Freedomland

Rated: R (for language and some violent content)
Runtime: 112 minutes
Written by: Richard Price
Directed by: Joe Roth
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard

When my wife and I sat down for our viewing of Freedomland, I found it peculiar we were the only ones in the theater. At first I thought, cool. As the movie unfolded, I realized why the theater was empty, and predicted future attendance to be similar.

Freedomland is what you would get if you took the mediocre moments of a bad Law & Order episode, juxtaposed it with a poor man'’s version of the racial commentary in a Spike Lee film, and threw in high-profile actors.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Lorenzo Council, a detective who holds sway over Armstrong, an African-American housing project. When a mentally off-kilter white woman named Brenda Martin (Julianne Moore) wanders into a hospital with blood-soaked hands and a story about her car being jacked in Armstrong by a black male, which had her four-year old son in the backseat, Lorenzo finds himself amidst a dual crisis -– find the child and the truth before his community explodes into a race riot. Oh, and they end up looking for the kid at an abandoned children's asylum called Freedomland, hence the title (go ahead, scratch your head).

Adapted for the screen by Richard Price from his own novel, the story is a garbled, incoherently uncharismatic mess. Dialogue rings flat, with scenes forcefully played out, stretching over two hours as the characters simply go through the motions. The two storylines don't quite mix to a workable concoction as hoped. Freedomland strives for a socioeconomic commentary on racial profiling, intolerance, and propagation of stereotypes, much like the recent Oscar-nominated Crash, but fails to deliver with a fraction of the poignancy and intellectual resonance that film harbors.

Jackson gives a decent performance, but is stuck within the confines of a narrow, undeveloped character, with only hints of past relationships, a spiritual perspective that at times feels preachy, and brief asthmatic episodes to define him. Brenda'’s character starts off subtly miscarried, but as she'’s developed, proves moderately strong, yet unacceptably unsympathetic. Moore, whom I regard as one of the best actresses in Hollywood, gives a powerful performance despite a character that'’s far below her talent. She has an interrogation scene that screams for a spotlight -– a moment for her to shine amidst an uninspired script. Edie Falco (AKA Mrs. Soprano) is good as the leader of a freelance group who searches for missing children, but her character feels inexcusably like filler.

Joe Roth, who helmed Revenge of the Nerds II and Christmas With the Kranks (need I say more?), directs with an unmotivated technique resulting in apathy. Scenes shuffle along tediously without significance as the dual story motif shambles into incoherence. There is some decent cinematography, but it's muddled by ineffective, shiftless editing, and what results is a slew of camera angles inexplicably cut together in a trigger-happy fashion that feels insecure. And the opening credits, which look like they should be pasted on Man on Fire, don'’t fit the flick'’s profile at all.

Freedomland won'’t pan out as the worst film of the year. If it could make up its mind what it wanted to be - thriller, racial drama, horror -– it might've even been decent. It'’s a shame such fine actors found themselves attracted (or stuck) to this. A bad TV movie at best.

My Rating: D

The Pink Panther

Rated: PG (for occasional crude and suggestive humor and language)
Runtime: 93 minutes
Written by: Len Blum, Steve Martin
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Starring: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles

Once upon a time, a man generally lauded as a comedic genius by the name of Blake Edwards made a series of films starring the incomparable Peter Sellers, each baring a variation of the moniker “The Pink Panther.” These films centered on an enigmatically peculiar character – Inspector Jacques Clouseau, out to find an oversized, priceless pink diamond known as The Pink Panther. Now, as Hollywood is continually proving they may be running dry on new material, we get another movie titled simply… well, take a wild guess.

The Pink Panther is a poorly motivated vehicle for Steve Martin to attempt filling the shoes of the quirky Inspector Clouseau. The story’s simple – the diamond’s stolen and the man wearing it is dead. Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) wants to hire the most inept detective in the nation to prolong the case while he makes a career move. Naturally he settles on Clouseau, thus beginning 93 minutes of ridiculousness.

The story is inexcusably weak. For a comedy based on a series of very funny films, you’d think Len Blum and Steve Martin could do better with the script. Instead we get modernized, adolescent humor that panders to audiences with mild delight. The plot wraps up with random, unprecedented explanations, and the dialogue, while at times whimsical, overall delivers as flat.

It’s evident this is a guilty pleasure for Martin. He plays Clouseau with such whimsical charisma that it’s charming in a childish sort of way. He manages to graze the spirit of Clouseau, but stumbles somewhat into irreverence, having fun all the way. Jean Reno is effective as the comedic sidekick, temporarily shedding his usual on-screen persona (it’s weird to see the cold, collective assassin from The Professional dancing in a camouflaged leotard to a vocal performance by Beyonce).

The most humorous moments come from Martin’s aptly clumsy dialect and grossly sophomoric physical humor. Of particular note are a scene where a dialect coach attempts to teach him the correct pronunciation of the phrase “I would like to buy a hamburger,” and a scene where he goes into a soundproof recording booth so as to not be heard and rips a series of farts, much to the vocally expressed delight of small children and this not-so-humble reviewer.

The movie never strays far from its PG-rated fence, but manages to work in some hefty innuendos to keep adults laughing and kids scratching their heads. But the overall tone of the movie is pure absurdity – it’s made for kids.

Shawn Levy (Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen) directs unenthusiastically, flirting throughout with the urge to use modern cinematographic techniques. He waters down the genuinely funny moments with too many cheap laughs and what results is a hodgepodge of visual humor lacking coherent structure. The slapstick is funny, but often goes too low-brow, and pulls punches on delivery.

Overall, The Pink Panther isn’t a terrible flick. It’s just not nearly as good as it should have been and the funniest parts are in the advertisements. Definitely worth seeing for Martin’s ridiculous, enthusiastic performance; just make sure you lower your expectations.

My Rating: C

Brokeback Mountain

Rated: R (for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence)
Runtime: 134 minutes
Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid

Brokeback Mountain’s reputation precedes itself. It’s sparked heated conversation and raised many a conservative eyebrow, simultaneously racking up the most impressive collection of award nominations in 2005 (it’s leading the Oscar race and is most critics’ darling for Best Picture, having already snagged the Golden Globes for Picture, Director and Screenplay). It carries the weight of heavy expectations, and having now seen it, I understand why it’s receiving such deserved recognition. This is a bold powerhouse of a film.

The story centers on two young men – ranch hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) – who meet while herding sheep in Wyoming during the Summer of 1963. Having only each other for company, the two form a unique bond that gives way to a love affair. At summer’s end they go back to their respective homes, take wives and start families, reconvening every so often to reclaim a moment of that time they spent together. As the years progress, the two find that living inside the fragile shell in which they attempt to hide can easily crumble, and love is stronger than a limited definition.

As the film unfolds, it’s easy to see these two have a genuine connection. I found myself recollecting the same observation I had of the protagonists in Monster’s Ball. These two characters only work well when they’re together. It’s the only time they’re happy and can find peace. When you separate them, everything around them crumbles and they simply don’t work. Ennis especially – he’s a terrible husband and father, and it’s easy to dislike him. But your heart goes out to him when he’s with Jack. Unconventional as many would like to admit, they are one another’s counterpart.

Ledger gives a brutally honest performance and is easily the star of this picture. With every line he seems like a man on the verge of collapse, a tightly wound and equally frightened time bomb longing for happiness. After the tryst with Jack, Ennis breaks down. Equally ashamed, scared and hopelessly in love, he pummels a wall with his fist. Ledger brings a savagely human quality to Ennis, tugging for sympathy at any available heartstring. Gyllenhaal also proves impressive as the wily, outspoken cowboy who brings out the unexpected; the opposite that draws Ennis’s attraction.

When the two collide on screen it’s like a violent storm rolling in. In every interaction they have this complex force of desperation that they intermittently attempt to hold back, but it proves impossible to restrain.

Also noteworthy (albeit underdeveloped) is Michelle Williams as Ennis’s wife. Once she realizes what’s going on, every expression on her face reads with a plea for proof that she’s wrong, that the husband she loves isn’t in fact who she thinks he is. Your heart goes out to her, as she defines the prototype for a burdened mother and spouse.

Ang Lee drops the visual bravado that was his staple in the breathtaking Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the lackluster The Hulk, and goes with a much more grounded, emotionally resonant and poignantly focused technique. He lets the story unfold with a dramatic tension that forces equal parts apprehension and anticipation. The pacing of the film is near perfect, stumbling only on occasion as it skips between time and place. But it almost feels like the moments between are erased so we can get these characters back to one another, making it evident that is the only place they belong.

This is a brave, powerful, heart-wrenching and expertly-crafted film. It’s not the easiest film to unleash on mass society, but that’s part of its importance. While it doesn’t get my vote for Best Picture, it definitely deserves top consideration.

My Rating: A-