3.5 Razors

Men are from Earth, Children are from Mars

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Martian Child
  • IMDb: link

“I don’t want to bring another kid into this world, but how do you argue against loving one that’s already here?”

martian-child-poster

John Cusack stars as David, a science fiction writer who is still dealing with the loss of his wife.  A social worker (Sophie Okonedo), who had been working to place a child with the couple contacts David about a special case.  Dennis (Bobby Coleman) is an odd little kid who spends most of his time in a box, collects (steals) items from other children, and wears a weight belt made of batteries.  Oh, and he thinks he’s a Martian.

You can probably guess where the film goes from here.  David and Dennis have their problems and grow to love each other.  It terms of storytelling the film doesn’t break any new ground, but the script from Seth Bass and Jonathan Tolins, based on the novel by David Gerrold, does hold our interest with smart characters and a story willing to hedge its bets on whether the kid is delusional or actually an alien.

There are some nice supporting performances here in roles that are could have been easily forgettable with less talented actors.  Amanda Peet charmed the socks off me as David’s sister-in-law, Joan Cusack is good as always playing a role she knows well – the sister, and Richard Schiff brings his trademark gruffness to the head of the review board who has the power to take Dennis away from David.  Although none of the characters are that well-written, these actors infuse them with energy and charm; there are several scenes between Peet and Cusack which nearly steal the film.

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We Own the Night

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: We Own the Night
  • IMDb: link

Studio execs love to take a film and change it in some way to make a different film which can play to the same audiences.  Die Hard is a classic example as studios rushed to make Die Hard on a boat (Under Siege), Die-Hard on a plane (Passenger 57, Con Air, Executive Decision), Die-Hard on a train (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory) and many others.  The only other thing execs love more (than easy sequel or adaptations) is to combine two different films.  Now I don’t know for sure that this is how this film came about but I think it went something like this…
“Hey, I got a great idea for a movie.  It came to me as I was watching The Departed”
“I don’t know, I mean Scorsese just did that.”
“No man listen to this.  When I finished the movie and popped out the DVD I turned the cable on and there was that Studio 54 flick with Austin Powers.”
“Yeah?”
“We combine the two films!”
“That’s a great idea!”
“Yeah, we can even cast some of the stars of The Departed.”
“Not Nicholson, he’s way too expensive.  Hmm, what about Marky-Mark?”

We Own the Night

The film’s story centers around nightclub manager Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) whose lifestyle is at odds with his father (Robert Duvall) and brother (Mark Wahlberg) who are hard-nosed NY cops.  When his brother is put in charge of a taskforce to clean up the drugs in the city Bobby is forced to examine his life and choose between his family and his friends and business partners.

What you expect is what you get.  Phoenix acts moody, crazy, and looks like he needs a good night sleep.  Wahlberg is a tough and stand-up guy (sadly without the humor of his Departed character), Duvall is the hardboiled but loving father, and Eva Mendes is the girlfriend (or more accurate – the whining eye-candy).

The story is good though not great and the incident that forces Bobby to help his father and brother is well executed (although I would have liked to have seen more time spent on the fallout).  The film also includes several sequences which are both engaging and compelling including a most memorable car chase and a tour and an escape from a drug house.

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Trade

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Trade
  • IMDb: link

Trade

The film begins with the kidnapping of Adriana (Paulina Gaitan), a 13 year-old girl from Mexico, and Veronica (Alicja Bacheleda-Curus), a young woman from the Baltic States.  They are taken by force to an unknown location and then put in the pipeline to be sold with others as sex slaves.  We watch their journey from Mexico, into the United States, and to New Jersey where they will be sold.

The other part of the story concerns American cop Ray (Kevin Kline) and Adriana’s brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) who team-up to try and rescue his sister.

The film is full of disturbing scenes including the brutal rape of Veronica and highly suggestive scenes involving Adriana and girls and boys her age performing sex acts on the side of the road for money.  There are also scenes in which the girls are forced to change and pose provocatively for the camera, forcibly drugged, and beaten.  I honestly don’t know how this film avoided an NC-17 rating, which it justly deserves; it’s certainly not a film for the squeamish.

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When Man Walked on the Moon

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: In the Shadow of the Moon
  • IMDb: link

“There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, ‘til all men walk on higher ground in that lifetime.”
—Maxwell Adams

In the Shadow of the Moon

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy presented a goal and challenge for the United States to land men on the face of the moon before the end of the decade.  This speech led to the creation of the Apollo program and their missions to the moon.

This new documentary from director David Sington and producer Ron Howard takes us back to the early days through the words and experiences of the surviving Apollo astronauts including Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Michael Collins, Jim Lovell, and Neil Armstrong (though in Armstrong’s case, only through archival footage).

With human ingenuity and hard work these men traveled through space and many of them stepped foot on the moon.  It was a time of magic and pushing the limits of all that was possible.

The film focuses mainly on the Apollo 11 mission, but also incorporates events from other space missions, including the near disaster of Apollo 13, into a well-managed format discussing training, lift-off, moon landing, return and life afterwards, with all the astronauts.

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Eastern Promises

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Eastern Promises
  • IMDB: link

“Crime butchers innocence to secure a throne, and innocence struggles with all is might against the attempts of crime.”
—Maximilien Robespierre

Eastern PromisesThe film begins with two deaths and one birth.  A father and son brutally murder a customer in a barbershop.  Across London a 14 year-old prostitute (Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse) dies as she gives birth to a baby girl.  These two events are both traced back to the head (Armin Mueller-Stahl) of one of the city’s most powerful Russian crime families and his son (Vincent Cassel).

When a midwife (Naomi Watts) begins an investigation into the girl’s life she finds only darkness and death which put her, the child, and her loved ones in danger when the organization’s newest and deadliest member (Viggo Mortensen) is sent to retrieve the girl’s diary, protect the family’s secrets, and clean up the mess.

There’s much to appreciate here in a film where almost all of the performances are purposefully understated and controlled.  Even if the film doesn’t live up the high expectations of A History of Violence, there is plenty to enjoy including one of the most brutal fight sequences in recent memory between a naked Mortensen and a pair of Russian goons.

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