Movie review: "Jason Bourne"

Starring Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassell, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed
Directed by Paul Greengrass

After the conclusion of “The Bourne Ultimatum” in 2007, it appeared CIA operative Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) would finally be free to move on with his life carrying a somewhat clean conscience.

The film also signaled what was expected to be the last in the action series for Damon and director Paul Greengrass, who helmed the latter two of the original trilogy. The decision by Damon and Greengrass to move on led Universal, the studio behind the franchise, to continue it without either man’s involvement. “The Bourne Legacy,” (2012) while an inferior entry in the series to those that preceded it, was still a decent piece of filmmaking.

Yet Bourne fans still clamored for Damon to return — hence the arrival of “Jason Bourne” (new to Blu-ray and DVD), an action-packed chapter in the franchise that entertains even as it does little to really advance the title character’s raison d’etre. Greengrass is also back behind the camera as the story takes the viewer to multiple international locations before wrapping up on American soil.

Motivated by information illegally obtained by another former CIA employee (Julia Stiles, reprising her role), Bourne emerges to cause headaches for current CIA staffers, including director Robert Dewey (a sufficiently grumpy Tommy Lee Jones) and an ambitious agent (Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander) who begins to question the ethics of her employer.

The cast is uniformly solid and the pacing moves swiftly to keep the story from getting too stagnant. However, there is still the feeling that the franchise is spinning its wheels a bit, as it reintroduces old characters while bringing in fresh faces. Needless to say, the movie doesn’t serve as a good introduction to the Bourne series, as some dialogue along with brief flashbacks reference previous films. New audiences might not be outright confused, but will be left in the dark on some of the prior relationships already established.

More so than any other role he’s taken on, Damon has to rely heavily on the physicality of his character who expresses himself much more through actions than words. It speaks to the acting abilities of Damon to illicit sympathy for Bourne largely through facial expressions and sheer physical determination rather than lengthy speeches or pithy one-liners.

“Jason Bourne” definitely brings the action throughout, with a number of memorable set pieces (including a wild vehicle pursuit on the Las Vegas Strip). Yet the story feels a bit undercooked, as if it’s more a setup for a future Bourne offering. In case anybody would have doubts, the movie’s conclusion leaves that door wide open. Let’s just hope that if Bourne decides to walk though that door, it won’t take another nine years.

Grade: B
(Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language.)

Movie Review: "Lucy"

Starring Scarlett Johannson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked
Directed by Luc Besson

Filmmaker Luc Besson has never been one to produce a thoughtful, quiet movie watching experience for his audience. The French writer-director, behind action-heavy films such as “The Professional,” “The Fifth Element” as well as the screenplay for “Taken,” keeps that streak alive with “Lucy,” his latest and perhaps wildest creation yet.

On the surface, it’s a revenge tale, but one that is unique because it places a female at the center. As the movie begins, Lucy (Scarlett Johannson) is an expat American living in Taiwan and more interested in partying than building a career. Her boyfriend forces her to deliver a package carried in a briefcase to an unknown party, with predictably bad results.

The contents of the briefcase, as Lucy soon learns, are dangerous synthetic drugs for which she must serve as a drug mule to transport out of the country. Her new “employers” are a group of gangsters, led by Mr. Jang (played by Choi Min-sik ), who will clearly not take ‘No’ for an answer.

A drug pack is surgically implanted into Lucy, who discovers its potency after the blue substance ruptures inside her. The drug awakens her brain by allowing her to access an ever-increasing amount of it, setting her off on a determined path to reacquire the other drug packs sent with other mules, while dispatching anyone who gets in her way.

One of her allies is Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman), a scientist who is an expert on the human mind. She reaches out to him, providing him the chance to study and understand the transformation happening to her. Thankfully, the movie refrains from turning Freeman into a fighting scientist, and largely leaves the action in the hands of Johannson.

As she’s demonstrated by portraying Black Widow in the Marvel superhero movies, Johannson is believable as an action heroine. It brings a bit of plausibility to a film that practically begs audiences to not think too hard about what they’re seeing.

As the villainous Mr. Jang, Choi Min-sik (so good in the original “Oldboy,” a much better revenge-themed movie) is given precious little to do but look menacing and shout orders to his underlings. By the time he and his cronies arrive at a college campus hoping to kill Lucy and reacquire their drugs, it becomes apparent the presence of the villains is largely pointless. Previous scenes involving Lucy’s ability to render the criminals harmless through the sheer power of her mind seems to have no effect on the villains’ memories. Clearly, the obvious thing for the mobsters would be to simply cut their losses and walk away. But, alas, the screenplay feels the need to have each and every one of them die — even as Lucy has moved beyond revenge to reach the full potential of her mind.

The film’s final act suffers from a schizophrenic mind, as it tries to ramp up the action while also visually demonstrating Lucy’s transformation into an omniscient being who can control time and space. But because Besson keeps the proceedings moving so swiftly and entertainingly for most of its running time (a scant 90 minutes), the leaps of logic presented are easier to forgive.

Grade: B

(Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and sexuality.)

Oscar nominations get praise, criticism, per usual

In the hours and days (OK, even minutes) after the annual Academy Award nominations are announced, a large swath of emotions seem to emanate from Hollywood and beyond — particularly on social media. Declarations of elation for one nomination is quickly followed (or is preceded) by outrage over the exclusion of another.

I admit, to my partial shame, of getting caught up in following such discussions. I’ll click on links reading about the surprises and snubs in various categories, and the general reaction from a small portion of the media I can stand to absorb in the days that follow. Sometimes, I wonder why I even care what films get how many nominations, and which actors get left out of a particular list of nominees. I’m sure that despite his exclusion from the nominees for Best Director, Clint Eastwood (a two-time Oscar winner in the category) is sleeping just fine at nights.

Still, I find myself interested in Hollywood’s award season, and hoping that long overlooked actors (Michael Keaton and Julianne Moore, among this year’s crop) will get some love from the Academy, come awards night on Feb. 22. And yes, I find it baffling that some films or actors get overlooked. To this day, I still can’t believe “Shakespeare in Love” beat out “Saving Private Ryan” for Best Picture.

On that note, here’s a glance at a few of the Oscar’s major categories of the night, and my less-than-expert opinions.

BEST PICTURE

“American Sniper”

“Birdman”

“Boyhood”

“The Grand Budapest Hotel”

“The Imitation Game”

“Selma”

“The Theory of Everything”

“Whiplash”

Three of these films (“Birdman,” “Boyhood” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”) made my top five favorites of the year, so I’m good if any of them win. But I suspect “Boyhood” will emerge victorious.

BEST DIRECTOR

Alexandro G. Iñárritu, “Birdman”

Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”

Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”

Ditto the previous statement, but I’m happy to see Linklater and Anderson get their first directing nominations after years of solid work in the industry. Linklater will probably take the award home for 12 years of devotion to his highly personal movie.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Big Hero 6”

“The Boxtrolls”

“How to Train Your Dragon 2”

“Song of the Sea”

“The Tale of Princess Kaguya”

My pick: “The Lego Movie.” Wait, it’s not nominated?! Oh, nice one, Academy. Well, it’s still my pick.

BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS

No, this isn’t a hybrid award, but just to save on space and time, I’m going with Michael Keaton for “Birdman” and Julianne Moore for “Still Alice.” Upsets could happen, but both are the favorites and overdue to pick up an Oscar. That goes especially for Moore — a five-time nominee.

Austin Film Festival Review: "Wild"

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffman, Thomas Sadoski, Kevin Rankin, Michiel Huisman, W. Earl Brown
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

Director Jean-Marc Vallée struck gold last year (or rather his actors did, as “Dallas Buyers Club” netted gold Oscar statuettes for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto), and it’s certainly possible the star of his newest film, Reese Witherspoon, could do the same come next February. Regardless of her Oscar chances, Witherspoon delivers a layered and emotionally resonant performance in “Wild,” an adptation of the best-selling memoir by Cheryl Strayed. She carries the film for long stretches of its nearly two-hour running time, as she occasionally is the only actor on screen.

As a prior Academy Award winner (portraying another real-life personality as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line”), Witherspoon has shown the ability to be a focal point of movies. The “Legally Blonde” films demonstrate that very well. But she’s never had to take on such a physical role before, which had to appeal to her as an actress. Indeed, the material itself was obviously attractive to Witherspoon in the first place, as she serves as one of the film’s producers.

The physical aspects of the film center around Strayed’s decision to hike a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, covering the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon up to the Washington state border. A serious hiking challenge for anyone, the journey was complicated by the fact that Strayed, 26 years old at the time, had no prior backpacking experience. Just as Strayed herself likely didn’t, the movie has no problem poking fun at her naiveté on the trail, adding in some unexpected, but welcome, humor along the way.

Adapted for the screen by Nick Hornby, the movie smartly maintains a lot of its focus on the hike, while interspersing Strayed’s journey with flashbacks to what had led her to this moment in time. It allows for shadings on who Strayed was and is to be sprinkled thoughout the story, including interactions with her mother (passionately portrayed by Laura Dern) and her ex-husband, Paul (Thomas Sadoski).

The movie doesn’t whitewash Strayed’s troubled past, but doesn’t linger on it, either. Witherspoon finds the humanity and determination in Strayed’s journey towards self-discovery, but avoids the temptation of making her a symbolic role model. In fact, there are times during the movie you probably won’t even like Strayed, as she makes some self-destructive decisions that could have ruined her life.

“Wild” is frequently beautiful to look at, as Vallée and his cinematographer Yves Bélanger capture the beauty and seemingly endless landscapes of parts of the Pacific Northwest. And good luck getting Simon and Garfunkel’s “El Condor Pasa” out of your head after the movie, as strains of it play frequently. I saw the film more than six weeks ago, and I still have it rattling around in my brain, much like Witherspoon’s performance.

Grade: A-

(Rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language. Now playing in select cities and opens wider throughout December and January.)

Austin Film Festival Review: "Dawn Patrol"

Starring Scott Eastwood, Rita Wilson, Jeff Fahey, Kim Matula, Dendrie Taylor, Chris Brochu, Julie Carmen
Directed by Daniel Petrie Jr.

A film that was launched at the Austin Film Festival (the screenplay originated out of a competition at the 2008 event), “Dawn Patrol” is an absolute mess, with stilted dialogue, despicable characters and some surprisingly terrible acting.

As part of a large audience watching its world premiere at the festival, I kept holding out hope that the very rocky start the film gets off to would eventually improve. It didn’t. In fact, it only got worse and more preposterous as the story lumbered forward.

Eastwood (son of Clint) stars as John, a surfer and general beach bum (much like his entire family), who seeks to avenge his brother’s death with predictably negative results. The film opens with John, now a Marine, driving an unidentified passenger to a location out in the desert while a gun is pointed at his head. He sets out to recount his story to the passenger of how they both arrived at this point in time, setting the film on what is primarily a long flashback.

Although John’s brother is portrayed as such a great surfer in the film, he generally seems like such a terrible person, you hardly feel for the family when he’s found dead by his brother one day on the beach. Maybe that was the film’s intent. Who knows? In fact, Eastwood’s character is probably the only one who isn’t drawn like a cliche or a cartoon. The performances of Rita Wilson (as the brothers’ self-absorbed, pot-smoking mom) and Kim Matula (as the dead brother’s on-again, off-again girlfriend) give particularly grating performances. On more than one occasion, the film generated unintentional laughter, such as after a logic-challenging sex scene involving the girlfriend and John in a bank-foreclosed beach house.

So for those looking for a few cheap laughs from an intended drama, “Dawn Patrol” might be worth catching a wave. But for the most part, it’s just a wipeout.

Grade: F
(The film has not yet been rated. Set for release Feb. 6, 2015.)

Austin Film Festival review: “That Which I Love Destroys Me”

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

Taking a heavy topic such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could have been delivered in a sledgehammer approach with countless talking heads and statistics. But to director Ric Roman Waugh’s credit, he keeps the focus on two very well-spoken veterans and their very personal struggles with the disorder. Both special operations soldiers, Tyler Grey and Jayson Floyd relate their stories in a powerful and, at times, devastatingly personal manner.

Waugh wisely restrains from sensationalizing their stories or dressing it up with emotional music, as he recognizes the power of the material comes straight from the soldiers’ mouths, as they document their time as active military and the struggles they faced after their time on the battlefield ended.

It’s a well-filmed documentary that doesn’t exploit its subjects even as they both lay bare their soul. It simply provides a tableau on which to share how PTSD can impact people and how help is out there for those willing to seek it.

Waugh, Grey and Floyd were all on hand at the festival screening, as well as a post-film Q&A, and were greeted with well-deserved standing ovations.

Grade: A-

(This film has no rating.)

Austin Film Festival Recap

Getting the opportunity to recently drop (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas, I attended several screenings at the Austin Film Festival. The annual fall event is one of roughly a gazillion festivals the capital city has every year, but as a multiple time visitor to it, I enjoy the film fest’s laid-back vibe and well organized band of volunteers that keep movie industry insiders — both current and prospective — coming back year after year.

But the ultimate success of any film festival is largely judged on the quality of the lineup, and this year’s batch of films was not quite a knockout in high-profile features. Still, there’s was certainly a little something for everybody, and I made sure to take in a wide ranging mix of films — including a musical, a documentary on posttraumatic stress disorder and a comedy about four adults trying to recapture their youth in a night on the town.

Here’s an admittedly belated back at my viewing schedule, sans the inevitable waiting in lines that permeate festivals. These will come in a series of posts over the coming days, with a review of "The Last Five Years" kicking things off.

“The Last Five Years”

Starring Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan
Directed by Richard LaGravanese

Based on a stage musical of the same name by Jason Robert Brown, “The Last Five Years” is pretty much wall-to-wall music with the two main characters (who are frequently the only people onscreen) singing about their respective views on a five-year relationship. It’s no spoiler alert for me to mention that the relationship is a failed one, with struggling actress Cathy (Anna Kendrick) lamenting the end of it in the film’s very first scene. Naturally, she and Jamie (Jeremy Jordan), a budding novelist, have a different perspective on their years together and why it failed.

Dialogue in the film is a bare minimum, and your toleration for the material will largely rest on how well you can handle hearing constant singing from two quite self-absorbed characters. To their credit, Kendrick (in her second big singing role after “Pitch Perfect”) and Jordan fill their roles well, yet can’t quite make their characters likable enough to want to spend 90 minutes with.

With the exception of Kendrick’s opening number, most of the musical numbers are in a loud, reaching-for-the-balcony-style that become a bit overwhelming as the running time stretches on. But at least it’s not a brain dead cliche-riddled romantic comedy — faint praise as that may be.

Grade: C

(The film has not yet been rated. Set for release Feb. 13, 2015.)