At the Cinema - October 2014

Gone Girl – 8

Everyone’s talking about this movie and here’s what they’re saying, “It’s just like the book, It’s as good as the book,  It's not as good as the book. It’s different from the book, they changed the ending, they didn’t change the ending, they left some stuff out, blah, blah, blah.”

I didn’t read the book, so I don’t care about all that.  If you are blissfully ignorant, as I am and always want to be upon entering the theater, this movie stands on its own pretty well.

I’m a big fan of Director David Fincher, and while I think this movie doesn’t rise to the level of either The Social Network, or The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, two of my favorite recent movies, it’s still worth seeing.  I actually got the feeling Fincher went out of his way to please the book fans, probably leaving a few flourishes on the table.

The movie starts on the morning of the 5^th anniversary of Nick Dunne and his wife Amy.  It is the morning that Amy disappears.  Soon Nick is under investigation for her murder as the search for Amy attracts nation-wide attention, because Amy is kind of famous.  Would anyone have cared so much if she wasn't "Amazing Amy?'

Ben Affleck is the perfect oaf as Nick.  He quickly loses any sympathy as suspicion grows.  The movie is a history lesson of their relationship.  But as Amy’s story is told in flashback with her own voiceover discussing their marital woes, the mystery deepens and becomes more complex with each twist.  Rosamund Pike is stunning as she tells the story of her marriage.  What happened to Amy turns out to be less important than why it happened.

The supporting cast like Kim Dickens (whom I love from Treme) and Carrie Coon (whom I love from The Leftovers) are all terrific.  The movie is good, but it never soars to the level I guess all those readers expected.

Nightcrawler – 8

This is a movie that will make you feel like you’ve been slimed and that’s exactly the way the filmmakers want it.  If you go see a horror movie today, you know you’re watching fantasy.  This movie slithers along with just enough reality to make you want to go take a shower. 

There are two distinct themes at work.  The first is a character study of a slick psychotic who will assert his will to get whatever he wants.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Louis, a hustler with the moral compass of Charles Manson.  He also comes armed with a talkative charm filled with internet sound bites.  When he stumbles upon a potential profession racing to crime scenes, filming the gore, and selling it to a TV station where “if it bleeds, it leads,” he seems to have found his calling.  Gyllenhaal’s performance is terrific as Louis.  You can’t compromise your ethics if you don’t have any, but he shows that you can actually go ever lower and lower in a quest for prominence. 

The second theme is a satirical look at the deteriorating level of what passes for journalism in this TMZ era.  Renee Russo is the second rate news producer of the last place news show.  She becomes a willing purchaser of his exclusive footage, and they each manipulate each other, him trying to create a career, and her trying to salvage one. 

The film culminates in a thrilling car chase that Louis and his reluctant assistant Rick initiate, then are right in the middle of.  It’s a masterpiece of filmmaking by first time director Dan Gilroy.  This won’t be his last film, not the way he captures this.  We’re in for more sliming.

The Judge – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like charaismatic acting and a smorgasboard plot.

Robert Duvall is the judge and Robert Downey Jr. is the estranged son who must defend him from a murder charge.  That’s the essence of this very typical movie as constructed by the people who make movies today.  The stars, including Vincent D’onofrio, Vera Farmiglia, Billy Bob Thornton, and Leighton Meester (hotter than a firecracker) are terrific, the plots are all over the place, and the movie is about 20 minutes too long

There’s feel good.  There’s feel bad.  And there’s everything in between as The Judge struggles to maintain his long legacy of public service despite the fact that he may have run an ex-con over with his old car. 

Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall are such magical screen presences here that they hold your attention through all the wildness as the script gyrates them all over the place.  It’s kind of like rolling several TV movies together. Just try to keep up. 

Here's the amazing Carrie Coon of The Leftover and Gone Girl: