Movie/TV Reviews

Ocean’s Twelve

Susan Granger’s review of “Ocean’s Twelve” (Warner Bros.)

Steven Soderberg’s sequel to “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) resonates with Rat Pack ring-a-ding-ding, reuniting George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison and Shaobo Qin. After Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his gang ripped off $160 million from Terry Benedict’s (Garcia) Las Vegas Casino, they all went legit but Terry has tracked them down. He wants his money back – with interest. And it’s Danny’s anniversary with Tess (Roberts) when he and the guys are forced back into action – first to Amsterdam to steal a rare stock certificate, then to Paris for the Faberge Coronation Egg. But they didn’t reckon on a top Europol agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones) nor the aristocratic, elusive, agile master thief known as the Night Fox (Vincent Cassel). While the details of the plans for this international intrigue are fragmented and confusing – and the banter gets quite tedious – when Tess is summoned to impersonate Julia Roberts, who is pregnant with twins, it’s quite hilarious. That’s easily the best segment of the entire film. Steven Soderberg serves up tasty European eye candy, including the stunning 19th century Villa Erbe at Italy’s Lake Como, where cast members bunked at George Clooney’s nearby estate, plus cameos by Bruce Willis, Albert Finney, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Izzard and Cherry Jones. Soderberg spent $85 million, the same”Oceans Eleven” budget, so the amiable cast took an even bigger pay cut than before. But no one balked since Soderberg’s known for using the same stable of actors as his own informal repertory company. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ocean’s Twelve” is a silly 6 but, considering the star value alone, it should sell a lot of popcorn.

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Being Julia

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Being Julia” (Sony Pictures Classics)

If Annette Bening doesn’t walk off with a Best Actress Oscar nomination, there is no justice! In this starring vehicle, she plays one of the theater’s greatest divas, Julia Lambert, whose artistry dominates London’s West End in the late 1930s. She’s married to a world-weary impresario, Michael (Jeremy Irons), whose vanity exceeds her own; both boast of their open marriage, meaning each can follow a romantic whim. And Julia’s fancy turns to an ardent young American, Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), who’s barely older than her son (Thomas Sturridge). Problem is: she thinks she’s actually in love with Tom. Thankfully, that angst is short-lived since she discovers he’s cheating on her with an ambitious ingenue (Lucy Punch) who’s eager for a part in Julia’s new play. Fittingly, Julia contrives her own uniquely audacious revenge Based on “Theatre” (1937), one of W. Somerset Maugham’s less-well-known novellas, it has been cleverly adapted by Ron Harwood and astutely directed by Istvan Szabo, who wisely emphasizes the theatricality to minimize the inherent ridiculousness of the May-December romance. One of their most effective devices is having the ghost of Julia’s first acting coach and mentor (Michael Gambon) commenting on her “performance.” Annette Bening captures the elusive tough-but-vulnerable quality that’s necessary to evoke sympathy for this mercurial grande dame, evoking memories of Bette Davis in “All About Eve.” That’s amplified by photographer Lajos Koltai and production designer Luciana Arrighi. Mychael Danna’s period music feeds the comedic romp, producing a terrific soundtrack. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Being Julia” is an exuberant 8, celebrating a giggling actress who is totally in love – with herself.

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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (Disney)

Writer/director Wes Anderson (“Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”) sends up Jacques Cousteau in this wacky, wistful, occasionally humorous satire on the high seas. Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is an internationally famous oceanographer who records every detail of his voyages and misadventures for fun and profit. Problem is: what was once intrepid has now become tepid. So when his lead diver (Seymour Cassel) is gobbled by a “jaguar shark,” Zissou is determined to launch an expedition to hunt down the mythical creature. These plans don’t set well with Zissou’s estranged wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) who abandons her role as his chief logistics officer shortly after the unexpected appearance of Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson), a pilot for Air Kentucky, who claims to be Zissou’s long-lost son. Ambivalent (“I hate fathers and I never wanted to be one.”), Zissou, nevertheless, insists that Ned don the signature red knit cap and Speedo of Team Zissou, which elicits jealousy from the vessel’s engineer (Willem Dafoe). There’s the sexy, pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett) who’s writing a profile, Zissou’s mercenary rival (Jeff Goldblum), Zissou’s producer (Michael Gambon) and a bond company representative (Bud Cort) who’s kidnapped by pirates. The ship Belafonte’s motley crew also includes Brazi’s Seu Jorge who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese. Wes Anderson is only interested in the oddball father-son familial bonding and as dismissive of the oceanographic details as is the world-weary Zissou himself, yet Henry Selick’s stop-motion sea-creature animation is whimsical. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” is a disappointing 5. Eccentrics afloat, it’s an off-beat ship of fools.

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Spanglish

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Spanglish” (Sony Entertainment)

The dictionary defines “bitch” as a bad-tempered woman – and never was one more evil and despicable than Tea Leoni’s character who is so totally unsympathetic that she ruins this film. Neurotic L.A. housewife Deborah Clasky (Leoni) is insecure, manipulative, selfish and totally self-absorbed. How she ever landed a doting husband/father like John (Adam Sandler), a renowned chef/restaurateur, is a mystery. Why he moans, “Great God in heaven, save me!” isn’t. Into their affluent, troubled home comes Flor (Paz Vega), a lovely Mexican housekeeper who has emigrated in hopes of providing a better life for her bright, bilingual 12 year-old daughter (Shelbie Bruce), who provides the narration. Although Flor speaks no English, she’s kind, compassionate, intelligent, sensitive and appreciative – everything Deborah isn’t – a fact that’s observed not only by John but by their children (Sarah Steele, Ian Hyland) and even Deborah’s eccentric, alcoholic mother (Cloris Leachman). So when Deborah embarks on an affair with a hunky realtor (Thomas Hayden Church), the threads of the Clasky marriage begin to unravel. While this human comedy/drama, written and directed by James L. Brooks (“As Good As It Gets”), delves into the cultural differences between Hispanic and American woman, it’s weighed down by Deborah’s sniveling, self-pitying personality. For example, when John has an awkward flirtation with Flor, you’re rooting for his unhappy marriage to dissolve and disappointed when it doesn’t. While Tea Leoni struggles hysterically, the picture belongs to Paz Vega, on whom cinematographer John Seale dotes. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Spanglish” is an occasionally funny, heart-wrenching 5, delineating a marriage that doesn’t deserve to be saved.

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Million Dollar Baby

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Million Dollar Baby” (Warner Bros.)

Actor/producer/composer/director Clint Eastwood delivers a knockout punch with this uncompromising boxing-ring drama about faith, trust and redemption. Grizzled Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) has spent a lifetime training and managing fighters, teaching them his cardinal rule: always protect yourself. Taking that advice to heart, he’s emotionally distanced himself from everyone after a painful estrangement from his daughter, although he faithfully attends daily Mass, exchanging barbs with the priest (Brian O’Bryne). Frankie’s only friend is Eddie “Scrap” Dupris (Morgan Freeman), an ex-boxer who tends his shabby gym, The Hit Pit. Then he meets scrappy, spunky Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) who is determined to be a contender. Frankie tells her she’s too old and that he doesn’t train “girlies” but she’s persistent. Eventually won over by her sheer determination, Frankie begrudgingly starts training Maggie who, surprisingly, turns out to be a natural. A subtle father-daughter relationship gradually grows and his paternal devotion even surmounts a jolting, agonizing tragedy. As an actor, Eastwood has never been better, delivering a crusty, heartfelt performance that should earn him a well-deserved Oscar nomination. As director, he elicits equally memorable stints from Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Cry”), who seems assured of an Oscar berth, and Morgan Freeman, who certainly deserves a Supporting nod. And Eastwood composed the haunting score. Also credit veteran TV writer Paul Haggis’ script, based on “Rope Burns” by fight trainer Jerry Boyd writing as F.X. Toole. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Million Dollar Baby” is a powerful 10, packing a mighty emotional wallop. One of the year’s 10 Best.

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The Aviator

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “The Aviator” (Miramax Films)

Without doubt, Howard Hughes was one of Hollywood’s most enigmatic, fascinating and eccentric movie moguls but he was also a legendary aviation tycoon. And that’s pivotal to this masterpiece of a mythic bio-pic which will be a strong Oscar contender in several top categories. It begins with a prophetic prologue as Hughes’ mother is giving her young son a bath, along with cautionary hygiene lessons during a flu epidemic. Then, in 1927, the brash, now-22 year-old Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) invests a fortune from his family’s oil-well drill-bits business in his first movie, “Hell’s Angels,” resulting in ridicule from other studio executives. But when it’s a hit, Hughes not only has wealth but power and begins seducing a bevy of screen beauties like Jean Harlow (Gwen Stefani), Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale) and Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett). Meanwhile, at Hughes Aircraft, he creates the sleek H-1 Racer, breaking the record for round-the-world flight, along with the XF-11, the Constellation passenger plane that made TWA a top-notch airline, and the Spruce Goose, the world’s biggest flying machine. Written by John Logan and directed by Martin Scorsese, it’s episodic yet riveting cinema – from the spectacular airborne sequences to the bizarre bathroom scene at the Coconut Grove as Hughes was overwhelmed by obsessive-compulsive hand-washing. Although he has no physical resemblance to the daredevil Hughes, Leonardo DiCaprio is brilliant, matched by Cate Blanchett, who captures the quintessential essence of Hepburn, along with Alan Alda as abusive Sen. Ralph Owen and Alec Baldwin as Pan Am’s CEO Juan Trippe. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Aviator” is a stylish, engrossing, compelling 10. It’s one of my 10 Best Pictures of 2004.

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Beyond the Sea

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Beyond the Sea” (Lions Gate Films)

Kevin Spacey is one of the most talented actors of the current generation but there’s no way that – at age 45 – he can play a teenager or even a twentysomething. That’s self-deluding fantasy – and the fatal flaw in his exuberant, ambitious biopic of crooner Bobby Darin who died at age 37. The story begins on a soundstage as Darin (Spacey) is directing a movie about himself. The young actor (William Ullrich) who plays Bobby as a boy interrupts the scene to correct a plot point about how rheumatic fever permanently damaged the singer’s heart. That’s when his mom (Brenda Blethlyn) gave him the gift of music. Supported by his devoted sister (Caroline Aaron), her husband (Bob Hoskins), manager (John Goodman) and music director (Peter Cincotti), Darin’s career subsequently flourished, leading to his motion picture pairing with teen icon Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), whom he wooed and wed over the objections of her protective mother (Greta Scacchi) – and, finally, to his dream of playing Manhattan’s Copacabana nightclub. As director/producer/star, Kevin Spacey is terrific as he impersonates the brassy, finger-snapping Darin, warbling “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea.” Impressively, Spacey did all the vocals to big-band arrangements supplied by Dodd Darin, Bobby’s son who was 12 when his father died – and Spacey’s taking his Darin songs on a nightclub tour. Even his dancing is sensational. On the minus side, however, Spacey is never convincing and Kate Bosworth evokes vapid Loni Anderson more than perky Sandra Dee. Lewis Colick’s clichŽ-filled, rosy-hued script serves as between-the-numbers connective. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Beyond the Sea” is an engaging, entertaining yet strangely superficial 6. The razzle-dazzle fizzes out.

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Flight of the Phoenix

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Flight of the Phoenix” (20th Century-Fox)

If you’ve been intrigued by the premise of mini-series “Lost,” this is an enjoyable diversion. The escapist adventure begins in the Tan sag Basin in Mongolia, where an American petroleum company site is abruptly shut down. A cynical cargo plane pilot Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) and his co-pilot AJ (Tyrese Gibson) are sent to evacuate the disgruntled field workers, including the irate rig boss (Miranda Otto), a visiting oil exec (Hugh Laurie) and an eccentric traveler (Giovani Ribisi) who wound up in Mongolia. Shortly after take-off, the plane is ripped apart by a massive sandstorm. Towns miraculously manages to crash land in the Gobi Desert but the plane is damaged beyond repair. The survivors face a dilemma: how to get outta there before the water runs out and/or they’re killed by marauding nomads. When the creepy traveler turns out to be an aircraft designer, he proposes they build a new plane out of the wreckage. But will it fly? Director John Moore (“Behind Enemy Lines”) and screenwriters Scott Frank (“Minority Report”) and Edward Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”) fail to fully develop their conventional characters and burden them with leaden, clichŽ-ridden dialogue. Then too, it pales in comparison with Robert Aldrich’s original 1965 film with a cast headed by Jimmy Stewart and included Ernest Borgnine, Hardy Kruger, Peter Finch, George Kennedy and Richard Attenborough. But due to Brendan Galvin’s exciting photography, this revamped version has tense intrigue plus a bickering ensemble: Kirk Jones, Jacob Vargas, Scott Michael Campbell, Tony Curran, Kevork Malikyan and Jared Padalecki. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Flight of the Phoenix” soars with a suspenseful 6. It begins and ends strong – if only they’d fixed the middle.

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Roar: Lions of the Kalahari

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Roar: Lions of the Kalahari” (IMAX)

It’s survival of the fittest in this new, National Geographic-sponsored IMAX adventure! At the edge of a shallow watering hole in the middle of the arid salt flats of central Botswana, a mammoth 10-foot-long lion has reigned supreme for three years. His lioness pride consists of two sisters – one older, one younger – and the older is about to present him with cubs. But most of the time these lithe females are busy supplying the fresh springbok on which he feasts. Then, suddenly, an unfamiliar rumbling growl and then a roar breaks the silence of the night. There’s an aggressive, younger male who covets the lionesses, and his nearby presence places the five cubs in danger. A struggle for territory and dominance is inevitable although the aging, black-maned lion is able to postpone a violent confrontation with the nomad for several months. Director/producer/photographer Tim Liversedge has lived in southern Africa for more than 40 years and his up-close wildlife footage is amazing. Particularly memorable are scenes in which the lionesses stalk herds of antelope called springboks. With eyes fixed unwaveringly upon the prey, they patiently watch and wait for an unfortunate laggard on which to pounce. Slowly, carefully, they inch forward, hoping that no one will notice their sleek, tawny bodies. This methodology is typical of the lion: to get as close as possible to its prey and then to make a final dramatic rush at great speed, an exhausting chase that usually leaves the lion so breathless that further pursuit is impossible. Lions kill only to fulfill their immediate hunger, gorging themselves upon a carcass until completely sated. Then they do not bother to hunt again for a few days which means they can move freely among the herbivores (springbok, giraffe, zebras) who can graze nearby without fear. Ferocious and dangerous as they appear to be, the lions back off, however, when elephants are in the region. Elephants do not like lions – and make no secret of that fact as they completely take over the watering hole for several weeks, turning it into a mud bath. James Garrett narrates Eleanor Grant’s somewhat corny screenplay which, according to the press notes, takes dramatic license with the true facts, and Sean Macleod Phillips supplies some superb visual effects. For anyone who has ever been on safari in the African veldt, this evokes vivid memories – and for those who haven’t, this is a chance to get as close as possible to that thrilling experience. One caution: the subject matter of hunting may be too intense and, therefore, upsetting to very young children. While the dust of the desert obscures the blood of the actual kill, parents should exercise discretion. The final fight between the two rival lions is loud and dramatic but, all-in-all, this is not at all a gory film. In fact, I found it fascinating, inspiring and truly educational. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Roar: Lions of the Kalahari” is a spectacular 8. It’s one of the best of the IMAX wildlife presentations.

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Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger: “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (Paramount Pictures)

The series of eleven wickedly delightful children’s novels written and narrated by the mysterious Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. writer Daniel Handler) have now come to the silver screen. The three Baudelaire children have lost their parents and their home in a horrific fire and are sent by a blustery banker (Timothy Spall) to live with a series of unscrupulous relatives. The worst is greedy cousin Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), a terrible villain and worse actor, who is grimly determined to get his hands on their inheritance. So 14 year-old Violet, an imaginative inventor, her younger brother Klaus, a voracious reader, and biting baby sister Sunny must use brains and courage in order to survive unexpectedly ill-fated encounters with kindly snake-loving Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) and nervous, grammar-obsessed Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep).\ Under Brad Silberling’s direction, production designer Rick Heinrichs creates a gloomy, gothic fantasy world well suited to Robert Gordon’s overly ambitious screenplay which adapts and somewhat revises the first three books. It’s too bad that Snicket’s educational, dementedly witty and whimsical wordplay is truncated, although baby Sunny’s subtitles are truly hilarious. As the orphans, Violet Browning, Liam Aiken and toddler twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman are perfectly cast – with Jude Law voicing Lemony Snicket, who is only shown in silhouette. But it’s Jim Carrey’s admittedly over-the-top performance propels the enchantment along with Meryl Streep’s. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” is a humorously sinister 7, reinforcing the concept of family and the long-held belief that adults just don’t listen to children as often as they should. It’s holiday fun for everyone.

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