March 2006
Spring Screenings
What’s new at the cinema this month
THE WEATHERMAN **1/2
Academy Award-winner Nicolas Cage (
Adaptation) stars as the popular Chicago television weatherman David Spritz, who has a shot at the big time when a national morning show calls him in for an audition. At the top of his game professionally, his personal life is mired by a painful divorce, trouble concerning his children and issues of trying to live up to his father’s expectations. As Spritz wavers between stability and disaster, he realizes that life, like the weather, is completely unpredictable. Not only must he contend with the daily rigors of surviving in the rat race, but he’s also faced with the pressures of semi-fame, as jealous fans pelt him with soda, malts and fast food. Written by Steven Conrad, the screenplay recalls those of a number of screenwriters out there today trying to work out their daddy issues. Two-time Academy Award-winner Michael Caine (
The Cider House Rules) plays the stern father who, despite his underlying love, remains at a cold distance from his children. He is let down occasionally by his American accent, which is somewhat forced and uneven. Hope Davis (
American Splendor) takes on the role of the estranged wife, Noreen, with beautiful simplicity and a seemingly genuine yearning for the happiness of others. At times, the director, Gore Verbinski (
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), would appear to be rather overwhelmed by the drama involved and is perhaps more comfortable with action and comedy.
The Weatherman is a slowly paced film about a middle-aged man trying to find his place in the world. Although it’s filled with witty lines, such as “The harder thing and the better thing are often the same thing,” it still drags on a bit too long.
German Release Date (subject to change) March 2,
US rated R
www.weathermanmovie.com
THE PRODUCERS ***
Thanks to the critical and box-office success of Rob Marshall’s
Chicago a few years back, the glory days of stage-to-screen musicals appear to be making a comeback. Another choreographer-turned-film director, Susan Stroman, directs and choreographs this screen version of the smash Broadway musical hit that won a record number of 12 Tony Awards, including Best Director and Best Choreography. The musical is based on a 1968 Mel Brooks film starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, and Brooks has his hands all over this version as well, producing and writing the screenplay and music. Nathan Lane (
The Birdcage) and Matthew Broderick (
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) reassume their Broadway roles as two producers who realize they would earn more money with a Broadway flop than they would with a hit, and set out to produce the worst musical possible:
Springtime for Hitler. They hire the worst writer, Nazi sympathizer Franz Liebkind (Will Ferrell), and the worst director, flamboyantly fabulous Roger DeBris (Gary Beach), but their plan backfires when, to their horror, the musical is a raging success. From the opening shot over Times Square, mixed with the sound of an invigorating score, you know right away that you’re in for a good time. What worked for
Chicago was the gritty reality of the film contrasting crisply with the stylized musical numbers; but
The Producers is an unabashed, straight-forward musical, which is somewhat hard to get used to at the start. Eyes and mouths wide open, overacting and exaggeration, flailing arms and pratfalls seem better suited for the stage than the screen, but once you let go and accept the reality of this film, you’re in for one wild ride.
German Release Date (subject to change) March 16,
US rated PG-13
www.theproducersmovie.com
New release on DVD
ELIZABETHTOWN **
Receiving an Oscar for his original screenplay in 2000 for
Almost Famous, writer-director Cameron Crowe once again draws on his personal experiences to bring us his latest film. The story follows the young shoe designer Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) from his fall from the top of the career ladder to his journey across the country to his father’s funeral. Along the way he meets the impossibly optimistic flight attendant Claire (Kirsten Dunst), who tries to change his negative view of life. I must admit that I really wanted this film to work, and I rooted for the two protagonists to come together and solve all of life’s difficulties through the healing touch of love, but they never quite got there. The film combines drama, comedy and romance, but seems unsure of what it really wants to say. It’s a film about life but, like life itself, it can be pretty boring, laborious and self-indulgent at times.
German Release Date (subject to change) March 2,
US rated PG-13
www.elizabethtown.com
