holiday film reviews
There is plenty of light-hearted movie fare for the holidays, but the great performances are usually to be found in the more serious films. Here are several that are hard to watch, but worth the effort:
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship, by Brian Wren. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 230 pp. $29.95.
“Punisher: War Zone” — Pure comic book. This kind of pulp fiction features the evil criminal literally deformed (Dominic West as Jigsaw), and his deranged brother, Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison), terrorizing at will until The Punisher (Ray Stevenson) arrives on the scene, the indestructible vigilante who serves as self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner, just blasting away the bad guys.
“Doubt” opens with the parish priest, Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) delivering a brief, eloquent homily about doubt. This is the 1950s, and the well-dressed, clean-scrubbed congregation sits in rapt attention, in part because Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the self-appointed behavior modifier.
Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” a remake of the 1951 classic. Connelly plays Dr. Helen Benson, a scientist who is kidnapped by government agents in order to deal with an urgent emergency: a certain fast-moving object from space is going to collide with earth in an hour, and it appears to be on an irregular flight pattern — that is, guided. All attempts to intercept fail.
“Cadillac Records” is the story of a Chicago recording studio during the seminal days of the 1950s, when Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), a struggling nightclub owner, first recorded Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). And the rest, as they say, is musical history.
Home: by Marilynne Robinson. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. Hb., 336 pp., $25.
What happens when the celebration is over? When the fire has gone out and the food consumed; when the singing is over and silence descends upon the room, what happens in the morning? And not just the next morning but all the other mornings that come with ordinary regularity.
Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, Volume 1 (Advent through Transfiguration), edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. WJKP, 2008. Hb., 463 pp. $39.99.
Here’s a movie that one hesitates even to mention by title: “Zack And Miri Make A Porno.” Sounds sleazy, doesn’t it? And there’s no question that you don’t take Grandma to this one. But it’s not as hard-core as it appears. This comedy was written by Kevin Smith, of “Clerks” fame, so you know there’s going to be a slacker element — casual, irreverent, characters on the margins of propriety and the socially acceptable. No different here.
“Happy-Go-Lucky” is a British comedy that doesn’t try to conform to Hollywood standards. Therefore, we have a primary character in a sitcom who isn’t really a raving beauty, or particularly young, just kind of the working girl next door. Sally Hawkins, 30-something, plays Poppy, a north London elementary school teacher who is determined to be upbeat, even when those around her aren’t. It’s not like she isn’t capable of being serious (she finally has to end the uncomfortable relationship with her dour, angry driving instructor), it’s just that she won’t let herself be dragged down by the doldrums of uneventful living. She’s a refreshing presence, just going shopping with her gal pals, or on a first date, or dealing with a grouchy cashier in a bookstore. She’s the kind of person we’d like to know, and to be around, even if her endings aren’t always happily ever after.
“Changeling” is definitely not happily ever after. Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single Mom of the 1920s, whose young son disappeared from home one Saturday while she was at work. What follows is her harrowing experience with the Los Angeles Police Department, who first did nothing, then didn’t believe her, then tried to pawn off another kid as hers, and then considered her crazy when she wouldn’t accept him as her own.
The first question that has to be asked is “Why now?” Why release a biopic about a sitting president, right at the end of his second term, and just a couple of weeks before the election for his successor? The answer is obvious: This movie isn’t just about the perceived buffoonery of our 43rd President. It’s also about the whole dangerous collection of manipulators, cynics, lightweights, sycophants, and dim functionaries around him; a collection which, by implication, would still be sniffing the hallways of power were the impending election to proceed in a particular way. Ah, now we get it. This is Oliver Stone’s political statement, under the guise of a documentary-looking caricature study.
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is one of those cute little talking animals movies, featuring (the voice of) Drew Barrymore as the upscale, uppity Beverly Hills dog who winds up lost and alone in Mexico City. But she is saved despite herself, learns some self-reliance and some humility, and now we all like her a lot more, plus she has a better perspective, as well. Of course it’s a parable. But it’s sweet and kind-hearted, and the whole family can enjoy it, which in itself is rare enough.
Both involve struggling against the powers that be. In both, the context is dark, cynical, and clandestine. In both, the world is seen as a precarious place teetering on the edge of chaos and obliteration. In both, it’s the little spark of romance and caring that sustains the main character, but it’s more a fantasy unfulfilled than any real intimacy.
When Wisdom and Laughter Meet: Stories on the Work and Worship of the Church, by Jim Atwood. Trafford, 2008. Pb., 106 pp. $13.50.
By Gary Wills. Penguin, 2007. Hb., 626 pp. $29.95
by Thomas W. Currie III. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 152 pp. $16.95.
Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution — A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First, by Alister McGrath. HarperOne, 2007. Hb., 560 pp. $29.95.
by Daniel Migliore. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 128 pp. $16.95.
by Mark Labberton. InterVarsity Press, 2007. Hb., 200pp. $18.
edited by Amy Plantinga Pauw and Serene Jones. Columbia Series in Reformed Theology. WJKP, 2006. Hb., 280 pp. $29.95.
“Nights In Rodanthe” is every bit the middle-aged romance it’s billed to be, but the novel by Nicholas Sparks provides the narrative edge to prevent it from getting too syrupy. Richard Gere plays Dr. Paul Flanner, an otherwise skillful plastic surgeon who lost a patient on the operating table and forgot to be apologetic and remorseful to her husband afterwards.
“The Duchess” is based on a 1998 biography of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, 1757-1806. Georgiana (Keira Knightley), an aristocrat of passion and intelligence, is given in marriage to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes), who is interested solely in her fulfilling her obligation to produce a male heir.
by Robert Jewett in collaboration with Ole Wangerin. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008. Pb., 272 pp. $22.
The title of this film implies one of those spy thrillers that keeps everybody guessing about who everybody really is, featuring tense drama, split-second timing, thrilling chase sequences, and highly intelligent secret agents operating at the peak of their professional powers. Well, “Burn After Reading” is kind of the opposite of all that.
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