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Reviews
Cast in Gray (2005)
Intelligent film-making in search of an intelligent audience
What is the difference between a movie that is "okay" and a movie that stays with you long after you have seen it?
It boils down to the ability of the film-maker to make the elements he has at his disposal work together to tell a story. Does he turn the camera on and point it at the actors, or does he compose his shot to give the audience information about the characters and the story? Does the mood created by the words on the page of the script work with the visual elements to create a world within the film that we believe in? Have the actors been brought into the process in such a way that their performances make us interested in that world?
In the case of "Cast in Gray," the answer to all of the questions above is a definitive "yes." We are taken to a world that, though not specifically unrealistic, somehow exists in that part of the mind where the rules may have been suspended. That, or the character called "The Man" is in such a strange state of mind that it is he who has gone to that part of the mind. In the role of "The Man with the Dog," (a different person than "The Man") Stephen Angus creates an utterly mysterious character with an effortlessness that is in such contrast to the tempest he creates in his scene partner, (the besieged Tim Burke,) that it is impossible to look away from his face. The considerable power of this performance lies in the absolute calm with which it is executed. Is he a puppeteer, a madman, a messenger or something else altogether?
Don't blink, viewer, if you want to make your own case for what is going on.
Intelligent film-making in search of an intelligent audience. Thanks, "Cast in Gray."
The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
Good acting, mushy editing and writing. (And the sound was badly done!)
Saw the film at a beautiful theatre at the Miami Film Festival and the sound quality was poor.
But that's a quibble.
There are a number of good performances here which fail to shine due to an inability to weave narrative. The trouble is the writing and the editing. While individual scenes work on their own, the entire film does not hang together. A number of themes and ideas are put on the table in this film but are not explored.
Perhaps "exloring themes and ideas" was not a goal for this film. That seems a shame, considering the crumbs which the viewer is thrown in the first three quarters of the movie.
Oleanna (1994)
Bad play, bad movie.
I consider David Mamet to be a brilliant writer. How this script made it to the stage, not to mention the screen, is a mystery. When produced for the stage, cut-outs of the two characters were placed in the lobby and audience members were allowed to "vote" on which was in the wrong by marking the cut-outs.
Therein lies the flaw of the script. There is no ambiguity or question of any misunderstanding. It is a boring story about a neurotic girl who, realistically, never could have made a viable case against her professor. The professor, therefor, would never have gotten to the point of loosing his temper to the degree that he does. He would go through the proper channels (during which time he would certainly not agree to meet with her alone) and he would be vindicated.
No tension, no drama, nothing about either character that engages the viewer...Mamet's worst.
The Music Man (2003)
Nice try...and yet...
Why does Matthew Broderick seem to sleep-walk through a roll most leading men would give their eye-teeth for? It's as if Robert Preston's ghost was always in his mind. He refuses to have any fun - there is a sense throughout that he is holding back. Sure, he doesn't have Preston's pipes, but that is no reason to lay down and die.
Victor Garbor, too, seems to give up and finds no size in the roll of Mayor Shinn.
On the whole, this remake lacks the humor and sense of timing that make the original so right in every way. (Is there any way to make the opening train sequence drag? Apparently, there is.)
The exceptions are Kristin Chenowith as Marion, whose superiority to Shirley Jones as a singer and actress make one wish she had been born in time to do it with Preston, and the fabulous Debra Monk, who holds her own against the memory of the perfect Pert Kelton, despite klunky direction in her first scene (the piano lesson.) Kudos also to David Baker for a better Marcelus than Buddy Hakett's.
Beyond that, this Music Man has been eviscerated. Why?
Caillou (1997)
There are two problems: The scripts and the acting.
There are two problems with this show: the scripts and the acting. Every character is an extremely idealized human being performed in one dimension. And there's no humor! A strained lightheartedness is not humor.
Though some might feel the "positiveness" is good for children, in fact it underestimates their intelligence. In addition, uninteresting performances don't foster artistic discernment in children - it's never too soon to just say no to things which are not artistically worthwhile, even if the intentions are good.
Bring on Sesame Street. Caillou, Dragon Tales and Barney are terrible.