Maps to the Stars

First Hit:  I’m sure I’ll be in the minority on this – and I liked this film. It was quirky, yet insightful in the David Cronenberg style.

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is a fading from view movie star who is trying to get the part of her famous deceased movie star mother in an upcoming film. She really wants the part.

The film shows her desperation of want and her pretending to not be attached to getting the role. Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska) is an intelligent, scarred and somewhat twisted girl. We see her abnormal behavior unfold as the film evolves. She becomes Havana's assistant and has an edge that keeps the audience on wondering. Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) is a Hollywood based spiritual and physical energy therapist to the stars.

His wife Christina (Olivia Williams) and he are driving their son Benjie (Evan Bird) to be an ego filled young actor. There is a controlling power in their house and when Agatha shows up again, all hell breaks loose. Keeping Agatha’s attention was limo driver Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson), until her real wish is known.

The fun part of this film is the moving from one type of ego expression to another and in Hollywood it all stands out strong.

Moore is great as the fading star who wants to stay in the limelight. Wasikowska is fantastic as the strangely possessed young woman. Cusack is perfect as the ego driven guru believing his own self-awareness. Williams is great as the mother/wife walking a tightrope. Bird as the ego possessed young man who is getting more than he deserves is very good – believable. Pattinson is really good as the limo driver who pretends non-interest and then interest in Agatha. Bruce Wagner wrote and interesting, complex screenplay that, for me, worked. Cronenberg definitely had his vision and although it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for me it worked well.

Overall:  I found this film interesting and fun to watch these characters go through their ego struggles.

Lawless

First Hit:  Violent and a well-acted film about bootlegging and the perceived invincibility of a family.

Forrest Bondurant (played by Tom Hardy) is a quiet and focused leader of the Bondurant family bootlegging operation.

His Howard (played by Jason Clarke) is a hard drinking, quick tempered, and the more obvious strong arm of Bondurant boys. Jack (played by Shia LaBeouf) is the “runt” of the boys. Jack is afraid of killing and violence, has wondrous ideas, and likes some of the trappings of the money they make through bootlegging.

The government sends in Chicago Special Officer Charlie Rakes (played by Guy Pearce) to work with local officers to clean up the bootlegging operations. The government is willing to make a deal with the bootleggers and all the local bootleggers do except the Bondurant’s.

This starts a war between the family and law enforcement officers. This is a mano-a-mano film mixed in with a bit of romance. The anxious romance of Jack with preacher’s daughter Bertha Minnix (played by Mia Wasikowska) was one of the more lighthearted aspects of the film.

This romance was juxtaposed by the smoldering slow build up of drifter Maggie Beauford (played by Jessica Chastain) who works for the Bondurant’s in their roadside café.

The violent aspects of the film are not necessarily easy to watch and that humans can do this to one another it is sad. Despite this violence I did like this dark film about a piece of Americana.

Hardy is beyond powerful and excellent in his role as the solid, immortal, Forrest Bondurant. Clarke is less evocative, yet his critical supportive role is well acted. LaBeouf is very good as the young man that shies away from the violence but tries to prove himself in other ways. Pearce is superb as the very twisted Rakes. Wasikowska is excellent as the preacher’s daughter who is hooked on the wilder Bondurant boy. Chastain is very good as the woman who’s seen it all and will do anything to find a home for herself. Dane DeHaan was outstanding as the rickets laden genius who assists the Bondurant’s in their business. Nick Cave wrote an excellent script from Matt Bondurant’s book about his family. John Hillcoat did a wonderful job of giving the audience a feel for this way of life.

Overall: If you can get by the violence, this is a very good film.

Jane Eyre

First Hit: Beautifully shot, well-acted, but there was something dramatically missing.

This story has been done many times and this version was one of the most beautifully shot of all of them.

The feeling of the cold moist damp rain of England, the moors, the stone floors, the heavy drapes, the wavy glass windows, the candle and fire lit rooms were all visually arresting and felt true to the time. Here the director got it right.

The film begins with Jane (played by Mia Wasikowska) running away from the home of Mr. Rochester (played by Michael Fassbender) where she had been governess to his child ward. Her journey there began as an unwanted child (played by Amelia Clarkson) by her guardian Mrs. Reed (played by Sally Hawkins). Reed ships her off to a boarding school where she is treated poorly but becomes educated.

Unfortunately there is no resemblance between the actresses of the young and older Jane and this obvious mismatch was troublesome. Although there was a consistent feeling of Jane through these two actresses, and both were very good, the obvious physical discrepancies (mouth, lips, eyes and nose) were disconcerting to me and kept me from buying the story.

When the older Jane arrives at Mr. Rochester’s home she is greeted by Mrs. Fairfax (played by Judi Dench) who guides her into the role as governess. Mr. Rochester is intrigued by Jane and her direct fearless openness towards him and compels him to want to marry her.

In the rush to get the wedding done, a relative of his first wife barges in to object to the marriage. Jane is heartbroken and runs away (the opening scene). She makes her way to St. John Rivers (played by Jamie Bell) and his two sisters. They take her in and give her the opportunity to begin life again as a teacher in a small countryside school. But Jane’s heart yearns for Mr. Rochester and eventually she finds her way back.

Wasikowska is very good and endearing in this role, however I don’t know if it was something her acting, in the direction or in the lack of chemistry between her and Fassbender that left me unconvinced of this story. Fassbender was good as the troubled wealthy man looking for love and peace. But as previously stated something didn’t work in this film. Clarkson was wonderful as the young Jane and despite the obvious physical dissimilarities between her and the older Jane she did a wonderful job. Bell came off as fully untrustworthy from the get go. Whether his was supposed to come off this way or not, I don’t know. But the moment he picks up Jane from his front door, he felt creepy and it bothered me that Jane didn’t see it. Dench was strong as the house head housekeeper and guiding light for Jane. Moira Buffini wrote a good script from the Charlotte Bronte novel. Cary Fukunaga shot this film exquisitely, however there was something missing, a compelling chemistry, to make this version the best ever done.

Overall: I like this film, but left the theater wanting something more compelling.

The Kids Are All Right

First Hit: Very good performances but felt the story lacked something.

The basics are this; a gay marriage between Jules (played by Julianne Moore) and Nic (played by Annette Bening) is shaken when their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska) makes contact with her and her brother Laser’s (played by Josh Hutcherson) sperm donor.

She does this at Laser’s insistence who, perhaps, feels like he’s missing something by not having a father. The donor in this case is Paul (played by Mark Ruffalo) who happens to live nearby, is a restaurant owner and a bit younger than the mothers.

What didn’t work for me in this film is I didn’t think Laser’s character was fleshed out enough to know why he wanted to meet the sperm donor. I didn't think that it was probable that the donor would live within a few miles of the kids. I didn’t quite think the aging differences of Jules, Nic and Paul worked well.

Nic seemed too old for Paul and Jules but the director tried to fix this by having a Joni Mitchell discussion at a dinner table. By having Nic and Paul get into a long discussion of Joni’s musical work tried to make them equal in age but it fell short for me.

I also didn’t like how we were left with nothing about what happens to Paul towards the end of the film. What did work about this film was Nic’s and Jules’ relationship, its ups and downs, and how they had gotten lost with each other. I thought Joni and Laser’s relationship with their mothers, each other and with Paul was effective and true.

A lot of the dialogue was really well developed and created effective scenes. I also liked Jules character a lot.

Moore was really good as the more female role of this couple. Her letting Bening know that she felt controlled was a good reflection of what happens in many relationships. Bening was very strong as the breadwinner and person who sets the tone of the family. Wasikowska was the real surprise for me. I thought she held her own with the two aforementioned actresses. She effectively portrayed a young woman who was just learning about her own boundaries and strengths as a human being. Hutcherson was good as the brooding younger brother and son. He was on target with his actions and reactions to the things going on around him. Ruffalo was good as the sperm donor dad. However, I’m not sure his character fit fully into the film. Was it important that he was a skirt chaser? Did he really make the transition to wanting a true partnership with Moore? However, this was probably more of poor story cohesiveness than Ruffalo’s acting ability. What was on the screen was well directed by Lisa Cholodenko, however she and Stuart Blumberg missed some important stuff in the writing, mostly with Ruffalo’s character.

Overall: This was a good film, there were some great funny and dramatic scenes but overall it didn’t quite hit the mark.

Alice In Wonderland

First Hit: Despite the beautiful and curiously created scenes, the re-telling of this story was not compelling. The 3D effects were used to demonstrate as much as enhance the scenes and after a short while I could have left and I wouldn’t have missed anything.

Tim Burton is known for creating interesting visual worlds and for the most part he does it again in this re-telling of Lewis Carroll’s famous tale.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much more to this re-do except an expansion of the characters and a different plot which probably wasn’t intended by Carroll.

The fantasy and quirkiness of the original tale is gone and what we have is Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) pondering a grown up decision at age 20. She is being asked her hand in marriage, but appears to struggle for the answer but how is this so hard? It is obvious that they aren’t a couple. She panics when asked in front of hundreds of people and runs away. She follows a vested rabbit into a hole and the now the story begins.

The Wonderland folks who greet her don’t know if she is the real Alice, and wonder if she is the original (sort of like the second coming). Alice herself doesn’t know because all she knows is that her name is Alice and it’s her dream, or so she thinks. She meets the Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp) who has a lisp, falls in love with Alice and is bent on helping Alice rescue a dog family and others from the Red Queen's castle.

The Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter), who has a huge head and chops off the heads of anyone who crosses her, wants Alice captured because she is the one who is foretold (the original Alice In Wonderland story) as the slayer of the Jabberwocky who is the Red Queen’s main fighting force and protector.

But before Alice can be captured, Alice tries to rescue her fantasy friends who are locked in the Red Queen’s castle. To get across the moat, she walks across the bobbing heads of the Red Queens "off with their head" victims.

This scene sort of finished off the film for me. It moved it from fantasy and into a more Gothic heavy handed film that tries to make too much sense from the wild original tale of a little girl lost in Wonderland.

What we have is a grown up girl confused about making a decision about her life in the real world and her childhood dream overtakes her and through the spinning of this yarn, she gets her answer.

Wasikowska was interesting enough and did what the writer and director instructed her to do but she didn't bring a true sense of wonder to the role. Bonham Carter was probably the most interesting character in this version of the story. Her over sized head, fiery language and heart shaped lips were fun. Depp was quirky but why he played the Mad Hatter with a (sometimes) lisp was odd. Steven Fry the voice of the Cheshire cat was fun as a smiling disappearing cat. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen was lost and seemed clueless in this role. Matt Lucas the voice of Tweedledee and Tweedledum was funny at times. And Alan Rickman as the wise hookah smoke blowing Blue Caterpillar was overdone. Burton would have done well to do a remake of the original story to flaunt his greatness at making magical worlds. Making a complex story and plot took away from the original story and his beautiful scenes. Burton also needs to take a page out of James Cameron’s book on how to use 3D, we don’t need more demos of stuff sitting in our laps or being poked right at us.

Overall: This film ended up to be very disappointing despite the effort Burton put into making a wonderful “Wonderland”. This story is overly convoluted and would have been better if he had stuck to the original.