allisonmckinley Reviews

Garden State (2004)

Top-notch acting and writing; a clever and heart-warming film.

[9/10 · 23 March 2005]

This is one hot film. It popped into IMDb's top 250 virtually overnight at number 187. Nearly one half of the eighteen thousand who voted for it gave it a perfect ten. I'll wager most of them were under 25 years of age. This is a film for the young at heart.

Because of its early release, this film earned no Oscar nominations. If the studio were to have their way, however, young Zach Braff would garner every award they could give, as his $2.5 million-budget film has grossed in excess of $25 million so far in relatively limited release, making Zach one of the most bankable actor/writer/directors in 'Hollywood'.

In the video "The Making of Garden State", 23-year old Natalie Portman said she enjoyed working on a film with other young people. I can add that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a film that displayed so much young energy and enthusiasm for life—albeit a bit skewed through Zach Braff's eyes.

Zach Braff was heavily influenced by Hal Ashby ("Harold and Maude") and Woody Allen, and he certainly replaces Mr. Allen in the triple-hit category of writer/director/star.

We are no stranger to Zach Braff here in the UK, as the show "Scrubs" premiered on cable/satellite channel Sky One on 17 January 2002. It is a very popular show here.

Besides the wonderful work of Zach Braff as an actor, and the tremendous support provided by Natalie Portman—who does not enter the film until the 28th minute and manages to steal every scene thereafter!—Peter Sarsgaard (the crossbow killer in Unconditional Love) dreamily underplays Mark, modern-day grave robber, and Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins of Lord of the Rings) plays the role of New Jersey father with tremendous poise, and a wonderful American accent.

In Jerry McGuire, Renée Zellweger as loyal secretary Dorothy Boyd says, 'You had me from hello.' I must say that Zach Braff's character Andrew captured my attention from the very first scenes of this film, wherein: a petrol nozzle is still stuck in his car as he arrives at the restaurant where he works in Los Angeles; his airplane is crashing and, whilst other passengers don their oxygen masks, Andrew merely adjusts the air conditioning above him; Andrew is "saluted" by the automatic faucets in the restroom as he walks past; his shirt metaphorically blends with the wallpaper in his mother's bathroom. I was laughing to the point of tears before an actor spoke a single word. Zach had me long before the first 'hello'.

This is the story of a boy coming home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral. Andrew Largeman has been living in Los Angeles, working as an actor/waiter because he likes being other people. Via a phone message from his father/psychiatrist (who has kept Andrew on drugs all his life), Andrew is informed that his mother has died—that she in fact drowned in her own tub.

Who can miss the Allen-esque humour of the 'medicine cabinet' scene that follows—not just the face split by the mirror, but the immaculately neat rows of medication that line the shelves? Or the scene once he arrives home: a Jewish boy riding a German WWII motorcycle that his grandfather has left him? And while she doesn't speak the exact words from Annie Hall, 'You're what Grammy Hall would call a real Jew'… …after he has met compulsive liar Sam (Natalie Portman) and given her a ride home, she shows him her most prized possession (besides her dead hamster): Sam: This is Tickle (holding up a rag).

Andrew: What is tickle?

Sam: Tickle's my favourite thing in the whole world. It's all that's left of Nanny, my blanket.

Andrew: What happened? Hurricane…?

Sam: Shut up!

Andrew: It's like a Wailing Wall.

Sam: What?

Andrew: The Wailing Wall is the most holy place for Jews to go and pray in Israel. It's all that's left of this enormous temple that was destroyed by the Romans.

Sam: So you're like really Jewish? You are!

Andrew: What? I don't do anything Jewish. I don't go to temple, or anything. I don't know any Jews who go to temple.

Like Woody Allen, always explaining away his Jewishness, Zach has his character Andrew fall for a shiksa, a non-Jewish girl.

By the way, Natalie Portman was Zach's first pick to play the role of Sam; and she seems to be the perfect shiksa for any Jewish boy, as she was born in Israel.

Andrew comes home to find his friends only a little changed; Mark is a gravedigger/grave robber at the Jewish cemetery, Kenny (the guy who once sniffed coke off a urinal) has become a cop, and Jesse is now a millionaire after "the man" bought his patent for silent Velcro.

"Garden State" is a warm romance, punctuated with outrageous visuals—a leg-humping seeing-eye dog, a masturbating terrier, a graveyard of pets, an armoured friend from Medieval Times Restaurant (He's just a fast-food knight) who's making it with Mark's mother (Jean Smart)… Oh, and if you're a John Ritter fan, you will see that Zach brings John's face back to life every time he deadpans the camera.

Let me leave you with the line that I believe best sums up this charming film.

When Sam tells Andrew that she has to wear a funny helmet to work because she suffers from epilepsy, he asks, 'What part are we laughing about again?' Sam answers: 'If you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you'd like.'

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Johnny Depp puts a little swish in swashbuckle...

[21 March 2004]

Despite being rife with technical blunders such as the longest full moon in history, Disney's first non-PG film is proving to be a financial boon while at the same time collecting reviews from critics that run from tepid to red hot. I am in complete agreement with Roger Ebert on one point: Somewhere in this 143 minute tour de force there lurks a very good ninety-minute film.

Other than Johnny Depp, who fashioned his character's personality (and eye makeup?) after observations of his good friend Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, the cast of 'Pirates' reads like a Who's Who of English film actors, including Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport and Mackenzie Crook.

When screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio originally pitched the movie to the Disney executives in the early '90s, Disney rejected it. It makes one wonder just who is running the Disney empire. Universal Studios have been combining action/adventure movies with theme park rides for over two decades (E.T., Jurassic Park, Jaws, and Back to the Future to name a few) only in reverse order-first the film, then the ride. This combination has worked well for Universal, and it seems almost absurd that Disney has taken so long to pick up on the obvious.

I liked three things in particular about this film. Just say Johnny Depp three times. His character Jack Sparrow redefines the term swashbuckler. Not since William Hurt's performance in Children of a Lesser God , and to a slightly lesser degree Kevin Costner's in JFK, has an actor so resoundingly stolen the show. If you do not like Johnny Depp, 'Pirates' is not for you. If you do like Mr. Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood), you will enjoy 'Pirates'.

That is not to say that Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush were less than fantastic. Rush made a delightful villain as Capt. Barbossa, and Orlando Bloom's performance brought charisma to a rather limiting role as Will Turner. Expect nothing but good things from this young actor in the future.

Let us examine the plot. This will be a rather short paragraph, for sword fights do not a movie make. The opening scenes show a young Elizabeth Swann on a ship at sea. A young Will Turner floats up on a raft, unconscious, wearing a gold medallion round his neck. Elizabeth hides the medallion so that no one else will know that young Will is a pirate. Years later, the pirates come to Port Royal in quest of the gold piece and kidnap the governor's daughter Elizabeth (Kiera Knightly), now all grown up. The fact that she also has the medallion they are looking for is just one of those lucky things that will happen if you're a good pirate who eats well and stays fit. Captain Jack Sparrow shows up at about the same time and he and Will commandeer a ship from the Royal Navy to chase the pirates, save Elizabeth, and add some adventure to their otherwise bleak lives. Swordfight, swordfight, swordfight, and that's about it. Let us just say that Pirates of the Caribbean has all the plot of an amusement park ride and leave it at that.

A few predictions may be in order, however. Look for an Oscar nomination for Depp's efforts. Look for nominations as well for sound, set design, makeup, and cinematography. As far as best picture? Next to Lord of the Rings (Return of the King)? Not likely.

Director Gore Verbinski, who used to play in a punk rock band and is best known for creating the Budweiser frogs, does an outstanding job keeping track of the myriad details required of a director, given his limited experience. True, 'Pirates' has countless errors in continuity, but those occur in any film of such scope. Mr. Verbinski has only four other films to his name: a short entitled The Ritual (1996), and then three very different but effectively made films, Mouse Hunt (1997), The Mexican (2001), and the very creepy thriller The Ring (2002). Again, it makes one wonder just who is at the helm of the USS Disney to put a $125 million movie in the hands of a neophyte. Well, it worked with Lord of the Rings and a very inexperienced Peter Jackson, and it worked here for Disney as well.

'Pirates of the Caribbean' is a fun movie for most of the family. It may be rather scary for children ten and under and somewhat boring for many over twenty-five. I enjoyed it immensely for exactly what it was... an amusing ride.

Whale Rider (2002)

Truly a film for the entire family to enjoy together.

[21 March 2004]

If you have lost your belief in magic, perhaps this is a tale you need to hear about a film you need to see. It is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl, a class clown, a show-off. When strangers invaded her classroom one day, she continued to do what she was used to doing, playing the fool, thus attracting the strangers' attention.

The strangers cast her as the lead in a film. Though it looked like a small film to begin with, it turned out to be an international blockbuster. Then one day, she read in the newspaper that she had been nominated for the most prestigious acting award in the entire world. Her first acting performance had catapulted her from obscurity to the winner's circle, in competition with Diane Keaton, Samantha Morton, Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Keisha Castle-Hughes is the youngest person ever to be nominated for best actress by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Anna Paquin, discovered by the same casting agent, won an Oscar in 1993 for The Piano, but that was for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Yet she was not the youngest. In 1973, Tatem O'Neal won for Paper Moon at the ripe old age of ten.

So, we have established that fairy tales can still come true, but not without the proper vehicle, and I do not mean a pumpkin drawn by white mice. The vehicle in this instance is a very carefully designed and orchestrated film. And where do great films start? With the writer(s), of course.

Another fairy tale? Witi Ihimaera is the first Maori writer ever to have published both a book of short stories and a novel. He says he was sitting in his New York home one day overlooking the Hudson River when he saw a whale breach the waterline. A whale in the Hudson River? Mr. Ihimaera took it as a sign.

Inspired by stories of ancient tradition that streamed into his mind, over the next three weeks, Mr. Ihimaera wrote The Whale Rider. It is this one work of his that the Maori community accepts as being most representative of their culture, and the novel that became the backbone for the screenplay for the film Whale Rider (co-written by Witi Ihimaera and director Niki Caro).

Maori legend tells of a great man, Paikea, who came many ages ago riding o n the back of a whale and landed on the shores of a new world. He left word that someday another great whale rider would be born to lead the Maori people.

The film begins with a scene in a hospital of a young woman giving birth to twins. The boy is stillborn. With her last breath, she whispers to her husband, `Paikea, Paikea.' The remaining girl child is blessed with that name as the mother dies.

Paikea's father, Porourangi (Cliff Curtis), crushed by the loss of his wife, departs his homeland, leaving Paikea in the caring hands of his parents, Koro and Nanny Flowers. `Pai' grows and becomes strong in the teachings of her people, yet she hears an inner voice as well.

Koro, her grandfather, is the chief of his people. When he sees that his son will not return, he begins to train the local boys in the ways of leadership. Pai believes that she could become the leader of her people, but her grandfather, though he loves her, rejects her.

Pai cannot be daunted; she is tougher than any of the boys. She hides around corners and eavesdrops as the boys are trained, learning the lessons, dance, movements and traditional ceremonies of her people.

Once he feels they are ready, Koro takes the boys out in a boat on the ocean and here he removes the carved whale's tooth, symbol of the chief, from around his neck, tossing it into the water. Though they try, none of the boys is able to retrieve it.

Here, the film takes a turn, one that is somewhat unexpected, and one that sets this film apart from the run of the mill. As part of a school pageant, Pai has written a work in honor of her people and has asked her grandfather to attend. It is this performance of the young woman that tests her skills as an actress, and is certainly one of the most touching moments in the film.

The rest of the film does not hinge so much on whether Pai's grandfather attends her performance or not. Something else occurs. Seven whales have beached themselves on the shore. Paikea has called the whales and they have responded to her call. As the people of the village struggle to help the whales return to the ocean before they die, Koro's other son shows him the carved whale's tooth.

`Which of the boys got it?' Koro asks. His son tells him it wasn't one of the boys. `It was she,' he says, pointing to Paikea, now sitting on the back of the biggest of the whales.

There is a very big difference in a film made for twelve-year-old girls and a film about a twelve-year-old girl, especially one on the threshold of womanhood. This is a film about traditions, about beliefs, about growing up, about magic, and about love.

Director Niki Caro transcends ordinary film making with Whale Rider. The film played to standing ovations at both the Toronto and Sundance film festivals, and with good reason. It is not a film that tells us anything is possible. It shows us. It does not sink into despair over the disappearing way of life of the Maori people. It shows us that any group of people, any tribe or village, any nation, can survive and even prosper if we rely on what we feel in our hearts.

The Snow Goose (1971 TV Movie)

One of the top 100 films of all time.

[10/10 · 18 March 2004]

The Snow Goose

Often the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of mushy greeting cards, Hallmark is a veteran producer of classic films. For instance, look for a release this year of Homer Hickam's (author of October Sky/Rocket Boys) Sky of Stone.

I was not even born when this film version of Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose first appeared on the BBC in 1971, and it is only through my Uncle's affiliation with the Post Office that I was able to secure a copy of this film much later (British television comes under the supervision of the General Post Office).

This is an award-winning made-for-TV movie that affected me like no other, a black and white film set in the dismal east-coast marshes of Essex in the late 1930s.

There are only two characters, really: a misshapen, scraggly, dark-haired man who had taken up residence in an abandoned lighthouse from whence even the sea had retreated, and a smudgy-faced waif from the nearby Saxon oyster-fishing hamlet of Wickaeldroth.

In what I consider to be his best film role ever--though I am sure a younger generation will forever remember him as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films--a very young Richard Harris takes on the personality of Gallico's dark hero Philip Rhayader, assisted by a young Jenny Agutter as Frith.

We learn that Mr. Rhayader, a painter, has come to this desolate lighthouse to escape pity and the uncomfortable reactions that his physical deformities seem to engender. At 27 years of age, he buys the lighthouse and the land around it to be his haven from commerce with others, and creates a small artist's studio and a sanctuary for wounded fowl.

One day, he detects a small form approaching on the sea wall. His visitor is a young girl from the nearby village, and as she draws near, he sees that she carries a bird which has been shot by the fowlers in a nearby marsh.

I said earlier that there are only two characters of any import in this story, but there is indeed a third if we count the wayward Canadian snow goose who has miraculously survived a terrible storm. Blown nearly three thousand miles off her migratory course, upon her weary approach to the marshes, she is greeted by a shot from a hunter's gun.

Rhayader tells the apprehensive girl, Frith, that this bird comes all the way from Canada, so he calls the snow goose La Princesse Perdue, the lost princess. Frith begins to visit the recovering bird regularly, but once it has healed and flies off in response to its migratory instinct, her visits cease. It is then with even greater loneliness and sadness that Rhayader awaits the fall, which signals the return of the snow goose and his curious female visitor. Meanwhile, he recedes again into his sequestered life, only seeing the world twice a month when he deftly sails his boat to the village of Chelmbury for supplies.

Seasons pass and Frith grows to be a young woman, La Princesse Perdue returns every fall, and war continues to scar the face of Europe. One day, the government calls upon every able-bodied man on the east coast of England who owns a tug, a fishing boat or a power-launch, to sail to Dunkirk and save an army of British soldiers who are trapped on the beach, awaiting destruction at the hands of the advancing German army. When Frith comes to visit, she finds Rhayader in his boat, ready to sail across the channel to do what he can to help, a gleam in his eye at the challenge that awaits him. It is at this point that Frith becomes aware of the feelings that have grown in her heart for this man, and she offers to go with him.

To say more would indeed spoil this film, or should I say the story. Unfortunately, even though Paul Gallico wrote the screenplay for this classic, he stipulated in his will that the movie should never again be screened, so sure was he that the message he wished to convey was to be found in the 53 pages of his novelette of the same name. Few films created in the century since the dawn of the moving-picture medium deserve a perfect ten. This is one of them.

Reviewer's Note: This film is based upon the actual event known as `Operation Dynamo'. June 2, 2004, marks the 64rd anniversary of the evacuation at Dunkirk, wherein 338,000 stranded men were shuttled to safety by a flotilla of rag-tag vessels that would have been an embarrassment to McHale's Navy.

Dead Man Walking (1995)

Great acting from the two leads... Otherwise, don't bother.

[4/10 · 10 March 2004]

Sean Penn has grown tremendously since his graduation from "Ridgemont High". After being nominated herein, and then for Sweet and Lowdown and I Am Sam, he deserved to grab that Oscar at the 76th Annual Academy Awards for his acting in Mystic River.

However, other than Penn's performance and an equally engaging one by Susan Sarandon, there's not much to see in this film. The writing is trite, the direction deplorable. Mr. Penn and Ms. Sarandon could have been just as impressive talking to cardboard cutouts. They were great in spite of the poor direction by Tim Robbins. The other actors were not strong enough to overcome it.

There are too many cliches, too many blunders. And who was that man caught outside the window in one scene? Not a big enough budget to shoot over?

I strongly oppose the death penalty, but that doesn't mean I'm going to laud this soppy and sloppy excuse for a film.