Review: "42" Good Film; Does Good by History

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 77 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

42 (2013)
Running time:  128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – R for thematic elements including language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Brian Helgeland
PRODUCER:  Thomas Tull
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Don Burgess (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Peter McNulty and Kevin Stitt
COMPOSER:  Mark Isham

DRAMA/BIOPIC/SPORTS/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Andre Holland, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Merriman, Lucas Black, Alan Tudyk, Hamish Linklater, T.R. Knight, John C. McGinley, Toby Huss, Max Gail, Brad Beyer, and James Pickens, Jr.

The late Jack Roosevelt Robinson, better known as Jackie Robinson, was an American baseball player who is best known as the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.  The MLB once had a color line, which meant that Black men could not play the game, and, prior to Robinson, no Black man had played for a major league baseball team (apparently) since the 1880s.

So when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line.  However, it was both Robinson’s unquestionable talent and his character that challenged the basis of segregation in the United States, in all aspects of American life, including professional sports.

How did Jackie Robinson get to play Major League Baseball?  In the mid-1940s, Branch Rickey, the club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, began to scout the Negro Leagues with the specific intention of finding a promising black player he could bring to his organization.  Rickey found Robinson, and thus, began a relationship that guided Robinson into baseball and through tough times to make history.

42 is a 2013 biopic-historical film and baseball movie from writer-director, Brian Helgeland.  It is a dramatization of the relationship between the iconic Jackie Robinson and the ground-breaking Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey.  42 takes the audience from Rickey’s signing of Robinson, through the 1947 MLB season as Robinson and Rickey try to make history and the Dodgers try to make it to the playoffs.

42 opens in Brooklyn, New York, Spring 1945.  Brooklyn Dodgers general manager, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), is making moves to find and hopefully sign the black baseball player who will break the baseball color barrier that keeps Major League Baseball all white.  In Birmingham, Alabama, in the summer of 1945, the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League baseball team, is in midst of a road trip.  The team bus stops at a gas station, where team member Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) tries to use the men’s restroom and stirs up a little trouble.

However, that gas station is where a Dodgers’ scout catches up to Robinson.  Soon, Robinson and Rickey are planning to change baseball and maybe the world.  Robinson has his wife, Rachel (Nicole Beharie), by his side, and a black sportswriter, Wendell Smith (Andre Holland), offering a helping hand.  But is that enough to help Robinson overcome hostile crowds, racist taunts, racial epitaphs, and belligerent opponents?  Together, a stubborn general manager and tough-as-nails player race towards the playoffs and history.

42 is a genial, easy-going movie about a dark time in American history.  As the film expresses, however, dark times allow men and women of character and strength to be the light that shines through the clouds and maybe even dispel some of that darkness.  The film is really the story of two men, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, who wage battle on different, but related fronts.

The more interesting battle is Jackie’s because it takes place on the field of combat that is professional sports.  Director Brian Helgeland is quite good at making the baseball scenes of this film engaging, even occasionally fascinating.  The scenes in which Robinson is heckled with the word, “nigger,” the most used of all the hate speech, are riveting.  Even if the N-word makes you uncomfortable, it is hard to look away from these most potent moments of 42.  Kudos to Alan Tudyk as the horrid Ben Chapman; it is a superb turn that makes a small role unforgettable.

Helgeland is not quite as good at depicting Branch Rickey’s struggles.  He picks the right adversaries for the pugnacious executive, but the director is shoddy in executing the backroom verbal brawls.  When it comes to Rickey, Helgeland presents an opponent with a gripe, and has Rickey tell him off, in what amounts to a short, one-sided spat.  I can imagine that the real-life versions of Rickey’s battles were a tad bit more dramatic and combative than they are depicted here.  That aside, Harrison Ford gives one of the best performances of his career as Rickey; it is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

When Brian Helgeland combines Rickey and Robinson’s struggles into a single struggle, he creates a rhythm that beats out a tale of two men determined to overcome obstacles.  Yeah, 42 is feel-good and even schmaltzy, especially in scenes that bring Jackie and his wife, Rachel, together.  I can put that aside because 42 is a movie that American film needed to tell, and it does good by the real-life story it tells

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "The Order" is Unfortunately Out of Order

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Order (2003)
Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for violent images, sexuality and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Brian Helgeland
PRODUCERS:  Craig Baumgarten and Brian Helgeland
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Nicola Pecorini
EDITOR:  Kevin Stitt
COMPOSER:  David Torn

MYSTERY/HORROR/THRILLER with elements of and fantasy

Starring:  Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Benno Fürmann, Mark Addy, Peter Weller, and Francesco Carnelutti

The subject of this movie review is The Order, a 2003 mystery-horror film from writer-director, Brian Helgeland.  The film stars Heath Ledger as a young priest who travels to Rome to investigate the troubling death of the head of his order.

In Oscar® winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland's (L.A. Confidential) The Order, two priests belonging to an arcane order known as the Carolingians and a troubled painter track a figure of Catholic lore known as the Sin Eater.  When the leader of the Carolingians, Dominic (Francesco Carnelutti), dies, Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger) goes to Rome to investigate the circumstances of his mentor’s mysterious death.

Dominic’s body bears strange scars that may be the markings of the Sin Eater, a renegade who offers absolution of the gravest sins.  This is the only way to heaven for those who are outside the jurisdiction of the church, either by choice or because of excommunication.  However, there is a bigger problem; as Alex and his own colleague Father Thomas Garrett (Mark Addy) search for the Sin Eater, there may be a conspiracy surrounding Alex, drawing him closer to the Sin-Eater, a centuries old man named William Eden (Benno Fürmann).

The Order has an interesting premise, and it actually could have been a fairly good suspense thriller (and a creepy one, at that) without the hokey special effects.  The Order’s story is basically a tale of religious conspiracy, in this case, that old Hollywood standby, a conspiracy reaching the upper levels of the Roman Catholic Church and involving arcane Catholic lore.  One can wonder what Helgeland was thinking when he dreamed up this story.  It’s all flash and no substance.  What are the themes?  What is it really about?  Is it just a film exercise meant to be a scary movie.

Two things really hurt The Order.  First, the special effects and fantasy, horror, supernatural elements seem tacked on, as if the studio knew that people would not go for some religious mystery thriller if there wasn’t some unholy bump in the night going on.  Secondly, the actors, except for a few, spare moments, are pitiful.  They lack energy and seem lethargic or drugged.  Speaking accents and dialects are plentiful, but no actor is consistent.  Each one seems to grab whatever accent works for the moment, as if he or she will simply try everything in hopes that something will stick.

If you’re looking for a hardcore horror movie, this isn’t it.  If you like mystery and religious conspiracies, this isn’t a totally bad way to spend VCR time.

4 of 10
C

Updated:  Wednesday, September 04, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Mystic River" is Really Good, But is Too Damn Bleak (Happy B'day, Laurence Fishburne)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 92 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mystic River (2003)
Running time:  138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and violence
DIRECTOR:  Clint Eastwood
WRITER:  Brian Helgeland (from the novel by Dennis Lehane)
PRODUCERS:  Clint Eastwood, Judie G. Hoyt, and Robert Lorenz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Tom Stern (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Joel Cox
COMPOSER:  Clint Eastwood
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/CRIME

Starring:  Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Chapman, Thomas Guiry, Emmy Rossum, Spencer Treat Clark, Andrew Mackin, Adam Nelson, and Robert Wahlberg

The subject of this movie review is Mystic River, a 2003 crime drama from director Clint Eastwood.  The film is based on Mystic River, the 2001 novel from author Dennis Lehane.  Mystic River focuses on three men who are reunited by circumstance after the daughter of one of the men is murdered.

Clint Eastwood’s film Mystic River was one of the most acclaimed films of 2003, and it earned several Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.  However, thanks to the onslaught that was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the 2004 Academy Awards, Mystic River only picked up the two “Best Actor” awards:  Leading Role (Sean Penn) and Supporting Role (Tim Robbins).

Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn), Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), and Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) are three childhood friends reunited after Markum’s daughter, Katie (Emmy Rossum), is found brutally murdered.  Their reunion is at cross-purposes, however.  Markum is small time hood, Devine is the investigator with the State Police investigating Katie’s murder, and Boyle survived being kidnapped and sexually assaulted when the three men were boys.  When Boyle becomes the lead suspect, the reunion spirals towards tragedy.

Mystic River is a very good film, but ultimately it’s a bit too cold for too long.  At times, I could have sworn that I was watching Clint Eastwood directing a drama as a formal dinner party.  Mystic River is professional and slick, as well as being raw and gritty.  The film has weight and gravity, but it all seems so laid back and cool.  Not until the last 20 minutes does the film really begin to unleash a tour de force of film drama, but those closing scenes are alien to the rest of the film.

Mystic River really plays with the idea that people are interconnected; the action or inaction of one has inevitable, although unseen, consequences upon another – neat but pat.  Besides, the award winning performances of Penn and Robbins, Kevin Bacon and especially Laurence Fishburne have the roles that anchor the film and they almost steal the show.  In the end Mystic River is all good, but waits for the closing act to show how really good it can be.  If you like dour dramas with good acting, this one is for you, but it’s not an exceptional work of movie art.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Sean Penn) and “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tim Robbins); 4 nominations: “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Marcia Gay Harden), “Best Director” (Clint Eastwood), “Best Picture” (Robert Lorenz, Judie Hoyt, and Clint Eastwood), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Brian Helgeland)

2004 BAFTA Awards:  4 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Sean Penn), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tim Robbins), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Laura Linney), and “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Brian Helgeland)

2004 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Sean Penn) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Tim Robbins); 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Clint Eastwood), “Best Motion Picture – Drama” (Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Brian Helgeland)

Updated: Monday, July 08, 2013

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"42" Star, Chadwick Boseman, to Appear at Smithsonian

Time Warner Inc. and the Smithsonian Welcome Chadwick Boseman, Star of the Film “42”

Event Takes Place on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15th, the 66th Anniversary of His First Appearance as a Brooklyn Dodger

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Time Warner Inc. and Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day by hosting a special screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ new film “42.” The screening will be held at the Warner Bros. Theatre on Monday, April 15, in Washington, DC. “42,” the true story of American legend Jackie Robinson, opens nationwide on Friday, April 12, 2013.

Actor Chadwick Boseman, who portrays Jackie Robinson in the film, will join National Museum of American History Director John Gray and Curator Eric Jentsch to introduce the film and present several objects from the Smithsonian collection that relate to Jackie Robinson. The pieces include a signed baseball, a program with Robinson on the cover and an original trading card.

After the movie, Mr. Boseman will participate in an onstage interview session with Lonny Bunch, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.


About “42”
Academy Award® winner Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential”) wrote and directed the drama “42,” starring Chadwick Boseman (“The Express”) and Oscar® nominee Harrison Ford (“Witness”).

Hero is a word we hear often in sports, but heroism is not always about achievements on the field of play. “42” tells the story of two men—the great Jackie Robinson and trailblazing Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey—whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball.

In 1947, Branch Rickey put himself at the forefront of history when he signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking Major League Baseball’s infamous color line. But the deal also put both Robinson and Rickey in the firing line of the public, the press and other players. Facing blatant racism from every side, even his own team, Robinson was forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and restraint by not reacting in kind, knowing that any incident could destroy his and Rickey’s hopes. Instead, Number 42 let his talent on the field do the talking—ultimately winning over fans and his teammates, silencing his critics, and paving the way for others to follow.

In 1997, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 for all teams, making it the first number in sports to be universally retired. The only exception is every year on April 15th—Jackie Robinson Day—commemorating the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger. On that day alone, players from every team proudly wear the number 42 to honor the man who altered the course of history.

Rounding out the main cast of “42” are Nicole Beharie as Rachel Robinson, Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher, Andre Holland as Wendell Smith, Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese, Hamish Linklater as Ralph Branca, and Ryan Merriman as Dixie Walker.

The film is produced by Thomas Tull, with Dick Cook, Jon Jashni and Jason Clark serving as executive producers, and Darryl Pryor and Jillian Zaks co-producing.

Helgeland's behind-the-scenes collaborators included Oscar®-nominated director of photography Don Burgess (“Forrest Gump”), production designer Richard Hoover, costume designer Caroline Harris, and editors Kevin Stitt and Peter McNulty. The music is composed by Oscar® nominee Mark Isham (“A River Runs Through It”).

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present, a Legendary Pictures Production, a Brian Helgeland film, “42.” Slated for release April 12, 2013, the film will open in time to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day—April 15, the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger. This film has been rated PG-13 for thematic elements, including language.

Watch the trailer at www.42movie.com.

Jackie Robinson Movie, "42" Begins Shooting in May; Stars Harrison Ford

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Put “42” on Deck for April 12, 2013

Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman star in the Jackie Robinson story under the direction of Brian Helgeland

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures are teaming up with director Brian Helgeland for “42,” the story of baseball great Jackie Robinson. Slated for release on April 12, 2013, the film will open in time to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day—April 15, the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger—and on the heels of the opening of the 2013 Major League Baseball season. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

“42” will star Academy Award® nominee Harrison Ford (“What Lies Beneath,” “Air Force One,” “Witness”) as the innovative Dodger’s general manager Branch Rickey, the MLB executive who first signed Robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show, and Chadwick Boseman (“The Express”) as Robinson, the heroic African American who was the first man to break the color line in the big leagues. The film also stars Nicole Beharie (“Shame”) as Rachel Isum, who would become Robinson’s wife, as well as Christopher Meloni (upcoming “Man of Steel”) and T.R. Knight (TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy”).

“42” is set to start production on May 14 in Birmingham, Alabama, with additional locations to include Macon and Atlanta, Georgia, and Chattanooga Tennessee, where the production will mount much of the film’s baseball action at Engel Stadium, double for Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field.

Academy Award® winner Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential”) will direct from his own screenplay. Thomas Tull will produce, with Dick Cook, Jon Jashni, and Jason Clark executive producing. Oscar® nominee Don Burgess (“Forrest Gump”) is the director of photography, Richard Hoover (HBO’s “Temple Grandin”) is production designer, and Caroline Harris (“A Knight’s Tale”) is the costume designer.

Review: "Man on Fire," the Second Tony Scott-Denzel Washington Joint

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man on Fire (2004)
Running time: 146 minutes (2 hours, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and strong violence
DIRECTOR: Tony Scott
WRITER: Brian Helgeland (from the novel by A.J. Quinnell)
PRODCUERS: Lucas Foster, Arnon Milchan, Tony Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Paul Cameron (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Christian Wagner
Image Award nominee

DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Gianni, Rachel Ticotin, Jesús Ochoa, Mickey Rourke, and Angelina Peláez

The new Tony Scott-directed Denzel Washington-starrer, Man on Fire, is not two movies disguised as one film, nor is it simply a revenge film, as many have said early in the film’s release. It’s as much a drama about a man fighting for something and someone he loves as it is a pay-back-the-bastards flick.

Washington is John Creasy, a burnt out alcoholic counter insurgency, military type who takes a job protecting Pita (Dakota Fanning), the young daughter of a wealthy man in Mexico City. The city has seen a wave of kidnappings of rich people, where upon the kidnappers extort millions of dollars from the victims’ families. But Creasy and Pita are ambushed; the kidnappers shoot Creasy and escape with the child. After the money drop off is botched, the kidnappers claim to have killed the girl in retaliation. Still recovering from his wounds, Creasy goes on a mission to find everyone involved in the kidnapping, from top to bottom, and kill them all.

In the early part of the film, we meet Creasy, but learn very little about him. Director Tony Scott quickly shows us just enough of the growing relationship between Creasy and Pita in hopes of getting us to believe that the soldier of fortune becomes attached to the precocious child he’s supposed to protect. If their bonding, we’ll also buy that Creasy is going to become an angel of death to all those involved in harming Pita. Scott, who has a history of directing flashy action pictures like Top Gun, True Romance, and Crimson Tide, actually succeeds in weaving a fairly touching short story of a killer bonding with innocence. It’s the rest of the cast that gets in the way.

From the parents to the cops, it’s a parade of characters who are just barnacles on the interplay between the veteran Washington and the newcomer Fanning’s character interplay. Sometimes, it also seems as if the story either can’t live up to its premise or to the fact that the leads can pull off the story.

The second half of the film, the alleged revenge movie, is not so much on fire as it is on simmer. It’s a cool burn with some very effective scenes, and Man on Fire is at this point probably one of the quietest intense thrillers in a decade. As fancy as the camera work and film editing is, Washington makes the “man on a mission” part of the film work. The photographic tricks and effects are just the icing on Denzel’s cake. He plays his character as quiet and patient, but also relentless and ruthless. He’s surprises and shocks. It’s fun to watch an actor work a post-MTV revenge flick like a cool 70’s Eastwood payback movie. If you can’t get into what he’s doing in this film, you’re jaded.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2005 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Denzel Washington) and “Outstanding Motion Picture”

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Review: Braveheart + Gladiator = Russell Crowe's (Pre) Robin Hood

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 87 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Robin Hood (2010)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WRITERS: Brian Helgeland; from a story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris and Brian Helgeland
PRODUCERS: Russell Crowe, Brian Grazer, and Ridley Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Mathieson
EDITOR: Pietro Scalia

ACTION/DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle, Douglas Hodge, Lisa Seydoux, Jonathan Zaccai, and Jack Downham

Back in 2000, Ridley Scott unleashed his Roman costume drama/action movie, Gladiator. The film was a big box office hit and turned its lead, Russell Crowe, into a major movie star. Gladiator went on to win several Academy Awards, including “Best Picture” and a “Best Actor” Oscar for Crowe. Scott and Crowe have worked together since then, but those films have not been as successful as Gladiator.

Scott and Crowe distilled the manly man of honor essence of Gladiator and put it into their recent film, Robin Hood, but this movie is not like other Robin Hood movies. The Scott/Crowe Robin Hood isn’t a reinvention or re-imagining or anything like that. It is a kind of prequel, essentially asking the question of what would have turned a man into an outlaw like Robin Hood. This is the story of how, when, and why Robin Hood came to be, and the story goes like this…

It is 1199, and as the Third Crusade comes to an end, Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) continues his war against Philip II of France (Jonathan Zaccai). In the siege of Chalus Castle, Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) is a common archer. Following the death of Richard, Robin and two other common archers, Alan A’Dale (Alan Doyle) and Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes), and the soldier Little John (Kevin Durand) make an attempt to return home to England after 10 years away. The quartet arrives at the site of an ambush of the Royal guard. There, Robin makes a promise to a dying knight, Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge), to return a sword to his father, Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow), in Nottingham.

Impersonating Loxley, Robin returns to England to find the land beset by the ill rule of Richard’s brother, now King John (Oscar Isaac). Robin and his companions travel to Nottingham where he meets Loxley’s now-widowed wife, Lady Marian (Cate Blanchett), and Sir Walter, who is old and blind. Walter asks Robin to continue to impersonate his son in order to keep his family lands from being taken by the crown for taxes. In fact, Prince John sends his henchman, Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong), an English knight secretly aligned with the French, across England to collect taxes from everyone by any means necessary. Robin fights back, but soon discovers that England has bigger problems than out of control tax collectors. Now, Robin Longstride must lead the fight to save the country.

Robin Hood is a rousing adventure combat movie. It isn’t Ridley Scott’s best work (or anywhere near that), nor is it Crowe’s best work. Neither, however, seems on automatic. Crowe is a superb actor and consummate craftsman; it may seem as if he is in cruise control mode here. Crowe just makes it look easy, and perhaps, Scott does the same in this movie. The truth is Robin Hood is very well made and quite entertaining, except for a small dry spell in the second hour of the movie.

Perhaps, it is easy to take this film and the people behind it for granted. I marveled at the high-quality performances throughout. Cate Blanchett gives a strong turn and fashions a forceful character out of the well-worn, almost stock character, Maid Marian. Mark Strong is, as usual, strong as the villain – in this case, the conniving Godfrey, and Oscar Isaac is award nomination-worthy for his creation of the unashamedly jealous King John.

I thought of Gladiator and Braveheart while watching this new take on Robin Hood. I certainly like its depiction of how lowly, common men sacrifice their lives and spend years away from their families to fight wars started by a small circle of vain royalty. After expending so much blood and sweat, they get nothing in return and even have to fight to find a way home on their own. That much is relevant to our modern times. Scott, Crowe, and screenwriter Brian Helgeland get it right. That injustice is reason enough to turn a man into an outlaw, and reason enough for me to enjoy Robin Hood.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, October 29, 2010

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Green Zone Juggles Politics and Action

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 56 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Green Zone (2010)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Paul Greengrass
WRITER: Brian Helgeland (based on the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran)
PRODUCERS: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Greengrass, and Lloyd Levin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Ackroyd
EDITOR: Christopher Rouse

WAR/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla, Jason Isaacs, and Yigal Naor

Director Paul Greengrass and actor/movie star Matt Damon came together to produce two of the three Jason Bourne movies (The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum). They reunited for the film Green Zone, which is not a Jason Bourne movie or anything like that. Green Zone is a movie set at the beginning of the Iraq War. Green Zone is part military action movie, but it also has something to say about the reasons for the Iraq War.

The story focuses on Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and begins early in the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in the spring of 2003. Miller leads a team of U.S. Army inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) believed to be stockpiled in and around Baghdad. After investigating a series of sites and finding nothing, Miller begins to suspect that the intelligence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction is faulty, at best.

Miller’s military superiors and other high-ranking officials dismiss his theories about flawed intelligence, and he comes into conflict with U.S. Defense Intelligence Agent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) who seems to be guiding much of the American occupation of Iraq. After meeting, Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), a Middle East-based CIA officer, Miller stumbles upon an elaborate cover-up of the reasons behind the Iraq War. Now, Miller must navigate the intersecting agendas spun by competing operatives, as he hunts for answers that may clear Iraq’s fallen regime of war crimes or even stop an insurgency from being born.

Green Zone is a politically engaged film. Using Matt Damon’s Roy Miller as a vehicle, Paul Greengrass and screen writer Brian Helgeland addresses Greengrass’ contentions about the decision to invade Iraq (the country’s alleged possession of WMDs) and subsequent decisions made during the U.S.-led Coalition occupation (in particularly the decision to disband the Iraqi army).

Greengrass’ problems with the Iraq War have also been the subject of many television and theatrical films (both fiction and non-fiction). Making these arguments about Iraq within the framework of a military action thriller actually can result in a movie with an identity crisis, which is the case with Green Zone. Greengrass attempts to make his points about the war, unveiling them during the course of Roy Miller’s investigation, which involves talking to and shooting at people.

The first 55 minutes of the movie mostly sets up the story, and it follows Miller as he gradually makes a series of startling discoveries about the run-up to the Iraq War. This is more dry and dull than interesting. The first half of the film is so slow and awkward that it is almost a disaster. Honestly, Greengrass’ contentions about the Iraq War are only interesting in the context of the movie’s second half. That’s the action/thriller half which has Roy Miller trying to find Iraqi General Mohammed Al-Rawi (Yigal Naor) before a Special Forces unit does. This second half will remind audiences of those breathless action scenes Greengrass and Damon pulled off in their two Jason Bourne movies.

It is cool that a Hollywood movie would confront the controversies of the Iraq War, but the best thing about Green Zone is the tense pacing and smartly constructed action sequences. Unfortunately, the politics are, at best, distracting and, at worst, debilitating to the movie.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, July 25, 2010

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