Hey folks, Harry here... still fighting the dead computer in my bedroom! Fucking viruses! And the worst part is, I don't know what to do next... sigh... thank god for back up systems. Well, while I deal with this nonsense... seems Capone has been busy checking out flicks... and these are two tthat I'm envious about. I AM DYING to see the Angels... and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME has had wonderful word of mouth. Here ya go....
Hey Harry, Capone in Chicago here with a couple of review of upcoming releases, both of which I liked for completely opposite reasons. One was made for the teenager in all of us; they other, for the adult.
CHARLIE’S ANGELS
CHARLIE’S ANGELS is the kind of film that my grandparents might refer to as "a hoot.” Hitting all the right notes, the film is the perfect mix of comedy, action, and overall silliness to make for 90 minutes of high-energy entertainment. And despite all the high-tech updates that these new Angels have access to, they still sit around the office listening to the disembodied voice of Charlie through the exact same white speaker phone box from the T.V. show.
The rice-paper-thin story involves the three Angels (Cameron Diaz as Natalie, Drew Barrymore as Dylan, and Lucy Liu as Alex) being hired to rescue kidnapped master computer programmer Eric Knox (a great turn by Sam Rockwell) from the clutches of a supposedly evil programmer (Tim Curry in full vamp mode). Knox has invented some sort of revolutionary voice-recognition software that Curry wants. But after the rescue mission is completed, the Angels and their immediate overseer Bosley (Bill Murray in a largely wasted performance) begin to realize they may have been duped into setting into motion a chain of events that could lead to the end of privacy as we know it (unless you don’t happen to own a cell phone, but why bother with details?)
CHARLIE’S ANGELS barely gives you a chance to breathe. The film is wall-to-wall, well-choreographed wire-fu battles, chases, and loud music. It’s dumb, but it knows it’s dumb; but more than that it’s damn fun. Cameron Diaz is probably the best of the Angels. She embodies the spirit of the T.V. show (beautiful women in dangerous situations), but she steps it up a level by also kicking butt harder than the other ladies. And we discover why she is the true Dancing Queen, not once but twice. Barrymore is more a traditional female action hero; her one-liners are as ready to hurl as bullets and her natural charm makes her Dylan the second-best role she’s played (second to her performance in THE WEDDING SINGER). Just when you think Lucy Liu might have been miscast, she gets into a big MATRIX-style/John Woo over-the-top fight sequence, and all is forgiven.
CHARLIE’S ANGELS also works in the details (like the speaker phone). The women are constantly changing costumes and wigs, including several tributes to the T.V. show with wigs that cry out “Farrah” and extra-big tinted sunglasses. Supporting parts and cameos by the likes of Tom Green (Drew’s fiancee), Luke Wilson (Drew’s ex-boyfriend), LL Cool J, and Crispin Glover, who is shockingly good as a martial arts foil for the Angels.
The film works as a reminder as to why movies were invented in the first place. With film, we can be moved tears, made to think about larger issues in the world, or have our minds expanded in deep and meaningful ways. But in the end, if you’re not entertained, what’s the point. CHARLIE’S ANGELS makes its point loud and clear. There are plenty of things you could complain about with this movie, certainly, but you probably won't feel like it after seeing it. Enjoy the ride, people, that's what it's there for.
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
No one was more surprised than I was to see that the co-writer of some of the least grown-up films made recently (ANALYZE THIS and ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE) was able to put together possibly the most grown-up movie I’ve seen all year. When I saw grown-up, I’m not talking about a heavy, oppressive film like THE ICE STORM or MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART; I’m talking about a film that draws defining performances from a group of mostly lesser-known actors and puts these characters in situations free from triviality and gimmicks. These situations and conflicts are small but significant to the people involved, and they pull you in with their real-ness.
The film begins with a tragic death, two in fact. Two people are killed in a horrible car accident, leaving two young children, Sammy and Terry. Writer and first-time director Ken Lonergan gives us a gift in the form of the adult Sammy (THE TRUMAN SHOW’s Laura Linney), a church-going single mother who maintains a well-ordered but highly limited life. Terry (Mark Ruffalo) is a drifter, who, lacking any kind of real parental guidance, grew up aimless and sad. Sammy and Terry are close, but Terry’s drifting has caused much anxiety in her life and that makes her resentful.
Terry drifts back into the small town they grew up in (and where Sammy still lives) for money but ends up staying for a prolonged visit. He and Sammy’s son, Rudy (Rory Culkin, a previously unfilmed Culkin sibling), hit it off, providing Rudy with his first experience at male bonding (his father split before he was born). The surprising twist of the film is that by having a full-time babysitter in Terry, she’s able to loosen up a little and give in to some of her wilder inclinations, including a fling with her new boss (Matthew Broderick).
But Terry’s recklessness soon rubs off onto Rudy, and things come to a boiling point, leaving both siblings confronting hard choices about their futures. Linney’s performance as a woman torn between a desire to help her brother and her instinct to protect her son from him and from disappointment is poetry. The film tackles such issues as faith in both God and a fractured family structure, but this movie couldn’t be less about religion. It’s about bonds, both strong and crumbling. And it is most definitely about hurt. Terry and Sammy are close because they had nobody but each other growing up, making their “break up” all the more difficult. There are no easy answers in YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, and the ending, although far from happy, is hopeful. This film is opening slowly across the country over the next month; seek it out.
