Film Reviews -- April 2004 Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open
in Hamburg in April 2004
(Osanna V) Opening April 1, 2004 Columbia Tristar presents Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter), Jeremy Sumpter (Frailty) and Rachel Hurd-Wood in a charming realisation of J. M. Barrie’s classic story about the boy who did not want to grow up. The Darling family is loving, playful and quite unique for the English society of the time. Mr. Darling (Isaacs) is a rather timid bank clerk, who struggles to reconcile his conventional work life with his unconventional home life, where his children’s nanny is a St. Bernard and his daughter, Wendy (Hurd-Wood), prefers telling pirate bedtime stories to her younger brothers to becoming a sophisticated young lady. It is not only John and Michael who enjoy Wendy’s stories. A mysterious young boy has been listening in at the window for some time and, when his shadow manages to escape and hide inside the Darling home, he is discovered while trying to get it back! Thus begins the adventure where Peter Pan (Sumpter), with the help of fairy dust from Tinkerbell (Ludivine Sagnier) and happy thoughts from the children, takes Wendy and her brothers to Never Never Land – a place of adventure, beauty, and home to the Lost Boys, red Indians, mermaids and the terrible Captain Hook (Isaacs) and his crew of pirates. Never Never Land is also a place where strong emotions abound – love, jealousy, wonder, merriment, sadness, fear – and lessons are learnt, forgotten and re-discovered. P. J. Hogan’s realisation of Peter Pan is done with beauty, rich colours and magic. It is, I believe, the first version filmed with real people as opposed to animated ones. The director struck gold when choosing Rachel Hurd-Wood for the role of Wendy – though her first movie ever, she shows amazing talent. Unfortunately, Jeremy Sumpter as Peter was not as strong. Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter), does a great job with the double and contrasting roles of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook, a tradition established already in many theatre productions of the piece. Some of the special effects were truly wonderful, while I found others a little bit stilted. However, all round a good family film, though maybe not for kids too young or sensitive.
(Becky T) Opening April 1, 2004 Two Russian boys about nine and fourteen are on a trip with their father whom they haven’t seen since their babyhood. The cause of the father’s return is never quite clear. The mother seems not exuberant to see him again. They keep a diary of their trip, as they camp out along the way and finally boat to an uninhabited island. The older son wishes to gain his father’s approval and is sorry to disappoint his expectations sometimes. The younger son finds him unjust, irresponsible, and too incompetent to take responsibility for a child. He confronts his father at every opportunity which stretches the parent’s patience and earns him some slaps around the ears. This plants the seed of revenge and a knife on the boy. The father meets up with disreputable types along the way and digs up a mysterious box on the island. He is faced with a life-threatening situation and the story ends as it has begun. Director Andrej Swjaginzuew creates an enormous sense of isolation with his four actors. There is never a crowd when you would expect it. The boys are left to solve the problems alone and the suspense is constant. I thought, “Don’t do that; don’t go there; where is the mobile phone when you need it?” I saw it in Russian with German subtitles, but language is not that important. This film won 11 major film festival prizes cumulating in winner of the Venice film festival 2003 and a Golden Globe nomination for best non-English-language film. The film notes mention that there is room for varying political, moral or religious interpretations, but you can also just take it at face value and see an excellent film. (Kirsten G) Opening April 8, 2004 After seeing his career skyrocket with his turn as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen gets the chance to headline his own film in Hidalgo. Based loosely on a true story, Hidalgo follows the exploits of Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen), a cowboy and US cavalry dispatcher who had a reputation as the greatest long-distance horse rider in the West. After witnessing the atrocities committed by the cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890, Hopkins drowns his guilt in booze until he and his horse, Hidalgo, are invited by a Sheik (Omar Sharif) to test their skill in the Middle East by competing in the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert. Once the race starts, it will take all of their cunning to survive both the harsh elements and their competitors, who will stop at nothing to win. Hidalgo manages to combine its many elements pretty well – action-adventure, self-realization, encountering the unknown and surviving, and even communication between man and horse. Mortensen plays the part of the internally conflicted, understated hero quite well, although I would have liked more depth to both his character and many of the others in the film. In my opinion, the most commendable part of the film was its representation of the culture clash between American and Arab and that despite the fact that the two never completely understand one another, they still manage to find a common ground. Overall, though at times the film feels a bit bloated, in the end it won me over and I found myself cheering for both Hopkins and Hidalgo.
(Becky T) Opening April 8, 2004 This was one of three films nominated for an Oscar in the category of best animated feature film (along with Finding Nemo and Brother Bear). It was also one of my three top choices at the Hamburg Film Festival and a hit in New York and Toronto. In this gem of a film by Frenchman Szlvain Chomet, every scene is exquisite and the dog Bruno is more likeable than some real people. Grandma Souza grants her grandchild his birthday wish: a tricycle. He grows up and becomes a first-class Tour de France cyclist, bulging calves and all. The storyline is minor to the visuals: a kidnapping by freezer-sized thugs, a forced trip under unusual circumstances to Belleville (a parody of New York City) and a rescue with the help of three Andrews-Sister-look-alikes. Although in garbled French with no subtitles, it is perfectly understandable to anyone. This is especially good for people who are interested in a different style of artwork and who will understand the subtle digs at the French and the Americans. The theme song also got an Academy Award nomination. (Kirsten G) Opening April 15, 2004 Sometimes films that are well done are also very difficult to watch: such is the case with Monster, director Patty Jenkins’ first feature-length film. It tells the real-life (though dramatized) story of Aileen “Lee” Wuornos, a serial killer executed by lethal injection in Florida in 2002. Lee (Charlize Theron) had a very difficult childhood – raped at age 8, a prostitute by age 13 – and never felt wanted or loved by anyone until she met Selby (Christina Ricci). Selby is also an outsider, from Ohio but living in Florida after being sent there to “get over” her homosexuality. The two quickly bond and plan to make a life together somewhere else, but to get the money, Lee spends one last night hooking. This time, though, everything goes wrong – the man gets rough and Lee shoots him in self defense. After Lee fails to land a normal job, she once again returns to hooking, but when another encounter turns violent, she again pulls a gun. Soon, four other johns are dead and everything falls apart. Although Jenkins and co-producer Theron’s intent with this film was to humanize Lee while still showing that she was guilty, many critics and even the victims’ relatives have criticized the film for making it look too much like her troubled background was to blame for her crimes. I don’t agree; I think the film paints a relatively even-handed portrait of a very disturbed woman from a horrible situation but who still knew what she was doing. Theron is spell-binding and almost unrecognizable in the role – having gained 30 pounds, used false teeth, and changed everything from her walk to her facial expressions – and she has won many awards for it, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. And while the film is not easy to sit through, it is worth seeing for its portrayal of how a normal person can be turn into a monster.
(Cynthia E) Opening April 15, 2004 Have you ever desired that old stone villa perched among the olive groves looking out over the hills and dales of arid, exotically foreign soil? Italy in particular? Have you ever wanted to throw all conventional wisdom to the side and just “go-for-it” in life? Have you ever wanted a completely new “life start”? Intellectual the film is not. Nor is it, in my mind, anything close to the book, and in fact, I think they did the audience some injustice calling it the selfsame. However, Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) is a writer. She is from San Fransisco. It is set in Italy. There is an old villa discovered, bought and renovated. Complete with all of the calamities such an endeavor can only bring with it in a wonderfully Latin Country. And she does cook some of those yummy recipes. The similarity ends there. Instead, it is supposed to be the story of life’s upheaval and some of the wonderful things life can present when we make it an adventure, “grab life while it is passing within reach,” according to producer Tom Sternberg and, as Fellini said, “Live spherically” as quoted by the old, eccentric ex-pat, Katherine (Lindsay Duncan). That is the message. To get it, we are introduced to some of the other equally eccentric characters in Frances’ world who are definitely plausible if you live within the “Arts” (writing, publishing, fashion, theatre, film worlds) playground; Patti (Sandra Oh) her best friend; and to add a little spice (no play on words intended), there are some delicious Italian men Marcello (Raoul Bova) and Martini (Vincent Riotta) adding some cute twists and thoughtful presence to the film. Somehow the dramatic life story that the script writer and producers may have wanted to give was lost, but it is a light-hearted rainy day flick for the “girls,” especially those who love the warmth and colour of Italy, renovating old houses, and some great performances in a rather “non-gutsy” film. (Becky T) Opening April 22, 2004 Poor Major S. He should crawl into bed with the mother figure in Goodbye Lenin and pretend that East Germany with all its blind totalitarianism still exists. At least in his imagination he would still have his job of 20 years, working with the Stasi (secret police). He would still be the guardian of piles of files behind double locks on who is cheating on which spouse or harbors thoughts of escape. He would still illegally enter and search apartments and hold interrogations. Major S. (whom we never see) often repeats, “If only our net had been tighter, we would have won over the West.” As it is, he finds himself a pariah in today’s German society, unemployable and scorned. He and his family live almost alone in the huge Plattenbau (typical East German apartment blocks), which were once a model of architecture and where apartments were awarded to good servants of the state apparatus. Now, 13 years after reunification, they have become trashed and empty. (These apartments also appear equally ominously in the film The Children are Dead). Eyal Sivan and Audrey Maurion have carefully researched material from the Gauck files and the book Ausgedient, Nach Notzen eines Stasi Offiziers notiert von Reinhardt Hahn to make an authentic documentary about the pedantic people who carried the banner of surveillance, disillusionment and false faith of the old East German system.
(Kirstan B) Opening April 22, 2004 One doesn't really go to see an Adam Sandler movie without some sort of a preconceived notion. My expectations were 50/50, so here is my summary of 50 First Dates based on comparisons of previous A.S. movies: Crass humor: low Henry Roth (Sandler) is a playboy veterinarian living in Hawaii, using tourist women for vacation romances to avoid getting tied down in a relationship. He meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore) in a local café and puts the moves on, only to realize in a few days that she suffers from a traumatic head injury that has damaged her short-term memory. Lucy awakens each morning as if it were October 16th, the last day she remembers before the car crash that changed her life forever. Each meeting with Henry is as if the first, which sounds convenient to Henry's uncommitted nature, until he realizes he has real feelings for her. He must first win the acceptance of Lucy's over-protective father and brother, then find a way to get a relationship going despite the fact that every day she has no idea that she has met Henry before. The concept is cute, but not really new, as I kept recalling Groundhog Day (Bill Murray/Andie McDowell), which was superbly done and a great comedy with the right actors. Drew Barrymore is cute and sweet, and Sandler is wasting his time going for the earnest approach. The first 15 minutes when he is a selfish, womanizing bastard are the best, but alas, we get to see him turn sap all too quickly. He is much better suited as the schmuck in Anger Management or the smart-ass in Happy Gilmore. Rob Schneider does a decent Hawaiian bum bit as Ula, but it gets old fast, as do all the ongoing jokes (yawn). The real star of this mediocre film is the location, Hawaii. I can't help but think that when one owns his/her own production company, Flower Films/Happy Madison (Barrymore/Sandler respectively), any old script will suffice to have a 2 month filming vacation in a tropical location. Wait for the rental and whip up some Mai Tais, and I guarantee you will enjoy this much more than you would sober.
(Alana L) Opening April 22, 2004 The Bride is back. In Kill Bill Vol. 1 the Bride (Uma Thurman) sought revenge for her assassination attempt, which she miraculously survived. After traveling from Los Angeles to Japan, the Bride exterminated Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) and O’Ren-ishii (Lucy Liu), two of her former colleagues from the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. In Vol. 2 the Bride is back Stateside and her travels bring her through Texas and Mexico searching for the remaining members of the the DiVAS: Budd (Michael Madson), Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah) and Bill (David Carradine), her former lover and leader of the deadly pack. Where Vol. 1 kept you on the edge of your seat in almost non-stop violence, Vol. 2 will keep you there with anticipation. Director Quentin Tarantino continues his genre of mixed kung-fu-Samurai-spaghetti western in Vol. 1, but dives deeper with Vol. 2 into the characters, how they tick and why they are in their present states. Once past Tarantino’s sometimes ruthless use of violence, his genius at character portrayal, cinematography and choice of music shines through. (Mary W) Opening April 29, 2004 Every trial lawyer tries to pick a jury that will deliver a verdict
for her cause. But why not just buy one and be sure? Rankin Fitch
(Gene Hackman) offers a gun manufacturer a victory
in a civil case brought by a woman whose husband was killed by an
assault weapon. Fitch is at the top of his game of jury picking. He
uses surveillance techniques that would make even the US Patriot Act
look like the Bill of Rights to find out who would vote for the defendant
gun manufacturer, all real evidence aside. With loads of personal
data that he gathered on each potential juror, Fitch runs roughshod
over the defense lawyers, controlling the jury selection.
(Becky T) Opening April 29, 2004 Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is a writer who lives in the obligatory secluded house on a lake near a village. His life is made even more isolated when his wife Amy (Maria Bello) leaves him for another man. Mort, draped in his wife’s old robe, vacillates between the sofa, the whiskey bottle and his faithful dog. One day a strange man named John Shooter (John Turturro) accuses him of plagiarism and demands that he give full credit to the “real” author, namely himself. Mort starts a frantic search for a magazine with which he can prove his innocence. To underline the seriousness of the charges, the dog is murdered, his wife’s house burns to the ground and the killing doesn’t stop. Based on an idea by Stephen King, I’m not sure how much King actually contributed since David Koepp is both producer and screenplay writer. There are similarities to Misery, i.e., a writer isolated in the woods, tormented by another person and having to produce something. Although a thriller, this isn’t really scary. It is, though, a movie for Depp fans. It doesn’t really matter whether the ending is a surprise, as long as Depp, wearing that blond wig, keeps looking soulfully, slyly or drunkenly into the camera, which he does in almost every scene. Second Opinion by Osanna V Columbia Tristar presents Johnny Depp, John Turturro and Maria Bello in a mystery based on a novella by Stephen King. Screenplay and direction David Koepp. Mort Rainey (Depp) is a successful author who has recently discovered that his wife Amy (Bello) is involved with another man. He takes refuge at their cabin by a lake, trying with difficulty to accept the situation and come to terms with a new life on his own. One day, a mysterious stranger called John Shooter (Turturro) turns up at the door making at outrageous claim. He accuses Mort of having stolen a story that he himself had written some years before. At first, Mort refuses to take him seriously, but Shooter has an uncanny way of appearing around every corner and has some unpleasant ways of convincing him to pay attention. Finally, confident that he can prove the whole claim untrue by producing the earlier dated magazine where his story had appeared, Mort sets off to his old home to pick up the only copy he has. He arrives just as the fire brigade are putting out the last flames of a fire that burnt the house totally to the ground – the proof is gone. From that moment on, increasingly scary and violent incidents dog Mort’s footsteps till he no longer knows where to turn. Unexpectedly, it is his wife Amy who picks up on his distress and tries to help out, only to be caught up in a story more convoluted than any that her husband has written till then… Once again Johnny Depp proves he is worthy of his Oscar nomination. Totally convincing in the role of Morty Rainey, he creates perfect tension with John Turturro’s excellent performance of John Shooter. The twists, turns and final outcome are as weird as they are disturbing.
(Becky T) Opening April 29, 2004 Danish director Sören Kragh-Jacobsen follows up his successful film Mifune with a wonderful comedy that leaves a tear in your eye. As he says, “Happiness sometimes comes wrapped in wet newspaper.” Danish Marie (Iben Hjejle) and Irish Sophie (Bronagh Gallagher) tramp from town to town in their pursuit of fun and men and alcohol. Their travels come to a halt in Peterhead, Scotland, when their money is stolen and they must seek work. Marie receives an unusual offer to be a surrogate mother for the Earl of Glomis whose son and daughter-in-law are unable to produce an heir. Sophie is enthusiastic and encourages Marie, who becomes pregnant. Their happiness living a life of luxury at the expense of the Earl crashes to an end, when Sophie dies in an accident, leaving Marie alone to cope with having a baby, dealing with the Scottish aristocracy, and seeking out Sophie’s old boy friend, Ken, in Glasgow. The film doesn’t end there, of course. In Glasgow are Ken’s friends, three stooges with a grudge, a pile of debts and an auto repair shop called Skagerrak (a sea between Norway and Denmark.) In this film everything fits together. The pace is quick and the cast is perfect in every role with special mention for the female leads and Australian Martin Henderson as Ian the veterinarian. What begins like Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion ends like Cinderella where life changes when a feather falls on your nose, all to the tune of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams are Made of This.
(Jenny M) Opening April 29, 2004 Gosh, it’s so long since I’ve written that old-fashioned word integrity that I can hardly remember how to. I need to use it, however, because the integrity between mountain climbers is one of the most important themes of this movie. Touching The Void is fascinating; it’s part documentary and part action movie, with the three characters involved in the drama talking directly to the camera about the events we watch unfold. The movie is based on a true story written by Joe Simpson, who talks to us throughout as we watch his actions on film being played by Brendan Mackey. The other two characters are Simon Yates, played by Nicholas Aaron and Richard Harris, played by Ollie Ryall. Joe and Simon are young English mountaineers who decide to climb an unconquered mountain in Peru after honing their skills in the French Alps. It’s fascinating to watch them climb and to listen to their explanations of why and how they do it, and it’s great to stand on the summit of their mountain with them and to share a view that nobody has seen before. Eighty percent of climbing accidents take place on the way down, and Joe and Simon unfortunately bear out this statistic. What happens to them after their accident is when the subject of integrity between climbers arises. The movie is directed by Kevin Macdonald, whose film A Day In September won an Emmy, an Oscar, and a Golden Camera award, which underscores the fact that he is a master of the film-documentary medium. Yet the true star of Touching The Void has to be the cameraman Mike Eley. How did he manage to film such amazing scenes in such daunting circumstances?
(Osanna V) Opening April 29, 2004 Paramount Pictures presents a psycho-thriller directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia. Jessica Shepard (Judd) is the daughter of a cop who years earlier killed her mother and himself in a case of apparently jealous rage. Taken under the wing of her father’s former partner John Mills (Jackson), Jessica has become a police detective herself. The ghosts of her mother’s promiscuity and her father’s violence seem to have a firm hold on her – she can be ruthless when on the job tracking down a criminal, has an obvious drinking problem and is in the habit of indulging in one-night stands with strangers she picks up at bars. Things get even more complicated when she and her new partner, Mike Delmarco (Garcia), are put in charge of a gruesome murder case. It soon turns out to be the first in a series in which all the victims are men Jessica has slept with. In spite of the obvious – that Jessica could be a prime suspect – Mills (now her boss) insists on keeping her on the case. He believes in her innocence, even as evidence piles up against her and she herself is no longer sure of what is going on. Memory lapses, blood stains, flash visions and strange voices in her mind all lead her to doubt her sanity and believe she must be the killer… But that would be too obvious, right? At the end of
the day, the storyline behind Twisted was not particularly
original, though it was as convoluted as the name suggests. One can
sympathise with Jessica who, whatever the final outcome, definitely
needs serious therapy, and Ashley Judd does an excellent job with
her acting. Garcia’s role is rather bland and inconsistent,
which could have been the result of the final cut. Jackson is quite
solid in his part.
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Peter
Pan 
Woswraschenije
(The Return; Die Rückkehr) 
Hidalgo
The
Triplets of Belleville (Das große Rennen von Belleville, Les
Triplettes de Belleville) 
Monster
Under
the Tuscan Sun (Unter der Sonne der Toskana) 
Aus
Liebe zum Volk (For the Good of the People) 
50
First Dates (50 Erste Dates) 
Kill
Bill Vol. 2 
Runaway
Jury (Das Urteil - Jeder ist Käuflich) 
Secret
Window (Das Geheime
Fenster)
Skagerrak
Touching
the Void (Sturz ins Leere) 
Twisted