Rating: • • • • •
Age Recommendation: 10+
After hearing second-hand a handful of positive mentions of The King's Speech (2010), I was delighted to find, upon viewing it, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed. Dramas and biopics have the unfortunate tendency to be dry and dragging. The King's Speech is neither.
Colin Firth, although looking very little like the real-life King George VI he portrays, captures in the viewer's mind the essence of this fascinating tale. This is a story that cannot be done justice in a matter of sentences, so when you hear that this is the story of the Duke of York seeking help with a speech impediment, you must understand that there is so much more depth to this tale. Geoffrey Rush, playing the speech therapist, becomes the only man who can see beneath the shell of royal life and become "Bertie" (HRH Prince Albert/Duke of York/King George VI)'s first friend.
Although many will already know the general course of events leading up to World War II, if history holds any interest for you, then this fascinating look at 1930s England will be a delight. The problem faced by Firth is at once endearing and urgent for all its simplicity. You will be drawn into the life of this hesitant man from the offset. With its conflict, humor, and heartwarming moments, this ride gives you more than your money's worth of entertainment for the whole family (only the use of the F word, although for humorous effect, prevents my rating this a 5+ film). I found the story much more engaging than The Queen (2006), which lacked in the charm and pacing of The King's Speech.
Beginning at the tail end of the reign of George V, played by Michael Gambon, into the short-lived and scandalous reign of the Duke's brother Edward VIII, the film follows into the successive abdication of the new king and the resulting reign of our hero Colin Firth. His portrayal of the stammering royal is fantastic, for lack of a better word. Helena Bonham Carter is at her most dignified playing the duke's dedicated, supportive wife and mother of young Elizabeth and Margaret. Geoffrey Rush is wonderful as Lionel Logue, the therapist who treats even royalty as his equal. The only casting problem I had was with Timothy Spall as Churchill--I might suggest the Churchill in season 5 of the new Doctor Who instead, for looks.
This is a movie I truly believe everyone should see. It will most likely stir your emotions one way or another, but what is certain is that it tells a great story. Please do yourself a favor and see it. And really, don't worry about the R rating. It's only for language, and the language, though perverse in other contexts, is harmless in this film (see for yourself).
Summary: Fantastic music, fantastic casting, fantastic screenplay, fantastic story.
The Good: wonderful back-and-forth friendship between "Bertie" and Logue, musical score, casting
The Bad: could have picked a Churchill that the younger generation won't equate with a certain magical rat-person
The Even Worse: nothing
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
True Grit (2010)
Rating: • • • • ½
Age Recommendation: 15+
When my family decided to see True Grit, I was skeptical of the positive reviews it had received. There were rumors of Oscar nods to Jeff Bridges, who revives the character Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn last played by the Duke himself, John Wayne, but perhaps part of my hesitance at seeing this movie stemmed from my fixed perception of Jeff Bridges as the villain Obadiah Stane in Iron Man (2008). Maybe I thought that, as a modern Western, it would lack the charm and wit of Classical Hollywood Westerns and be fixated on CGI explosions as the 3:10 to Yuma (2007) remake tended to be. Maybe I thought the film looked dark and creepy. For whatever reason, I was determined not to like this movie. This opinion was pleasantly changed within the first five minutes of the film.
Rather than a violence-ridden, nightmare-inducing shooting fest, I found an intelligent, laugh-out-loud funny battle of words. Perhaps this is the Coen brothers magic I have heard so much about. Looking back upon their many works, I now realize that I had seen two before--Raising Arizona (1987) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)--though I never was as amazed with a script to take such notice. This Western contains comic genius that had my dad, who thinks movies a "waste of time," with tears of laughter in his eyes.
Having not read the novel, I cannot say how true this film is to the original, but I have heard that the ending is more true to the source than the 1969 John Wayne version. Whether this is a better ending I cannot rightly say until I see the original. What I can tell you is that this is a thoroughly enjoyable film with a sad but somewhat believable ending (for a film). For fun, I recommend you look for two scenes near the end: the first reminds me of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the second, following shortly thereafter, of Arwen and Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). You will know them when you see them.
How have I failed to mention the lead role of the smart, straightforward, sassy, sharp-tongued Mattie Ross, played by Hailee Steinfeld? While Josh Brolin is billed as one of the stars, he is hardly present. I'm talking maybe ten minutes of screen time. The real star who steals the show is this fourteen-year-old girl whose story is being told so brilliantly by the Coen brothers. Let's not forget Matt Damon who plays the overly proud Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf. The camaraderie--and comedy--between Damon and Bridges is brilliant, but I still maintain that it is young Hailee whose performance is best. After all, you can't understand half the words that come out of Bridges's mouth. Rather, here is a girl who can outsmart a stubborn businessman into paying full price for the return of horses he doesn't want--and what's more is you believe it.
However, I don't want to mislead you to think this film is all fun and games. About half-way through there is some startling and graphic violence that sets the serious tone I had been expecting throughout. Definitely not something for young children, but if you were to watch it in advance and tell them when to cover their eyes they should do fine. Nothing sexual to worry about the kiddies seeing for a nice change.
One more thing I really liked about this movie was the cinematography. The movie is telling the story of Mattie and it sticks to that. The cameras, rather than sticking close to the action, have some very well done extreme long shots which work very well with the sharpshooting Damon and Bridges must perform. Plus, this very kindly distances us from a lot of the more gruesome violence. If the characters wouldn't see the blood squirting up close, why should we have to?
All in all, this movie is a splendid romp through the Old West full of wit and humor. I would say that it could be broken down as 2/3 comedy, 1/6 action, and 1/6 drama, but definitely worth seeing. Although I give it a 15+ age rating, I would say that younger family members might enjoy it as well so long as they are mature enough (I watched my first James Bond when I was 7 and I was fine). SPOILER: The really gruesome scene takes place in a cabin in the woods after Mattie must climb on the roof. Keep an eye out in the credits for "Mr. Damon's abs double," a joke credit (sorry, ladies).
Summary: This is a wonderful, believable Western full of good acting and humor. There is startling, strong violence and some racial and animal mistreatment but this could be a lot worse and the gore is limited to one brief scene. The main characters form a winning trio that you can't help but enjoy watching. Good for most ages if you can ignore the one really violent scene. Sad ending but not as bad as you might expect.
The Good: the bear man (you'll know when you see him), believable absurdity of people and situations, camera work, witty humor, interaction between Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf
The Bad: meanness towards American Indians (intended for humor but really just sad in its realism)
The Even Worse: gore of the cabin scene
Age Recommendation: 15+
When my family decided to see True Grit, I was skeptical of the positive reviews it had received. There were rumors of Oscar nods to Jeff Bridges, who revives the character Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn last played by the Duke himself, John Wayne, but perhaps part of my hesitance at seeing this movie stemmed from my fixed perception of Jeff Bridges as the villain Obadiah Stane in Iron Man (2008). Maybe I thought that, as a modern Western, it would lack the charm and wit of Classical Hollywood Westerns and be fixated on CGI explosions as the 3:10 to Yuma (2007) remake tended to be. Maybe I thought the film looked dark and creepy. For whatever reason, I was determined not to like this movie. This opinion was pleasantly changed within the first five minutes of the film.
Rather than a violence-ridden, nightmare-inducing shooting fest, I found an intelligent, laugh-out-loud funny battle of words. Perhaps this is the Coen brothers magic I have heard so much about. Looking back upon their many works, I now realize that I had seen two before--Raising Arizona (1987) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)--though I never was as amazed with a script to take such notice. This Western contains comic genius that had my dad, who thinks movies a "waste of time," with tears of laughter in his eyes.
Having not read the novel, I cannot say how true this film is to the original, but I have heard that the ending is more true to the source than the 1969 John Wayne version. Whether this is a better ending I cannot rightly say until I see the original. What I can tell you is that this is a thoroughly enjoyable film with a sad but somewhat believable ending (for a film). For fun, I recommend you look for two scenes near the end: the first reminds me of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the second, following shortly thereafter, of Arwen and Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). You will know them when you see them.
How have I failed to mention the lead role of the smart, straightforward, sassy, sharp-tongued Mattie Ross, played by Hailee Steinfeld? While Josh Brolin is billed as one of the stars, he is hardly present. I'm talking maybe ten minutes of screen time. The real star who steals the show is this fourteen-year-old girl whose story is being told so brilliantly by the Coen brothers. Let's not forget Matt Damon who plays the overly proud Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf. The camaraderie--and comedy--between Damon and Bridges is brilliant, but I still maintain that it is young Hailee whose performance is best. After all, you can't understand half the words that come out of Bridges's mouth. Rather, here is a girl who can outsmart a stubborn businessman into paying full price for the return of horses he doesn't want--and what's more is you believe it.
However, I don't want to mislead you to think this film is all fun and games. About half-way through there is some startling and graphic violence that sets the serious tone I had been expecting throughout. Definitely not something for young children, but if you were to watch it in advance and tell them when to cover their eyes they should do fine. Nothing sexual to worry about the kiddies seeing for a nice change.
One more thing I really liked about this movie was the cinematography. The movie is telling the story of Mattie and it sticks to that. The cameras, rather than sticking close to the action, have some very well done extreme long shots which work very well with the sharpshooting Damon and Bridges must perform. Plus, this very kindly distances us from a lot of the more gruesome violence. If the characters wouldn't see the blood squirting up close, why should we have to?
All in all, this movie is a splendid romp through the Old West full of wit and humor. I would say that it could be broken down as 2/3 comedy, 1/6 action, and 1/6 drama, but definitely worth seeing. Although I give it a 15+ age rating, I would say that younger family members might enjoy it as well so long as they are mature enough (I watched my first James Bond when I was 7 and I was fine). SPOILER: The really gruesome scene takes place in a cabin in the woods after Mattie must climb on the roof. Keep an eye out in the credits for "Mr. Damon's abs double," a joke credit (sorry, ladies).
Summary: This is a wonderful, believable Western full of good acting and humor. There is startling, strong violence and some racial and animal mistreatment but this could be a lot worse and the gore is limited to one brief scene. The main characters form a winning trio that you can't help but enjoy watching. Good for most ages if you can ignore the one really violent scene. Sad ending but not as bad as you might expect.
The Good: the bear man (you'll know when you see him), believable absurdity of people and situations, camera work, witty humor, interaction between Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf
The Bad: meanness towards American Indians (intended for humor but really just sad in its realism)
The Even Worse: gore of the cabin scene
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