Ed's Review Dot Com

Pantheon Entertainment Corporation, Oceana Media Finance, Innocence Productions

Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Clea DuVall, Peter Gallagher, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis, Bailee Madison, Loren Dean

Kenneth Waters(Sam Rockwell) is trouble. He’s been in and out of brushes with the law for years. But his sister Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) believes in him. When Kenneth is convicted upon pretty weak evidence of a terrible murder, Betty, a high school dropout, proceeds to get her GED, then college, and finally pursues a law degree with the sole purpose proving that he was unjustly convicted. With the advent of DNA evidence which was not available, Betty Anne sets out to solve the mystery and seek her brothers exoneration. This is based on a true story.

This is the kind of role that Hilary Swank was born to play. It’s a very inspiring story. Sam Rockwell is also excellent in his role as a typical bad seed. These guys grew up in a hard home environment, and it shows. The challenges Betty Anne have to face are overwhelming, and the thought that she is wasting her life on her brother comes up. Her husband (Peter Gallagher) can only take so much of it, and the drain on her relationship with her sons also shows as we come to a discussion of whether the two brothers would do the same thing for each other. But Betty Anne also has a good friend in Minnie Driver’s character who takes some of the frustration Betty Anne sends her way without flinching, but motivates and supports her when it seems hopeless.

This is a simple movie, not big on action and adventure, but a strong story of family and loyalty up against greed and treachery. It’s a good crime drama and prison story in one. Not a bad film, and one I enjoyed quite a bit.

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Dickhouse Productions, MTV Films, Paradise F.X. Corp.

Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jason Acuña, Ryan Dunn, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey

After a while Johnny Knoxville gets antsy to do a movie again it seems. This time it’s been a while since he’s done one. He puts the team together and heads out on another adventure, of gut wrenching, butt munching, ball busting, obnoxious and shocking stunts. In this movie they added a couple things. First, they tried to make everything bigger and crazier. Second, they got an extreme slow motion camera so we can see a lot of the stuff in ultra slow motion like “Mythbusters”. As usual, some of the stuff is staged, just to shock people on the street. Johnny Knoxville brings out the dirty old man makeup again and completely grosses out some people with his “granddaughter”. There is a tribute to the first stunt, the port-o-potty poo cocktail that is one to remember.

There are legends of people throwing up in the theater, and I know this must be true as I almost did it twice at home, and it was not even in 3D. I’ve cleaned up after 5 kids, so I’m not normally very sensitive, but there are three or four times in this film when you could really lose your lunch! The stunts are bigger, and the new camera is awesome. But that’s not to say that it’s perfect. The guys are older, and many of the ideas are just redo’s of previous stunts. There’s only so many animals you can tick off. There’s only so many ways to do stupid stuff like this. Some of it is pretty original, but for those who are not big Jackass fans, it might be getting a bit older. Steve-O is sober now, and is looking much more vulnerable than he was before when he seemed to be able to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still virtually fearless, but he seems to be a bit more frail now. Wee Man is not quite as outrageous as he used to be, and there are some stunts which feature the off camera folks, like cameramen and such which is pretty funny.

I did not see the 3D version in the theater. I kind of wish I had, as I would have something to say about the use of 3D. From everyone I’ve talked to, it seems about 50-50 as to whether is is “Awesome” or “useless”. This is about the same mix as every other 3D movie though. It doesn’t seem to me that it would add a lot to it, but I am a fan of 3D and would have chosen to see it that way if I could. But the DVD does give us a couple extra stunts that didn’t make the film, and a whole bunch of outtakes which are fun, if you wait till after the movie. The DVD also features a “Directors Cut” as well as a “Theatrical Version”. There is a “Making of” feature on the DVD too which is well worth watching. If gives you a lot of background on how the different stunts were developed. Usually it’s just one guy trying to top the next. Most of the new ideas were laughed off as impossible and ended up being classic bits on the film. See if you can pick a favorite. It’s hard because so many are great that it’s hard to pick the best. Some of the stuff will stay with you a while though, and may not be pleasant images. 🙂

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Lionsgate, Fidélité Films, Hwy61

Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Simpkins, Olivia Wilde, Lennie James, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy, Helen Carey, Jason Beghe, Aisha Hinds, Allan Steele, RZA, Daniel Stern

John (Russell Crowe) and Laura Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) are a couple with a little boy. Laura has an argument with her boss, and is seen leaving the office. Later her boss is murdered and her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. John knows she innocent, and does all he can to defend her, but it becomes clear that all the evidence points to her and there is no way to get off. She’s convicted and sent to prison. This prompts John to learn all he can to figure a way to break her out of prison. What follows is a highly suspenseful prison escape drama.

This film is filmed (and set) in Pittsburgh, so the sights and sounds make me homesick! Filmed on the Liberty Bridge and in the Liberty Tunnel and on the roads and freeways of Pittsburgh are a reminder of home. But besides that, there are a lot of good actors in this film in the other roles, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy, Daniel Stern to name a few. There is plenty of action and high suspense, but this movie doesn’t dumb down to us to spoon feed us all the data we need to solve the case. It leaves you room to think and figure things out for yourself. Beginning with a night out with friends discussing whether women bosses are ok. This looks innocent enough, but starts us off wondering what’s going on. Suddenly all hell breaks loose. This is a really good suspense thriller and one I enjoyed a lot. I can imagine arguing for weeks afterward about what really happened here. It’s faced paced and yet very cerebral. Russell Crowe is actually very good in this movie and plays it perfectly. You can tell he doesn’t want to do bad things, but is like a cornered bear with no way out but to fight. He faces many moral and ethical decisions and seems to make the decisions based on the absolute faith and trust in his wife. If it is not warranted, then he’s wrong, but what it it’s not? What would you do if you were faced with a hopeless situation? I know I could not pull off the stuff he was able to do, that’s for sure. Good film!

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Bad Robot, Goldcrest Pictures

Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Wilson, Ty Burrell, John Pankow, Matt Malloy, Patti D’Arbanville

Becky (Rachel McAdams) is a morning news producer. She’s been dying for the Today show since she was a little girl, but this is pretty good. She’s about to be promoted to a senior producer and her friends have made T-Shirts congratulating her on the new position when instead someone from outside is hired and she’s let go. Desperate for anything, she’s called about a position as the lowest rated morning show in the market with some very uninspired co-workers. She’s really given the position expected to fail, and the show will go down as well, but she decides to make a run of it. She has two anchors in Colleen (Diane Keaton) and Mike (Harrison Ford) who hate each other very much, and decides to make a run with it.

This comedy is done by the same ones who gave us The Devil Wears Prada, and it’s very similar in style and feel. It’s a feel good film, and a gentle comedy. The work of Ford and Keaton is wonderful, how they play off each other, and Jeff Goldblum as the one who hires her and tries his best to keep her under control and to fail gently, is also very good and very funny. The insight into the morning news world is very nicely done, and this is fun to watch the shenanigans going on behind the camera. This film is very well written. Not your typical chick flick, this is a strong, funny, overly zealous about her work type lady. Her romance with one of her co-workers, though a big part of the story, doesn’t drive her. Her work does. The script is very fresh, and it’s fast moving with lots of surprises. It’s a delightful comedy and one that is very enjoyable. I really like this film.

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Diamond Docs, A&E IndieFilms, Passion Pictures

Josh Brolin (Narrator), Pat Tillman (archive footage), Kevin Tillman

This is the story of Pat Tillman, once a star NFL football play who gave up a multi million dollar contract to join the service and fight in Afghanistan. He didn’t want to be a hero, and he was soft spoken and reluctant to take credit for things himself. He was also not a highly religious person, but appears to be one guy who felt a strong sense that this was the right thing to do. When he was suddenly killed in action, the nation was quick to declare him a hero. Maybe too quick. Later it was reported that he was killed by friendly fire by his own troops during an ambush. This film takes a one sided view of Tillman’s life and death from his family and is highly critical of the people who reported the events in Iraq and those they feel made hay from the events surrounding this for their own agenda.

I can understand why making this film was useful for the Tillman family. It is a tragedy to lose a son, and something no one should ever have to go through. One of the questions you have is why this happened. You have a driving need to answer that question. I can feel for the family in this regard. But I am not sure I can buy their entire story. Furthermore, even if it’s all true, it doesn’t change anything. Certainly part of the job of the military and the government and the president is to bang drums, have parades with flags and fireworks and driving tanks down the street. This has been the case since the beginning of countries and wars. It is not the job of the leaders of the country to try to prove that every event in a war is our fault and that we are stupid and incompetent. Even a team with a losing record has pep rallies and cheerleaders who yell “We’re number 1”. It doesn’t make Pat Tillman less of a hero that he was killed by a tragic accident and a mistake or two.

The commander split the group into two parts and separated them. One group stayed with a disabled vehicle and the other departed. They were travelling in a canyon. Suddenly several large explosions happened and everyone thought they were under fire. Maybe they were and maybe not. But everyone there thought they were. Tillman and a couple others left the caravan and climbed up the side of the mountain where the shots appeared to be coming from. Meanwhile the other half of the team approached and had no idea that the rest of their team was below them in the canyon. They began firing at the men climbing up where the shots were fired and Tillman was killed. Was this a planned execution or an evil plot? No, its a tragic mistake. Very sad, and lots of blame could be brought to bear, but the most famous person serving in the military had just been killed. Rather than launching into a great investigation immediately, they ran with the story that he had been killed in action, which is true. It was some time before the story came out that it probably was (then definitely was) friendly fire who killed him.

Does this negate the sacrifice he made by putting himself in this difficult situation? I think not, but then they make the giant leap that suddenly everyone up to the white house decided to lie about his death and use his death to push forward an illegal and ill advised fight in Afghanistan to advance their own agenda. This is the step I can’t swallow. I know it would be easier and more comfortable to allow folks to believe Tillman died a hero from enemy fire, and a hero from friendly fire in a tragic mistake, but to make the jump that it was planned and executed as an attempt at propaganda is too much.

Let it go. We all know it was accidental, and that it was heroism and bravery. Let’s not try to pin down the president in an evil plot to trivialize his death as a planned propaganda exercise. The next step is that he was killed on purpose to boost the war. Let’s not go that far.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog