The Big Lebowski

A case of mistaken identity hurls an unemployed burnout (Jeff Bridges) along with his blowhard, hair-triggered bowling partner (John Goodman) into a serpentine kidnapping plot and a series of vignettes featuring a crippled millionaire (David Huddleston), his haughty artistic daughter (Julianne Moore), a Hollywood porn producer (Ben Gazzara), and many other Hollywood weirdo types. Episodic and championed cult Coen brothers film features a great Raymond Chandler inspired screenplay with dialogue that just keeps turning back onto itself, a starring role for Bridges he was born to play, and Goodman stealing the show in virtually all of his scenes. This isn't a criticism of the movie, but some of the humor has worn off after so many viewings.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Blood Simple.

The owner of an old-fashioned Texas honky-tonk saloon (Dan Hedaya) hires an unsavory private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh) to murder his employee (John Getz) whose sleeping with his unsatisfied and much younger wife (Frances McDormand), a seemingly straightforward proposition that grows more and more serpentine as it coils back and back on itself with bloody repercussions for all. This Coen Brothers debut is stylish, sometimes overly so, and instantly identifiable as they own with a screenplay with many brilliant touches that probably gets a little too convoluted for its own good. The principal players are excellently cast and all fine in their respective roles.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Unbroken

The larger than life story of Louis Zamperini (Jerry O'Connell), a troubled son of immigrants who transforms himself into an Olympic runner, competing alongside Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936. Afterwards, enlisting in World War II on a bomber crew, he was shot down in the Pacific surviving at sea for 47 days, only to be treated to an extended, hellish stay at a Japanese prisoner of war camp at the hands of a sadistic overseer. When I first read Laura Hillebrand's account of Zamperini's remarkable story, I thought it was the ready made, can't miss makings for a big screen treatment, and wondered why it hadn't been so in a more pronounced offering before. But somehow, someway director Angelina Jolie, working with a four man screenwriting team including the Coen brothers and cinematographer Roger Deakins no less), managed to drop the ball and screw up a sure fire thing presenting instead some glossy hokey pap with an ensemble of incompetent actors (O'Connell and Gomhnall Gleeson are especially subpar) told in the best tradition of schmaltzy, immediately forgettable historical epics.

* 1/2 out of ****

Hail, Caesar!

A day in the life of a major studio head (Josh Brolin) circa 1950 as he rescues one of his starlets from smut peddlers, fends off twin gossip columnists (Tilda Swinton), preserves the honor of another actress (Scarlet Johansson), deals with a temperamental director (Ralph Fiennes) and a B Western star (Alden Ehrenreich) under-qualified for his current parlor drama all the while mulling over a lucrative job offer from Lockheed and trying to retrieve his A-list megastar (George Clooney), kidnapped for ransom by commie writers right off the set of his big budget Roman epic. Subversive Coenesque elements are on hand for Hail Caesar as are many funny moments in this farce from the prolific brothers but this impressive studio system tour doesn't really tie its story or greater themes together (which is kind of let on by its many A list celebrity cameos cast---Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill also appear for some reason). Clooney  again amusingly plays the fool, Brolin makes a fine anchor for the picture, Fiennes is a hoot and, a little ironically, virtual unknown Ehrenreich is the standout in this sea of celebs.

** 1/2 out of ****

Bridge of Spies

At the height of the cold war, a pragmatic insurance attorney (Tom Hanks) is tapped by his firm to defend an overwhelmingly guilty, both by the questionably attained evidence and in the fervant court of public opinion, stoic Russian spy (Mark Rylance)  to present an international view of fair treatment. Shortly after procuring a relatively light sentence for his client and becoming a much maligned figure in the press, the counselor is once again called upon to travel to East Germany to negotiate for the swap of an American spy pilot, recently shot down behind enemy lines. Bridge of Spies is a well made though overlong spy pic, intentionally drab and dreary, crafted in the vein of a John le Carre quasi thriller by the Coen Brothers along with Matt Charman. In spite of the material and its intentions, its director still strives for nauseating Spielbergian moralizing and uplift, with a first act that plays like a civics class and a second which isn't as dramatically pulling at it should be. Hanks is well cast, putting his affable attributes to good use and Rylance, an unknown to me, is a self-effacing standout.

** 1/2 out of ****

Fargo

To lift himself out of debt and remove the oppressive thumb of his domineering father-in-law, car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) travels from Minneapolis to the titular North Dakota locale to meet with two thugs (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) who will help him hatch a foolproof kidnapping scheme. When blood is unexpectedly and senselessly shed, a tenacious and very pregnant small town detective (Frances McDormand) picks up its trail and follows its tragic lengths. Fargo is among the richest movies I know, with the Coen brothers keeping the keenest eye for detail while presenting a top notch thriller, an uproarious comedy, and even something weightier all wrapped up in the same icy package. The film is expertly cast with McDormand and Macy turning in career performamces, Buscemi and Stormare unforgettable as inept and mindless baddies, and every other single character chosen with the utmost care.

**** out of ****

Inside Llewyn Davis

In a Greenwich Village on the precipice of the early 60s folk revival, a struggling troubadour (Oscar Isaac) whose singing partner has just taken his own life ("Who throws themselves off the George Washington bridge?") goes from couch to couch and one low end gig to another while contemplating a return to a mundane, more stable life in the Merchant Marines. Inside Llewyn Davis is another exceptional Coen Brothers concoction, blending elements from their previous works and yet establishing itself as a poignant original. Oscar Isaac has a tremendous breakthrough lead performance and does his own singing along with some of the songwriting on an fantastic soundtrack which also features contributions from Marcus Mumford, T-Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, and the Coens themselves. John Goodman and Timberlake are a hoot in minor supporting roles while Carey Mulligan doesn't quite hit the right notes as a bitchy singer and sometimes bedfellow of Isaac.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Three bumbling country fed nincompoops led by the confounded rapscallion Ulysses Everett McGill escape from a Mississippi chain gang and brave hell and high water to return home to their self-appointed leaders' sweetheart. Sometimes movies are best left in the time and place you first met them and I was disappointed when I found some of the fun taken out of O Brother, Where Art Thou? my last time through. During this go round the laughs seemed scant and George Clooney struggled with his southern accent while the Coen Brothers were unable to find direction for their desultory riff on The Odyssey. It is possible, since I am in the minority of those who don't find Raising Arizona to be comic gold exactly that I just don't care for their flat out screwball stuff. O Brother still has its moments and the bluegrassy soundtrack is still worthy of all its accolades.

No Country for Old Men

The other night I watched Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg, a classic film that held a place in my my mind as a powerful, all-encompassing statement on Nazi atrocities. Upon revisiting it, while still retaining many dynamic sequences, it seemed to have lost much of its initial effect. I bring this up to make the point of how many great movies actually get better upon subsequent viewings? The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is one of these films. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel, it tells the story of a drug deal gone bad in a barren Texan wasteland and three men, a brazen working class laborer (Josh Brolin), a weary, aging sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones), and a cold blooded psychopath (Javier Bardem) all in pursuit of a briefcase containing 2 million dollars. Made without a soundtrack, and containing scenes of great tension, harsh violence, dark humor, great acting, and perceptive philosophizing it is an almost impossible to fathom film of great construction that offers more and more with each viewing. 

True Grit

I caught True Grit again tonight and I found it to be an improvement over a film that I thought was great the first time. This time I was able to view Jeff Bridges's performance without thinking of The Duke and was able to see just how great of a performance it really is. Haille Steinfeld's performance stood out again, and I believed her entirely as a precocious (emphasis on precocious). Matt Damon's work is fine and Josh Brolin again surprisingly shows versatility in a small role. I also wanted to bring attention to Barry Pepper's performance, which has gone unnoticed, which seems to be an imitation of Robert Duvall who originally held the role although he brings his own take on a snaky bad guy. The dialogue and direction by the Coens is pitch-perfect and Roger Deakins's cinematography should be commended as well, and many beautiful scenes remained etched in the viewer's mind.


12/22/10 review With True Grit, the Coen Brothers have (surprisingly) crafted an old fashioned entertainment that distinguishes itself from the beloved 1969 original. It also functions as an acting showcase for all involved. It tells the story of a young girl (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, excellent) seeking the aid of a U.S. Marshall (Jeff Bridges) in order to apprehend the marauder (Josh Brolin) who killed her father in cold blood. Along the way they reluctantly join forces with a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) who also has his reasons for bringing the target to justice. As mentioned, the film comes off as an old-fashioned Western with the cast speaking in a slack-jawed manner. Bridges does not do a John Wayne impression, and successfully makes the role his own. It is also worth mentioning Roger Deakins' beautiful landscape photography. In the end we are left with a wonderful throwback film which may leave us wondering why the Coens chose it as their latest project.

A Serious Man

Before the actual film starts, we are shown a short story that takes place back to the old country as an old Jew walks home with his horse. He informs his wife that he has been helped alongside the road by one of the neighbors and she in turn informs him that the neighbor is a dybbuk, a ghost of sorts having recently died. The dybbuk shows up at the house and when it leaves they are afraid that it has cursed them forever. As Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" plays during the opening credits and we are then taken to the main story set in 1967, we begin to wonder what the prologue has to with the film and most would assume nothing. But as the story of Larry Gopnik, a Minnesota college professor whose life begins to unravel in a fashion similar to Job, maybe the opening short is a key to understanding the film. Gopnik is the kind of man who wants to live a serious life, the kind of man who solves never ending physics' problems on a chalk board, but has no answers when everything in his life goes wrong. He is played to a point by newcomer to film Michael Stuhlbarg. Though their imprint is definitely on this film and that it is said to be their most personal film to date, this is not the Coen brothers' greatest work. It is a challenging, intellectual and artful film, nominated for Best Picture this year in an expanded category. With their ending, the Coens seem to be channeling the ending of their No Country For Old Men, but I'm not sure it works as well as it did in this one. Though some elements are off and that certain demographics may enjoy this film more than others, this is a film to seek out, especially if you like to think and not to be spoon-fed at the movies.
***1/2