I saw five movies during the holidays. They are:
- The Fighter
- Marwencol
- How Do You Know
- The King’s Speech
- True Grit
The Fighter. A ho-hum, good but not great movie with a brilliant performance by Christian Bale as lead supporting actor. Bale schools Mark Wahlberg in the art of acting, which is a negative since Wahlberg has the lead role and is a bit milquetoast as former Massachusetts boxer Mickey Ward. Amy Adams plays Wahlberg’s blue-collar girlfriend and cusses up a storm, which was so against type it was fun to see her tackle the role. Amy does not fit with those cast around her, but I respect her effort very much.
The movie’s climax builds to Mickey Ward’s 2001 title shot at one of boxing’s most anonymous and unimportant organizations (the IBU), a fight he won but a title he never bothered to defend.
The creative team cheats itself by stopping there. Ward became famous the year after, with the first of three all-out wars in 13 months against the buzz saw style of banger Arturo Gatti. All three fights went their 10-round distance, Ward winning the first and Gatti the next two. Both became famous during these fights, named by many boxing people the rivalry of the decade. Because of this, the film’s contrived crescendo was off the mark.
The biggest problem with The Fighter is that it fails to do what great boxing films must: It does not make us care. Despite that, look for Bale to earn a much deserved Oscar nomination. He is superb. Recommend.
Marwencol. While I thought 2010 was a weak year for studio movies, it was a strong one for documentaries. Everything The Fighter failed to do with regard to making the audience care, this tiny and wonderful film, four years in the making, does exponentially well. Marwencol is the true story of a town drunk’s near fatal beating and his painful recovery to piece together a substantive life. His refuge is the imaginary world he creates and then photographs — Marwencol, he calls it — using army toys and miniatures. This movie pulls you in faster than an industrial vacuum cleaner. I loved it and urge you to visit www.Marwencol.com to see if it’s coming near you. If so, go see it. This is truly a remarkable story and a wonderful four-star film. Strongly recommended.
How Do You Know. I love James Brooks as a writer and anxiously look forward to everything he does. I deflated like a helium balloon in a dark hall closet as I sat and watched this listless disappointment unfold. Even the dialogue, the trademark of Brooks’ trademark creative genius, is not good.
Reese Witherspoon is a wonderful actress but not in this movie. Co-star Owen Wilson shows us nothing we haven’t seen from him a dozen times before. The same holds true for Jack Nicholson, who comes across as mailing it in. Nothing about How Do You Know worked for me except an excellent performance by Paul Rudd as one of Witherspoon’s two love interests (Wilson being the other). Skip this one. At its best How Do You Know is a mediocre TV movie.
The King’s Speech. If you haven’t seen this film you must. This should be your Best Picture Oscar winner and its star, Colin Firth, will deservedly earn Best Actor. After last year’s brilliant performance in Tom Ford’s under-appreciated indy feature A Single Man, Firth is even better this time around as England’s stuttering King George VI. Frantic to cure himself of his speech impediment in advance of World War II, Firth relies heavily on his speech coach (and co-star), Jeffrey Rush, who is superb. Helena Bonham-Carter, always fun to watch, is perfect as Firth’s wife Queen Elizabeth. If Hollywood bypasses a British film for Best Picture, shame on Hollywood. This is a great movie that will stand the test of time. Strongly recommended.
True Grit. The Coen brothers dial back the eccentricities that have typified previous projects and produce an excellent, honest-to-goodness, high quality western. Jeff Bridges carries the film as Rooster Cogburn and young teenager Hailee Steinfeld is good but not great as stubborn Mattie Ross, a 13-year-old hell-bent on avenging the murder of her father. While Matt Damon seems out of place as third wheel LaBoeuf, the film closely tracks the original novel by Charles Portis in a way the 1969 version starring John Wayne could attempted. A fun night out at the movies. Strongly recommended.
So there you have it. Remember: Even a bad movie is better than a good TV show. See you at the theater.