Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
INTACTO sounds groovy, but I’m more interested in this first film Quint talks about today. Warner Bros. never shows me anything. No surprise, I guess, based on how many times I’ve pulled their pants down in public, but it stinks when they’re actually releasing something I want to see, like this film from Section Eight...
Ahoy squirts! 'Tis I, everybody's favorite crusty ol' seaman, Quint, reporting in Mill Valley on the 25th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival. I have a couple of hours before heading off for tonight's adventures so I thought I'd write in with some (hopefully) brief reviews.
First up is WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD, directed by the newest sibling directorial team Anthony and Joe Russo and starring an amazing cast of character actors including GUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZMMMMMMMAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!, William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, Isaiah Washington, Michael Jeter and even a small cameo by producer George Clooney.
Before the film, Anthony and Joe Russo came up to do a brief introduction. They basically just wanted to let the audience know that this movie was a throwback to a more character based comedy made by 2 people who really had no formal education in filmmaking, but were complete and total cinephiles. They told us that they used their love and knowledge of classic comedies, mostly from the French New Wave, to make this film.
I was a little scared. Usually when you get an intro like that you're in for something highly pretentious. I'm happy to say that the film avoids pretension, but I do have to say that when they announced WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD was a throwback, they weren't kidding. Comedies aren't structured like this anymore. The first half hour or so is played more for character development than laughs. I think that might have made the movie a little unbalanced, but it is refreshing to see them use an older, different formula.
Guuuuzzzmmmaaannnn finds out about this perfect heist in prison from a lifer and that kick starts the film. Soon everybody and their brother becomes involved. A shitty boxer (Sam Rockwell) takes control of everything while Guuuzzmmmaann is in jail and brings in a single father (well, not single... but his wife's in prison, so he has to take care of the baby) played by William H. Macy, a weird, nutty, but sweet bum (Jeter), an aristocratic black dude who needs money for his sister's big wedding (Washington) and a few others. Rockwell leads this unlikely group and devises a plan to pull off the heist. Of course everything that could go wrong does go wrong.
The movie all about character, character, character and the Russos smartly hired the most talented bunch of character actors around. WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD isn't a perfect film, but is more than worth seeing for, if anything, this talented group playing off each other.
-Luis Guuuuzzzzzmmmmaaaaannnnnn: As usual, damn near steals the movie. God Bless you, Guuuuzzzzmmmaannn where ever you are.
-Sam Rockwell: I've always loved Rockwell. He's brilliant at molding himself into each role he plays. From GREEN MILE to CHARLIE'S ANGELS to his cameo in MADE... He's one of my new favorite character actors out there who also seems to show the ability to carry a movie like a leading man. He's very enjoyable to watch in this film.
-Michael Jeter: Also a veteran character actor, Jeter plays this wacky sweet old bum in the film that you can't help but care for, no matter how nuts he seems at times. I found myself laughing the most when Jeter was on screen. His little mannerisms and subtle comments made his character stick out from this pack of great actors.
-Isaiah Washington: He's more of a background character in the movie, but he more than holds his own when joining the big boys front and center. He provides a very strong support for the bigger players around him while getting a few moments of his own to shine.
-William H. Macy: Macy's always dependable. He's a great actor and knows comedic timing better than most others in his line of work. He's his usual dependable self in this film, given a little more depth than any other character in the film. We know more about his background, his reason for joining the crew in the heist. We see how desperate his situation is multiplied by the fact he has a baby to take care of. So, he has more to lose than everybody else. His 'burns are scary, though. Don't know if I like them. Scary...
-George Clooney: Clooney plays a retired safe cracker who schools the group in his old ways. Clooney eats up this character with relish. You can tell he's having a ball playing this small, but incredibly funny role. Wheelchair bound, heavily tattooed... Kinda shifty eyed... Paranoid... Hilarious.
While this movie won't work for everyone, I had a blast with it. I was only deterred a little bit by the uneven acts, but when looking back at the whole picture (and that final 20 minutes which had me laughing pretty constantly) I find I can overlook that minor flaw. I don't know if everybody out there will be able to as well, but hey... to each his own. But I do recommend this film. I think a lot of you will have a blast watching it as long as you're not expecting a Zucker Bros movie.
INTACTO
I actually bought tickets for this film when it played at Sundance earlier this year, thinking stupidly about doing a last minute road trip out to Park City... But then I realized how fucking cold it got there and how iffy the chances were on finding a place to sleep that I could afford. So, I've been waiting to see INTACTO since I bought my ticket earlier this year and thanks to the Mill Valley Film Festival I finally got my money's worth.
INTACTO plays around with some really great characters and a very interesting story, but unfortunately it doesn't really come together as a whole. The film is about luck. The opening scene takes place in a tucked away casino. Very high class, without the glitz and flash-bang of Las Vegas, filled to the brim with distinguished gentlemen and ladies. This one particular bloke hits it big in Roulette. He lets it ride and hits it again. He moves all his winnings to a different number. It hits again. The pit boss gives a signal to the overhead camera. We see a man called to the attention of the winning Roulette player. The man walks out of the security area, dressed in a nice suit, through the casino and up to the lucky guy whose hand he touches. They guy in the suit apologizes to the winner, saying he mistook him for some one else.
The lucky guy takes all his winnings, puts it on another number and the majority of the people sitting at the Roulette table follow suit. The ball spins, falls and everybody loses. The man in the suit walks away, then stops by a slot machine. He puts in a quarter and walks off as it hits the jackpot.
Pretty neat set up, huh? We find out the man in the suit is Federico, protégé and assistant to the owner of the casino played amazingly by Max Von Sydow. Federico decides it's time for him to set out on his own, away from Sydow, and start his own career. Sydow doesn't let him go unscathed. We find out that Sydow is very powerful and has the ability to steal other people's gift, their power, at will. Federico gets his gift stolen before he leaves and then we fade to 7 years later.
Essentially Federico has been searching for a protégé of his own to take on Sydow. We come to discover that there are some people that are born lucky, have a knack for finding themselves in the right situations. And they also have the power to take other people's luck with the littlest touch. Of course the few that have this gift seek each other out and gamble with each other, testing the strength of their luck against the luck of the others. For instance, they'll play a game where some goop is painted in their hair and a bug is let loose in the room. Whomever has the bug on their head when the time is up is the winner. No skill, no chance. All based on luck.
They play high stakes... Cars, houses, huge amounts of money... But the most valuable of all are Polaroid's of people. Whoever wins gets those people's luck, which, of course, makes the people in the pictures incredibly unlucky, which usually means their death or at the very least serious injury.
Kinda complicated, I know, but it makes perfect sense when watching it onscreen. Federico finds a man, the sole survivor of a plane crash, who he believes to be the one. Thus begins the master/pupil relationship as Federico teaches his new protégé how to hone his skills. This young guy is obviously incredibly gifted, but does he have enough luck to take on the luckiest man in the world (Sydow)? Sure, this young man survived a plane crash... We meet another lucky guy, a bullfighter who survived a rampaging bull... But how can either stand up to Sydow's character, known as "The Jew", the lone survivor of a concentration camp?
That's the idea of the film. Unfortunately the movie feels overlong and doesn't explore this neat setup as well as it could. Funnily enough I think this film is ripe for a remake. It has a great setup and great characters, but just doesn't come together. It has intense situations, some amazing performances, but in the end it's a very flawed film.
It's not a fatally flawed film by any means, but I think the material could be explored more and this really good film could be turned into an amazing film. But I have to insist... if an American company decides to remake this Spanish film... For the LOVE OF GOD don't recast The Jew. Max Von Sydow is perfect in this role, giving it that extra kick it needs to keep his character from being more than just a moustache twirling villain. It's the sort of addition only an actor of Sydow's experience and talent can bring.
If you find this one playing at a festival or art house near you, by all means check it out. With some amazing DEER HUNTER like sequences, you'll get your money's worth in tension alone. I do hope some one with a great eye for this material picks it up, though. I'd love to see a Fincher or Aaronofsky or Nolan or Cronenberg remake of this film.
That's it for me on this report, squirts. Time to hit the sack. I'll be back soon with coverage of an indie flick called THE NEW SUIT starring the beautiful Marisa Coughlan and also a bit of my run in with THE BEARD. But that'll have to wait for tomorrow. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
