Three Flicks Review

The three-day weekend provided ample time to take in several flicks. I review three here.

W.

I was really looking forward to this one. I like Oliver Stone and I had caught snippets of Josh Brolin's portrayal of the witless wonder, so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, they were dashed. There is nothing to love here, nor hate. It was just plain dull. Where was the audacity and giddy ridiculousness of JFK? Where was the passion, the judgment, the absurdity? This film feels like a solid TV movie without the commercials. Maybe it is just all too familiar. Maybe Josh Brolin, as good as he is, is just too charming. I don't know, but I do know this was a long two hours to spend for not much payoff.

Battle in Seattle

What a great movie! Okay, I am a bona-fide lefty who went into this already believing--knowing--that the WTO is the root of all evil, so I have no issues with the perspective of the filmmaker. The movie ostensibly covers the riots that took place in Seattle during the WTO's week-long meeting there in 1999. The narrative structure works so well, with the director following several individual storylines to provide multiple perspectives. What impressed me most was that even though the director's perspective is clear, all the players are portrayed fairly and complexly. The only exception to this is an American lobbyist for a pharmaceutical company; he's a jerk, no complexity here. 

I was equally impressed by one storyline that focuses on a man, a European, who is attending the meetings and trying to get the powers that be to acknowledge the responsibility of the developing world to ensure that trade decisions favor health over profit. This is such an interesting juxtaposition to the work of the protesters, who would agree with this man, but are responsible in part for keeping him from his task.

I was also impressed by how Townsend portrays the mayor and police. The mayor, played by Ray Liotta, is a particularly interesting figure, who starts out believing Seattle can savor the glory of hosting this global event and ensure that the protesters are allowed to voice their opposition. He just never anticipated how organized and effective the protesters would be. Once that becomes clear, he is pressured to unleash the police.

The acting, cinematography, and story telling are top notch. 

Frozen River

Melissa Leo plays a very poor woman living in upstate New York. Her husband is a compulsive gambler and leaves with the money they have saved for a new mobile home just before Christmas. When she goes to look for him, she discovers that a Native American woman on the nearby reservation has taken his abandoned car. The woman tells her she can sell the car to a guy just over the border in Canada, but when they get there (after driving over a frozen river), she is forced to smuggle two Chinese illegals back into the US. Quickly, she realizes she can make enough money to buy the double-wide. 

This is a gut wrenching, unflinching portrayal of poverty in America. But it is amazingly heartening and hopeful as well. A very original tale that I will not soon forget.