Man Down

First Hit:  This film powerfully brings the point home about PTSD through one soldiers experience.

Writer Adam G. Simon and Director Dito Montiel effectively brings together the effects of war through one soldiers eyes by using three visual amalgamated stories.

It is important to note that every night there are 200,000 vets sleeping on the streets in the United States. And that there are 20 US veterans committing suicide every single day. This film sheds light on the cause.

Gabriel Drummer (Shia LeBeouf) and best lifelong buddy Devin Roberts (Jai Courtney) join the Marines together. They suffer and succeed together. Gabriel is married to Natalie (Kate Mara) and have a son Johnathan (Charlie Shotwell) who Gabriel loves dearly.

The film's stories are interesting and effective. But, until I connected the dots, about two-thirds the way through, the post war apocalyptic scenes didn’t work for me. I was initially frustrated and questioned these scenes, until the clarity came.

The interview scenes with Counselor Payton (Gary Oldman) were excellent. The use of this as a vehicle to share the knowledge that our government knows we have a problem and doesn't necessarily have the best tools to help soldiers was fantastic.

The scenes of the actual firefight were very strong in that they showed the bravery and risk soldiers take in a war such as the ones we fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. To have made a possible error with lives on the line is difficult to accept. To learn of a betrayal while overseas only compounded and added tinder to the raging bull within him.

LeBeouf was outstanding. To show the audience internal rage inside, while controlling the exterior of his face is a rare skill and here it was amazing. I felt the on-the-edge of bursting so much my heart ached. Courtney was excellent as his close friend. Having his back in war and in the apocalyptic world despite the betrayal, was perfect. Mara was wonderful in her role. The way she wanted and needed Gabriel to be there for her was palpable. Oldman was very good as the Marine counselor who worked on getting Gabriel to share his story and feelings. Shotwell was great as the young boy who loved and idolized his dad through it all. Simon wrote a very engaging and strong script. Using “Man Down” as the title and Gabriel and Johnathan’s code words – really worked for me as it expressed it all. Montiel had a great handle on this film. The lighting, sets, and sounds were very effective and he got powerful performances while telling a “need to hear” story.

Overall:  This film is haunting and important.

Fury

First Hit:  Powerful story about how war will change people.

War is a tough place to learn about who you are in relation to the people you work with and an enemy that wants to kill you.

Norman (Logan Lerman) has been assigned to the Fury, a tank led by Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt). His crew of Boyd “Bible” Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Trini “Gordo” Garcia (Michael Pena), and Jon “Coon-Ass” Travis (Jon Bernthal), have been together for years and through thick and thin. With much sadness they recently lost their assistant driver/gunner.

Norman was supposed to be a clerk typist and now he’s been ordered into Wardaddy’s tank that is heading to the front line. He tells Don he won’t shoot anyone and that he'd rather die than to kill.  But as the team thrives as a group, he must learn how to kill.

The tank crew is a family that depends on each other and this film exemplifies the positives and difficulties of this tank family life. The close quarters of the tank is made larger here by shooting one person at a time but you never forget that this is a close quarters tank.  Wardaddy is clearly in charge of his crew and he has a single focus to do his part against the Germans.

The pall of war is magnificently expressed in the color of each shot, whether it is inside or outside the tank. The dark haze of daylight exemplified the feelings of oppression and sadness that death brings.

Pitt is really strong in his performance of control over his crew, yet allowing and creating space for his guys to be who they are. The edges of this were defined in the scene where they had met two women in a building and building intense conversation and over the meal the women had prepared. Lerman was a revelation in his transformation to someone who would finally say; “best job I ever had”. LaBeouf was very strong as the guy who could quote scripture and drive the hell out of the tank. Pena was very good as Gordo and gunner. Bernthal was scary good as the guy always on the edge of sanity. David Ayer wrote and directed this film. The writing was as strong as his clear direction to fully take the audience deep into the world of a tank and the crew.

Overall:  Although war films are not my favorite genre, the characters elevated this film to a very high place.

The Company You Keep

First Hit:  I liked it because it effectively reminded me of the subject events, how they happened, and how it affected me.

The Weather Underground made a splash in 1969 when they grew out of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and announced they would fight violence with violence.

The SDS focused on trying to stop the Vietnam War through non-violent means. The Weatherman decided that maybe our government would only hear the mood of a majority of its citizens, which was “to stop the war” and to “stop the killing” if they brought violence to make their point. In other words will the government only hear the will of the people if they act as the government acts, violently.

Many younger people may not understand or “get” what it was like when government troops attacked (not just tear gas, they shot and killed) students on campuses in our country.

Being in Vietnam at that time I realized, first hand, the reason for their protest. We were in a foreign country killing people we “thought” we should kill because our government said we should kill them. The reality is that we were bullying our beliefs in another country. Sound familiar?

Our government can and will create stories to make their decisions right. That is what this film is about. It is about Jim Grant/Nick Sloan (Robert Redford) hiding and running away because the government “believes” it is right about thinking that Sloan and another Weathermen Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) killed a bank security guard in a bank robbery back in 1970’s.

The beginning of this film Solarz turns herself in after 30 years. This causes a small town reporter Ben (Shia LaBeouf) to dig out the truth. Grant is quickly identified as Sloan so he goes on the run again. While on the run he connects with his fellow Weathermen. These were the most interesting parts of the film.

Sloan knows who killed the security guard, wants them to turn themselves in so he can raise his daughter. He won’t turn them in because that is the code of the weathermen. Mimi Lurie (Julie Christie) was this person and through the underground network they meet to discuss the dilemma. At their meeting they also talk about the girl they parented back then which plays on their decisions then and now.

Redford seemed a little old for the role especially when he is shown in the film with a 10 year old daughter. However, I could sense his belief in the subject and he brought that belief and intensity to the role. Sarandon also seemed to embody her role with belief, sadness, and truth. Christie was wonderful and embodied the role of a strong rebellious woman. LaBeouf was good as the reporter and vehicle to move the story along and he mixed well with the older actors. Richard Jenkins as Jed Lewis was really good as the radical who found a way to present his material to younger people. Lem Dobbs wrote a strong (at moments) screen play. There are lines sharing the philosophy of the Weathermen and those times that were great. Redford directed this with an understanding of the times and it worked.

Overall: This was a good/not great film and it touched some of the difficult thoughts I have about our country that haven’t died.

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.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

First Hit: Enjoyed the acting and some of the shots of New York but the story wasn’t very well told.

It wasn’t until the following morning did I see the integration of the story. Maybe others got it more quickly but I didn’t.

As the credits rolled, I looked at my girlfriend, who made me wait a week to see it, and said, “What did you think?” Paraphrasing, she said it didn’t make sense and didn’t have a point. I saw her point but somewhere I knew it did make sense and had a point.

However, it didn’t come to me until the next day. Maybe I’m slow and the way this film unfolded made it difficult for me to put all the pieces together. However, I see more films than the average audience goer and I find it difficult to believe that I was the problem – but who knows.

Regardless, Michael Douglas reprises his role as Gordon Gekko the Wall Street financier who ended up in jail for insider trading in the first film. When he steps outside of the prison walls there is nobody there to pick him up. While in prison he wrote a best-selling book about his experience and heads out into the world once again.

His daughter Winnie Gekko (played by Carey Mulligan) wants nothing to do with her father, is running a website for alternative energy and lifestyles, and is living with a Wall Street trader named Jack Moore (played by Shia LaBeouf).

Moore is being mentored by an old and long-time street executive named Louis Zabel (played by Frank Langella). Their firm is in trouble and is going down the tubes if they don't get a cash infusion or are bought out. The government will only support a bargain basement buyout by a firm led by Bretton James (played by James Brolin).

Zabel is crushed by the turn of events and commits suicide by jumping in front of a subway train. The company collapses and Moore blames James on the death of both his company and his mentor. Revenge is in the air and when James listens to a talk by Gekko about the state of current Wall Street economics he decides to approach Gekko for his thoughts and assistance.

One of the most amusing scenes in the film is seeing Charlie Sheen reprising his role as Bud Fox from the first film and the exchange of conversation between him and Gekko at a fundraising event.

Douglas is wonderful in this reprised role. The taste and flavor he left on one’s mouth after the first film is, 13 years later, picked right back up again and holds true throughout this film. LaBeouf is engaging and strong as Moore. There isn’t anything great about this performance, yet I can’t think of anyone else who would have brought it together in his age group. Mulligan finally plays an age appropriate part. And here she gives a strong performance. Eli Wallach as Jules Steinhardt is interesting because he controls so much, yet says so little. It is his money that changes the game of the film. Brolin is wonderful as James the overly confident “we’re to big to fail” arrogance of the recent financial failure of Wall Street. Langella is good as the aging man who tried to keep up with the new deal making on Wall Street while stuck in the integrity of the older world. And Susan Sarandon as Jack Moore’s mother clearly portrays the stupidity and greed of buying real estate for an investment versus buying it as a home to live in. Oliver Stone directs this with some visually stunning shots of New York but the film lacks a clear story, is confusing and didn’t really provide the kind of power it could have by exposing the how of the recent financial melt-down.

Overall: Lacked cohesiveness in both its storyline and direction. However, it is definitely worth watching when Douglas in on the screen.