20170322: Drama Review--Catch Me If You Can

Name: Catch Me If You Can (2002)
IMDb: link to Catch Me If You Can page

Genres: Drama.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale, Jr, Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale Sr, Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg.  Written by: Jeff Nathanson (screenplay), Frank Abagnale (book).

DiCaprio in Pan Am uniform

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Conman Frank Abagnale Sr has legal troubles, plus the IRS is after him.  His life is spiraling down as the justice system crushes him.  He loses his reputation.  He loses his business.  He loses his wife.  He goes to work for the Post Office.

Frank Abagnale Jr idolizes his father.  He thinks that obtaining money and access, by whatever means, might help his father and bring his parents back together.  He enjoys success for a time.

Frank shows up on FBI agent Carl Hanratty's radar as a skilled paperhanger (check forger).  Carl makes his case to his superiors that Frank needs to be stopped, and gets two agents to help him.

Delineation of conflicts:
Frank Jr wants to help his father, but everything he tries fails at that goal.  However, his efforts at getting money attract Carl's attention.  Frank is often on the run, sometimes just one step ahead of Carl.  The pursuit is long since Frank is good at narrow escapes.

Resolution: Despite Frank's talents, the law does catch up with him.  However,  the long conflict between Carl and Frank changes them, and creates a better future for both.

One line summary:
Semi-biographical rendering of Frank Abagnale's exploits.

DiCaprio as Frank, Hanks as Carl

Statistics:

Cinematography: 10/10 Well done.

Sound: 10/10 The actors were miked sufficiently. The music soundtrack was marvelous, IMDb music credits.

Acting: 10/10 The three principal actors were wonderful.

Screenplay: 10/10 Well executed: some dry humor, narrow escapes, slow burns (Mr Hanks), and a fine build to the conclusion.

Final rating: 10/10

20170217: Drama Review--The Ghost Writer

Name: The Ghost Writer (2010)
IMDb: link to The Ghost Writer

Genres: Action.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Olivia Williams as Ruth Lang, Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang, Ewan McGregor as The Ghost, Tom Wilkinson as Paul Emmitt, Eli Wallach as Old Man, Cattrall as Amelia Bly, Jon Bernthal as Rik Ricardelli, Jim Belushi as John Maddox, Robert Pugh as Richard Rycart.

Directed by: Roman Polanski.  Written by: Robert Harris, Roman Polanski.

Olivia Williams as Ruth Lang

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
1. Adam Lang, the former Prime Minister of the UK, had a biography commissioned.  The writer was quite far into the project when he died suddenly.

2. The Ghost is a ghostwriter but not a star writer.  He is interviewed to take up completing the manuscript.  His interview shows his moxie, his cleverness, and his unwillingness to give up looking for truth.  It's a fine Roman Polanski beginning.

3. Adam Lang is at one of his retreats, an island off the east coast of the United States, during his time with The Ghost.  Security is rather tight, and restrictions abound.

Delineation of conflicts:
The Ghost wants to finish the book and show the truth about Lang's career.  To do this, he investigates how his predecessor died.  However, Lang's camp is secretive which slows things down.  To make things even more interesting, legal proceedings start in the UK against Lang for consequences of wartime decisions.  The press descend on the island, as does the father of a soldier killed as a result of Lang's policies.  As the chaos rises, The Ghost finds more and more material about Lang's history.  Not everybody is happy about his efforts.

Resolution: Harsh, definitive.  The Ghost's pursuit of truth is his undoing.

Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang; Ewan McGregor as The Ghost

One line summary:
1. A reluctant writer contracts to ghost the autobiography of a slimy politician.
or
2. Ghostwriter finds more truth than is good for him.
Decisions, decisions.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 10/10 Amazing, gorgeous.

Sound: 10/10 Excellent, whether catching the mood of the sea, or the sense of danger that situations bring.

Acting: 10/10 The direction and performances made this film.  I don't always like Ewan McGregor, but when he is good, he's really good.  This was one of Pierce Brosnan's better performances.  Olivia Williams was wonderful, as were Tom Wilkinson and Robert Pugh in limited roles.

Screenplay: 10/10 Good writing well executed under Polanski's direction.

Final rating: 10/10 This is a new entry in my list of favourite movies.

20151125: Action Review--Spectre

Name: Spectre (2015)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime    Country of Origin: UK

Cast: Daniel Craig as James Bond, Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory/M, Monica Belucci as Lucia Sciarra, Ben Wishaw as Q/Quartermaster, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Dave Bautista as Mr Hinx, Andrew Scott as C/Max Denbigh, Rory Kinnear as Tanner.

Directed by:  Sam Mendes.  Written by: John Logan, Neal Purvis.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: The film starts in Mexico City in a grand public Day of the Dead celebration.  Bond seems to be enjoying himself, but soon is in direct pursuit of an enemy.  When he returns to London, M lets him know that his actions were not appreciated, that he will be under observation, and that the double oh section is in danger of being shut down.

Delineation of conflicts: C (head of the new organisation Centre of National Security) wants to shut down the double oh section; M wants to keep it open.  Bond wants to honour the post-mortem wishes of the previous M.  SPECTRE wants strong control of almost all information flow in the world, so as to have more power and to make more money.  C wants that flow to be available to UK intelligence to replace older methodology, like MI6.  Q, M, Tanner, Moneypenny, and Bond would like to preserve each other as well as some traditional British approaches to civilization and intelligence.  C and SPECTRE are clearly opposed, and seem to have the upper hand during most of the film.  Bond's foster brother wants to make Bond fully aware of how much he hates him.

Resolution: Bond has an opportunity to be his better self; does he take it?

One line summary: Clearly the best Bond film ever.

Why do I call this the best Bond film ever?  Because it narrates a clear and conclusive path to the long overdue end to this excellent series.  Take the opportunity.  This film explains the entire series and shows Bond accepting a change in life path.  There is no need for continuance after this wonderful film.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 10/10 Beautiful.  Breathtaking.  Professional.  Should be 27/10, but would be cheating, I guess.

  b. Sound: 9/10 Having a man (Sam Smith) sing the theme song for the film in castrato style is just, plain, wrong.  Except for that wretched interlude, the background sound was excellent for accentuating pacing and mood.

  c. Acting: 9/10 I liked every actor except the overrated Christoph Waltz, whose performance was neither interesting nor believable, despite the richness of the role.  Dave Bautista played an excellent physical opponent to Bond: huge, powerful, quick, intelligent, determined.  Ben Wishaw was wonderful as the modern quartermaster that 007 needs in the present.  Fiennes, Kinnear, Harris, and Belucci did fine jobs.  Andrew Scott's performance was quite good as a rotten ball of snot who needed to run things no matter what the consequences.  Last but not least, I enjoyed watching Seydoux and Craig much more than I thought I would.

  d. Screenplay: 10/10 This is the best story I've ever seen in a Bond film. The introduction of a female character who was actually a good match for Bond was quite an innovation. The story threads were engaging, the tension was at a good level throughout, and the whole script led to a decisive ending. For money reasons, I'm sure there will be more Bond films.  The ending of this film, though, was beautiful and final and just and closed.  So please, folks, stop on the highest note, and don't break that lovely ending.

Final rating: 10/10

20131224: Thriller Review--Cypher

Cypher

Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American/ Canadian live action feature length film, 2002, rated R, 95 minutes, SciFi, thriller.  Spoken word is in English.  Aspect, 1.85
2. IMDB: 6.8/10.0 from 22,792 audience ratings.  Estimated budget, 7.5 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 61% on the meter; 66% liked it from 8,162 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.3/5.0 from 215,793 audience ratings.
5. Directed by: Vincenzo Natali.
6. Starring: Lucy Liu as Rita Foster, Jeremy Northam as Morgan Sullivan, Nigel Bennett as Ed Finster, Timothy Webber as Frank Calloway, David Hewlett as Virgil C. Dunn.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Morgan takes a polygraph test for his job at Digicorp, where he is to do corporate espionage, primarily against Digicorp's rival, Sunways Systems.  He gets a new identity, Jack Thursby, and Morgan is to fill in the blanks on what personality Jack has.  His usual job is to go to conferences and listen and record speeches given by rival companies.


2. His first assignment takes him to Buffalo, where Jack represents Fairway Fragrances.  He has opportunities to prop up his cover stories, like smoking cigarettes, drinking single malt scotch, and having grown up in the south pacific islands.  He meets Rita on his first trip.  Between the first and second trip, Morgan tells his wife that her father can forget Morgan's working for him.  She tells him he can either apologise or leave the house, which I presume he did.  His next trip is to Omaha.


3. Rita intervenes: gives him meds to deal with his headaches, tells him not to turn on his pen.  He does neither, and he still gets visions and headaches.  He starts taking the meds.  He's given a cryptic way of contacting Rita.  She starts his education.  At his next convention talk, he sees something entirely different.  Her warnings save him from some very bad possibilities.  What follows is an indoctrination: he is Jack Thursby, not Morgan Sullivan; he has a different wife, and his home base is with her in a different state.


4. He makes it 'home;' there is a woman in residence who seems to know him and is warm to him, which is one huge improvement for him.  Then he's off to a job interview at Sunways where his 'neurograph' shows he's lying.  Sunways wants him to be a double agent against Digicorp.  Their security chief lets him know that his real home is up for sale, and his wife his divorcing him.  He also lets him know that Digicorp expects him to act as Jack Thursby; any sign of Morgan will result in his elimination. 


5. He finds that Rita does not work for Sunways, but for Sebastian Rooks.  Jack goes to work with Sunways; his first job is to bug his new home.  He finds that his new 'wife' is a Digicorp agent.  He seeks a way out.  Rita tells him to stay in place, so that Digicorp will think that they have established Jack within Sunways.  Rita discusses a way out via Rooks.


6. There are more surprises along the way.  Will Jack ever make it out of this complicated mess?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary  Fine, well-acted mystery-thriller set in the near future.
2. Final Rating: 10/10


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Very good.


2. Sound: 10/10 No problems.


3. Acting: 10/10 Lucy Liu, Jeremy Northam, Nigel Bennett, and David Hewlett were excellent.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 There seemed to be too many layers of charades at times.  I loved the ending, though, which seemed to make it all worth while.