Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

The Natural (Director's Cut)

Rating:

Movie: Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Studio : Millenium Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 144 min

Website : N/A

Trailer :

Review:

“The Natural” was one of the first major films directed by Barry Levinson who has produced 41 projects, written 26, and directed 34, on top of acting in 9, making him one of the most prolific film makers in Hollywood 25 years later. In 1984, only his third film made was a sensation, much having to do with the movie starring Robert Redford, backed by Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, and Wilford Brimley. For Redford, this was his 51st project, which might have seems anti-climactic for the actor, having followed such projects as “The Chase” starring Marlon Brando, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting” costarring alongside Paul Newman, “The Great Gatsby”, and “A Bridge too Far”. Already 48, Redford’s acting career had seen some of its greatest successes. Despite being in the shadow of many of his greatest successes, there is the ability to say that he might not have peaked until the making of this film. Between Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, “The Natural” didn’t make a huge impression on the public, but some of the movies with the highest production value go unseen.

Like every film, the first five minutes are key. The film opens with a young Roy Hobbs (Redford) diving for a catch in a tall, grassy field. A soft fanfare accentuates the catch. Redford immediately is shown, remembering the lessons of his youth including him witnessing the death of his father. The second most important character of the film is shown almost immediately afterward, his baseball bat, “Wonderboy” which he hand-carved from the wood of a tree struck by lightning. After boarding a train, he is elicited the challenge to pitch to a character that can only be Babe Ruth. In three pitches, he strikes “Whammer” out. Though he is on the train to become the newest member of professional baseball, Hobbs makes it no further than the train, being shot by a silver bullet from an assassin’s gun. The story is based on the novel written by Bernard Malamud who fictionalized the career of Philadelphia Phillies’ Eddie Waitkus, who was shot by an obsessed fan.

The film is well written, with a style that sounds truly natural (forgive the pun) coming from each of the of the incredible performer’s mouths coupled with the direction of Levinson and the script by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry.
The film’s lighting is incredibly positioned, with soft key lights and orange filters which gives the movie a warm, summer-like feel which is fitting of a baseball movie. Because of this, the primary colors are warm tones, including the New York Knights’ accentuating red on their uniforms. The warm tones also help to create an old feel, as Wilkus’ and subsequently, Hobbs career was primarily in the 1930s.

The color red is almost in every shot of the film, from the roses during his first dinner in a hotel, which foreshadows Hobb’s passionate relationship with the girlfriend (Basinger) of one of the other baseball players (Madsen). Because of the filters, the blue is do dark that in many shots, it looks little more than a deep purple or even black. At moments in the film, only natural light is used, coupled with dark silhouettes, giving the look of inspiration coming from filme noir that was popular during the era, which helps to give authenticity to the project. During the time that they play early on, the filters are changed to a blue, reflecting the feeling of depression and frustration by all of the characters, despondent over the fact that they have been on a severely losing streak. One pitch is sent to him, which passes him without a swing. His second pitch is accentuated with a lightning bolt as his bat connects with the ball, knocking the leather from the insides. Immediately afterward the warm filters are back, the news reporters already.

There are many points of humor, which are only moments here or there, grouped together, including the 7th inning stretch speeches which liken losing to a disease.

I won’t ruin the last 2/3 of the film. What I can say is that it definitely is worth the watch, having a runtime of almost 2 ½ hours. Not only is this probably Redford’s greatest film, it is also one of the greatest films ever made, with a story that ends naturally, neither happily nor sad, but with great closure to a great story. If you haven’t seen this film, or if it’s been years, it would behoove you to change the habit, pick it up from the rental store or put it in the queue of your Netflix account. You won’t be disappointed.

-M. Sigurd Hall

Drama, On DVD, Reviews by Genre, sports Drama, Robert Redford, Sport, The Natural

Brooklyn’s Finest

Rating:

Movie: Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Studio : Millenium Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 132 min

Website : brooklynsfinestthemovie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbjqfc

Review:

I’m currently teaching a class in introductory literature, during which students are required to read one play. This semester, that play will be Oedipus Rex. As I’ve been rereading the play and attempting to tie it into my lessons on Greek tragedy, I couldn’t help but think of Brooklyn’s Finest, which stars three characters who could easily be tragic heroes in a Greek drama.

The first is Tango (Don Cheadle), a narc who’s been undercover for so long that he’s become confused about where his loyalties lie, particularly to Caz (a returning Wesley Snipes), a drug dealer who apparently saved him during a prison riot when he did an undercover stint there. Eddie (Richard Gere) is a burnt-out patrolman with seven days left before retirement. We first see him when he wakes himself up by chugging some whiskey and pointing a revolver into his mouth. Ethan Hawke is Sal, a detective with a wife and family that’s too big to support, with a set of twins on the way. In desperation, he’s taken to robbing drug dealers.

The movie intercuts these three stories, as we’re meant to see the hardships that real New York City cops endure: it’s the antidote to the fake buddy cop picture. We see Tango’s frustration appear to drift into borderline madness as he keeps being promised Detective First Grade by his supervisor (Will Patton) and threatened by a slimy agent (Ellen Barkin) if he doesn’t bust Caz. Eddie’s being asked to mentor rookie cops by taking them into the high-crime Brooklyn streets that have worn him down. His “retirement ceremony” brings some dark humor, all the more because it’s so sad. Sal’s wife (Lili Taylor) has to go to the hospital because of mold on the ceiling, which is threatening the health of her unborn twins. “Can you move to a bigger house?” the doctor asks. If only he knew…

The pacing here is excellent. Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day, does a great job at moving back and forth between these three stories, never dwelling on one for too long but allowing us enough time to get to know each character. The only downside was I had a hard time sympathizing with Hawke’s character, who seems to have put himself in his predicament of “too many kids.” My reasons will make me sound inhuman, so I’ll stop there.

The cinematography is fitting to the story as well. We don’t see overhead shots of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline in the background, like most New York-set movies. Shots are limited to the streets, because this is the world occupied by these cops. The romance of New York is lost by most people who live there, but these guys appear to see it as a crime-ridden hellhole. With the exception of a shot of a subway station and the Brooklyn accents (well-done by both Gere and Hawke), this could really take place in any city.

One of my favorite movies is Requiem for a Dream, based on the Hubert Selby book. I hadn’t seen his name on any of the previews, but I wondered for a bit if the screenplay had been adapted from one of his novels. Brooklyn served as a fitting backdrop for his stories, all of which focused on multiple characters suffering from their own faults, and ultimately, succumbing to the consequences to follow. Michael C. Martin and Brad Caleb Kane, the screenwriters, certainly seem to have been inspired. It’s well-written and well-made. Not as good as Training Day, but worth the trip to the theater.

-Craig Wynne

Action, Crime, Drama, Just left Theaters, Reviews by Genre, Reviews by Status, Thriller Action, Brooklyn's Finest, crime, Drama, Richard Gere, Thriller

Shutter Island

Rating:

Movie: Shutter Island (2010)

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 138 min

Website : shutterisland.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbyi72

Review:

Having been a huge fan of such classic Martin Scorsese films like The Departed, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, I had been anticipating the release of Shutter Island ever since I saw the first preview. And I’m glad I got the opportunity to see it.

Set in 1954, the movie starts Scorsese regular Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshal who’s been sent to Ashcliffe, a hospital for the criminally insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient who drowned her children. Accompanying him is fellow Marshal Chuck Aule (played by a characteristically muted Mark Ruffalo).

The hospital is located on an island just off the coast of Massachusetts, and we open as Daniels and Aule are introduced to each other on the ferry ride in, but there’s something about the gray skies and rough waters on their journey that give ominous hints of things to come.

We meet Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow), who carry a friendly guise, but appear to have something more sinister lurking beneath. They’re reluctant to offer information to the lawmen on their investigation, so DiCaprio does some snooping around on his own.

DiCaprio digs into his character well, as he shows a man troubled by his experiences in World War II along with the recent death of his wife. As he spends more time on the island, he begins to undergo hallucinations starring his wife, and there are hints that he could just become one of the patients.

The first half of the movie appears to be a hyped-up whodunit, and an excellent one at that. Scorsese appears to layer the investigation piece by piece, as DiCaprio and Ruffalo meet with a wide assortment of characters on the island that seem to lead them towards something more complex than the case of an escaped murderess.

For this part, the hallucinations, while necessary in establishing DiCaprio’s character, seemed to be overdone and were somewhat distracting from the actual case itself. However, this being a Scorsese film, there are a few surprises, and I can’t write too much more about it without giving away a twist that I half-predicted. However, it did end up surprising me and had me thinking the next day.

The movie is visually impressive as well. A hurricane approaches, and there are a couple tautly filmed sequences starring a lighthouse at the edge of the island, as well as some harrowingly tight cliffs and high-splashing waves that echo of Cape Fear. This movie proves once again why Scorsese is the legend that he is.

-Craig Wynne

Drama, In Theaters, Mystery crime, Drama, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Mystery

Crazy Heart

Rating:

Movie: Crazy Heart (2009)

Studio : Fox Searchlight

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 112 min

Website : foxsearchlight.com/crazyheart

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb7utw

Review:

As of this writing, Jeff Bridges has already won a Golden Globe for his performance in Crazy Heart, and he is expected to receive an Oscar nomination, if not win the award entirely.

And he deserves it. Bridges disappears completely into his portrayal of Bad Blake, a 57-year-old alcoholic former country star whose career has been reduced to playing in front of small crowds in bowling alleys and bars. Subsisting on a steady diet of cigarettes, whiskey, and longnecks, Bridges can still entertain the crowds of loyal fans who request songs, and he’s still suave enough to be able to take groupies back to his hotel room.

Things begin to look up for Blake when he meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a reporter for a small New Mexico paper, who wants to interview him. They talk about music and life. Soon enough, predictably but endearingly, they’re soon doing more than talking. She has a four-year-old son and has made mistakes in her life as well, but has held it together. We see that there’s potential for change in Blake, but he’s so worn down, so accustomed to the hard-drinking, nomadic lifestyle that change can be just out of reach. There’s a heartbreaking scene where he takes Jean’s son for some quality time at the playground, and he shows here that he could just be an effective father figure. Upon bringing him home, he sneaks away to take a swig from his flask.

This is a wonderful movie. Bridges doesn’t play Blake; he embodies him. He and Gyllenhaal create a convincing chemistry, and we root for the relationship to drive Blake to throw away the bottle and settle down with a family. Colin Farrell does a good job as the country star who was mentored by Blake and is still loyal to him, and Robert Duvall has a small but powerful role as an old drinking buddy of Blake’s who’s sober. Duvall’s presence was no doubt inspired by his Academy Award-winning performance in Tender Mercies, a similar film about a down-and-out country singer. I haven’t seen it, but now plan to.

I’ll also add the music. The soundtrack, which I also intend to find, had my head bopping throughout. I’m not a huge country fan, but I do have Toby Keith on my iTunes, and I’m listening to him as I write this review. Like most of the country songs I’ve heard, Blake’s revolve around alcohol, heartbreak, and regret, strong themes in his life. One of his songs goes, “I used to be somebody, but now I’m somebody else.” But does he need to stay that way? We know the answer, but the center of the film revolves around whether he learns it. It’s a masterpiece.

-Craig Wynne

Drama, Mystery, Romance crazy heart, Drama, Music, Romance