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The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Disappointing
I so looked forward to this movie and desperately wanted to like it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Despite a solid performance by Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland and an okay performance by Lily Collins, the other casting choices were uninspired. The decision to include plot devises from the second book used up screen time that could have been used to strengthen the plot devises from the actual City of Bones book. My biggest problem with the movie however is that the second half of the movie goes completely off script in every way.
Casting Johnathan Rhys Meyers could have worked if his character had been written closer to his disposition in his new Dracula series rather than the Joker from Batman. The Valentine of this book series holds himself in a classy way and is very businesslike. This is what makes his menace all the more hair-raising. His henchmen Panghorn and Blackwell should follow the novel as more refined...not dumb, loud muscle.
I question other casting choices because they felt all wrong to someone who is such a fan of the series... even to the casting for Clary and Jocelyn. There is so much focus in the book about the red hair that they share, as well as Clary's curls, it is hard to suspend the preconceived visualizations I have for them. A good dye job and a perm could have definitely helped.
Finally, I have a real problem with the whole spear pentagram/ demon summoning inside the Institute, a plot line that is nowhere found in the book. What is that all about? I would have found the battle described at the end of the actual book far more exciting. Also, without the abandoned police station as the home of the wolves and Renwicks hospital as Valentine's "secret lair" we are missing two important locations, one of which is important in the whole series.
I am disappointed and wish they would just remake this first movie to fix all of the problems before they start making more.
The Safety of Objects (2001)
Character Driven Plot... Not For Those Who Need "Action" From a Film
I really enjoyed this film. Some may not like the fact that there is very little "action" in the storyline, but the depth of most of the characters, as well as the way in which they interact, creates something beautiful. At the film's core is how each of the main characters deal with a self-defining "object" (or the loss of that "object").
Esther Gold (Glenn Close) has a life defined by her son Paul (Joshua Jackson) who was in a terrible wreck leaving him in a coma needing around the clock care. She feels safe in the role of martyr in which she has insulated herself to keep from dealing with the tragedy. Her daughter (Jessica Campbell) is dealing with the tragedy (and her secret about it) with her own object safety, starting with her role as the neglected one. Her other attachment, to brother's guitar, is driven both by her need to connect and her need to hide from guilt.
Annette Jennings (Patricia Clarkson) has a life defined by her children, neither of whom she can really control. One is a special needs child and the other, Samantha (Kristen Stewart) finds safety in rebellion, placing blame and being shocking and a smartass. Jennings is also dealing with the loss of her marriage and her relationship with Paul Gold (Esther's comatose son). She won't let herself be happy because she would have to lose the misery in which she has come to feel safe. In the end, she is forced to realize that she must let go of the misery to save herself and her children.
Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney) is defined by the success he has at work, and indeed the job itself. He has safety in his position as a successful breadwinner with the "perfect" family. When the loss of a promotion at work sends him reeling, it drives him to walk away from his job and his family's only income. He is the first to give up the safety of object, but it slowly drives him over the edge. Meanwhile, each of his family members are going through their own version of the safety of an object (s). Jim has to have a complete meltdown before seeing that being truly present for his family is his true safety.
Helen Christianson (Mary Kay Place) is defined by the loss of passion (excitement) in her life yet in some ways clings to the safety of the boring life that feels safe. She tries to bridge the gap by reaching out to her husband in any way she can, but he seems disinterested at best. When she finally makes the move to step from behind the safety of her circumstance, her husband suddenly becomes the man she desires and she realizes that her marriage is where she truly wants to be... not just the role that feels safe.
Finally, Randy (Timothy Olyphant) longs to again feel the safety of his role as big brother... the thing he lost when his brother died in the crash that disabled Paul Gold. During the film, he begins to see Samantha (called Sam) as the substitute he needs because she reminds him of his brother. Acting on this compulsion to regain his safety object, he kidnaps Sam. The lines of reality and desired reality blur sometimes as he strives to recreate his lost life. In the end though, he finally sees that the past cannot be recaptured, and he returns Sam home.
The Safety of Objects looks at a slice of life, as many of the characters are relatable. It reminds us all that there are things, people and/or circumstances where we find our safety... our coping mechanism... our comfort. Again, this is not a movie for those who require a plot-driven film. It is for those of us who find fascinating the look inside the people and lives that are so familiar.
Abduction (2011)
Interesting Concept Defeated by Sub-Par screenplay
I had high hopes for this film based on the original concept and the caliber of the casting. Unfortunately, the direction of the screenplay did nothing but create implausible developments and dispassionate dialog.
Many reviewers have placed sole blame for the film's shortcomings on the shoulders of Taylor Lautner, but I feel that he, and the entire cast, did the best work possible with the script available.
To begin with, Lautner portrays well the average, privileged high school student with normal adolescent problems- like how to ask out the girl he likes. The film creates a strong family dynamic for Nathan and his parents, Kevin and Mara. Yet, when Nathan believes he sees his picture on a missing children website, he doesn't go to them with his questions. This begins the screenplay's failure to portray any semblance of reality. The attack that killed his parents could have occurred while Nathan was learning the truth thus sending him on the run and in search of the missing pieces of his past.
The script limits Nathan on the amount of grief, indeed the amount of residual effects, he suffers over the loss of his parents. In fact, no other character ever refers to Kevin and Mara as his parents. Since they did, in fact, raise him... they should be acknowledged as his parents. In removing that emotional connection, the screenplay voids much of Nathan's attachment to them.
The screenwriter relies heavily on gimmicks rather than focusing on substantial content dialog. Even the veteran actors' characters seem to be hollow with no real depth. To lay blame on the shoulders of the young star is to sell him short when he does the best he can with the script he was given.
Even with its shortcomings, I still enjoyed the movie... more as a tongue-in-cheek nod to an action movie, but still enjoyable. I suggest watching it again paying close attention to dialog and content rather than putting Lautner alone under the microscope.
Chocolat (2000)
I LOVE Chocolat!
I found this film engaging from beginning to end. The characters are very well developed, and the story unfolds such that I truly felt a part of that small town for a brief while.
When Vianne and her daughter Anouk come to the small, uptight French village, they shake things up slowly (and sometimes painfully) despite the best efforts of the Mayor, Comte de Reynaud. The Comte, who makes life hell for Vianne and her daughter, initially seems to be a bully and villain. However, he is slowly revealed to be an unhappy man who is battling his own inner demons.
Vianne, through her generous spirit, helps liberate many villagers (including the Comte) who are trapped in one way or another by their circumstance. However, the villagers also liberate Vianne of her conviction that she is destined to wander always with no permanent home.
The way that all of the characters interact eventually creates an environment of tolerance and a realization that there is joy in experiencing the variety that is life.
This is a film that I can definitely watch again and again.
I Had a Heart Once (2013)
Thought-Provoking Look at the Loss of Humanity
The visual introduction is well thought-out and well edited. The only problem, production-wise, was the occasional moment where the background soundtrack overshadowed the vocals.
The beginning of the soliloquy is a bit rushed and hard to follow, but the "heart" of the matter soon becomes apparent and well expressed. As the film progresses, it reveals more and more of an abstract about the loss of one's humanity in the course of interaction with others until the will to retrieve it again is gone. In the end, there seems to be nothing left to offer another. Indeed, the character indicates a disbelief that there is anyone left with a heart still intact.
However, in the singular act of revealing all this to "Laura" ... of trying to save HER heart ... the character exposes the humanity and caring that remain.
Well done...