Movie Review: Draft Day (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

Considering the number of movies he's been appearing in lately, it's safe to say Kevin Costner's latest comeback tour is in full swing. With the possible exception of the standout part as Superman's human foster dad in Man of Steel, which was really just that of a supernumerary, Draft Day represents his best chance at captivating audiences once again. I've always kind of rooted for Costner who seems like a down to earth actor with more than an above average measure of self-awareness. He knows his performance range is limited, but within that narrow territory, he's usually aces. Sometimes he even surprises, like he did as the retired pro baseball player part of the boyfriend in The Upside of Anger. In Draft Day he benefits from teaming up with a comedic filmmaker Ivan Reitman, another man with something to prove after years of sub-par movies and hanging back while allowing his son Jason, director of Juno, to grab the spotlight for a bit.

Movie Review: Grudge Match (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

One of the unfortunate effects of cramming the viewing of so many awards-worthy films into the final months of the year is that a movie like Grudge Match ends up looking quite thin in comparison. No, this comedy-drama isn't a dramatic or technical heavyweight, if you'll pardon the pun, like others currently in release. But if it'd open just a month from now, in the winter doldrums just preceding the Oscars, it might be judged differently. Robert De Niro slums a bit, rehashing a lot of his Raging Bull tics in service of a turn that's more a parody than a performance. But Sylvester Stallone builds on his Rocky past in his continual bid to prove he can hold his own with more renowned actors.

Movie Review: Rush (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

Rush—the first great movie of the fall—hits theaters today, and it's by Ron Howard? The journeyman director has always been competent, but hardly impressive. With no particular distinctive qualities to distinguish him stylistically from any other filmmaker, Howard has had a difficult time earning the respect of critics, though this has been less of an issue when it comes to his peers or audiences. In years to come, Rush may prove to be the key work in understanding Howard's invisible style.

Movie Review: The Short Game (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

Opening today in Atlanta (at AMC Phipps Plaza 14 and AMC Barrett Commons), The Short Game is a documentary about child golf champions. Of interest to more than sports fans, Josh Greenbaum's film presents us with close to ten kids from all around the world who in many cases seem better equipped to handle the pressure of competition than their parents or even, maybe, you. The first half is spent getting to know each golfer, their "daddy caddies" (the parent who helps them set up for the next shot), and their particular strengths and weaknesses. Most notable among the players: the surprisingly well adjusted Allan Kournikova, 7-year-old brother of, yes, that other famous Kournikova; 7-year-old Alexa Pano, reigning female world champion for her age who's even beat some 13-year-olds in competition; 8-year-old Amari Avery, a rising star with a bit of a temper when things don't go her way and nicknamed Tigress because her ethnic background is similar to that of Tiger Woods; 8-year-old Zama Nxasana, who's traveling all the way from South Africa for his next shot at bringing a trophy home; and 8-year-old Sky Sudberry, a diminutive Texan who never gets too caught up in the ups and downs of chasing down her dreams.

Winning IS Everything

by Tony Dayoub

Kimberly Lindbergs, film writer at the fantastic Cinebeats, invited me, friends of this blog (like Dennis Cozzalio and Jeremy Richey), and some other notable critics to participate in a sports movie symposium over at TCM's Movie Morlocks blog. There, Dennis says...

Sports movies tend to be too formulaic—not much else matters other than the build-up to the big, redemptive win—or too sloppily sentimental for my taste. And assaults on tear ducts are especially prevalent in baseball movies. Many who ought to know better seem convinced that because phony, manipulative movies like ███████████ or Field of Dreams get them all choked up, well, then they must be great movies.

Well, ███████████ is the movie I chose to write about. Because it does choke me up. And it is a great movie. And if you can't figure out what it is from the still above, go see what I have to say about it over at TCM.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AT TCM'S MOVIE MORLOCKS

Scenes from the Class Struggle in New Providence

The economics of Win Win, the wry recession-era comedy now out on Blu-ray and DVD

by Tony Dayoub

Win Win stars Paul Giamatti as Mike Flaherty, an attorney whose private practice focuses on care for the elderly. In the afternoons, Mike co-coaches New Providence High School’s wrestling team with his office mate Vig (Jeffrey Tambor). Stretched thin financially, Mike has started having panic attacks on his doctor-prescribed jogs with best friend Terry (Bobby Cannavale). Mike’s money troubles inform his questionable move to take on the guardianship for his dementia-stricken client, Leo (Burt Young)...

CONTINUE READING AT NOMAD EDITIONS: WIDE SCREEN

NYFF10 Movie Reviews: Inside Job (2010) and Boxing Gym

by Tony Dayoub

Two vastly different documentaries impressed me at yesterday's press screenings. Each in their own way, Inside Job and Boxing Gym take subjects we already think we know about and make them more accessible to the viewer, and isn't that what the best of such films do?

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.

Seventies Cinema Revival: Le Mans (1971)

by Tony Dayoub

This is my contribution to the Steve McQueen Blog-a-thon hosted by Jason Bellamy at The Cooler.

What's amazing about Le Mans, a film which was branded as McQueen's Folly even as it was being made, is how well it still holds up today. Racing films always seem so full of cinematic potential, speed being the most attractive factor. Yet with rare exception does it ever pan out. I'm speaking strictly from a cinephilic perspective since I am not qualified to render even the most basic opinion about auto racing or even cars (so this is your opportunity to take me to task in the comments section if you have a stronger argument). But contemporary auto racing films like Days of Thunder (1990), Driven (2001), even Pixar's Cars (2006) seem to place a priority on artificially raising tension through camera placement; if one's point-of-view resides amongst the vehicles jockeying for position, then one should get the feel for what it's like to be a driver in one of these competitions. It's just a bunch of horseshit, if you ask me.

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.

Movie Review: Breakfast with Scot - Gay-Themed Family Drama Beneftits from an Honest and Dynamic Approach

Now playing in Atlanta, Breakfast with Scot is an astute and appealing family drama that realistically depicts some of the challenges that face a gay male couple rearing a 12-year-old boy. Directed by Laurie Lynd (Queer as Folk), the film has been playing the festival circuit for awhile, and is notable for being the first gay-themed film to have the approval of the NHL, and more specifically, the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose name and logo are used in the film. It stars Tom Cavanagh (Ed) and Ben Shenkman (Angels in America) as Eric and Sam. Eric, a former hockey player for the Maple Leafs, is now a sportscaster who keeps his homosexuality in the closet. Sam, an attorney, is much more open about his sexuality. When an ex-girlfriend of Sam's flighty brother, Billy (Colin Cunningham), dies of a drug overdose, she leaves her son Scot (Noah Bernett) in his charge. But with Billy down in Brazil pursuing another in a long succession of get-rich-quick schemes, Sam and Eric decide to take the boy in until Billy returns. Scot turns out to be flamboyantly effeminate in his behavior. For Sam, who is comfortable with his sexuality, this is not as big of a problem as it is for Eric. Eric fears that even being seen with Scot will call attention to his homosexuality. Ostensibly, he thinks this may interfere with his ability to get into the locker room for interviews. But in reality, it is striking a nerve, as he has never fully dealt with his own identity as a gay man in what is considered to be a "macho" career. And then there's Scot. How can Eric be a role model to Scot, who is still learning to find his way through the onset of puberty, if he hasn't defined who he is to himself and the people around him? In the pivotal role of Eric, Cavanagh is excellent, walking the fine line between demanding surrogate dad, and sensitive role model to Scot. He can be infuriating when he disassociates himself from the boy for acting out in ways that highlight his own insecurities. When Eric runs into his boss at an ice rink while on an outing with Scot, the boss sees the boy twirling on his skates, and asks who that is -to the viewer, obviously impressed with the youngster's abilities. Eric acts as if he doesn't know the boy, mistakenly honing in on what he senses as his boss' disapproval. Eric can be sympathetic also, like when he admits to Sam that he just doesn't want Scot to go through the same kind of alienation he went through growing up. Director Lynd also balances some of the heartwarming feel he gives the movie with some stark realism. There are scenes, such as one where Scot makes pancakes for breakfast - shaped like a T - for the T missing from his name, that are so cute they border on cloying. But Lynd also shows the reality behind Scot's situation in a scene where he makes it perfectly clear to the viewer, his eavesdropping surrogate dads, and a young friend, that he is completely aware of how his mom died. Breakfast with Scot is a family drama that is both dynamic and honest, benefiting greatly from the depiction of a healthy gay couple, and the reality of the challenges they face raising a kid. Breakfast with Scot is in limited release. Still provided courtesy of Regent Releasing.

Movie Review: The Express - Football Flick Falls Prey to the Usual Cliches

by Tony Dayoub



The Express is the story of Ernie Davis (played by Rob Brown), the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis was actually given the moniker of "The Elmira Express" since he was from Elmira, New York. Though based on a true story, the fact that the film's title has been modified to make it more marketable is indicative of the type of glossy Hollywood sports movie Davis' story has been turned into. The movie is a paint-by-numbers translation of that Hollywood standard, the "young athlete with loads of promise who meets a tragic end"- with a small measure of race politics thrown in. All of its potential edginess has been glossed over in favor of rousing action on the gridiron, and the movie suffers for it.


Beginning with a Davis as a stuttering youth (Justin Martin), growing up in a small coal town outside of Pittsburgh with his grandfather, Pops (Charles Dutton), he moves to Elmira with his mother, where he joins a small-fry football league. Eventually he is actively being sought after by 50 colleges, no small feat for a black man in 1959. But it isn't until coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), and football legend Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson), come calling that he decides to join their team, the Syracuse Orangemen. As a sophomore, Davis leads the team to an undefeated season and a win over the #2 ranked Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. Despite facing racism at nearly every point in his life, he eventually becomes the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy and goes on to play for the Cleveland Browns. His career is cut short, before he ever plays one game for the NFL, when he develops leukemia in 1962.

The movie falls prey to the usual downer sports movie touches that have become cliche over time. It's not enough that Davis will meet a tragic end. The viewer's sympathies are immediately manipulated by making the child Davis a stutterer, only for the stammer to disappear once we leave him as a youth. The film cuts to his grandfather's funeral briefly, in the midst of his rapid rise to stardom in college and all the hoopla surrounding it. But is there any emotion attached to the event? When Davis is informed of Pops' death, the camera takes it in from afar, cutting us out from what must be a weighty moment in the athlete's life. We get early hints that Davis is headed for some bad news, in brief scenes where he suffers mysterious nosebleeds. But after a lengthy time spent establishing his astounding career in college (close to 20 minutes on the Cotton Bowl game alone), the discovery of his leukemia, and his response to it, are rushed. We never get an idea of how he coped with his short life after. Even the classic TV movie, Brian's Song treated a similar storyline with much more respect, making the tragedy, and its emotional fallout, the centerpiece of its film.

Race politics are included as another in a long line of obstacles for Davis to overcome, but the method in which it is addressed is also typical for Hollywood. Much of this subplot focuses on Davis teaching a white man, Schwartzwalder, why it is wrong to stay quiet when faced with even the subtle racism of the day. We get an appreciation of what this white man learns, and how he becomes a better man for it. As for Davis, we see him attain near-mythic status as the young player who overcame a stammer, Pops' death, nosebleeds, and racism on and off the field to eventually be awarded as the best college football player of 1961. Outside of a small obligatory scene where he speaks of it to his cousin, we never get a true sense of how difficult it must have been to face the pressure of having such a symbolic role thrust upon him. I would have been interested in seeing Davis' interactions with Jim Brown, a well-known activist, who similarly had run-ins with the coach over institutionalized racism.

The film is strongest when it's on the field. All the play action is shot tightly, and easier to follow than you might think due to some deft editing and cinematography. With such a dearth of football movies, it is worth watching if just for that. But unless you're a diehard football fanatic, you might want to consider waiting for The Express on video.

The Express opens on October 10th in theaters across the country.

This entry first appeared on Blogcritics on 8/20/08.