Don’t let the creepy title of this animated, musical tale throw you off. In the tradition of other excellent, animated features of recent years, The Corpse Bride will surely rank as one of the best. Granted, this kind of film may not be for all tastes, but if you can get past the title and are game for a wondrous, haunting world of fantasy and love, then this is your meal ticket.
Victor and his parents meet Victoria and her family to attend a wedding rehearsal. Unbeknownst to Victor’s family, it seems Victoria’s parents are broke and desperately need the marriage to secure their future. Yet, marriage is new to the nervous Victor, and when he gets jittery at the church, he runs off and into the woods to collect his thoughts. There, he jokingly recites his wedding vows and slips his wedding band on a finger shaped piece of what appears to be wood. The next thing he knows, the wooden finger is a real finger belonging to a former bride, and she has sprung ‘alive’ to his offer of marriage. As Victor reels in horror and confusion at his ‘corpse bride’, he is whisked away to another world of people who have died. While the corpse bride is partly decomposed, she retains much of her former beauty. Yet others in this strange land are mere skeletons and rotted flesh. It turns out that the corpse bride was to be married, but her groom had evil plans for her. She has been waiting for her true love ever since her demise. Meanwhile, Victoria’s parents are approached by a mysterious, handsome suitor who wants to marry Victoria. Victor must make a fateful decision and choose between the two brides even as the dead descend on the land of the living for a wedding ceremony like none other. One groom and two brides-what to do?
This is Tim Burton’s latest foray into stop motion animation, and he and Mike Johnson direct with economy from a relatively simple screenplay by John August, Pamela Pettler, and Caroline Thompson. The characters, especially Victor and the corpse bride, are well etched and create an emotional bond with the audience. Although we want Victor to marry his love Victoria, we grow to feel sympathy and attachment to the corpse bride as well. As for the images of the dead, Burton and company do a delightful job of making what, on the outset, could be grotesque and turning them into energized, playful souls. There is a terrific Peter Lorre homage with a worm who keeps popping in and out of the bride’s eye socket. After a short time, the skeletal limbs and discolored dead no longer seem frightening or gross. Ironically the most colorful sequences involve the world of the dead while the living are painted in austere, lifeless mutes of gray.
Much of the production team are veterans of other Burton films. Longtime collaborator Danny Elfman again provides an atmospheric score and a handful of nifty, little songs to move things along. Even the voices of the principals are Burton alumni, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter (Burton’s significant other). Give Depp credit for voicing a British sounding character convincingly while others like Emily Watson, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee and Tracey Ullman, to name a few, are quite effective at bringing their figures to life. It’s a testament to Burton’s imaginative appeal that twice the usual number of major acting talents contributed to this work.
For all those who loved Burton’s earlier produced efforts, The Nightmare Before Christmas (whose ghoulish nature is quite similar) and James and the Giant Peach, this is a worthy followup. The animation itself is virtually seamless, and the characters and figures move as in real life. It is a far cry from the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials of the 1960’s. The set designs and costumes are very much gothic in style. It seems that Burton is drawing from his own films or is perpetuating his influences as evidenced in his previous films like Beetlejuice, Batman, and Edward Scissorhands particularly in his obsession with the good and evil in man. It also delves into the perception of life versus death. Who is really alive and who acts like the nonliving? It is evident that the true antecedent of The Corpse Bride is Burton’s own version of Washington Irving’s Sleepy Hollow with a nod toward Dickens (with its contrast in class distinction and its unsavory characters), especially the Miss Havisham character in Great Expectations.
The Corpse Bride marks a continuing peak in the current revival of animated feature films which was signaled by Toy Story a decade earlier and has been raised to new heights with such recent triumphs as Shrek and Finding Nemo. The final shot is a wondrous, memorable end that recalls the transformation scene in Disney’s classic, Beauty and the Beast. In fact, so good is its animation and technique that it is easy to forgive any shortcomings in what is basically a one act, one note story albeit told with sincerity. With just a bit more pathos and storyline, Burton’s team would have had an instant classic. It’s a near miss, but its status as the best animated film of the year is secure.
***1/2 of **** stars (**** for the animation and *** for the story)
Vertigo
Vertigo
Monday, September 26, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Director Robert Wise-An Appreciation
The passing of legendary film director Robert Wise last week marks the end of Hollywood’s golden age. Virtually all of the great directors who made their mark before 1950 are now gone. A few veterans like Stanley Donen (On the Town) remain, but with the passing of Wise, Hollywood has lost a true giant of movie history. From his horror classic, The Body Snatchers (1945), to the dream team boardroom of Executive Suite (1954), to a graphic depiction of capital punishment in I Want To Live (1958), to a politically charged indictment of war in The Sand Pebbles (1966), Wise has traversed the cinematic landscape with stunning achievement and success. His was that rare combination of critical acclaim, award recognition, and box office triumph. For years, his 1965 musical, The Sound of Music, was one of the most successful films of all time.
I met Robert Wise at the University of Maryland in College Park when I was still involved in the film program at the student union some 25 years ago. A guy named Mike and I picked up Wise and his wife from the airport and drove them to a hotel room near the campus. He had white hair, glasses, and spoke with a soft tone. En route, I had a chance to talk to him about his movies, and he was very open to answering questions and discussing his stellar career. It was amusing how his wife kept asking us to drive her to Monticello during their stay because she wanted to take a side trip to visit that historic landmark. We never did go but she was persistent and stubborn. When we arrived at their hotel and got them settled, I asked for Wise’s autograph and he obliged. I felt like such a groupie but I had to ask.
I was a fan of his films growing up having been raised on staples like The Sound of Music and West Side Story. I didn’t realize that I had already seen many of his other films and was impressed by what a versatile director he was by delving into a wide array of film genres. For example, his science fiction films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain are now considered classics. It is astonishing how his career spanned a half century of film and that he had worked with some of the top talents in Hollywood whether it be Orson Welles on Citizen Kane (where Wise was a film editor), Val Lewton the king of B movie horror, Clark Gable in Run Silent Run Deep, George C Scott in The Hindenberg, or Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles. He won four Oscars as producer and director of West Side Story and The Sound of Music.
Whatever Wise did, he did well. Although he did not do any pure comedies, he had in all his films a gritty realism and authenticity which only served to enhance his subject matter. As a result, his films stand the test of time and seem relevant and watchable even today while other contemporaries seem very dated and phony. A good example of his attention to detail is the chase at the end of The Day the Earth Stood Still as the military read off actual street names in Washington D.C. Would anyone else have known the difference or even cared? Wise did, and his penchant for accuracy has paid handsomely over the years. I told him that I was thoroughly impressed by the meticulous sets in The Andromeda Strain, and he was flattered saying how he strove for great realism because it would enhance the credibility and believability of the movie. Watch the climactic countdown in the quarantine unit and see if any other film comes close to matching the intensity of suspense. The film holds up well to this day. He even told me how he was rushed to meet an impossible deadline for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and while the film was decent enough, it seemed bloated and overlong. Wise said that he did not have time to trim the film down to a good pace and running time. He has since been able to rectify that shortcoming with the recent DVD release of his director’s cut.
Wise spoke to a crowd of students and general public at the student union theater, and many of his films were shown that week. My friend Murray and I drove him to the airport to catch a flight back to the west coast. Its funny how every time I would see an interview of him since then, he seemed exactly the same way he had been on campus-a distinguished, classy veteran of film who loved to talk celluloid and was receptive to the students. I was fortunate to have known a great director and good guy.
I met Robert Wise at the University of Maryland in College Park when I was still involved in the film program at the student union some 25 years ago. A guy named Mike and I picked up Wise and his wife from the airport and drove them to a hotel room near the campus. He had white hair, glasses, and spoke with a soft tone. En route, I had a chance to talk to him about his movies, and he was very open to answering questions and discussing his stellar career. It was amusing how his wife kept asking us to drive her to Monticello during their stay because she wanted to take a side trip to visit that historic landmark. We never did go but she was persistent and stubborn. When we arrived at their hotel and got them settled, I asked for Wise’s autograph and he obliged. I felt like such a groupie but I had to ask.
I was a fan of his films growing up having been raised on staples like The Sound of Music and West Side Story. I didn’t realize that I had already seen many of his other films and was impressed by what a versatile director he was by delving into a wide array of film genres. For example, his science fiction films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain are now considered classics. It is astonishing how his career spanned a half century of film and that he had worked with some of the top talents in Hollywood whether it be Orson Welles on Citizen Kane (where Wise was a film editor), Val Lewton the king of B movie horror, Clark Gable in Run Silent Run Deep, George C Scott in The Hindenberg, or Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles. He won four Oscars as producer and director of West Side Story and The Sound of Music.
Whatever Wise did, he did well. Although he did not do any pure comedies, he had in all his films a gritty realism and authenticity which only served to enhance his subject matter. As a result, his films stand the test of time and seem relevant and watchable even today while other contemporaries seem very dated and phony. A good example of his attention to detail is the chase at the end of The Day the Earth Stood Still as the military read off actual street names in Washington D.C. Would anyone else have known the difference or even cared? Wise did, and his penchant for accuracy has paid handsomely over the years. I told him that I was thoroughly impressed by the meticulous sets in The Andromeda Strain, and he was flattered saying how he strove for great realism because it would enhance the credibility and believability of the movie. Watch the climactic countdown in the quarantine unit and see if any other film comes close to matching the intensity of suspense. The film holds up well to this day. He even told me how he was rushed to meet an impossible deadline for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and while the film was decent enough, it seemed bloated and overlong. Wise said that he did not have time to trim the film down to a good pace and running time. He has since been able to rectify that shortcoming with the recent DVD release of his director’s cut.
Wise spoke to a crowd of students and general public at the student union theater, and many of his films were shown that week. My friend Murray and I drove him to the airport to catch a flight back to the west coast. Its funny how every time I would see an interview of him since then, he seemed exactly the same way he had been on campus-a distinguished, classy veteran of film who loved to talk celluloid and was receptive to the students. I was fortunate to have known a great director and good guy.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
THE CONSTANT GARDENER Is a Well Tended Tale
There have been nifty thrillers over the years with conspiracy attached, and many of them have been good like The Parallax View and JFK. Yet few of these have been able to rise above the visceral angst of suspense and intrigue to attain another level of human emotion. One good example is the recent adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, The Constant Gardener. Adapted by Jeffrey Caine and directed by Fernando Meirelles, this is a superior cinematic rendition of a good, moral suspense yarn told with methodical precision and emotional resonance.
Tessa (Rachel Weisz) is a volunteer-activist who marries timid diplomat, Justin Qualye (Ralph Fiennes) and follows him to Kenya in Africa. When his wife goes missing, Justin decides to follow his wife’s trail and find out what really happened and why. The clues lead to a pharmaceutical drug corporation that is testing tuberculosis drugs on the lower class population. What Justin finds is a shocking conspiracy of secrets and lies reaching up to the British government and a corporate entity that will stop at nothing to release its money making windfall. As Justin discovers the truth, he begins to understand the ruthless nature of conspirators even as he begins to uncover the truth about his marriage.
This is a chilling mystery story that is at its heart a tale of romantic love between a man and a wife he really doesn’t know. Although not perfect, it does endeavor to be many things, and it integrates the love story that forms the soul of the film with an elaborate detective story that touches upon morality, fear, hope, and redemption and achieves them quite well. It’s like reading a long, complex novel. That a film could be filled with so many attributes is quite an achievement and a testament to the source material by Le Carre, a constant source of complex, filmic material ever since the breakout adaptation of his The Spy Who Came in From the Cold in the 1960’s. It is also a tribute to director Meirelles who has a sure hand in every scene and edit while never losing track of his many themes and maintaining strong performances from his talented cast.
At first Justin is oblivious to the insidious forces around him. The garden that he tends to is a metaphor of sorts to a basic, uncomplicated view of his world that is suddenly shaken. The backgrounds in many scenes show a rural countryside with poor people struggling to survive. Life is hard for the people in a harsh landscape. There are always incidental shots of children usually in the background as casual bystanders or observers; they are the innocent ones. This story and its people are distant cousins of the drug gangs in Meirelles’ previous, breakthrough film, City of God. It is in this setting that Justin retraces Tessa’s footsteps which lead to a dirty secret and a rediscovery of their love. Throughout it all, there is an almost inevitable, hopeless feeling, like a stacked deck against Justin. Then there is the question of trust. Who to trust? It seems everyone is either partly involved with the bad guys or reluctant to get involved. There are different levels of trust. There is the hint of marital infidelity and the questioning of loyalty. In this respect, The Constant Gardener reminds one of the underrated Under Fire.
The narrative fluidly flashes back and forth at will to show the beginnings of Justin and Tessa’s relationship amid the intrigue in Kenya. There’s also lots of handheld camera work (Cesar Charlone) that gives the film a semi documentary feel. While the look is raw and primitive, the editing (by Oliver Stone alumni Claire Simpson) is sophisticated and clever as various bits of associative imagery are connected to great emotional and informative effect. A great deal of thought and planning went into this story and its adaptation to connect the dots.
Fiennes is excellent as the beleaguered husband who seeks the truth about his wife. He has a knack for playing tragic characters (Quiz Show, The English Patient), and he has never been better than in this role. You feel his confusion and pain as he goes against difficult odds. Rachel Weisz is terrific as the brave crusader of the African people who risks harm and her marriage by digging for the truth. You feel her passion in Tessa’s character and the free spirit that dominates every scene she is in. You just know that Tessa’s own hard-headed agenda will get her in trouble. It is a far cry from Weisz’s days in action blockbusters like The Mummy, and it is her best role to date. The rest of the uniformly strong cast is excellent particularly Bill Nighy as the slimy Pellegrin.
If you are a conspiracy buff, then this is your kind of film. Although it is a bit of a downer, ultimately it is a haunting fable with memorable imagery, and it is a film that stays with you long after it is over. It should stay with Oscar voters for the long term as well.
***1/2 of **** stars
Tessa (Rachel Weisz) is a volunteer-activist who marries timid diplomat, Justin Qualye (Ralph Fiennes) and follows him to Kenya in Africa. When his wife goes missing, Justin decides to follow his wife’s trail and find out what really happened and why. The clues lead to a pharmaceutical drug corporation that is testing tuberculosis drugs on the lower class population. What Justin finds is a shocking conspiracy of secrets and lies reaching up to the British government and a corporate entity that will stop at nothing to release its money making windfall. As Justin discovers the truth, he begins to understand the ruthless nature of conspirators even as he begins to uncover the truth about his marriage.
This is a chilling mystery story that is at its heart a tale of romantic love between a man and a wife he really doesn’t know. Although not perfect, it does endeavor to be many things, and it integrates the love story that forms the soul of the film with an elaborate detective story that touches upon morality, fear, hope, and redemption and achieves them quite well. It’s like reading a long, complex novel. That a film could be filled with so many attributes is quite an achievement and a testament to the source material by Le Carre, a constant source of complex, filmic material ever since the breakout adaptation of his The Spy Who Came in From the Cold in the 1960’s. It is also a tribute to director Meirelles who has a sure hand in every scene and edit while never losing track of his many themes and maintaining strong performances from his talented cast.
At first Justin is oblivious to the insidious forces around him. The garden that he tends to is a metaphor of sorts to a basic, uncomplicated view of his world that is suddenly shaken. The backgrounds in many scenes show a rural countryside with poor people struggling to survive. Life is hard for the people in a harsh landscape. There are always incidental shots of children usually in the background as casual bystanders or observers; they are the innocent ones. This story and its people are distant cousins of the drug gangs in Meirelles’ previous, breakthrough film, City of God. It is in this setting that Justin retraces Tessa’s footsteps which lead to a dirty secret and a rediscovery of their love. Throughout it all, there is an almost inevitable, hopeless feeling, like a stacked deck against Justin. Then there is the question of trust. Who to trust? It seems everyone is either partly involved with the bad guys or reluctant to get involved. There are different levels of trust. There is the hint of marital infidelity and the questioning of loyalty. In this respect, The Constant Gardener reminds one of the underrated Under Fire.
The narrative fluidly flashes back and forth at will to show the beginnings of Justin and Tessa’s relationship amid the intrigue in Kenya. There’s also lots of handheld camera work (Cesar Charlone) that gives the film a semi documentary feel. While the look is raw and primitive, the editing (by Oliver Stone alumni Claire Simpson) is sophisticated and clever as various bits of associative imagery are connected to great emotional and informative effect. A great deal of thought and planning went into this story and its adaptation to connect the dots.
Fiennes is excellent as the beleaguered husband who seeks the truth about his wife. He has a knack for playing tragic characters (Quiz Show, The English Patient), and he has never been better than in this role. You feel his confusion and pain as he goes against difficult odds. Rachel Weisz is terrific as the brave crusader of the African people who risks harm and her marriage by digging for the truth. You feel her passion in Tessa’s character and the free spirit that dominates every scene she is in. You just know that Tessa’s own hard-headed agenda will get her in trouble. It is a far cry from Weisz’s days in action blockbusters like The Mummy, and it is her best role to date. The rest of the uniformly strong cast is excellent particularly Bill Nighy as the slimy Pellegrin.
If you are a conspiracy buff, then this is your kind of film. Although it is a bit of a downer, ultimately it is a haunting fable with memorable imagery, and it is a film that stays with you long after it is over. It should stay with Oscar voters for the long term as well.
***1/2 of **** stars
JUST LIKE HEAVEN Seems a Bit Familiar
Ghost stories involving romance are a recurring subject matter in Hollywood. Case in point, one can look at The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Heaven Can Wait, Somewhere in Time and the most recent entree, Just Like Heaven, a modest romantic comedy featuring attractive leads, Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. While reasonably entertaining and diverting, it doesn’t quite deliver the goods.
Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is a workaholic doctor in San Francisco who drives to meet a blind date on a rainy night and swerves into the path of a truck. Weeks later, we see David (Mark Ruffalo) who is searching for an apartment when a circular, advertising a vacancy, literally finds him. Upon moving in and settling down, David is surprised and spooked by the appearance of Elizabeth who claims she already lives in the newly rented space. She mysteriously vanishes and reappears, and David is convinced that she must be a ghost. Yet she refuses to believe she is really dead. As they figure out the truth, David and Elizabeth find they are attracted to one another. When the reality of what happened to her that rainy night is revealed, David must resort to desperate measures to save the girl he loves before it is too late.
Directed by Mark Waters, who showed promise with comedies like Mean Girls, this is a film that wants to be more than it is. It aspires to be a lighthearted, romantic love story with dramatic and comedic overtones. That’s pretty ambitious for a script (adapted by Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon from Marc Levy’s novel, If Only It Were True) that would be better off on television. The themes are pretty familiar and have been done before and better. The filmmakers could have tightened the first hour and the pace would have been improved. At times, the plotline comes dangerously close to losing whatever momentum it has. It takes a long while for anything to happen, perhaps too long. However, the climax does pick up steam as the relationship between the two develops, and one just wishes there was more such life in the earlier stages. To be sure, there are nice touches in the story that allude to fate, coincidence, and true love, but the script doesn’t draw the connections as magically as one wishes.
Then there are the technical inconsistencies that even audiences with suspended disbelief may have a hard time to swallow. We see Elizabeth pass through walls and tables but why can we hear her footsteps on the floor or why can she sit in a truck without falling through? Granted, the special effects, while not earth shattering, are interesting and reasonably imaginative. It is also clever how the editing alternates between the ghostly Elizabeth and reality where no one sees or hears her except David. These point of view crosscuts when David is talking to Elizabeth even as the public sees him talking to no one are at times amusing.
The two stars do have nice screen chemistry together. Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Election) is watchable in almost anything she stars in, but she can only breathe so much life in a standard storyline. If Mark Ruffalo (Collateral, You Can Count on Me) gets hold of a great comedic script, then you’d definitely have something to utilize his versatility. After successful pairings with Witherspoon and Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30, how about teaming him with Rachel McAdams or even Drew Barrymore?
Here is an obvious case of star power being enough to overcome an average script. As comedies go, it really doesn’t climb to great heights, but the leads are so appealing, it really doesn’t matter. A sure video rental, it is a pleasant bit of fluff that will certainly appeal to those who believe in true love and fairy tales. To the rest of the audience, just sit still and smile with your date.
**1/2 of **** stars (*** for romantics)
Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is a workaholic doctor in San Francisco who drives to meet a blind date on a rainy night and swerves into the path of a truck. Weeks later, we see David (Mark Ruffalo) who is searching for an apartment when a circular, advertising a vacancy, literally finds him. Upon moving in and settling down, David is surprised and spooked by the appearance of Elizabeth who claims she already lives in the newly rented space. She mysteriously vanishes and reappears, and David is convinced that she must be a ghost. Yet she refuses to believe she is really dead. As they figure out the truth, David and Elizabeth find they are attracted to one another. When the reality of what happened to her that rainy night is revealed, David must resort to desperate measures to save the girl he loves before it is too late.
Directed by Mark Waters, who showed promise with comedies like Mean Girls, this is a film that wants to be more than it is. It aspires to be a lighthearted, romantic love story with dramatic and comedic overtones. That’s pretty ambitious for a script (adapted by Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon from Marc Levy’s novel, If Only It Were True) that would be better off on television. The themes are pretty familiar and have been done before and better. The filmmakers could have tightened the first hour and the pace would have been improved. At times, the plotline comes dangerously close to losing whatever momentum it has. It takes a long while for anything to happen, perhaps too long. However, the climax does pick up steam as the relationship between the two develops, and one just wishes there was more such life in the earlier stages. To be sure, there are nice touches in the story that allude to fate, coincidence, and true love, but the script doesn’t draw the connections as magically as one wishes.
Then there are the technical inconsistencies that even audiences with suspended disbelief may have a hard time to swallow. We see Elizabeth pass through walls and tables but why can we hear her footsteps on the floor or why can she sit in a truck without falling through? Granted, the special effects, while not earth shattering, are interesting and reasonably imaginative. It is also clever how the editing alternates between the ghostly Elizabeth and reality where no one sees or hears her except David. These point of view crosscuts when David is talking to Elizabeth even as the public sees him talking to no one are at times amusing.
The two stars do have nice screen chemistry together. Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Election) is watchable in almost anything she stars in, but she can only breathe so much life in a standard storyline. If Mark Ruffalo (Collateral, You Can Count on Me) gets hold of a great comedic script, then you’d definitely have something to utilize his versatility. After successful pairings with Witherspoon and Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30, how about teaming him with Rachel McAdams or even Drew Barrymore?
Here is an obvious case of star power being enough to overcome an average script. As comedies go, it really doesn’t climb to great heights, but the leads are so appealing, it really doesn’t matter. A sure video rental, it is a pleasant bit of fluff that will certainly appeal to those who believe in true love and fairy tales. To the rest of the audience, just sit still and smile with your date.
**1/2 of **** stars (*** for romantics)
THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED Is Above Par
For non-golfers, this true story of an ordinary youth who challenges a seasoned champ in the biggest golf match of all time is a stirring piece of history reenacted for the general audience. Seasoned actor turned director Bill Paxton has taken a simple tale and fashioned a mini pearl of a movie that will fit nicely with the other sports films like Remember the Titans and The Rookie.
As a boy, future English champion golfer, Harry Vardon is introduced to the world of golf while dark, mysterious figures begin to build a golf course nearby. Years later in America, another boy, Francis Ouimet, is a caddie at a golf course and is encouraged by adults to pursue his dream of playing competitively. It turns out Francis has a gift for the sport and he practices religiously. Although he is from a poor working class family, he enters an amateur tournament where he must face off seasoned golfers who are from well-to-do backgrounds. After a series of setbacks and the objections of his laborer father, Francis is given a chance opportunity to restart his dream as an amateur entree in the prestigious U.S. Open where he sees his childhood idol, Vardon, again but now as a competitor and rival. Harry is in the States to claim the U.S. golfing crown as he has (Tiger Woods fashion) done for consecutive years in the British Open. As the grueling course thins the ranks of professionals and to the amazement of swelling throngs of spectators and media, Francis and Harry are on a collision course in the most unlikely playoff matchup in the annals of golf.
This is essentially the story of two golfers with contrasting backgrounds. What is good about this film is that even though this story is about golf, it is easily accessible to mainstream audiences because they become involved in Francis’ dreams. The conflict at home between father (Elias Koteas) and Francis is an important plot point that is comparable to the father-son dynamic of The Rookie. There are nice examples of class struggle between the have-nots and the upper crust. The storylines never get too complex and while the plot is easy to follow, the simplicity can be a detriment in other ways.
There are a couple of unexplained subplots and relationships that are never fully explored. We don’t really understand what motivates or affects Vardon from his childhood. Also there seems to be a parallel being drawn between him and Ouimet which is never clearly explained. Likewise, there is a hint of romance in Ouimet’s life, but we never know where that goes.
This unknown cast works because there are no preconceived notions of stars or recognizable faces. For all intents and purposes, we believe Stephen Dillane is Harry Vardon. The performances deserve notice especially Shia LaBeouf (Holes) as Francis Ouimet and Josh Flitter as the diminutive child caddie, Eddie, whose enthusiasm and quips are disarming. Character actor Luke Askew does register in a change of pace role as an unnamed golfing mentor for Francis.
Director Paxton has a very clean sense of narrative, and it certainly didn’t hurt to be under the tutelage of his favorite director, James Cameron. There is a great shot of the audience watching Ouimet driving the ball and turning their collective heads to follow the ball’s path except for Vardon who stays on the young protégé as he knows it is a good shot. Paxton does save the best for last in the climactic playoff. He displays a sure hand in the final scene as he culminates various plot threads in one emotional finale. We never lose sight of our protagonist’s plight and everything is in service of a storyline adapted by Mark Frost (Twin Peaks) from his novel. If this is an example of Paxton’s capability as a director, then I welcome his next project.
Credit the production team for authentic period sets and costumes. The cinematography and special effects are imaginative and perhaps too clever as we witness the many new ways to simulate a ball in flight or rolling on the fairway.
This is the sort of film you would see as a made for television film like Brian’s Song in the 1970’s or as an HBO feature. Now Disney is mining the sports sagas in a consistently entertaining fashion. I would not put NASCAR past them. If you are looking for an inspiring family film, this is a good choice.
*** of **** stars
As a boy, future English champion golfer, Harry Vardon is introduced to the world of golf while dark, mysterious figures begin to build a golf course nearby. Years later in America, another boy, Francis Ouimet, is a caddie at a golf course and is encouraged by adults to pursue his dream of playing competitively. It turns out Francis has a gift for the sport and he practices religiously. Although he is from a poor working class family, he enters an amateur tournament where he must face off seasoned golfers who are from well-to-do backgrounds. After a series of setbacks and the objections of his laborer father, Francis is given a chance opportunity to restart his dream as an amateur entree in the prestigious U.S. Open where he sees his childhood idol, Vardon, again but now as a competitor and rival. Harry is in the States to claim the U.S. golfing crown as he has (Tiger Woods fashion) done for consecutive years in the British Open. As the grueling course thins the ranks of professionals and to the amazement of swelling throngs of spectators and media, Francis and Harry are on a collision course in the most unlikely playoff matchup in the annals of golf.
This is essentially the story of two golfers with contrasting backgrounds. What is good about this film is that even though this story is about golf, it is easily accessible to mainstream audiences because they become involved in Francis’ dreams. The conflict at home between father (Elias Koteas) and Francis is an important plot point that is comparable to the father-son dynamic of The Rookie. There are nice examples of class struggle between the have-nots and the upper crust. The storylines never get too complex and while the plot is easy to follow, the simplicity can be a detriment in other ways.
There are a couple of unexplained subplots and relationships that are never fully explored. We don’t really understand what motivates or affects Vardon from his childhood. Also there seems to be a parallel being drawn between him and Ouimet which is never clearly explained. Likewise, there is a hint of romance in Ouimet’s life, but we never know where that goes.
This unknown cast works because there are no preconceived notions of stars or recognizable faces. For all intents and purposes, we believe Stephen Dillane is Harry Vardon. The performances deserve notice especially Shia LaBeouf (Holes) as Francis Ouimet and Josh Flitter as the diminutive child caddie, Eddie, whose enthusiasm and quips are disarming. Character actor Luke Askew does register in a change of pace role as an unnamed golfing mentor for Francis.
Director Paxton has a very clean sense of narrative, and it certainly didn’t hurt to be under the tutelage of his favorite director, James Cameron. There is a great shot of the audience watching Ouimet driving the ball and turning their collective heads to follow the ball’s path except for Vardon who stays on the young protégé as he knows it is a good shot. Paxton does save the best for last in the climactic playoff. He displays a sure hand in the final scene as he culminates various plot threads in one emotional finale. We never lose sight of our protagonist’s plight and everything is in service of a storyline adapted by Mark Frost (Twin Peaks) from his novel. If this is an example of Paxton’s capability as a director, then I welcome his next project.
Credit the production team for authentic period sets and costumes. The cinematography and special effects are imaginative and perhaps too clever as we witness the many new ways to simulate a ball in flight or rolling on the fairway.
This is the sort of film you would see as a made for television film like Brian’s Song in the 1970’s or as an HBO feature. Now Disney is mining the sports sagas in a consistently entertaining fashion. I would not put NASCAR past them. If you are looking for an inspiring family film, this is a good choice.
*** of **** stars
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