PROMISED LAND

PROMISED LAND
Written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski and Frances McDormand

When I think of the promised land, I think of a metaphoric place where great things come together to form some sort of utopian existence. As that would relate to film, I would think that the notion of actor/writer, Matt Damon, re-teaming with director, Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING), would be solid ground to start on. Throw in talented actresses like Frances McDormand and Rosemarie DeWitt and that ground should prove to be pretty fertile. You can even take a risk on unproven yet charming screen talent, John Krasinski, who collaborates with Damon on the writing duty. All of these elements should provide as close to perfection as possible but PROMISED LAND never delivers on its own promise.

Based on a Dave Eggers story, Damon and Krasinski have written a thoroughly unfocused, unavoidably preachy screenplay. PROMISED LAND attempts to shed some light on the dangers of natural gas drilling, which can provide some small communities with some much needed capital, but at the risk of poisoning their land. Enter a giant corporation, called Global Corp or something equally as banal, to take advantage of the poor unsuspecting and simple folks of middle America, whom Van Sant seems to delight in showing as genuinely clueless. Damon is the face of this corporation (McDormand, his trusty aid). He is supposed to be tops in his field but he does nothing but make stupid mistakes from the moment he arrives in McKinley, the farming town setting that could really be any farming town. How ever did this giant drilling monster get to be so successful with bumbling, contemptuous reps like Damon?

When Damon starts mucking up a deal that was supposed to be an easy close, Krasinski enters as an environmental lobbyist who wants to stop the drilling from happening (and steal Damon’s girl, DeWitt, for no real reason whatsoever, other than to muddy an already messy plot). For the first two thirds of the film, PROMISED LAND plays to middling results, despite its flaws. In the final act though, it completely falls apart. The story shifts its focus to the Damon character from the drilling debate. To be fair, I feel the entire film should have focused on character instead of cause, but to come in at the last minute and make this entire debacle about Damon’s own personal issues with his part in raping America, just felt forced. More so, it felt like Van Sant, along with Damon and Krasinski, didn’t know how to end things. It also felt completely inauthentic and when you’re trying to make a movie about an important issue, you should at the very least remain true to that point.

306. Promised Land

306. (09 Dec) Promised Land (2012, Gus Van Sant) 55



For the entire first act, Promised Land seems honest and earnest enough not to verge into preachy message film territory. Even when Hal Holbrook acts as a mouthpiece for anti-fracking environmentalists, this still doesn't quite feel hokey. But somewhere along the way, the contrivances and conveniences start adding up. From a twist involving John Krasinski to Matt Damon's total blindness to his corporation's evils, these people never seem quite real. Only Frances McDormand gets an arc that is true to life. Ultimately, this is just a flag-waving suggestion that America's just too darn determined to be defeated. (There are genuinely way, way too many American flags at use here.) Still, Gus Van Sant's assured direction, keen eye for composition, and a lovely Danny Elfman score keep this mostly on track.

Blu-ray Review: GOOD WILL HUNTING

GOOD WILL HUNTING
Written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Starring Matt Damon, Minnie Driver, Robin Williams and Ben Affleck

Chuckie Sullivan: You know what the best part of my day is? For about 10 seconds, from when I pull up to the curb to when I get to your door, because I think maybe I’ll get up there and I’ll knock on the door and you won’t be there.

I can remember quite clearly what it was like the first time I saw Gus Van Sant’s GOOD WILL HUNTING. It was a particularly snowy winter day which seemingly kept the crowds away from the theatre. It was before Matt Damon and Ben Affleck had become the stuff of Hollywood legend. And while the story of two friends writing themselves a screenplay that would defy all odds to go on and win the Academy Award and make their careers is a story well worth celebrating, it did take away from the film itself. Fifteen years later, the hype has also subsided which allows GOOD WILL HUNTING to to shine brighter than it ever has.

Damon plays Will Hunting, a genius who also just happens to have come from an abusive childhood, an orphan shuffling around from one foster home to the next. After he solves an equation on a chalk board at M.I.T., he runs into more trouble with the law. To avoid jail time, he must meet with an M.I.T. professor weekly to study advanced math, as well as a therapist, to deal with his emotional issues. Enter Robin Williams, in an Oscar-winning turn, as the only therapist Hunting will work with. This is where the film truly takes on its own life and then Van Sant, just drives it home.

GOOD WILL HUNTING makes its first appearance on Blu-ray with a 15-year anniversary edition. Previous DVD features, likes audio commentary from Van Sant, Damon and Affleck for instance, make repeat appearances here. A reflection featurette contains all new interviews with the majority of the cast and reveals so much insight into the making of the film. As Damon and Affleck look back, their appreciation for that moment in time is abundantly obvious, making this anniversary edition well worth celebrating.

The Adjustment Bureau

I feel like giving a standing ovation to the people behind The Adjustment Bureau. The writer(s) for coming up with a story that actually very skillfully disguises a "chick flick" as a film that is borderline sci-fi. The makers for keeping just the right balance between the lovey-dovey stuff and the mystery making sure that both the sexes are equally satisfied.

(Note: I know I am generalizing the genres with the sexes, that is not my intent, but just a tool to better explain the film in a somewhat lighter/comical manner)

The Adjustment Bureau is about David Norris (Matt Damon) who meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) just when he has lost a senate seat and has one of those love-at-first-sight experiences. Unfortunately, soon afterwards he finds out about a certain mysterious organization that is in a way responsible for making sure the world functions properly, to put it mildly. According to this organization, he is never to meet Elise again. The remainder of the story is over a period of time (sometimes jumping 3 years in one go) wherein David discovers more about these mysterious men and realizes that he will leave no stone unturned (talk about using a clichéd phrase) to be with Elise.  

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt perform as professional actors are expected to. There are no real scene stealers, but there are also no negatives when it comes to acting. Both the primary actors look good together and probably for the first time I really enjoyed Emily Blunt's performance (I haven't seen very many of her movies).

The film as a whole keeps just the right pace. It doesn't turn into a race-against-the-time thriller nor does it get entangled too much in the romantic side and slows down. The only disappointing aspect, for me, was the fact that the action scenes (and action is mostly running around not fighting) are somewhat at par with the remainder of the film. On one end, these scenes fit in well, but on the other, the action is more fun when it is slightly super-charged.

The Adjustment Bureau is a nice little watch than can even pass by as a date movie, one where neither of the members will have reason to complain afterwards. Although, it doesn't exceed expectations, it does manage to hold its ground firmly making watching it a pleasant experience.      

3.5/5 Star Rating

The Departed

The Departed, 2006
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Nominated for 5 Oscars, Won 4
Won BP over Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen

Synopsis: Billy Costigan wants to be a cop. But with his family history of crime, no one will hire him. Until they need a man to go undercover, to be the mole in Frank Costello's crime ring. Costello's been avoiding the law, and being arrested for a long, long time, and Billy is the perfect spy. His family was friends with Frank Costello and his partners, and Billy gains Costello's trust very easily. Meanwhile, Colin Sullivan is an up-and-coming cop, rising in the Special Investigations Unit. He's brilliant, and has a pitch perfect past. And that makes him the perfect mole in the SIU. Being a friend and worker for Frank Costello since childhood, Sullivan is the perfect mole in the Boston Police force. But when both sides suspect a mole, Billy and Colin race to uncover the other, to save their own skins.

Before I write this review, I must say, Cop/Mafia/Gangster/Lots of swearing films aren't really my thing. This is going to gain the most positive review from me simply because I don't generally enjoy these types of films, and I can't appreciate films where the character have extremely limited and dirty vocabulary.

That being said, we move on. This film had an interesting premise, even if it sounded a tad bit cliche. The seemingly rough guy is the good guy, while the guy with the spotless past and the up-and-comer being the bad guy. But we know that right away. But the two sides don't, and the moles themselves don't know who the other one is.

The performances in this film were great. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio rocked the whole show and was surprised to see he wasn't nominated for the role (only to see he was nominated for Blood Diamond instead...I'm assuming he was fantastic in that role, I still haven't seen it.) Additionally, Matt Damon is pretty much always great, in my opinion. He played the good guy/bad guy really well (even if a lot of the movie he had a dopey-gaping look on his face). I was surprised to see Mark Walhberg nominated for his Supporting Role, having had very little screen time. I'd have liked him to have been in it more. (Though is it only me that thinks Matt Damon and Mark Walhberg could be twins? During the opening I was having trouble figuring out if Colin was Damon or Walhberg, until we saw Walhberg had thick dark hair. Good thing he did, or they'd have been indistinguishable)

The film was well told, if not a little long for my taste. We see both sides trying to weed out who the mole is. Colin Sullivan is near the top and is quickly able to conceal himself, while Billy Costigan is a little more exposed. Personally, I couldn't understand why Costello didn't figure it out. It was blatantly obvious to me, and I don't know why he didn't pick up on it.

Anyway, the film had lots of twists and turns, and was well told. We feel for both characters, both living double lives, trying to make their way through.

Overall, I thought it was just an okay film. I found nothing about it that was incredible, or amazing. While Leonardo DiCaprio was really good in it, it was otherwise just an average film. At least, those are my thoughts.

(short review, but I honestly don't have much to say about it. It was kind of whatever. Not bad, but not brilliant.)

7/10

005. Contagion

005. (02 Jan) Contagion (2011, Steven Soderbergh) 53



Clinical for the most part, Contagion occasionally lets itself turn mawkish for no good reason. Marion Cotillard's subplot where she's held captive until a vaccine is delivered the compound she's at is especially dumb. The film occasionally allows itself a naivete despite seeming otherwise hard-edged. Jude Law is the standout here. Gwyneth Paltrow would've been if she hadn't ingested that guano.

WE BOUGHT A ZOO

WE BOUGHT A ZOO
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Cameron Crowe
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden Church

In 2006, a man by the name of Benjamin Mee bought a zoo alongside his mother and his brother. He had no experience with animals and, in fact, his offer to buy the zoo was originally rejected based on his inexperience. The zoo had been closed earlier that year and it was Mee’s plan to refurbish and reopen to the public as soon as possible. His wife, Katherine, died after he and his family had already moved to the zoo but he soldiered on with his two young children and eventually brought the zoo back up to code. Mee’s story is unorthodox and inspirational and thanks to famed film director, Cameron Crowe, it has now been sucked of all genuine heart and humanity and turned into a ridiculous and laughable “true story” film called WE BOUGHT A ZOO.

Buying a ticket to WE BOUGHT A ZOO is less about buying into what actually happened and more into a Hollywood idea of what should have happened in order for audiences to understand the inspiration in Mee’s journey. On screen, Mee is played by Matt Damon, who cannot seem to choose a decent project these days. For the purposes of the film, Mee’s wife is already dead when we meet him. In fact, it is her absence in his life that propels him to buy the zoo in the first place. He is looking to find meaning in his life again and boy does he need it. Crowe paints Mee’s life as one big giant cliche - from desperate single mothers bringing him lasagna six months after his wife’s passing to his brother (Thomas Haden Church) making broad suggestions that he just needs to get back out there. Even his eldest son is painting gothic imagery in school so you know that things are not good. Hence, the zoo.

Thank goodness for Damon. He elevates past the triteness of every scene to reveal true pain and difficulty in dealing with the loss of his wife and the scary, new direction of his life. Crowe frames him in close-up so often, it is impossible to miss any part of his emotional journey but despite Damon’s best efforts, he cannot save WE BOUGHT A ZOO from Crowe’s completely crazy approach to the rest of the film. Almost every character other than Damon’s is an exaggerated farce. (You cannot convince me for one second that supposed zookeeper, Scarlett Johansson, knows anything about wild animals.) Perhaps this is meant to show how bizarre the world seems in Damon’s state of grief but it really only comes off as disingenuous and distracting. Benjamin Mee is a real person who really bought a zoo but all Crowe seems to see is the movie, not the man, and he barely has a handle on that as it is.

Best Supporting Actor 2009: Results

5. Christopher Plummer in The Last Station- Plummer although certainly competent never manages to make anything special out of Tolstoy.

4. Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones- Tucci mostly just tries to be creepy which he does do well enough. His performance though lacks the visceral power a performance like this should have.

3. Matt Damon in Invictus- This might seem like a surprise position but out of the bottom three Damon does succeed the most in his particular role. He brings the passion and spirit that the story needs.

2. Woody Harrelson in The Messenger- Harrlson gives an intense and powerful emotional performance when he is in uniform, but when out of it he relies  a little bit too much on his usual style.

1. Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds- Waltz simply gives a great memorable villainous performance that manages to be both humorous and chilling, and succeeds with every single challenge found in the role.

Deserving Performances:
Michael Fassbender in Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actor 2009: Matt Damon in Invictus

Matt Damon received his second acting Oscar nomination for portraying Francois Pienaar in Invictus.

Matt Damon portrays the captain of the South African Rugby team who President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) wants to win the World Cup in an attempt to unite the country together. Damon role here is actually a fairly limited one not in terms of screentime but in terms of what Pienaar does throughout the course of the film. Pienaar has no internal conflict and is devoted to his team winning from the very beginning, and than proceeds to agree with Mandela's ideas almost instantly. Pienaar has no personal conflict or struggle other than just to win the game.

I do not want to be too negative though as there is not anything wrong with Damon's performance either. He uses a South African accent and actually handles it quite well by not ever overdoing it or bringing too much attention to it. He keeps it simple but as it should be. Damon most certainly does have the determination required for his performance, and keeps a certain degree of passion in his performance that is always completely fitting of his character.

Damon though never really has any sort scenes that really allow him to much of anything but really small reactions. His reactions even are not given that much importance considering he can just be part of a crowd during a scene. There is nothing wrong with these reactions either, and are always certainly fitting to his character. In the end there are just only a few challenges in the role the accent, and showing the right passion Damon completely fulfills these challenges but the film never asks anything more from him.

Best Supporting Actor 2009

And the Nominees Were:

Woody Harrelson in The Messenger 

Matt Damon in Invictus

Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds

Christopher Plummer in The Last Station

Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones

462. Happy Feet Two

462. (13 Nov) Happy Feet Two (2011, George Miller)* 43



Brittany Murphy dodged a bullet on this one. The musical score is like watching one of the shriller episodes of Glee where all the tunes are sung by penguins. A low point comes when original lyrics accompany Puccini to explain how "awesome" Elijah Wood's Mumble is. The film's whole penguin-driven plot is totally dull, though it tries to be action-packed. Fortunately, there's a hilarious subplot with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as krill trying to advance their unambitious species.

MARGARET

Written and Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Starring Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo and Alison Janney

Lisa Cohen: I just need to talk to somebody who doesn’t completely misunderstand who I am or what’s going on inside me.

It isn’t easy growing up, no matter who you are and no matter what you have to live through while you’re doing it. Take Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) for instance. She is a 17-year-old girl living on the Upper West Side in New York City. She goes to a private school and comes from a broken home. Her pre-occupations are not unlike any other girl’s her age - she bickers with her family, she wants to lose her virginity, she has opinions about worldly subjects she is only beginning to understand. And she is only just realizing that it is up to her to make sense of her own world when she inadvertently causes a fatal traffic accident. Suddenly, the world makes even less sense than it did just moments earlier.

MARGARET is writer/director, Kenneth Lonergan’s highly anticipated follow-up to his Oscar nominated 2001 feature, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME. The film went into production in 2005, when the now 29-year-old star, Paquin, who certainly gives a vibrant and youthful performance, was but 23. It then spent years in turnaround as Lonergan tinkered with the lengthy 3-hour+ runtime, trying to get distributer, Fox Searchlight, to sign off on it. It was scheduled to be released in 2007 but the cut was deemed unreleasable. In the midst of legal battles, Martin Scorsese and his faithful editor, Thelma Schoonmaker came on board to see what they could make of it. Their edit is the official theatrical release and both company and director are apparently happy with the end results.

Indeed all parties should be pleased as MARGARET is an engaging coming of age story. Lisa does not know how to process what she has witnessed and has no idea how to make right what she caused. She looks down every road for solace but constantly runs into walls and subsequently, she begins to act out as a means to make her life about something other than that accident. Perhaps in her own self-destruction, she can eradicate her guilt. If only life were that simple though. If it were, not only would Lisa find a simple path to peace but Lonergan would have found a simpler path to finishing this film. Life allows for things to pass in their own time though and with that, MARGARET needed to take this long to be released. Like Lisa, it too had some growing pains to go through first.

425. Margaret

425. (02 Oct) Margaret (2011, Kenneth Lonergan)* 37



It's clear why Fox Searchlight considered Margaret to be unreleasable. The Dickensian abundance of plot and characters suggests a poorly condensed miniseries, not a movie. While it is hardly necessary for loose ends to be tied up, there are so many throwaway scenes here that at some point it hardly seems like Margaret required salvaging. Whatever movie Lonergan initially intended to make would have barely been topical or interesting six years ago. All this time later, it's dated, plodding, and fails to make much of an impact.

The few scenes that work play well only because Lonergan is letting the melodrama run amok. Jeannie Berlin, in particular, has no restraint. While her performance is silly at times, she brings a joy to Margaret that's otherwise lacking. Anna Paquin handles herself quite well, taking Lonergan's grossly unbelievable, misshapen dialogue and giving it a bit of a life. Her character is written to be rather unlikable, but Paquin has an incredible, natural charisma. During Allison Janney's early death scene, Paquin shows a first spark that suggests she'll steal the show and it's not particularly surprising when she continues on that hot streak. She screams and cries like a pro. If the script wasn't so godawful, Paquin might've been in Oscar consideration.

Subplots involving Matt Damon and several brief classroom scenes do not work whatsoever. They're Lonergan's attempts at heavy-handed political commentary. Family scenes with J. Smith-Cameron and Paquin have much more intensity and truth to them. There is a certain beauty in some of the tearful, angry arguments and in the final scenes where Smith-Cameron and Paquin finally find common ground. But these are fleeting moments in a film where almost all of it could've been on the cutting room floor. Even Mark Ruffalo's big scene which puts the entire second act into motion is somewhat underwhelming.

Enumerating failures in Margaret is difficult since the film fails on almost every basic level. With unfathomably clumsy writing and editing that forcefully, desperately tries to give shape to a shapeless story, it's immediately clear this is a disaster. But like the film's bus crash that sets the plot into motion, it's hard to turn away. Even when the film consistently enters laughable, over-the-top territory, it's a fascinating monstrosity.

CONTAGION

Written by Scott Z. Burns

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburn, Jude Law, 

Marion Cotillard and Gwyneth Paltrow

Dr. Ian Sussman: Blogging is not writing. It's graffiti with punctuation.

I’m not sure I can in good conscious recommend CONTAGION to anyone at all. It’s not that it’s a bad film; it’s just that seeing it has potentially damaging consequences on your psyche. About ten minutes into watching it, you might become hyper aware of your surroundings. Coughing noises will become amplified while your armrest might suddenly feel stickier than it did when you first sat down. In fact, by the time you’ve gotten home from seeing it - after touching door handles, staircase railings and, god forbid, other people - you may never want to leave the house again.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, CONTAGION stars many an Oscar winner, from Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow to Marion Cotillard and Kate Winslet. For all it’s familiarity though, it presents like a faceless production to demonstrate just how feasible this scenario really is. There is no real character development - there is no time for that - just different people reacting to a common foe. The enemy here is a new disease named MEV-1. It is considered novel because humanity has never seen it before and Soderbergh paints what he believes to be a very real picture of how the planet would handle something like this. As you can imagine, we don’t do very well.

CONTAGION is not as infectious as it could be. With so many plots in the air, some are almost forgotten and Soderbergh is none too subtle about how lackadaisical we all are with everything we touch. Still, with this much talent on screen and Soderbergh’s brilliant eye, CONTAGION remains a tense thriller with plenty of casualties and horrifying moments. Perhaps the most dire thing about it though is the hard reality that even in our darkest hour, humanity still exudes selfishness and greed, leaving every man to fend for himself. Sure, it’s a theory but it’s a plausible one and really just another argument to stay indoors.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU

Written and Directed by George Nolfi

Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, Jack Slattery and Terence Stamp

David Norris: If I'm not supposed to be with her, why do I feel this way?

If you knew that being with you meant that the person you love would never realize his or her dreams, would you walk away from them? If you wanted to, would you even be capable? As interesting a question as it is, it is the kind of question that hardly anything good can come from. If you want to stay, you’re selfish. If you want to go, then you don’t think love matters as much as success does. Regardless of your decision, you won’t be happy either way, but I suppose it got you thinking and that alone has its own value these days. Take that question and throw it into the central story of a movie though and you might have yourself with a pretty compelling drama. Or you might find yourself fully dismayed and just watching THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU.

Matt Damon, whose film choices as of late have all fell flat for me, plays David Norris, the youngest Congressman in American history, in George Nolfi’s directorial debut. Nolfi and Damon last worked together on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, which Nolfi wrote and Damon starred in. Sadly, their relationship did not end there and, if I am meant to take anything away from their latest collaboration, it would be that it was obviously not meant to. The men who work at this particular bureau all wear snazzy hats and sharp suits but they might as well be wearing sparkly fairy dresses covered in pixie dust, given what their jobs are. These men, who may or may not in fact be angels, are making sure every day that the plan in place for every person on the planet is carried out properly. To do this, they must meddle with humanity as inconspicuously as possible. These are the guys who hide your keys in the morning or spill coffee on your clean shirt so that you leave the house five minutes later and either miss or catch the moment you were intended to. And see, I always thought that was the work of garden gnomes.

Damon meets Emily Blunt’s Elise in a bathroom. The seemingly chance encounter was not at all what it seemed and the two hit it off splendidly. Suddenly though, she must flee, and unlike Cinderella, she leaves neither her name nor her slipper behind. That was supposed to be the end of it, or at least according to the plan it was. The kiss they shared was too good to be forgotten though and neither can get the other out of their heads. The bureau simply cannot have this; it is not in the plan. And so the men in suits and hats do everything in their power to keep these two lovebirds apart. They point their fingers at peoples’ phones and messages appear or they flash a look in another direction and cabs go off duty. I half expected them to start wiggling their noses and disappearing in clouds of smoke at one point. They do all this to prevent Damon and Blunt from having a moment that might lead to a kiss, for a real kiss could alter their universes forever. As laughable and trivial as that sounds, it actually happens in the movie.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU clearly wants to come off as cool but really only comes off as trying too hard. Nolfi’s direction is sorely uneven but with such a weak script, it could not have been easy to make the actors sound convincing. Granted, he wrote the script as well so blaming the writer is just more blame on him. Nolfi strives to get the viewer lost in the perilous divide between fate and chance, all the while trying to figure where free will fits in to the mix. All he does is pose the question though without drawing any actual conclusions. If we actually have free will, I suggest you exercise it and avoid this movie. If our fates are already decided though, I hope you, like me, were not just meant to suffer through this movie.

TRUE GRIT

Written and Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin

Rooster Cogburn: I'm a foolish man who has been dragged into a goose chase by a girl in trousers and a nincompoop.

To have grit, one should have an indomitable spirit. For that grit to be true, one would need to subscribe to the theory that grit can achieve some sort of altruistic state of constant existence but that’s just not how grit goes, far as I see it. From where I’m standing, grit is something that, for those fortunate enough to have it inside, shows itself when life requires it, in those situations when you suddenly find yourself needing to get through something you can’t imagine getting through. In TRUE GRIT, directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen exhibit a whole whack of grit getting through their first “remake” but I’m not convinced they ever reached any real truth along their journey.

TRUE GRIT is said to be an adaptation of the Charles Portis novel and not the 1969 Henry Hathaway film that starred John Wayne and won him an Academy Award for his performance as Rooster Cogburn. The role has now been appropriated by another Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges, and, while I cannot comment on the how the performances differ having not seen the original film, I can say that Bridges definitely lays down the law as a dirty boozer of a U.S. Marshall who has agreed to help one feisty, young lady (Hailee Steinfeld) find the man who killed her father, so that she can have him brought to justice. Matt Damon plays a bounty hunter who is also looking for the same man and so the three reluctantly embark on their mission. This is a western though so the pace of this mission is much more trot than gallop, leaving a lot of time to talk about the weather. The performances drive the film but not fast enough to have kept my interest in achieving the goal.

The Coen Brothers are indisputably two of the most talented contemporary film directors around and this is abundantly evident in TRUE GRIT. They take their craft very seriously and have clearly done their homework here. That said, the aimless nature of the western genre might have been too much for them as it seems to have exacerbated their philosophical tendencies to the point of meandering ramblings. The film can be gorgeous, thrilling and engaging but it took a little grit of my own to get through the leaner parts.

HEREAFTER

HEREAFTER

Written by Peter Morgan

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring Matt Damon, Cecile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard and George McLaren

Billy: A life that is all about death is no life at all.

It’s no secret that Clint Eastwood is getting up there in years. He has been churning out films on an almost yearly basis in the last decade as if he is trying to cram as much work as possible into his legacy before he can no longer do so. It seems then a natural choice for Eastwood to take on the afterlife in his adaptation of Peter Morgan’s screenplay, HEREAFTER. In many ways, it is one of his most organic works but aside from acknowledging that an afterlife exists, Eastwood is nowhere closer to any insight on the subject.

It is also no secret that I am not a big fan of Eastwood’s work as a director. I find he often oversimplifies the problem and renders complicated scenarios into clichéd lessons about what it means to him to be a good human being. The idea of him tackling something as complicated as the passage between life and death was frightening at first, even if the writing was in Morgan's hands, THE QUEEN and FROST/NIXON scribe (click the titles for full reviews). In HEREAFTER, Morgan tells three separate stories about three different people around the world who are dealing with death in different ways. A French reporter (Cecile de France) is recovering from her brush with death; a young twin boy in England (George McLaren) has just lost his brother; and Matt Damon plays a genuine psychic in San Francisco who has retired in hopes of finding a normal life. While all reasonably compelling separately, their plights never come together, which leaves the film feeling cold and detached.

There are moments in HEREAFTER that are genuinely engrossing and memorable, including an opening so intense, I felt I might soon know my own afterlife. Eastwood lets go of his ordinarily tight grasp on the picture to allow its characters to speak for themselves and its often-haunting imagery to be just that. At first, I was pleasantly surprised but then I realized that without Eastwood playing God that there was really no direction in HEREAFTER at all. Subsequently, I wasn’t able to connect with a film about an experience that connects us all.