By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
“It’s complicated … It’s complicated,” recited Will Hayes to his daughter, Maya, as he recounts his winding journey from attraction to love to marriage—marriage to Maya’s mother. This slumber party storytelling adventure called “Definitely, Maybe” is indeed complicated, and unique, but is it fulfilling?
Disillusioned with the impending divorce of her parents, the precocious Maya (Abigail Breslin) asks her dad to recall the story of how he and his soon-to-be ex-wife met and fell in love. When Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) repeatedly retreats to his mantra of “It’s complicated,” Maya refuses to let her father off the hook. The father and daughter compromise, deciding to turn the story into a love mystery—with names and facts askew, Maya has to figure out which woman in her father’s tangled love story is her mother.
Hayes lives up to his mantra, as he goes from gorgeous woman to gorgeous woman; blonde, brunette, and redhead; feeling all the woes of romantic hardship—mostly self-inflicted. At various points in this story, Maya interjects with her own thoughts, feelings and hopes. She cannot help but root for various characters in her dad’s narrative, hoping both that her mother will be the character she likes best and that her dad will have chosen the woman best suited for him.
In “Definitely, Maybe” writer/director Adam Brooks has given himself the ample of task of forging a connection between the main character and not one woman, but three. This web of love and attraction leaves the viewer wondering where the story is going—which can be a great thing if it does go somewhere, but a terrible thing if it goes nowhere at all.
Although the plot of this movie jumps and stalls like an old car, it does go somewhere, but mostly thanks to an able cast. Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardner”) are as wonderful as ever, and Ryan Reynolds (“Van Wilder”) and Isla Fisher (“Wedding Crashers”) contribute a respectable amount of that charming gooey-glue that holds together every successful chick flick.
Unfortunately, there was not quite enough of that gooey-glue in the movie to hold together the labyrinthine plot and the awkward political setting (Hayes works on a presidential campaign), but I know that plenty of movie-goers will still enjoy this movie. Like me, many people will find “Definitely, Maybe” easy to sit through, but also like me, most people will instantly forget the movie. “Definitely, Maybe” should get some credit for a unique idea and a decent cast, but the praise ends there.
“Definitely, Maybe” is rated PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking.
Duncan’s Oscar Predictions
The following is a list of my predictions for the 80th Annual Academy Awards, which will air on Sunday, Feb. 24. All nominations are listed in alphabetical order, my predictions are in bold and the nominees I think are most deserving of the award are in italics.
Best Picture: “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Michael Clayton,” “Juno,” and “Atonement.”
Best Actor: George Clooney (“Michael Clayton”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), Johnny Depp (“Sweeney Todd and the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”), Tommy Lee Jones (“In the Valley of Elah”), and Viggo Mortenson (“Eastern Promises”).
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Julie Christie (“Away From Her”), Marion Cotillard (“Le Vie en Rose”), Laura Linney (“The Savages”), and Ellen Page (“Juno”).
Best Director: Julian Schnabel (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Jason Reitman (“Juno”), Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”), Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men”), and Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”).
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
"No Country for Old Men"
By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
The streets of Santa Barbara were littered with casts and crews, fans and flatterers, during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last week, all abuzz over the Coen brother’s latest film, “No Country for Old Men.” The film, which matched “There Will Be Blood” for most Oscar nods (including nominations for best supporting actor, best director and best picture), sent two of its cast, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem, to Santa Barbara to be honored with special awards. At the Montecito Award ceremony for Javier Bardem, film festival executive director Roger Durling described Bardem’s performance as “the defining performance of the year,” specifically vaulting him over Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Julie Christie (“Away From Her”) and Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”).
In “No Country for Old Men,” Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a simple West Texan, comes across a satchel filled with cash from a drug deal gone awry. Instead of turning the money in or avoiding the potential dangers altogether, Moss decides to keep the money, hiding it under his house until he can make accommodations for him and his wife to leave. However, a tracking device planted in the money reveals his location both to Mexican drug dealers and to Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden), a senseless, psychopathic killer on the loose. It soon becomes clear that the biggest hurdle Moss will have to overcome to maintain both the money and his family’s livelihood is Chigurh, as he spends most of the movie fleeing from the stone-faced murderer the audience knows nothing about except that he has a bizarre haircut and that he uses his preferred weapons, a cattle gun and a tank of compressed air, with ruthless dexterity.
As the plot progresses, the conflict becomes more complex due to Chigurh’s principled, albeit random, acts of evil. Chigurh’s pursuit of Moss shows all the hallmarks of greater purpose, yet lacks any definable motivation typically associated with sanity. When Chigurh is offered the money by a cornered Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), a man sent to find and kill him, he turns it down, saying that he prefers “something better,” that is, to have the money placed under his feet by Moss.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates the crimes surrounding the money with a nonplussed demeanor. He is not confused by the nature of the crimes, but by the purpose or reason behind the crimes. Bell is more of a thematic narrator, as his biggest role in the film is as an “old man,” who is set in contrast to a new kind of criminal; a criminal with no soul.
In the beginning of the film, Bell says, “The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job—not to be glorious. But I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. You can say it's my job to fight it, but I don't know what it is anymore. More than that, I don't want to know. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He would have to say, ‘OK, I'll be part of this world.’”
And thus, this on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller becomes more than just a fast-moving plot line. It becomes a metaphor for evil, violence and greed.
So does “No Country for Old Men” live up to the hype? Of course not. It is good, but not that good. It is deep enough, but just as much about filling the seats with moviegoers eager to see a suspenseful bloodbath as it is about the nature of violence and criminality in the United States and abroad. Bardem’s performance was good enough to earn him the Oscar for best supporting actor, but it was not “the defining performance of the year,” as Roger Durling so fawningly pronounced. If that distinction could be given to anyone, it would be to Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood.”
“No Country for Old Men” was a good movie, and very entertaining. Although many viewers were dissatisfied with the perplexing ending, the conclusion was part of the Coen brother’s art, and without it the film could not have been the artistic success that it was.
“No Country for Old Men” is rated R for strong, graphic violence and some language.
Coastal View News
The streets of Santa Barbara were littered with casts and crews, fans and flatterers, during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last week, all abuzz over the Coen brother’s latest film, “No Country for Old Men.” The film, which matched “There Will Be Blood” for most Oscar nods (including nominations for best supporting actor, best director and best picture), sent two of its cast, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem, to Santa Barbara to be honored with special awards. At the Montecito Award ceremony for Javier Bardem, film festival executive director Roger Durling described Bardem’s performance as “the defining performance of the year,” specifically vaulting him over Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Julie Christie (“Away From Her”) and Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”).
In “No Country for Old Men,” Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a simple West Texan, comes across a satchel filled with cash from a drug deal gone awry. Instead of turning the money in or avoiding the potential dangers altogether, Moss decides to keep the money, hiding it under his house until he can make accommodations for him and his wife to leave. However, a tracking device planted in the money reveals his location both to Mexican drug dealers and to Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden), a senseless, psychopathic killer on the loose. It soon becomes clear that the biggest hurdle Moss will have to overcome to maintain both the money and his family’s livelihood is Chigurh, as he spends most of the movie fleeing from the stone-faced murderer the audience knows nothing about except that he has a bizarre haircut and that he uses his preferred weapons, a cattle gun and a tank of compressed air, with ruthless dexterity.
As the plot progresses, the conflict becomes more complex due to Chigurh’s principled, albeit random, acts of evil. Chigurh’s pursuit of Moss shows all the hallmarks of greater purpose, yet lacks any definable motivation typically associated with sanity. When Chigurh is offered the money by a cornered Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), a man sent to find and kill him, he turns it down, saying that he prefers “something better,” that is, to have the money placed under his feet by Moss.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates the crimes surrounding the money with a nonplussed demeanor. He is not confused by the nature of the crimes, but by the purpose or reason behind the crimes. Bell is more of a thematic narrator, as his biggest role in the film is as an “old man,” who is set in contrast to a new kind of criminal; a criminal with no soul.
In the beginning of the film, Bell says, “The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job—not to be glorious. But I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. You can say it's my job to fight it, but I don't know what it is anymore. More than that, I don't want to know. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He would have to say, ‘OK, I'll be part of this world.’”
And thus, this on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller becomes more than just a fast-moving plot line. It becomes a metaphor for evil, violence and greed.
So does “No Country for Old Men” live up to the hype? Of course not. It is good, but not that good. It is deep enough, but just as much about filling the seats with moviegoers eager to see a suspenseful bloodbath as it is about the nature of violence and criminality in the United States and abroad. Bardem’s performance was good enough to earn him the Oscar for best supporting actor, but it was not “the defining performance of the year,” as Roger Durling so fawningly pronounced. If that distinction could be given to anyone, it would be to Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood.”
“No Country for Old Men” was a good movie, and very entertaining. Although many viewers were dissatisfied with the perplexing ending, the conclusion was part of the Coen brother’s art, and without it the film could not have been the artistic success that it was.
“No Country for Old Men” is rated R for strong, graphic violence and some language.
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