Drive

Do you ever get the feeling that something is going well over your head, but you can't quite figure out what it is? That is how I feel after watching the new film from director Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive”, based on the novel by James Sallis. This movie is getting fantastic reviews, it even won Best Director at Cannes, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why.

“Drive” is the story of, unsurprisingly, a driver (Ryan Gosling: “Crazy, Stupid, Love”), who, when he is not acting as a wheelman-for-hire, is a mechanic and a movie stunt driver. He's developed a bit of a crush on his next door neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan: “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”), whose ex-convict husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac: “Sucker Punch”), owes a great deal of protection money to some reputable businessmen.

In the interest of protecting Irene and her son, the Driver agrees to help Standard with a robbery that will put him even with his creditors. So along with a woman named Blanche (Christina Hendricks: “Mad Men”), they set out to do what should be a basic, low-level robbery. Naturally things go spectacularly wrong.

This sounds like an exciting film, right? Check out the trailer, it even looks exciting. It looks like it could be a heist movie, or perhaps a roaring rampage of revenge; hell, at the beginning it even seems like it is going to similar to “The Transporter”, but it's not. In fact, despite being called “Drive” very little driving actually goes on in it. A better title would probably have been “Awkward Silence”.

The movie tends to go like this. Dialog, awkward silence, more dialog, awkward silence, something exciting happens, awkward silence. I think that if you were to edit out all of the awkward silence, most of which is just Ryan Gosling staring off into space, you would be left with thirty, maybe forty minutes of movie. There were points early on in the film where I was seriously wondering if Gosling's character was trying to be broody, or if he was just slow-witted. Some of these awkward pauses went on so long that people in the audience started laughing at them.

Of course it wasn't just the silences that elicited laughter from the audience; by the end of the film the close-ups Driver's golden jacket with its embroidered scorpion started getting chuckles as well. Plus it's never a good sign when people are laughing at what seemed like they were supposed to be highly dramatic moments in the film too (the scene in the elevator in the trailer got the biggest laugh of the entire film).

Am I being a bit harsh? Well it may be justified, as this is the first screening I have attended in the three years I have been going to them where people actually got up and walked out. So if something in this film is going over my head, then it's going over the heads of a lot of other non-professional critics as well. There are moments where I can see the director's skill (the use of lighting in the elevator scene stood out for me), but a lot of the time I was left thinking “well, maybe this would make more sense if I had read the book first”.

It's not all bad though, as there are some shining moments in the film. These moments pretty much all involve Nino (Ron Perlman: “Hellboy”) and Bernie (Albert Brooks: “Lost in America”, “Defending Your Life”) as a pair of mobsters who are helping to finance the Driver's potential career as a race car driver (did I forget to mention the race car driver thing? Well, don't worry, it's not important).

Perlman is unfortunately only in a few scenes, but probably half of the swearing in the film comes from him. The role of a Jewish, pizzeria running mobster is not a perfect fit for him, but Nino is a joy to watch. Not only does it seem quite the rarity to even see him without some sort of make-up on, but I can't really recall him having many rolls where he even gets to curse.

As fun as Perlman is, the show-stealer has to be Albert Brooks. His scenes drop almost all of the awkward silence and replace it with sarcastic humor and violence. I don't think I have ever seen Brooks play anything as cold-blooded as Bernie Rose before, and I wish the movie had been more about him, and less about the Driver, because all of his scenes were genuinely interesting and entertaining.

At the risk of seeming like an unsophisticated plebeian for not liking what is clearly being regarded as some sort of masterpiece, I have to say that I did not like this film. It's not as if I don't enjoy the occasional deep, and possibly even slow film (I genuinely liked both “The Box” and “Blindness”), but this was just boring. It's slow, uneventful, and when something does happen it is over too fast, and we're back to awkward silences again. The trailer really does show off all of the film's best content, and sorry ladies, but Gosling doesn't even take off his shirt for you.

If you want to see an award winning film whose vision outstretches its grasp, and is chocked full of long, dramatic, awkward silence, then check this movie out. If you want to see an awesome action film about a driver, go rent “The Transporter”

“Drive” is in theaters now.

"How to Train Your Dragon"

Based almost not at all on the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell, “How to Train Your Dragon” is the story of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel: “She's Out of My League”), son of viking leader Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler: “300”). Hiccup's village is under constant assault by a variety of dragons who steal their food and destroy their homes, and as a result the vikings have made it their purpose in life to find and destroy the dragons.

The film opens with an epic battle as the vikings try to defend their village from an aerial dragon assault. Hiccup, who is the apprentice of Gobber (Craig Ferguson: “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson”), the village blacksmith, frantically tries to cross the village to help sharpen and distribute weapons, all the while being told to get inside by everyone who sees him due to how utterly useless he is.

When Gobber himself goes to join the battle he leaves Hiccup alone to mind the shop, giving the young wannabe dragonslayer a chance to try out his ballista-like bola launcher. With no one else around to see it happen, Hiccup manages to take down the most feared of dragons, a dragon never before seen by anyone who lived to tell about it, the Night Fury.

In order to prove himself in the eyes of his father, his village, and maybe even get himself a date with Astrid (America Ferrera: “Ugly Betty”), Hiccup tracks the dragon to where it crashed, preparing to slay the dragon and bring back its heart. Upon finding his wounded prey he discovers that he does not have it in him to kill the defenseless beast, and further discovers that everything his people know about dragons may be wrong.

“How to Train Your Dragon” is the newest film by Dreamworks, and my first instinct is to compare it to other computer animated films. The movie comes in a little lacking when compared to Pixar masterpieces like “Up”, but compared to other Dreamworks films like “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “Shrek” the movie easily hold its own, and even excels in visual quality. Compared to movies like “Madagascar” the movie seems downright awesome.

The animation is very good, and a lot of attention has been put into the small details. You can make out individuals hairs on the heads and faces of the vikings and their clothes, and the fire effects are probably the best I have seen in a computer animated picture; they were so good in fact that during the film's climax they looked like they would be more at home as an effect in a live action film than a cartoon. Dreamworks may not be quite at the Pixar level yet, but they are making great strides.

The film is not without its problems, but they are minor ones. For some reason that either was not explained or was lost on me all of the adult vikings have Scottish accents, yet all of the kids sound American. Now I'm not expert on vikings, but I am pretty sure they did not come from Scotland or the United States.

Another issue, and I am sure this is because of merchandising, is that the dragons look just a little too cute to be as scary as they should be for a lot of the movie. The Night Fury in particular kept making me think of a Pokemon, and I found that a little distracting as I kept trying to figure out which one it made me think of (I ended up deciding on either Mudkip or Latios, if you are interested).

Like most Dreamworks animated features, “Dragon” has a fantastic cast. Aside from those I have already mentioned, keep an ear out for Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”), Jonah Hill (“Superbad”), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”), David Tennant (“Doctor Who”), and Ashley Jensen (“Extras”) who fill out much of the rest of the cast. Accents aside, they all do a fantastic job breathing life into their characters.

Sure this movie is no “Up” or “The Incredibles”, but it is also not a “Madagascar 2” or “Ice Age 12.5”, and that is a very good thing. Fans of the book may find themselves wondering what happened to the story they love, but for the rest of us “How to Train Your Dragon” is a well done fast paced family film with plenty of laughs and action to keep you interested. This should prove to be a very strong launch for a new film franchise, something Dreamworks needs if they really intend to retire Shrek.

If you want a film you can take the whole family to this weekend, “Dragon” is easily the best choice. There is some mild (and not so mild) innuendo, but most of that will go right over younger viewers' heads. Without spoiling anything, I will say that there is one bit at the end where parents may have to do a little explaining to their kids, but I liked how this showed that some things are permanent, and if they intend to follow the series of books at all (even if just in titles alone), I am sure that this figures into the sequel.

I strongly recommend seeing this in theaters if you are at all interested (IMAX if you can), as this movie is not going to seem quite so epic on the small screen. Spend a couple of extra bucks for the 3D version, the sense of depth it adds to the movie is nice, and the flying sequences look fantastic. The use of 3D is sure to amaze younger (and some older) viewers.

“How to Train Your Dragon” burns its way into theaters nationwide this weekend.

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"She's Out of My League"

Have you ever heard something to the effect of “A one doesn't get a ten”? If you haven't, it basically means that the ugly dork doesn't get the hottie, and it's true. There are ways of making your score go up or down, being rich, being in a band, having a nice car, etc, but there is only a certain disparity that can exist between you and your mate. It is this concept that backs up the plot of the new movie “She's Out of My League”.

“She's Out of My League” (which shall be referred to as SOML from here on, as I am too lazy to keep typing it) is the story of Kirk (Jay Baruchel: “Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist”), a TSA screener at the Pittsburgh airport who cannot get over his ex-girlfriend, Marnie (Lindsey Sloan), although it probably doesn't help that she works at the same screening station, and that his family seems to like her more than they do him.

Even though he is a bit of a loser, Kirk still has his close circle of friends. There's a the jerk, Stainer (T.J. Miller: “Cloverfield”), the almost cool guy, Jack (Mike Vogel: “Cloverfield”), and the nice guy, Devon (Nate Torrence: “Get Smart”). They work together, they hang out together, and they alternately jeer and cheer Kirk on for the decisions he makes and has made with his life.

So Kirk is living his craptastic life until the day that Molly (Alice Eve) comes through his checkpoint and loses her iPhone. Molly's bitchy friend, business partner, and airplane seat mate, Patty (Krysten Ritter: “Breaking Bad”) calls the phone and Kirk answers. Molly sets up a time for Kirk to return the phone to her at an event she is organizing, where they hit it off, and the rest of the story is set in motion.

SOML is equal parts gross-out guy humour and romantic comedy, and is more reminiscent of films like “Meet the Parents” or “There's Something About Mary” than it is “The Hangover”. This makes for a decent date movie (although probably not a first date movie) as it never spends too long on either movie type at a time, and it is equally funny while in either mode.

I only had a couple of problems with this film. The first was that when we Molly enters the airport at the beginning every guy's head turns to her as if she were the hottest woman on Earth. I'm not saying she's not attractive by any stretch here, but I honestly thought that Patty was better looking, although she is a bitch which would lower her a point or two, but you're not going to get that just from her walking into an airport terminal. Clearly your mileage may vary on this based on your own likes and dislikes, so it's not worth dwelling on.

The second problem is that I could never totally buy the relationship between Molly and Kirk. In a movie where all the of the actors have great chemistry you have this alpha couple who just seem wrong for each other. I know that it is meant to be awkward, and I know you are supposed to spend half the movie waiting for her to dump him when someone better looking comes along, or for his low self-esteem to sabotage things, but it still never really worked for me. Their interactions seem just a little too awkward, forced almost. This would be a big problem if the movie wasn't otherwise as good as it is, but the fun script and believable interaction between the other characters cover for this flaw.

One of the best things in SOML has to be Nate Torrence's portrayal of Devon. Torrence steals every scene he is in whether he is refusing to curse for money, offering manscaping advice, or dropping Disney references in regards to Molly and Kirk's relationship. I could not help but smile every time he was on the screen. He brings an unflappable brightness to his role that made me believe that he would actually do some of the things his character does for his friend.

SOML is probably the best comedy in theaters right now, and if you are looking for a good laugh that you can have with your special someone this is likely your best bet. It's rude and crude, but still manages to be sweet when it counts. Compared to larger fare like “Alice in Wonderland” this is really only a rental, but if you just want to have a good time with an adult-oriented movie, then I recommend spending a little time finding out how you rate at “She's Out of My League” this weekend.

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Julie & Julia

Before there was Alton Brown, Rachel Ray, or Paula Dean there was a foodie who stood head and shoulders above her contemporaries. A woman who went to France barely able to cook an egg, and became one of the most famous chefs in the world; that woman is Julia Child.

“Julie & Julia” is that rarest of movie, something fresh and new. Starring Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!), Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams (Sunshine Cleaning), and Chris Messina, this movie is not the chick flick one might expect going in, but a whole new genre of film; the Foodie Flick (and why not, they have foodie murder mystery novels after all).

This film is not based one true story, but two . First, it is the story of Julia Child's journey from directionless housewife to published author. Second, it is the story of a directionless cubicle dweller who finds inspiration in Child's cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and combines it with the young concept of blogging to get her life back under her own control by challenging herself to cook every recipe in the book in one year.

Aside from being different on just its subject matter alone, another unique aspect of this film is that it is based on two books. Julia Child's “My Life in France”, and Julie Powell's “Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously” (the title of its 2006 printing). It is also the first film that I know of that is based on someone's blog, although it's not likely to be the last.

The film jumps back and forth between Julia Child (Streep) in the fifties and Julie Powell (Adams) in post 9-11 New York, and frequently draw parallels to the events in their lives as they struggle to create their own identities, deal with setbacks, and soldier on towards their goal. Aside from the time difference between them, it is interesting to note that Julia's events take place over years while Julie's story happens over the course of a single year.

While I was personally more interested in Julie's 2002 side of the story it is impossible to not acknowledge Meryl Streep's performance as Julia Child. Not only does her capturing of Child's bubbly personality dominate every scene she's in, but the filmmakers did not overlook the fact that Julia Child was incredibly tall (around 6'2”), so Streep towers over all but a couple of her co-stars. All of the actors in this movie were great, but this is easily Meryl Streep's best performance in years.

Try to find a theater with comfortable seats for this film, as it is long for a movie of this type. “Julie & Julia” comes in at around two hours long, but it honestly wasn't until about fifteen minutes before the end that I even glanced at my watch. At no point does the film feel like it is dragging, and maybe it is the constant switching back and forth between stories that keeps it from ever feeling like it is getting stuck in one place.

If I were to have any complaints about this movie, there would be only two. My first, and most immediate issue, was Streep's Julia Child voice; my only problem with it was that it instantly made me think of Dan Ackroyd's sketch from Saturday Night Live (which is featured in the film), but this was minor and once the film gets moving I got over it. The other issue was the ending. I cannot really go into why I found it somewhat unsatisfying without spoiling things, but this is again a minor issue as this movie is based on real events, and reality is rarely artistically correct.

This movie is not an experience that must be seen in theaters, but if you are the kind of person that TiVos The Food Network, then it would be a great film to go see with a bunch of your foodie friends if you are tired of the teenaged wizards, fighting robots, explosions, kids with cancer, sappy Rom-Coms, and 3-D children's movies that are cluttering up theaters right now. This is a film that will teach you the value of determination, courage, and butter. “Julie & Julia” is rated PG-13, as it does contain some spicy language, and it will be served up in theaters on August 7th. Be sure to bring your appetite.