Leave No Trace

First Hit: Sublimely acted and evenly paced film about a man and his daughter living in a public forest.

From the very beginning this film is work of elegance. The beauty of the forest in the public park, near Portland, OR, where Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) are living, presents a sublime backdrop to the beginning of this story.

Will teaches Tom how to cover her tracks, how to hide, and how to escape surveillance. Why? The answer to this, is slowly dosed throughout the film, but never outright explained. This is part of what makes this film excellent.

Each time a helicopter passes overhead, the looks and actions Will takes and makes, gives the audience enough clues pointing to his participation in a war (Middle East) that has him skittish of the public, cities, and the government.

Tom, his daughter is loyal to him and he is her only parent. What happen to her mom, Tom’s wife is not explored. They don’t talk a lot with each other but when they do there is some short speak which has enough in it to keep the audience informed and engaged.

They get found by the Park Rangers and Portland Police and are taken in for questioning. They are separated and questioned and tested. Are there any sexual improprieties between the two? How has she been educated? What is Will willing to do to become more engaged with the world so that he can be reunited with Tom?

The government agencies figure out that he’s not harming Tom, but they insist that Will and Tom need to live in a home, Will needs to work, and Tom needs to go to school. A tree farmer sees an article in the paper about their predicament and offers them mobile home on his land where Will can work helping him, and Tom can go to school.

However, after a few months Will cannot tolerate the lifestyle and tells Tom to pack, they are leaving. They hitch a ride to Washington state where they begin a hike on a logging trail. After spending a very cold night in the wilderness they finally find a logging cabin and get warm.

After Will gets hurt and almost dies, Tom finds help in the way of a group of people living off the grid in a forest. The community is aligned with Will and Tom, in that they don’t like outside interference, help each other out, and leave well enough alone.

In the end, Tom decides she must find her own path while Will finally trusts that she’s found a home without him.

Foster was magnificent. His inward, hidden, brewing of a past that he’s struggling to live with, are fully evident in his performance. His looks and physical movements were perfect for this part. McKenzie was utterly amazing. Her display of loyalty, strength, and integrity towards the truth, her father and being resourceful were sublime. Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini wrote a powerful insightful script. Granik did an amazing job of creating an engaging story with minimal dialogue. The scenes in the forests and in the small places they lived were exceptional.

Overall: This film was finely crafted and Granik’s story was wonderfully presented.

Inferno

First Hit:  It started interestingly and then simply fell off the table by an overly complex and poorly developed script, poor acting, and feeble direction.

I’ve not been a fan of any of the Da Vinci Code oriented films. The best was the first and quickly sank with Angles & Demons. It stays on this downward track with Inferno. Here we’ve got Tom Hanks reprising his character Robert Langdon, who knows more than anyone about Dante, his words, and other’s interpretations of Dante’s work.

The film starts confusingly with Langdon hurt in the hospital with a head injury. He’s confused and is being attended by a physician named Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones). We are also introduced to Billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster), who is convinced that the world is on the verge of collapse. It is 11:59 – one minute till the world collapses because of over population and environmental issues caused by the over population. To right this sinking ship, he wants to spread a virus that will wipe out earth’s population.

With these two plot setups; Langdon being attacked, having amnesia, and why he has a projection device showing Dante’s hell in a picture but the picture has been altered, and the other setup is Zobrist wants to destroy the world’s population. Added to this we have people trying to kill Langdon, the WHO (World Health Organization) trying to stop Zobrist, WHO agent Christoph Bouchard (Omar Sy) who appears to be on some other side, Vayentha (Ana Ularu) a motorcycle riding person wanting to kill Langdon, and Harry Sims (Irrfan Khan) a hired security consultant whose interest in anything is questionable.

Confused, you got it, and that is how the film unfurled itself. What really muddied up this story is that the writer and/or director wanted Langdon to have a tangential and unrequited love interest with WHO’s Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen).

Some of the visual scenes were well shot which helped me to stay somewhat engaged with this lackluster movie. I also loved the, from the air, shots of Venice and Istanbul.

With a bad screenplay and poor direction Hanks was as bad as I’ve ever seen him. There just isn’t enough to be interested in or care about with his character. The device of having him slowly get his memory back during the first half of the film was a waste of Hanks’ talent. Jones character was better than Hanks, but I didn’t buy the shift in her role late in the film. It didn’t surprise me and it just didn’t work. Foster was OK as the guy predicting the end of the world. Khan’s role was sufferable and difficult to watch let alone buy. Knudsen was good in her role until it got to the emotional connection with Langdon, that part denigrated the character. Sy’s role didn’t seem defined and was unclear; it didn’t work for me. Ularu was in a poorly constructed and acted role. David Koepp wrote a horribly convoluted screenplay. Ron Howard knows how to direct so I don’t know what went wrong with the film outside of him just doing his best with the presented screenplay.

Overall:  If there is another film in this series I will not go see it.

Hell or High Water

First Hit:  Very well acted Texas Ranger crime story that evokes the old west while resolving a modern day problem.

Brothers Tanner and Toby Howard (Ben Foster and Chris Pine respectively) are two bank robbers who clearly have a plan. During the robberies they take only loose cash, only what is in the teller drawers, and only from the small Mid-Texas Midland Bank branches.

As the story evolves the audience learns how Tanner has been a trouble maker his whole life while Toby has been walking the straight and narrow path. So why are they doing this? We eventually find out and that is what makes this story work. Because the amount of money they are taking are small, the FBI isn’t interested in finding the robbers, so the Rangers get the assignment.

Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) is a near retirement Ranger who is a little long in the tooth while being old time smart and is very loyal to his job. His partner, Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), is a younger man who is also Indian. The running jokes in the film is that Marcus cannot help himself about making racist and pointed jokes about Alberto’s heritage. However, the audience also sees the love and respect Marcus has for Alberto. In the pursuit of the robbers the audience learns about each of the characters and the story of the ranch Tanner and Toby are trying to save.

The script does a great job of defining the characters and letting the story unfold.

Pine is wonderful as the thoughtful smart brother who finds a way to help his family. Foster is perfect as the on-edge bad-boy brother who wants to help and support his brother. Bridges embodies the old west in the new world with this role. He’s amazing. Birmingham is fantastic as Bridges’ partner. A shout-out to Margret Bowman who plays a waitress in a restaurant. Her 2 minutes on the screen were brilliant. Taylor Sheridan wrote a very strong script. David Mackenzie did an excellent job of directing the actors through this story. The small Texas town feel was very well done.

Overall:  This was a very entertaining film.

Lone Survivor

First Hit:  Knowing the end (title gives it away) before the film starts makes it difficult to watch.

When you know the end of the film before it starts, it can hurt the experience.

Here the audience has to sit through a small group (4) Navy Seals being slowly slaughtered because they consciously let 3 Afghan goat herders go. The decision allowed the Taliban to know the soldiers whereabouts and how to systematically kill the soldiers.

The film is supposed to show the fraternal and brotherly closeness of these Seals. To make this point the beginning of the film shows some of the training exercises the commandos go through to become a Seal.

As most of the candidates quit, by ringing a bell three times and leave their helmet on the ground, the ones who make it through to the end are very close. As the Seals are picked off one by one in horrible/bloody fashion I just sat waiting for the end to come. This film tries to bring the feeling of honor, bravery, and the rightness of the US being at war in Afghanistan – but to me these things do not justify the actions of war although I appreciate the closeness of their brotherhood.

From a story perspective this film might have been better served by not telegraphing the end. However, some of the dialogue was pointed and truly Seal like.

Mark Wahlberg as Marcus Luttrell was focused and fully engaged in this role. This was a typical “full on” performance by him. Taylor Kitsch as Michael Murphy was good as the leader of this group. Emile Hirsch was very good as Danny Dietz communications guy. Ben Foster was the best of the bunch in his part as Matt “Axe” Axelson. Peter Berg wrote and directed this based on Luttrell’s book. The dialogue was strong and cinematography was good but the focus on their struggle to survive the onslaught wasn’t my cup of tea.

Overall:  Not an easy film to watch, especially if killing is not your bag.

360

First Hit:  At times interesting and other times aimless.

Directly, indirectly and poorly connected stories about desire, life and love.

The film begins with Michael (played by Jude Law) married to Rose (Rachel Weisz) wanting to hook up with a prostitute named Mirka (played by Lucia Siposova) while on a business trip. All the while Rose is having an affair with a photographer who is cheating on his Brazilian girlfriend.

The hurt girlfriend heading back to Brazil, runs into an older recovering alcoholic man (Anthony Hopkins) and their spontaneous meeting and possible interlude is interrupted by her meeting a convicted sex offender (played by Ben Foster) who is trying to find the right path, yet she puts temptation in front of him. 

There is also a Russian mobster who’s driver becomes smitten with the prostitutes sister while his wife wants out of their marriage and longs to have a relationship with her boss a Muslim dentist, who is conflicted about his feelings because she is married.

Does this film sound confusing and a mixed up? It is but is tied together enough to follow the disparate plots. What didn’t work is a cohesive story on which an audience member could become interested in.

There were moments of possibilities, but the way it is shot there is a distance between the director, the story, the camera and the audience.

Law seems only slightly engaged in his role because there isn’t enough meat for him to fully expand the role. Weisz is in the same predicament and her talents were wasted. Hopkins made the most of his role as did Foster whom I thought provided a powerful edginess and an unpredictable component to this film. Peter Morgan wrote a partially disjointed screenplay. Fernando Meirelles didn’t create a compelling film but more of a light comment on relationships.

Overall:  Promising cast was let down by the script and direction.