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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 August 2005

Based on a true story, Lords Of Dogtown is about three teenagers who in the late 1970s, helped make skateboarding famous.  There was a similarly themed documentary made several years ago called Dogtown And The Z-Boys which I haven’t seen but it’s on my list of films to catch up on.  I was never really interested in this film and writer Stacy Peralta hasn’t done anything to change this.

Don’t think I’m not being objective though.  Even if you are interested in skateboarding, the film is  a confusing mess that doesn’t know what it wants to be.  It starts off with skateboarding, skateboarding and more skateboarding.  The kids all seem to have a different background and some strange parents but this wasn’t explored too much.  The film changes then when a drugged-up manager (played by Heath Ledger) starts entering them in tournaments.

The concluding parts of the film are rushed and don’t offer much.  As the three get older, they slowly drift apart.  Tony (Rasuk) finds stardom and develops an big ego.  Jay (Hirsch) starts hanging out with gangs, does drugs and shaves his head.  Stacy (Robinson) stays pretty much the same.  They are all reunited in a scene at the end with the help of another young skater named Sid (Angarano).  I guess this is supposed to be the feel good ending but felt indifferent.  So little time was spent developing the rift between the three leading characters, it seemed strange to have such a big, significant reconciliation.

The film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke who made a film last year I enjoyed a lot – Thirteen starring Evan Rachel Wood.  Lords Of Dogtown has a similar look with quick editing and many scenes shot with a moving hand-held camera.  It’s overdone here to the point where it’s hard to see what’s going on.  This detracts from the skateboarding itself (the essence of the film) and only highlights the fact they’ve used stunt doubles throughout.

Those who enjoy the sport will find plenty to like about the film.  Unlike any other sporting films though, this fails to connect with those who do not.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 August 2005

This film was originally titled Danny The Dog.  I’m not surprised they changed the title.  What I am surprised about is how unexpectedly poor this film was.  All you need do is watch the first 10 minutes, walk outside for 80 minutes and do some shopping, then come back for the final 10 minutes.  You will have missed very little and have no trouble picking up the storyline.

Martial arts star Jet Li stars as Danny, a man who has been raised as an animal all his life.  His master, Bart (Hoskins), has an unusual way of keeping him under control.  When he has his collar on, Danny is a docile individual who stays in his cage and doesn’t do much.  When the collar comes off, Danny is a remorseless fighting machine who can defeat any challenger.

Bart is in the dirty business of debt collection and Danny is ideal protection.  His debtors always pay when threatened with the prospect of Bart removing Danny’s collar.  They know his reputation.  When a job goes bad however, Bart is shot and Danny flees.  He finds his way to a piano tuner named Sam (Freeman) and his daughter, Victoria (Condon).  They take him into their home and show him the world he has never known.

There isn’t much more to this story.  A solid half-hour is wasted developing Danny’s plight and his growing relationship with Sam and Victoria.  It’s tedious and obvious.  Those expecting action won’t find as much as they’d hope for.  Those expecting drama will be looking beyond the cinema doors.  That said, the above average score from the public on the Internet Movie Database suggests there’s people out there who will disagree with my opinion.

There’s a scene in the film where Bob Hoskins tells Jet Li that the past can’t be changed and instead, one should be more concerned with the future.  How appropriate that comment is.  I can’t change the past and I shouldn’t worry about the two hours wasted.  Ah, but I can influence the future.  I can tell people not to bother with Unleashed and try another movie instead.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 August 2005

A simple college application will change the life of lecturer Louise Harrington (Linney).  The year’s admissions are already being processed at Columbia University but Louise stumbles across an opened submission in her office.  The name on the front is F. Scott Feinstadt.

It’s an unusual name and one you wouldn’t come across too often.  For Louise however, it’s a name which sets off a flood of long forgotten memories.  F. Scott Feinstadt was a boyfriend of Louise back when she was teenager.  Tragically though, he was killed and Louise was left with the pain that comes with a departed loved one.  How is it then that someone has the exact same name and just so happens to have come into Louise’s path?  Is it destiny?  Overcome with a wave of differing emotions, Louise calls and sets up an immediate interview with F. Scott (Grace).

When he arrives, the Laura starts thinking that this is no coincidence.  This cocky teenager looks and acts exactly the same as the F. Scott which Louise remembers from 20 years ago.  Her best friend Missy (Harden) confirms that she’s not hallucinating – she too sees the remarkable similarity.

Having not had a relationship since her divorce several years ago, Louise finds herself drawn to the new F. Scott and he reciprocates her feelings.  There’s some great scenes where they open up about themselves and share their interests and desires.  Louise though, does not give up the big secret.  She wants to keep the illusion alive that this some reincarnated version of long lost love.  

I enjoyed the film a lot but could see myself being very cynical if not in the best of moods.  It’s a romantic fantasy that could be seen either as a sweet mystery and a silly farce.  What drew me into the film were the great performances from Topher Grace (In Good Company) and especially Laura Linney (Primal Fear).  You sense the bond between them but also the uncomfortableness that comes with such an unexpected romance.

There’s some comedy too amongst the romance with a hilariously unexpected revelation coming from Louise’s ex-husband (played by Gabriel Byrne).  It created a noticeable stir at my screening and woke those who were dosing off after a long day.  You’ll know the scene when you see it, trust me.

I caught P.S. as one of the showcase films at this year’s Brisbane International Film Festival.  It wasn’t just the great cast but also the lure of an up-and-coming director which helped secure my attendance.  Writer/director Dylan Kidd made 2002’s Roger Dodger, a small film about a naive teenager who is taken for a wild night on the town by his womanising uncle.  Having now seen two Kidd films, I realise he’s a smart writer.  His characters are intelligent and they speak with great wit.  He’s a subtler version of Woody Allen.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 August 2005

Jack Starks (Brody) stands by the side of the road.  He hitches a ride with a young guy (Renfro).  The car is pulled over by a police officer.  The driver pulls out a handgun and shoots the officer dead.  The driver then shoots Jack and leaves him for dead by the side of the road.  Jack survives but has no memory of the event.  On trial for the death of the police officer, Jack is found guilty by way of insanity.  He is now incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital and under the care of Dr Thomas Decker (Kristofferson).

Decker has been experimenting on his patients with a radical procedure.  He injects them with a formula and locks them in a very confined space for a short period of time.  The results have been unusual and the intrigued Decker continues with his research.  Jack is his latest lab-rat and trapped inside the dark cell in a straight-jacket, the hallucinations begin…

It’s Christmas Eve and Jack waits outside a diner.  A girl named Jackie Price (Knightley) offers him a lift somewhere but Jack has no idea where he wants to go.  He goes back to her house and they spend the night talking on the couch.  Looking around while Jackie is asleep, Jack finds a pair of dog tags hanging on the wall.  They are his.  He gave them to a young girl on the day he was shot.  How did Jackie get them?

Confronting her straight away, Jackie tells of how she was given them many years ago by a stranger.  Putting two and two together, Jack realises he is witnessing “a time that is not this time”.  He has been given a glimpse into the future.  When Jack finds out that he is to die in four days time, it becomes a quest for both himself and Jackie to find out how and try to prevent it...

The Jacket is a thriller which fails to thrill.  Time travel movies can be great like Donnie Darko or they can really stink like Timeline.  This falls into the later category and didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense.  It was never explained how Jack was seeing into the future.  If Dr Decker realised this was happening (and surely he did), why didn’t he take it further?  Why didn’t he even go in for his own look?  Furthermore, what’s with the big conspiracy as to how Jack died?  Without giving it away, I found it hard to believe that so many people were unwilling to give him the information.

Adrien Brody is an accomplished actor but flounders in this befuddling screenplay.  Keira Knightley isn’t much better either.  Kris Kristofferson and Jennifer Jason Leigh (as another doctor) are the pick of the bunch but this isn’t going to help ticket sales.  Unless you’re easy to please, The Jacket will provide more irritation that enjoyment.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 August 2005

Much has been made of the war in Iraq but Turtles Can Fly approaches the subject matter from an unexpected angle.  Set just before the war commences, it’s the story of a group of kids who live in a small own near in the Iraqi-Turkish border.  They are led by Satellite (Ebrahim), a boy with technological expertise.  He his helping set up a satellite dish so that the town elders can tune into CNN or the Fox News Channel (god forbid).   They want news of the pending war and they aren’t getting it on Iraqi television.

We’ve seen the war from our perspective, now here’s the chance to see it from the eyes of children living in Iraq.  Satellite and his posse of children earn a small amount of money by removing land mines from the local farmland.  You wouldn’t think that they’d live in such a hostile country when you look at the affectionate enthusiasm these children have.

Things change for Satellite when an armless boy named Pashow (Feysal) and his sister Agrin (Latif) arrive in town.  Pashow starts making predictions about the war which are become eerily true.  Satellite sees Pashow as a threat to his leadership and stance in the community.  Ironically though, he has developed a crush on Pashow’s sister.  He is discovering new feelings and his priorities are soon changing…

I am told it is the first major film to be filmed in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.  This is great to see but it doesn’t impact my review in anyway.  Regardless of the circumstances of how it came to be, this a superb film with a big heart.  The children give tender performances which are exemplified by a scene towards the end where Satellite tries to rescue a blind baby from a field full of land mines.   

On his website, director Bahman Ghobadi dedicates his film to “all the innocent children of the world – the casualties of the policies of dictators and fascists.”  It’s apt way of passing on the message behind Turtles Can Fly.