Ed's Review Dot Com

SBS Productions, Constantin Film Produktion, SPI Film Studio,

Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz, Elvis Polanski, Eliot Berger

While walking home from school in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Ethan Longstreet is struck in the face by classmate Zachary Cowan in a scuffle. Ethan has damage to two teeth and will likely lose at least one of them. Mr. and Mrs Longstreet (John C Reilly and Jodie Foster) invite Zachary’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) to their home to discuss the situation. The night escalates as each of the four seem to have remarkably different personalities and certainly their own problems. As things start out very civil, they soon turn into shouting and sometimes it’s Longstreets versus Cowans, but just as often it seems to be turning men against the women.

This was originally a play,and that is the feel of the entire film. It takes place in the Longstreet’s apartment and except fora short opening scene and a just as short closing scene featuring the boys at quite a distance from the camera, the whole movie is shot inside one room (and briefly the bathroo) of the Longstreet home. As in all stage plays, there isn’t much action, but it’s long on words and discussion. There are long monologues, and very static camera placement and not much moving about. But the character development is awesome, and each of these characters are very unique and bring a lot to the story. In the end you don’t really identify with any of these characters, but you have a good understanding of where they are coming from and why they are flawed like they are, no matter how silly they seem.

I did enjoy this film. It is a serious subject, but humorous throughout, if only through the zany characters in the story. Why the Cowans wouldn’t leave, I don’t know. Perhaps they knew they needed to look into their own problems.All in all, if you would like a slow developing story with lots of character development, this is a very good film of that kind. It is slow, but that helps to set us up to learn about the characters a little at a time. With a cast of these four actors, it is flawless.

Finally, this film is directed by Roman Polanski. For that reason alone, I didn’t want to put this in my queue, as I don’t want to support a cowardly criminal who would run away and hide instead of facing the courts for what he did, but I finally relented for the sake of the actors who put their efforts into this work. I’m glad I did, and although I still don’t want to support Polanski, I thought it was a really good play.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Illuminated Film Company, Film Consortium, The, Film Council

I was unable to find a preview of the film, but it has a beautiful song by Kate Winslet who plays Belle in the movie. It’s called What If? and I’ve embedded a copy of the video below.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Warner Bros. Pictures, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan

Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an executive on a business trip to Hong Kong. Coming home, she feels a bit under the weather, but within a day she is dead along with her young son who also caught the bug and died. Meanwhile, people from all around the world are getting sick, and it appears to be an epidemic. The World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control have their top people on it, trying to figure out what it is and where it started, but it looks like a pandemic is inevitable which could wipe out a quarter of the planet.

This exciting thrill ride of a movie has some great stars in it. From Paltrow, to Laurence Fishburn, to Matt Damon, to Kate Winslett. Even the rest of the cast it pretty good. It’s fast paced and they give us the medical jargon in a way not to lose the layman. We get to learn a lot about how it works, and how quickly the Homeland Security guys can figure it must be a terrorist attack. Very suspenseful, this deals with the aftermath of such a panic, from fires and quarantines, to looting and rioting. Part science and medicine, and part action and adventure, it’s a wild ride from start to finish.

I saw this film on IMAX and it was nice to see it bright and clear with a wonderful sound system on a huge screen. IMAX was not wasted on this film, although it’s certainly not critical to enjoying it. This will be just as good on DVD later, as it’s a good strong story. Yes, it’s been done before, but it’s a fresh approach to telling the story, with a little surprise at the end, just before the credits to make it worth waiting for. It was lots of bang for the buck, and not a bad, “end of the summer” film. It’s good it didn’t have to compete with the huge blockbusters this summer, because it would have been lost. But now, with not so very much to choose from, it’s a good escape from the real world. Or could this be our future after all? Time will tell.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog