Parkland

Director: Peter Landesman
Starring: Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Billy Bob Thornton, Jacki Weaver, Paul Giamatti, James Badge Dale, Ron Livingston, David Harbour, Tom Welling, Jeremy Strong, Mark Duplass, Gil Bellows, Colin Hanks, Jackie Earle Haley
Running Time: 93 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)
  
In the midst of the media coverage surrounding the half-century anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, I caught this news program that talked about how miraculous it was that Abraham Zapruder was able to keep his 8mm camera steady on the President's limo for over 26 seconds when the shots rang out. It was one of those facts I always knew was amazing but never seriously contemplated. How did he do that? And why isn't it a bigger story? Writer/director Peter Landesman's Parkland is all about details just like that. Details that have unfortunately been tossed aside in favor of speculating on a myriad of unproven conspiracy theories for the past few decades. This is finally the movie about everything else. The really important stuff no one focuses on, which only makes it that much more frustrating that critics have so casually dismissed it.

In recounting the surreal and chaotic events that took place in Dallas following the assassination, the biggest worry was that this could become another Bobby, Emilio Estevez's overtstuffed historical ensemble piece that turned RFK's killing into a goofy game of "spot the star," as an impressive cast participated in what merely amounted to a large-scale soap opera. There's none of that here, as a similarly stacked ensemble is comprised mostly of character actors who slide invisibly into their roles in a manner similar to real life people they've been chosen to portray. It's as if Landesman knows this is a topic that's been explored to death on film and TV, but usually in the most obvious and uninteresting ways possible. He responds with a take that's legitimately different, gripping and informative. That the most powerful story and performance rests in the hands of a lesser known actor playing a person few know even existed, speaks volumes.

Based on Vincent Bugliosi's book, "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy," the movie depicts the events of November 22, 1963 from a number of perspectives. The doctors and nurses at Parkland Memorial Hospital who tended to the fatally wounded President. Secret Service chief Forrest Sorrels (Billy Bob Thornton). JFK's security detail. The FBI. Lee Harvey Oswald's guilt-ridden brother Robert (James Badge Dale). And of course Dallas-based clothing manufacturer Abraham Zapruder (Paul Giamatti), who was at Dealey Plaza unwittingly capturing the entire horrific event on film with his home movie camera. With a sweep this broad and the story examined from so many angles, there was a real risk of this being an unfocused mess, but those fears are put to rest with an opening half-hour that generates an almost nauseating level of suspense while visualizing disturbing details we've only heard about the shooting's immediate aftermath. And many we haven't.

Much of the action occurs in the Parkland where Kennedy arrives without a pulse or breathe sounds, but a weak heartbeat. Describing him as barely "alive," upon arrival would be using the loosest possible definition of the word, but first-year surgical resident Dr. Jim Carrico, almost by chance, is handed the unenviable duty of resucitating him. Joining him is head nurse Doris Nelson (Marcia Gay Harden) and eventually Dr. Malcolm Perry (Colin Hanks). Carrico's played by Zac Efron, subverting expectations by not only disappearing into the part, but doing surprisingly well in an emotionally gut-wrenching sequence. The look on his face when he realizes who's been brought in and what happened is priceless. I'd say it's the moment of the movie, if not for the five or six other ones that could reasonably compete with it.

Seamlessly incorporating actual news footage within the film, the events of the day are so detailed and chaotic it almost feels as if this is a handheld docudrama unfolding in real time, taking us along for the ride while managing to somehow sidestep tired recreations of famous scenes. The approach  even extends to the depictions of JFK (Brett Stimely) and Jackie (Kat Steffens), whose faces are covered through much of the proceedings. Until they're not. Jackie obviously has more to do, but Landesman wisely casts a complete unknown, sparing her any added pressure as she grieves on the sidelines, rarely taking center stage. This is more frightening because it reflects the First Lady's marginalization by the Secret Service as they switch their allegiance to new President, Lyndon Johnson (Sean McGraw), who was, by all accounts--no matter your opinion of him politically-- a class act in the days immediately following the tragedy.

The President's story, and the country's, is told through these seemingly ordinary people in Dallas, at times playing as if it were an post-assassination procedural, illuminating under-reported facts. Like Robert Oswald's quite, ashamed belief in his brother's guilt the very minute he hears the news of his arrest. Torn between Lee's actions and their lunatic mother Marguerite (Jacki Weaver) looking to cash in, an Oscar-worthy James Badge Dale does the unthinkable in actually earning sympathy for a family member of Lee Harvey Oswald. His inability to obtain a proper burial for the man who killed the President is understandable, but not as understandable as no one willing to provide one. When Robert comes face-to-face with his emotionless brother, he sees what we do: a monster. Besides baring a shocking physical resemblance to Oswald, actor Jeremy Strong's speech pattern and mannerisms are so frighteningly accurate that it comes as a relief only a single scene is spent with him. Any more would probably be too sickening to take. 

Just about the only character as guilt ridden as Oswald's brother is Zapruder, played by an unsurprisingly terrific Paul Giamatti. Burdened with footage he never wanted, we finally get an inside look into how and where that 8 mm film developed and the ensuing negotiation with Life magazine for it's release to the public. While it may be hard to classify anyone as a "hero" under circumstances like this, Zapruder definitely comes closest, and Giamatti navigates the Dallas business owner's battle to rid himself of the footage while still insuring the Kennedys aren't exploited. As it turns out, the right magazine got it, and when it was time to publish the pictures, they did it the right way. And years later, when it was time to let the footage go, they managed to take the high road again. We wouldn't have been so lucky today. One of the most shattering scenes is when we finally get to view Zapruder's famous home movie along with him, reflected through the eyes of the man who filmed it.

Guilt and responsibility is what ties all these characters together. For Secret Service head Sorrels, played by Billy Bob Thornton, it's the realization that the President was lost on his watch. For FBI agent James Hosty (Ron Livingston) it's the lost opportunity of having Oswald in his office and leaving threatening notes just weeks before the assassination. It's a nearly unrecognizable Tom Welling as Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman, trying to drag Kennedy's corpse out of Parkland against the medical examiner's wishes to perform an immediate autopsy. What's fascinating about the scene is how Kellerman seems like the hero protecting the Kennedy family while the medical examiner comes off as a clueless twit. History would prove who the real twit was. The body should have stayed in Dallas. And how about the Secret Service barely being able to fit the casket on the plane. It would be unbelievable if it wasn't all completely true, making this the only movie about this tragedy that should probably come with an accompanying spoiler warnings.

While recognizing anyone's interest in Parkland goes only as far as their interest in the actual event and I was easy to please, this is a topic that's been poorly handled. The most recent hatchet job being the Killing Kennedy TV movie, which depicted the tragedy as a cross between an unfunny SNL skit and a cheap crime show reenactment. 2011's superb The Kennedys miniseries came closest to doing the tragedy justice, while still serving as only part of a much larger story. Oliver Stone's JFK is undeniably masterful filmmaking, but it's not about the actual assassination so much as our theories about the potential conspiracies surrounding it, which look less believable by the day due to the lack of any concrete evidence. Our desire to keep looking stems mostly from the refusal to associate such a pivotal event with a nobody like Oswald. But conspiracies are boring compared to the actual truth surrounding ordinary people who had to react to an extraordinary event they were unprepared to be a part of. But calling this the best film made yet about the Kennedy assassination isn't completely accurate. So far, it's the only film that's actually been made about it.

Silver Linings Playbook

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, Anupam Kher, Shea Whigham, John Ortiz
Running Time: 120 min.
Rating: R

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

With Silver Linings Playbook, writer/director David O. Russell walks the razor's edge between comedy and drama for 120 minutes. The feat he pulls off is so subtly miraculous it's likely few watching will conciously realize just how difficult it was. And I hope they don't. Analyzing it is the equivalent of trying to figure out a magician's greatest trick. It's best just not to think about it too much and enjoy the ride. The film is somehow even better than you've heard and that success is mainly attributable to its honesty, since, like its characters, it's always looking you straight in the eye and telling you the score. It's a searing no holds barred drama about mental illness while at the same a old fashioned, crowd-pleasing romantic comedy the likes of which we haven't experienced in years.

How this manages to be so edgy and disturbing, yet warm and inviting all comes down to tone and Russell masters it, pushing the conventions of the genre to its breaking point while still finding a way to play within its rules. It's not spoiling anything to reveal that the ending comes tied nicely in a bow but, for once, that's beside the point. If you only saw the final scenes you'd might think it was a fairy tale, which makes the fact that it feels so completely earned even more remarkable. And I believed every last minute of it. The suspense comes not in the anticipation of what will happen, or even how, but in the realization that you're nervous for these characters because you've been in their corner since the beginning. Sorely needed in an era when smart, mainstream crowd pleasers have seemingly gone out of style, it's the kind of film that makes me forget I'm supposed to be reviewing movies, serving instead as a reminder why I watch them. Empathizing with two mentally ill characters and their behaviors may not be a walk in the park, but if they're crazy, then it's a good bet we all are. 

Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has it rough. After eight months he's finally released from the psychiatric hospital into the care of his parents, Pat Sr. (Robert DeNiro) and Dolores (Jacki Weaver), but his wife, Nikki still has a restraining order against him, stemming from the violent episode that put him there. While brutally attacking a fellow teacher who was having shower sex with his wife might qualify Pat for a medal instead of institutionalization, it's actually indicative of a much larger problem and the final straw in his lifelong battle with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. His father isn't in much better shape, having just been laid off and in the throes of a gambling addiction, betting on his beloved Philadelphia Eagles in hopes he'll earn enough to open a restaurant. He calls Pat his "lucky charm" for the games, but since his return home he's been anything but, refusing to take his meds and in complete denial about the collapse of his marriage.

Vowing to look for "silver linings" and stay positive, Pat sees his therapist (Anupam Kher) and starts physically training for what he hopes will be his eventual reunion with Nikki, but one that seems increasingly unlikely to happen with each violent outburst. Enter his friend's sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a recently widowed recovering sex addict stubbornly trying to strike up a friendship with him. But all Pat sees is in her is an opportunity to get back in touch with his ex. She'll help him out, but only in exchange for being her partner in an upcoming dance competition. Pat soon finds out the hard way he'll need to do more than just talk about having a positive attitude and finding silver linings to turn things around, and he'll need the help of his friends and family to do it.

Going by only the trailers and commercials, I was pretty sure I knew exactly what to expect going into this. Boy was I wrong. It basically looked like another As Good as It Gets, or a fluffy dramedy about a mentally ill man-child being cured by a beautiful woman. I was also concerned that Lawrence looked entirely too young for the role and fully expected to be creeped out by her pairing with Cooper, which seemed to stretch it even by Hollywood standards. But here's the thing. It doesn't matter. Chemistry is chemistry and there are no rules as to which actors can generate it together. Brilliant performances are brilliant performances and they can come from anywhere at anytime. When an actress is right for a part, she's just right for it. Age be damned. And it's a credit to Russell that his screenplay (adapted from Matthew Quick's 2008 novel) fully acknowledges that potential roadblock for audiences, clearing it right away.

From the moment Lawrence makes her entrance as Tiffany, it's clear no other actress could have played this quite like her or bounced off Cooper as skillfully. It's one of those tiny miracles that sometimes happen after you've cast a movie and realize all the actors attached dropped out for a reason and the cards aligned as such so that we could see these two stars appear together on screen, with a comic rhythm and energy that's unmatched. It's obvious from the characters' first awkwardly hilarious meeting, continuing into each succeeding scene. There's beauty in seeing a standard set-up being taken to places we've never seen before because of the conviction of the performances and pitch-perfect direction.The film often alternates wildly between emotional displays of anger and depression and flat-out hysterical comedy without missing a beat, often within a single scene. And Lawrence and Cooper are right there with it the entire time, hitting just the right notes.

Cooper (who might never hear the word "Hangover" again) displays a bottomless depth of emotion in this role no one could have expected, flipping a switch between scary outbursts and almost childlike naivete. When Pat demolishes his therapist's office after his wedding song plays over the loudspeakers, only to quickly recover and realize what he's done, the look of disappointment and hopeless resignation on his face says more than ten pages of dialogue could. The entire film is a push and pull as Pat struggles to stay positive and move forward with an illness that keeps pushing him back. We hardly see or get to know the wife who betrayed him, but it's impossible for us not to despise her anyway. Still, we can't help but wonder that if it wasn't that, would something else have sent him over the edge anyway?

Tiffany may be the pull to get Pat going, but she's NOT a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl," the infamous term ascribed to a whimsical female movie character who exists for no other reason than to appear out of nowhere to save the male protagonist. Try telling Tiffany she's a MPDG. She'll more than likely give you the finger, tell you where you can shove your manic pixie dust, then kick your ass. Or sleep with you. Male or female. Doesn't matter. This is a character with agency, a life and goals of her own. It's easy to argue she's as motivated by Pat as he is by her. It's just another example of how Russell challenges us and Lawrence takes a character we think we know already and just completely subverts all expectations of how she's supposed to function in the story.

It's going to be tough for most (especially guys) to be able to separate Jennifer Lawrence from Tiffany Maxwell after this and that's not to in any way imply the actress is "playing herself," but is instead a testament to how deep a chord she hits by coming off so real. You believe she lost her husband at such a young age and that she's already this emotionally damaged from it. No games. She is who she is. And because the qualities we respect in her character come so close to the qualities anyone would respect in reality, the film straddles a line most hesitate even going near.

One of Lawrence's best scenes comes opposite Robert DeNiro's superstitious, gambling addicted patriarch, who partially blames himself for all his son's problems and thinks the Eagles can fix it. The way football is used in the story and how it informs this family's entire dynamic is masterful, perhaps representing the best incorporation of sports into a non-sports screenplay that I've ever seen. And for two hours it was great to finally have DeNiro back. This isn't Meet The Parents or Meet The Fockers we're talking about.. It's not just a huge role in screen time, but a hugely important one that the actor absolutely tears into with gusto, especially in his scenes with Cooper, with whom he has a great connection that seemingly carried over from their partnership in Limitless. It's as if all the skills we've long respected about his approach but were obscured for too long in sub-standard projects, are once again firing on all cylinders here. Firm but caring, and working hard to keep his family together despite obvious personality faults, the actor's essaying of Pat Sr. represents his best work in at least a decade, reaching its peak late in the picture.

Given a bit less to do, Jacki Weaver still brings a reassuring warmth to her role, making the most of her screen time as a mother trying to keep both her son and husband on the straight and narrow. Even Chris Tucker gives an unusually restrained performance as Pat Jr.'s best friend, Danny, who pops in and out from the mental hospital. I cared about this family and wanted them to overcome the obstacles they were facing because they're good, honest people who are written intelligently. While that seems simple enough on paper, it's still still astonishing how few movies in this genre seem to succeed at it.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when films nominated for all these awards have very little, if anything, to say about humanity. And it happens more than you'd think. This is exactly the type of project that's most difficult to execute well given just how much is dependent on finding that perfect balance in tone.The dance-off that closes the film is trickier to pull off than it looks, as is nearly everything else Russell does leading up to it. It can't be easy to choreograph dancing to look bad enough to be bad, yet just barely good enough to still be entertaining and funny. He takes a gigantic creative risk in the third act by embracing conventionality, but it pays off because he earned his way there and any other resolution would feel like a betrayal of the story and its characters.

There's no feeling like being in a theater with an audience wildly clapping and actually being on board with them for a change. After the credits rolled I was in a complete state of euphoria, literally wanting to run down the street telling everyone what I just saw. And that's coming from someone who's notoriously a tough sell on movies awash in optimism. But that's because they usually lie. Russell finds the way in, telling a brutally honest, relatable story that's just rough enough around the edges to leave an unforgettable impression. Silver Linings doesn't insult the audience with an easy solution, instead acknowledging life's difficulties in the most direct, unsentimental way imaginable. Raising the bar to an entirely new level for what's notoriously been the slightest of genres, it's that rare kind of film you can envision yourself constantly returning to with a different perspective.