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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 December 2007

Ethan and Joel Coen have made some incredible films.  They’ve made my top 10 directors list for as long as I’ve been publishing it on my website.  Their works include Fargo, The Big Lebowski and Intolerable Cruelty.  No Country For Old Men is their latest creation and it’s one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  There’s still a month till the nominations but it looks a lock to be a best picture nominee at the Oscars.

Ah, but don’t be fooled.  This film isn’t for everyone.  Here’s just a splattering of comments from the Internet Movie Database website – “this is easily the worst film I’ve seen this year”, “this movie is just horrible”, “anyone that thinks this movie is clever or deep is certifiably insane”, “I actually saw people angrily walking to get a refund”, “this movie is esoteric garbage”, and “I swear Mortal Kombat was better than this.”

My point is that you’ll either love it or hate it.  My job is to help you work out which category you fit into before you think about seeing it.

Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) is an ordinary man who is hunting animals in a Texas desert.  Looking down from atop a small cliff, he spots an array of cars with dead bodies strewn everywhere.  He goes in for a closer look.  A shoot out has taken place.  There appear to be no survivors.  A stash of drugs has been left on the back of a ute and there’s a large suitcase containing $2m in cash.  Llewelyn thinks for a moment and decides to take the money.  He stashes it underneath the caravan in which he and his wife (Macdonald) live.

It’s a decision he will regret.  The hunter will become the hunted.  With 24 hours, he realises that there are some very nasty people who want that money for themselves and unfortunately, he’s left a trail.  Llewelyn tells his wife to hide at her mother’s and then he hits the open road, looking for somewhere to lay low.

Hot on his tail is a hired assassin with the strange name of Anton Chigurh (Bardem).  He has been hired by some powerful people to get the money back.  Anton is one of the scariest bad guys I’ve ever seen a film.  His mere presence makes everyone around him feel uncomfortable.  I speak of the people in the movie… and those sitting in the cinema audience!  There’s a great scene where he speaks to the owner of a service station in the search for information.  He is pure evil.

Caught up in the story is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Jones), an experienced police officer is trying to do what is right.  He realises the danger that Llewelyn is in and is hoping to find him before the bad guys do.  As the body count rises, Tom finds himself questioning humanity.  How is it that these people have such little regard for human life?

No Country For Old Men is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (All The Pretty Horses).  I haven’t read the novel but I believe it’s a very faithful adaptation.  The ending (which will leave some people unfulfilled) is exactly how the book ends.  What I adored most about the material were the terrific one-liners.  Tommy Lee Jones gets most of them in what is one of his greatest performances.  Every time he opens his mouth, you know that an intelligent, insightful comment will be made.

Another superb quality of the film is its casting.  The main actors are all wonderful but I want to focus on the supporting cast.  I don’t where the Coen brothers find these people.  They may only be on screen for a few minutes but they make those few minutes unforgettable.  I speak of the caravan park manager, the boot salesman, the hotel clerk...

With all these superlatives, you might be wondering why some people haven’t liked the film?  The answer is simple – it doesn’t necessarily give you what you want.  It doesn’t play out like a normal Hollywood thriller where everything is wrapped up nice and neatly.  You have been warned in that regard.

In many ways, No Country For Old Men reminded me of Fargo.  They explore similar themes in a similar setting.   Oh, and there’s one more thing they have in common – they’re both brilliant.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 December 2007

Briony Tallis (Ronan) is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her family in a lavish mansion on a large estate.  She speaks beautifully and eloquently.  You can tell that she is extremely well educated.  It’s no surprise that she dreams of being a famous writer.  At the same time, you’ll sense an immaturity in Briony.  It’s what you’d expect from a spoil young girl who loves being the centre of attention.

Looking out her bedroom window one afternoon, Briony sees something.  Her elder sister, Cecilia (Knightley), appears to be having an argument with Robbie (McAvoy), the good-looking son of the family’s housekeeper.  Cecilia storms off and Robbie is left standing there.  Briony is curious as to what just happened.  She has had her own crush on Robbie for a number of years.  Is there something going on between Cecilia and Robbie that she isn’t aware of?

Her suspicions are confirmed that very afternoon.  Robbie asks Briony to deliver a secret letter to Cecilia.  It was meant for Cecilia’s eyes only but Briony can’t help herself and reads the letter.  She is stunned by its contents (you’ll have to see the film to find out why) but it does reveal Robbie’s true feelings.  In a state of shock, Briony passes the letter on to Cecilia and quickly retreats to her bedroom.

That evening, a special dinner has been prepared.  Briony’s brother and a few of her cousins have come home for a family visit.  In the aftermath of dinner, a crime will be committed.  In a haze of confusion and jealousy, Briony points the finger at Robbie.  Despite knowing that it was not Robbie, Broiny tells the police that she saw him commit the crime.

My plot overview covers much of the film’s first half.  In the second hour, we pan into the future and learn that Robbie went to jail.  He was released after a few years under the condition that he join the British Army and fight the French in World War II.  There’s a great scene where we see him walking on the beaches at Dunkirk.

Despite all that happened, the love between Robbie and Cecilia was as strong as ever.  They may not have been able to see each other but they wrote constantly.  Cecilia continually pleaded with Robbie to “come back to me”.  As Briony grew up, she would realise the gravity of her mistake.  Was there anything she could do to “atone” for her foolish actions?

Atonement is a simple story told beautifully by screenwriter Christopher Hampton (The Quiet American) and director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice).  It is adapted from the book written by Ian McEwan, which won Time Magazine’s best fiction novel of 2001.  The finale (involving veteran actress Vanessa Redgrave) caught me off guard.  I could not have imagined a more appropriate ending.

The film has been touted as a possible Oscar contender and these claims are well and truly justified.  Every performance is terrific.  It’s a breakout role for James McAvoy (following his brilliance in The Last King Of Scotland) which should generated a lot of positive publicity.  Keira Knightley has proven once again (after Pride & Prejudice) that she the acting talent to match her good looks.  Newcomer Saoirse Ronan (as the young Briony) is incredibly impressive given her young age.

It was Joe Wright’s direction of the film which sealed the deal for me.  He magically weaves the story in a way that we can see events from a variety of perspectives.  It’s not done obviously though.  You’ll be watching the screen and then realise that you’ve seen this before.  He has also conjured an inventive soundtrack with the help of composer Dario Marianelli (Pride & Prejudice).  Who’d have thought that a typewriter could be a musical instrument?

Atonement tells an absorbing story in a creative manner.  What more could you want?

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 December 2007

In most cases, it’s best to know nothing about a movie before you go and see it.  That way, you have no preconceptions about whether it’s any good and you also have no idea how it will turn out (as this is usually given away in the trailers).  An exception to this rule is the new Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) film, I’m Not There.

Haynes’s film (which he co-wrote with Oren Moverman) is based on the life of musician Bob Dylan.  It is anything but conventional.  Firstly, six different actors play Bob Dylan.  They are Ben Whisaw, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin and Cate Blanchett.  Secondly, the name Bob Dylan is never mentioned once.  These six actors all have different names in the film – for example, the version of Dylan that Cate Blanchett plays is called Jude Quinn.

Confused yet?  Just wait until you see how the film constructed.  It’s like something out of a David Lynch movie.  The stories are fragmented and some don’t seem to make a lot of sense.  There’s no order to any of the events either – we jump back and forth in time (and between actors) on a continual basis.  I think the whole nature of the film is summed by a line from the trailer – “Inspired by the true, false, authentic, exaggerated, real, imagined stories of the greatest artist, agitator, poet, fighter, genius, radical of our time.”

It may sound strange but I really enjoyed I’m Not There.  It’s a challenging movie-going experience.  As I mentioned earlier, it’s probably best that you know the above background information before seeing it.  Otherwise it may be a bit confusing.

What impressed me most was the way in which Todd Haynes has approached the film and tried to make something original.  In the past few years, we’ve seen the lives of musicians such as Ray Charles and Johnny Cash brought to the screen with critical acclaim.  I enjoyed both Ray and Walk The Line but they felt formulaic.  They each told the same kind of story and you knew what would happen next.  The same can’t be said for I’m Not There.   

I haven’t gone into a lot of detail regarding the plot but there’s no point.  You’ll see what I mean when you see the film.  Most of the “buzz” has been surrounding the performance of Cate Blanchett.  It’s hard to imagine a female playing Bob Dylan but Blanchett is the most realistic of the six actors.  There’s been Oscar talk ever since the movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival back in September.

Fans of Bob Dylan will probably take more from the film than those knowing very little about him (which is the category I fall into).  There’s probably a heap of stuff that I haven’t picked up on.  Still, I’m giving the movie a strong recommendation to anyone who has an appreciation for creative filmmaking.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 December 2007

The tale of Beowulf comes from a lengthy poem written approximately 1,000 years ago.  No one knows who wrote it.  It is set in Scandinavia in the 5^th and 6^th centuries and has been the subject of much scrutiny by historians.  How much of the story and its characters are real?  Is it all a simple fable?  We’ll never know for sure.

After having been made into a poor live-action movie in 1999 (starring Christopher Lambert), Beowulf has been brought back to the screen in animation form by director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump).

I think I’m correct in calling this film “animated” but it’s not so clear cut.  The film has been made using a “performance capture” technique.  The way it works is that real actors have thousands of digital sensors attached to their face and body.  Every movement is captured by a computer and these movements are then used to create the animated characters that we see in the film.  This same method was used to bring Gollum to life in The Lord Of The Rings movies.

Getting back to the story, Beowulf (Winstone) is a brave English warrior who has travelled to a Denmark in search of fame and fortune.  The King (Hopkins) has offered a reward to any man who can kill the evil monster named Grendel that is terrorising his kingdom.  Beowulf is successful in his task and in return, the King gives him a valuable golden horn.

It turns out that there’s one more evil being that will need to be slain – Grendel’s mother.  When Beowulf finds her in a cave high atop the nearby mountains, he is seduced by her incredible beauty.  She offers Beowulf a deal – she will make him “the greatest king who ever lived” if he will sleep with her and give her a son.  Beowulf accepts the offer but will regret it for the rest of his life…

I thought this film took a little while to get going but once the stage was set, I enjoyed it a lot.  It reminded me of a Shakespearean tragedy – it’s easy to follow and you sense that trouble lurks around every corner.

There’s a great group of actors amongst the cast also.  Some look exactly like they do in real life (such as Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins) but others look different (such as Ray Winstone as Beowulf).  Seeing them in quasi-animated form gives the film a distinctive look.  I like this style and it suits the legendary nature of the story.  I don’t think this could have worked as a live action movie (as verified by the 1999 film discussed above).

The film is showing in selected cinemas in a 3-D format.  I know a lot of people wait until movies are released on DVD before watching them but here’s one reason to make a trip to the cinema.  Whilst I only saw the film in 2-D, I’m told the 3-D version is incredible from a visual perspective.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 December 2007

Mike Enslin (Cusack) writes books about creepy, haunted places.  In the film, we meet him for the first time at a book signing which is attended by a handful of people.  I’m guessing he’s not that popular but has a few loyal fans.  He admits to the audience that whilst he’d like to, he’s never actually seen a ghost or had a paranormal experience.

His next book will be on the 10 most haunted hotel rooms.  He receives a postcard out of the blue which suggests that he try Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York City.  He calls the hotel but they are unwilling to take the booking – receiption keep saying that the room is never available.

With the help of his editor and his lawyer, Enslin gets what he wants.  He turns up at the front desk of the Dolphin and asks to be checked in for one night in Room 1408.  Before he does so however, the hotel’s manager (Jackson) does everything he can to convince Enslin otherwise.  He says there have been 56 deaths in Room 1408 since the hotel was built almost a century ago.  Most people don’t last more than an hour.

Enslin’s mind cannot be changed.  He thinks the deaths are some bizarre coincidence and that the manager is acting this way just to attract attention to the hotel.  There’s no such thing as a haunted hotel room, right?  Enslin is given the key to the room and escorted to the 14^th floor.  What will happen when he opens the front door?

This is a really cool premise and I was even more excited when I heard it was based on a short story by Stephen King.  For the most part, it’s a decent movie.  It’s not really “scary” but it’s interesting to see what lengths the “room” will go to make Enslin its 57^th victim.  The great visual effects make it all the more believable.

I’m a big fan of John Cusack and I read a recent interview with him that confirms my stance.  He loves a good script and is attracted to unusual projects.  Just look at him in films such as Being John Malkovich and Gross Pointe Blank.  He liked the idea of 1408 because it’s just him and the room in pretty much every scene.  There’s little interaction with other characters he thought it would be a challenge.  Having seen the finished product, I think Cusack has done a super job.  His character is likeable and you’ll be hoping he gets the better of the evil room.

Sadly, the film is let down by a poor ending.  It’s as if the writers didn’t know how to end it and whipped something together in a short period of time.  I haven’t read the Stephen King short story so perhaps this is how it is supposed end?  Still, I expected something more.  I expected a twist or some unexpected revelation.

Check in… if you dare.