Movie Review - "Mud" (2013) ***1/2

     I've never been much of a Matthew McConaughey fan. When I hear his name, the term "romcom" comes to mind and I'm not a big fan of that genre. I certainly haven't seen a romcom with him in it that I enjoyed, that's for sure. But I will give McConaughey this, I do think he can give a great acting performance, highlighted by two films of his that I really enjoyed: Contact and A Time to Kill. Kill would not have been the same without him in the role of Jake Brigance, he makes that final courtroom scene so powerful. And I like the way he played the Palmer Joss character opposite of Jodie Foster's Ellie Arroway in Contact, two characters who like each other despite opposing theological viewpoints. (Both films are must sees by the way if you have not already) So I think the man really can act, I just haven't enjoyed his body of work as a whole. Even though I haven't seen any of his films the last year or two, McConaughey has been on a bit of a resurgence, from a critical standpoint. He has been praised quite a bit lately and that success continues with Mud. While I like him in Contact and A Time to Kill, Mud may be his finest big screen performance and he could be staring at an Acting Oscar nomination in the future. The oddest thing about all of this...his may not have even been the best performance in this movie.

     The actual stars of Mud are teenagers Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland, who play Ellis and Neckbone respectively. 14-year old Ellis lives on a houseboat in a very rural part of Arkansas with his mom Mary Lee (Sarah Paulson) and dad Senior (Ray McKinnon). His parents are struggling with their relationship, a move which could take him out of the country and into the city if his mom moves. Ellis has grown up on the back rivers of Arkansas, a tributary of the Mississippi River, and feels at home there. He and his friend Neckbone travel around exploring the area, either on motorbike or boat. When Neckbone hears rumors of a boat in a tree on a nearby island, the two kids decide to explore, and upon finding the boat they claim it as theirs. The boat is occupied however, as the kids soon find out, by a homeless looking man named Mud (McConaughey). The boys are wary of the man at first, but when he does not appear to want to harm them, they start trusting him, and even develop a friendship with him. He agrees to let the boys have the boat, but first they must help him out by providing food, and being a contact for his girlfriend, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). When the boys find Juniper, she is being beaten by another man and they help her out. They learn that Mud has actually killed a man, to protect Juniper, and now the family of the man he killed as hired bounty hunters to track him down. Ellis and Neckbone must decide if Mud is to be trusted as they may be the only way he can be reunited with Juniper.

      This movie does not try to hide the fact that it is an homage to the works of Mark Twain. Ellis and Neckbone are a modern day Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Even one of the characters is named Tom Blankenship, a man who was the inspiration for Huck Finn. So the comparisons are very noticeable. I mentioned in the opening about McConaughey's performance, and I could see him being a potential Best Actor nominee if this movie is not forgotten by then, but this movie is only going to work if you buy the performances of the two lead teens. And I do buy it, these kids are great. When I was watching these two together onscreen, I couldn't help but think of Brad Renfro and River Phoenix as child actors. In fact, these actors actually look like Renfro and Phoenix if you stop and think about it a second. (Unfortunately, both of those previous young talents lost their lives tragically due to drug overdoses. I certainly do not hope Sheridan and Loflan have the same fate, of course. But the comparions are there are from a talent standpoint). The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and I kept wondering where I knew that name from. I looked it up and he was the director of the movie Take Shelter, a wonderful movie that I saw last year that is criminally underseen. If you have not seen that film yet, go do so. So Mr. Nichols is developing himself a nice little resume. The acting is all adequate at the worst but most performance are very strong. Michael Shannon, star of Take Shelter, shows up as Neckbone's Uncle and caretaker. Sam Shepard plays a mysterious man named Tom Blankenship who may be related to Mud in some way. Witherspoon isn't given much to do but she feels right for the role of Juniper, Mud's love interest. There is one thing to be aware of with this movie. It is VERY slow moving. If you are someone that needs action non-stop, or you don't have a long attention span, this may not work for you. I do enjoy movies like this if the acting and story are fine, but even I felt a 10-15 minute cut would make this work even better. It's slow, you have to stick with it. If you do, I think you'll find this to be a little gem of a film. I give it a solid recommend.

    

Movie Review - "Iron Man 3" (2013) **1/2

     I was fairly late to the Marvel party. The original Iron Man was the only movie in what they consider Phase 1 of the Avengers series that I saw in theaters. I didn't see Iron Man 2 until well after it was released and I did not see Thor, The Incredible Hulk or Captain America until a week or two before The Avengers was released. I knew I wanted to see The Avengers so I thought I might want to catch up. I never fell in love with any of those films leading up to The Avengers but I didn't think any of them were horrible either. Most fell in the 2 1/2 - 4 star range. I did however love The Avengers and gave it 4 1/2 stars and I think it was one of the best movies of 2012. Flash forward to the present and I was very excited to get Phase 2 of the Avengers series underway with the release of Iron Man 3. Apparently I was not the only one excited about it as the films grossed $174 million in its opening weekend, good for second best all-time....Unfortunately, I don't feel it lived up to the hype at all. I came away feeling pretty empty.

     Robert Downey Jr. returns as brash industrialist, and egomaniac, Tony Stark. Stark is suffering anxiety attacks resulting from the incidents that took place in The Avengers. He gets very little sleep and spends much of his time tinkering with his Iron Man suits, of which he has assembled many to occupy his time. The stress has put a strain on his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who continues to stand by her man but is becoming incresingly worried about him. Pepper is also dealing with Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), the founder of Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), which funds research for a serum called Extremis, which can cure the physically disabled. Stark's security chief, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), is skeptical of Killian and begins keeping a watch on him. Hogan however is severly injured in an explosion masterminded by a terrorist known only as the Mandarin, who has learned how to take over the television airwaves of the US to spread his propaganda and threats. Tony Stark, angered by the attack that injured Hogan, calls out the Mandarin and even gives him his home address so the Mandarin can find him. This backfires as Stark and Pepper are attacked at their house, an attack which many believe kills Stark, but actually sends him across the country to track down the Mandarin.

      What I described to you is basically the first hour or so of the story, and if everything had ended there this would be a much better movie. I was into this opening act and was intrigued by all the characters and their motivations. However, soon after this, there is a plot twist and from then on the story just completely falls apart for me. It becomes convoluted and we end up jumping from location to location and I end up forgetting where we are at. By the end of the film, I no longer cared. My biggest issue with this movie is something I would really like to rant about but unfortunately it could be considred a bit of a spoiler so I won't go there. But I was very disappointed by it. There is also a section of the movie where Tony befriends a 10-year old boy (Ty Simpkins), and while I understand why this is put in here, presumably to pull in a younger audience, I feel it is out of place and does not work. I don't feel the movie is a complete waste, I really like the Tony Stark character and I enjoy Robert Downey Jr. playing this character. I like the wit and charm he brings, he definitely is the character and that is a good thing. But this story and even his performance in some parts, just feels mailed in. They knew this was going to make a fortune (which it has already) so they rested on their laurels. I look forward to more Tony Stark/Iron Man, I'm just finished with him in his own world. I want to see more of him in the broader world of The Avengers. I give this movie the very slightest of recommends, but only to die hard fans. Everyone else can safely wait for cable or video.

Movie Review - "42" (2013) ***1/2

     I love baseball. Sports in general are probably my biggest passion, or hobby, but baseball stands above all others. In the past decade, I have not been a fan of many of the changes made in baseball. Call me a purist I guess. But one of the things that was mandated that I really love, is the fact that the number 42 has been retired by all major league baseball teams and one one day each year, every player in the majors wears number 42 for that game. There's just something special about seeing all the players lined up for the national anthem and all you see is number 42's on the back of the jerseys. That is done in honor of Jackie Robinson, who on April 15, 1947 started a game for the Brooklyn Dodgers, effectively breaking baseballs long standing color barrier. He was the first black player given the opportunity to prove he was among the best players in the game...not just one of the best black players. The fact that he is considered one of the greatest second basemen to play the game proves he was the right man for the job and paved the way for black athletes everywhere. 42, written and directed by Brian Helgeland, and starring Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, is a new film detailing the events that lead to Robinson's introduction to the major leagues and the trials and tribulations that he endured along the way. While not the greatest film ever made, or even one of the best baseball films, I considered it a film everyone should see.

     The film is as much a story about Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey as it is about Robinson. As the movie opens, Rickey (Harrison Ford) has made a decision to risk being an outcast in his own profession and bring a black ballplayer to white baseball within the next year. He and his assistants pour over the files of players in the negro baseball leagues and settle on Robinson, a multi-sport star at UCLA. Rickey knows that Robinson has teamed with white players before while at UCLA and he feels that will give him a better chance of fitting in and being comfortable with what is likely to be an uncomfortable situation. Robinson is summoned to Rickey's office where he is told of the plans and Robinson is thrilled with the opportunity to be the man who breaks the color barrier. Rickey tells him, in one of the better scenes of the film, that he is looking for someone who has the guts NOT to fight back when faced with adversity. Robinson has a bit of a reputation for sticking up for himself, but Rickey wants him to keep quiet and accept the abuse that will come. Robinson marries his girlfriend, Rachel (Nicole Beharie), after finding out the news and it isn't long before the two are expecting their first child. The movie follows the first two years of Robinsons' career, the first with the minor league team in Montreal, and the second with the Dodgers. Jackie faces many coaches, teammates and opponents along the way who refuse to associate with him, and even try to hurt him on the field. The primary antagonist of the story is Philadelphia Phillies manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk), who constantly berates Robinson with derogatory statements. It's these scenes, including one where Robinson has a breakdown in the hall leading to the clubhouse, and another where teammates stick up for Jackie, that the movie really shines.

     While the movie does have it's moments that are great, overall something just felt lacking, and I wanted more. Oddly enough, I felt the same way about Red Tails last year, another film about African-Americans being accepted in situations where they generally have not been. I felt that movie should have went for it more, and taken itself more serious. I feel the same about 42. That was a tough time and I can't imagine what Jackie Robinson suffered through. The hatred for him was overwhelming and death threats were a common thing. That is touched on here but it's almost like it was handled with kiddy gloves. It has a family movie-of-the-week vibe to it, and perhaps that is what it was going for to make it accessible to all age levels. But I think the movie could have been great if it went deeper into the hate he experienced. For that reason, I have to knock its rating down a bit. But don't get me wrong, I do recommend this movie, especially for younger black people. I was happy to see that on a Tuesday night, when the movie has already been playing for a couple of weeks, that I was in a theater with about 20 other people, 3/4 of whom were black. There should be more films like 42 and Red Tails which are there to inspire young people. Hopefully this trend will continue.