20170207: Thriller Review--The Accountant

Name: The Accountant (2016)
IMDb: link to The Accountant page

Genres: Thriller.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff, Anna Kendrick as Dana Cummings, J. K. Simmons as Ray King, Jon Bernthal as Braxton Wolff, Jeffrey Tambor as Francis Silverberg, Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Marybeth Medina, Jean Smart as Rita Blackburn, John Lithgow as Lamar Blackburn.

Directed by: Gavin O'Connor.   Written by: Bill Dubuque.

Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
1. Christian is strongly autistic, needs to concentrate on single tasks, and finish them or else.  For instance, missing one puzzle piece spurs him to violent rage, not to finding the God-damned piece.  His childhood is troubled, to say the least.  On the other hand, his raw intelligence is immense, and his ability to concentrate (when not distracted) is staggering.  Clearly, he is bound for prison.

2. Christian has a huge stroke of luck.  His cellmate Francis is a genius who is well-versed in money flows among criminal organisations.  Christian learns sophisticated and highly detailed transactional rules.

3. Christian sets himself up as an accountant as his outward facing work.  He assassinates criminals for other criminals as his darkside employment.

4. Ray King wants to retire in seven months with the capture of Christian as his crowning achievement.  He blackmails the talented but flawed Marybeth Medina to ferret out Christian. (She does the capture, or she loses her career for a well-covered over childhood felony.)

5. Brax, Chris' brother, has similar talents and training, but not the autism.  He takes up the same line of work.

Delineation of conflicts:
Ray wants to go out a winner.  Christian wants to handle his stress and keep both jobs.  Marybeth wants to keep her good name and fine job.  All three of these cannot go on forever.  Just to add to the mix, Christian's younger brotherhood Braxton, who has similar skills, is an enforcer in the same game.  Will Brax and Chris cross paths again?

Resolution: Marybeth does her job; Ray looks for a successor.  Christian needs to finish, and Braxton is the consummate professional.

One line summary: Talented autistic assassin faces brother.

Anna Kendrick, Ben Affleck

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Good camera work throughout, save for a few intervals of pure shaky cam horseshit.

Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog, and the musical accompaniment was fine.

Acting: 6/10 Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and veterans Jeffrey Tambor, Jean Smart, and John Lithgow were just fine.  I do not recall seeing Jon Bernthal (Braxton) before, but I thought his performance was excellent.

On the downside, Anna Kendrick is in the film.  Probably no director can get a good performance out of her.  All scenes that included her performances were compromised, rather like rotting fish in a green salad.  JK Simmons played his usual ho-hum asocial monster, to which I say, who cares?  Why is this man accorded sacred cow status?

Screenplay: 9/10 Surprisingly good.  Moves right along, and is engaging throughout.  Well, except when Anna Kendrick was permitted to speak.

Final rating: 8/10

20161116: Documentary Review--Zero Days

Name: Zero Days (2016)
IMDb: link to Zero Days page

Genres: Documentary   Country of origin: USA.

Principal Speakers:
David Sanger wrote a full-fledged article on Stuxnet for the NYT, and the book, Confront and Conceal (2012).
Eric Chien and Liam O'Murchu at Symantec discuss finding the Stuxnet infection, deciding to investigate it thoroughly, then unpeeling many layers.
General Michael Hayden was the director of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) from May 2006 to February 2009, and director of NSA (National Security Agency) from March 1999 to April 2005.  The general could only say so much, but what he did say was insightful.
Colonel Gary Brown is the staff judge advocate for US Cyber Command, Fort Meade.
Emad Kiyaei is the Executive Director or the American Iranian Counsel.
Gary Samore is the Executive Director for Research of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Eugene Kaspersky is a Russian cybersecurity expert and the CEO of Kaspersky Lab.
Ralph Langner is the director of Langner Communications, an independent cybersecurity consulting firm that he founded in 1988.

Directed by: Alex Gibney.  Written by: Alex Gibney.

One of way too many code graphics

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
The Middle East, Europe, Israel, and the USA have a long history together: disagreements, wars, negotiations.

Israel bombed Iraq's nuclear program out of existence.  In more current times, Israel's bombing Iran's nuclear program out of existence seems infeasible.

Delineation of conflicts:
The USA, UK, and Israel hatch a secret program for ending Iran's nuclear program, or at least slowing it considerably.  The film details how this secret program was brought to light through journalistic inquiry, geopolitical competition, and investigation.

Israel and the USA have a serious disagreement about how to use Stuxnet, or Olympic Games, its internal name.  Because of this, the effort does not stay secret, and the mission fails.

What to do in light of this is open to a lot of discussion, especially after it becomes partially public.

Resolution: All the issues are ongoing.  Iran survived Stuxnet, and its nuclear program is doing better than ever.  Our Cyber Command arm of NSA is little known but well funded.  Iran's cyber warfare program is also well-funded and quite energized.  Other nations have joined the race to cyber warfare leadership; for instance, North Korea and mainland China.

One line summary: Stuxnet: origins, consequences

Statistics:

Cinematography: 7/10 The filming of the interviews with experts were professionally done.

The computer graphics were overly repetitive.  For instance, the 3-D code representations were interesting to look at but were only of use three times: showing the expiration date for Stuxnet in the code, showing the PLC model number in the code, and illustrating the Israeli overwrite that fouled up so many things.  However, the code animations were shown a couple of dozen times; most of these showed no purpose other than to move away from talking heads.

The spread of virus maps were shown again and again and again.  The only times they meant much was when the isolation of the target to Iran was shown, and when the Iranian revenge instances hit America.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog.  The music used tended to be ominous to the point of seeming manipulative.

Acting: z/10 Not applicable here.

Screenplay: 10/10 Nicely assembled.  The solving of the original mystery was nicely done, and the analysis of the consequences of Israeli overwrites was well-presented.  The exposition of the future of cyber warfare was the scariest of them all.  The block of interview time devoted to Homeland Security's wasted efforts was so discouraging.  So many person-hours were lost due to secrecy (right hand does not know what the left hand is doing), along with the taxpayer dollars wasted.

Final Rating: 8/10

20161031: Drama Review--Magnolia

Name: Magnolia (1999)
IMDb: link to Suspicion page

Genres: Drama   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Tom Cruise as Frank TJ Mackey, Jason Robards as Earl Partridge, Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Phil Parma, John C. Reilly as Jim Kurring, Henry Gibson as Thurston Howell, William H. Macy as Donnie Smith, Alfred Molina as Solomon Solomon, Philip Baker Hall as Jimmy Gator, Melora Walters as Claudia Wilson Gator, Melinda Dillon as Rose Gator, Jeremy Blackman as Stanley Spector, Michael Bowen as Rick Spector.

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson.  Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson.

Tom Cruise as Frank TJ Mackey

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
The film opens with voiceover describing three silent vignettes shot in sepia.  Each vignette describes a situation that involves coincidences that one sees are not coincidences upon explanation.

We step forward to the actual motion picture, with no voiceover, full colour presentation, and modest camera work.  There are a small number of groups of people living their lives in Los Angeles toward the end of the twentieth century.

Frank Mackey is a speaker for hire who specializes in charging lots of money to help men hone their skills at finding women willing to have sex with them.  He has support staff for his presentations, and people who answer the phones for him.

Earl Partridge is busy dying.  His young wife Linda is not handling it well.  Male nurse Phil Parma tries his best to listen to what Earl wants as the end nears.  The four dogs stay near Earl and Phil.

Jimmy Gator has a long running game show that pits three adults versus three children in a contest of depth of knowledge about anything under the sun.  The star of the show is young Stanley Spector, whose depth in so many areas is marvelous. His father, however, is just demanding.  Jimmy's daughter Claudia is a bit of a lost soul.

Donnie Smith was once a game show wunderkind.  However, he was struck by lightning in early adulthood, and lost his mental coherence.  To make things worse for Donnie, his parents absconded with his earnings and frittered the money away.  He has difficulties retaining a job.

Delineation of conflicts:
Frank has a media interview which proves difficult, and which pushes him toward his past, including Earl, his biological father.  Phil tries to get in touch with Frank to let him know that Earl is dying.

Jimmy tries to patch things up with Claudia and to come clean about a few issues with Rose.  Jimmy also has health problems, which come out sideways on his game show.  The unnatural pressure placed on Stanley causes a huge disruption in the game show, and gives Stanley some much needed courage.

Claudia goes on a drug binge after a loud screaming match with her father Jimmy.  The noise she generates on her stereo prompts calls to the police by her neighbors.  Jim Kurring catches the assignment from LAPD dispatch.  Jim's civility and calm decency confront Claudia's seemingly limitless rage.

Donnie tries to connect with his unadvised romantic target, who is a handsome bartender at a local bar.  He has no leverage, and looks incredibly stupid versus Thurston Howell, who is rich and has better success vis a vis the same target.  Donnie's drunken failure sends him off to another even bigger act of desperation.

Linda's guilt from mistreating the much older Earl during their marriage sends her down the road of desperation as well.  Can this be fixed?

Frank finally gets done with his interview and hears that his dying father wishes to see him.  Does he make it in time?

Intervention, in the forms of the LAPD and a rain of frogs, stops and reverses some of the foolishness.

Resolution: The threads come together skillfully.

One line summary: Clever ensemble piece.

Frogs falling from the sky

Statistics:

Cinematography: 4/10 Bucket of shit.  Why the hell do I have an HD monitor for this VHS crap?

Sound: 10/10 I could hear the dialog, and much of the background music was delicious.

Acting: 10/10 Fine acting by a at least ten of the fine cast coupled with skillful direction.

Screenplay: 10/10 Nicely done.  The concluding actions appear a little weird at times, but not silly or preachy.  The three hours and eight minutes did not drag.

Final Rating: 8/10

20161026: Action Review--Bourne Legacy

Name: Bourne Legacy (2012)
IMDb: link to the Bourne Legacy page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross (Outcome #5), Rachel Weisz as Dr Marta Shearing, Scott Glenn as Ezra Kramer, Stacy Keach as Adm Mark Turso, Edward Norton as Eric Byer, Michael Chernus as Arthur Ingram, Corey Stoll as Zev Vendel, Donna Murphy as Dita Mandy, Dennis Boutsikaris as Terrence Ward.

Oscar Isaac as Outcome #3, Albert Finney as Dr Albert Hirsch, Louis Ozawa Changchien as LARX #3, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, and David Strathairn as Noah Vosen.

Directed by: Tony Gilroy.  Written by: Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy (screenplay),  inspired by Robert Ludlum (books).

Dr Shearing, Aaron Cross

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Aaron Cross walks through rough northern Alaskan landscape to a safe house.  He gets to know his fellow member of the Outcome program, #3, before he treks off to his next destination.  Aaron has been out in the cold for so long that he is short of the medical supplies that the Outcome program uses to keep him in fine fighting shape.

About the same time, large structural breakage has occurred because of the information made public by Jason Bourne and Pamela Landy.  The powers that be decide to shut down the programs Treadstone, Blackbriar, and Outcome programs for creating superb warrior agents.  To complete the job, these powers authorize the murders of all the agents.

Those murders include Outcome agents, in particular #3 and #5 (Aaron).  Beyond that, many of the scientists who do research and monitor agents end up dead.  This almost includes Dr Shearing, but not quite.

Delineation of conflicts:
Aaron escapes the first murder attempt.  He regroups, knowing that his bosses are no longer his allies. He needs to find a new source for the chemicals that keep him whole.

Rachel would like to stay alive; the powers that be think she knows too much to live.  Aaron connects with Rachel and presses her to help him find his chemical boost.  Aaron and Rachel attempt to free Aaron from his chemical dependency, and attempt to get clear of the murderous pursuit.

The powers that be press hard to kill any and all who know too much or disgrace those with public personas, such as Pamela Landy.

Resolution: Both sides get partial success.

One line summary: Best installment of the Bourne series.

Three of the murdering bastards.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10 Often spectacular, occasionally grainy.

Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog.  The music over the closing credits was excellent.  For most of the film, the background music was useless.

Acting: 7/10 I liked the performances of Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Scott Glenn, Oscar Isaac, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Stacy Keach. However, the presence of the always disappointing Edward Norton and ever useless Corey Stoll almost ruined that for me.

Screenplay: 8/10 Rather good, better than the first three Bourne films.  The story moved right along, and motivations were mostly clear.  Normally I would rate this as 9 or 10, but the repulsive acting of Norton and Stoll blunted the clarity of the narrative.

Final Rating: 8/10

20160904: Comedy Review--See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Name: See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
IMDb: link to See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Genres: Comedy, Thriller   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Gene Wilder as Dave Lyons, Richard Pryor as Wally Karue, Joan Severance as Eve, Kevin Spacey as Kirgo, John Capodice as Scotto, Anthony Zerbe as Sutherland, Alan North as Captain Braddock, Kirsten Childs as Adele.

Directed by: Arthur Hiller.  Written by: Earl Baret, Arne Sultan (story).

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Dave owns a news stand.  Wally is looking for a job.  Dave is deaf, Wally is blind.  Wally likes gambling, and owes his bookie Scotto 2800 USD.  Scotto, in turn, owes money to far nastier people. The bookie leaves a valuable gold coin in Dave's pay box before Eve kills him.  Dave and Wally are arrested for the crime.

Delineation of conflicts:
Wally and Dave try to prove that Eve did the murder, and Kirgo is her accomplice.  Eve and Kirgo attempt to retrieve the rare coin for Sutherland, and eliminate Wally and Dave.  The cops, led by Captain Braddock, want to apprehend Wally and Dave after they escape to prove their innocence. Wally's sister Adele tries to help them, and gets a load of trouble for her efforts.

Resolution: Dave and Wally do a lot better (and worse) than one might think.

One line summary: Pryor and Wilder in their prime.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 7/10 Meh.  Looks like 1980s video.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog, which was the biggest issue to consider.  Background music was barely a consideration.

Acting: 8/10 Wilder and Pryor dominate the film, but the supporting players added laughs as well.

Screenplay: 8/10 It's a fairly simple story, but well done.  The gag at the end with Anthony Zerbe and Richard Pryor was just delightful.

Final Rating: 8/10 If you like either Pryor or Wilder, you've got to see this one.

20160808: Action Review--IP Man

Name: IP Man (2008)
IMDb: link to IP Man page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: Hong Kong.

Cast:
Donnie Yen as Ip Man, Simon Yam as Quan, Lynn Hung as Cheung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as (Japanese) General Miura, Ka Tung Lam as Li, Sui-Wong Fan as Jin, Xing Yu as Lin, Tenma Shibuya as Colonel Sato (Miura's aide).

Directed by: Wilson Yip.  Written by: Edmond Wong, Siu-Wong Fan.

image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
The town of Foshan, China in 1935 hosts many martial arts schools.  IP Man is a master of Wing Chun style.  He has a wide reputation which attracts challengers.  He is a man of significant wealth and reputation with a wife and young son.

In 1937, however, the Japanese invasion extended to the region where IP Man lives, including in particular Foshan.  The Japanese military commandeered IP Man's house and ejected him.  Now he is broke.  The Japanese destroyed much of the local manufacturing base, rendering the whole area poor.

Delineation of conflicts:
The local Chinese would like the Japanese to leave; the Japanese clearly intend to stay. The occupying force recruits Chinese masters to fight for rice.  General Miura is quite the expert, and likes to beat the hell out of the locals, three at a time.

IP Man will not participate at first, but a number of deaths draw him out.  He makes a few statements in Miura's tournaments, but what can he do about the situation as a whole?

Quan, a want-to-be rival of IP Man before the war, becomes the boss of a robber gang after the war begins.  IP Man helps defend workers against their extortion by training and personal protection.  Will IP Man be able to help the workers sufficiently to defend themselves?

Will the IP Man confront General Miura directly?

Resolution: We find out.

One line summary: Locals vs Japanese in late 1930s China.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Uniformly well-done though not spectacular.

Sound: 8/10 I used the subtitles, but the voices were clear enough for the dialog.  The music was easy enough to hear, well executed, but a bit understated and florid at times.

Acting: 7/10 Donnie Yen was fine as IP Man, as was Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as General Miura, Ka Tung Lam as Li (the poor bastard who chose to interface with Miura), and Simon Yam as Quan.

Screenplay: 8/10  The story moves along, and the motivations are clear enough.  The build up to the final fight between Miura and IP Man was rather good, and the fight was spectacular.

Final Rating: 8/10

20160720: Action Review--The Good The Bad The Weird

Name: The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008)
IMDb: link to The Good The Bad The Weird page

image courtesy of The Movie Database (TMDb)

Genres: Action, Crime, Comedy   Country of origin: South Korea

Cast:
Jung Woo-Sung as Park Do-won (the Good), Lee Byung-hun as Park Chang-yi (the Bad), Kang-ho Song as Yoon Tae-goo (the Weird).

Directed by: Kim Jee-woon.  Written by: Kim Jee-woon, Min-suk Kim.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
This motion picture is set in 1930s Manchuria, traditionally part of China, but occupied by Japanese armed forces at the time.  The three protagonists are Koreans who have some connection to Korean independence, however weak this connection might be.  The Good is a bounty hunter of considerable skill and experience.  The Bad is a gang leader capable of endless (and often fortuitous) violence.  The Weird appears to be a bumbling bandit who succeeds only by serendipity.

Like a typical James Bond film, the opening is a manic short in its own right, followed by a calmer, longer, deeper depiction of the issues hinted at in the short.  In this case, the film opens at the home of a rich Chinese man, who has an obligation to a man in the Japanese power structure.  The map is sent to even things up.  However, the Chinese fellow hires The Bad to steal the map back.  We jump forward in time to a speeding train.

The Weird decides to rob the train, and starts his robbery slightly ahead of The Bad.  By accident, he finds the train car with the Japanese delegation who have the map, plus various other valuables.  While rifling through luggage, the Weird barely gets to the map when The Bad's gang engages the train with its full attack.

Just about every train robbery cliche follows, as does the arrival of The Good.  The Weird gets away from The Good and The Bad, which sets up the rest of the film.

Delineation of conflicts:
The film is about the map.  It begins with the map, and ends with the map.  Everything in between is about the pursuit and acquisition of the map, plus finding the map's destination.  There is some value attached to the map, since the Japanese army wants it, as do monied interests in China and Japan, as well as bandit gangs and freelance thieves.

The Good and The Bad follow The Weird.  Alliances come and go.  Betrayals arise and damage is taken.

Resolution: The dialectic of conflicts ends late in the film.

The end sequence runs like the Keystone Kops set in the desert, only with one thousand times better production values.  The three protagonists outrun, outgun, or evade other gangs, Japanese army elements, and each other until only the three are left.  They find their target in the map, then they deal with each other.

One line summary: Fine western film set in 1930s Manchuria.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 10/10 Excellent camera work, whether it be vast expanses of desert, tight shots of fights in cityscapes, horses versus motorcycles, moving trains, or quiet interviews in a wealthy man's opulent house.

Sound: 6/10 Dialog was in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese.  I relied on the sub-titles.  Musical accompaniment was appropriate, but not quite the asset it might have been.

Acting: 9/10 The three lead actors were quite engaging.  They (or their doubles) show considerable athletic skill, plus fine weapons expertise.  Several segments were done at breakneck speeds, and everyone seemed up to the task.  Quiet interpersonal scenes were done well.

Screenplay: 8/10 This could be considered an alternate take on the iconic film The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966).  There were parallels, but this is a very Asian film.  At 130 minutes, the film is a bit long, but the humour and the action make the minutes melt away.

Final Rating: 8/10

20160417: Comedy Review--The Big Short

Name: The Big Short (2015)
IMDb: link to The Big Short page

Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Scion Capital: Christian Bale as Michael Burry, Dave Davis as Burry's assistant, Rudy Eisenzopf as Lewis Ranieri.

Deutsche Bank: Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett, Jeffry Griffin as Chris (Jared's assistant).

FrontPoint Partners: Steve Carell as Mark Baum, Marisa Tomei as Cynthia Baum, Brad Pitt as Ben Rickert, Hamish Linklater as Porter Collins, Jeremy Strong as Vinnie Daniels, Adepero Oduya as Kathy Tao.

Directed by: Adam McKay.  Written by: Charles Randolph, Adam McKay (screenplay), Michael Lewis (book).

Deutschebank meets FrontPoint

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Michael Burry MD retired from medicine and became a hedge fund manager.  When joining Scion Capital, he negotiated to have strong control, no matter what, of his part of the hedge funds.  A bit over a year before the start of the the housing collapse in 2007/2008, Burry saw the writing on the wall, and managed to short (bet on failure) several housing securities that seemed bulletproof.  He was widely criticised and attacked from within his company.

Jared Vennett listens extensively to what's going on in the markets.  When he catches some of the Street's disdain for Burry's short bets, he takes a closer look, and decides that he too can profit from the coming recession.

While Jared was looking for allies in shorting housing securities, one of his calls is misplaced.  The 'other' FrontPoint Partners takes the call, and the small but talented group arranges a meeting with Jared.

Delineation of conflicts:
Michael Burry is at war with this company throughout most of the film.  Sticking to his position is not easy in the least.

Jared has a hard time convincing others of his position, which was derived from Burry's.  He also perseveres through some heavy flack from others.

Jared's presentations inspire Mark to do his own research.  Some of the delving into the absurdities of the housing bubble were hilarious; others, incredibly sad.  The uncovering of fraud leaves Mark outraged; others seem to think he is a stupid idealist.  Mark's group joins the small wave betting on failure in the artificial housing securities.  Mark resists wave after wave of pressure to sell off his bets.

Resolution: The dialectic of conflicts ends late in the film.  Stay tuned.

One line summary: Follows small group who bets against the housing market.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 4/10 Sucked.  Pointless bad camera work.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the actors speak.  The music varied quite a bit, from irrelevant to too damned loud to right on target.

Acting: 10/10 Gosling, Carell, Bale, and Pitt were all brilliant in their parts.

Screenplay: 7/10 Too many threads, too many balls in the air simultaneously, not always enough context, way too many drops of the f-bomb.  After the first 20, the next 50 are of little effect.

On the other hand, the black humour is often so trenchant that one has to laugh, and I laughed many times.  The movie drives home the damage done by the widespread fraud and endless lies in the securities industry.

Final Rating: 8/10

20160318: RomCom Review--Must Love Dogs

Name: Must Love Dogs (2005)
IMDb: link to Must Love Dogs page

Genres: Comedy, Romance.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast: Diane Lane as Sarah Nolan, John Cusack as Jake, Elizabeth Perkins as Carol, Christopher Plummer as Bill Nolan, Dermot Mulroney as Bob, Stockard Channing as Dolly, Ali Hillis as Christine, Ben Shenkman as Charlie.

Directed by: Gary David Goldberg.  Written by: Claire Cook (novel), Gary David Goldberg (screenplay).

image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Sarah Nolan is recently divorced, and she gets advice and possible setups from sisters Carol and Christine, her brother, and her father Bill. The efforts to get her back into the dating game seem to be going along swimmingly, but her first blind date turns out to be her father.  Ouch.  She and her sisters regroup, and the search starts in earnest.

Jake is also recently divorced.  He and his lawyer Charlie celebrate the papers being signed, but note sadly that Jake decided not to participate in his own defense.  Divorce is war, and he lost on all fronts.  Jake builds wooden boats by hand, and is not selling all that many of them.  Charlie urges Jake to get back into the dating game, but Jake is slow to accept the idea.

Delineation of conflicts:
Sarah and Jake meet at a dog park, both with borrowed dogs.  They soon discover that both of them were faking it, and the first round looks like a bust.

Bob's child attends where Sarah teaches.  They hit is off fairly well at first, but Bob has a bit of a wandering eye.  Will this kill it for Sarah and Bob?  After all, they are just testing the field.

Jake and Sarah get together again, with better rapport, but they split again.

To make things more fun, father Bill Nolan starts a relationship with the exciting character Dolly, which upsets the rest of the family for a time.  Bill and his wife were together for 45 years before her death, after all.

Resolution: Do we get a Hollywood ending, or will this be just another feel bad comedy?  It could go either way.

One line summary: Pleasant feel-good romantic comedy.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10   Nicely shot.  Ordinary people are doing ordinary things in ordinary places.  The reality principle is in place (no supernatural, no SciFi, no aliens, no CGI).  It's spring or early summer, the world is beautiful, and no one is sick or impoverished or threatened.  The visuals capture all of this smoothly.

Sound: 8/10 I could hear the actors clearly.  Background music was a mild plus.

Acting: 8/10 Christopher Plummer, John Cusack, Stockard Channing, and Diane Lane gave fine performances.  None of other actors were bad.

Screenplay: 7/10 Jake and Sarah start out badly, but do better the second time around, though not well enough.  Bob and Sarah start out with a nice warmth, but then things go south.  I liked those cliched but well done threads.  I also liked the thread featuring Dolly and her interactions with Bill and his daughters.  The ending was the biggest cliche of all, and was the only iffy part of the film for me.  I liked the result, but the awkwardness level was mighty high for a few minutes.

Final rating: 8/10

20160314: Comedy Review--Man Up

Name: Man Up (2015)
IMDb: link to Man Up page
Genres: Comedy, Romance   Country of origin: UK.

Cast: Simon Pegg as Jack, Lake Bell as Nancy Patterson, Sharon Horgan as Elaine, Harriet Walter as Fran, Ken Stott as Bert, Olivia Williams as Hilary, Ophelia Lovibond as Jessica, Rory Kinnear as Sean Mallory.

Directed by: Ben Palmer.  Written by: Tess Morris.

image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Single 34 year old Nancy goes to a loud themed mixer hosted by a hotel at the insistence of her married sister Elaine.  It's another failure.

Nancy heads via train to an anniversary party at the house of their parents, Fran and Bert. Nancy sits down and talks to Elaine.  Across from her is Jessica, who had listened to her telephone conversation with Elaine.  Jessica lends Nancy a self-help book meant to help her meet her true match.  The train stops; Jessica gets off without taking the book. When Nancy wakes up, she tries to find Jessica to return the book, but meets Jack instead.  (Jessica buys another copy; she had left her old copy on purpose, but Nancy does not know that.)

Jack thinks Nancy is his blind date since she has the book.  Jack has a pleasant manner, and does a Hannibal Lecter impression.  Partly because Lecter is one of Nancy's favourite movie characters, she decides to let Jack keep thinking she's his date.  Jessica shows up with her new copy of the book a good 90 seconds too late.

Delineation of conflicts:
First, there is the lie that started their relationship.  Jack and Nancy head into an evening together under false impressions.  Nancy has several opportunities in their conversation to correct the misapprehension, but fails to do so.

During the date, they encounter some baggage from each side.  There is Jack's ex, or soon to be ex, Hilary, whom they meet with Hilary's new significant other.  Then there is Sean, whom Nancy has known for many years but does not remember.  Unfortunately for Nancy, Sean's a bit of a stalker.

Jack is a bit battle weary from the recently failed marriage.  Nancy is in a negativity phase since she has had so many disappointments in a row.

Then there is the party with Fran and Bert.  Elaine and Fran want Nancy to write something to commemorate the 40 years of wedded bliss.  When might that happen during this busy day?

Resolution: Chemistry.

One line summary: Blind date with the wrong person.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 The camera work looks fine, but the sets are endlessly prosaic.  Of course, that's what the movie is about: ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary places.

Sound: 8/10 No problems.  The background music included some fine tunes.

Acting: 8/10 I liked Lake Bell in Surface (2005) and Over Her Dead Body (2008), but have not seen her work much since.  As for Simon Pegg, I liked him a lot in Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011).

As for this movie, the rest of the cast provided competent performances.  The movie sank or swam based on the screen chemistry between Pegg's character and Bell's character.  In the early going, Nancy was evasive (she's lying left and right, not in her skill set) and Jack was nervously expansive since he wants the date to go well.  This was awkward to say the least.  The chemistry starts to show when they connect on movie after movie, book after book, bowling and eating.

Perhaps the best part was when the lies start to be burned away by truth.  Pegg and Bell really go at in realistic ways that are funny as well.  The dancing scenes were marvelous: they don't slow dance well, but they were in perfect sync for Duran Duran's The Reflex (1984).

Screenplay: 7/10 Awkwardness was displayed aplenty as is common in romantic comedies.  However, this was done, for the most part, without making the people in the awkward situations seem like terrible people (well, except Sean, perhaps).

I got some laughs from watching this film, which is where most romantic comedies fail.

Final rating: 8/10 

20160220: SciFi Review--I'll Follow You Down

Name: I'll Follow You Down (2013)
IMDb: link to I'll Follow You Down page

Genres: Drama   Country of origin: USA.

Cast: Gillian Anderson as Marika, Haley Joel Osment as Erol, Rufus Sewell as Gabriel Whyte, Victor Garber as Sal, Susanna Fournier as Grace, John Paul Ruttan as young Erol, Kiara Glasco as young Gracie.

Written and directed by: Richie Mehta.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Erol's father Gabriel leaves for a routine trip.  When Erol and Marika wait for his return at the airport, he does not arrive.  Marika and Sal search to no avail.

Twelve years pass.  Sal has done a huge amount of background work to replicate an experiment that he knew Gabriel wanted to attempt involving time travel.  Sal enlists Erol's help in finishing the details.

Delineation of conflicts:
Erol's girlfriend Grace is against the attempt, since she thinks their current life will be lost.  Sal wants Erol to continue, since Sal hopes to 'correct' the timeline.  Marika struggles with her loss.

Resolution: Supposing Erol can construct the wormhole, will he be able to convince Gabriel to alter his course?

One line summary: Young genius tries to heal his family by altering time.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Looks good.

Sound: 8/10 Just fine.

Acting: 9/10 Sewell, Garber, Osment, and Anderson were all fine.

Screenplay: 8/10 There were a lot of nice touches, and not too many additional what ifs.

Final rating: 8/10 

20160105: Comedy Review--Manhattan 1979

Name: Manhattan (1979)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Comedy    Country of Origin: USA.

Cast: Woody Allen as Isaac Davis, Diane Keaton as Mary Wilkie, Michael Murphy as Yale, Mariel Hemingway as Tracy, Meryl Streep as Jill, Anne Byrne Hoffman as Emily, Karen Ludwig as Connie, Shawn Wallace as Jeremiah.

Directed by: Woody Allen.   Written by: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: The film features some fine shooting in black and white.  Isaac, 42, has drinks with his long time friend Yale, Yale's wife Emily, and Tracey, his current girlfriend, who is 17 (yikes).  Isaac's ex Jill, who left him for another woman, is writing a tell-all book about their marriage.  Isaac decides to quit his well-paying job to write a book.

Delineation of conflicts:  Isaac is not thrilled with Jill's book, but she is adamant about getting it published.  Yale is having an affair with Mary, while Emily seeks the deeper commitment of children.  Yale puts her off.  Tracy would like Isaac to be happy, which is not ever going to be an easy thing.  Isaac would like Tracy to have a normal happy youth; Tracy would like some commitment from Isaac.  Isaac would like to be with his son more, but his obsession with intellect would probably never allow that.  The triangle of Yale, Mary, and Isaac takes a number of turns, and has repercussions.

Resolution: The personal connections move forward, some for better, some for the worse.  Yep, that is about it, but it's well done.

One line summary: Relationships in NYC.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 9/10 Beautifully shot.  Loved the scenes of Mary and Isaac walking in the planetarium.

  b. Sound: 7/10 The actors are not always miked well, so some of the conversations dropped out or were slurred.  That sucked.  The music on the other hand, was rather good, featuring sections of a number of Gershwin compositions.  Of course, younger viewers who have not heard all these tunes dozens of times might disagree.

  c. Acting: 7/10 I loved the performances of Michael Murphy, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, and Mariel Hemingway.  Meryl Streep I could have done without.  I liked the short scene with Wallace Shawn.

  d. Screenplay: 8/10 There were a good number of laughs.  I am still wondering what 'interstellar perversion' is.

Final rating: 8/10

20151230: Comedy Review--Broadway Danny Rose

Name: Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Comedy    Country of Origin: USA.

Cast: Woody Allen as Danny Rose, Mia Farrow as Tina Vitale, Nick Apollo Forte as Lou Canova.

Sandy Baron as Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica as Corbett Monica, Morty Gunty as Morty Gunty, Milton Berle as Milton Berle, Will Jordan as Will Jordan, Howard Storm as Howard Storm.

Written and directed by: Woody Allen.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: The film opens with a smoker party of comedians/entertainers who have operated in the Catskills and other clubs on the Atlantic seaboard.  During their reminiscences, the group starts talking about the legendary nebbish personal manager Danny Rose.

In the process, the story starts of Danny's nurturing the career of Lou Canova after it has already fallen a considerable distance.  The comedians show up intermittently to nudge the story forward.

Delineation of conflicts:  Tina Vitale becomes important to Lou Canova, but she's a big bag of randomness.  Dealing with her to keep Lou centred is Danny's challenge.  Plus, Lou is married to Teresa, and has been for years.  What could possibly go wrong?  Danny finds out as Lou's career shows a few moments of picking up.  Danny's problems get worse when Tina's relatives (part of the mob) get involved, and not in a nice way.

Resolution: The nebbish and the doll go on the run.  Will it save them?

One line summary: Woody Allen plays a theatrical manager.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 8/10 Black and white, not my favourite by any means, but beautifully shot.

  b. Sound: 9/10 Recorded in monaural, but still good.

  c. Acting: 8/10 The lead trio gave good performances.

  d. Screenplay: 8/10 Some clever writing here.  I had no idea that "I didn't do anything!" could be repeated for good effect so many times.

Final rating: 8/10 I had quite a number of laughs.

20151230: Comedy Review--Play It Again Sam

Name: Play It Again, Sam (1972)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Comedy    Country of Origin: USA.

Cast: Woody Allen as Allan Felix, Diane Keaton as Linda Christie, Tony Roberts as Dick Christie, Jerry Lacy as Humphrey Bogart, Susan Anspach as Nancy, Jennifer Salt as Sharon, Joy Bang as Julie, Viva as Jennifer.

Directed by: Herbert Ross.  Written by:  Woody Allen (theatre play and screenplay).

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: At the very front of the film is an extended clip from the tail end of Casablanca (1942).  If you are aiming to see Play It Again, Sam I would suggest seeing Casablanca first, if you have not already.  That parting scene is close to the heart of neurotic movie critic Allan, who lives in San Francisco.

The film soon jumps to the reality of Allan's wife leaving him.  Allan's involvement with Casablanca spills over into his life as the waking hallucination of Bogart giving him advice for his many problems.  No one else sees Bogart, of course.

Delineation of conflicts:  Allan's arguments with his ex wife are largely over, but she comes back to bite him now and then.  Allan tries to re-enter the dating scene with the help of close friend Dick Christie and wife Linda Christie.  These attempts run counter to Allan's lack of confidence, urge to impress by fakery, and need to make clever comments over making progress.  Bogart's suggestions make sense for Bogart, but not so much for Allan.

As the dating failures mount, Allan and Linda have a growing sense of attraction.  Linda is married to Dick, and Dick is Allan's best friend, so how can this work?

Resolution: The film comes full circle.

One line summary: Humphrey Bogart advises Woody Allen.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 7/10 Wow, a Woody Allen film not set in NYC!  Then again, Herbert Ross was directing.  The visuals were more pleasing than I expected.

  b. Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog, and the background music was well-chosen.

  c. Acting: 8/10 I liked the three leads.

  d. Screenplay: 9/10 This was from the funny era of Woody Allen films, and I got quite a few good laughs out of this one.  The dating failures and the recurrent reading of telephone numbers by Tony Roberts were my favourite gags, and the level of wit was fairly nice.

Final rating: 8/10 I was looking for funny, and I found it.

20151130: Drama Review--Nightcrawler

Name: Nightcrawler (2014)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Drama, Crime.    Country of Origin: USA.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis Bloom, Rene Russo as Nina Romina, Bill Paxton as Joe Loder, Kevin Rahm as Frank Kruse, Riz Ahmed as Rick, Kathleen York as Jackie, Ann Cusack as Linda, Kent Shocknick as Kent Shocknick, Carolyn Gilroy as Jenny.

Written and directed by:  First time director Dan Gilroy [writer of The Bourne Legacy (2012), Real Steel (2011), Freejack (1992)]  Dan's twin John Gilroy was the editor of record for the film, and his brother Tony Gilroy was one of the producers, as was Jake Gyllenhaal.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: It's night time in Los Angeles, and Louis Bloom is out acquiring copper wire, chain link fence, and manhole covers to sell to a scrap operator.  That is, he steals these materials from insufficiently secure sites.  He also listens to audio courses on entrepreneurship as he cruises the city looking for weakness.  He's not above beating the hell out of a security guard in order to get free of him, but more to steal his pricy watch.

Louis is clearly looking for something more monetarily rewarding.  By chance he stops at a recent auto accident that might get worse if the car explodes before the CHP can get the driver out of the car.  A freelance TV film crew (Joe Loder and his assistant) show up, as if on cue, and start filming.  Louis starts the process of learning new skills.  He observes the handling of the situation that involves cops, aggressive reporters, victim(s), the excitement of jeopardy, straight up corruption, electronic surveillance, and the hungry market of TV news.  When he sees the incident on TV at home the next morning, he's hooked.

Delineation of conflicts: There is competition among the freelance film camera crews (stringers), especially those who film crime oriented events for television.  Louis enters that competition.  He catches the attention of a morning news director at an LA TV station, Nina Romina.  His relationship with her is stormy, but they both gain from it.  As his success grows (better car, better camera, better access), Louis becomes impatient for more success.  He moves incrementally from pure observer to active participant in the crime scenes.  The jostling with other stringers continues, and his self-created legal jeopardy increases.

Resolution: Character issues lead to consequences, but where do those consequences land?

One line summary: Freelance thief becomes a freelance TV cameraman.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 10/10 Well done.

  b. Sound: 9/10 Fine.

  c. Acting: 8/10 Veteran actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, and Bill Paxton were quite good, as expected.  I had not seen Riz Ahmed before, but I liked his performance.  Many of the other characters could have been played by cardboard cutouts.

  d. Screenplay: 7/10 As a technical exercise, this film was brilliant.  As a reviewer, I applaud it. Following the rise of a deeply flawed sociopath was executed by masterful leadership. Intellectually I'm glad such movies are still made.

On the other hand, would I recommend this film to a friend?  No, unless the friend knows how to eat bitter and knows that sometimes high quality films are difficult to watch.  What character would I identify with?  None.  What character would I empathise with?  None.

Final rating: 8/10

20151119: Horror Review--Last Shift

Name: Last Shift (2014)  
IMDb: link to IMDb

Officer Loren

Genres: Horror, thriller    Country of Origin: USA.
Written and directed by:  Anthony DiBlasi.

Cast: Juliana Harkavy as Officer Jessica Loren, Joshua Mikel as John Michael Paymon, J. LaRose as Patrick Black, Natalie Victoria as Marigold, Sarah Sculco as Kitty Paymon, Kathryn Kilger as Dorothea Paymon, Mary Langford Polley as Birdie, Jeremy S. Brock as Police Interrogator, Amanda Defrance as Crime Scene Girl, Matt Doman as Officer Ryan Price, Hank Stone as Sergeant Cohen.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: Officer Jessica Loren starts the night shift at a Sanford police station that is just about to be decommissioned.  The Sergeant Cohen gives her a short pep talk, then leaves her.  The 'bump in the night' phenomena show up almost immediately.  Even though the telephone number for the station has been rerouted, she gets calls from a little girl, Monica.  Doors open.  A homeless man sneaks in somehow.  The men's room is plastered with excrement.  The reports the calls from Monica to her superiors, and calls a waste cleanup service to clean the facilities.  The poltergeist action continues.  When she calls for backup against breaking and entering, her radio connection fails.

Delineation of conflicts: Officer Loren would like the nonsense to stop.  Whatever happened to trigger the supernatural activity, seems to want something, but what?  The prostitute Marigold drops by, and Officer Loren sets about to roust her from police property.  Marigold is very chatty, and relates to Loren the story of a want-to-be Manson family, the Paymons.  It just happens that Jessica's father was part of the police team that took out the Paymons.  The story Jessica heard about the Paymons while growing up was not the story that Marigold experienced in a cell near the Paymons before they died.

Resolution: The usual cliches for this generic situation seem to be in force.  What does Officer Loren have to do to end the disturbance of those causing the supernatural activity?  That is, end the psycho, beyond-the-grave actions of the dead Paymons, and the suffering of their dead victims.

One line summary: What she does not know may hurt her.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 8/10 Focus, framing, and depth were fine, but I could have done without the overexposure that was present in many scenes.

  b. Sound: 7/10 No problems, and the jump scares were not overdone. On the other hand, the background music did not contribute too much in the way of creepiness.

  c. Acting: 7/10 Juliana Harkavy is in about 95% of the scenes.  She was much better than I expected, and I can think of many actresses who would not have done as well.

  d. Screenplay: 8/10 I rather liked the story, which keeps the viewer guessing until the end.

Final rating: 8/10

20151027: Action Review--John Wick

Name: John Wick (2014)
IMDb: link to IMDb page

Genres: Action, Thriller  Country of Origin: USA

Cast: Keanu Reeves as John Wick, Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov, Alfie Allen as Iosef Tarasov, Willem Dafoe as Marcus, Dean Winters as Avi, Adrianne Palicki as Ms Perkins, Omer Barnea as Gregori, Toby Leonard Moore as Victor, Bridget Moynahan as Helen, John Leguiziamo as Aurelio, Ian McShane as Winston, Bridget Regan as Addy, Lance Reddick as Hotel Manager (Charon).

Directed by:  Chad Stahelski and David Leitch.  Written by: Derek Kolstad.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableau:  In modern day greater New York/New Jersey, John Wick's wife Helen suddenly dies of a long lingering illness.  His old acquaintance Marcus gives his condolences after the burial.  He grieves for an interval.  In the days after the wake, a puppy, Daisy, is delivered with a note from Helen.  John and Daisy get to like each other.  While out with Daisy getting gasoline, two Russian mobsters stop for gas at the same time. Iosef admires John's Mustang, and offers to buy either the car or the dog or both.  John declines, and an older associate calls Iosef off.  Iosef and two friends break into John's house, beat him up, ruin beautiful things, shoot Daisy, steal the Mustang, badly damage his newer car, and steal the bracelet of Helen's that John kept near him.

Delineation of conflicts: Daisy was John's last living link with Helen.  The necklace had similar importance.  John wants vengeance on Iosef and on Viggo.  Aurelio informs Viggo of Iosef's actions.  Viggo understands the problem that Iosef has created.  "That fuckin' nobody is John Wick." he informs Iosef the idiot.  He advises Iosef to get out of his sight.  He asks his associate, Avi, to task all his available men to take on John.  When that fails, he sets a bounty of 2 million USD on John's head, and also asks Marcus to do the job as soon as possible.  Will Viggo live through this?

Resolution:  The many conflicts were resolved in what I thought were reasonable ways.  I recommend this film to anyone who likes the genre.

One line summary: Excellent action/revenge film.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 6/10 This would be one of the weaker parts of this film.  I do not like filters, and there were too many minutes of that.

  b. Sound: 9/10 There are some great music tracks in this film, and the incidental music was well-chosen.  The actors were well miked, and I had no problems picking up dialog.

  c. Acting: 8/10 I liked Dafoe as always.  This was a great role for Keanu Reeves.  I have only liked him in The Matrix before this film, and was glad to see another film that suited him so very well.  Michael Nyqvist was superb as Viggo.  Ian McShane, John Leguiziamo, and Lance Reddick were all very good.

  d. Screenplay: 10/10 For a revenge movie, this was a fine script.  The direction and the plotlines certainly raised my hopes that John would succeed in everything that he tried.  Plus, the end of Iosef is something I looked forward to from very early on.  I seldom get that engaged with revenge films.  I loved the humour between old pairs of friends while there were lulls in the action.

Final rating: 8/10

20150906: Comedy Review--Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Name: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
IMDb: Hitchhiker's Guide main IMDb page

Genres: Comedy, Adventure, SciFi, Romance

Cast: Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) as Ford Prefect, Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok, John Malkovich as Humma Kavula, Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, Helen Mirren as voice of Deep Thought, Stephen Fry as Narrator.

Written by: Douglas Adams (novel); Douglas Adams and Karey Kirkpatrick (screenplay).
Directed by: Garth Jennings.

The Three Acts

1. The Initial Tableau: We start on Earth, where an ordinary fellow (Arthur Dent) soon discovers that his house is about to be demolished for the sake of a bypass.  His friend Ford Prefect drops by to inform him that Earth is about to be blown up.  While Arthur's house is completely demolished, Ford prepares him for leaving Earth.  During this short stint, Arthur tells Ford about his feeling of loss over Tricia McMillan, whom he had recently met.  However, she ran off with some fellow who claimed he had a spaceship.  Ford and Arthur barely escape before Earth is destroyed.

2. Delineation of Conflicts: The Vogons do indeed blow up the Earth.  Ford and Arthur are tortured by having to listen to Vogon poetry.  They are about to be executed because Arthur insulted the poetry written by the torturer.  By a massive coincidence (one of many), they are rescued by Zaphod Beeblebox, the president of the galaxy, and Trillian, who once called herself Tricia McMillan.  So, all is well, and the film ends, right?

Well, no. Arthur learns that Ford and Zaphod are old friends and also aliens from worlds other than Earth.  Ford is a writer who is doing research for a new edition of Hitchhiker's Guide.  Zaphod had stolen the one vastly expensive ship Heart of Gold whose engine is the improbability drive.  Rontok is after Zaphod for kidnapping the president (Zaphod; figure that one), and she sends the Vogons after him.  Zaphod has some unfinished business with Humma Kavula (his previous political opponent), which causes him to search out Deep Thought and ask for a particular gun that Humma demands.  While with Deep Thought, we get entangled with the quest for the question to life, the universe, and everything.  Deep Thought knows the answer (42), but not the question.  Zaphod, Arthur, and Trillian wrangle about why she left Earth (and Arthur) with Zaphod, and about who ordered Earth to be destroyed.  The clinically depressed robot Marvin laments all the pieces.

3. Resolution: Some issues are resolved in this film.  The book that spawned the film was only the first in a series, after all.  When Arthur meets Slartibartfast (played brilliantly by Bill Nighy), the third act takes off.  Slartibartfast works for a concern that builds planets.  Perhaps all this could be put back together, but will it?

One line summary: Slow start, strong finish.

Statistics
a. Cinematography: 10/10 Taken as a whole, this is a beautiful film.  Even the charts were a visual asset.

b. Sound: 8/10 The dialog is clear, and background sound added to the proceedings.

c. Acting: 8/10 Malkovich was brilliant in a small role, as were Rickman, Mirren, and Fry as voice actors.  Bill Nighy gave a wonderful performance.  I liked Ms Deschanel better than I usually do.  Mr Freeman played the character he usually plays, an ill-equipped ordinary being who somehow perseveres to see tough goals achieved.  So, he was a fine choice to play Arthur Dent.

d. Screenplay: 6/10 This is an odd duck.  The beginning was so slow it almost demanded yawns.  However, the building of context through the film led to a brilliant and dense comedic impact in the last 20 minutes.  The start, though, was so bad that the wife and I nearly abandoned the film to watch, well, anything else.  I am glad to have stuck with it, but would not watch it again.

Final Rating: 8/10