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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 August 2000

Frank Sullivan (Quaid) is a husband, father, firefighter and fan of the New York Mets.  It’s October 10, 1969 and the Mets are taking on Baltimore in game one of the World Series.  Also making news is a rare occurrence of the aurora borealis (Northern lights).

John Sullivan (Caviezel) is a police officer who’s life hasn’t turned out they way he expected.  His baseball career went nowhere and he’s just broken it off with his long-time girlfriend.  It’s October 10, 1999 and the aurora borealis is once again appearing over American skies.

Pulling out his father’s old ham radio for his best friend’s son, John revives memories of his father who passed away thirty years ago.  The radio doesn’t appear to work and John flicks through old photos and newspaper articles and ponders on what once was and what is now.

John manages to get a signal on the radio and starts talking baseball with the man on the other end. The conversation progresses and John finds something slightly askew.  The man on the other end shares the same name as his father, Frank Sullivan, and seems to be talking as if the year were 1969.  What if...

Director Gregory Hoblit is experienced with twisting subject material given his last two films, Primal Fear and Fallen.  His creativity at mixing 1969 with 1999 is remarkable and with the help of editor David Rosenbloom, he has created one of the finest directing performances of the year.  Actors Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel work superbly together.  They manage to create an emotional father-son relationship despite not spending a single scene together during the film.

Where has writer Toby Emmerich come from?  Emmerich up until this point has been a music supervisor and created soundtracks to films including Boogie Nights, Austin Powers and Dumb And Dumber.  His script, full of magic and enchantment, comes completely from left field.  The background subplot becomes a little silly during the final ten minutes but it provides the end result that was necessary.

Frequency is a stunning film that stirs emotions and past memories without the commercialism and tackiness that Hollywood so often provides.  The opening credits and scene are smartly created and no time is wasted in developing the story.  It may not always follow the laws of physics and has a few small holes but its ability to have you overlook those minor flaws is a tribute to its power.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 July 2000

Ryan yearns for Ashley (O’Keefe), the most popular girl at school who hasn’t looked twice at Ryan in their entire time at the school.  Ashley’s cousin, Chris (Franco), seems to have a soft spot for Maggie but Maggie finds him too much of a jock to be interested.  From all this, a compromise arises.  Ryan will help Chris win the affections of Maggie if Chris will help Ryan’s chances with Ashley.

Whether deliberate or accidental, Whatever It Takes seems vastly different from previous teen movies.  Firstly, the cast features no big name stars that works effectively since we are not seeing the same, usual actors in their repetitious roles (ala Freddie Prinze Jnr, Julia Stiles, etc).  Secondly, the characters seem to exhibit more human qualities than other films.  Sure they’re predictable but the dialogue and storyline is easier to swallow.

I’m sure the four leading stars are destined for further work.  All have lined up several projects for 2000 and keep an eye out for Sokoloff for her great work in one of TV’s best shows, The Practice.

Like one of my favourite teen flicks, 10 Things I Hate About You, Whatever It Takes’s best feature is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.  It’s not trying to answer life’s impossible questions and is a comedic tale of love-struck teenagers.  It seems almost all these films end with a prom and whilst Whatever It Takes is no exception, it throws up a few surprises including an extremely funny takeoff from Titanic.

We may start off down that familiar road but I ended up in a place I didn’t quite expect.  A teen comedy worth recommending?  Surprisingly, yes.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 July 2000

The Patriot is a fictitious tale set against this war.  Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a war hero from the past who now lives quietly with his seven children in South Carolina.  As the English troops (known as the redcoats) approach, Ben will not waiver from his principals - he refuses to return to battle and believes the war can still be won with words.

Ben’s eldest son, Gabriel (Ledger), is now 17 and against strong wishes from his father enlists and heads off into engagement.  As the English continue to advance under the “gentlemanly” command of General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson), hundreds of Americans are sacrificed and the situation worsens.

The redcoats soon reach Ben’s home where in a confrontation with Colonel William Tavington (Jason Issacs), his 15-year-old son Thomas (Gregory Smith) is killed.  In true cinematic fashion, Ben finds his passion for war reignited and assembles a militia army to seek revenge on the English and particularly, Colonel Tavington.  As he says, “I will kill you before this war is over”.

Film is a powerful medium that is not deserving of The Patriot.  It has all the plot and dialogue traits from the tiring action garbage we’ve witnessed recently in films such as Armageddon and Gone In 60 Seconds.  The fact it deals with a real war is irrelevant.  It is insulting to watch a film that shows such reckless regard for the truth.

The portrayal of both the African-Americans and French is disgraceful.  A token character is represented from each of these races and are included in the film to glorify and show just how perfect white-Americans were.  Throw in a souvenir love story between Heath Ledger and Lisa Brenner to please the romantics and a few funny characters (all with their moment of glory) and you’re looking at a film that has little to do with patriotism.

It is overwhelmingly frustrating viewing experience.  Everything is so contrived and predictable.  Colonel Tavington is so over-the-top evil that he exhibits qualities resembling that of a James Bond villain.  Gabriel is the perfect son who always seems to avoid the perils of war until the incident that you know is coming.  Some moments are senselessly violent and seem completely out of place.  Amazingly, director Roland Emmerich has created a film that requires no thought whatsoever.  The Americans are portrayed as the “good guys”, the British are the “bad guys” and any grey area is non-existent.  In the packed cinema in which I saw the film, you could hear whispers from the audience predicting future developments and when they’re always right, it’s not a good sign.

$100m was spent on wonderful costumes, beautiful sets, a magnificent music score and quality actors.  All designed to provide the most realistic impression of the war imaginable.  How easy it can be to ruin all the good work with a despairing script.  Is a line such as “I’m going to kill you before this war is over” really necessary?  Why not tell us the ending?  The seriousness of the cause just makes it all the more pathetic.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 July 2000

So what kind of qualities am I talking about?  Professor X (Stewart) is their aged leader and has tremendous psychopathic abilities.  Wolverine (Jackman) has tremendous physical strength and metal claws protruding from his knuckles.  Storm (Berry) can influence the weather.  Cyclops (Marsden) can shoot lasers from his eyes.  You get the picture?

On the other hand, there is an evil race of mutants led by the powerful Magneto (McKellan) who want to destroy all humans so that the mutants can dominate the Earth.  When Magneto comes across a very important mutant named Rogue (Paquin), he discovers the secret to fulfilling his objectives and thus it’s up to the “good” mutants to try to save the human race.

It seems most every comic book and cartoon series has made its venture to the big screen and X-Men has come across with some heavy financial backing.  It’s a big cast with some elaborate special effects that are well crafted.  It’s quite dark and has striking similarities with the original Batman (released way back in 1989) only with more commercialism.

The plot has substance but is confusing at times and you’ll have to be paying close attention to keep up.  It takes a long time to set up the characters and once the action gets started and the interest builds, it’s all but over.  Over 45 minutes of the film was cut by the studio to try to make the film faster and more audience-friendly.  Without having seen the extra footage, I feel sure it would have made X-Men a better view.

A bigger annoyance is that the ending so obviously sets up a sequel that it’s hard to feel you’ve reached a conclusion.  It’s like we’ve seen part one and we’ll have to wait a couple of years to find out how it ends.  I guess it’s similar to reading a comic book in that the super villain always manages to elude them so that more adventures can be created.  I shouldn’t have to pay to see the next movie because technically I haven’t seen the end of the first one.

I was surprised to see Bryan Singer as director given his previous two projects - The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil.  Singer’s direction is intense and creates strong interest and suspense.  The X-Men aren’t exactly household names and Singer has created a film that will generate heavy interest in the franchise.

It’s always nice to see summer blockbusters that aren’t just plastic characters acting cheesy storylines.  Whilst not covering any new ground, X-Men is simple entertainment that’ll sucker you in for a couple of hours.  Take plenty of popcorn.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 July 2000

When he receives a phone call bringing news that his brother has had a stroke, he decides it is time to go see him in Mt. Zion, Wisconsin.  They have not spoken in ten years but Alvin feels that with little time left for both of them, it’s time to bury the hatchet.

Just how exactly is Alvin going to travel the 300 odd miles to Mt. Zion?  By a ride-on lawnmower.  It’s about the only thing Alvin can still drive and he sets off, determined to make the trip on his own.  It is his own way of paying penance for his failure to reconcile with his brother all those years ago.

Along the way, Alvin meets an assortment of characters and his kindness and decency touch their lives.  Overnight he sleeps in a small trailer towed behind the mower and eats nothing much more than wieners for the whole trip.  Like old folk are, he was determined to do it his way.

This is a true story.  The real Alvin Straight travelled this journey back in 1994 before passing away in 1996 and the film is dedicated to his memory.

It’s hard to believe that David Lynch is behind the camera for this G-rated flick from Walt Disney.  When you consider Lynch’s most famous works - Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and the TV series Twin Peaks, you would think a film like The Straight Story would be the last project he would tackle.

Lynch, boosted by cinematography from Freddie Francis and music from Angelo Badalamenti has painted a picturesque portrait of Southern America.  The film is a magical tapestry of sights and sounds.  Lynch, enhancing the viewing experience, captures everything from a beautiful sunset to the sound of a harvester with immaculate precision.

Given the material, this film could so easily have been a tiring bore that is even more credit to the talent of David Lynch and the crew.  Richard Farnsworth, who this year became the oldest actor in history to receive an Academy Award nomination, is wonderful as Alvin.  It was the role of a lifetime and it’s funny that he’s had to wait 79 years for the opportunity.