Shutter Island (2010)

Expectations are a funny thing. I had very high expectations for Crazy Heart and the film delivered on every level. I also had high expectations for Shutter Island mainly based on the reputation of brilliant director Martin Scorsese and his muse Leonardo DiCaprio. After all, The Departed was one of the best movies of all time.

However, there were a few factors that were keeping my expectations in check.

1)  This movie was originally supposed to be released last October. The reigning theory is that when a movie has sat on the shelf and missed a release date, something about the movie isn’t right.

2)   Dennis Lehane novels are straight-up thrillers like John Grisham or Dan Brown novels. They are not books that are made into Academy Award winning movies (with the exception of Mystic River – which I still don’t understand).

So, I should not have hoped for a repeat of The Departed and when I first left the theatre, I felt let down. After all, I knew the premise of the movie (having read the book) even before I set foot in the theatre and I knew how the book ended, so I shouldn’t have been surprised by my disappointment. But I was.

I won’t give too much away, because I’m not a fan of the spoiler. But the story takes place in 1954, when U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is investigating the disappearance of a murderess that escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.

Now that 24 hours have passed and I’ve reviewed the picture again in my mind – the film did deliver as a solid psychological thriller almost to the very end. The acting is fine – DiCaprio’s Boston accent is as spot on as it was in The Departed. The rest of the supporting cast, including Michelle Williams and Mark Ruffalo, does a great job of developing the story. The movie is well written. The costumes are very representative of the time and the set-design is great (the Island is creepy and there is no way I’d spend the night in that hospital). My only disappointment is that the movie veered too much away from the book at the end (the book’s ending is much, much better) and left me wanting.

I do have one other comment to make in regard to the marketing of this picture. The preview gives too much away regarding the story – if you have no experience with the book. And I think the movie is positioned incorrectly to the viewing audience – the preview doesn’t position it as a psychological thriller – with more dialogue and less action. Instead it has been positioned to be scarier than it really is (i.e. more action) – and therefore, there were a number of people in my viewing audience that didn’t have the attention span to sit through a 2:40 film. 

I have to say – that really drives me crazy. If people can’t stop talking or texting then they shouldn’t go to the movies. It ruins if for everyone else – and I didn’t pay my hard earned money to listen to someone else’s running commentary. OK – I’m getting off the soapbox. Enough said.

End.

 

Film Independent Spirit Awards, Part I: (500) Days of Summer / Crazy Heart

I have the honor to serve as a voting member of Film Independent’s Spirit Awards in 2009 thanks to my client, the Montana Film Office. Those of you who know me, know that the Academy Awards is my Super Bowl. And since, I’ll never be a voting member of the Academy, the Spirit Awards is as close as I am ever going to get, so I take the responsibility of voting very seriously. The Spirit Awards are the last awards ceremony prior to the Oscars and will be held on March 5 this year.

I will not be able to watch all of the films prior to the voting deadline because I don’t have access to all of them, but I’m going to do my best to judge as fairly as possible based on what I can view prior to the deadline.

This blog entry will (hopefully) be one in a series detailing my thoughts on the nominated films. I have watched two of the nominated films thus far, so without further ado…

(500) Days of Summer

 Nominated for three Spirit Awards including:

Best Feature

Best Screenplay – Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

Best Male Lead – Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I viewed this movie keeping the above in mind along with my normal criteria that I base all my reviews on. This was a bit more difficult for me based on some of the other movies in the category that I’ve formed an early opinion of even though I haven’t viewed them yet. So, this initial review might be a bit premature as I make my way through the other features.

I originally had wanted to see (500) Days of Summer when it came out in the theatre and I was excited to finally get a chance to view it. I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and continue to look forward to his work as he grows from teen roles into adult roles.

Unfortunately, this movie was not spectacular – just good. It was entertaining in most places but it was also a bit slow at times. The movie tells the story of Tom Hansen who believes in true love and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) who does not. It chronicles the rise and fall of their relationship in 500 days. I did enjoy how easily the writers marked the passage of time (forward and backward), so that you always knew where you were, but that technique alone doesn’t make it award winning.

I also loved the music and how important the music tied to Tom’s personality. The best scene in the entire film is set to Hall and Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True”.

Ultimately, what I did enjoy about this movie is that love, while it doesn’t always work out, can inspire you to be something you thought you couldn’t be and to do things you thought you couldn’t do.

Which brings me to...

Crazy Heart

 Nominated for three Spirit Awards including:

Best First Feature

Best First Screenplay – Scott Cooper (who also directed)

Best Male Lead – Jeff Bridges (also nominated for an Academy Award)

This movie also inspires through love. And tells a story so much better than (500) Days of Summer. I loved this movie – every single thing about this movie. It was brilliant. The realness of this film really hit home for me through Jeff Bridges’ portrayal of the lead character – from his dress, to his jewelry, to his smoker’s cough and his mannerisms. The writing in this movie was brilliant, the music fantastic – and also so integral to the story. 

Jeff Bridges plays down and out musician Bad Blake. And this role was written with him in mind – not because Jeff Bridges is down and out in anyway (which is why The Wrestler worked so well for Mickey Rourke), but because he could portray this broken man with the utmost perfection.

Bad Blake has seen better days. An alcoholic who helped make the latest country sensation, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) what he is today, now plays gigs at bowling alleys and small town bars across the southwest. It is at one of these gigs he meets Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a reporter and single mom. The situation unfolds to tell the story of Bad and Jean and Bad and Tommy.

I’m not going to say any more about the story, because everyone really needs to go see this film for themselves. It is a well-written screenplay by Scott Cooper based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb. Great performances by the entire cast including Maggie Gyllenhaal (also nominated for an Academy Award), Colin Farrell in his best role yet since an episode of TV’s Scrubs and Robert Duvall as Bad’s buddy.

And the music – Bridges and Farrell perform their own songs thanks to strong songwriting from producers T. Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton. If you know me, you know I am not a fan of country music, but I would buy this soundtrack in a heartbeat.

I can’t recommend this movie enough. I urge you to go to this movie if it comes to a theatre near you. I plan to own this film when it comes out on DVD.

Trailers for Crazy Heart can be viewed by scrolling down to the end of this page.

End.