Movie/TV Reviews

Sicko

Susan Granger’s review of “Sicko” (Lionsgate & The Weinstein Company)

Why do we go to the movies? To be entertained and to be informed. Movies can capture America’s ethical or moral values of the moment, and movies can make us question who we are as individuals and what we are as a society.
That’s what docu-dramatist Michael Moore does – with “Roger & Me,” “Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Now he’s taken aim at our corrupt health-care system, showing – albeit anecdotally – how the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies have ‘bought’ Congress so they can continue to dictate governmental decisions about health care. It’s an incontrovertible indictment.
According to the World Health Organization, the United States is ranked 37th, far behind Canada, England, France and Cuba. These nations manage to care for their citizens at little or no cost to the individual patient. Taxes pay the medical bills – for everyone.
Michael Moore’s cinematic style is manipulative, often confrontational and brutally comic. Granted, his unsubtle irony is simplistic and his “hospital” vignettes are staged; they’d have to be. Perhaps the drugs an American patient buys in Havana for five cents, as opposed to $120 at home, are not FDA approved. And Moore’s voyeuristic visit to Guantanamo with 9/11 rescue workers is obviously a stunt. But the evidence of American profiteering is overwhelming.
Moore poses the question: why do we gratefully accept the aid of our police and fire departments – which are government funded – yet become alarmed at the concept of “socialized medicine”? Isn’t taking care of ourselves the essence of “democracy”?
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Sicko” is a sensational 10. It’s not a perfect movie but it will make you think – and the conversations you’ll have afterwards are worth far more than the price of admission.

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Evan Almighty

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Evan Almighty” (Universal Pictures)

In this only mildly amusing sequel to “Bruce Almighty,” Steve Carrell (“The 40 Year-Old Virgin”) plays Evan Baxter, an arrogant Buffalo, New York, TV anchorman-turned-Congressman, who loads up his Hummer and moves to a huge house in suburban Virginia with his wife, Joan (Lauren Graham), and their three young sons.
Vowing to “change the world,” Evan arrives at the Capitol and discovers – to the delight of his staff (Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins and Jonah Hill) – that he’s been invited to co-sponsor a high-profile, anti-environmental bill by one of the House’s most powerful members (John Goodman). But much to the chagrin of his neglected family, Evan’s work load is overwhelming.
Then God (Morgan Freeman) appears, commanding Evan to build an ark because a mighty flood is imminent. Ancient tools appear along with truckloads of lumber. Relying on “Ark Building for Dummies,” Evan reluctantly begins, as birds and animals appear two-by-two, including elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, giraffes, Kodiak bears, zebras, reindeer, camels, buffalos, porcupines and skunks, to name a few.
Suddenly and inexplicably long-haired, bearded and clad in robes – surrounded by furry or feathered companions – Evan’s faith is sorely tested as he’s held up to ridicule as the “New York Noah.”
Written as a family-friendly parable by Steve Oedekerk, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow – and there’s definitely an audience for contemporary adaptations of Bible stories – but heavy-handedly directed by Tom Shadyac, it’s preachy and ponderous.
God works in mysterious ways but, having been an anchorwoman (on WNHC and then WTNH in New Haven), I can assure you that no newscaster can continue on-air while running for political office.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Evan Almighty” is a stultifying, self-righteous, sanctimonious 5, desperately needing divine intervention.

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License to Wed

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “License to Wed” (Warner Bros.)

To get a driver’s license, you need classroom instruction, a learner’s permit, behind-the-wheel training, etc. But to get a marriage license, all you have to do is pay a minimal fee. Perhaps that’s why there’s a 50% divorce rate.
Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) is determined to create happy, life-long unions.or, at least, prevent divorces. So when seemingly compatible couples, like Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore), schedule a ceremony, they’re required to pass his “foolproof” marriage prep course.
Their ‘homework’ consists of writing their wedding vows, unbeknownst to one another, and not engaging in sex until the honeymoon. The course consists of communication exercises, simulating scenarios that a young couple might not think of or have to deal with until they’re already married – when it’s too late. Like caring for creepy-looking, lifelike animatronic babies that are remotely controlled by Rev. Frank’s cherubic ‘Ministers of Tomorrow’ assistant (Josh Flitter) who programs them – calm, cranky or hysterical – when he’s not sneaking into bedrooms to plant mini-microphones so Rev. Frank can maintain round-the-clock surveillance of the couple’s conversations.
Written by Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio and directed by Ken Kwapis, it’s more than slightly predictable with pop psychology and sporadic humor. John Krasinski (“The Office”) is amiable but hardly charismatic; the same for singer Mandy Moore. While Robin Williams’ irreverence is always funny, Josh Flitter (“Nancy Drew”) gets the biggest laughs. The only discordant note comes from the underwritten yet overly cynical, misogynistic ‘best man’ (DeRay Davis).
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “License to Wed” is an amusing 7. It’s a droll cautionary tale about the chances of living ‘happily ever after’ – and wait for the zany outtakes during the final credits.

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Ratatouille

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Ratatouille” (Buena Vista/Disney)

“Ratatouille” is delicious! Who would believe this rat-turned-chef gastronomical caper could capture the culinary heart of the City of Light?
Cultured, educated and blessed with acute sensibilities, Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt) is a thin blue rat who lives with his rodent relatives in the French countryside. But he’s different. Remy’s taste buds are more cultivated; he prefers haute cuisine to garbage. So when disaster strikes and the family is forced to flee through the sewers, it’s not surprising that Remy winds up in Paris near a restaurant that belonged to a legendary chef, Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), who proclaimed, “Anyone can cook!”
Intrigued and sensually intoxicated, Remy sneaks in and spices up a vat of soup ostensibly cooked by Linguini (Lou Romano), a garbage boy who’s ordered by the sous chef (Ian Holm) to reproduce it as a menu staple. Realizing his ineptitude, Linguini reluctantly teams up with Remy, forming an unlikely partnership (filled with slapstick shtick) that must be kept secret from everyone, including adorably coquettish Colette (Janeane Garofalo), the lone female cook, and a caustic restaurant critic, Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole – at his haughty nastiest).
Conceived and co-directed by Jan Pinkava (“A Bug’s Life”) with screenwriter/director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”), it’s filled with perfectly paced yet subtle character humor and heart, emerging as another Oscar-tempting Disney/Pixar creation. The meticulously detailed animation is stunning, subtly shifting between the rodent and human perspectives – and the mouth-watering food is temptingly textured.
Historically, Disney has built much of its reputation on romping rodents – beginning with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and rollicking through “The Rescuers” and “Cinderella.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ratatouille” (pronounced by Pixar as “rat-a-too-ee”) is a captivating, inventive, soufflŽ-light 10. Family audiences will eat it up!

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Evening

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

When Vanessa Redgrave and her real-life daughter, Natasha Richardson, and Meryl Streep and her real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer, are on the screen, this generational drama is divine. When they’re not, it suffers mightily.
Redgrave plays aging Ann Lord who, lying in her deathbed, attended by a nurse (Eileen Atkins) and two bickering daughters (Natasha Richardson, Toni Collette), remembers a pivotal weekend when she was an aspiring singer from New York.
In her reverie, her younger self (Claire Danes) shows up in Newport, Rhode Island, for the genteel wedding of her best friend, Lila Wittenborn (Mamie Gummer), in a baronial beach house, where Lila’s socialite parents (Glenn Close, Barry Bostwick) reign and her self-destructive brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy) is on a perpetual drunk. Hovering in the background is an attractive young doctor (Patrick Wilson), the housekeeper’s son, on whom everyone – Lila, Ann and Buddy – dotes.
Based on a novel by Susan Minot, who collaborated on the screenplay with Michael Cunningham (“The Hours”), the fragmented story works far better on paper than on celluloid. I suspect that’s also the fault of Hungarian cinematographer-turned-director Lajos Koltai, who allows far too many scenes to run on far too long. In addition, Koltai and film editor Allyson C. Johnson shift time frames clumsily, so the pivotal scene, when Meryl Streep appears as an elderly Lila, seems a bit forced.
Coltish Claire Danes should not have been cast as a young Vanessa Redgrave. Their voices, features and acting styles are entirely different. On the other hand, the genetic inheritance of Mamie Gummer from Meryl Streep is remarkable. Watch for Mamie – she’s going to be a star! On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Evening” fades to a stultified 6, becoming a luminous meditation on mortality.

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Transformers

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

For sci-fi excitement and escapist, fast-paced action, you can’t beat “Transformers.”
According to Cybertron mythology, two races of alien robots – the ‘good’ Autobots’ and the ‘evil’ Decepticons – have been fighting for centuries. When their battle comes to Earth, the only person who can save humanity is suburban teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), who’s psyche’d when his dad buys him his first car. It’s a beat-up 1976 yellow Chevy Camaro, which turns out to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise, who helps Sam steer an adventurous classmate, Mikaela (Megan Fox), into the passenger seat.
It seems that Sam has unwittingly posted on e-Bay his Arctic explorer grandfather’s eyeglasses on which is scratched the code to finding the Autobots’ life source, a cube called the “Allspark,” coveted by the predatory Decepticons, which have already attacked U.S. troops (Josh Dihamel, Tyrese Gibson, Amaury Nolasco, Zack Ward) in Qatar.
Meanwhile, a dishy Aussie computer analyst (Rachael Taylor) and her hacker guru (Anthony Anderson) try to convince a disbelieving Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight) of the peril – and there’s this strange government agent (John Turturro) lurks around.
In the plot conceived by John Rogers, written by Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by adrenaline-pumping Michael Bay (“Armageddon”), the humans’ and robots’ stories intertwine: “There’s more to them than meets the eye.”
As Hasbro’s iconic toys come to CGI life, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Starscream, Barricade, Bonecrusher and Frenzy shape-shift into aggressive, ultra-slick, combative cars. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Transformers” is a spectacularly loud, fun-filled, wicked cool 10. It’s awesome!
Trivia Note: Orson Welles’ (“Citizen Kane”) final film was the bizarre, rarely-seen 1986 animated “Transformers: The Movie,” in which he voiced Unicron, an evil shape-shifting planet moon.

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Live Free or Die Hard

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Live Free or Die Hard” (20th Century-Fox)

After a 12-year hiatus, the chaos and confusion that surrounds Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) are back again in what’s essentially “Die Hard 4.0.” Understanding that this is primarily a high-tech action adventure with little subtlety and only a smidgeon of substance, it succeeds – primarily because the stunts are spectacular.
Still working for the NYPD, wiser and wearier McClane’s assignment is to deliver a South Jersey computer hacker (Justin Long), to Washington for questioning by the FBI. But the feds aren’t the only ones after the geek; dastardly forces want him dead. So by the time McClane makes it to D.C., traffic signals, computers and cellphones have gone down. It’s a “fire sale,” a three-step plan leading to the total paralysis of the digital systems that control our nation’s energy and economy.
Using brawn and brains, McClane battles several villains, including a maniacal, sexy Hong Kong martial artist (Maggie Q), a Eurotrash thug (Cyril Raffaelli) and the mastermind cyber-terrorist, vengeful Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant of “Deadwood”).
Screenwriters Mark Bomback and David Marconi cleverly play off our current fears: terrorism and the increasing role that the technology plays in our culture. Director Len Wiseman (“Underworld: Evolution”) maintains a pulse-racing pace. Basically, it’s a continuous chase, involving not only the usual firepower but huge fireballs, catapulting cars, collapsing freeways, a Harrier fighter-jet leaving harrowing destruction in its wake and a climactic fight in an elevator shaft.
52 year-old Bruce Willis seems as fearsome and formidable as ever while 29 year-old Justin Long not only matches him in anti-authoritarianism but gets some of the best laughs in the picture. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Live Free or Die Hard” is an invigorating 8, a solid summer popcorn picture.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (Warner Bros.)

It’s kind of like “Star Wars: Episode I,” perhaps the weakest chain in the link but necessary in order to understand what’s going to happen in the next two installments.
After a lonely summer with the despicable Dursleys, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is denounced as a liar by the Ministry of Magic and returns in disgrace to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the authority of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has been undermined by the unwelcome arrival of dreadful Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton).
Now 15 – with no family except godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) – Harry’s even more determined to fight the evil forces of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), training those few who still trust him in the magic they’ll need to defend themselves as “Dumbledore’s Army.”
Utilizing J.K. Rowling’s dark yet highly detailed novel, screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and director David Yates concentrate on Harry’s full-blown, angst-ridden coming-of-age confusion, reducing colorful characters like Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter), Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith), Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), even Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) to cameos. There’s not even a Quiddich match!
What’s still fascinating is watching the wide-eyed innocents of “Sorcerer’s Stone” grow up. Except for Michael Apted’s British series, “Seven Up,” documenting the lives of 14 British children every seven years, this has never been done before.
Yet with mumbled dialogue, fewer fantastical creatures, a perplexing prophecy and less impressive visual effects, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is a transitional, sinister 7. At two hours, 18 minutes, it’s one of the shortest Harry Potter movies – yet it feels like the longest.

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Hairspray

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Hairspray” (New Line Cinema)

It’s been almost two decades since John Waters’ original oddball comedy about dance-crazed teenagers inspired Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s Broadway musical which has now been adapted for the screen in a star-studded spectacle.
Set in Baltimore in the early 1960s, it’s the story of how pudgy, shimmying Tracy Turnblad (18 year-old newcomer Nikki Blonsky), stuns her overly protective, laundress mom Edna (John Travolta), and joke-store proprietor dad, Wilbur (Christopher Walken), wins a spot on an afternoon TV dance party, steals the heart of Link Larkin (Zac Efron) and becomes an unlikely force for racial integration, much to the chagrin of scheming, bitter Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), an ex-beauty queen who now runs “The Corny Collins Show,” a local version of “American Bandstand.”
Screenwriter Leslie Dixon (“Mrs. Doubtfire”) and choreographer-turned-director Adam Shankman (“Bringing Down the House”) gently bury much of John Waters’ subversive undertones to concentrate on being ‘different’ in this merrily trashy musical.
Stepping into the gender-blending role originated by Divine and then Harvey Fierstein on Broadway, John Travolta dons on his “Saturday Night Fever”/”Grease” dancing shoes – and dazzles. A nimble duet between Travolta and Walken, amid billowing clothes lines, evokes Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but the most memorable musical numbers are Queen Latifah’s “I Know Where I’ve Been” and Elijah Kelley’s “Run.”
Keep an eye out for cameos by alums of the original 1988 “Hairspray”: Ricki Lake, Jerry Stiller and auteur John Waters as the neighborhood flasher who lives next door to the Turnblads. Despite its PG rating, this is the first film to be cited for a teen smoking scene under the movie ratings board’s new anti-smoking policy.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Hairspray” is a bouncy, campy 9, a cotton-candy entertainment feast.

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Joshua

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

Wall Street yuppies Brad and Abby Cairn (Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga) are privileged, perfect parents, living in a magnificent Upper West Side, Manhattan apartment with their nine year-old piano prodigy son, Joshua (Jacob Kogan), and their newborn daughter, Lily.
In addition to his musical genius, Joshua is an exceptional student – but definitely weird. He dismisses sports, displaying, instead, a morbid fascination with Egyptian embalming techniques. His cold, creepy passive-aggressiveness manifests itself in many sneaky ways, particularly with the arrival of a little sister and the disturbing recurrence of his mother’s deep, sleep-deprived, postpartum depression.
“You don’t have to love me,” precocious Joshua ambivalently tells his father, bonding, instead with his arty, gay, composer uncle, Ned Davidoff (Dallas Roberts), who blandly appreciates his taste for dissonant Bartok and somber Beethoven sonatas and isn’t besotted by the incessantly crying baby. But then there’s his evangelical grandmother, Hazel Cairn (Celia Weston), who, ill-advisedly, interferes.
Writer/director George Ratcliff and co-writer David Gilbert combine the spooky sociopath child – explored with more visual panache in “The Bad Seed” and “The Omen” – with the darkly disturbing psychological dynamics of family drama, amplified by the chilly elegance achieved by production designer Roshelle Berliner, Belgian cinematographer Benoit Debie and musician Nico Muhly, whose moody “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is indelible.
Yet despite the best efforts of Sam Rockwell (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”) and Vera Farmiga (“The Departed”), their characters are underdeveloped even before they begin their inevitable, slowly-paced decline. But young Joshua Kogan is a real find – and his real-life baby sister doubled as the newborn. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Joshua” is a subtle, sinister 6. Evil, yes, but not very scary.

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