Still Alice

Films about Alzheimers are usually uncomfortable and poignant and this is no exception.  The slow decline of top academic Alice Howland (impeccable Julianne Moore as always) is a disconcerting and sad affair and this film treats her case with the usual sensitivity.  It draws out good performances from Alec Baldwin stretching his usual range to play the caring husband, disbelief and all and from Kristen Stewart as Lydia, her would-be actress daughter. However, in all its political correctness, there is little originality and as the pace slows one’s attention starts to wander. Extra points for Moore and that is about it.  Those who have experienced this situation will perhaps find it more engaging than others.

★★★+

Wild

There is a similarity in this movie with Joni Mitchell’s album Hejira in which she takes to the road after some bad relationships to find herself. Here Cheryl Strayed takes to the Pacific Crest trail after dealing with the premature death of her mother to cancer and a period of heroin taking and promiscuous sex. Her relationship with the decent Paul has fallen to pieces and like the pilgrims on the road to Compostela she sets out to give herself a test of endurance in order to sort herself out.  It is both a cathartic journey and one for growing awareness of nature, of mankind and of self-wisdom.  Reese Witherspoon composes a multi-faceted individual here and does it very well indeed with able support from Laura Dern as her mother and a large cast of bit players.  The wilderness is also part of the cast here.  A smooth, satisfying film blending personal memory with physical struggle and giving us real optimism that it is possible to find oneself in this life.

★★★★+

Birdman

The Best Picture at the Oscar’s this year and award winner worldwide.  Alejandro González Iñárritu returns with quite a movie but one that I didn’t share quite the same euphoria.  Basically it is about an actor who was a superhero (Birdman, played very effectively by Michael Keaton) who retired from the series and years later is trying to relaunch his career as a Broadway actor producing his own Raymond Carver based play. Of course it is all chaotic with egos galore, an actor dropping out to be replaced by local hot actor Edward Norton (gloriously over the top), relationships with the women are a mess – his ex is whom he gets on best, his girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough) might be pregnant, his co-star (Naomi Watts) is screwing Mike (Norton), his daughter (Emma Stone, impacting in her role) is assistant on the film and has plenty of bones to pick and Tabitha (Lindsay Duncan) is a critic determined to bring his play down.  There are good scenes and good dialogues but as always with this director, there is a self-consciouness about the film making for my liking.  The subject itself is a sort of entertainment ego trip and while the theme of what happens in the mind of ex superheroes is an interesting one, there are many other worthy subjects.  So, while many raved about it, I found it to be a film with some good moments but overall not one that grabbed me that much.

★★★★

Big Eyes

Tim Burton takes on the story of Margaret Keane who painted the kitschy big eyes pictures of the 50’s and 60’s that found their way into so many living rooms and cafés in those years.  The trouble is that it was not Margaret but her husband who took all the credit for the paintings.  Walter (Christoph Waltz rather overacting) is a con man who ends up convincing the world of his talents and keeping his wife in the dark until one day she decides she has to go public.  Amy Adams once again shows her great talent as Margaret.  The film is entertaining and informative as we had no idea of this back story but Tim Burton veers between tragedy and comedy and leaves us with an uneven feeling.

★★★

Foxcatcher

The story of creepy multimillionaire John du Pont who tries to commandeer the US wrestling team prior to the Seoul Olympics and ends up “buying” champion wrestler Mark Schultz and his wrestler/coach brother Dave.  Of course, it is all about money and ambition with Du Pont wanting to “achieve” something like his businessmen forebears  and seeking some sort of recognition from his mother (excellent Vanessa Redgrave as usual) who despises what he does as “low”. 

Steve Carell does a great job in the lead role as an emotional autistic who can only buy loyalty and friendship and is the most repressed of a repressed bunch.  Mark, his main protégé played ably by Channing Tatum is another train wreck on the way, starved of love as a child and brought up by his bigger brother.  In this role, Mark Ruffalo treads a fine line between the same family ambition and someone with their feet closer the ground but one who cannot hold off the power of the dollar.

Bennett Miller’s direction leans heavily towards the suspense with its dark music and long camera shots suggesting all the hidden agenda flying about. It gets a bit much at times and makes the film rather slow though his handling of some key dramatic scenes including the climax of the movie is good.  Sadly one comes away thinking that this sordid tale could have been avoided but when money is in the way much gets overlooked.  Great performances, reasonable film, big indictment of certain US practices today.

★★★+

The Theory of Everything

Multi award winning biopic on the life of Dr Stephen Hawking who has defied a crippling illness robbing him of most body functions and speech to become the world’s greatest cosmologist.  This film is largely the story of his relationship with Jane, his wife of 25 years who fought for him only to walk out and marry the local church choir leader.  Stephen himself later married his nurse.  There are references to his life work, kept relatively simple and a lot about the sheer physical and emotional burden of caring for someone who is affected in this type of way.

Eddie Redmayne is more than superb in the lead role – this is a direct and detailed performance with no low punches.  Felicity Jones more than matches him as the wife. I wouldn’t call it a great film as it has a pretty conventional biographic approach but with a good script and good music it is a worthy member of the top Oscar films of the year.

★★★+

Gone Girl

Engaging if ultimately disturbing film about a wife who literally disappears from a Missouri town.  Husband Ben Affleck is left trying to track her down and wonder what went wrong and suddenly the whole disappearance becomes a major media event.  Turns out hubby is no angel but neither is the wife, ably played by Rosamund Pike, or her one time lover Neil Patrick Harris.  Carrie Coon as the husband’s sister is left to work out what is going on along with a local detective.  David Fincher does a good job of the suspense but this was not a film that overly grabbed me even if it has some good points to say about manipulative relationships and the effect of the media on the lives of the not so famous.  Rosamund Pike is the best but maybe not award winning level.

★★★