Martin's Musings

Whenever a comic actor tries to stretch and takes on a more dramatic role, it’s a dicey proposition. For every The Truman Show or Greenberg, for example, there’s another example of a less convincing performance. So what a relief that in the new movie It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) is actually good at walking that fine line between sad and clown. In the film, Galifianakis plays Bobby, a patient in the psychiatric wing of a hospital, who takes a younger patient under his wing. That younger patient, 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), has checked himself in because he’s feeling stressed out and suicidal, and needs to sort some things out.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story was written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (best known for Half Nelson), and despite the plot synopsis I gave above, it’s actually a sweet, teen-oriented drama. Boden and Fleck’s screenplay (based on the novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini) has some black humor mixed in with the drama, and it never once is a downer. There is, of course, a girl on the inside — Noelle (Emma Roberts) — but the romance between her and Craig is predictable and not very well developed. Still, this is a very easy-to-watch and enjoyable film, and as noted, Galifianakis demonstrates decent (albeit limited) range. If you’re going to be stuck in the mental ward for a week, he’s the kind of guy you want to have around. I’m giving It’s Kind of a Funny Story a B.

I know what you’re thinking: Will Secretariat be Diane Lane’s The Blind Side? No. No, it won’t be. It won’t even be this year’s The Rookie, Miracle, or Seabiscuit. This fact-based film about the Triple Crown–winning horse and his fiesty owner is cut from the same cloth as those previously mentioned films: down on her luck character finds salvation/redemption through sport and battles adversity and naysaying by others with the help of a quirky coach/trainer to win the big game/race — or in this case, races. Lane even gets to sport a blond hairdo, like Sandra Bullock did in Blind Side.

However, unlike those other films, Secretariat has neither the suspense nor the grace to pull off making this true story a compelling big-screen story. Instead, like its title character, it’s a hard-charging film that’s not exactly subtle. From its first minute you know just what kind of predictable, sanitized, connect-the-plot-points movie it’s going to be, and the platitudes and obvious metaphors in the heavy-handed screenplay only serve to, ahem, beat a dead horse. And sure, there’s some gorgeous photography of the horse races, but that’s not enough to make Secretariat the sports classic it so wants to be. So that’s why I’m only giving this film a C–.

Judging by its title, you might think Waiting for “Superman” is either the latest superhero movie or an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett about what it means to be Clark Kent.

The truth is neither of those.

In fact, “Superman” is a documentary by Davis Guggenheim (who also made the Oscar-winning Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth) about the problems with the educational system in America today, and how a combination of unions, unproductive politicians, ineffective teachers, uninvolved parents, and short-sighted administrators are derailing the hopes and dreams of our youth, as well as the future of the country.

The film’s thesis is that every child deserves a solid public-school education, but right now that’s far from what they’re getting. Continue reading →

Talk about a high-concept film: In Buried, Ryan Reynolds stars as Paul Conroy, a military contractor in Iraq whose convoy is ambushed and who wakes up to find himself trapped in a coffin six feet underground somewhere in the desert. Amazingly, he’s able to make and receive cell phone calls (he must not have AT&T as a service provider), but not knowing exactly where he is makes it difficult to let his rescuers find him. You might think this sounds a bit claustrophobic, and you’d be right, but somehow, director Rodrigo Cortés is able to shoot the film in a way that gives both Reynolds and the audience space to move around (limited though that may be). That said, how well you go along for the ride depends on how invested you are in the action; at the screening I saw, I was distracted by giggles a few rows behind me. Buried could have been a bit more suspenseful and thrilling, and it probably is with the right audience, but unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it (probably thanks to that young woman behind me). And in the end, it wasn’t just Conroy who was hoping for rescue. I’m giving Buried a C.

When a sequel to a much loved movie comes out many years after the original, the chance is always there for it to suck, and for the characters to fall victim to too much nostalgia.

For every Toy Story 3, for example, there’s a Rocky Balboa.

Thankfully, 23 years after the original, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps falls mostly in the first camp.

Yes, Gordon Gekko is back in business, and does he ever make greed look good. Continue reading →