Kim’s Movie Picks

April 26, 2005

 

Don Cheadle stars in this outstanding film, studded with terror and pain, hope and survival. I will warn you that this is not an easy film to watch. In fact, the reason I was watching it at home was because my theatre viewing was cut short, a few weeks ago, when a dear friend decided this film was too intense for her. And so we walked out.

 

It does not matter. This is not a film that loses much by lack of a big screen. In fact, it is such an intimate film that perhaps it is more powerful viewed in your living room.  For this is a film about making the most difficult of choices, under the most difficult of circumstances, and finding courage in the face of brutality.

 

Directed by Terry George, this is the real-life story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, who through a whirlwind of violent circumstances, ends up sheltering and saving over a thousand Rwandan refugees during that country’s civil war.

 

And before you decide that this movie, or its subject, are too brutal for you, you should know that it validates the human spirit – demonstrating that ordinary people have the ability to be more than they are and, when given the choice, may discover that they are willing to sacrifice themselves for what they believe in.

 

Cheadle’s performance is beyond remarkable, it is awe-inspiring. And while I advocated for Jamie Foxx to receive the Oscar this year for his portrayal of Ray Charles, if I had seen this film first, my vote would have been different. Ray is easier to watch; Hotel Rwanda tears at your heart but, ultimately, lifts your spirit high.

 

In my opinion, this is a movie that should be seen by all adults (and very mature teens, 16 or older). It is graphic, in the sense of truth in action – people are cut down and shot in cold blood, but the scenes are not excessive or graphic. They are just there – the power and shock comes from the realization that humans can so easily treat each other so callously, both from their own actions, or, in the case of
Rwanda’s Western allies, by turning their backs on the unspeakable actions of others.

 

It is important to note, that out of all the characters in this movie, Cheadle’s character never touches a gun or any other weapon; he uses his wits, his diplomacy and his humanity to save himself, his family and the refugees.  See this movie.

 

Four stars. Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language. Note that this movie is still playing in some art house theatres, but is now also available to rent.

 

April 11, 2005

Matthew MacConaughey, Penelope Cruz and Steve Zahn, along with William H. Macy, combine their forces against evil in this action-packed drama that owes a lot to Indiana Jones (not to mention Harrison Ford) and maybe a tiny bit to the recent film, National Treasure.

Set in
Africa, this film’s villains include the ever-popular corporate greedmeister and an army general turned dictator.  Sahara is entertaining and even fun, as long as you can completely suspend disbelief in about four or five major plot turnings.  As former Navy buddies, MacConaughey and Zahn’s characters have a long history together and a lexicon of inside stories and impossible maneuvers that get them out of the most preposterous of situations.

Yes, they make MacGyver look like your grandmother.

Cruz is good playing a WHO doctor who has discovered a plague and is searching for its source. Her path through the Sahara crosses with the boys’ and each saves the other a few times before they actually end up traveling together. She and Matt are believable as love interests. However, the real chemistry is between MacConaughey’s character and Zahn’s; they are perfect building blocks for this buddy-film-cum-environmental saga, with a treasure hunt thrown in for good measure.

Three out of four stars, mostly for the solid cast, who looks like they are working really hard. The plot will not win many awards. Lots of explosions, gunfire and a few mildly graphic scenes of plague victims. No nudity, no sex, and surprisingly, very little salty language. Rated PG-13 for action violence.  Fine for most nine year olds as long as they can handle the noise. Good family adventure flick and fine date movie.

The Upside of Anger, starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner, is a meandering, cluttered and confusing treatise on probably the most painful time of anyone’s life: abandonment by the person you love.

This film’s first scene opens at a graveside; whose grave we won’t discover until the very end of the movie, and even then, what should be a major revelation instead falls right in line with the rest of the movie’s emotional grab bag of grief, disbelief and then, irony and detachment.

This is the story of  housewife Terry Wolfmeyer and her four daughters as they attempt to survive their husband/father walking out of their lives abruptly. The daughters are all played by capable actors, (including Keri Russell, of TV’s Felicity), all of whom have love-hate relationships with both their mother and father, and thus switch allegiances, careers and partners throughout the movie, whose timeline spans three critical years.

This film is painful, funny and poignant – it will either take you for one hell of an emotional rollercoaster ride, or just bore you to tears…it depends on where you are in life. Its depictions of parenthood, emotional desolation, and companionship will, at times, knock you flat. And then at other times, (most especially when its main characters drink to access), it will leave you cold.

Directed, written, and produced by Mike Binder (who also plays a key supporting role in the movie), the film could have been more tightly directed and edited, but then perhaps we would have missed the nuances, and in all these relationships, it is ultimately those nuances that tell the real story. These lives are messy, chaotic, filled with sudden, strange choices and just as strange consequences – it is all almost lifelike.

I give it two and a half out of four stars – mostly for the fine performances of Joan Allen, who is amazing in this film, and Kevin Costner, who — once again — plays a down-on-his-luck, world-weary but wise sport star with such grace that he makes it look effortless. Rated R for language, sexual situations, brief comic violence (look for the wedding showdown between the characters played by Joan Allen and Mike Binder) and some drug use (including liberal use of alcohol). Okay for older teens. Only take grandma if she has gone through a divorce.