Ed's Review Dot Com

LD Entertainment, Exclusive Media Group, Pioneer Pictures,

Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, Jessica Lange, Shirley Henderson, Matt Lucas, Mackenzie Crook, John Kavanagh

Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) is in a loveless arranged marriage with her cousin Camille (Tom Felton). Camille is sickly and has no affection to show for Terese. But when his old friend Laurent (Oscar Issac) comes to visit Terese quickly falls in love with him as he’s got all the things she wished for in a lover. But Camille’s mother (Jessica Lange) is watching her like a hawk, and when tragedy strikes, things go from bad to worse.

This is a period drama created from the novel by Emile Zola, and has a great cast. The story is like many of the other novels of the era, but in some ways is a more interesting story. We really can hardly blame any of the characters in this story. It’s one of those things that was bound to happen. The old saying “Be careful what you wish for as you just might get it” really applies to this story. Lust and passion lead to tragedy and regret as it often does. Once we obtain what we think we wanted, we often find that we don’t want it quite that much. Jessica Lange is really excellent in this story as she plays the overbearing mother that has turned Camille into a real mama’s boy. But Elizabeth Olsen also nails her part as a flitty and light minded girl, not quite grown up who’s forced to grow up in a hurry. There is a lot of tragedy, but it’s a good romance story and the period costumes are really well done. All in all it’s a decent movie with a relatively unknown (at least lesser known) story that makes it fun to watch. I usually do not like movies like this, but I have to admin it was happy to sit through this one. I had my reservations about a Gothic novel, but I was happy that I did. I got myself a little bit of culture at the same time!

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Bluegrass Films, Fake Empire, Universal Pictures,

Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Bruce Greenwood, Joely Richardson, Robert Patrick, Rhys Wakefield, Dayo Okeniyi , Emma Rigby

David Elliot (Alex Pettyfer) is a bit of a loner, living with his single dad, a very blue collar kind of guy. When he meets Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde) in school, he falls for her very hard, and they are instantly attracted to each other. Puppy love comes on fast and furious, but Jade’s parents have real plans for her. They’re wealthy and have connections and though at first they’re okay with this crush, they decide it’s best to separate them. But they soon find that young people are very stubborn when it comes to young love, and things go south pretty fast.

First of all, I’m probably not a good person to review this, as I was really blown away by the original film in 1981. In fact, I was so touched by the film, that I immediately went out and bought the book and read it. This film was certainly shocking in 1981. The hippie generation was now, for the first time, dealing with family life and family values. Jade’s parents were very progressive thinking, smoking pot, living the hippie lifestyle. When their high school child is caught having sex with her boyfriend in the family living room in front of the fire, Mom decides to watch and reminisce her “free love” days of the 60’s and says nothing about it. That was stunning in 1981 as my Mother would have killed me twice, then skinned me alive, and then killed me again. But by the time I saw it, it was the 80’s, not the 60’s and I had a family of my own, and it caused me to think for the first time of how I was going to reconcile my values and morals on my kids when they were old enough. This 2014 version is not shocking or stunning. The subject has been dealt with 30 years ago and it’s not really relevant today. They tried, rather desperately to bring this up to date and make it seem fresh, but it didn’t accomplish that. Plus I’m sorry to say the actors in this film right down the line were far inferior to the original ones. But I give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s tough to really get into a 1980 story that is not a “period piece”. This is another example of a remake that didn’t need to be remade. I don’t think, in this case, that the 1981 movie is far superior to the 2014 one. It’s not really that. It’s just that the story is not worthy of a remake 33 years later. I also have no idea why they changed around the ending so drastically and completely changed the story. I was shocked by that and completely confused as the new one didn’t make any sense to me at all. I have no idea why they did that.

If you are interested in the story, the 1981 version is available for download all over the place. No need to go out an pay for this inferior replica. It’s not worth it.

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Serendipity Point Films, Nomadic Pictures,

Ryan Kwanten, Sara Canning, Will Sasso, Catherine O’Hara, Ryan McPartlin, Kristen Hager, James A. Woods, Raoul Bhaneja, Jennifer Baxter, Barb Mitchell, Anna Quick

Leo Palamino (Ryan Kwanten) is a failed writer. He stood his ground when his publisher and friend, Neil (Will Sasso), told him he needed to make some changes, and the book failed. Now a dishwasher, Leo’s wife writes a blog called “Why You Suck” about him, and of course it became a huge hit, followed by a book everyone read, and a movie deal. People everywhere know Leo as the guy who’s wife wrote a blog about him. But just as his wife walks out on him, Leo notices a bride across the street about to head to the church for her wedding with Mr. Right, a rich successful man who will certainly keep her happy. Leo naturally falls in love with the bride and spends the rest of his days stalking her and trying to convince her that a guy who is all wrong just might be the right one after all.

This was a surprising film for me. I expected nothing from it, and was really blown away. This is a really clever, heartwarming, and extremely funny little romantic comedy. The premise is absurd, but it totally works. The characters are really wonderful, and the back stories are really good. We get to know them, and we can feel the pain as Leo fouls things up over and over again. I laughed with Catherine O’Hara, one of my favorite comedienne’s all the way back to the Second City TV days. She plays the bride’s mom who is not welcome at her daughter’s wedding, and is a pleasure as she steals every scene she is in. This is a really funny film, quite fresh, and was a blast to watch. I was really sad when it was over. Considering the low expectations I had before I watched it, it was certainly a gem that I had never heard of. Every now and then one of these hidden films surprises us and really works. This was one of those. I recommend it.

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Ecosse Films, Le Pacte, Film i Väst,

Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews, Cas Anvar, Douglas Hodge, Geraldine James, Charles Edwards, Juliet Stevenson, Daniel Pirrie

This docu-drama covers the last two years of Princess Diana’s (Naomi Watts) life when she divorced Prince Charles and fell in love with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews) which was not to be. She spent her final days in a relationship of sorts with Dody Fayed (Cas Anvar) until the fatal trip through Paris which led to the accident that caused her death. This biopic covers this particular period of her life which perhaps is less known than the rest. This is a dramatized discourse of her comings and goings, so I would imagine there is a fair amount of poetic license here, but the basic facts of the failure of her marriage and the distance and separation she felt, as well as real affection for Dr. Khan which may have been nearly as tragic as her death.

This is certainly not a perfect picture by any means, but Naomi Watts did a really good job playing the role. She did a good job convincing me she was Diana, and though not a look-alike, she still caught the mannerisms, accent, and characteristics well enough to make me forget it wasn’t the real Diana. Likewise, the story is fairly good, even if not perfect. There’s no way to satisfy everyone with a person of such recent history who is remembered by everyone. The movie does spend a lot of time with Dr. Khan and their relationship, but it had to be a really tragic time for her, as she was completely in love with man who just couldn’t deal with the notoriety of hanging with the former Princess of Wales. (I would a assume after her divorce she lost that title, although not knowledgeable of Royal Family affairs being a Yank, I couldn’t tell you for sure). Some critics feel that there was way too much time spent with the Khan relationship and way too little with Dodi Fayed. I agree Fayed was certainly far more colorful and as a result much more interesting. But it’s really interesting that the little I knew about Diana and her life, I wasn’t even aware of this, and I was confused for a long time until I figured out what was really happening. The focus on this film is more on that relationship, so whether or not we like it, it’s natural that more focus would be on this part of her life. But all in all, it was an informative and an interesting story. There’s no doubt that even decades after her death, she is still loved by people all over the world. There are other movies about her life, but this one is new, available for streaming all over the place and including NetFlix. It’s also very inexpensive to own, so if you are interested to learn more about the last years of Diana, rather than the gory details of her death, this is a pretty good drama. I enjoyed it, and though not blown away, I am glad I watched it.

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Indian Paintbrush, Mr. Mudd, Right of Way Films,

Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Tom Lipinski, Maika Monroe, Clark Gregg, James Van Der Beek, J.K. Simmons, Brooke Smith, Brighid Fleming, Alexie Gilmore, Lucas Hedges, Micah Fowler

Adele (Kate Winslow) is a depressed single mom raising her 13 year old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith). She hardly leaves the house, but just before one Labor Day weekend, she has to go out for some supplies, and while they are shopping, Henry meets a bloody guy who says he needs help. He asks for a ride. Reluctantly Adele allows Frank (Josh Brolin) to ride with them, and to stop at her house to rest before he catches a train out of town. He promises to leave first thing in the morning, but he doesn’t, and though he’s very helpful fixing things and helping around the house, it quickly becomes clear that his intentions are not what he said, and his past may change their lives forever.

This is a very strange romantic drama. The story is not really like any I’ve seen before, and we learn piece by piece and bit by bit what is actually Frank’s story, but we can’t really tell what his motive really is. Is he acting, or is he genuine? The three main characters in this story are really well cast. Josh Brolin is not my favorite actor, and he’s been miscast in a number of roles, but in this one he’s a perfect Frank. Kate Winslet does a great job as the fearful and timid Adele who is afraid of her own shadow. Gattlin is very good as the teen son as well and handles a big role like a pro. It’s sad, and it warm and touching, and it’s suspenseful, all good emotions in a romantic drama like this. This is a very well done script and the actors also play it very well. This was a very interesting story. Based on a novel, the story is set about 25 years ago, and it helps us to capture the whole story as told by the adult Frank (Tobey Maguire). The story is a bit slow developing suiting the background and the small town life. Aside from that, the story is really well told, and I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

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