$5 A Day: Grade B

B

$5 A Day (2008)

Christopher Walken, Alessandro Nivola, Sharon Stone, Amanda Peet, Peter Coyote; Director Nigel Cole.

This is a silly, sentimental road movie about an old guy (Walken) who has a terminal brain tumor and wants to reconnect with his adult son (Nivola), ostensibly to be driven from Atlantic City to Mexico for treatment, but actually because he wants some love before he dies. The father is a harmless hustler and a con man who gets his morning coffee from a nearby hotel’s lobby service for guests, his free breakfasts at IHOP, where he shows one of his many driver’s licenses “proving” it is his birthday, and drives a PT Cruiser wrapped in pink Sweet N Low advertising (company provided). He ingeniously lives in America for only $5 a day and the movie is ingeniously well-financed with product placements.

His son is an ex-con trying to go straight who is alternately horrified, disgusted, angered, and compassionate with the old man. As on any road trip, situations develop, complications arise, and secrets are revealed. The sentimentality is well leavened by the witty dialog and clever story to make the movie an enjoyable comedy rather than a maudlin family drama. But the bottom line is that Walken is a surprisingly subtle actor who is incapable of uttering a line that does not make you at least smile, and in this movie, usually laugh out loud. That’s not because he “tells jokes” but because he is fundamentally a funny person, with impeccable timing and tone. The movie is well worth seeing just for him, but all the major players (even Stone) do fine work here.

The Lucky Ones: Grade A

A
The Lucky Ones (2008)
Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, Michael Peña; Co-writer & Director Neil Burger

Very strong acting distinguishes this story of three wounded army soldiers returning from the Gulf. Thrown together by a cancelled airline flight, they rent a van and embark on a long road trip. Robbins’ home is visited first but he learns that his wife wants a divorce and his son needs $20K in three weeks for Stanford tuition. McAdams’ expectations are also dashed as she discovers that her dead army boyfriend was a complete fraud. Peña’s character re-thinks his commitment to the army. Along the way, sharing their laughter and tears, the three become friends. We also get several snapshots of how civilian America views its soldiers. The movie conveys a sense of the characters’ simple, uncomplicated, but earnest attitudes and their fish out of water feeling in the “real” (non-military) world. That’s good writing. McAdams is dazzling in this performance, and Robbins is as good as I’ve ever seen him. The film is reminiscent in structure to Heroes, a 1977 film with Henry Winkler as a returning Viet Nam vet, but Lucky Ones lacks the poignancy. The wounds are not severe and are treated with humor. The characters are disoriented and socially inept, but not shunned. This is a lightweight film lacking pathos or message, but the great acting makes it a winner.