Remember The Titans (Spoilers)

I would definitely add Remember The Titans to my list of lifetime movies. My Lifetime Movies are movies that have left an indelible impression on me. Among the other movies that grace this category are Schindler's List, The Green Mile, Forrest Gump, and Platoon. Although I have not heard much acclaim about this movie, I felt it effectively dealt with a very turbulent period in American History without delivering a political agenda.

Two high schools in Virginia are forced to integrate. This integration finds it's first opposition in the football program, because football camp takes place prior to the beginning of the school year. The white head coach feels like the in-coming black coach and his players are a threat to his already successful football program. The black coach (Denzel Washington) comes from a small North Carolina school, where he was an assistant coach. He is passed over for several head coaching positions that he was probably most qualified for. Virginia does not have a black head coach, and Washington is given the job to satisfy a quota. However, the powers that be plan to remove him at the first opportunity.

While the coaches are dealing with the dynamics of the strained decision to appoint Washington as head coach, the players are forced to overcome THEIR own biases. The players head out to camp two separate teams. One white, one black. Teamwork is emphasized while they are at football camp, and Washington's no-nonsense approach forces the players to bond. This bond seems impenetrable until they return to the real world, and are faced with the prejudices of their families and friends. However, the football program experiences huge successes, and the players find a way to remain tight.

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Patriot (Spoilers)

watched this movie on video for the first time today. I wanted to see it while it was in the theater, but never got the chance. I'm glad I took the time to rent it, and wish I had been able to see it on the big screen. I am certain that the battle scenes would have been much more dramatic in theater proportions. I wonder how much artistic license this movie took with history. Although I don't know the answer, the thing I DO know is that this movie was exceptional.

I hate going to see a movie, only to find that it lacks plot, depth of characters, realism and believability. I guess that the musical scores have an effect on the overall experience, but I normally don't pay them much attention. In this respect, The Patriot delivers. The casting, script, acting and cinematography are great.

It is interesting that Mel Gibson was cast as the lead character. It seems that he is an Australian, playing an American patriot. There must be a parallel there somewhere... There are a host of supporting actors, which often bogs a film down. Gibson has several children, and leads a motley band of Militia men. In spite of the numerous characters, the writers are careful to develop well-rounded characters that seem much more than one-dimensional props.

The script does an excellent job of drawing viewers in. Although the movie starts slowly, and tends to be boring, initially, it manages to deliver eventually. Gibson does not want to fight England, because he feels the responsibilities of being a single father are too important to compromise. He is a respected veteran of the "Wilderness Campaign" and disappoints many townspeople with his decision. However, the war soon comes to his back yard, and his fifteen year old son is slaughtered by a ruthless English Colonel. The Colonel is the only main character that is one-dimensional. However, that aids the script, because the movie becomes a personal vendetta between Gibson and the Colonel.

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Shrek (Spoilers)

When did the Ogres and Dragons become the “good guys” and the (ahem) Handsome Prince become the “bad guy?” Shrek provides a modern twist on the Classic Fairy Tale, with cameo appearances from many of the traditional cast of characters (Pinnochio, Snow White, the blind mice, the three pigs, etc). The healthy dose of Americana provides comic relief for an otherwise warm, yet entirely predictable film. Bottom line: The good guy and his sidekick save the princess from marrying the evil prince.

Animation...The most striking quality of this film is the animation. The animators have provided a healthy dose of realism, without seeking photo-reality. The animated sequences are busy with small details that add a pleasant reality to the film, without losing the Fairy Tale feeling. The scenes move smoothly. The characters interact with their environment in a seemingly natural and realistic way.

Story Board...Although the story is very predictable, there are enough surprises or minute details to keep anyone interested. I am certain that if I watched this movie again, I would catch a lot of little details that I missed the first time. Other interesting aspects of the story are readily visible. Something just doesn’t seem right about the princess....the “mirror on the wall” foreshadows this by attempting to warn the prince about nighttime. In another sequence, we see the princess waking early in the morning, singing with the birds. She squeals until the bird explodes...the next scene shows her cooking the bird eggs. These details help establish the depth of the princess’ character, as well as providing an insight into her true identity.

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Assault On Precinct 13 (Spoilers)

I grew up in Northwest Detroit. It was kind of nice to see a movie about my home town. The one disappointment about this film was that it did not show much of Detroit. I didn't see anything really recognizable. There was one shot of the skyline, but I felt cheated, you could barely see any of the landmarks that would make you say "yeah, that's definitely Detroit." I would have like to have seen the RenCen or Cobo Hall. What follows are my observations about Assault on Precinct 13.

Plot...I don't feel a movie is worth seeing if it doesn't have a good plot. Every other aspect of the movie is built on this platform. The plot in "Precinct" is fairly simple. A crime boss who is set to testify against a few dozen Detroit Policemen is forced to spend the night in a Precinct that is about to close it's doors. It is a snowy New Years Eve, and the bus transporting the crime boss can't navigate the slick roads. The corrupt police decide that this is their opportunity to keep the crime boss from testifying, and they attempt to extract him from the precinct. It turns into an all out battle, where the criminals being housed at the precinct end up armed (some with antiquated weapons from the evidence locker). An interesting if not unbelievable plot.

Okay, in the real world, the crime boss would have been questioned, and his information would have been presented to the Grand Jury. The police officers he fingered would most likely have been put on Administrative Leave pending completion of an Internal Affairs investigation. However, the story somewhat addresses that scenario, by initially showing the crime boss as uncooperative. Apparently, the bad cops are hedging their bets by eliminating the possibility that this ruthless killer will turn snitch. Overall, the plot was well constructed and attempted to head off some of these questions.

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Right At Your Door

I watched Right at Your Door as a viewer looking for entertainment. I had some issues with factual aspects of this film, but allowed myself the indulgence of accepting the premises put forth in order to enjoy this film. Initially, I thought this film would be a cheap knock-off disaster film meant to capitalize on current events. What I found instead was an intelligent (if not accurate) examination of the implications caused by fear and pending doom. Although slow at times, Right at Your Door offered an intelligent script that provided enough action to keep things interesting.



Chris Gorak wrote and directed Right at Your Door. This was Gorak’s debut as both Writer and Director. I was surprised to see that Gorak’s only credits were previous work primarily in the area of Art Directing. Although slow at times, the dialogue was fairly interesting. The characters were fairly well developed, although some of the character interactions felt a wee bit forced. The plot was fairly straight forward with a few minor sub-plots thrown in. It felt like some of the sub-plots were only added to stretch the film length to it’s 96 minute run time. If the pace were picked up just a bit and a few of the needless filler scenes were deleted, this film could probably be reduced by fifteen minutes. The interpersonal relationships that this film explores are interesting. The actions and reactions of the characters, for the most part, seemed well thought out. The characters were interesting enough that I cared about the outcome of the film.



Right at Your Door tells the story of a couple recently located to a new home very close to downtown Los Angeles. The male lead, Brad (performed by Rory Cochrane) is a musician who seems to be a doting husband to Lexi (Mary McCormack). Lexi works in downtown LA. The story quickly gets to work on the plot line, with Lexi leaving to work and Brad finding out shortly thereafter that bombs had been detonated in Los Angeles. After initial attempts to locate and rescue Lexi fail, Brad sets to work securing his house from airborne pathogens believed to be heading his direction. Assisted by a maintenance man (Tony Perez) who seeks shelter in Brad’s home, the doors and windows are soon covered with plastic and taped shut. Lexi survives the blasts, but returns home infected by toxic agents. The bulk of the story revolves around the dialogue and emotions evoked between Brad and Lexi who come to grips with their situation between sheets of plastic. The apparent ineptitude of the CDC to deal with the problem exasperates the situation as the couple gropes for answers and deliverance. Eventually, the gears of government kick in along with quarantines and antidotes where applicable. The ending provides a gimmicky twist, which is the only major plot device. The twist is a bit of a stretch, but did add to the overall story.


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Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers was an interesting but somewhat sluggish look at High School life in Long Beach, California following the 1994 riots. The determined teacher faced with incorrigible students and misfits has been done a hundred times before. Sidney Poitier comes to mind in this role in his 1967 film To Sir, With Love. You could say that Dangerous Minds and Lean on Me were take-offs on this genre as well. This story has been done on the football field, in the swimming pool and in the dance hall. You name it…many incarnations of this story have been done. One interesting thing about Freedom Writers is the fact that it’s based on a true story. In evaluating this movie, I don’t see it so much as how original the plot is as much as how much it held my interest.



Freedom Writers tells the story of an idealistic teacher, whose father (Scott Glen) passed on his Civil Rights Era idealism. She passes at the opportunity to become a lawyer in order to try and intervene with students who are at risk of eventually entering the Justice system. The Teacher, Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) quickly finds out that idealism doesn’t restore order in an unruly classroom. Gruwell is faced with the challenge of connecting with her students while faced with an Administration that simply wants her to warehouse her students. Attempts to get funding or proper books are met with bureaucratic resistance, so Gruwell takes on extra jobs to pay for her materials. Lessons on the Holocaust help draw correlations to the struggle each student faces, helping each of them to come to grips with their individuality. There are minor sub-plots that play out during the film, most of them very predictable.



The dialogue in Freedom Writers is fairly decent. In order to demonstrate Gruwell’s lack of street cred, they slip in a few street slang errors, like “my badness.” There are two dozen students in Gruwell’s class, each with his or her own story. There are cliques at first, which are made up of Cambodians, Hispanics, Blacks and the lone White boy. There are a few sub-plots involving the students that play out as part of the broader story. The major sub-plot was weak and predictable. However, the back-stories that we are given when exposed to the Journals kept by each of the students provide interesting diversions from the main story. The use of Journaling to introduce us to the characters and provide dimension and character development was an interesting approach, even if it may have been based on the actual events. It allowed for character development without getting bogged down in a bunch of tired stories that don’t have time to fully develop. Instead we get snippets of life experiences that provide some insight without requiring plot lines to develop. The writers also managed to evoke a range of emotions from the audience without using cheap gimmicks. The writing created some gaps that made the pacing slow at times, but overall, the dialogue and plot were strong for a concept that has been done to death.

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Blindness

While watching Blindness I was reminded of an independent film I watched earlier this year called Noise. Both of these movies tell their story through the use of your senses. Both movies allow the viewer to experience the altered senses of the characters in the movie by use of increased exposure to one sense or another or through visual and audible cues. I find it refreshing to see writing that can incorporate these elements into the story line without the feeling that the effects are gimmicky or forced. Blindness effectively accomplishes this effect.

Blindness succeeds because the story is a study of human nature. The writing includes compelling dialogue that is believable and natural. The characters are a wide range of personalities forced together in a decrepid insane asylum. The human interaction between the various characters is a study in human nature. Movies like this have been done before. Blindness takes a new approach to this concept by equipping the characters with various abilities to change the dynamics. The characters end up in severe conflict and are required to utilize their abilities to overcome. Tough decisions and disturbing situations evolve out of this conflict leading to eventual resolution that was a bit anti-climatic. The major characters were well-developed and likable. However, some of the characters fell a bit flat and were predictable. Because of the number of characters involved in the plot, it is difficult to develop deep character traits throughout. However, it seems that a couple of characters may have had room for improvement.

The casting in Blindness was excellent. The primary bad guy in this film is played by one of my favorite lesser known actors, Gael Garcia Bernal. Bernal is a quirky actor who has popped up in several films I have seen this year including Babel and Science of Sleep. Bernal was exceptionaly cast as the main antagonist (although the blindness might also be the antogonist in this film). Julianne Moore has a personality in this film that seems warm. She has a humanitarian compassion that seems genuine. She pulls this role off without a problem as the lead character. Her male lead is played by Mark Ruffalo, her husband and eye Doctor who is exposed to the blindness disease early in the film. Ruffalo's character balks at the maternalistic patronizing of his wife following his development of the disease. This sub-plot was a little bit distracting and really didn't add anything to the movie. Near the end of the movie we get to witness the Doctor experiencing some empowerment but it felt weak to me. Moore and Ruffalo were joined by Alice Braga, Danny Glover, Don McKellar and Mitchell Nye. The rest of the cast did well in their respective roles.

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