Hugo

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Christopher Lee
Running Time: 128 min.
Rating: PG

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

There's this theory that the last two months of each year are reserved exclusively for "adult" movies. Arriving last November, Martin Scorsese's Hugo seemed at least on the surface to be an exception. Based on an acclaimed children's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick and filmed and released in 3D, it felt exactly like the kind of giant family feature that would clean up at the box office, with parents taking their kids in droves to the theater as if it were an early Harry Potter installment. But they didn't. Maybe too sophisticated for children and too kid-friendly for adults, it ended up as a critically acclaimed commercial flop that racked up a healthy number of Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and wins. All those wins came in technical categories, which is ironic considering that wasn't even the most impressive aspect of the picture for me. I'm always weary when someone tells me something "has to" be seen in 3D. It actually makes me less interested in seeing it, so in the case of Hugo where my interest level was already minimal, the decision to wait for a home viewing was an especially easy one. My mind won't change on 3D overnight or even with Scorsese's endorsement, but this is still a magical film with or without it.

It's 1930's Paris and a 12-year-old boy named Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives in the walls of the Gare Montparnasse train station with his alcoholic uncle (Ray Winstone) following the death of his father (Jude Law) in a museum fire. When his uncle suddenly disappears Hugo is left on his own to maintain the clocks and continue working on his father's final project: Fixing a broken automaton robot he believes contains a secret message from him. While stealing parts to repair it he's caught by the station's grumpy toy store owner (Ben Kingsley) and attracts the unwanted attention the Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen), who catches orphans and locks them in cages. His only friend turns out to be the toy store owner's goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) who joins him in unlocking the mystery surrounding the automaton and discovering its strange connection to her godfather's hidden past. It isn't until the full nature of the mystery is revealed that the film really starts to take off as up to that point everything is visually spectacular (deservedly winning Oscars for Robert Richardson's cinematography and Dante Ferretti's art direction), but ordinary from narrative standpoint. That doesn't last long though. 

John Logan's screenplay takes its time for a reason, and since trailers and reviews have been liberal in revealing the secret, so will I. Isabelle's godfather is really legendary A Trip to the Moon filmmaker Georges Melies who's now washed up and embittered, forced into retirement following World War I, with his life's work seemingly lost and legacy long forgotten. Film historian Rene Tabard (Michael Stuhlberg), who's written and lectured on Melies even believes him to be dead. What happens next shouldn't be spoiled other than to say Scorsese merges actual biography and fantasy in a way that needs to be seen to be believed. For about an hour straight this film enters what I like to call "the zone," where you're completely swept away by the story to the point that you forget you're even watching a movie. It's a level of perfection few films reach but Scorsese gets there, at least for the last third of the picture.  The extended middle portion of The Tree of Life played in that area earlier in the year, but there's a flashback section here taking us through film history that's emotionally moving in a way I wasn't completely prepared for going in. It'll probably play best for film buffs but I can't imagine anyone else watching it wouldn't also be affected by how beautifully it's presented.

Having heard about this flashback section beforehand, my biggest worry was Scorsese turning the story into a public service announcement for film preservation (which admittedly wouldn't be the worst cause to force on us anyway) and shoehorning the rest of the movie into that. This doesn't happen, as the biggest relief is how well all the the narrative pieces fit together and tie into the central theme of broken people in need of fixing. It not only extends to Hugo, but Georges' wife and former actress Jeanne (Helen McCrory), as well Sacha Baron Cohen's comical inspector. There's a sub-plot involving him and the station flower girl (Emily Mortimer) that could have seemed completely cornball in another director's hands, but instead comes off as genuinely touching and organic to the story.

For some strange reason a lot of criticism has been leveled against the performance of young Asa Butterfield as the title character and I'm kind of at a loss as to why. He's mainly called upon to look in wide eyed amazement at everything with his expressive eyes and turn on the waterworks when necessary and does that just fine. What's strange is that despite playing the protagonist and being the driving engine behind the narrative, the film doesn't live and die by his performance like you'd figure it would. He's important, but ultimately just a cog in the machine, which is fitting considering the film's central theme. He doesn't give a poor performance at all but if he did or Scorsese picked a less talented child actor, a part of me thinks the picture might not have suffered much at all. It's about Hugo, yet it isn't. Butterfield does good work, but it kind of perfectly blends in, possibly causing an understandable reluctance from many to praise it. Moretz is better but that's completely expected given her experience, and if she looks and even acts a little old for the role (despite being exactly the same age as Butterfield) it's understandable since the Isabelle character seems to be written as slightly older. But this is Ben Kingsley's movie, giving a career-high supporting performance that went surprisingly overlooked during awards season. It isn't off base to claim he's the actor most responsible for the film's success, bringing an uncommon amount of depth and gravity to a bitter man simultaneously running from and toward his past.

Chalk this up as yet another entry in the nostalgia craze that swept through theaters in 2011, joining the likes of The Artist, Super 8, War Horse, Drive, Midnight in Paris and many more. But give this credit for at least depicting a relationship with the past that isn't completely full of the warm and fuzzies, even if does end that way. It only suffers in having a section so powerful that the rest of the film has trouble holding its ground with it. And while it seems we were obligated to honor Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen for just releasing anything, this (unlike 2010's Shutter Island) feels as if it would still be garnering massive praise without the knowledge Scorsese directed it. Yet he's inseparable from it anyway. Given its size and scope Hugo still manages to feels almost embarrassingly intimate and personal. It doesn't at all feel like the work of a filmmaker pushing 70, but one still trying new things and pushing himself in different directions. I may not always agree with those directions but it's impressive he would try something this unexpectedly ambitious when he clearly doesn't need to and could just pump out the same stuff he has been. The nicest surprise accompanying Hugo is that it wasn't listed among the nine Best Picture nominees as a favor to the person who made it, but because it actually deserved to be.

Shutter Island

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Max Von Syndow, Jackie Earle Haley, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas, Patricia Clarkson
Running Time: 137 min.
Rating: R

MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

If nothing else, Martin Scorsese's much anticipated and long delayed Shutter Island makes a great case for how important it is for a film to finish strong. Unfortunately, that finish was partially spoiled for me beforehand so there's little way of knowing my reaction had I been left completely in the dark. As far as big twists go, this one won't be accused of being terribly original but what's impressive about it is how Scorsese bothers to stick around and explore every facet of it after the reveal. You'd figure an approach like that would result in an anti-climactic fiasco not seen since the psychologist's silly speech at the end of Psycho, but instead, the explanations make the film look better in hindsight and imply that maybe there was more to the story than just a "gotcha" ending. The movie itself almost seems interested in how it arrived there, and as a result, so was I.

Of course, the running joke since the its release early this year was that Scorsese's "slumming it" with a cheesy thriller. He is, but faint praise as this may be, it's no worse than some of the lesser entries in his catalog like Bringing Out the Dead, The Aviator and Gangs of New York and it's definitely a lot more fun. And it's probably the only thing he's directed that's my kind of movie, as even his best films seem to invoke respectful admiration from me and nothing more. So as someone who doesn't hold his work on the gold pedestal everyone else does, my expectations were fully met, even if I'm unsure my reaction would be the same after another viewing.

At its center is an investigation taking place in 1954 that brings Federal marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to Ashcliffe Hospital, an asylum for the criminally insane located on the mysterious Shutter Island. They're looking into the disappearance of prisoner/patient Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), a woman institutionalized for drowning her three children, but instead Teddy suspects he's accidentally unearthed a massive conspiracy involving mind control orchestrated by the hospital's chief psychiatrist, Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley). As Teddy's tormented by hallucinatory flashbacks of his wife, Dolores (Michelle Williams) who died in a tragic fire a few years earlier, escaping the island with his mind intact soon takes precedence over cracking the Solando case. And it's a good thing it does because the investigation itself isn't interesting aside from the memorably bizarre supporting performances that include Max Von Syndow as a crazed evil doctor, John Carrol Lynch as the Deputy Warden, an unrecognizable Elias Koteas as the man Teddy believes killed his wife and could be locked up in the dangerous "Ward C," and Jackie Earle Haley, who's most impressive of all as the deranged patient harboring important information. Patricia Clarkson (whose pivotal role can't really be discussed) tears it up in a scene at the midway point that re-energizes the story, taking it in an entirely new direction. It's only when Teddy and Chuck attempt to escape the island that everything picks up and its non-stop tension until the finale.

At the risk of possibly giving away too much it is worth examining the nature of this big twist, which bares more than a passing similarity to the one that closed my favorite thriller, 1997's The Game, (fittingly that film's director, David Fincher, was originally attached to this project). It goes without saying this suffers in comparison, as anything would. With nearly identical motivations, this twist calls into question the nature of everything that came before and has you re-think the story's purpose, with the key difference being that The Game was grounded in reality. Whereas that film earned its final catharsis through a carefully constructed series of events, here we have certain things occurring only inside the protagonist's head, others really happening and it's difficult to draw the line between what's real and what isn't. So when the big reveal comes the only thing lacking is genuine emotion because we don't trust it. The script (based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel) isn't cheating, but it isn't exactly playing totally fair either. The strength it does share with that film is its willingness to stick around after the reveal to truly explore its ramifications, right up until literally the final line of dialogue.

The exciting and skillful last third of the picture is filled to the rim with disturbing images and it's mostly here where it becomes apparent Scorsese is the director, not some hack trying to make a schlocky potboiler (even if this does still kind of qualify as that). DiCaprio is solid, if unspectacular, until this portion of the film where he has to go all out emotionally and you gain a greater appreciation for what he was going for earlier in the procedural scenes. While I can't say I jumped with anticipation at the prospect of a fourth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, or they necessarily bring out the absolute best in one another each time out, their partnership is always creatively solid and interesting. No exception here. The dependable Ruffalo delivers as always while Kingsley admirably performs the difficult task of having to explain some pretty insane stuff late in the picture.

I've heard many say the film needs a few viewings to be fully absorbed and appreciated, but I'm conflicted whether it's even that deep. On one hand, I can easily see the film aging well with the twist holding the story up for further interpretation, but it's equally possible this could end up being the kind of routine thriller that exits your mind a week after you've seen it, never to be considered again. I'm still debating which. Anyone claiming Scorsese sold out by making a mainstream genre picture would be just as off base as loyalists claiming it's some kind of overlooked masterpiece because his name hovers above the credits. But when judged exactly for what it is, it's tough to argue that Shutter Island isn't skillfully made and a lot of fun.

From The Vault: House of Sand and Fog

Director: Vadim Perelman
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Shoreh Aghdashloo, Frances Fisher, Jonathan Ahdout
Release Date: 2003
Running Time: 126 min.
Rating: R

**** (out of ****)
"Masterpiece" is a word I try to use very selectively when reviewing a motion picture and not after careful consideration. This is one of those cases where it applies. For some reason I had problems remembering what film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2003, which is either a poor reflection on my memory or that film, but considering I usually remember what film won in any given year, I'll say it's more likely the latter. After looking it up, I found out it was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. But it doesn't really matter.

What I can tell you with great certainty is that whatever film won that year was the wrong choice if it was released the same year as House of Sand and Fog. When it was over I felt like a better person for having seen it and felt like paying closer attention to how I treat people and how I view their behavior. For me, it was one of those rare movies that makes you think as well as feel.

After failing to pay false tax charge Kathy Nicolo (Connelly), a depressed recovering alcoholic who's husband just left her, is evicted from the house her father left her before he died. Now she's homeless and the only one willing to help is local sheriff Lester (Ron Eldard) who makes sure she has a place to stay and gives her the number of a good attorney (Frances Fisher). Before her and her lawyer can begin their fight it's auctioned off by the county and bought by Colonel Behrani (Kingsley), a former officer under the Shah in Iran who relocated his wife and son to America. He's had to work odd jobs just to make ends meet and they've been living in an apartment that's way beyond their means. After seeing the ad for this house in the paper it seems as if all his prayers are answered. He purchases it with the plan to renovate and resell it for four times it's worth, then be able to pay for his son's college education and improve things for his family.

The coastal Malibu house bears an uncanny resemblance to the family's former home in Iran further cementing Behrani's attachment to it and its representation for a better life in this country. He's now the rightful owner of the property, with a deed of sale to prove it. There's nothing Kathy can do. She 's lost her house. Behrani will sell it back, but ONLY at four times its value. What happens from here is shocking and heartbreaking and puts two total strangers on a collision course toward unimaginable tragedy and the saddest part of it is that it's really no one's fault. She thinks this man stole her house and in a sense, she's right.

He's living in a stolen house, as there was no good reason she should have been evicted in the first place. Regardless, he's the owner so he shouldn't, and isn't, obligated to return the house to her. He should be able to sell it for a profit and be able to provide a better life for his family. He's right also. They're both good people who would probably get along in most normal circumstances. In fact, they're great people. Except they're caught in a terrible situation where they make questionable choices and it brings out their worst qualities. These people could live next door to you. They're like you and I and that's what makes this situation so scary.

Behrani is an honorable man, but he's also very stubborn, somewhat hostile toward women, and can only see one side of the issue. Kathy is negligent, failing to open her mail for months, which would have informed her of this bogus tax charge. The character that drives the conflict forward like a freight train is Ron Eldard's Lester, a local officer who's essentially a nice guy but gets too personally involved with something he has no business getting into. The more the relationship between he and the lonely Kathy escalates the more it negatively impacts his ability to see the situation reasonably and act accordingly. Not only as an officer of the law, but as a human being. That's about all I can give way without spoiling anything.

Paul Haggis' Crash, which won Best Picture in 2005 explored issues very similar to the one covered in this film, but it lacked the real, raw emotional power that resonates throughout this film. With Crash, I was always aware I was watching a movie (albeit a very well made one) and that these people were brought together not by circumstances, but screenwriting. I never got that feeling watching this as it doesn't strike a false note once. Every single action each character takes in this story I believe they would take. I believe anyone in their situation would take it.

There's a tendency when criticizing films these days for everyone to dismiss any movie that has tragedy befall it's characters as "contrived." I hate it as much as the next person when a movie tries to elicit unearned sympathy. In this movie though, it's earned. Sometimes in life good people do bad things to one another and tragedy occurs. That's a fact. We can choose to look the other way or admit to ourselves when a film like this comes along that we can learn something from. It's honest. Even it's characters are honest with one another when they're behaving at their absolute worst.

In some ways, this film reminded me of Todd Field's In The Bedroom, but even that film contained a character that could clearly be identified as the villain. Here, the situation's trickier and as a result more morally complex. I'm sure many would identify Eldard's cop as the villain, but even he starts out with pure intentions and is essentially trying to do the right thing by helping this woman. What he doesn't count on is how he'll feel about her and how that will effect his relationship with his wife and kids and Behrani's family. He's not trying to hurt anyone, but as the situation worsens so do his decisions and his prejudices slowly begin to surface. Morally he is the most flawed character as he ends up stepping way over the line and abusing his authority as an officer of the law. Supposedly women audiences really hated the Kathy character because they thought she was "too weak." But Kathy can't reach out to her family for help because she's afraid what they'll think of her. Anyone else would be too.

This movie, based on the 1999 bestselling novel of the same name by Andre Dubus III, was written and directed by Vadim Perelman, who's best known for his work on televison commercials and videos. Amazingly this is his first feature film and he was drawn to the material when he read the book on a flight to one of his commercial shoots. He has said the book spoke to him personally as he himself was an immigrant from Russia and could relate to many of the story's themes. I haven't read the book (although I definitely will now) but I have the feeling Dubus had to have been pleased with this adaptation.

The movie was shot beautifully by Roger Deakins, who is probably the best cinematographer working today and whose impressive credits include The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo and A Beautiful Mind. The ominous, foggy coastal shoreline becomes as much of a character as anybody else in the film the way Deakins shoots it, as he never ceases to amaze when he's behind the lens.

Perelman made his first order of business obtaining Ben Kingsley for the role of Colonel Behrani and what a wise choice he made as I can't imagine anyone else doing this role the justice he does. Kingsley won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1982 for Gandhi, but his performance here is better. Luckily, the Academy did see fit to nominate him for again in 2003 for his work here, but unfortunately this time Sir Ben lost to Sean Penn for Mystic River. Having now seen both performances I can officially say Kingsley was robbed, which is no slight on Penn, who's one of our finest actors. If we were talking about Penn's performance that same year in 21 Grams then we might have a contest. Maybe.

As Kathy, Jennifer Connelly goes places emotionally few actresses are capable of and her work in this joins Hilary Swank's in Million Dollar Baby as one of the best female performances of the modern era. To see an actress put it all out there like she does in this film and not be recognized or rewarded with so much as a nomination is pretty disheartening. What she does in this film isn't easy and I have to admit I was exhausted just watching her. Connelly fans will also be happy to know that the movie's ending does include a scene with her on a pier, which I'm starting to think might be something that's written into her contract.

Shohreh Aghdashloo did receive a well deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actress here for her nuanced work as the Colonel's wife, Nadi. An Iranian immigrant herself she brings an aura of authenticity to the role as a woman who can barely understand a word of English, but could teach her husband a few lessons in sympathy and understanding. She has a limited idea of the atrocity that's happening around her, but has unending devotion to her family and cares for Connelly's character, taking her in like a wounded bird. She accomplishes all of this with limited screen time and even less dialogue.

I've read some reviews that cite Ron Eldard as the weak link in the movie, but when you share the screen with Kingsley and Connelly that's understandable. I thought he did an excellent job in a very, very tough role. Best known for his t.v. work in the '90's on shows like Men Behaving Badly and E.R., he's never really had a platform in feature films to show what he's got. Other actors would have played Lester as a stereotypical jerk cop but Eldard, under Perelman's skilled direction, knows to play him as a good guy who's slightly off his rocker and kind of stupid. He's got a goofy, normal guy charm that makes you not take him seriously which technically shouldn't work, but here it makes the events and his behavior more frightening and realistic.

As I reached the last quarter of this film I have to admit I had a difficult time watching. By this point the suspense becomes unbearable, the characters' actions more irrational and the movie becomes a pressure cooker just waiting to boil over. In an interview on the bonus features, Eldard says the saddest thing about the movie is that everything could have been avoided had one of the characters just stopped, took a deep breath and assessed the situation. I felt that toward the end of the film one of the characters did stop and decide all of this just isn't worth it and reaches out to end it. Unfortunately, this act is misinterpreted and leads to further tragedy.

There's an alternate ending included, but it's all about vengeance (which isn't what this story is about) and was justifiably scrapped in favor of the one they used, which is equally tragic, but in tone with the rest of the film. When this movie was over I couldn't help but feel angry and have conflicted thoughts about being a citizen in a country where this could conceivably happen. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if something like this actually has happened. This film touched me on levels no recent one has, but I can't say I'm eager to watch it again. It was an ordeal to sit through, but an experience not easily forgotten.

Lucky Number Slevin

Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Lucy Lui, Ben Kingley, Stanley Tucci
Running Time: 109 min.
Rating: R

***1/2 (out of ****)

I wasn't expecting much going into the unfortunately titled Lucky Number Slevin. In fact, I didn't really have any interest in seeing it at all despite numerous recommendations. But I'm glad I did. The movie starts as as a whip-smart crime thriller but then somewhere along the way turns into an astonishing tale of redemption and revenge. It takes an ordinary story and makes it extraordinary, which is what the best films are supposed to do. It also has the best twist ending in a crime movie since The Usual Suspects in 1995.

Slevin (Josh Hartnett) has a bit of a problem. He walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him, got mugged and had his nose broken. When he goes to crash at his friend Nick's pad in New York City, Nick's nowhere to be found. What he does find is a perky next door neighbor Lindsey (an adorably quirky Lucy Liu) and two thugs who think he's Nick. Before long we realize Nick was knee deep in some serious shit with two feuding mob bosses: "The Boss" (Morgan Freeman) and "The Rabbi" (Ben Kingley). The film turns Hitchcockian in that it becomes a case of mistaken identity, but Slevin almost all but gives up in attempting to convince these guys he's not Nick. It ain't gonna work. To make matters worse he's being trailed by an infamous assassin named Goodkat (Bruce Willis), who's motives we're not sure about right until the end. With Lindsey's help they attempt to uncover the mystery.

It seems like I've described a gritty crime drama, when in fact the movie's really a black comedy with sly humor and quick, witty dialogue. You really have to pay attention as things move very, very fast. The plot is complicated and intricate with many twists and turns, but never impossible to follow.

This is the first time Josh Hartnett has really been asked to completely carry a film on his shoulders and he does it with breezy confidence in a surprising performance. It also says a lot that he has no problem holding his own with screen legends Freeman and Kingsley, who are in top form. Lucy Lui's character, for all intents and purposes, should be a throwaway role but it isn't. She's a key player in his situation and it's a tribute to the script and her performance that that's never forgotten, even at the very end. The movie cheats a little, deliberating withholding information from us at times, but it's understandable and worth it once we get to the final pay off which does hold up upon repeated viewings and rewards us for paying close attention to every detail.

The movie begins in an empty airport terminal with Bruce Willis' character in a wheelchair telling an urban legend about a horse and a gambling debt to a total stranger. How the movie goes from that to where it ends up, and how it does it, is nothing short of brilliant. Writer Jason Smilovic and Director Paul McGiugan (who previously directed Hartnett in Wicker Park) have done what seems like the impossible. In today's movie world, where every crime movie seems like nothing more than a Tarantino knock-off, they've made an original crime movie that's fresh, smart and exciting. That alone makes Lucky Number Slevin worth everyone's time.