Certain Women Are Much More Interesting Than These Three!

The Good: Generally good performances, The direction is fine
The Bad: Simplistic plots, Oppressive mood, Dull characters
The Basics: Certain Women is a painfully dull film. That is all.


As Autumn Indie Release Season, studios are in the process of getting their finished works out of the drawers and on screens. Certain Women is one such film. The movie was completed early in 2016 and is only now seeing the light of day outside the film festival circuit. So, Certain Women bears the unfortunate brunt of not being particularly well-promoted or put into a lot of theaters, so it is unlikely to set the world ablaze.

The truth is, whenever Certain Women reached theaters, it was never going to excite the masses. It's not that type of film and the cerebral, lingering direction from Kelly Reichart pretty much guaranteed only an indie film-loving audience would give it the time of day. Certain Women is based upon a series of short stories by Maile Meloy and it is worth noting that I've not read any of the source material this film is based upon. This is a pure review of the film Certain Women only. In some ways, though, it is utterly unsurprising that Certain Women is based upon short stories as the film is presented as three vignettes that do not directly interact.

Opening with Ryan Lewis leaving Laura Wells after their rendezvous in a small Montana town, Laura returns to her law office where she meets Mr. Fuller. Fuller has a personal accident case that Wells is not confident about. The next Friday at noon, Wells and Fuller visit another lawyer who tells them they cannot sue for the injuries he sustained at work. When his case is dismissed, Will Fuller takes a hostage, which leads Wells to go in to talk with him to de-escalate the situation. When Wells starts reading Fuller's file to him, he lets his hostage go, but keeps Wells. When Fuller concocts a plan to escape the police outside, Wells turns him in.

Gina Lewis is introduced when she returns from a run to the camp site she, her husband Ryan, and their daughter are sharing. They break camp in uncomfortable silence and go to visit Albert. Albert has sandstone on his property and he distractedly talks with them, while Gina tries to negotiate to buy some of his sandstone. Gina wants the sandstone for the new house they are building from the ground up. The final section of Certain Women features a lonely horse trainer who randomly attends Beth Travis's law class one night. Jamie continues to attend Travis's law class - though she is not interested in the law, just lonely - until one night when Travis does not show up. So, Jamie makes the long trip to Livingston to reach out to Beth to express her feelings to her.

While Laura Dern dominates the first third of Certain Women, it is tough not to be incredibly impressed by Jared Harris. Harris played a brilliant villain in Fringe (reviewed here!) and there is not a hint of his confident, charming alter-ego from that in Certain Women. Harris plays a terribly sad man in Certain Women and he nails the despair of a guy who feels he has lost everything as Fuller. While Dern plays Wells opposite him well, it is hard to call her performance great acting as Dern's Wells simply says what viewers already think about Fuller. Dern looking nervous as she plays Wells walking into the hostage situation is well-executed, but it seems like it would not be hard for a celebrity (or acting talent!) like Dern to portray nervousness about going into a dangerous situation.

Michelle Williams is characteristically low-key as Gina. Williams has long ago proven her ability to mope through a role and Certain Women does not plumb any new depths for her. Similarly, Kristen Stewart plays to her wheelhouse as Beth, not giving a lot of emotion to her portrayal of the teacher. Rene Auberjonois is delightfully subtle as Albert and Lily Gladstone is good as Jamie, but even their performances are not enough to shine up the dull pacing, plot and characters of Certain Women.

Certain Women is a very slow film and Reichardt directs the movie for a sense of realism as opposed to presenting its subjects with any real flash. There are several sections of the movie filmed with an almost completely realistic sense of low lighting, so there are times when Laura Wells is almost entirely obscured in darkness. Rather refreshingly, Reichardt does not make the slow-paced, realistically dark film any less visually appealing by using hand-held cameras. Certain Women looks good with a very classic sense of framing, static shots and gentle pans. Certain Women is a film where the characters move and tell the story and the camera simply follows, which is a refreshing change of pace for movies these days.

Perhaps it is because I now live in the Midwest that there is no real novelty to the slow pacing, long shots and repressed tone of Certain Women, but the film is just boring. I like movies with subtlety, subtext and slow-build, but the movie has to go somewhere. Certain Women does not.

For other movies currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
Flock Of Dudes
My Blind Brother
Cardboard Boxer
Other People
The Whole Truth

2/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Agony Of Losing Everything: Still Alice Is Wonderfully Made . . . But Tough To Watch!

The Good: Amazing acting, Good issues, Decent character development, Soundtrack
The Bad: Thematically overbearing to the point of being unwatchable
The Basics: Still Alice is, rightly, one of the best films of the year, but its subject matter is so difficult to watch that it quickly loses any sense of entertainment and becomes grueling to sit through.


As Oscar Pandering Season reaches its climax, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding Julianne Moore in Still Alice. Moore is an accomplished actress and the problem with her come awards time now is that she is, quite simply, too good. After roles in Boogie Nights (reviewed here!), The Kids Are All Right (reviewed here!), Game Change (reviewed here!), and – at the entirely other end of the spectrum - Evolution (reviewed here!), Julianne Moore has illustrated such a range and ability that it is hard to imagine a role she could not absolutely nail. So, when Moore took on the role of Dr. Alice Howland for Still Alice, the attention the role is getting feels in some ways like Moore is up this year for a lifetime achievement award.

Still Alice is a film based upon the novel by the same name. It is worth noting that I have not read the novel, so this is a pure review of the film Still Alice. Still Alice is a drama focused on a woman with a degenerative medical condition, which might make for a downer during the holidays, but it is the exact type of film that gets nominated for awards (and wins) . . . even if they only reach a limited audience and have an appeal that makes it difficult to imagine rewatching/adding to one’s permanent collection. Still Alice is very much the archetypal patient drama for an Oscar Pandering Season release.

Dr. Alice Howland is a Linguistics professor at Columbia University in New York City who is an expert in lingual development. After her fiftieth birthday, Dr. Howland begins to forget words and she gets lost while out running on the campus (which is a familiar place to her). After multiple visits to a neurologist, Dr. Howland is diagnosed with an early-onset familial (genetic) Alzheimer’s Disease. When she and her husband tell their adult children, they are all – predictably – alarmed. Alice’s daughter, Anna, and her son, Tom, get genetic testing done and Anna (who is trying to get pregnant with her husband) is alarmed when her test comes back positive. Despite Tom being relieved that his is negative, he is concerned about his mother while his romantic relationship falls apart.

At an alarming rate, Dr. Howland’s memory begins to degrade. She has to ask her students for what lesson they are studying and soon cannot even teach. Her husband, John, is a scientist and his attempts at advocacy often come across as clinical, when she is looking for emotional support. Dr. Howland starts to rely upon her smartphone for identifying people, remembering names, and scheduling every aspect of her life. As everyone in the family tries to reconnect with Alice, Dr. Howland loses more and more of her memory, her ability to control her body and even her ability to speak.

The site I used to right for had a simple ratings system for its reviewers: in addition to giving a rating on stars (one through five), one had to recommend whether or not they would buy the product. While I have vastly higher standards (my ten-point scale goes down to zero!), one of the things I have found useful about continuing to review is that the model that site used to have could actually be useful. Every once in a long while, I encounter something that is well-created, socially-important, and all around excellent . . . that I cannot stand. Still Alice is one such work.

Life is hard. Life can be impossibly hard and with birth defects, intolerance, AIDS, mental illness, behavioral disorders, sexual abuse and Alzheimer’s Disease in the world, it is hard to imagine there are people who exist in the United States untouched by some form of existential horror. With all that in the world, why would one want to experience such issues in their entertainment baffles me. I suppose for those who have not experienced any permutation on watching a loved one helplessly degrade, Still Alice offers the audience something. For the rest of us, though, it only offers a chance for the performers to play well.

And perform well they do. Given decent material and a good cast, everyone associated with Still Alice shines. Hunter Parrish plays Tom with a seriousness and intelligence that his role in Weeds (reviewed here!) did not allow. His entire body language is different as Tom from his most well-known character. Kristen Stewart gives a wonderful performance where she is not playing a character plumbing the depths of personal misery as Lydia. In fact, it is nice to see Stewart play a character who is something of a freethinker and artist without her ending up drug-addled, painful to watch and/or just skeezy and filthy. For all the attention Julianne Moore is getting with Still Alice, this is one of Kristen Stewart’s best roles and most varied performances.

Dr. John Howland is played by Alec Baldwin and he and Julianne Moore play off one another as a seasoned, married couple so well that it is almost impossible to recall that they played a romantic relationship in the fourth season of 30 Rock (reviewed here!). Baldwin gets through his character’s technobabble exceptionally well. Moore is predictably great as Dr. Alice Howland. The role requires her to look confused, appear to pee herself and slowly change her body language from being a confident woman to a sad, lost, husk of her former self. Moore nails it.

The thing is, it is easy to watch Still Alice and recognize all of the components of greatness. Moore and the rest of the cast have a great script to work with, but the subject is excruciating to watch and is anything but entertaining. Still Alice is like Love And Other Drugs (reviewed here!) but without the charm and romance. Instead, Still Alice is a stark, realistic, painful-to-watch film that is objectively well-created but impossible to recommend to watch and certainly not a movie most people will want to add to their permanent video library.

For other films currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
To Write Love On Her Arms
The Voices
Love, Rosie
The Seventh Son
Song One
Match
American Sniper
Vice
Inherent Vice
Selma
Paddington
Predestination
The Interview
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Expelled
Annie
Comet
The Imitation Game
Birdman

9/10 (Not Recommended)

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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An Exclusive That Never Held Its Value: The Twilight Hot Topic HT-1 Card Flops!

The Good: Good image, Necessary for collectors, Quite rare
The Bad: Low collectible value, Rarity is all that gives it any value
The Basics: Smartly appealing to its base, the Twilight HT-1 Who Is Bella? Hot Topic trading card failed to pop.


Even as Inkworks was in the process of collapse, it had some good ideas and some strangely strong fundamentals. One of its last products was the Twilight trading cards (reviewed here!) and it was a smashing success in the secondary market. I like the idea of the Twilight cards and Inkworks smartly appealed to its base with an exclusive card from Hot Topic. Unfortunately, the Twilight cards’ exclusive Hot Topic card, Who Is Bella?, is basically an unremarkable trading card that focused on the character that the Hot Topic crowd never really adopted or got excited about: Bella Swan. She may have been the star of Twilight, but the teen girls who made the film into a phenomenon did not flock to her in any meaningful way.

The HT-1 Who Is Bella? Hot Topic Exclusive card is an overly rare card produced exclusively for Hot Topic and was released only in the Hot Topic boxes of Twilight cards.

When the film Twilight (reviewed here!) was released, Inkworks won the license and began producing exceptionally limited trading cards. With their Twilight trading card series, most of the main characters were granted cards. Hot Topic along got the Who Is Bella? cards, which featured Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan.

The HT-1 Who Is Bella? card features a nice shot of Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan in her jeans jacket from the promotional poster for Twilight. The back of the Who Is Bella? Card has text that has basic information on Bella Swan. The front of the card is nothing special; it is not an embossed card, foil, or anything special.

What is surprising is how the value of the card never held and I can only assume that it is because the subject is Bella Swan. The card is rare, but after the initial spike, the value plummeted. I suspect that the subject and the lack of anything exceptional with the card have continued to drive the price down. At this point, fans know all they need to about Bella Swan and it is unlikely the card will rebound in price, but for the die-hard fans, it remains an essential part of the Twilight trading card collection.

For other Twilight cards, please check out my reviews of:
PW3 Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) Pieceworks card
In Pursuit Chase Set
Twilight P-1 Promotional Card

4/10

For other card reviews, please visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Taking The Time To Live And Save A Life, Welcome To The Rileys Is Gritty, Complicated, And Good!

The Good: Acting, Interesting characters, Decent plot progression, Wonderful mood
The Bad: Somewhat predictable, Casting issue
The Basics: Two adults are haunted by loss and a young woman is plagued by poverty and failure in Welcome To The Rileys.


Every now and then, I get a hankering for a work by a specific performer. It happens surprisingly little; as a reviewer, I see so much stuff that I am reviewing and that I have in the docket to review that I seldom consider my own moods for what I am going to watch. But, tonight, I was in the mood for a new-to-me Kristen Stewart movie. I’m not sure why, but I was in a Kristen Stewart mood, so I picked up Welcome To The Rileys, a movie I knew absolutely nothing about before starting it.

Welcome To The Rileys is an independent film and it is easy to see the attraction for Kristen Stewart to the project. While she was deeply embedded in her performance in The Twilight Saga (reviewed here!) – where she played a character who was a paragon of innocence – she went off to play a call girl with an edge in Welcome To The Rileys. More than that, she nailed the role and it was a good chance for her to showcase a different side of her talents.

Opening in silence with a burning car, Doug loses about a thousand dollars at his weekly poker game, goes out for dinner (as he has for the last four years) and has a fling with the waitress, Vivian, before heading home to his wife. When Vivian dies before he can take her on a trip to New Orleans, the latest in a series of tragedies for Doug considering he and his wife, Lois, lost their daughter, Emily some eight years prior, Doug finds himself even more lonely than usual. Lois, paralyzed, by the death of their daughter, cannot leave the house.

When Doug goes on his trip to New Orleans, he leaves his business conference for a strip bar where he is solicited by Mallory. To avoid his coworkers, Doug gets a private room with Mallory, but when he starts asking her about how old she actually is, she bails. When they meet later outside the club, Doug and Mallory just begin talking and Doug finds himself empathizing with the young woman, who reminds him of his daughter. When Doug decides to remain in New Orleans to save Mallory, Lois has to work up her courage to leave the house to come recover him.

Welcome To The Rileys is an indie film and it immediately made me queasy for the whole “incest potential.” Indie films seem to skirt the borders of relationships that are intentionally inappropriate and while some can be edgy and unconventional, many go right for the gross. From almost their first meeting, Doug is clearly seeing his daughter in Mallory, so any relationship that evolved there had to stay non-sexual for me not to be entirely repulsed by the film. Fortunately, Welcome To The Rileys lived up to its potential like only God Bless America (reviewed here!) did of the indie films I have seen that skirt the inappropriate familial-type relationships of late.

Seeming initially like it will be wholly dark and disturbing, Welcome To The Rileys quickly overcomes its creep out potential to be an oddly uplifting story. While it maintains a wonderful, often awkward quality, it starts heading in a direction where characters are conflicted about how much they are living. In a delightfully uncomfortable scene, Lois meets a man who talks with her and there comes a moment where he is clearly waiting for her to ask him what he does and the film is just smart enough not to pay off the obvious.

Welcome To The Rileys might actually be Kristen Stewart’s best acting role, where she stretches her performance abilities in a direction viewers have not previously seen. She is cranky, but surprisingly vital in the role of Mallory. Stewart does not seem uncomfortable or stiff in the role of Mallory, either in the moments when she is forced to work the strip club or deliver lines that would probably have made Bella Swan’s head explode.

The phone call between Lois and Doug in New Orleans is one of the most uplifting moments I have seen in recent cinema and it reminded me why I love movies: when presented right, they can truly open one up to actual emotions. In that moment, Gandolfini and Melissa Leo (Lois) play off each other perfectly and there is enough to see the potential of what one expects the beginning of their relationship must have been like.

What should be the incredibly boring process of watching Doug parent Mallory is saved by Doug actually parenting the young lady is saved by the performance of James Gandolfini. Gandolfini and Stewart play off one another incredibly well. Stewart plays resistance to authority and parental guidance exceptionally well and Gandolfini manages to play the role of Doug without even the hint of wanting to seduce the girl, despite her accusations to the contrary.

Melissa Leo is similarly remarkable in the role of Lois. When Doug brings Lois a beer in the car, Leo lets the hint of a beautiful, vibrant smile that sells the underlying strength of her character even more than the character’s long drive does. Director Jake Scott does an excellent job of progressing the characters and getting incredible performances out of the main three. Scott’s biggest problem might be in the casting of the peripherals. Eisa Davis plays Vivian early in the film, but several other characters look a lot like her (including one of Malloy’s coworkers), which is distracting (and makes little sense why it doesn’t disturb Doug).

Welcome To The Rileys starts out with the potential to be disturbing and creepy, but it gets through its potential awkwardness very quickly to become a smart, edgy drama that is a compelling character study. Through a troubling initial set-up, three people learn to live again and it helps make Welcome To The Rileys one of the best movies and one of the most wonderful, welcome surprises in years.

For other works with James Gandolfini, check out my reviews of:
Where The Wild Things Are
The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3
In The Loop
All The King's Men (2006)

8.5/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Less Than The Sum Of Its Parts, The Twilight Saga Holds Together Poorly.

| | | The Good: Moments of concept, Portrayal of young love, Cinematography
The Bad: Underdeveloped characters, Melodrama, Stiff acting, Belabored plot
The Basics: The Twilight Saga starts as a charming tale of love between a mortal and an undead individual and drags out a dismal series of conflicts for multiple movies.


There are few movie series’ that have been produced in recent memory that have both such loyal fans and such rabid detractors as The Twilight Saga. Based upon a tremendously popular book series that pretty much defined the contemporary teen paranormal romance genre, the cinematic Twilight Saga was one of the smartest bets by the studios in recent memory. It came with a build-in audience, had a sufficient franchise to draw out and had the potential for mass appeal. And it worked: the success of the first two films made household names of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, as well as launched the career of a number of the secondary performers in the films, and inspired the studio to split the final film into two to milk the fan base for additional money and keep the “phenomenon” alive.

But the same things that made the series seem initially strong also gave so much for the detractors to rant about: the films, which feature vampire and werewolf characters, were remarkably bloodless and for a great romance epic, the main couple was shockingly sexless. The acting was mixed and the fact that the film could not keep a consistent director to maintain a singular vision for the films may have worked against it (especially on the press circuit). For my part, I look at what is directly in front of me. Having sat down and rewatched the entire cinematic rendition of The Twilight Saga, there are several things that stand out to me now, looking at the work as a whole. As it will inevitably be viewed as a solid Saga (shocking that when Breaking Dawn, Part 2 was announced for DVD and Blu-Ray, no collector’s series set was announced simultaneously!), it behooves one to consider the entire work.

The Twilight Saga is a rare example where the parts, when put together, make something significantly less than the films on their own. Allow me to explain.

First, The Twilight Saga consists of the films:
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn, Part I
Breaking Dawn, Part 2

For those unfamiliar with The Twilight Saga, the five films follow the exploits of Bella Swan, innocent, pale klutzy high school student who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington when her mother wants to travel more with her new boyfriend. Forks, a mist-covered rural community, is where Bella’s father lives and works as a sheriff. There, Bella meets the mysterious Edward Cullen. Edward, she quickly learns, is a vampire, but a friendly one. Bella and Edward begin a romance, which puts them in danger when a roving trio of vampires comes through and starts killing humans and attacks Bella.

On Bella’s eighteenth birthday, there is an incident and Edward abandons her, ostensibly for her own safety. At that point, Bella rekindles her friendship with Jacob Black, a local who she slowly learns is a werewolf. Jacob’s protective instinct kicks in and while Bella prevents Edward from killing himself so he is no longer tormented by his love for Bella, the attempt draws the attention of the powerful Italian vampires, the Volturi. The Volturi come to Forks shortly thereafter when the villainous Victoria raises an army of vampires to destroy the Cullens and the werewolves and vampires work together to protect Bella and put down the threat of the rogue vampire clan.

After Bella graduates high school, she and Edward get married and during their honeymoon, the unthinkable happens: Bella gets pregnant from Edward and the spawn is something no one quite understands.

What struck me most about rewatching The Twilight Saga all together was what a weak link New Moon (which I rather enjoyed when it originally was released) was and just what a forced sense of conflict the Saga possesses. The initial villains are dispatched fairly quickly and make way for a far less sensible group of villains. The Volturi are visually menacing and creepy beyond belief, but they are basically superpower vampires who claim to be working to preserve the vampires and keep them off the humans’ radar while being the most obtrusive group of vampires: while the Cullens and the other vampires seen in the Saga generally blend in, the Volturi look like out-of-date elves who kill humans with startling regularity.

The love triangle (a term I loathe because it seldom is actually true – and is not in The Twilight Saga, as there is no emotional connection between Edward and Jacob) between Bella and Edward and Bella and Jacob seems increasingly forced as the film series goes on. In fact, outside of most of New Moon, it is painfully clear to everyone save Jacob that Bella has chosen Edward as her love interest. Even more than any problems with Kristen Stewart’s (who plays Bella) acting, Bella becomes a problematic character for the way she makes her choice, yet keeps stringing Jacob along.

Ironically, Eclipse, which might be the least-respected of the films, is a stronger link in the storytelling. With a compelling villain, a cool effect (the battles in this film are bigger and actually have significance) and a real test for the Edward/Bella relationship where Edward’s solution is not simply to run away, Eclipse actually stands up as a solid and engaging film. It is, when viewed as a whole Saga, also the high water mark of the films.

The final two films seem like much more of a coda comparatively. They seem like a necessary evil to the story, as opposed to a vital chapter, a simple fleshing out of the promise at the climax of Eclipse as opposed to an engaging end to the story. Here is why: the wedding is an inevitable, obvious plot point that was pretty much foreseeable the moment Edward returned to Bella in New Moon. The incident with the Volturi is a forced plot point – in a perfect world with the seemingly endless financial resources of the Cullens and the fact that the Volturi are in Italy, Bella and Edward could have easily avoided them for all eternity – and the conception of Renesmee seems an artful dodge for an audience obviously not prepared for an actual adult relationship. In other words, the first year of most real marriages is, frankly, hell (after the Honeymoon period wears off). It takes a real love and patience to survive the first year of a marriage as two people give up doing everything their own way and figure out how to do things “the Us way.” That, however, is not what the audience who wants to gush over an immortal love between a hundred plus year-old man and an eighteen year-old woman wants to watch. So, the writers and directors provide a much more literal hell (and a less-than-subtle admonishment about the dangers of sexuality!) when Bella’s first lovemaking produces a monstrous pregnancy that (among other things) shatters Bella’s spine and leaves her with becoming a vampire as her only viable chance of survival. Instead of taking the fantasy of immortal love and making it seem more real, The Twilight Saga makes love seem more preposterous and uncomfortable and dangerous.

The Twilight Saga has somewhat inconsistent direction but, oddly enough, a consistent sense of spectacle and quality of cinematography that makes the movies eminently watchable. The pacing for the Saga is off and the acting is inconsistent. However, while Kristen Stewart gets the awkward nature of Bella Swan right in Twilight, it is not until the Breaking Dawn movies that she is given more room to express range, so she goes through most of the Saga stiff and portraying boredom over passion. In rewatching the Saga, it is actually Robert Pattinson who stands out for the poor acting. Whereas Taylor Lautner portrays Jacob Black as an invested, interesting, and passionate guy, Pattinson’s role seems to be simply to show up. Edward Cullen is cold, passionless, and frightfully dull and Pattinson does not make the role any warmer. Instead, he is stiff, gives Stewart almost nothing to play off of and yet, when he smiles, that is supposed to substitute for actual personality.

It, alas, does not.

Ultimately, any one of the Twilight films is fine, but when viewed together as the complete Twilight Saga, it becomes tiresome and more of a mess than it ought to. Fans and moviegoers deserve quite a bit more.

For other film sagas, please check out my reviews of:
The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Harry Potter Saga
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

5/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Number Of Very Funny People Come Together To Make A Quirky Drama With Adventureland

The Good: Moments of character, Moments of humor/concept
The Bad: No superlative performances, Universally unlikable characters.
The Basics: The more I contemplate the dramedy Adventureland, the more I think I did not like this story of pot-smoking, lying, sexually promiscuous and willfully dumb young people.


Every once in a long while, I let myself be swayed by a movie preview and I suddenly recall a preview for a film where I enjoyed the trailer, yet never actually got around to watching the film it was for, and I make an actual effort to take in the film. Tonight, that movie was Adventureland, a quirky drama whose preview made it seem like it would be a comedy. The Jesse Eisenberg/Kristen Stewart vehicle is one of those equally rare movies that falls apart the more I consider it. So, while I originally considered Adventureland about a 6 or 6.5, the more I wrote about it and thought about it, the less I realized I liked it.

It is also worth noting that while I do not judge the film negatively for the way it was sold to mass audiences (it really appears to be a lot funnier in the trailer and it is actually a much more serious film, like Almost Famous - reviewed here! – than it is a comedy), the more I think about the film, the less impressive its components are. In fact, while it initially reminded me of Freaks And Geeks (reviewed here!), it quickly becomes its own thing and it does a pretty unremarkable job at that.

In spring of 1987, after his girlfriend leaves him and his parents cut him off for the funding for the graduation gift they promised him, which would have allowed him to tour Europe with his best friend, James Brennan discovers he is not qualified for work anywhere. Armed with his Comparative Literature degree, he goes to work for the summer at Adventureland, a local amusement park. Relegated to running a game (which he quickly learns are all scams), James loafs his way through his job with the help of weed, beer and Joel. Rescued one day from a knife-wielding patron by Em (Emily), he finds himself instantly attracted to the young woman.

Despite James being a virgin, Em finds she is interested in James as well, though she is having an affair with Mike, Adventureland’s maintenance man. Playing the field in his own limited way with Lisa P., the rides operator all the guys at the park seem to want, James starts developing real feelings for Em. As the end of summer looms, disaster seems to be on the horizon for all of the workers at Adventureland.

Adventureland, for all of its problems, is not without its charms. James gives Em a mix tape of depressing music and has to constantly hide his erections from her (and her family). As well, there are some decent lines, like Em telling her stepmother that the friend her stepmother is talking up to Em once violated the family cat with a pen. The writing, done by director Greg Mottola, has a decent eye for irony – like the story of Em’s father’s relationships – but he fails to make any of the characters truly empathetic in Adventureland.

On the acting front, Adventureland is the product of decent casting more than anything even close to resembling good performances. The peak of the acting actually comes from Kristen Stewart, who is otherwise utterly uninspired in the film. However, during an early scene as she (as Em) drives James, listening in silence to the song on the mix tape he made, she expressed with her body language a vast depth of turmoil and longing and she nails it. The rest of the time, she is stiff or presents nothing viewers did not already see from her as the angsty Bella Swan in New Moon (reviewed here!).

Similarly, Jesse Eisenberg, whose work I usually enjoy, is essentially playing the same character he did in The Squid And The Whale (reviewed here!). He is uncharacteristically stiff as James and he exhibits little real passion on screen in Adventureland. His on-screen chemistry with Kristen Stewart is very hard to gauge as both seem standoffish on their own and that does not change in the scenes they share. Also surprisingly lukewarm is Ryan Reynolds. Usually charismatic, Reynolds phones in his performance as the lothario Mike. Even Kristen Wiig seems to be off her game as the co-manager of Adventureland.

Adventureland is an inconsistent period piece that never commits to being funny or presenting any of its characters in a light that one really wants to root for them. In the end, Adventureland is like the summer job it portrays; you spend your time watching it, but it doesn’t add up to anything of consequence in the grand scheme of things.

For other works that Josh Pais is in, please visit my reviews of:
Gentlemen Broncos
A Beautiful Mind
Rounders
“The Magnificent Ferengi” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Business As Usual” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

5/10

Check out how this movie stacks up against others that I have reviewed by visiting my Movie Review Index Page for a listing of my films based on ratings!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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More Action Than Romance, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Ends The Saga In An Unremarkable Way.

The Good: Special effects, Most of the acting, Pacing, Direction
The Bad: Light on character development, Unimpressive plot
The Basics: Completing The Twilight Saga on screen, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 focuses on the conflict between the Cullens and Volturi without anything superlative.


Fantasy has been big in teen literature and cinema since the Harry Potter Saga (reviewed here!) and the franchise that has stepped most fully into the niche left by the completion of that movie series has been The Twilight Saga. As Breaking Dawn - Part 2 hits theaters, it is hard not to admit that some franchises work better than others. While I was not a fan of the Harry Potter films when they began, they developed into something I generally enjoyed. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 takes the franchise in the other direction. Like most final acts of a larger story, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is exceptionally dependent upon the films that preceded it. That means that Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will mean almost nothing to those who have not seen Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and/or Breaking Dawn, Part I.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 does what it needs to in terms of completing the Twilight Saga, but fans of the teen-based, supernaturally-themed romance might be less impressed by this installment. Outside the fans of the books and films who are going to see it and praise it regardless of the objective quality, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 works far less to develop the characters and, instead, creates a plot thread that takes the focus well away from the intimate romance and tortured love triangle between the three main protagonists and instead refocuses the story on the conflict between most of the vampire clans and the villainous Volturi.

Following the birth of Renesmee and Bella Cullen (formerly Swan) being turned by Edward into a vampire to save her life, Bella begins exploring her newfound powers as a vampire. Annoyed at Jacob for imprinting upon Renesmee, Bella nevertheless finds some peace in her life as she accepts her new life as a vampire. With Jacob's help she even reveals herself - in a very limited fashion - to her father. As Renesmee ages rapidly, the Cullens work to understand the exact nature of the child. Their quest to understand what she is is cut short when Irina, a vampire who visited the Cullens, reports to the Volturi that Renesmee’s existence breaks the decrees of the Volturi.

Knowing that Aro and Jane, the powerful Volturi, are coming to Forks with the intent of passing lethal judgment on the Cullens, Bella and Edward work to protect their daughter. Enlisting Jacob Black, whose feelings for Bella have faded, the Cullens search for other vampire families around the world to aid them in protecting Renesmee. The forces of various vampire covens and Jacob’s werewolf allies band together to confront the Volturi. Unable to rely upon Jasper and Alice, Bella learns of her new powers as a shield and uses that training to prepare for the inevitable conflict with Aro and the Volturi!

Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is far less melodramatic and sappy than the prior installments in The Twilight Saga. Instead, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is a pretty steady action movie that builds from the exploration of Bella’s newfound powers into what is essentially a battle film. The final conflict puts to shame the battle sequences from the prior movies as well. Director Bill Condon has a strong sense of vision for Breaking Dawn - Part 2. The action sequences and special effects are tighter and more refined than other films in The Twilight Saga. For those who were bored by the ponderous pace of New Moon (especially), will find that Breaking Dawn - Part 2 provides a more consistent sense of dramatic tension and movement.

What Breaking Dawn - Part 2 lacks is a stronger romantic aspect than the prior installments. Those who are into The Twilight Saga for the angsty love story will find Breaking Dawn - Part 2 lacking. The on-screen chemistry between Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) is still alive and kicking, but Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg do remarkably little with it. Ironically, given that The Twilight Saga is made for gushing teenage girls who want to believe in powerful romantic love, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 has a jaded masculine sensibility to it. Many men fear that the birth of a child will change their relationship with their spouse and, with the change in tone in Breaking Dawn - Part 2, that is essentially what the viewer gets. Bella’s priority becomes protecting Renesmee over expressing her undying (literally!) love for Edward. The shift in the movie’s energy when watched immediately after the other films in the Saga is noticeable.

Breaking Dawn - Part 2 re-establishes Bella and instead of truly developing her character, she is redefined in the beginning of the film and then sticks with the new iteration of the character through the rest of the movie. Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is more or less devoid of actual character development for the rest of the movie, though Bella is transformed into something of an action hero in this film. Edward is essentially his unchanging self and Jacob’s transference of emotions is understated, as opposed to creepy.

On the acting front, the ensemble cast is well-honed. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner all expertly execute the roles they originated in Twilight and developed for the four prior movies. This film does not stretch them in any new directions, save Stewart illustrating a slightly more protective instinct. She has played Bella, in the past, as the character who needs protection and in this film, she steps up to play more protective with reasonable success. The real breakout for Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is Mackenzie Foy. Foy plays Renesmee and she has a serious demeanor that allows her to fit in with the more seasoned performers.

Ultimately, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is much more average than in any way extraordinary. Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is not bad, but it does not pop, it lacks a hook that is at all intriguing. While the earlier films had a freshness to them, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 feels much more like a typical supernatural action-adventure story than a truly audacious or interesting vampire-themed romance. Fans will flock to see it, but those who are not already invested in the franchise may want to wait for it to hit DVD.

For other fantasy films, please check out my reviews of:
Snow White And The Huntsman
Beautiful Creatures
Labyrinth

5.5/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Best Twilight Ornament Yet! The 2012 Edward And Bella’s Wedding May Not Be Perfect, But It’s The Closest Yet!

The Good: Great detailing on the back of Bella’s dress, Great detailing on Edward
The Bad: Exceptionally minor balance issue, Detailing on Bella, A little pricier than comparable ornaments.
The Basics: "Edward And Bella’s Wedding" is a Hallmark ornament that Twilight fans ought to get excited about, breaking the tradition for the franchise!


The Twilight Saga ornaments have not, historically, done well in my estimation. Consumers also seem to be pretty neutral to them as I have easily been able to find them on the clearance rack at Hallmark stores around the United States even now. But, where the Edward And Bella (reviewed here!) and Edward, Bella, And Jacob (reviewed here!) ornaments were mediocre sculpts that seemed designed to cash in on the Twilight phenomenon, the new Hallmark Edward And Bella’s Wedding ornament is actually worthwhile. It may have taken Hallmark a few years to get up and running for fans of the Twilight franchise, but they have finally reached a quality level that ought to please most fans . . . just in time for the release of Breaking Dawn, Part 2.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” is a holiday ornament that features the first dance Bella and Edward shared as husband and wife in Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (reviewed here!). Edward and Bella dancing in their tuxedo and wedding dress, respectively, is the subject of the “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” ornament.

Basics

“Edward And Bella’s Wedding” features Edward Cullen in his tuxedo, arm around Bella’s waist as she looks up at him lovingly. The ornament, released in 2012, is a great sculpting and coloring of Edward. Edward’s hair includes multiple tones for depth and shading that prevent it from appearing to be a helmet and his outfit is immaculately detailed. Moreover, Edward is perfectly recognizable as Edward.

The same is not quite the case for Bella. While Bella’s facial sculpt is better than some of the prior versions, Hallmark completely miscolored her hair! He hair has never been as light as the reddish brown that this ornament has. Moreover, while the wedding dress is ornately detailed right around where Edward’s hand is on Bella’s back, there is no detailing on the bottom or front of the dress, making it look like the sculptors got bored while making the ornament.

Measuring 4" tall, 2 1/4" wide and 1 1/2" deep, the “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” ornament is one of the pricier character ornaments with an initial price of $17.95 (by comparison, this year’s Gandalf ornament from The Hobbit is priced at $14.95 and the similarly-sized Ghostbusters ornament that has a sound chip is $17.95).

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament that captures the two lead characters from the film without any embellishments.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate fantasy Christmas Tree, the “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” ornament is a great addition. Despite being light on some detailing for Bella, “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” is an overall solid ornament. With a hook that comes out the back of Edward’s head, the ornament only sways when it (or the tree) is bumped. “Edward And Bella’s Wedding” ornament is fairly well-balanced; the weight on Bella’s dress prevents the ornament from hanging perfectly level on its own. But, with only about a ten degree bias toward Bella, this is hardly a dealbreaker for Twilight fans.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have delved into virtually every other collectible franchise in an attempt to cash in on every major license, like Indiana Jones, Marvel Comics and now Twilight. Twilight fans are likely to be deeply satisfied with this ornament in a way they might not have been with earlier ones. This is the Twilight ornament to stock up on if you can find it discounted after the season is over. Otherwise, I suspect this will take less time to appreciate than the prior ones, but it still will require some time before it increases in value.

Overview

The "Edward And Bella’s Wedding" ornament is easily the first big Twilight Saga success story for Hallmark and before the Saga ends on the big screen this fall, it gives fans something to get excited about!

For other genre ornaments from Hallmark, be sure to check out my reviews of:
2012 The Final Battle Harry Potter ornament
2012 Momaw Nadon Limited Edition Star Wars ornament
2011 Captain Jack Sparrow ornament

8/10

For other ornament reviews, please check out my Ornament Review Index Page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Everything Fans Were Hoping For, Snow White And The Huntsman Is A Surreal Fantasy Adventure!

The Good: Decent effects, Generally good acting
The Bad: Predictable plot, Light on character motivations, Editing
The Basics: Visually impressive, Snow White And The Huntsman gives Kristen Stewart a bona fide action role that beefs up her acting chops!


Right now, I feel bad for Kristen Stewart. Yes, as unlikely as it might seem, I feel bad for Kristen Stewart. Stewart, who skyrocketed to fame as the protagonist in Twilight and its sequels (reviewed here!), is facing the end of her first major franchise with the impending release of Breaking Dawn, Part 2. So, Stewart is doing what a savvy actress her age ought to be doing, which is to find the next big thing for herself. Snow White And The Huntsman was never going to be a franchise for Kristen Stewart, but it was a particularly shrewd way for the young actress to try to retain her Twilight audience. But, from the promos for Snow White And The Huntsman, one might think that Kristen Stewart’s role in the movie was incidental (the latest t.v. spots and trailers do not include any of her lines). Given how much Snow White And The Huntsman Stewart dominates, it’s almost enough to make one feel sorry for her the way she is not being highlighted in the ramp up to the film’s release.

Snow White And The Huntsman is enough to make cinephiles forget all about Mirror Mirror (reviewed here!) earlier this year. Bearing a far closer resemblance to Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland (reviewed here!) – without the Burton quirky sense of humor - Snow White And The Huntsman is a directoral triumph for Rupert Sanders. Snow White And The Huntsman might simply be the retelling and reworking of the classic fairy tale story, but Sanders and writers John Lee Hancock, Evan Daugherty, and Hossein Amini manage to make it feel surprisingly fresh without feeling cheap. Instead, Snow White And The Huntsman delivers a classic hero (or heroine) story with a sensibility likely to please anyone who loves fantasy films.

Ravenna is the evil Queen who dispatches the King as part of her quest to gain supreme power over the kingdom and over her own immortality. Insecure in her power, she uses dark magic to retain her youthful appearance by eliminating every beautiful young woman in the realm who could threaten her. But, she learns that Snow White is destined to overthrow her and has the power within her to usurp her position on the throne and break the magic that keeps her young. Unwilling to risk that, Ravenna’s creepy brother William captures the girl and prepares her for execution. Snow White escapes to the enchanted forest where she lays low.

And so, Ravenna employs the Huntsman to find and kill Snow White. It does not take long for the Huntsman to track Snow White down in the Dark Forest. Realizing the Queen has betrayed him, the Huntsman switches sides and leads Snow White to safety. With the help of Snow White’s dwarven companions, the Huntsman befriends and trains Snow White. Fighting for the soul of the kingdom, Snow White and her companions overcome magical beings and human adversaries to confront the Queen and retake the kingdom.

Snow White And The Huntsman is a big, special effects-driven film that manages to tell an intriguing story in a mature way. Unlike many other incarnations of the Snow White story, Snow White And The Huntsman is dark. Ravenna is appropriately tyrannical (if a little monolithic) and the story takes a decidedly action-adventure turn to make Snow White a compelling female protagonist. For all the complaints about both fairy tales and the Twilight Saga’s interpretation of female protagonists, in Snow White And The Huntsman Snow White is an empowered, powerful warrior. Snow White And The Huntsman is the story of Snow White becoming that woman. Sure, she could use the help of several men to get in the door, but when it comes down to it, she is the one who must stand against the evil queen.

And more than the special effects – which are magnificent and frequently trippy – it is the acting that sells the viewer on Snow White And The Huntsman. While the characters of Raveena and the Huntsman are pretty monolithic, Snow White And The Huntsman’s director, Rupert Sanders, utilizes his cast very well. Chris Hemsworth manages to play the Huntsman as a strong individual without simply retreading his interpretation of Thor. In fact, one of the few likable character aspects of Hemsworth’s Huntsman in Snow White And The Huntsman is that the character is cautious and smart. Moreover, Sanders does not capitalize on Hemworth’s looks. In Snow White And The Huntsman, Chris Hemsworth is sweaty and dirty and he looks like a guy who is used to being out in the woods. And Hemsworth pulls it off (even if he doesn’t keep to one distinct accent for his lines).

Charlize Theron, who is looking to have a pretty awesome two weeks whatwith Snow White And The Huntsman and Prometheus (reviewed here!)making their debuts back to back, does what she can with the somewhat monolithic character of Raveena. Like many fairy tales, Snow White And The Huntsman does not provide the viewer with a truly satisfying reason as to why the antagonist wants absolute power. Her insecurity is fairly well-documented, but Raveena’s passion to stay alive and beautiful is not terribly compelling. Theron does what she can with the role, though more often than not, she makes Raveena an icy despot, as opposed to a character with more depth or apparent cunning.

It truly is Kristen Stewart who steals the show from Snow White And The Huntsman. Despite the big special effects in the film, it is Stewart who manages to deliver a performance that proves her actually worthy of the role. Absent is the stumbling uncertainty of Bella Swan (though there are moments when Stewart has to play Snow White as confused or hurt). When Snow White is trained to be a leader, Stewart takes the role and works it. The idea of Kristen Stewart with authority or gravitas in a role will never be put in doubt again once audiences take in Snow White And The Huntsman! Stewart is able to level a steely glare that works and there is something about the way she sets her jaw that defines determination exceptionally well.

Unfortunately, upon the second viewing, one of the aspects of Snow White And The Huntsman that failed to wow me was the editing. The film possesses far too many rough cuts between scenes, which unfortunately undermines some of the wonderful special effects. The result is a series of abrupt transitions that pulls the viewer out of the film.

Ultimately, Snow White And The Huntsman is an engaging action adventure movie and it satisfies the adult/twentysomething desire to re-experience fairy tales in a more adult context. Not for young children, Snow White And The Huntsman is a visual treat that is a surprisingly direct, uncomplicated story that capitalizes well on the current fascination in pop culture with fairy tales.

For other films with Chris Hemsworth, please check out my reviews of:
The Avengers
The Cabin In The Woods
Thor
Star Trek

7/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the films I have reviewed!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Oh My, Another Absolutely Terrible Horror Film Without Redemption: The Messengers

The Good: Well, it makes for great MST3K fodder . . .
The Bad: Wow . . . everything. Acting, characters, plot, direction, effects, all of it.
The Basics: In another disappointing horror flick, the undead come to a troubled family's new farm where only the youth can see them.


NOTE: This review was originally written in 2007, when this film was new. I was amused by my assessment of Kristen Stewart at the time and decided to keep it in here! Enjoy!

Every time I sit down to write a movie review, I look the film up on the IMDB in order to be sure that I am getting the spellings of names correctly and to properly reference things like the directors, writers, etc. Whenever I do this - which is especially useful, notably for reviews I'm writing weeks after seeing a film - I usually learn something about the work I am reviewing. Every now and again, I become baffled by something I find out about the film that makes me just shake my head. In the case of The Messengers, when I sat down to prepare this review, I was reminded that there were two directors for this movie and I learned that there were two writers for it as well. My thought was dismay to think that it took four people to create this piece of crap.

When the Solomon family moves out to North Dakota to start their new life on a farm, disturbed daughter Jess begins to see things. Her younger brother, Ben, mute for months, sees the undead as well wandering around the house and doing generally creepy things. Because Jess has a prior incident that left her parents distrustful of her, father Roy and mother Denise tend to focus on growing sunflowers and shooing away the murders of crows that appear to eat the crop. They take in the kindly Burwell Rollins, who helps with the farming and they wait for the crop of sunflower seeds to come in to make a living at this. Meanwhile, Jess faces the specters that roam the farmhouse and tries to unravel the apparent mystery of the haunted house.

This witless work reminds one of just how bad horror movies have the potential to be. Like Pulse, the basic premise of The Messengers is not necessarily bad. Unfortunately, the idea of children seeing the forces of evil that adults are blinded to, is sublimated by effect-rich shots that make absolutely no sense (like how the basement floor of the farmhouse becomes selectively liquid throughout the film). Instead, The Messengers quickly degenerates into yet another undead revenge story a la The Grudge or Dark Water. Sadly, even while watching The Messengers, my thought was "there is so much here for the next Scary Movie installment!"

What's so bad about The Messengers? First, let's start with the obviousness of the plot and character devices. Like a good drama, The Messengers begins with the sense that the Solomon family is a family with a backstory. There is a history to the group that has resulted in Roy being wary of Jess and Denise outright not trusting her. Ben does not speak, even when in mortal peril. The obvious directions for this movie to go would be for the viewer to find out about the incident that precipitated the move (which no doubt closely relates to the current paranormal situation) and sometime before the end of the flick, the silent child would speak again. And lo and behold! This is EXACTLY the way the movie goes. This movie is utterly unsurprising and as a result, completely unoriginal.

The only thing less clever than the plotting of the film, wherein the only interloper into the family - Rollins - naturally is not what he appears, is the characterization. All of the characters are fairly generic and the results of the combination of the "types" is more silly than suspenseful. William B. Davis - beloved by fans of The X-Files for his portrayal of The Cigarrette-Smoking Man - appears in what amounts to a cameo as a Generic Creepy Guy who offers to buy the farm back from Roy right away. The purpose of his character is not so much to provide valuable plot information or even a reasonable amount of suspense, but rather to fill an obvious niche in the horror film as the creepy sage who provides a warning to the protagonist (the witches in The Tragedy Of MacBeth filled the same niche, only with much greater purpose).

Roy is the generic father figure and the moment he becomes remarkably - near the end of the film - the result is more laughable and disappointing than heroic. Without ruining anything of this flick, I shall simply say that when a film sets up a character as the "typical father" and then tacks on an exceptional ability (like the ability to do anything physical after a trauma to the body), the result has to be explained or it falls flat and into the realm well outside suspension of disbelief. Roy falls into such territory so that the legitimacy of the end of the film is completely compromised.

But much of the film remains focused on Jess, played by Kristen Stewart the jailbait of the week actress who is attempting to carve out a niche on the big screen. The directors arguably do not use Stewart as any form of sex symbol (a relief given her age, though that doesn't seem to stop most directors these days!) and her asexual qualities play fine throughout the movie until The Messengers tacks on "Generic Romance Subplot #12" wherein Young Woman (damsel in distress) must express some interest in Local Boy of Approximately Same Age. Jess pairs up, even minimally, with Bobby in a pointless plot move designed to bring the film closer to 90 minutes (it fails, clocking out at 84 minutes!).

And this is where writers Mark Wheaton and Todd Farmer ought to lose their ability to ever write - especially in Hollywood - for eternity. The whole point of virtually any Romantic Subplot that is tacked on to a film that has no real need for romance is simple; it's designed to make the viewer care about the protagonist and/or to insinuate that the character on screen has something more to live for than themselves or their immediate goal. Jess does not. Moreover, her brief, mostly implicit relationship with the bland local boy does not make her more interesting, does not give her more incentive to live and it certainly does not give the viewer more of a reason to watch.

Instead, this film is a continued disappointment. The disappointment resulting from watching Dylan McDermott slouch around the sunflower fields without any spark of intellect or intrigue that he possessed on The Practice is trumped only by the mystery of how the directors got John Corbett (from Northern Exposure) to play such a dull and disappointing character as Burwell.

The DVD extras are similarly unenthusiastic with such things as the trailer and featurette being uninformative and as dull as the film.

No, The Messengers will not scare, certainly not thirteen year-olds or older, it will not entertain and it won't even amuse. If you insist on watching this piece of garbage, at least have someone watch it with you who can wisecrack throughout to make it more entertaining. Otherwise, it's a waste of 84 minutes of life.

For other works with Kristen Stewart, please visit my reviews of:
Breaking Swan Part 1
Eclipse
The Runaways
New Moon
Twilight

0/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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More Sex, Kristen Stewart's Sideboob And Blood: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Is An Awkward Transition Film!

The Good: Engaging plot, Decent supplementary character moments, Effects
The Bad: Primary characters do not truly advance, Moments of shaky acting, Erratic.
The Basics: Partially romantic and genuinely erotic, partly bloody and violent, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is good, but not great like some might hope.


I have, in the past, been a champion of the cinematic Twilight Saga. The truth is, the three movies that have made up the Twilight Saga until now have been all right, though plagued with more of a sense of teenage melodrama than I would, at times, like. The sense of "everything is so important at this age" and a sanitizing of both sex and violence has made the Twilight Saga a surprisingly accessible and unthreatening story. But with the release of Breaking Dawn Part 1 that safety is gone and what results is surprisingly less intense or interesting than it had been.

In recent years, there has been a genre that has sprouted up that I have found entirely distasteful. No, it's not the supernatural romance that became a mainstream genre with Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books, that's fine. In film, there has been a genre that has sprouted up that rather grossly links graphic sex and then graphic violence. Films like Hostel, The Ruins, and Piranha 3-D (reviewed here!) flood the viewer with sexually titillating imagery before turning their stomachs with graphic gore, torture and and/or violence. Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is the sanitized, intended for young adults, version of that genre, much the way Twilight (reviewed here!) was a very sanitized fantasy with no real adult thematic issues to cerebrally challenge viewers, the abstinence-only New Moon (reviewed here!) was a safe romance and Eclipse (reviewed here!) was a remarkably family-friendly action-adventure movie. Vastly less extreme than any of the R or Unrated examples I cited, Breaking Dawn Part 1 erratically transitions from a schmaltzy, still-safe romance into a blood-filled horror that begs the question, "Why not wait?"

The audience that got hooked on the Twilight books was generally 13 - 21 when the first Twilight film came out. That was 2008. That means, if the producers wanted to truly honor the "R"-rated content of the Breaking Dawn novel, the movie ought to have been released in 2013 when that bottom demographic would have been 18 and their parents could not find it objectionable to let them see more of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson than a little sideboob, a little butt and a lot of male chest. That said, nothing stood out in Breaking Dawn Part 1 that wasn't sanitized down to an appropriate PG-13 level and it is hard for me to imagine many of the Twi-Moms not coming away from the theater feeling a little cheated.

That said, as one who has both not read Breaking Dawn and been part of a franchise where most of the big emotional moment one had been waiting years for was left on the cutting room floor, I suspect most Twi-hards will be happy with the resulting film. Unlike Stuart Baird, who left most of the much anticipated wedding between Riker and Troi for deleted scenes on the DVD for Star Trek: Nemesis (reviewed here!), director Bill Condon does not rush the wedding of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Even so, the wedding is treated more like an inhibition to the story actually getting going than a vital event. In other words, the wedding is the icebreaker that the viewer must get through in order to get to the sex, violence and - incidentally - story of Breaking Dawn Part 1.

At long last, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen tie the knot. Their wedding, attended by human and vampire kin alike, is a generally joyful celebration that leads to the pair getting away for their honeymoon. Enjoying her supposed last days of humanity, Edward and Bella finally make love . . . repeatedly. Unfortunately for Bella, the unthinkable happens and Edward manages to get Bella pregnant, sparking the first real fight for the couple when Edward becomes convinced that the fetus cannot possibly be good news. With Carlisle baffled as to how the pregnancy occurred, Bella digs in her heels, committing to the pregnancy.

The pregnancy draws the attention of Jacob's werewolf brethren and the Volturi, both of whom see the supernatural half-breed as a serious threat to their species. As the Cullens close in to protect Bella, she gets an unlikely ally in Jacob. With Bella's body being battered from within by the supernatural fetus, Jacob joins forces with Jasper and the Cullens to repel the threats to Bella's life.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 feels like what it is, a middle act of sorts. What works for it is that it seems to be going somewhere and the setup is a decent one. It is hard to imagine seeing this film and not clamoring to see the finale. That said, it is far from flawless.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 suffers primarily by feeling like it doesn't know what it wants to be. Like any number of movies that desperately try to get the PG-13 rating instead of an "R," Breaking Dawn Part 1 feels like it pulls too many of its punches. Jacob, for example, never seems to be as realistically angry as one might expect when the woman he loves not only marries someone else, but then gets into a situation where he feels obliged to help. Jacob is left with a strange lack of complexity (and an unsurprising lack of a shirt). But, even when Jacob manages to stay clothed, he does not resonate as a real or vital character.

Similarly and most damaging is how Bella does not progress in the course of the film. The pregnancy, like so many things in Bella Swan's story, is just another thing that happens to her. Bella does not become more sophisticated, more intuitive or more interesting, she is just pregnant. Similarly, despite the problems the pregnancy causes, this is not a huge strain on the relationship between Edward and Bella. The coming threat of the Volturi is a menace, but it does not fundamentally change Bella or Edward or the way they love one another. So, after a hundred years of avoiding humans like Bella, Edward tries to stay away from the young woman - for her own good - then his fears are proven correct and he never seems to resent her for her contribution to their strife.

On the acting front, Breaking Dawn Part 1 finds the principle actors with their parts honed and delivering nothing truly new. We've seen Kristen Stewart shake and look pained, we've seen Robert Pattinson look confused and we've seen Taylor Lautner look upset and strong. So, none of the performances sing with anything resonating as beyond the already-established skill levels for the actors.

For his brief part in Breaking Dawn Part 1, it was Michael Sheen as Aro who wowed me. Having seen him most recently in the comedic recurring role in the fourth season of 30 Rock (reviewed here!), Sheen's ability to be commanding and menacing resurfaces to remind viewers what a dramatic powerhouse he can be. It is a refreshing performance, no matter how brief.

As for the special effects, director Condon uses the soundtrack exceptionally well to augment the emotional impact of key moments without overwhelming them. There are a few moments, as near the climax, that the soundtrack telegraphs the emotions a bit, but for the most part, the soundtrack is an actual special effect that helps tell the story. The CG effects are fully honed in Breaking Dawn Part 1 as well, with the writhing fetus in the womb looking surprisingly realistic - and uncomfortable - and the computer generated wolves looking perfect to each hair on the head.

In the end, though, Breaking Dawn Part 1 was fun and the story moved, but the pacing felt a little belabored at points and the plot moved the characters, not the other way around. Outside Jacob - who stood with Bella in Eclipse, so it's nothing truly new - taking a stand, the plot elements happen to the characters more than the characters making the plot turn in a new or interesting direction. While this could be the death knell, there is just enough to make those not already a fan stick it out and be glad they did. . .

. . . and hope Breaking Dawn Part 2 wraps it up better.

For other Twilight-related reviews, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
2011 Bella, Edward And Jacob Hallmark Ornament
Twilight: The Graphic Novel - Volume 1
Twilight trading cards

6.5/10

For other film reviews, be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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