With the release of Ben Affleck’s Argo today, what we think of as the fall prestige movie
season, or Oscar season, really kicks off in earnest. Appetites were wetted
last month by The Master (well,
at least some appetites), but this is the real start of a three-month stretch
where a major Oscar hopeful is basically being released every week. Several of
the movies that will vie for audience attentions and accolades premiered last
month at the Toronto International Film Festival, and I was lucky enough to see
some of them. I’ve prepared this guide to help you, the all-important
ticket-buyer, best decide how to use your hard-earned entertainment dollars.
Argo (October 12)
Directed by Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town)
Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and
John Goodman
Argo tells the
unbelievably true story of a 1980 CIA rescue operation that successfully
extracted six American embassy workers from Iran by posing them as a Canadian
film crew on a location scout for a Star Wars-like science fiction movie. Affleck stars as the CIA
agent heading the mission, Cranston plays his operations director, and Goodman
& Arkin are the Hollywood power players who help him create just enough of
a fake movie to sell the lie. The film is equal parts funny, suspenseful, and
uplifting, and the level of tension created in the climax makes you seriously
doubt a conclusion that you already know is coming. In his third outing behind
the camera, Affleck proves he’s on the shortlist of the best contemporary
American filmmakers.
You should see this film if… You appreciate any of the following: Hollywood satire, well-crafted
political drama, entertaining history lessons, Hitchcock style suspense, and/or
inspiring true stories of human triumph.
You should skip this film if… You tend to measure movies by explosions, violence, gratuitous nudity,
or complete historical accuracy.
Seven Psychopaths (October 12)
Directed by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken,
Woody Harrelson, Olga Kurylenko, Abbie Cornish, and Tom Waits
Seven Psychopaths tells
the sordid tale of three bungling dog-kidnappers who accidentally take the
prized Shih Tzu of a local gangster, and inadvertently set off a Los Angeles
crime war. At the very least, the film is never boring. The gratuitous violence
is consistently over-the-top, but it never over-shadows the ridiculousness. The
dialogue is generally funny, as are the characters and situations, and the
great cast always seems to be enjoying themselves at such a level that it’s
contagious to the viewer. But having said that, this is a slightly
disappointing movie if you go into it with any level of expectation (as I did).
There’s nothing here even remotely resembling the character depth of director
McDonagh’s great debut, In Bruges,
and there are times when the movie is a little too reminiscent of the worst of
the late 90’s Tarantino wannabes.
You should see this film if… You love Pulp Fiction because it’s awesome, hilarious,
and violent.
You should skip this film if… You love Pulp Fiction because it’s artistic, innovative,
and groundbreaking. (Or, I suppose, you should skip this movie if you don’t
like Pulp Fiction. But why would you be
reading a film column if you don’t like Pulp Fiction?)
The Paperboy (October 19)
Directed by Lee Daniels (Precious)
Starring Zach Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman,
and John Cusack
Lee Daniels’ hotly awaited follow-up to Precious, The Paperboy is a gothic redneck murder tale told through the eyes of Zach Efron,
who has the hots for Kidman’s southern belle temptress. She’s trying to get
Cusack out of prison because she loves him (even though they’ve only
corresponded through mail), and McConaughey is the lawyer she hires to help
find new evidence that acquits him of the murder he’s been convicted of. Efron
is McConaghey’s brother, and is helping him with the case. Sadly, those are the
straightforward elements of the story, and the second half of the movie just
skips around from one terrible plot twist to another. I loved Precious, and I had high hopes for this, but it did nothing
but disappoint. If you’re looking for silver linings, here’s the best I can
offer: the lighting and color-tones are kind of interesting, Kidman does a good
job (though she’s much better playing a similar character in the pseudo-classic
To Die For), Cusack actually
takes a role against type, and there’s a great scene of Kidman pantomiming a
blowjob to Cusack while she visits him in prison. And I think that exhausts the
good things I can say about The Paperboy.
You should see this film if… You’re willing to pay $10 to see Zach Efron in his tightie whities.
You should skip this film if… You have good taste.
Smashed (October 19)
Directed by James Ponsoldt (Off the Black)
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia
Spencer, and Megan Mullally
A small character-driven film about a young married couple
(Winstead and Paul) who drink themselves into a stupor every night, and about
the strain it puts on their relationship when she decides to go sober, but he
doesn’t. Smashed isn’t a great film, but
it’s an interesting one, and it wears its heart on its proverbial sleeve.
Winstead is the best thing here, and she shows a depth of ability that has
never been apparent before (and I’ve always liked her). Paul is good, but he
just plays a slightly altered version of his Breaking Bad character, and it feels like a missed opportunity. He
should be taking roles that display his range, not that increase the likelihood
of his being typecast. The film is generally more redemptive than it is heavy,
and at only 90 minutes, it moves by incredibly quickly. Several of the scenes
have a nicely compelling gravitas, and there’s a palpable authenticity to the
proceedings, but overall, it feels like the struggles are a bit too simplified
and the emotional journey is a little too truncated.
You should see this film if… You like your indie films to feel really, really indie,
or if you’re always on the lookout for the next potentially important
actor/actress/director.
You should skip this film if… You like having strong reactions to films.
Cloud Atlas (October 26)
Directed by Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run)
Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim
Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, and Susan Sarandon
Adapted from the allegedly unfilmable novel, Cloud Atlas weaves together stories from six different eras to
chronicle the epic journey of a soul across the past, present, and future, and
about how acts of kindness can ripple throughout time. From that synopsis (and
the pedigree of directors), you should just about know whether Cloud
Atlas is your kind of flick or not, but
I’ll keep going just for the hell of it. If films were measured purely on
ambition, there’s no question that Cloud Atlas is one of the best films of this year or most others.
There is a LOT going on here, the least of which is that twelve actors play
every single role in the film, across all six time periods (generally, each
actor has a character in each era, but they are not the same characters). Even
if you don’t ultimately fall for the grandiosity and the themes of the film,
it’s still an unbelievably captivating journey that finds a heightened level of
drama in the early goings and then latches on to it for nearly three
unforgettable hours. And make no mistake, this is an unforgettable film, even
for the people that ultimately won’t like it (and they will be legion). The
people that love this film will probably spend two solid months talking about
it, and the people who hate the film will hate it very loudly and publicly. But
I’m in the love camp. This is a film that asks you to believe and I believed. I
was swept along on the journey that is Cloud Atlas and it was an experience that deeply moved me.
You should see this film if… You’re interested in hugely ambitious works of art, you still
appreciate the communal aspects of the cinema, you value being a part of the
cultural conversation, you’ve ever used the phrase “go big or go home,” or if
you’ve ever wanted to see Hugh Grant playing a post-apocalyptic tribal warrior
with tattoos and face paint (yes, really).
You should skip this film if… You’ve ever used the word “hogwash,” you strongly dislike leaving a
theater unsure of what you just saw, or you have a morbid fear of seeing Tom
Hanks with a goatee.
The Sessions (October 26)
Directed by Ben Lewin (Georgia,
Paperback Romance)
Starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William H. Macy
John Hawkes (an Oscar nominee in 2011 for Winter’s Bone) plays Mark O’Brien, the real-life poet and polio
survivor who was unable to move below the neck and lived in an iron lung.
Taking place in the 1980’s, this true story catches up with O’Brien as a
middle-aged man who decides that, even if he never marries or finds the love of
his life, he still wants to lose his virginity, and Helen Hunt plays the sex
surrogate he hires to help him do so. The concept could easily have been played
for cheap laughs (and to be fair, there are a lot of laughs here), but director
Lewin—a polio survivor himself—prevents the films from ever going that route.
Instead, we get a totally honest, and unapologetically graphic, portrayal of a
man just trying to have sex. Hawkes and Hunt spend a good portion of their
screen time nude, but the film never feels exploitative or gratuitous. The
trick is that the viewpoint is funneled through Hawkes, who sees the beauty in
every simplistic aspect of life, and who never feels sorry for himself, so we
don’t either. The film doesn’t cash in on sympathy, but on the simple pleasure
of an accomplished goal.
You should see this film if… you like simple movies about complicated things, you like movies that
make you feel the beauty of life, you like the idea of William H. Macy playing
a priest while keeping his Shameless haircut, and if you want to
see the performance that will win the 2013 Best Actor Oscar (yep, you heard
me).
You should skip this film if… You don’t experience human emotion, or if you’d rather see full frontal
nudity clips for free on the Internet than pay to see them in a theater.
Silver Linings Playbook (November 21)
Directed by David O. Russell (The Fighter, Three Kings)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De
Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, and Julia Stiles
Bradley Cooper stars as a just-released mental patient
living with his parents (De Niro & Weaver) in Philadelphia, in a story
about how he embraces the road to recovery with the help of a beautiful young
widow trying to cope with problems of her own (Lawrence). Treading a somewhat
similar ground as As Good As It Gets,
this film had ample opportunity to go off the rails and disappoint, but it
amazingly never does. Cooper proves he can carry a movie whose box office won’t
be driven by frat guys, and Lawrence turns in her best acting performance yet
(and for anyone that saw Winter’s Bone, you know that’s saying something). There are a few minor flaws
here—the film never goes for a big emotional payoff moment, a few of the comedic
sequences feel a little too contrived, and the climax seems to swipe a page
from the Little Miss Sunshine script—but
none of these are obvious while you’re watching. It’s just too enjoyable.
Note: Silver Linings Playbook won the audience award in Toronto, which has become something of an
Oscar predictor in recent years (Slumdog Millionaire and The King’s Speech also won it), but I think the safer Oscar bet here is
Jennifer Lawrence’s scene-stealing performance. In my mind, she’s the lead
actress to beat.
You should see this film if… You like movie stars at the top of their game, good dramedies,
unconventional romantic comedies, memorable dance sequences, or if you want to
see Robert De Niro actually earn a paycheck for the first time since the 90’s.
You should skip this film if… You think serious movies ought to be serious, and that happy endings
are too formulaic and sappy.
Rust and Bone (November 23)
Directed by Jacques Audiard (A Prophet)
Starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts
This French character drama stars Marion Cotillard (Inception,
Dark Knight Rises, La Vie en Rose) as a
killer whale trainer who loses both legs in an accident, and forges an
emotional connection with a bare-knuckle street fighter. If it sounds heavy, it
is. The acting is generally phenomenal, much of the imagery is stunning, and
there are a handful of moments that are as moving and deeply affecting as
anything you’ll see this year. But director Audiard, who made the incredible
prison crime drama A Prophet (a
2010 Best Foreign Language Film nominee), mostly keeps the dramatic tension out
of this one, and it would be a struggle for anyone to really call this film
entertaining.
You should see this film if… You like really well crafted character pieces, or if you feel compelled
to see every potential nominee for Best Actress.
You should skip this film if… You generally don’t like walking out of a theater feeling as though
your soul has been given an anesthetic.
On The Road (December 21)
Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Starring Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley,
Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss, and Viggo Mortensen
Jack Kerouac’s generation-defining novel finally makes it to
the big screen courtesy of Brazilian director Walter Salles, who has previous
experience making a good road trip film with the Che Guevara biopic The
Motorcycle Diaries. The lead roles are
played by two talented young actors, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) as the decadent Dean Moriarty and Sam Riley (Control) as the Kerouac stand-in Sal Paradise, and both do a
fantastic job bringing the legendary characters to life. Kristen Stewart (Twilight) costars, and goes what has to be described as
all-in on her first real adult role, playing a sex-object version of the manic
pixie dream girl archetype. But even if the individual elements of the
film—acting, pacing, photography, and energy—all ring true, it’s the feeling
that’s missing. The enduring appeal of the novel isn’t necessarily the
characters or the story, but the language, and short of having the characters
simply read the novel on screen (which actually does happen a fair amount), the film just can’t recreate
that despite a damn good effort.
You should see this film if… You’ve always been interested in the idea of reading “On The Road.”
You should skip this film if… You’ve actually read “On The Road.”
Of course I missed a few movies in Toronto that would have
made this preview had I seen them (Anna Karenina, The Impossible, Hyde Park
on Hudson), and there are also a number of
notable films arriving in theaters this fall that opted not to go to Toronto (Django
Unchained, The Hobbit, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty)… But that’s the great thing about loving movies:
you’ll never run out of more to see.
And lastly, here are five wonderful films I saw in Toronto
that won’t be hitting U.S. theaters until 2013, but which you should definitely
put on your radar:
How To Make Money Selling Drugs—A scathing look at U.S. drug
policy and why dealing appeals to so many people, this documentary succeeds on
every level; It’s funny, succinct, informative, thorough, and
thought-provoking.
Kon-Tiki—The true story of Thor Heyerdahl, who spent the summer of
1947 floating 5,000 miles from Peru to Polynesia on a raft made of balsa wood
in an effort to prove that the Polynesian islands were originally colonized by
South America. One of the greatest film adventure stories I’ve seen in a long,
long time.
Lore—The poetic tale of a 14 year-old German girl at the end of
World War II, who must care for her young siblings when their Nazi parents are
arrested for war crimes. Filled with powerful imagery and portraying a unique
perspective, I was deeply affected by this film.
The Sapphires—The true story of four Aboriginal girls in the 1960’s who
formed a Supremes-like soul group and left Australia to go to Vietnam and sing
for U.S. troops. This is the best music film I’ve seen in years, and Chris
O’Dowd (the cop from Bridesmaids)
kills it as their Irish manager.
Thanks For Sharing—A sex addiction dramedy by Stuart Blumberg (the
writer of The Kids are All Right),
starring Mark Ruffalo, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Tim Robbins, which is equal parts
funny and heavy.
And that’s it, happy viewing!