2014: The Year in Film: "Interstellar" Review

I think it goes without saying that I'm a pretty big Chris Nolan fan, readers and followers. From Memento to Batman Begins, Inception, The Dark Knight, The Prestige and The Dark Knight Rises, literally every single one of his films has been memorable, visually stunning, and utterly singular.  He's been called the second coming of Stanley Kubrick, and while I'm not sure that's accurate, the fact that the comment isn't absurd on its face kind of says it all.  While his take on Batman has its detractors, most notably among certain members of the hipster online commentariat, there shouldn't be denial among rational, adult members of society that his Dark Knight trilogy is a watershed moment in modern culture that honestly shaped the decade. We've also seen over the last two years a renaissance of sorts, a McConaissance, even, which has seen one of the more disappointing and underachieving members of the Hollywood A-list, Matthew McConaughey, turn himself into a legitimately great actor. From Mud to True Detective, Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyer's Club, McConaughey had a stretch like no one else in recent memory.

So when it was announced that Nolan and McConaughey would be teaming up for their next film, Interstellar, a film that was shrouded with the typical Nolan secrecy prior to its release, the internet could barely contain its excitement. Add in a strong cast that includes Ann Hathaway, Nolan regular Michael Caine, Matt Damon and John Lithgow with an imaginative hard sci-fi premise, and I was sold from the jump.

Interstellar introduces us to an indeterminate point in the near-future when disease, blight and environmental degradation has nearly rendered the earth uninhabitable. Repeated crop failures have made the situation on earth desperate, and what's left of NASA seeks to send a mission to the stars in a desperate attempt to ensure humanity's survival.

The Good: As should be expected from Christopher Nolan by now, the film combines stunning visuals with an ambitious and thought-provoking plot. The story, of a very real human catastrophe forcing humanity to turn to the stars, is the sort of high-minded science fiction that we don't see much of any more. As America's greatest achievement, its space program, becomes an underfunded afterthought, this film can and should serve as a reminder of the hope, wonder, and species-uniting progress that space once represented and could again. Far from a fanciful futuristic story set more in fantasy than reality, this is a space saga that's very much grounded in reality, with technology and space travel that feels all too real. The film makes significant efforts to ground its space travel and voyage of exploration in scientific reality, using relativistic time as a plot device, for example, and relishing what far off worlds may in fact look like. The combination of racing against the clock to save humanity and voyaging through the endless void of space creates an interesting blend of suspense-style pacing and an explorer's sentimentality. All of this is grounded in its characters, as the film focuses on two father-daughter pairs, Cooper (McConaughey) and his daughter Murph (played as an adult by Jessica Chastain) find their bond tested, strained, and ultimately redeemed by the endless distance between them, and the incredibly high stakes are given a human dimension through their relationship. The cast is strong, and even if character isn't always Nolan's strong suit, McConaughey and Chastain both turn in moving and powerful performances. Despite the long runtime, the pacing is strong, and if anything, the film felt TOO short.




The Bad: For all of its efforts at making an intelligent and scientifically sound version of what mankind's first voyage into interstellar space may look like, at times the film falls into sentimental nonsense. I'm not docking the film TOO much for this, because I don't believe Nolan set out to film a hyper-realistic look at space travel, but it was jarring. There are times the science and the implications therein take a backseat to the plot, and while that's not always a bad thing in and of itself, at times it felt almost lazy, which is really unfortunate. I would have liked to have seen the ending fleshed out more as well, although the film already had a 3 hour runtime. Finally, everyone has criticized it, so I must mention it, the sound mix is bizarre. There are times that it was literally impossible to hear what was going on because of the combination of score and space craft noises. I respect the desire to demonstrate the inside of a spacecraft, but maybe don't have actors trying to give dialogue overtop of a booming score AND rocket engines?

In all, this film represents, while not perfection, certainly an exceptionally ambitious vision that is to be commended. At a time when Hollywood studios take fewer and fewer chances and focus their attention on established properties, big-budget original stories are important and valuable. This film joins the pantheon of great sci-fi films, and is honestly a must-see, despite its flaws.

8.5/10.

2013: The Year in Film: "The Dallas Buyer's Club" Review

HIV/AIDs remains a huge health crisis internationally, and a big one here in the United States as well, but by and large, it's become a manageable condition, if monitored and treated properly. It's easy to forget that when the disease was first identified in the early and mid 1980's, it was mysterious, misunderstood, un-treatable, and usually fatal in an extremely short period.  In many circles, it was seen as a disease limited to the gay community, which fed into and inflamed fears, misconceptions and pre-existing biases already surrounding that community.  Study of the disease was extremely limited, treatment was even less so, and the hopes for survival for someone infected with HIV were low to say the least. Add to this equation the inflexible bureaucracy that is the FDA, and there wasn't much hope for someone infected with HIV in the 1980's. In response to the slow progress of the medical community in treating this disease, HIV positive individuals sought other avenues for treatment of their disease, seeking out experimental drugs and treatments that were being tested worldwide. As a way to escape the watchful eye of FDA regulators and law enforcement, these people formed "buyers clubs" as a way to distribute their drugs, where each person paid a membership fee and was given drugs as part of their membership, rather than paying directly for the drugs themselves.

Ron Woodruff was a Texas cowboy, party animal and electrician who, after years of drug use and having sex with anyone who was willing, found himself diagnosed with HIV. He was given only a short time to live, and in his desperation at a lack of options, he began seeking out alternative treatments via medical journals and foreign doctors. After realizing that there was a market for these drugs, he started a "buyer's club" to distribute the drugs among other desperate HIV positive individuals.

The Good: This is a fascinating story that I truly knew nothing about, and the film does a solid job of telling the tale without appearing overly preachy. (as many "message" films are want to do) The portrayal of the mid-80's is solid, but the true draw here are the performances, especially McConaughey in the lead and Jared Leto as transgender woman Rayon. McConaughey is on a real role lately, and his performance in this one is probably the best one of his career. He transformed himself physically, losing a ton of weight to portray the AIDs-afflicted Ron Woodruff, and even if his transformation from masculine homophobe to HIV medicine crusader is a bit cliche, it's still a richly drawn role given real depth and pathos by an actor at the top of his game. Jared Leto also throws himself into the character of Rayon, and his character is at turns funny, charming and utterly convincing. This particular version of the Odd Couple really highlights the human face of the epidemic.



The Bad: Jen Garner's character is pretty damn pointless. She's a doctor who works at the hospital where Woodruff is first diagnosed and she ends up sympathetic to the club and hangs out with the characters... but she doesn't do anything else. Did the film think we needed a quasi romantic lead? I'm still not certain exactly what she's doing. Additionally, in its focus on Woodruff, the rest of the characters lag behind. It would have been interesting to see more of Rayon's motivations, for instance, and maybe get to know the Dallas HIV+ community a little better as well. Woodruff's transition from macho man and homophobe to man of the people seems a BIT too abrupt to be true, but McConaughey's performance helps gloss over these shortcomings.

In all, a pretty damn strong and fascinating film. I don't know that I recall an actor being as red-hot as McConaughey is right now. Between this, Mud, Wolf of Wall Street and True Detective, he's come a long way from romantic lead in awful rom-coms. This one is definitely worth a watch, even if it falls short of the best films of the year.

8/10

2013: The Year in Film: "Mud" Review

Let me start by saying that this movie completely flew under the radar. Despite the fact that there were rave reviews following it being screened at Cannes and Sundance, it got lost in the Iron Man 3/Star Trek 2 shuffle for me and I kind of completely forgot it existed. Sorry, Mud! A cursory glance at the movie listings revealed that it had a nearly unheard-of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I decided I should give Mud a whirl. A friend and I decided to check it out, and boy am I glad that I did. The follow-up to 2011's "Take Shelter", (which I've heard is good but have never seen!) also written and directed by Jeff Nichols, "Mud" is an indie coming of age story in the vein of "Stand By Me".

"Mud" features two 14 year old friends Ellis (Tye Sheridan - who I recognize from "Tree of Life") and Neckbone (newcomer Jacob Lofland) who live on a river in rural Arkansas. One day they come across a boat in a tree and mysterious, charming, charismatic drifter named simply "Mud". (Matthew McConaughey in his best-ever performance) Mud needs help and brings the boys into his orbit with fantastical tales of a lost love and sinister forces conspiring against him. As Mud's mysteries unfold and Ellis faces challenges at home the two grow closer and form a real friendship.

The film is shot in an almost cinema verite style, and the use of gritty, rural settings and hardscrabble depictions of river life really gives the film an authentic feel. If it wasn't for the presence of known actors, it would really feel like a naturalistic depiction of a way of life that's not likely to be long of this earth. It's a cousin of last year's "Beasts of the Southern Wild" in that way. The sleepy town, turns of phrase, chivalrous yet violent characters and romance of it all gives the happenings a southern gothic Faulkner-esque feel. This is a film that feels distinctly southern and very real and that seeming authenticity gives it a real charm.




The cast is stellar from top to bottom, highlighted by great performances by McConaughey (shoo-in for a Best Supporting nod, I'm calling it right now) and young kids Sheridan and Lofland, who give the sort of convincing, charming and deeply felt performances that make this film feel like more than a work of fiction. Reese Witherspoon is almost unrecognizable as Mud's long-lost love Juniper and Michael Shannon, Ray McKinnon, Sam Shepard and Joe Don Baker are all completely believable as inhabitants of this forgotten place.

Simply put, this flick is a gem. A pseudo modern American fairy tale that is inhabited throughout by charm, humor, mystery and above all the bonds that friendship and family can provide. Some convincing performances by two kids and masterful work by McConaughey propel it to greatness. See Mud, you won't regret it.

8.5/10.