Canadian Bacon

1995’s “Canadian Bacon”, written and directed by Michael Moore.
Starring John Candy, Alan Alda, G.D. Spradlin, Kevin J. Conner, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Pollak, Rip Torn, Bull Nunn, Steven Wright, and Wallace Shawn.

It’s hard to imagine Michael Moore making a fictional film. Moore was the editor of Harpers magazine before getting fired and settling out of court with them for his severance. He used the settlement money to make 1989’s documentary, “Roger and Me”, and his career as a filmmaker was born. Moore has (for better or worse) arguably done more for the documentary medium than any other film maker, and with an Oscar for 2003’s “Bowling For Columbine”, his place in history is secure.

Moore has stated that his view of the differences between Canadians and Americans was that Canadians had the ability to make fun of themselves, and were intelligent enough to understand satire. To prove this, he makes “CB”, a satire that pokes fun at Canadians, through the lens of the so called ugly American. Centred mainly around the Niagara Falls region, we see the depressed area of Buffalo, mostly due to an arms factory closing down after it’s CEO (Spradlin) closes down the operation due to “too much peace” from the end of the Cold War. While having a fire sale for citizens on automatic weapons and bazookas, the president of the U.S. (Alda) stops by, only to realize that his popularity is flagging. Desperate for a second term, Alda enlists the help of his National Security Advisor (Pollak) and Head General (Torn), who with quite a bit of manipulation from Spradlin, advise that the best course of action is to start a war against Canada. You can see why: differences such as the metric system, mayonnaise, futuristic Zamboni technologies, and Neil Young, beg for a comeuppance. After a brief propaganda campaign, followed by ice skates and Molson Canadian being banned, the Americans (such as Perlman and Candy) begin to run amok in Canada in the name of freedom. When Spradlin’s ruthless republican heel threatens to start WWIII with his recklessness, a hero (whether on purpose or accidental) will need to step up to prevent Mutually Assured Destruction against the Canucks.

CB can be a little frustrating. While it has jokes aplenty and at times can hit levels of Strangelovian genius, it also feels very one dimensional and low budget in it’s corniness. Bits such as not being able to use lethal hit squads against Caucasians are brilliant, but major plot details like sheriffs going across the border to litter as part of the war effort can feel like they were written on a cocktail napkin. CB can be best appreciated as a primer to 1997’s superior “Wag the Dog”, which is as bitingly funny and caustic as it gets, while telling a much better crafted story (or even bits of 1999’s “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut”). Ultimately, CB’s place in history will be the arrogant notion of misunderstanding from individuals who believe that Moore has made just another documentary about the sleepy and dopey citizens north of the 49^th parallel. Not caring to know the differences and similarities between the 2 neighbour nations will always be a pork barrel of opportunity for socially aware entertainers and commentators.

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

2016's "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back", directed by Edward Zwick.

Starring Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh.

2012’s “Jack Reacher” brought the author Lee Childs’ series about a travelling U.S. military ex major to the silver screen. At the time, there was a public outcry about the enraging and criminally oppressive casting of Tom Cruise, that resulted in the film grossing more than 3 times it’s $60 million budget. The studio was so intimidated by the public’s visceral reaction to the casting of everybody’s favourite couch jumping scientologist, that they made another film 4 years later.

“NGB” features Cruise back, employed as a freelancer for the military. An old military friend (Smulders) is framed, and Cruise has to investigate deeper without getting framed as well, by the conspiratorial powers that be. Complicating things, is the discovery of a possible daughter, a teenager whom at this point wants nothing to do with him.

This is a disturbingly borderline Made for TV Movie territory. Despite this sequel possessing a larger budget of 90 million, “NGB” appears very cheap, with 2 stars and a literal army of extras, combined with plenty of locales that often are used by more “fringe” productions. Very little of that money appears to have been used on the script (co-written by 3 people), with cliché being the modus operandi as our hero continually reminds baffled army personnel that it's, "Ex-Major". Cruise is no nonsense and seemingly immune to appearing his age (the film’s greatest special effect), but his borderline flirting with Smulders is odd and disjointed, the paternal instincts unrealized, and the final conclusion to the story’s corrupt military hullabaloo feels like something out of a Bazooka Joe comic strip. How it all ends I won't spoil, but it's nice to know celebrities are still willing to ride with Greyhound.

2.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

To Catch a Thief

1955's "To Catch a Thief", directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams, and Brigitte Auber.

Hitchcock is of course hailed as an auteur master of suspense and tension, and his "Vertigo" regularly dukes it out with Welles' "Citizen Kane" for consideration of the greatest film of all time. However, "To Catch a Thief" plays it cool, with much less suspense than your typical Hitchcockian fare.

Focusing on the exploits of a retired jewel thief (Cary Grant), he lives in the South of France, and discovers that he needs to clear his name after the exploits from a copycat burglar put him at risk with the authorities. Grace Kelly shows up as the wealthy daughter of a potential target, who sees through Grant's charms. Their chemistry is palpable (I'm curious if their scene where they make out while fireworks flash in the background inspired the term, "...and then fireworks ensued?") and a treat. “TCaT” also won an Oscar for best cinematography, as Hitchcock was experimenting with wide angle lenses now common place today. But there isn't much else there, other than some overt commentary on how nice being casually rich is.

 It was really interesting to watch the scene where Kelly recklessly speeds their car through twisty roads, as that was what killed her in real life. Fun and effortless as entertainment, can only so far it seems. By the end, you have to wonder if the surprise twist wasn’t the person it needed to be for maximum effect. This is one thief that is guilty of underachievement.

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.

The Dinner

2017’s “The Dinner”, written and directed by Oren Moverman.

Starring Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Richard Gere, Rebecca Hall, Chloe Sevigny, Michael Chernus.

“Dinner” is a drama about 2 couples meeting together for dinner. At a luxurious restaurant, their fuzzy level of dysfunction is magnified in the artificially mannered setting. Coogan plays a high school teacher/writer, who is at the level of functioning in his relationship with his partner (Linney) that they argue through rooms. Gere plays his brother, a governor elect with a politicized wife (Hall). Both the couples have children, and the cousins’ actions will heavily factor into the conversation as the night goes on. As the courses are announced on screen (“Digestifs”, etc), we also flashback to what the cousins did that has caused such uproar, and gain insight into who these characters are. Based off the 2009 Dutch novel by Herman Koch, this is the 3^rd film adaption (the other 2 being Dutch and Italian).

You would think that the 3^rd time’s a charm when it comes to adapting the satirical source material, but the movie here suffers from a general lack of focus. Moverman’s hazy and colourful stylistic choices for flashbacks don’t help. Neither does possibly the first cinematic PTSD montage from a non soldier while visiting a war memorial. The clumsy lack of rhyme or reason narration also suffer. The movie speaks of mental illness, and shows the perspective of a character struggling through it and the family member’s attempts to help, but all the characters could use some therapy here. Coogan is solid, with him verging between calm detachment and a nervous breakdown. Linney is complex, as his overly helpful partner who believes she can pay off and erase the past so that it doesn’t haunt them later. Hall is wonderful as well, as the conscienceless wife of a governor who wears sunglasses at night and likes being the woman behind the powerful man. Gere ironically plays the one who has the most scruples, a politician who knows a bitter pill may pay off for better optics, at the cost of the current campaign. Really, the actors involved deserve better, being awash in cognitive dissonance. “Dinner”’s lack of focus creates a generally too long vibe, but also finally pops up an interesting final act that revs up, before falling flat at the end again. It makes me pine for other incendiary comedy of manners going to hell, such as 2011’s “Carnage”. It’s fitting that a character here refers to themselves as Gettysburg, as “Dinner” feels like it goes on too long, before a conclusion that satisfies few people.

2/5

Trailer: Click Here.

The Lego Batman Movie

2017’s “The Lego Batman Movie”, directed by Chris McKay.

Starring Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis, Conan O’ Brien, Doug Benson, Billy Dee Williiams, Zoe Kravitz, Eddie Izard, Channing Tatum, Jenny Slate, Hector Elizondo, and Jonah Hill. 

2014’s “Lego Movie” was a lot of fun, featuring catchy songs and zippy characters not afraid to make fun of themselves and their respective universes. Prominently featured in the supporting cast, was Batman (Arnett), angry enough to growl along the soundtrack, but never dark enough to dampen the saturation of the brightly coloured brick world.

Immediately, as we watch the various logos of “LBM” emerge, along with Batman’s narration of his thoughts on the Warner Brothers studios, we know we’re back for a mildly irreverent romp poking fun at this immersive comic book universe. We see Batman and his shredded abs, alone kicking the butts of the criminals of Gotham, as always. However, with the help of Alfred the Butler (Fiennes), Batman is forced to evaluate his lone wolf family-less ways. We’re introduced to the witless Dick Grayson (Cera), adopted by Alfred, who we’re not sure could be helpful to Batman. Forcing the action, is the Joker (Galifianakis), who as always gets inside Batman’s head and enlists the help of a variety of super villains from other classic pop culture franchises to storm the city of Gotham. With the lego attack on, Batman has to accept help from others in order to save the hard plastics city.

“LBM” looks fantastic and has plenty of chuckle worthy moments, both in the foreground and background (the shout out to 1992’s “Passenger 57” is a nice one). It can be a little chaotically over the top and swings on a well worn path at times, as well as bafflingly not letting Ralph Fiennes voice the Voldemort character. Despite that, “LBM”  is a welcome addition to the family friendly entertainment canon. As the movie teaches, no (bat)man is a (bat)island, and it’s no fun to laugh at the cloyingly bad end scenes of 1996’s “Jerry Maguire” by yourself.

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

CHiPS

2017’s “CHiPS”, written and directed by Dax Shepard.

Starring Dax Shepard, Michael Pena, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Brody, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Kristen Bell, Rosa Salazar, and Jessica McNamee.

Hollywood loves recycling. Reboots, sequels, prequels, adaptations from television shows: all grist for the mill of Tinseltown.
It’s not hard to see why: you take an already established (and successful) blueprint, and throw a "adapted from television" or “part 2” on it to market to your target audience.
CHIPS the television show (when not replacing it’s stars due to contract disputes) was always a buddy-cop dynamic accompanied by some action scenes where the bad guys get blown away- a format perfected by auteurs such as Shane Black in his “Lethal Weapon” series and Walter Hill’s “48 Hours” series.

But current tastes sometimes will also sneak into the present/future nostalgia. The “48 Hours” time period depicted was blatantly racist and sexist, with black people treated not much differently than a hundred years ago, and with women around to scream in distress and provide company when the lights went down. Here, we see the opportunity for homophobia to be discussed amongst the sexism and very casual relationships, somewhat of a shallow call to evolution.

In “CHiPS” we meet Michael Pena’s character, an FBI agent fond of both going undercover and casual relationships with the opposite sex. We know that he’s good at his job, since when during a getaway he gives fellow thieves advice on how to hang on to roof handles in a car- and they follow it... He gets a new assignment, where he is placed on a California Highway Patrol unit where it’s suspected rogue officers (D'Onofrio, McNamee) are using company means to make themselves rich in the drug trade through the transport of art pieces as money laundering. Shepard, who has damaged his body from his high jump exploits as an ex-daredevil, evil knievel type, is presented as going through some serious marital difficulties, and joins the force to try to repair his marriage. The bro pair form an awkward couple at first, with Shepard having a handle on speaking like a therapist and being comfortable enough in his sexuality to comment on Pena’s dislike of his bro inspired embraces while barely clothed. However, Shepard’s observations on Pena’s relationship patterns and knowledge of crime scene analysis and motorcycle logistics prove worthy, and the 2 eventually resemble superheroes once the FBI’s budget is tapped. Somewhat close to the spirit of the “21 Jump Street” movies but closer to “Pineapple Express”, “CHiPS” has it’s funny moments, but will be tough to remember once the rubber hits the road.

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Alien: Covenant

2017’s “Alien: Covenent” directed by Ridley Scott.

Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo, and Demián Bichir.

What is it about?

The 6^th standalone Alien movie in the series, “AC” takes place in 2104- 15 years after the events of Prometheus. Deep in space, we meet some of the crew on the Covenant ship, carrying thousands of colonizers deep in cryogenic sleep. They are watched over by the android, Walter (Fassbender). The ship experiences technical difficulties, some of the pods malfunction, and they lose their captain. Thrust into a replacement role, Crudup is forced to take command. With the original captain and others being mourned, morale is low. A signal of some kind is found from a nearby planet, and the combination of ease combined with dismay over the prospect of having to go back to their pods for more cryosleep until getting to the original destination planet, causes them to send a party to the nearby planet for exploration. The crew touches down, and quickly finds an environment accepting of their host bodies. We also reconnect with David (Fassbender, again), the android from Prometheus, who has been mysteriously busy over the last decade and a half.

Why is it worth seeing?

“AC” initially returns to the clinical idealized perfection of 2012’s “Prometheus” as we are shown the initial birth of David, who calls himself this after viewing Michelangelo’s classic statue. But when on the integral planet, in his own turf, we see a much more gothic and uneven decorative touch from the self anointed creator. Closer in tone to “The Island of Dr. Moreau” than “Alien”, (for better or worse) Fassbender’s double duty is the star of the show. His character(s)’ questions alluding to creation, the point of life, and which gods are worth serving propel the franchise into territory not previously seen before. The Alien movies are no longer about the alien franchise as we know it, with “AC” repeating “Prometheus”’ patterns of changing the way the aliens hatch/spawn, impregnate, mature, and look, with the gestation process now resembling something akin to instant coffee. Instead, they’re about the nightmare of artificial intelligence, and how humans have been surpassed in the evolutionary food chain, a different kind of alien. With all due respect to Waterston and McBride’s capable heroes, Alien movies are no longer about humans either, with the days of having a kick ass protagonist like Weaver gone, as well as an interesting crew worth getting to know. Even if I’m wrong, the characters here suffer from the same issues as in "Prometheus", with them doing such stupid things that it’s tough not to root for the alien protomorphs regardless. Interesting in it’s idea and originality, but flawed and unemotional in concept, “AC” is the chilly explanation to why Scott chose not to make the sequel to "Blade Runner"- these Alien prequels ARE the sequel(s). There is most definitely a broken covenant here, and in it’s bloody corpse lies the cavity of a different kind of creation.

Rating:

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Fathers' Day

1997’s “Fathers’ Day”, directed by Ivan Reitman.

Starring Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Natassja Kinski, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, and Charlie Hofheimer.

In “FD”, Billy Crystal plays a twice divorced lawyer (now married to Dreyfuss), approached by an old flame (Kinski) who tells him that her teenage son is missing after a fight with her partner (Greenwood). The catch? Crystal’s the father. Crystal then hits the road to find the son he’s never met before, prepared only with a photograph. We then meet the Robin Williams character, playing a manic depressive writer who’s attempt to commit suicide is interrupted by Kinski’s reaching out to him. She also tells Williams that he is the father, and Williams strikes out on the road as well. It doesn’t take long for Crystal and Williams to connect along the way, and figure out their predicament. The manic depressive Williams is inspired by the life affirming news (even if it’s not true), and Crystal comes along, either by curiosity or contractual necessity. Further complicating matters, Greenwood also hits the road in search of his step son.

Filmed in 1997, the film feels at least a decade dated, both in concept and it’s fading stars’ charisma (and mulleted hair). While it may at times resemble a hackneyed version of 1988’s superior “Midnight Run”, it’s closer in spirit to “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and “Weekend at Bernie’s”. The only thing about the film that does feel relevant for it’s respective time, is the awkward corporate synergy between the movie’s characters and the band, Sugar Ray. Not once, but twice, do we get to see the two hit wonder in concert action, not counting the backstage scene. To boost this premise, we also get a mime appearance, as well as a bizarre Mel Gibson cameo. For a comedy, “FD” is devoid of laughs, and the home run gags, such as a comatose teenager being cleaned in the shower while both the person on the phone and a nosy bellhop confuse what is going on with pedophilia and swinging, don’t just fall short- they keel over in a an explosion of dumpster fire dust.

It’s shocking that Williams appeared here in the same year that he won an Oscar for his work on “Good Will Hunting”. There is an awkward scene where he does his signature rapid fire impressions, but the rest of the movie he wavers between shrill hysteria and insecurity that made my skin crawl. And that’s before you contrast his character with the wounded man who would ultimately take his own life in 2014. There’s also very little chemistry between him and Crystal, with Williams’ mental instability poorly meshing with Crystal’s bizarrely miscast tough Type A personality phoniness, as they both become son smitten. Greenwood’s presence in the film is a shame too, with him appearing in the superior “The Sweet Hereafter” the same year as well. Here, his character is an afterthought, confined to the comedy hell of being tipped in an outhouse, before just abandoning his search for his step child. Perhaps worst of all, Hofheimer’s teenager character isn’t wayward and developing- he’s a sociopathic creep- though in his defence he’s much like his mother who has no problem lying to the 2 main characters that she uses as volunteer bounty hunters by lying about their paternity. Crystal sees through the charade and explains how great it is- but it’s not. Sounds like the movie itself. This Father’s Day, it would be best to watch… anything else.

1.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

John Wick 2

2017’s “John Wick: 2”, directed by Chad Stahelski.

Starring Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, McShane, Ruby Rose, Lawrence Fishburne, Peter Stomare, John Leguizamo, and Lance Reddick.

In the first John Wick movie, we saw a retired hitman (Reeves), brought out of retirement after his dog was killed by Russian gangsters (Spoiler alert: Reeves came out ahead while proving he was a murderous man of principle). In the sequel, we see Reeves back for more, initially miffed at how his car had been stolen by more Russian gangsters (lead by an over the top Peter Stomare). After sorting out an Uber issue, the film explores more of the ironic principles of the hitman world. Reeves is given an offer by Scamarcio that he cannot refuse, to kill his sister so that Scamarcio can be the leader of a syndicate. Dispatched to Rome, we see the standard getting ready for action montage as Reeves reluctantly goes to work.

Unfortunately (for Reeves), the Italy job is just the tip of the iceberg, as the plot thickens with treachery, bullets, and dynamic subtitles. One of the stranger and most unique action movies around, the sequel expands upon the original’s simplicity (and protagonist’s blankness), as we see more luxury hotel safe zones for assassins (must be quite the chain), more casual hitmen in a universe filled with nothing but them, a homeless group’s unlimited kingdom of riches, loyal concierge that double as dog sitters, and a hotel manager who seems to have omnipotent powers. By the end, as Reeves’ affectless hitman is ducking in a “Enter the Dragon” crossed with “Neon Demon”’s set design, we want to know where this is going. As an underling states in the beginning of the film- “Huh. Why don’t we just give him back his car?”

3/5


Trailer: Click Here.

Free Fire

2017’s “Free Fire”, directed by Ben Wheatley.

Starring Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor, Babou Ceesay, Sam Riley, Enzo Cilenti, and Jack Reynor.

A modern exercise in B movie genre filmmaking with B list actors, “FF” doesn’t waste much time trying to reinvent the wheel. Based in Boston (with a lot of out of towners) during the 1970’s, we see 1 group (lead by Cillian Murphy), possibly connected to a Irish terrorist gang, there to buy automatic weapons. They meet up with another group (lead by Sharlton Copely), there to sell them the weapons. Initially, they meet outside on the docks, but like 1992’s “Reservoir Dogs”, spend the rest of the movie inside a warehouse. Despite the calming and battle hardened presence of Hammer as the dealers’ security, grudges, crosses, and then double crosses, are made, and the deal quickly becomes anything but.

Given the 1.1 settings in total throughout the movie, “FF” could have been a slog, but this is a slam bang thriller that knows what it is, and goes for it. Wheatley is proving himself to be a very distinctive director, with unique fare such as 2011’s “Kill List” and 2015’s “High Rise” also worth seeing. It’s difficult not to label “FF” an update on the Tarantino rip offs so prevalent in the late 90’s, but it offers a sarcastic freshness that quickly turns into a mélange full of rubble, dirt, and lead. Indeed, despite several characters such as Murphy, Smiley, Ceesay, and Larsen being level headed and professional, not a character escapes unscathed, as they all end up crawling around on the floor in pain, as allegiances and line of sight continually change. A reality show’s nostalgic fever dream, “FF” empties it’s chambers empty by the time the credits roll.

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

War Machine

2017’s “War Machine”, directed by David Michôd.

Starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hayes, John Magaro, Anthony Michael Hall, Ben Kingsley, Emory Cohen, Toper Grace, Alan Ruck, Tilda Swinton, and Meg Tilly.

War movies can be difficult to make in the sense that you really shouldn’t enjoy them- if they accurately depict combat between separate nation states involving people dying honour-less, gruesome deaths, it’s grim entertainment. And if it’s entertaining in a superficial way, it’s flippantly sociopathic and homicidal. Throw in the concept of satire (a la “Dr. Strangelove”), and the waters become even murkier.

Based off of the Michael Hastings novel, “The Operators: The Wild And Terrifying Inside Story Of America’s War In Afghanistan” (itself based off of his Rolling Stone article, “The Runaway General”), we meet Brad Pitt in the role of the eventually disgraced four star NATO General, Stanley McChrystal. He is sent into Afghanistan to settle the region of insurgents, while President Obama orders to withdraw troops against McChrystal’s wishes. He has a small platoon of yes men to stroke his ego and further his goals, all while living a life of rigid consistency and minimal married life that smacks of cognitive dissonance.

“WM” does itself few favours. The clumsy narration by the Rolling Stone journalist character that guides the movie violates the most sacred rule of screenwriting: show, don’t tell. Worse, it also seems confused about if we’re honouring the general, or showing his infamous descent, and also if it’s showing how awful modern warfare is through satire, or celebrating the military movie. While featuring a fantastic field scene involving a soldier clearly suffering from PTSD, the rest of the movie gives us little to do but watch Pitt make some baffling choices as to how to portray McChrystal. Here, he channels his “Inglorious Basterds” military machismo and “Burn After Reading”’s unbridled enthusiasm, with a painfully awkward dose of the most jogging scenes in a movie since “Forrest Gump”. Pitt’s role is propped up by his one note sycophants, leading to a general lack of characters to follow. The afore mentioned PTSD soldier, and Tilda’s Swinton’s journalist character, are notable exceptions- can we watch movies about them instead?

2.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Chinatown

1974’s “Chinatown”, directed by Roman Polanski.

Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, and Roman Polanski.

Winner of an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (Robert Towne).

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Dunaway), Best Director (Polanski), Best Cinematography (John A. Alonzo), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Richard Sylbert, W. Stewart Campbell, Ruby R. Levitt), Best Costumes (Anthea Sylbert), Best Sound (Charles Grenzbach, Larry Jost), Best Editing (Sam O’Steen), and Best Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith).

“Cadillac Desert” by Marc Reisner, described the ambitious work overtaken by the US core of engineers to dramatically reshape the flow of fresh waters to the more arid areas of the Western United States. Often, land rights and resource allocation logistics involved the use of chicanery by corrupt officials, inspired by wealthy individuals contributing to their bank balances. “Chinatown”, is a fictionalized movie operating from this premise. Based in 1937 Los Angeles, we meet degenerate private eye Nicholson, who runs an investigation firm. With his former job as an district attorney in the Chinatown district, he knows the ins and outs of the justice system. He’s initially hired by a woman to follow a waterworks official against the damming of the region- who quickly turns up dead. This is just the beginning of a labyrinthian plot that keeps us spinning until things come to a brutal halt.

Director Polanski, who has had one of the more traumatizing lives that I know of, fought for the film’s sombre ending against Paramount’s ego maniac and sexual weirdo head producer, Robert Evans, and thankfully won. It’s perfect, like all of the other elements in this film. Nicholson’s role is masterful here, playing a cynical detective who believes in the worst of people- but who wants to physically fight people who suggest he’s a scam artist. His detective is smooth and purposeful, but working in shades of subtlety that would almost completely disappear by his third acting Oscar two and a half decades later. Equally great is Dunaway, who continually reveals more to the character that deepens it’s depth while always leaving yet more questions to be answered. Finally, Huston is devastating here, as a powerful magnate who’s greed and deception is matched only by his perversions and creepiness.

This is an intoxicating neo noir mystery, perfectly written by Robert Towne- while what we originally thought about some of the characters changes, it just keeps burrowing deeper and deeper. It’s best not to reveal the plot, so that one can enjoy the ride it takes you on. At 2:11 hours long, it seems to have no end in sight, with the impeccable script spinning in circles, until the credits roll too soon. It’s been said that Towne based some of Chinatown’s ideas on vice cops’ experiences who worked in LA’s Chinatown. Due to the influence of a variety of non English dialects and gangs, it was unclear to police if their presence helped, or further exploited the people living there. As Nicholson says, when working there he did as, “little as possible”. It’s difficult to change things when your salary depends on you not changing them. As we see in the dust bowl of Southern California, we all swim in the same water that’s owned by the privileged few.

5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

The Girlfriend Experience

2009’s “The Girlfriend Experience”, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Starring Sasha Grey and Chris Santos.

What is it about?

“GE” is a simple story about a Call girl/Escort who charges her Manhattan clients $2000 an hour for her services. Obviously she can sleep with them, but she will also go out with them, attend events, and even just listen. She calls it, “The Girlfriend Experience.” Grey later explains the target audience for her services: nobody wants you to be yourself. If they did, they wouldn’t be paying you- they want you to be who they think you are.
With that ideology in tow, we watch Grey glide through Manhattan, from client to client, and occasionally switch gears to see how her boyfriend (Santos), is making out with his respective business as a personal trainer. He seems okay with the fact that she is an escort, and likely makes 10 times more an hour than he does, as he struggles to get to where he needs to go with his business.

Why is it worth seeing?

Grey, an adult film star (at the time), tries to experiment with making mainstream films (modest ones: with it’s under $2 million budget, “GE” is not exactly a summer blockbuster). The results are mixed. Grey seems to be a chameleon who is good at making her character’s clients feel that she is a blank slate ready for assimilation of their various needs, but she also can have a very flat effect and be of one note (I recall her struggles in 2012’s, “Would You Rather?”).
Her character enjoys living the Madison Avenue lifestyle, but we don’t really get to know her- which is a challenge considering the movie has so few characters to focus on. While at times Grey’s character shows herself as having plenty of street smarts, displaying proper boundaries with clients and creeps who have plans for them to get rich together if she will just offer them a freebie, her character’s spontaneous decision to break a rule of hers is baffling. Santos reacts appropriately, and Grey’s character doubles down as if it had been a temporary decision to live with a boyfriend who actually cares for her anyways.

More fascinating is the climate of this particular time in American history, the US financial meltdown of 2008. This means a large part of the conversations had (for both characters here) are based around the financial sector, or at least income in general. The majority of Grey’s clients offer advice (buy gold...), and others tell her she’s figuratively screwed (the literal also applies at times).
Soderbergh, the most prolific and versatile director (at least in the U.S.) of the 2000-2010 decade, makes more of his handheld, quick and dirty indy product here. He displays his signature experiments with time and sound (always thrilling to me), but the script may not be worthy of his talents. It feels at times like a slightly overlong television episode, rather than a feature length movie (it clocks in at 1:18 with credits). For cinematic lovers, "The Girlfriend Experience" is something to consider, but so is celibacy.

Rating:

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.