Road to Perdition

8.8

R: violence and language

2002

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Max Allan Collins (graphic novel), Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel), David Self (screenplay)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Rob Maxey

Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall

Music: Thomas Newman

Editing: Jill Bilcock

Production Design: Dennis Gassner

I know it's been a while since I've written. I have been watching movies, but I haven't made writing about them a priority. It still is, so I've decided to write about this movie.

From the director of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road comes Road to Perdition (2002) is the story of hitman Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) and his son Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) who go on the run after a disagreement between the son, Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig), of Michael's boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) After Connor kills Michael's family, Michael and Michael Jr. escape. Now, as as well as protecting his son, he seeks revenge on the Rooney family. As defense, Connor sends Harlen Maguire (Jude Law) to murder the estranged Michael Connor. What I love about this film, of course, is the story. AS a suspense, David reveals exactly what we need to know when we need to know it. My favorite of the story is that all the characters, as sick or as sane as they are, behave in the manners exactly in which you would expect them to. I also love the consturction of Michael's character. The audience is unable to hate him because he killed to support his family, and later he kills to avenge his family as well as protect his remaining son.

The music in the film was beautiful as well. There are times when the music gets a certain way to invoke the suspense of a scene. There is a scene when Michael Jr. waits in the car as his father enters a hotel to retrieve money. Across the street is Harlen watching, waiting. When he sees Michael enter the hotel, he gets excited as does the music which creates the feeling of suspense in the audience because we feel he's excited and ready to kill. As well as being suited for the film, the music just sounds beautiful.

The set design as well is perfect. All the people involved, including Michael Sullivan, dress in fedora hats and trench coats to reflect both vocation and time period. In the darkest moments of the film, rain falls hard and heavy. The cinematography also is stunning as well as utilizing reflections as a storytelling tool. When Michael kills Connor in his bathtub, the door has a mirror on it so when it swings closed, it reveals the bloody body of Connor laying in the bath tub. We only get a flash of this image. Reflections are also well used in the closing scene of the film. Speaking of the end! I don't want to give it away, but it is absolutely perfect.

The movie is very well constructed and is exactly what I love. It's a dark story about love, family, and allies that is told with a fluid motion. I do definitely recommend this film.

Viva Cuba

7.8

Not Rated

2005

Directors: Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Iraida Malberti Cabrera

Writers: Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Manuel Rodriguez

Starring: Malu Tarrau Broche, Jorge Milo, Luisa Maria Jimenez Rodriquez

Cinematography: Alejandro Perez Gomez

Music: Slim Pezin, Amaury Ramirez Malberti

Editing: Sylvie Landra, Angelica Salvador

Production Design: Guillermo Ramirez Malberti

Viva Cuba is a touching film about two best friends, Malu played by Malu Tarrau Broche and Jorgito played by Jorge Milo. Malu and Jorge are neighbors whose mothers forbid them from being friends because Malu's mother is a Christ-loving woman while Jorge's parents are Castro-loving citizens. When Malu's mother finally decides to leave Cuba, she contacts Malu's father to sign the exit authorization papers to permit Malu and her mother to leave. Malu, not wanting to leave Jorge, and Jorge, not wanting Malu to leave, decide to go on a journey all the way across the island of Cuba to stop Malu's father from signing the papers.

What starts out as a simple journey of hitchhikers, turns into an adventure of two children travelling through the jungle and across the country to a tiny lighthouse. Some of their toughest obstacles are not just the police nor their lack of money, but their own relationship. Two 12-year-olds, especially when they're in love, all alone for a week journeying on empty stomachs can lead to many quarrels and makes the trip even more difficult to handle.

One aspect of the film that makes it unique is the miniature fantasy world that Juan Carlos creates with stars that move with the touch of your finger, and mysterious creatures called guijes. This reminds the audience that this is a children's story as well as elevate certain points of the film. Juan Carlos uses animation to distinguish the moments that are within the children's imaginations.

The relationship between Malu and Jorgito is very touching. They deeply care about each other, and while the ending is fairly open, the audience has an idea as to what will come next in their lives. Viva Cuba is a moving film about friendship and unity with Malu and Jorgito as an allegory for the struggle for an independent Cuba. A very sweet film that even my dad enjoyed.

A River Runs Through It

8.8

PG: Momentary nudity, and some language in a family drama

1992

Director: Robert Redford

Writers: Norman Maclean (story), Richard Friedenberg (screenplay)

Starring: Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt

Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot

Music: Mark Isham

Editing: Robert Estrin, Lynzee Klingman

Production Design: Jon Hutman

Costume Design: Kathy O'Rear, Bernie Pollack, Reese Spensley

A River Runs Through It is the true tale of a fly fisherman, Paul Maclean played by Brad Pitt, in Montana told from the point of view of his brother, Norman Maclean played by Craig Sheffer. The boys grow up in Montana as the sons of the town's Presbyterian preacher who loves fly fishing. The tale starts with the brothers as boys to establish their relationship with each other and their relationship with their father as well as establish the importance of fly fishing in their lives and their father's life. We skip the middle years and return to the story when Norman goes back to Montana from college in New York and see how each brother has grown. Neither has grown out of fly fishing, especially Paul.

I think this film is excellent mostly because the story is so strong. The characters are very well developed. The boys' characters are established very clearly at the start of the film. We know what kind of people they are from the very beginning, and by the end of the film, they don't change, they simply grow. Every scene moves the story forward and reveals more of each character. Richard Friedenberg also uses a short, parallel storyline about a different character to reveal Norman's concerns for his brother as well as give the audience more insight into the brother. I also loved how the fly fishing was used to parallel each of the boys' storylines. However poor or well, happy or sad, frustrated or free, their fishing reflects or foreshadows what happens in the rest of the story. With a bittersweet ending, as every film should end, the audience feels satisfied with the entire film as well as the conclusion and outcome.

The cinematography in this film is simply gorgeous. It's easy to have beautiful cinematography when you have a beautiful scenery to work with. Rural Montana simply is a gorgeous setting with the mountains, greenery, and rivers.

One reason this story is so touching to the audience is because everyone can relate. Everyone knows someone that we treasure dearly who faces their own struggles, who maybe follows a path away from God but refuses help towards a better life. That's what the heart of this film is about, and we can all put ourselves in the shoes of Norman or Paul, as the one who wants to help or the one who struggles. Or maybe even both. We feel empathy for both characters, and as with every great story, we can use this one as a tool to guide ourselves and gain insight into our own selves and lives.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

7

R: Language

2010

Writer/Director: Alex Gibney

Starring: Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, and William Branner

Cinematography: Maryse Alberti

Music: David Robbins

Editing: Alison Ellwood

Casino Jack and the United States of Money is a documentary of our nation's greatest, most influential lobbyist - Jack Abramoff. The documentary covers his rise to lobbying from his political interest in college, to his days as a producer, and finally to his ultimate influence and embezzlement in Washington and, frankly, everywhere else in the country from Louisiana to Delaware. Ultimately, the man got exactly what he wanted: unregulated capitalism and a LOT of money. The film interviews people who have studied him and his actions, people who have worked with him, people who have been manipulated by him, and people who have reported on him. The film used a lot of news footage along with photographs and even news headlines and photos to document the tale of Jack Abramoff and all his lobbying. Like many documentaries, this film is done in chapters going step-by-step through his life and scandals.

Like many political documentaries, Casino Jack uses interviews to get a comprehensive view of Jack's actions. There also is a good use of cartoons, mostly involving money an the capital building, to express what happened in DC while Jack was around. The interviews took place in appropriate settings with a minimal set design which prevented distractions from the interviewees. Of course, that's film/television interview 101. Music also was well used to influence the emotions of the audience. Take information that could be objective and by properly adding music gave the audience the impression that what is going on in the film at the moment is not something we should like or approve of.

The image of Jack Abramoff on the movie poster is used throughout the film. Several points throughout the film, this image of Jack Abramoff appears because this is the perfect expression of Jack. He's a well-dressed, powerful, influential man, but his facial expression definitely gives the impression that his intentions are in-genuine and definitely that he has secrets.

In the past few years, lobbying has become a more open issue, and this film is a strong look into the heart of it all. The most heart-wrenching of this film is when Jack pours money into legal, American sweatshops in order to please those who give him money, feed his love of unregulated capitalism, and to manipulate politicians to believe that the sweatshops are perfectly humanitarian when in reality these sweatshops have come with abuse and lead to prostitution of poor women. These sweatshops clearly are filled with human trafficked labor. Due to Jack Abramoff's power, influence, and money he was able to convince politicians for a time that the sweatshops were more like factories as opposed to sweatshops.

The most powerful tool used in this film is specific stories of wrongs. For example, when one interviewee describes an interview with one of the laborers of the factory and when another interviewee describes a trip to Scotland that was paid by the company but in reality had nothing to do with business except maintaining connections between people. Stories like that help the audience to feel how urgent an issue this is as well as gain a comprehensive view of the situation. Many people who worked with Jack throughout his life were happy to interview and tell their story of Jack.

As a documentary, Casino Jack is very comprehensive and covers an important issue. I find I don't usually like to watch documentaries about one specific person because often times they are designed to be like a reality show, and I personally despise reality shows. Everything about reality shows, so I was glad that this film was not like a reality show and more like a documentary.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

8 1/2

R: Adult themes, adult activity, language, violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements

2009

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg

Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace

Cinematography: Jens Fischer, Eric Kress

Music: Jacob Groth

Editing: Anne Osterud

Production Design: Niels Sejer

Costume Design: Cilla Rorby

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish thriller, mystery about a 40-year-old disappearance of the niece of the wealthy Henrik Vagner based on the novel of the same title by Stieg Larsoon. (Part one in a series of three) It stars Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salandar, the girl with the dragon tattoo. She does! She has a fantastic enormous dragon tattoo that goes down her arm, all over her back, and even down her leg. It's really cool. It also stars Michael Nyqvist as the reporter Mikael Blomkvist who plays the detective who searches for the missing woman. This film was very well directed by Niels Arden Oplev. The film had a dark, cold motif which reflects the dark, cold characteristics of Lisbeth, the case, and the Vagner family. Lisbeth has had a difficult, dark life that continues to be so. All the sets in her world are dark and have cool colors just like she is. The Vagner family is full of secrets and throughout the investigation the set remains dark using only neutral tones.

Lisbeth and Mikael start out the film at a distance: Lisbeth hacking into Mikael's computer and Mikael knowing nothing of Lisbeth. Lisbeth introduces herself to Mikael who later seeks her aid in the mystery when while hacking into Mikael's computer, she finds a clue and figures out what the clue truly is and e-mails her discovery to Mikael.

What I love about this movie is the twisting tale. Lisbeth is a very strong character who takes no funny business from anybody. Constantly, we are kept on our toes, trying to figure out which Vagner murdered Harriet, Henrik's niece. Even before Lisbeth joins the investigation, she has her own, strong storyline where the audience feels empathy for her which really helps the audience connect with her character. A character who herself is very distant from the world around her, without her own separate storyline, the audience would lose empathy which would create problems when justifying some of her actions throughout the story, especially at the end of the story. While in the film we never learn Lisbeth's entire background, we learn enough about her character that we can empathize her. Not only that, her storyline is relevant to bringing her to Mikael. As opposed to a sudden appearance by Lisabeth in the investigation, we see her move from simply spying on Mikael to showing an interest in the case he investigates.

As with any good story, every scene has a change in value (going from a positive feeling to a negative feeling) and moves the film forward. It was really well done where the audience never knows more than the characters so we truly solve the mystery the same rate as Mikael and Lisbeth. Overall, a great film where every element is utilized well to tell a great story about deep characters. As sick as parts may be, they're not too repulsive and placed within the context of a story that is easier to swallow overall.