Movie Review: Transcendence (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

Remember that Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk has to free some aliens on a planet controlled by an all-powerful, omniscient computer? And those aliens have these tiny antenna on their necks that allow them to be networked with that computer, Vaal, essentially making them physical instruments for it to conduct whatever activities necessary for a planetary makeover suited to his specifications. That's Transcendence in a nutshell, only with even more hokey, far-fetched ideas thrown in to complicate the simplistic story a bit.

Movie Reviews: Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014) and The Lego Movie (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

With one unorthodox animated feature (discussed at the end of this post) capitalizing on parental nostalgia at the box office, it's expected that another more conventional one would try and do the same. And Mr. Peabody and Sherman is that... conventional. Admittedly, it is funny, with many of its jokes sailing over younger heads and right towards the hearts of their gen-x parents. But they aren't anywhere near as dryly hilarious as the one-liners which seemed to fly out a mile-a-minute in the "Peabody's Improbable History" segments of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-1964).

More Like Olympus is Flailing

by Tony Dayoub

One doesn't go into Olympus Has Fallen expecting originality or nuance. As trailers have made pretty clear, this is a noisy, over-the-top potboiler that basically boils down to this description: Die Hard in the White House. However, Antoine Fuqua—whose last solid film was Training Day and displayed the most ambition in 2004's flawed, but not-hard-to-like, King Arthur—seems here to be working out some resentment over not getting a chance to do the long-planned 24 theatrical upgrade he was briefly up for. Or at least it feels that way because Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is as generic a clone of Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer as one has seen in a long time. And as goes our hero, so goes Olympus Has Fallen, a scattered mess of a picture as far as even movies of this kind go.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

by Tony Dayoub

Given the tragedy in Aurora, CO, running a review of The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) on Friday morning just didn't seem right. It's the start of a new week, however, and many of you have had a chance to see the new film. I don't normally go in for spoiler warnings, but given the nature of this beloved franchise, here it goes: if you haven't seen the movie yet, READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL...

Blu-ray Review: Invictus (2009)

by Tony Dayoub

Widely dismissed as a sketchy biopic of Nelson Mandela, Clint Eastwood's Invictus is actually a better than average sports film which only uses Mandela's new age of reconciliation in South Africa as a backdrop. Ironically, between its original theatrical release and its home release yesterday (on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand, and for Download) the issues surrounding apartheid and reconciliation have once again come to the fore in that country.

Movie Review: Invictus (2009)

by Tony Dayoub

Outside of the racial turmoil that still embroils South Africa in Clint Eastwood's Invictus stand Madiba, one-time South African activist and former president of that country, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman); and Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), captain of the South African Springboks, the national rugby union team that won the World Cup in 1995—kindred spirits in their respect for the power of sports to unite people of all colors, creeds, and social classes. The politics and personalities that Eastwood (Gran Torino) introduces in the first third of the film, the details of life in post-apartheid South Africa that populate its second third, all seem to revolve around Mandela at first. But Eastwood, whose attempts at structural unconventionality often backfire as his movies wrap up in the last third, creates a satisfying sports film by using the preceding details to set-up an emotional release in a climactic rugby sequence led by Damon's Pienaar.


Invictus begins with Mandela taking office, all too conscious of residual racism on both sides of the South African divide even as he seems to blithely pursue his goal of racial harmony. He sees the strife even within his own staff, Eastwood illustrating it a little too earnestly in the internal discord between Madiba's black and white bodyguards (their chief played with scene-stealing charisma by Tony Kgoroge—who nearly reframes the film's cast hierarchy as a third lead). Springbok captain Pienaar sees the effects of Mandela's changes played out in his own home, where his father has little hesitation in criticizing the disappearance of apartheid in front of the family's black servant. And he is all too aware of the disdain the blacks have for the Springbok team and their colors, remnants of South Africa's former white dominance. They openly deride the team at their rugby tournaments. But Pienaar knows that Chester Williams (McNeil Hendricks) the team's only black player is accepted by his teammates without reluctance. So he knows the potential for reconciliation exists and understands why Mandela meets with him, inspires him to push his teammates to their maximum as South Africa hosts the 1995 World Cup. And it is here, where Eastwood's (nearly too) straightforward style and the grand nobility of the movie's themes collide giving us a powerful release in the third act's climactic rugby game.

The game sequence is where Eastwood closes the circle on all the dramatic tension he has been setting up. Madiba's bodyguards finally seem to be working together well enough to be attuned to their chief's concern that the rugby match is the perfect place for an assassination attempt. A black child that the film has been following for some time—too poor to get into the game—loiters near the stadium's police presence to listen to the match as it plays out over the radio. Pienaar rallies his players to withstand the expected rout by New Zealand's All-Blacks (in a film full of nice moments, Eastwood uses one to include the All-Blacks' traditional Maori war dance used to intimidate opponents before international matches). He then pays off what little knowledge the viewer has accumulated about the confounding game of rugby to unfurl a sports sequence—strike that—an action sequence that is never once confusing; devoid of the close-up quick cutting that usually leaves today's audiences unsure of what just happened. One never loses the grip on the stadium or playing field's geography as Eastwood follows up on all the parallel plot developments.

Meanwhile, Mandela presides over the game from his private box, a messianic presence not unlike Freeman's portrayal of God in Bruce Almighty. Many are mistaking Eastwood's Invictus to be a sort of biopic, a look at a critical moment in the life of Madiba. It's no wonder considering the scenery-chewing perfomance by Freeman, who acts like he took Mandela's assertion that only he could play the leader a little too seriously. Freeman's performance is writ so large on the screen, that it almost eclipses the key central development on which the film hinges.

The only time one gets a true sense of the man behind the public persona is when Pienaar visits Mandela's prison cell at Robben Island, where he spent a good deal of his sentence after he was arrested for his activism. Damon really sells the impact of Mandela's movement on his generation of Afrikaners. The deference he exudes in Freeman's presence gives way to a stirring cocktail of regret, contempt, guilt, and respect in the scene where Pienaar stretches his arms across the length and breadth of the tiny cell measuring the small space while acknowledging the grandeur of the spirit that resided within its walls.

No, the performance at the center of Invictus is actually a quiet but visceral one by Damon as Pienaar. Pienaar is, after all, the character most affected by the changes in South Africa after Mandela helps bring an end to apartheid and ascends to the presidency. Within the story, Mandela is simply the agent of change that advances the story. So those maligning Invictus for its simplistic depiction of Madiba are failing to comprehend why this film works. At its heart, this sports drama is inspired by Mandela rather than about him.

DVD Review: The Bucket List - Actors Elevate Story Past Its Cliche Roots

by Tony Dayoub



The Bucket List is a cliche-ridden movie that is elevated by the casting of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Seeing these two veterans bring different colors to this retread of Grumpy Old Men is one of the few things to recommend about this film. It's unfortunate, too. The concept of trying to complete everything on your list of things to do before you kick the bucket is intriguing. But one keeps hoping for a twist to stave off the pervasive predictability of the plot.

When given a choice, the once promising comic director, Rob Reiner, never ventures into the more interesting of two dramatic choices presented to him. For instance, Nicholson's Donald Trump-like character might have seemed like an interesting counterpoint to the middle-class character Freeman portrays. But how much more interesting would the story have been if,in addition to the ticking clock of the two's terminal cancer diagnoses, the pair were also challenged by a lack of funds to achieve their dreams. Would the two be desperate enough to lie, cheat or steal to fulfill their life's goals? Reiner shies away from anything remotely holding dramatic interest. This is the type of film in which, when Freeman convinces Nicholson to mend fences with his estranged daughter, the dialogue fades away leaving trite sentimental music to play over the scene instead. Wouldn't it be more interesting to give a serious dramatic actor like Nicholson something substantial to sink his teeth into? Reiner has directed Nicholson to an Oscar Nomination before (for A Few Good Men). So instead of relying on Reiner, we must rely on his two wonderful actors to enhance the story.

Freeman has the more difficult job, standing in for the audience as he plays straight man to Nicholson's antics. But he has a great scene, where winding down from a round-the-world trip with Nicholson in a Hong Kong bar, he meets a beautiful woman who proposes a tryst after hearing his account of a visit to a Himalayan peak. Having never slept with anyone other than his wife, Freeman's eyes betray how tempting the offer truly is to the character. But he nobly and predictably turns it down. This despite the fact that he earlier admitted to Nicholson that his dull marriage is one of the motives he has for taking this trip with the billionaire. One wishes the film would have been brave enough to show Freeman take the woman up on her offer.

Nicholson steps up in the latter part of the film, after Freeman's condition worsens. Conscious of his friend's deeper appreciation for life, he starts to appreciate that material pleasures aren't always what they're cracked up to be. A bittersweet visit between the two segues into uproarious laughter, after Freeman educates Nicholson on the exact, repulsive way that the rare coffee he drinks is brewed. It is a moment that these two master actors elevate beyond its cliche roots.

Maybe the film's premise, rooted in mortality, was judged to be depressing enough as it is. But an interesting and potentially darkly comic take on terminal patients was creeping around on the fringes of this story. The Bucket List would have marked a strong departure for Reiner, and would have benefited greatly from Nicholson and Freeman's dramatic chops, had he opted to stretch beyond his limited storyline.

Still provided courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment.