Movie Review: Noah (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

If I were to review a film simply for its ambition, then Noah would get some of my most positive praise. Director Darren Aronofsky offers some truly enlightening perspective on the story. He also continues to explore themes present in all of his work. His Noah (Russell Crowe) is a true believer whose fervent passion not only flirts with madness but is consumed by it. Then there are the visual touches that serve not only to illustrate the vaguest portion of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, but also double as a means of marrying our contemporary knowledge of evolution to the more fantastic element of creationism in a way that asserts one need not necessarily exist independently of the other. There is a lot to chew on in this new, grimmer take on Noah and the ark he built to save his family and the animal kingdom from a flood meant to blot out the men. But if I were only to grade a film on ambition then I'd have to ignore the problematic mistakes of other bold films that try tackling complex narratives—movies like The Bonfire of the Vanities, Dune, and Heaven's Gate—spectacles which fail spectacularly.

TV Review: Luck: Episode 9, Series Finale

by Tony Dayoub

Go back to the first episode of Luck and you'll see how much is made of a little goat (known for his giant testicles) that hangs out in Turo's (John Ortiz) barn. Though the goat is mostly used as a form of comic relief in that episode, Turo is quick to point out that the critter is a necessary inhabitant of his barn because the horses like him. One can speculate about whether Turo is unnaturally attuned to the thoroughbreds he trains or if this assertion stems from a superstition revolving around chance. But in last night's series finale, the disappearance of the goat takes on a metaphoric importance.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 8

by Tony Dayoub

Given the plentiful violence found in previous shows by executive producers Michael Mann and David Milch, early speculation on what Luck would feel like often ended up somewhere in The Sopranos territory. After all, Luck would take place in the shady world of gambling. Its cast would sport tough-guy actors like Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina. And it would air on HBO, which some say is at its most successful when exploring violent worlds like those of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire. Eight episodes in, it's safe to say that this at times sweet show about the community forming around the Santa Anita Race Track is nothing like that. But in this, the series's penultimate episode, Sopranos director Allen Coulter gives us a taste of what the darker Luck many of us had been wishing for might have been like. And it isn't pretty.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 7

by Tony Dayoub

As in creator David Milch's previous HBO shows, Deadwood and the short-lived John from Cincinnati, one of Luck's central themes concerns the building of a community. This comes to the fore in episode seven, written by Amanda Ferguson and helmed by returning director Brian Kirk, which emphasizes the growing interaction between the denizens of the Santa Anita Race Track. It reinforces that the most successful of them rely on others, and those that don't are destined to fail.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 6

by Tony Dayoub

There's no getting around the fact that this week's episode of Luck, written by Robin Shushan and directed by Henry Bronchtein, was overstuffed with exposition. Last week's entry was a bit of a respite after the turning point that was the fourth episode, letting us take in the state of some of the characters midseason. This week's episode is one where David Milch and the writers start setting the plates into motion that will keep spinning all the way until the first season concludes three weeks from now. As such, much of the plot mechanics are a little more obvious, particularly in the storyline involving Ace's (Dustin Hoffman) scheme to get back at former partner-in-crime Mike (Michael Gambon). So, given that Luck is strongest when the show is at its most elusive, eliding past plot points to get to a deeper truth, the strongest thread this week belonged to stammering jockey agent Joey Rathburn (Richard Kind), whose simmering financial/professional tensions have finally come to a boil.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 4

by Tony Dayoub

For the past few weeks, those unfamiliar with David Milch's style have probably been scratching their heads, wondering what, aside from the lush visual rubric established by Michael Mann, critics and fans see in Luck. As far as Milch shows go, Luck's characters, at least initially, are a good deal less likeable than, for instance, Dennis Franz's alcoholic, racist Andy Sipowicz was in Milch's NYPD Blue. Because the writer incorporates horse-racing terminology into his trademark stylized slang, Milch-speak as it's referred to, is made more impenetrable in Luck than it is in his period-accurate Deadwood—never mind the surfer-infused dialect of his failed John in Cincinnati. Tonight's revelatory episode, written by Daily Racing Form columnist Jay Hovdey and directed by Phillip Noyce, marks the turning point that should put any detractors' criticisms to rest.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 3

by Tony Dayoub

If I had to select one image that best represents the central theme of this week's episode of Luck, it would be a medium shot of Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), Renzo (Ritchie Coster), and Lonnie (Ian Hart), all holding carrots while they stand, befuddled, in Turo's stall. The episode's director, Allen Coulter, is known for the menacing edge he brings to his other projects for HBO, like The Sopranos. But what's often ignored is his ability to leaven such dark material with a healthy dose of humanity, and this week, Bill Barich's script provides just the right opportunity for Coulter to display his talent in this respect. A good number of our main characters are closer to catching on to what Luck's horse trainers, old Walter (Nick Nolte) and Turo (John Ortiz), seem to know already: These horses aren't just lucky talismans; they also possess a purity of spirit that rehabilitates many of the show's jaded characters.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 2

by Tony Dayoub

Last week, Luck's introductory episode concluded with an exhilarating race that ended badly. The horse that "bug boy" (named for the bug-like asterisk that follows the jockey's name in the racing forms, signifying his apprentice status) Leon rode was put down after its front legs broke. That tragedy still hangs over the main plot of this episode (unlike most shows, Luck isn't naming its episodes). But it also thrusts Leon into a kind of limbo reflective of all of the show's characters. It's in this episode where one is first able to grasp how the different permutations of fortune (good, bad, indifferent) have washed the show's ensemble ashore onto the pretty and slightly desolate beach that is Arcadia's Santa Anita Park.

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TV Review: Luck: Season 1, Episode 1, "Pilot"

by Tony Dayoub

Ace: Generally, how'd he look?
Gus: What do I know, Ace? All four of his legs reach the ground.

That exchange, between two of the leads on the new HBO series Luck, concerns Pint of Plain, the race horse that Chester "Ace" Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) owns by way of his driver and bodyguard Gus Demetriou (Dennis Farina). Gus is fronting for Ace, who's recently been released from prison and can't legally own a horse until he's off parole. But he knows as much about horse racing as most viewers probably do—which is to say, not much. Those expecting to get a primer on the sport will be disappointed by Luck's first episode, written by creator David Milch (Deadwood) and directed by his co-executive producer, Michael Mann. But that's not a criticism; what Milch and Mann have always been most effective at is getting to the substance of a specific subculture through stylistic means.

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Movie Review: Warrior (2011)

by Tony Dayoub

Epic, engrossing and exciting! These are the three words that immediately spring to mind while watching Warrior, a movie cut from the same cloth as those of the age-old Hollywood fight genre. Only instead of wrestling or boxing, it is the increasingly popular sport MMA (mixed martial arts) that supplies this surprisingly successful film with a fresh perspective.

Movie Review: Nick Nolte: No Exit (2008)

by Tony Dayoub

A documentary taking a hard look at a fascinating subject like actor Nick Nolte (Affliction) would seem to be a no-brainer, right? Unfortunately, Nick Nolte: No Exit is a film at war with itself. Director Tom Thurman (John Ford Goes to War) has all the elements in place to create what could be an intriguing analysis of the immensely talented actor and his inconsistent body of work. He has the subject's wholehearted participation, unafraid to reveal vulnerability in this warts-and-all take on his career; interviews with many of his closest colleagues, including Rosanna Arquette, Jacqueline Bisset, Powers Boothe, and Alan Rudolph; anecdotes both personal and professional which make the film insistently watchable. It's Thurman's stubborn reliance on a misguided framing device that mars the movie.


Thurman's approach hinges on an odd conceit that must have sounded good on paper, Nick Nolte interviewing himself. The actual execution is amateurish at best. He cuts between a well-kempt Nolte dressed in a Panama-style white hat and leisure suit asking hard questions, and a raggedy (maybe even intoxicated) Nolte slouching in front of an old-style Telecine flatbed responding defiantly to those questions. The clean-cut Nolte poses difficult queries concerning the circumstances behind the now infamous mugshot; the actor's penchant for taking his Method-style to such an extreme it often alienates his co-workers; and whether he believes he has problems with addiction. The red-faced disheveled Nolte answers each question with no trace of hypocrisy or obfuscation, save for moments in which he rails against journalists who have tarnished his reputation in order to file a good story.

The problem is that this back and forth is a bit of a performance in and of itself. It would seem to serve as an appropriate metaphor for the bifurcated personality Thurman is examining. Instead, it becomes a tiresome device that distracts and detracts from the exploration being conducted in a way not unlike the "Gollum effect" used in the climax of The Two Towers. Do you realize what it takes for a documentary to get this writer thinking of a Lord of the Rings flick? The absence of any of Nolte's film clips is glaring, especially when an actor, critic or director is pointedly referring to a particular scene in which he worked with the star. Every time an interesting take on the actor is proffered by someone like Paul Mazursky (Down and Out in Beverly Hills) or Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder) the film cuts away to return to the supremely ridiculous sight of Nolte interviewing himself... in the second person.

No, the silly theatrical device framing Nick Nolte: No Exit is actually analogous to the frustration versus fascination which arises from watching a documentary that comes so close to illuminating its subject, yet still misses the mark. Tom Thurman took a gamble in his framing of the subject. It's too bad his directorial ego won't let him accept how poorly the gamble fails to pay off.

Nick Nolte: No Exit is currently playing exclusively on demand on the brand new Sundance Selects VOD platform, available nationwide.