As Franck's gang, look for Danny Sapani, Matt Cross and Wahab Sheikh in supporting parts.

Most of the last 30 minutes are spent on the twist, the reveal, and then the explanation. Again, no real spoilers here to speak of. Even clues could take away your enjoyment, or at least the surprise, when things are revealed. Because Boyle knows what he's doing, the big reveal is something else to watch. It's meant to catch you by surprise, even shock you in some instances (and it does), but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. So so many things have to happen for this all to happen that it becomes ridiculous to fathom. The same for one particular twist that seems to defy explanation involving something stashed away in a car trunk. As for the final scene, there's a nod/rip-off (depending on your interpretation) to Christopher Nolan's Inception.

Quite the mixed bag in the end. A lot of talent working with a very skilled director, but it never quite gels. Tries too hard at some times, very stylish and entertaining in others.

Trance (2013): ** 1/2 /****

10 Years

I had a momentary freakout recently following my 28th birthday. It's 2013. I graduated from high school in 2003. By my count, that means I've been out of high school for 10 years. Oh, no! Ten year reunion! I can't be that old, can I? Thankfully no invite for said reunion has come in the mail so I can calm down a little for the time being. In the meantime, I can watch other people struggle through the same issues in 2012's 10 Years.

A moderately successful mortgage broker, late 20s Jake (Channing Tatum) is pleased with where his life is if not completely pleased. He's got a good if safe job and a smoking hot longtime girlfriend, Jess (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), so when his 10-year high school reunion pops up, Jake is both excited and nervous. His former classmates are similarly descending on the town back home, coming from all reaches of life, some more successful than others, but they seemingly all have a goal at the reunion. Just catching up with old friends, in some cases hooking up with former classmates, making apologies, or even bringing closure to certain things. The jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, the popular kids and the smart kids, they've all grown up to some point. For Jake though, he's most worried about seeing his ex-girlfriend, Mary (Rosario Dawson), and what she's up to after a tough breakup for the both of them. The reunion promises to be very interesting for all involved.

For starters, let me clear things up. I needed something remotely coherent for the plot description so I streamlined things...a lot. While dreamy Channing Tatum is in the movie a lot, he's merely a part of a very strong ensemble cast. So that's it. This isn't his movie on his own. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, let's move on. 'Years' comes from first-time director Jamie Linden who has worked previously as both a writer and producer. It's a more than solid debut, showcasing an ease with the script and talent that should bode well for Linden's future films. Reunion movies can be pretty common from the lousy American Reunion to The Big Chill and plenty in between, but Linden's film has a nice, easygoing charm about it. The IMDB rating is currently at 6.0 (low if you ask me) so naturally I liked it and am now assuming I missed something about it.

Writing the script and directing his feature debut, Linden does a really solid job sticking with what works in the reunion genre but managing to keep it fresh. He throws a lot of characters together, some more familiar than others, and lets them do their thing. The beauty of having so many characters is that we get to run the gamut of high school all over again. We do see all those dreaded high school cliques from the jocks, bullies and nerds to the cheerleaders, hot chicks and loners and everything in between. The movie runs 100 minutes and is basically moving along non-stop, flitting around among all the characters and their issues. As is the case with any ensemble, some are more interesting than others, but most importantly, none of them are dull. From the reunion to the post-reunion booze fest at a local bar, it's a lot of fun to watch.

Again proving me wrong after years of doubting him, Tatum seems right at home as Jake, the former jock who's now in a good place but always worried what could have been with Dawson's Mary (now married to the older Ron Livingston). Dewan-Tatum, Mrs. Channing Tatum, is good too in a part that avoids cliches for the most part as the worrying girlfriend. My favorite parts were Justin Long and Max Minghella as Marty, a successful publisher in NYC, and A.J., his equally successful friend struggling with some issues. They have a believable friendship, one that goes through its ups and downs as A.J. tries to "wingman" it for single Marty. I also especially liked Chris Pratt as Cully, the former bully now trying to apologize to all the then-nerds he terrorized in high school (including a very good Aaron Yoo) with Ari Gaynor as his wife, Sam, who he has two kids with. Sam wants to enjoy herself too, not just watch over Cully embracing his high school craziness.  

Not enough young talent for you? There's plenty more. Oscar Isaac is Reeves, who's recently gained a lot of popularity across the country as a pop star musician, but he just wants to talk to Kate Mara's Elise. It's a decent subplot, but probably the weakest of all the stories. Isaac and Mara are good, it's just not as interesting. Scott Porter plays Scott, a globe-trotting happy-go-luck guy with his wife, Suki (Eiko Nijo), who he met in Japan. Anthony Mackie as Andre is just looking to have some fun, especially when he sees Garrity (Brian Geraghty), a white guy who thought he was black in high school, news to his wife (Aubrey Plaza). There's also Lynn Collins as Anna, the hottest girl in high school, Marty seeing if he can make up for lost time with her. 

No point in analyzing this one too much. A fun, cute reunion story with a good mix of laughs and comedy with some actual sympathetic human emotion. What a novel concept! I especially liked the cast and feel very comfortable recommending it.

10 Years (2012): ***/****

He Got Game

As a director, producer, New York Knicks fan, and writer, Spike Lee is one of the most dividing names currently working in films. Just about everyone has an opinion on Lee -- for good or bad -- but somewhere in there around the strong opinions and controversial comments is a very talented director. One of his best was obviously an important film for the diehard basketball fan, 1998's He Got Game.

A high school senior living in Brooklyn and caring for his sister (Zelda Harris), Jesus Shuttlesworth (NBA star Ray Allen) is a basketball star and the No. 1 recruit in the country. The world is smothering Jesus as he makes his future plans. Does he forgo his college eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft or does he decide on a university to attend? It's a decision that could cost or produce millions depending on how it works out. It's a decision that the Governor -- an alum of Big State University -- is interested in. He cuts a deal with Jesus' father, Jake (Denzel Washington), currently wasting away in Attica. Jake will be "released" for a week with one goal; get Jesus to commit to Big State, and his sentence will be severely shortened. 

I'm a fan of Spike Lee, not a diehard fan, but his films are always interesting. Now whether you take them as good or bad interesting, that's a different story, but I typically enjoy his films. However you feel about Lee, I think this is a film where you have to give him credit. 'Game' tries to accomplish a lot in its storytelling, and for the most part, it accomplishes that. It's frightening in Lee's ability to make a film that so accurately predicts the future, in this case the business of sports. Jesus' decision in theory just effects him, but that's a naive way to look at it. Everyone in the world and business of sports will be dramatically affected by his plans. Look at 'Game' in 2012, and the things we see are familiar, normal, everyday things we'd see on ESPN. Not so much in 1998. Think LeBron James, and you've got this movie.

One of Lee's trademarks as a director is his style, and that's evident here. The opening montage shows basketball (and sports on a bigger level) at its purest, kids and teenagers playing from a wide variety of backgrounds and locations. They play out of love because they want to. Watch it HERE starting at :30.  A monologue later from one shady guy (Roger Guenveur Smith) who claims to have Jesus' best intentions at heart is frightening in its accuracy. Everyone Jesus has ever met is about to become his best friend. What should be a pure, innocent and personal decision -- a 17, 18 year old kid picking his college choice -- becomes something dirty. Everyone involved starts to see the $ all over Jesus. It's sad that this is where sports has gone, but it's the truth of the business.

When this movie is clicking on all cylinders, it's that cynical nature that works. The most effective dramatic, emotional moments come from the interaction and completely shattered relationship between Jake and Jesus. We learn why Jake is in Attica, and more importantly why Jesus despises him. The performances from Washington and Allen are the best things going for 'Game.' When has Washington ever not delivered a worthy performance? None I can think of. His Jake is not an easy character to like, but that's the beauty of it. He knows he made mistakes, but he also did certain things the right way. The best thing going is we're not sure of his intentions. Does he want Jesus to go to Big State because it's what is best for him or because it will get him a reduced sentence? Playing Jesus, Allen (a Milwaukee Bucks star at the time) delivers a natural, heartfelt performance, better than just about 99% of all athletes' performances in a movie. Oh, and his jump shot is disgustingly beautiful to watch.

There are moments of perfection in this father-son relationship. The movie is at its strongest when focusing on this reconnecting, but certain scenes ring truer than others. The best scenes are those of Jake and Jesus on a basketball court. In quick, little snippets, we see Jake pushing Jesus as a little boy to get better. Later, we see an encounter where maybe Jake pushes too far, and a 12-year old Jesus responding with frustration like a 12-year old should. The best scene -- and one of my all-time favorites -- is a one-on-one game between Jake and Jesus as time runs out on Jake's "mission." Jesus is a significantly more skilled player now, but it's still a battle, Jake giving him nothing. Watch it in its entirety HERE. Stylized, message, story, I think it's one of those rare perfect scenes.

Before I forget, there are some other halfway decent actors/actresses around. Milla Jovovich plays Dakota, a prostitute Jake meets, while Rosario Dawson is particularly memorable as LaLa, Jesus' girlfriend who is up to something. 32-year old Hill Harper is effective playing Booger, Jesus' cousin and teammate. Jim Brown and Joseph Lyle Taylor have some fun as Jake's ever-present parole officers with Ned Beatty playing the warden at Attica cutting a deal with Jake. Bill Nunn is a slimy scene-stealer as Jesus' money-grubbing uncle with Michelle Shay as his more thoughtful aunt. Also look for Lee favorite John Turturro as a coach pulling out all the stops to recruit Jesus. Sports fans should also look for countless cameos from Michael Jordan to Shaq to Reggie Miller with countless coaches and TV personalities making an appearance.

Say what you want about Spike Lee, but he's a talented director, and this is one of his best. Give it a shot. I don't know how long this link will stay up there, but check out the full movie HERE at Youtube.

He Got Game <---trailer (1998): *** 1/2 /****  

Unstoppable

What makes a good bad guy? I'm not talking run of the mill, everyday type villains.  We're talking epically bad, that perfect villain that doesn't have an ounce of good, a shred of decency in them. There's Darth Vader, the T-1000, Anton Chigurh, and any number of quality ones that I could write whole reviews about.  For the most part, the problem with many villains is that they can be stopped. Morals, principles, exhaustion, a bullet to the head (or a thousand), things can stop them. What about something man-made though with no conscious or thought process to slow it down. In the case of 2010's Unstoppable, that villain is a runaway train carrying thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and a cargo of highly dangerous chemicals.

Before I go into the movie too much, I'm going to say that I like director Tony Scott and several of the movies he's made over the years. There is nothing wrong with a director who finds a niche and sticks with it.  Whole careers have been made off that premise.  But in Scott's case, I'm struggling to think of a director currently working in Hollywood who has become more cliched, more of a stereotype of himself than Scott.  His movies are good, mindless flicks that require no thinking at all.  But seriously, I feel like I could do a movie for him with all his personal touches and audiences might not know the difference.  Unstoppable is like that, one cliche after another.  The movie isn't bad, but it's not good either.

On his first day at a new job as a train conductor for a railroad line in Pennsylvania, Will Colson (Chris Pine) is assigned to work with veteran engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) hauling 20 rail cars from one stop to another. Arriving at her office, yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) receives a call that one of her trains is loose on the tracks with no one on board controlling it. The report says it's a coaster, a train that should be easily stopped, but it isn't. The half-mile long train is picking up speed, and with thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and seven cars of a dangerous chemical, it is becoming an immense missile heading into a highly populated area full of towns every few miles. All sorts of rescue efforts are brought up, but it may come down to Will and Frank riding their engine backwards, desperately trying to catch up to the runaway train, latch on and brake it before it derails. But is there enough time?

Yes, of course there's enough time. Did you really think a major studio release starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine was going to have a downer ending? Shame on you if you did. This has to be one of the most cliched movies I've ever seen. The trailer I'll link to later basically throws everything at the wall with the hope that something sticks, something makes the audience nervous.  A train full of little kids is on the same track as the runaway train. A horse trailer is almost smashed to bits. Washington's character is about to be fired. Pine's character is having struggles back at the old homestead with the wife. There is nothing here that you won't have seen before. Nothing at all.  It's never boring, but you certainly have that feeling of having been there and done that with countless other movies.

You can't chalk that all up to Scott because the script is obviously a major contributor to the damage.  Some of it though? Oh, yeah, the blame goes on his shoulders.  Tony Scott has a very distinctive, unique shooting style.  His editing is fast, even choppy and hard to decipher at times, throwing countless quick cuts and images at you in an almost non-stop barrage.  With a story like this, that is almost necessary.  It keeps things going, adding to the sense of urgency settling in on all these people desperately trying to stop the runaway train.  But just like the issues with the story, it's the same thing over and over again.  If you saw Man on Fire, Taking of Pelham 123, Deja Vu, Spy Game, Enemy of the State (all movies I like and recommend), you've seen it all, and Scott feels like he's mailing it in here.  Not the director's best work.

The saving grace amidst all the chaos is Washington -- one of Hollywood's most bankable stars -- being paired with Pine -- one of Hollywood's up and coming stars.  In the worst movies, Denzel is worth watching, and that's no different here. He is as natural, as easygoing, as personable as any movie star I've ever seen. The fact that his character is basically a rehash of the one he played in Pelham 123 is a minor thing. His chemistry with Pine is great, their dialogue scenes so perfect you question if this movie could have been so much better if more time could have been focused on these two guys.  I've had a crush for years on Rosario Dawson so I'll basically watch anything she's in. Her part is one that just about any actress could play, but she's good nonetheless.  Also worth mentioning is Ethan Suplee as Dewey, the conductor who let his train go rogue, Kevin Dunn as a railroad exec trying to figure out what to do, Kevin Corrigan as a railroad safety expert helping Dawson, and Lew Temple as a railroad employee who may be a wild card in solving the situation.

Watching this based on a true story movie, I was never bored. How could a suicidal runaway train not be interesting, right? But that's it. There's nothing else. At 98 minutes, the movie felt stretched out, like Scott used everything he had at his disposal to get it to that length. The portrayal of the media coverage is interesting as incidents like this in the modern world of a 24/7 news cycle don't go unnoticed.  But though it may try for all it's worth, the movie never amounts to anything other than mindless -- very mindless -- entertainment.  Know what you're getting, and hopefully you'll get some enjoyment out of it.

Unstoppable <---trailer (2010): ** 1/2 /****   

Eagle Eye

As far back as Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968, movies have been warning us not to become too reliant on technology, be it computers, cell phones, automated weapons systems, you get my drift. But as the movies show, we're pretty dumb overall so if technology makes things easier then we're all for it. Last year's Eagle Eye continued this trend in the form of an action thriller that I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would going in.

Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, your typical underachiever who has some potential to do things with his life but chooses to do otherwise. He works at the Copy Cabana after dropping out from Stanford, but one day finds $750,000 in his bank account and an apartment full of ammonium nitrate and high-tech military weapons. His cell phone rings and a woman tells him he has 30 seconds to get out of his apartment before the FBI shows up to arrest him. Of course, Jerry is suspicious, I guess I would be too, and doesn't believe her.

Across town, a similar thing is happening to Rachel Holloman, played by the very beautiful Michelle Monaghan, a single mom who has just sent her son to Washington DC with his class to play at the Kennedy Center. The woman on the phone tells Rachel she must do everything she says or else her son's train will derail. So begins a movie that doesn't slow down until the very end. Is the whole movie kinda ridiculous? You bet, but that's part of the fun. In this day and age, most people's lives are so closely tied to their phones, Blackberries, IPODS, and other technological advances, so a movie that plays on the fear that it's the technology ruling us is as timely as it will ever be.

Going into Eagle Eye, I hadn't liked either big LaBeouf movie, he was okay in Indy 4, and all-around bad/annoying in Transformers, so I had low expectations. With the right part here where his character is as much in the dark as the viewer as to what's happening, he was pretty good. However, the pessimist in me says the ending was a bit of a cop-out as to how his character is dealt with. Monaghan joins Shia as the female lead and does a reliable job with a stereotypical character. There isn't much development in either character, the basic outline is explained with their backgrounds, and vamoose, we're off! In the supporting cast, Billy Bob Thornton jumps out as one of the better parts, a wisecracking FBI agent just trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

The movie has its flaws, but it isn't enough to distract from the overall product. The story moves along too fast for you to even think about the flaws. It's an exciting movie, and a timely one, that's worth a watch if nothing else. And always remember that someone is listening, in this case, your cell phone. I always knew those things were evil.

One thing I'll never complain about, the original teaser trailer that was shown in theaters. It's one of the better teasers I've seen in quite awhile.