Burden

First Hit: This is a compelling true story about racial change in a small South Carolina town.

The movie documents this story about how Mike Burden (Garrett Hedlund), who was part of the Ku Klux Clan, decides to change his beliefs and makes amends because of his love for a woman.

In this small town, the Klan is still alive and well. Tom Griffin (Tom Wilkinson) is the head honcho in more ways than one. He’s on the verge of opening a Ku Klux Klan museum in an old movie theater, and the most impoverished people in town rent furniture and televisions from him. His repossession rate for his rentals is high. He intimidates the town with this control.

Burden works for Griffin and is his prime repossessor. Griffin treats Mike like his own son. On one repossession, Burden meets Judy (Andrea Riseborough), whose current boyfriend is behind in his payments, and Burden takes the television. Judy throws a temper tantrum and storms out to the car. She attempts to drive off, but the car won’t start and Burden gets the car started for her. The looks they give each other show that there is going to be a connection.

Judy has a young boy whose best friend is a young black child. The relationship between the young boys is a reminder that when Burden was young, his best friend was Clarence Brooks (Usher Raymond), a black person. Clarence is working but having trouble making payments on a rented television. Mike has arrived to repossess the tv. Seeing Judy’s boy playing with Clarence’s son brings up memories of their past friendship, and conflicting feelings based on his current beliefs as a Klansman.

The town has a large black population that comes together at the church that is led by Reverend Kennedy (Forest Whitaker). Kennedy preaches love, forgiveness, and bringing people together non-violently. As you might expect, with the KKK museum opening in town, the black community is upset, and Kennedy leads the non-violent protest.

At one point, Judy puts it to Burden that he has to pick between her or his continuing to be part of the Klan. This choice begins Mike’s transition from his being Klan-oriented to seeing how it is hurting the community and people he cares about.

Hedlund was amazing as Burden. The way he talked, scattered his gaze when communicating with anyone, and how his walk embodied someone who was doing little to further himself was well done. As he found his voice, he showed subtle ways to make his character believable as he evolved. Whitaker was wonderous as the town’s reverend whose goal was to create a peaceful difference. When he brings unexpected guests home, the way he tries to make it right with his family was perfectly portrayed. Riseborough was terrific as Judy. She captured a young woman who stood for her beliefs and had enough compassion to let Burden find his way to her. Wilkinson was excellent and utterly horrible as the town’s Klan leader. He made me believe he was a Klansman. Andrew Heckler wrote and directed this true story. I loved seeing the real people at the end of the film as the credits rolled.

Overall: This was a wonderfully presented story about how racism tears communities apart and how love, forgiveness, and acceptance can put them back together.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

First Hit:  A bittersweet story about war hero Billy Lynn figuring out who he is, what's important to him, and where he belongs.

In the context of being a soldier, doing what he was taught to do and being part of a team of men whom he cares about; he ends up with a Silver Star and Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) is surprised by the attention of all this.

Billy has been a screw-up most of his life and while protecting the honor of his sister Katheryn (Kristen Stewart), he gets caught by the police. As done in many places in the USA, courts often let convicted criminals choose to join the military instead of jail time in hopes that the structure teaches young men responsibility. The structure helps him to be more responsible as does the close camaraderie between the diverse backgrounds of the men in his squad. He’s particularly taken by Squad leader "Shroom" (Vin Diesel) who pontificates about spirit and the spirituality behind all things.

The film begins with Billy coming home and getting ready to be honored for bravery with a victory tour and a half-time celebration at a Dallas Cowboys football game. Director Ang Lee uses flashbacks to give the audience the harrowing story of “Bravo” squad, as they engage in an intense fire fight in Iraq.

The best thing about the film is the juxtaposition between the fans, workers, cheerleaders, and football team owner Norm’s (Steve Martin) attitude and perception of the war and the men who fight it and what it means to be a hero. The film does this really well by cutting back and forth between the gun battle and the half-time celebration.

I related to the nervousness of the squad as loud noise and fireworks had them, in a nervous reflex, ducking for cover. I remember coming home from Vietnam and ducking and covering at every backfire from a car or startling loud noise.

Along with the celebration, all through the film there is a promoter Albert (Chris Tucker) who is attempting to get a deal for a film about the bravery of the squad. He makes it urgent because he can only get them big money while they are “hot” property. When Norm states that he's willing to fund their film, but only offers the men $5,500 each, Billy and Dime (Garrett Hedlund) take a firm stand. The story is not America’s but theirs and it cannot be bought for this very low price.

A film like this would need a love interest and here Billy runs into a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Faison (Makenzie Leigh) who admires the hero in Billy but does she even really see him? The idea of being close to a hero is effectively shared in their brief encounters and belies a real relationship.

Alwyn is very good in this role of naïve, yet worldly in the ways of life and death, young man. Martin is very effective as “America’s Football Team” owner. He is the personification of someone looking for an edge, notoriety, while taking advantage of situations for his own benefit. Diesel is strong as the philosophy spouting leader. Nice to see Diesel in a softer role. Hedlund is perfect as the toe the line new squad leader keeping his team together. Stewart is wonderful as the caring sister who feels responsible for her brother’s predicament. Leigh is great as the cheerleader who is more in love with a hero than the hero himself. Tucker is very believable as a promoter. Jean-Chrisophe Castelli wrote an interesting screenplay which takes on the challenge of showing the public's disconnect from the realities of war and yet wanting to own the heroes for their work. Lee effectively shows half-time pageantry, the behind the scenes of how the pageantry gets put together, and the battle scenes. His use of color is exquisite. This isn’t an easy story to tell but in Lee’s hands it works very well.

Overall:  I was surprised by how much I ended up liking the film because the title actually put me off.

On the Road

First Hit:  Why...  This is what I thought about after seeing this film.

Just because a book or writing may be interesting, doesn’t mean it will string together well as a film.

This film represents a failure to make an interesting piece of writing viable as a film. The film is about how Jack Kerouac wrote the book “On the Road”. Sal Paradise/Jack Kerouac (Sam Riley) wants to write but can’t seem to type the words on paper. He can, although, take notes.

He meets Dean Moriarty/Neal Cassady (Garrett Hedlund) and his 16 year old wife Marylou/LuAnne Henderson (Kristen Stewart) who spins his world upside down. They do everything he’d like to do. Have sex anywhere and with any one. They drink all night long while consuming all sorts of drugs, and they party like there is no tomorrow – what the reality is, is that tomorrow does come.

The issue is that this film tries to replicate the book, and along the way it does a great job of showing/documenting their current experiences, but does nothing to give the audience a reason as why they approach life like this and why would we would care.

I didn’t care about the characters and I didn’t have any perspective to put context into their actions. Was the film interesting? To some degree yes, but sitting in the theater I kept wondering why Dean made choices he did and why Sal made his choices.

Although I did sense there was a great degree of respect for Kerouac’s book and legacy by the director (Walter Salles) it didn’t end up on the screen.

Riley is good as Sal (Jack Kerouac). He did provide a level of curiosity and desire to experience life more than others. Hedlund was very good and believable as Moriarty who just couldn’t help but respond to his momentary desires and impulses. Stewart was strong as the young Marylou. This role definitely set her apart from other roles she’s taken and may open up her career to more challenging things. There is a fire under the smolder. Amy Adams had a small but impactful role as Jane (Joan Vollmer). Tom Sturridge as Carlo Marx (Allen Ginsberg) was also very strong and brought intelligence to the role/film. Kirsten Dunst (Camille & Carolyn Cassady) as Dean's wife was good and tried to bring a depth to the film. Jose Rivera wrote this script and unfortunately couldn’t bring a depth to the actions of the characters. Salles directed this film, and although he showed respect to the original material, it missed a depth of character that would have the audience care.

Overall:  I’m glad I saw the film but wouldn’t recommend it.

Country Strong

First Hit: A far cry from last year’s intense and well executed “Crazy Heart”, this film falls flat everywhere.

I really wanted to see this film. I wanted to see Gwyneth Paltrow deliver like I know she can.

But what this film does is compromise every character in every way. If you want us to believe Kelly Canter (Paltrow) is a raging out of control drunk, and then give it to us – early. What we get is her lying on her bed in rehabilitation, dreamy eyed while listening to Beau Hutton (played by Garrett Hedlund) create a song.

When they decide to show us her darker drunk side, believe me it doesn’t stand up as real. Her husband James (played by Tim McGraw) is her manager and has, long ago, lost contact with Kelly. But why? He keeps her going with stories of their past about how much he loved her. He is also in pain because Kelly, while drunk, fell off a stage a year earlier while 5 months pregnant and lost their baby.

Maybe this is where the film needed to begin. Maybe the film needed to identify what their relationship was like prior to Kelly being pregnant. But this isn’t what happened. Kelly is having an affair with Beau. Kelly thinks James is having an affair with new singing talent Chiles Stanton (played by Leighton Meester).

James is obviously attempting to keep the gravy train rolling while hoping to heal his inner demons. Kelly is clearly a lost woman and only seems to light up with someone compliments her or when the audience praises her. Beau pretends to be the keeper of the truth in the film, but he is just a screwed up in his ability to communicate effectively. Chiles is simply starstruck and believes in fairy tales and that she will be happy being a big country star. She is totally unprepared for her next step.

The only time the film tries to put context to Kelly's life as a star against Chiles naivete is when Kelly comes into her dressing room and tells her all that she knows to be true about this life Chiles has chosen.

Paltrow is either a victim of a poor script, poor direction, or just a poor performance. I think she tried, but the basis of this story needed to be re-worked. McGraw is very reserved and felt very constricted in this role. Again, the script, direction, or that he lacked the chops to deliver something other than a mediocre performance. Hedlund felt like a one trick pony. He provided little depth throughout the film although he probably had the best lines and enough screen time to make something work. Meester is moderately believable and her doe eyes and innocence wouldn't have allowed her to get as far as she had gotten in the music world. Shana Feste wrote and directed this poorly constructed film. It was a long way from being well thought out. How she got this kind of talent engaged with this script is beyond me.

Overall: This is a barely watchable film with no lessons or redeeming value.

Tron: Legacy (3D)

First Hit: Great 3D visual experience and if the dialogue were better we’d have a good film.

The original film TRON wasn’t a great film, what made is irresistible was the cutting edge visuals. This second effort has many of the same; great visuals. The 3D adds so much to the original look and feel which makes this film fun to watch.

The film begins with Sam Flynn (played by Garrett Hedlund) playing havoc with the company he owns. The company is one his father Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges who also starred in the original) started with cutting edge technology before he disappeared into “the grid”. Kevin disappeared when Sam was only 2 and therefore Sam is angry at his father for leaving him.

Alan Bradley (played by Bruce Boxleitner) who was his father’s confidant tells Sam that his there was a page from Flynn’s old office below an arcade. Sam goes to the office and discovers a way to get sucked into the grid. There he meets his father’s alter ego Clu who challenges Sam (the User) to a match against his perfect programs. His programs are part of the perfection he was commanded to create by Kevin.

Sam with the help of Kevin's confidant Quorra (played by Olivia Wilde), escapes Clu's challenge on light-cycles and is delivered to his real father Kevin. Kevin on the other hand sees that perfection includes imperfection and that sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do.

Philosophically this could have been an interesting film but what hurts this film is the dialogue. Kevin is reduced to living in the grid with no way back to reality after discovering the perfection.

The visuals are, again, extraordinary and just like the first film; I want to ride a light-cycle.

Bridges was good when the dialogue was OK but when it was poor, the film fell flat and Jeff looked less than the man who was master of the grid. Hedlund was good enough to make it work. Again, the script let the actors down. Wilde was very good and less affected by the poor script. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are to blame for much of the failings of this picture as their script was weak, unclear and not thought out. Joseph Kosinski exceeded my hopes on the visuals, I love them. However, the script needed a lot of work to hold up to the world created by the legacy of the first film.

Overall: Unfortunately the best part of this film is the visuals and the weak part is the dialogue. This is a very uneven film.