because you can't have too much entertainment...
December 2002

Now Playing
Lots of movies vying for your time as the year draws to a close.

Reviewed: LOTR: The Two Towers, Morvern Callar, Roger Dodger, Nicholas Nickleby

LOTR: The Two Towers
Sometimes, we happily report in a great collective subconscious whelp of joy, life and art don't dissappoint. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring was an outstanding first installment and Peter Jackson and collected committed associates haven't dropped the ball. If they keep up the pace with the final installment next year, we have a trilogy that will last forever.

Narratively the second film is slightly less satisfying. In place of the first film's linear narrative and hurtling momentum (it was basically one long and glorious chase film) we have a triple crosscut journey that naturally has lots of stop and go. But that's a minor quibble. The "stops" still have plenty to look at, after all, and the "gos" are full throttle. The plot jumble is a necessary hurdle for this film and much improved on the source novel anyway. But the movie itself is another miracle. It heaps on yet more visual wonder. There's the new and haunting Gollum (actor Andy Serkis acts up a storm through layers of CGI) and the continued iconic visages of Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, and Frodo. Most popularly, this time out, the eye popping splendor comes in the form of two of the greatest action sequences mine eyes have ever seen. The battle for Helm's Deep is getting all the press but the attack on Isengaart is easily its equal. I felt as if I couldn't breathe for the film's last hour. But I didn't care.

The denizens of Middle Earth may be suffering through a collective hell, and Frodo may be living a private one, but fans of the fantasy genre (who look to be finally getting their Godfather or Citizen Kane) will be in heaven. A-

Morvern Callar
Lynne Ramsay, who gained international recognition with her debut feature Ratcatcher hasn't suffer a sophomore slump. Her latest art-film offering, is the adaptation of the bleak and strange novel by Alan Warner that explores or, one could say, watches a Scottish girl in the aftermath of her boyfriend's suicide. She may or may not be suffering a breakdown/experiencing shock. Ramsay's film is both a faithful adapation and a work of cinema first and foremost. There is blessed little dialogue here and what verbal exchanges take place are rarely expository or narrative focused. No, this is cinema in the pure sense. It's images and sound primarily, and inspired ones at that.

As for it's title character. Well, impenetrable psyches have their elusive and magnetic charms (especially when played by as mesmerizing a performer as Samantha Morton) but as an entire subject for a film they're inherently less than satisfying. One could say that the film is lesser than the sum of its parts. I did eventually long for more of a cumulative punch but individual memorable, even outstanding moments are in bounteous supply. Images and scenes that linger long after the film ends: Morvern hiking her dress up on the shore lit by a singular light, the connection in room 1022, the blinking christmas tree, "he's at home in the kitchen'", Morvern's two walks through strobing discos, etc... etc... etc...)

I haven't seen Ratcatcher but Morvern Callar got me excited about Lynne Ramsay's career. Her next project is The Lovely Bones which is a massive bestseller. The material itself is far more sentimental than anything in Morvern Callar so I'm curious to see what approach this talented new filmmmaker takes with it. Stay tuned. B+

Roger Dodger
If there's one American film this year that deserved a bigger audience than it got, it's probably this one. This exceedingly witty war of words and gender posturing is a must see. Kudos to Dylan Kidd, a first time filmmaker who started off with a bang. In addition to the verbal dexterity of the script, he appears to have an uncanny knack with actors as well. Campbell Scott gives what is easily his best performance to date as the singular Roger Dodger, an aging and increasingly bitter bachelor who can talk his way out of anything. But Scott's isn't the only impressive performance on display. Previously ridiculed of-questional-talent babes Jennifer Beals (of Flashdance fame) and Elizabeth Berkely (Showgirls) knock their roles out of the park. Isabella Rossellinni is fine too. And then there's the discovery of Jesse Eisenberg, who sets the plot in motion as Roger's nephew who comes to him for dating advice.

So while this sounds like a rave the film does unfortunately falter a bit in its last reel. It doesn't seem to know where to end. While it seems to be building smartly towards an emotional wallop, the story instead jumps uncomfortably over the payoff for a cuter, "funny" epilogue. And I'm hoping this is just the theater or the print I saw but the sound also had notable problems. Not something entirely excusable, no matter how low the budget when the words being spoken have this much flair and deserve to be heard. B+

Nicholas Nickleby
I don't want to sound like a grumpy critic but this film, despite its exuberance and appetizing elements, annoyed me. I was a fan of Douglas McGrath's earlier film Emma and while I was expecting a similar tone of witticism and spunk, I didn't feel it meshed as well with Dickens opus as it had with Jane Austen's comedy. Nicholas Nickleby has two chief disadvantages that McGrath's earlier picture the far superior Emma didn't have. One, the abundance of plot and two, the vacant lead performance. As the plot goes, there's just too much to get through here in such a short period of time. So the movie skips happily around from the tragic brutal boys school to the funny and silly actors troupe to the family turmoil and secret revelations without really every settling anywhere, or picking a cohesive tone. And Charlie Hunan is sadly no Gwyneth Paltrow. Surrounded by an impressive array of performers, thespians as seasoned and inspired as Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevens, Alan Cumming, and even Dame Edna... he just can't keep up. He cuts a great dashing romantic figure. It's easy to see why they all swoon for Nicholas Nickleyb, but his reliance on two modes of expression; righteous anger and saintly affection only magnify the lack of depth present in the film overall. Its Dickens lite; Fun in spots but no more satisfying than cliff-notes are when you could have had the real thing. C-

-Nathaniel

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