Quick Movie Reviews (Nov. 3, 2008)

Changeling (2008)
This Clint Eastwood-directed flick is top notch and continues a streak of Eastwood films that are above and beyond just about anything else that is out there. Also at the top of her game in this is Angelina Jolie. Yes, she is dramatically attractive but this actress can bring it, and she is asked to carry the load in this movie as Christine Collins, whose son goes missing, and an embarrassed and corrupt L.A. Police Dept. replaces him with a boy that is not her son. Just on its face with the whole idea of a lost child, the movie is taut but then you throw in a surprise parallel plot and now it just gets downright frightening. A key component of this movie is that child actors are asked to really deliver at critical junctures and they do not disappoint. As anyone knows a solid child actor can make (see Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense (1999)) or break (see Jake Lloyd in Phantom Menace (1999)) a film. And Eddie Anderson, who plays Sanford Clark in Changeling, dramatically makes this movie. If I had to make one complaint, it would be that this movie could have been cut by 20 minutes and been fine. A game to play: See if you can spot Dominick Dunne. The most dramatic part of the whole movie? Realizing that this is a true story.

Paranoid Park (2007)
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, this little flick focuses on a teen-age skateboarder who, on top of everything else, has to deal with an accidental and shocking death. This movie came highly recommended to me and I will have to say I was a little disappointed. The acting is okay but is not fabulous. Basically it follows a bunch of surly teen sk8rs who, of course, can’t talk to grown ups, make bad decisions and generally scare the crap out of anyone who has a teen for a child (that would be me). An odd device that Van Sant uses throughout the film is slow motion in unusual scenes. You’ll have to see it to understand what I mean. Better Van Sant films for my money are To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Finding Forrester (2000).

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
In 1941, Orson Welles directed what many consider to be the greatest American film ever made – Citizen Kane. So what do you do next? You bring The Magnificent Ambersons to the screen. Set early in the 20th century, this film tells the story of the Ambersons, a prominent Indiana family who has trouble with the fast-approaching changes of the young century – like “horseless carriages.” The best part of the movie is the cinematography. You get a lot of the same shots with artful lighting that you see in Citizen Kane. Joseph Cotton (died in 1994) is solid here as Eugene Morgan. Tim Holt (died in 1973) is good as the incredibly pompous George Minafer. Then you have Agnes Moorehead, who is one of my all-time favorite actresses, and, for you Perry Mason TV fans, Ray Collins. The bright spot for me was seeing a young Anne Baxter (died in 1985). She won the Oscar for her role as Eve in All About Eve (1950).

Mona Lisa (1986)
I rented this movie for two reasons – first, it was Neil Jordan’s first movie to get any kind of real buzz and, second, Bob Hoskins was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar (he lost to Paul Newman, who won for Color of Money). I was not disappointed. Hoskins plays George who is trying to get back on his feet right out of prison and ends up driving around a “working girl” (Simone played by Cathy Tyson). The movie is essentially a love story but the trick that Jordan has up his sleeve here is that you don’t really know who is in love with whom until the end. An added bonus here that works well is watching Hoskins try to re-establish his relationship with his daughter. Hoskins’ best friend is played by Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid from Harry Potter films) and there is a brief appearance by Kenny Baker (R2D2 from the Star Wars films). Oh, and Michael Caine is in this movie too. Is there a movie that this guy is not in? For fans of “The Wire,” Clarke Peters takes a turn here as a violent pimp. At the end of the day, for my money, a better Neil Jordan film would be The Crying Game (1992).