Doctor Strange (3-D)

First Hit:  I fully enjoyed the film and Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect as Dr. Stephen Strange.

What makes this film work and hold together is the acting of Cumberbatch. In fact, one could take out some of the special effects and this film still works.

Strange is a compulsive, arrogant, and a larger than life self-aggrandizing surgeon. His surety and cavalier way of performing surgery are displayed in opening scenes. He’s listening to music and then challenges one of his assistants to change up the music and give him a music quiz. The song his assistant hopes to trip him up on is Chuck Mangione’s “Feels So Good” which the assistant says came out in 1978 while Strange argues correctly that it was released in 1977. This was a superb way to display who he is.

Then, to solidify the point, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), rushes into the OR and asks Dr. Strange to look at a patient who they are about to harvest for organs. Her claim is that the patient can be saved and isn’t brain dead. Strange looks at the medical x-rays, scans and diagnosis documents, moves the patient to ER and pulls a bullet out of the patient’s head, thereby stopping the organ harvest, keeping the man alive. He only cares about his success at being right and competent and sort of rejects the patient's family's thanks. Lastly Dr. Palmer shows a deeper than friendship interest in him but he just sluffs it off putting his needs ahead of everything.

However, he gets hurt in an accident and destroys his hands. Without having his surgical skills available he ends up with nothing and takes one last trip looking for Kamar-Taj, a place that may be able to provide him help in getting his hands back. While in Kathmandu he ends up meeting “The Ancient One” (Tilda Swinton). She calls him out on his arrogance and self-centeredness and demonstrates that there is more to life than the physical world. She demonstrates alternate realities and it shocks Strange into curiosity and then wanting to become a student. As The Ancient One points out, Strange still thinks of only himself but takes him on as a student because he’s got abilities and really wants to learn.

The film ultimately is about two things: First, the fight between good (light) and evil (darkness). And two, about how to live by putting others first. To this end, the film is interesting, however, I do believe that the number of spectacular visual scenes to represent the fragility of most peoples’ perception of reality were not needed. At first the spinning of the streets and buildings into different spatial realities were cool and interesting to watch. But after a while it took away from the story and acting which was very strong.

Cumberbatch was extraordinary good in this fantasy film. He brought a serious, adventurous and human context to the character regardless of the topsy-turvy visual convolutions. Swinton was much better than I thought she would be. I struggled thinking that it needed to be an Asian spiritual leader because the film felt like it was sharing ancient Asian wisdom. However, from the get go, Swinton owned the role. Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, The Ancient One’s right hand person, was excellent. He put an edge into the film that made it better. McAdams was wonderful as Strange’s co-surgeon. Her humanness towards a difficult Strange was perfect. Benedict Wong (as Wong) was delightful. His protective seriousness of the spiritual path and library worked well against Strange’s behavior. Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill wrote a wonderful screenplay, which was enhanced by the use of humor and interesting dialogue among the characters. Derrickson had a strong hand on the tiller of this film. I only thought that he used CGI more than needed.

Overall:  Although the film is not Oscar worthy, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and that is the point.

Inferno

First Hit:  It started interestingly and then simply fell off the table by an overly complex and poorly developed script, poor acting, and feeble direction.

I’ve not been a fan of any of the Da Vinci Code oriented films. The best was the first and quickly sank with Angles & Demons. It stays on this downward track with Inferno. Here we’ve got Tom Hanks reprising his character Robert Langdon, who knows more than anyone about Dante, his words, and other’s interpretations of Dante’s work.

The film starts confusingly with Langdon hurt in the hospital with a head injury. He’s confused and is being attended by a physician named Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones). We are also introduced to Billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster), who is convinced that the world is on the verge of collapse. It is 11:59 – one minute till the world collapses because of over population and environmental issues caused by the over population. To right this sinking ship, he wants to spread a virus that will wipe out earth’s population.

With these two plot setups; Langdon being attacked, having amnesia, and why he has a projection device showing Dante’s hell in a picture but the picture has been altered, and the other setup is Zobrist wants to destroy the world’s population. Added to this we have people trying to kill Langdon, the WHO (World Health Organization) trying to stop Zobrist, WHO agent Christoph Bouchard (Omar Sy) who appears to be on some other side, Vayentha (Ana Ularu) a motorcycle riding person wanting to kill Langdon, and Harry Sims (Irrfan Khan) a hired security consultant whose interest in anything is questionable.

Confused, you got it, and that is how the film unfurled itself. What really muddied up this story is that the writer and/or director wanted Langdon to have a tangential and unrequited love interest with WHO’s Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen).

Some of the visual scenes were well shot which helped me to stay somewhat engaged with this lackluster movie. I also loved the, from the air, shots of Venice and Istanbul.

With a bad screenplay and poor direction Hanks was as bad as I’ve ever seen him. There just isn’t enough to be interested in or care about with his character. The device of having him slowly get his memory back during the first half of the film was a waste of Hanks’ talent. Jones character was better than Hanks, but I didn’t buy the shift in her role late in the film. It didn’t surprise me and it just didn’t work. Foster was OK as the guy predicting the end of the world. Khan’s role was sufferable and difficult to watch let alone buy. Knudsen was good in her role until it got to the emotional connection with Langdon, that part denigrated the character. Sy’s role didn’t seem defined and was unclear; it didn’t work for me. Ularu was in a poorly constructed and acted role. David Koepp wrote a horribly convoluted screenplay. Ron Howard knows how to direct so I don’t know what went wrong with the film outside of him just doing his best with the presented screenplay.

Overall:  If there is another film in this series I will not go see it.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

First Hit:  At times funny but it became more ridiculous as the story progressed.

The setup is that Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher), with their children, are a happy well-adjusted family in suburbia. He’s a human resources manager at a large company that employees much of the town. She’s a bathroom designer. Their boys have been sent to camp for the summer. An empty house near theirs is sold to the Joneses, Tim and Natalie (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot respectively). From the beginning Karen suspects the Joneses are a bit odd and through some funny investigation, discovers they might possibly be spies.

The Gaffney’s continue their growing friendly relationship with the Joneses but their caution is rewarded and eventually the Gaffney's learn the truth about the Joneses. The rest of the film is how they team up to find out who, in Jeff’s company, is selling microchips to the enemy.

There are truly some funny bits, but then these behaviors get over played deflating the point of the behavior in the first place. The action scenes are OK but the car chase (Mercedes and motorcycles) was too long and not believable.

Galifianakis is funny and his behaviors that make him funny tend to be repeated more than needed. Fisher’s character is more interesting than Galifianakis by being inquisitive and less predictable. Hamm was solid as the undercover spy that wants his life to change. Gadot’s character was a little over done for me. More humor from her would have helped. Patton Oswalt was funny enough as Scorpion the villain. Michael LeSieur wrote a partially funny script but behaviors in scenes were repetitive. Director Greg Mottola had good actors but a script that failed to expand the story and characters.

Overall:  After watching the film, it is easily forgotten.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

First Hit:  Better than the first but still not quite as strong as other loner films, such as the Bourne series.

The first film was entertaining mostly because Tom Cruise (as Jack Reacher) is good at what he does, be intense, entertaining, and be Tom Cruise. One never loses the thought that it is Tom Cruise on the screen. In other words, it is Cruise with a character's name, in this case Jack Reacher. Not that this is bad, however there is never any doubt about who is starring in the film.

In Cruise films there always seems to be a scene where he's in a shower and the shot is a profile of the water hitting his head and then flowing down his face. It is generally to show is anguish and his human side before he gets revitalized to go out and do become the intense focused character he’s playing. This film is no different.

In this version of Reacher, the opening scene has Cruise assisting the government in rounding up a sheriff who is trafficking illegal aliens. This sets up Reacher as someone who gets the job done, even if it sets him up for additional issues. This opening also tells us that Reacher is smart, knows what is going to happen, and has a singular focus. The writer and director tell us all we need to know by telling the Sheriff what is going to happen in the next 90 seconds. The sheriff laughs, then realizes that Reacher has the last laugh.

The biggest flaw I saw at the beginning of the film was how did he have such a close working relationship with Major Turner (Cobie Smulders), the person who took his job in the Army? This was never well established and this little loose end bothered me throughout the film. The film made a big deal about them meeting for the first time, and that they had a phone relationship, but somehow it didn’t work for me. However, their on-screen chemistry worked and they were well match with intensity.

The plot is about Reacher and Smulders finding out who is using the US Government Military complex to perpetrate fraud why. It has to do with arms dealers, government contractors, and drugs. To move the plot, in an interesting and heartfelt way, Reacher is accused of not providing child support to Samantha (Danika Yarosh) who happens to attach herself to him and Smulders as they find themselves in the thick of a battle between the government’s MPs and the contractors.

Cruise is Cruise. He gives you all he has, he does it well but in the end it is never about the character but it is Tom Cruise. Smulders is very strong in her character and in her physicality. Yarosh is very good and I like what she brought to the film. Aldis Hodge was OK as a MP captain charged with bringing Reacher to justice. My favorite character in this film was Madalyn Horcher as Sargent Leach who helps Reacher with information as the story unfolds. Lee Child and Richard Wenk wrote the screenplay and it is works better than the first Reacher film, but all told it isn’t very strong. Edward Zwick did well to present this story and the characters in an interesting way, but it wasn’t an overall strong film.

Overall:  When you compare a film like this with a Jason Bourne film, the storyline, why it is shot, and the acting are far superior.

The Accountant

First Hit:  I walked away liking this film because it drew me into the dramatic story while also being out-loud funny during the interchanges between Christian and Dana.

A young Christian Wolff (Seth Lee) is shown as a highly functional autistic young boy. His wizardry is displayed by completing a complex puzzle upside down. His parents, Chris and his brother Brax (played by Jake Presley as the boy and Jon Bernthal as an adult) are visiting the Harbor Neuroscience Institute home to find out how to help their son survive in the world. Although they are offered help, the father thinks there are other ways to “fix” his son. Throughout this film we are treated to some of those ways, which gives us the back story as to why Christian and Brax are so relentlessly good at using guns and martial arts. What didn’t make sense to me was how these brothers got separated later in life.

To make a living, the adult Christian (Ben Affleck) is an accountant with extraordinary skills to help clients resolve any type of financial issue. Because of his condition, he is relentless at completing the job and is incredibly efficient. We see him help a farmer husband and wife team as well as seeing pictures where he’s working with the mob, other criminals, and foreign entities.

When called on a new case by “The Voice” (a phone voice only with a smiley face in the phone's interface), he's asked to discover where the missing money is for Living Robotics, a company headed by CEO Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow). After arriving at company headquarters, he sits down to meet with the CFO and CEO for an interview. The interview is amusing, but the audience sees why he gets the job. On the first day of work, he’s greeted by Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) who is the company’s accountant that discovered the accounting problem. During the introduction, and almost every interaction past this, the discussion between these two is interesting, funny and engaging. A definite highlight to this film.

When he discovers the problem, and the source reasons behind the diversion of funds, the film changes tenor and it becomes more of an action thriller.

While all this is going on, Ray King (J.K. Simmons) a Director at the Treasury Department, is trying to find out who changed his life before he retires. What he knows is that someone saved his life, and that there are a few brief pictures of a person that seems to know a lot of criminals, helps them with funneling money, but might have a deadly hand as well.

To assist him, King hires Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) by leveraging her past and gives her a month to find this ghost of a person. Yup, you guessed it, it’s The Accountant. This part of the film felt like a side note to highlight a particular aspect of Christian’s background. Additionally, it also provided a level of context of law and authority to Christian’s actions. However I thought it convoluted the story and imagined this film would have worked by leaving this part out, and this isn’t what happened. Regardless, I found many of the scenes very engaging, interesting, and funny.

Affleck is very strong as Christian. The disassociated looks and the matter-a-fact ways of having verbal exchanges worked for me. Because he needed to be both an efficient accountant and ruthless in actions there had to be a line that he walked that didn’t destroy the illusion of either. Lee was perfect - sublime in all ways. Kendrick was her witty, nerdy, inquisitive self, a role she does so well (think Up in the Air). Her exchanges with Affleck were very well done. Simmons was good as the man affected by The Accountant in a good way. Addai-Robinson was very good as the person needing to not be found out by doing her job well. John Lithgow was adequate as the company owner who was concealing secrets. Jon Bernthal was very strong as Affleck’s brother and protector. Jeffrey Tambor (as Francis Silverberg) was outstanding as Affleck’s cell mate who treated him like a son and gave him knowledge, skills and connections allowing him to make a very good living for himself when he left prison. Bill Dubuque wrote an overly complex screenplay, however it did work. Gavin O’Connor did a wonderful job of weaving together the two stories. Many of the scenes were well shot, like when the farmer scoffs that Christian cannot hit a target a mile away, then Christian pulls the trigger.

Overall:  Leaving the theater, I realized that this film kept me interested and engaged.