Movie/TV Reviews

Atonement

Susan Granger’s review of “Atonement” (Focus Features)

Literary adaptations abound this season but few have been as highly anticipated as the cinematic interpretation of Ian McEwan’s best-seller by screenwriter Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”) and director Joe Wright (“Pride and Prejudice”).
Although the chronology is scrambled as the perspectives shift, the basic story revolves around an incident that takes place at the Tallis country estate in rural southeast England on a sultry summer day back in 1935, when na•ve 13 year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) sees her glamorous older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), with Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the son of their housekeeper (Brenda Blethlyn).
Imaginative and impetuous, Briony tells a lie which results in Robbie being sent to prison for sexual assault. The rest of the narrative examines the cultural and emotional consequences of that fabrication – from war-ravaged London, where 18 year-old Briony (Romola Garai) seeks redemption as a nurse, and Robbie serves with the British forces in northern France to decades later, as an elderly Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) explains her contrition to a television interviewer (director Anthony Mingella).
Seamus McGarvey’s cinematography is cleverly evocative, particularly during the massive 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, when the camera lingers on a Ferris wheel turning idly, a man exercising on a pommel horse, the slaughtering of horses for food, and exhausted soldiers singing hymns on a bandstand. But there’s an aura of artificiality and a lack of sexual chemistry between Knightley and McAvoy, as the wronged lovers, that results in emotional sterility. It’s as if everything is too self-consciously dramatized and emphasized by Dario Marianelli’s score. Indeed, nothing feels ‘real’ until Vanessa Redgrave’s surprising concluding twist.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Atonement” is an admirable 8 – but the great epic drama seems to have lost its heart somewhere along the way.

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Enchanted

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Enchanted” (Walt Disney)

In the fairy tale land of Andalasia, lovely Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) finds what she thinks is True Love in the form of dashing, troll-hunting Prince Edward (James Marsden). But her wicked future mother-in-law, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), is not happy with the match. Indeed, she has sweetly innocent Princess Giselle pushed down a deep, deep well – only to surface from under a manhole cover in real-life Times Square.
Thoroughly bewildered, drenched and distraught as she wanders the harsh, ‘mean streets’ of Manhattan, Giselle is befriended by a cynical divorce attorney, Robert (Patrick Dempsey), and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey), who has a passion for fluffy pink and fairy princesses. And things get complicated when Robert’s super-successful girl-friend (Idina Menzel) appears.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward (James Marsden) leaves the animated world to search for his precious fiancŽe, bringing his duplicitous servant, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) – who is secretly in cahoots with Queen Narissa – and Giselle’s best friend, her chipmunk Pip. Eventually and inevitably, blissful Princess Giselle must choose between storybook Prince Edward and single-dad Robert for her own “happily ever after.”
In this charming, satirical romantic comedy, screenwriter Bill Kelly (“Premonition”) and director Kevin Lima (“Tarzan”) subtly, seamlessly combine classic 2-D Disney animation and CGI with live action – and the cast is perfect. While Amy Adams (“Junebug”) captures the perky optimism of the Princess, it’s Patrick Dempsey’s (Dr. McDreamy on TV’s “Gray’s Anatomy”) reactions that generate laughs, infusing Robert’s low-key character with far more humanity than is written on the pages of the script.
Narrated by Julie Andrews with buoyant songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Enchanted” is an endearing, fun-filled 10. This magical fantasy-in-reverse is perhaps the best family-film of the year.

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The Golden Compass

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “The Golden Compass” (New Line Cinema)

When director Chris Weitz (“About a Boy”) chose to jettison the challenging exposition of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed sci-fi fantasy “The Dark Materials,” having it vaguely covered by a narrator (Eva Green), this first installment was doomed to being a confusing, meaningless and inconclusive introduction to a parallel universe.
Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is a mysteriously privileged 12 year-old placed under the guardianship of wicked, icily manipulative Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman), who transports her to the frozen Arctic to find her adventurous uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig). Before she departs, Lyra is given a coveted truth-telling device called a Golden Compass and, along the way, she befriends an ‘aeronaut’ (Sam Elliott), a flying witch (Eva Green) and a polar bear (voiced by Ian McKellen).
Obviously, Lyra is the heroine in what is planned to be two additional movies based on the complicated tale in which Dust is a powerful cosmic substance. In this alternative world, everyone is conjoined with a “daemon” or an animal spirit. Lyra’s is ‘Pan’ (voiced by Freddie Highmore) and, because she is still young, it shape-shifts into different animals as Lyra’s mood changes.
An admitted atheist, Philip Pullman wrote “The Dark Materials” in reaction to the religious allegory in C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Because the theme is critical of the abuse of religion for political power, several Catholic/Christian groups have called it subversive rhetoric since it, ultimately, follows two children who destroy an impostor deity whose Magisterium bears a striking resemblance to Vatican City.
Except for its inventive visuals, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Golden Compass” is a disappointing 5. Light on plot and philosophy, it’s heavy on CGI animals, particularly a spectacular showdown between two armored polar bears.

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Juno

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Juno” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Could “Juno” could be this year’s “Little Miss Sunshine”? It’s a cynical, yet irresistible serio-comedy about a pregnant teenager with unquenchable optimism.
Much to her horror, precociously hip 16 year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) discovers that her one sexual encounter with nerdy, perpetually bewildered Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) has resulted in an accidental pregnancy.
“It all started with a chair,” Juno explains in a clever voice-over narration, tracing the screwball narrative over a period of four seasons, beginning in the autumn, moving into winter and spring, and concluding in summer.
Informing her best-friend, Leah (Olivia Thirlby), surly yet loving working-class father (J.T. Simmons) and dog-obsessed stepmother (Allison Janney) is simple, compared with arranging a legal adoption with the Lorings (Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman), “a perfect couple” whom she found through a Penny Saver ad. The wealthy ‘yuppified’ Lorings live in a suburban McMansion and yearn for a newborn. But complications arise and Juno must, once again, cope with the weirdly unintended consequences of her actions.
This is the third Hollywood ‘take’ this year on the topic of unexpected pregnancy, following “Knocked Up” and “Waitress.” But sassy writer Diablo Cody (AKA Brook Busey-Hunt, a former stripper-turned-blogger) and director Jason Reitman (“Thank You for Smoking”) defy expectations and stereotyping, treating both adolescent and adult characters with sensitivity and respect.
Ellen Page’s (“Hard Candy”) performance is perfection, delivering Juno’s witty, self-deprecating, playful dialogue with panache, blithely deflecting tinges of humiliation at school over her increasingly obvious physical condition, while sorting out her feelings for her increasingly smitten boyfriend. And – miracle of miracles – the rest of the cast is equally convincing.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Juno” is an endearing, terrific 10 – a coming-of-age crowd-pleaser that’s full of life, laughter and tears.

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Margot at the Wedding

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Margot at the Wedding” (Paramount Vantage)

Sisterhood is dissected in writer/director Noah Baumbach’s latest domestic drama
From the moment that sharp-tongued, successful short-story writer Margot (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the Hamptons from Manhattan with her reluctant 12 year-old son Claude (Zane Pais) for her free-spirited sister Pauline’s wedding, she makes it clear that – in her opinion – newly pregnant Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is marrying a loser in Malcolm (Jack Black), a whining, creepy, unemployed artist. As the ceremony approaches, one domestic complication crashes into the next, including Margot’s marital turmoil and cranky new neighbors who detest a beloved tree in the backyard.
That tree takes on a metaphysical aspect in that – in one scene – Margot is, literally, stranded atop it, needing to be rescued, and – in a later scene – Malcolm tries to chop it down with a chain-saw, achieving predictably disastrous results.
While Baumbach’s previous “The Squid and the Whale” was funny and touching because it showed acrimonious adults from the adolescent’s point-of-view, this outing has none of its neurotic charm. Instead, it’s filled with the kind of endless, petty squabbling that gives family occasions a bad name.
One’s aggressive and the other’s passive, but neither sister is even remotely interesting to watch or listen to. So it’s excruciating, at times, to have to spend 93 minutes in their company. Exquisite Nicole Kidman manages to make herself look downright dowdy in a brown wig, while usually scowling, snarling Jennifer Jason Leigh forces an occasional smile – or perhaps a twitch.
Since Baumbach utilizes primarily close-ups with a hand-held camera, showing no interest in the art of cinematography, and the pervasive mood is relentless angst. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Margot at the Wedding” is an unhappy, mind-numbing 4 – a dysfunctional family diatribe.

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Awake

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Awake” (M.G.M.)

Everyone has a different definition of a ‘scary’ movie. Mine doesn’t involve monsters or ghostly apparitions. Instead, it’s reality-based terror, which is why I found this admittedly mediocre psychological thriller so gripping.
In “Awake,” a patient’s failed anesthesia leaves him fully conscious but physically paralyzed during surgery. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists and American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, of the 21 million patients who receive general anesthesia, an estimated 20,000 – 40,000 wake up during surgery. Half of them can hear what’s happening and nearly 30% experience pain but they’re unable to communicate because they’ve been temporarily paralyzed.
Like his father, Clayton Beresford Jr. (Hayden Christensen) is a Wall Street whiz. Problem is: he has a defective heart. Perhaps that’s why he still lives at home with his widowed mother, Lilith (Lena Olin), a domineering socialite. Secretly engaged to her assistant, Samantha (Jessica Alba), Clay has been reluctant to break the news to his mother – until, one night, Sam forces the issue and they elope.
Clay’s best man is Jack Harper (Terrence Howard), a cardiac specialist he befriended while on the waiting list for a transplant and, just after the wedding, a donor heart becomes available. Although his mother has lined up a pre-eminent cardiovascular surgeon (Arliss Howard), Clay insists on having Jack do the surgery.
Bad idea since Jack has several malpractice lawsuits pending. As the graphically detailed surgery commences, Clay realizes he’s still aware – but paralyzed – and that things aren’t really what they seem. Secrecy, deception and betrayal abound.
While writer/director Joby Harold suffers credibility problems, he nevertheless builds ominous suspense, so on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Awake” is a horrifying 6 – and quite unsuitable for the squeamish or those about to undergo anesthesia for surgery.

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I Am Legend

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “I Am Legend” (Warner Bros.)

There are very few actors who can carry a picture alone. Tom Hanks did in “Cast Away” – with only a volleyball to talk to – and now Will Smith finds himself in post-apocalyptic Manhattan with only his German shepherd for company.
By 2012, a virus caused by a supposed ‘cure’ for cancer has killed most of humanity and turned those who have survived into vampire-like mutants. Lt. Col. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a military scientist who is inexplicably immune to the plague. During the day, he attempts to hunt deer with a high-powered rifle and scavenges for supplies in the urban wasteland. But, at night, when rabid, howling predators roam the streets, he barricades himself in his Washington Square townhouse, where he conducts lab experiments in hopes of eradicating the outbreak with an antidote.
Eventually, lonely Neville finds two more uncontaminated humans, a Brazilian woman (Alice Braga) and a young boy (Charlie Tahan) who are heading for Vermont to join a ‘survivor’ colony.
Richard Matheson’s sci-fi 1954 novel, which spawned “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) with Vincent Price and “The Omega Man” (1971) with Charleton Heston, has been updated by Akiva Goldsman, who revised Mark Protsevich’s screenplay that was written for Arnold Schwarzenegger before he decided to run for California’s Governorship.
Director Francis Lawrence (“Constantine”) paints a haunting cinematic picture of grim isolation and stark desolation, while the repugnant CGI zombies seem to have crossed the pond from Danny Boyle’s “28 Days.”
Will Smith rises to the occasion superbly, working best with his canine companion, but the abrupt, unconvincing, religious-themed conclusion seems just too serendipitous. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “I Am Legend” is a solitary, suspenseful 7, the scary stuff of which nightmares are made.

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Charlie Wilson’s War

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)

Ever wonder why we’re fighting in Afghanistan – and how we got involved there in the first place?
Investigative “60 Minutes” reporter George Crile came up with a surprising answer in his astute 2004 best-seller which Aaron Sorkin (“The American President,” TV’s “West Wing”) shrewdly adapts for the screen.
Apparently, it’s all because of Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), a swingin’ Democratic Congressman from East Texas. Seen naked in a hot tub, boozing and snorting with strippers in Las Vegas, Charlie is a male chauvinist, admittedly hiring his office staff based on their measurements and pulchritude. He’s also vulnerable, particularly when approached by a beautiful constituent like wealthy Houston socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), an outspoken anti-Communist who wants to arm the Afghan militia to fight the Russians who have invaded their country.
To that end, she arranges for Charlie to meet with Pakistan’s President Zia ul-Haq (Om Puri) in Islamabad and visit an Afghan refugee camp. At Charlie’s side is maverick CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who cleverly brokers a covert deal for Israel to sell Russian-made weapons to the Afghan ‘freedom fighters’ – and the Soviet-made Stinger missiles convince Soviet troops to retreat in 1989. But by arming the ‘mujahedin,’ Charlie Wilson inadvertently set the stage for Al Qaeda and Islamic Fundamentalism.
To propel this truth-is-stranger-than-fiction, geopolitical deal-making caper, Mike Nichols’ fast-paced direction takes an ironic, satirical, often shallow tone, as does Tom Hanks’ cynical “Good Time Charlie” characterization. Scene-stealing Philip Seymour Hoffman is terrific but Julia Roberts just coasts through, often eclipsed by Amy Adams (“Enchanted”) as Wilson’s long-suffering personal assistant.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Charlie Wilson’s War” is a lively, enlightening 8 – and the real Charlie Wilson is retired and living in Lufkin, Texas.

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The Kite Runner

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “The Kite Runner” (Paramount Classics/Vantage)

Marc Forster’s timely adapatation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-seller about the doomed friendship of two Afghan boys is not only faithful to the book but enhances the narrative with resonant visuals.
The sprawling, generation-spanning epic begins in 1978 in Kabul, Afghanistan, where timid, 12 year-old Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi), who lives with his aristocratic widower father (Homayoun Ershadi), loves playing with his best friend, Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada), the spunky son of their servant. Since Amir is literate, he often reads aloud to Hassan under a pomegranate tree, but – most of all – they excel at kite-flying competition. But one fateful day, Amir cowardly betrays Hassan, who is then sexually brutalized by older bullies. After that, Amir’s shame drives a wedge between them – and their country is torn asunder by the Soviet invasion.
Years later, married and living in San Francisco, now-grown Amir (Khalid Abdalla) receives a phone call from an old family friend, informing him that Hassan is dead, leaving a young son orphaned. Guilt-ridden, Amir embarks on a dangerous journey to his ravaged homeland to find and rescue the boy (Ali Dinesh) and bring him to California. Traveling in disguise in treacherous Taliban territory, Amir must cover his shaven face with a false beard and witness a sharia, the public ritual stoning of an adulterous couple.
The non-professional children, discovered in local Kabul schools by casting director Kate Dowd, are extraordinary, and the Middle Eastern actors acquit themselves impressively. Using subtitles, screenwriter David Benioff has, by necessity, condensed the complexity while retaining the ethnic/culture-clash drama, and Roberto Schaefer’s lyrical cinematography deftly uses China doubling for Afghanistan. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Kite Runner” soars to an exceptional, enthralling 10 – with its universal themes of honor and redemption.

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Sweeney Todd

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Sweeney Todd” (Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks)

This “Sweeney Todd” is not a film of the stage musical – unlike “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls” and “Hairspray.” It’s director Tim Burton’s unique interpretation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” – a cynical, chill-inducing, blood-splattering cinematic operetta.
Subtitled “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” it’s the tragic, gore-filled, Gothic tale of Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp), a banished barber who returns to London with a young sailor (Jamie Campbell Bower) after escaping from prison in Australia. Calling himself Sweeney Todd, he’s vowed vengeance on Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who’d banished him and stolen his wife and baby daughter. He’s aided by resourceful Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who accommodates his blood-thirsty rampage by stuffing his victims’ flesh into her meat pies. Woe to anyone who sits in his barber chair, including a flamboyant rival, Adolfo Pirelli (Borat’s Sacha Baron Cohen).
Based on an obscure British melodrama – which may or may not have been inspired by true events – “Sweeney Todd” was filmed once before, in 1982, with Broadway legends Angela Lansbury and George Hearn; Patti LuPone then did it on “Encores.”
Tim Burton’s grimly dark, uncompromisingly macabre vision has the stunning, surrealistic visual style of “Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood,” while screenwriter John Logan focuses on diabolical Sweeney, lovelorn Mrs. Lovett and the plight of the street urchin Toby (Edward Sanders), who serves as the moral compass of the story,.
While neither Johnny Depp nor Helena Bonham-Carter is a trained vocalist, they sing with the voice of their characters – and it’s surprisingly good. The rest of the cast is pitch-perfect. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Sweeney Todd” is a compelling, sinister 10 – a repellent masterpiece!
Forget about your preconceptions – and relish one of the 10 Best Movies of 2007.

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