New Line Cinema (Left to right) Kevin
Costner, Bruce Greenwood, and
Steven Culp star in the political drama "Thirteen
Days".
“˜Tis the season for hot buttery popcorn and cool darkened
movie theaters. Holiday film feasting, however, does not have to
include the jolly green Carrey and the family man Cage. This
season’s flicks include choreographed fighting, nuclear
holocaust and Edith Wharton. Take a sneak peak at a few of the
non-seasonal movies vying for the holiday box office.
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” Starring
Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen Directed by
Ang Lee
Action pictures are notorious for opening in a pyrotechnic,
violently epileptic fashion. The hero surges out of a
highly-combustible object, does an olympic-qualifying vault, lands
amid a group of evil-doers and proceeds to massacre them with
genocidal glee while still showcasing his martial artistry. Thou
shalt not toil with exposition or dialogue in a film of action.
Director Ang Lee’s return to Chinese cinema, “Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” violates the holy commandments of
cinematic beat-em-ups. The film opens quietly, taking time to
introduce the characters rather than to post them up and shoot them
down as kung-fu aesthetics dictate. What makes “Crouching
Tiger” so good, unusual and even bold is that it devotes as
much attention to action as it does to human emotion and
characters. It is as entertaining as it is poignant. The film
revolves around two couples. The first consists of a respected and
legendary warrior Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), wise in combat, but
ignorant in the art of love. Li decides to relinquish custody of
his magnificent sword, Green Destiny, and retire. Yu Shu Lien
(Michelle Yeoh) is Li’s colleague, friend and would-be lover.
The two can fight together but are unable to properly declare their
love, partially due to hesitancy as well as past and professional
responsibilities. Also centripetal to the saga is Jen Yu (Zhang
Ziyi), wild and free-flowing, envious of Shu Lien’s nomadic
and dynamic life, but trapped in a marriage arranged by her
aristocratic parents. Her true love, the desert bandit Lo (Chang
Chen), is in turn, barricaded by their social status. Jen is quick
to form a sisterly bond with Shu Lien. The characters of the film
are awesome and god-like. They occupy a magnificently mythical
version of China, elaborated by the panning landscapes of desert
terrain, valleys, dales, cities and bamboo forests. The fights,
choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping (“The Matrix”) transcend
the norm; they are familiar yet manage to evoke a sense of awe as
the heroes and villains leap from building to building, fight in
tree tops, skim across water and cut loose with literally every
weapon in the arsenal. The fighting, rather than being visceral and
meaty is gracefully passionate ““ a combative ballet of pathos
and humor that does not merely puppet the characters through kicks
and punches. The films attention to characterization is beautiful,
with a villainess that is more than a raving megalomaniac. She is a
driven, stubborn and spurned woman ““ first by the warrior
class and then by her beloved protegé. But, by the
film’s finale, the characters have come to terms with
themselves. What happens at the end is a major sacrifice ““
sad, strangely transcendent and fulfilling. Physically, the
characters may occupy the realm of gods and deities, but
emotionally, they are ground in humanity. “Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon” though lacking the length of an epic, has
grandiosity. It is an eclectic mixture of Chinese and Western
cinema, relishing in high-tension wire-fu as much as detailed
operatic emotion.
Ryan Joe Rating: 10
“Thirteen Days” Starring Kevin Costner,
Bruce Greenwood and Stephen Culp Directed by Roger
Donaldson
With missiles striking Hollywood and a tag line reading
“You’ll never believe how close we came,” the
poster for “Thirteen Days” contains more drama and
explosions than audiences are likely to find in this hyped up
history book of a movie. In the film directed by Roger Donaldson,
the drama surrounding the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is explored in
full, excruciating depth. Through the perspective of presidential
aide Kenneth O’Donnell, played drearily by Kevin Costner, the
tension builds slowly as facts about the Soviet Union’s
placement of nuclear weapons in Cuba are unveiled. At the crux of
the situation are President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood), and
his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Stephen Culp). With
blood thirsty military advisers begging for war, these three
characters alone must decide the destiny of the world. While the
fate of the free world is usually a compelling subject, it is not
enough to move “Thirteen Days” beyond a tired trek
through history. Weaned on generations of action films, moviegoers
have a love of disaster, and the eventual avoidance of nuclear
holocaust is ultimately a let down. The hours of tension are not
relieved, but just mildly eased and unfulfilling. While overplaying
a character is never forgivable, underplaying one is forgettable.
It appears as though Donaldson directed Costner, Greenwood and Culp
to strive for the appearances of inner struggle and internal
conflict. It comes off, however, looking as though everyone is too
tired to care. Greenwood’s version of JFK shows the national
icon as weak and needing help. Costner bullies both of the
Kennedy’s into action and the real hero behind the crisis
becomes unclear. All three force their accents, which although
convincing, serve to strengthen the fact that these men are actors,
not Kennedys. Perhaps the film’s greatest strength is its
attempt to mix the grand international crisis with the intimate
personal drama. Several scenes with O’Donnell’s wife
and children are shown to support this idea, but are negated by his
apparent lack of feeling for them when national safety becomes his
top priority. While not a disaster, “Thirteen Days”
offers little to compel viewers to rush to the nearest theater.
Everything in this stereotypical political drama may prove more
satisfying if taken from a history book.
David Holmberg Rating: 4
“House of Mirth” Starring Gillian Anderson
and Eric Stoltz Directed by Terence Davies
Sometimes writers write themselves into their work, which is no
doubt the case with Edith Wharton. Wharton stayed in an unhappy
marriage for 28 years due to social forces beyond her control, and
similarly, her characters tend to have their happiness trampled by
the social restrictions they commonly rebel against. Director
Terence Davies has adapted Wharton’s best-selling novel,
“The House of Mirth,” and fashioned an accomplished,
but stifling film. Starring Gillian Anderson and Eric Stoltz, the
film evokes the tragedy of Lily Bart, with the same futility of
Wharton’s own life. Bart (Anderson) is a socialite looking
for marriage to someone who is both well-monied and lovable. She
easily attracts the most eligible bachelors of the elite class.
Unfortunately, she also attracts the married men, and when she is
subtlety accused of adultery, her wit and charm can’t save
her. The film begins at the height of Bart’s prowess, and
slowly depicts her fall from social grace. Davies is unafraid to
make his characters vulnerable. Without the use of quick-editing or
atmospheric music, Davies exposes his actors and forces them to
hold the screen with conviction. This is both refreshing and
dangerous. Because of the film’s unmitigated incisiveness,
the actors seem uneasy, allowing them to bleed on to the screen in
the same way a good writer bleeds on his page. Anderson gives a
good turn as the complex Bart, who is smart, yet naive, moral and
indulgent. She does not stretch far from her equally complex role
on “The X-Files” as Dana Scully. Though giving a
quality performance as usual, Anderson fails to substantially break
away from the television character that unfortunately defines her.
The eclectic supporting cast further adds to a sense of unintended
awkwardness to the picture. Dan Aykroyd has no trouble portraying
the adulterous Gus Trenor, though he seems too restrained. Eric
Stoltz easily slips into his role of Lawrence Selden, the playboy
lawyer whom Bart loves. But, he still seems a bit boyish. Laura
Linney, who plays an annoying, nervous women in “Primal
Fear” and “The Truman Show,” returns with another
annoying character. As Bertha Dorset, she insinuates Bart’s
relationship with her husband. Davies does his absolute best with
the cast, although his strict, vulnerable style makes his
cast’s past work hard to ignore. The supporting cast,
including Elizabeth McGovern, Anthony Lapaglia, Jodhi May, Terry
Kinney and Eleanor Bron, adds authenticity and breadth to the
ensemble. Though Davies tries to make a BBC-type film, it is the
supporting cast who are BBC regulars, in contrast to the main cast
who are known for their American roles. Wharton’s life was a
torture until she garnered the strength to divorce her husband in
1913. She later won the Pulitzer and spent her days surrounded by
intellectuals and friends. Bart’s painful life mirrors
Wharton’s, but unlike Wharton, Bart’s does not end in
relative happiness. Davies skillfully paints an elaborate canvas of
turn-of-the-century New York, but his characters become so stifling
that the tragic end of the film is only mildly cathartic.
Howard Ho Rating: 7