May 2005
Acting Up
Even great actors can’t make up for a bad story
MELINDA & MELINDA***
The inimitable Woody Allen (
Sweet and Lowdown) writes and directs this story of a woman named Melinda, as both a tragedy and a comedy, and asks the audience to decide which they prefer. It’s an interesting premise, but like most interesting premises it’s the implementation of that premise that makes the difference between success and failure. Fortunately, Allen decided not to cast himself as the requisite bumbling neurotic in this one, and so it appears he had more time to concentrate on the other actors. And the acting is the only thing that makes the film really worth seeing, which, in this day of mass-produced bubble-gum movies, is saying something. The film opens with the explanation of the premise as a group of writers sit around a table trying to figure out if the elements of a story would work better as a comedy or a tragedy, and then the audience is presented with both, juxtaposed versions. The star of both stories is Radha Mitchell (
Finding Neverland), who switches between a Cameron Diaz-like character for the laughs and a Naomi Watts-like character for the tears, convincingly playing both throughout. Other talented actors sharing the screen with Mitchell include Chiwetel Ejiofor (
Dirty Pretty Things), Chloë Sevigny (
Dogville) and Will Ferrell (
Elf). The latter, however, acts with a slapstick hilarity that does not sit well with the otherwise realistic acting. The fine editing keeps both stories moving forward with minimal discomfort at the sudden switches, and the 1940s jazz music gives the film a timeless quality. Regardless of whether you’re one to consider the glass half full or half empty, or whether you see life as a tragedy or a comedy, the film will give you a bit to chew on, but not much else to digest.
German Release Date (subject to change) April 28,
US rated PG-13
www.foxsearchlight.com/melindaandmelinda
UNLEASHED**
Not to be confused with last year’s Scooby Doo sequel
Monster’s Unleashed, this film is also about a dog that can speak, but you won’t find curiously cute teens in this one. Originally titled
Danny the Dog, the story follows Danny (martial-arts great Jet Li) as he struggles to free himself from the psychological kennel in which he was raised by his caretaker and master, Bart (Bob Hoskins). More master than caretaker, Bart uses Danny as a lethal weapon to collect unpaid debts from his seedy clients. At one particular job, though, Danny is distracted by the sight of a piano, which brings back some disturbing memories of his youth and his mother. There, in the warehouse, Danny meets the blind piano-tuner Sam (Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman) and is suddenly introduced to the kindness of man and the possibility of a new family. Written by Luc Besson (writer/director of
Leon—The Professional), this film sets out to find that same delicate balance between violence and tenderness that Leon was so successful at accomplishing. The invigorating opening martial-arts sequence, set to pulsating music by Massive Attack, is promising, but the attempt to counter that with the search for love and family is painfully overdone. In fact, as if to counter the exaggerated sentimentality of Danny’s emotional journey, the violence continues to escalate to such an extent that an unbearably extended fight scene becomes simply laughable. The unbalanced script provides poor excuses for comic relief and one supposedly scary scene actually has haunted-house music and flashes of lightning in it. Even the talented Morgan Freeman can’t help the picture much, especially since it seems as if he called in his performance from last year’s Oscar party.
German Release Date (subject to change) May 26,
US rated R
www.unleashedmovie.com
New release on DVD
JERSEY GIRL*
Writer/director Kevin Smith (
Clerks) and big-shot actor Ben Affleck (
Gigli) go back a long way—before Smith was even shooting in color and before Affleck had ever heard of J-Lo. But their relationship back then was perhaps more enjoyable because it didn’t subject viewers to any false attempts at maturity. Their latest collaboration might have been just slightly more interesting if the story of an adult who is not prepared for parenthood hadn’t already been told so often (
Big Daddy, Uptown Girls, etc.). A small light in the film is the performance by comedian George Carlin, who tones it down a few notches to play the wise old man. Other than that, there’s not much more to it. In fact, considering I first saw it on an airplane almost one year ago, it’s a miracle the movie was ever released in Europe at all. Just forget about this poor excuse for a film, and instead go out and listen to the beautiful Tom Waits single of the same name.
German Release Date (subject to change) May 12,
US rated PG-13
www.jerseygirl-movie.com
