don’t trust everything you see… or hear

Duplicity, the latest film from academy award nominated writer/director Tony Gilroy is the kind of movie where audiences will be required to pay attention to every frame. The film involves the kind of plot in which you will find yourself asking, why are they placing these seemingly unrelated bits of information into the middle of the story? Could it be there will be a big dramatic pay-off at the end? Yes, there is. Although it’s not terribly big, or dramatic, it is fun.

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen co-star in this comedy thriller all about trust. It plays off of the idea that some people in some businesses get to the point in which they cannot trust even their closest acquaintances let alone themselves. The on-screen duo share an electric chemistry that works not because we believe they might actually be in love (I’m not sure even the characters themselves know that), but because we clearly see that there is a spark.

If you think this plot sounds re-hashed and familiar, guess again. Unlike Mr. and Mrs. Smith from a few years ago, this is not a movie about spies. It’s about former spies. See the difference? If you don’t I’ll explain it. There is not a single ounce of blood shed by any character in this entire film. In fact, I’m not sure I ever saw a weapon unless you count a roll of duct tape, or a few well-placed verbal jabs. The stakes however, are extremely high. Claire (Roberts) and Ray (Owen) have long since retired from their respective rolls as CIA and MI6 agents. They met years ago on a job in Dubai, that didn’t exactly end well for Ray. Now they work as intel operators for competing shampoo giants. Their skills are used to infiltrate opposing corporations’ headquarters to gain information about developing products so that their respective companies can exploit the competitor and wield power for themselves. The new corporate war being waged allows the two to rekindle their romance and try to double-cross their bosses, while watching out that one doesn’t also get double-crossed by the other.

The film mostly works because the story doesn’t solely rely on the talents of Roberts and Owen. A talented supporting cast helps drive the story along, including a strong performance from Paul Giamatti as one of the bumbling corporate bosses out for blood. It is entertaining but there is a lot going on in the plot that keeps the movie from becoming too absorbing. As the characters learn throughout the story though, don’t trust what you see or hear, and to the audience: Pay attention to every frame!

3/5

He's Still the Rock to me....

In two weeks I plan on making a trip to Springfield, MO to see my first 3D movie; Dreamworks’ Monsters Vs. Aliens. While not all theaters currently support this 3D technology (and currently none in the Wichita area), they are quickly becoming a staple for new mutli-plexes going up across the country. Call me a purist, but I still question whether this new wave of filmmaking will more often than not enhance one’s movie-going experience. But all of that changed for me yesterday after seeing Disney’s new live-action adventure film Race to Witch Mountain.

Let me be clear in saying that Witch Mountain is not a 3D movie. But the cynic in me must have been taking a Sunday afternoon nap, because about half way through the movie I caught myself wishing that it was. What I am saying is that sometimes a good old fashion gimmick is the only thing that could save a movie like this.

The story revolves around a Vegas cab-driver named Jack Bruno. Bruno is played by Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. The Rock. Jack has a rough past driving for a Las Vegas mob boss but cleans up his life after spending some time in prison. His life collides with two young children who show up in the back of his cab one morning demanding to be driven to the outskirts of the desert. We quickly learn that these children are not from planet Earth, judging by the A.I. style of vocabulary they use. Soon Jack finds himself in the middle of a plot to help these two young children make it back to their home planet. They are soon assisted by an expert in the field of UFOs who just happens to be giving a lecture at the UFO convention in Las Vegas. Add to the mix a group of secret agents hot on the gang’s tail, and you’ve got the plot for a somewhat fun but mostly flat family adventure movie.

The film does have its share of special effects. Boasting gelatinous goo, a robot assassin tracking the good guys down, and plenty of flashing lights and hovering crafts. The eye candy is kept to a minimum though since the plot is driven mostly by the two childrens’ ability to do extraordinary things while still managing to look quite ordinary.

This is a film that at times is really fun. The child actors are quite talented, and Dwayne Johnson proves to be someone you wouldn’t mind letting your kids hang out with for a couple hours. On the whole this thing feels rushed, a little bit thrown together, and sad to say, lacking an element really worth going to see it. I might get my wish for such an element when I finally see a 3D movie in a couple weeks, although the cynic in me might be fully awake by that time…

2.5/5

Watchmen is dark, violent image of world without hope

The world in which the story of Watchmen inhabits is one that few of us couldn’t possibly imagine ourselves. Based on the groudbreaking graphic novel of the same name, it is a vision completely original in scope and entirely non-commercial in terms of comic book movies. It takes place in a kind of alternate 1985, in which the American landscape is not what you would expect. Here superheroes garner the streets of our cities as if they have always been a central fiber to our existence. President Nixon is serving his 5th term, and the Vietnam war? Well, lets just say, we won. The nations’ fear of mounting tension with the Soviet Union is symbolized in the massive “doomsday” clock that is permanently set to 5 minutes before midnight. With the proverbial stroke of 12, humanity will have finally met its deadliest outcome.

The visually stunning film explodes onto the screen with the murder of a man known only as “The Comedian”. His death triggers a full-scale investigation by his former colleague Rorschach. Rorschach is a masked vigilante who tries to uncover a conspiracy to kill off every member of his old crime-fighting legion, Watchmen. The Watchmen have existed as a kind of second-generation crime-fighting team for quite some time. In recent years however, president Nixon has outlawed all vigilante crime activity, making the watchmen virtually obsolete. They are a motley crew of sorts, while all of them save one having no “super” powers.

The group seems to revolve around one central character however, who is anything but normal. Dr. Manhattan has the ability to bend matter according to his will. In this way, he seems to transcend physical space and time. The inspiration for the character draws heavily on theories of quantam mechanics, but don’t let all this pseudo-intellectualizing bog you down with the fact that he’s a glowing blue naked guy who can teleport.

Do you remember how fun we had watching The Dark Knight last summer? How we watched real-life characters fleshed out on-screen facing big time moral dilemmas all against the back-drop of explosive action and excitement? Watchmen serves as the really unwatchable version of this same story. There is loads of character development, and places in terms of story that are simply daring to tread, but there is a fundamental element missing that holds it all together. I am told that the graphic novel created a whole universe to fill the space in which Watchmen inhabits. Unfortunately, the film leaves you feeling as though you’re only hearing about these elements in hindsight, and it does indeed detract from the story-telling. I would like to see Watchmen again, when I am more familiar with the story, because for all of its bravado 1 film is not enough to devote to all the content that seems to be on the page, written or implied.

2.5/5