Lincoln

First Hit:  Fantastic acting in a wonderful slice of Americana.

I was overwhelmingly amused that we had just finished an election where the Republican Party devastatingly lost its credibility and mojo while this film showed Republicans at their finest.

Make no bones about it; Lincoln’s Co-Republican group were what drove the 13th Amendment into the law of the land while Democrats floundered in a generic stupidity of beliefs. Who learned from this lesson – the Democrats and it was the Democrats that brought our first black President back for a second term.

In Lincoln the focus is on a short few months from when he was elected to a second term until his assassination. Lincoln’s task was to ensure the freedom of blacks in America before the ending of the Civil War.

His premise was that if the war ended prior to passing the 13th Amendment, this law would fall by the wayside and blacks wouldn’t have their deserved freedom. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Lincoln as a thoughtful complex intelligent man whose single-minded focus kept the Republican dream alive.

He cared not so much for what was on the outside, but what was in a person's heart and what was right. Wife Mary (played by Sally Field) was, in this time of her life, grief stricken by the loss of one of their sons and despite her strength and intelligence was prone to fits of despair over loss. 

Day-Lewis is extraordinary and will certainly get an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Lincoln. He embodied the drive to create equality for the blacks in America. Field was strangely complex and powerful in her role as Marry Todd Lincoln. David Strathairn was pointedly strong and loyal as William Seward, Secretary of State. Tommy Lee Jones was amazing and perfect as Thaddeus Stevens the long time proponent of the 13th Amendment. Jackie Earle Haley was great as Alexander Stevens the Southern States representative during negotiations with Lincoln. Tony Kushner wrote a powerful and compelling screenplay while Steven Spielberg delivered a Oscar worthy turn as director.

Overall: If Republicans want to get their mojo back they need to watch and learn from this film – the Democrats obviously learned through history.

My Blueberry Nights

First Hit: A moving, languidly paced, beautifully shot, and lingering film.

Nora Jones stars as Elizabeth a young woman who, after being jilted by her boyfriend and very hurt, wanders into a small New York neighborhood café where she and her past boyfriend use to eat.

The owner, Jeremy (played by Jude Law) remembers customers by what they order so she asks him if her boyfriend has been in lately. After determining, by food order type, who she is referring to, Jeremy says "yes", he’s been in here with someone else. She takes house keys out of her purse and asks Jeremy to give him to her former boyfriend next time he is in.

However Jeremy places them in a glass bowl with lots of other keys. Elizabeth, needing someone to talk with, comes back a few more nights as Jeremy is closing shop and they share some food, for her it’s Blueberry Pie because nobody else eats it.

During one visit, when she falls asleep with her head on the counter, you see Jeremy starting to fall in love with this beautiful, innocent, troubled creature. Elizabeth then leaves New York to find herself. Along the way she runs into Arnie (played by David Strathairn) a rejected alcoholic police officer and Sue Lynn his separated wife (played by Rachel Weisz).

The complications of their relationship and the pain they both are experiencing give Elizabeth something to learn from. Lastly she meets Leslie (played by Natalie Portman) who is a gambler with an “I’ve got the world by the balls” demeanor but all the while hiding a hurt daughter inside.

All these characters learn from Elizabeth as much as she learns from them.

Wong Kar-wai directed this film with a very caring hand. Staying with shots of people’s faces and scenes for longer than usual so that the audience sees and feels the changes the actors are going through. There are also a couple of shots done at an interesting angle which I found intriguing. Nora Jones is very good in her acting debut as Elizabeth. David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz are excellent as a confused addicted couple showing both resentment and a deep love for each other. Natalie Portman is, as always, great in this role as a troubled daughter attempting to escape and embrace life all at once. Jude Law is very good as Elizabeth’s touchstone and his patience in waiting for Elizabeth made me smile.

Overall: Once I settled into the pace of this film I was truly surprised at how well this film was crafted.

Bourne Ultimatum

First Hit: Go see it. A good, fun, entertaining film if you like action.

This film fit well with the previous two films and I’m glad to say it will go no farther. Some sequels/prequels need to know when to stop and this one does. It’s over. The ride was excellent.

Matt Damon is perfect for the role in that he looks youthful and yet there is an age quality to him as well. In other words, he is believable for the role.

The action sequences are well scripted and play out in a satisfactory way. However, some of the other sequences were not as believable. I don’t think Jason Bourne would have been able to look through a single lens portable binocular, through two sets of glass in the midday sun and read the cover of the top secret document. There was just no way to do this at the angle presented in the film.

To make matters worse the director chose to present, to the audience, an angle showing the cover of the document in a way Jason Bourne would not have been able to see. The views were incongruent with the available information and therefore diminished the scene.

There were a couple of scenes like this and I think Paul Greengrass would have known better than to attempt to fool us this way. However, the worst part of this film, for me, is the shaky camera. Lose it or at least tone it down by 2/3.

I don’t think this adds to the action nor do I like how I get distracted by it. A filmgoer does not want to be distracted by what is on the screen. They want to be brought into the film. The last bit of criticism would be to the Albert Finney role.

Although I like Albert, I didn’t like that he looked older in the look back scenes than in the current time scenes. I think makeup would have made this sequencing better understood.

The other actors play well in this film, especially Julia Stiles and Joan Allen. David Strathairn is good however there was an un-believability to his role that didn’t quite work for me. However, it doesn’t take much away from the film as it is about Jason Bourne and the newly minted killers out to execute the orders to kill him.

I loved his interaction with Julia Stiles and then there is the ending. Perfect, I loved the scene in the café with her smile. It tells the whole story.

Overall:  A wonderful action film because the characters worked and the scenes match the action.