April 25-27, 2008

Was actually only 2 movies this weekend as the third movie from Netflix still hasn't arrived yet. Netflix, being their awesome selves, told me why beforehand, so it's all good.

Owning Mahowny -

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is overrated. You heard me. He is overrated. Hoffman is like Jim Jarmusch, a banner-carrier for the independent film scene, and as such he is a darling for the critics. They gush over him. Any little performance he does they go gaga over, and it pisses me off. Is he a good actor? Yes. Is he hotter than fresh shit in winter? No.

Now. That being said, he did a great job in this film. He plays a schlub, and he does so extremely well. The film itself is interesting. Mahownys gambling addiction doesn't spiral out of control as would be expected. Instead, it just inflates to astounding proportions. His embezzlement just keeps getting bigger and bigger, but not so big that it seems to move outside himself. His personality remains the same despite his exploits. It's not like a crack addict. It's not like watching a person descend into madness or insanity or desperation. It's watching a person become sharpened, like a knife. His purpose becomes further and further defined until. Gambling becomes his purpose, the destination for his life, his reason to exist. That moment of win or loss, that's his life, but it doesn't throw everything else out. He still works his job. He...tries...to get along with his girlfriend. But over it all is the gambling, to the point of absurdity. It's an interesting and unusual characterization.

Some other random points. 1980's Canada is an ugly place, and a unpleasant setting. It's the 80's. And Canada. Put together. Minnie Driver was woefully miscast in her part. This is not a woman that should be put in a poodledog blonde wig. The music and sound was incredible. Kudos to those folks.

All in all, it's about what you'd expect from an independent film. Emphasis on characterization and mood over plot narrative. But a quality film with a couple great comedic moments.

Grade: B

The Big Blue -

One of the earliest films from acclaimed french director and producer Luc Besson (of La Femme Nikita, Leon: the Professional, the Fifth Element fame). I had an ex-girlfriend that really liked this movie, plus I like Luc Besson so I decided to give it a try.

I think Besson must've not really developed his style at this point in his career because the film has decidedly standard french influences. A narrative that moves in fits and starts. Molasses slow pacing. Some absurd dialogue and really cheap juxtaposition tricks. Many of these things disappeared in Besson's later works. On top of that you have the 80's pseudoelectronica music in the background which pisses me off to no end. I hate that music. Thank god that went out of fashion.

Despite all that, this is a really good film. I was very worried at the start that Jean Reno would be playing the "villian". I love Jean Reno. He's freaking awesome. But despite the fact that he was the main competition for the protagonist, and that he has certain character flaws, he wasn't a villian. The dynamic between him and the protagonist diver was very interesting. They were competitors, rivals to a certain extent, but also friends and confidants. They shared a world that they approached perhaps in different ways, but it was still their world, one they understood and that outsiders didn't, which created a decided bond. It was all very subtle and very well done.

The love story involving Patricia Arquette was not fully developed, but I'm not sure it was meant to be. I think it was there for multiple purposes which can be confusing to the watcher. On the one hand it set up the conflict in the protagonist Jacques, the desire between a dream world and the real world. But the purpose for Arquettes character Joanna is very different. I think it's meant to highlight the baser instincts of humanity. Perhaps even to symbolize the human world, highlighted in her desire to have a baby, and how hard the human world is in the way Jacques has a hard time relating. Their relationship, despite their mutual attraction, is far from easy. Which is all about his conflict. You have the real world with Joanna, that while real is also very base. It's difficult. They love, but they fight. On the other hand you have his dream world beneath the waves. Which does he choose?

The cinematography is, of course, gorgeous. I mean, it's kind of hard to screw up shooting water. It looks good pretty much no matter what you do to it. But Besson does for water what David Lean did for sand in Lawrence of Arabia.

The ending surprised the hell out of me. I never saw it coming the way it did. I like it, but it's not an ending that you can find any sort of resolution in. You don't go "wow, I didn't see that coming, but I like it." It leaves you feeling vaguely unsettled, which I think it is supposed to. The only word I can think of to describe it is: poetic.

Grade: B+