dfgrayb Reviews

Redemption: For Robbing the Dead (2011)

Off-best Western that has many good moments

[6/10 · 25 May 2013]

The movie is set in Utah during the Civil War (although no one in the film seems to be aware of this). It is about a Lawman (played very effectively by John Freeman, an actor a very short film resume) who finds himself responsible for protecting a convicted grave robber.

That's it. That's the plot. Can an engaging film be made that has unknown actors and actresses in the main roles with this plot? Yes. The story moves along well. The convicted grave robber (nothing as exciting as digging them up to eat them--he just steals their clothes) is played by David Stevens (another unknown) as a not-too-bright little weasel of a man. However, his views on his "crimes" provide some of the thoughtful moments of the film.

Much of the film involves how Freeman deals with others in his community--some who are compassionate and others who are not. All of the supporting actors and actresses contribute. Margot Kidder plays Baptist's desperate and slightly off-kilter wife (who he loves), Barry Corbin has a nice turn as the judge who also has his own history he is trying to live with, and Jon Gries (the older brother in Napoleon Dynamite) is a hoot as a hired gunman. Bernard Hermann makes a small appearance. Unusual film in that the major roles are played by people you've never seen, but the supporting roles are done by people you will recognize--all of whom have solid film careers.

The "gunfight" between Freeman and Gries is about the best I have ever seen. Realistic.

The film score is very nice, and the photography is beautiful.

I like films that are done well on little money. This is one of those. It is certainly worth an evening.

Man in the Wilderness (1971)

A vastly underrated film-- Richard Harris' best

[9/10 · 1 June 2010]

This film is ostensibly about a man (Richard Harris) who is left for dead by the leader of his expedition into the Northwest Territory in early 1820. As other reviewers have pointed out, there actually was a man mauled by a grizzly who managed to survive in much the way that Richard Harris does in the film. In this respect, it is based upon a true story.

This film actually has only three main characters: Zach Bass (Harris), the expedition leader (John Huston), and the Wilderness. The photography is stunning. And the Zach Bass theme is beautiful and haunting. The film is full of action and excitement, as revenge stories usually are. Bass survives by his courage, by his strength, and by resourcefulness.

And on that basis alone, this film is an enjoyable movie experience.

But this movie exists on an additional plane that moves it from being just a great action movie to instead being a great film.

The movie it is most like is the John Wayne/John Ford film The Searchers. In that movie, John Wayne's search for his niece is actually his search for inner peace, which he finds by not seeking revenge but, instead, by finding his capacity for love and compassion.

The "Wilderness" in this film is actually the wilderness in Zach Bass' mind--memories of a life full of regret and loss. As he works his way back to Huston to exact his revenge, he actually is working his way to a better mind, which by the end of the film is no longer a wilderness. It is, instead, a place of love, with, finally, clarity of purpose.

The film is almost flawless in its execution. It is beautiful, moving, exciting, and touching. There is very little "dialogue" because the wilderness has its own richness of dialogue. Richard Harris is a fine actor. This is his best film, in my opinion.

I first saw Man in the Wilderness almost 40 years ago. And I have allowed myself the pleasure of its company every few years since. And I will for many more years.

Australia (2008)

Best World War II Sci-fi Love story Western ever made

[4/10 · 29 March 2009]

A campy, magical, WWII, love-story, cattle-drive western, set in Australia, with lots of CGI cattle. As if that aren't enough plots, it also informs us about things that are bad, like racism, separating children from their mothers, Australia's Assimilation Policy, and sexism. Golly. It is complete with bad guy buffoons straight out of Blazing Saddles, the cattle baron wanting to drive the good people out, crocodiles, kangaroos, walkabouts, and a cute kid with telepathic powers who can stop a cattle stampede by sending good thoughts to them and humming. There's something for everyone here, including scenes around the old cattle ranch, branding, breaking horses. Ooooh, even a kidnapped child who needs rescuing. If one part of the film doesn't float your boat, just wait 10 minutes and there will be another subplot you might like better.

It's pretty, I'll give it that. But it's hard to take seriously.

I also have to admit that Nicole Kidman, although she's skinny as a rail and has been a protected upper-class English woman all of her life, sure looks great after a cattle drive. Nice white soft skin. Yum. And I loved hearing Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow.

It's really boring. And long. It's long and boring. I loved Moulin Rouge. It was creative and wild. You can see Luhrman's style in this film, but it doesn't work well here. Even though it's a loooooong movie, there are simply too many subplots. Jackman and Kidman are in love, and in the next scene they have an argument and he leaves. The whole thing is hyperactive--jumping around from one subplot to another. It's almost impossible to get engaged with this film. So there are dramatic moments at every turn, and you end up feeling jerked around instead of being moved. It's not really a movie--instead it's a collection of 8 or 10 10-minute movies.

The kid's cute, though. He's the main reason to see the film.

It was also fun for me to play "spot the movie." Here are some: Born Free, Quigley Down Under, Gone with the Wind, Pearl Harbor, The Searchers, Shane, Red River, Blazing Saddles, Dune, Crocodile Dundee.

What other ones can you find?

In the Electric Mist (2009)

Aweome Adaptation

[9/10 · 15 March 2009]

Why this movie went straight to DVD is beyond me. The mood is pure southern Gothic, the acting is terrific, and the story is complicated and sad.

The performances were dead on. TLJ hits Dave Robicheaux on the button. But the best is Mary Steenburgen as Bootsie. She really nails this part.

The story is about a Cajun cop who is haunted by his own demons, and by the demons he faces in his work as an Iberia Parish Deputy. The characters he meets in trying to solve the murders are so true to life that you wonder if the people playing the parts were really actors. John Goodman is great, as usual, as is Ned Beatty.

While a good old fashion murder mystery awaits you, what is more important, as it is in the novels by James Lee Burke, is the story of Robicheaux. He is a man who has a strong moral code, yet is violent, alcoholic, and continually puts his family in danger. The complexity of his character is difficult to portray, but TLJ does it better than anyone else could.

It is a fine, beautiful movie. Now if only another movie could be made that also includes Clete Purcell, one of the best sidekicks ever written in a mystery novel series.

The Front Line (2006)

Delivers so much more than it promises

[9/10 · 25 February 2009]

What starts off looking like a routine action thriller about a bank heist gradually becomes something much more. Eriq Ebouaney is a security guard at a bank, whose family is kidnapped to force him to assist in the robbery.

The film is in many respects a revisiting of the John Wayne/John Ford classic The Searchers, in that the viewer gradually realizes that the ostensible plot (the bank robbery) is not really at the center of the film. Just as in The Searchers, where the film is really about Wayne's search to find his own humanity and not his niece who has been captured by the Comanches, so too in The Front Line, Ebouaney's pursuit to rescue his family is his search to find his own redemption as a human being. Over the course of the film, because of the fine performances and direction, we are drawn into Ebouaney's internal pain and love, and we almost want to say to him "Be at peace. Your soul is good." This is a remarkable and moving film. Successful on many levels. Ebouaney's performance is stunning. The plot, which begins as a bank robbery, becomes a story that is breathtakingly beautiful, powerful, and unforgettable.

The Prestige (2006)

Frightening about human nature

[9/10 · 26 August 2007]

This film is powerful, moving, and shocking. It shows what happens when people are suffering, and do not know how to handle their suffering in ways that do not hurt others. What begins as a friendship, then becomes a competition, eventually turns into a maddening and psychotic race to defeat another person and to destroy the other person's entire existence. In doing so, it dehumanizes everyone involved, and is frightening in terms of what it says about our inability to contain our pain. Saul Bellow once said something to the effect that an honorable man is one who does not pass his hurts along to others. These people fail to be honorable, with tragic results. And yet, they are not evil.

The storyline, setting, and acting are all superb. David Bowie as Nicolai Tesla is masterful casting. This may be the only filming of this brilliant man, someone who changed civilization, yet was the participant in his own self-destructive competition with someone less talented who we all know, although only because he won the "competition," not because he was more talented or important.

This movie, like few others, stays with you. Months after seeing it, I still am affected by it. Ignore the critics. See it.

Other Voices (2000)

It's sweet and it's oh so funny

[8/10 · 6 March 2007]

You've got to watch it closely to appreciate the humor. It's quirky and off-beat. It's not funny in the way that a lot of movies are funny these days--because the actors use lots of quips. You think it's one type of movie, and then gradually become aware that it's something else, and that it's very nice. You end up liking a bunch of strange people who are just trying to make their ways in the world. And you end up enjoying a funny movie in the process.

The acting is superb, and the dialogue comes at you so fast sometimes that two viewings may be needed. The two main characters, a married couple, are worried about their marriage and are not sure what to do about it. Their lives are the main focus. But it is the people who share their angst that make the movie what it is--particularly Campbell Scott in his best role ever, Rob Morrow as a hyper energetic trader who does something for a living but isn't sure what, and Stockard Channing who, as one other reviewer said, is the psychiatrist from hell.

Cold Mountain (2003)

I'm glad I only paid for a rental

[16 August 2004]

I would have left the theatre feeling like I had just wasted my money, so I'm glad I waited and only paid $3 for my wife and I to see it. It's unusual when we both agree that we didn't enjoy a movie. It's one of those movies where both of us kept saying: "now ..... is going to happen," and we were usually right.

Characters were unbelievable (Renee and Nicole farming? those two skinny

softies? shouldn't at least one of them have a suntan at the very least?).

Characters were either too good to be true or to evil to even be frightened of. If you like violence, Nicole Kidman naked and a predictable plot that is designed to give you a cheap cry, then spend the $3 and see it. I got this film confused with Cold Creek Manor and rented that at first. It was dreadful, and I promised my wife that Cold Mountain was the one I had tried to rent and that it would be better--it wasn't.

Mystic River (2003)

There are people who thought this was a good movie?

[1/10 · 29 June 2004]

A dreadful movie experience. If you like movies where no one is at all likable and the story is depressing and has an unsatisfying ending, then this is the movie for you. One has to wonder what people saw in it.

The story is ostensibly about a hunt for a murderer. The past is weaved into the story, leading to all kinds of blind alleys and an attempt to lead the audience to draw the wrong conclusion. This might have worked except that the attempt was too obvious, sort of telling us that the director (Eastwood) has little respect for our intelligence. Then to find out the whole murder was just happenstance and all of the past that is introduced is actually irrelevant is annoying. .

We are supposed to buy the premise of the movie that once you are traumatized you are a hopeless case and unworthy of respect, dignity, or even life. It is kinder to just be put out of your misery. Sort of like shooting a lame horse.

If all of this sounds like fun to you, then rent this movie and ENJOY!

(But, just to show that I'm being fair, I will say that Eastwood's score is great. It would have been better in another movie, but it was still great.)

American Beauty (1999)

Can't hold a candle to Cider House Rules

[2/10 · 25 July 2003]

It isn't funny; it isn't entertaining.

SPOILER ALERT

The only good part of the film is that one of the characters gets killed. Too bad all of them don't.

That this film could beat out Cider House Rules for the Academy Award says something about the people who vote.

The Straight Story (1999)

Real people

[10/10 · 15 July 2003]

It's nice to see a film with real people with honest feelings. Sissy Spacek is so absolutely convincing as a simple, yet nice, daughter to Robert Farnsworth,

who finally, in his last role, gets to show what a fine actor he was. It is hard to believe that this is a David Lynch film. It is slow and even, sweet and moving. One of the best unless you like car chases, sex scenes, and violence.

In & Out (1997)

Joan Cusack is a total hoot.

[5 July 2003]

This is a very underrated movie. It is very funny. Many jokes are about stereotypic gay men, but the film does this in a way that doesn't demean. Joan Cusack should have won the academy award for her performance. Kevin Kline's dancing scene is one of the highlights. A nice warm and funny movie that promotes tolerance.