Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 May 2002

Set in 1944, Lt. Thomas Hart (Farrell) is captured in a raid and taken to Stalag 6A, a German prisoner of war camp.  Leading the soldiers inside is Col. William McNamara (Willis) who debriefs Hart but does not allow him to stay in the hut allocated to officers (as he should be entitled).  Instead, he asks him to stay in another hut and keep a watchful eye on its soldiers.

In the weeks subsequent, two new soldiers arrive, both African American, and McNamara asks them to stay in Hart’s hut.  The other soldiers are enraged that they should have to live with “niggers” and Hart is doing everything he can to keep the peace.  Any chance of that is lost when fellow soldier Vic Bedford (Hauser) is murdered with one of the African Americans, Lincoln Scott (Howard), found overlooking the body.

McNamara asks German camp leader Col. Werner Visser (Iures) that a trial be held to determine the guilt of Scott.  He allows it, as he’s seen such things in American movies, and so it begins.  But Hart soon learns that McNamara isn’t the prized Colonel he expected.  McNamara asks Hart to defend Scott despite having no experience.  Further, he gets a fully qualified lawyer to act as the prosecution.  What hope does Scott have now and why would McNamara have the scales so unevenly balances?  Hart’s going to find out...

Hart’s War is a consistently dull film.  The story is mildly interesting but isn’t given an opportunity to develop.  It’s just a standard “who done it” flick and the answers provided in the third final act aren’t at all surprising.  Colin Farrell (Tigerland) is a star in the making and overshadows Bruce Willis with a strong performance.  In a few weeks, Farrell’s star status will rocket appearing alongside Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report.  Willis looks tired in his role and his raspy voice and expressionless face is becoming a stereotype in itself.

It makes you wonder why MGM Studios put up $70m to make this.  The studio has been plagued by disaster after disaster (anyone see Species 2?) and the $19m total gross at the U.S. Box-office is another kick in the teeth.  It appears this film has no target market and is just going to slide off Aussie screens with minimal fuss in a matter of weeks.  Maybe it’s time to try some gambles and tackle some more adventurous material.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 May 2002

Nice-guy Tommy (Burns) has just been dumped by his girlfriend and kicked out of his apartment.  At a video store, he meets Maria (Dawson) and exchanging numbers, they agree to meet up.  Maria has been divorced for a year from Benny (Krumholtz) and only now is finding the courage to tackle a new relationship.  Benny however, is still hung up on Maria and wants to get back together.

Confronted by Maria’s ability to move on, Benny meets Ashley (Murphy) in a cafe and asks her out.  The two seem sweet together but Ashley is having an affair with a married man, Griffin (Tucci), who is twenty years her elder.  Their relationship is purely sexual and Ashley feels trapped but her innocence and lack of experience sees her continue this hopeless pursuit in lieu of Benny.  Griffin’s wife, Annie (Graham), suspects her husband of six years is sleeping around but hates the idea of divorce and thinks it will work out.  She works as a real estate agent and is currently helping Tommy find a place to live.

If you’ve understood the complexity of the above, you’ll see the circle that has been formed.  Tommy likes Maria who is divorced from Benny who wants Ashley but who is sleeping with Griffin behind the back of Annie who is helping Tommy.  Set against the backdrop of New York, it sounds like a screwball Woody Allen comedy.  Not so.  It’s a lightheartedly insightful look and love, sex and relationships.

Each story is worth hearing.  I’m a huge fan of films that don’t limit themselves to one storyline and with Sidewalks Of New York having six, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be bored.  For most of the flick, we’re just watching people interact.  We’re looking at their reactions and emotions for hints to gauge how they really feel.  It’s shot like a glossed-up documentary with the film frequently interrupted by an unseen interviewee asking our cast questions about themselves.  It’s not an original idea but it’s perfect for the film’s style and makes it feel real.

Writer-director-actor Ed Burns isn’t from the Hollywood style of thinking.  Born in New York, he came out of nowhere when in 1994 he made his first film, The Brothers McMullen, for just $238,000.  The film was shot on weekends (since he had to work during the week) and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.  Sidewalks Of New York is exactly what I would expect from Burns - a film that refuses to be routine and provides both entertainment and something to take away.

Filled with lots of memorable quotes (including Ed Burns’s final epilogue) and an expertly assembled cast, Sidewalks Of New York is a so muchly needed breath of fresh air.  A chance to relax, forget about yourself and let six other people do the talking.  The great thing being, these people are worth listening to.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 May 2002

Another one of George’s great failures in life was his marriage to Robin (Thomas).  They divorced ten years ago and their only son, Sam (Christensen), is a drug addict working as a hustler.  Knowing this is his last chance to make up for years of neglect, George takes Sam for the summer and by building the house together, he hopes to sort out both Sam’s life and his own.

Sam rebels against having to spend his holiday slaving for his father but finds a silver lining with an attractive class mate, Alyssa (Malone), living next door with her mother.  Suddenly, all their lives come back into focus.  George offloads the burden of long kept childhood issues.  Sam confides in his father the difficulties he has faced and the indecision of knowing what he wants out of life.  Robin faces up to troubles with her new husband, Peter (Sheridan) and Alyssa learns much about love and her relationship with her own mother.

Life As A House is an emotional film that whilst not in the same league, deserves the comparison, that advertisements are making, to American Beauty.  These people are all messed up and dysfunctional but hey, isn’t just about everyone?  I would have liked to have seen more attention given to the supporting cast but admittedly, the changing relationships between George, Sam and Robin are the heart of the film.

Kevin Kline is wonderful in the leading role.  It brought back memories of the persona he captured five years ago in Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm.  His first scene in the film could be described as both “eye catching” and “eye turning” depending on the way you want to look at it.   The most outstanding cast member is Hayden Christensen who with darkened hair, eye make-up and a variety of piercings, many will not recognise despite the fact he is the star of the year’s biggest release, Attack Of The Clones.  Critics were quick to notice Christensen who was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.  He can consider himself unlucky to miss an Oscar nom.

It’s encouraging to see new filmmaking.  On paper, it’s just a simple tale of a father bonding with his son but like most of life’s stories, it’s never that simple.  I like the metaphor of seeing George rebuild both his house and his life simultaneously.  Perhaps then ending is a little too melodramatic in that the pieces of the puzzle fit together too easily.  Still, there’s a nice balance of intelligent comedy and heartwarming drama from screenwriter Mark Andrus (As Good As It Gets).  And make sure you don’t miss the angelic Californian coastal setting.  This house’s life is worth hearing about.  Certainly a pleasant “change”.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 May 2002

Castle Rock Studios chose to release the film in Australia on the same day as Attack Of The Clones.  To me, that is admitting defeat before even beginning.  In the first seven days of release, Clones made $14.7m compared with The Majestic’s $0.31m.  Now I’m not saying the film is bigger than Star Wars but Darabont’s reputation should have seen the film debut higher than 8th on the Aussie charts.

If you catch my drift, the film stinks.  It’s a crazy fairy tale with seemingly no moral.  Carrey plays Peter Appleton, a screenwriter living in L.A. during the early 1950s who has been blacklisted after being falsely linked to a communist club.  His latest film, which is set to go into production, is scraped and he asked to appear at a government hearing to clear his name.

Trying to escape his problems, his car falls into a river and he wakes up on a beach with no memory of his life before the accident.  Found by an elderly gentlemen, he is escorted to the nearest town where the most ridiculous game of mistaken identity takes place.  Everyone in the town believes Peter to be Luke Trimble, a war hero believed to be long dead.  He of course has no memory and so goes along with this new life only to have memories of his true past return...

The performances are sterile and useless.  The whole cast act as if they have a gun to their back and are being told to read every line word-for-word with zero improvisation.  The dialogue is laughable and anyone who has seen the brilliant comedy Pleasantville will appreciate The Majestic’s ugliness at an even higher level.  There isn’t a single cast member who deserves a mention.

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the director although it is standard and I did expect more.  It is the hopeless screenplay that gave the film no chance.  I think the film is trying to say something about freedom of speech.  I think it’s also saying something about the power and “magic” of movies.  I can’t be really sure though because it’s much a mismatch of themes and the monotonous predictability left no excitement or enjoyment on my solemn face.

Anything but what the title will lead you to believe, this shocker never deserved release and should never have been made in the first place.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 May 2002

The shocking incident was attributed to corrosion but what was never explained were a strange series of events in the months leading up to the disaster.  Over 100 official sightings were reported of UFOs and unusual looking men.  In the film, Richard Gere is John Klein, a reporter for the Washington Post.  Driving home one night with his wife, Mary (Messing), their car struck a mysterious object on the road and as a result of injuries, Mary later died in hospital.  Before passing, she drew a strange series of devil-like drawings on a notepad which have haunted John to this day.

What struck their vehicle remained unknown.  Two years pass and on a whim, he gets in his car and starts driving.  He finds himself in the town of Point Pleasant and immersed in its madness.  Talking with popular police officer, Connie Mills (Linney), he is told stories of residents reporting unusual sightings and hearing strange voices and premonitions.  When John starts getting phone calls from something identified by voice analysts as non-human, he starts investigating and uncovers the legend of Mothmen - mysterious beings which have been known to predict the future.  But why has John been chosen by the Mothmen and why have they drawn him to Point Pleasant?

The general public will appreciate the film for its chills and thrills but film connoisseurs will appreciate it for its style.  It’s almost impossible to imagine director Mark Pellington and writer Richard Hatem visioning the final product before starting out.  The film uses new techniques, lots of out-of-focus shots, fast editing, fresh camera angles and eerie colours.  It’s very creepy.  Reminiscent of Pellington’s last film, the much underrated, Arlington Road.

The problem with a good thriller is that whilst you can develop intrigue, you cannot cheat the audience with a false illogical ending.  This happens far too often these days.  Without revealing, the finale for The Mothman Prophecies is almost flawless.  It doesn’t give everything away and doesn’t give John Klein all the answers.  There’s more but I’m not going on the record until you’ve had a chance to see it for yourself.

Richard Gere is back.  After a long run of weak efforts (including Autumn In New York, The Runaway Bride and Dr. T & The Women), 2002 looks like being a career reviving year.  He gives an intense performance in Mothman and critics are also raving about his other new film, Unfaithful, which will be released in Australia in a few months.  It’s nice to see Gere reunited too with Laura Linney after they both appeared in the renowned thriller, Primal Fear.  I’m also glad to see Linney and Gere didn’t form a romantic attachment in this film - it would have been an unwanted detraction from the gripping story.

After a long wait, we’ve finally got the first spark in the 2002 film year.  When people ask me a film to recommend, I can now suggest something with conviction.  The Mothman Prophecies treats the audience with intelligence and doesn’t reveal its cards all at once.  In fact, there are some cards it doesn’t reveal at all.  I love it.