Movies
QuickGlance Movie Reviews “Straw Dogs”
The setting has been moved from the British countryside to the swamps of Mississippi, and the lead actors got better looking, but Rod Lurie’s film is essentially identical to the 1971 Sam Peckinpah thriller he’s remaking. Names, graphic details, bits of dialogue, even a parallel editing structure that unfolds during a pivotal moment — they’re all here. And the themes and messages that were problematic in the original exist here as well. It’s a movie that purports itself to be an indictment of violence, a critical exploration of the depraved depths to which man can sink when pushed. Yet Lurie (“The Contender,” “Nothing But the Truth”), as writer and director, depicts this brutality in vivid, glorious detail, to the point of almost fetishizing it. Similarly, James Marsden’s character — a mildmannered, Harvard-educated screenwriter — only truly gains the respect of his disdainful attackers, and only finds his own sense of self-worth, once he unleashes the primal fury he never knew he had inside of him in order to protect his wife and their home. Marsden and Kate Bosworth co-star as a husband and wife who return to her family’s farm after her father’s death. Alexander Skarsgard, as her lustful ex-boyfriend, leads the pack of surly locals who make their lives increasingly difficult. RATED: R for strong, brutal violence including a sexual attack, menace, some sexual content and pervasive language. RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes. ASSOCIATED PRESS RANKING: Two stars out of four.
“Moneyball”
You don’t have to know about VORP to enjoy the story of how a bunch of stat geeks changed the way baseball teams assess and acquire players. Sure, it helps if you’re a fan of the sport and if you’ve read Michael Lewis’ breezy and engaging best-seller “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.” Sabermetrics — the process of applying statistical formulas, rather than on-field appearance and general makeup, to determine a player ’s worth — wouldn’t seem like an inherently cinematic topic. But Lewis made lesser-known guys like Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford leap off the page. And the cajoling patter from Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager who pioneered this experimental philosophy, would seem tailor-made for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who co-wrote the script along with fellow veteran scribe Steven Zaillian. Still, what’s most pleasing about Bennett Miller’s film doesn’t really have to do with baseball. As Beane, Brad Pitt is at his charismatic best — a little weary, a little weathered, but that complexity only makes him more appealing. Jonah Hill is at his best here, too, as Beane’s sidekick: the perfect foil for such a force of nature. He and Pitt bounce off each other beautifully. But what’s wrong here has nothing to do with baseball, either. “Moneyball” never feels like it’s building toward anything, even if you know how the A’s 2002 season unfolded. RATED: PG-13 for some strong language. RUNNING TIME: 126 minutes. ASSOCIATED PRESS RANKING: Three stars out of four.
“50/50”
It could have been agonizingly mawkish: The story of a young man with everything ahead of him who learns he has a rare form of spinal cancer, one that he only has a 50 percent chance of surviving. Instead, “50/50” is consistently, uproariously funny, written with humanity and insight and directed with just the right tone every time. Comedy writer Will Reiser crafted the script based on his own cancer diagnosis when he was in his early 20s. His words are filled with dark humor and a wry recognition of the gravity of this situation, but also with real tenderness. And director Jonathan Levine pulls us into this intimate world through an abiding naturalism. He’s made a film about cancer that’s effortlessly affecting. It helps that he has Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an actor
What's at the Wildey Thursday, Oct. 13: “The Invisible Man” 6:30 p.m., “Frankenstein,” 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14: Dailey & Vincent, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15: “Carrie,” 6:30 & 9:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 16: “Frankenstein” 3 p.m., “The Invisible Man,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20: A Beer Tasting & A Movie – “Major League,” 6:30 p.m. tasting, movies starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21: “We’re Still Here” A Musical Revue – Wildey Benefit, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 3 and 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27: A Wine Tasting & A Movie – “Annie Hall,” 6:30 p.m. tasting, movies starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28: “Bats in the Clock Tower,” 7 p.m./ “Psycho” 9 p.m. & Late Night Wildey, 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29: “A Severed Foot in the Door”, 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30: “To Kill A Mockingbird,” 1 and 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3: Beatlemania, 8 p.m., tentative Friday, Nov. 4: Beatlemania, 8 p.m., tentative Saturday, Nov. 5: Wildey Drama Workshop, Marquee Room, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5: Beatlemania, 8 p.m., tentative Sunday, Nov. 6: Sidney Poitier Double Feature: “Lilies of the Field” 3 p.m., “In the Heat of the Night”, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8: Wildey Drama Class Open House, 6:30p. m. Thursday, Nov. 10: The St. Louis Ragtimers, a Coffee Concert, 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 10: “Have U Heard” A Pat Metheny Tribute with Ralph Butler, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11: St. Louis Film Festival The Wildey Theatre is located at 252 N. Main St., Edwardsville, IL, 62025. To assure disabled patrons of seating availability, all Handicapped Seating purchases must be made by phone with the Parks & Recreation Department of the City of Edwardsville at (618) 692-7538. For ticket information, visit www.wildeytheatre.com of great range and subtlety, in the starring role as Adam. He goes through all the requisite stages of denial, frustration, fear and eventually acceptance, but he does so with such believable imperfection, he never feels like a saint or a martyr. But Adam has an ideal balance in his lifelong best friend and co-worker, played by Seth Rogen in the kind of garrulous and lovably crass role Rogen has built a career on. But Gordon-Levitt’s most moving scenes are with the delightful Anna Kendrick as Adam’s young, eager-beaver therapist. RATED: R for language throughout, sexual content and some drug use. RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes. Associated Press Ranking: Four stars out of four.
“Sarah Palin: You Betcha!”
Director Nick Broomfield’s documentary doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know about the former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate, and it won’t change any minds. If you walked in thinking she was a bumbling, inept idiot who’s more concerned with surface than substance, you will walk out thinking the same thing. Similarly, if you’re a fan of Palin and believe she’s a straight-
talking breath of fresh air, a woman of the people with vision for the country, then you will continue to believe that. Actually, there’s such jokey condescension in Broomfield’s approach, his film will undoubtedly fortify her supporters who feel she’s been unfairly targeted. In his typical style, Broomfield (“Kurt & Courtney,” “Biggie and Tupac”) inserts himself in the action, traveling to Wasilla, Alaska, where Palin once served as mayor, and spending months on a “quest for the real Sarah Palin.” Trekking through the ice and snow in a furry hat with ear flaps and a red-and-black-checkered flannel jacket, he’s like Elmer Fudd on the hunt, wielding his microphone as his weapon. His dry, monotone British accent and the absurdity of his fish-outof-water presence are good for consistent laughs, and he does come up with some lively interviews with the insular locals. But rather than enlightening us, Broomfield and co-director Joan Churchill trot out old material and end up with a portrait of a petty 12-year-old girl in an ambitious politician’s body. RATED: Unrated, yet not necessarily objectionable for children. RUNNING TIME: 91 minutes. Associated Press Ranking: Two stars out of four.
“Take Shelter”
The first thing you notice are the skies. They can be vast and blue or ominous and gray; they send sheets of rain that shatter the sun’s rays, with thick drops that glisten with the yellowy sheen of motor oil. Either way, they seem sprawling, powerful, inescapable, and they clearly portend an encroaching danger in “Take Shelter.” But the question is, is this an external threat? Or does it originate from within? Writer-director Jeff Nichols keeps us guessing until the very end — and even the ending is open for interpretation. His film is both daring thematically and striking aesthetically, even as it pierces at the heart of the most relatable, everyday anxieties we all experience. He achieves such a seamless balance and such a gripping, tense tone, it’s hard to believe this is only his second feature film. At the center of this increasingly frightening scenario is the tremendous Michael Shannon as Curtis LaForche, an ordinary man whose subconscious produces extraordinarily disturbing visions. Curtis works as a crew chief for a sand-mining company and lives in a modest house in small-town Ohio with his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), and their 6-year-old daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), who’s deaf but is awaiting corrective surgery. He is stoic, hardworking, devoted. But then the nightmares begin. RATED: R for some language. RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes. Associated Press Ranking: Three and a half stars out of four.
“What’s Your Number?”
Hollywood’s new age of realistically raunchy, femaledriven romantic comedies takes a step backward with this dollop of forgettable fluff that’s as dull and predictable as they come. Director Mark Mylod wades through a similar R-rated sensibility as “Bridesmaids” and “Bad Teacher” but delivers the usual vanilla of most PG-13 romances. As she usually does, Anna Faris comes through with a spirit and quirkiness far more engaging than the material merits, creating a character you’d like to embrace if only she weren’t forced to behave so stupidly and shallowly. But it’s difficult to get caught up in what essentially is a one-note, feature-length gag about a woman’s sudden fixation that she’s slept around too much, sending her on a quest to reconnect with former lovers, figuring one must have been her perfect mate. RATED: R for sexual content and language. RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes. Associated Press Ranking: One and a half stars out of four.
October 13, 2011
On the Edge of the Weekend
17