Million Dollar Baby had all the makings of a feel good underdog story, but it didn't deliver. That's not a bad thing, because it isn't that this film had a lack of direction. Instead, everything took a turn for the worst.
The story follows Maggie Fitzgerald, a waiter who aspires to be a boxer. Physically, she has none of the makings of a great fighter. Mentally, she is up for whatever and she will never give up on what she loves. An inspiring character, Maggie is eventually able to convince great boxing trainer Frankie Dunn to train her. As we follow Maggie's uphill climb as a female fighter, her rise is brought to a tragic and abrupt halt as she is landed with a cheap shot that results in a broken neck.
The heartbreaking moment of this movie is towards the end as, spoiler alert, Maggie, the girl who never gave up, gives up on life as she is unable to lead an existence on a bed. She begs Frankie to put her down, which he reluctantly does. I have never cried during a film, but I think this scene is the closest I have ever come to shedding a tear.
The acting performances by Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman make this film great and Eastwood's direction makes this film truly special. This heartbreaking and tragic tale is one to follow and hold to your heart forever. Conclusion: Must See
Catch Me If You Can is a fun and entertaining movie about Frank Abagnale Jr., a con man who made millions before his 19th birthday. This cat and mouse chase is wild, but all based on a true story. While leaving room for fun, the film simultaneously tells us the intriguing story about the real life con man.
One of the most interesting things that I found in this story is that there is no antagonist. Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of the con man is that of a likable and charismatic kid looking to make some fun trouble all the while cashing in checks. If there ever was an antagonist, one may be so inclined to say it could be Carl Hanratty, the detective set on Frank's case. However, the end of the film reaches a fulfilling conclusion as Frank is eventually caught, but becomes one of the authoritative figure of determining forged checks.
Overall, this is a very fun film that I think all would enjoy. It has a healthy dosage of seriousness accompanied by childish antics. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
A Beautiful Mind is a biopic loosely based on the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Prize winner for his work in Economics. The film follows his life from enrolling at Princeton University for Undergraduate studies up till his Nobel Prize ceremony. His beautiful mind was unfortunately offset by his case of schizophrenia, which is an aspect of Nash's life that is thoroughly examined in the movie.
The story itself is well rehearsed in that it thoroughly portrays Nash as a "numbers guy" and not a "people person." One of my favorite scenes from this film is the "Ignore the Blonde" scene, which does a splendid job of showing Nash's brilliant mind and social handicap. The movie's character development of the supporting cast is also throughly executed as the audience grows a connection to Charles, Nash's roommate at Princeton who also happens to only be a figment of John's imagination. At that juncture of the film, the audience is unaware of Nash's condition and they are only exposed to the truth once Parcher is introduced. Parcher, an agent and figment of Nash's imagination, mysteriously recruits John for code breaking. As the audience grows suspicious of this character, the truth of the condition is revealed, creating a raw feeling of sympathy shared by everyone watching for Nash. Not only does the viewer strongly sympathize with Nash, but perhaps moreso with his wife, Alicia, who must struggle through his disorder with him. In Alicia's introductory scene, it is obvious that not only is she elegant, but she is also witty and smart. By having a strong connection with the characters, ABeautiful Mind creates a more realistic struggle and story.
Now the one flaw of this movie is that through its tremendous success, it has become popular culture's quick and simplified reference to schizophrenia. I would say that this film is a poor and unjust portrayal of real life economist John Forbes Nash. Rather, this movie is a powerful story regarding the idea of a John Nash. It may not have hurt to alter a few of the names in this film as it truly isn't about John Forbes Nash. Instead, it is about a character who's accolades have been based off of him and has a condition similar to the actual man. Conclusion: Must Watch
I don't think people appreciate just how good of a film Cast Away is. To have essentially one actor occupy 80 minutes of the film's screen time is no easy task. In order to have a high level of involvement and focus with just one character, the actor must deliver a superb performance, the writers must create a believable and likable character, and the director must engage the audience with the story. A seemingly boring film on the surface will never get old to me.
The story follows Chuck Noland, a Fedex oversees shipment employee. He leads a simple life home and away from his longtime girlfriend Kelly. As he leaves for some shipments of Christmas and New Years gifts, she gives him a pocket watch with her picture and he leaves a special present for her to open on New Years. The problem is that Chuck does not return for New Years. His plain crashes somewhere over the Pacific. Chuck manages to survive as he floats to the shore of a small island in the middle of nowhere. To expect savages or rabid animals on the island is unrealistic, just as anticipating rescue is.
For the next 80 minutes, the audience is treated to Chuck's struggle in isolation. With a few items washed up on shore, Wilson the volleyball and Kelly's picture, Chuck devises a few plans to escape the shores of the island, whether through boating back or suicide. However, for four years, Chucks plans fail. It isn't until Chuck decides that there is nothing left to live for on the island that he takes the ultimate gamble at sea on a makeshift raft. When he loses Wilson in one of the most emotional goodbye scenes in all of cinema, there is nothing left for him. In the most unrealistic turn in a rather realistic film, a ship finds Chuck at sea.
Upon his return to life, things have changed in four years. Chuck has already had a funeral and Kelly had left him. No one is at fault here since Chuck's return is such an unlikely proposition. Instead, the film is maddeningly realistic as a man who had one thing to live for couldn't even return to life with that one thing. That is the sad reality to Chuck's existence.
This film is powerful not just because of its story, but also because of the masterful filmmaking behind the scenes. Tom Hanks delivers a resounding performance and Zemeckis' direction is brilliant. Conclusion: Must See
When creating a great action or science fiction film or both, the filmmakers can make a choice. They can choose the blue pill: a film loaded with mindless action that will last a week sitting high in the box office. Or they can choose the red pill: try something different regarding plot and effects that will last in our memories forever. The Wachowski brothers managed to piece together an action movie that addressed the question of our existence. Whether or not this is a serious question about our existence, it is an interesting take that makes the audience think.
The plot on the surface is nothing too special: ordinary man discovers he is destined for great things, struggles to develop, until ultimately realizing his purpose and potential. If you think about it, this plot is sorely overdone. However, the added element of science fiction allows the mind to wander with imaginative guidance by the premise of the film.
The films most memorable sequences come in the action scenes as we get to see special effects never applied to the screen before. The slow motion and bullet dodging is something you don't forget the first time you see it. Conclusion: Watch It
What a long movie. I have nothing whatsoever against longer movies; however, there are times when it is unnecessary. Unfortunately, this is one of those instances. A rather beautiful story that follows a media mogul approaching death and his daughter's relationship with a man she met from a coffee shop. The curve that is thrown is that the man, a charming and charismatic young fellow, is killed after he says goodbye to the mogul's daughter. What comes after death? Regarding this movie, the better question is to ask what comes before death?
Bill Parrish, the media mogul played by Anthony Hopkins, is neither dislikable nor likable, so immediately there is a dilemma regarding character development. Perhaps the face that people have come to associate with the psychotic cannibal Hannibal Lecter is not one that should be used in a film where we have to believe the father is a noble and charming person who has led a complete life. This is my only complaint, and it can be dismissed. The man in the coffee shop, played by Brad Pitt, does have and immediate clumsy charm about him once he appears on the screen. His little flirty interaction with Susan Parrish, Bill's daughter, is brief but heartfelt by two young people seeking love and company. As the two leave (we notice that they didn't even introduce themselves), they look back at each other several times, unfortunately missing eye contact on each turn back. The man realizes he must do something, only to be struck down by a taxi. Oh what could have been.
The movie then takes a regretful turn as the story heads back to Bill's business life. Unexpectedly, the man from the coffee shop enters Bill's life, but it is not the same man that Susan fell for. Instead, it is death personified by the man, coming for Mr. Parrish. In exchange for guidance, death gives Parrish more time. The seemingly singular reason as to why Bill does not want to leave the world behind is the reputation of his business as his own. Death personified, who we come to call Joe Black, leads an awkward existence as he sticks by Parrish's side for a majority of the movie, including when Bill needs to handle business. As Bill realizes that he has been mutinied, he accepts his fate as he declares he is ready for death. Joe Black somehow manages to restore the business under Parrish's name before the witching hour. So why was the glacially slow storyline of the business necessary?
I would say that the only significant part of the Joe Black-Bill Parrish storyline is Joe's interaction with Susan. Don't get me wrong, this is the a very significant part of the story, one that movies are made of. Joe, or death, learns little from his interaction with Bill; however, he learns to love Susan. This love that cannot be teaches Joe a lesson of life as he debates on whether or not to take Susan with him, a sort of Hades-Persephone relationship with mutual affection. However, in the end, Joe doesn't condemn Susan to the afterlife through love, because true love is limiting one's needs to satisfy the partner's needs. As death learns this lesson and takes Bill's life, he returns the man in the coffee shop to Susan, an ultimate sign of love. Since death could not live with Susan, he did the one thing he could do to make her life happy. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
Saving Private Ryan is a celebration of superb cinematic prowess. It features everything in a great film: strong character development, recognition of the past, entertainment, special effects intended to create a better viewing experience, and a powerful story.
I'm sure that many people remember the cinematic year of 1998. Cinema managed to put a slew of excellent movies on the screen, highlighted by Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful, which both observed the past. The travesty that I don't think the Academy can ever redeem itself for is that neither film won Best Picture. Instead nine Oscars were inexplicably handed to the cast and crew of Shakespeare in Love. I'm not going to sit here and knock on that terrible movie in this post. Instead, I am going to convince why this was a travesty and why exactly it was committed.
Steven Spielberg's second best film had his directorial hand's fingerprints all over it. Effects added to a better visual experience and strong acting performances by Tom Hanks and Matt Damon made it possible for the audience to have an emotional connection and sympathize with the soldiers. The idea of a group of men risking their lives to save one man creates a story full of key decisions that all guide to the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal of this film was to remind us all of sacrifice, especially the sacrifice made by the men who fell on the beaches of Normandy.
Perhaps the film did too great of a job reminding the audience about D-Day. Survivors who attended the premiere in theaters left in tears after the opening scene due to its gratuitous violence which created the most realistic reenactment of the battle ever set to film. Due to the general knowledge of the graphic violence, many people were drawn away from watching the film altogether. Including members of the Academy. This is the first step where they went wrong. The next fatal flaw was that members of the audience watched Gwyneth Paltrow's Shakespeare in Love. Paltrow's father, a member of the Academy, showed the movie to many other people in order to promote his daughter. And hey, it worked.
Saving Private Ryan should have won Best Picture. There is nothing the Academy can do to redeem itself now; however, we can all do the film and our history its due justice by watching this masterpiece. Conclusion: Must See
