Time travel is a concept that, when used in any type of storytelling, persuades the audience to pay close attention in order to piece together the concept's logic like a jigsaw puzzle. Whenever the premise is used in film, books or television, the plots that time travel is involved in tend to differ, so the rules of time travel in each story will differ as well. With films like Back to the Future, 12 Monkeys, The Time Traveler's Wife (also a novel) and last summer's Men in Black 3, the viewer can see how filmmakers often find various ways to use time travel in their narratives.
Writer and director Rian Johnson brings his own contribution to time travel in his futuristic drama, Looper. By doing so, he exemplifies that there are still new ways to use time travel in film. In his story, Johnson's mark on the subject involves hired killers. With his vision of a gloomy future, intriguing rules for loopers, and the increasing tension between the main character's present self and future self, the film explores the great lengths and sacrifices that one will go through to make sure he will live the life he wants.
In 2044, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a "looper," which is a hired assassin. Time travel has been invented in 2074, but is deemed illegal. Crime bosses use it in secret to send those that they want killed back to 2044 to be killed by the loopers, who then secretly dispose of the bodies. When Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) arrives to him as his next assignment, the older Joe knocks out his younger self and flees. Joe soon has to figure out what it is that his future self has set out to accomplish in the present day.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt displays his character as one who never truly feels optimistic about his life, hardly ever cracking a smile during the film. His attitude reflects the bleakness of the society around him. With how good he is at his job and how familiar he is of his urban surroundings, Joe comes off as one of those hard-nosed cops who is tough, but quietly so. While occasionally trying to escape the harsh realities that come with being a hired killer, he takes an eye-dropping club drug regularly and frequents the popular night scene when he's off the clock. As he narrates parts of the story, the viewer can detect a hint of melancholy in his voice. But, within the gloom of his character is a bit of dreamer; he's learning French with the determination to move to Paris someday. It gives the viewer some hope for his character. These two sides of him come together in the first scene as he studies French as the camera pans around him as he waits for, and then kills, his latest assignment.
Bruce Willis still has an abundance of action-star energy. His toughness of character and placement in a time-travel situation recall his role in Terry Gilliam's sci-fi time-bender 12 Monkeys. As with the latter role, there is more to Willis' character than sheer brute force. There are several flashbacks offered about his character, and through them, the audience learns of his tragic loss in the future and his desperate mission to reverse the outcome. It's fortunate for this film that depth of character carries over from Joe's present self to his future self, seeing as they are, basically, the same person.
There is a feeling in the duration of the movie that these killers are only good at what they do, and nothing else. This is seen in the interaction between the loopers' boss, Abe (Jeff Daniels) and one of his loopers, Kid Blue (Noah Segan). The scenes with them together display a sort of father-son relationship as Kid Blue constantly wants to impress his boss as a looper because his job is all he has, even though it is clear that Joe has the better skills and is favored more by Abe. Although the present Joe and future Joe aren't father and son, the vibe of different generations is there in their relationship. They both have conflicting views on Willis' character making a drastic change to the present that will fix his future for the better; and, not to give anything away, but this part of the story carries some interesting echoes of Terminator 2.
One clever aspect of the past, present and future mixing together is the way how the set designs are constructed. While the city holds a futuristic and dystopian look, other places in the film, such as the diner that Joe frequents and the farmhouse where he meets an ally in Sara (Emily Blunt), look more old-fashioned. The differences in the appearance of each of these set pieces play with the concept of time with how the past, present and future meet in the film.
The screenplay by the director takes a look at free will and the choices that its characters make that will either change the future for better or worse, as well as how the elements from the three concepts of time interact with each other. His use of voiceover narration by Joe doesn't last for the whole movie. It's simply just used in the first couple of scenes a few times so Joe can describe to the viewer the fascinating rules of loopers and the deterioration of society. The one problem is that the plot twist becomes predictable about a half hour before the ending.
Rian Johnson has made an effective, original and stylish sci-fi thriller. He takes the idea of time travel and creates a new and exciting use out of it. And, in the middle of the action, he's able to extract emotional performances from his leads. This being Johnson's first mainstream film, he shows that he doesn't have to submit to making a big-budget action picture to win over audiences once he steps into mainstream. He can engage us with his story, characters and strange visuals.
Time travel is a crime in Looper, but it as sure as ever offers a good time at the movies.
Final grade: A-
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Getting Separated, But Still Inseparable
Romantic couples in film tend to go one of three ways: they either form; form, break up, then get back together; or form, break up, and never repair the bond. Trials and tribulations are common in all amorous relationships, but they all arrive at a variation of outcomes, whether they are in a comedy or a drama.
In one case, however, the rules of being together become a little more complicated, and even broken, as we look at the love lives of Celeste Martin and Jesse Abrams. In director Lee Toland Krieger's unconventional dramedy, Celeste and Jesse Forever, he navigates the pleasures and awkwardness of a couple that is on the verge of divorce, but still unable to separate. It's a romance that looks at a love that turns from that of a boyfriend and girlfriend to that of two really good friends.
Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are best friends who love spending every minute together, even though they are on the verge of getting a divorce. Celeste has a successful job running her own media company, and Jesse is an unemployed artist who isn't rushing to find a job. They have their differences on their outlooks for the future, but are still very close. As the two begin to date other people and take on new responsibilities, moving on from their past relationship might be harder and more emotional than they anticipated.
Jones and Samberg each turn in the type of screen performance that is always miraculous to watch: a comedic actor and actress who effortlessly sink into a dramatic role, against the type that is their norm. While they make a charming pair of friends, their emotional relationship is hindered by both of their destructive faults. Celeste has a habit of being judgmental, criticizing current pop culture trends in her television show and new book, and disapproving her boyfriend's slacker lifestyle. Jesse is a stay-at-home boyfriend without much ambition. Both actors are able to tone down their humorous sides, which makes their plight all the more realistic as they both try to adjust to their lives in the middle of the divorce process. What's pleasant about their characters is, at times, they make each other laugh as a way to express themselves as casual friends, despite the current circumstances.
Ari Graynor is very funny as Celeste's brutally-honest friend Beth. She says what's on her mind no matter what, and reflects the audience's view on Celeste and Jesse's relationship in a memorable dinner scene where she expresses her utter confusion as to why they are acting like everything is normal in their lives.
While the screenplay by Jones and Will McCormack does rely on the typicality of the successful-girlfriend-lazy-boyfriend formula, the story is elevated by the honest performances of Jones and Samberg acting like an actual couple. It's not a story about two people trying to get back together, but is, rather, about two people trying to stay together as friends while attempting to sever their romantic ties. Because it's a film about a couple trying to get by without each other, it's difficult to tell whether or not they will stay together, and that, thankfully, takes away a lot of the predictability of the story's conclusion.
A love story about a separation could have posed as a challenge to create, but director Lee Toland Krieger succeeds in making this film tender and genuine without making it sappy. Celeste and Jesse Forever is an original view of how two people can still have the potential to love each other, even after ending a relationship. Whoever thought breaking up could be this romantic?
Final grade: A-
In one case, however, the rules of being together become a little more complicated, and even broken, as we look at the love lives of Celeste Martin and Jesse Abrams. In director Lee Toland Krieger's unconventional dramedy, Celeste and Jesse Forever, he navigates the pleasures and awkwardness of a couple that is on the verge of divorce, but still unable to separate. It's a romance that looks at a love that turns from that of a boyfriend and girlfriend to that of two really good friends.
Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are best friends who love spending every minute together, even though they are on the verge of getting a divorce. Celeste has a successful job running her own media company, and Jesse is an unemployed artist who isn't rushing to find a job. They have their differences on their outlooks for the future, but are still very close. As the two begin to date other people and take on new responsibilities, moving on from their past relationship might be harder and more emotional than they anticipated.
Jones and Samberg each turn in the type of screen performance that is always miraculous to watch: a comedic actor and actress who effortlessly sink into a dramatic role, against the type that is their norm. While they make a charming pair of friends, their emotional relationship is hindered by both of their destructive faults. Celeste has a habit of being judgmental, criticizing current pop culture trends in her television show and new book, and disapproving her boyfriend's slacker lifestyle. Jesse is a stay-at-home boyfriend without much ambition. Both actors are able to tone down their humorous sides, which makes their plight all the more realistic as they both try to adjust to their lives in the middle of the divorce process. What's pleasant about their characters is, at times, they make each other laugh as a way to express themselves as casual friends, despite the current circumstances.
Ari Graynor is very funny as Celeste's brutally-honest friend Beth. She says what's on her mind no matter what, and reflects the audience's view on Celeste and Jesse's relationship in a memorable dinner scene where she expresses her utter confusion as to why they are acting like everything is normal in their lives.
While the screenplay by Jones and Will McCormack does rely on the typicality of the successful-girlfriend-lazy-boyfriend formula, the story is elevated by the honest performances of Jones and Samberg acting like an actual couple. It's not a story about two people trying to get back together, but is, rather, about two people trying to stay together as friends while attempting to sever their romantic ties. Because it's a film about a couple trying to get by without each other, it's difficult to tell whether or not they will stay together, and that, thankfully, takes away a lot of the predictability of the story's conclusion.
A love story about a separation could have posed as a challenge to create, but director Lee Toland Krieger succeeds in making this film tender and genuine without making it sappy. Celeste and Jesse Forever is an original view of how two people can still have the potential to love each other, even after ending a relationship. Whoever thought breaking up could be this romantic?
Final grade: A-
Hollywood Gets Political, But in a Very Different Way
Part of the great power of movies is the medium's ability to bring to life some of the biggest moments in world history. These stories enthrall the viewer as they sit and watch the events unfurl through an intense secondhand experience. If the viewer is watching a film about an event that they were not alive to see, the film will present itself as a rich opportunity to learn something new.
Ben Affleck makes a meteoric return as a director for his tension-drenched thriller, Argo. As he tells the true story of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, he builds upon relentless suspense as the danger for the main characters becomes more life-threatening. With this only being his third feature as a director, he hasn't just given audiences one of the best movies of the year, but has already become one of the most gifted filmmakers of today.
During the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a group of revolutionaries breaks into the U.S. embassy in Tehran in retaliation for the support the country gives to their recently deposed Shah. While many of the staff is taken as hostages, six are able to escape and find refuge in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). Back in the U.S., CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) is brought in to review the plans to save the six hostages, but sees that they are flawed. After he watches Battle of the Planet of the Apes on TV, he hatches an idea: go into Tehran and pose with the hostages as a Canadian film crew that is scouting the area for exotic locations for a fake sci-fi movie called Argo. After the CIA agrees to it, Tony will need all the resources and support he can get from his job and from Hollywood in order to get the hostages home alive.
Affleck not only proves that he's a supremely competent filmmaker, but also continues to show that he can provide some quality acting as well. When The Town was released in 2010, which Affleck directed, he presented to audiences that he can be as good of an actor as he can a director, and with his role in Argo, he delivers his best performance to date.
His character has a pinpoint focus of what he must do to accomplish his mission. Even though he has some personal issues with being away from his family because he and his spouse are taking a break, there isn't one spot in the film where Affleck's character wallows in a woe-is-me mentality. He concentrates on his mission with a towering willpower to go and follow through with his task. Despite his determination to do what he can for the hostages, Tony doesn't make overblown speeches about what is the right thing to do in the hostage situation. It's an understated performance, with Tony acting composed in each scene, trying to figure out how to go about each step in the rescue.
Argo's supporting cast is one of the most memorable this year. John Goodman portrays famed Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers, who also crafted disguises at one point for the CIA. Alan Arkin plays a big-shot film producer named Lester Siegel, who has the know-how and connections for show business. They both have some of the film's funniest quotes, such as Lester's "You're worried about the Ayatollah? Try the WGA," and John's "You could teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day." The two speak their humorous lines with great timing. As the tension is boiling over, either of these two characters are there to utter a funny line, even if it just calms the audience down for a little bit, but the humor doesn't become too much that it undermines the serious tone. Bryan Cranston is fierce as Mendez's supervisor, Jack O'Donnell. He takes charge of every scene he's in and dominates them with his get-the-job-done persona.
Although the actors used for the six hostages have appeared in other projects, they are still relatively unknown to most audiences, but the film benefits from that aspect. This makes their scenes look and feel more realistic with how they portray their characters. Otherwise, it would have been distracting to have familiar actors fill those roles. This makes them look more like ordinary people who are trying to get back home. When they interact with one another, the audience also learns some details about how their lives were before they ended up in this crisis. So, the viewers are able to care about them.
One of the most interesting aspects of the film is how it begins and ends by showing storyboards. I won't give away how they are used in the end, but in the beginning, the storyboards are used to illustrate the history of Iran and the reasons behind the revolution. It's a smart use for them because this is a movie about a fake movie that was, basically, the vessel that got the hostages and Mendez through Iran to safety. Also, storyboards factor greatly into one of the most significant scenes of the film's climax.
One thing that's always impressive about film is how archival footage can be found and used to strengthen the storytelling. News footage is employed extensively throughout Argo. By having the footage embedded in the film, the audience is able to feel closer to the events. When viewing this footage, it provides the sense of watching the news from a television at home, but the audience is also watching the actual planning and events of the rescue as they unfold, something they couldn't have done when all of this happened when it did.
The screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on Mendez's book Master of Disguise and Joshuah Bearman's Wired magazine article The Great Escape, includes wonderfully developed characters throughout, and are all the more impressive because they are real. His story is shrouded in tension, which is one of the film's best qualities. But, the moments of humor he writes between Affleck, Goodman and Arkin break that tension, albeit for a little while, in the amusing scenes of them trying to get the rescue plan together.
George Clooney and Grant Heslov are producers for the film, and both worked on other films that have dealt heavily with politics such as 2005's Good Night, and Good Luck and last year's The Ides of March. Their experience with political films is clearly seen in Argo, the subject matter being a perfect fit for these two and Affleck and their political and filmmaking savvy.
Ben Affleck is a master of creating suspenseful scenarios in his films such as Gone Baby Gone and The Town. For Argo, he achieves a remarkable feat: being able to instill near-unbearable anxiety into the story, even though the viewer already knows the outcome. There are two particular scenes that come to mind: one is where his character must drive the group of hostages in a van through a group of protesters, and the other involves the group traversing through a bazaar as they pretend to be scouting for filming locations. Both scenes emit a potent sense of claustrophobia. The van scene mostly has the camera inside the vehicle as the hostages are looking out the windows while trying not to look terrified as the protesters surround them. The scene in the bazaar has the audience even more anxious as it watches the hostages and Mendez weaving through the densely populated streets, and what happens in this scene really gets the heart racing.
With just a three-movie history as a director, Affleck has made a superb impression on cinema. He has stayed consistent with his excellence in storytelling, and is reliable in bringing audiences films that achieve on placing viewers as close to edge as possible as they wait for the many high-tension situations to unfold. This film is his greatest success in filmmaking so far, and he gets better each time. Put him in the director's chair, and Affleck will give us something worth raving about. In this case, it's the utterly stimulating Argo.
Final grade: A
Ben Affleck makes a meteoric return as a director for his tension-drenched thriller, Argo. As he tells the true story of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, he builds upon relentless suspense as the danger for the main characters becomes more life-threatening. With this only being his third feature as a director, he hasn't just given audiences one of the best movies of the year, but has already become one of the most gifted filmmakers of today.
During the 1979 Iranian Revolution, a group of revolutionaries breaks into the U.S. embassy in Tehran in retaliation for the support the country gives to their recently deposed Shah. While many of the staff is taken as hostages, six are able to escape and find refuge in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). Back in the U.S., CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) is brought in to review the plans to save the six hostages, but sees that they are flawed. After he watches Battle of the Planet of the Apes on TV, he hatches an idea: go into Tehran and pose with the hostages as a Canadian film crew that is scouting the area for exotic locations for a fake sci-fi movie called Argo. After the CIA agrees to it, Tony will need all the resources and support he can get from his job and from Hollywood in order to get the hostages home alive.
Affleck not only proves that he's a supremely competent filmmaker, but also continues to show that he can provide some quality acting as well. When The Town was released in 2010, which Affleck directed, he presented to audiences that he can be as good of an actor as he can a director, and with his role in Argo, he delivers his best performance to date.
His character has a pinpoint focus of what he must do to accomplish his mission. Even though he has some personal issues with being away from his family because he and his spouse are taking a break, there isn't one spot in the film where Affleck's character wallows in a woe-is-me mentality. He concentrates on his mission with a towering willpower to go and follow through with his task. Despite his determination to do what he can for the hostages, Tony doesn't make overblown speeches about what is the right thing to do in the hostage situation. It's an understated performance, with Tony acting composed in each scene, trying to figure out how to go about each step in the rescue.
Argo's supporting cast is one of the most memorable this year. John Goodman portrays famed Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers, who also crafted disguises at one point for the CIA. Alan Arkin plays a big-shot film producer named Lester Siegel, who has the know-how and connections for show business. They both have some of the film's funniest quotes, such as Lester's "You're worried about the Ayatollah? Try the WGA," and John's "You could teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day." The two speak their humorous lines with great timing. As the tension is boiling over, either of these two characters are there to utter a funny line, even if it just calms the audience down for a little bit, but the humor doesn't become too much that it undermines the serious tone. Bryan Cranston is fierce as Mendez's supervisor, Jack O'Donnell. He takes charge of every scene he's in and dominates them with his get-the-job-done persona.
Although the actors used for the six hostages have appeared in other projects, they are still relatively unknown to most audiences, but the film benefits from that aspect. This makes their scenes look and feel more realistic with how they portray their characters. Otherwise, it would have been distracting to have familiar actors fill those roles. This makes them look more like ordinary people who are trying to get back home. When they interact with one another, the audience also learns some details about how their lives were before they ended up in this crisis. So, the viewers are able to care about them.
One of the most interesting aspects of the film is how it begins and ends by showing storyboards. I won't give away how they are used in the end, but in the beginning, the storyboards are used to illustrate the history of Iran and the reasons behind the revolution. It's a smart use for them because this is a movie about a fake movie that was, basically, the vessel that got the hostages and Mendez through Iran to safety. Also, storyboards factor greatly into one of the most significant scenes of the film's climax.
One thing that's always impressive about film is how archival footage can be found and used to strengthen the storytelling. News footage is employed extensively throughout Argo. By having the footage embedded in the film, the audience is able to feel closer to the events. When viewing this footage, it provides the sense of watching the news from a television at home, but the audience is also watching the actual planning and events of the rescue as they unfold, something they couldn't have done when all of this happened when it did.
The screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on Mendez's book Master of Disguise and Joshuah Bearman's Wired magazine article The Great Escape, includes wonderfully developed characters throughout, and are all the more impressive because they are real. His story is shrouded in tension, which is one of the film's best qualities. But, the moments of humor he writes between Affleck, Goodman and Arkin break that tension, albeit for a little while, in the amusing scenes of them trying to get the rescue plan together.
George Clooney and Grant Heslov are producers for the film, and both worked on other films that have dealt heavily with politics such as 2005's Good Night, and Good Luck and last year's The Ides of March. Their experience with political films is clearly seen in Argo, the subject matter being a perfect fit for these two and Affleck and their political and filmmaking savvy.
Ben Affleck is a master of creating suspenseful scenarios in his films such as Gone Baby Gone and The Town. For Argo, he achieves a remarkable feat: being able to instill near-unbearable anxiety into the story, even though the viewer already knows the outcome. There are two particular scenes that come to mind: one is where his character must drive the group of hostages in a van through a group of protesters, and the other involves the group traversing through a bazaar as they pretend to be scouting for filming locations. Both scenes emit a potent sense of claustrophobia. The van scene mostly has the camera inside the vehicle as the hostages are looking out the windows while trying not to look terrified as the protesters surround them. The scene in the bazaar has the audience even more anxious as it watches the hostages and Mendez weaving through the densely populated streets, and what happens in this scene really gets the heart racing.
With just a three-movie history as a director, Affleck has made a superb impression on cinema. He has stayed consistent with his excellence in storytelling, and is reliable in bringing audiences films that achieve on placing viewers as close to edge as possible as they wait for the many high-tension situations to unfold. This film is his greatest success in filmmaking so far, and he gets better each time. Put him in the director's chair, and Affleck will give us something worth raving about. In this case, it's the utterly stimulating Argo.
Final grade: A
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