Flight

After toying around with performance capture for the past decade (The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol) Robert Zemeckis returns to live action films as his canvas of choice.  Zemeckis has demonstrated his versatility as a director, from action-packed blockbusters such as Back to the Future to immense character studies Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and now Flight.    

Flight follows William “Whip” Whitaker (Denzel Washington), an extremely gifted but substance abusing pilot. When the plane starts to malfunction on one of his flights he pulls off a spectacularly miraculous emergency landing.  However, his heroism attracts the attention of not only the media, but of the lawyers smelling alcohol on his breath.    

This film is undoubtedly Denzel Washington’s vehicle. From start to finish Washington delivers an incredibly nuanced and bruising performance of an addict in denial; taking the audience along on every up and down in his journey.  Washington holds brute intensity in his eyes; framing a body so battered and scarred that only alcohol can provide an appropriate anesthesia.  The layers to Whip’s character are so natural you almost can’t believe it’s acting.

While Denzel is the focus of this movie, there’s quality acting all around. John Goodman (Argo, The Big Lebowski) is delightful as always as Whip’s drug dealer and best friend, Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2, Ocean’s 11, Hotel Rwanda) is underutilized as the ace lawyer, and Kelly Reily (Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, Me and Orson Welles) sells her American accent and manages to keep up with Washington.
Unfortunately, the film climaxes about 30 minutes in.  The panic and turbulent anxiety of the crashing plane sequence is raw and gritty; a truly furious storm of film making.  This cut is such a  tour-de-force, that the rest of the film seems like the dust settling from the crash.  The narrative is disjointed and in some places and lags in others.  

However, the rather choppy screenplay is held together with Zemeckis’ technical proficiency, a painfully nostalgic soundtrack, and of course Denzel’s Oscar worthy performance.  It is these powerfully human aspects of the film that truly lets Flight soar to new heights.            

Argo

It’s been a long time since a movie has made us want to pee our pants as bad as this one. We’re joking, but there’s no doubt that the last 25 minutes will leave your heart pounding and your nails cut to the quick. And when the credits start to roll you think to yourself: that movie magic really happened.

Now we’re not joking: Argo is set in 1979 in the wake of Islamic militants taking over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Most people know the story of 52 American Embassy employees being taken hostage; this film follows what happens to the six workers who escaped and are now hiding in the Canadian ambassador’s home. CIA agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck, who also directed) must now smuggle them out of Iran with the best-worst plan he’s got: pose as a Canadian film crew on a location scout for a sci-fi movie. Not exactly low profile.

Ben Affleck, having previously worked exclusively on a Bostonian canvas (Gone Baby, Gone, The Town), finally branches out to an international landscape.  As was the case with his past films, Argo’s success lies not with Affleck’s acting, but with his work behind the camera.

Don’t get us wrong, the acting was sterling—as to be expected with a cast featuring John Goodman (O’Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), and Alan Arkin (with a particularly delicious sense of snark). However, Argo’s navigation through the mob mentality helps elevate it to new cinematic heights.

The film immerses the audience in both the Iranian and American consciences, playing on the basal emotions so prevalent in times of crisis. Frustration, fear, patriotism, loyalty, and paranoia irreconcilably clash, resulting in a volatile timbre than rings throughout the film.  Affleck also cleverly weaves his narrative through the use of different news mediums, acting as an objective specter to the harsh political climate. 

The film has its comedic moments to be sure, but none of this even begins to distract from the tension of the situation. Argo’s attention to detail in its total recreation of the politics and anxiety is striking and spellbinding, cementing is as one of the top thrillers of the year.  The real question now is, when ARE you gonna GO see Argo?

Clint Eastwood returns to acting (unless you count his charade at the RNC) for the first time since 2008’s Gran Torino.  This time, he’s not behind the camera, but giving the reins to his frequent collaborator Robert Lorenz (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima).  Trouble with the Curve  tells the story of an aging baseball scout Gus Lobel (Eastwood) checking out a hot high school prospect, only to see (or not) that his visions is going.  After goading from Gus’ friend and boss Pete (John Goodman), Gus’ daughter Mickey (Amy Adams, The Fighter, The Muppets, Enchanted) decides to join her father on the trip despite their estranged relationship.  While on the job, they run into Johnny “The Flame” Flanagan (Justin Timberlake, The Social Network, Friends with Benefits), a former prospect turned scout, who starts to take an interest in Mickey.

Like most Mariner prospects, the film looks great on paper; a stellar cast and crew.  But also like most Mariner prospects, the film turns out to be quite mediocre.  None of the characters are new or novel.  They are merely stock characters taken from the same cookie-cutter mold, making for a predictable narrative.  Each plot point is handled so heavily that the arcs write themselves as soon as they are introduced.  Such colorless characters makes it easy to write off each turn in the story with indifference, making any attempts at poignancy ring to a deaf ear.  

There are slight charms to the film such as solid performances from Eastwood, Adams, and a scene stealing JT.  Lorenz shows flashes of some signature Eastwoodian cinematography, like noiresque low key lighting.  It all adds up so formulaically to a family drama where father and daughter learn to look past misunderstandings to reforge a broken relationship, tying a happy ending up in a bow.  A pleasant visit to the movies sure, but in comparison to other Fall movies like The Master and Looper, it’s going to have some trouble with the curve.