The Butler

The problem with The Butler is that it's a Lifetime movie wrapped in the clothes of an Oscar hopeful, trying to fool everyone into thinking it has a chance at the Academy Awards. And the funny thing is, after three weeks (and counting) atop the Box Office list, it probably does have a chance. Of course it will probably be nominated because I find it tiring, boring and absolutely disappointing. That's the way I usually always feel about the front runners who, more often than not, end up winning (see also: Slumdog Millionaire, The Artist, He Whose Name We Do Not Mention On This Blog (I.e. The King's Speech).

So, The Butler, or rather Lee Daniels' The Butler, is no Oscar hopeful, in my opinion. In fact, it's messy and distracting, heavy handed and really, just a big ole' mess. Lee Daniels' is someone who evokes strong feelings from his audience, typically, but he is not being daring here. This is the safest movie he could have possibly made. The story is interesting and the performances are great, but the delivery leaves a lot to be desired.

The story begins in the 1920's when Cecil Gaines was a small boy working in a cotton farm with his parents (mom was Mariah Carey for some reason). After his dad's death (at the hands of Alex Pettyfer!), mom goes a little crazy and the boy is brought in the house and taught to be a house servant. Years later, he leaves the farm and goes to South Carolina where he finds a job working for a hotel. He finds his way to a promotion to a hotel in Washington D.C. (where he is suddenly played by Forest Whitaker) which leads to the ultimate job for a butler - the White House! He quickly becomes one of the most dependable and well liked workers at the White House and ultimately serves under the tutelage of seven different administrations from Eisenhower to Reagan. These presidents (and their wives) are played by a distracting parade of celebrities who look absolutely nothing like the people they are portraying. From John Cusack as Richard Nixon (no, really) to Liev Scrieber as LBJ and James Marsden an Minka Kelly as the Kennedy's, it's all a star-fu**ing parade that does NOT work.

Of course, what does work, is the story line involving Cecil's son Louis (David Oyelowo), who starts out as a college student at Fisk who wants to make a difference in the Civil Right's movement. He starts out preaching a message of love and following the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King. But after his death, his love turns to hate and he joins the Black Panther movement. His story, involving being arrested dozens of times, riding the Freedom Buses, having run ins with the KKK, and more, is, for me, the heart and soul of this movie. Oyelowo is absolutely riveting and easily the best thing about the movie. I wish this would have been his story, rather than his fathers. Although I did enjoy the way they sort of tied in that his father really was making a difference during these times too, not by getting arrested and protesting, but by changing the way the white men thought of the black man, by being a reliable, hard worker that helped break down stereotypes.

Whitaker's performance is great, too. He is quiet and restrained, a million miles from his Oscar winning role as Idi Amin a few years ago, but just as powerful. And, of course, Lee Daniels has a way with Supporting Actresses. He directed Mo Nique to a well-deserved Oscar as the terrifying mother in Precious. He directed Nicole Kidman to her sexiest, sultriest performance ever in The Paperboy. And The Butler's strong, supporting female performance comes courtesy of Oprah Winfrey, who is in the early Oscar talks for a reason. Her boozy, head strong wife and mother is a revelation. For weeks, all I've heard is, "This is Oprah's first acting role in 15 years," and all I've kept saying is, "Well, she's not an actress." But, she definitely delivers in this film and is both funny and heartbreaking, sometimes in the same scene.

All in all, however, Cecil Gaines was a great man with a fascinating story. But like Jackie Robinson whose life was presented to us in the mediocre 42 earlier this year, he deserves better than this paint-by-numbers movie that tries to be so many different things it ultimately fails at what it is - the story of a man who quietly helped change the world. All the star cameos (and there are even more than what I just mentioned, including but not limited to, Terrence Howard, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Robin Williams) are just distracting from the story that is as much a story of one man as it is about Civil Rights. The Butler had an opportunity to be a singular movie about a certain period of time, but it ultimately is just a messy movie with great performances.

Grade: C

Vantage Point + more

Vantage Point - The concept of Vantage Point isn't exactly bad. It's sort of interesting actually. The premise is: the President gets assassinated at a Summit meeting in Spain. Then, the same twenty minutes are shown multiple times from different points of view which all uncover different clues to lead you to the conclusion. If it had been executed properly, this movie could have been very strong. Unfortunately, it's absolutely predictible (at least I predicted it from twenty minutes in), the dialogue is terrible and the movie more or less dumbs itself down. It's not the cast that is to blame. Granted they don't have much to work with but William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid, and Forest Whitaker are all strong actors. Still, the most interesting parts of movie, for me, was when they showed the story from the point of view of the seemingly background characters. There was a car chase near the end which was pretty fantastic at first and then just became more and more ridiculous. Then there were a lot of small things that just drove me kind of crazy. First of all, this international counter-terrorism summit is hosted, not by the prime minister of Spain or another high ranking Spanish politician but by... the mayor. Yeah, ok. Also, in such events, I would think the general public would not be allowed to show up, especially such a huge crowd. But what do I know. I also hated the way the movie assumed the audience was dumb (granted, most of them probably were because people on imdb seem to like this movie). It showed us something that happend in the past of Quaid's character. Then, literally, fifteen minutes later, it showed us again in flashbacks. Let's remind the audience why this character is so stressed and paranoid in case they already forgot. I also have quite a few issues with the ending. I'm trying not to give too much away but the reason the terrorists don't succeed with their mission is because the getaway car crashes... because they didn't want to hit a little girl. Now, before you say, awww, such nice terrorists, consider that they already assassinated a president, blew up a square full of innocent bystanders, orchestrated a detailed kidnapping plot and engaged in a high speed chase through small side streets of a Spanish village. But, no, god forbid we hit a little girl who is too stupid to get out of the road for a speeding vehicle! The thing that bothers me so much about this movie is that it actually could have been really good. But, alas, for now, Cloverfield still sits atop the Best of 2008 list... and that's kind of sad.
Grade: D+

Margot at the Wedding - Noah Baumbach, how I love you. Margot at the Wedding is a neurotic biting film where the laughs are as sharp as razor blades. They come fast and furious and are often enough to draw blood. It focuses on a disfunctional relationship between two sisters (Nicole Kidman is the titular Margot and Jennifer Jason Leigh is her sister Pauline) who haven't spoken in years. Margot and her son Claude come to stay with Pauline to celebrate her wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black who is somehow maybe channeling Napoleon Dynamite). The film is choppily edited and the piece has a structure which is all over the place. Still, I mostly enjoyed it. I didn't love it as much as The Squid and the Whale but it's still a strong film. Leigh is fantastic as a mostly mellow woman who has a serious lack of accomplishment and a penchant for temper tantrums (which are completely justified usually). Kidman as Margot is the best she's ever been in my opinion. She likes to make trouble for everyone to keep the focus on them and away from her own problems. There is a point when Margot and Pauline even become like an extension of the same character. There are a lot of clues to things that may hide under the surface (abuse, incest, etc.) but is never really investigated further. This is a very dark film but it's mostly enjoyable. I loved Kidman and I loved Leigh. I did have a few problems with the film (the babysitter while I guess she served a purpose, was just plain annoying and the next door neighbors who seemingly inhabited a whole different world). Also, I didn't exactly love the ending. Still, the movie is sharply written and the performances by the leading ladies are superb.
Grade: B

American Gangster - The very first scene in American Gangster shows a man getting lit on fire. That is a perfect way to start a film, in my opinion. It took me a while to give in and watch this movie. I couldn't get over the two hour and forty minute running time. Now, I love a long movie. There Will Be Blood was almost three hours long and I wish it would have been LONGER! Still, I love Daniel Day-Lewis and I love Paul Dano and I will watch them for ten hours if Paul Thomas Anderson wants me to. However, I don't really love Denzel Washington and I am just now starting to not hate Russell Crowe so the almost three hour time was daunting. I do love Josh Brolin but he's barely in this movie, unfortunately. Anyway, American Gangster follows Washington's Frank Lucas, a driver for a mob boss who dies and then decides to take over Harlem for himself. He goes oversees and starts smuggling pure drugs into New York City. It's twice as good as the other stuff on the street and half as expensive. He becomes a multi-millinaire and more or less runs the streets of Harlem. Crowe plays Richie Roberts, a cop who is honest on the job but not with his wife. He heads up a drug enforcement program and he begins to center his investigation on Frank Lucas after a while. While the film is long, it's mostly engrossing and enjoyable. While everyone keeps talking about Washington with this film (and he does play a badass, whatever), I liked Crowe's more subtle performance better. The different sides of his personality are always fighting with each other and his nuances are perfect. Then there's Ruby Dee. She's nominated for Best Supporting Actress at tonight's Oscars and she might win and... I don't think she deserves it at all! Sorry, but she had one good scene. It was a solid stand out scene but it is hardly Oscar worthy. Overall, I really liked the movie... until the last five minutes when they show what happened to all the different characters in real life. I won't ruin it but there is a certain turn of events that I feel is completely against the characters of the film and that sort of ruined the movie for me a little bit. It made me feel like I was lied to; there was a character I admired and learned to like that I just felt betrayed by. To sum up: Ruby Dee should not win Best Supporting Actress, T.I. is a sexy man... but not as sexy as Josh Brolin, and Russell Crowe totally blows Denzel out of the water here.
Grade: B-

Tomorrow - Oscar wrap-up!

The Last King of Scotland and The Painted Veil (DVD)

The Last King of Scotland - If I had to pick one word to describe this movie, it would be 'engrossing.' This is a modern day masterpiece of a film and it absolutely holds your attention from beginning to end. The movie follows the life of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) a young Scottish man who graduates med school and decides, instead of following in Dad's footsteps and working in family medicine, to take off to Uganda to have an adventure and maybe do some good for the African people. At first, he does do some good, working at a small mission and helping sick children. Then he meets the new president of the country (who just overthrew the former president), Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). The two form an unlikely friendship and Garrigan becomes Amin's personal doctor and, reluctantly, one of his closest advisors. The story of their complicated friendship is wonderful. Once Garrigan's conscience gets in his way (and after he has an affair with the Amin's wife played by Kerry Washington), Garrigan is more or less stuck in a very tough situation. The screenplay and directing are both great. The quick cutting editing is perfect and helps to make the film feel fast paced and helps to keep it from ever getting boring. But the performances are what's really worth talking about. Out of last year's Best Actor nominees, Whitaker definitely deserved the Oscar for his mecurial performance. I've always thought he came across as such a soft-spoken and sweet guy. It's amazing to his transformation into Amin. He's at times absolutely charming and likeable. His people admire and respect him. But then that admiration turns to fear. At the drop of a hat, he can become an angry, rageful and downright scary man. Then, he switches back to being so charming so quickly. His performance is really a pleasure to watch. However, not only does McAvoy hold his own against Whitaker, but also, in my opinion, he steals the entire movie from him. McAvoy is a revelation. I never heard of the guy until last year at Oscar time and he absolutely blew me away. Had he been nominated for an Oscar, I would be singing a different tune about who deserved to win. He's got this childlike innocence mixed with a sort of world-weariness that is a weird mixture but it works for him. Overall, this is a great movie that you absolutely need to see. Right now.

Grade: A

The Painted Veil - This movie is a glamorous sort of throw back to Old Hollywood romance movies. It boasts excellent cinematography, a solid script and great performances. It follows Walter (Edward Norton) and Kitty (Naomi Watts), a couple who meet in London and marry, eventhough Kitty goes into the marriage in order to get away from her mother. They soon move to China where Walter works and Kitty enters into an affair with the married Charlie (Liev Schrieber). When Walter finds out, he threatens to divorce Kitty and tarnish her name unless she goes with him to a small village with an outbreak of cholera. After Kitty realizes that Charlie never intended to leave his wife for her, she reluctantly goes with her husband. What initially starts out as punishment for her, soon turns into redemption as she learns how to love her husband eventhough it may be too late. This movie is a sprawling, beautifully filmed epic. There are so many wonderful shots of nature. Watts and Norton have amazing chemistry and play off each other very well. Norton inhabits his quiet yet firm and somewhat cocky doctor perfectly. No matter how popular he gets, he'll always be the epitome of a character actor. Watts is wonderful as well as the once spunky girl who is unwilling to stay shackled in a loveless, unhappy marriage. The emotional turmoil she portrays near the end of the film is really, really great and if last year wasn't such a strong year for female performances, she would have been a lock at Oscar time. Toby Jones and (the absolutely amazing) Diana Rigg lend some much needed support. The main problem I had with the movie was how it just drags on and on and on. It could have been about 3o minutes shorter. Plus, you could tell they cut some scenes a bit confusing at first (but if they hadn't cut scenes, it would have been painfully long). All in all, it's not a great movie but it does boast great performances and beautiful cinematography so it's well worth checking out.

Grade: B+