Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Based on the novel by John Le Carre, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the story of a former spy who is asked to find a Soviet double-agent that is rumored to be a top official in the British secret service. Directed by Tomas Alfredson and screenplay by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughn, the film explores the world of espionage and intrigue as it revolves a retired spy who is forced to uncover dark secrets that involves the people he used to work for. Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ciaran Hinds. Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy is an engrossing yet intriguing film from Tomas Alfredson.

After British intelligence sends agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) to Hungary where he was shot and captured, the ailing intelligence head Control (John Hurt) is forced to retire as he asks his right-hand man George Smiley (Gary Oldman) to investigate a claim by agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) about a mole in British Intelligence. With Tarr in hiding, Smiley takes charge of the investigation as he brings in officer Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) to aid him where they suspect about the Witchcraft project that is led by new head Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) that also includes deputy Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), and senior officials Roy Bland (Ciaran Hinds) and Toby Esterhase (David Dencik).

With Alleine taking control of the MI6 and getting rid of various personnel, Smiley meets Connie Sachs (Kathy Burke) who reveals that she was sacked for finding out about a mole-handler named Polyakov (Konstantin Khabensky). Another former employee in Jerry Westerby (Stephen Graham) reveals to Smiley some more information about what happened to Prideaux as Smiley believes that a top official could be the mole. Coming home from work, Smiley finds Tarr at his house hiding as Tarr reveals his story about what happened to him in Istanbul. Tarr met an operative named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova) whom he fell for as they traded information as she was the one who revealed about the mole in the MI6 before being captured. Tarr was forced to flee after finding a British agent dead as he’s been accused of murder as he remains in hiding.

After Guillam is asked to fetch Tarr’s reports to confirm what Tarr had said, Guillam and Smiley make a discovery that someone knows about Tarr’s time in Istanbul. After learning about more about what happened to Prideaux and what he was trying to find for Control, Smiley goes further to find out what Alleine, Haydon, Bland, and Esterhase have been giving to Polyakov as one of them has been giving away something more than just information. There, Smiley makes a move to have the mole to be revealed.

What happens when a retired spy has to uncover dark secrets that involves espionage that would threaten the livelihood of the British Intelligence Agency? That's what the film is simply about as it explores the world of corruption and men's desire to create a new world order in the 1970s during the Cold War. Yet, it would take a man like George Smiley to realize that what they're doing isn't just wrong but immoral about the way spy games work. Seeing people he knew for many years being dismissed like that because they know something is wrong forces him to make some moves with old friends including a spy who is on the run for uncovering the truth.

The screenplay does play to the schematics of a suspense story yet a lot of the narrative does shift back and forth as it revolves around Smiley’s memories and the events that transpire throughout the course of the film. The story opens with Prideaux’s capture as it would be among the moments that keeps coming back along with Smiley’s memories of more simpler times when Control was in charge. During these flashbacks, Smiley would force to look back at things that would raise his suspicions as he later realizes that something was up. Even as it would involve meeting people like those who were dismissed or someone like Ricki Tarr as they would reveal to Smiley things that would eventually confirm his own suspicions.

Tomas Alfredson’s direction is very entrancing in the way he frames his actors and set-up the moments of suspense that occurs throughout. His attention to detail in the film’s opening scene that involves Prideaux that would led to his capture is among one of these key moments of suspense. The rest of the film takes a much more low-key approach in order to uncover everything that is happening as Alfredson creates a world that is set in the early 1970s where the Cold War is already happening and Smiley feels out of step with the times. It’s to establish that a new world order is happening where men like Smiley are just obsolete while these new lions take over and keep the Cold War happening yet it’s the mole that is creating all of these complications that is going on.

Set mostly in London with some parts of the film set in Paris, Istanbul, and Hungary, it’s definitely a film about international intrigue as Alfredson is trying to figure out who is the mole. Notably the sequence that involves Ricki Tarr in Istanbul where the compositions have an air of style as it reflects Tarr’s desire to lead a life out of the world of spy games. The film’s third act where Smiley gets closer to finding out who the mole is has him doing things where he will confront someone in a very unique way in order to get answers. There’s no violence involve but rather just play it cool and create a situation where that person eventually breaks down. Overall, Alfredson crafts a very solid and engaging suspense film that works to play out its sense of mystery.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema does brilliant work with the film‘s stylish photography to play out the drab look of London in its exteriors along with lush lighting schemes for the interior. Editor Dino Jonsater does excellent work with the editing to create stylish cuts to help shift the narrative around along with some methodical cuts to play out the suspense. Production designer Maria Djurkovic, along with set decorator Tatiana MacDonald and art directors Tom Brown and Mark Raggett, does superb work with the set pieces such as the meeting room where the British intelligence supervisors meet along with the offices and homes that the characters live and work at.

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does terrific work with the costumes from the suits the men wear to the more casual 70s clothing the younger characters wear. Hair and makeup designer Felicity Bowring does nice work in creating looks for the characters to create the feel of the 1970s. Sound editors Stephen Griffiths and Andy Shelley do some fine work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the meetings as well as the chaos in some of the film‘s thrilling moments. The film’s music by Alberto Iglesias is amazing for its orchestral-driven score filled with slow, heavy themes to play out the drama and suspense. Music supervisor Nick Angel creates a very good soundtrack that features a few music pieces from the 70s including a rhythmic cover of La Mer by Julio Iglesias.

The casting by Jina Jay is marvelous for the ensemble that is assembled for this film. Among those making small appearances include Christian Makay as an agent in Paris, Roger Lloyd-Pack as a friend of Smiley, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke as two dismissed staff members of the agency, Simon McBurney as official Oliver Lacon, Konstantin Khabensky as the mysterious Polyakov, Svetlana Khodchenkova as the Soviet operative Irina that Tarr falls for, and John Hurt in a small but crucial role as former MI6 head Control. Toby Jones is excellent as the very aggressive Intelligence head Percy Alleline while Ciaran Hinds is very good as the more low-key official Roy Bland. David Dencik is terrific as the very snaky and secretive Toby Esterhase who tries to be low-key only to have Smiley target him.

Benedict Cumberbatch is wonderful as Smiley’s aide Peter Guillam who gets a hands-on experience into the world of corruption and espionage. Colin Firth is superb as the very low-key yet calm official who is part of the cover-up. Tom Hardy is amazing as the agent Ricky Tarr who was the one to discover the idea of the mole as he deals with the conflict of being an agent. Mark Strong is brilliant in a small yet crucial role as the agent Jim Prideaux who is sent to find the identity of the mole early in the film as he is unaware of the dangers he’s facing. Finally, there’s Gary Oldman in an incredible performance as George Smiley. Oldman creates a performance that is very entrancing as a man who feels lost in these new times as he has to uncover a mystery and reveal the mole that is destroying the British Intelligence.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a rich yet captivating film from Tomas Alfredson that features a remarkable performance from Gary Oldman. Along with a cast that includes Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, and Tom Hardy. It’s a film that weaves it way to uncover the mystery as it is presented with great care for the audience to be engaged by and figure out what is going on. In the end, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a brilliant film from Tomas Alfredson.

Tomas Alfredson Films: (Bert: The Last Virgin) - (Screwed in Tallinn) - (Office Hours) - (Four Shades of Brown) - Let the Right One In

© thevoid99 2012

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

In the second part of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter must complete his task to find the remaining Horcruxes in order to defeat Lord Voldemort. With longtime friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger helping out, the trio learn more about the life of Albus Dumbledore as well as the remaining Horcruxes leading to a climatic battle at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Directed by David Yates and screenplay by Steve Kloves based on J.K. Rowling’s novel, the film marks as the conclusion of the entire Harry Potter series. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton, Jason Issacs, Julie Walters, James & Oliver Phelps, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, Ciaran Hinds, and Ralph Fiennes. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is a magnificent conclusion for the film franchise.

With Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) finally obtaining the Elder Wand, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) hide out at Shell Cottage, the home of Ron’s eldest brother Bill (Domhnall Gleeson) and his wife Fleur (Clemence Poesy). When Harry learns that the next Horcrux is at the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bohnam Carter) as they ask the goblin Griphook (Warwick Davis) to help break in the vault. Griphook does so but asks for the sword of Gryffindor in return as Harry reluctantly makes a deal while learning from the wandmaker Ollivander (John Hurt) about the Elder Wand.

With Hermione disguised as Bellatrix through the Polyjuice Potion, they break in as they find the cup of Hufflepuff in Bellatrix’s vault only to get into trouble and escape with the help of a dragon. Harry then realizes that Voldemort knows what is going on where Harry finds the next location of the fifth Horcrux at Hogwarts. Arriving into the Hogsmeade village and evading Death Eaters, they are saved by Aberforth Dumbledore (Ciaran Hinds) who reveals what’s been happening. When a secret passage opens in Aberforth’s home, Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) appears as he takes the trio to Hogwarts where Harry confronts Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) over the death of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

With Snape escaping and Hogwarts in danger, Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) along with fellow Hogwarts teachers and members of the Order of the Phoenix get ready for battle. With help from Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), Harry meets the Grey Lady (Kelly Macdonald) who tells him the whereabouts of the Ravenclaw diadem. With Ron and Hermione destroying the Hufflepuff cup and the diadem also getting destroyed, Harry learns that Voldemort is getting weaker as the battle continues. There, he learns about the remaining Horcruxes including some information from Snape about the seventh prompting Harry to get into a confrontation with Voldemort.

The second part of The Deathly Hallows has Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue their trek to search for the remaining Horcruxes leading to a climatic battle at Hogwarts. During this battle, Harry learns more about his connection to Voldemort leading to revelations about why he had survived the Killing Curse a long time ago. It is there that loyalties are revealed along with whose side Severus Snape was on and why did Dumbledore had been so secretive. Yet, it all comes down to the eventual showdown between Harry and Voldemort where Harry knew what he had to do in order to beat him.

Steve Kloves’ script is excellent for the way he creates a sense of dread of everything that is happening along with the stakes into defeating Voldemort. Characters such as McGonagall and Neville definitely get a chance to take charge in the battle where Neville gets an amazing monologue in final moments leading to one final confrontation between the Death Eaters and the Order/Dumbledore’s Army. While Kloves cut out some material to keep things going which isn’t surprising with a lot of adaptations. He keeps things faithful throughout while one of the subplots about Dumbledore’s family life gets cut which was a bit prevalent in the first part of The Deathly Hallows.

David Yates’ direction is truly phenomenal from some of the intimate and quieter moments of the film to the big spectacular sequences that is created. Among them is the climatic Battle of Hogwarts where there’s a mix of humor and drama while it’s all about the intensity and chaos of war. From the wide shots to let audience see Hogwarts in full scale to some close-ups and hand-held shots for the battle scenes. Yates becomes very engaging while mixing in some moments during battle such as Snape and Voldemort’s meeting that becomes one of the most crucial moments in the film. During Harry’s battle with Voldemort, Yates manages to make things grittier than what some expect with the close-ups on the two men as it is one of the most exciting moments of the film.

While the film has a running length of 130 minutes, there’s a feeling that it could’ve been longer though Yates and Kloves manages to simplify things a bit. Then there’s the film’s epilogue which is among one of the things that divides Harry Potter fans. The epilogue turns out to be not the great disaster some predict with the makeup for the characters in the film not as bad as it seems. Yet, it does provide what is certainly a fitting close not to the film but the entire Harry Potter story as well. In the end, Yates creates an amazing film that gives the Harry Potter franchise a proper farewell.

Cinematographer Eduard Serra does a wonderful job with the cinematography from the dark-colored saturated look to the battle scenes and interiors such as the Gringotts caves. Serra also brings a more naturalistic look of the English landscape scenes including a small scene in Snape‘s memory sequence. Editor Mark Day does a really good job with the editing as he maintains a tight, leisured pace throughout the film while playing to jump-cuts and other rhythmic flourishes for the battle sequences in the film.

Production designer Stuart Craig, along with set decorator Stephanie McMillian and a large team of art directors, does a brilliant job with the look for the Shell Cottage along with Gringotts and Hogwarts as it goes into ruins for the climatic battle scene. Costume designer Jany Temime does a good job with the costumes from the Hogwarts uniforms to the decayed, ragged clothing that the trio and many other characters wear during the battle. Visual effects supervisors Matt Jacobs, John Moffatt, and Chris Shaw do some fantastic work with the visual effects such as the dementors, spells, giants, creatures, and other things to enhance the magical world including to the shield in the battle scene.

Sound designer Dominic Gibbs and sound editor James Mather do a superb job with the sound work from the way spells are cast to the sounds of destruction that goes on throughout the film. The film’s score by Alexandre Desplat is great for its sweeping orchestral pieces for many of the film’s big moments such as the Gringotts break-in and the Battle of Hogwarts plus some more melancholic, dramatic pieces for scenes involving death.

The casting by Fiona Weir is truly phenomenal for the array of actors and appearances from actors who appeared in previous films to smaller characters who get their moments to shine. Making small appearances from previous films include Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout, Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney, David Bradley as Argus Filch, Gemma Jones as Madam Pomfrey, Katie Leung as Cho Chang, Josh Herdman as Goyle, Devon Murray as Seamus Finnigan, Alfie Enoch as Dean Thomas, Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown, and Gary Oldman in a wonderful appearance as Sirius Black. Adrian Rawlins and Geraldine Sommerville are good as Harry’s late parents along with David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Natalia Tena as Tonks, Clemence Poesy as Fleur Delacour-Weasley, Domhnall Gleeson as Bill Weasley, James & Oliver Phelps as Fred & George Weasley, and Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley.

Notable standout performances include Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, Warwick Davis in dual roles as Griphook and Professor Flitwick, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, Kelly Macdonald in a wonderful small role as the Grey Lady, Jason Issacs and Helen McCrory as Lucius and Naricssa Malfoy, John Hurt as Ollivander, and Julie Walters in an outstanding performance as Molly Weasley who gets to say her big line. Helena Bohnam Carter is excellent as the devious Bellatrix Lestrange as she even gets to be funny when Hermione inhabits her character while Ciaran Hinds is very good as the secretive Aberforth Dumbledore. Evanna Lynch and Bonnie Wright are superb in their respective roles as Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley as both young ladies prove to be quite powerful.

Matthew Lewis is amazing as Neville Longbottom as he finally fulfills his character’s long development as the kid who couldn’t hang to a full-fledge badass who delivers a great monologue towards the end of the film. Tom Felton is really good as Draco Malfoy who tries to play his part in battle only to realize the magnitude of Voldemort’s madness. Michael Gambon is great as Albus Dumbledore in the few scenes he has where he explains about Harry’s situation in Snape’s memory scenes. Alan Rickman is wonderful as he is the real standout performance as Severus Snape, a man whose true allegiance is revealed as Rickman brings a heartbreaking performance in the memory scenes. Ralph Fiennes is magnificent as Lord Voldemort as a bit of his vulnerability is revealed through his rage as Fiennes adds a sense of madness into Voldemort as he’s becoming unhinged.

Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are spectacular in their respective roles as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as they help Harry in their mission while the two finally gets to share a kiss in one of the film’s grand moments. Finally, there’s Daniel Radcliffe in a towering performance as Harry Potter by making his character the heroic figure that he is. Even as Radcliffe sells the anguish and vulnerability of his character in his connection to Voldemort while proving that he’s not going to back down.

The second part of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows is a magical yet awesome film from David Yates and company. With an amazing cast and spectacular sequences that gives the fans what they want and more. Yates creates a film where the Harry Potter franchise goes out with a bang and in grand style. If both parts of The Deathly Hallows were to become one entire film, it would’ve been the best of all the films of the Harry Potter series. In the end, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is a superb film that allows the Harry Potter universe to say a fond yet grand farewell.

Harry Potter Reviews: Novels: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone - Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

The Films: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone - Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

Related: Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

© thevoid99 2011

Margot at the Wedding

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 2/24/08.

French director Eric Rohmer is one of France's premier directors that came out the French New Wave movement in the 1960s. Making films on various subjects about morality, relationships, and seasons in a series of films. Rohmer continues to make films as in 2007, the director was finding himself becoming an influence in American cinema. Just as he was releasing a new film entitled Les Amours d'Astree et de Celadon, two American feature films were released inspired by Rohmer's work. The first was a Chris Rock comedy I Think I Love My Wife which the comedian who also co-wrote and directed this remake of Rohmer's 1972 film L'Amour l'apres-midi (Love in the Afternoon). The second Rohmer-inspired film that came out later in 2007 came from Noah Baumbach as he took inspiration from Rohmer's 1983 film Pauline a la plage (Pauline at the Beach) that was about a teenager discovering love in the summer at the beach. Baumbach's version is in the form of a character-driven comedy-drama entitled Margot at the Wedding.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, Margot at the Wedding tells the story of a woman who decides to attend her sister's wedding. Upon meeting her groom, tension arrive between the two sisters. A film about family dynamics and sibling relationships, the film explores some of Baumbach's themes of family dysfunctions that he explored in his 2005 film The Squid & the Whale as he casts Nicole Kidman in the role of Margot and his own wife Jennifer Jason Leigh as her free-spirited sister Pauline. Also starring Jack Black, John Turturro, Halley Feiffer, Zane Pais, Flora Cross, and Ciaran Hinds. Margot at the Wedding is a complex yet complicated film from Noah Baumbach.

Margot and her son Claude (Zane Pais) are riding on a train as they attend the wedding of Margot's younger sister Pauline. After taking a ride on a ferry, they wait for to be at the family home as they're picked up by Pauline's daughter Ingrid (Flora Cross) and Malcolm (Jack Black) who turns out to be Pauline's fiance`. While Margot and Pauline haven't spoken in years, Pauline is happy to see that Margot is there as Malcolm reveals to be an unemployed musician/painter still trying to find a job. Yet, Pauline's work as a teacher still manages to keep them well financially. Margot doesn't seem pleased at Pauline's choice while learns that Pauline is pregnant. While Claude and Ingrid walk around a trail nearby the house with their dog, Pauline reveals some trouble with the neighbors known as the Voglers in whom Margot manages to cause more trouble during a walk.

When Margot, Pauline, Malcolm, Claude, and Ingrid are invited to swim at the home of Dick Koosman (Ciaran Hinds), everyone goes except for Malcolm who seems uncomfortable in the presence of Dick's teenage daughter Maisy (Halley Feiffer). During one night when the adults decide to go out, Claude begins to have a crush on Maisy much to Ingrid's dismay. Things become more complicated when Margot reveals to Pauline that she's having an affair with Dick making Pauline believe that she came here to meet with Dick while still being married to Jim (John Turturro). Jim arrives briefly to celebrate Pauline's marriage as Margot’s criticism towards Malcolm makes him feel insecure.

With the wedding day approaching, Claude gets attacked by the Voglers' son as he finds more comfort in Pauline rather than his neurotic, critical mother. Then during a public conversation about a book with Dick in front of book readers, things go bad when Margot is asked a very personal question. Things worsen when Margot's snide comments about everything put things into a tailspin in which Malcolm’s insecurities get the worst of him in front of Pauline. Suddenly, everything crashes down as old tension between the two sisters starts to boil with Margot suddenly being targeted for all of the family drama.

Taking a lot of cues from Eric Rohmer, Noah Baumbach creates a story that is filled with a lot of family drama along with dabbles of humor. Unfortunately, the story is so high brow with all of these talks of psychological babble and an unlikeable protagonist, it's a story that's hard to delve into. Probably because some of the characters Baumbach creates kind of fall into stereotypes. The neurotic, snotty protagonist; her free-spirited, slacker-like sister; and a lazy, cynical, childlike loser. It's not that Baumbach kind of puts them into those stereotypes, there's just isn't much depth for those characters to connect with. Only the situations involving the characters that include family dysfunction is the one plot-point that audiences can relate to.

Baumbach's direction does make up for the film's dense and babbling script. Baumbach creates an intimate portrait with the film's hand-held camera style that is also in tune with his love for the French New Wave. Even in that style of hand-held cameras, comedic moments, and abrupt shift scenes can work and sometimes, doesn't. There's a moment when following a dramatic scene involving Margot and Claude, it then transitions into a very abrupt scene of Margot at the book store her for her public conversation. It's really Baumbach's direction rather than the editing that causes that abrupt shift that will make the audience feel baffled. While he does underplay the film’s drama and humor. The result is Baumbach starting to realize his craft as a director but still needs work to trying to make a coherent story that audiences can relate to.

Cinematographer Harris Savides does a wonderful job with the film's intimate yet, somewhat grainy look as the look of the film doesn't really have much colors except for a very scenes with sunlight. Most of the look is kind of desolate to convey the mood of the film while the interior settings are shown with little light for its sense of intimacy. Editor Carol Littleton does some fantastic work on the film's editing with the use of jump-cuts and transitions though its flawed is in more due to stylistic choices from what Baumbach wanted. Even in scenes where the transitions from one sequence to another where things feel abrupt.

Production designer Anne Ross and art director Adam Stockhausen do an excellent job in creating the bohemian look of Pauline's home that is filled with pictures on the refrigerator, loads of antiques and such to give the film that look. Costume designer Ann Roth also plays to that bohemian look with loose clothing for the likes of Pauline and Malcolm to the more city yet loose look of Margot that included her red-pink hat. Sound designer Paul Urmson and sound editor Ruth Hernandez help create an atmosphere for the film's exterior scenes that includes the location near the beach, woods, and such as well as the noise of cars driving around upstate New York. Music supervisor George Drakoulias creates a unique soundtrack filled with music from the likes of Dion, Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham of Luna, Blondie, and other types of music to convey the sense of youth in both Margot and Pauline.

The casting by Douglas Aibel is wonderfully assembled with small performances Seth Barrish and Matthew Arkin as a gay couple Margot makes unflattering comments towards and Michael Cullen as the creepy Mr. Vogler with Justin Roth as his son. Halley Feiffer, who was previously in The Squid & the Whale, is good as the seductive Maisy who tries to woo the young Claude while flirting with the very uncomfortable Malcolm. Ciaran Hinds is excellent as Margot's publisher/lover Dick Koosman who is snobbish and smug in which he makes Malcolm uncomfortable and then says hurtful things towards Margot. John Turturro is good in his brief role as Claude's father who cares for Margot as he wonders about their strained marriage in which his feelings towards her, makes her confused. Flora Cross is good though not as memorable as Ingrid, Claude's aloof cousin who seems to care more about her dog than anything else while singing a song for the wedding unaware of where she is.

Zane Pais is great as Margot's son Claude who is trying to deal with his mother's neurotic behavior while finding some comfort in Pauline as he deals with things like girls and such in his own adolescence. Jack Black is good as the slacker Malcolm where Black proves to be a capable actor in doing both comedy and drama as he plays a man who is so used to disappointments and not trying to let Pauline down. The only flaw in Black's performance is in scenes where he’s really emotional where it's pretty bad in a funny way. It's not Black's fault for this flaw since he's trying very hard, it's just that he needs to take more time in delving into those moments.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is excellent as the free-spirited Pauline who is trying to deal with Malcolm's shortcomings as a man along with the presence of her sister Margot. Leigh's performance is wonderfully restrained as she presents a character that is Margot's opposite as free, caring, and sometimes aggressive as she deals with her older sister's constant criticisms and such. Nicole Kidman delivers her best performance since Lars Von Trier's 2003 film Dogville after years of lackluster films and uninspired performances. Kidman delivers a subtle yet humorous performance as a neurotic writer who is always saying bad things, making harsh criticisms, and such in which she is a very unlikeable character. Though Kidman at times falters in her voice where she would be saying things in her native Australian accent, she does manage to create a character, though stereotypical, an amazing presence to watch. Kidman also has great rapport with Leigh in which the two actresses have great camaraderie together in the scenes they're in.

The Region 1 DVD from Paramount Vantage presents the film in the widescreen format for 16x9 TVS with 5.1 Surround Sound for English and Spanish along with English, Spanish, and French subtitles. The special features include two different trailers for this film along with films like Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, Sean Penn's Into the Wild, Susanne Bier's Things We Lost in the Fire, Marc Forster's The Kite Runner, and the Farelly Brothers' The Heartbreak Kid. The big special feature is a 14-minute conversation segment with director Noah Baumbach and his wife/star Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The couple basically talk about the film's story and casting. Baumbach talks about Nicole Kidman whom he met a coffee shop as the two didn’t want to talk to each other as he passed his script to her. The next day, he got a call from saying she wants to do the film. Leigh talks about Kidman's approach to acting which is similar to her own approach where they both got along easily. The two also talked about Jack Black who was approached for his comedic talents and didn't give into pressure into being serious. They also talked about Zane Pais’ performance which Baumbach refers to as natural while delving into the story and characters along with his approach to the film.

While not as accessible as The Squid & the Whale or as funny as Kicking & Screaming, Margot at the Wedding is still a good film from Noah Baumbach that features superb performances from Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh. While the film does raise interest in the works of Eric Rohmer, it's suggested to see Pauline at the Beach which is a superior film than Baumbach's own reinterpretation. Fans of Nicole Kidman will be glad to see the actress return to more straightforward, dramatic territory while Jennifer Jason Leigh delivers another fantastic performance as well. In the end, though it's not a great film but not a bad one either, Margot at the Wedding is still a film that is worth watching for its performances.

Noah Baumbach Films: Kicking & Screaming - Highball - Mr. Jealousy - The Squid & the Whale - Greenberg - Frances Ha - While We're Young - Mistress America - De Palma - (The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)) - Marriage Story - The Auteurs #41: Noah Baumbach

© thevoid99 2011