Into the Storm

First Hit:  Exciting visuals, uninteresting story and the plot, although predictable, was weak.

Pete (Matt Walsh) is a premier tornado hunter. His job is to move his armored truck into position, the tornado’s path, and film the experience including what is in the eye.

His team, including scientific tornado finder Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies), has had a series of bad luck calls and they’ve just missed getting their job done. The pressure is on. Gary (Richard Armitage) is a widowed father and high school Vice Principal. His boys Donny and Trey (Max Deacon and Nathan Kress respectively) are struggling with his parenting skills and style but have taken to his suggestion that they video their lives. They all get caught up in the largest tornado in history which descends on their town of Silverton.

For some comic relief and to give a different slice of life, the film includes two guys who do stupid things and survive all the havoc. I did think the visuals were done really well but I didn't care about the characters. It seemed to be the film was derived because there was great technology available to the producers and storms would be fun to do so; “let’s create some sort of story that includes young people and parents realizing they need to care more about their kids while fighting a common problem."

Walsh is mediocre as the man who needs to get a tornado on film to justify the expense of building his tank like tornado filming truck. Callies’ character was uninspired and not interesting. She feigned to be a weather and climate scientist but nothing about what she said was anything you don’t hear from a weather person on network TV. Armitage appeared to be really be trying to be engaged with his character and film, but that was the problem, you could see his acting. Deacon and Kress were the best parts of the film in their own way. As brothers there was the tension and love which always lives between brothers. John Swetnam wrote the script which had its failings from being interesting. Steven Quale used visuals very well. I loved seeing the funnels starting, stopping and finally coming into fruition. I felt the sense of power of a tornado, having been through one in Oklahoma many years ago. It is tense and powerful and over in a heartbeat.

Overall:  Outside of the visuals I just didn’t get interested in the characters or story. I just wanted to see the tornadoes.

A Most Wanted Man

First Hit: Better than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but the pall of Hoffman’s death kept creeping into my thoughts while watching.

Upon seeing Hoffman, I found myself looking for the signs of his real life struggle. His overweight, chain smoking and heavy drinking character Gunther Bachmann was one having a difficult life as well.

As an unsupported German government terrorist finder, he’s got a small team of people who work to befriend, interrogate (nicely) and influence people to assist him to find the people who fund Islamic terrorist activities around the world. His team does it methodically and not reactively.

However, the CIA and the German government only gives him a short leash and their ever-present pushing create a more difficult environment him and his team to work in.

The film takes place in Hamburg (one of my favorite German cities) with its water, canals, and mixture of old and new architecture. The pacing of this film is on the slow methodical side but it fits with the story. The film is dark in mood and I don’t think I saw one scene where the sun shines as well.

Hoffman embodies his character with an odd inconsistent accent. Girgoriy Dobrygin as Issa Karpov (as suspected terrorist) was very good. His sullen, eyes down view of the world was very powerful and believable. Mehdi Dehbi as Jamal was very good because he embodied the scared but determined informer he was. Nina Hoss as Irna Frey (Bachmann’s right hand person) was very good. Rachel McAdams as Annabel Richter (lawyer for Karpov) was really good. I liked the brightness she brought to the film. Robin Wright as Martha Sullivan (CIA head in Germany) was very strong. Willem Dafoe as Tommy Brue (Banker who manages his deceased father’s bank of ill-gotten money) is also very strong. Andrew Bovell wrote a clear screen play of this John le Carre novel. This was better than the muddied screen play for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy novel. Anton Corbijn directed this dark sullen film with a clear deft of hand.

Overall: This film was much better than I thought it would be but the pall of Hoffman’s recent death carried through my heart as I watched it.

Non-Stop

Hit:  The generally unbelievable premise was kept interesting because of Neeson’s intensity.

Liam Neeson plays Bill Marks, a distraught US Air Marshal who hates flying and is caught up in a hijacking/blackmailing of a flight from New York to London. Sitting next to him is Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) who needs to sit next to the window.

During the flight Marks receives a text message on a secure communications channel. He suspects the other Air Marshal but ends up killing him – in accordance to the information and plan shared on the text messages. Every 20 minutes someone dies. The pilot and the entire Air Marshal team on the ground, think Marks is really the instigator to the hijacking.

The audience knows Marks is the good guy. Eventually we discover the real plot and the world is right. Although early in the film one doesn’t really know who the culprit, there are things one can read during the film which point the way. The best part of the film is Neeson and his ability to keep the audience engaged.

Neeson is strong and intense which is the best part of the film. Moore is good as a woman who is living life fully for the now. Michelle Dockery was OK as the flight attendant who assists Marks the most. Lupita Nyong’o was OK in a very minor role as another flight attendant. John Richardson and Christopher Roach wrote an unfathomable script. Jaume Collet-Serra did a reasonable job of directing this unrealistic film with some interesting shots of fighting in an airplane restroom and scenes where the plane dove and the passengers got tossed about.

Overall:  It was watchable but not because of the plot, script, or direction.

In Secret

First Hit:  Premise was pretty good but the execution was below fair.

A sexually repressed Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) who was trapped into a marriage with Camille (Tom Felton) by Camille’s mother Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange) finds herself sexually attracted to Laurent (Oscar Isaac) who is the Raquin’s family friend.

While living in Paris, Laurent and Therese begin an affair by his sneaking up the back way to where Therese, Camille, and Madame Raquin live. And there is where the film's script didn't work well. I found it odd that people could yell up and down the stairs to each other to communicate but the noise the Laurent and Therese would make while making love was not heard by anyone in the house or shop below.

The couple wants to spend all their time together so they come up with a plan to kill Camille. The opportunity presents itself when they are rowing on a lake. Camille doesn’t know how to swim and when Laurent hits him in the head with a paddle – he dies. The guilt ridden couple begins to implode with their feelings and guilt ridden angst.

Lange was strong as the controlling mother who manipulated the people around her. Olsen was good as the sexually repressed woman looking for a life far different than the one she finds herself in. Felton was very good as the sickly repressed son. Isaac was OK as the love interest but just didn’t think he possessed the character that made the story work. Charlie Stratton wrote a lifeless screen play, which was made worse by Stratton’s own direction.

Overall:  This film started with a few moments of promise but faded into boredom and writer and director self-absorption.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

First Hit:  Better than I thought it would be with a good story, believable acting, and the way suspense was created.

Carrying on the legacy of Clancy’s Jack Ryan character is a tall order. Just like carrying on the 007 story with different actors, it takes someone who can embody the spirit of the character, yet show us something and someone new. Daniel Craig has definitely moved 007 forward.

Here Chris Pine, just as he did with Captain Kirk, moved the character of Jack Ryan forward. As his mentor, Kevin Costner is excellent as Commander Thomas Harper. I loved his wry smile, direct commands and hands on engagement.

This is where this film excels. It wasn’t someone behind a desk giving commands from HQ to the lowly analyst (Now your Operative) it was a team of people letting Ryan be the lead, yet knowing he was fully supported by a competent team made it all work. Keira Knightley, as Ryan’s wife Dr. Cathy Muller, was really good and it was great to see her again in a film role.

Briefly, Jack, inspired by September 11th, joins the Marines to fight for the US. He’s super smart and although he’s been sending great intelligence to the Marine’s HQ, he’s doing a grunt role. He gets hurt and rehabs at Walter Reed Hospital where he meets Dr. Muller. Harper read Ryan’s reports and begins to recruit him into the CIA.

As an intelligence analyst he’s real good, and on a trip to Russia to do an audit of a client, he uncovers a plot to destroy the US (of course you would expect this from a Jack Ryan story). It is here that he becomes an operative. Just because we know the ending doesn't take away from the way we get there.

This is what makes this film very watchable, entertaining, and enjoyable.

Pine was an excellent choice for the Ryan role with his charming good looks, intelligence, and ability to be physical. Costner was great as the older, wizened, and veteran CIA operative in charge of the mission. Knightly was sublime as Ryan’s wife Muller. There was enough strong independence as well as intelligent support of her husband. Kenneth Branagh as Viktor Cherevin was particularly strong and I felt he clearly knew how to direct himself. Adam Cozad and David Koepp wrote a wonderful script based on Tom Clancy’s characters. Branagh did a wonderful job of creating suspense and excitement throughout the film.

Overall:  This was a very entertaining film made well by strong people.