Erin Brockovich

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Susannah Grant, Erin Brockovich is the story of an unemployed single mother who works for a lawyer as she helps fight against a gas company for people who had been hurt by them. Based on the real life about the woman of the same name, it’s an unconventional bio-pic that has a woman trying to help people by using her sex appeal and street smarts as she’s played by Julia Roberts. Also starring Aaron Eckhart, Albert Finney, Marg Helgenberger, Tracey Walters, and Peter Coyote. Erin Brockovich is a sassy and phenomenal film from Steven Soderbergh.

The film is about this unemployed woman who has three children from two ex-husbands as she gets a job working for the lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) who was handling her injuries claim case which they lost. In her job, Erin Brockovich learns about a real-estate files case that Masry had been working on as she makes some chilling discoveries about the Pacific Gas and Electric Company whose water was contaminated and many of the people in the small town of Hinkley, California were struck with a myriad of illnesses. In turn, it’s a film where this very unlikely woman and a small-time lawyer with a private firm go against a massive billion dollar corporation to help a bunch of people in a small town who had been conned by this corporation. What makes the film much more unique than it actually is its protagonist as she is this single mother of three kids who wears skimpy clothes and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

Susannah Grant’s screenplay is unconventional at times but also very engaging for the way it presents Brockovich as this no-nonsense woman who is just trying to get work to raise her three kids as she has very little money in her bank account and little experience with anything. While she dresses in skimpy clothes that often shows her cleavage and has this sassy attitude, she is perceived as this unintelligent and trashy woman who gets by with having sex with men and such. Instead, Brockovich uses her sex appeal to dig deep into her discoveries where she impresses Masry. While the job gives her some respect from Masry, co-workers, and the people she talks to about what they’re dealing. She tries to balance that with being a mom as she gains the help and companionship of her new neighbor in a biker named George (Aaron Eckhart) who would struggle with her long working hours as does her kids yet they come around to see what she’s doing as she sometimes takes them for the ride.

Brockovich’s relationship with Masry is also unique as they become this unlikely duo where Brockovich is the one talking to the people and gathering all sorts of information as she was willing to get her hands dirty. Especially as she would get Masry to be more accessible to the people where he does have a scene at a community center talking to them about what is going to happen with this lawsuit the town has filed. It’s a moment where Brockovich watches in the back as she lets Masry let his guard down a bit so he can become someone the people can trust despite some of legal bullshit he has to handle. Even as Brockovich and Masry also have to rely on a more prestigious legal firm to help in the case where the two don’t get treated with much respect by their new partners.

Steven Soderbergh’s direction is pretty simple in some respects as he doesn’t go for anything flashy in some of the compositions he creates. Still, there are moments that has him creating a film that is a mixture of a comedy and drama while finding a balance to mesh the two genres. Even as he plays to the comedy in an offbeat way where he’s not afraid to use sexuality to drive the story though there’s no nudity that occurs in the film. It’s not overt but enough to bring some energy to the film while Soderbergh also creates moments such as how Brockovich is able to engage the people with just her charm as she’s just wearing regular clothes while a law assistant is struggling to connect with them as she’s just talking about all sorts of legal bullshit the people don’t really understand.

Much of the film is shot in Ventura, California with some of it shot in Los Angeles where Soderbergh uses the deserts and small-town locations to create something that makes it more than just a film in California. He gives the idea that something like this could be set in any small American town as the people themselves are just good folk who want to hear the truth and why they’ve been sick. His use of medium shots, close-ups, and wide shots give Soderbergh an atmosphere to help tell the story and engage the audience into these characters in the film. Especially as he would maintain that sense of drama and the stakes that is happening so that audiences can root for Brockovich and Masry to see if they can beat the Goliath that is the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Overall, Soderbergh creates a very rich and entertaining film about a woman who helps the people fight against a corporation.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography by playing up the sunny look of California with its rich interior lighting schemes in the daytime while going for more stylish lights for the scenes at night. Editor Anne V. Coates does excellent work with the editing as she infuses some style such as jump-cuts to play with some of the film‘s humor and drama that adds to the unconventional tone of the film. Production designer Philip Messina, with set decorator Kristen Toscano Messina and art director Christa Munro, does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of Masry‘s office firm as well as Brockovich‘s home to play into their two different personalities.

Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does nice work with the costumes from the skimpy clothing that Brockovich wears to the biker look of George. Sound editor Larry Blake does terrific work with the sound to play into some of the film‘s sound effects as well as the calmness of some of the locations in Ventura, California. The film’s music by Thomas Newman is fantastic for its score that is largely driven by keyboards and orchestral pieces that is upbeat at times but also eerie and somber while music supervisor Amanda Scheer-Demme brings in a soundtrack that features some low-key ambient music, bluegrass, and a couple of songs by Sheryl Crow.

The casting by Margery Simkin is incredible for the ensemble that is created for the film as it features cameos from the real Erin Brockovich as a waitress and Ed Masry as a diner patron along with small roles from Scotty Leavenworth and Gemmenne de la Pena as two of Brockovich’s older children, Emily and Julie Marks and Ashley and Brittany Pimental as the youngest of Brockovich’s children as it’s a baby in two different ages. Other small yet notable performances include Gina Gallego as a PG&E attorney, Veanne Cox as a paralegal who tries to do Brockovich’s job, T.J. Thyne as a waters department employee who is charmed by Brockovich, Conchata Ferrell as Masry’s secretary Brenda, and Peter Coyote as a top attorney who teams with Masry on the case yet has no clue in how Masry and Brockovich do their work.

Tracey Walter is terrific as a mysterious Hinkley local who attends the town meetings as he is suspicious of what Brockovich is doing while Cherry Jones is wonderful as another local who is wary about what Brockovich is doing as she thinks that no money will come from this case. Marg Helgenberger is superb as a Hinkley local who becomes the first person Brockovich talks to as she deals with her declining health and what her family might deal with. Aaron Eckhart is excellent as Brockovich’s neighbor George as this very nice biker who helps out by taking care of Brockovich’s children while dealing with her workload as he understands what she’s trying to do.

Albert Finney is brilliant as Ed Masry as this old-school and well-meaning attorney who reluctantly hires Brockovich to be in his firm while becoming aware of what he might go up against realizing the risks of what he might lose. It’s a performance where Finney plays the straight man for Roberts as well as bringing a complexity and accessibility into his role as a lawyer who often doesn’t connect with his clients on a personal level. Finally, there’s Julia Roberts in an outstanding performance as the titular character where it’s Roberts at her most brash and charming where she isn’t afraid to get a little dirty and be overtly sexual at times. It’s a performance that really has Roberts going all-out while also proving to be pretty sensitive where she has her characters listen to other people as it’s definitely Roberts at her best.

Erin Brockovich is a remarkable film from Steven Soderbergh that features a fantastic performance from Julia Roberts in the titular role. Along with some amazing supporting work from Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart, the film is definitely one of Soderbergh’s finest films as well as one of his most accessible. Even as he creates a character as captivating as Brockovich that allows the audience to be engaged by her. In the end, Erin Brockovich is a spectacular film from Steven Soderbergh.

Steven Soderbergh Films: sex, lies, & videotape - Kafka - King of the Hill - The Underneath - Gray's Anatomy - Schizopolis - Out of Sight - The Limey - Traffic - Ocean's Eleven (2001 film) - Full Frontal - Solaris (2002 film) - Eros-The Equlibrium - Ocean's Twelve - Bubble - The Good German - Ocean’s Thirteen - Che - The Girlfriend Experience - The Informant! - And Everything is Going Fine - Contagion - Haywire - Magic Mike - Side Effects - Behind the Candelabra - Logan Lucky - (Unsane) - (High Flying Bird)

The Auteurs #39: Steven Soderbergh: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2014

Ocean's Twelve

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi, Ocean’s Twelve is the sequel to 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven in which Danny Ocean and his gang have to travel to Europe to pay back the money they had stolen in the first film while dealing a master thief who is trying to usurp them as well as an Interpol agent trying to catch both of them. The film is another heist comedy where there’s a much looser tone than in the first as it has the gang trying to deal with new challenges. Starring returning cast members George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mack, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, and Julia Roberts along with Vincent Cassel, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Izzard, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ocean’s Twelve is a very funny and entertaining film from Steven Soderbergh.

The film takes place three years after the events of the first film in which Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his gang have been found by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) who wants his money back plus interest. With only two weeks to pay him back, the gang travel to Europe where they learned that a thief named the Nightfox (Vincent Cassel) was the one who ratted them out to Benedict while an Interpol agent named Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is also after them as she has a grudge towards Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) whom she once dated. While there’s not much plot in George Nolfi’s script, there is a lot of complexities to the way things are presented as Danny and his gang have to deal with the Nightfox as well as the target on their backs from Benedict and Lahiri.

Along the way, hilarity ensues as members of the gang get themselves in trouble where Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) decides to get Danny’s wife Tess (Julia Roberts) involved. Still, there are some aspects to the story that includes depth such as Linus wanting to be more involved in the planning as well as some background about Isabel whose father was a master thief. Isabel is an interesting addition to the story of the gang as her relationship with Rusty adds some drama and tension into the film as Rusty had kept the relationship a secret to most of the gang who are upset that Isabel is after them. The Nightfox is an interesting antagonist who just wants to be known as the best thief in the world as he is upset when he learned about the heist Danny and his gang had did in the first film.

Steven Soderbergh’s direction is definitely stylish as it is set in locations in the U.S. as well as Europe in cities like Amsterdam and Rome as well as Lake Como in Italy. There is looseness in the way Soderbergh directs the actors where there’s a feeling they’re relaxed and having a lot of fun which allows the film to feel improvisational. Yet, there’s also some gorgeous images in the compositions that Soderbergh creates in his camera as he’s also the cinematographer under the Peter Andrews pseudonym. Even in Soderbergh’s approach to lighting and filters to play into the visual style while Soderbergh also creates some montages and scenes to play into the world what the gang is trying to and what they were doing when they’re founded by Benedict. Soderbergh’s approach to humor and action has some style as well as being engaging to showcase Soderbergh’s talent in telling a story. Overall, Soderbergh creates a very dazzling and enjoyable film about a heist team trying to pay back the man they stole from three years earlier.

Editor Stephen Mirrone does amazing work with film‘s stylish editing with its use of jump-cuts and montages along with some stylish transitions for the film. Production designer Philip Messina, with set decorator Kristen Toscano Messina and art director Tony Fanning, does excellent work with the film‘s set pieces from the hotels and places the gang stays at to the lavish home of the Nightfox. Costume designer Milena Canonero does brilliant work with the costumes from the clothes that Isabel wears to the suits that the Nightfox wears.

Visual effects supervisor Thomas J. Smith does nice work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects such as the hologram of the Faberge egg that Ocean‘s gang and the Nightfox has to steal as well as the lasers in the museum. Sound editor Larry Blake does superb work with the sound to play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as some of the sound effects for some of the moments in the heist. The film’s music by David Holmes is fantastic for its mixture of electronic music, jazz, and funk to play into the film’s humor and action as well as some music ranging from hip-hop and pop including an Italian pop ballad that plays into the relationship between Rusty and Isabel.

The casting by Debra Zane is phenomenal for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small appearances from producer Jerry Weintraub in a flashback scene where he’s talking to the mysterious LeMarc, Topher Grace as himself in a scene at Rusty’s hotel, Jeroen Krabbe as an agoraphobic recluse whom Ocean and his gang have to rob for the heist in Amsterdam, Jared Harris as Basher’s sound engineer, Cherry Jones as a FBI agent, Robbie Coltrane as an eccentric criminal named Matsui, Eddie Izzard as the technician Roman Nagel the team hires, and Bruce Willis as himself visiting Rome. Vincent Cassel is superb as Baron Francois Toulour/the Nightfox as a master thief taught by the great yet mysterious LeMarc as he rats out Ocean to Benedict in the hopes he can outdo Ocean and his gang. Catherine Zeta-Jones is wonderful as Isabel Lahiri as Rusty’s former lover who still holds a grudge towards him as she is eager to capture Ocean, Rusty, and their gang.

Andy Garcia is great as Terry Benedict as the casino owner who lost a lot of money in the first film due to Danny Ocean and his gang as he is eager to get what he lost plus interest or else he has them killed. As members of the gang, there’s amazing performances from Eddie Jemison as the hacker Livingston Dell, Shaobo Qin as the acrobatic Yen, Scott Caan and Casey Affleck as the bickering brothers Turk and Virgil Malloy, Elliott Gould as brainy Reuben Tishkoff, Carl Reiner as wide Saul Bloom, and Bernie Mac as resourceful Frank Catton. Julia Roberts is fantastic as Tess Ocean as Danny’s wife who realizes what is going on as she reluctantly plays part in helping Danny through Linus where she has to play a very famous movie star.

Don Cheadle is excellent as Basher Tarr as the British bomb expert/sniper who realizes the severity of the situation as he becomes frustrated by the setbacks he and the gang endures. Matt Damon is brilliant as Linus Caldwell as a thief who is eager to become an equal to Danny and Rusty as he would make a last-minute play to beat the Nightfox when Danny and Rusty are caught. Brad Pitt is very funny as Rusty as Pitt brings a lot of humor and swagger to his role as he finds himself dealing with Isabel as he becomes lost in what to do with her. Finally, there’s George Clooney in a marvelous performance as Danny Ocean as the head thief who is trying to figure out everything as he also deals with the setbacks and trying not to lie to his wife.

Ocean’s Twelve is a sensational film from Steven Soderbergh. Armed with a great ensemble cast, a cool soundtrack, and beautiful locations. It’s a film that not only captures the spirit of its predecessor but also bring a looseness that is just fun to watch. Even as it has the actors just being relaxed and enjoying themselves while letting the audience have fun with them. In the end, Ocean’s Twelve is a remarkable film from Steven Soderbergh.

Steven Soderbergh Films: sex, lies, & videotape - Kafka - King of the Hill - The Underneath - Gray’s Anatomy - Schizopolis - Out of Sight - The Limey - Erin Brockovich - Traffic - Ocean's Eleven - Full Frontal - Solaris (2002 film) - Eros-Equilibrium - Bubble - The Good German - Ocean’s Thirteen - Che - The Girlfriend Experience - The Informant! - And Everything is Going Fine - Contagion - Haywire - Magic Mike - Side Effects - Behind the Candelabra - Logan Lucky - (Unsane) - (High Flying Bird)

The Auteurs #39: Steven Soderbergh: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

Related: Ocean's 8

© thevoid99 2014

Everyone Says I Love You

Written, directed, and starring Woody Allen, Everyone Says I Love You is a musical about the life of an upper-class family that involves many things including an ex-husband trying to find love in Venice. The film explores many ideas involving love including an engaged couple, a man trying to find new love, and children trying to find love as it features an ensemble cast where most of them sing. Also starring Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Tim Roth, Natalie Portman, Gaby Hoffmann, Natasha Lyonne, Lukas Haas, and David Odgen Stiers. Everyone Says I Love You is a delightful musical-comedy from Woody Allen.

The film is a multi-narrative story about the year in the life of a family as they experience many things in the course of the film including an engagement, a young man’s interest in conservatism, young girls trying to find love, and a woman’s ex-husband tries to find love in Venice. While it’s a premise that is simple with a simple theme, it’s told in a very unique fashion that includes many musical numbers as well as it’s told from a young woman who sees her father trying to find love while being in a loving though eccentric family in upstate New York City. Woody Allen’s screenplay is quite unique as he creates a story all told in the span of the year where there’s a lot that is going on where he brings a lot of humor and some drama into the story. Even as he plays into the many storylines involving some of the characters and their experiences with love in all of its complexities.

Allen’s direction is quite lively as he aimed for something that is a bit more natural as many of his actors aren’t adept to the musicals. There, some of the dancing and singing feels more engaging and realistic while there’s moments where it is choreographed to play up a world that is more of a fantasy as it plays to that theme of love. Allen uses a lot of wide and medium shots for the musical numbers to capture the broadness of the dancing and singing while maintaining an element of style to the compositions. Even in the way he makes New York City so lively in its many seasons while shooting some scenes in Paris and Venice. Overall, Allen creates a very entertaining and lively film about love.

Cinematographer Carlo Di Palma does brilliant work with the film‘s lush cinematography from the different looks of New York City as well as the scenes set in Venice. Editor Susan E. Morse does amazing work with the editing from the use of montages to introduce on characters and their situations along with the musical numbers with its lively rhythmic cuts. Production designer Santo Loquasto, with set decorator Elaine O’Donnell and art director Tom Warren, does superb work with the set pieces from the look of the New York penthouse to some of the look of some of the locations.

Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does wonderful work with the costumes to play up a sense of style for many of the characters including the climatic party at end of the film. Visual effects supervisor Randall Balsmeyer does nice work with the visual effects for a musical sequence involving ghosts. Sound editor Robert Hein does excellent work with the sound to play up the low-key sound of the locations. The film’s soundtrack is fabulous for its use of standards with some additional lyrics and arrangements by Dick Hyman to modernize the songs while having them to help tell the story.

The casting by Juliet Taylor is just incredible for the ensemble that is used for this film as it features appearances from violinist Itzhak Perlman as well as Isiah Whitlock Jr. as a cop, Billy Crudup as a man DJ meets, Trude Klein as the family maid Frieda, David Odgen Stier and Scotty Bloch as Holden’s parents, John Griffin as a young man Lane and Laura fall for, and Patrick Cranshaw as the grandfather of the Dandridge clan. Tim Roth is excellent as a convicted man named Charles Ferry who comes between Holden and Skylar. Natalie Portman and Gaby Hoffmann are wonderful in their respective as the siblings Laura and Lane while Lukas Haas is terrific as their conservative-obsessed older brother Scott. Natasha Lyonne is superb as DJ, the Dandridge clan’s half-sister who helps her father find love.

Edward Norton is amazing as Holden as a young man eager to marry Skylar while Drew Barrymore is a delight as Skylar as a woman who loves Holden as she’s later drawn to Charles. Alan Alda is very funny as Bob Dandridge as a man trying to deal with the chaos of his family including his son. Julia Roberts is fabulous as Von who is a woman looking for love as she meets DJ’s father Joe. Goldie Hawn is brilliant as Joe’s ex-wife Steffi Dandridge who tries to do something with her life while helping Joe out. Finally, there’s Woody Allen in a stellar performance as Joe as a man dealing with heartbreak as he finds a new love in Von while admitting he’s still in love with Steffi.

Everyone Says I Love You is an extraordinary film from Woody Allen. Armed with a great ensemble cast and a lively film soundtrack, the film is definitely one of Allen’s more underrated features as well as one of his most entertaining. Notably as it plays to the world of love in all of its ups and downs. In the end, Everyone Says I Love You is a marvelous film from Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Films: What's Up Tiger Lily? - Take the Money and Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love and Death - Annie Hall - Interiors - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - Another Woman - New York Stories: Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows and Fog - Husbands and Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Bullets Over Broadway - Don't Drink the Water - Mighty Aphrodite - Deconstructing Harry - Celebrity - Sweet & Lowdown - Small Time Crooks - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Scoop - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)

The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

© thevoid99 2013

Pret-a-Porter

Directed by Robert Altman and written by Altman and Barbara Shulgasser, Prêt-a-Porter is the story about a group of very different people who attend Fashion Week in Paris as some are reporting the events while some are just attending to see what is out there. The film is an exploration into the world of fashion that involves many people in the course of a week. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Kim Basinger, Lili Taylor, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Chiara Mastroianni, Linda Hunt, Sally Kellerman, Stephen Rea, Anouk Aimee, Tracey Ullman, Rossy de Palma, Forest Whitaker, Rupert Everett, Lyle Lovett, and Lauren Bacall. Pret-a-Porter is a witty yet chaotic comedy from Robert Altman.

The film is about many different groups of people attending Fashion Week in Paris where a lot is happening while a prestigious fashion president had died believing that he had been murder. In the course of the film, a lot happens as a fashion TV reporter covers the events that is happening while lots of affairs between fashion designers are happening. Two American journalists are forced to share the same hotel room while covering what is happening and a fashion designer is dealing with possible bankruptcy. Fashion magazine editors spar with each other to go get a prestigious photographer while a woman goes on a shopping spree around the city. All in the course of an entire week as it leads to a climatic fashion show where a designer presents the ultimate show in grand style.

The screenplay by Robert Altman and Barbara Shulgasser doesn’t really have any kind of singular plot as it’s all about the chaos of Fashion Week. Notably as there’s journalists trying to cover the event and make sense of it as it involves a New York Times photographer (Lili Taylor) and a fashion TV reporter named Kitty Porter (Kim Basinger). Yet, there’s also this story about this French fashion president in Olivier de la Fontaine (Jean-Pierre Cassel) who meets a mysterious man named Sergei (Marcello Mastroianni) where something happens leading to de la Fontaine’s death as his wife Isabella (Sophia Loren) seems relieved though is lover in fashion designer Simone Lowenthal (Anouk Aimee) is saddened as she is dealing with losing her business where her son Jack (Rupert Everett) does something that will save her business but with some reservations. Things get crazier as two different American journalists in Anne Eisenhower (Julia Roberts) and Joe Flynn (Tim Robbins) are forced to share a hotel to cover what’s been happening.

Altman’s direction is definitely engaging for the way he explores the world of fashion and what goes on in Fashion Week. Taking on a style similar to cinema verite, Altman captures all of the craziness that occurs while going inside into what goes in the world of fashion as shows are being prepared and such. Notably as the film features cameos from celebrities, models, and fashion designers as they’re part of this crazy yet fascinating world. The direction is also intimate and straightforward for scenes inside the hotel rooms and offices where many people work out as well as some moments in the fashion runway. It is still about the show and the world that is happening which also includes Sergei trying to contact Isabella as they’re revealed to be former lovers. Their scenes together is essentially an ode to their appearance in Vittorio de Sica’s 1963 film Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. While it’s a film that can be described as a rambling mess due to the many storylines that happens. It is still a very enjoyable and very exhilarating film from Robert Altman.

Cinematographers Jean Lepine and Pierre Mignot do excellent work with the look of Paris during Fashion Week with its many landmarks as well as the scenes inside the fashion shows and some of the film‘s interior settings. Editors Geraldine Peroni and Suzy Elmiger do wonderful work with the editing to capture the sense of chaos that occurs in the world of fashion as well as more straightforward moments in the intimate scenes. Production Stephen Altman, with set decorator Francoise Dupertuis and art director William Abello, does nice work with the looks of the hotels and the runway shows that occur including the very street-based show one of the designers at a metro.

Costume designer Catherine Leterrier does terrific work with the non-designer clothes some of the characters wear to maintain their lack of style while most of the characters wear clothes that display their unique personalities. Sound editor Skip Lievsay does superb work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the runway shows to the chaos in some of the parties. The film’s music by Michel Legrand is delightful for its playful piano pieces and other cuts to play out the humor. Music supervisor Allan F. Nichols creates a fantastic soundtrack that features music from Massive Attack, Bjork, U2, Ini Kamoze, Salt-N-Pepa, the Rolling Stones, M People, Janet Jackson, the Cranberries, Pizzicato Five, Robert Palmer, Grace Jones, and many others to capture the spirit of the fashion world.

Finally, there’s the film’s amazing ensemble cast as it features cameo appearances from Bjork, Harry Belafonte, Cher, and David Copperfield along with supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Carla Bruni, and Christy Turlington, and fashion designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel, Issey Miyake, Christian Lacroix, and Gianfranco Ferre for Christian Dior as themselves. In small but notable roles, there’s Alexandra Vandernoot as a TV reporter, Jean Rochefort and Michel Blanc as police investigators, Teri Garr as an obsessed shopper, Danny Aiello as the shopper’s husband, Rossy de Palma as Simone’s assistant Pilar, Chiara Mastroianni as Kitty Porter’s aide Sophie Choiset, Ute Lemper as the pregnant model Albertine, Kasia Figura as the dim-witted assistant of magazine editor Sissy, and Jean-Pierre Cassel as the Fashion Week president Olivier de la Fontaine.

Sally Kellerman, Linda Hunt, and Tracey Ullman are great in their respective rules as the dueling magazine editors Sissy Wannamaker, Regina Krumm, and Nina Scant who all try to nab Stephen Rea’s very devious photographer Milo O’Brannigan who would provide a prank of his own all three where Rea is very funny. Lauren Bacall is wonderful as the colorblind fashionista Slim Chrysler while Lyle Lovett is terrific as the cowboy boots designer Clint Lammereaux. Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins are excellent as the dueling journalists Anne Eisenhower and Joe Flynn where they eventually fall for each other as they share a hotel room together. Lili Taylor is superb as the NY Times photojournalist Fiona Ulrich while Kim Basinger is hilarious as the somewhat dim fashion TV reporter Kitty Porter. Forest Whitaker and Richard E. Grant are fantastic in their respective roles as fashion designers in the street-wise Cy Bianco and the snobbish Cort Romney.

Rupert Everett is pretty good as the slimy Jack Lowenthal who does something without his mother’s consent while Anouk Aimee is phenomenal as the respected fashion designer Simone Lowenthal who deals with Olivier’s death as well as the prospect of losing her business. Finally, there’s Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren in marvelous performances in their respective roles as Sergio/Sergei and Isabella where they play former lovers who finally meet after many years where Mastroianni brings a lot of humor with Loren bringing an element of class to her role as well as a sexiness that is still captivating.

Pret-a-Porter is an excellent film from Robert Altman. Featuring a wild ensemble cast full of actors, models, fashion designers, and all sorts of people. It’s a film that captures the craziness that is Fashion Week while taking time to inject humor into that world. While the film is a bit of a mess, it is still enjoyable for the way Altman explores a world that is fascinating. In the end, Pret-a-Porter is a remarkable film from Robert Altman.

Robert Altman Films: (The Delinquents) - (The James Dean Story) - Countdown (1968 film) - (That Cold Day in the Park) - M.A.S.H. - Brewster McCloud - McCabe & Mrs. Miller - (Images) - The Long Goodbye - Thieves Like Us - California Split - Nashville - Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson - 3 Women - (A Wedding) - (Quintet) - (A Perfect Couple (HealtH) - Popeye - (Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean) - (Streamers) - (Secret Honor) - (O.C. and Stiggs) - Fool for Love - (Beyond Therapy) - (Aria-Les Boreades) - (Tanner ‘88) - (Vincent & Theo) - The Player - Short Cuts - (Kansas City) - (The Gingerbread Man) - Cookie’s Fortune - Dr. T & the Women - Gosford Park - The Company (2003 film) - (Tanner on Tanner) - A Prairie Home Companion

© thevoid99 2013

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Based on biographical novel, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is the story of the crazed life of famed TV game show host/producer Chuck Barris who led a double-life as the host of The Gong Show and claims that he was an agent for the CIA. Directed and starring George Clooney and screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, the film explores Barris’ life as well as the possibility that he was an assassin for the CIA as Sam Rockwell plays the controversial figure. Also starring Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, and Rutger Hauer. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind for all of its ambition and style is a mess of a film from George Clooney.

Alone in a hotel room and feeling paranoid, Chuck Barris starts to write about his life as a kid (Michael Cera) before becoming an adult where he took on various odd jobs to score chicks and briefly get married. Despite losing at bar brawls, Chuck’s break came when he worked as a watchdog for Dick Clark’s American Bandstand where he wrote the song Palisades Park for Freddy “Boom-Boom” Cannon as it scores a hit. While sleeping with a stagehand named Debbie (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Chuck meets Debbie’s roommate Penny (Drew Barrymore) as the two begin a relationship. While Chuck tries to pitch various TV shows for ABC, he is rejected until a bar fight catches the attention of CIA agent Jim Byrd (George Clooney) who takes Chuck in as an assassin.

After learning that The Dating Game gets the green light from ABC, Chuck’s show is a major hit as he and Penny live a great life until Chuck is asked to go on a mission with another assassin named Patricia Watson (Julia Roberts). He and Patricia have an affair while he is still having a relationship with Penny as another of his shows in The Newlywed Game becomes a hit. With his work as TV producer going well while doing assassin jobs on the side, Chuck scores his biggest hit in the mid-1970s with The Gong Show that he hosts. Despite being a big star, he is criticized for the decline of quality television while he meets another agent named Keeler (Rutger Hauer) who believes there’s a mole in the CIA.

Things for Chuck become complicated as his relationship with Penny suffers while he becomes paranoid over who the mole is as he asks Byrd who reveals why he recruited him. Living in fear and paranoia, Chuck tries to finish his book and find out who the mole is.

While it’s a bio-pic that is largely stylized with no clear indication whether it’s true or not. It is still an interesting story about the guy who hosted The Gong Show while he was supposedly a killer for the CIA. While Chuck Barris may be lying about these claims that he worked for the CIA, the idea itself does make it far more interesting while possibly indicating why he was so fucked up when he hosted The Gong Show.

Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay is probably the most straightforward and conventional script that he’s done as he does portray Barris as a well-meaning guy who is also a fuck-up. Kaufman does his best to balance the comedy, romance, drama, and suspense that is presented in the film but there isn’t enough to make all of those things to be very interesting or engaging. Particularly as Kaufman wasn’t able to do enough to make it more out there and play with the narrative due to what George Clooney wanted to do as the film’s director.

Clooney’s direction is very engaging and stylish for the way he creates amazing compositions where the humor is very off-the-wall while he also creates some entrancing moments in some of the dark, suspenseful moments. The problem is that Clooney doesn’t allow Kaufman’s script to be much more out there as he tries to integrate too many ideas where it includes scenes where real-life people who knew Barris would commentate. Some of those people interviewed had something to say while some of it felt a bit distracting. Despite some amazing moments in creating great scenes of humor and suspense, Clooney ends making a very messy film that doesn’t do enough to make it more interesting than its premise suggests.

Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel does a good job with the cinematography for much of its third act as he creates some very entrancing shots including Chuck and Byrd’s meeting about the mole. It’s the work in the film’s first half that feels overly-stylized in its look with flashy flares of lighting and tinted shots that goes a little overboard including in the flashback scenes that doesn’t work. Editor Stephen Mirrone does an excellent job with the editing to maintain a leisured pace for the film while creating some stylized montages for some of Chuck and Patricia’s assassinations with Chuck’s own work as a TV producer.

Production designer James D. Bissel does a fantastic job with the set pieces created to play up the differing period of the times from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. Notably the recreation of the game shows that Chuck Barris has produced including The Gong Show as it adds to the air of nostalgia presented in the film. Costume designer Renee April does a wonderful job with the costumes to play up the different periods that the women wear throughout the film . Visual effects supervisor Louis Morin does an excellent job in creating some of the visual effects for some of the look of the old TV footage to some of the entrancing pool meeting scene between Barris and Byrd.

Sound editors Aaron Glascock and Curt Schulkey do nice work on the sound design to create the air of violence that occurs in the film including some of the voiceover work that Barris does in the narration throughout the film. Music composer Alex Wurman creates a score that is quite playful to the humor with elements of jazz while creating a low-key piano score for some of the film’s darker moments.

The casting by Ellen Chenoweth is superb for the ensemble that is created which includes cameo appearances from Dick Clark, Jaye P. Morgan, Gene Patton aka Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, Jim Lange, and the real Chuck Barris plus two funny cameos from Clooney‘s close friends and co-stars from Ocean’s movies. Other small roles include producer Jerry Weintraub as an ABC executive, Richard Kind as a casting executive, Kristen Wilson as Chuck’s secretary Loretta, softcore film star Krista Allen as a woman Chuck meets at the Playboy mansion, Robert John Burke as a FCC investigator, Michael Cera as the young Chuck Barris, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as an American Bandstand stagehand Chuck sleeps with.

Rutger Hauer is excellent as CIA agent Keller who likes Chuck while revealing to him about the mole that is present in the CIA. George Clooney is terrific as the mysterious Jim Byrd who guides Chuck into the world of CIA while revealing why he recruited him. Julia Roberts is good as the femme fatale Patricia Watson who woos Chuck although Roberts is sort of miscast since she isn’t really the kind of person who can exude sex appeal. Drew Barrymore is wonderful as Chuck’s girlfriend Penny who tries to deal with Chuck’s success and the lifestyle that he’s living. Finally there’s Sam Rockwell in an amazing performance as Chuck Barris as Rockwell is the film’s big highlight. Rockwell gives a performance for the ages as he makes Barris into a very complex yet charismatic character who is a mess as Rockwell also exudes the paranoia and flaws of the man as it’s definitely Rockwell at his best.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a good though very messy film from George Clooney and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman that includes a masterful performance from Sam Rockwell. While it’s a film that has a very interesting premise about the life of Chuck Barris. It’s a film where it tries too hard to be over-the-top and play to exaggerations while it tries to be so many things. Particularly as it’s among one of the weakest projects written by Charlie Kaufman as well as the weakest film that George Clooney has directed so far. In the end, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is an interesting but uneven film from George Clooney that does include a magnificent performance from Sam Rockwell.

George Clooney Films: Good Night, and Good Luck - (Leatherheads) - The Ides of March - The Monuments Men

© thevoid99 2012

Ocean's 11 (2001 film)

Based on the 1960 film version that was scribed by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer with story credit by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell, Ocean’s 11 is the story of eleven men who plan to rob three casinos in one entire night as they’re owned by the same man. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and screenplay by Ted Griffin, the film is a modern update on the original 1960s Rat Pack film with a new edge. Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Casey Affleck, Scott Cahn, Bernie Mac, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, with Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts. Ocean’s 11 is a fun heist film from Steven Soderbergh.

After being released on parole for various theft crimes, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) decides to organize another theft as he meets up with old friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt). The plan is to rob a trio of casinos in one night as the money is stored the vault of one of those casinos. Pitching the idea to a former casino owner in Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), Tishkoff agrees to fund the operation as Ocean and Ryan began to recruit and assemble their team. With Tishkoff and Ocean’s con friend Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) on board, joining the team are mechanics Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan, respectively), electronics surveillance expert Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), acrobat Yen (Shaobo Qin), explosives expert Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), old-school con man Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), and a young thief in Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon).

The team scout the Bellagio casino as a big boxing fight is coming as the casino is owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) who also owns the other two planned for the robbery. With Linus and Rusty also watching over Benedict, Rusty realizes that Danny’s ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) is dating Benedict which complicates everything as Rusty wonders about Danny’s true motives for the robbery. With planning still underway including re-creating the vault for practice, things become complicated when Yen gets injured in a theft for a device Basher needs to black out the city for a small amount of time. Danny also sits out due to his feelings for Tess as Rusty takes over as he and the team decide to play roles to get into the casino and its vaults while Livingston watches everything he sees.

On the night of the heist, Danny makes a final plea to Tess before he’s taken away by Benedict’s men while Frank, Linus, Rusty, and Saul poses as different people for the con game with Virgil and Turk assisting them. Things go underway as Danny makes a last-minute assist with a bit of help as he and the gang make the robbery in grand style.

The film is essentially a heist film set in Las Vegas as eleven guys decide to steal more than a $150 million in one night just so they can pull off the impossible. Notably as it involves three casinos and an owner who will do more than put the thieves in jail. Amidst this heist is its leader who has just been paroled and is risking it just so he can claim his ex-wife back from a guy he knows is far more dangerous. The script by Ted Griffin is pretty loose in terms of its storytelling as he creates some wonderful scenes about the set-up of the heist and how the team is assembled. It’s a script that is filled with lots of humor and action while not taking itself very seriously.

Steven Soderbergh’s direction definitely is geared towards style as he creates dazzling compositions and montages to play up the assembling of the team as well as the set-up into the heist. While most of the film is about the set-up of the heist for the first two acts, Soderbergh does allow the film to be quite playful in the way the actors interact and play their con roles. Soderbergh also chooses to play up the film’s romantic moments in an understated tone involving Danny and Tess while keeping the compositions straightforward. Serving as cinematographer under his Peter Andrews alias, the film has a look that is quite stylish to play up to the glitz of Las Vegas from its nighttime and interior lighting to the sunny look of that city in the day. Soderbergh creates a truly crafty and ravishing film that is very funny and exciting for the heist genre.

Editor Stephen Mirrione does a fantastic job with the editing to play up the film‘s sense of style by utilizing rhythmic jump-cuts as well as multiple split-screens to play up some of the montages displayed in the film. Production designer Phillip Messina, with set decorator Kristen Toscano Messina and art director Keith P. Cunningham, does excellent work in the set pieces created such as the bar that Rusty manages to Reuben‘s home and the look of Benedict‘s safe. Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does some wonderful work in the costumes from the dresses and gowns that Tess wears to the stylish suits that the men wear including the ones for the actual job they do.

Sound editor Larry Blake does a brilliant job with the sound work to capture the raucous world of Las Vegas from the boxing scene to the sounds of what goes in for the actual heist including chaos that occurs in the blackout as the heist is well underway. The film’s score by David Holmes is superb for its playful mix of jazz and electronic music that is perfect for the film’s humor and visual style in relation to the world that is Las Vegas. Particularly as the soundtrack plays to a wide variety of music from the likes of Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Handsome Boy Modeling School with De La Soul, Quincy Jones, Liberace, and classical pieces from Claude Debussy.

The casting by Debra Zane is extraordinary for the ensemble that is created along with the slew of cameo appearances made for the film. Among these cameos include Shane West, Barry Watson, Holly Marie Combs, Topher Grace, and Joshua Jackson as Rusty’s poker pupils. Other cameos include the film’s producer Jerry Weintraub as a high-roller poker player, director Steven Soderbergh as one of Basher’s bombing associates, boxers Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko, Wayne Newton, Siegfried and Roy, and from the original 1960 film, Angie Dickinson and Henry Silva.

In the roles of the various players that forms the heist team, there are definitely some very funny performances from Eddie Jemison as the nervous Livingston Dell, Bernie Mac as the smooth con artist Frank Catton, Shaobo Qin as the Asian acrobatic Yen, Carl Reiner as the old-school yet multiple-accent portraying Saul, and Elliott Gould as the old-school casino owner Ruben Tishkoff. Casey Affleck and Scott Caan are very good as in their respective roles as the bickering brothers Virgil and Turk Malloy while Don Cheadle is brilliant by sporting a Cockney accent as the witty explosive expert Basher. Andy Garcia is excellent as the suave yet vicious casino owner Terry Benedict while Julia Roberts is terrific as Danny’s ex-wife Tess.

Matt Damon is wonderful as the young thief Linus who tries to find his footing as part of the team as well as hoping to break out of his father’s shadow. Brad Pitt is great as the cool Rusty who always try to keep everyone ground while always eating something on the job. George Clooney is superb as the team’s leader Danny Ocean as Clooney brings his usual charm and swagger into the character while also being the kind of guy who can get the job done.

Ocean’s 11 is an entertaining and witty heist film from Steven Soderbergh. Armed with a great ensemble cast and a visual style that is dazzling to watch, it’s a film that aims to just entertain and give the audience a good time. Notably as it’s one of Soderbergh’s more accessible films proving that he can do anything while give the film buffs something to be enamored by. In the end, Ocean’s 11 is a sensational heist film from Steven Soderbergh.

Steven Soderbergh Films: sex, lies, & videotape - Kafka - King of the Hill - The Underneath - Gray’s Anatomy - Schizopolis - Out of Sight - The Limey - Erin Brockovich - Traffic - Full Frontal - Solaris (2002 film) - Eros-Equilibrium - Ocean’s 12 - Bubble - The Good German - Ocean’s 13 - Che - The Girlfriend Experience - The Informant! - And Everything is Going Fine - Contagion - Haywire - Magic Mike - Side Effects - Behind the Candelabra - Logan Lucky - (Unsane) - (High Flying Bird)

The Auteurs #39: Steven Soderbergh Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

Related: Ocean's 8

© thevoid99 2012

Full Frontal

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Coleman Hough, Full Frontal is an experimental film set onto an entire day in Hollywood where people gather around for a birthday party. Featuring a film-within-a-film, the project blurs the line between fiction and reality as it allows Soderbergh to experiment with digital filmmaking. Starring Catherine Keener, David Duchovny, Nicky Katt, Mary McCormack, David Hyde Pierce, Blair Underwood, and Julia Roberts. Full Frontal is a strange but often indulgent experimental film from Steven Soderbergh.

A film produced by a man named Gus is currently underway as starring in the film are Calvin (Blair Underwood) and Francesca (Julia Roberts) about an actor and reporter falling in love during a flight from NYC to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Gus’s birthday is coming as a screenwriter named Carl (David Hyde Pierce) and his wife Lee (Catherine Keener) are invited. Yet, Carl and Lee are going through their own marital issues as Carl confides in his worker Lucy (Erika Alexander) about what is happening. Lee meanwhile, deals with people who are fired as she takes some pleasure in humiliating fired employees while finding an inflatable globe in her parking spot.

Lee’s sister Linda (Mary McCormack) has been invited to the party as she tries to find love through Internet while working as a masseuse for a hotel as she later meets Lee for lunch. Carl’s writing partner Arthur (Enrico Colantoni) is trying to get a play going as he has to deal with a passionate yet antagonistic actor (Nicky Katt) who is playing Adolf Hitler. With the day going on as Carl’s life is having trouble and Lee going through her own emotional issues as she is having an affair. Linda meets a man named Phil (David Duchovny) who asks for a massage where things get weird as Linda learns who he really is. At Gus’s party, people attend the party except for Carl and Arthur, the latter was uninvited, as something horrifying happens prompting some people to think about their own issues.

The film is about a day in the life of six people as most of them would get together for a party as they deal with things about them. Then there’s subplot of a film within a film where an actor and a reporter going on a flight together where a love letter is found. Then when that subplot moves back into the main narrative, the actors who play the people in the story are shown for who they are as actors with Calvin being more prominent. The main narrative consists of four people each dealing with their own issues with relationships, loneliness, and sex as two of them would go to this party where things unravel along with a big surprise.

Coleman Hough’s script has some intriguing moments in its study of failing relationships and sexual dynamics but its improvisational tone tends to create a story that often lags for the first half of the film. Things do get better in the second half when things begin to unravel while the ideas of reality and fiction also becomes a bit clearer though it’s all part of an experimental approach to storytelling.

Steven Soderbergh’s direction is presented in a varying degree of styles. For the film-within-a-film story entitled Rendezvous, it is presented as a polished film that has the look and feel of a Hollywood film that includes a snazzy score by Jacques Davidovici. Even as it includes the making of another film that Francesca’s character is watching as the film features an appearance from Brad Pitt. Then there’s the stuff with the main narrative where it’s all shot in grainy, digital-video at a time when digital film wasn’t in its more polished stage. Soderbergh’s approach to the main portion of the film is to present it in a mixture of cinema verite along with the compositions and rhythm of the French New Wave. With Soderbergh serving as the cinematographer, under his Peter Andrews alias, he creates a look that is intriguing but often very indulgent.

Things do move very slow throughout the first half as there’s a lot of cross-cutting through each portion of the film from the Francesca/Calvin movie to the individual stories involving the other characters. With Sarah Flack providing a lot of stylized editing including jump-cuts for the main portion of the film, it comes off as a bit tiresome and gimmicky throughout the film. At the same time, because the film doesn’t have a traditional narrative where the looseness of the story goes a little overboard. Soderbergh’s attempt to be improvisational has some moments but he would often shoot things out of focus in an attempted to be stylized. Unfortunately, Soderbergh doesn’t create enough moments to make into a solid and engaging film. While it is a very pretentious film that lacks substance, it is at least a film that tries to stray from the conventions of traditional cinema.

The casting of Debra Zane is pretty good as it features appearances from January Jones as a receptionist, legendary producer Jerry Weintraub as a man who counsels Carl about his career, Rainn Wilson and Sandra Oh as fired employees that Lee humiliates, Erika Alexander as a co-worker of Carl, Tracy Vilar as a friend of Carl’s, Jeff Garlin as an actor who plays a fictional version of Harvey Weinstein, Brad Rowe as a film crew guy that tries to get into a conversation with Francesca, and cameo appearances by Brad Pitt as himself, Terence Stamp as a man on a plane in the Rendezvous portion, and David Fincher as a director making a film-within-a-film.

Nicky Katt is very good as a fiery actor who verbally abuses the people around him while Enrico Colantoni is also good as the playwright Arthur trying to find love online. David Duchovny is excellent in a small role as a guy who feels turned on by a massage as it’s kind of a precursor to the smarmy Hank Moody character he would play in the TV show Californication. Julia Roberts is all right as Francesca where as the actress, Roberts gets a chance to be loose and funny while in the character she plays in Rendezvous, Roberts is her usual charming self. Blair Underwood is stellar as Calvin, an actor who has a lot of charm while often given questions about his own status while dealing with his own sexual consumptions.

Mary McCormack is great as Linda, Lee’s sister who is dealing with her own loneliness while an encounter with a man turns out to be a nightmare as it gets even worse as she ponders about ever finding love. Catherine Keener is pretty decent as the weary yet biting Lee who is dealing with her own issues though it doesn’t have much weight since it’s the kind of performance that’s been seen from Keener from so many films. David Hyde Pierce is the film’s best performance as Carl, a screenwriter/magazine writer dealing with a lot of issues as he ponders about his own loneliness and his crumbling marriage as he goes through a horrible day.

Full Frontal is an interesting though meandering film from Steven Soderbergh. While some might appreciate the film as an experimental piece with digital video, it is a film that will frustrate and bore conventional audiences since it doesn’t have a traditional plot. For fans of Soderbergh, they might be compelled in what Soderbergh was trying to do with digital video as he would go into further explorations that will lead to films like Bubble and The Girlfriend Experience. Full Frontal is not the kind of film that anyone that wants to see a traditional story will see. Still, the film does offer something to those that wants to be challenged and watch a filmmaker like Steven Soderbergh take risks even if some of the ideas don’t work as Full Frontal is still intriguing depending on one’s taste.

Steven Soderbergh Films: sex, lies, & videotape - Kafka - King of the Hill - The Underneath - Gray’s Anatomy - Schizopolis - Out of Sight - The Limey - Erin Brockovich - Traffic - Ocean’s Eleven - Solaris (2002 film) - Eros-Equilibrium - Ocean’s Twelve - Bubble - The Good German - Ocean’s Thirteen - Che - The Girlfriend Experience - The Informant! - And Everything is Going Fine - Contagion - Haywire - Magic Mike - Side Effects - Behind the Candelabra - Logan Lucky - (Unsane) - (High Flying Bird)

The Auteurs #39: Steven Soderbergh Pt. 1 - (Pt. 2)

© thevoid99 2011

Closer (2004 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/5/04 w/ Additional Edits.

One of the most successful and prolific filmmakers since the 1960s, Mike Nichols has made some great movies like The Graduate, Working Girl, Silkwood, Carnal Knowledge and hits like Wolf and Primary Colors. Though Nichols is beloved by critics and moviegoers, the director has hit a slump in the few years as his 2000 film What Planet are You From? received the worst reviews of his career. Nichols took a break from features to direct plays and TV films for HBO to great reviews with Wit and in 2003, the Tony Kushner-based play for Angels in America which received enthusiastic reviews. In 2004, Nichols makes a return to the big screen with a provocative character study drama about love and relationships in the film entitled Closer.

Directed by Nichols based on the play by Patrick Marber, who also wrote the film's screenplay. Closer is a film that doesn't play to the typical formulas of romantic films, instead it is a return to the similar territory of sex and relationships at its most brutal that Nichols' old 1971 film Carnal Knowledge had. Set almost entirely in London, the movie is about four different people, two American women and two British men as they explore their own desires and temptations in love and sex. Starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen, the film might seem something sweet with a cast like this. Instead, it's a darker, hurtful film that doesn't play nice and it's not the kind of movie anyone wants to bring a date to.

It's a typical day in London as an obituary writer and aspiring author named Dan (Jude Law) runs into a young waitress/stripper named Alice (Natalie Portman) at a crosswalk in London. A cab hits Alice where she was slightly injured as Dan takes her to the hospital where sparks begins to happen. The two have a conversation where Dan takes her to a park where his mother had died. Time goes by as they become a couple where Alice is now a full-time waitress while Dan has just finished a book that is set to be published. Dan takes photos for a photographer named Anna (Julia Roberts) where she is in the middle of a divorce and Dan makes advances towards her. The two kisses but Anna intervenes since she knows Dan has a girlfriend. Alice arrives and suspects something was going on.

Then one night during a sex chat, Dan pretends to be a woman while going on an online chat with a British doctor named Larry (Clive Owen). The chat gets very extreme as Dan, who pretends to be Anna, wants Larry to meet her in an aquarium wearing a white jacket. Larry finally meets Anna but learned that Anna wasn't the person in the chat room as the two get to know each other as Anna is smitten with the rogue, charming Larry. Then a year goes by as Larry and Anna are married while Alice and Dan are having trouble in their relationship as Dan and Anna are rumored to have an affair. At an exhibit Anna made, Larry and Alice meet while Anna and Dan are flirting with each other. Claiming that he has to go on a business trip after the exhibit, Dan gets a cab for Alice and then goes back to the exhibit to flirt with Anna where Larry begins to suspect something.

Then one night as Larry returned home from a business trip, he learns that Anna was having an affair with Dan that had been going on for quite a long time since the night of the exhibit. Alice also learns about it from Dan as she leaves him. Heartbroken and angry, Larry goes to a strip club where he finds Alice where she plays mind games with him. In a room together, Larry demands to know what Alice's name is as she claims its Jane where Alice becomes a sadist in a game of sex. With a divorce for Anna and Larry finalizing, Dan and Anna are officially together until Dan learns that Anna met with Larry for the divorce signing that lead to blackmail. Dan confronts Larry only to learn about something that ruins the relationships for everyone involved as Dan sees Alice for the final time.

While Closer isn't a perfect film, it's still one of the strongest and more subversive efforts from a film studio and director Mike Nichols. Nichols provides a fluid yet momentum-building directing style where he lets the audience get to know the characters. With the story developing in its second and third act, we begin to see the ugliness of everyone involved with the feeling that none of the characters have some sort of resolve in the end. Instead, it's a film where you're not sure who is the innocent one and who was the one driving all of these games. Credit goes to Nichols for not pandering down to a formula where everyone gets happy in the end and instead goes for a human story thanks in large part to Patrick Marber's craftily-structured screenplay that also has wonderful theatrical feel from his own play. Though some might be upset with the cutting of Portman's nude scenes in the film, it doesn't seem necessary since what was shown is enough. If Neil LaBute directed it, he would've done the same thing though his approach of gender studies would be more brutal.

The movie is clearly not a typical Hollywood fare because of Nichols' directing. The script by Marber really has a sense of ambiguity and tension where the characters are trying to discover for themselves what's going on. Also, there's a sense of who is manipulating who in the film and the lines of reality and fantasy are also blurred, especially in the third and final act where the film has an ending where everything is left at a shock to see who was really telling the truth and who wasn't.

The film's masterfully presented technical achievements are spot-on thanks to some non-linear editing style from John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmlen and the wonderful cinematography of Stephen Goldblatt, notably for his use of lights and colors in the interior scenes. Production designer Tim Hatley and art directors Hanah Mosely and Mark Raggett provide a great look to the film's London look, notably the strip club scenes with Portman and Owen along with Ann Roth's costume design on Portman's stripper costume. Even the sound work of Ivan Sharrock should be complemented for giving the film a distinct sound as if you're watching a theatrical play. Then there's the film's music that features a song that is opened and closed by Damien Rice along with cuts in the strip club scenes by the Prodigy and the Smiths that really sets a sense of intrigue and sadness for its characters.

The heart of the lies in the strong performances of its cast where all the actors refused to play likeable versions of themselves and just get to the point of how the characters should be played along with its complexities. Though Julia Roberts can often be considered to be an overrated and bland actress, this film is her best performance since her Oscar-winning performance in Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich. Roberts is good at playing nice but this is her most mature performance to date where she plays a woman who seeks love but has the same temptations that many older women have. What is more amazing is that Roberts is now stripping down all of her previous likeable roles for something more challenging as Roberts is now getting ready to play an elder stateswoman instead of the Pretty Woman we come to know and love.

Jude Law is wonderful in his role as Dan with his sniveling, cocky attitude and sex appeal. Law brings an understated, restrained performance in the anguished and emotionally tortured Dan. Law also carries a brooding tone in the film's final act where he tries to understand what has happened in a scene with Owen. It's clearly Law at his finest. Clive Owen is the film's biggest standout with his rogue, innocent performance as Larry in the film's first act. Owen has a macho, idiotic sensibility that can be very funny and likeable but as the film begins to darken, we see Owen in a fit of rage where he seems to lose control. Owen has great chemistry with Roberts but in his scene with Natalie Portman, the complexity of heartbreak, anger, confusion, and desire is well balanced in a performance that is a true breakthrough for the British actor.

The film's best and most shocking performance clearly goes to Natalie Portman in what is probably the greatest role of her career. The troubled little girl of The Professional is no more as Portman plays probably the film's most intriguing role in the movie as Alice. Portman brings a sense of lovelorn innocence of the film's first act with her kooky charm and smile where we see why Jude Law falls in love with her. When she's heartbroken, we see the emotional desperation of her character as she is trying to find love but in all of the wrong places. Then when she returns to her world of stripping, Portman goes bare all by not just showing a lot of skin (except for the exposed breasts and other things that got cut) but she also showed a dark, sadistic side that is even more jaw-dropping as she plays games with Owen. Whereas 2003 was the year of her rival Scarlett Johansson who delivered two landmark roles in Lost in Translation and Girl with a Pearl Earring, Portman one-ups Johansson with this performance and her kooky one in Garden State by delivering a sense of beauty, angst, and innocence into a dangerous performance.

Though Closer isn't a perfect film because of its lack of likeable moments, it is still one of the best and more provocative efforts of the year thanks to Mike Nichols' uncompromisingly fluid direction. With credit going to Patrick Marber's script and the performances of Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and most notably Natalie Portman and Clive Owen, Closer is really an adult film that tries to study the behaviors of genders. Though it might not be original, especially compared to Nichols' earlier work and the recent films of Neil LaBute, Closer still works thanks to its story and character study. Though its subversive nature and dialogue might be shocking to a mainstream audience, its performances and director Mike Nichols ability as a storyteller will leave people talking after the movie.

Mike Nichols Films: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - (The Graduate) - (Catch-22) - Carnal Knowledge - (The Day of the Dolphin) - (The Fortune) - (Gilda Live) - (Silkwood) - (Heartburn) - (Biloxi Blues) - Working Girl - Postcards from the Edge - (Regarding Henry) - (Wolf (1994 film)) - The Birdcage - (Primary Colors) - (What Planet Are You From?) - (Wit) - (Angels in America) - (Charlie Wilson’s War)

© thevoid99 2010