Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Here's one of our newer spies, and I always like keeping track with the new guys. "Agree. Agree. Disagree. Strongly disagree." Just to sort of figure out where they stand. Are they smart like me, or are they more like Harry? So far, I like The 4-Armed Gorilla, and he seems to be good at getting into screenings. Let's see what he's got for us in this week's double-header...
Hello, doctor!
I missed sending you any material last week...but what can I say? Even gorillas have to take midterms from time to time. And then I had to jump up and down screaming over the new LOTR trailer. I've been busy. So here you go...two films for the price of one.
First off, TRAINING DAY. God, I loved this film. It has it's problems, which I'll tear into in a moment, but overall this movie rocks.
Since the horrible tragedy in New York and Washington, studios have been absolutely confused. Do we release action movies, to give the public a cathartic release to all their anger? Do we release comedies, to lighten their hearts? No one knows the answer at this point, though statistics are showing that Blockbuster rented out a record number of Schwarzenegger/shoot-em-up/terrorist movies last weekend. Caught up in this are films like Training Day, which most certainly portrays police officers in a negative light and takes no steps to soften the violence of the streets. As if this is anything new in LA. It is a bizarre coincidence that the Rampart Scandal that broke in '99 bears such a close resemblence to this film, since it was written 7 years ago. On second thought, it is not so bizzare, considereing that writer David Ayer (who was present at the screening) actually grew up in an area where the events in the film were just a part of life.
Denzel Washington is fabulous here. He plays WAY against type, and he pulls it off with style. Ethan Hawk is really not the focus of the plot, though he plays the protagonist. He does well as the less-than-strong moral conscience, but it is Washington that carries the movie. He is charismatic and diabolical, and so believable that you forget every straight-laced stiff he's ever played.
The film is dark and heavy (until the end...again, we'll rip that up in a sec). It does not allow anyone to be the noble hero. Everyone here has been tainted (or will become tainted) by the rot that grows in the ghettos and the back alleys. Even the so-called hero (Hawk) is high and drunk on the job for a good part of the film.
The dialogue is crisp and never boring, and the plot it nicely convoluted until the end. At that point a little mistake is made. You see, for a movie that is charcater and dialogue driven through it entirety, it suddenly decides that it is a blockbuster action film for the last ten minutes, complete with superhuman feats of destruction. It makes for an ending that is emotionally satisfying but rather unmatched to the rest of the film. Overall, this film is a great ride, and I give it a full on 5 (out of 5) bananas.
For those who are interested, Ayer spoke after the film. He didn't drop any big news on us, but did reveal that he was the ONLY writer on Training Day, which is incredibly unusual. He also commented on his role in re-writes of various films.
Audience question: "What did you bring to The Fast and the Furious?"
Ayer's answer: "Um...dialogue and story."
He also acknowledged that the film is basically his attempt to write a modern western.
Second up, DON'T SAY A WORD. I've seen this film...it's called Ransom. No wait, Ransom was actually tense and cool (at least to my mind). Not that DSAW is bad...it just didn't deliver what I expected. You see the trailer, and you expect creepy, or at least a real mind twister. I was expecting a distraught Michael Douglas and Famke Janssen, a diabolic Sean bean, and a twisted and haunting Brittany Murphy. Instead I got a distraught Michael Douglas every once in a while, a somewhat useless Famke Janssen, a rather weak (in character, not in acting) Sean Bean, and a really cute weirdo in Brittany Murphy. Oh yeah, and Jennifer Esposito. Good god, why is she here? I'll save her for later...
The film really isn't horrible, it's just mediocre. Arnold and Anne Kopelson were in attendence and were obviously very proud of the film. Bless them, they really are two honest, hardworking people. They spent a long time putting this movie together, going through 12 years of hell with many, many re-writes, before Gary Fleder finally shot it. Unfortunately, the effect is that the script feels very forced at times. The pace, while satisfying for individual scenes, moves the plot along at a speed that prevents you from really feeling for anyone. You simply dont have time to care about any of the main characters (not to mention some potentially interesting minor characters, like the shrink played by Oliver Platt).
And then you've got the ultimate extraneous factor: Jennifer Esposito. She alternately seems to be bored, powerful, illiterate, silly, dramatic, god-awful...how about we settle on inconsistent. As in, different in every scene she plays, or different within the same scene and with each line delivery. Yeah, she's hot...and Fleder insists on putting in leering men just to remind you that yes, we have a couple really hot chicks here. Check 'em out! Tight leather pants, this calls for a leering cop! I saw a previous review on AICN explaning that Esposito's character could be cut without sacrificing any plot...I have to agree.
You notice I haven't mentioned the little girl, Skye McCole Bartusiak. Well, I did that for a reason...she pissed me off. No, correction, her character pissed me off. It's not her fault, she's actually a rather good young actress, and totally believable when she interacts with her on screen family. But I wonder which writer decided that the typical reaction of any kidnapped child was to be as cute as humanly possible...
So overall, you've got a rather more popcorny version of both kidnapping films and psycho ward films. I'll give it two bananas, and maybe the peel of a third. It's worth a matinee or a rental...save your money for when Training Day comes out, and save your time to download the new LOTR trailer.
The 4-Armed Gorilla
