An American Haunting

What initially attracted me to the tale called An American Haunting was the fact that it was touted as a true story based on the Bell Witch of Tennessee. Having recently watched Werewolf Hunter, another film based on a true story from the annals of history, I thought I might be in for some good suspense. The teaser indicated that this story contains the only documented case of a haunting that resulted in death. The teaser promised something that it quite simply didn’t deliver.

The story of the Bell Witch is apparently well documented in American folklore. If you conduct internet research on the subject will return half a million results. It is a well documented story from the early 1800’s. In the true accounting of the Bell Witch, many strange events were reported, which mirrored the events that were depicted in An American Haunting. However, Courtney Solomon took liberties with the original accounts (I might call them “indecent liberties”) in an effort to give the plot a twist. These changes to the original story make the entire premise that this film is based on a true story a stretch at the very best. I felt duped after watching this drivel, expecting a climactic ending based on historical events. Instead, I was given a weak plot twist that felt contrived, in order to try and provide scientific foundations for the story. The liberties go far beyond artistic license.



John Bell (Donald Sutherland) is an upstanding member of his church and community. We find Bell early in the movie defending himself against his neighbor, Kathe Batts (Gaye Brown) who many people consider to be a witch. The church elders find Bell guilty of usury for charging Batts twenty percent interest involving a property dispute. Batts appears dissatisfied with the judgment, feeling recompense for the timber taken off her land should also be included in the judgment. When her plea falls on deaf ears, Batts takes matters into her own hands. As they are exiting the tribunal, Batts places a curse on John Bell and his daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood). This curse begins to manifest itself in the Bell household, where the entire family begins to witness strange events. Lucy Bell (Sissy Spacek), John Bell Jr (Thom Fell) and family friend James Johnston (Matthew Marsh) also witness strange events in the house. Attempts to exorcise the haunting fail, leaving the family at the mercy of the entity. The film was okay up to that point, tracking much of the documented history. However, the deviation late in the film from the true story does little to further the story, focusing instead on an ill-advised plot twist that ruins the entire story.

An American Haunting is based on a novel written by Brent Monahan. Because the story is based on true events, the scare factor is built in. The important aspect of the writing was to create intensity within the script while keeping the story within the proper context. Deviations from the documented events and minor changes to make the story more interesting would have been fine. But changing the entire premise of the events, and failing to deliver something as simple as the events listed in the teaser leave the story severely lacking. The complete upheaval of this story for a cheap twist was a dumb move. Although the characters were well developed and the dialogue from the 1800s was interesting, the overall story was a farce, leaving me to feel cheated.

The acting in An American Haunting, was a redeeming quality. Although I wasn’t thoroughly convinced by Hurd-Wood’s performance, I have been a long-time fan of Donald Sutherland. As usual, Sutherland impressed me with his skills. Sutherland’s accent could have easily been distracting, but it was subtle. There was a slight drawl that indicated he resided in the south, without the stereotypical excess that southern accents sometimes garner. Sutherland’s performance seemed natural rather than affected. Sissy Spacek was also excellent. Spacek was credible in a motherly role, with a legitimate 1800s look that fit her well. Gaye Brown did not have a major role, but her character was integral to the story…she was strong in her performance as well.

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American Gun

I watched American Gun after being impressed by Forest Whitaker in another ensemble drama called The Air I Breathe. Although American Gun held my interest, it was not nearly as good as the latter. Both stories follow several characters whose lives intersect at various points. However, the storyline is nearly as intricately interwoven in American Gun. Additionally, it appeared to me that the film provided different perspectives on the idea of gun ownership. In doing so, it seemed that the film took a position against guns without being particularly preachy about it. I would have panned this film if it had been overtly anti-gun. However, they managed to keep the film credible by keeping their sentiment within the confines of the script.

American Gun takes place nearly three years after a Columbine-type incident. The concept is conveyed through security camera footage showing children running from a classroom. Eventually we see a subject holding a rifle come into view of the camera. The movie follows the events surrounding this incident. The story shows the interaction of the shooter’s mother Janet (Marcia Gay Harden), his brother David (Chris Marquette) and the first Police Officer on-scene the day of the incident, Frank (Tony Goldwyn). The three characters interact late in the movie as the film tracks their individual involvement in events memorializing the shooting victims. David seems to struggle, especially after learning that he can no longer attend his private school, meaning he will have to attend the school where the shooting occurred. His reluctance becomes softened after he meets Tally (Nikki Reed) who doesn’t seem to judge him based on his relationship with the shooter. Tally ends up crossing paths with Frank late in the film into the rolling credits.



American Gun also follows two other stories that aren’t very closely woven into the greater story. One interaction involves a Chicago school Principal named Carter (Forest Whitaker) who crusades against school violence and desires to promote change in his community. However, the dangers of getting to school and back simply make the students more creative. One student, Reggie (Kevin Phillips) has to cover some rough territory getting back and forth from school. He hides an unloaded firearm in a secret spot on the school grounds when he gets to school. The principal catches him one day and has to consider suspension. Reggie does not get his gun back and chooses not to get another one. Reggie also moonlights at a gas station in a bad part of town. The crack heads are rampant and the opportunity for violence is abundant. That violence manifests itself during the night shift after Reggie opts to travel unarmed. Several gunshots into his attendant’s booth manage to miss him and he finishes his shift beneath the counter.

The final story involves a gun store owner, Carl Wilk (Donald Sutherland). Sutherland is another one of those actors that I love to watch. However, in this film they give him nothing to work with. The storyline involves the relationship between Wilk and his granddaughter Mary Ann (Linda Cardellini). It seems that Mary Ann doesn’t care too much for the rural lifestyle and isn’t really into guns. She doesn’t show much affection to her grandfather who she has stopped calling “papa.” The storyline was an unnecessary diversion that really didn’t add anything to the film. In fact, it was boring at times. I did not understand how the characters were intended to add anything to the theme of the film, finding the entire set of characters to be distracting.

The writing (written by Bagatourian and Aric Avalino) wasn’t entirely bad. There were elements to the film I liked. The characters were interesting and the writing created some excellent dramatic opportunities. They provided Harden and Marquette with some great dialogue and conflict which provided excellent value to the film. Yet the gun shop storyline failed to connect with the audience creating yawns if anything. The violence in the Chicago storyline was compelling and provided great opportunities for the writers to allow the characters to develop and interact, which they did adequately. What the writers give us amounts to two-thirds of excellent writing and one third of a script that amounts to crap. This film also fails in terms of being an examination of the American Gun Culture because it failed to deliver any positive messages. I was expecting the Gun Shop Owner to intervene in a rape or other violent crime and effectively become the hero…an opportunity to show the positive aspects of gun ownership. That was a pipe dream. Aside from that, the characters were interesting and the dialogue was sharp, especially the family exchanges. In essence, the writing was a mixed bag.


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The Air I Breathe

The Air I Breathe is allegedly based on a Chinese Proverb about life. At the beginning of the film, there is a quote that I can’t quite recall, which sets the stage for the film. To paraphrase, Life consists of four basic elements…Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow and Love. I tend to be a bit jaded towards Hollywood, whose attempts at profundity sometimes seem whimsical and superficial as opposed to their intended depth. The concept that life would be comprised of these particular four elements just doesn’t seem like something a philosopher would come up with. So mark me in the skeptical column regarding the premise of this movie. Snopes failed to confirm my suspicions on this one.

Major Spoiler Alert (skip six paragraphs)
Having dismissed the premise of this movie as a product more of Hollywood than Confucius, I must say that I enjoyed the film in spite of myself. The Air I Breathe tells four intertwining stories based on this alleged proverb. The elements are applied singularly to four individuals and how that element expresses the essence of the character being studied. The four studies intersect in a single story of rebirth. It begins with an investor Happiness (Forest Whitaker) who appears to be obsessive compulsive. He is infatuated, not surprisingly, with butterflies (a theme that works it’s way into the film many times). Happiness interacts with a single client that we observe, amazed at the accuracy of his client’s investment prowess. Happiness ends up overhearing an inside tip on a horse race, which leads him to break from his normal routine and invest 50,000 dollars. The horse trips and falls, leaving Happiness on the hook to a mob boss named Fingers (Andy Garcia). Fingers explains to Happiness what the consequences are for trying to run, making an example of another debtor by removing a finger.



Happiness decides to try and run, and discovers that Fingers has an enforcer that happens to be his best investor. The enforcer is called Pleasure (Brendan Fraser). Pleasure is waiting in Happiness’ home when he returns and attempts to pack his belongings. As Happiness attempts to head out the front door, Pleasure stops him, and shows that he is visibly angry over the choices Happiness has made…forcing Pleasure to intervene. Pleasure holds a small handgun to Happiness’ head, before handing the firearm over to him. The handgun has a small butterfly on the handgrip. Happiness realizes that he has lived his life within a set of rules that he chooses to free himself from. The liberation leads Happiness to plan a bank robbery in finite detail.

Pleasure is Fingers’ right hand man. He has the ability to see the future. It is a gift that does not allow him the liberty to change the future. So what does it matter? Pleasure is never wrong. Pleasure is tasked with showing Fingers nephew “the ropes.” Fingers also shows Pleasure an album cover featuring a singer (Trista, which means Sorrow) whose contract he has won through a bad debt. Pleasure does not see anything when looking at the girl on the album cover. An indication that Pleasure’s gift may be failing. While showing Fingers nephew the ropes, Pleasure is wrong for the first time in predicting the future, resulting in a severe beating. He is rushed to the hospital where he is treated by Love (Kevin Bacon).


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Basketball Diaries

Basketball Diaries has an all star cast. Of course, at the time it was released back in 1995, many were lesser known than they are now. Three stars who would later become familiar faces in The Sopranos (Vincent Pastore, Michael Imperioli and Lorraine Bracco) have relatively minor roles. The film is headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, who later teamed up again in The Departed. Juliette Lewis is reunited in this film with DiCaprio, her co-star from What's Eating Gilbert Grape. This film was filled with famliar faces.

Basketball Diaries tells the story of addiction and redemtion of Jim Carroll (DiCaprio). The movie is based on a true story, taken from the notebook type diaries that Carroll kept during his time as a rising basketball player and through his fall into the depths of addiction. Carroll's addiction is fueled through unhealthy friendships with long-time friends Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) and Pedro (James Madio). Carroll has already begun an unhealthy lifestyle when his best friend Bobby (Imperioli) dies of lukemia. Carroll is hit hard by his loss and eventually ends up with a severe heroine addict. The addiction to heroine is described in his own voice as excerpts from the diary describe the initial freedom the heroine brings from pain, followed by the increase in use from Saturdays to Tuesdays and Thursdays, until it finally becomes a strategy of living for the next fix.



Carroll's mother (Bracco) kicks him out. While running the streets, Carroll, Mickey and Pedro end up burglarizing a closed candy store/soda fountain resulting in Pedro's arrest. Mickey tends to be over the top, constantly living for the moment, while Carroll's introspection shows glints of promise. Carroll passes out in the snow drenched in his own urine when Reggie (Ernie Hudson) finds him and brings him home. Reggie tries to dry Carroll out the hard way. Carroll's struggles show the reality of relapse and the lengths that a junkie will go to for a fix. The addiction leads to Mickey's arrest and incarceration, followed shortly thereafter by Carroll's arrest and time at Ryker's Island. The film is a study of the cycle of addiction and the hope of redemption.

Because Basketball Diaries is based on a true story, it makes the film more gripping. The reality based aspect of this film brings home the extent of drug addiction, the core theme in this film. The characters in this film may have been enhanced to make the film more interesting. The depth of the characters and uniqueness of the roles was interesting. There were a few cliches in the characters, but several of the characters were passing and did not have time to develop. The main characters were developed enough to create a connection with the audience. The plot was fairly simple, a true story of redemption, but contained enough detail about the character to make the plot unpredictable at times. The dialogue was distinctly New York providing a nice accent to the piece.

The cast was exceptional. Easily the strongest aspect of the film. As dramatic and touching as the true story is, without strong acting to bring the characters to life, it would be an empty kettle. The cast were credible, avoiding the opportunity to slip into stereotypes or overacting the drama. This is especially true for DiCaprio who had to show the pain of heroine withdrawals. Something I have witnessed first hand. It was hard to watch. DiCaprio adequately captured the pain and intensity of withdrawal in a stunning performance. Another excellent depiction of addiction came from Juliette Lewis (Diane) who is "jonesing" in several scenes has the non-verbal gestures that seemed to provide more information about her state than her lines. Lewis was believable, delivering an excellent but limited performance. Wahlberg, Bracco, Imperioli and Madio were all exceptional. The cast created a striking film worth watching a decade later.


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Let The Right One In

It seems I have been stuck in a Vampire and Werewolf rut lately. With films like Werewolf Hunter and Twilight, and my book review of New Moon, why stop? My latest venture into the genre is a recent Swedish film called Lat Den Ratte Komma In (Let The Right One In). This film, based on the book of the same name, was released in October 2008. The author, John Ajvide Lindquist, wrote both the novel and the screenplay. I have not read the book, but I would imagine the screenplay remains fairly true to the book considering this fact.

Let The Right One In begins by winning the audience over to the underdog bullied schoolkid, Oskar (Kare Hedebrant). Oskar seems likeable although obviously bookish. His withdrawn personality shows evidence of deeper issues at home. We discover that Oskar's parents Yvonne (Karin Bergquist) and Erik (Henrik Dahl) are divorced and have a lot of their own baggage. This baggage leaves little room for Oskar to bask in the affection of his parents. The bullying further represses Oskar into a caccoon. Oskar has a lot of deep emotional scars that are evident from his knife play and pretend stabbings, as well as his macabre book of eerie news clippings.




When Oskar meets Eli (Lina Leandersson), she begins their friendship by telling him they can't be friends. An interesting introduction. Oskar seems intrigued by Eli and a gradual relationship begins. At some point in the relationship, Oskar figures out that Eli is a vampire. She is twelve years old (give or take), but has been that age for an apparently long time. With Oskar's realization that Eli may be the only friend he has, the fact that she is a vampire seems to be a minor issue. The budding friendship is strained a bit when Oskar is exposed to the brutality of Eli's hunger, but he overcomes his shock and maintains good will toward his friend. The friendship begins to show positive effects as Oskar begins to defend himself from the bullying, which leads to further conflict later in the film. Let The Right One In examines relationships in a way that parallels Twilight but with a much sharper edge. The film explores relationships with some touchy subject matter to provide good drama.

The writing in Let The Right One In was strong. The pacing was a bit slow, but this film is not Hollywood, where everything seems to have an artificially fast tempo. The dialogue is translated with sub-titles. There were a couple of times where the sub-titles seemed off a bit, but I'm not certain. One particular exchange involved translating "a hole in the ice" but appeared to be written into the script. However, something in that exchange got lost in the translation. The dialogue was powerful and plausible. In this genre, shortcuts are common. You can't let anyone know a vampire is around...the vampire reveals himself/herself to the human, etc. Not in this film. Let The Right One In allows the characters to evolve without interference. Secrets are exposed and have to be covered or discovered, both of which happen. The characters are well developed and have a variety of traits that make them credible. The plot does not get off track with details and manages to provide a great deal of background with little wasted space. As a whole, the writing was excellent.

The casting was exceptional. Let The Right One In hinges on the believability of a twelve year old who may be hundreds of years old. Leandersson was phenomenal as Eli, with saucerlike blue eyes that filled her large sockets with a waifish innocence that somehow seemed twelve. Yet there were times that Leandersson's gestures, posture (and perhaps make-up) seemed many years older. Her performance was phenomenal and belieavable. Hedebrant has an instant likeability that enhances his performance. His slender build seems fragile, but his intellect appears developed. Hedebrant effectively conveyed the concept of a bullied child with inner demons that seem to escape through odd behavior that no one else seems to notice. The two had great chemistry on film. It was odd that they took a love story much like Twilight subtracted five years in age for the characters and conveyed a more convincing relationship...which is saying a lot. The rest of the cast added to the credibility of the film.

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Legends of the Fall

Legends of the Fall was released more than a decade ago. However, it is a timeless classic with plenty of twists and turns. With a star studded cast, breath-taking scenery and superb writing, this film was destined to become a Classic. Classic it is. I can blow the dust off of this one, put it in the DVD player and it still seems as fresh as the first time I saw it. A saga of love, betrayal and family struggles that keeps viewers riveted from start to finish.

Legends of the Fall is set during World War I and the Prohibition era. An Army Colonel (Colonel Ludlow played by Anthony Hopkins) retires in the West after resigning his Commission. The treatment of Native Americans at the hands of the Government seems to weigh heavily on his conscience. The rugged outdoorsman opts to raise his family on a ranch where the gritty lifestyle is too much for his wife Isabel (Christina Pickles), who moves back to the city, leaving Colonel Ludlow to raise their three sons Tristan (Brad Pitt), Alfred (Aidan Quinn) and Samuel (Henry Thomas). The movie is narrated by a good family friend, One Stab (Gordon Tootoosis).



As the boys mature, Samuel falls in love and becomes engaged to Susannah Fincannon (Julia Ormand) who is apparently enamored by Tristan. Before they have a chance to marry, the three brothers end up fighting against the Germans as members of the Canadian Army. Samuel is killed during the war. Tristan and Alfred return to the ranch, but Tristan leaves to search for himself. While Tristan travels the world, Alfred ends up marrying Susannah. Tristan returns after several years to find that his father has had a stroke and his brother has married Susannah. Tristan ends up marrying Isabel Two (Karina Lombard), the daughter of Decker (Paul Desmond) and Pet (Tantoo Cardinal) who live and work on the ranch. Tristan ends up engaging the local rum runners, cutting into their profit margin, while Alfred ends up running for Congress and getting elected. The situation ends up in a showdown with tragic results.

Legends of the Fall is based on a novel written by Jim Harrison. The screenplay was written by Susan Shilliday and William Wittliff. The characters are diverse and intriguing with idiosyncrasies that make them unique and interesting. The interactions between the characters are plausible and make for strong storylines. The plot ebbs and flows interspersing excellent action scenes with thought provoking drama. The dialogue is sharp, avoiding hackneyed language in favor of less predictable speech. Although the foreshadowing indicates some of the plot direction, the plot is not very predictable. Strong emotional sequences spring from the many plot twists. The writing was exceptional.

Not only does Legends of the Fall contain a few acting superstars, but the roles in which they are cast are well chosen. Brad Pitt is a surprisingly good fit as the adventurous Tristan. Although Pitt is a pretty boy, he really sells the part as a hard corps frontiersman with an extreme edginess. Pitt easily carried this film in the lead role, which could have been easily miscast. A grittier actor might not have balanced all the traits that Pitt was able to offer his character. Hopper was also spectacular. The process of mimicking a stroke patient and having the audience believe it is not easy. Hopper manages to convince viewers that half his body is paralyzed. I’m not sure how he was able to hold that look for so long, but it was effective. Hopper and Pitt offered awesome star power with great chemistry to lay the foundation of the strong performances in this film.

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Bolt

I went to the early showing of Bolt yesterday, managing to avoid the long lines. The crowd was surprisingly mixed, with predominately younger children, but a few teenagers mixed in. My ten year old son seemed to have plenty of company in his age group. The target audience for this film seemed to be pre-teen, but there was plenty of good stuff for all age groups.

Bolt tells the story of a dog, by the same name, who is a Hollywood superstar. The only problem seems to be that no one has told Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) that he is simply an animal actor. The Producers of his television series keep Bolt in the dark regarding his superpowers, opting to allow him to believe he really has special powers. It seems that they are able to capture more meaningful expressions from the dog because he really believes he is protecting his human, Penny (Miley Cyrus). Penny wants Bolt to simply live a normal dog life, but her agent (Greg German) seems to like to burst her bubble. When Bolt escapes his studio in an attempt to save Penny, he ends up on a cross country trip that reveals his sheltered past and exposes him to the truth about his powers. The learning process creates opportunities for some fun diversions. Bolt is assisted on his journey by a cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton).



The writers, Dan Fogelman (who also provided the voice for a pigeon) and Chris Williams (who co-Directed with Byron Howard), put together a decent diversion filled with interesting characters. Animated films are generally predictable. Targeted towards younger audiences, I generally don’t expect a lot in the way of plot twists. However, Bolt manages to make the journey fun, with plenty of great dialogue and interesting characters. Some of the characters are flat and predictable with clear lines regarding who the good guys and bad guys are. But the characters that count are interesting, with quirks that are fun to observe. One concept worked into the film involved pigeons, who represent their respective regions with appropriate dialect. The pigeons in New York sound like wise guys, while the California pigeons have a distinct Hollywood sound. We even get to see some Country pigeons. The pigeons were a brilliant idea. As a whole, the writing provided interesting subject matter and unique characters, making Bolt a fresh new animated release.

The casting was strong, with some heavy hitters in the line-up. Although the strength of the “acting” comes from the animation, the voice-overs were great. John Travolta provided the majority of the voice work, while Miley Cyrus had a fairly large role. The two of them worked well together. Susie Essman seemed to have a bigger role than Cyrus, providing a bit of the drama in the film. Mark Walton was the best of the animated voices as an over-zealous television fanatic hamster that wants to be an action hero like Bolt. Walton delivered his sharply written lines with the kind of enthusiasm that made the part credible. The animation that accompanied his parts were fun to watch…a hamster with histrionic non-verbal gestures that were bigger than life. The pigeon voice work was also exceptional. They pigeons captured the essence of their communities in sharply delivered performances that seemed to transcend the limitations of the animation.

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