ArmsAndMan Reviews

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Beware This Tale of Sweeney Todd

[1/10 · 31 December 2007]

If you're tone deaf and illiterate, this is the adaptation for you.

If you're the least bit curious about the original, rent the DVD of George Hearn and Angela Lansbury performing on stage.

Sorry, but Johnny and Helena don't have the musical chops to carry it off.

Tim Burton should have gone back to Christopher Bond's play and left the music out. Then we'd have a campy Hammer Studio horror tribute, the same kind of ironic send-up offered by MARS ATTACKS! This version of SWEENEY will only disappoint its divided audience: those who want a credible musical of a Broadway masterpiece, and those who want a pure Burton horror flick. Doomed to fail at the box office.

Shame on all of you involved. I want my money back.

300 (2006)

Batting Way Below 300

[3/10 · 30 March 2007]

My problem with this movie is the same trouble with 'Sin City,' namely the comic book view of life that adds a layer of artifice to an already fake enterprise. There is no history here, only myth.

Given the opening grosses for '300,' however, I suppose we can expect more simpleminded Frank Miller projects. What's next? Signing up Francis Ford Coppola to direct?

There are some great performances though, despite the director's agenda to put the viewer inside a comic book -- or video game.

Zach Snyder strikes out this time, but I still have enormous admiration for his re-make of 'Dawn of the Dead.' I suspect Frank Miller is the real auteur of these comic book films, and whoever signs on to direct is a patsy.

Shooter (I) (2007)

Read the Novel 'Point of Impact' Instead

[5/10 · 25 March 2007]

Stephen Hunter, unlike Robert Ludlum, writes exciting and graceful prose, creating credible and dimensional characters in his novels. With the arrival of 'Shooter,' it looks like the Bob Lee Swagger stories have been pegged as the next franchise to compete with Ludlum's Bourne series. But in this movie debut, the skill of Hunter's writing is lost in the translation, and worse still, the filmmakers have taken liberties with the novel's plot.

Despite problems with the third act, and a finale out of nowhere, 'Shooter' is exciting and funny for most of the ride. The director has an opening sequence that is truly exciting, full of 'sniper craft' and combat thrills. And the political commentary throughout is bracing and welcome.

Sorry to say, the final scene almost negates everything good that unfolds before. Maybe Mr. Hunter could be more involved in the next adaptation of a Swagger novel, but he may not be willing. In a recent interview on NPR, the author admits his novel was drastically cut to fit the medium, the screenplay being 'post cards from my novel.' Hence, I suggest you read the story as it was intended, in book form.

After you take a look at Stephen Hunter's novels, be sure to rent the DVD of David Mamet's 'Spartan.' I kept thinking of it while watching the 'Shooter' screenplay spiral out of control in the third act. If 'Spartan' had been a hit, we'd be enjoying a franchise of sequels from the pen of America's best playwright-turned-moviemaker.

The Astronaut Farmer (2006)

Not Exactly the Right Stuff

[8/10 · 10 March 2007]

This surreal family film is a melange of gee-whiz individualism and corn-pone family nightmare. My 10-year-old daughter was caught up in the story, rooting for an odd family devoted to a father's dream -- or is it a flat-out delusion on the part of a failed astronaut?

Late in the second act, the mother has a showdown with her husband over financial realities, injecting a welcome sense of everyday life that overtakes this grown man's fantasy. Along the way, there were several scenes where the hero father is clearly deranged. But somehow, the edge of desperation in Billy Bob Thornton's performance lends ballast to a story that would not be remotely credible to modern audiences. I can't imagine anyone else pulling it off. In a just world, this caliber of acting would win Billy Bob an Oscar.

SPOILER ALERT: the movie is not content to launch one rocket, but insists on launching two. The first takeoff doesn't go so well, and the outcome is so unrelentingly freakish and violent that I kept expecting it to be a pre-launch nightmare. But no. I'm including this note only because very young viewers will be frightened, and adults will probably lose all sympathy for the wacky astronaut who endangers his family, blowing out every window in his house while trying to launch a weapons-grade rocket from the barn next door.

After all these complaints, why do I award this movie an '8' rating? First of all, Billy Bob Thornton may have the role of his career. And I enjoyed how the Polish brothers riff on The Right Stuff mixed with David Lynch, while adding a dash of Spielberg schmaltz. The directors have concocted a Disney crowd pleaser with dark, surreal undertones. In other words: you ain't seen nothing quite like 'The Astronaut Farmer.' In its own peculiar way, this movie may become a classic.

Zodiac (2007)

This is Boredom Speaking

[4/10 · 5 March 2007]

Compared with Se7en and Fight Club, Zodiac plays like a thoughtful PBS documentary. Critics are praising Fincher for what appears to be a movement towards mature storytelling. Sorry, no sale.

Individual scenes are gripping and, on occasion, suspenseful, but the gentle viewer must slog through mundane procedures that lead nowhere. Imagine a formless, three-hour CSI episode directed by Robert Altman, with no single character who takes the lead, no cohesive story arc, and no conclusion: there you have it, Zodiac.

I can't blame David Fincher, per se, because the source material is so diffuse, and the purported central character, Robert Graysmith, is so weak and peripheral. You stagger out of this movie like a survivor of a bad dinner party where everyone holds forth on the meaning of life... except everyone in the room has a combined IQ of 7. Hmmm. Seven? Maybe Fincher is guilty after all.

Modesty Blaise (1966)

Part Godard, Part Tarantino - don't confuse with Austin Powers

[8/10 · 23 January 2007]

Jean-Luc Godard's "Pierrot le fou" was in circulation about the same time as this Joseph Losey comedy, based on a comic book series featuring the sexy Modesty Blaise, a female version of James Bond, played in the movie by Monica Vitti.

The visual parallels to "Pierrot le fou" are striking, and there should be a film scholar somewhere willing to figure out who influenced whom. It would be easy to say that Losey was slumming, that this is only "Godard for Dummies," but the filmcraft on display here is too accomplished to dismiss.

What brought me to this obscure movie in the first place? Vincent Vega, as played by John Travolta, was the constipated-heroin-shooting hit-man in "Pulp Fiction" who always read a book on the toilet -- a novelization of "Modesty Blaise." Tarantino has always adored Godard (his production company is called A Band Apart), so I suspect Mr. T. senses a connection between this 60s mod 'trash' movie with Monica Vitti and the highbrow efforts of his Continental master, M. Godard.

See it for yourself and decide.

Children of Men (2006)

P.D. James' Cautionary Tale Brought to Life by Alfonso Cuarón

[10/10 · 6 January 2007]

I didn't think it possible for Alfonso Cuarón to top himself, but this movie is a masterpiece. Part "Road Warrior," part "Nativity Story" -- this work stands as one of the best films of 2006. Sadly, the film may be too bracing, original, and honest to find a mass audience.

There are at least three set pieces, seemingly uninterrupted shots running for several minutes of intricately choreographed action, that draw the viewer into the story like no other film before. I'm certain some digital trickery was employed to achieve these impossible results, but the effects were fully hidden on a first viewing. Alfonso Cuarón deserves every directing award available for these three scenes alone.

But a word for the original author is in order: P.D. James wrote the novel about this Malthusian nightmare future and should not be forgotten. Ezra Pound once described poets as 'the antennae of the race.' By this measure, Ms. James is poet of the first order. We have been warned.

If you care about movies, and their power to influence the way we live, you must see "Children of Men."

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Citizen Amberson

[9/10 · 8 October 2006]

With Orson Welles, it is difficult to know fact from fiction. The man loved magic tricks, and he was an expert self-promoter.

Pauline Kael's "The Citizen Kane Book" opened my eyes to how legends are made and maintained, especially in light of the bogus auteur theory. (According to Kael, Welles offered co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz a sizable bonus to remove his name from the credits and improve Welles' profile as a solitary genius.)

Over the years I've seen my share of 'martyred' projects that Welles created in his long decline. Some real rarities too, like 'Chimes at Midnight,' and I've enjoyed them all.

But for reasons I don't fully understand, I never got around to seeing Welles' second feature, 'The Magnificent Ambersons' until today. Perhaps part of the delay was based on career mythology. According to legend, the studio cut Welles' 131-minute running time to a B-picture 86 minutes while Welles was in South America on assignment for a documentary. Who wants to see another ruined masterpiece?

Thanks to TCM, I took off this afternoon to see what 'Ambersons' was about, and I have to say I was duly impressed. It is obvious where the studio tampered with the original, the shifts of tone in the second half, and the 'happy ending' does not fit the grim noir feel of the first two acts. Never mind that. Never mind that this movie may have created a lifetime of war between Welles and the studios. Even in its fragmented state, this movie is a treat for anyone who claims to be a fan of Orson Welles, that grand old fabulist of self-invention.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Simon Baker plays Matthew Broderick

[8/10 · 2 October 2006]

I've never seen Simon Baker play the same accent twice, but this time was downright weird. He seemed to be channeling Matthew Broderick, and if you close your eyes, the impersonation is uncanny. But to what purpose? To make his character seem wimpy and harmless? Why not play those qualities as a character trait instead of a send-up? An inside joke may be afoot.

The director of "The Devil Wear Prada" is a vet of Sex and the City, and directed a first feature starring Sarah Jessica Parker, "Miami Rhapsody." Mrs. Broderick may have suggested the directorial tactic, or maybe it was a fond tribute in its own right. But for the audience, it was distracting. And it robbed us from what Mr. Baker might've done.

No matter. What we came to see was Meryl Streep deliver one of her richest roles in years. Funny, dangerous, cruel, sad. But not a drop of bathos or phony sympathy for this devil. Streep has the courage to give us someone we love to hate. And in a surprising twist, someone the audience is seduced into admiring.

And isn't seduction the devil's first job?

Audition (1999)

Wish I'd Seen This Movie in an Art House...

[9/10 · 20 September 2006]

Probably the best bait-and-switch horror film since Hitchcock's 'Psycho.'

What begins as a stately and formal art film that appears to be about a budding romance descends into a nightmare of gory revenge that rivals the shock value of any George A. Romero bloodbath. Only it's worse. Far worse. Closer in spirit to the true creepiness of Tod Browning. Forget comparisons to David Lynch. With 'Audition,' the audience can actually interpret the events and follow the logic of a nightmare.

I start to giggle, thinking of the art house crowd who stumbled into this movie by accident. The horror, the horror.

Hmmm. Maybe I'll invite some unsuspecting cineastes over for wine and cheese and a big screen viewing of the DVD. I won't be able to take my eyes off the 'audience' as they slowly realize, like the hapless male star of this movie, what this movie is really about.

Who knew a piano wire could work like a bone saw?

The Razor's Edge (1984)

What it Means to be a Film Star

[9/10 · 29 August 2006]

I remember when this film was released, hard on the heels of "Ghostbusters," Murray's breakthrough hit. Boy, how the fans and critics alike shunned it, dubbing "The Razor's Edge" a vanity project for a comedian who wanted to earn a little respect. (In truth, Murray agreed to a be Ghostbuster only to secure financing for this labor of love.)

For anyone who thought the mediocre "Lost in Translation" was a revelation, they clearly have never seen Murray in "The Razor's Edge." The past 22 years, I've been telling friends to watch this movie. Each time I see it, I marvel at Bill Murray's ability to balance his comic screen persona with the dramatic demands of such a heartbreaking story. I can't think of another actor who could ever pull this off, with the possible exception of Dustin Hoffman (remember Murray's cameo in Tootsie?).

For all the sadness in this story, there are some laugh out loud moments, too. Murray gives fans the usual unctuous wit, but laced with a world-weary sense of loss, and a profound strength of spirit. The direction rivals anything by David Lean, but the classic formalism of the film-making might be jarring for Bill Murray fans expecting "Meatballs" or "Stripes." Just go with it. You won't regret this discovery.

The movie is not flawless. Sometimes, Murray goes for a laugh when he should refrain. Other times, he underplays shamelessly.

But I think the real genius of the movie is in the casting of Theresa Russell. Without her in the role of Sophie, this picture would remain a curious footnote. Her performance is the heart and soul of this overlooked movie. And she breaks my heart every time. Every time.

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Nothing New Under the Sun... but sometimes all you need is the beach

[8/10 · 20 August 2006]

This was pure popcorn fun at the movies, and I suggest you see it now, in a theater, preferably late at night. The audience reaction is half the charge.

Samuel Jackson is great, but so is Julianna Margulies. Excellent casting. Both play it straight, which makes the fun funnier, and scares scarier.

The only weak link is in the direction. Scenes of potential fear and anxiety often fizzle out because the filmmakers don't have the chops of a true suspense master, a Hitchcock or DePalma. But that's a quibble.

There's plenty more that works than doesn't, and the best surprises come in the unexpected quieter moments. Characters who start off as mere types become, to my surprise, almost dimensional by the end of the ordeal. And when specific characters succumb in the third act, the laughter has died out too, because against all odds, we've come to care for these people who had the misfortune to travel on this @#$%^&*%^&* plane.

The Dying Gaul (I) (2005)

Prelude to a Kiss Off

[8/10 · 20 July 2006]

Craig Lucas took his comic fantasy "Prelude to a Kiss" and created an update for the internet age, a noirish exploration of the same body/soul dichotomy, but this one ends badly.

By 'badly' I mean both the tragic arc of the story, and the failure to end the story in a cinematic way. What plays well on stage seems static here, wrapped up in confusion that poses as ambiguity.

DVD UPDATE: the video release offers an alternate ending that is far superior to the theatrical release. Who decides these things?

Regardless of a few problems with plot and direction, this is stellar work from a tremendous ensemble, and Lucas deserves high praise for the performances he draws from such singular talents. The three leads create a harmony that most movies never attempt, and for this alone the movie is a must see.

Mysterious Skin (2004)

An Overlooked Masterpiece

[10/10 · 17 May 2006]

I don't know anything about Gregg Araki's work, but if "Mysterious Skin" is any indication, I want to see all of it.

This reminds me of the daring movies made in the 1970s, in a class with "Fingers," "Taxi Driver," and "Midnight Cowboy." Yes, it deserves to be in that company.

The less you know going in, the better. But here's a tip: if you thought "Brokeback Mountain" was a revolutionary film, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

The structure of this coming-of-age story is, oddly enough, in the mold of a detective yarn. One of the main characters struggles to discover what happened to him as a child, a trauma so painful he has lost his memory. Corny to recite here, but it works on film.

The audience can guess the 'answer,' but nothing prepares you for the way the story reaches its conclusion. The drama is unflinching, and I can't imagine anyone watching this film without feeling profound anguish and outrage.

Michelle Trachtenberg plays a supporting role and confirms my suspicion that she is the Next Big Thing. After watching the gritty "Mysterious Skin," you might enjoy her equally accomplished work in the G-rated "Ice Princess." She's great in both.

Hoot (2006)

Another Green Fable from Carl Hiassen

[3/10 · 14 May 2006]

Mr. Hiassen has been writing so-called adult fiction for years, and it was only a matter of time before his personal brand of lightweight storytelling found its true niche in the cineplex: the 'family' film.

This picture does give me hope... perhaps a brave producer will finally greenlight Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang." Alas, that would be a movie for grown-ups.

Back to "Hoot": My 9-year-old daughter enjoyed it, especially the young boy playing "Mullet Fingers." This fact made me lose sleep. Will she bring home some sun-bleached beachcomber when she starts dating? Will he be a wholesome version of an eco-terrorist, too? Egads.

Don't get me wrong. My complaint is not with the movie's politics, but how it dumbs things down.

After the movie matinée, I took my youngster along the Bay's edge and went birdwatching for an hour. Something I should've done in the first place.

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

50,000 Tutors

[10/10 · 4 May 2006]

"Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone. " -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Akeelah and the Bee" treads on the edge of cliché time and again, and despite its stock characters and foregone conclusion, it really works. It delivers well-earned emotional payoffs when you least expect them. And if you haven't seen it yet, stop reading now. Just go.

There's a moment worthy of Hitchcock's "pure cinema" at the championship tournament where Akeelah makes a moral choice about the price of winning. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you're in for a treat. The audience is allowed to watch Akeelah thinking her way to a agonizing decision, and her moral courage is communicated without any speeches or special effects -- just the act of spelling a word.

There are many models for this kind of movie, especially the Hollywood sports fantasy. Yet "Akeelah and the Bee" rises above the predictable by making Akeelah's real-world obstacles heartfelt and true.

When Akeelah finally gets her chance to win the National Spelling Bee, the filmmakers create a montage of loved ones, living and dead, who helped her get to this pinnacle. They are with her on that stage, whispering in her ear, just a few faces out of 50,000 tutors. And everyone in the audience, cheering her on, feels a part of her extraordinary victory. Without treacle or melodrama, we learn how Akeelah has suffered too many losses in her young life. That's what makes her triumph so sweet to behold.

Thank You for Smoking (2005)

Toothless

[3/10 · 3 April 2006]

Pretty thin gruel. A prime example of a movie trailer being ten times better that the movie -- and under two minutes running time.

A great cast wasted on a bland version of so-called satire.

Some funny lines, very good by sitcom standards, but hardly anything to unseat Preston Sturges. Don't waste your time on this one. Rent "Network" instead if you want to witness cinematic satire with a full set of choppers.

And what about the sex scene with Katie Holmes? Come on, you were wondering, after all the well-placed publicity by TomKat -- right? Well, at best, Katie's big sex scene looks like outtakes from a dull exercise video. (Most American movies present sex this way, of course.) This director, despite his pedigree, has a lot to learn about taking risks. And entertaining the audience.

Oklahoma Crude (1973)

Where's the DVD of this Classic?

[10/10 · 28 March 2006]

I saw this movie in high school and have been waiting for a video release ever since. The screenwriter, Marc Norman, created a masterpiece, and Stanley Kramer directs one of his best movies ever. A great mix of intelligent dialogue, social critique, and sexual politics.

If you're a fan of David Mamet or HBO's "Deadwood," then you'll love this vulgar and profane bit of Americana. The leads play against type and pull off some really great performances. Scott and Dunaway are terrific together; too bad they never paired up again.

If you think this is a one-off, consider this: Marc Norman would go on to win an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love." Mr. Norman, can you use your clout to get a DVD release?

This is a great little allegory about the constant struggle between artistic filmmakers (drilling for oil) and the finance people who stand around the edge of the set, taking pot shots, while waiting for the gusher to pay off.

Joyeux Noel (2005)

A Rare Series of Privileged Moments

[10/10 · 25 March 2006]

This excellent movie is masterful in how it balances sorrow and joy, humor and pity. Without this remarkable control of tone in the direction, the film would've been the worst kind of "Hallmark" TV schmaltz. Instead, you feel something too rare in the movies today, what Truffaut called "a series of privileged moments."

The acting was first rate, too. Some of the featured players are already Hollywood factotums (remember Diane Kruger in Troy and National Treasure?) but everyone in the cast is remarkable. The Scottish clergyman and the French barber are just two examples of character acting that cannot be topped.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 is brought to life here, and as one character says about that brief moment of sanity and peace, "you were not there, so you cannot understand." But thanks to this film, the audience feels the privilege of participating in a true miracle.

Ah, let's pray for a second miracle: that Spielberg will not attempt a re-make.

V for Vendetta (2005)

Complex, Contradictory, Contrived

[7/10 · 22 March 2006]

The source material was an effective protest against Maggie Thatcher and the homophobic paranoia that attended the rise of AIDS infections in the UK. It might have played better back then than it does now. A truly hard sell to release a film about bombing British landmarks less than a year after the terrorist attacks that struck the London transit system. What were the suits thinking?

As a revenge fantasy, this movie works well enough, and there are some truly exciting passages. But how can audiences ignore the context of life today? How can we rally round a terrorist hero? Just the sort of well-meaning but soft-headed pop entertainment that can be appropriated by either fringe (if he were alive today, I'm sure Timothy McVeigh would give this movie four stars).

The heart of the movie is when Evey (Natalie Portman) is arrested and tortured and, consequently, becomes radicalized. This has plenty to say about our world today, especially counterproductive practices like extreme rendition. Terrorists are made, not born.

The Shaggy Dog (2006)

For Every Child, and Their Children, Too

[9/10 · 19 March 2006]

Tim Allen may be the most underrated and generous comic actor working today, willing to pursue any honest laugh to please his audience. But he's clever about it, and the slapstick in this remake rivals the pioneering skill of silent film comedians. This is Allen's best work since "Galaxy Quest."

The ultimate test of this movie is the child you take along (including the one we carry in our heart). My daughter laughed and had a great time. She even explained the DNA cloning technology in such a way that demonstrated just how much craft when into the screenplay -- "make it understandable to a kid under 12" -- even though the pseudo science of the plot often distracted my adult mind.

I never saw the original flick with Fred MacMurray. But I did see Lon Chaney play The Wolfman, and a dozen other werewolf movies. This is a G-rated version of the same mythology, and it resonates for me as an adult, but flies over the head of my youngster. "The Shaggy Dog" works on two distinct levels while satisfying both audiences -- I only wish all family movies were this good.

The Devil's Rejects (2005)

White Trash Deluxe

[7/10 · 12 February 2006]

This one turns out to be a nostalgia trip. "Devil's Rejects" features actors made famous in splatter classics from the drive-in era, movies that include "Dawn of the Dead," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and "The Hills Have Eyes."

Rob Zombie has an ear for funny dialog that surpasses anything in the movies he so admires. I won't give anything away here. You need to hear it for yourself.

This is not a movie for kids. The gore and cruelty will appeal to hardcore fans only. If your girlfriend forced you to sit through "The Notebook," this might be suitable pay back. But only if you don't care about your relationship.

Nanny McPhee (2005)

The Empty Chair

[8/10 · 10 February 2006]

Emma Thompson fearlessly works with seven children and a barnyard of animals -- not to mention ugly-face make-up -- and she never once is upstaged.

My only complaint is about Colin Firth, who has a thankless role, but I've never found him all that interesting anyway.

My 9-year-old daughter, an avid Harry Potter fan, enjoyed the magic of the story and its rich layers of morality. At a key moment, creative obedience to an adult instruction leads to a slapstick showdown that delighted every kid in the theater, including me.

There are moments of peril and cruelty, a villain worthy of Dickens, even corpses in the father's place of business, but nothing presented here is worse than everyday life that all children endure. One of the most poetic understatements in any kid film occurs with the first shot: an empty chair, once occupied by a loving mother.

Nanny McPhee arrives to teach the unruly children, but the grown-ups have the most to learn about loss, honesty, and true love.

Land of the Dead (2005)

Putting Flowers in the Graveyard

[8/10 · 6 February 2006]

I'm not a fan of the trademark viscera used by George A. Romero in his zombie movies, but his wit and humanity rival the likes of Buster Keaton and Jean Renoir.

The political subtext is barely hidden in any of Romero's "Dead" pictures. The zombies represent the disenfranchised, and this time, Romero shows how power works at the top of the economic pyramid to keep 'lowlifes' in there place.

Romero proposes that the powerless must band together, dead or alive, if they hope to overthrow those who control the wealth. If this sounds seditious...well, it is. But this is no boring tract or sermon. "Land of the Dead" entertains with great skill, and often has flourishes of Romero's poetry.

The hero Riley, on a night raid for supplies outside the safety zone, radios his crew to distract the zombies with a fireworks show, using a code phrase: "Put some flowers in the graveyard."

Boom, the night sky blooms with flowers of light, and the zombies below, like many of us in the audience, are dazzled and distracted from what's really happening.

Think about that the next time you enjoy the Fourth of July.

Cockfighter (1974)

Bring Me the Head of a Dead Game Cock ...

[9/10 · 29 January 2006]

Monte Hellman and Sam Peckinpah recognized the particular genius of Warren Oates, and it saddens me to think that younger film goers know little about Oates, and even less about Hellman. Makes a good companion piece for "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia." Although both films have similar plot devices, the performances by Oates are bravely unique, and moving in their fearless creativity.

The DVD includes a documentary about Oates that is a welcome companion to the feature. Esteemed critic David Thomson points out that Oates was not afraid to play dumb (unlike his occasional co-star Jack Nicholson, who always has to show the audience his underlying intelligence as a safeguard). And the commentary track, although low in volume, is worth leaning close and listening to 'back stage' stories about the production. In particular: Roger Corman's angry reaction to the final scene written for the final draft of the script.

This final scene of the movie is poetic and ambiguous, nothing you'd expect from a so-called exploitation picture. Maybe that's why Corman didn't approve. "Cockfighter" is at least half documentary, with real people in supporting roles, and filming real contests in cockpits in Georgia. Because Oates was so authentic, it would be easy to forget that this is a well-crafted performance from one of the most under-rated film actors who ever lived.