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Quick Cuts 3/5/2005 12:06:41 AM
Capsule commentaries on current films that explore principles of storytelling Quick Cuts
These capsule reviews of current movies offer a basic overview of what these stories did (or didn't do) to engage an audience. They are not meant to convey a full review of the movie, or a scene by scene breakdown. All capsule reviews by Bill Johnson, 2005. More of these capsule reviews are available at www.storyispromise.com
The Jacket
posted 3/4/2005
This is a powerful film about the issue of identity and the need that one's life story have a desirable meaning. As a soldier lies dying in the first Gulf War, he envisions what his future could be. Or, he's dying later in the story and still envisions what his future could have been to give his death purpose and meaning. Others could have a different interpretation of this film and be just as right. The story and plot, by design, are meant to be cryptic. Probably too cryptic for some, but I enjoyed this.
This film probably won't develop the cadre of people that Donnie Darko did to explore how its story and plot are set up. In the end, The Jacket is a stylish thriller, while Donnie Darko said something about being young and alienated. A friend who took a teenage soon to see Donnie Darko said after the movie they had the deepest conversation they'd had in years. There's nothing in the Jacket that goes deeper than some good performances and a cryptic plot.
Constantine
posted 2/17/2005
Constantine has good to great special effects, but since that's standard in big-budget films, it isn't enough to carry the film. The film does have a great turn by Tilda Swinton, and an interesting devil. What the film can't overcome is no chemistry between the leads, and minor characters who come and go and live and die without much impact on the plot or story. A main character reveals what's important to her half way through the film, and that's the first moment of human feeling. Without someone or something to care about, it's hard to feel involved in what happens.
Million Dollar Baby
posted 2/2/2005
This is a powerful film. Frankie is a fight manager who over-protects his fighters. Scrap works at Frankie's run down gym in LA. When Maggie shows up wanting Frankie to be her trainer and manager, he wants nothing to do with her, but her determination to become a boxer at 31 sways him to take her on as her manager.
At the heart of this story is the idea that no matter what we do, how we train, how much we pray, how we try to do right, we can't always protect ourselves, not in a fight in a boxing ring or from life.
Recommended.
Elektra
posted 1/25/2005
Another movie with many elements and a late introduction of a story issue for the main character. Elektra's life focuses on death and mayhem when her mother is killed by dark forces. So she becomes an assassin who works for hire. Not quite a logical connect. If she'd taken on a quest to kill the killers of her mother (and their minons), and lost her humanity along the way, the character would have a stronger, purer logic. Instead, Elektra is given characters tics -- she's OCD in parts of the movie, not in others, and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with what happens. Toward the end of the movie, her real character motivation comes out -- to regain her humanity (and thus her purity of heart) that she lost with the murder of her mother.
The film starts by nailing a plot question about a battle between good and evil, and the need for each side to recruit a character who will provide a tipping point in that battle, but the evil characters don't seem to be part of any larger world.
More proof that special effects won't save a weak story.
Closer
posted 1/23/2005
This film has some powerful acting that revolves around four characters who enjoy seduction and drama over love and intimacy. The dialogue of the film (which is based on a play) is raw and powerful. The scenes of the movie all revolve around those moments when relationships begin, shift, or die, so the characters project a naked intensity unusual in most Hollywood films. The story is another example that fulfilling a story's promise isn't about being uplifting; this is a story about characters unable to love, and the story strips away the facade behind their use of the idea of being in love.
Some of the most passionate moments in the film take place between the two male leads, who meet in an internet sex lounge and can't get each other out of their minds. For them, bedding the women involved is about keeping score and getting even with each other.
The actors are Juliet Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman.
Kinsey
posted 1/15/2005
A beautiful film that captures the ignorance about sex that Kinsey's two books overturned, or attempted to overturn. The film goes through the major stages of Kinsey's life and work. In a subtle way, the story is about how Kinsey the scientist grew up to be like his father. While the father found refuge in an absolute belief in religious morality that had no understanding of human beings, Kinsey studies human sexuality with the same zeal he studied gall wasps, and with about the same understanding of human beings. A scene at the end of the movie suggests Kinsey had an epiphany about human love, but that moment is also undercut.
Powerful storytelling with a first rate cast.
White Noise
posted 1/12/2005
The trailer suggests a straight-ahead horror film. The opening 35 minutes of the film suggest a story about grieving for a lost one when we have so many digital memories. There is tension generated when a spouse is late to return home, but it's not until the first scare happens that the movie settles into being a routine supernatural thriller. The mixed messages of the film undercut its overall impact. Nothing much comes out of the long opening, except to make the pacing seem slow for the kind of film promised.
Michael Keaton brings the main character to life, and he's great at bringing edgy tension to the screen.
