Dear White People

First Hit:  Extremely well written script about race as viewed by blacks. 

Race as it exists in our college campuses and elsewhere is the subject of this extremely well written script. Sam White (Tessa Thompson) does a video blog called “Dear White People”.

She makes pointed observations about how white people interact with blacks on her campus. She’s got a white lover named Kurt (Kyle Gallner) who appears to not care about her color, but is hurt by her hiding their relationship. Lionel (Tyler James Williams) is a somewhat timid gay black writer who moves from one fraternity house to another because he’s always rejected.

The issue with this film is the direction of the actors and some of the actors themselves. It just felt pressed. It was hard to watch sections of the film when the dialog and script was so amazing in what it says, while the visual on the screen was so weak and stilted.

The film covered many aspects of the race issue in the United States, including the well to do black Dean of the school Dean Fairbanks (Dennis Haysbert) and his unending competition with the white school President Fletcher (Peter Syvertsen). Fairbanks son Troy (Brandon P. Bell) tries to please his father, but is very lost and has to learn to find out what is important to him.

The climax of the film is a party where white people come as black people stereotypes or famous black people. The credits show pictures and dates of fraternities/colleges that really had such parties.

Gallner was OK, seemed a bit stiff in the dialogue. Thompson was really good, one of the better actors in this film and has some great lines. Williams was up and down in the role. There were moments of brilliance and others where the sense was he was lost. Syvertsen was OK, but his line “how much are we talking about …” was perfect. Haysbert was very strong as the controlling well to do black man caught in two worlds, wanting change and keeping his position. Bell was good but I couldn’t tell the difference between the role and his poor acting. Being an overly cautious, handsome black man looking for a life path may be him, because his eyes didn't register depth in the role. Justin Simien wrote an amazing and outstanding script. I expect this script/screenplay to be nominated for an Oscar. However he needs to find a director that can share his vision and use actors in a way that can bring his words to life.

Overall:  Great story, mediocre execution.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

First Hit:  Visually interesting and fun, however the storyline was very week.

This film started out lost and ended up lost. Between these points, it seemed to find a path, get some traction, then get lost with extra crap.

Was this a story about Ava (Eva Green) or Senator Roark (Powers Boothe)? Or was this film about Marv (Mickey Rourke) or Nancy (Jessica Alba)? Or was this film about Dwight (Josh Brolin) or Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)? Although these stories were all inter-relational, it didn’t have a strong enough focus to keep me fully engaged.

Visually though, at times this film was outstanding. The use of black and white graphics, black and white film, and then adding splashes of color; a dress, hair, lipstick, bottle of booze, whatever – it added the kind of interest to keep me watching the film.

Green was pretty good as the femme-fatal however I think the storyline let her down. Rourke was virtually unrecognizable (probably on purpose) but he was good as Marv the brutish indestructible hard charging protector. Boothe was great to see again and his role was perfect Boothe. Alba had a somewhat minor role and I didn’t like it. She was good, but the role was pretty weak and I lacked the ability to care about her character. Gordon-Levitt was the role I enjoyed the most. I would have rather have the film be about his story more than the side story it ended up being. Brolin was in a hero role and he always does this well even in a weakly scripted film like this. Bruce Willis had an OK role as a ghost that assists Alba with her mission. Dennis Haysbert was fantastic as Manute Ava’s bodyguard. His voice and presence in the film was really strong. Frank Miller wrote a disjointed script and I cannot figure out what the point of the film was. That he promoted this film with his name is egocentric driven and disappointing.  Miller and Robert Rodriguez both directed this film and if the script had been better the film might have been better.

Overall:  Although the visualizations were fun, this film is forgettable.

The Details

First Hit:  An odd sort of film about how easy it is to slide down a slippery slope. The film’s opening moments, with a voice over by Jeff Lang (played by Tobey Maguire), states the dilemma Jeff is going to go through for the next 91 minutes. He begins a string of decisions, which include installing sod, bypassing city ordinances, and lying to his wife resulting in his going down a slippery slope that includes a murder. Jeff is married to Nealy (played by Elizabeth Banks) and they have one young child. When Jeff decides, against Nealy’s wishes to install sod in their backyard the raccoons begin to dig it up. Although he’s successful pediatrician this new battle between him and the raccoons becomes obsessive. His odd neighbor Lila (played by Laura Linney) gets wind of his battles and becomes an unwilling and spiteful participant in this war in different ways. Jeff and Nealy and friends with Rebecca and Peter Mazzoni (played by Kerry Washington and Ray Liotta respectively) and Jeff’s indiscretion with Rebecca digs him farther into the hole he’s creating for himself. Lincoln (played by Dennis Haysbert) plays on a pick-up basketball team with Jeff and becomes, yet another unwilling/willing participant in Jeff’s demise. The story is in the details (hence the title).

Maguire is an interesting choice for this role and actually carries it off quite well. There is an air of intelligence and stupidity in this role that he transmits strongly. I ended up both rooting for and against him in different scenes. Banks is good as the wife who is in her own space, not very engaged with Jeff, but decides to support her husband as the truth begins to unfold. Linney is fabulous in this very quirky role as the neighbor. Washington is OK as Jeff’s friend and colleague. Liotta is very good at bringing danger and learned redemption to his character. Haysbert is a standout in his role as gracious and grateful friend of Jeff’s. Jacob Aaron Estes wrote and directed this quite, quirky and at times interesting film.

Overall: It doesn’t quite grab the audience totally although some of the performances are very good.