Happy Presidents' Day, readers of Tableau Your Mind
(Tableauyers? Tableauniacs?). We've been
very very
busy getting ready for the Oscars next Sunday, making sure that we have bought enough streamers and bean dip (Party Hint #536: One Can Never Have Too Much Bean Dip). We've also been looking back at
the nine (9!) films nominated for Best Picture. For Valentine's Day, we
reviewed Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, and Amour, which are the three films that
most clearly focus on what the French call love, or at least they call it that when they're speaking English. We love a theme, so today, in honor of Presidents' Day, we'll be quickly revealing the three films
that deal with American history: Lincoln,
Argo, and Zero Dark Thirty:
Lincoln
Story: If you want serious storytelling
about Presidential pondering and familial strain, look no further than this
fluffy film from Steven Spielberg. It follows the 16th President
during his final days in office, working to free slaves before the end of the
Civil War through an amendment to the Constitution. Daniel Day Lewis plays president Lincoln as a soft-spoken,
thought-provoking man who is brazen in his attempts to secure the freedom of
all men. Tommy Lee Jones is along for
the ride as Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Lincoln's son
Robert Todd, and Sally Field is Lincoln’s tenuously-sane wife Mary Todd. Of course, the whole plot leads up to the ratification of the 13th
Amendment and the assassination of old Abie himself (spoiler alert?), but along
the way we get lots of scenes of Congressional procedure, behind-the-scenes chicanery,
and the unease of the First Family.
Pros: We're not normally fans of Daniel Day Lewis. He tends
to play all of his characters as smug and boisterous, and we never really understood why his one-note performances always receive such accolades. Still, he's
quite good here in a performance that demands he be quiet, thoughtful, and a bit
slow in speech. By all accounts, Lincoln was a man out of time, and Lewis plays
him as such. He's smarter than everyone around him, and this only serves to
alienate him more from the people in his company. It's a delicate performance, and
that's nice to see from Lewis. Sally Field is fun, though she tends to
overplay moments that seem like Oscar bait, and Tommy Lee Jones is funny and
thoughtful and interesting. He hasn't had such a plum role in a while, and he
does a lot with the material he's given. Spielberg does a good job with the material as well, and the script, from playwright TonyKushner, is interesting and well-plotted. Also, the smaller scenes, particularly
the ones with Lincoln and his wife and sons, are interesting and understated.
There are moments in a recovery ward that take place with Lincoln and Robert Todd that are powerful without being ridiculously over-the-top.
Cons: Most scenes, however, are a little too bluntly
rendered, and much of the dialogue is incredibly heavy-handed. Kushner relies on
a lot of simple cues to make sure that we know which characters are evil and which are good. Though it flirts with showing shades of grey, for the
most part the film clearly shows that the people on Lincoln's side are good and all
the others are bad, and other than Lincoln and Stevens, most of the characters are
fairly one note. It's also very long, and a better editor might have cropped out a good third of the film. Additionally, the whole thing is over-scored, and that adds to the blunt and sometimes poorly crafted nature of the film. It's done to a lesser extent than War Horse, but still…
Best Picture?: It has a good chance of winning Best Picture,
but we hope it doesn't. The other films nominated are better in so many ways,
but mostly they're better for not playing it quite as safe as this film, which
is so by-the-book that it's boring. Plus, it's super long, you guys.
Film Grade: B/B+
Argo
Story: This movie, directed by and starring Ben
Affleck-Garner, follows CIA operative Tony Mendez as he attempts to rescue six
U.S. diplomats from Iran, during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. To pull
of his rescue, he enlists the help of Hollywood insiders (played by John
Goodman and Alan Arkin) as he attempts to smuggle the diplomats out by having them pose as
filmmakers on a science fiction movie called Argo. Helping Mendez in Iran is Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor
(Victor Garber), who has hidden the diplomats in his house and works to help them escape. The rescue seems more unlikely as time passes, and, with the Iranian militants closing in, it's
up to Mendez and the Canadians to make sure the diplomats make it home.
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| Putting the Pieces Together |
Cons: Affleck is fast-becoming one of our favorite
directors, with the wonderful Gone Baby
Gone and the action-packed The Town
already under his belt, but his acting skills still leave something to be
desired. We understand that he loves acting, but maybe he should think less
Eastwood and more Shyamalan in his approach to his films. He would have been
great as a cameo actor, but there's just too much of him. His emotional
journey isn't quite believable in the film, which is difficult to say because we love
him so much. We just need to see less of him.
Best Picture?: It certainly seems like the film is on its
way to Oscar gold. Affleck wasn't nominated for a Best Director Oscar, but that
race is super-competitive and he's less flashy than some of the names on the
list. Even with a lackluster lead, the film manages to be entertaining and
informative, and it does well not to talk down to the audience. It's a smart
film, sleekly told. If you don't think it should win Best Picture, then Ar-go f*ck yourself (We hate that we're using this joke, but we kind of have to).
Film Review: A/A+
Zero Dark Thirty
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| He's Around Here Somewhere... |
Story: This historical drama, directed by Kathryn
Bigelow, follows one agent, Maya, and her team of compatriots as they fight tirelessly to hunt down and
kill Osama bin Laden following the events of September 11th. Maya's methods, including interviews, extreme torture, and deal-making, become
increasingly desperate as she searches for any hints of the elusive terrorist. BTW: The name of the film comes from the time that the final Seal Team mission was
carried out, sometime around 12:30 (or a half hour after darkness; there seem
to be conflicting reports).
Pros: While it is a very good film, we had a hard time with The Hurt Locker, Bigelow's previous work. While it is a well-told film, it suffered from not having any characters to
care about. Thankfully, Jessica Chastain is a much better actor than Jeremy
Renner, and she helps anchor a film that would feel shapeless without her. We know that she is representative of a lot of
people who helped in the fight for bin Laden, and she is able to carry the weight of all those people, commanding the screen and
giving legitimacy to the events of the film.
Bigelow has a nice, natural filmmaking style, and the film is methodically and organically paced.
Cons: The film is well-executed, but the whole thing feels
like it is being told too soon. As such,
so many of the events feel like news reels rather than a part of the film. In Argo and
Lincoln, we know the end results of
the film, but the machinations leading up to it are a little less clear. With Zero Dark Thirty, all of the events are
recent and easier to remember. There's very little suspense. Also, and this is
a small note, but bin Laden's death created a lot of discussions about due process
and the ideas of justice for all peoples. We aren't expecting the film to end
in a dour dialogue about the way we treat terrorists, but we would have liked
to have seen some nod in that direction. We expected Kathryn Bigelow to explore more, but maybe the events are too recent to have any type of objective distance. We could also go into the
film's depictions of torture, but that subject has basically been talked to death.
Best Picture?: It could win, but, with Bigelow winning Best
Picture/Director for her last movie, it's unlikely she'll win two in a row.
Film Grade: B+
Well, those were our reviews for the three films up for Best Picture that tackle American History, both extremely recent and relatively old. When we get back to the reviews in a few days, we'll be looking at the films that could be described as 'magical realism': Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, and Les Miserables. Until then, goodbye.
Well, those were our reviews for the three films up for Best Picture that tackle American History, both extremely recent and relatively old. When we get back to the reviews in a few days, we'll be looking at the films that could be described as 'magical realism': Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, and Les Miserables. Until then, goodbye.
