2013: The Year in Film: "Enough Said" Review

First, RIP James Gandolfini. I know that it's been a while at this point, one may justifiably say "too long", but the man truly was a great actor and according to all accounts, an even better guy. Even though I didn't come to 'The Sopranos' until far too late, several years after it initially aired, I can say that it's easily one of the best 2 or 3 television dramas of all time, and that Tony Soprano is just maybe the best fictional character in American history. It's crazy that as I type that, it doesn't even seem like an exaggeration. Tony was as complicated, charming, likable and infuriating as he was because of the inherent warmth and every man humanity of Mr. Gandolfini. Even though Tony was a sociopath and murderer who made his ample livelihood on the pain and exploitation of other people, through Gandolfini's portrayal, he was first and foremost a man. A husband and a father, different from the men in all of our lives only by degrees. So, farewell and rest peacefully, sir, you left us far too soon.

Given that Gandolfini's warmth and humor were often buried beneath the types of roles he was often asked to play, perhaps it's fitting that his final film would be an indie romantic comedy, then? First, as an aside, I'm really starting to sour on American "indie" comedies. They have become such an indelible trope that at this point they all just sort of blend together the way that traditional rom-coms, crappy comedies or crappy action flicks. It's like everyone watched 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Juno' one weekend and just decided "let's all be like that, you guys". 'Quirky' characters with nonsensical jobs? Check. Pithy, quip-filled dialogue? Check. Characters that exist for no discernible reason other than to be comic relief? Check. Catherine Keener? Check, check and check. Maybe this isn't fair and I'm painting an entire sub-genre with far too broad a brush, but I'm really starting to feel like all of these movies exist in the same universe and I'm just missing something. It feels a bit lazy and more than a little rote.

Enter: "Enough Said". Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a divorcee and single mother who works as an in-home masseuse and somehow affords a California lifestyle meets and begins to date a man she meets at a party. This man, Albert, happens to be a divorced single dad, and the ex-husband of Eva's new friend Marianne, unbeknownst to all parties involved. Romantic shenanigans ensue.

The Good: Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus have a palpable chemistry and each have an inherent likability that allows the film to rise above what may have felt like routine or even contrived plot and settings. This isn't an ambitious film, but one that's perfectly content to put together a sweet, simple little story featuring two likable actors in the kind of roles typically reserved for much younger and handsomer actors. Even with my stated "indie" fatigue that I mentioned above, I found the story surprisingly sweet and affecting, and also quite funny at times. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener has directed several episodes of the always great 'Parks and Recreation', and her sense of comedic timing shines through.



The Bad: while this film is admittedly better than I'd have thought (I basically only saw it because it was the last work of Tony Soprano), it ultimately isn't able to rise above its indie trappings. The film is, by and large, unremarkable among its ilk, and the screenplay feels like something that could have been written at any point over the last 20 years.

I'm sorry if that feels unduly harsh! Ultimately, this is a likable film featuring likable people, with some sweet moments and some surprisingly affecting ones, especially regarding parenthood and the post nuclear family. So if you're a fan of anyone involved or looking for a quick watch with 90 minutes to kill, or if you're just wondering what it's like to see Tony Soprano and Elaine Benes make out, you could do much worse.

7/10

2013: The Year in Film: "Gravity" Review

Writer/director Alfonso Cuaron is undoubtedly one of the great artists working in film today. His last film, Children of Men, was one of the best science fiction films of the last few decades, and is as finely crafted as any film you'll ever see. It's visually stunning, with a jarring narrative and tense, real-feeling action sequences. We've been hearing whispers about an astronaut film for years, and various delays pushed his next film back several times.  The first trailer was incredible, and Cuaron's name alone makes any film a must-see, so let's check it out.

Doctor (??) and first time astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is on a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope with software that she designed. While on a seemingly routine spacewalk (her first) with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), the unthinkable happens, and the two astronauts find themselves stranded outer space, low on oxygen, and desperate to survive.

The Good: First, this film is incredible to look at. Visually, it's an amazing achievement and one of the 2 or 3 best-looking films I can recall. It manages to perfectly convey the fine line between awe-inspiring beauty and certain death that is a fact of existence in the incredibly hostile environment of space. Despite the fact that the film portrays what would be the worst disaster to ever befall humanity's brief forays into space, the film still finds plenty of time to portray a real sense of awe and wonderment. Impeccably crafted, amazing to look at, and well-acted, this film is a real achievement. The narrative is tight and moves at a breathless pace - moving through naturally depicted space environs as all hell breaks loose. Considering that the entire film takes place over a few hours and features just a single scene on earth, it's pretty miraculous that this film works at all. The fact that it actually works pretty damn well is a testament to the quality of the artists involved.


The Bad: there are some scientific errors. I won't get into them, but if you're curious, look up Neil deGrasse Tyson's thoughts on the flick. So that is distracting on further evaluation, especially when the film obviously attempts to do so much right. I would never hold a film like say, Prometheus, to a requirement of a realistic portrayal of space travel, because it would never purport to exactly duplicate the settings. Gravity, however, attempts to get as much right as possible, which makes the errors particularly glaring. My biggest problem with the flick, and ultimately the single thing that prevents the film from truly being an emotionally powerful flick, is the casting. Not so much the acting, because she tries her best, but the casting. Let me explain. For a large chunk of the history of film, people were much more interested in the stars themselves than the films. You weren't seeing a movie, you were seeing a John Wayne movie, a Cary Grant movie, a Jimmy Stewart movie, etc. The 70's changed that, and acting became more about losing yourself in a role in a Shakespearian way than it did about a likable star hamming it up. There are exceptions, of course, and Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are the two biggest offenders. They are always just playing shades of Sandra Bullock and shades of George Clooney. Depending on the flick, that can work just fine. In a flick that's attempting to be an incredibly intense story of survival and perseverance, it's distracting, because I never lost sight of the fact that it was Sandra Bullock pretending to be an astronaut. At a certain level, that sounds silly, but I'd wager you know exactly what I'm talking about. I feel the casting did a disservice to the film and what it was trying to do, and I like Sandra Bullock fine, she can do all the rom-coms she wants, but I'm never going to believe her when she's crying about her daughter alone in a space capsule. Sorry, Sandy. One of the downfalls of being America's sweetheart, I suppose. Is that fair? Maybe, maybe not, but it really prevented me from going all-in on Gravity.

With that being said, Gravity is still an extremely effective and intense thriller that's incredible to look at. The visuals alone make it well worth seeing. Ultimately, the fact that the main character fell short for me prevented the film from breaking through to true greatness, but it remains a gorgeous piece of filmmaking.

8/10.