Ed's Review Dot Com

Production Co: Keep Your Head, MICA Entertainment, MadRiver Pictures,

Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Angus Macfadyen, Ian McDiarmid, Franco Nero

Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) was a British Colonel and explorer who became enamored with the idea of discovering a hidden city in the South American Amazon jungle. He was convinced that the city existed, but his first expedition had to turn back. After fighting in World War I, he insisted on making another expedition to find this ancient city once and for all. Raising the funding himself, he and his son set out to find this city, along with his native guides and helpers, but disappeared in 1925 and neither were ever found. Based on the true evidence, the docu-drama based upon the book by David Grann and as much real evidence that could be found. Additionally there was much additional evidence discovered since then which is very interesting to see which is presented to us. This adventure is an exciting story based on the true events.

This film covered an interesting adventure story based upon the true events that occurred in the early 20th Century. This is a story that I had not heard before, and I really enjoyed the facts of the story, and did some additional research after the fact that I found quite interesting. The look of this movie is stupendous, and the photography is absolutely stunning. Director James Gray is well noted for very beautiful films, but the sad part is that the story could have been much more interesting than it was. I found myself very bored with the story as it plodded along, and I think it was a missed opportunity. Mr. Gray wrote the screenplay based upon the book, and if he had some assistance in making the story a little bit more intense, it would have ended up being a much better movie. As it was, the acting suffered as result of the script, and though all the actors put in a lot of effort, I feel that the lack of excitement in the script ended up hurting the film. This is a story filled with interesting facts, this is not very well presented. It’s too bad, but this is what we have. I gave this movie a middle of the road rating due to the shortcomings compared with the interest I had in the subject. I hope someone can come along with a better version sometime in the future, but unless you are very interested in the subject, I can’t highly recommend this film, although the cinematography is really good too, so that might make it worth it to see. For myself, I’m glad I saw it, but I was disappointed as I was waiting for this one for a long time.

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Annapurna Pictures, Likely Story, Media Rights Capital,

Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Michael Hall, Sienna Miller, Vanessa Redgrave

In 1999 the news screamed out the story of the richest man in history to be convicted of murder, when John DuPont (Steve Carell) heir to the DuPont chemical fortune was sent to prison for murdering David Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) in the driveway of DuPont’s guest house where he and his wife and children were living. The Schultz bothers, older brother David, and younger brother Mark (Channing Tatum) were a couple of the best gold medal winning wrestling champions in US History. This film is Mark’s story of how we met John DuPont and John’s efforts to buy his way into Olympic wrestling in a effort to maintain a level of importance. He opened the Foxcatcher facility and trained many US Olympic wrestlers there with the help of the Schultz brothers. This is the story of what happened and though we may never know why it happened, at least it is an interesting tale of the events of that day that shocked the country when the new came out.

This is an interesting biographical film. Like most Hollywood versions of true story, it is based upon the events that happened, but not absolutely true to all the facts. What we have though is a very strong cast acting their way through a fascinating story. Steve Carell was even nominated as best actor for his performance, a very somber role for the usually funny Mr. carell, but certenly within his wheelhouse for sure. Channing Tatum gave a really strong performance as did Mark Ruffalo. Even Vanessa Redgrave gave a charming performance as John DuPont’s mother, even though it’s very short. It is still a great performance. Critics of the film call it slow. It does certainly plod along, and at 2 hours and 15 minutes, it probably could have been shorter, but I didn’t find it boring at any point. The time was well used to develop the characteristics of each of these characters, and with the star cast, it takes time to fully develop that. In the end, even at over 2 hours running time, it feels like we’ve missed some of the facts, and it was off to Wikipedia to learn more about the story. I give credit to the writers, directors, and producers for presenting a great feature film on the subject, and am really impressed with the level of acting that went into it. I found it an interesting story, and recommend this film to those who enjoy biographical historical tales that are stranger than fiction.

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Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Escape Artists,

Sienna Miller, Dave Franco, Tom Wilkinson, James Marsden, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn

Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) is a business executive who suddenly finds himself out of a job. His plan is to go out on his own and try to start his own company. Sales are hard but he has the opportunity to get the largest sale of his life, but he has to travel to Europe to get it. He makes two new friends, one old guy Tim (Tom Wilkinson) who’s being forced to retire against his will and a young go-getter with no experience at all who had arrived looking for a job when Dan hires him. His name is Mike Pancake (James Marsden) and the three of them head off on the road to try to make the sale at all costs. But the competition is fierce.

This movie is a bit of a dud. It had promise, but fell into the trap of using all the cliches that have been done over and over. James Marsden is the highlight of the film, if there is one. The comedy just doesn’t seem to get off the ground, and I am not really sure where to place the blame. The script certainly isn’t very good, but I’m not sure if the writing is the problem or if it just wasn’t put together too well. There are a few gags that are pretty funny, and I have always enjoyed Vince Vaughn, but this is not one of his better films. I certainly was able to get through it ok, and as I said, there were a few pretty good exchanges, but for the most part I just didn’t really get involved in the story. This is one I would suggesting passing by I’m sorry to say. I wanted it to be better.

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Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Mad Chance Productions,

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Kevin Lacz, Cory Hardict, Navid Negahban

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was a young man who grew up with a religious father who was very strict with them. He grew up strong and straight and true with a real desire to do what’s right. He was about to become a professional cowboy, traveling the rodeo circuit with his younger brother when 9/11 changed everything. Outraged by the terrorist actions of this date, Chris put his life and his new family on hold to become a Navy Seal in Special Operations and head to Iraq. He was blessed with a sharp eye and became the most proficient sniper in history. His primary goal was to protect his Marines and see that they were able to get home safely. The multiple tours took a toll on him and his wife, and when it was over, he tried to find purpose in his life, and he spent the few years he had left trying to help other soldiers, and writing a memoir of his experience. This documentary produced by Clint Eastwood is based on his biography in his own words.

This was a decisive film. Clint Eastwood is loved by many and hated by the rest. His own life would make a wonderful movie, but he does know how to tell a story. His attention to detail in this film is amazing and we experience the horrors of war in first person. I am not sure if Bradley Cooper was the perfect casting choice, but he has the look of Chris Kyle, and I felt he did a good job in the role. He’s a good actor, and seemed to throw himself into the world. In some ways it’s nice to see an American hero like this along with his faults and weaknesses. They are not superheroes, but regular guys doing their best who are able to accomplish amazing feats, but who are not perfect. The controversy about this film seems to be based upon political lines. The pacifists don’t like the idea of making a hero of a killer, but the soldiers will be there doing their job regardless, and the enemy had snipers as well. We would have had many more casualties if there were not men like Chris who put their skills to test to protect our boys. This was a very noble thing to do. I was very, very impressed with the work done on this film and with the story that was told, and the fact that is is nearly a pure documentary. I think it’s good that a story like this can be told in a feature film so that more people are able to see it. If it were a true documentary and not a docu-drama, it would not have received the widespread audience that it did. The story is a tragedy, and I like the way Clint did not spend a lot of time on the tragedy at the end, but just stated the facts as the movie was closing. I would have appreciated a bit more about the occurrence however, and immediately went to Wikipedia to understand more of the events of that day. But since this work is based on Chris’ writings, obviously it wasn’t in the book. I understand why Clint cut it off as he did. I think this was a very well constructed film, and I truly felt like I had witnessed something awful, yet very important. Congratulations to all the people involved in this movie and I appreciate your outstanding efforts to bring this story to life. I highly recommend this film.

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Lagniappe Films, I’m So Sorry Productions, Mega Playground,

Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Keir O’Donnell, Busy Philipps, Sienna Miller, Peter Dinklage, Brendan Fraser

Sam (Justin Long) is a writer, feeling lonely and attracted to the pretty coffee barista, Birdy (Evan Rachel Wood), he sets out to win her by studying her Facebook profile. He find out everything she likes, then pretends to be the perfect guy for her. In the beginning, it’s just a joke, but when he finds himself really falling for her, he can’t decide whether to come clean or keep up the charade in this romantic comedy.

This had a lot of promise with the great cast of characters in this film, but it’s basically the story of Sam and Birdy, and I must admit I’m not really a huge Justin Long fan. I’m not sure why I’m not, but it’s partly the material he gets, but perhaps more likely the fact that he seems like a 30 minute sitcom actor rather than a leading man in a feature film. Although the movie was not at all the worst I’ve seen lately, it just didn’t strike me as that great. Something in the chemistry is off, and these two just don’t seem to be a pair. The story is not all that original, and this concept has been done over and over before the Facebook days with other methods of finding out what the girl likes and pretending to be that. Facebook is not that “hot” these days, and so it’s not novelty enough to be able to be a unique enough hook to bring you in. Besides, without being friends with a person, you can’t see all these details about someone. But that’s just poetic license here, really, and the problem is just that we don’t like the characters enough to really care about what happens to them. If you’re in need of a rom-com, this one is certainly watchable, but I would not go out of my way to search for this one. It’s just mediocre at best.

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