Frank

First Hit:  Odd concept, done well enough to keep my interest and my guess is that it won’t be popular.

Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) wants to be a musician more than anything. He writes songs that are painful to listen to. However he does know how to play a keyboard.

Witnessing a keyboard man for a band with an unpronounceable name try to drown himself, he tells the band's manager that he can play keyboard. He gets a call to fill in for the band and after the set, Frank (Michael Fassbender) the band’s leader, asks him to join them.

Frank wears a big round plastic head (helmet like) over his head and he never takes it off. It is a gimmick for the band but it is also Frank's protection from the world. In the band are two Europeans and an older punk woman Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

No one in the band likes Jon because he’s too mainstream in his musical thoughts and ideas. However, he funds recording the group and pushes the groups’ work on YouTube. In doing so they end up at South by Southwest Music festival. In the end Frank has to come to terms with himself as does Jon.

Gleeson is believable as the nerdy guy who wants to be a part of the music scene but doesn’t have real talent to lead a group or write worthy songs. Fassbender: It was difficult to describe acting when it is behind a large full headed helmet mask. However, he was able to reach out through the mask with his voice and inflections which gave the audience a sense of the wounded person inside. Gyllenhaal played tough and although effective she wasn’t very likable as a character. Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan wrote an interesting but difficult screenplay to put to film. Lenny Abrahamson directed the film. He was about as effective as one could be given the parameters of the characters.

Overall:  Interesting for a few hours and forgotten within a day.

White House Down

First Hit:  A very entertaining action film that touches on our political subjects in a sometimes humorous way.

I’ll be open in saying; I didn’t have much hope for this film because it arrived in the theaters so shortly after another recent White House takeover film previewed.

However, this film is heads and tails above the other one. Black President Sawyer (played Jamie Foxx) has a quirky way of arriving to the White House when coming home by helicopter; he requests that the crew do a fly-by of the Lincoln Memorial. This is something that could be congruent with President Obama because of the association of Lincoln and slavery but highly unlikely.

This is why this film is interesting. It gives us a view of our President that makes him human. Cale (played by Channing Tatum) is a member of the Speaker of the House’ security crew, is divorced, doesn’t spend enough time with his daughter Emily (played by Joey King) and wants to get his life together by becoming part of the Presidential Secret Service.

The President is not liked by the head of the Secret Service as well as multiple Republican leaders in the Senate and House. Overall, the film is somewhat suspenseful, except there are clues early in the first few moments of the film telling the audience who the two main opponents to the President are. One specific scene told me exactly who was spearheading the take-over of the White House and to me it wasn't subtle enough.

This film, explores in different ways, the control of the government by special interest groups (arms makers), race perceptions (black President), party differences (Democrats and Republicans), gun use and laws surrounding gun use, computer sabotage, and our governments’ chain of command.

The essence of this film is, through motive of revenge, certain government officials want President Sawyer out of office so that his call for getting out of the Middle East can be reversed.

Foxx is really very good and funny, at times, and I just loved the line, “let go of my Jordan’s”. Tatum is very good as the guy who has been lost but is doing what he can to make it all right. King is sublime. She is amazing as the President admiring daughter of Tatums'. Maggie Gyllenhaal is very good as the number 2 person in the Secret Service. James Woods brings the right amount of intensity and strictness of belief to his role as head of the Secret Service. Richard Jenkins is effective as Speaker of the House Raphelson. James Vanderbilt wrote a strong, funny, and politically astute screenplay. Roland Emmerich did a very good job of making this unrealistic scenario fun, topical, and interesting.

Overall: This film is worth the price of admission on multiple levels.

Hysteria

First Hit:  Although a bit uneven, this film was surprisingly funny and interesting.

This is a film about the invention of women’s vibrators.

This may seem like an odd subject and make one skeptical of why the film will be seen by people in a movie theater. However, this film ties together the women’s movement, sexual freedom, and the misperception by the male medical community and many women that women couldn’t have pleasure in sex.

Mortimer Granville (played by Hugh Dancy) is a doctor that cannot believe that medical practice, as practiced by most hospitals in his time (late 19 Century), ignores scientific proof of the existence of germs, thinks that bleeding people with leeches is the go-to cure-all, and hooking up with pharmaceutical makers (OK this is still practiced today) is the only way to survive as a doctor.

He’s fired from yet another hospital because he wants to clean a wound versus bleeding the wound. He finds work with Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Price) who has a private practice only treating women’s hysteria. But, what he actually does is masturbate women who find the results to be a release of their frustrations and dis-pleasurable temperaments.

Back in those times, women we’re thought of not being able to have any sexual pleasurable. Dalrymple has two daughters, Emily (Felicity Jones) and Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who are very different in their participation in life. Emily is of the mindset to be of her father’s ilk and thinks women belong in the kitchen and taking care of the house.

Charlotte, on the other hand, knows women can have sexual pleasure, believes in helping the poor, and think women should vote and have something more to bring to the world than a "well-run house". Granville, excels at his new practice of curing women's moments of hysteria, but suffers from hand cramps.

When he fails to “cure” one of Dr. Dalrymple’s clients he gets fired. When his friend Edmund St. John-Smythe (played by Rupert Everett) shows him an electrical fan, he discovers that the vibration helps his cramping hand. He then pulls off the feathers and asks a women to allow him to try it out on her. She totally enjoys it.

Granville and John-Smythe license their machines which become portable and it changes women’s enjoyment of sex from then on.

There is a side story about relationships between Granville and the Dalrymple girls but it is obvious what will happen.

Dancy shows a nativity and smartness to carry off this role with a bit of tongue-in-cheek and intelligence. Price is good as a Dr. who is protective of his practice and belief. Jones is OK as a girl who does what she thinks she is supposed to do. Gyllenhaal steals every scene she is in. Everett is very strong as a renegade aristocrat. Steven and Jonah Lisa Dyer wrote a script that was mixed with tongue-in-cheek-ness and historical innovation. Tanya Wexler directed this film in a way that makes this subject both interesting and funny.

Overall: This film won’t win many awards but it rewarded everyone in the theater by being both enjoyable and informative.

Crazy Heart

First Hit: Jeff Bridges fully embodies “Bad” Blake in this extremely well acted performance in a really good film about redemption.

Jeff Bridges plays “Bad” Blake a rundown, broken down, and down on his luck drunken country singer who, at age 57, finds himself playing small bars and bowling alleys.

Scott Cooper (director) did a great job of giving the audience a strong picture of who “Bad” is prior to hearing him sing for the first time at a bowling alley. He arrives at the alley, climbs out of the old beat up Suburban he drives and slowly buttons up his pants and buckles his belt.

We see that he drives a long ways between gigs and because he has a sizable gut, he unbuttons his pants and belt buckle while he drives to make himself more comfortable. He walks into the bowling alley to check the place out and discovers they won’t cover his bar bill but will only cover room and food because his reputation as a drinker has precedes him.

The alley owner tells him there is no smoking in the building but he can finish the one in his mouth. He checks into the dumpy motel they've set up for him, then heads out to find some alcohol. The leader of the backup band comes to his room and tells him the band wants to rehearse. He deflects him by giving him sheet music, the playlist and a CD to listen to, saying everything you need to know is here.

The band leader insists he come to the rehearsal so “Bad” says he’ll be there in an hour, but we already know he won’t show. He finds more booze, lights up another cigarette and lies in the motel in a drunken haze but gets up in time to get to the alley for his first set.

The backup band is waiting for him outside and “Bad” mumbles something like; I’ve never been late or miss a show in my life whether I’ve been drunk or not. He invites the boys to follow him to start playing some music.

Climbing on stage, strapping on his guitar, they begin the first song, and you see why he’s still able to make a living – he’s good, damn good. We follow “Bad” to his next gig where he meets Jean Craddock (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) who wants to interview him.

A relationship begins to develop and it is here that we begin to see a slow transformation of Bridge's character.

Bridges gives the kind of performance that sets him apart from other actors in that he fully embodies this character. Not only is Bridges a credible drunk, loner and washed up has been, he does an outstanding job of singing and playing guitar which brings life to “Bad’s” existence. Gyllenhaal is wonderful as a mother who must measure her feelings of love for a high risk man against what will be good for her and her son as she becomes involved with “Bad”. Robert Duval credibly plays “Bad’s” friend Wayne and is there to help “Bad” through the rough times along with giving him some advice along the way. The most detrimental part of this film was the casting Colin Farrell as Tommy Sweet who was mentored by “Bad” and became a Number 1 Country Star. Farrell seems to carry his head down and doesn’t look at the person he is talking to most of the time. It was as if he was embarrassed by the part or his job in the part.

Overall: This was a wonderful film about how it is never too late to step back into one’s life fully.

The Dark Knight

First Hit: Despite some strong performances and good effects this film is overly convoluted and more complicated than it needs to be.

I don’t particularly like films that overcomplicate stories. The Dark Knight is one of them.

At the end of the film I tried to recall the trip or excursion I was taken on during the previous two hours. I thought about why the story evolved the way it did and was that story clear. It is especially to this last point which had me frustrated about this film.

While watching the credits roll by, I couldn’t understand why the director and writer made this film so complicated with unnecessary plot twists and turns. Generally plot twists and turns are used to create interest and suspense but in this film it they just made it hard to understand.

Cleaning this up, a half hour could have been cut from the film, but then again that would have meant less special effects on which a large portion of this film is based.

Simply, the Joker (played by Heath Ledger) is causing havoc in Gotham. Because his thefts aren't about the money, the city government can't seem to find him, learn anything about him, or get a handle on what is going on. The Joker is about creating chaos and having a worthy and challenging opponent such as Batman (played by Christian Bale).

There is this whole story written around mob money being laundered in separate banks, then a plan to consolidate it, and all the money being controlled by some Chinese criminal which created needless complexity to the root of the story.

The simple fact is that there is a criminal named the Joker who is a criminal because it suits him and he does his deeds just for the sheer pleasure of them, to create chaos and unnerve society. Then you have, as the Joker would say, “The Batman”, who is both liked and disliked by the community because he is a vigilante crime fighter that helps the community by capturing the criminals that the government can't capture, but a good and strong police force wouldn’t need a vigilantly.

The Batman, like the Joker, are individuals, loners as you will, and are outcasts from society. The Joker is looking for a worthy adversary to “complete” him and Batman wants to retire so that he can have a more full life with Rachel (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and know the city is in safe keeping.

So the Joker is enticing Batman out to compete, as individuals, and to see who is the best. Herein lies the real story. It wasn't about mob money.

Christopher Nolan directed this wonderfully shot film. However, as previously mentioned, the plot was overly and needlessly complicated and the rapid cut editing took away from the beautiful shots of Gotham at night. Nolan got extremely strong performances from Ledger, Aaron Eckhart (as Harvey Dent and Two Face), and Morgan Freeman as (Bruce Wayne’s Chief Operating Officer). It is hard for me to rate Christian Bale’s performance because there aren't enough intimate conversational scenes as Bruce Wayne or The Batman. There are lots of shots of him swooping, standing on tall buildings, and fighting but that is it and therefore there wasn't much acting, just moving. Heath Ledger gave a very strong performance as the Joker and it was obvious he really made this character his own. Aaron Eckhart was outstanding as Harvey Dent, a shining light and hope for the city of Gotham, and Michael Caine was his usual elegant self as Bruce Wayne’s butler, friend and confidant.

Overall: This was a good movie and worth seeing, but I don’t believe it is a great movie. Some of the performances are very strong and many of the action sequences are very well done as well but the over complication and excessive quick cuts take away from more fully enjoying the performances.