Married Life: Grade B

B
Married Life (2008)
Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams; Co-writer and director Ira Sachs.

Fine acting is the main attraction in this quasi-noir film set in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s, judging from the cars, décor, costumes and sets, which are perfection for that period. Brosnan shows again that he is a real actor, not just 007, although he does not work as hard here as he did in Matador and Seraphim Falls. Although he is still good looking, he is too old for Rachel McAdams, the girl he steals from his childhood friend, Cooper, a businessman in his 50’s who is really too old for McAdams. Cooper’s character cannot bear to have his wife (Clarkson) learn of his infidelity, so he tries to poison her, and the director had Hitchcockian fun with that part of the plot. Cooper and Clarkson radiate acting talent. Cooper was merely stonefaced as the traitor in Breach, but here he is subtle and nuanced. McAdams tries, but she is only the McGuffin. Directing is also good in quiet scenes filled with meaningful glances or teacup rattling on saucer. Music is good but doesn’t add anything. Overall, the film is not noir enough, does not have a strong sense of style, and the happy ending is unbelievable, destroying whatever dark tone the story had, but still, the acting was far above average, well worth seeing.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day: Grade A

A
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (2008)
Amy Adams, Francis McDormand, Shirley Henderson. Director Bharat Nalluri.

Francis McDormand shines as Miss Pettigrew, an impoverished temp maid-nanny in 1939 London. After getting fired for being eccentric, she connives her way into the home of a fabulously wealthy starlet (Adams), and through a series of misunderstandings and events, manages to make friends with her employer. It is slightly unbelievable that an unemployed maid would have an upper class British accent and character but other than that, McDormand does an excellent job with the fish out of water setup. Her acting is quick, understated, and sophisticated; just perfect. This is her movie. Adams also does a fine job, but her character is supposed to be a ditzy self-centered airhead so she doesn’t have much range to work with. Nevertheless, she nails that characterization.

The starlet has “boyfriend problems” and there are bountiful shopping, parties, and night clubs. The sets are so rich, textured, and sensuous, you can almost touch red velvet and feel cool, polished brass. The art deco set design is fantastic. This movie really should be viewed on a big screen. Jazz and swing period music is wonderful but not intrusive, and the bandstand shots are exciting and creative. Costumes are to die for. You could watch this movie with out any dialog and enjoy the sets and costumes 100%. But the dialog is great. It is all silly stuff, petty jealousies and social conspiracies, but well written, funny, and well delivered in a whirlwind, off the cuff style of the screwball comedies of the ‘30’s and 40’s. Directing is flawless. If you are in the mood for a light romantic comedy that is also an excellent period piece, this movie is about as close to perfection as you could get.

Across the Universe: Grade A

A
Across the Universe (2007)
Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, with Eddie Izzard, Bono, Joe Cocker, and Salma Hayek. Director Julie Taymor

This is not a Beatles movie but a traditional Grease-like musical about the late 1960’s in America, using exclusively Beatles songs. Director Taymor Surveyed 200 songs in the Beatles’ catalog owned by Sony (this is a Sony movie), and arranged a dozen of them to fit a conventional a romance (boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl), set against Vietnam war protests. A young factory worker from Liverpool (Sturgess) comes to New York and falls in love with a girl (Wood) who is working with an anti-war movement. Her brother (Anderson) is drafted and there are antiwar marches, protests and riots until the protagonist is arrested and deported.

The characters sing their way through these events, giving the Beatles’ songs shocking new meanings. For example, Strawberry Fields has Sturgess’ character, a graphic artist, squeezing metaphorical blood from fresh strawberries against images juxtaposed from the war. An animated war poster of Uncle Sam sings, “I Want You” and that morphs into a mind-boggling reconceptualization of “She’s So Heavy.” As that song evolves a fantastic piece of choreography develops in an Army induction center. “Let it Be” becomes a song of utter despair when it is sung in the midst of the Detroit riots of 1967. As for “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” well, it demonstrates the stunning scope of Taymor’s imagination. It’s hard to believe this is the same director who filmed Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus so brilliantly a few years ago.

There is no attempt to recreate the lives, voices and sounds of the Beatles, which would be impossible anyway. Yet the visuals acknowledge landmarks in the well-known Beatles’ story. Eddie Izzard does a show-stopping, Sargeant Pepper-esque number with giant Blue Meanies (alluding to Yellow Submarine). Bono leads a psychedelic crowd seeking a guru in the countryside, in a stereotypical but still beautiful solarized and color-manipulated segment. Yoko-like characters swim underwater. The movie is rich with musical and cultural allusions that survivors of the era and fans of the Beatles will appreciate.

The music is lovingly sung, usually at a slower tempo than we remember, which highlights the beauty of the songs. Their complex production has been excised, revealing stark melodic purity. The singers perform them organically, from the heart, again making the audience reconceptualize them. The young unknown actors are very talented, especially Sturgess. His rendition of the title song makes it completely new. I think if I had not come of age with the music, I still would be enraptured by the brilliance of this movie.

Bobby: Grade D

D

Bobby (2006)

Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Fishburne, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, William Macy, many others. Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez.

This is not a movie about Bobby Kennedy. It is about two dozen ordinary people who were in the hotel where he was shot in 1968. Some short archival clips show him making speeches, adding authenticity to the setting, but there is no exploration of the man, his policies or achievements. It is not a political movie. The two dozen "little people" are played by a huge cast of stars, which implies the Estevez-Sheen family is very well connected in Hollywood, because the roles are all light throwaways and what acting is present is suffocated by the clunky dialog and stereotyped characters. Even Hopkins gasps for air. There is no dramatic tension. We know Kennedy gets shot, and that is dramatized in the last moments, but the preceding hour and a half is an exercise in banality, people worrying about their shoes or the Dodgers. The Vietnam war is vaguely in the background. I give credit for meticulous period sets and costumes, although everything is so new and shiny they are not entirely convincing. Period music burbling in the background is a fine tease (I don’t think I have heard Donovan since 1968). But the script is appallingly mundane and full of anachronisms (Operators did not say “How may I direct your call?” in 1968, and nobody said “Have a nice day.”) If the nostalgia is not even right, what is left? If you did not live through that period, I cannot imagine what possible interest this movie would offer.