Saturday, April 08, 2006

Paradise now


Hany Abu-Assad's disturbing yet moving tale finds two men at a critical juncture in their lives. They've been drafted as suicide bombers in an upcoming assignment in Tel Aviv. Granted a night to spend with their families, they go home but are unable to say goodbye for fear of tipping their hand. But perhaps it isn't time for farewells yet as the two become separated during the mission and must decide on their own whether to continue or bail out.

It's not hard to imagine that if a commercial Hollywood blockbuster studio had done this film, they would have chosen a less cerebral approach and added a pointless car chase and spectacular special effects with poorly cast big names. Fortunately this independent film chose to focus on the psychological and ideological elements of this complicated predicament that is very much a reality today.

This movie does make a political statement and one which is very easy to associate for non-US viewers but ofcourse not the American viewers. The fact that America supports "freedom' yet continues to support the brutal supression, occupation and colonilaztion of Palestineans by the Israelis just goes to show how much hypocricy prevails in this world. THis movie does not condone suicide bombing but tries to give the story behind it. This might not be the 'fair and balance view' aka Fox news but for the US viewers its a much needed education about a place of the world whose future is intrexibly linked to ours.

I thought this was a very powerful and well-made film. The acting was excellent, as are the script, direction, and cinematography. Perhaps the biggest challenge with a film on such a controversial topic is what position it takes. Unlike a plethora of western literature (movies,TV shows, novels) which is inherently biased towards Arabs and muslims this one dishes out a point of view which is cyring out to be heard and it is time that we in the west got the chance to hear that.

Ratting: 4/5

A history of violence


Operating a diner in a small-town community, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife (Maria Bello) are the picture of normalcy. But when Tom prevents a robbery and enjoys hero status in the local media, he attracts the wrong kind of attention from mobsters (Ed Harris and William Hurt) who think he's someone else. David Cronenberg (The Fly) directs this taut suspense-thriller based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke.

The story is marvelous and all scenes are memorable. David Cronenberg creates a well-paced violence story that unfolds bit by bit until leaving you perplex and surprised with its quality. Viggo Mortensen is the perfect person for the role given, and the film only benefits of that. The story, about a family man who kills in self-defense robbers in his coffee shop, seems kind of dull at first, but then proves to be a fancy thriller with plot twists (at least for me) and impressive scenes. The violence and the 'gangster' style sex scenece make it raunchy yet not cheap. The movie is based on a graphical novel.

What really distinguishes this mistaken-identity plot of the type "innocent-man-is-faced-with-violence-and-has-to-act" from other, similar films (Dirty Harry and many Westerns come to mind) is the way Canadian David Cronenberg manages to deconstruct the US-culture of visual violence and armed self-defense by seducing his audience to embrace that culture, to like his characters in spite of their brutal actions, to have fun and feel uncomfortable about it at the same time.

In addition to that, Cronenberg also takes his audience on a ride through the total range of human emotions from loving tenderness to blazing hatred, portraying every possible human relationship, each of which features an aspect of violence at some time – sexual relations certainly included, though those may not feature in full-length in the US theatrical versions... Man and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, boys and girls, old friends and young bullies – you get it all, portrayed by an excellent, carefully chosen cast of actors that manage to make their characters come realistically to life in spite of – or rather in juxtaposition to – the topical story.

Cronenberg in fact took pains to choose actors who aren't just charismatic, glamorous stars taking care of their image, but who have a reputation for embracing their roles, for being somewhat eccentric and therefore willing to go beyond the usual acting limits. Next to Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris, there is also William Hurt who appears later on as a criminal and who, quite obviously, really enjoyed his role. The final scenes between him and Mortensen are easily the most drastically violent ones in the movie. The plot in the end was a little too simple for me and that might be the reason that i would only give it a 3 out of 5.

Rating: 3/5

The 40 year old virgin



Andy Stitzer (the hilarious Steve Carell) has a pleasant life with a nice apartment and a job stamping invoices at an electronics store. But at age 40, there's one thing Andy hasn't done, and it's really bothering his close group of friends: To the shock of everyone he knows, he's still a virgin. The guys at the store make it their mission to change that, but Andy seems hopeless -- until he meets single mom Trish (Catherine Keener).

In the previews, "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" boasts the image of another immature sex romp about a 40-ish Lonely Guy who suddenly feels the urge to do the deed simply because he hasn't. Too many past bad experiences have dampened his enthusiasm to the point that he avoids women completely. And then the unexpected happens: he falls in love. What's more, there's a movie out about it, and it's called "The 40 Year-old Virgin."

The virgin of the title is Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell), who is indeed 40, works as an employee at an electronics store and collects vintage action figures, which are displayed all throughout his nice bachelor pad for all to see. He has a lovely home theater system and watches "Survivor" with his two kind elderly neighbors. He's a pretty picturesque definition of the Lonely Guy who needs to go out more and talk to more women.

Now here's the real novelty with this picture: it does the impossible task of actually dealing with its subject matter in a cute, mature fashion. This is a movie that could very easily have turned out a lot differently in the hands of a more transparent team of filmmakers. It could have descended into endless sex gags and jokes but thankfully this picture never stoops that low. Sure there are sex jokes here and there and even a few prods are aimed at the gay community (which are, in no way, meant to be taken as gay-bashing), as two of the characters exchange insults towards each other while playing a video game ("Mortal Kombat: Deception," no less - the ultimate testosterone-driven fightfest for guys).

As someone who is rapidly approaching 20, collects McFarlane Toys action figures AND has himself never done the deed, I found this film amusing and touching in a way that a similar-themed movie could never have been. I was able to relate to the character of Andy Stitzer more than anyone in the theater because I was the only teenager present at this showing; everyone else looked like they were all past 40. A bit arrogant, I know, but would you ("you" is italicized) still be able to relate if you were the only teen present at an afternoon screening of "The 40 Year-Old Virgin"?

Of course Andy has never had sex and wakes up everyday with "morning rise" (don't ask), and he's pressured by his buddies to try outlandish methods of gaining the attention of the opposite sex. When it's first discovered Andy is a virgin, at 40, his three buddies and fellow electronics store coworkers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco) and Cal (Seth Rogen) all at first assume he's gay because he's never been with a woman, which couldn't be any further from the truth. The truth is, Andy loves women, but past traumatic experiences (revealed hilariously one after the other in a flashback sequence) have put him on the sidelines for good. This was a movie long time coming. I can't really recall the last time i enjoyed an intelligent comedy since "There is something about Mary". This is almost as good as that one.

The way "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" plays out is indeed funny in the end, but I'll leave that up to you, the viewer, to observe. Surely, if anyone can go through the things Andy does and still have the strength to attract a woman as sexy as Catherine Keener, then it's true: It is never too late!

Rating :4/5