A Primer On Modern Iran, Rosewater Makes For Interesting Viewing.

The Good: Good acting, Decent tension, Interesting character
The Bad: (Unfortunately) Familiar plot, Somewhat monolithic characters.
The Basics: Rosewater is a fairly straightforward film depicting the torture of a Western reporter in Iran in the wake of the 2009 presidential election there.


Coming out of 2014, there were very few films that I wanted to see that I missed. After finally catching The Skeleton Twins (reviewed here!), the last film from 2014 I still had to catch was Rosewater, the directoral debut of Jon Stewart. Rosewater is based upon actual events, much like Argo (reviewed here!), though the story is certainly more current and, as such, dangerous to the people involved and those related to them.

Rosewater tells the story of journalist Maziar Bahari and his ordeals in the wake of the 2009 Iranian presidential election. While U.S. news outlets were fairly anemic in the reporting of the citizen uprisings in Iran following the election, Rosewater gives a very intimate view of the events. The film blends the performance of Gael Garcia Bernal as Bahari with footage shot by the actual Bahari and other journalists in Iran. While Rosewater is based upon actual events, there is some artistic license to the movie (a political officer giving orders to the interrogator several rooms away from Bahari is not something the reporter would have first-hand knowledge of. As with all historical dramas, it is important to note that this review is of the film Rosewater, not the events or people upon which the movie is based.

Opening on June 21, 2009 in Tehran, the British journalist Maziar Bahari wakes up to men visiting his mother's house, where they go through his possessions and take him away. Eleven days earlier, Maziar leaves the UK for Iran. He tells the cabbie who picks him up at the airport that he is there to cover the elections for Newsweek. Davood, whom Maziar learns the next morning does not actually own a cab, is excited about the presidential candidate who is not Ahmadinijad. On debate day, Maziar meets with Alireza, a former citizen of the UK who is actively working for the Ahmadinijad, who denies that the election will be close and insists that Ahmadinijad has the support of the people. Davood brings Maziar to some youth in Iran who support Mousavi, who is predicted to win the election. Maziar films a segment for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart before he and the Mousavi supporters watch the debate on the eve of Election Day.

On Election Day, Bahari is alarmed when he receives a call (well before the polls close) from Alireza, who informs him that Ahmadinijad has been re-elected in a landslide. Protests begin in Iran as the news is reported that Ahmadinijad has won the election. Over the course of the days that follow, Bahari gets footage of the uprisings and protests in the street. After transmitting his footage to the UK, Bahari wakes up to government agents who take him away. Maziar is taken to Evin Prison - where both his sister and father were previously imprisoned - where he is interrogated and kept in solitary confinement. Between interrogations, Bahari has visions of his dead father, who advises him on how to survive the imprisonment.

Rosewater is a vital and necessary film, but it is difficult to watch and offers a very specific story that is, unfortunately, not very original. The details of Maziar Bahari's torture are intense and specific and because it is a story of human suffering it has no entertainment value. This is an informational piece and while it is horrifying to consider the reality of it, it is mired in its own reality. Rosewater suffers because the only audience likely to sit through it is savvy to human rights violations embodied by torture.

Co-writer and director Jon Stewart directs Rosewater well and it is obvious why he chose this project. In addition to a component of Bahari's incarceration being the sketch in which he appeared for The Daily Show, Stewart has long worked to raise the public awareness of problems in the world. Rosewater serves to make sure that Maziar Bahari's story did not get forgotten and reach a larger audience than Bahari's memoirs of his torture. And Stewart makes sure that Rosewater is appropriately ponderous and unpleasant (torture memoirs should not be entertaining). But outside the specific story of Maziar Bahari, Stewart is preaching to the choir; the audience that will sit through Rosewater is likely to already understand the horrors of how torture is conducted, if even only from something like the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Chain Of Command, Part II" (reviewed here!).

Stewart's directing is pretty straightforward. Just like the picture of Wolfgang's father on his grave in the first episode of Sense8 (reviewed here!) is used so viewers will instantly recognize the father when he appears in flashback sequences, the only reason for Maziar's father's voiceover to repeat Maziar's early voiceover lines is so viewers will recognize him when he appears in Maziar's hallucinations. This is not a huge problem, but it is a somewhat obvious technique Stewart employs. Far more original is his depiction of how social media spread the Green Revolution in Iran. The hashtag map around Tehran is more original and more effective than the use of the real-life footage from the event.

What is notable about Rosewater is the performance of Gael Garcia Bernal. Bernal portrays Maziar and as Maziar struggles to remain sane in captivity, Bernal is able to add nuance to his performance. His initial stiff-backed portrayal of Maziar resisting evolves into a twitchy body language that is unsettling to watch and embodies well an unsettled mind. It is unfortunate that Bernal was overlooked during awards season.

It is less surprising that Rosewater was overlooked. The story is an important one that we not forget, but it is mirrored by tragedies of a similar nature that occur every day from genocide in the Sudan to children being molested within their homes each night. We know these things happen and we know they are tragedies; in many ways Rosewater only serves to remind viewers that there is nothing we can do to stop them when they occur. That is a horrible lesson to take away from such a film, though it is a more universal message than a generic "triumph of the human spirit" story of resistance.

For other works with Gael Garcia Bernal, please visit my reviews of:
Casa De Mi Padre
Letters To Juliet
Babel

5.5/10

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

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Joke Is On The Audience . . . But We Wanted It! Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back

The Good: Funny, Allusions, Character progression
The Bad: Predictable, So much was cut!
The Basics: Funny and enjoyable for movie buffs and people who enjoy Kevin Smith's movies, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back ages well.


Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is one of those films that people tend to take or leave and they take it if they enjoy Kevin Smith's prior works (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma) and leave if they haven't seen or didn't enjoy Smith's previous works, this one is certainly not going to get people to watch his films. The 2-DVD set is pretty much the best argument ever for DVD short of The Criterion Collection DVD set of Brazil. The magic of the DVD is that there's a whole second film of Kevin Smith et al. introducing cut scenes from Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is a hard sell, so I won't try to sell it to those of you who haven't seen Kevin Smith's prior works. If you haven't seen Clerks, Chasing Amy, or Dogma, go see at least one of them and then come back to this. This film is appreciable if you know the players involved.

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back follows the exploits of Jay and Silent Bob from New Jersey through Hollywood. The plot is simple; the pair has a comic book based upon them and when they learn there is a film being made of their characters, they discover the internet and criticism there. So, the pair heads to Hollywood under the logic that if the movie isn't made, no one can badmouth them. It's solid logic from stoners. Once you accept that, you're fine. The rest of the film is the caper of Jay and Silent Bob falling in with a group of diamond thieves, losing them, and getting to Hollywood.

Criticizing Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is as stupid as those two yo-yos that went and sued the makers of Duce Bigalow, Male Gigolo (or was it The Animal?) because there was a faux reviewer who recommended the film. If you go to see a Rob Schneider flick, you're not expecting high brow or, if you are, you're an idiot. Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is a stupid film making fun of stupid films being made. It's stupid, but it doesn't have the pretense of being anything more. So, why should the audience?

My theory is, we shouldn't. Accept the premise and you'll enjoy it. The film makes hilarious pokes as sequels and how lame they usually are, they mock themselves and other works expertly.

The real gem of the DVD is watching the film and then going through the bonus disk for all of the additional stuff that is packed on there. The whole commentary on the cuts scenes was easily more funny than the actual film and worth the price of the DVD alone. The different clips are great.

Here Kevin Smith makes a satire of the people he has worked with and it's amusing to see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon make fun of themselves while also playing other characters they have played in Smith's earlier films.

One of the surprises here is the quality of the acting. Ben Affleck convincingly plays Holden from Chasing Amy in a cameo early in the film as well as creating a very different character in the parody of himself. Similarly, Jason Lee's presence in the film as both Banky Edwards and Brody is strangely unconfusing; his physical appearance is not significantly altered between the two roles, but he actively portrays them as different people and he successfully sells them.

While many would applaud Will Farrell as Marshal Willenholly, I think he's simply being Farrell as a Federal Wildlife Marshal and if you've seen Farrell in a few roles, you've seen his range. He does nothing extraordinary here. However, Shannon Elizabeth is great as Jay's love interest, Justice. She is more than simply a pretty face and a body here; she's actualized enough to keep our interest for the film.

The acting talent that dominates Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is Jason Mewes. Most of the airtime is his and here he recreates the quirky, angry, foul-mouthed drug dealer we've known from the other films.

This is not a film for the young. It's hilarious, but it uses a lot of harsh language and foul sexual references. It's not a terribly intellectual film, but it is one that those who despise pop culture will appreciate a lot: many recognizable faces from today's popular culture appear to do parodies of their more serious work.

If you want a treat and you've enjoyed Kevin Smith's other works, there's no better way to cap off the adventures of Jay and Silent Bob than this. And as a hint, stay through the end of the credits. :)

For other movies by Kevin Smith, please visit my reviews of:
Clerks
Chasing Amy
Dogma
Clerks II
Cop Out
Red State

6.5/10

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

© 2011, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Adjustment Bureau Is A Surprising Letdown For Those Looking For The Next Inception!

The Good: Moments of concept, Overall themes
The Bad: Pacing issues, Lack of romantic chemistry, Characters are pretty bland
The Basics: Outside the hype, The Adjustment Bureau is more a faith-based The Matrix than a clever concept film dealing with the nature of reality.


With Oscar Pandering Season and the February Doldrums behind us, with the barrage of new films coming out in theaters, I cannot think of one I was more excited to see than The Adjustment Bureau. And with a double feature last night, one might be surprised to learn that I enjoyed Battle Los Angeles (reviewed here!) more than the film I thought would be smart and cerebral. While many might be hoping that The Adjustment Bureau is the reincarnation of Inception (reviewed here!), the previews hinted to me that it might have a little more in common with Dark City (reviewed here!). Unfortunately, that bore out, but the analogy works if Dark City had been written by Evangelical Christians.

The Adjustment Bureau is not truly a huge disappointment, but it is a film that seems far too derivative of films that were truly phenomenal, from The Matrix and Dark City to Inceptio, at least in the look and feel of the movie. Unfortunately for viewers, Matt Damon's usual solid performance does not make his David Norris work in any distinctive way. This is not going to be one of his iconic characters and what makes it worse is that his onscreen chemistry with Emily Blunt is less than zero.

David Norris is running for the United States Senate for New York State and is on the fast track to become the youngest Senator ever when pictures of him mooning classmates at a class reunion surface and sink his chances of getting elected. As he prepares his concession speech in the men's room, Elise walks out and the two flirt and kiss and David is smitten. When David Norris is starting a new job, a mysterious man is given the directive to spill coffee on him at precisely 7:05, but he falls asleep in Central Park instead. As a result, David finds himself on a bus with Elise and the two hit it off again. Following that meeting, however, David is given a directive from a group of mysterious men to stay away from Elise. Having walked in on his best friend being reprogrammed to agree more with his ambitions. The men call themselves the Adjustment Bureau and they are charged with making sure humans stay on course and do not wipe themselves out. David, it appears, is fated to do great things, but Elise cannot be a part of his life.

So, David leaves her and prepares to run for Senate again until three years later, he runs into Elise again. When members of the Adjustment Bureau again surface, David decides to confound their expectations by doing his best to pursue Elise. But even a sympathetic Adjustor, Harry, is not quite enough to get David to abandon Elise. When the adjustor Thompson is called in, more of the "behind the curtain" machinations are revealed to David. He can become President if he leaves Elise and her life will be equally fulfilling. So David is left with the choice of greatness or happiness with angels on Earth manipulating him and Elise.

Right off the bat, The Adjustment Bureau reeks of an uncomfortable lack of realism. I'm not talking about the idea that fate, history and all of humanity are being manipulated by figures who control time and space. That part is fine and as a person with an imagination, it is easy to buy into that. But the idea that David Norris would be unable to get elected to the Senate because of pictures of him mooning people surface doesn't sit right. New York, California, New Jersey and Minnesota would all elect young people who did this more than the stodgy old conservative Norris is running against.

Add to that, there is a problematic aspect with the characters that kept me frustrated through the end of the movie. David learns early on about the Adjustment Bureau and when he learns of the ultimate plans of the Bureau for him and Elise, he never challenges the assumptions. In other words, he accepts that he can be great or in love and that Elise has the same potentials. Even more problematic is that David never offers Elise the choice he is making. That's terribly chauvanistic!

But beyond that, The Adjustment Bureau is plagued by stiff acting. While the film might want to be a reality-bending trip like Inception, it ends up as a faith-based story where the Adjustment Bureau is essentially agents of the divine working on Earth. While this could have worked, it doesn't in this movie because the pacing is dreadfully slow. Not just because I had come from an action-adventure film first, but because the pacing is off did I find myself bored at several points in the movie (and keep in mind, I was excited to see it!).

The final nail in the coffin of mediocrity for The Adjustment Bureau is the lack of sexual chemistry between David and Elise, at least as portrayed by Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Damon and Blunt play their meetings less like irresistible chemistry and more like two people in love with the coincidences of their recurring meetings.

Ultimately, the story is not engaging enough to want to seem more than once and its initial cleverness quickly wears off . . . long before the movie ends.

For other films featuring Matt Damon, please check out my reviews of:
Contagion
The Departed
All The Pretty Horses
Dogma
Rounders
The Rainmaker


5.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page!

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

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