The Lesser of Two Evils

"The Campaign"

As we all know 2012 was an election year.  For the past six months our televisions, mailboxes, phone lines, radios, car bumpers, and grassy lawns have been bombarded with an overload of vote for Party A, B, or even C.  And because this was a political race all the campaign ads were mostly negative ones.  The accusing ads tells us the same thing; the opposing candidate is doing this instead of that and saying one thing when really when they really mean another.  I know that these are dirty games of deception and trickery with smear campaigns that stretch from the state of Washington to Florida.  I forgot to mention one more form of media this year that contained politics, the cinema.  The Campaign, a comedy featuring Will Ferrel and Zach Galifianakis takes us inside the whacky world of the what it takes to run a campaign as both sides come at each other’s throats .

Cam Brady (Ferrel) is running for congressman in his North Carolina district for the fifth time unopposed.  Brady may not be the sharpest tool in the shed and he has done some rather questionable things leading up to his shoe in win.  Things like accidentally leaving a sexually explicit message on an answering machine belonging to a family of four instead of his mistress's.  Whoops, Cam's in hot water.  But who cares, it's not like he has anyone to compete against.  That is until Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) decides to throw his hat into the ring.  Marty's campaign is being backed by brothers Glen (John Lithgow) and Wade (Dan Aykroyd) Motch.  Putting Mary on the ticket is part of the Moch's plan of wanting to bring a big Chinese company to North Carolina.  Marty isn't the brightest bulb in the pack but thinks it would fun get his feet wet in the political spectrum.  That is until Cam starts to play dirty.  Marty is then forced to fight fire with fire; unfortunately he doesn't quite know how to strike the match.

The Campaign is an R-rated comedy and it certainly earns its R rating.  Tons of coarse language accompanied with crude sexual content galore makes this film definitely for adults.  And that's how it should be.  Kids don't understand politics so why should they be subjected to it.  But let's look beyond the vulgarity of the picture.  Here is a film that is a really great satire of game that America has been playing for hundreds of years.  So much of what is shown is perhaps exaggerated, goofy, or zany, but I also think there's a lot of truth to the film.  It's clear the screenwriters have had to endure enough political dreck as we all have over the years and what better way to express how they feel than make fun of the situation.

The Campaign does get the job in the laugh department.  It's not just because of the spot on instances that play out and are part of every campaign, but because the actors, particularly the two leads, know how to deliver their lines just right to really tickle our funny bone.  I think the characters that Ferrel and Galifianakis are playing aren't that much of stretch from the politicians we have in real life.  This is the film's biggest strength in that everyone involved knows what they are making.  The overall believability is absolutely there as long as you realize this isn't just another stupid Will Ferrel comedy.

Raunchy, obscene, crude, and outrageous; The Campaign does contain these low brow qualities.  However, isn't that how politics are in real life?  Aren't the campaigns and the people who are involved come off as just one big joke?  How many times have we seen ads or interviews featuring politicians and just wanted to sit back and laugh.  The Campaign gives us a chance to do this and not have to feel embarrassed about it.  The Campaign never takes its eye off the prize and stays true to its message.  Some may take away from this film nothing more than the F word and sex jokes but honestly, grow up.  Don't lose sight of what The Campaign is actually trying to say about American politics.  I found it to be quite enjoyable but I can understand that it probably won't be everyone's cup of tea.  The Campaign certainly has my vote for one of the funniest films of the year.   

Ladies Love His Magic

"Magic Mike"

Actor Channing Tatum got his big break with the film Step Up and since then his career has certainly taken off as his star continues to rise. I haven't seen many of his films from start to finish, the main reason being that they simply don't interest me.  I consider Tatum a celebrity but not much of an actor.  Remember, just because you're in movies doesn't make you an actor.  When looking at the 32 year old celebrity’s latest flick, Magic Mike, on the surface it appears to be another film that would only appeal to the female demographic.  It's just a film that features a bunch of male strippers putting on all their sexiest dance moves to arouse throngs of women of all ages right?  Okay, yes, there are plenty of well-choreographed dance numbers in Magic Mike but let's look beyond the marketing campaign.  The real core of the film deals with what it actually means to live the lifestyle a male stripper and consequences that follow.

Mike (Tatum) is an entrepreneur of sorts.  He has his hands in many different occupations one of which just happens to be male stripper.  What he really wants to do is open his own handcrafted furniture business which he's been saving up for in the past thirteen years.  Mike is now 30.  Nineteen year old Adam (Alex Pettyfer) is going nowhere with his life.  He ruined his chances at maintaining his football scholarship, refuses to get a job that requires a suite and tie, and now finds himself living on his older sister Brooke’s (Cody Horn) couch.  Mike takes Adam under his wing and shows him the exciting and wild life one can lead in the flashy world of male strippers.  Brooke grows quite wary of her brother's new job but Mike reassures her that Adam will be looked after.  But like any impressionable teenager, Adam unfortunately does get caught up in all the perks of being a male stripper.  Perks that include: drugs, money, and women; what nineteen year old wouldn't want to have all that?  The reality is that Mike was once like Adam and now is looking for a change in his life.  Mike not only has to look out for Adam but more importantly, look out for himself too.

Magic Mike offers its audience more than just erotic dancing.  Tatum delivers a charismatic performance as a guy who is not only a fantastic showman when it comes to his night job but also a person who is trying to leave his thongs behind.  What the film is showing us is that strippers are people too and all of them aren't the same.  For some, it's merely a job for them so they can temporarily support themselves.  In fact Magic Mike is semi-biographical in that Tatum was at one point in his life a nineteen year male stripper living in Tampa.  I think that's why Tatum's performance comes off as so genuine and authentic.  Mike is likeable and we are able to understand where he is coming from and where he wants to go.  His character wants to change and that is something we can get behind.  

To add to the realism of the film is its dialogue.  Many scenes feel unscripted giving the performances a more naturalistic quality to them.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of those conversations came out of real life experiences that Tatum had while working.  Much of the dialogue between Adam and Mike or Mike and his stripper buddies comes off as believable everyday language making us a fly on the wall at times.  Director Steven Soderbergh recognizes these opportunities and lets his actors do the work instead of the camera.    

There are other instances though where the dialogue seems flat and wooden.  Anytime Mike interacts with Brooke the film starts to drag.  Her character isn't written terribly well making her relationship with Mike questionable.  I didn't understand the attraction the two of them had for each other.  I think that's a big reason why the film is over two hours in length when it clearly didn't need to be. 

Magic Mike relies heavily on clichés but is saved by Tatum's performance and Soderbergh's suitable direction.  Soderbergh handles the material in such a way that his film doesn't come off as gratuitous or explicit.  He and Tatum show us what can happen when you're part of lifestyle that is looked down upon by society.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much depth the screenplay actually had as well as the acting chops Tatum exhibited.  I still think of him though as a celebrity that needs to pick better projects and work with better directors.  Magic Mike is worth checking out because beauty is only skin deep and this is a film that has much more to offer than men running around on a stage.  Do you think that when purchasing a ticket for Magic Mike at the box office the cashier only accepted one dollar bills?             

Lost, Hoping to Be Found

"Missing"

I had heard of the name Costa-Gavras mentioned once before in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.  This was a reference I was unfamiliar with in the context that it was given.  I knew he was a director and that was about it.  After going to my favorite internet movie database, I found out that his film Missing won an Oscar for Adapted Screenplay.  While scrolling down the cast list Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon were credited as portraying the main characters.  I considered both of them fine actors were who good at their job and earned their paycheck.  And that was I all I knew about Missing.  I went into the film expecting the unexpected. At the least I wanted a solid screenplay and strong performances from the two leads.  Costa-Gavras does get sound performances from the two actors.  More importantly though, Missing's screenplay sheds light on a subject matter that would make any United States government official squirm in their seats. 

In 1973 an unnamed South American country (most likely Chile) is in the wake of a military coup.  Charles Horman (John Shea,) an American writer, has gone missing.  His wife, Beth (Spacek,) and father, Ed (Lemmon,) are terribly worried about him.  Is Charles in hiding?  Or worse, dead?  They go to the country's U.S. embassy looking for answers.  Receiving little to no help from our government Beth and Ed go out on their own seeking the truth about what happened.  By piecing together notes from Charles's journal and listening to tales from his friends and the locals, the two amateur sleuths attempt to solve the mystery of their missing beloved.  The evidence they uncover leads to shocking and disturbing conclusions Beth and Ed could never have imagined.  

Missing is part political thriller part detective story.  The screenplay does a fine job of balancing these two genres.  There isn't necessarily a bunch of twists and turns, but there is still a decent mystery to be solved.  We have a general idea of where this story is taking us but Costa-Gavras manages to keep us on the edge of our seats.  The political strife that the country is going through in which the characters are placed is what makes this film really interesting.  With a curfew in effect and the streets littered with dead bodies, Beth and Ed not only have to worry about keeping their heads but also who are friends and who are foes.  What's even more concerning is way the U.S. embassy, yes our embassy, handles this whole situation.  Who are the true villains here?

The chemistry between Lemmon and Spacek is quite good.  They both have the same common goal but come from completely different walks of life.  Ed is a Christian Scientist and a man of faith, with political views that are of the complete opposite of his son.  Beth shares the same ideals, morals, and political views as her socialist husband.  Charles plays an important role in each of their lives.  But how will Beth and Ed as the fightin' in-laws come together and play key roles in each other’s lives?  Lemmon's character has the most changing to do.  His stern mentality has to be completely readjusted while staying in a foreign land.  It's probably not a good idea piss off the man wearing a military uniform who's is firing a machine gun next to your face just because you find it annoying, as illustrated in one scene.

Set to a beautiful, subtly affecting score by Vangelis, Missing takes us to a place that is far from paradise.  The film shows us intense images that evoke a powerful response.  This is a place of unrest where its citizens and visitors alike live in a constant state of fear.  Even though the events depicted in the film happened nearly forty years ago its themes are unfortunately still resonant in today's world.  The mood and tone of Missing is certainly unsettling and that was obviously Costa-Gavras's intent.  Making the audience uncomfortable in such a way without the use of graphic violence and in your face gore/torture is something that today's filmmakers are still trying to figure out. Missing is one of those films that will leave you thinking long after the end credits have finished because it did its job of getting inside your head and under your skin.  This is the type of picture that you and your friends will want to have a serious discussion about afterwards.  I have since looked up some other works by Costa-Gavras and notice a reoccurring theme running through them.  I will eventually get around to knocking those out as well.  I think Missing was a good introduction to a director whose world I am just starting to understand.  Some may say that this film is just a bunch of left-wing propaganda.  I say it’s just good filmmaking.

A Wondrous Journey to the Past, Present, and Future

"Cloud Atlas"

For those who thought that The Matrix films were weird and bizarre, let me tell you that after watching Cloud Atlas, you ain't seen nothin' yet.  Cloud Atlas is the latest project from three directors whose films over the past decade or so have brought something new to the art form of film.  The Wachowski's (The Matrix Trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) come together for a film that can only be described as a beautiful and glorious mess of a picture.  Those were my expectations after seeing the trailers for this film.  They gave the impression of a feature that had something to say but not in a stuffy, pretentious, artsy fartsy kind of way.  At the least, Cloud Atlas was a film that wanted to make its audience think as well as entertain.  Cloud Atlas met and exceeded my expectations, but even with that being said, I'm still trying to figure out what the heck I just watched.

I don't really know how to describe the plot to you.  Yeah, it's one of those movies.  Any sort of description is not going to do this film justice.  There are six stories to Cloud Atlas.  Each story is set in a different time period and location.  Within each time period and location are the same group of actors who play either major or minor roles.  Some of these roles are even gender swapped giving this film a Shakespearean quality to it.  The six time periods which the film is constantly cutting back and forth between are the late 1840's primarily aboard a ship at sea, early 1930's Scotland, mid 1970's San Francisco, 2012 London, 2144 Neo Seoul, Korea, and sometime in the distant future on an ocean island on a post-apocalyptic Earth.

There is a certain rhythm and reason to how everything is put together which the directors don't exactly spell out for us.  Some things are left up to our own interpretations which is fine by me.  What I was able to get out of this film was that for every action there is a reaction.  What we do in the past affects the future.  We are all connected in one way another.  These ideas and concepts may seem vague, ambiguous, or just flat out clichéd but really I'm only scratching the surface.  I think the less you know about Cloud Atlas the better.  Just dive in head first; you'll either sink or swim.

Given that there are six stories going on at the same time with lots of characters in a feature that spans nearly three hours length, don’t let those be deterrents.  The fact that Cloud Atlas is nothing but 172 minutes of pure parallel action might be this films greatest strength.  Tykwer and the Wachowski's know how to keep our attention.  Each story does have a beginning, middle, and end.  I was quite pleased to see that the screenplay did not decide to devote thirty minutes to each story before moving on to the next time period.  Something is always going on as we are perpetually moving forward toward a sensational conclusion.  None of the stories are perfect and some are more interesting than others.  Also there are characters that you want to spend more time with than others as well.  However, everything that is being presented to us has a reason and purpose which we come realize as we venture deeper and deeper into the complexities of this film.  Slow and boring are words that cannot be used when interpreting and defining this film because they never once entered my mind.

Cloud Atlas is one those films that begs to be viewed multiple times and I mean that in the best way possible and not as a put down.  I think each future viewing of this picture will gain me further appreciation for it.  Greater awareness, admiration, and analysis will go to the film’s characters, plot, and aesthetics.  Tykwer and the Wachowski's have put together a piece of cinema that can truly be called art.  Their distinct and uncompromising vision is perhaps the only reason why this film could be brought to the big screen.  I envy actors Tom Hanks, Halle Barry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D'Arcy, Hugh Grant, and Susan Sarandon for being part of something extraordinary.  It's rare for a film to come along that challenges its audience to absorb and experience things in a completely different and imaginative way. This is a piece of cinema we have never seen before and probably won't see again.  Cloud Atlas is a real gem of a film that requires polishing over and over again not because it has become tarnished but so it can reveal additional intricacies which are embedded within its grand and magnificent reflective surface.