Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Director: Eric Appel
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, Spencer Treat Clark, Jack Lancaster, Tommy O' Brien, Thomas Lennon, Arturo Castro, Quinta Brunson, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Will Forte, Jack Black, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Scott Auckerman 
Running Time: 108 min.
Rating: TV-14 

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Maybe not surprisingly, Roku Channel's parody biopic Weird proves to be the ideal representation of iconic satirist Al Yankovic's career. You almost couldn't envision any other approach, as the Funny or Die fake trailer that provided the inspiration for this project is expanded into a full blown spoof befitting an artist who specializes in them. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story may have covered similar territory, but this never feels like a retread since Al's long been the trailblazer for this brand of performance comedy. Co-writer and first-time director Eric Appel gets that, turning what could have been a one-joke sketch into a full-length feature that's just as subversive as the parodies Yankovic's been successfully churning out for decades. 

This movie is Weird Al through and through, with certain portions of truth lifted from his life, but twisted and exaggerated to the extreme. It also happens to be very funny in a gut busting kind of way, boasting an impressive number of jokes and gags that really hit their mark. Even his most casual fans will still appreciate the script's smaller details and its unironic commitment in presenting him as the biggest superstar on the planet.

While being popular enough to have major artists clamoring to be spoofed by him, the film takes the same digs at fame and celebrity as his songs, filled to the brim with cameos and off-the-wall gags. Al's fingerprints are all over this meta parody, placing special emphasis on how complaints about originality have followed him throughout his career. Of course, they haven't, but that only makes this funnier, as does the depiction of one of the friendliest, most straight-laced performers as an out of control trainwreck. 

As a child, Alfred Yankovic (Richard Aaron Anderson) is strongly discouraged by his disciplinarian father Nick (Toby Huss) from pursuing his musical interests and playing the accordian. But when Al's mom Mary (Julianne Nicholson) purchases him one and he's caught sneaking out to a polka party as a teen, his dad snaps, smashing "the devil's squeeze box" into pieces, along with Al's dreams. But when rooming with friends Steve (Spencer Treat Clark), Jim (Jack Lancaster) and Bermuda (Tommy O' Brien), inspiration strikes in the form of a bologna sandwich, as Al (Daniel Radcliffe) suddenly alters the lyrics of The Knack's "My Sharona."   

After an unexpectedly confrontational meeting with music executives Tony (Al Yankovic) and Ben (Will Forte) Scotti lead to Al securing a record deal, he enlists the services of his childhood idol, Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) as his manager. Enjoying a career explosion in the 1980's, Al becomes romantically involved with vapid opportunist Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood), who would do anything to get the career bump of Al parodying one of her hits, leading him down a dangerous path of alcohol abuse. Desperate to be taken seriously as an original artist, Weird Al must overcome his inner demons to regain control of his life so he can continue making music that entertains fans across the globe.

A scene where young Al sits at the dinner table with his parents sets the tone for what the film will continuously deliver for the remainder of its running time, as the boy's hysterically told to abandon everything that makes him who he is. With Al's dad taking out all his pent up frustration and disappointment on a hapless accordian salesman, he envisions a more respectable future for his boy working at the "factory." Al's form of rebellion is escaping to illicit polka parties, which sends his father even further off the deep end, unintentionally pushing the singer on his path to superstardom.

With an early, uproarious section that invokes musical biopics like The Doors, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Rocketman (though it may remind some more of Howard Stern's Private Parts) the movie really starts having fun when Al's career takes off and we're privy to the "inspiration" behind some of his highest charting hits. Even when only a tiny fraction of what's shown is true, the screenplay's clever in how it incorporates all these Easter eggs and real details from his actual career into a biopic that couldn't be more fantastical. Much of this comes from the origins of "Eat It," "Like a Surgeon," and "Amish Paradise," which are presented as stories in and of itself rather than just parodies.  

In his quest for musical respectability, Al's many brushes with celebrities include a pool party featuring a who's who of comedic actors playing the likes of Andy Warhol, Pee Wee Herman, Wolfman Jack, Divine, Alice Cooper and Tiny Tim. And that's not even including the other appearances sprinkled throughout, like Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, Arturo Castro as Pablo Escobar and even Weird Al himself in a bigger, more consequential role than you'd expect, playing it straight as record executive Tony Scotti. 

Rainn Wilson leaves an impression as the quirky Dr. Demento while Evan Rachel Wood is a flawless 80's era Madonna, nailing all the pops star's mannerism and expressions as she seduces Al down a dark, destructive path. But it's Radcliffe's film, delivering a delightfully wacky performance that teeters between wide-eyed innocence and unhinged comedic madness, putting an ingenious spin on the title character that justifies seemingly odd casting. The anchor around which all the chaos revolves, it's easily his craziest role since Swiss Army Man, and having Yankovic's voice dubbed over the performance and concert scenes is only fitting given the genre this is sending up.

The action-packed last act should seem like a wild departure, but given Yankovic's sensibilities, it instead feels completely on brand. A prankster until the end, he very literally goes out in a blaze of glory, while still finding time in the film's original song to remind the Academy to nominate him for original song Oscar. But at the very least he can claim to be the only musician to receive a biopic that's intentionally embarrassing, hilarious and inaccurate. Likely bound for cult status, Weird captures a one-of-a-kind entertainer the best and only way it can.        

The Ides of March

Director: George Clooney
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood
Running Time: 101 min.
Rating: R

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)
 
Is there any better casting than George Clooney playing a liberal Presidential candidate? If the actor ran right now he'd probably win and you'd have problems convincing me he'd be any worse a choice than the other available options. Having also wrote and directed the timely political thriller The Ides of March, he knew the right role to give himself. As expected, he smoothly plays Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris like it's effortless. But the film's not about him. At least not completely. It's about his press secretary Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), who starts off as an idealist and ends up as someone else entirely. We kind of know that's where we're going but the real thrill is in how Clooney's airtight script and precise direction masterfully turn the screws to take us there. It's a step-by-step examination of how someone becomes corrupted and why our political system is so broken. It's a stretch, but not unrealistic, and I believed if something like this were to go down, this is how it would and these are the kind of bad decisions people make that allow it to happen.

Two such decisions send the story spiraling out of control and they're easy to justify because the characters making them are smart. The first starts with Gosling's Stephen receiving a phone call from rival Presidential campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) trying to woo him over to their side. And for good reason. He's the best. It's a tempting offer since Morris' Presidential campaign is struggling and they're about to lose Ohio. An Obama-like idealist to his core (or so it seems at first), Morris refuses to compromise his beliefs to get elected, which makes one wonder how he got into politics at all. Topping the list is his refusal to court the potentially election-clinching endorsement of Sen. Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), which does come at a price. Stephen's on a sinking ship and knows it but his loyalty to Morris and senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) won't let him jump. But the opposition's interest in him is undeniably flattering, resulting in a fleeting moment of weakness that has disastrous consequences.

The second mistake involves a young, connected intern named Molly (Evan Rachel Wood) with whom Stephen becomes romantically involved. Only that's not the mistake. It's unwise, but the real mistake is hers. And it's a doozy. From there, the plot, with all its twists and turns, unravels and a reporter (Marisa Tomei) threatens to bust it wide open in a welcome return to the days in movies where journalists wielded considerable power. At one point Giamatti's character states that the problem with Democrats is their refusal to be like Republicans. They won't get down in the dirt and sling mud. But corruption crosses party lines.

A while back Clooney revealed his 100 favorite movies and now he's directed one that's an interesting companion piece to that list, recalling similarly themed political/conspiracy thrillers of the '70's like The Parallax View and All The President's Men. It's not surprising a smart, engaging film for adults would underperform at the box office right now, but that critics would use it as a punching bag is, with more than a few disparagingly referring to it as a glorified TV movie. I don't get that at all, even if it may be more a compliment considering the healthy creative state of television these days. It could be because it covers a topic that's often explored on the small screen or that the revelations in the film aren't shocking per se (though one did blow me out of my seat), but instead meticulously constructed and executed, like a chess game with its pieces moving across the board. And all the players are perfectly utilized.

Given the banner year each had it's no surprise Gosling facing off against Clooney on screen yielded such successful results, making Gosling worthy of competing against himself for a Best Actor Oscar if that were allowable (and now I'm thinking it should). In a way what he does here is similar but completely different to his more muted, intense performance in Drive in that he's playing a cool, calculated character suddenly rattled threatened by circumstances exceeding his grasp. It's a difficult role, but he expertly sells the tricky transformation from idealist to cynic. Giamatti and Hoffman are two of our finest contemporary actors, but they could have easily been marginalized in an ensemble like this. Neither are, with each at the top of their games making essential supporting contributions on which the entire foundation of the story rests. Evan Rachel Wood is tragically tremendous as the doomed intern in way over her head.     

I'll admit to laughing a little when Clooney's script (adapted from Beau Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North) was nominated for Best Adapted screenplay thinking it was just another way for the Academy to pat their favorite movie star on the back. But he deserves the praise, streamlining a complicated narrative into a clean, concise cinematic experience free of any excess fat. Technically speaking, it's perfect. Consider it the Michael Clayton of political thrillers, right down to its chilling final image. If that film marked the turning point for Clooney as an actor then this is his as a director, easily surpassing all his three previous efforts behind the camera which were solid, but dry. There's nothing dry or slight about this. Here's a movie with something important to say. The political system may be broken but those engulfed in it should look no further than the mirror to determine what's most in need of fixing.

Whatever Works

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley, Jr., Henry Cavill, Michael McKean
Running Time: 92 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Could there possibly be a better idea than having Larry David star in a Woody Allen movie? He does a better Woody Allen than Woody Allen. The only idea I can think of that comes close is casting Evan Rachel Wood as his wife. Your level of appreciation for Allen's latest New York-set comedy, Whatever Works is entirely dependent on how you feel about David as a comedian. If you love the brand of self-loathing comedy he dishes out on Curb Your Enthusiasm, this movie is your dream come true. If not, then you'll hate it. It's that simple. Me? I think he's a comic genius and was counting down the days until he was given an opportunity to finally star in a feature film. The teaming of these two comic minds doesn't disappoint. But what's even more hilarious than anything that happens in it is Allen actually thinking he would attempt to give a real performance. He had to know that his star would just make fun of the material.

As David would be more than willingly admit, he isn't necessarily a good actor, but he's perfect for the role and the entire reason the film succeeds. This is an unproduced script Allen dusted off from the 1970's and it really feels (and even looks) like it, with dated humor and references that when delivered/mocked by David all of the sudden become a lot less dated and much funnier. We can congratulate Allen for not only realizing he was too old to play the role himself, but casting a youngster who does a better job than he ever could in not just hiding the flaws in the script, but making them work in the movie's favor.

The primary appeal of the film is that David seems as befuddled as we are that he's starring in a Woody Allen movie. As Boris Yelnikoff, an eccentric chess teacher from Greenwich Village who "almost" won the Nobel Prize for physics, he even pauses to break the fourth wall and tell us how befuddled he is in the opening minutes. When he's not complaining about life, he's berating kids, dumping chessboards on their heads and insulting their mothers. A cynical misanthrope prone to panic attacks, his most memorable one caused him to jump out of his apartment window and shatter his leg after his wife told him she was leaving him. He now walks with a limp, which David hilariously overplays.

Boris' world of rigid routine and order is disrupted when a runaway from Mississippi named Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Wood) shows up outside of his apartment looking for a place to crash. After some coaxing he agrees and discovers the bubbly, airheaded beauty pageant contestant is just about the only person he's ever met not just willing to put up with his neurotic behavior, but loves it. Naive and unaffected by everything around her, she views his petulant diatribes as brilliant nuggets of wisdom and develops a serious crush. Just the thought of that is hilarious in itself, but how Boris' handles the information is even more priceless. They get married with Melodie becoming more his caregiver than wife. With the arrival of Melodie's estranged parents Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and John (Ed Begley Jr.), the film goes from being funny to being so stupid that it's funny.

The introduction of all these supporting characters relatively late in the game (including a potential love interest for Melodie played by Henry Cavil) does kind of throw everything off balance, but in sort of a good way. That's because David is there to mock them and Allen's attempt to tie life lessons up in a bow before the final credits roll. There's this underlying feeling running through the third act that Allen, who's completely stuck in an Annie Hall time warp, thought he was making an enormously important picture about the transforming energy of New York and that in the face of self-doubt and chaos everyone has to find their place in the world and do "whatever works" best for them. But what's so funny about that is Allen's seemingly silly message becomes digestable and almost strangely profound because of David's performance...as himself. Or rather a slightly nastier version of the "himself" he plays on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He makes it okay for us to go along for the ride because he never takes anything seriously. Wood, more known for playing sullen teenagers, tackles a type of role we've never seen her in and perfectly compliments David's neurotic insanity. She plays it completely sweet and sincere and it's a surprise to discover she's this good at comedy.

It also helps that Patricia Clarkson is such a lively presence as Melodie's uptight, religious mother and, as usual, the underrated Ed Begley, Jr. steals the few scenes he's in as the ultra-conservative but clueless dad. Both their sub-plots are ludicrous, but they sell it like pros and David's sarcastic reaction to their arrivals helps a lot. Ironically, the end result seems close to what Allen must have been aiming for and it could be considered his most enjoyable comedy in years, ending a string of lackluster efforts interrupted only by the drama Match Point in 2005. All he had to do was dust off one of his old scripts and insert Larry David. Maybe we should just insert David into every movie from now on. At least we'd be guaranteed to laugh, if nothing else. Hardly a minute went by when David was onscreen that I didn't. Insults are just funnier when delivered in his dry, deadpan style.

Not surprisingly, public response to the film has been unfairly harsh and it's fun to imagine how much worse a review David would give it and himself than the critics who trashed it. They missed the point. He doesn't have to be a good actor. He just has to be himself. A big monologue comes at the end with Boris telling us what he's learned. Yeah, right. It's Larry David. We know he never learns anything. But thanks to him, Whatever Works works.

The Wrestler

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Ernest Miller Running Time: 115 min.
Rating: R

**** (out of ****)

Boxing has Rocky and Raging Bull. Basketball has Hoosiers. Football has Rudy. Now wrestling has The Wrestler. Only it comes at the highest price and is the darkest of victories. Now everyone knows. The curtain is pulled all the way back and at times it’s really difficult to watch. I kept trying to convince myself that director Darren Aronofsky was exaggerating for effect. It's a movie. It’s not really that bad. But let’s not fool ourselves. It is. We know because we’ve seen the long list of wrestlers who passed away too soon. The numbers don’t lie and neither does this film, an unflinching, brutalizing look at the life of a past his prime wrestler that’s about as uplifting as a funeral. The film starts dark and then it gets darker until finally it goes so dark it practically plunges itself into the depths of emotional hell.

Supposedly, Aronofsky took a trip up to Stanford, Connecticut to show the film to WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Why he even bothered I have no idea. Those who watch wrestling would seek the movie out anyway, with or without McMahon’s endorsement (more likely without it). Of course he despised the film and now after finally viewing it I find it hard to believe he didn’t hurl himself off the roof of Titan Towers. I’m sure he thinks this “exposes the business.” Damn right it does. The truth hurts.

His denouncement was the first positive sign for me that Aronofsky had probably made a great film. But as someone who's been watching wrestling far longer than I have movies, I couldn’t help but be overcome with wildly mixed feelings. Thrilled as both a fan and filmgoer that the profession of “wrestler” and what they do has finally been treated with the respect and dignity it deserves on screen, but also at the same time thoroughly devastated with the cold reality that unfolds.
Mentioning this film alongside the best sports movies could seem blasphemous to many since wrestling is so often belittled as “fake” by those who don't understand the work involved. But its brilliance is in how it explores the toll that unfair label has taken on those who earn their living doing it, or in the case of this protagonist, struggle to. This isn’t a feel-good movie about redemption, overcoming the odds or even winning the big match. If pushed for comparisons, it comes closest in tone to the gritty Raging Bull, digging so deep and pulling so few punches that the professional wrestling industry as a whole had no choice but to disown it. The accolades and superlatives for that accomplishment belong to Aronofsky, and especially Mickey Rourke, drawing on a well-documented lifetime of pain and suffering to give a performance for the ages.

Rourke is faded 80’s wrestling superstar Randy “The Ram” Robinson, who at the height of his popularity was one of the most recognizable and successful professional wrestlers in the world. Now, twenty years later, his hearing is almost gone, he’s nursing a laundry list of wrestling-related injuries and instead of filling up arenas he lives in a trailer park where he can’t even make the month’s rent. He spends his weekdays working at the supermarket and the weekends wrestling local independent shows in New Jersey. The energy of the crowd (however small it may be) keeps him going but the closest he gets to his glory days is playing himself on an old 8-Bit Nintendo game with the neighborhood kids.

Following a brutal, hardcore match with crazed opponent Necro Butcher (Dylan Summers) Ram collapses in the locker room, suffering a heart attack. He’s told he can never wrestle again but how he’s given the news by the doctor is particularly cold and condescending, as if he views his profession as just a crazy side hobby he can drop at any time rather than what he does for a living. He can’t just "stop." It’s not that simple.

For Ram there is no life outside of wrestling. His only friend is a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) but she has an invisible line she doesn’t want to cross with customers that prevents their relationship from going any further. His estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) hates his guts and at the beginning we’re confused as to exactly why. By the end we’re not. Ram may be a force between the ropes but outside of them he’s essentially a wounded dog, discarded by the business (and it is very much a business) he literally gave his heart to. But he’s still got one match left to go, against his old arc-nemesis The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller”), if he can make it.
Afonofsky, bringing to life the vivid details of Robert Siegel’s script, shows us EVERYTHING. The blading. The steroids. The locker room. The promoters. The planned finishes. Nothing is left out and there are no inconsistencies to be found (and believe me I was looking). I was surprised not only how much wrestling action was in the film, but how good and seamless it looked. And now maybe after seeing close-ups of staples, thumbtacks and barbed wire removed from someone’s flesh, cynics may actually think twice before throwing that ridiculous “fake” label around. Aronofsky has finally done what I've always wanted to my entire life: Shut those people up for good. Pre-determined? Yes. Fake? Try taking a chair shot to the head. Doesn't hurt. I promise.

It’s often said a director or writer did their research before making a film but in the case of Aronofsky and screenwriter Robert Siegel it must have been exhaustive and the results are visible in every frame. There so many little, specific details that are thrown in that can’t be given away at risk of ruining the first-time experience. Besides being thrown right into the ring we’re given unlimited access to the locker room and the camaraderie that exists between the wrestlers. One of my favorite moments is Ram discussing the plans for his match with Butcher, who when you first see him in the locker room reminds you more of a tenured English professor than a hardcore wrestler. Then we see the match and can’t believe it’s even the same guy. After over 20 years watching I thought I had seen everything in pro wrestling but there were some moments here that were really eye opening and educational in shocking ways, like a sleazy promoter paying Randy chump change for a show in a high school gym. The saddest of all is a legends autograph signing where wrestlers are either in wheelchairs, hooked up to I.V’s, or asleep. Only a couple of fans show up.

Here's where I’m obligated to talk about the incredible comeback of Mickey Rourke. Since I'm criminally unfamiliar with much of his early work there’s no baseline for which I can judge his performance here against those, not as if there should be any need to. But I am fully aware of what happened to him and how far he had to climb to get back. And I can tell you, in this film, measured against any criteria, for 115 minutes MICKEY ROURKE IS A PRO WRESTLER. But don’t believe anyone who tells you he’s “playing himself.” If that's true how would you explain how he’s somehow more believable in the role than most of the wrestlers you’d see on television every week? This guy could headline Wrestlemania right now. But it's as Randy where he should earn his Oscar.
Discussing the merits of the film outside of Rourke’s performance is difficult but not because he overshadows it. In fact, just the opposite. He’s in every scene and must carry every moment but what sets his performance apart from Oscar rival Sean Penn’s in Milk is that Rourke makes everything and everyone around him better. While Penn’s work was technically staggering it wasn’t giving like this is. There’s something deeper going on and an emotionally draining ordeal that that could have easily turned into the cinematic equivalent of slitting your wrists is grounded in the warmth and sensitivity Rourke brings to the role. Inside the ring Ram is a maniac but outside of it he’s a gentle soul. He never plays Randy as pitiful cause, instead as a man soldiers on and rolls with the punches despite the obvious emotional pain he feels.

Watching him I got the impression I was witnessing the kind of performance that people will look back on 30 years from now as a standard-bearer in film acting, a Brando-level achievement. Him not winning the Oscar would be a flat-out horror and that’s taking into account that Penn gave arguably the performance of his career. Rourke is that great. The role had originally belonged to Nicolas Cage, who dropped out. To his credit, he knew this was Mickey’s part, or maybe he just wet his pants at the sight of a staple gun. Either way, Cage finally makes a career move we can all support.

As much as it may appear Rourke does it alone, he doesn’t. Evan Rachel Wood has maybe only two or three big scenes but they’re absolutely huge and it’s a powerhouse turn, much more restrained than you might imagine. The dichotomy between Ram and Marisa Tomei’s stripper Cassidy cuts to the very heart of the film. Both dress up (or in her case down) and put on a show. Neither is taken seriously when the show ends, nor do they know who they’re supposed to be when that curtain closes. Two lost souls kicked to the curb in the professions they love when they've reached their expiration date.

Gone are the stylistic and visual flourishes that have become hallmarks of Aronofsky’s films like Requiem For A Dream and The Fountain. The latter was perceived by many to be a failure. Not by me, but if you think he needed a "comeback" film after it this was exactly the kind of one he should have made and an even bigger challenge. Practically stripped bare of everything but Siegel’s script and the actors we find out what’s he really got.
Aided by documentary cinematographer Maryse Alberti the movie has a docu-style feel that's uncomfortable and at times even scary in its immediacy, but never drawing unnecessary attention to its method. We're taking this trip with him as it succeeds even beyond taking us with cruel intimacy into the ring and depicts an even more desolate, depressing world outside of it. A deli scene where Ram finally reaches his breaking point is so frightening I'm swearing off cold cuts for life. The ‘80’s soundtrack could easily double as Guitar Hero’s Greatest Hits, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And if you don’t get chills when Ram comes through the curtain to Guns n’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” it’s time to check for a pulse. Had Axl not given them the song for free it would have been worth every penny the studio paid for it.

Because it’s an Aronofsky film we know he won’t supply any easy answers or let us go with a pat ending. One of the few movies I've seen in recent years that ended perfectly. The beauty of the final minutes is how it can be interpreted as either tragic or uplifting. It stays with you. Why should you feel sorry for someone who chose to do this for a living? You shouldn’t, and like the protagonist the film never asks for your sympathy or sentimentalizes the situation. It just asks you to think about it....hard.

Maybe years down the line if wrestlers are ever respected as athletes and entertainers rather than demeaned as “independent contractors” we can look back on Aronofsky’s accomplishment as taking the first steps toward getting there. Wrestling now finally has its film and there’s nothing anyone can do to take it away. Not even McMahon. But what might be the saddest thing about The Wrestler, sadder even than the struggle of the title character, is that the wrestling business is unable to share in the victory.

The Life Before Her Eyes

Director: Vadim Perelman
Starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Brett Cullen, Gabrielle Brennan
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rating: R


*** (out of ****)

Is it possible for a single performance to save a film? After witnessing Evan Rachel Wood’s transcendent work in director Vadim Perelman’s sophomore effort, The Life Before Her Eyes I’ve come to the conclusion that it can. While I always considered her a fine actress, now I’m starting to wonder whether she’s even better than that and could, in a few years time, emerge as one of the greats if she makes the right choices. All three of those stars you see above are for Wood and as tempting as it is to use this entire space to talk about her performance, I’m also obligated to talk about the film it's in, which is a far cry from it in quality. But that hardly makes a difference. She provides all the depth and complexity necessary and because of her a controversial ending that could come off as manipulative instead becomes strangely moving.

I could see many complaining the final minutes (which I won’t give away) are a cheat but I’d argue it’s not on the basis that the film is plainly obvious with its intentions and doesn’t hide anything. The worst way you could approach this is as a mystery thriller, going around telling everyone you “guessed the ending” It's not about the ending, or at least it shouldn't be. That’s why it’s so disappointing to hear Perelman refer to his film in interviews as a “psychological thriller,” although if he he really believes that it could offer up a possible explanation for its flaws. As a mystery it fails, but as a coming-of-age drama and a meditation on how traumatic experiences shape our lives, it works well. In 2003 Perelman directed House of Sand and Fog, a somber effort that made me think and feel. This one made me feel much more than it made me think, but in doing so effectively paints a portrait of how one tragic incident can have a ripple effect that lasts lifetimes.

Everyone has certain things that make them uncomfortable if depicted on screen. For me just about the only thing I have difficulty watching is school shootings and I almost avoided the film altogether because of it. I can sit through pretty much any “torture porn” horror movie without flinching but barely made it through Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. Something about them disturbs me on the deepest level. I’m not sure whether it’s the cruel randomness, the unpredictability or realism. It’s probably a combination of all three with some other factors thrown in, but luckily we don’t see many, which is a relief considering the amount we get in real life.  Unfortunately, I picked a bad one to watch because as far as fictional school shootings go, they don't get much more horrifying than what we see in the opening and closing minutes of this film.

The movie begins in a high school bathroom, where it also ends. Wild, free-spirited Diana (Wood) and her best friend the conservative Christian Maureen (Eva Amurri) are involved in a Columbine-like school shooting. The girls coil in terror as the shots ringing out in the hallway grow closer and the gunman enters the bathroom announcing he will only kill one of them. They have a split-second decision to make, an intriguing moral dilemma we won't discover the full result of until the final scenes.Flash-forward 15 years and the adult Diana’s (Uma Thurman) seemingly perfect life is unraveling as she wrestles with survivor guilt on the anniversary of the shooting. She’s married to philosophy professor, Paul (Brett Cullen) with whom she shares a rambunctious daughter Emma (Gabrielle Brennan) but can’t appreciate anything because she’s never shaken the tragic events of that day. And that’s really all that can be said about that timeline without giving too much away.

This is a tale of two films. One is a moving, coming-of-age drama in the vain of The Virgin Suicides while the other comes off as a lackluster TV movie of the week. It isn’t exactly clear whether the flashback or the flash forward represents the present day until late in the film, but what’s abundantly clear right away is that one of these stories is so far superior to the other that’s it feels like a completely different motion picture experience. The script jumps back and forth constantly between them but luckily the flashback story gets more face time, or maybe it doesn’t, but just feels like it because it’s so strong.

Forget about just being believable as best friends, Wood and Amurri share such great chemistry their characters come across as genuine soulmates bonded for life. They’re interesting, exciting people with goals and have real problems teenagers would actually face. I was hanging on every word they said and as much of a let-down as the other half of the picture was I can’t say this portion was shortchanged at all. It does explore the details leading up to the shooting and invests the supporting players with considerable depth, like the school shooter himself (an effectively creepy John Magaro) and a kind-hearted, true intentioned science teacher who time has passed by. In just a glance or single line of dialogue Wood conveys everything: Diana’s disappointments, her anger and the woman she hopes to eventually become. She expertly crafts Diana’s hard outer shell but subtly hints at someone else inside secretly wanting to burst through, capable of great things if she could just make it through this rough period in her teenage life.

First-timer Emil Stern’s script does the miscast Uma Thurman no favors by making Diana’s adult life a complete drag. There’s a good reason for it and given the ending I understand and even advocate the necessity of this plotline but that doesn’t make it go down any easier. Her husband’s a bore, her daughter’s a brat and when the film takes a trip into supernatural territory it’s somewhat of an unwelcome diversion. Thurman’s material is just so much weaker than Wood’s that despite a good effort she's fighting an uphill battle. Besides baring no physical resemblance at all to her younger counterpart they don’t even seem to share any of the same mannerisms and in a movie focusing on the same character in two different timelines, that’s a pretty big deal.

Perelman’s insistence on pushing this as a supernatural thriller in the third act instead of the character study it truly is hurts the film, but fortunately it punishes the far weaker adult Diana storyline. The younger plotline is so well scripted and acted its basically impervious to any of Perelman’s questionable decisions. And I hope you like flowers and water because there’s non-stop imagery of it throughout the picture, but it does perfectly compliment the tone. It’s also hard to complain when everything is so lushly shot by cinematographer Pawel Edelman and well scored by an unusually restrained James Horner. This is a slow-moving, meditative picture that requires some effort from the viewer, yet at times you just have to let go, allowing everything to wash over you to get the full feeling of the experience.

The conclusion sends your heart into your throat, not because of its supposed “shock” twist ending, but because Wood and the almost equally impressive Amurri made me care what would happen to these girls. That’s why its so frustrating that Perelman tries to present the film as something other than what it is. The twist itself isn’t important, so much as what it MEANS. Wood makes us feel that and in doing so finds an emotional truth the director and screenwriter couldn’t fully provide. All the movie had to do was lay all its cards on the table initially rather than succumb to unnecessary M. Night Shyamalan syndrome and Wood would have taken care of the rest. It's actually almost advantageous to know the twist going otherwise it ends up being all you focus on.

It’s rare you see such a massive disconnect between a performance and the film featuring it. Wood's work here is the kind you see in a Best Picture nominee not one plagued with the creative issues this has. It won’t get the credit it deserves not only because of the film’s tepid reception but also because we’re starting to take her talent for granted. She’s cornered the market on the high school wild child role so well that we sometimes forget how brilliant she is at it. But she brought a different kind of maturity this time that we haven’t seen from her in movies like Dow In The Valley and Across The Universe. And in doing that, the film, despite its problems, the film really explore the ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES of a school shooting. Or I should say she explores it in spite of the obstacles the filmmakers put in front of her.

It would have been nice if the picture were as strong as Wood's work but given the choice between getting this performance or the film reaching its full potential, I’ll take her performance. Days later I couldn’t shake certain scenes, all of which were hers. That the movie still couldn’t get where it needed to because gimmicky screenwriting wouldn’t let it, shows how difficult it is to execute this genre well. I’d be interested to read Laura Kasischke's novel from which this is based to find out just how much Wood brought to the screen that wasn’t present on the page. I’m guessing a whole lot. The Life Before Her Eyes demonstrates that even when certain films don’t work like they should, they can still be endlessly fascinating. More importantly for Wood, maybe now I can finally move past that whole Marilyn Manson thing.

Across The Universe

Director: Julie Taymor
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, T.V. Carpio, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, Bono, Eddie Izzard
Running Time: 133 min.
Rating: PG-13

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

You know a movie's trailer is great when you get chills watching it. That was the case many months ago with Across The Universe and since then I've asked myself how it could be possible for the film to live up to those two minutes. With great trepidation I eagerly awaited the film's DVD release and even gave the film's soundtrack a listen thinking it might be interesting hearing actors butcher the most famous songs in The Beatles' catalog. But much to my shock, they didn't at all.

Across The Universe soon became one of the films in 2007 I was most curious to check out. Not necessarily because I thought I would like it, but because I knew that a project with enough guts to center a musical around the work of arguably the greatest band in modern history would either turn out to be a masterpiece or a cinematic crash and burn the likes of which we've never experienced before. I've made it no secret that I don't care for musicals or films dealing with war. I do like The Beatles, but wouldn't be incredibly offended or take it personally if their music were given a shoddy presentation in feature film form. I mean we did already suffer through the film adaptation of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band so what could be worse than that?

Even when I mildly enjoy a movie musical, accompanying it is often a feeling of regret and embarrassment. I'm always asked what it would take for me to REALLY LIKE one. My answer is usually, "I don't know, but I'll know it when I see it." It looks like that day has come and while Across The Universe falls considerably short of being any kind of masterpiece it is a staggering visual achievement that offers up one of the best possible examples of film as literally the art of the moving image.

Many scenes are so visually eye-catching it's as if your wildest dreams have sprung to life onscreen and the director Julie Taymor's approach is so daring that the screenplay can't possibly keep up with it. It's an overindulgent, and at times maddeningly frustrating film that doesn't offer an easy method of entry for anyone watching. Better than ever before it illustrates the theory that it's always more interesting when a filmmaker shoots for the stars and just misses than when they make a perfect film playing it safe. Nothing about this movie is safe, or forgettable.

It's the 1960's and America is deep in the throes the Vietnam War with teenager Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) grieving the death of her enlisted boyfriend while her brother Max (Joe Anderson) is busy goofing off with his friends at Princeton. Their lives are about to change with the arrival of Liverpool dockworker Jude (Jim Sturgess), who comes to America in search of his birth father and ends up joining the two in their trek to New York City. It's there where the three share an apartment with an aspiring Janis Joplin-like singer (Dana Fuchs), a Jimi Hendrix knock-off from Detroit (Martin Luther McCoy) and an abused lesbian runaway (T.V. Carpio).

Lucy and Jude fall in love and not unlike Forrest Gump, the screenplay throws them into nearly every tumultuous event of the decade as Max is drafted into Vietnam, Lucy is knee-deep in anti-war protests and they go on a psychedelic acid trip courtesy of the bizarre Dr. Robert (Bono, who resembles Robin Williams channeling Ken Kesey). We even get a cameo from Joe Cocker as three different characters and even though he isn't supposed to be playing himself he almost does a better Joe Cocker than John Belushi. And all of this is set to the music of The Beatles with more song than dialogue during the course of the film's running time.

Everyone breaking out into Beatles songs should seem forced or out of place, and at certain points it does, but mostly it doesn't. The songs really do advance the story. Actually, they are the story and having raw, untrained voices help lend a sense of realism to the many over-the-top events in the film. Far from The Beatles' most famous songs being butchered, they're actually given a fresh take and in many instances the actors actually bring something different out of the song we didn't notice was there. This is especially true of T.V. Carpio's take on "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" early in the film.

For the first time when a musical ended and I had the songs stuck in my head it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The sequences are bursting with frenetic energy and at times are so visually breathtaking that it hurts to watch and you'll need to come up for air. The most memorable of which is set to "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and features Max's recruitment into Vietnam by an Uncle Sam poster come to life and a horrifying brigade of square jawed officers. Another sequence with Jude realizing his feelings for Lucy in a bowling alley while singing "I've Just Seen a Face" matches it in emotional power, but at the other end of the spectrum. And there's a hallucinatory and visually dazzling excursion with Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard) that I'm guessing would probably be better appreciated under the influence of a controlled substance. There are times where I thought Taymor overindulged and went too far as I found myself asking whether it's really necessary to show American soldiers in their underwear carrying The Statue of Liberty through the jungles of Vietnam. But when dealing with material like this I'd much rather have a director fall on the side of going too far.

All of these scenes are powerful and often emotionally moving, but strangely the story as a whole doesn't quite reach that same level and that's because the screenplay can't help but seem kind of cliché ridden. While that may seem like a huge insult it isn't exactly since musicals play by a different set of rules and by nature are built almost entirely on clichés. And when we're dealing with the sixties that opens up a can of worms in terms of what can be thrown in the script. The draft. Anti-war protests. Forbidden love. Race riots. The emerging rock scene. Counter-culture. The generation gap. You could go on forever. They even find a way to squeeze homosexuality in there. It gets a pass though because musicals are supposed to paint with broad strokes and although many of these issues seem cliché now they weren't back then and The Beatles' music did reflect what was going on at the time with not much more subtleness than this film, so it fits. You get the impression that if the "Fab Four" saw the film they'd probably love it (supposedly Paul McCartney viewed it and did). The movie is sincere, wearing its heart on its sleeve while lacking the inherent silliness that has sunk so many movie musicals in recent years. There's no winking at the camera or anything to joke about here, which is a nice change for a genre that on film could really never be taken seriously at all.

A big fuss has been made about how timely this film is and how it can be viewed as being reflective of what's happening in our country at the moment. While I definitely appreciate the fact that this could make the story resonate more with some, for me it hurts the film a little…at least right now. I've just been so sick of hearing about politics everywhere I turn that I've been completely burned out with it. The last thing I wanted to see was a movie that addresses it, but that's more a reflection on me than the picture. What does reflect on the film though is that at times it seems to be preaching from the pulpit with its anti-war message. Perhaps when some time has past and I go back to the film again it's possible that aspect won't hit as much of a sour note, but I just don't like it when films start proselytizing about politics regardless of whether it's reflective of the mindset in that time period.

There is a feeling that Taymor is trying to jam as many Beatles songs and accompanying supporting plotlines into this as she can which causes the movie to zig zag a little as it heads to the emotional finale, which I think is why the final number doesn't register quite as deep as it could have. The battles Taymor had with the studio over final cut are infamous by now but this version is apparently hers, making me wonder if maybe the studio could have had a point that it needed a little trimming. It's also impossible to care about the three lesser supporting characters as much as Jude, Lucy and Max, which seems to have been an inevitable problem since the screenplay doesn't flesh them out as well. At times the lesser threesome seems to be there just to satisfy the Beatles musical quota, touch on social issues and share space in the apartment like tenants from a sixties version of Rent.

Taymor did make the right call in casting lesser-known names in the roles as Jim Sturgess and Joe Anderson are not only great singers, but even better actors. Sturgess is especially impressive, showing real leading man range in a supremely difficult part. While Evan Rachel Wood has always done strong work in everything she's been in from Thirteen to Down In The Valley, she's been an actress that's difficult to get a handle on in terms of what she's really capable of. There's consistently been a quietness and naturalness to her that's made her captivating, but for some reason has kept her just out of reach for moviegoers. That "one big role" was always missing. Until now. This is the most exposed she's ever been and whatever gap may have existed between her and the audience has now permanently closed. This is a big showcase for her talents.

There's a scene late in the film where Lucy tells Jude that she'd jump in front of a tank to end the war and bring her brother home. Watching the special features on the DVD you'll have no doubt Julie Taymor wouldn't have hesitated to do the same to make sure her vision was carried out exactly how she imagined. Seeing her in action you could understand why the possibility of the studio robbing her of final cut would be devastating and impossible for her to deal with. In all the DVD behind the scenes special features I've seen in recent years I can't remember seeing a director this enthusiastic, interesting, or dedicated. I could tell you that none of it is reflected in the final product but I'd be lying. This isn't just merely a director, but an artist using the film as her canvas.

Taymor started her directing career on broadway with The Lion King before helming feature films like her bizarre but visually arresting adaptation of Titus with Anthony Hopkins and the Oscar nominated Frida, starring Salma Hayek (who cameos here). Across The Universe is not the film that will win her a directing Academy Award but one is coming to her and very soon if she keeps this up. That it failed to make a dent at the box office is of no surprise. It's a given anything this risky and ambitious would polarize audiences and critics, which explains it's nearly 50% split right down the middle on the Rotten Tomatoes meter. But it has struck a very strong chord among a core group of viewers who very passionately love it. I wouldn't go that far, but I understand why.

This is a difficult film to form an opinion on immediately after watching it because it's one of those movies that require some distance and breathing room to fully comprehend what you've seen and make sense of your thoughts. It's kind of like listening to a CD for the first time that's so different and challenging you don't know what to make of it. That first listen is just a formality to say you've heard it and nothing more. Upon repeated listens everything starts to come into focus. This is one of those and when it ended I'll admit I had an itch to watch it again so that opinion would come into fuller focus.

What I am sure about is that this film has something few others possess: An uncompromising vision. It also reminded me just how boring it is when movies are completely perfect. When you're walking a tightrope like this mistakes are going to be made and flaws will be visible. It doesn't make the movie any less memorable and in cases like this it can even make it more more so. Without risk there is no reward. So in taking so many chances Across The Universe just may have captured exactly what made The Beatles' music so special to begin with.

Running With Scissors

Director: Ryan Murphy
Starring: Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Joseph Cross, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin, Jill Clayburgh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gabrielle Union, Kristen Chenoweth
Running Time: 126 min.
Rating: R

*** (out of ****)

"It ain't reality, just someone else's sentimentality. It won't work for you Baby boomers selling you rumors of their history. Forcing youth away from the truth of what's real today The kids of today should defend themselves against the 70's."
-Eddie Vedder

There have been some questions as to just how much of what happens in Augusten Burroughs' best selling memoir Running with Scissors (which I haven't read) is completely fact based. For Burroughs' sake and our own I almost hope none of it is because that would mean some of the characters we meet during the course of Ryan Murphy's cinematic adaptation of the novel could still be roaming the streets. That's a scary thought, but one I'm not discounting because I have no doubt that people at least similar to the ones depicted in this film do actually exist.

Running with Scissors was widely regarded by audiences and critics as the single worst film of 2006 and I can completely see why. After posting this review I'm sure I'll get feedback telling me all the different ways this movie is terrible and I'll likely agree with every single one of them. However, something very unusual happened for me while watching this that I'm forced to give in and admit it. Against all good judgment and logic I was actually enjoying it and by the time it was over I couldn't deny it was a memorable experience. It was like watching a train wreck and I must say I laughed much of the way through.

The film is a complete mess. It's tone is inconsistent, the performances are over the top, its two hour running time feels like days and the movie runs out of steam three quarters of the way through. When it was over I felt like I needed to enter therapy myself. Yet, it works. Actually no, let me re-phrase that. It doesn't work exactly, but for better or worse, it sure is entertaining. And given the characters and the story I can't imagine any other style in which this movie could have been made. The story also somehow manages to come together in the end and have a lot of heart, despite its insanity.

We're told the story of fourteen year-old Augusten Burroughs (Joseph Cross) who struggles to survive the disintegration of his parents' marriage in 1978. His mother Deirdre (Annnette Bening) is a delusional aspiring poet prone to fits of rage and frequent emotional and physical battles with her alcoholic husband Norman (a great, dry Alec Baldwin) whom she claims will eventually kill her. To say this woman is mentally ill would likely be the understatement of the century, but one of the best things about the movie is even though the part is written as broad caricature Bening digs deeper than that and lets us see her vulnerability even in her most absurd fits of silliness (and believe me there are plenty).

The Burroughs' seek marriage counseling from psychiatrist Dr. Finch, who's part father figure, part psychotic Svengali and has a room adjacent to his office he refers to as his "masturbatorium." You could probably guess what he proudly uses it for. The Burroughs' separate, Norman moves out and Augusten is sent to live with Dr. Finch and his bizarre family while Deidre is shacked up in a hotel, over-medicated with her mental health slowly cracking away. She also turns to lesbianism with a woman she verbally abuses in her poetry group (played by Kristen Chenoweth) because... well, let's just say the movie is weird.

What young Augusten finds when he arrives at the Finch's giant pink house of horrors would be enough to traumatize any human being for life, but as rendered onscreen, it's pretty damn funny. We meet Dr. Finch's wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) who's had the Christmas tree up for two years and spends her days on the couch watching Dark Shadows and eating dog food. His oldest daughter Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow) traps her cat in a laundry basket for a week without food or water and uses the Bible as a magic eight ball guiding her on what they should have for dinner.

The youngest daughter Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood) is a teenage sexpot who likes to play with her father's electroshock therapy machine, but is actually the most normal of the bunch. She wants to go to college but is trapped by the craziness that surrounds her. Augusten immediately forms a bond with her that should go further than friendship but can't since Augusten is gay. I think it's this relationship that gives the movie it's emotional weight and focus. The Finches also have a frequent houseguest in Neil Bookman (an unrecognizable Joseph Fiennes) a patient and adopted son of Dr. Finch who still comes in for therapy sessions and sneaks into the house at night to try and stab him with scissors. He starts a sexual relationship with Augusten, crueling and clumsily initiating him into the adult world way too early. When I say Fiennes is unrecognizable in this role I mean it. I had no idea it was him until glimpsing the final credits.

The movie grabs us by the throat and chokes us with 70's nostalgia. This film isn't just set in the 70's, it is the 70's. It dives head first into the garish fashions, disgusting décor, and pop music that permeated through the latter part of the decade. The set and costume design on this movie is absolutely top notch and the Finch house is not just a setting, it's a character in the film. A historical artitifact of the time representing the absolute worst of the decade. Director Murphy (creator of t.v.'s Nip/Tuck) really got this right.

The pop music of the time is hilariously and inappropriately misplaced throughout the film on many occasions to the point where I started to wonder if this may have been done intentionally as a joke. Whether it was or not I could care less. It was funny and entertaining either way. I'm never a fan of music forcing it's way into a motion picture but the marriage of seventies pop music and the offbeat insane characters that populate this blackest of black comedies strangely makes a lot of sense.

If someone told me I had to make a movie and could assemble any all-star team of actors I wanted, there's a good chance I would cast many of the stars of this movie. Running with Scissors is no way Oscar worthy, but a few of the performances could be. There are those who are going to love Annette Bening's Golden Globe nominated turn as the mentally ill Deidre and those who will absolutely hate it with a passion. I can't argue with either one, but you could probably guess which side of the fence I fall on. One thing that can't be debated, however, is that Bening is one talented lady and it took a lot of guts for her to take this on.

Brian Cox lets the humanity seap through as Dr. Finch, who could have easily just been portrayed as a manipulative old quack. Cox never lets it go there and gives us the impression he may actually be a good man with pure intentions, he just flys off the deep end. He also manages to get the biggest laughs of the film. Gwyneth Paltrow's role as Hope is so small it could almost be considered a cameo but she makes the most of what she has and is an important character in establishing the unhappiness and craziness that accompanies the Finch family and the film.

The entire movie, though, belongs to Cross and Wood and their performances as disaffected youths ground the film and help it eventually become what it wants to be: a coming of age tale. They share the screen for the film's best scene when they demolish the kitchen ceiling as Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" blasts over the soundtrack. Their ceiling, but more importantly their world, is closing in and they need to escape everything the only way they know how. As Augusten, Cross is a spectator to the insanity that sorrounds him, while deftly hinting at the despair and lonliness lying just beneath the surface. Wood continues to prove she's one of our most promising young actresses giving Natalie the proper mix of anger, sexiness and vulnerability. Watching, you may feel like them. Trapped, confused and looking for a way out. That was the point.

The movie did something I really liked at the end and told us what happened to the real people these characters were based on. If I'm going to spend two hours with these characters I'd like to know what happened to them. This leads to a nice moment where the real Augusten Burroughs shares the screen with his movie counterpart. You could take exception with this and claim Burroughs is just patting himself on the back but in my book anyone who lived through something like this deserves at the very least a pat on the back. I'd even go as far as to say they deserve a book deal and a movie about their life.

Saying this film isn't for all tastes doesn't quite do it justice. It really isn't for any tastes and doesn't pull any punches. It has balls of steel. The term "it's so bad it's good" was never more applicable than it is here. When it was over I was sure I hated it, but then I realized I wouldn't soon forget a single character, performance or line in the film and I had witnessed an interesting exporation of mental illness and its consequences. More importantly, I had witnessed a story that at it's core is about overcoming adversity and coming out on the other side okay. Congratulate Augusten Burroughs, but more importantly congratulate yourselves if you can sit through it. Running With Scissors is a disaster, but an unforgettable one.