Fall Movie Season
Elizabethtown was first on the list of things to see. It was nice and the performances were wonderful. Orlando definitely needs to do more of this type of thing. I felt, like a lot of critics, that it tried to do too many things at once. The extraneous story threads were left not fully resolved. For instance the relationship with Jessie and his father is left a little open ended. If they had concentrated on Drew, his problems from work, and his relationship with his dad then it would have been a much tighter film. I think that Claire came on strong, but not as strong as some critics have said.
A History of Violence was next. Viggo was awesome. He pulled of the transition from mild-mannered diner operator to ruthless killer with aplomb. That's a tricky thing to do without one of the two modes seeming unnatural. I went in unspoiled and with no expectations, and I don't know if this help contribute to my liking of the film or not. The film as a whole is tough to take. The violence is graphic, but no worse than some other films I've seen. I think what makes it hard is the efficiency and vigor that's shown during the killing. It clearly shows the killers as monsters. I felt uneasy and a little dirty after leaving. One final note. The sex scenes. I wasn't expecting any in the movie, so imagine my surprise when I saw those two. Wow.
Green Street Hooligans opened here last week. It's only taken two months, but hey, I'll take it. I guess I'm the only Elijah fan who love it wholeheartedly. I liked Elijah's performance, and his chemistry with Charlie was great. The part that didn't sit well with me was the contrived plot and the portrayal of the violence. The plot was standard and telegraphed, and the fight scenes were done in a music video style. The film wants to make the statement that violence has terrible consequences, but can also be addictive and empowering. I think the film did glorify the fighting even though some say it didn't. It showed the thrill, excitement, and the brotherhood nature of belonging to a football firm. As much as they didn't want to call themselves gangs, a firm is, at least in my book, a gang. I will give it this: it did a good job of showing consequences through the deaths of certain characters. That did bring out the pathos.
Loggerheads is last on this list, but certainly not least. It's special to me for the fact that it was set and filmed in my home state of North Carolina and the director is a fellow Tar Heel. It is set in three different places and times; Asheville 2001, Eden 2000, and Kure Beach 1999. The last place is the beach I go to every summer. It was well made, photographed beautifully, well acted, and emotionlly powerful. This is the second NC indy picture to get relatively wide distribution and great critical nods at Sundance and elsewhere. (The first was Junebug a few months ago.) Loggerheads is about motherhood, adoption, and belonging. It really moved me and made me tear up. A telling sign of how good it is when it ended no one left during the credits. They all stayed until the lights came up again. I've never seen that happen.