Movie Review: John Carter

by Tony Dayoub

No movie can withstand the scrutiny John Carter—a lavish and, no doubt, costly science fiction blockbuster—has been subject to. But as usually happens in movies of this order, some people start actively rooting against it (read this piece and its author's own comment, the third one down). Ask James Cameron, an innovator and showman who's faced such discouragement from fickle critics too many times to list (Avatar, Titanic and others). Curiously, someone like George Lucas gets a pass despite blatant attempts at cravenly bleeding his Star Wars franchise drier than a squeezed lemon for profits at the expense of its naive fans. Perhaps there's a little creative envy involved. Or in the case of some Hollywood reporters, maybe there's a bit of settling old scores against a studio, actor or filmmaker. All of this attendant anti-fanfare is to be expected when a leviathan like John Carter dares to flirt with greatness and disappointingly falls a little short. But the most frustrating aspect is the way many, even those who haven't seen the film itself, start racing behind the agenda-driven critics like a bunch of lemmings headed off a cliff. Especially when the movie they've decided to beat on is a beautifully lensed, well-acted, escapist fantasy as clever as John Carter.

Movie Review: Uncertainty

by Tony Dayoub



Something of a dilemma exists between Kate Montero (Lynn Collins) and Bobby Thompson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Standing on the Brooklyn Bridge on the morning of July 4th, they resolve to decide what to do about their predicament by flipping a coin. From that moment on, Uncertainty splits into a film with dual narratives. As Kate—wearing a yellow sundress—runs to one end of the bridge, Bobby—in a green shirt—runs to the other end. Each end up in a parallel reality: Kate in a sulfur-tinged thriller concerning a lost cell phone that she and Bobby find in a cab in Manhattan; Bobby in an emerald-hued drama in which he and Kate attend a party at her family's Brooklyn home.

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

by Tony Dayoub

The good news is that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a lot better than the last X-Men film was. The bad news is that this overstuffed entry in the comic book mutant saga is as unwieldy as its title. No, this movie is not as bad as I expected, which kind of precludes me from poking too much fun at it. Worse than that... it's mediocre; not good enough for one to celebrate its ingenuity; not bad enough to revel in its outlandish action blockbuster hallmarks. It commits the cardinal sin of the superhero sequel - to try to top the one that came before it. And this being a prequel more precisely, it makes the same mistake as others of its ilk - to try to explain away any of the mystery about its main character which attracted us in the first place.

DVD Review: Grace is Gone and Numb - Spotlighting Offbeat Dramatic Performances by Two Popular Comedic Actors

by Tony Dayoub

Here are a couple of smaller movies for you to check out today. What do they have in common? Each stars an actor with mass appeal in their more lighthearted mainstream appearances, John Cusack and Matthew Perry, who sometimes fail to connect with audiences in more dramatic roles. However, both of these little gems are worth your time.

The first, Grace is Gone, stars Cusack as Stanley Phillips, a dad who manages a home repair store and raises two daughters while his wife, Grace, is fighting in Iraq. When he is informed of Grace's death, he doesn't quite know how to break it to their kids, so instead he decides to take them on a trip, a stalling tactic while he figures out what to do.

Writer-director James C. Strouse never milks the story for tears, and aptly captures the solitary, insulated feel of the situation. Phillips cuts his daughters and himself off from the world while he copes with the news of his wife's death. We are never shown that Phillips is particularly spiritual, so he doesn't seem to be stalling for some kind of divine intervention. But he does seem to be waiting to get an assist from Grace, who, no doubt, always dealt with their young kids' emotional life. Phillips often calls his home while on the trip, leaving plaintive messages to his late wife that he knows will stay unanswered. Director Strouse and Cusack both use this to make us hyper-aware of Grace's absence.

The film has proven popular with audiences on the festival circuit, and it's easy to see why. While Cusack has always been a very sympathetic lead for audiences to relate to, he is aided tremendously here by the casting of two strong child actors in the role of his daughters, Shélan O'Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk, who apparently were discovered in Cusack's native Chicago and make their film debuts here. The children act like real children do: cute, annoying, often caught up with their own mini-dramas, and sometimes clueless to everything else going on. Cusack establishes a genuine rapport with them, that of a man who's been adept at playing the caretaker, but realizes he must finally come closer to being their friend, as well.

Numb, stars Matthew Perry as screenwriter Hudson Milbank, an obvious autobiographical stand-in for the film's writer-director Harris Goldberg. Milbank is chronically depressed, suffering from a rare anxiety disorder called depersonalization. It causes the sufferer to live in a constant fight-or-flight mode of detachment from his emotions. But when he meets Sarah (Lynn Collins), he feels motivated to start finding a cure for this disorder, hoping to start a new life with his new love.

As a screenwriter, Goldberg is best known for his Deuce Bigalow films, and it shows. Numb's greatest weakness is its tonal inconsistency. It doesn't know whether to be a romantic comedy, or a serious depiction of a rare psychological disorder. Supporting player Mary Steenburgen, as Milbank's psychologist, Dr. Blaine, masterfully steals every scene she's in. Amusingly reinforcing the cliche of the "therapist in need of therapy", the normally staid doctor falls head-over-heels for Milbank, leading to a funny, and embarrassing, confession in a restaurant that is the comedic centerpiece of the movie. But is the movie a comedy? Matthew Perry's dramatic performance doesn't seem to indicate it is. He never trivializes the character's affliction, highlighting the need for further exploration of a disorder that may affect many that haven't even heard of it. His scenes are easily the strongest of the film. But they also cause you to focus on Goldberg's uneven emotional direction.

And Lynn Collin's wonderful performance as the girl of Milbank's dreams, Sarah, serves to highlight the thinness of her character. Goldberg should have focused more attention on her since she plays such a pivotal role in the protagonist's decision to seek recovery. A virtual cipher, Sarah is never given any distinctive qualities, save for her predilection of cursing when she gets high-strung... which is not really much of a quirk. It is only the ebullient personality of actor Collins that infuses Sarah with any dimension at all.

Good for a weekend rental, Grace is Gone is definitely the superior film over Numb, but both films are worth checking out if you want to see these two popular actors stretch a bit outside their familiar territory.

Still for Grace is Gone provided courtesy of Genius Products and The Weinstein Company.