Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the first of the tons of today's coverage of the Toronto Film Festival. I'm currently typing this up in the Alamo Drafthouse, waiting for the first film of the QT Fest '80s Horror night to start. If I hurry I can get another batch of reviews up before QT takes the mic! Enjoy!
Hey AICN crew,
Isn't Toronto great? I've lived no more than 45 minutes away from the city nearly my entire life and I've always thought so. Cut to early September of every year and Toronto's "great" becomes a "super great" with a strong case for "greatest."
I'm a huge fan of the Toronto International Film Festival and everything it represents: the appreciation of art, an international love of cinema, and soul-crushing rush lines. Unfortunately, I'm not a member of the elite - the press with their precious, precious passes - so I've got to buy my tickets at twenty bucks a pop (ouch, eh?) and more often then not do so at the long end of a rush line. Despite all of that there are times when it's worth it. So, was SHOPGIRL worth it? Yeah, sorta.
I'm a Steven Martin fan. I'm a Claire Danes fan. I'm a Jason Schwartzman groupie - or I would be if he had groups which the RUSHMORE-loving public could join. Although, I have no idea who (director) Anand Tucker is. Even so, SHOPGIRL was, for me, a lock.
I waited in the Rush (Hour) Line for close to three hours and was among the first fifty or so people, so I was let in. The movie was supposed to start at 9:00 PM, following a screening of Terry Gilliam's TIDELAND - which I am kicking myself for passing on. For whatever reason, it was delayed. The first celebrity to arrive was an Oscar-cool-as-always Steve Martin, accompanied by Eugene Levy no less. There were shouts of "I love you Steve!" and "Steve, do the card trick!" (???) from the crowds of people that swarmed the red carpet. Unfortunately, I still don't know what exactly "the card trick is." Next up was Jason Schwartzman and a small entourage of people who I can only assume are just like those found on the HBO series. Claire Danes arrived last, at around 9:10, with a couple of people. Again, a cry of, "I love you Claire!" arose from the crowd. I can only assume that it was from our old friend - and I thought he was only into white-haired men. I guess Claire can't do any card tricks as there were no further requests or proclamations of love. A few more people arrived who nobody recognized - it's always amusing when a limo pulls up, the paparazzi cameras shoot up, and then slowly fall as nobody can recognize the person emerging from the car - and we were let in at approximately 9:20.
Before the movie started we were introduced to the film's director, Anand Tucker, who was kind, and polite, but not terribly interesting. He said that it was "incredibly humbling to be standing in front of you," and then proceeded to thank a lot of people whose names I did not recognize - I assume they were the film's producers.
Tucker then called out the main-man himself, Steve Martin. As you can imagine, the guy was great. Charming, funny, and polite. He started off by asking us to accept his appology since his "voice is a little hoarse from talking at the soiree you weren't invited to." He also remarked of the director, a lanky mid-thirties-looking guy that probably weighs only 120 pounds, "Anand weighed 300 pounds when we started!"
Schwartzman and Danes approached the stage at the same time as Martin, but they didn't get any time at the mic. They stayed at the back and looked somewhat nervous - I would be too, the theater easily seated two thousand people.
With a final joke from Martin, "Just so you know, the shadow of this podium will be projected onto the screen," we were off.
Not being familiar with Tucker's previous work, nor having read the Steve Martin-penned novella on which the fim was based, I didn't really know what to expect. I thought the film's trailer had a great Wes Anderson/Cameron Crowe feel to it and I assumed it would be a "girl meets two boys, one young and reckless, the other old and wizened, and has to choose between the two"-type thing. For the most part, it was. Overall, the movie was full of small, sweet moments and some good acting, but nothing jumped out at me as being particularly memorable or passionate.
Without a doubt, this movie belongs to Claire Danes. You'd think she would share screen time, and your attention, with Martin and Schwartzman, but she ends up owning the picture. Personally, I feel that while she's given better performances (I love her in Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET and the mid-'90s TV show MY SO-CALLED LIFE) this is certainly one that will stick out. The girl has a great, fascinating look to her. She's the type of actress that you literally could stick behind a posh counter, not have her talk, yet still be interested in her - you can tell there's a lot of emotion behind the eyes.
Plot-wise while the movie did surprise me a bit, it wasn't as much as I'd hoped for. While the assumption that the two leading men would compete for her affections is true, it isn't as cookie-cutter as you'd expect. You see, while Schwartzman's character is the first guy she meets (and gets together with) she leaves him, and spends the majority of the film with Steve Martin's sugar-daddy character. By the end I really had no idea who she would end up with. I won't spoil who she picks, but suffice it to say, it isn't as "been there, done that" as you'd expect. Or at least, the realistic manner in which her choice is made for her isn't.
Martin is very interesting here. I've enjoyed the man's work for ages, yet I don't think we've seen this side to him before. While I don't think the comparison is necessarily 100% spot on, I would say that his turn in SHOPGIRL is similar to Bill Murray's work in RUSHMORE. Take this goofy, excitable guy you've known for years... and then tone him down. Bring him back to earth. Make him act like the old man that he is; like he has experienced something other than a lifetime of farce. However, unlike Murray's Herman Blume, Martin's Ray Porter isn't all that interesting, funny, or tragic. He just sort of feels distant. Detached. I would like to see more of this sort of thing from Martin, but in the future something with more emotion, even quiet emotion, would help.
Finally we've got Schwartzman who, for my money, is one of the most enjoyable and amusing young actors out there. His breakout in RUSHMORE was brilliant and I thought he was too good in CQ. While he's got enough of his uncle's chutzpah and charisma to keep you watching, it's his character that isn't so great. He plays Jeremy Kraft, a font-designer who fits into the standard role of lovable loser. The scruffy guy who the girl is somewhat repulsed by, but similarily drawn to. The thing is, his character comes off as more a loser than lovable. There's some great stuff, very funny, between him and Danes early on in the movie, but you can't help but feel that while he may love her, he also doesn't really deserve a girl like her. On their first date, after a brief make-out session, she asks him, "Do you have a condom?" he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a wrapped-package, and then sighs when he realizes that its actually just a pack of mints. Alright, funny stuff. Dane's character comments, "Well... we could just talk?" to which Jeremy replies, "Yeah..." as in "I guess, but let's get serious here" and then walks off in search of a condom. It's a very funny moment, but after you finish laughing you are struck with the thought that the guy may be a bit of a jerk. Or at least very immature. We are led to believe that he's in love with her, yet he'd rather get down and dirty then say all of ten words to her? I suppose it's a credit to Schwartzman that he managed to pull off a charismatically-tricky role such as this one with flair.
In the end the movie's a nice one, but nothing that I think will stay with audiences after they've left the theater. The movie's sweetest moments can be found in the trailer and while the performances are enjoyable (Schwartzman), interesting (Martin), and strong (Danes), in the end you're still not as engaged by the characters as you'd like to be. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the actors or if you're really into love-triangle movies, but I don't think there's anything to it that sets it apart from the standards of the genre.
Well, that's all for now. I hope that what I've written has been informative and enjoyable. I'm off to yet another relationship-themed movie tonight, Crowe's ELIZABETHTOWN and i'll make sure to chime in with my impressions of that one. Cheers!
-the 1337 n00b
Now we have a report about a few flicks you might not have heard about yet... except for KISS KISS BANG BANG, of course. The word on that one is stellar and now we have reviews of THREE TIMES and THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, which has a fantastic cast... Enjoy!
TIFF: Report
A note on the rating, in previous years the audience was given ballots to put down what their favorite movie was. Simple, not too much thought needed. Accept last year when you’re trying to compare Hotel Rwanda with the House of Flying Daggers. This year though they have changed things around, the audience is given a ballot with 1 to 5 on it and you rate the film. So my star rating is based on what I voted for each movie.
Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
This is a great movie! There are already reviews on the sit so I wont spend too much time on it. But I have to say this is a funny, star making, clever movie! I have to say this has the best intro scene I have seen in years.
I hope they revisit these characters again, this movie is not set up for a trilogy and I’m sure that none of the cast has a three picture option. The story is told and resolved within the movie (what a concept), the thing is like life the character still have a lot of living and it would be interesting to see what happens next.
Part of the wonder of the Toronto International Film Festival is the fact that the public gets to see the movies, and the directors, producers, and actors show up! I got to sit a row from Robert Downey Jr. and 2 rows from Val Kilmer. Only those in the crowed can truly say they saw Joel Silver and his suit… My god that suit… Michelle Monaghan is proof that there are many under employed, under recognized actors and actresses who have what it takes if only they are given the chance.
*****
Three Times
First off Qi Shu (From the Transporter) is one of the most beautiful women on the planet. If it weren’t for the fact that the movie is so boring, I would have nothing bad to say about it. It is set in three time periods 1966, 1911 and 2005. We see the same actors play at love with mixed results in each period. At points it is very sweat, innovative (1911 – is done as a colour silent film), the costumes was amazing, the actors pulls you into each character… But, it’s hard to forgive boring.
**
Thank you for smoking
This is a very funny look at one of the M.O.D. squad (That’s Merchants Of Death) - Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), fictional rep for big tobacco. It’s a comedy and it’s really funny! This what makes this great is the cast and how smart it really is. First the cast – Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliot, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, and David Koechner. Everyone is great in this movie, and lets be frank any movie with William H. Macy is better.
I will say this may well be the first sophist movie ever (For more info on Sophism Click here to go to Wikipedia!). This movie is about debate pure and simple it’s not about smoking. Well ok, it’s a bit about smoking. We see the world from Nick eyes, as he teaches his son how to control the world with words. It’s not about being right it is about winning the argument. Nick Naylor is the modern day Gordon Gekko, his character is disarming in away that I don’t think Gekko ever was, and at the same time you have to think with every word he says is screwing up his son.
*****
JediShaft.
