The Conspirator - 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. The History Channel
b. Civil War Stuff
c. Period Pieces
Robert Redford directed this straightforward telling of the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The details seem perfect and the characterizations are low key and methodical as Redford tells the story of the woman who housed the assassins, including her son, prior to the event.
The government arrests Mary Surratt who runs the boarding house where the plotting took place. Their decision to try her in a military court and expedite her punishment is not just borne of anger, but of a desire to pressure her into revealing the whereabouts of her son. Sound familiar?
The lawyer who gets stuck with the case, played by James McAvoy, gradually becomes a societal outcast as his passion for the case grows and he has the audacity to put on a defense and object to the railroading of his client.
Well done, nicely paced, and better than fiction.
Bridesmaids – 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. The Hangover
b. Women behaving badly (and who doesn’t)
c. Slapstick
When a comedy gets ground out by the Judd Apatow factory, you can be sure the boundaries of taste will get pushed, and this movie is no exception. What makes this one stand out is that the writer/star is SNL veteran Kristen Wiig and she does a great job not just with the slapstick, but with the character. Are we seeing another star born?
The misadventures of this group of bridesmaids, usually propelled by Wiig’s myriad of personal and professional problems, makes for a pretty funny, if not hysterical ride. I would have to say I didn’t find it quite as funny as the audience, nor quite as shocking as the old lady sitting on our row who obviously had been dragged to her first movie in years. Her looks of shock at some of the more graphic scenes were as memorable as the scenes themselves.
What was so shocking? Let’s just say movie love is different from TV love. In the movies, the girl meets the guy, jumps into bed for the graphic sex scene, and then the characters begin the quest to find out if they’re compatible.
On TV, the flirtations and chemistry last for seasons (Bones, Castle, The Good Wife).
No surprise that you rarely hear the rhyme “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage” anymore. When you have to tell your story in two hours, I guess that’s just too boring.
Scanning the Satellite
Too Big to Fail – 10
HBO does it again with their adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s bestseller about the Government bailouts of 2008. We may never know how close we came to a financial meltdown prior to TARP, but this retelling sure makes it exciting. The pacing is gripping from the opening credits. There’s more tension in this movie than most of the fiction thrillers that Hollywood churns out.
All the familiar names are here. I’ve read and seen so much about the bailout and tarp that I don’t even know how to feel about it anymore. Who were the good guys? Who saved us, or who buried us depending on your point of view? What mistakes were made? What would happen today? What’s about to happen with the debt ceiling? Are the consequences similar?
The debates and behind the scenes revelations are fascinating. This is one of those rare movies that ends too quickly. You want to see more. That makes this movie quite an achievement. There are many stars in the movie, but special accolades to William Hurt who is cast as conflicted Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Hurt must carry the movie as Paulson carries the weight of the country.
Curtis Hanson directs. I’m a huge fan of his “L.A. Confidential” and the pace here is even faster.
These events have now been portrayed in several movies. Capitalism, A Love Story, Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps, and “W,” to name a few. I was thinking how fortunate we are that we get to see so many interpretations, and this one emerges as the most complete and exciting version yet. Don’t you wish there were cameras behind the scenes in Congress right now? Sorry, you’ll have to wait for the movie.
