Film Reviews -- June 2003 Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open
in Hamburg in June 2003
(Mary W) Opening June 5, 2003 Muscle man Sean (Vin Diesel) and his hunk partner Demetrius (Larenz Tate) grew up together in the 'hood of Los Angeles but somehow saw the error of their gang-ways and became cops with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). They bust the biggest drug king in Mexico, Memo (Geno Silva). Memo goes to jail and before his fingerprints have dried, a mysterious thug known only as Diablo steps in to continue business as usual. On a cop's income, Sean somehow manages to live in a spectacular house directly on the Pacific Ocean (who would miss a few grand from a heist?). He is married to his gorgeous teenage sweetheart Stacy (Jacqueline Obradors), a Penelope Cruz clone. They have a party for all the cops to celebrate the collar. So much in love, they kick everyone out to share the sunset, then fall asleep in their bed from which they can practically fish in the ocean. Floor to ceiling glass doors and windows provide an unobstructed view, from the outside in as well. This DEA cop, who just made the biggest drug bust possible and who keeps a revolver under his pillow, sleeps with his vulnerable wife directly in front of glass doors that he doesn't even bother to lock. Shock and awe! Gunmen attack the sleeping lovers, wounding the cop and killing his wife. After a few days in the hospital, Sean is out for revenge with a blink of an eye, which except for a minor outburst in his hospital bed, is about all the emotion of which Sean is capable. His wife is dead, blink. He sees her gravestone, blink, must find who did this, blink. Sean confronts Memo who claims that Sean would be dead if he had wanted it so, implying the devilish Diablo must be whodunit. Sean, with the help of Demetrius (a welcome relief from all that blinking) and a few friends from the 'hood,“ including a drug-sniffing Chihuahua who has more acting ability in his nose than Diesel in his blink, manage to sniff out the usual suspects and kill them. In their quest they come upon standard drug dealing murders, like the necktie and the collar, cameo appearances thrown at you for purely extreme violence effects. No surprises here, the
road kills lead right back to Memo, who has managed to escape imprisonment
while taking a bus to new confinement. Sean again enlists his faithful
friend Demetrius by heaping guilt about their past together on him,
mindless of the danger Demertrius' own wife and child face. Actually,
this entire film is so mindless that even the young teenage crowd
for which it may be targeted will find this Diesel dullness a total
miss. I should have washed my hair instead. Ganz und Gar (Pat R) Opening June 5, 2003 The same production team that made the successful summer hit Mädchen Mädchen has made a fun and thoughtful film about love and friendship. How six young friends face challenges together and change relationships with one another is remarkable. They must first learn the importance of knowing oneself and then must learn the need to set boundaries for others. The main character Torge is played by David Rott, a promising young actor who recently was awarded the Max Ophüls Prize at the Saarbrücken Film Festival as the best new talent. Torge is like many young men with no worries of the future; his motto is, "Wir sind jung und die Welt steht uns offen." But a new hand of cards are dealt to Torge and he and his friends must cope with the changes that life brings. Mira Bartuschek plays Lisa, a sensitive and mature young woman who helps Torge work through his feelings of cynisism and self doubt. She has recently performed in several works with the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg. Lisa gives Torge the needed love and encouragement while at the same time running a Bridal Shop and caring for a promiscuous father and an aging grandmother. Yet she also finds time for the women's water ballet group! Ganz und Gar hat mir ganz gut gefallen. Becky
T adds: At the beginning of the film, I wondered why men
are never synchronized swimmers and at the end, my eyes were opened
to the reason. This is a lovely film, highly recommended to anyone
who wishes to practice German in an entertaining manner. 
28 Days Later 
1/2
(Karen P) Opening June 5, 2003 A present day setting: it appears the whole city of London is empty
of any form of life except for an awakened comma patient, Jim (Cillian
Murphy). Two thumbs up for the cinematography in this scene
because here is where the horror takes on a life. What precedes this
desertion, is a breakout from a lab experiment at Cambridge University.
The experiment was performed on monkeys to observe a virus that produced
rage which lodged in the bloodstream. An animal protection activist
group make a secret attempt to release these poor virus infected animals.
Do they listen to the scientists‘ screams of desperation to
prevent them from making a deathly mistake? Of course not! As you
can well imagine, the monkeys are released and the virus spreads through
every form of life in the city and beyond. In search of human contact,
Jim eventually meets up with Mark (Noah Huntley),
Selena (Naomie Harris), Frank (Brendan Gleeson),
Hanna (Megan Burns) and Major Henry West (Christopher
Eccleston). Their survival kit: to be street-wise, to kill
an encountered infected being in a matter of seconds and to have the
tenacity to hope this too shall pass. The intensity of the situation
and the horror of the crisis will force you to be glued to your theater
seat, there’s no doubt about it! Japón (Becky T) Opening June 5, 2003 Sit back for a slow, quiet film about a younger man who limps from
town to town and an old woman who lives alone. These two (Alejandro
Ferretis and Magdalena Flores) are amateurs
as are all other actors in the film. Once you’ve accepted that
probably nothing will happen in two hours, you can enjoy the small
things, such as the beautiful scenery of Hildalgo, north of Mexico
City, which is not small at all, but gigantic. Mexican director Carlos
Reygadas filmed in the early morning and late afternoon to
catch the special light. Slowly, you are drawn into the atmosphere
which reflects strength and simple humanity as the woman struggles
to save her house and the man to become a better person. Japón
showed at the last Hamburg Film Festival, was in competition at Cannes
2002 and won best Latin American Film 2002, as well as six more international
prizes. 
Antwone Fisher
1/2 (Adele R) Opening June 12, 2003 First off, this is a true story. It is important to keep that in mind as actor Denzel Washington, in his directorial debut, takes you through a slick, “inspirational” film as full of emotional jump shots as anything Hollywood has ever dreamed up. Washington is Jerome Davenport, a Navy psychiatrist of great sensitivity to others, but out of touch with himself and, importantly, with his marriage. He is assigned to prepare a psychiatric evaluation of a young African-American sailor, Antwone Fisher, (Derek Luke) who will be cashiered out of the Navy if he can’t get a handle on his violent temper. At first, Fisher refuses to cooperate, but Davenport patiently wears him down until the salient facts of the young man’s life become clear. And it is quite a life. Abandoned by his mother after his birth in a prison, his father murdered before he was born, he is placed in a foster home where he experiences physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse. Flashbacks fill us in with the details. After months of therapy, during which Davenport develops almost a father/son relationship with Fisher, he suggests that the young man journey back to Cleveland to find his biological family and confront the past so he can put it to rest. Early in the film, Fisher’s future wife Cheryl (stunningly beautiful Joy Bryant) appears as a woman who sees the depth and charm of the young sailor although he is so shy, he barely talks to her. Fisher is a virgin too damaged by the sexual abuse he suffered as a child to trust an adult relationship. Needless to say with kindness and patience, Cheryl seduces him and stands by her man throughout. In the course of the film we also learn that Fisher, who had a very limited education, is a self-taught intellectual who masters Japanese, writing poetry, and drawing pictures which would put James Audubon to shame. I must remind you, once again, that this is a true story. Luke in his debut role as Antwone Fisher, is touching and charming, but the script, which Fisher himself wrote, based on his memoirs, Finding Fish, doesn’t allow his, or any of the characters, to develop into real people. Or maybe it is the direction, or just the all too pretty people. In any case, it struck me as being too glossy and pat to be believable, even if true. As for the requisite happy end, which has been hanging over the film from the very first shot, it is so hokey that I groaned out loud. But some of my fellow film critics were teary and smiling when the lights came on. I should add
that Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave this film
a rave review. Although he calls it “a bluntly inspirational
film”, Holden says it’s “Pavlovian responses”
are connected to “a lode of emotional truth volatile enough
to resonate long after the movie is over.” 
Dark Blue 
(Osanna V) Opening June 12, 2003 United Artists and Intermedia Films present a police thriller starring Kurt Russell, Scott Speedman, Michael Michele, Brendan Gleeson and Ving Rhames, and directed by Rob Shelton. Los Angeles, spring of 1992; the case of Rodney King versus four cops from the LAPD is being played out in court. The tension in the city is palpable, but Special Forces Sgt. Eldon Perry (Russell) and his partner Bobby Keough (Speedman) have other matters on their mind. Chief of police Jack Van Meter (Gleeson) has sent them to investigate a cold-blooded, quadruple killing at a Korean grocery store. With his very direct approach and questionable tactics, Perry has no difficulty in clarifying the case, pin-pointing two ex-convicts as the murderers. The fact that the two men are in Van Meter’s pay becomes obvious when Perry presents him with his conclusions, and is told that he’s wrong and that he better find others to take the rap. Though disgruntled, Perry agrees to play along; it’s a game he’s been playing since he became a cop, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the goal being to rid the city of scum whatever it takes – coercing witnesses, doctoring evidence, falsifying reports and executing. Perry also takes indoctrinating his young partner into these tactics very seriously and, once he finds other ex-cons to nail the murders on, the two go after them with a SWAT team. After a chase down a dead-end alley, Perry and Keough have cornered one of the men. Though he is un-armed, Perry sets the stage for an apparent case of self-defence, and pushes Keough to shooting him – a baptism in blood which will ensure his commitment to the cause. In fact, it sparks off the rapid unravelling of the whole contorted, ugly tapestry, using the LA riots resulting from the Rodney King case verdict for the final setting. Dark Blue
is a tough movie, the violence just coming up short of being gratuitous.
Using the Rodney King case as a back-drop lends credibility to the
story and the acting is totally convincing.
Plots With a View (Grabgeflüster)
(Becky T) Opening June 12, 2003 If you enjoyed
Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies or Saving
Grace, you will find her true to character here as Betty Rhys-Jones,
the henpecked wife of the mayor of Wrottin-Powys in Wales. Alfred
Molina plays Boris Plotz, the town mortician. (Plotz and
burial plots - get it?) It's hard to believe that shy, bachelor Boris
finds the resources to win Betty, but he catches her off guard while
she plans her mother-in-law's funeral and copes with her husband's
infidelity. All the minor characters, e.g., Christopher Walken
as Frank Fetherbed, a competitive new-wave mortician, or Naomi
Watts, the blond bomb shell, come together to make this is
a delightful, typically British-understatement comedy. Perhaps we
would like to hear the real truth about ourselves, but would we go
to the extreme of feinting death in an open coffin to find out? 
What Time Is It There?
(Becky T) Opening June 12, 2003 Hsiao Kang (Lee
Kang-Sheng) and Shiang Chyi (Chen Shiang-Chyi)
are lonely together in their thoughts. Hsiao Kang lives with his mother
in Taiwan; she mourns the death of her husband. He sells Shiang Chyi
a watch which tells time in Taiwan and Paris, her new destination
where she is doomed to become a lonely Chinese foreigner. Later, he
sets all the watches to Paris time, including his mother's clock,
which she takes as a sign that the deceased father's ghost has return
to the house. H.K. and S.C. each experience short encounters with
others, but neither can escape the sense of being an outsider. You
feel that you must shake them both, and ask, "What time is it here?"
but they probably have already rejected trying to focus on the here
and now. This film is interesting for fans of Chinese director Tsai
Ming-Liang who won film festival first prize for Vive
l'amour in Venice 1994, and second prize for The River
in Berlin 1997. His film The Hole showed at the Cannes film
festival 1998. 
Bruce Almighty (Bruce Allmächtig)
(Becky T) Opening June 17, 2003 In Hamburg the
sold-out audience of hard-core Matrix fans attending the
opening of Matrix Reloaded died laughing at the previews
of Jim Carrey playing God in Bruce Almighty.
That should be some indication of the reception the film can expect
here. Carrey, looking handsomer than ever before, is Bruce Nolan,
a guy who bemoans his sorry fate. His job promotion falls through;
his car has a huge dent; traffic jams hinder his progress; his dog
has no respect for the furniture. In a fit of self pity, Bruce appeals
to God (Morgan Freeman), who has not forsaken him,
and gives him a chance to be God for a while – at least in his
own neighborhood. What sets this apart from similar films of second
chances by the grace of God, e.g., Down to Earth or Heaven
Can Wait, are Carrey’s exceptional comical talent, facial
expressions, body language and timing. Slapstick, such as a dog sitting
on a toilet reading the newspaper or a bowl of tomato soup parting
like the Red Sea, sounds corny but is very funny. The fast pace and
good acting build up to a rather disappointing ending, because, as
Mary W remarked, Bruce could not overcome an ingrained egoism. He
went back to the bosom of an understanding girl friend (Jennifer
Aniston), who should have left him for good, not just temporarily.
God’s trite Sunday school morality lessons fall on deaf ears.
Auto Focus
(Kirsten G) Opening June 26, 2003 Auto Focus is a dark, disturbing, and rather depressing look at one man’s descent from fame to depravity. Director Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and writer/director of Affliction) presents a harsh look at the life and decline of Bob Crane (played brilliantly by Greg Kinnear), the star of the TV series Hogan’s Heroes in the 1960s. The film begins with Crane as a popular disc jockey in Hollywood. He seems to have it all – fame, money, family – but he wants more. When he is offered the part of Hogan, his fame skyrockets and his descent begins. His increased visibility allows him to indulge more often in a once-hidden addiction – sex. Then when he hooks up with John “Carpy” Carpenter (Willem Dafoe), a sleazy, needy audiovisual salesman, his life begins spiraling out of control. Soon his wife has left him, and he indulges in everything from playing drums in house bands at strip clubs to all-out orgies with Carpy, painstakingly videotaped then replayed for the two men’s pleasure. Eventually Crane looses everything. The acting in
Auto Focus is excellent, and the cinematography shadows Crane’s
destruction; the scenes are bright, lively, and in sharp focus at
the beginning of Crane’s career and slowly disintegrate into
darkness and graininess by the end. Auto Focus is somewhat
difficult to watch – there’s no whitewashing here –
but it is very well done and definitely demonstrates that allowing
yourself to focus on something potentially destructive usually results
in destruction.
Bollywood Hollywood
(Becky T) Opening June 26, 2003 I love the gorgeous
men with black eye liner in Indian films. Although this film, made-in-Canada,
doesn’t rise to the standards of Monsoon Wedding or
Bend it Like Beckham, the leading man, Rahul Khanna,
is beautiful. Mother Ruby Seth has a hard time keeping Indian morals
alive in cold Toronto. Her beloved son Rahul is in love with blond
Kimberly. What a stroke of luck when Kimberly dies in an accident
and Ruby can hope for the best. Along comes Sue Singh (Lisa
Ray) and crooks her little finger at Rahul. Sue has “gone
native” but still she is Indian, which gives her more leverage
than her predecessor. All this is important to Rahul’s siste
Twinky, who is pregnant and planning a wedding. She can’t marry,
until Rahul has settled down. The story could be the beginning of
a successful soap opera which could go on forever and ever.
Bulletproof Monk
(Karen P) Opening June 26, 2003 Based on a comic
book adventure from Flypaper Press, this Ninja comedy—without
the turtle suits—intrigues the young at heart ready for an imaginary
adventure. While studying at a monastery in Tibet, a Monk with no
name (Chow Yun-Fat) was given the honor to protect
some ancient writings that would only be of value to the beholder.
As the prophecy is foretold, every 60 years the beholder of the ancient
writings passes on the historical documents to a successor deemed
worthy. These sacred writings hold the key to ultimate and unlimited
power. The teachings of the Zen Calm martial arts master (Roger
Yuan) from the monastery provide the Monk with clues of the
ancient prophecy that send him on the journey in search of the future
rightful owner of the writings. The adventure brings the Monk together
with Kar (Sean William Scott), a streetwise thief,
and street-tough bad girl, Jade (Jaime King), who
take on the journey just as much as the Monk. Good vs. Evil is definitely
the billing in this film mixed with some fun slap-stick humor. Many
famous Asian actors and actresses make their debut for Hollywood audiences.
You will enjoy their talents!
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello
(Becky T) Opening June 26, 2003 A compilation
of short films made by famous directors seems to be a fad. We had
11.9.01, then Poem, and before that, Ten Minutes
Older: The Trumpet. Here, my favorite ten-minute film was by
Bernardo Bertolucci. A pupil goes to fetch water
for his master who is resting under a tree. The pupil meets and marries
a girl; they raise children, and he causes a car accident. Upon his
return he finds the master under the same tree, still waiting for
his water. My second favorite was by Völker Schlöndorff,
perhaps because he was the only German represented. He shows lower
middle class Germans on vacation in a trailer on some nearby coast.
They reinforced all my prejudices about this kind of vacation. Other
directors were Mike Figgis, Jiri Menzel,
Istvan Szabo, Claire Denis, Michael Radford, and Jean-Luc Godard.
Naturally, Claudio Bohórquez played the cello beautifully.
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A Man Apart (Extreme Rage)