Movie Review: The Sapphires

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Movie Review: The Sapphires

The Sapphires
Directed by:  Wayne Blair.
Written by: Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson based on the play by Briggs.
Starring: Chris O'Dowd (Dave Lovelace), Deborah Mailman (Gail), Jessica Mauboy (Julie), Shari Sebbens (Kay), Miranda Tapsell (Cynthia), Tory Kittles (Robby), Eka Darville (Hendo), Lynette Narkle (Nanny Theresa), Kylie Belling (Geraldine), Gregory J. Fryer (Selwyn), Don Battee (Myron Ritchie), T.J. Power (Lt. Jensen).

It’s hard, if not impossible, to hate a movie like The Sapphires. It has such energy, buoyed by some great music, and good natured performances that you go along for the ride without really thinking about the movie. This is both the movie’s strength and its weakness – the movie is fun while it lasts, but evaporates from your memory pretty much the moment that it’s over. For a movie that addresses issues like racism and war, I’m not sure that’s an good thing.

The film is about an all aboriginal singing group from Australia in the late 1960s. Three sisters – bossy Gail (Deborah Mailman), boy crazed Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) and big voiced Julie (Jessica Mauboy) are all talented singers, entering rinky-dink talent contests singing Merle Haggard tunes, that they still lose even though they are clearly better than the rest of the competitors. At one such contest, they capture the attention of the MC – Dave Lovelace (Chris O’Dowd) – a failed musician himself, but one who recognizes talent when he sees it. He smartly convinces the girls to give up country music, and start singing Soul music – correctly saying that they have more in common with African American singing that music, than country stars. Dave has dollar signs in his eyes when he agrees to become their manager – and after a quick stop to pick up a cousin, Kay (Shari Sebbens), who is so light skinned, she can pass as white (and as such, was victim of the Australian governments shameful “kidnapping” of aboriginal children, who placed them in white homes, and raised them to be white) – they are off to Vietnam to entertain the American troops.

And entertain the troops they do. The movie is most alive when the group is on stage belting out soul staples like What a Man, I Can’t Help Myself and I’ll Take You There. Most of these songs are sung by lead singer Mauboy – who was a runner up on Australian Idol – and if she was the runner-up, the winner must be one hell of a singer, because Mauboy is terrific. When the movie stays on stage with The Sapphires, it is almost endless fun.

Unfortunately though, the movie doesn’t stay on stage for the entire running time, and the movie creaks along too often when it’s not. You know those one word descriptors I used above to describe the individual Sapphires? Well that’s about as much depth as they are given in the movie. They never really become fully rounded characters – and the inevitable arguments that erupt – over Cynthia’s drinking, long buried resentments and guilt over what happened to Kay, etc. – seem forced, as if the screenwriters felt the movie needed more conflict to sustain the movie’s running time. Don’t get me wrong, all four of the women are very good in their roles – I especially liked Mailman and Sebbens who come closest to having complex roles – and Chris O’Dowd is at his comedic best throughout the film. But considering just how many serious issues the film raises, the whole movie seems kind of trivial.

The Sapphires is a fun time at the movies – make no mistake about that. It has been an audience please back home in Australia – where it also won pretty much every homegrown award it could have. If you go to The Sapphires, you’ll likely have a toe-tapping good time. I just wish there was more to the movie than what there ends up being. I had a little fun watching the film, but I was never really drawn into the movie – never felt I was watching real people, even though the movie is based on a true story. Everything seem a little too predictable to make an very good movie. As it stands, The Sapphires isn’t a bad movie – but it’s not particularly good either.

The Best Films I Have Never Seen Before: 42nd Street (1933)

Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Best Films I Have Never Seen Before: 42nd Street (1933)

42^ndStreet (1933)
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon.
Written by: Rian James & James Seymour based on the novel by Bradford Ropes.
Starring: Warner Baxter (Julian Marsh), Bebe Daniels (Dorothy Brock), GeorgeBrent (Pat Denning), Ruby Keeler (Peggy Sawyer), Guy Kibbee (Abner Dillon), Una Merkel (Lorraine Fleming), Ginger Rogers (Ann 'Anytime Annie' Lowell), Ned Sparks (Barry), Dick Powell (Billy Lawler), Allen Jenkins (Mac Elroy), Edward J. Nugent (Terry), Robert McWade (Jones), GeorgeE. Stone (Andy Lee).

42^nd Street has for better and worse become one of the prototypical movie musicals. We can see echoes of this movie in most of the Astaire-Rogers pairings of the 1930s, and on through movies like Singin’ in the Rain and The Band Wagon in the 1950s, and even All the Jazz in the 1970s. If you wanted to look for the most clichéd movie musical in history, you couldn’t do much better than 42^nd Street. It’s all here – the egotiscal director (Warner Baxter), trying for one final hit, the star (Bebe Daniels) who gets hurt right before the show, the young upstart (Ruby Keeler) who becomes a star, the chattering background dancers (including Ginger Rogers) and on and on and on. There aren’t many musical clichés that 42^nd Street doesn’t exploit. The thing is, in 1933, they weren’t necessarily clichés, but because of the success of the movie, they now seem like it. The influence of 42^nd Streetcannot be overstated, and yet watching it today, after seeing everything that has come since, it does appear to be slightly cheesy. Sure, much of it still works, but not like it most likely did back in 1933.

The highlights of the movie are the musical numbers that take up the majority of the final third of the film. In the hour leading up to those numbers, we are treated to witty backstage banter, and numerous romantic entanglements. This part is clichéd, yet fun. Warner Baxter was never a subtle actor, and here, he’s perfectly suited for the egotistical Julian Marsh, who was once the finest musical comedy director on Broadway, but has squandered all of his money. He wants one last big hit before he retires. Luckily, he’s able to cast Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels), in the lead role for his new production, which means financing is secure because the exceedingly rich Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee) is in love with her, and will give any amount of money to a show with her in it. But Dorothy is in love with Pat Denning (GeorgeBrent), her old vaudeville partner, who never did become a star, and is tired of mooching off of Dorothy. He meets Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler), a young, talented chorus girl in the show, and the two flirt. Peggy also flirts with Billy Lawlor (Dick Powell), more of her age bracket. Observing all of this with wry smiles and witty comments are two aging chorus girls (Ginger Rogers and Una Merkel).

We know what is going to happen before the characters do. These early scenes are handled well by director Lloyd Bacon and his cast – which makes everything lighthearted and witty. Even the various love triangles don’t really provide much in the way of tension, because we can tell from the beginning who belongs with who. These are fine, but nothing all that special. They work, but are largely forgettable.

What isn’t forgettable are the musical numbers that mainly come at the end of the film. Choreographed by Busby Berkeley, who also supervised building of the massive sets, Berkeleycreated the modern movie musical numbers as we now know them. Intricately choreographed, and shot from above (so the chorus girls can make out various shapes, which of course wouldn’t work on stage, but are Berkley’s main innovation), the musical numbers – including “You’re Getting to Be a Habit to Me”, “Shuffle Off to Buffalo”, “It Must Be June” and the title song make up the backbone of the film – and are the main reason to see it. Although the numbers may strike you as clichéd now, in 1933, they were hugely innovative, and were the reason why the film was an enormous success for Warner Bros. The film is credited with saving the then struggling studio, as well as ushering in the modern movie musical.  If for no other reason, 42^nd Streetshould be seen by film buffs to know how musicals started. True, the movie does not seem as good today as I’m sure it did in 1933. But that doesn’t mean there are not delights to be had in watching it.

Movie Review: Les Miserables

Monday, December 31, 2012

Movie Review: Les Miserables

Les Miserables
Directed by: Tom Hooper.
Written by: William Nicholson based on the musical by Herbert Kretzmer Claude-Michel Schönberg  & Alain Boublil based on the novel by Victor Hugo.
Starring: Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette), Sacha Baron Cohen (Thénardier), Helena Bonham Carter (Madame Thénardier), Eddie Redmayne (Marius), Aaron Tveit (Enjolras), Samantha Barks (Éponine), Daniel Huttlestone (Gavroche), Colm Wilkinson (Bishop), Isabelle Allen (Young Cosette).

Les Miserables is one of the most beloved musicals of all time (just ask my wife, you knows every song by heart). It is a musical of big, bold emotions with soaring songs and a huge cast. I understand why some would find the whole thing tiresome, but I also understand why some are completely in love with it. It took years for this film version to get made – and while it does not make a seamless transition, this is still a big, bold, old fashioned musical, which tries very hard to make the emotional resonance of the film more realistic. And while at times these two elements – the epic, old school scope of the film, and the more raw, stripped down emotion that director Tom Hooper tries for, at times fight each other, overall I have to say that the film won be over.

The story is well known to all. In the years around the French Revolution, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) spends 19 years as a prisoner doing hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew. When he is finally released, he struggles to get his life back, because he has been branded a “dangerous offender”. A kind hearted Bishop takes pity on him, and even refuses to turn him in when he steals all the Church’s silver under one condition – he must use his ill-gotten gains to become a better man. Valjean tries hard to be that good man – he even becomes the mayor of a small town, and a business owner. And this is when his old nemesis Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) shows up. He is obsessed with tracking down Valjean, and thinks this seemingly respectful man could be him. The movie contains several subplots as well – the most tragic is that of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a struggling single mother who needs to earn money to support her daughter – and will do anything to get it. That daughter will eventually be adopted by Valjean. The films second act takes place mainly at a barricade in Paris, where a group of students have taken over. Valjean, now in hiding once again with Fantine’s now grown daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), who falls in love at first sight with Marius (Eddie Redmayne), one of those Revolutionary students – much to the chagrin of Eponine (Samantha Barks), the daughter of the amoral innkeeper and his wife (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter). All of these characters will come crashing together at these barricades.

Some of the directorial choices made by Tom Hooper are likely to draw criticism. This is apparently the first musical to have the actors sing live on set instead of a lip synching to a prerecorded track. This gives the music a more realistic feel, which are both a good thing and at times, a not so good thing. Also, Hooper chooses to film many of the songs in close-up on the actor’s face, which is pretty much the opposite of what seeing the musical on stage – where you see everything. For a song like I Dreamed a Dream, the result is a true tour-de-force by Anne Hathaway. This is truly one of the most powerful, emotional scenes of the year. With her shaved head, and the close-up that doesn’t leave her face, and doesn’t cut, I couldn’t help but think of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, which used close-ups of Maria Falconetti’s pained face to masterful effect. The same is true here, and Hathaway will likely win a well-deserved Oscar for her trouble. In the second act, Samantha Barks gets a similar moment with her heartbreaking rendition of On My Own, which she owns (it probably helps she played the role on stage). Strangely, this is one of the few songs that Hooper allows to open up a little more, and allows more movement. This doesn’t diminish the impact of the song however.

I will say though that Hooper certainly overuses the close-up in this film though, Most of the movie is shot in this style, and while at the best moments, it works magnificently, there are times when a little more movement and flow could have benefited the movie. The film is a bold, brash, emotional, old fashioned epic – and it loses some of that with all the close-ups.

And not all the performances truly work either. Hugh Jackman is just about perfect as Jean Valjean. He has the voice capable of pulling off the difficult vocal role, and for the first time, he gets a chance to truly show his dramatic range – and makes the most of it. Eddie Redmayne does what he can with Marius, as does Amanda Seyfried with Cosette, but the truth is, they are stuck playing the standard issue stupid, young lovers who don’t know each other, but are still hopelessly, head over heels in love. And I have already sung the praises of the great performances of Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks. But Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter are not very good singers – and the live singing exposes that a little bit. It isn’t a major problem, since they are used mainly for comic relief – and because the plot requires them to show up in odd places at odd times to move the story along. Then there is Russell Crowe as Javert. While Crowe, a terrific actor, does have the chops to play the role dramatic, giving Javert the obsessive quality he needs, his singing voice is more appropriate for rock than Broadway – and it shows. Javert is a great role, but when Crowe is asked to carry a few songs on his own, he doesn’t quite pull it off.

 
Overall though, I have to say that Les Miserables won me over. Some of the directorial choices are strange, some of the performances not quite up to snuff, and the movie kind of runs low on steam in the final act (it is nearly three hours long). And yet, Les Miserables is the kind of old fashioned, epic musical that Hollywood doesn’t make at all anymore. It takes chances and risks, and for the most part, it pulls it off. While Les Miserables has its flaws, its best moments are as good as anything you will see this year.

Movie Review: Rock of Ages

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Movie Review: Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages **
Directed by: Adam Shankman.
Written by: Justin Theroux and Chris D'Arienzo and Allan Loeb based on the musical by Chris D'Arienzo.
Starring: Julianne Hough (Sherrie Christian), Diego Boneta (Drew Boley), Tom Cruise (Stacee Jaxx), Alec Baldwin (Dennis Dupree), Russell Brand (Lonny), Bryan Cranston (Mike Whitmore), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Patricia Whitmore), Paul Giamatti (Paul Gill), Malin Akerman (Constance Sack), Will Forte (Mitch Miley), Mary J. Blige (Justice Charlier).

By its very nature, a movie like Rock of Ages is going to be cheesy. You can’t make a movie of wall to wall 1980s rock ballads and not make a cheesy movie. The plot of the films is purposefully built on clichés – the small town girl getting off the bus in L.A. with dreams of stardom, the shy, but brilliant young singer who sells out for success, the slime ball rock agent, the scuzzy club beloved by all, the hypocritical mayor and his wife trying to shut the club down for promoting immorality and the aging rock God, drowning in a sea of excess. And yet none of that means that Rock of Ages couldn’t have been a fun guilty pleasure – and there are moments in the film that hint at what fun it could have been. The problem is that the tone of the films and the performances are all over the map.

The two leads in the movie are that small town girl Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and that sensitive, shy rock singer wanting to make it big, Drew (Diego Boneta). Over course they fall in love in a whirlwind romance, and of course they split up due to a misunderstanding, and of course they will eventually get make together after they’ve gone through their separate journeys of humiliation – her as a stripper and him as a member of a boy band. Both are pretty and photogenic and can carry a tune, but neither ever really to connect to their roles. It’s as if everyone thought that simply slapping on some bad ‘80s clothes and have silly haircuts would suffice.

Some of the supporting characters fare better – but not many. Alec Baldwin can be hilarious, but I’m not sure he is even trying here. He sleepwalks through his role as the bar owner. His sidekick, Russell Brand, is at least entertaining, but he is the same here as he is every time you see him. And their “love ballad” epiphany is quite simply an embarrassment for all involved – neither can sing in the least, and perhaps that’s supposed to be the joke, but if it is, it falls flat. Meanwhile, Catherine Zeta-Jones seems like she’s off in her own little movie, as she goes wildly over the top as the moralistic mayor’s wife. It may not have been as bad if others had followed her lead, but she is mostly surrounded by bland, boring characters (including Bryan Cranston, completely wasted as her husband), so she ends up sticking out like a sore thumb. Paul Giamatti does nothing to breathe life into the most clichéd character in a film full of them. The only problem I had with Mary J. Blige’s supporting role is that she is the one person in the movie who is actually a great singer – so while many of the actors in the movie are fine singers, they sound out of place next to such a strong voice.

Far and away, the best performance in the movie is by Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, the aging rock God who has alienated everyone around him. You need a star of his magnitude to play the role, and be willing to poke fun of themselves in the process and Cruise is game. He’s even a pretty good singer, but it is his stage presence that makes his performances work. He elevates his scenes – and drags the pretty Malin Akerman along with him, who is actually quite good, in a role that is badly underwritten.

Rock of Ages is not a painful film to sit through – unlike Mamma Mia, which, it must be said, at least fully embraced its cheesiness and got the entire cast to buy in, which didn’t make it any less horrible for me but does show what Rock of Ages needed to do to be successful. Perhaps I just hated Mama Mia because I hate Abba, while I can at least appreciate the rock songs of the `80s that make up the majority of Rock of Ages running time. Yet, Rock of Ages, directed by Adam Shankman, is a complete mess. Shankman may not be the best filmmaker, but given his last musical was Hairspray, which was enjoyable fluff from beginning to end, Rock of Ages has to be considered a disappointment. Even the scenes I did enjoy, I did against my better judgment. We get so few musicals these days, we deserve a hell of a lot better than Rock of Ages.