Hey, folks. Capone in Chicago here, with a couple of films that are making their way into art houses around America this week (maybe even taking up one whole screen at a multiplex near you). Do your part to support these films, or at least the good ones…
MICMACS
I make a concerted effort to see as many modern French films in a given year as I possibly can, and I'm not entirely sure why or when this obsession began. I like the very naturalistic feel many of them bring to storytelling, and their almost 100 percent insistence that things not wrap themselves up in a nice bow by the end of whatever story is being told. That kind of abrupt anti-climax happens so often, I get rattled when a plot actually does end in a more conventional manner, as if that director is being overtly contrary. Or maybe I just love the pretty ladies, the brooding men and the sexy accents.
And then there are genuine cinematic adventurers like Jean-Pierre Jeunet (DELICATESSEN, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, AMELIE, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT), who has done something rather remarkable with his latest work, MICMACS. He has taken his love of what goes on behind and beneath the surface world and combined it with an almost fairy tale-like story loaded with intrigue, visual glory, dark humor, a freak show fascination, and wheelbarrows of fun. Along for the journey is the gifted French comic actor Dany Boon, who I first remember digging in JOYEUX NOEL and THE VALET from the mid-2000s. Boon is more expressive with just his face than most actors are with every part of their body flailing and their voice booming through the audience. He would have been a hit in the silent film era, and there are long stretches of MICMACS that are dialog-free, as if to emphasize his gifts.
The story opens with a man getting blown up by a land mine in the Moroccan desert. Back in France years later, the son of that man--a video store clerk named Bazil (Boon)--gets shot in the head during a scuffle on the street outside his establishment. The doctors must leave the bullet in his brain or risk death, so Bazil lives a life where any stressful or overly active situation leaves him feeling a little rattled (he literally has to shake his head furiously to snap back to the real world). What's most interesting to Bazil is the land mine that killed his father and the shell casing of the bullet in his head both have very distinct company logos on them, and when he spots their corporate headquarters right next to each other, he decides to go after the firms that can't seem to keep a handle on its weaponry. After losing his home and job, Bazil falls in with a group of friendly men and women who dwell underground and have built a jaw-droppingly awesome home for themselves, filled with inventions, machinations, toys, and an assortment of characters who seem born to find each other.
The schemes that this group comes up with to break into these buildings and find those responsible for putting weapons in the hands of the wrong people are thrilling, inventive and hysterical. Jeunet maintains his familiar rusty tint on this world he's created, especially the aboveground settings. But it's very clear that he is far more interested in the life underground than our boring world. Underground is where the action and color come together so beautifully. Each of Bazil's new friends have their own special ability and talent. MICMACS could be seen as a movie about a superhero team finding its leader and its purpose, and it's a real easy film to settle into and let the fun just blow over you. I don't necessarily think this is Jeunet's best work--I still think LOST CHILDREN holds that title--but I do welcome the return to a type of filmmaking that he hasn't tackled in quite some time, with some new surprises thrown into the mix. And in Boon, Jeunet has a new playmate to elevate the performances and the quality of his movie. MICMACS is meant to please all of the senses--and, yes, there are times when I felt like I could smell the world in which this movie was taking place. Nothing about this movie feels like work; it's a breezy effort that still has enough angst to make it stable and grounded. I believe we call this type of movie a gem, a perfect stand-alone effort that sits solidly in your mind as a thing you're glad was made and you got to see.
HOLY ROLLERS
The flaw in this somewhat intriguing and partially true story of a young Hasidic man named Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg) who gets involved in drug trafficking ecstasy from Amsterdam into America is that HOLY ROLLERS doesn't focus on the most interesting character. Sure, the rise and fall of Sam is unique because of the way he looks, talks and dresses, but we've seen this sort of rise-and-fall story before told in the context of other cultures. The stories are virtually the same; only the prayers and the Yiddish are different.
After a failed attempt at an arranged marriage (Sam's parents are not well off and he is unclear about whether he wants to study to be a rabbi), Sam questions the path his life seems certain to take. It doesn't help that the devil on his shoulder telling him there's a whole other world out there lives right next door in the far more interesting guise of Yosef (Justin Bartha, the missing groom-to-be in THE HANGOVER), older brother of Sam's best friend. Yosef recruits young Hasidic Jews in need of some cash to act as couriers, but in Sam he sees something more intelligent. He also sees a great salesman who can do his own share of recruiting for the drug ring, run by an Israeli dealer named Jackie (Danny Abeckaser).
Anytime Yosef is on screen, he's the most fascinating guy in the room. Bartha's at least as strong an actor as Eisenberg, but that's not the issue. Yosef has fallen so far from his Orthodox roots that he's be cast out by his family (Sam is soon to follow), has started cutting deals on the side, and has become something of a drug addict himself. He's a far more tragic and compelling character than Sam, and I wish the film had spent more time exploring his torment and trajectory.
There's no getting around the fact that Jesse Eisenberg is the real deal as an actor. In the last year or so I've seen him in five films (including ADVENTURELAND, ZOMBIELAND, SOLITARY MAN, THE LIVING WAKE), and he's gone so far beyond being some kind of Michael Cera clone. Anyone who still thinks that isn't paying attention or isn't bothering to see some of the smaller films he's done lately, including Holy Rollers. The guy is a solid actor, and I can't wait to see him later this year in David Fincher's THE SOCIAL NETWORK, about the founder of Facebook. In HOLY ROLLERS, he is so convincing as a spiritually torn man driven by a need to break free from his father's bonds but also do something that impresses his family. First-time feature director Kevin Asch does a respectable job laying the groundwork for this operation and for making things look and feel authentic both in the Hasidic community and the club scene Sam is drawn into.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I enjoyed the performance of Ari Graynor as Jackie's girlfriend, who does a good job hiding her intelligence, but is in many ways second in command whether Jackie knows it or not. She flirts with Sam to draw him into their circle, and although she is a fallen Jew herself, he falls for her something fierce. Also keep an eye out for the all-grown-up Hallie Kate Eisenberg (BICENTENNIAL MAN, and Jesse's sister) as Sam's sister, who seems to be the only member of the Gold family willing to say to Sam that his actions are tearing the family apart. HOLY ROLLERS is a good movie that might have been great is we had been given a bit more insight into Sam to understand why he made such a drastic turn in his life, or if the focus of the movie had been in the Yosef character, who is just so much more fucked up that you can't help but be drawn to him so you don't miss that moment when he self destructs completely. This is a noble effort that comes close to mark more often than not.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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